May 1993 -- Walt Disney World (Dixie Landings)

This trip was a turning point in world history. Not just Walt Disney World history, world history period. This was the trip where we finally got my Dad to go to Florida. I had raved and talked and discoursed and bugged everyone about WDW so much that I was finally able to talk Dad into going down with us.

We drove down, visiting the Air Force museum at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio on the way. We also visited Andersonville and the Chicamauga battlefield during our trip for Mom and Dad and Dave's sake (I think we saw Andersonville on the way back north).

Another thing, there is this Bonsai store, you know, the little Japanese trees, in Georgia just off I-75 before the Florida state line. I can't remember the name of the place, Myogi's or something, but we had to stop for Dad and Barb's sake. This is now a traditional stop, too. They have alot of different trees and forests, and some neat equipment, tools, pots, and stuff too (I'm an engineer, that's my favorite--they can have their little trees, give me the wire and little, tiny oriental dudes and stuff).

We stayed at a Comfort Inn on 192 the first night in Orlando. We knew we were gonna get there late, so we didn't pay for the atmosphere to just sleep. As it turned out, we arrived at about dinner time. We ate at a Shoney's or something on 192, then went to the Comfort to get settled. Then we drove into the World and stopped at the Marketplace and Dixie Landings (where we would be staying) just to get the flavor and get hyped a bit. There's nothing better than the first night on the property to get into the mood. Mom and Dad (and Dave too) were astounded with the atmosphere at Dixie Landings.

The next morning, we got up, went over to Dixie Landings and got our "Be Our Guest" passes. We spent the morning at the MK, then went back to the resort to get our room and move in. Once again it paid off to ask for a room near a bus stop. Our room was within a couple of hundred feet of a pool, almost as close to the bus stop, and just across the way from Ol' Man Island.

One night, Barb and I went off to the Yachtsman's Steakhouse for dinner alone. The food was ok, but honestly the prices exceeded the value...even with the Disney decor thrown in. That same night, Mom, Dad, and Dave ate at the Boatwright's Dining Hall. Their report of the place was top notch. Barb and I never made it to the Boatwright's on that trip, but we made a point of stopping there last time. Mom and Dad were right! The service was excellent and the food, very good.

We also went to River Country (no big deal, except for Dad losing his swimming trunks upon landing from the water slide) and Discovery Island (spent four or five hours and had a good break from the hectic pace of the rest of the World).

The eight days we spent there with Mom, Dad, and Dave were great! We covered the major parks very well, went to Typhoon Lagoon, River Country, and Discovery Island, and visited some of the other resorts, too. The Grand Floridian is spectacular, the Polynesian beautiful, and Port Orleans charming.
Major discoveries:

* The Myogi's Bonsai store and the peach, pecan, and fruitcake (Claxon's) stops in Georgia were all fun (and some of them were tasty, too).
* Ankershus at the Norway Pavilion was disappointing. Possibly because the buffet selections didn't do much for our landlubber's pallets. Dad says "it was too Norwegian."
* Plaza Restaurant. We came here to catch the coffee milkshake I had enjoyed so much at Disneyland a month before. I was disappointed that the Sealtest-sponsored restaurant didn't have it, but the food was still very good. The portions were huge and very tasty. I highly recommend that anyone visit here for lunch.
* Liberty Tree Tavern. Another hit! We went here for dinner one night and fell in love with the colonial decor. The food was good, and the squeaking floors and fireplaces highlighted the atmosphere.
* Skip River Country. Typhoon Lagoon is so much superior that River Country isn't worth the time.
* Discovery Island is a nice, quiet change of pace.
* Yachtsman's Steak House. It's OK, but not a critical place to visit.
* Boatwright's Dining Hall. Very good. Highly recommended. The best feature of this restaurant is the service. It is simply excellent.

April 1991 -- Walt Disney World (Caribbean Beach Resort), Everglades, and the Keys

This trip was a big one. We planned to arrive at WDW on Easter Sunday, so we could see the Main Street Electrical Parade and other nighttime stuff. However, we were starting to get smart about WDW's crowds, so we decided to spend a couple of days at the World (actually Sunday night and Monday) and then a day at Universal Studios (sorry purists) on Tuesday. From there we drive down south to see the Everglades and Keys (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday), then return to WDW for another seven days (hopefully without the crowds.)

The first stop at WDW, we stayed at the Quality Inn on International Drive, the same motel we stayed in during our honeymoon. We already had our passes for this trip, since we had the annual passes we bought the previous fall. Each day, we drove from the Quality Inn, parked the car at the WDW Hilton, and rode the bus to our destination...since we had annual passes this was completely legal.

Sunday night was wonderful. Barb had never seen the Electrical Parade and I hadn't seen it in years...since the California trip in 1981, I think. We watched it once that night, but twice on Monday and once again on Tuesday. As always, it was spectacular. I love the Disney parks at night. I'm so glad that the MK and MGM parks are open late during the off-season more often than they used to be.

We had a long, long day at Universal Studios on Tuesday. The crowds were still huge (it was Easter week, after all) and Universal just didn't have the number of attractions, parades, and shows that the Disney parks have to disperse the crowds. I'm not sure if things have changed in that regard since 1991 or not. Another major difference...there is no "happy Disney music" playing at Universal. Instead, you hear the crowds and occasionally some themed movie music. Unfortunately, the music doesn't have the calming effect that the Disney selections have. The major result being that most people got more tense and irritable as the day wears on. Still, it's worth a day, if you have seen everything WDW has to offer first.

When we came back from the Keys and Everglades, we stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We got sold on Disney accommodations real fast. Our room was in the Jamaica area, adjacent to the small "local" pool and within a very short walk to Parrot Cay Island and therefore, to Old Port Royale. The themeing of the resort was great! Detail, that old Disney hallmark, was everywhere from the cannon smoke at the themed pool to the building design and coloring to the Calypso music piped to all the public areas. Laundry facilities were located right next to our pool, so we spent an afternoon cleaning, drying, and folding clothes and swimming in between loads. We've not stayed at a non-Disney owned and operated hotel while visiting WDW since.

One last detail....the Jamaica bus stop was located right outside our building. And as an extra bonus, Jamaica was the first bus stop on the route, much like the Hilton was earlier.

By the way, our plan to catch the night time wonders, but miss most of the crowds worked to perfection.
Major discoveries:

* Disney accommodation reservations...don't leave home without them.
* Tony's Town Square restaurant. I was introduced to Fettuchini Alfredo at Tony's. We've only been back twice since that initial stop, but we love it! We're looking forward to going back...In fact, I'd like to make it a regular stop for our future trips. (P.S., the Fettuchini is good at Alfredo's, too.)
* Breakfast at the Crystal Palace. You must have the puffed French toast, and you can have breakfast before the park opens. There are other options, too, but the French toast is not to be believed.
* The Land Grill Room. What a hoot! Eating dinner on a spinning platform! Good food at reasonable prices, too. This restaurant is now a character restaurant with a "family style" service. We havn't eaten there since it changed, but my parents reported that it was good.
* L'Originale Alfredo di Roma restaurant. The food was excellent, but the atmosphere was a bit drab. Very dark and ordinary.
* Rose and Crown Pub. I can't believe, being of English decent, that we never went to the Rose and Crown before this trip, but we've gone back many times since. The fish and chips are great, the prime rib very good, and the cottage pie excellent. Oh, and the trifle is a must eat!
* 50's Prime Time Cafe was fun. We only went there for an ice cream Sunday during the afternoon one day, so we were "chewed out" for not ordering a good meal. Eventually, though, "Mom" relented and went to the kitchen to ask "Grandma" to make us our Sundays.
* Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree. OK. Nothing spectacular. We enjoyed it, but not enough to go back. I hope the Hoop Dee Doo is significantly better...we've never seen that show, but we'd like to someday.
* The Gardens of the World tour. If you're in to plants and gardening this is the tour for you. Barb and her family own and operate a greenhouse business, so it was right up her alley. The information is detailed, and specific to you -- you ask the questions, so you direct the discussion. A bit pricey, but well worth it...we've taken the tour three times now.
* Chicamauga Battlefield and Andersonville National Monument. I'm a history nut, so these stops were a natural. Andersonville, especially, makes you appreciate the blood and tears that our forefathers -- in every war and conflict our nation has been involved in -- went through for us. I've never been in the military, and I'm glad I never had to be, but I'm proud of those many men and women that have served our country for me.

November 1990 -- Walt Disney World (Walt Disney World Hilton)

Barb and I already had plans to visit WDW again in the spring of 1991 when I was sent to WDW on business. Fortunately, I was able to get real inexpensive airfare for Barb, so she went too. I can't imagine what the trip would have been like without my best friend.

When we arrived in Orlando, we picked up our rental car, then drove the Bee Line to Lake Buena Vista. We came in from the north, the entrance at the Crossroads, and checked into the hotel. The Hilton is quite a place. It's not themed, but it's still a first rate establishment. After settling in, Barb and I caught the bus to MGM. Star Tours had just opened, and I couldn't wait to go on it. We did, twice in a row, since there were no lines. After the second trip, Barb was getting a little queasy -- she didn't tell me she was feeling bad from the plane ride, too. After a short rest, she was fine...but she still hesitates to let Pee Wee Herman fly her at "light speed to Endor."

We spent Saturday and Sunday in the parks, but only the evenings on Monday and Tuesday since I was attending the conference. While I was in the meetings, Barb was hanging out at the pool having pool side lunches.

I was unexpectedly free on Wednesday. A training session that I had planned to attend was canceled. So Barb and I drove over to Typhoon Lagoon for our first time there. What a place! The crowds weren't at all bad, after all, this was November... but again, the attention to detail that Disney specializes in is incredible. We slid down the Humonga Kowabunga and almost drowned and we learned that our favorite slides in the parks were the Storm Slides. I can't remember their names, but we tried them all. First, Barb tried the left-most slide (Jib Jammer?) while I rode the center one (Stern Burner?). Then we moved right, so I was in the right-most slide (Rudder Buster?). I can still remember laughing hysterically at Barb's startled scream when she entered the short, but pitch black, tunnel in the middle of the center slide's run. I heard her yelp as clear as if she was yelling in my year. It still bugs her when I remind her of it.
Major discoveries:

* Gooding's supermarket, at the crossroads. I remember Barb having a terrific headache late Sunday night (more accurately, Monday morning). We didn't have any aspirin or Tylenol or anything with us, so I went down to the desk to ask where I could get some. I was directed to Gooding's. Gooding's tends to be expensive compared to our local supermarkets at home, but it's still much cheaper to buy things there than at any of the stores on the Disney property.
* The great flexibility of the transportation system at WDW. Prior to this trip, we had always stayed off-site and parked at the TTC or EPCOT lots. Never again.
* Since we had plans to visit WDW again in the spring of '91, we bought annual passes. This allowed us complete flexibility to come and go at the parks -- both for this trip, and the next.
* The Disney Village Hotel Plaza transportation system starts at the HIlton. Each bus starts it's route there, then goes to the other hotels, then on to the park. On the way back from the park, after a long, weary day, the bus drops you off first. It's quite a bonus.
* Typhoon Lagoon. More than just a water park...but skip the curly fries at Leaning Palms, they're terrible.

September 1989 -- Walt Disney World - Honeymoon (Offsite)

Barb and I got married on September 16, 1989. We had our honeymoon planned for months. We stayed, on the first night, at a hotel near Detroit Metropolitan Airport. That way, we could park the car for the entire trip for free -- and have a courtesy van take us to and from the airport.

We got up in the morning early enough to be at the airport in plenty of time. We flew on Delta to Orlando, rented a Chevrolet Cavalier at Alamo, and drove to our hotel. We stayed at the Quality Inn on International Drive that trip. Hey, we were still rookies and didn't know any better.

We had dinner at King Stefan's one night. This is now a tradition for us...one restaurant that we'll never go to with kids or guests...they can go on their own. Unfortunately, the restaurant also featured a terribly behaved little girl. The uncontrolled brat kept screaming about something or other and in general was very annoying, but we survived. Unfortunately, so did the kid.

MGM was now open, so we spent some time there. Even though we've been though it several times, I'm still constantly amazed at the Animation tour. The animators were working on Beauty and the Beast at the time of this trip...The Little Mermaid had just come out that summer. We also saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and most of the other shows. At the time, not much else was at MGM yet. Star Tours wasn't even open yet, although I'd ridden it in California on a previous trip.

One day we had lunch at Pecos Bill's. The crowds were very heavy, not an empty table was in sight. After waiting for quite awhile, a table opened up and we sat down to eat. As we finished, a family with several very little children was walking around looking for a place to sit, we offered them out table, even though we needed another couple of minutes to finish up our meal. The relief on the faces of those two parents was worth a million!

On another occasion, we had reservations to eat at the Bistro de Paris at the France Pavilion at EPCOT. About an hour and a half before dinner, Barb and I were at 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, working our way toward Tommorrowland and the main gate to leave for EPCOT. That's when the rain started. Deluge would be a better word. Only if you've been to WDW do you understand what I mean. You see, the children of Israel walked through the sea on dry land, the Lord himself walked on water, but we walked through water. And dry land was nowhere to be seen. After we rode Captain Nemo's sub, we ran past the Grand Prix toward Space Mountain and on to Mission to Mars. We halted temporarily at any shelter we could find. The water was flowing (no exaggeration) at least four to six inches deep over the entire tarmac in Tommorrowland and only slightly less as we reached the Plaza and swam up main street. We were soaked to the skin. Our clothes were plastered to our bodies. We caught the monorail and transferred to the EPCOT express under the shelter of the TTC. As we exited at the main gate to EPCOT, the rains were only then beginning to subside. We walked through Future World and around the lagoon to France. Dinner that night was the most expensive meal we'd ever had together up to that time ($60.00, as I recall, including gratuity -- we're teetotallers, so keep that in mind), and we ate it thoroughly soaked. Our waiter, Francoise or Fillip or something, kept staring at us...we were quite a sight, oh, and he kept saying "bon appetite". Must have been French for, "you'd be more comfortable in dry underwear." For desert I had an exquisite mocha cream. I loved it. We ended up having breakfast at the Patisserie several times that trip for mocha cream, but we've never seen it there on subsequent trips....I've asked for it, but it just doesn't seem to exist anymore.

We went to Sea World and the Kennedy Space Center on that trip, too. Both are OK....but I wouldn't trade a day at WDW for a day at either of the others -- unless I had plenty of time planned for WDW already.
Major discoveries:

* I don't care what any one else says, the Birnbaum books on Disneyland and WDW are the best. You see, the Birnbaum books give little tidbits of Disney "trivia" and anecdotes that add to the fun. A particular restaurant or attraction, a parade or detail is all the more interesting and fun when you feel like "you're in the know".
* September is the time to visit the World. The crowds aren't too bad, in fact, they're almost non-existent, and the weather is still fine...alot of rain, but it's usually all from 12:30pm to 1:30pm (Hurricane Hugo happened to be in the area at the time which probably made things a bit wetter than normal). Also, it's still warm enough to swim every day...even in the evening after coming back from the park. Of course, the drawback are the short park hours and the lack of night time parades and fireworks.
* Coral Reef Restaurant at the Living Seas was very expensive (I've read in someone else's trip report once that the fish are obviously fresh, because the prices include airfaire). Also, the famed "view" of the aquarium was disappointing.
* Boulangerie Patisserie. Everyone knows this now, but in the Fall of 1989, the Patisserie was still a relatively unknown breakfast place.
* Le Cellier. I've heard that the Canadian restaurant is still closed, it was during our latest trip, too. We found Le Cellier a great place to catch a quick dinner at the start of an evening in the World Showcase. I hope it reopens before our next trip.

April 1988 -- Walt Disney World, With Barb's Family (Camped Offsite)

Barb and I dated for over two years before we got married in 1989. Before that, though, Barb's family planned a big trip to Walt Disney World in April 1988. I'd never been to WDW, even though we lived closer to the Florida parks than Disneyland. In fact my Dad said he would never go to WDW because "everyone goes to Florida." Our family traveled alot when I was growing up, but never to Florida. Well, Barb's Dad invited me to go on this big trip....it didn't take long for me to accept.

We drove down to Florida in two days. The overnight stop was in Chattanooga. I'm not sure exactly where we stayed in Florida during that trip...it was in a borrowed camper parked at the home of a friend of the family. Actually, It was about an hour away from WDW. Each day, Barb's Dad dutifully drove us to WDW where we played "Disney Commando", staying in the parks -- of the "major parks" only the MK and EPCOT existed at the time, from morning to night. Since we were staying offsite, we ended up parking in the gigantic MK parking lot and riding the tram into the TTC. From there we took the traditional monorail ride through the CR over the water and down to the MK. On at least one day, I remember that we parked at the EPCOT lot.

I was so impressed with the enormous size of WDW compared to Disneyland. Disneyland was always filled with wonder and amazement, but I never realized what Mr. Disney could do with the "blessing of size." It truly is amazing...especially for those of us that grew up at the "little family park" on the left coast.

We battled the crowds at WDW that April for three days -- that's all the time we could spend. Since I was "Disney-Literate", I was unanimously voted to be the trip guide. Really, I didn't know much about the World, but we did alot given the time we had (only three days). I can vividly remember:..

* the wonder on everyone's face when we first walked into town square.
* the incredibly long line at the Journey into Imagination.
* Barb's sister, Lynn, saying "Thank you I/O" for weeks after the trip.
* fighting with Sandy, the youngest of Barb's sisters, over MY French fries at the Liberty Inn at the American pavilion at EPCOT...Sandy's Dad hadn't come back with HER fries yet.
* the pride of being able to jump the line at The World of Motion, I was a young GM engineer at the time, and the embarrassment of having the ride break down for about ten minutes after we were seated -- worse yet, while we were sweltering in the heat wave outside the building on the curved pathway.
* the heat and the crowds at Pecos Bill's.
* Barb's Dad making everyone buy their own souvenir on the last evening at the MK -- the Emporium crowds were incredible, but everyone just had to buy something. Barb ended up with a small jewelry box.
* I can remember Barb and I sitting on a bench in town square, across from the Emporium -- right in from of "The Walt Disney Story" and, for the first time, seriously talking about getting married...and having our honeymoon at WDW.
* Overall, it was a great trip. I don't now how Barb's Dad was able to drive back to the camper each night...I slept most of that drive each day...maybe he did too.

Brian Bennett

brian@mouseplanet.com