Trip Reports
02-08-2006, 08:58 AM
Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
Resort: Old Key West Resort
Accommodations: 2 Bedroom Vacation Home
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult, Senior
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, Rookie, DVC Member
Comments: Dotti and her family stayed at Old Key West Resort. Dotti's mom and aunt joined them on the trip, so this report provides a good deal of information on travelling with folks with disabilities. Another great aspect of this report is the Christmas Holiday goings-on in the parks that Dotti describes with such flair.
Thanks to the inspiration of Brian Bennett (DVClubber), Rich Pearlstein (RichPearl) and many others and due to my obsessive need to talk about Disney incessantly, I have joined the ranks of trip reporters uploading to AOL. This trip report may not give any true expert of WDW one iota of new information, but hour for hour, writing about the parks is cheaper than therapy!
Our trip began on Thursday, December 14, from Logan Airport in Boston. "Our", in this case, refers to me (Dotti - age 41), my husband (Tony - age 42), our three boys (Joseph, Elie and Peter, - ages 13, 9, and 8), my mom (Rita - age 68) and my mom's sister/my aunt (Dot - age 65). This was our fifth trip to WDW (in 3 years!) but was my mom's and aunt's first trip, not only to WDW, but also on an airplane! You can imagine the anticipation (i.e.: terror) that they were feeling as we headed out at 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. flight with only an hour of combined sleep for the both of them. I need to mention that throughout this trip, I had to give my mom and aunt an enormous amount of credit. The farthest that my mom has ever gone was 40 miles, by car, to the beach. She has back, foot, stomach, and heart problems. My aunt has severe arthritis in her knees and problems with her feet. This was, for them, the adventure of a lifetime.
We were greeted at the plane by Barbie, a very good friend and flight attendant for Delta, who I bribed to be on our flight. Her husband had just had gall bladder surgery, but she made a point to be there for my mom and I will eternally owe her for this. She introduced them to the pilot, took pictures of our whole gang in the cockpit, and, once we were in the air, made constant checks on my family to see that they were comfortable. It made an enormous difference, and although it was still a "white-knuckle" affair for my mom, I can only imagine how much worse it could have been. Much to my surprise though, Aunty Dot actually LIKED the flight!
After an uneventful flight, we were greeted by Town and Country with a 15 passenger van to take us to the Disney Vacation Club. I would use them again - very efficient, clean cabs, and the price of $35.00 from the airport was great. We were also greeted with weather in the high 70's. No complaints there after our 14 degree sendoff from Boston! We arrived at the DVC (OKWR) at approximately 11:30 a.m. and, as expected, our room wasn't ready. Since the kids had just been to WDW in August, they wanted to see the room more than anything else (we had gone on the tour before purchasing with only our 13 year old) so this was a big disappointment for them.
We did all our checking-in business and went over to Olivia's for lunch. The service was very friendly and efficient but I felt that the restaurant was quite noisy...maybe due to the high ceilings. I ate the Conch Chowder (very good and considerably different from the clam chowder that we always order in Boston) and also tried the eggrolls. These had a very strong spicy flavor that I wasn't crazy about. I would probably eat there again because of its convenience but not because of the menu.
After lunch, we waited for the bus to Epcot. I had read many messages on the bulletin boards on the inefficiency of DVC (OKWR) buses and was expecting problems, but I must say that I was very pleased with the service. I realize that I was traveling in a very slow period, but all buses arrived within 5 minutes of the posted times and having a bus schedule was great when trying to get 7 people out the door at once! We arrived at Epcot, rented a wheelchair, and off we went to Spaceship Earth. My mom and aunt were truly amazed with what they saw, and luckily, I didn't tell my mom that we were 18 stories high! She could only handle so much adventure in one day!
We went from there to the World of Motion and there, I encountered my first (of few) problems with having slightly handicapped passengers. We were advised by a CM that it would be much easier to leave the wheelchair and walk the few steps to the car of It's Fun to Be Free. The problem is that, unlike Spaceship Earth, the loading belt does not come to a complete stop but only slows down. Although it does slow down to a crawl, it was enough to make my mom panic getting on as she suffers from more than occasional dizziness. After convincing her that she could indeed manage the 2 feet to the moving vehicle she did make it and eventually, after her blood pressure went back down, enjoyed the ride thoroughly. I, on the other hand, kept wondering what other little details I neglected to think about!
After World of Motion, we opted for a stationary show. Because this was only a 4 day trip, I knew that we would be missing a huge chunk of Epcot so I tried to focus on things that they would not only enjoy, but would not traumatize them at the offset. We saw Cranium Command at the Wonders of Life Pavilion and Tony took Joe and Elie onto Body Wars. I decided to skip the Universe of Energy because time was limited and that preshow film is soooo long. We, instead, headed over to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Needless to say, they loved this one. Mom didn't get the mice on her legs as she was in the wheelchair, but since this is one of her biggest (of many) fears, it was probably for the best. I haven't kept up with my CPR classes.... Also, of the three of us sitting in the back row, I was the only one to get sneezed on. Must have been my lucky day.
It was now after 4 p.m. (amazing how much one can pace oneself....) and we headed over to World Showcase. We had 6:15 p.m. dinner reservations at Alfredo's and wanted to catch the American Adventure before dinner. We opted for the Friendship Launch as my aunt's knees and feet were beginning to give out and it was then that I discovered that my mom had NEVER been on a boat in her life. Boy, were we living dangerously! We survived the trip (with moderate dizziness) and walked over to the American Pavilion where Mom and Aunty had their pictures taken with Chip and Dale, Pluto with antlers, Santa Goofy, and Mom got to sit in Santa's lap. We caught the next show of American Adventure (but missed the Voices of Liberty) and got out just in time to make dinner. Mom loved AA, Aunty was a bit bored (only because she doesn't like anything historical) and Tony, since we had seen this numerous times, took a little snooze. I was happy that we got to see it again. The ending always gives me goosebumps.
Alfredo's, for these two elderly Italians, was a great place to eat. They both ordered the manicotti and became very nostalgic with the roving Italian singers as they sang many of my grandmother's (long deceased) favorite songs. We were even treated to a melody by one of the diners who was as good (actually, better) than the performers. It was my grandmother's birthday and this dinner seemed a fitting tribute to a kind little Italian lady who always dreamed of flying back to Italy. Actually, her desire to travel gave both my mom and aunt some of the courage that they needed to make this trip. Thank you, Nana!
We left Alfredo's and found the l-o-n-g line for the Candlelight Processional. Since my aunt couldn't stand for a long period of time, she found a bench by the railing to wait out IllumiNations and my mom joined her while we opted for the CP. What seemed like thousands of people actually only filled three fourths of the America Gardens Theatre and after we were seated, we realized that Mom and Aunty would most likely enjoy this even more than IllumiNations. Tony ran back and convinced them to give up their seat and join us. It was a wise decision, as this show, with its 450-voice choir and 50-piece orchestra, was very moving. Billy Dee Williams was the guest narrator and did a wonderful job. I saw my mom wiping her eyes more than once. Tony escaped a few minutes before the end and saved the same seat by the railing for my aunt to watch IllumiNations - our luck was holding out. The Holiday IllumiNations was beautiful, but I personally like the regular IllumiNations a little more. I like the loud, patriotic music accompanying the fireworks and the Christmas music that is used just doesn't have the same effect on me. We did enjoy it though and I may have been the only one of 7 who felt that way.
We took a nice slow walk back to the bus and ended our day with the kids going crazy over our two-bedroom unit at the DVC (OKWR). We have spent the past 4 trips cooped up in one hotel room so this was luxury to the extreme! Everything was in order (although, as others have mentioned on the BB's, we also had no potholders!) and having the washer and dryer was such a plus with 7 guests. I did find that the chlorine in the jacuzzi water was extremely strong (it is chlorine, isn't it?) and didn't know if this was normal as this is our first time with a jacuzzi. If anyone knows better, I'd love to hear from you. It was bad enough to make Peter, who is slightly asthmatic, start wheezing. We were all overtired, but once we slept, we slept well.
We awoke on Friday at around 8 a.m. (late for Aunty but the middle of the night for Mom), had breakfast in our room, and headed out to MGM at around 10 a.m. It was, by far, the emptiest I have ever seen this park. Since there was no wait (seriously, NO wait) on the Tower of Terror, Tony and Joe headed over to that (and later told us that they walked right into the lobby) and the rest of us got ice cream and hung out to wait. I know that most people would have split up and done different things but after losing each other in Epcot (a little story that I intentionally omitted), we decided to play it safe.
After they exited, we went straight for the Great Movie Ride. This attraction has a special wheelchair entrance (you still have to work your way through the queue in the outer room) which helped us on a return visit. This time though, there were barely enough people to fill up the two cars. We were in the first car so got to see the old west shootout. Well, Mom and Aunty, two old movie buffs, were enthralled! They had ear to ear grins throughout the attraction and for some time afterwards! Aunty voted this the best attraction in all of WDW.
Next, we decided that we had just enough time before the parade to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I thought that it had a different beginning than the last time but could be wrong. Also, it seems that they only perform one of the two major stunts - either the flipped over jeep or the plane in flames. We got to see the jeep and they promised that the plane would be in a later showing. Is this normal? The show only lasted 30 minutes when I seem to remember it to be 45 minutes so this may be a change that I wasn't aware of.
We left just in time for the Toy Story Parade and got right in front of the wheelchair viewing area. This parade is very colorful, lots of fun, but quite short. I particularly liked the soldiers but wondered if the parade's appeal came from having seen and loved the movie. As with almost everything at WDW, things seem so much more personal and familiar if you carry with you memories from home.
After the parade we went to the 50's Prime Time Cafe for our lunch reservations where we met my cousin from California who was also vacationing at WDW. Everyone thought that it was a hoot to be sent off to the bathroom to wash our hands (and yes, he INSISTED!) and Aunty and Mom were told to get their elbows off the table more than once. Poor Aunty got no dessert because she wouldn't eat her french fries. I've read many so-so reviews on the food there but I personally really like the meatloaf. Everyone was very pleased with the menu and the prices.
After lunch, we headed over to SuperStar Television but missed most of the casting. One of our family has almost always been picked for this show and sure enough, once inside, Tony became part of the cast for Cheers. Funny to live in Boston and have your first visit to Cheers be in Florida.... He did a great job and gave Mom and Aunty a lot more fun then they bargained for! From there, we went to the Backstage Studio Tour (tram only - they weren't up for the walking segment) and got a daytime taste of what Lights, Camera, Christmas! would be like. I made a point to tell everyone that we were coming back on Sunday evening. Luckily my mom didn't have a heart attack in Catastrophe Canyon. She was finding depths of bravery never quite reached before! From there, we went to Muppet Vision 3D which I still enjoy even after the nth visit. The last 3D film my mom saw before WDW was back in the 1940's so all of this newfangled technology constantly amazed her. It was a lot of fun to watch their faces during some of the attractions!
We made the 5:15 p.m. bus back to the DVC (OKWR) to change and relax a bit before leaving for the Jolly Holiday Dinner Show at the Contemporary. I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about this dinner. Even with all my faith in Disney, I had been reading on the BB's about people with seats next to the service entrance, food not as good as in previous years, etc. and was questioning my judgment in paying $56 for a dinner show (remember, there were 7 of us...). Looking back at the whole experience, it was unquestionably the highlight of the entire trip (for me, at least). There are two main stages in the Fantasy Ballroom, a function room the size of Rhode Island. We were seated next to one of these stages, dead center. Not only did most of the action take place directly in front of us but all of the performers paraded right by our table. It was a wonderful show, colorful, sentimental, entertaining, and just plain fun. The food was very good and plentiful and my Mom and Aunty even had a glass of wine - something I haven't seen my mom do in many years! To make the night end perfectly, we were looking to find a taxi and were told that a bus was outside to take us directly to the DVC (OKWR). Such service! We all slept great that night. Of course, the wine helped....
Ahhh, Saturday.... Again the weather was in the low 80's and we had planned to visit Magic Kingdom as it was the first day of the Christmas Parade and the only day so far in December that they would be running SpectroMagic. We planned to leave on the late side since I knew it would be a very long day for Mom and Aunty and also, my cousin was coming over for coffee (and to check out the DVC (OKWR)). The kids went swimming in the morning and for a ride with Tony on the peddle boats. (Actually, Tony went for a ride with them. We are the only ones in our family who don't swim!) I brought along a wheelchair from the DVC (OKWR) as they were kind enough to give us a lock with permission to take it anywhere we liked. I had been renting them at the parks but I didn't think that the MK would have any left by the time we arrived. I knew that the MK would be crowded, being a Saturday and being the day for those two major happenings, but when we arrived at around noon I was simply astounded. I do not like crowds. I do not like constantly counting heads (of my children), being bumped and pushed, running the wheelchair into the back of people's legs (unintentionally, of course)(well, almost always....), and not being able to enjoy my surroundings because my surroundings were only everyone else's backsides. This was really a tough day.
We waited for over an hour in the wheelchair area to see the 3 p.m. Christmas Parade after searching for somewhere to get a hotdog (or anything else to eat) without an hour wait as well. The parade was lovely and I would probably wait again if under the same circumstances but I can honestly say that I'm the only one in my party who would. We went from there to the Haunted Mansion and felt very lucky to be pushing that wheelchair. We were on in under 5 minutes. The only drawback is that they miss the stretching room because the wheelchair entrance is actually the exit for the Doom Buggies. We then found out that Aunty's knees couldn't handle stepping into the boat for the Jungle Cruise so we skipped both that and Pirates of the Caribbean. The Handbook for Guest with Disabilities said that Pirates was extremely hard to disembark from and I didn't want to take chances and ruin the good luck that we had had so far. We learned after Trip #1 to enjoy what we see and don't sweat what we don't see. We went over to It's a Small World and the kids put up with going on again. They realized that they wouldn't be in WDW at all if it wasn't for my wanting to show everything to Mom and Aunty so they didn't DARE complain! The wheelchair wheeled right onto this attraction and they both voted this right up there with The Great Movie Ride.
Our next stop was Tomorrowland but we opted to skip Alien Encounter. I was a little disappointed (we had seen it a few times in August but I thought it would be a howl for them to experience it) but wheelchairs enter with the rest of the mob and the line was over 35 minutes - actually not a long wait but too long for Aunty's knees. I don't find this attraction scary and love the special effects although my eight year old would much rather skip it altogether. It's amazing how extreme the responses are to this attraction. We did see Timekeeper which is one of my particular favorites and now is also theirs. I can't comprehend why so many people pass this one by. I think that it's one of Disney's best. From there, we went to the Carousal of Progress. As you can see, we were going for the least stressful attractions....
At this point it was around 6 p.m., we were all getting hungry, and none of us wanted to find another place in MK to eat dinner. Also, the mobs of earlier in the day were actually getting larger! I mentioned that I had heard that the Grand Floridian had a decent dinner buffet and everyone agreed to leave the park, SpectroMagic or not. Joe had wanted my mom to see the monorail and I had never seen the Grand Floridian on the inside so everyone was happy. Also, Joe was feeling a bit lousy and really needed to relax somewhere. We had a long ride on the monorail (technical difficulties in the car ahead of us) and an even longer wait for dinner (over one hour). Me, the walking encyclopedia on WDW, forgot the it was a character buffet...hence the wait. Tony took the beeper and brought my younger kids to the arcade while I, Joe, Mom and Aunty sat in the lobby, listened to Christmas carols, and admired the enormous tree. Oh yeah...Aunty got flirted with quite a bit too! She has one of those jolly faces that people can't help but smile at!
The theme of the resorts this year (maybe every year?) was gingerbread houses and the GF had a gingerbread CAROUSEL, complete with horses, saddles, the works! What an incredible work of art! It was around 7 feet tall and I don't know how wide....smelled delicious too! We had a great dinner, got pictures with Minnie and Mickey, and took a taxi back to the DVC (OKWR) where I called in the doctor who gave Joe medication for strep throat. I still felt lucky...an illness that you could treat with antibiotics! Could have been worse... Also, with any other child, this could have been a disaster. Joe, not wanting to ruin anyone's good time, never complained, followed us everywhere, and generally kept hidden how miserable he really felt.
The next day was technically our last as Monday we would only pack up and depart. We had breakfast and gave the kids a chance to swim (still sunny and in the 80's!) before we headed over to the Disney Village Marketplace to do our souvenir shopping. I was getting spoiled sitting outside on our porch in the morning with Mom and Aunty, drinking coffee and sharing breakfast with the ducks. Maybe my tastes are simple, but I don't think it gets much better than this... After shopping at Mickey's Character Shop, waiting for the kids to have caricatures done (what's getting to be an expensive ritual), and getting a bite to eat at Goofy's Grill (decent burgers) we dropped off all our purchases back at the DVC (OKWR) and just made the bus over to MGM. (Something that we weren't aware of initially is that all the buses can be lowered for the handicapped making the distance between that last step and the ground much closer.) We had finally convinced Aunty to take a turn in the wheelchair to rest her feet so Mom and Aunty switched off for most of this visit. The crowds, being a Sunday, were quite a bit larger but we got on the Great Movie Ride again without too long a wait. This time we were seated in the second car so were able to see the gangster shootout rather than the western one. I was excited to be able to show them both versions until I found out later that they didn't notice the difference! Oh well....
We then saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and I remembered how much I had enjoyed this in the past. They got a kick out of going under water and getting all windy and wet. Afterwards we saw the Monster Sound Show and, sure enough, there was Tony on stage doing the growling voice of Martin Short. He did a great job and had the whole audience laughing. Star Tours was next, something none of us will ever tire of. All of us except Mom and Aunty went on but we were brought to the handicapped entrance so that we could leave the Mom, Aunty and the wheelchair inside. The CM's still amaze me with their thoughtfulness.
After stopping to get Joe a bit of food to eat with his medication, and luckily finally finding a Cinderella doll for Aunty to take back to her godchild, Lights, Camera, Christmas! was our next stop. The Residential Street portion of the Backstage Studio Tour is totally decked out in over 2 million lights and you stroll along at your leisure. I actually got dizzy from trying to look in so many places at once - it was spectacular! My Christmas tree sure looked boring upon our return home! Something that I found especially nice was that it still maintains the feel of a real "home town" light display. It doesn't have the glitz and glamour of what you would normally find at Disney and that only added to its charm. Of course, no "home town" that I know of does anything like this.... I'd love to know what, if anything, was changed from what the Osborne family originally brought over. On the way out of the park, we made reservations from a pay phone for the buffet dinner at the Beach Club's Cape May Cafe and headed over to the boat dock. After a long wait, they piled ALL of us into the boat (standing room only) for the ride over. The driver had us all singing Christmas carols at the top of our voices before we docked at the Y&B Club! It was really a nice way to spend our last evening at WDW. The buffet was good (we had eaten there 3 or 4 times before) but after the buffet at the GF, we weren't quite as impressed with the food as on previous visits. It's so easy to get spoiled.... We were all too exhausted for two buses back to the DVC (OKWR) so sprung for another taxi. $6.50 and well worth it.
That's it...the next morning was taken up with breakfast, last minute packing, and the ride to the airport. The flight wasn't half as stressful as the one before. Mom actually dared once to look out the window, even if it was from the center seat! We had a limo waiting to pick us up at Logan (a surprise for Mom who always wanted to ride in one) and we got home just a day before Boston's major northeaster. It's still snowing and we've gotten 10 inches already. That's not including the snow from the two storms that arrived while we were in Florida!
I hope that somewhere Walt knows what happiness he's brought to two lovely elderly women who learned again to giggle like children, to take risks, and to explore. And the joy that this trip has brought to me, their daughter and niece, just to see the twinkle in their eyes and hear the laughter in their voices.
But wait a minute....are they going to bug me every year to go again???
If anyone has comments or opinions or would just like to share thoughts on Disney World, my address is Dsar@aol.com
Thanks for reading!
Dotti Saroufim
Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
Resort: Old Key West Resort
Accommodations: 2 Bedroom Vacation Home
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult, Senior
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, Rookie, DVC Member
Comments: Dotti and her family stayed at Old Key West Resort. Dotti's mom and aunt joined them on the trip, so this report provides a good deal of information on travelling with folks with disabilities. Another great aspect of this report is the Christmas Holiday goings-on in the parks that Dotti describes with such flair.
Thanks to the inspiration of Brian Bennett (DVClubber), Rich Pearlstein (RichPearl) and many others and due to my obsessive need to talk about Disney incessantly, I have joined the ranks of trip reporters uploading to AOL. This trip report may not give any true expert of WDW one iota of new information, but hour for hour, writing about the parks is cheaper than therapy!
Our trip began on Thursday, December 14, from Logan Airport in Boston. "Our", in this case, refers to me (Dotti - age 41), my husband (Tony - age 42), our three boys (Joseph, Elie and Peter, - ages 13, 9, and 8), my mom (Rita - age 68) and my mom's sister/my aunt (Dot - age 65). This was our fifth trip to WDW (in 3 years!) but was my mom's and aunt's first trip, not only to WDW, but also on an airplane! You can imagine the anticipation (i.e.: terror) that they were feeling as we headed out at 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. flight with only an hour of combined sleep for the both of them. I need to mention that throughout this trip, I had to give my mom and aunt an enormous amount of credit. The farthest that my mom has ever gone was 40 miles, by car, to the beach. She has back, foot, stomach, and heart problems. My aunt has severe arthritis in her knees and problems with her feet. This was, for them, the adventure of a lifetime.
We were greeted at the plane by Barbie, a very good friend and flight attendant for Delta, who I bribed to be on our flight. Her husband had just had gall bladder surgery, but she made a point to be there for my mom and I will eternally owe her for this. She introduced them to the pilot, took pictures of our whole gang in the cockpit, and, once we were in the air, made constant checks on my family to see that they were comfortable. It made an enormous difference, and although it was still a "white-knuckle" affair for my mom, I can only imagine how much worse it could have been. Much to my surprise though, Aunty Dot actually LIKED the flight!
After an uneventful flight, we were greeted by Town and Country with a 15 passenger van to take us to the Disney Vacation Club. I would use them again - very efficient, clean cabs, and the price of $35.00 from the airport was great. We were also greeted with weather in the high 70's. No complaints there after our 14 degree sendoff from Boston! We arrived at the DVC (OKWR) at approximately 11:30 a.m. and, as expected, our room wasn't ready. Since the kids had just been to WDW in August, they wanted to see the room more than anything else (we had gone on the tour before purchasing with only our 13 year old) so this was a big disappointment for them.
We did all our checking-in business and went over to Olivia's for lunch. The service was very friendly and efficient but I felt that the restaurant was quite noisy...maybe due to the high ceilings. I ate the Conch Chowder (very good and considerably different from the clam chowder that we always order in Boston) and also tried the eggrolls. These had a very strong spicy flavor that I wasn't crazy about. I would probably eat there again because of its convenience but not because of the menu.
After lunch, we waited for the bus to Epcot. I had read many messages on the bulletin boards on the inefficiency of DVC (OKWR) buses and was expecting problems, but I must say that I was very pleased with the service. I realize that I was traveling in a very slow period, but all buses arrived within 5 minutes of the posted times and having a bus schedule was great when trying to get 7 people out the door at once! We arrived at Epcot, rented a wheelchair, and off we went to Spaceship Earth. My mom and aunt were truly amazed with what they saw, and luckily, I didn't tell my mom that we were 18 stories high! She could only handle so much adventure in one day!
We went from there to the World of Motion and there, I encountered my first (of few) problems with having slightly handicapped passengers. We were advised by a CM that it would be much easier to leave the wheelchair and walk the few steps to the car of It's Fun to Be Free. The problem is that, unlike Spaceship Earth, the loading belt does not come to a complete stop but only slows down. Although it does slow down to a crawl, it was enough to make my mom panic getting on as she suffers from more than occasional dizziness. After convincing her that she could indeed manage the 2 feet to the moving vehicle she did make it and eventually, after her blood pressure went back down, enjoyed the ride thoroughly. I, on the other hand, kept wondering what other little details I neglected to think about!
After World of Motion, we opted for a stationary show. Because this was only a 4 day trip, I knew that we would be missing a huge chunk of Epcot so I tried to focus on things that they would not only enjoy, but would not traumatize them at the offset. We saw Cranium Command at the Wonders of Life Pavilion and Tony took Joe and Elie onto Body Wars. I decided to skip the Universe of Energy because time was limited and that preshow film is soooo long. We, instead, headed over to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Needless to say, they loved this one. Mom didn't get the mice on her legs as she was in the wheelchair, but since this is one of her biggest (of many) fears, it was probably for the best. I haven't kept up with my CPR classes.... Also, of the three of us sitting in the back row, I was the only one to get sneezed on. Must have been my lucky day.
It was now after 4 p.m. (amazing how much one can pace oneself....) and we headed over to World Showcase. We had 6:15 p.m. dinner reservations at Alfredo's and wanted to catch the American Adventure before dinner. We opted for the Friendship Launch as my aunt's knees and feet were beginning to give out and it was then that I discovered that my mom had NEVER been on a boat in her life. Boy, were we living dangerously! We survived the trip (with moderate dizziness) and walked over to the American Pavilion where Mom and Aunty had their pictures taken with Chip and Dale, Pluto with antlers, Santa Goofy, and Mom got to sit in Santa's lap. We caught the next show of American Adventure (but missed the Voices of Liberty) and got out just in time to make dinner. Mom loved AA, Aunty was a bit bored (only because she doesn't like anything historical) and Tony, since we had seen this numerous times, took a little snooze. I was happy that we got to see it again. The ending always gives me goosebumps.
Alfredo's, for these two elderly Italians, was a great place to eat. They both ordered the manicotti and became very nostalgic with the roving Italian singers as they sang many of my grandmother's (long deceased) favorite songs. We were even treated to a melody by one of the diners who was as good (actually, better) than the performers. It was my grandmother's birthday and this dinner seemed a fitting tribute to a kind little Italian lady who always dreamed of flying back to Italy. Actually, her desire to travel gave both my mom and aunt some of the courage that they needed to make this trip. Thank you, Nana!
We left Alfredo's and found the l-o-n-g line for the Candlelight Processional. Since my aunt couldn't stand for a long period of time, she found a bench by the railing to wait out IllumiNations and my mom joined her while we opted for the CP. What seemed like thousands of people actually only filled three fourths of the America Gardens Theatre and after we were seated, we realized that Mom and Aunty would most likely enjoy this even more than IllumiNations. Tony ran back and convinced them to give up their seat and join us. It was a wise decision, as this show, with its 450-voice choir and 50-piece orchestra, was very moving. Billy Dee Williams was the guest narrator and did a wonderful job. I saw my mom wiping her eyes more than once. Tony escaped a few minutes before the end and saved the same seat by the railing for my aunt to watch IllumiNations - our luck was holding out. The Holiday IllumiNations was beautiful, but I personally like the regular IllumiNations a little more. I like the loud, patriotic music accompanying the fireworks and the Christmas music that is used just doesn't have the same effect on me. We did enjoy it though and I may have been the only one of 7 who felt that way.
We took a nice slow walk back to the bus and ended our day with the kids going crazy over our two-bedroom unit at the DVC (OKWR). We have spent the past 4 trips cooped up in one hotel room so this was luxury to the extreme! Everything was in order (although, as others have mentioned on the BB's, we also had no potholders!) and having the washer and dryer was such a plus with 7 guests. I did find that the chlorine in the jacuzzi water was extremely strong (it is chlorine, isn't it?) and didn't know if this was normal as this is our first time with a jacuzzi. If anyone knows better, I'd love to hear from you. It was bad enough to make Peter, who is slightly asthmatic, start wheezing. We were all overtired, but once we slept, we slept well.
We awoke on Friday at around 8 a.m. (late for Aunty but the middle of the night for Mom), had breakfast in our room, and headed out to MGM at around 10 a.m. It was, by far, the emptiest I have ever seen this park. Since there was no wait (seriously, NO wait) on the Tower of Terror, Tony and Joe headed over to that (and later told us that they walked right into the lobby) and the rest of us got ice cream and hung out to wait. I know that most people would have split up and done different things but after losing each other in Epcot (a little story that I intentionally omitted), we decided to play it safe.
After they exited, we went straight for the Great Movie Ride. This attraction has a special wheelchair entrance (you still have to work your way through the queue in the outer room) which helped us on a return visit. This time though, there were barely enough people to fill up the two cars. We were in the first car so got to see the old west shootout. Well, Mom and Aunty, two old movie buffs, were enthralled! They had ear to ear grins throughout the attraction and for some time afterwards! Aunty voted this the best attraction in all of WDW.
Next, we decided that we had just enough time before the parade to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I thought that it had a different beginning than the last time but could be wrong. Also, it seems that they only perform one of the two major stunts - either the flipped over jeep or the plane in flames. We got to see the jeep and they promised that the plane would be in a later showing. Is this normal? The show only lasted 30 minutes when I seem to remember it to be 45 minutes so this may be a change that I wasn't aware of.
We left just in time for the Toy Story Parade and got right in front of the wheelchair viewing area. This parade is very colorful, lots of fun, but quite short. I particularly liked the soldiers but wondered if the parade's appeal came from having seen and loved the movie. As with almost everything at WDW, things seem so much more personal and familiar if you carry with you memories from home.
After the parade we went to the 50's Prime Time Cafe for our lunch reservations where we met my cousin from California who was also vacationing at WDW. Everyone thought that it was a hoot to be sent off to the bathroom to wash our hands (and yes, he INSISTED!) and Aunty and Mom were told to get their elbows off the table more than once. Poor Aunty got no dessert because she wouldn't eat her french fries. I've read many so-so reviews on the food there but I personally really like the meatloaf. Everyone was very pleased with the menu and the prices.
After lunch, we headed over to SuperStar Television but missed most of the casting. One of our family has almost always been picked for this show and sure enough, once inside, Tony became part of the cast for Cheers. Funny to live in Boston and have your first visit to Cheers be in Florida.... He did a great job and gave Mom and Aunty a lot more fun then they bargained for! From there, we went to the Backstage Studio Tour (tram only - they weren't up for the walking segment) and got a daytime taste of what Lights, Camera, Christmas! would be like. I made a point to tell everyone that we were coming back on Sunday evening. Luckily my mom didn't have a heart attack in Catastrophe Canyon. She was finding depths of bravery never quite reached before! From there, we went to Muppet Vision 3D which I still enjoy even after the nth visit. The last 3D film my mom saw before WDW was back in the 1940's so all of this newfangled technology constantly amazed her. It was a lot of fun to watch their faces during some of the attractions!
We made the 5:15 p.m. bus back to the DVC (OKWR) to change and relax a bit before leaving for the Jolly Holiday Dinner Show at the Contemporary. I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about this dinner. Even with all my faith in Disney, I had been reading on the BB's about people with seats next to the service entrance, food not as good as in previous years, etc. and was questioning my judgment in paying $56 for a dinner show (remember, there were 7 of us...). Looking back at the whole experience, it was unquestionably the highlight of the entire trip (for me, at least). There are two main stages in the Fantasy Ballroom, a function room the size of Rhode Island. We were seated next to one of these stages, dead center. Not only did most of the action take place directly in front of us but all of the performers paraded right by our table. It was a wonderful show, colorful, sentimental, entertaining, and just plain fun. The food was very good and plentiful and my Mom and Aunty even had a glass of wine - something I haven't seen my mom do in many years! To make the night end perfectly, we were looking to find a taxi and were told that a bus was outside to take us directly to the DVC (OKWR). Such service! We all slept great that night. Of course, the wine helped....
Ahhh, Saturday.... Again the weather was in the low 80's and we had planned to visit Magic Kingdom as it was the first day of the Christmas Parade and the only day so far in December that they would be running SpectroMagic. We planned to leave on the late side since I knew it would be a very long day for Mom and Aunty and also, my cousin was coming over for coffee (and to check out the DVC (OKWR)). The kids went swimming in the morning and for a ride with Tony on the peddle boats. (Actually, Tony went for a ride with them. We are the only ones in our family who don't swim!) I brought along a wheelchair from the DVC (OKWR) as they were kind enough to give us a lock with permission to take it anywhere we liked. I had been renting them at the parks but I didn't think that the MK would have any left by the time we arrived. I knew that the MK would be crowded, being a Saturday and being the day for those two major happenings, but when we arrived at around noon I was simply astounded. I do not like crowds. I do not like constantly counting heads (of my children), being bumped and pushed, running the wheelchair into the back of people's legs (unintentionally, of course)(well, almost always....), and not being able to enjoy my surroundings because my surroundings were only everyone else's backsides. This was really a tough day.
We waited for over an hour in the wheelchair area to see the 3 p.m. Christmas Parade after searching for somewhere to get a hotdog (or anything else to eat) without an hour wait as well. The parade was lovely and I would probably wait again if under the same circumstances but I can honestly say that I'm the only one in my party who would. We went from there to the Haunted Mansion and felt very lucky to be pushing that wheelchair. We were on in under 5 minutes. The only drawback is that they miss the stretching room because the wheelchair entrance is actually the exit for the Doom Buggies. We then found out that Aunty's knees couldn't handle stepping into the boat for the Jungle Cruise so we skipped both that and Pirates of the Caribbean. The Handbook for Guest with Disabilities said that Pirates was extremely hard to disembark from and I didn't want to take chances and ruin the good luck that we had had so far. We learned after Trip #1 to enjoy what we see and don't sweat what we don't see. We went over to It's a Small World and the kids put up with going on again. They realized that they wouldn't be in WDW at all if it wasn't for my wanting to show everything to Mom and Aunty so they didn't DARE complain! The wheelchair wheeled right onto this attraction and they both voted this right up there with The Great Movie Ride.
Our next stop was Tomorrowland but we opted to skip Alien Encounter. I was a little disappointed (we had seen it a few times in August but I thought it would be a howl for them to experience it) but wheelchairs enter with the rest of the mob and the line was over 35 minutes - actually not a long wait but too long for Aunty's knees. I don't find this attraction scary and love the special effects although my eight year old would much rather skip it altogether. It's amazing how extreme the responses are to this attraction. We did see Timekeeper which is one of my particular favorites and now is also theirs. I can't comprehend why so many people pass this one by. I think that it's one of Disney's best. From there, we went to the Carousal of Progress. As you can see, we were going for the least stressful attractions....
At this point it was around 6 p.m., we were all getting hungry, and none of us wanted to find another place in MK to eat dinner. Also, the mobs of earlier in the day were actually getting larger! I mentioned that I had heard that the Grand Floridian had a decent dinner buffet and everyone agreed to leave the park, SpectroMagic or not. Joe had wanted my mom to see the monorail and I had never seen the Grand Floridian on the inside so everyone was happy. Also, Joe was feeling a bit lousy and really needed to relax somewhere. We had a long ride on the monorail (technical difficulties in the car ahead of us) and an even longer wait for dinner (over one hour). Me, the walking encyclopedia on WDW, forgot the it was a character buffet...hence the wait. Tony took the beeper and brought my younger kids to the arcade while I, Joe, Mom and Aunty sat in the lobby, listened to Christmas carols, and admired the enormous tree. Oh yeah...Aunty got flirted with quite a bit too! She has one of those jolly faces that people can't help but smile at!
The theme of the resorts this year (maybe every year?) was gingerbread houses and the GF had a gingerbread CAROUSEL, complete with horses, saddles, the works! What an incredible work of art! It was around 7 feet tall and I don't know how wide....smelled delicious too! We had a great dinner, got pictures with Minnie and Mickey, and took a taxi back to the DVC (OKWR) where I called in the doctor who gave Joe medication for strep throat. I still felt lucky...an illness that you could treat with antibiotics! Could have been worse... Also, with any other child, this could have been a disaster. Joe, not wanting to ruin anyone's good time, never complained, followed us everywhere, and generally kept hidden how miserable he really felt.
The next day was technically our last as Monday we would only pack up and depart. We had breakfast and gave the kids a chance to swim (still sunny and in the 80's!) before we headed over to the Disney Village Marketplace to do our souvenir shopping. I was getting spoiled sitting outside on our porch in the morning with Mom and Aunty, drinking coffee and sharing breakfast with the ducks. Maybe my tastes are simple, but I don't think it gets much better than this... After shopping at Mickey's Character Shop, waiting for the kids to have caricatures done (what's getting to be an expensive ritual), and getting a bite to eat at Goofy's Grill (decent burgers) we dropped off all our purchases back at the DVC (OKWR) and just made the bus over to MGM. (Something that we weren't aware of initially is that all the buses can be lowered for the handicapped making the distance between that last step and the ground much closer.) We had finally convinced Aunty to take a turn in the wheelchair to rest her feet so Mom and Aunty switched off for most of this visit. The crowds, being a Sunday, were quite a bit larger but we got on the Great Movie Ride again without too long a wait. This time we were seated in the second car so were able to see the gangster shootout rather than the western one. I was excited to be able to show them both versions until I found out later that they didn't notice the difference! Oh well....
We then saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and I remembered how much I had enjoyed this in the past. They got a kick out of going under water and getting all windy and wet. Afterwards we saw the Monster Sound Show and, sure enough, there was Tony on stage doing the growling voice of Martin Short. He did a great job and had the whole audience laughing. Star Tours was next, something none of us will ever tire of. All of us except Mom and Aunty went on but we were brought to the handicapped entrance so that we could leave the Mom, Aunty and the wheelchair inside. The CM's still amaze me with their thoughtfulness.
After stopping to get Joe a bit of food to eat with his medication, and luckily finally finding a Cinderella doll for Aunty to take back to her godchild, Lights, Camera, Christmas! was our next stop. The Residential Street portion of the Backstage Studio Tour is totally decked out in over 2 million lights and you stroll along at your leisure. I actually got dizzy from trying to look in so many places at once - it was spectacular! My Christmas tree sure looked boring upon our return home! Something that I found especially nice was that it still maintains the feel of a real "home town" light display. It doesn't have the glitz and glamour of what you would normally find at Disney and that only added to its charm. Of course, no "home town" that I know of does anything like this.... I'd love to know what, if anything, was changed from what the Osborne family originally brought over. On the way out of the park, we made reservations from a pay phone for the buffet dinner at the Beach Club's Cape May Cafe and headed over to the boat dock. After a long wait, they piled ALL of us into the boat (standing room only) for the ride over. The driver had us all singing Christmas carols at the top of our voices before we docked at the Y&B Club! It was really a nice way to spend our last evening at WDW. The buffet was good (we had eaten there 3 or 4 times before) but after the buffet at the GF, we weren't quite as impressed with the food as on previous visits. It's so easy to get spoiled.... We were all too exhausted for two buses back to the DVC (OKWR) so sprung for another taxi. $6.50 and well worth it.
That's it...the next morning was taken up with breakfast, last minute packing, and the ride to the airport. The flight wasn't half as stressful as the one before. Mom actually dared once to look out the window, even if it was from the center seat! We had a limo waiting to pick us up at Logan (a surprise for Mom who always wanted to ride in one) and we got home just a day before Boston's major northeaster. It's still snowing and we've gotten 10 inches already. That's not including the snow from the two storms that arrived while we were in Florida!
I hope that somewhere Walt knows what happiness he's brought to two lovely elderly women who learned again to giggle like children, to take risks, and to explore. And the joy that this trip has brought to me, their daughter and niece, just to see the twinkle in their eyes and hear the laughter in their voices.
But wait a minute....are they going to bug me every year to go again???
If anyone has comments or opinions or would just like to share thoughts on Disney World, my address is Dsar@aol.com
Thanks for reading!
Dotti Saroufim