Trip Reports
02-10-2006, 01:27 PM
Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Port Orleans Resort
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Roberta and her husband stayed at Port Orleans on this trip. A rehearsal for IllumiNations 25, the new nighttime show at EPCOT, woke Roberta up around 6:00am one morning during the trip...and she thought that was Disney magic!
349 days and counting. How could the time have passed so fast? And how do you put 349 days of anticipation into an eight day vacation? Read on for the adventures of Virgo10's most excellent Disney World Trip #5 On Tuesday evening, September 10th, I called Delta to confirm our plane reservations. I innocently asked how difficult it would be to extend our trip by one more day. Turns out it was not difficult at all and after 40 minutes on the phone to Delta and WDW our 8 day vacation had increased to 9 days! I figured it would be a nice present as Tuesday the 10th was my birthday.
Went to bed Tuesday night around 11 p.m. even more hyper then usual because of increasing the days. Finally fell asleep around 1 a.m., I think, and woke up at 3 a.m. Caught the bus to Logan Airport in Boston at 5:30 and arrived at the airport around 6:10. Curbside service is still available and at that hour I didn't notice any increase in check-in time. Had the absolutely worst cup of coffee at Starbuck's I've ever had but it sure woke me up!
The plane ride was mostly uneventful with just a small amount of turbulence and a great in-flight movie (Twister). And just like magic, after only 2 hours and 40 minutes we were in beautiful Orlando. Got our luggage. Well not exactly. Got most of our luggage. Arrived at Port Orleans missing one bag. Hubby thought I had it and I thought he had it. So we made an unscheduled trip back to the airport to pick it up.
:(
Driving back from the airport there were very heavy thunderstorms going on and the temperatures were in the upper 80's. Ate dinner at Port Orleans. Went for a walk along the canal behind the hotel and talked about what we would do on Thursday. Went back to the room and watched some TV. Was watching hurricane Fran's approach to New England and hoping it would miss the Boston area as my daughter and mother were there. Fell into an unconcious sleep around 10 pm. Thursday, September 12th dawned partly cloudy with some morning fog.
Used the first of our breakfast coupons from the Fall Fantasy package. I highly recommend getting this. Used probably ¼ of the coupons from the coupon book as well as the breakfast vouchers. You could actually have breakfast with the Disney Characters every day if you wanted to. And then it was off to Typhoon Lagoon!!
You must understand that Typhoon Lagoon is what helped me make it through the worst winter on record last year. Everytime we got another inch of our 107 inches of snow, I would say to myself, "Think about TL and floating around the river". We got there about 5 minutes before the park opened and walked right in. My husband was amazed at the size of the waves so we went in there first. Then after buying a water proof camera, we went into the river and took pictures of ourselves getting drenched by the water fall. Great fun! Went down Gang Plank Falls and then actually took some time to relax. We actually took a nap on the beach.
Reluctantly left TL around 1 p.m. and headed back to PO to change and get ready for EPCOT.
The first thing I noticed at EPCOT was the total lack of lines. Every ride was a walk on. It was fabulous. Saw HISTA. Thought it was good but wished there had been alittle less talk and more 3-D effects. Wandered down to The World Showcase and ended up in England. I've met a great many super nice people on the IRC at a channel called the #pub. Friendly and no foul language or mind games allowed. So I went into the Rose and Crown pub and had a Tennents extra lager and toasted the world in general. As I normally don't drink at all, 1 pint of beer hit me like a hammer and Illuminations was the most vivid I can ever remember. I think I might have been conducting the orchestra at one point but I'm not sure about that. All I remember is that my husband was highly amused at my behavior. LOL!
Got to sleep late on Friday the 13th . Had a 10:45 a.m. seating at Chef Mickey's at the Contempory for breakfast. Took the Monorail to the Grand Floridian and got to ride up front! It was at that point I got my first real look at the Castle. I burst out laughing. It's fabulous!! Listen, if you want to be able to act like a child while you're there then take a hint from the little people. I never saw one child look mad when they saw it or heard them say they didn't like it. The look of wonder in their eyes brought tears to mine.
Breakfast was great with an abundance of characters. While I was at DW I took over 100 pictures and hope to make some of the better ones available in here when I get them back and scan them. Hubby was off to Cape Coral after breakfast to visit friends and do some fishing and I was off to the Magic Kingdom. The lines at Splash and Thunder Mountains were the shortest that I've ever seen. (Toward the end of our stay I actually walked onto both of these rides with absolutely no wait!) Talked to a very nice couple from England while waiting to get on to SM. She had never been on before and was quite nervous about the plunge at the end of the ride. I vowed I'd keep my eyes open as we went down the hill but there was no way when I look out that opening. As usual, I did manage to scream all the way down. Saw the Mickey Mania Parade. ACK! Another one of those songs that you can't get out of your head. Then it was off to the Extra Terrorestrial Alien Encounter. It was OK but I was not really impressed. However I loved The Timekeeper. Robin Williams is a hoot! Went to that several times to try and catch all the jokes. I was glad to see the Wedway back in service. Yes, I know, it's now the TTA but to me it will always be the Wedway , Wabbit! :) It's a family joke.
Friday evening I headed off to MGM to take part in the Friday the 13th Celebration. Apparently everyone within 50 miles decided to do the same thing. The crowds were huge. They had a great DJ there and really LOUD music but you could not move. It had been a really hot day, temperatures in the 90's and high humidity but no thunderstorms. I decided that a nice drink of cold water would taste good. Real water that is, not bottled chlorine. Walked over to Min and Bill's Dockside Diner and there I found the longest line of the entire trip. By the time we got waited on, you were on a first name basis with everyone in the line. The price of water was $2.00. I have absolutely no comment on that!
Soccery in the Sky was excellent. I had only seen this once before and that was 4 years ago. It made it worth the effort to bring my video camera. Although I love to have movies of my trips, I think part of the reason I enjoyed this trip so much is because I wasn't dragging the dang camera around all the time.
It took 1 ½ hours to get home after the fireworks. For the third time in 3 bus rides I encountered a screaming child. Do I feel a thread coming on? This child knew more than her parents as one of the things she kept screaming was "I'm Tired!" Thankfully PO is the first stop back.
Dragged myself to the hotel and was grateful to hear that Hurricane Fran had missed New England.
Got up early on Saturday morning and was doing laundry by 7 a.m. Yuck! Another beautiful day in Florida. Upper 80's, only moderate humidity and no thunderstorms. Had a yummy Mickey waffle for breakfast while the clothes were drying. I was off to Typhoon Lagoon again by 10. Just as I entered the park a Disney guy asked me if I'd be willing to do a survey. Of course I said yes. Just general questions such as how long are you staying, which parks have you been to, which parks will you go to again, etc. At the end, he asked for my name, address and phone number. Wonder why? A free trip maybe?? Probably not. Jumped back in the river and floated around until I felt like the tube was part of my body. I decided to try out some of the tube slides that I'd missed on our first visit. All of them were fun.
Now for a thing NOT to do at Typhoon Lagoon. I wanted to get a really good picture of the wave coming in at the big pool so I sat on the cement. I figured by then the wave wouldn't have enough push to toss me around. Wrong! That thing came in and threw me sideways and I skidded on my left side on the cement. Got up slightly shaken to see 3 lifeguards watching this not 5 feet from me. I said, "Hey guys, that's not a good idea, why didn't you tell me?" I actually threw some water at them. One of them explained that they warn people not to sit there all the time and no one listens. I informed him that I would of! Well I apologized for the water I threw at him and we all laughed. I'm not sure that the scabs I have on my left arm qualify as a souvenir from Disney World but I have them never the less.
Got back to PO around 1:30 and rested for a while. All that water is really relaxing. Took the boat from PO to the Market Place. Nice ride with some interesting views of the golf course and the tree houses. Some 25th Anniversary merchandise is already available. I bought a 25th Anniversary T-shirt among other things. Waited 30 minutes for a table at the Rain Forest Café. Had a salad with chicken that was absolutely delicious and a piece of chocolate Diablo Pie. Damn the calories…full speed ahead! I would give the food a 10. The restaurant itself was very interesting with the animals and thunderstorms but also very noisy. I was pleased with the service and did not feel rushed. After that, I took a bus to the Swan and whatever the heck that other thing is. To me it looks like a Cod! Walk to EPCOT via the Boardwalk. Wished they had done more with that idea. It's like they had this great idea and then just lost their train of thought with it. I could almost see a local amusement park that we had here (Paragon Park) waiting to be reborn. Kiddie rides, a merry go round with brass rings, an old fashion roller coaster and on and on.
Once in EPCOT, I went back to England and watched 2 shows of the British Invasion. They were absolutely fabulous. I ended up sitting next to several people from Massachusetts. We recognized each other from our accents. After that I also caught a performance of Romeo and Edna by the British Players. As Illuminations started I was in front of Italy and during the second half of it I started to walk around EPCOT going towards Mexico. It was fascinating to see the different views while the show was in progress. I highly recommend this but walk fast and watch where you're going.
Decided to give Blizzard Beach a try on Sunday morning although, to a New Englander like myself, the thought of snow is horrifying. I liked the concept more than I thought I would. The ride to the top of the mountain on the chair lift was truly breathtaking. Took the family type raft ride down. I was horrified to see that they were letting VERY young infants go down on that ride. No floatation devices on them…just held by their parents. This is a huge lapse in judgment by Disney and I hope they will change their policy on this before something tragic happens. I thought the kids area was very well done. All the little people seemed to be having a great time.
Left BB around 1 p.m. and went back to PO to change. Then it was back to the Magic Kingdom for some more fun on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. I also took in Snow White, Peter Pan and had one of my longest line waits for Mr. Toad. Snow White's ride needs updating badly but the other 2 were great fun.
We went out for supper at Whispering Canyons at the WL. The food is excellent, especially the fruit cobbler with mounds of vanilla ice cream. The wait staff was in a hilarious mood and we both enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was another beautiful day at Disney with clear skies and 90 degree temperatures.
On Monday, the 16th, we traveled to Sea World. As this is a Disney News Group, I'll sum it up with we had a great time. One point of interest is at Shamu's show they have taught the whales to splash water even farther then they could before. Now the splash line can extend up as far as 10 rows into the top section! (For a pictures of this, Email me) When we returned in the late afternoon, we went to the pool and I had great fun sliding down the PO slide with the four year olds. Also I had my favorite WDW drink. It's served pool side at the PO pool and is called the Serpentine. Kinda like a Strawberry Daiquiri without the liquor. Once again temperatures were in the 90's and no rain. Do Floridians ever get tired of this weather???
It's now Monday, 9/17. Picture this if you can. The woman is sleeping…dreaming Disney dreams…when suddenly there is a tremendous booming sound, which of course fits into her dream. But then there is another and another and the woman thinks, rats, it must be a thunderstorm which means rain. But wait…there's more. Thunderstorms don't usually come with music and she definitely hears music. It was at that point that the woman's eyes flew open and she ran to the door. What is this? Fireworks!! Music!!! At 6:15 a.m.!!!!! Wow, now this is definitely a Disney Moment. She got dressed quickly and went to get coffee. Asked one of the cashiers at the restaurant and he replied, "Didn't you ask for a wake up call?" Actually it was a dress rehearsal for the EPCOT 25th Anniversary. She wandered back to her room with her coffee and sat looking at the frog pond, listening to the birds wake up and smiling.
I got to Splash Mountain as soon as the park opened and there was absolutely no wait! At Thunder Mountain there was about a 5 minute wait. And finally at Splash Mountain, I was able to keep my eyes open! Woo Hoo!!! Of course, I still screamed all the way down. As we walked towards The Time Keeper a show was taking place on the stage in front of the Pink Castle. It was music from all the Disney Movies and extremely well done. We watched that for about a half hour when the sun really started to get to me. Did a few more rides at the MK and then headed for MGM.
MGM was new to my husband and I really enjoyed watching his reactions. The Back Stage tour was much improved. I especially liked when the torpedoes went off!
I continued on to EPCOT just in time to catch Illuminations again. I just love that show.
Wednesday, September 18th dawn sunny and in the 90's again…so what else is new?? As this was my last full day (sob!) at the park, I wildly considered hitting every park. When common sense reasserted itself, I choose to go to my 2 favorite parks and get in some quality time. I arrived at Typhoon Lagoon about 10:15 a.m. and rode around in the river trying to soak up as many memories as possible. After all, these have to last me through another loooong New England winter. Then it was off to the Shark Pool. I took the water proof camera that I'd bought and it performed very well. The pictures were clear and reasonable bright, considering that is was mostly cloudy while I was in the pool. Went down one of the slides again and swam out to meet the big wave too. Then it was one more trip around the park in the river and time to say good bye to Typhoon Lagoon. Laugh if you will, but I had tears in my eyes as I left.
Got back to PO and changed and then went off to EPCOT…getting there about 1:30 p.m. First stop was Innoventions to send Email to some of the people I've met on the IRC. Then, much to my delight, I got to see the new show at The Universe of Energy with Ellen DeGeneres. I really enjoyed it and thought it much improved over the old version. Once again there was a very short wait to get on, less then 10 minutes. Then another delight, Horizons was open and operating. I really love that ride, especially the area with the Omni type screen. Hope Disney has second thoughts about shutting it down. It's one of the rides I never get tired of.
Went into the Body Works next. Thought I'd seen everything in there but this time I found The Cranium Command (a 10+) and "The Making of Me" (very well done).
Next stop was the Journey into Imagination area. On my way over there I found the talking drinking fountains. It was very amusing watching people's reactions to them. I always like to spend a few quiet moments with the fountains at JII. I spent quite a while catching the water as it came out of the fountain.
Began my trek around the World Showcase. Went into Mexico and did El Rio del Tiempo. I still think this is a fun ride and especially like the fireworks at the end. Next I stopped at the American Experience. They had a pre-show performance by a wonderful group of people singing patriot songs arcapella . I exited the show just in time to do the Marcarana one more time. At England I watched the final number of the British Invasion and had one last beer (small) at the Rose and Crown Pub. Walked over to Canada to grab a spot for Illuminations. Out of all the spots I've watched that show, Canada is my favorite. We've always ended our trips to WDW by watching Illuminations and, as I'm sure you can all understand, when the shows over you realized tomorrow I'll be going home. <sob>.
As we began the mass exodus out of EPCOT there were more fireworks being shot off by the fireworks convention people. Gee, I'll have to plan every trip around this group! We could actually see these as well as here them and it was a fun way to exit the park. Don't know whether it was because there were less people there or if Disney finally is getting a handle on the bus situation but most trips out of EPCOT were quick and went smoothly. One interesting note is that one night I believe a security person pulled a woman out of line that cut to the front. If that's what happened all I've got to say is, it's about time! I think they made her wait until the entire line was gone. Good!!
The bus driver we had on the trip back was very funny. He advised us to be careful exiting the bus when it came to a stop as the sidewalks would be moving the same speed as the bus. Also, young children left on the bus will become the sole property of It's a Small World! <G> Got up early Thursday, September 19th. Got breakfast for the last time but didn't have much of an appetite. Settled the bill and went back to the room one last time. Filled out the questionnaire and asked for more 6 a.m. fireworks!
Here are a few interesting tips I picked up while I was there. Most, if not all came from the bus drivers. I would sit in the front of the bus whenever possible in order to get as much info from the drivers as I could.
Disney employs 37 - 45 thousand people with the higher number occurring during the peak times.
The large area of construction near PI will be a year round Canadian Acrobatic Circus.
Another new park is in the works but even the drivers had no details.
Saw the Coronado complex and the huge Disney store which was nearly done. Both are in the PI area
There is an airstrip just outside of the MK. Was used by Walt when WDW was first started. It's still used to train bus drivers and land helicopters.
WDW is approximately 49 square miles. Disney recently bought 5 acres in the Celebration area at a cost of 5.5 million. Due to the price of the surrounding land, Disney is probably through expanding. They recently had to donate 8500 acres back to the state because of taking wet lands.
Saw an area near the MK being worked on. I wonder if it's to be used for the 25th Anniversary TV Special. They were planting palm trees and spreading sand.
Saw the new car racing track. Believe it was located outside the MK.
Absolutely buy the mugs. We used them over and over.
Well this concludes my trip report. I have wanted to live in this area for about 5 years. Yes, I know it's hot there and yes, I realize that moving is difficult. But there comes a time in your life when you're ready to try something new. Before this trip my husband just couldn't see it but two days after we returned he said to me, "Let's start saving"!
So that's where my trip ended and a fabulous beginning started. It's always good to have a dream especially a dream that's a wish your heart makes!
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Port Orleans Resort
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Roberta and her husband stayed at Port Orleans on this trip. A rehearsal for IllumiNations 25, the new nighttime show at EPCOT, woke Roberta up around 6:00am one morning during the trip...and she thought that was Disney magic!
349 days and counting. How could the time have passed so fast? And how do you put 349 days of anticipation into an eight day vacation? Read on for the adventures of Virgo10's most excellent Disney World Trip #5 On Tuesday evening, September 10th, I called Delta to confirm our plane reservations. I innocently asked how difficult it would be to extend our trip by one more day. Turns out it was not difficult at all and after 40 minutes on the phone to Delta and WDW our 8 day vacation had increased to 9 days! I figured it would be a nice present as Tuesday the 10th was my birthday.
Went to bed Tuesday night around 11 p.m. even more hyper then usual because of increasing the days. Finally fell asleep around 1 a.m., I think, and woke up at 3 a.m. Caught the bus to Logan Airport in Boston at 5:30 and arrived at the airport around 6:10. Curbside service is still available and at that hour I didn't notice any increase in check-in time. Had the absolutely worst cup of coffee at Starbuck's I've ever had but it sure woke me up!
The plane ride was mostly uneventful with just a small amount of turbulence and a great in-flight movie (Twister). And just like magic, after only 2 hours and 40 minutes we were in beautiful Orlando. Got our luggage. Well not exactly. Got most of our luggage. Arrived at Port Orleans missing one bag. Hubby thought I had it and I thought he had it. So we made an unscheduled trip back to the airport to pick it up.
:(
Driving back from the airport there were very heavy thunderstorms going on and the temperatures were in the upper 80's. Ate dinner at Port Orleans. Went for a walk along the canal behind the hotel and talked about what we would do on Thursday. Went back to the room and watched some TV. Was watching hurricane Fran's approach to New England and hoping it would miss the Boston area as my daughter and mother were there. Fell into an unconcious sleep around 10 pm. Thursday, September 12th dawned partly cloudy with some morning fog.
Used the first of our breakfast coupons from the Fall Fantasy package. I highly recommend getting this. Used probably ¼ of the coupons from the coupon book as well as the breakfast vouchers. You could actually have breakfast with the Disney Characters every day if you wanted to. And then it was off to Typhoon Lagoon!!
You must understand that Typhoon Lagoon is what helped me make it through the worst winter on record last year. Everytime we got another inch of our 107 inches of snow, I would say to myself, "Think about TL and floating around the river". We got there about 5 minutes before the park opened and walked right in. My husband was amazed at the size of the waves so we went in there first. Then after buying a water proof camera, we went into the river and took pictures of ourselves getting drenched by the water fall. Great fun! Went down Gang Plank Falls and then actually took some time to relax. We actually took a nap on the beach.
Reluctantly left TL around 1 p.m. and headed back to PO to change and get ready for EPCOT.
The first thing I noticed at EPCOT was the total lack of lines. Every ride was a walk on. It was fabulous. Saw HISTA. Thought it was good but wished there had been alittle less talk and more 3-D effects. Wandered down to The World Showcase and ended up in England. I've met a great many super nice people on the IRC at a channel called the #pub. Friendly and no foul language or mind games allowed. So I went into the Rose and Crown pub and had a Tennents extra lager and toasted the world in general. As I normally don't drink at all, 1 pint of beer hit me like a hammer and Illuminations was the most vivid I can ever remember. I think I might have been conducting the orchestra at one point but I'm not sure about that. All I remember is that my husband was highly amused at my behavior. LOL!
Got to sleep late on Friday the 13th . Had a 10:45 a.m. seating at Chef Mickey's at the Contempory for breakfast. Took the Monorail to the Grand Floridian and got to ride up front! It was at that point I got my first real look at the Castle. I burst out laughing. It's fabulous!! Listen, if you want to be able to act like a child while you're there then take a hint from the little people. I never saw one child look mad when they saw it or heard them say they didn't like it. The look of wonder in their eyes brought tears to mine.
Breakfast was great with an abundance of characters. While I was at DW I took over 100 pictures and hope to make some of the better ones available in here when I get them back and scan them. Hubby was off to Cape Coral after breakfast to visit friends and do some fishing and I was off to the Magic Kingdom. The lines at Splash and Thunder Mountains were the shortest that I've ever seen. (Toward the end of our stay I actually walked onto both of these rides with absolutely no wait!) Talked to a very nice couple from England while waiting to get on to SM. She had never been on before and was quite nervous about the plunge at the end of the ride. I vowed I'd keep my eyes open as we went down the hill but there was no way when I look out that opening. As usual, I did manage to scream all the way down. Saw the Mickey Mania Parade. ACK! Another one of those songs that you can't get out of your head. Then it was off to the Extra Terrorestrial Alien Encounter. It was OK but I was not really impressed. However I loved The Timekeeper. Robin Williams is a hoot! Went to that several times to try and catch all the jokes. I was glad to see the Wedway back in service. Yes, I know, it's now the TTA but to me it will always be the Wedway , Wabbit! :) It's a family joke.
Friday evening I headed off to MGM to take part in the Friday the 13th Celebration. Apparently everyone within 50 miles decided to do the same thing. The crowds were huge. They had a great DJ there and really LOUD music but you could not move. It had been a really hot day, temperatures in the 90's and high humidity but no thunderstorms. I decided that a nice drink of cold water would taste good. Real water that is, not bottled chlorine. Walked over to Min and Bill's Dockside Diner and there I found the longest line of the entire trip. By the time we got waited on, you were on a first name basis with everyone in the line. The price of water was $2.00. I have absolutely no comment on that!
Soccery in the Sky was excellent. I had only seen this once before and that was 4 years ago. It made it worth the effort to bring my video camera. Although I love to have movies of my trips, I think part of the reason I enjoyed this trip so much is because I wasn't dragging the dang camera around all the time.
It took 1 ½ hours to get home after the fireworks. For the third time in 3 bus rides I encountered a screaming child. Do I feel a thread coming on? This child knew more than her parents as one of the things she kept screaming was "I'm Tired!" Thankfully PO is the first stop back.
Dragged myself to the hotel and was grateful to hear that Hurricane Fran had missed New England.
Got up early on Saturday morning and was doing laundry by 7 a.m. Yuck! Another beautiful day in Florida. Upper 80's, only moderate humidity and no thunderstorms. Had a yummy Mickey waffle for breakfast while the clothes were drying. I was off to Typhoon Lagoon again by 10. Just as I entered the park a Disney guy asked me if I'd be willing to do a survey. Of course I said yes. Just general questions such as how long are you staying, which parks have you been to, which parks will you go to again, etc. At the end, he asked for my name, address and phone number. Wonder why? A free trip maybe?? Probably not. Jumped back in the river and floated around until I felt like the tube was part of my body. I decided to try out some of the tube slides that I'd missed on our first visit. All of them were fun.
Now for a thing NOT to do at Typhoon Lagoon. I wanted to get a really good picture of the wave coming in at the big pool so I sat on the cement. I figured by then the wave wouldn't have enough push to toss me around. Wrong! That thing came in and threw me sideways and I skidded on my left side on the cement. Got up slightly shaken to see 3 lifeguards watching this not 5 feet from me. I said, "Hey guys, that's not a good idea, why didn't you tell me?" I actually threw some water at them. One of them explained that they warn people not to sit there all the time and no one listens. I informed him that I would of! Well I apologized for the water I threw at him and we all laughed. I'm not sure that the scabs I have on my left arm qualify as a souvenir from Disney World but I have them never the less.
Got back to PO around 1:30 and rested for a while. All that water is really relaxing. Took the boat from PO to the Market Place. Nice ride with some interesting views of the golf course and the tree houses. Some 25th Anniversary merchandise is already available. I bought a 25th Anniversary T-shirt among other things. Waited 30 minutes for a table at the Rain Forest Café. Had a salad with chicken that was absolutely delicious and a piece of chocolate Diablo Pie. Damn the calories…full speed ahead! I would give the food a 10. The restaurant itself was very interesting with the animals and thunderstorms but also very noisy. I was pleased with the service and did not feel rushed. After that, I took a bus to the Swan and whatever the heck that other thing is. To me it looks like a Cod! Walk to EPCOT via the Boardwalk. Wished they had done more with that idea. It's like they had this great idea and then just lost their train of thought with it. I could almost see a local amusement park that we had here (Paragon Park) waiting to be reborn. Kiddie rides, a merry go round with brass rings, an old fashion roller coaster and on and on.
Once in EPCOT, I went back to England and watched 2 shows of the British Invasion. They were absolutely fabulous. I ended up sitting next to several people from Massachusetts. We recognized each other from our accents. After that I also caught a performance of Romeo and Edna by the British Players. As Illuminations started I was in front of Italy and during the second half of it I started to walk around EPCOT going towards Mexico. It was fascinating to see the different views while the show was in progress. I highly recommend this but walk fast and watch where you're going.
Decided to give Blizzard Beach a try on Sunday morning although, to a New Englander like myself, the thought of snow is horrifying. I liked the concept more than I thought I would. The ride to the top of the mountain on the chair lift was truly breathtaking. Took the family type raft ride down. I was horrified to see that they were letting VERY young infants go down on that ride. No floatation devices on them…just held by their parents. This is a huge lapse in judgment by Disney and I hope they will change their policy on this before something tragic happens. I thought the kids area was very well done. All the little people seemed to be having a great time.
Left BB around 1 p.m. and went back to PO to change. Then it was back to the Magic Kingdom for some more fun on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. I also took in Snow White, Peter Pan and had one of my longest line waits for Mr. Toad. Snow White's ride needs updating badly but the other 2 were great fun.
We went out for supper at Whispering Canyons at the WL. The food is excellent, especially the fruit cobbler with mounds of vanilla ice cream. The wait staff was in a hilarious mood and we both enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was another beautiful day at Disney with clear skies and 90 degree temperatures.
On Monday, the 16th, we traveled to Sea World. As this is a Disney News Group, I'll sum it up with we had a great time. One point of interest is at Shamu's show they have taught the whales to splash water even farther then they could before. Now the splash line can extend up as far as 10 rows into the top section! (For a pictures of this, Email me) When we returned in the late afternoon, we went to the pool and I had great fun sliding down the PO slide with the four year olds. Also I had my favorite WDW drink. It's served pool side at the PO pool and is called the Serpentine. Kinda like a Strawberry Daiquiri without the liquor. Once again temperatures were in the 90's and no rain. Do Floridians ever get tired of this weather???
It's now Monday, 9/17. Picture this if you can. The woman is sleeping…dreaming Disney dreams…when suddenly there is a tremendous booming sound, which of course fits into her dream. But then there is another and another and the woman thinks, rats, it must be a thunderstorm which means rain. But wait…there's more. Thunderstorms don't usually come with music and she definitely hears music. It was at that point that the woman's eyes flew open and she ran to the door. What is this? Fireworks!! Music!!! At 6:15 a.m.!!!!! Wow, now this is definitely a Disney Moment. She got dressed quickly and went to get coffee. Asked one of the cashiers at the restaurant and he replied, "Didn't you ask for a wake up call?" Actually it was a dress rehearsal for the EPCOT 25th Anniversary. She wandered back to her room with her coffee and sat looking at the frog pond, listening to the birds wake up and smiling.
I got to Splash Mountain as soon as the park opened and there was absolutely no wait! At Thunder Mountain there was about a 5 minute wait. And finally at Splash Mountain, I was able to keep my eyes open! Woo Hoo!!! Of course, I still screamed all the way down. As we walked towards The Time Keeper a show was taking place on the stage in front of the Pink Castle. It was music from all the Disney Movies and extremely well done. We watched that for about a half hour when the sun really started to get to me. Did a few more rides at the MK and then headed for MGM.
MGM was new to my husband and I really enjoyed watching his reactions. The Back Stage tour was much improved. I especially liked when the torpedoes went off!
I continued on to EPCOT just in time to catch Illuminations again. I just love that show.
Wednesday, September 18th dawn sunny and in the 90's again…so what else is new?? As this was my last full day (sob!) at the park, I wildly considered hitting every park. When common sense reasserted itself, I choose to go to my 2 favorite parks and get in some quality time. I arrived at Typhoon Lagoon about 10:15 a.m. and rode around in the river trying to soak up as many memories as possible. After all, these have to last me through another loooong New England winter. Then it was off to the Shark Pool. I took the water proof camera that I'd bought and it performed very well. The pictures were clear and reasonable bright, considering that is was mostly cloudy while I was in the pool. Went down one of the slides again and swam out to meet the big wave too. Then it was one more trip around the park in the river and time to say good bye to Typhoon Lagoon. Laugh if you will, but I had tears in my eyes as I left.
Got back to PO and changed and then went off to EPCOT…getting there about 1:30 p.m. First stop was Innoventions to send Email to some of the people I've met on the IRC. Then, much to my delight, I got to see the new show at The Universe of Energy with Ellen DeGeneres. I really enjoyed it and thought it much improved over the old version. Once again there was a very short wait to get on, less then 10 minutes. Then another delight, Horizons was open and operating. I really love that ride, especially the area with the Omni type screen. Hope Disney has second thoughts about shutting it down. It's one of the rides I never get tired of.
Went into the Body Works next. Thought I'd seen everything in there but this time I found The Cranium Command (a 10+) and "The Making of Me" (very well done).
Next stop was the Journey into Imagination area. On my way over there I found the talking drinking fountains. It was very amusing watching people's reactions to them. I always like to spend a few quiet moments with the fountains at JII. I spent quite a while catching the water as it came out of the fountain.
Began my trek around the World Showcase. Went into Mexico and did El Rio del Tiempo. I still think this is a fun ride and especially like the fireworks at the end. Next I stopped at the American Experience. They had a pre-show performance by a wonderful group of people singing patriot songs arcapella . I exited the show just in time to do the Marcarana one more time. At England I watched the final number of the British Invasion and had one last beer (small) at the Rose and Crown Pub. Walked over to Canada to grab a spot for Illuminations. Out of all the spots I've watched that show, Canada is my favorite. We've always ended our trips to WDW by watching Illuminations and, as I'm sure you can all understand, when the shows over you realized tomorrow I'll be going home. <sob>.
As we began the mass exodus out of EPCOT there were more fireworks being shot off by the fireworks convention people. Gee, I'll have to plan every trip around this group! We could actually see these as well as here them and it was a fun way to exit the park. Don't know whether it was because there were less people there or if Disney finally is getting a handle on the bus situation but most trips out of EPCOT were quick and went smoothly. One interesting note is that one night I believe a security person pulled a woman out of line that cut to the front. If that's what happened all I've got to say is, it's about time! I think they made her wait until the entire line was gone. Good!!
The bus driver we had on the trip back was very funny. He advised us to be careful exiting the bus when it came to a stop as the sidewalks would be moving the same speed as the bus. Also, young children left on the bus will become the sole property of It's a Small World! <G> Got up early Thursday, September 19th. Got breakfast for the last time but didn't have much of an appetite. Settled the bill and went back to the room one last time. Filled out the questionnaire and asked for more 6 a.m. fireworks!
Here are a few interesting tips I picked up while I was there. Most, if not all came from the bus drivers. I would sit in the front of the bus whenever possible in order to get as much info from the drivers as I could.
Disney employs 37 - 45 thousand people with the higher number occurring during the peak times.
The large area of construction near PI will be a year round Canadian Acrobatic Circus.
Another new park is in the works but even the drivers had no details.
Saw the Coronado complex and the huge Disney store which was nearly done. Both are in the PI area
There is an airstrip just outside of the MK. Was used by Walt when WDW was first started. It's still used to train bus drivers and land helicopters.
WDW is approximately 49 square miles. Disney recently bought 5 acres in the Celebration area at a cost of 5.5 million. Due to the price of the surrounding land, Disney is probably through expanding. They recently had to donate 8500 acres back to the state because of taking wet lands.
Saw an area near the MK being worked on. I wonder if it's to be used for the 25th Anniversary TV Special. They were planting palm trees and spreading sand.
Saw the new car racing track. Believe it was located outside the MK.
Absolutely buy the mugs. We used them over and over.
Well this concludes my trip report. I have wanted to live in this area for about 5 years. Yes, I know it's hot there and yes, I realize that moving is difficult. But there comes a time in your life when you're ready to try something new. Before this trip my husband just couldn't see it but two days after we returned he said to me, "Let's start saving"!
So that's where my trip ended and a fabulous beginning started. It's always good to have a dream especially a dream that's a wish your heart makes!