Trip Reports
04-06-2006, 08:40 AM
Time of Year: Winter
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Dixie Landings, All-Star Sports
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Larry and his party (ten people in all) stayed at Dixie Landings and the All Star Sports Resort during their seven day trip. If you're planning a trip with a large group, this is a great report to read.
Trip Report January 21-27
This a condensed version of a trip report that I hope to flesh out later. Can I say "flesh" on RADP? This is heavy on nuts and bolts/ logistics because a lot of RADP questions revolve around such issues.
Cast of travelers: Larry(me), wife Dee, mother-in-law, Aunt, Uncle, 4 cousins, 1 other. Ages 25-67. 2 rooms at Dixie Landings and 2 rooms at All-Star Sports, 2 rental cars and a variety of interests.
Day 1, January 21:
We arrived at MCO 11:15 from Columbus, Ohio. There was fewer than 40 passengers on the 737 jet. Our one checked bag came onto the conveyor about 2 minutes after we arrived, or so it seemed. While Dee was getting the bag, Larry went to the National car rental desk one level below baggage. One person was in line ahead, and we were loading the car in the garage behind the counter area about 5 minutes later. Since the plane was a few minutes early, went to the United gate at the other side of the airport to meet Aunt and Uncle arriving from Indianapolis. We got there as they were walking out of the jetway and they only had carry-on luggage. Hooray! Out of the airport at about 11:55, we hope this is an omen of smooth sailing for the week!
WRONG...
We motored smoothly along the Greenway and directly to Dixie Landings. I was surprised that there was a manned checkpoint at the front gate at DL. We were asked our business and after the guard checked our name on a computer, we were admitted.
We waited about 20 minutes to talk to a check-in CM at the front desk. mother-in-law had a room reservation, as did we. They couldn't find our reservation. Luckily, we brought our copy of same. The CM took it to a back room where it would be "worked on", while we helped mother-in-law to check in. She was sharing with Aunt and Uncle. The older folks each bought a 4 day park hopper and we bought a 5 day. The desk CM had to keep fiddling with the computer to make our key cards/park passes (all in one now.)She was very frustrated. Total time: about 1.3 hours..sigh... The good news is we get great rooms on the first level of the Parterre Plantation section.
There really isn't enough time for parks by the time we had lunch. We went to the Whispering Canyon restaurant at the Wilderness Lodge for a leisurely lunch, since we had given-up on rushing into the parks this day. First thing I noticed about the 3 60+er's traveling with us: they are not big eaters, so we ordered ala-carte instead of family style. We passed bits around to try several things and everyone seems satisfied. Our Aunt and Uncle have never really seen most of the Disney hotels, so we begin the tour of our favorites. After touring the Wilderness Lodge, our next stop was the Grand Floridian. A large guard shack had construction barricades around it. Many electronic gates at various access locations were in a state of partial assembly. Combined with the gate at Dixie, this started me wondering about new rules regarding "hotel hopping".
Inside the Grand Floridian, we really enjoyed our Aunt's and Uncle's reaction to the splendor. (We've done this several times with traveling companions over the years.) Uncle is a semi-retired florist and he was impressed by the flowers inside the main entrance. He estimated his price on the 5' tall arrangement at about $750. He couldn't resist cleaning and policing the arrangement as we all cringed and waited for security to wrestle him to the ground. It did look better after he worked on it though!
Later, Dee and I took the boat from the hotel to the Marketplace. Since we had 5 day park hoppers, we decided to go into Pleasure Island (at no additional charge.) Even though we had not gone into the parks yet, with the new electronic media there were no problems, (the old system required that you into a park first). Outstanding shows at the Comedy Club and Adventurers Club kind of set us up for a let down on our next two (later in the week ) visits.
Before returning to Dixie Landings, we stopped at the Rainforest Cafe. Since it was after 10:00 P.M., there was no line and we were seated immediately. As per RADP'er recommendations we both had "Monty Python" smoothies. They were excellent. We ordered only appetizers (it was late in the day ) and the waiter was enthusiastic none the less. The pita quesadillas were tangy and tasty.
Day 2, January 22:
Let's go to Disney / MGM Studios! Our spirits always lift when go to our first park on vacation. Hit Star Tours running! 75 degrees and sunshine is a great change for us troglodyte mid-westerners. Since my wife and I visit WDW nearly every year, we were particularly interested in any new attractions that had opened since January of '96. We were blown away by "Hunchback of Notre Dame".
We had made a priority seating arrangement for Mama Melrose's restaurant that morning. I have been anxious to try out this restaurant because it has been usually closed in the low season when we normally visit. I am sad to say it was disappointing. We got an appetizer sampler and shared. The bruschetta couldn't hold a candle to a chain place version (i.e. Pizzeria Uno.) The calamari and mushrooms were O.K. The pizza crust wasn't to my liking- more like a flat-bread crust. My wife thought that the mussels and clams were adequate. The seniors in our group looked for a simple pasta and marinara dish but could only find a $12 all-you-can eat offering which was way more than they wanted.
Most attractions were walk-on or a brief wait while the previous show cycled through. We saw the Evita presentation, which seemed to be mostly a long screener/commercial.
Muppet 3-D remains a favorite as well as Voyage of the Little Mermaid. At The Great Movie Ride a number of guests tried to exit when the saw the line in the pre-show area. The CM's were getting frustrated, but did their best to explain the ride to those who tried to bug out. We five (inc. mother-in-law, Aunt and Uncle returned to the hotel at 2:45 P.M. having experienced the majority of the Studios attractions. Uncle took a nap by the pool while the remained relaxed and freshened up.
After the nice break, we five headed to the Magic Kingdom for SpectroMagic and Fantasy in the Sky. We finally got to see Tinkerbell do the slide for life from the Castle. It was so exciting! I am glad Disney is showing this to the off-season guests. We viewed the fireworks from the walkway between the castle hub and Tommorrowland. This spot made for an unobstructed, close-up experience.
Day 3, January 23:
As we were in a group of 11, consensus must rule. Other than Dee and I, no one else in the group had been to Universal Studios. As this is RADP, I will limit myself to a few comments.
The park was relatively uncrowded and waits were few. The worlds biggest parking garage is slowly eating up part of the old parking area and freeing up room for expansion. It reminds me of Cedar Point's space dilemma here in sunny Ohio. Universal is somewhat land-locked (CP is lake locked) and I wonder if they can stay competitive with WDW long term with such limited space. Basically, they are already going vertical. One definite difference is the quality of the Cast Members. WDW wins hands down.
Dee hated Terminator 3-D, and noted that the ugly theme wouldn't fit well at WDW. I'm not so sure (i.e. Alien Encounter). Jaws was fun and Mother-in-law was concerned about the ominous YOU WILL GET WET warning. Ironically she did not get a drop on her this time. Touring was essentially complete by 2:30 PM. We did skip Murder She Wrote because Dee and I had seen it 2 years ago and both thought it to be very weak.
On our way back to WDW we stopped by a Publix grocery on Sand Lake Road before getting back to I-4 south. The women of the group thought the prices were decent and much better than Goodings. They felt that Publix was similar in price to our mid-western Kroger or Meier. There was also a K-Mart at this plaza.
Uncle got his nap during the shopping and we returned to Dixie Landings. Our second trip to Pleasure Island after a sizable break at the hotel was next. Aunt and M-in-Law also went by boat to the Markeplace independent of Dee and I. Uncle called his oddsmaker for some SuperBowl action. (Just kidding IRS!).
We all agreed that the fast transportation from DL made splitting up the group very easy and pleasant.
Day 4, January 24:
Today our objective is to see more of the MK after our brief sample 2 days earlier. We virtually walked on Splash Mountain after arriving 30 minutes after park opening. The seniors were a little unsure about this ride after looking at the drop and water, but they all gamely went anyway. Cousin (age 26) was also along today and she was ready for some action. I was surprised that the older ones went on the ride, so I guess the moral is don't assume anything. Mother-in-law didn't like getting wet but tolerated the experience well overall. I think she had her head buried somewhere down around her ankles. Dee and Cousin were up front and got pretty blasted but were laughing afterward. I suppose they took some of the laughing place with them.
The crowds seemed moderate-to-light this day and Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion and various Fantasyland attractions flew by. Around 11AM we broached the subject of lunch. Surprisingly, Cousin suggested "a nice sit down place" instead of counter service. Dee and I usually avoid eating in the Magic Kingdom, but we suggested the Liberty Tree Tavern so we could at least use our Magic Kingdom Club Discount. We were caught off guard by how much we liked the place. We were seated after a 2 or 3 minute wait we were seated. The food was good and the wait staff was super attentive. There were some healthy choices and although the prices were a little rich (around $12.00 for a turkey dinner) there was some value. I couldn't tell if my mashed potatoes were "real" or instant.
That big lunch induced some serious drowsiness and after a couple of more attractions we headed by to the hotel by bus.
I believe that taking the bus to the MK is the only way to go . It's much faster than driving.
Later that day we headed over to EPCOT for a couple of attractions and IllumiNations 25. We hit Ellen's energy adventure since this was new to all of us. Overall it was OK, but one of the last screen presentations didn't work properly. Somebody was asleep at the wheel. IllumiNations 25 was excellent. I think that it is an improvement over the old show because the buildings are not emphasized and you can see more of the total show.
Day 5, January 25:
Saturday, January 25, dawned warm but a little more humid than earlier days. Today, all but Aunt and Mother-in-law are going to the race, The Indy 200 at Walt Disney World.
Many folks have complained about the congestion on this day, but for race fans who ride the special buses from resorts, it couldn't be any better. Door to gate service was available and we even got to sit on the bus by departing as little as 1.5 hours before race time. At some races, (non-Disney) many folks spend half a day getting to the track. I would advise non-race goers to stay away from the Magic Kingdom parking lot at all costs.
Central Florida being notorious for lightning storms, we all became nervous when the sky darkened dramatically and the Goodyear Blimp took off. Some race fans listening to radio or scanners advised, "... big storm 10 minutes away...". We new it could get ugly if 45,000 fans all left the track simultaneously. It was, to some extent, because many folks stopped in the relative protection of the grandstand walkways when the deluge began. Our group got separated, but my wife and I had discussed a general plan before the mayhem began.
Having been at the race the previous year, we knew our best bet was to go where the crowd wasn't going. My wife led the cousin across the parking lot to the Polynesian Resort. The got on a monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center and changed Monorails to go to EPCOT. I went directly to the TTC ( a slightly longer run in the rain) and went from there directly to EPCOT. From EPCOT we took buses back to our hotels. I got back in about 35 minutes and some of the others took about 50 minutes. I suspect some folks were still in the parking lots or waiting to get on buses at that time, but that's just a guess.
We were all in various degrees of being drenched. The dryers in the hotel laundry got a good workout. We call the other cousins to arrange a dinner meeting, being glad to hear that everyone mad it out of the track O.K..
When we arrived at the Rainforest Cafe, the other cousin were waiting in a long line to talk to a hostess. My wife was a big hero when she pulled out a go to the head of the line coupon that we had gotten based on tips on the internet. We were seated in 2 or 3 minutes, all eleven of us!
The server was great and was even willing to break up the bill into 4 groups. There was a mandatory service charge of 17% added (due to our large group.) We even tipped a little extra because he served us so well. I had the Rasta Pasta and it was good. Most everyone had a yogurt smoothie and seemed to enjoy them. The portions were large but everyone was hungry and virtually everyone ate an entire entree.
After dinner, the older folks rode the boat back to Dixie Landings, while the rest of us 30-somethings went to Pleasure Island. This was a repeat visit for Larry and Dee, but it was fun sharing the visit with our relatives. The winner of that days face showed up on the central stage for a meet and greet session, which our race nut cousins seemed to enjoy. Overall though, the crowds were surprisingly light. A visit to the Adventurers Club was fun as our relatives looked on with some amazement at the antics of the Cast Members. We went to the Beach Club and enjoyed the standard rock band while we played air hockey and darts. Eventually we all started to run out of gas and headed back to our respective hotels.
Day 6, January 26:
While most of the cousins went into the Disney Parks, Larry, Dee, Aunt, Uncle and Mother-in-law went to Cypress Gardens. This was one of the few requests made by mother-in-law, so in the spirit of cooperation we went.
I was interested in seeing one of the old pre-Disney parks. My wife had been there years before and was not enthusiastic, but kept that to her self. Most of us noticed that Dee and I were some of the few guests under age 60. Since my wife and I are both avid gardeners, I had high hopes that we would enjoy the botanical gardens.
The ice show we first saw was not impressive, as the skaters were limited to an extremely small ice sheet. We did enjoy the walk through butterfly house, since we had brought cameras and got some good close-ups. The swamp garden seemed dated but we had fun in the aviary when a parakeet tried to pull off Dee's shiny ring.
The botanical gardens were interesting, but overall I think most of us would have preferred spending more time at WDW. The attractions at Disney make places like Cypress Gardens seem subdued and a little out-of-date.
Day 7, January 27:
This is return home day. It's always sad when WDW time is up. Since we all had fairly late flights , we need to kill half a day before leaving Orlando. We decided we didn't have quite enough time to justify using up a day of our park passes. Since Dee and I would likely return the following year, we were interested in conserving the remaining admissions. We hit Fantasia Gardens mini-golf to kill time. It was fun, but just not quite different enough to justify the price in our opinion. After that interlude, we had still more time to kill so we headed over to Celebration, Disney's residential development.
Furious housing construction showed us the outlines of a rapidly rising "new town". After having read a bit about this concept of a "new town", I was a bit surprised to see Celebration have such a comparatively conventional look. It did have the single family homes sited close to the street and a most neighborhood commercial center, but seem to be less radical than concepts like Seaside Fl. .
Finally, time to head to the airport. Oh well, we can look forward to next year.
Larry Steiner
lsteiner@bright.net
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Dixie Landings, All-Star Sports
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Larry and his party (ten people in all) stayed at Dixie Landings and the All Star Sports Resort during their seven day trip. If you're planning a trip with a large group, this is a great report to read.
Trip Report January 21-27
This a condensed version of a trip report that I hope to flesh out later. Can I say "flesh" on RADP? This is heavy on nuts and bolts/ logistics because a lot of RADP questions revolve around such issues.
Cast of travelers: Larry(me), wife Dee, mother-in-law, Aunt, Uncle, 4 cousins, 1 other. Ages 25-67. 2 rooms at Dixie Landings and 2 rooms at All-Star Sports, 2 rental cars and a variety of interests.
Day 1, January 21:
We arrived at MCO 11:15 from Columbus, Ohio. There was fewer than 40 passengers on the 737 jet. Our one checked bag came onto the conveyor about 2 minutes after we arrived, or so it seemed. While Dee was getting the bag, Larry went to the National car rental desk one level below baggage. One person was in line ahead, and we were loading the car in the garage behind the counter area about 5 minutes later. Since the plane was a few minutes early, went to the United gate at the other side of the airport to meet Aunt and Uncle arriving from Indianapolis. We got there as they were walking out of the jetway and they only had carry-on luggage. Hooray! Out of the airport at about 11:55, we hope this is an omen of smooth sailing for the week!
WRONG...
We motored smoothly along the Greenway and directly to Dixie Landings. I was surprised that there was a manned checkpoint at the front gate at DL. We were asked our business and after the guard checked our name on a computer, we were admitted.
We waited about 20 minutes to talk to a check-in CM at the front desk. mother-in-law had a room reservation, as did we. They couldn't find our reservation. Luckily, we brought our copy of same. The CM took it to a back room where it would be "worked on", while we helped mother-in-law to check in. She was sharing with Aunt and Uncle. The older folks each bought a 4 day park hopper and we bought a 5 day. The desk CM had to keep fiddling with the computer to make our key cards/park passes (all in one now.)She was very frustrated. Total time: about 1.3 hours..sigh... The good news is we get great rooms on the first level of the Parterre Plantation section.
There really isn't enough time for parks by the time we had lunch. We went to the Whispering Canyon restaurant at the Wilderness Lodge for a leisurely lunch, since we had given-up on rushing into the parks this day. First thing I noticed about the 3 60+er's traveling with us: they are not big eaters, so we ordered ala-carte instead of family style. We passed bits around to try several things and everyone seems satisfied. Our Aunt and Uncle have never really seen most of the Disney hotels, so we begin the tour of our favorites. After touring the Wilderness Lodge, our next stop was the Grand Floridian. A large guard shack had construction barricades around it. Many electronic gates at various access locations were in a state of partial assembly. Combined with the gate at Dixie, this started me wondering about new rules regarding "hotel hopping".
Inside the Grand Floridian, we really enjoyed our Aunt's and Uncle's reaction to the splendor. (We've done this several times with traveling companions over the years.) Uncle is a semi-retired florist and he was impressed by the flowers inside the main entrance. He estimated his price on the 5' tall arrangement at about $750. He couldn't resist cleaning and policing the arrangement as we all cringed and waited for security to wrestle him to the ground. It did look better after he worked on it though!
Later, Dee and I took the boat from the hotel to the Marketplace. Since we had 5 day park hoppers, we decided to go into Pleasure Island (at no additional charge.) Even though we had not gone into the parks yet, with the new electronic media there were no problems, (the old system required that you into a park first). Outstanding shows at the Comedy Club and Adventurers Club kind of set us up for a let down on our next two (later in the week ) visits.
Before returning to Dixie Landings, we stopped at the Rainforest Cafe. Since it was after 10:00 P.M., there was no line and we were seated immediately. As per RADP'er recommendations we both had "Monty Python" smoothies. They were excellent. We ordered only appetizers (it was late in the day ) and the waiter was enthusiastic none the less. The pita quesadillas were tangy and tasty.
Day 2, January 22:
Let's go to Disney / MGM Studios! Our spirits always lift when go to our first park on vacation. Hit Star Tours running! 75 degrees and sunshine is a great change for us troglodyte mid-westerners. Since my wife and I visit WDW nearly every year, we were particularly interested in any new attractions that had opened since January of '96. We were blown away by "Hunchback of Notre Dame".
We had made a priority seating arrangement for Mama Melrose's restaurant that morning. I have been anxious to try out this restaurant because it has been usually closed in the low season when we normally visit. I am sad to say it was disappointing. We got an appetizer sampler and shared. The bruschetta couldn't hold a candle to a chain place version (i.e. Pizzeria Uno.) The calamari and mushrooms were O.K. The pizza crust wasn't to my liking- more like a flat-bread crust. My wife thought that the mussels and clams were adequate. The seniors in our group looked for a simple pasta and marinara dish but could only find a $12 all-you-can eat offering which was way more than they wanted.
Most attractions were walk-on or a brief wait while the previous show cycled through. We saw the Evita presentation, which seemed to be mostly a long screener/commercial.
Muppet 3-D remains a favorite as well as Voyage of the Little Mermaid. At The Great Movie Ride a number of guests tried to exit when the saw the line in the pre-show area. The CM's were getting frustrated, but did their best to explain the ride to those who tried to bug out. We five (inc. mother-in-law, Aunt and Uncle returned to the hotel at 2:45 P.M. having experienced the majority of the Studios attractions. Uncle took a nap by the pool while the remained relaxed and freshened up.
After the nice break, we five headed to the Magic Kingdom for SpectroMagic and Fantasy in the Sky. We finally got to see Tinkerbell do the slide for life from the Castle. It was so exciting! I am glad Disney is showing this to the off-season guests. We viewed the fireworks from the walkway between the castle hub and Tommorrowland. This spot made for an unobstructed, close-up experience.
Day 3, January 23:
As we were in a group of 11, consensus must rule. Other than Dee and I, no one else in the group had been to Universal Studios. As this is RADP, I will limit myself to a few comments.
The park was relatively uncrowded and waits were few. The worlds biggest parking garage is slowly eating up part of the old parking area and freeing up room for expansion. It reminds me of Cedar Point's space dilemma here in sunny Ohio. Universal is somewhat land-locked (CP is lake locked) and I wonder if they can stay competitive with WDW long term with such limited space. Basically, they are already going vertical. One definite difference is the quality of the Cast Members. WDW wins hands down.
Dee hated Terminator 3-D, and noted that the ugly theme wouldn't fit well at WDW. I'm not so sure (i.e. Alien Encounter). Jaws was fun and Mother-in-law was concerned about the ominous YOU WILL GET WET warning. Ironically she did not get a drop on her this time. Touring was essentially complete by 2:30 PM. We did skip Murder She Wrote because Dee and I had seen it 2 years ago and both thought it to be very weak.
On our way back to WDW we stopped by a Publix grocery on Sand Lake Road before getting back to I-4 south. The women of the group thought the prices were decent and much better than Goodings. They felt that Publix was similar in price to our mid-western Kroger or Meier. There was also a K-Mart at this plaza.
Uncle got his nap during the shopping and we returned to Dixie Landings. Our second trip to Pleasure Island after a sizable break at the hotel was next. Aunt and M-in-Law also went by boat to the Markeplace independent of Dee and I. Uncle called his oddsmaker for some SuperBowl action. (Just kidding IRS!).
We all agreed that the fast transportation from DL made splitting up the group very easy and pleasant.
Day 4, January 24:
Today our objective is to see more of the MK after our brief sample 2 days earlier. We virtually walked on Splash Mountain after arriving 30 minutes after park opening. The seniors were a little unsure about this ride after looking at the drop and water, but they all gamely went anyway. Cousin (age 26) was also along today and she was ready for some action. I was surprised that the older ones went on the ride, so I guess the moral is don't assume anything. Mother-in-law didn't like getting wet but tolerated the experience well overall. I think she had her head buried somewhere down around her ankles. Dee and Cousin were up front and got pretty blasted but were laughing afterward. I suppose they took some of the laughing place with them.
The crowds seemed moderate-to-light this day and Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion and various Fantasyland attractions flew by. Around 11AM we broached the subject of lunch. Surprisingly, Cousin suggested "a nice sit down place" instead of counter service. Dee and I usually avoid eating in the Magic Kingdom, but we suggested the Liberty Tree Tavern so we could at least use our Magic Kingdom Club Discount. We were caught off guard by how much we liked the place. We were seated after a 2 or 3 minute wait we were seated. The food was good and the wait staff was super attentive. There were some healthy choices and although the prices were a little rich (around $12.00 for a turkey dinner) there was some value. I couldn't tell if my mashed potatoes were "real" or instant.
That big lunch induced some serious drowsiness and after a couple of more attractions we headed by to the hotel by bus.
I believe that taking the bus to the MK is the only way to go . It's much faster than driving.
Later that day we headed over to EPCOT for a couple of attractions and IllumiNations 25. We hit Ellen's energy adventure since this was new to all of us. Overall it was OK, but one of the last screen presentations didn't work properly. Somebody was asleep at the wheel. IllumiNations 25 was excellent. I think that it is an improvement over the old show because the buildings are not emphasized and you can see more of the total show.
Day 5, January 25:
Saturday, January 25, dawned warm but a little more humid than earlier days. Today, all but Aunt and Mother-in-law are going to the race, The Indy 200 at Walt Disney World.
Many folks have complained about the congestion on this day, but for race fans who ride the special buses from resorts, it couldn't be any better. Door to gate service was available and we even got to sit on the bus by departing as little as 1.5 hours before race time. At some races, (non-Disney) many folks spend half a day getting to the track. I would advise non-race goers to stay away from the Magic Kingdom parking lot at all costs.
Central Florida being notorious for lightning storms, we all became nervous when the sky darkened dramatically and the Goodyear Blimp took off. Some race fans listening to radio or scanners advised, "... big storm 10 minutes away...". We new it could get ugly if 45,000 fans all left the track simultaneously. It was, to some extent, because many folks stopped in the relative protection of the grandstand walkways when the deluge began. Our group got separated, but my wife and I had discussed a general plan before the mayhem began.
Having been at the race the previous year, we knew our best bet was to go where the crowd wasn't going. My wife led the cousin across the parking lot to the Polynesian Resort. The got on a monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center and changed Monorails to go to EPCOT. I went directly to the TTC ( a slightly longer run in the rain) and went from there directly to EPCOT. From EPCOT we took buses back to our hotels. I got back in about 35 minutes and some of the others took about 50 minutes. I suspect some folks were still in the parking lots or waiting to get on buses at that time, but that's just a guess.
We were all in various degrees of being drenched. The dryers in the hotel laundry got a good workout. We call the other cousins to arrange a dinner meeting, being glad to hear that everyone mad it out of the track O.K..
When we arrived at the Rainforest Cafe, the other cousin were waiting in a long line to talk to a hostess. My wife was a big hero when she pulled out a go to the head of the line coupon that we had gotten based on tips on the internet. We were seated in 2 or 3 minutes, all eleven of us!
The server was great and was even willing to break up the bill into 4 groups. There was a mandatory service charge of 17% added (due to our large group.) We even tipped a little extra because he served us so well. I had the Rasta Pasta and it was good. Most everyone had a yogurt smoothie and seemed to enjoy them. The portions were large but everyone was hungry and virtually everyone ate an entire entree.
After dinner, the older folks rode the boat back to Dixie Landings, while the rest of us 30-somethings went to Pleasure Island. This was a repeat visit for Larry and Dee, but it was fun sharing the visit with our relatives. The winner of that days face showed up on the central stage for a meet and greet session, which our race nut cousins seemed to enjoy. Overall though, the crowds were surprisingly light. A visit to the Adventurers Club was fun as our relatives looked on with some amazement at the antics of the Cast Members. We went to the Beach Club and enjoyed the standard rock band while we played air hockey and darts. Eventually we all started to run out of gas and headed back to our respective hotels.
Day 6, January 26:
While most of the cousins went into the Disney Parks, Larry, Dee, Aunt, Uncle and Mother-in-law went to Cypress Gardens. This was one of the few requests made by mother-in-law, so in the spirit of cooperation we went.
I was interested in seeing one of the old pre-Disney parks. My wife had been there years before and was not enthusiastic, but kept that to her self. Most of us noticed that Dee and I were some of the few guests under age 60. Since my wife and I are both avid gardeners, I had high hopes that we would enjoy the botanical gardens.
The ice show we first saw was not impressive, as the skaters were limited to an extremely small ice sheet. We did enjoy the walk through butterfly house, since we had brought cameras and got some good close-ups. The swamp garden seemed dated but we had fun in the aviary when a parakeet tried to pull off Dee's shiny ring.
The botanical gardens were interesting, but overall I think most of us would have preferred spending more time at WDW. The attractions at Disney make places like Cypress Gardens seem subdued and a little out-of-date.
Day 7, January 27:
This is return home day. It's always sad when WDW time is up. Since we all had fairly late flights , we need to kill half a day before leaving Orlando. We decided we didn't have quite enough time to justify using up a day of our park passes. Since Dee and I would likely return the following year, we were interested in conserving the remaining admissions. We hit Fantasia Gardens mini-golf to kill time. It was fun, but just not quite different enough to justify the price in our opinion. After that interlude, we had still more time to kill so we headed over to Celebration, Disney's residential development.
Furious housing construction showed us the outlines of a rapidly rising "new town". After having read a bit about this concept of a "new town", I was a bit surprised to see Celebration have such a comparatively conventional look. It did have the single family homes sited close to the street and a most neighborhood commercial center, but seem to be less radical than concepts like Seaside Fl. .
Finally, time to head to the airport. Oh well, we can look forward to next year.
Larry Steiner
lsteiner@bright.net