Time of Year: Winter
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: DL
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Rookie
Comments: Mariah and her Mom (Janice) stayed at Dixie Landings during their trip. This is a very entertaining report...it was Mariah's first trip to WDW and they had a great time. Especially good report for new visitors because it covers some things that us veterans tend to leave out.

January 18-26th, 1997

Hi everyone! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mariah and I am a 21 year old student and part time sales clerk. I would like to welcome you to my trip report. I am hoping to post a portion each day, with each portion encompassing one day. I will admit that it is long, but I wanted to share the wonderful times we had. Skim or skip ahead, I don't mind. I should also warn you that I am relatively new at this posting thing, so if the word wrap is strange or something else doesn't work, I am sorry and if you have any tips on how to remedy this, let me know. You can email me any info or questions at MSwan20@aol.com.

First I want to thank everyone who emailed me with helpful hints. They were all very useful and saved us a lot of trouble. For first-timers who want good information, the Walt Disney World Information Guide is a great place for good tips. Ok, enough chit-chat, here we go. . .

I'm teasing, I need to explain how this all started because I want to keep you tied on-line for as long as possible. No, really, I want to tell you because it is a cool story. It all started when I was a little girl of seven. . . Just kidding! I started reading this newsgroup last June and having never gone to Walt Disney World, would read trip reports and drool over other's wonderful experiences. My mom and I had just gone through two horrible years, with our family falling apart and were very down. I would read trip reports and tell her about them and we would say "someday." Finally I got sick of saying someday. I had mom get a Magic Kingdom Club Discount Guide from her work and I looked through it and told her about the packages and the resorts. We both still said "someday," but I was thinking in the back of my head "now." One night we got home from work and I spontaneously called CRO and asked for rates. Ten minutes later I had booked a 7 night trip. When I got off the phone I told my mom "We're going to Disney World in January." I'll let you figure out her response. That is how this all got started. Now, I'll start the trip report, I promise.

Day One: January 18, 1997

My mom (Janice, 47), and I woke up EARLY to catch our shuttle at 5:45 am. We arrived at LAX and waited until take off. We were seated on the plane and waited some more. We waited about two hours and the plane never took off. Neither of us are very good at flying. Mom is afraid of heights, and I am really attached to the ground and gravity, and my life. Needless to say, when Delta Airlines forced us all off the plane while they fixed an "electrical" problem, we were alarmed. We went to the desk and spoke to Diane, a very nice Delta employee who did her best to explain the problem. Mom got upset and started crying. Again, we don't fly that much, it has been at least five years since either of us has been on a plane and the longest I had ever spent in the air was 45 minutes. Diane explained that everything would be ok. I asked if we could change the day of our return flight to a day later and she made the changes and upgraded us to first class. She also gave us a coupon for a free lunch at the airport. She did a wonderful job of making us feel better and was the nicest person at Delta we dealt with.

While we waited for take off, we called our respective jobs and told them we would need another day off. I then called CRO and asked them to find us somewhere to stay. We ended up booking a junior suite (ooo la la) at Wilderness Lodge for a night. Could we afford it? NO! Did we care? NO! Do we regret it? NEVER!

I am skipping the flight part. We made it safely, that is what matters. We picked up our rental car (scoff if you want, we live in Los Angeles, it's an addiction), and proceeded on our way. Yes, we got lost, it was dark, we were crazy with anticipation, it's a recipe for disaster. We finally made it and were speechless. It was nothing like we had imagined. We pictured driving through the gates and seeing the castle or Spaceship Earth, or the Hollywood Tower Hotel, but all we saw was trees. That was it. Oh, we could see the Marriott, it was quite a moment (I'm all misty just thinking about it). We followed the signs to Dixie Landings, and checked in. We got to our room and were stunned. It was the most non-hotel hotel room I have ever seen. The theming was great. We oohed and awed for a few moments and then ordered pizza for delivery. A little about room location: Parterre Place, second floor, river view. I had never heard anyone mention this building, but we thought it was the most beautiful of the buildings. Of course, everyone loves their building best. It's kind of like school loyalty. After dinner, we went to bed. I had never been so happy in all my life.

Day Two: January 19, 1997

Mickey Mouse woke me up telling me of all the surprises waiting for me and that it was time to go. I was up in a flash and soon mom and I were heading out for the Studios and early morning. We got out to our car and found it covered in frost. FUNNY STORY TIME! Being from sunny California, we had no idea what to do. Mom got a quick lesson in the credit card method of frost scraping from some very nice folks from Philadelphia. We arrived at the Studios and entered. What can I say? Beautiful, stunning, lovely, breathtaking. Hollywood as it should always be. We are both big movie buffs and go to Hollywood and Beverly Hills all the time to look at the stars' homes and imagine what it was like in the thirties and forties. I could write pages on my disgust over the decay of Hollywood. The Studios were wonderful. We spent the whole day saying over and over "I can't believe we're actually here!" It truly is one of the most wonderful feelings. We headed for the Tower of Terror and I said "I am doing this at least once." Mom stayed behind, waiting for my review. Wow! That is my review. Amazing. Chilling. Fun fun fun! Not for mom.

After ToT, we went on the Great Movie Ride. The last time I had been in the real Grauman's Chinese was when Annie came out, so I had no recollection of what this place looked like. It was kind of cool, I felt like I was from some other state and feeling "So, this is Hollywood, huh?" I liked the ride. I was a little weary about the Aliens part, I hate being surprised but grotesque slimy things, but it was ok. I was actually grateful for the cheesiness of this part of the ride. One question, what exactly is the strange smell in Munchkinland? We went on the gangster side, interesting. We liked the degree in which Disney went in order to capture mood. This doesn't always happen at Disneyland. Mom was surprised when she was slimed on the hand during the Alien scene. I was honestly nervous during that. Well done. (Ok, everything there is well done, so unless I say otherwise, I like everything!)

It was time to explore. The park hadn't opened yet, so we took it easy and looked around. We were bitten by the shopping bug and stopped at a souvenir stand. I haven't been a tourist in such a long time, I loved the whole experience. I love Disneyland, but going there all the time does take away the sense of newness. Here everything was new. It didn't matter if the stuff for sale at every store was the same, because I hadn't seen it before. Did we buy? You betcha!

I love the Muppets. Next to Disney, the Muppets are my favorite. I cried the day Jim Henson died. He had such a love of children and fantasy. He was another Disney. MuppetVision 4D was a no-brainer. Mom mentioned several times how she was a little sorry that I had investigated WDW before we left. She worried that I knew too much and there would be no surprises. There were plenty of surprises. I loved the level to which the interaction with the audience was taken to. Sweetums running through the front of the theatre was completely unexpected. Also, this attraction had the best preshow of all the preshows -- AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PRESHOWS! I have a quick question. Are the preshows a combat against the weather? That is what mom and I concluded. WDW has such a glut of guests and the weather goes to such extremes that preshows are a must. We figured that it allowed Disney to keep a large group of people waiting, but entertained, while keeping the outside line short. What is the story on this? Disneyland has hardly any preshows. But I digress, the Muppet preshow was the most entertaining, especially the official preshow sign.

The backstage tram tour was also cool. Mom loved Catastrophe Canyon and we got a great photo. She wanted me to tell you about the air cannons. It seems that they were turned off because it was so cold. We were very grateful this was done as we didn't feel like being a couple of walking popsicles. This is also probably why we got sucha great photo. Boy, without the air cannons there sure is a lot of water, I can't imagine it with the cannons on!

We had lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby. We have eaten at two of the real Brown Derby's, including the original Brown Derby the Florida restaurant is modeled after. We hardly waited and got a great booth right next to the piano. We were told that this was the booth that Lady Diana sat at when she visited. If this is a common line given to guests, DON'T TELL ME. We were so proud of this, please don't burst our bubble. Allow this little fantasy, ok? The piano player came and talked with us through our meal and introduced us to one of the Streetmosphere characters. The day was truly great. Lunch was wonderful and it was nice to get out of the cold. As for the realism of the place, it was pretty much how I remember the Brown Derby's here. It's sad they are all gone.

After lunch we found the park pretty crowded, we went on the Little Mermaid thing (ho-hum) and left. I stopped at Sid Cahuenga's to see if they had any photos of Walt and was told they had sold out of any publicity prints they had, oh well. We left MGM and decided to check out the resorts. We went to the Yacht Club and walked along the waterfront. Mom loves the water, I think she was probably a fish in another life. She practically started drooling when she saw the boats and was doing a little dance when I told her we could rent one for free on the food and fun. We rented a canopy boat and got ready to get in when she asks "We actually get to drive these ourselves?" She drove the whole time and had the time of her life. You all should see the picture, she was so happy. I have heard a lot of complaints about FnF, but it let us do something we would not have been able to afford without, so I think it is great.

We returned to our room and did the postcard thing. I called some friends and gloated about my bravery on ToT. We then realized that we had completely forgotten about a lunch "Priority Seating" (NOT A RESERVATION! :) ) at King Stephan's. I called over to reserve a dinner table and discovered that they were full for the night and were closing down for the week. I had lost my chance, I really wanted to go there. Mom, being the wonderfully flexible soul she is, decided we would take our chances and if we had to wait for King Stephan's, so be it. We went over around 7:00 or 7:30 and were told we would have to wait around 30-45 minutes. We took a seat and the normal lame tourist photos and enjoyed the ambiance. We were seated in 20 minutes and loved this place. Two things about this- first, parties of two seem to have the easiest time getting seated. I suggest that if you are a party of two and can't get priority seating, go anyway, you will wait, but not that long. Second, the Unofficial guide said some really horrible things about this place, but I wanted to go for the ambiance (I really love those Medieval Times, NOT the dinner show place though!). I had prepared mom for really bad Denny's sludge and we were really surprised. It was good. Our waiter was nice, of course this does have to do with the fact that he gave us two King Stephan's mugs for free, the food was yummy, and we had wonderful time. So, you WDW experts, was this a fluke? Is there something we just don't know? Is Sehlinger off his rocker? (Read on later about California Grill, you will probably think I'm the loon)

After dinner we took a little walk around the Magic Kingdom, the park was closed and a few people were still milling around. WAIT! I forgot to tell you about the first moment in the Magic Kingdom, the moment I have waited for over 15 years!

We stepped through the turnstiles and went through the locker area and into Town Square. I held my breath, it was wonderful. I felt like I did the first time I went to Disneyland when I was eight. Everything was sparkly and big. A parade was starting soon and people were lined up on Main Street. I have to get really personal here for a second. One of the reasons I love Disneyland so much is that you can't get alcohol there. My father is an alcoholic, so this meant that when we went there he couldn't drink (yeah, he eventually found the hotel bar), so I associated Disneyland with sobriety. This was that all over again. I was able to forget the horrors of the past two years and just be. Mom and I were just two tourists walking down Main Street for the first time. I was completely consumed in the wonder. I even liked the Castle (more on this later, oh patient reader!). It was another, "I can't believe I am doing this" moment.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and the second I put my head on the pillow I was out. I slept so wonderfully at WDW. I never woke up in the middle of the night, it was always restful, not one nightmare. I went to sleep thinking about what the next day had in store at the Magic Kingdom.

Day Three: January 20, 1997

Magic morning at the Magic Kingdom. It was Martin Luther King day and people for the race were in town. We couldn't park at MK, so we headed to the EPCOT lot. I was so excited about my first official time at the Magic Kingdom. We were ready to explore. We had agreed that I would go on the Astro-Orbiter (mom doesn't like heights) and mom would go on Alien Encounter. Tomorrowland is really great. I can't wait until Disneyland's Tomorrowland gets fixed up. We split up and I went on the Astro-Orbiter. Again I noticed how nice the cast members are. It really is a switch from the cynicism at Disneyland. It is sad when I think about it. Mom was still in AE, so I went on the PeopleMover. I miss the PeopleMover. It is the ride we went on the most through our vacation. I got off the ride and waited. I started wonder what exactly they were doing to the people in AE. She finally came out. She didn't like it much at first. As time went on and she thought about it, she said it was pretty good. I had told her about it before she went on and she said that she could imagine it must be pretty terrifying if you don't know what to expect. I decided to take a pass. I really don't much like dark places and being strapped down while people mess with my mind. Drop me 13 stories in the dark and I cheer, drip water on me and say an alien is going to eat me, and I freak. It makes sense in my twisted world, it really does.

Space Mountain was next. Say what you want, but we like Disneyland's MUCH better. I liked the idea of the individual seating, and it was quite dark, but I like the smoother ride of Disneyland's better. RUDE CM ALERT: after the ride ended and it was time to get out of the cars, my mom had a hard time getting out. Two CM's were standing in the unload area, chatting, and wouldn't help us out. In my wacky logic, this is one of the reasons these guys are there. Last time I checked, it wasn't to discuss the latest weather reports and look at guests who are having trouble as if they were freaks. I made my displeasure known as I loudly said "It wasn't like we could have used any help there guys." We did not pay Space Mountain another visit. I have better things to with my time than to hassle with rude CM's over a ride that is just so-so.

I really wanted to go to Crystal Palace. Not because I am a big character meal fan (I can stop any time I want!), but because it is a replica of a place I have always wanted to visit, but haven't been able to. I talked mom into chancing breakfast there and we headed over. It was a zoo! Way too many kids. Ok, I need to elaborate on my feelings towards children. I love children and believe that anything Disney is first and foremost for kids. I'm a kid myself, just with better table manners. What I cannot stand and will not tolerate are parents who seem to feel that Disney is a big baby-sitter and decide to let their children run amuck. I cannot tell you how many times I saw children stray from their parents and wander away. It was a kidnapper's dream. Anyway, excuse my ranting, just let me give this public service announcement: parents, watch your kids, please!

We got our name on the list and waited. This was the longest wait we had through the whole vacation. Forty minutes went by and I finally gave up when a woman decided it was a good idea to let her kid use me as a step stool. We went to the desk and said that we were leaving. The host told us we were next to go in and we told him to forget it. He directed us to Tony's Town Square as it was the only other place that had table service breakfast. We took his advice and waited some more and had the WORST food! It was really icky. Cardboard mystery food that was supposed to be French toast. Someone was inducted into the clean plate club for finishing everything on her plate, I was stunned. Oh well, she was a stronger woman than I.

We did some other rides and noticed that the park was pretty crowded. I was getting very frustrated with the children and was having a bad hair day. Note to people with wavy hair: that Florida humidity is NOT your friend. I bought a 25th anniversary hat and we discussed our plan of attack. We went up to a very nice CM in Liberty Square and asked about the crowds. She assured us that it would not be this bad in the middle of the week and to definitely give it another try later. We decided to take a quick look at the rest of the park and then evacuate to another section of WDW.

This is when we first encountered them. We had been warned about many of the horrors of WDW, but nothing prepared me for what occurred. It was awful, it was frightening, no it wasn't the Brazilians (I never got what the problem was on this one), no, it was: the SEA GULLS! My goodness, what vermin, and MEAN! I think I actually saw a young three year old whisked away as he desperately tried to protect his churro. I like Alfred Hitchcock movies, but not enough to live in one. Frontierland was no longer a quaint western town, my friends, it had gone to the birds! We finally left the park, unmarked, luckily, and went back over to the Yacht Club.

I had heard good things about Beaches and Cream, so we decided to check it out. It was ok, the hamburgers were a little overcooked. Is this normal, or was it a bad day? Afterwards, we goofed off awhile and went back to the hotel for a rest. That evening, we went to the Marketplace and checked out Rainforest Cafe and World of Disney. Yummy and cool are the respective ratings. A funny thing kept happening to us, CM's kept confiding in us. Our waiter at Rainforest told us that he was sick of waiting tables and was quitting to start his own business designing clothes for golfers. We weren't quite sure why he felt we wanted to know this, my theory was that he figured since we were two women alone, that we must be golf widows. World of Disney was amazing. I want some of those ceiling fixtures for my house. I think they would go great with my Tea Cup patio set. The wonderful evening made up for the somewhat bummer of a day. I also want to suggest taking the boat from Dixie Landings to the Marketplace, it was chilly, but very peaceful. It was just like being on a small boat deep in the swamps, like I have seen in the movies.

Day Four: January 21, 1997 (I am really long-winded, huh?)

We had reservations for a Hidden Treasures tour, so we were off to EPCOT. Breakfast at Fountain View was delicious. I really suggest the Pecan and Cinnamon Croissants, they are ultra-yummy. The tour was delightful. We were the only first timers on the tour. The tour guide was surprised when I told her that we also had reservations for Backstage Magic. She said that was something to be done on the 12th or 20th trip. I know, but rules are meant to be broken. I loved telling people it was our first trip. We got the kind of reaction people get when they have a new baby or are just married. Kind of an "Oooh, are you having a good time? You must see ________ (fill in the blank)". World Showcase was mom's favorite. We have never traveled outside the US, except Canada, so this was like a fantasy trip. I recommend the tour for anyone who hasn't done it. I thought it would be dull, but had a very good time. After the tour we went on American Adventure. The animatronics were stupendous. Mom loved the scene with Washington on the horse, and I marveled at Franklin climbing the stairs and Rosie the Riveter. It was the basic saccharine Disneyized American history, but the animatronics made up for it.

We toured the other countries, went on Maelstrom, and then headed to France for lunch. Another yummy delight. The waiter was even properly rude! He wasn't that bad. I recommend the salmon. Very good, and I don't even like salmon. After lunch we looked at more countries and it was beginning to look like mom was going to set up camp at World Showcase, so I dragged her over to Spaceship Earth. I REALLY liked this. I know it is corny and ultimately, an ad for AT&T, but the atmosphere was great. Michaelangelo was neat and the downward spiral a lot of fun. I went on this again later. Next was Journey Into Imagination. The beginning with the balloon thing was really long and made me nauseous. This one of the rides that was lame, but since we were moving I was cool with it. Mom didn't care for Figment very much, she dubbed him the "purple rat guy." (Figment fans, don't flame me, ok, he is a little geeky looking.) HISTA was our next adventure. I knew about this, but the mice still got me. This was one of the preshows that made me mad. It was a 15 minute commercial for Kodak! Disgusting marketing! I thought the movie was ok, I liked the Muppets better. Maybe I just don't care much for the whole Wayne Salinsky genre. The first movie was good, but I never thought there need to be a whole "Honey" series and rides and direct-to-video line. But, I guess it just isn't my cup of tea. No harm, no foul. Mom also mentioned that only a doofus would give Salinsky an award for anything, thus making the entire presmise rather silly. Still, those mice were cool, so was the snake. We then went to the Universe of Energy and did that. Really strange-there one section of cool animatronics and then a really long movie. I am wondering what the old version was like. Can someone let me know? Thanks! It was funny, though. I kept wondering if Ellen was going to out herself to Bill Nye, boy, that would have been a Disney moment! I liked the ride although I did have some reservations about Exxon giving us a pep talk on sources of energy and trying to find cleaner ways of using fossil fuels. Next I imagined them discussing the do's and don'ts of boat navigation.

It was getting late and we had reservations for Rose and Crown to watch Illuminations, so we headed to England. We had great waterfront seats and could see everything. I had an Irish Coffee, really strong! Illuminations was kind of cheesy. Fantasmic is better. Don't worry, you'll get it. Everything cool we have eventually gets to WDW, but Disneyland always gets cheated out of something. (Ooops! Sometimes I have hard time controlling my West Coast jealousy!) We got another story on a CM. The waiter at R&C told us about living in the Disney facilities with 2 other World Showcase CM's. One from Morocco and the other from Germany. He said that since Morocco was once under German rule, they both knew German and would carry on conversations and he would be totally clueless as to what they were talking about. Interesting. I can just imagine what it must be like to come to WDW from one of the countries. Anyone know? I'd like to know, if you do. What an adventure it must be. It was the end of another wonderful Disney day. Oh yeah, a CM leaked to us that Gloria Estefan was going to be performing the next day. I'm not a big fan, but if I had been, what a stroke of luck. Also, I could swear I saw Mandy Patinkin walk into the R&C Pub. I think I had been in England a little too long, although if anyone asks, I am sticking to my story. We went back to Dixie Landings and to bed for the next day and another try at the Magic Kingdom.

Day Five (NO NOT 5 ALREADY!): January 22, 1997

I was determined to have a good time at the Magic Kingdom this day. I had three goals: rides, a meal at Crystal Palace, and Spectromagic. Let's see how I did. We started the morning off by waiting for the rope to drop at Adventureland. After the initial marathoners got off to their running start, we headed over to Pirates. We were both really curious about this. For those who don't know, there is a bit of controversy going on over at Disneyland because our Pirates is undergoing some updating, in order to clean up some offensive material (I am keeping my own POV out of this). We wanted to see what we had to look forward to. We both liked it. Ours is better, just because we have the drops and it's longer, but it was a new look for PoC. I can live with it. We then went on Jungle Cruise, which I liked a lot better. The jokes were still lame, but I thought the theming was more realistic, especially the interior of the temple. We went on Thunder Mountain, we liked that more than Disneyland's too, although it is very likely that the reason was based solely on the novelty of the ride.

I then sent Mom on the Haunted Mansion to check things out. Yeah, yeah, chuckle, but I was traumatized very early in life at the HM at Disneyland. It took me a good ten years to get through that ride with my eyes open. I got that sucker memorized. I was not about to blindly go on this new one. Mom went ahead while I went on the riverboat with some of the characters, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and those Country Bears, and got some autographs. I had my own big pen and autograph book and just put up with the strange looks from other people who wondered who the oversized kid in line for Pooh was.

Mom came out and gave me the run down and I decided I could handle a go through. I liked the foyer. Very spooky. I liked this one better. I know many people prefer the walk through at Disneyland, but during the summer when it is hot and you are stuck in a huge crowd with someone who decided either that deodorant wasn't necessary or that their after shave/perfume is something the world can't miss, it isn't so great. I made it through unscathed. Note to all you HM fans, there is still room for that 1000th happy haunt.

About this time I decided that we would take another swing at Crystal Palace. We were too late for breakfast, so we waited for lunch and were seated rather quickly. Chaos is a good way to describe it. Any ambiance there might have been was completely obliterated by the loud harangue of screaming children and doting parents. Yes, it is a character lunch and I knew what I was getting myself into. I did get a great photo of mom with Pooh, so it was worth it. The food was, well, I didn't eat much of it. Enough said. One thing, when you are seated at these things, you get the whole spiel about how the characters move around and will get to every table if you are patient. A note to the new: no one pays attention to this. Yes, if you are patient, the characters will get to your table, but so will the entourage of squirmy children and the constant flashes from their parents' cameras.

A funny thing I noticed here: people pose for camcorders. I don't own one, so you will l have to forgive my inability to comprehend this, but people pay an arm and a leg for these things. Why? So they can take moving pictures. They go out and buy these really pricy camcorders and little carry-alls and the cool strappy thing. Then they go to a place like this and here is what happens:

Camera person: Ready?

People and character (standing in a pose, smiling): Ready!

Camera: ok, here we go!

And then the little red button comes on and a couple seconds go by. Maybe, the people will wave. Then the camera goes off and everyone goes back to being natural. And ironically, this is when the real photo ops happen, when the people are acting naturally and not all stiff for the camera. No, I am not being judgemental, I know if I was ever given one of those camcorder things I would be doing the same thing too. It's all part of the fun.

Enough on that place. We then went on the normal stuff. Peter Pan (a little different, but no better than Disneyland), Snow White (I thought it was better), Mr. Toad. Ok, you Toad people, and I have read enough of this newsgroup to know you are out there: why is your hell not hot? Ours is. It's great in the winter, but, well, it's hell in August. Is it the weather? It was such a strange thing to delete. Waiting in line for Toad I saw a family with a girl of about 10 who was clearly a cancer patient. She was having such a wonderful time. I had to put my sunglasses on so no one would see me cry. Sigh, I love Disney. I liked Small World better. If only we could combine the building in Anaheim with the WDW interior. Song's the same though, there is no denying that.

It was Skyway time. WHOEVER DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO TAKE OUT THE SKYWAY AT DISNEYLAND IS A BIG DOOFUS! AND HE OR SHE WILL RUE THE DAY THEY EVER ENCOUNTER ME AND I DISCOVER THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE! It was nice to be on the Skyway again. Got some really great photos. Here is where a camcorder would be useful. Your Submarine lagoon (or whatever it is called, I forget) is beautiful. Very picturesque. I took a zillion pictures of the Astro-Orbiter, it fascinated me. That and the EPCOT ball. I have a ton of photos of that too. You can imagine me showing them to friends back home. "Here is the ball in the morning", "Here is the ball in the morning with the monorail, "Here is Japan, and look, there is the ball in the background". You get the point.

We did the rest of park. Everything I read on this NG about that Take Flight ride was true. What is up with that? It looks like a diorama I did in elementary school. To fix it up they should stick Robin Williams in there, a resource they used in other places to save their butt. We had pretty much done most of the rides, it wasn't a busy day. It was this moment when I discovered the cups. I had not heard about them, there is a series of 6 cups at the MK from the various lands. I decided I must have these. We were on a quest. Between getting the cups and the passport stamped (MK has a 25th Anniversary passport), we were zooming all over the park. Very interesting trying to explain to CM's why I didn't want soda in the cups. It didn't always work and a couple of times I just gave in as they passed me a cup filled with liquid. I drank so much Coke and Sprite, and water, I can adequately tell you that he restrooms at MK are very nice, although few and far between.

Ok, now about the pink castle. I had always imagined my first time at the Magic Kingdom and the first sight of the beautiful blue and gold of Cinderella's Castle. As they say, beggars can't be choosers, so I was fine with the pink castle idea, I didn't even mind it when I first saw it. Then, mom pointed something out. The large inflatable life savers would sway in the wind. I'm not talking about a little wiggle or jiggle, but major wind shear! I can imagine the headlines "Woman crushed by 20 foot stack of life savers!" Hey, that's an oxymoron, "killer life savers." So, take off the inflatable sweets and I'm ok with it (it IS temporary!)

We camped out for Spectromagic. It was nice to take a seat. We took in the ambiance and after a little while the barbershop quartet came out and performed. Very good. The parade finally came along. It was ok. I like the old Main Street Parade at Disneyland much better. I repeat what others have said: I never thought that I would miss the Baroque Hoedown, but the Spectromagic song had me begging for that electron-sonic-musical-sound (something like that). Still, it was glittering lights and you can't go wrong with that.

We discovered that mom's camera wasn't working. The flash was kaput. Luckily, I had a spare disposable flash camera, so we weren't totally out of luck. We got photos of pretty much everything (7 rolls of film!). I recently replaced her camera with a brand-spanking new Advantix Minolta for her birthday. It has a zoom lens that makes noise everytime you turn the camera on, ooooo. . .

We headed back to the hotel and ordered pizza. Again it was pretty good. We went to sleep and rested up for the next day and Backstage Magic!

Day Six: January 23, 1997 (Backstage Magic Tour)

We promised not to ever discuss what we saw on this tour. Ok, other people broke the vow, so I will too. I am getting very talky here and am probably boring you all to death, so I am just going to note what we saw that hasn't been described in other reports of this tour.

At the American Adventure they were doing a test run, so we saw the Animatronics in action. At lunch a funny thing happened. Our Streetmosphere character (I can't believe I forgot her name) mentioned that she was so well known that she was mentioned on the internet. She started talking about how she had heard that she was in Deb's page. I told her that I had read the page and indeed she was mentioned. She was pretty flattered by that. I must say, it was this report that sold me on the tour. I had wanted to do it before, but was worried about the expense, but after reading the report on the WDWIG, I ran to mom with yet another little surprise. And we were kissing our Amex card for the nifty discount we got. The food at Mama Melrose's was really good (we went back for another visit on our own).

Everything else was pretty much the same. An interesting Disney moment was when we were in the shops (I was woozy and nauseous with the fumes most of the time, but still liked it), we were watching the people mold and assemble the character heads when the supervisor for the area says "One of you can try one on, if you want." Our tour guide quickly put an end to that and said "No, we should be moving along". She was a little thrown by the whole thing. She handled it really well, though. She was great. When she told us that she had worked as a character at one time, I was thinking "Great, a captive audience I can ask all of my questions to!" I got my answers. I will not give them away. I promised and don't want any kids who may be reading this to be traumatized. This is also why I am not going to say what we saw in the Utilidor. If you want to know, email me and I will give you all of the gory details. It really is not as scintillating as it sounds. We then watched the parade and had a new appreciation for it. It really is a very silly parade, with the audience members running around acting silly and me thinking how glad I was I wasn't any of them. Stage fright is something I suffer from and can imagine myself falling flat on my face in the middle of Main Street during the Beauty and the Beast table-setting relay. As for the tour, it is a MUST, DO NOT MISS THIS!

After the wonderful tour, we headed back to the hotel and rested until dinner. We had reservations at California Grill. We got to the restaurant and watched the fireworks from the balcony. Wonderful view. We were seated, with a window view and this is when the evening went awry. There was some sort of Disney thing going on. We had the luxury of sitting next to a couple of Disney guys who gave us the most disgusting performance of schmoozing and gluttony for the better part of the evening. Then there was the condescending waiter who seemed to feel that it was his job to talk down to us like we were culture-starved hermits. We then had our $25.00 chicken and $27.00 salmon. My chicken was tasteless and bland and mom's salmon was overcooked and rubbery. Dessert, the geometric chocolate thingy, was blah as well and the only saving grace about it was that is was not served in the overused raspberry sauce.

Ok, here is my tirade on this place. Skip it if you want, if you disagree and want to call me on it, great, I want someone to tell me it isn't always like this. I live in California. I live in Southern California. I come from an entertainment background and have seen some pretty good displays of shmooze. The conduct I saw by many of the Disney people at California Grill was embarrassing. I don't care if they were off-duty. It was plain to see that they wanted people to know they work for the mouse. So, why am I so mad? Here is what I am angry about. My overpriced dinner paid for these guys. They had at least $200.00 in food and drink and did they pay? Uh, no. Did the waiter get a tip? Uh, no. So, next time you think you are overpaying for something with Disney name on it and wonder where the money goes, now you know. It goes to feed and booze corporate execs and middle management who flaunt their positions with no regard for the Disney legacy. I was this close to decking one of them.

As for the food and ambiance, it was a lot of pomp and circumstance for nothing. I have been to restaurants California Grill is trying to emulate and they are a heck of a lot better than this. I guess after all I had heard about this place I was disappointed. Not to mention the fact that it was the most expensive meal during our trip. In other circumstances I would have complained, but by the time the meal was over, I wanted to get the heck out of Dodge.

We took the monorail around and then went back to the serenity of Dixie Landings. I really love that place.

Day Seven (AAAAAA!): January 24, 1997

It was about this time that I heard the clock counting down the remaining time at WDW. Tick, tock, tick, tock. . . I felt like Cinderella. The clock was going t chime soon and I was going to change back into a retail clerk again. I tried to fight that, I still had two full days, right? RIGHT.

Back to MGM. We had only covered about half of the park and I was determined to repeat my triumph on ToT. We arrived and mapped out the show schedule so that we could see as many as possible. I also wanted to check out the Sci-Fi Drive In Restaurant. I should probably mention the weather. When we first arrived in Florida, it was positively frigid. Our first full day didn't get any warmer than 58 degrees. It had steadily warmed up and now was an icky 78 with a lot of humidity. I really don't like humidity and as I have mentioned before, my hair really doesn't like it. So, the morning we found ourselves at MGM and sitting in the Beauty and the Beast theatre was not warm, but the air was sticky and heavy. We watched the Beauty and the Beast show, and were pretty much unimpressed. I had seen the one at Disneyland and remember it making a little more sense, and was luckily devoid of dancing bats (dancing bats?). Also, I watched as one of the doves released at the end baptized an audience member. A special reminder of the Beauty and the Beast show for later, I suppose.

We then headed over to Star Tours. Same as Disneyland, but neato queue area. I also wanted one of those Imperial Walker things. I can just squeeze it in next to my hijacked Skyway pylons. We hadn't eaten, so we had an early lunch at Mama Melrose's. We watched another Backstage Magic tour in action. The woman who was entertaining them noticed us watching yelled over "Relax, I'm not Madonna." She was nice enough to give us a very moving rendition of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." Skip the movie, she's all you need to see. Lunch wasn't as good as the day before, we did get a lot of attention though. I think it had something to do with the fact that we were fighting over the crayons and calling each other names.

After lunch we saw the Making of Evita and the Animation Tour. The Animation Tour was neato. We saw stuff from Hercules and Mulan. Both look very enticing. I will be first in line at these if I'm not peddling pants that day.

Ooo, just watched a report on the stockholder's meeting for Disney. It seems people are not happy about the Ovitz deal and Eisner's salary. Just when I thought there would be some good dissention in the ranks, I see that the stockholders went ahead and approved it anyway. Does the vote mean that much? Any stockholders out there want to clear this up for me? I certainly am inquisitive, huh?

We went to the Sci-Fi place. The shifts were switching over, so the service was not so good. We followed the advice of the Unofficial Guide and just had dessert, we were both glad we did, as we were not very impressed. I went mainly to see the place and was not that impressed on that count either. Mom liked the trailers, she used to watch the late show when she was young and has seen most of the movies featured in the trailers. What they need is the restaurant from Pulp Fiction, Jack Rabbit Slim's, I think that's the name. Now there is a cool place, daddy-o.

I summoned up my bravery and went on ToT again. I left the ride visibly trembling. I liked it, but would like going on it with someone, rather than alone. The Disney head trips worked on me, after listening to the screams coming from ToT all day had me shaking in my boots. I almost backed out, but am glad I perservered. This ride is totally fun. I just wish the drop was first. Get it over with is what I say. Same with Splash Mountain. Are they trying to totally freak me out here?

Mom wanted to see the Hunchback show, so we chose that and the Monster Sound Effects show. We skipped the Indian Jones show, which is ok, I probably would have spent the whole time saying "That is so not Harrison Ford!" Both of the shows were very good. There was a boy on the Sound Effects show who did the voice over for Martin Short who was quite funny. Hunchback was very good. I enjoyed it much better than Disneyland's. The puppetry was inspired and the performers overall were much better. I am glad they chose to skip using a character head on Quasimodo, I can't tell you how this kills the moment at Disneyland's show. In the middle of the show the skies opened up and it poured. Strange Florida weather. Lightning and everything. We get lightning maybe 4-5 times a year in California and it is nothing like what we saw this day.

Not ones to give in to bad weather, we went on the Great Movie Ride again. Munchkinland still smelled. Speaking of smells, the sulphur in Thunder Mountain was really nauseating, I almost lost my cookies -- YUK! It was getting late, so we headed out. Back at the hotel, we realized we hadn't eaten in quite awhile. We also had a bit of money left on Food n Fun, so we made a PS at Alfredo's at EPCOT.

I decided this would be a perfect time to try out the International Gateway shortcut. We parked at the Boardwalk and preceeded to get lost. We were walking around some parking lot when I decided I was totally ignorant of what to do, so I asked a woman who walked by. Yeah, we were walking aimlessly around restricted CM parking. She gave us the right directions and we soon found ourselves at Alfredo's.

Great food. Yummy! Unfortunately, we were seated next to the most obnoxious party of 4-5 families with the most unruly children. They ran around screaming. The youngest girl threw food and silverware on the floor and shrieked every 2-3 minutes. And the parents decided the best policy here was to ignore them.

I must recommend the Tiramisu. It was heavenly and the best dessert we had through the vacation. Mmmmmm. . .

We walked back to the car, it started sprinkling again and World Showcase was empty. It was so peaceful and I really enjoyed that walk. We got on board a boat back to the Boardwalk just as it started to really rain. We went back to Dixie Landings and packed our bags (sob!) to transfer over to Wilderness Lodge the next day.

Day Eight: January 25, 1997

Despite my attempts, I was having difficulty ignoring the dwindling time. Bell services came and picked up our bags to transfer to WL. We went over to WL to check in and had a very nice breakfast at Artist's Point. It was much better than the character meal at Crystal Palace and there was a lot of food! Too much food! We were seated in a corner and a little away from the rest of the restaurant, so we got a nice quiet table from which to view the goings on. I really recommend this character breakfast.

We then went back to EPCOT to finish up. Mom hadn't seen Mexico, China, Morocco, and the France movie. I wanted to go on Horizons and see Spaceship Earth again. The France movie was really beautiful. I want to go there now. I thought it was very tastefully done. They showed the scenery and played some lovely Debussy and other French music and that was it. A couple of famous quotes and let the country speak for itself. I liked China's movie also, but not as much. El Rio del Tiempo was boring and pointless. Whoever designed it just didn't seem to have their heart in it. We didn't make it to Morocco, we ran out of time.

Another downpour caught us offguard. We needed to find shelter and eat an expensive lunch to spend our FnF. Before we left I decided I didn't want to go to Coral Reef because I had a problem with watching fish while eating fish. Well, I am easily swayed and since we had the money to spend and I had heard so much about the food, so we decided to go. We were both glad we did. It was very empty and we got a table right next to the tank. The Cream of Lobster Soup was weird, but everything else was very good and did the trick as far as spending the FnF money. I liked the sea turtle the best and mom kept wanting the sharks to come around. Our waitress told us a very funny story about the turtles during breeding season and how parents explain the amorous turtles and their very public displays of affection.

The rain had slowed up a bit, so we went back to the car and headed off to WL to get our room and dry off. The room was very nice, on the first floor with a view of Discovery Island. We had never stayed in anything close to a suite before, so we were living in luxury. We cleaned up and went back to EPCOT. We had dinner at Au Petit Cafe and I have to say that I was so full, I didn't want to see any more food for a very long time. FnF was good for a first time, so we could try most of the premier restaurants (except Victoria and Alberts), but next time I may skip it. The fun part is cool though and we may get it just for the boats and the hassle free dining. I finished off my passport stamping and we headed off. The passports are good for everyone, not just kids. I met someone from every country. Not all were nice, but most were pretty ok. The guys at Germany were the nicest. We tried to get on Horizons, but got there at 3 minutes after 9:00 and the cast member wouldn't let us in. We had walked all the way from Morocco. Oh, well. I guess this ride isn't going to be around much longer, so what did I miss? I don't know when I will get back to WDW, it will probably be gone by then.

We went back to WL and spent the rest of FnF on breakfast stuff for the next day, since it was not covered on FnF. It took some doing, but we spent it all. Back at out room was a lovely saurprise, our beds were turned down and there were mints on our pillows. We saved them for the next day, as we were stuffed. Bedtime and the realization that we had to go home the next day.

Day Nine: January 26, 1997

This was a really hard day. We bought one day passes to Magic Kingdom and headed over for early morning on the WL ferry. We wandered around, but had a hard time getting into anything. We went on Hall of Presidents and really enjoyed it. It was amazing, how detailed it was. Clinton wiped his nose! Reagan's foot swayed every so often. And I don't know what was so fascinating, but Bush and LBJ just couldn't quit talking it up in back. I could tell Kennedy was getting a little annoyed.

I had been at WDW for a week and had not met Mickey Mouse. Actually, I have NEVER met Mickey Mouse. I think it has something to do with the fact that I can't get within 3 feet of Mickey without crying. When we left the Presidents, I saw Mickey and the gang getting on the riverboat, so we followed them on. Towards the end of the ride, mom and I found ourselves sharing an interior seat with a disabled woman. Mickey came into the cabin and sat with her and started holding her hand and stroking her face. She started crying, I started crying, mom's crying, ugh, it was not what we needed at the particualr moment, but it was beautiful. After the boat ride we walked around a little more and went on the Carousel of Progress, which I liked, but gave mom bad childhood flashbacks. We took a last ride on the WEDWay. Unfortunately, it wasan't getting any easier, we needed to get it over with. We walked out and left. We cried a million times and tried not to attract a lot of atteniton, but it was hard. I am glad we were so upset, though, it meant we had a wonderful time.

So, I'm back home. Am I suffering withdrawl? Golly, yes! It's awful. Worse than Christmas, and you should see me at Christmas. I feel changed. It's strange to thing that something that is basically manufactured and and nothing more than updated stage techniques could have such a profound effect. But it does, everything just seems a little more grainy. It's like watching Star Wars on TV after having seen it on the big screen. Well, I spent nine glorious days on the big screen and am having a little difficulty adjusting to the tv again.

I would book another trip, I want to go for the holidays, but we are really broke. So, here is where a kind sould can help me out. No, I am not going to ask for money. (Remember the Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel start the Ladies Overseas Society? If I could swing it and not get arrested. . .) Anyway, I so loved getting email from all sorts of people. I would love to be able to answer any questions for those going for their first time. I found that I had a ton of questions before I left and had to do quite a bit of research to get them answered and would like to help anyone else who finds themselves in the same situation. I am really conscientious about email and always answer promptly. So, if you have any questions, drop me a line at MSwan20@aol.com.

I have had a ball telling you about my adventures, I am going through a little post-trip report withdrawl. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share and I hope your next trip wonderful and filled with magic and memories.