Trip Reports
01-07-2007, 12:44 PM
The Langley/Zahos/Burton Disney '97 Experience.
The Players:
Me (Andrew Langley), John Barcik (My best friend since 2nd Grade, were both now 30), his wife LaTrece, her parents Tom and Bonnie Zahos, and her sister Nicki, (all the previous live in Norcross/Lilburn GA, suburbs of Atlanta) and Shelly (Tallahassee FL resident, her parents still live in Orlando but will be moving up to Norcross in October).
Pre Trip:
Me, John, LaTrece, and Shelly were on property for 6 days in Sept '95 at the All Star Music and wanted to recreate the experience, but due to the popularity of the WDW 25th anniversary celebration we were shut out of both All Stars and had to move up to the Caribbean Beach Resort. I knew that if we were going to have to upgrade that I wanted to stay at Dixie Landings as I had heard nothing but good things everywhere I looked. After 6 mornings of calling at 7:00am I was able to secure the 3 rooms we needed and we canceled the Tallahassee and Tom had no interest in flying. reservations at CBR and got airline reservation for 5 of us as Shelly lives in I was a little worried when we were making reservations for this trip since all the hotels we asked about were full that the parks would be packed and lines long, but we found just the opposite to be true. One hotel employee said that DL was at 95% capacity and the majority of that was conventioneers.
Day one (Sept 11th):
The gang picked me up at 9:00am and we drove down Highway 85 to Hartsfield Airport for our 11:05am flight. The one hour flight went smooth and Shelly picked us up in her moms van (Thanks Mrs. Burton) and we were at the hotel by 1:00pm. I had heard many good things about Dixie Landings and they were all true. We stayed at the ASM in 95 and saw no other hotels that trip so we really didn't know what to expect. DL is much more "intimate" than the All Star which is more like a moderately landscaped Motel Six. The lush landscaping and atibellum architecture was a big hit with the rest of the party.
We checked in and were placed in 3 consecutive (2 adjoining) rooms on the second floor of Magnolia Terrace, conveniently located next to the Quiet Pool and East Depot bus stop. We ate our first of many meals at the Colonel's Cotton Mill food court and piled into the one room that was ready and freshened up. Tom had yet to arrive (I think he was distracted by all the nudie bars down Highway 75) so we left his room key at the desk and headed out to the Magic Kingdom via the East Depot Bus Stop.
We arrived at the MK at 3:00pm and the "Remember the Magic" parade was just about to start up. We got as far as the Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street before the first float made its way down so we stopped to watch from there. I had never seen a daytime parade in the Magic Kingdom in my 5 previous visits so it was a new experience. After Pumba, Aladdin, and Mickey passed we headed into Tomorrowland and walked onto Space Mountain. Since we walked onto the left side, we had to try the right side to see if was any different. We walked onto the right side and found it to be identical to the left , it just turns right instead of left at the start, which was later confirmed by a CM. Mrs. Zahos and Nicki had no interest in 'throw up' rides so LaTrece took them on the TTA and Dream Flight with no wait.
By this time the other group was waiting at the exit for us so we swapped off and Shelly and I took Latrece onto both sides. Four times on Space in 45 minutes, you can't beat that. The others rode the Astro Orbiter with only a 10 minute wait.
My favorite ride is Splash Mountain so I drug them over to Frontierland and found only a 15 minute wait listed at the entrance. We talked Mrs. Zahos and Nicki into trying it using the old 'Its no worse than the Log ride at Six Flags' ploy. They were both a little nervous, but after the big drop both were laughing till they cried and clapping (but we couldn't get either on it again). By the way we did hear the FSU (Florida State University, Shelly's almamater) from the chipmunk that pops down just after the part where the craters shoot streams of water across your path. The line for Big Thunder was down to the entrance (it was that way the whole trip, they had a very small queue inside the building, making it look much more crowded than it actually was) so we skipped it.
We walked down to Adventureland and checked out some of the shops and noticed the line at the Jungle Cruise was only 10 minutes so we boarded a boat and took off. We had a really good guide who really put some enthusiasm into the spiel. When the boat pulled up he was counting people in line and then counting the bullets in his gun. We have ridden this with jaded guides and it's just torture.
Mrs. Zahos, Nicki, John, and LaTrece wanted to eat and get into their rooms so they headed back to the hotel with a pre arranged meet up time of 7:30 at the exit of Splash Mountain for anyone wanting to watch the SpectroMagic Parade.
The rest of the park was closing at 9:00pm but for some reason the Haunted Mansion was closing at 7:00pm. Shelly and I walked onto the Haunted Mansion and noticed that the hidden Mickey in the dinning room (3 plates on the left end of table) was gone. We did see the hidden Donald in the red velvet chair just past the ballroom.
I couldn't resist the pull of Splash once more and we walked onto it in about 5 minutes. After visiting the Laughing Place we were both a little hungry so we grabbed burgers and fries (Ah sweet delicious fried potato products...) at Pecos Bills (I am a type II diabetic and watch my diet closely at home, but at WDW I eat what ever I want. I mean come on, I'm on vacation. Ice Cream, Fries, Burgers, Candy, and man was it Hell on my body.)
It was getting close to 7:30 so we headed to the Splash exit and it was at that time that Shelly gave out on me. She had to return her moms van and pick up her luggage so she slinked off and I was left to wait for whatever of the party might return for the Parade. About 20 minutes later John and Latrece came back and we staked out a spot across from Pecos Bills for the supposedly 8:00pm Spectromagic. At about 8:40 the parade passed by and we got onto Splash with a 5 minute wait. This ride is best experienced at night, and as an added bonus we got to see most of Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks as we passed around the Mountain. After the big drop we tried to get onto Big Thunder, but it was closed, as was the rest of the park.
Our longest wait of the day was for the bus back to DL. The line was backed up outside the covered queue, but it only took us 20 minutes to get on a bus. We found that Tom had made it in and unpacked so we all set our alarm clocks and headed to bed.
Day Two (Sept 12th): Epcot/Universal
Since most of us had been to WDW before (several times) Shelly, John, and I decided to visit Universal Studios while LaTrece escorted here parents and sister to Epcot. I had intended to get an early start, but it was this time that I realized that there were 7 vastly different forces at work here, and I was only going to have control over mine.
We left for Universal around the 9:00am opening time, but fortunately it didn't hurt us any as we were able to make itthrough the gates b y 9:40am and walk onto Back to The Future. Last trip down (June '97) I got kinda queasy on the Wild Arctic Ride at Sea World so I was a little iffy. It must hav e been a one time thing because none of the motion simulator rides gave me any problems this day. We all enjoyed the ride and thought it was the roughest of all the simulator rides we had ridden (I like the one at Sea World the best, for the scenery mostly, even if a helicopter cant go underwater). The park didn't look that crowded so we abandoned the sheet I had torn out of the Unofficial Guide that morning and continued on around to Jaws. I liked it, but John and Shelly gave it a thumbs down and said that the shark just looked too fake. It was here that we got our first taste of Universal's main effects: Fire and Mist, and man do they get their use out of em.
Earthquake was next on the path so we waited in air-conditioned comfort as we watched the preshow (John and Shelly hailed me as the ultimate line picker as we walked onto everything the entire day. I hated to tell them I didn't know anymore than they did, it was just pure luck). Mildly amusing, but once again it was the same old effects.
I was afraid that ET's line would get out of hand as the day passed so we went off track and walked into the preshow. When they asked for our names I tried to get everyone to say 'Elliot' but no one bit. This ride was horrible. The audio animatronics were just dummies, you could see the track overhead, and ET's home planet looked like Williy Wanka's Chocolate Factory. It was cool to hear ET try and say Shelly though. I knew one of us should have said our name was Elliot.
We backtracked to Kongfrontation and noticed that it has a huge queueing area. Looping outside and then massive inside. All the graffiti on the 'New York' sets looked pretty authentic as I saw several new band logos, but no swear words, so much for authenticity. This ride was flat out pathetic. If we had had to wait any more than the 10 minutes we did we would have been pretty upset.
We wandered around looking for a good place to eat and made it though the Bone Yard (old movie props), the Future Attractions Building (They are building a whole new land with several rollercoasters. That's what this place needs as all their thrill rides are motion simulators. You can only be shaken and stirred so many times before it gets old), and the Jurrasic Park exhibit. We ended up at Melee's Dinner (patterned after the drive in American Graffiti). It was here that our adventure began. An Oriental couple were eating in the booth behind us and as the girl went to take a picture of the male, I noticed I was going to be directly over his left shoulder in the shot, so I made a semi-disgusting face to liven up the shot. Shelly thought I was having some sort of out of body experience but understood when I explained later. By the way the Burgers/Fries were not very good and they only server Pepsi products, on the up side the Xena/Hercules Collectors Cup we got was the comic centerpiece of the day.
We finished lunch just as the Horror Make Up Show was letting in so we jumped in line. This show is the best part of the park. The two people hosting it were very funny and the effects were not so gross as to make you want to throw up, even after eating a bad burger. The audience member they picked for the show was none other than the woman who's picture I had 'livened up' in the Diner. Her name was MyYouMe (That's not how you spell it, but thats how she pronounced it, and I have no idea on the spelling). She was hilarious. When they wanted her to scream they would lift up her Pipi Longstocking pig-tales to heighten the effect. She was a very good sport about the whole thing, but would have nothing to do with the Fly based finale. As we left Shelly had the great idea to get a picture with her and she was delighted to oblige. It was after John snapped the picture that he pointed out the irony of our cultural picture exchange. She had a shot of me and I had one of her.
T2 had about a 30 minute wait till the next show so we took in the Hanna Barbera ride. I had no clue what this was, but it turned out to be ok. It is a theater sized motion simulator. You pick a row and then the row comes alive, shaking and stirring. The wind blowing on your face was a new motion simulator effect for us (the craft you were riding in was supposed to be a space age convertible).
We got out just in time to walk into the T2 preshow. John really liked this one, but Shelly and I were not too big on it. HISTA and the Muppets are much better. Mabey it's the fact that neither of us has seen either of the Terminator movies all the way though, or the lack of comedic elements in the show.
John wanted to do BTTF again so we headed over there and the line was about 10 minutes long. Just as we walked in they decided to open the upper level and we bypassed the line and walked right into a car. It was on this ride that I realized that there were 8 cars, 4 up top & 4 below in the theater at the same time. Weird.
The only thing left that any of us were interested in was the Alfred Hitchcock show and luckily we walked right onto it. The film was just random clips of his movies (Ive only seen a few), but the recreation of the shower scene from Psycho was pretty good. The demonstrations after that were even better. John got his brother a Bates Motel Towel, but they had no key chains. Bummer.
Shelly forced us to walk through Lucy A Tribute because she knew I hated all things Lucy. Boring. It was now 3pm and we had done all we wanted so we returned to the Hotel to meet up with the rest of the party and ate at the Food Court.
It started to rain as we headed out the door for EPCOT and Illuminations 25, but we decided to head on anyway.
Spaceship earth was a walk-on and was enjoyed by all. Honey I Shrunk The Audience was also a walk-on and we made it just in time to see the Pre-Show (True Colors from Kodak) which is my favorite of all Epcot attractions.
I staked out a claim on a spot by the rail close to Canada while the rest of the group went to England. Illuminations 25 was not the greatest. I liked the previous incarnation in '95. Too many fireworks too early, lots of smoke.
The bus ride home was the best of the trip. We had an English bus driver who played a number game with us. Made the trip go by faster. Talkative bus drivers are one of the best parts of the On-Site experience.
Day Three (Sept 13th):
Early entry into the Magic Kingdom was the top priority for today. Unfortunately not for everyone in the group though. Shelly and I got up early and found the rest of the group just stirring as we were ready to go so we decided to meet up at the exit of Space Mountain and we took off. We arrived at the main gate at 7:20 am for the 7:30 am opening. Only about an estimated 1000 people were there at opening and we raced into Tomorrow Land and were on the 3rd car to leave the loading dock on Space Mountain. Only the right side was running on this morning. We hit it again 2 more times and then decided to take a break and do the TTA and keep our eyes open for the rest of the group to show up.
No luck spotting them on the TTA so we sat down on the benches by the Fed Ex sign at the exit to Space Mountain. About 15 minutes later LaTrece, John, and Tom showed up and we hit each side of Space Mountain with no wait. On the second run John held up his video camera for the whole ride. All you can really see is the other cars coming by and hear us screaming and laughing. The final 2 people of the group had yet to show so we took Tom on Alien Encounter. The rest of us had already been on AE several times, and it seems to get less and less scary each time.
Still no luck with the rest of the group so we headed over to Frontier Land and tried to get on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but it was down so we got on Splash Mountain with only a 10 minute wait. The picture turned out pretty good so Shelly got one. By the time we made it back to Tomorrow Land Mrs. Zahos and Nicki were there and we make a b-line to the Tea Cups.
I had never ridden the Tea Cups (I am not too fond of going 'round and 'round and 'round) but Mrs. Zahos and I got in a cup and I held the metal turner and prevented the cup from spinning the entire ride and made it though OK. We kept seeing these Strawberry/Ice cream concoctions and finally found the counter serving them.
Refreshed we continued on through Fantasy Land. Mr. Toad is one of LaTrece's favorites (although I don't know why, its just a carnival fun-house type ride). The wait for this one is always long. We waited 15 minutes and the ride was over like that. Nicki had been chanting the Dumbo mantra for days so the rest of the group got in line for it. Once again my aversion to things that go 'round and 'round and 'round kept me out of it and I got a table in the shade by the ride. About 10 minutes into the 30 minute wait all by Shelly and Nicki gave up and joined me in the shaded comfort. Shelly said she would have abandoned ship also but Nicki wouldn't let her.
Everyone was ready for an air-conditioned attraction so we walked into a showing of The Hall Of Presidents. Afterwards we decided to keep the AC trend going and see the County Bear Jamboree but it was not operating (I asked the attendant if Davey Crocket had shot himself another Bear but she wasn't biting).
Nicki was still spooked from the drop at Splash Mountain on Thursday so she was a little apprehensive about the Pirates of the Caribbean when she heard it was a boat ride. We lied and said that there was no drop and everyone rode with at 10 minute wait. Well the tiny drop got her and she was ready to go back to the hotel after that. Her mom accompanied her while Tom, John, LaTrece, Shelly and I went on Big Thunder with a 20 minute wait. They kept the queue inside the building short and it spilled everyone out to the attendant, making the line look huge.
The head got to us by this time so we boarded the bus back to DL and took in an afternoon in the Quiet Pool by our building.
We all met back up at 6:00pm and went over to the CrossRoads and had dinner at Jungle Jims. Its your standard TJ Applebee's/Chilli's fare at Florida prices. We wanted to shop at the Market Place (Newly renamed Down Town Disney) but the West Side was opening the next day and they were having a press junket and the parking lot was packed as well as trafficy around it. We all headed back to the hotel and decided to hit the Market Place on Sunday.
Day Four (Sept 14th):
We hit early entry for the Disney/MGM Studios, but since no one got up too early we just got the last 30 minutes of it. Also they didn't check if you were a Resort Guest to let you in early. At the MK you pretty much have to ride the bus to the Gate because the Ferry/Express Monorail are not yet operating at the early hour. How do they do it at Epcot/Studios?
The Tower of Terror had a 10 minute wait and was loved by everyone. Since this would be our only day here we rode it again. I got the Mickey Mouse/Tower of Terror T-shirt at the gift shop while the group looked at the photo. The line to purchase it was huge so we skipped it.
The Great Movie Ride had no line so we got on. I got the Cowboy scene for the first time ever. Although an Oriental/Female Cowboy did lessen the effect (she was also very unenthusiastic about the role). Star Tours was next. We got pictures with Chewy and an Ewok outside the ATAT. That was a great Idea they had to put the characters outside.
We finally made it to Muppet Vision 4-D and got to see the entire pre-show before entering the theater. Muppets is my 2nd favorite 3D movie, just behind HISTA and way ahead of T2.
They have really changed the whole Special Effects/Tram/Studio tour thing around since '95. We did the Special Effects-Tram tour. They all laughed at me for getting the 'wet' seat, but LaTrece was the one who got wet from the stream down the seat as everyone was leaning up to keep their butt's dry.
At this point tempers were flaring. I was surprised that we got this far before we were at each others throats. So we enacted the 18 hour Bra plan to lift and SEPARATE. John and I took on the Dalmatians tour with hopes of seeing some of the filming of To the Moon And Back, but only saw them decorating the set, which is more than we have ever seen before.
John and I met up with Shelly/Mrs. Zahos/Nicki and all but John headed back to the Hotel for Lunch. John waited for LaTrece and her dad to finish the Animation tour. They bought the picture the photographers take in front of the TOT at the Dark room and got to the food court just as we were leaving.
Nicki was dying to spend her money so we boarded a bus for the Market Place and took advantage of Johns Magic Kingdom Club Card for 10% off. Man that place was crowded as the West Side was opening up.
Since there is no bus to the MK from the Market Place we had to go back to the hotel to get to the MK for SpectroMagic. As soon as it ended we hopped onto Splash for one last night ride. It was on the return to the hotel that we saw our first and only 'Cattle Car' bus. Epcot and MK closed at the same time so the transportation system was a little overwhelmed. We got on a bus pretty quickly and were back at home by 10:30.
Only one more day left and popular demand was for the MK.
Day Five (Sept 15th):
Due to packing and car swapping we were in no position to take advantage of early entry into the MK so we totally ignored Tomorrow Land and Fantasy Land and went straight to the Country Bears. Everyone loved it. Always a good show.
John, Shelly, and I wanted to hit the Frontier Land Mountains again so the rest of the group started toward MainStreet so Nicki could meet Minnie Mouse and we went on both Splash and Big Thunder in under and hour. I had a disposable underwater camera that I had intended for use at a water park that we never made it to so we took some on the ride pictures on both. The pictures turned out good, especially the part where you come out of the climbing tunnel and start the big drop, good panoramic view of the park. The Big Thunder Pictures are a little blurry as the ride is in motion, but most of them turned out pretty good too. I hope to get them scanned this weekend and post them on my web page: http://www.atl.mindspring.com/~monkyman.
We met up with all but Tom, he had to start the drive back in order to be at work the next day, and visited the 25th Anniversary center to get our lithographs. We met Donald and sat through the Commercial disguised as a movie.
Alas our trip was coming to an end. Nicki wanted to ride the MonoRail all week so we hopped on the Resort MonoRail for a round trip journey. Halfway through the driver offered to let some of us sit up front so Nicki got to ride in the drivers compartment. All the stops made the trip about 30 minutes, but it was Air Conditioned so all were happy.
We boarded the bus back to the hotel only to change over into Shelly's moms van and stopped at the Olive Garden for lunch. We made the Airport in plenty of time and had an uneventful flight home.
Final Thoughts:
I came to the realization that you can not see it all in 5 days, you can't even see half of it. The late rising/splitting up really hurt our touring time, but it kept all of us sane. It still amazes me how much we missed. I made sure that the first timers took in the biggies like Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Splash Mountain but I still feel like we missed a lot.
It was interesting seeing the World through the eyes of first timers, although we did spend a lot of time just looking instead of riding. Tom was amazed at their ability to move people through the attractions with grace and speed. He was also impressed with the way some CM's would play the part of the ride, like at the Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion.
Universal Studios was not very good. All that went agreed that the only redeeming qualities were Back To The Future and possibly the T2 Movie. The fact that they only serve Pepsi products should have clued us into their second rate standings.
Shelly and I had taken in Sea World on our June trip and thought it was a much better value for the dollar, but with only 5 days we had to make choices.
Honey I Shrunk the Audience has the best Movie and the Best Pre-Show of all Epcot Attractions.
I could ride Splash Mountain over and over for the entire vacation and not get bored. John felt the same way about Space Mountain.
Dixie Landing is an incredible value for the dollar. The landscaping is awesome and it was very quiet. Port Orleans' decor made it seem dirty to us.
I am returning to the World in Spring '98 with My family (Sister and her husband/kids, brother and his wife, and our friend Mike and his girlfriend) and will stay at DL again on that trip. Hopefully the Splash Mountain rip off at Sea World will by open by then, as well as the Animal Kingdom. I have given up on Test Track ever opening.
Any questions, comments, etc.: monkyman@atl.mindspring.com
Thanks for reading. Check out my web page : http://www.atl.mindspring.com/~monkyman to see pictures of our '95 trip and hopefully many of the '97 shots in a week or so.
Andrew Langley
monkyman@atl.mindspring.com
The Players:
Me (Andrew Langley), John Barcik (My best friend since 2nd Grade, were both now 30), his wife LaTrece, her parents Tom and Bonnie Zahos, and her sister Nicki, (all the previous live in Norcross/Lilburn GA, suburbs of Atlanta) and Shelly (Tallahassee FL resident, her parents still live in Orlando but will be moving up to Norcross in October).
Pre Trip:
Me, John, LaTrece, and Shelly were on property for 6 days in Sept '95 at the All Star Music and wanted to recreate the experience, but due to the popularity of the WDW 25th anniversary celebration we were shut out of both All Stars and had to move up to the Caribbean Beach Resort. I knew that if we were going to have to upgrade that I wanted to stay at Dixie Landings as I had heard nothing but good things everywhere I looked. After 6 mornings of calling at 7:00am I was able to secure the 3 rooms we needed and we canceled the Tallahassee and Tom had no interest in flying. reservations at CBR and got airline reservation for 5 of us as Shelly lives in I was a little worried when we were making reservations for this trip since all the hotels we asked about were full that the parks would be packed and lines long, but we found just the opposite to be true. One hotel employee said that DL was at 95% capacity and the majority of that was conventioneers.
Day one (Sept 11th):
The gang picked me up at 9:00am and we drove down Highway 85 to Hartsfield Airport for our 11:05am flight. The one hour flight went smooth and Shelly picked us up in her moms van (Thanks Mrs. Burton) and we were at the hotel by 1:00pm. I had heard many good things about Dixie Landings and they were all true. We stayed at the ASM in 95 and saw no other hotels that trip so we really didn't know what to expect. DL is much more "intimate" than the All Star which is more like a moderately landscaped Motel Six. The lush landscaping and atibellum architecture was a big hit with the rest of the party.
We checked in and were placed in 3 consecutive (2 adjoining) rooms on the second floor of Magnolia Terrace, conveniently located next to the Quiet Pool and East Depot bus stop. We ate our first of many meals at the Colonel's Cotton Mill food court and piled into the one room that was ready and freshened up. Tom had yet to arrive (I think he was distracted by all the nudie bars down Highway 75) so we left his room key at the desk and headed out to the Magic Kingdom via the East Depot Bus Stop.
We arrived at the MK at 3:00pm and the "Remember the Magic" parade was just about to start up. We got as far as the Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street before the first float made its way down so we stopped to watch from there. I had never seen a daytime parade in the Magic Kingdom in my 5 previous visits so it was a new experience. After Pumba, Aladdin, and Mickey passed we headed into Tomorrowland and walked onto Space Mountain. Since we walked onto the left side, we had to try the right side to see if was any different. We walked onto the right side and found it to be identical to the left , it just turns right instead of left at the start, which was later confirmed by a CM. Mrs. Zahos and Nicki had no interest in 'throw up' rides so LaTrece took them on the TTA and Dream Flight with no wait.
By this time the other group was waiting at the exit for us so we swapped off and Shelly and I took Latrece onto both sides. Four times on Space in 45 minutes, you can't beat that. The others rode the Astro Orbiter with only a 10 minute wait.
My favorite ride is Splash Mountain so I drug them over to Frontierland and found only a 15 minute wait listed at the entrance. We talked Mrs. Zahos and Nicki into trying it using the old 'Its no worse than the Log ride at Six Flags' ploy. They were both a little nervous, but after the big drop both were laughing till they cried and clapping (but we couldn't get either on it again). By the way we did hear the FSU (Florida State University, Shelly's almamater) from the chipmunk that pops down just after the part where the craters shoot streams of water across your path. The line for Big Thunder was down to the entrance (it was that way the whole trip, they had a very small queue inside the building, making it look much more crowded than it actually was) so we skipped it.
We walked down to Adventureland and checked out some of the shops and noticed the line at the Jungle Cruise was only 10 minutes so we boarded a boat and took off. We had a really good guide who really put some enthusiasm into the spiel. When the boat pulled up he was counting people in line and then counting the bullets in his gun. We have ridden this with jaded guides and it's just torture.
Mrs. Zahos, Nicki, John, and LaTrece wanted to eat and get into their rooms so they headed back to the hotel with a pre arranged meet up time of 7:30 at the exit of Splash Mountain for anyone wanting to watch the SpectroMagic Parade.
The rest of the park was closing at 9:00pm but for some reason the Haunted Mansion was closing at 7:00pm. Shelly and I walked onto the Haunted Mansion and noticed that the hidden Mickey in the dinning room (3 plates on the left end of table) was gone. We did see the hidden Donald in the red velvet chair just past the ballroom.
I couldn't resist the pull of Splash once more and we walked onto it in about 5 minutes. After visiting the Laughing Place we were both a little hungry so we grabbed burgers and fries (Ah sweet delicious fried potato products...) at Pecos Bills (I am a type II diabetic and watch my diet closely at home, but at WDW I eat what ever I want. I mean come on, I'm on vacation. Ice Cream, Fries, Burgers, Candy, and man was it Hell on my body.)
It was getting close to 7:30 so we headed to the Splash exit and it was at that time that Shelly gave out on me. She had to return her moms van and pick up her luggage so she slinked off and I was left to wait for whatever of the party might return for the Parade. About 20 minutes later John and Latrece came back and we staked out a spot across from Pecos Bills for the supposedly 8:00pm Spectromagic. At about 8:40 the parade passed by and we got onto Splash with a 5 minute wait. This ride is best experienced at night, and as an added bonus we got to see most of Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks as we passed around the Mountain. After the big drop we tried to get onto Big Thunder, but it was closed, as was the rest of the park.
Our longest wait of the day was for the bus back to DL. The line was backed up outside the covered queue, but it only took us 20 minutes to get on a bus. We found that Tom had made it in and unpacked so we all set our alarm clocks and headed to bed.
Day Two (Sept 12th): Epcot/Universal
Since most of us had been to WDW before (several times) Shelly, John, and I decided to visit Universal Studios while LaTrece escorted here parents and sister to Epcot. I had intended to get an early start, but it was this time that I realized that there were 7 vastly different forces at work here, and I was only going to have control over mine.
We left for Universal around the 9:00am opening time, but fortunately it didn't hurt us any as we were able to make itthrough the gates b y 9:40am and walk onto Back to The Future. Last trip down (June '97) I got kinda queasy on the Wild Arctic Ride at Sea World so I was a little iffy. It must hav e been a one time thing because none of the motion simulator rides gave me any problems this day. We all enjoyed the ride and thought it was the roughest of all the simulator rides we had ridden (I like the one at Sea World the best, for the scenery mostly, even if a helicopter cant go underwater). The park didn't look that crowded so we abandoned the sheet I had torn out of the Unofficial Guide that morning and continued on around to Jaws. I liked it, but John and Shelly gave it a thumbs down and said that the shark just looked too fake. It was here that we got our first taste of Universal's main effects: Fire and Mist, and man do they get their use out of em.
Earthquake was next on the path so we waited in air-conditioned comfort as we watched the preshow (John and Shelly hailed me as the ultimate line picker as we walked onto everything the entire day. I hated to tell them I didn't know anymore than they did, it was just pure luck). Mildly amusing, but once again it was the same old effects.
I was afraid that ET's line would get out of hand as the day passed so we went off track and walked into the preshow. When they asked for our names I tried to get everyone to say 'Elliot' but no one bit. This ride was horrible. The audio animatronics were just dummies, you could see the track overhead, and ET's home planet looked like Williy Wanka's Chocolate Factory. It was cool to hear ET try and say Shelly though. I knew one of us should have said our name was Elliot.
We backtracked to Kongfrontation and noticed that it has a huge queueing area. Looping outside and then massive inside. All the graffiti on the 'New York' sets looked pretty authentic as I saw several new band logos, but no swear words, so much for authenticity. This ride was flat out pathetic. If we had had to wait any more than the 10 minutes we did we would have been pretty upset.
We wandered around looking for a good place to eat and made it though the Bone Yard (old movie props), the Future Attractions Building (They are building a whole new land with several rollercoasters. That's what this place needs as all their thrill rides are motion simulators. You can only be shaken and stirred so many times before it gets old), and the Jurrasic Park exhibit. We ended up at Melee's Dinner (patterned after the drive in American Graffiti). It was here that our adventure began. An Oriental couple were eating in the booth behind us and as the girl went to take a picture of the male, I noticed I was going to be directly over his left shoulder in the shot, so I made a semi-disgusting face to liven up the shot. Shelly thought I was having some sort of out of body experience but understood when I explained later. By the way the Burgers/Fries were not very good and they only server Pepsi products, on the up side the Xena/Hercules Collectors Cup we got was the comic centerpiece of the day.
We finished lunch just as the Horror Make Up Show was letting in so we jumped in line. This show is the best part of the park. The two people hosting it were very funny and the effects were not so gross as to make you want to throw up, even after eating a bad burger. The audience member they picked for the show was none other than the woman who's picture I had 'livened up' in the Diner. Her name was MyYouMe (That's not how you spell it, but thats how she pronounced it, and I have no idea on the spelling). She was hilarious. When they wanted her to scream they would lift up her Pipi Longstocking pig-tales to heighten the effect. She was a very good sport about the whole thing, but would have nothing to do with the Fly based finale. As we left Shelly had the great idea to get a picture with her and she was delighted to oblige. It was after John snapped the picture that he pointed out the irony of our cultural picture exchange. She had a shot of me and I had one of her.
T2 had about a 30 minute wait till the next show so we took in the Hanna Barbera ride. I had no clue what this was, but it turned out to be ok. It is a theater sized motion simulator. You pick a row and then the row comes alive, shaking and stirring. The wind blowing on your face was a new motion simulator effect for us (the craft you were riding in was supposed to be a space age convertible).
We got out just in time to walk into the T2 preshow. John really liked this one, but Shelly and I were not too big on it. HISTA and the Muppets are much better. Mabey it's the fact that neither of us has seen either of the Terminator movies all the way though, or the lack of comedic elements in the show.
John wanted to do BTTF again so we headed over there and the line was about 10 minutes long. Just as we walked in they decided to open the upper level and we bypassed the line and walked right into a car. It was on this ride that I realized that there were 8 cars, 4 up top & 4 below in the theater at the same time. Weird.
The only thing left that any of us were interested in was the Alfred Hitchcock show and luckily we walked right onto it. The film was just random clips of his movies (Ive only seen a few), but the recreation of the shower scene from Psycho was pretty good. The demonstrations after that were even better. John got his brother a Bates Motel Towel, but they had no key chains. Bummer.
Shelly forced us to walk through Lucy A Tribute because she knew I hated all things Lucy. Boring. It was now 3pm and we had done all we wanted so we returned to the Hotel to meet up with the rest of the party and ate at the Food Court.
It started to rain as we headed out the door for EPCOT and Illuminations 25, but we decided to head on anyway.
Spaceship earth was a walk-on and was enjoyed by all. Honey I Shrunk The Audience was also a walk-on and we made it just in time to see the Pre-Show (True Colors from Kodak) which is my favorite of all Epcot attractions.
I staked out a claim on a spot by the rail close to Canada while the rest of the group went to England. Illuminations 25 was not the greatest. I liked the previous incarnation in '95. Too many fireworks too early, lots of smoke.
The bus ride home was the best of the trip. We had an English bus driver who played a number game with us. Made the trip go by faster. Talkative bus drivers are one of the best parts of the On-Site experience.
Day Three (Sept 13th):
Early entry into the Magic Kingdom was the top priority for today. Unfortunately not for everyone in the group though. Shelly and I got up early and found the rest of the group just stirring as we were ready to go so we decided to meet up at the exit of Space Mountain and we took off. We arrived at the main gate at 7:20 am for the 7:30 am opening. Only about an estimated 1000 people were there at opening and we raced into Tomorrow Land and were on the 3rd car to leave the loading dock on Space Mountain. Only the right side was running on this morning. We hit it again 2 more times and then decided to take a break and do the TTA and keep our eyes open for the rest of the group to show up.
No luck spotting them on the TTA so we sat down on the benches by the Fed Ex sign at the exit to Space Mountain. About 15 minutes later LaTrece, John, and Tom showed up and we hit each side of Space Mountain with no wait. On the second run John held up his video camera for the whole ride. All you can really see is the other cars coming by and hear us screaming and laughing. The final 2 people of the group had yet to show so we took Tom on Alien Encounter. The rest of us had already been on AE several times, and it seems to get less and less scary each time.
Still no luck with the rest of the group so we headed over to Frontier Land and tried to get on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but it was down so we got on Splash Mountain with only a 10 minute wait. The picture turned out pretty good so Shelly got one. By the time we made it back to Tomorrow Land Mrs. Zahos and Nicki were there and we make a b-line to the Tea Cups.
I had never ridden the Tea Cups (I am not too fond of going 'round and 'round and 'round) but Mrs. Zahos and I got in a cup and I held the metal turner and prevented the cup from spinning the entire ride and made it though OK. We kept seeing these Strawberry/Ice cream concoctions and finally found the counter serving them.
Refreshed we continued on through Fantasy Land. Mr. Toad is one of LaTrece's favorites (although I don't know why, its just a carnival fun-house type ride). The wait for this one is always long. We waited 15 minutes and the ride was over like that. Nicki had been chanting the Dumbo mantra for days so the rest of the group got in line for it. Once again my aversion to things that go 'round and 'round and 'round kept me out of it and I got a table in the shade by the ride. About 10 minutes into the 30 minute wait all by Shelly and Nicki gave up and joined me in the shaded comfort. Shelly said she would have abandoned ship also but Nicki wouldn't let her.
Everyone was ready for an air-conditioned attraction so we walked into a showing of The Hall Of Presidents. Afterwards we decided to keep the AC trend going and see the County Bear Jamboree but it was not operating (I asked the attendant if Davey Crocket had shot himself another Bear but she wasn't biting).
Nicki was still spooked from the drop at Splash Mountain on Thursday so she was a little apprehensive about the Pirates of the Caribbean when she heard it was a boat ride. We lied and said that there was no drop and everyone rode with at 10 minute wait. Well the tiny drop got her and she was ready to go back to the hotel after that. Her mom accompanied her while Tom, John, LaTrece, Shelly and I went on Big Thunder with a 20 minute wait. They kept the queue inside the building short and it spilled everyone out to the attendant, making the line look huge.
The head got to us by this time so we boarded the bus back to DL and took in an afternoon in the Quiet Pool by our building.
We all met back up at 6:00pm and went over to the CrossRoads and had dinner at Jungle Jims. Its your standard TJ Applebee's/Chilli's fare at Florida prices. We wanted to shop at the Market Place (Newly renamed Down Town Disney) but the West Side was opening the next day and they were having a press junket and the parking lot was packed as well as trafficy around it. We all headed back to the hotel and decided to hit the Market Place on Sunday.
Day Four (Sept 14th):
We hit early entry for the Disney/MGM Studios, but since no one got up too early we just got the last 30 minutes of it. Also they didn't check if you were a Resort Guest to let you in early. At the MK you pretty much have to ride the bus to the Gate because the Ferry/Express Monorail are not yet operating at the early hour. How do they do it at Epcot/Studios?
The Tower of Terror had a 10 minute wait and was loved by everyone. Since this would be our only day here we rode it again. I got the Mickey Mouse/Tower of Terror T-shirt at the gift shop while the group looked at the photo. The line to purchase it was huge so we skipped it.
The Great Movie Ride had no line so we got on. I got the Cowboy scene for the first time ever. Although an Oriental/Female Cowboy did lessen the effect (she was also very unenthusiastic about the role). Star Tours was next. We got pictures with Chewy and an Ewok outside the ATAT. That was a great Idea they had to put the characters outside.
We finally made it to Muppet Vision 4-D and got to see the entire pre-show before entering the theater. Muppets is my 2nd favorite 3D movie, just behind HISTA and way ahead of T2.
They have really changed the whole Special Effects/Tram/Studio tour thing around since '95. We did the Special Effects-Tram tour. They all laughed at me for getting the 'wet' seat, but LaTrece was the one who got wet from the stream down the seat as everyone was leaning up to keep their butt's dry.
At this point tempers were flaring. I was surprised that we got this far before we were at each others throats. So we enacted the 18 hour Bra plan to lift and SEPARATE. John and I took on the Dalmatians tour with hopes of seeing some of the filming of To the Moon And Back, but only saw them decorating the set, which is more than we have ever seen before.
John and I met up with Shelly/Mrs. Zahos/Nicki and all but John headed back to the Hotel for Lunch. John waited for LaTrece and her dad to finish the Animation tour. They bought the picture the photographers take in front of the TOT at the Dark room and got to the food court just as we were leaving.
Nicki was dying to spend her money so we boarded a bus for the Market Place and took advantage of Johns Magic Kingdom Club Card for 10% off. Man that place was crowded as the West Side was opening up.
Since there is no bus to the MK from the Market Place we had to go back to the hotel to get to the MK for SpectroMagic. As soon as it ended we hopped onto Splash for one last night ride. It was on the return to the hotel that we saw our first and only 'Cattle Car' bus. Epcot and MK closed at the same time so the transportation system was a little overwhelmed. We got on a bus pretty quickly and were back at home by 10:30.
Only one more day left and popular demand was for the MK.
Day Five (Sept 15th):
Due to packing and car swapping we were in no position to take advantage of early entry into the MK so we totally ignored Tomorrow Land and Fantasy Land and went straight to the Country Bears. Everyone loved it. Always a good show.
John, Shelly, and I wanted to hit the Frontier Land Mountains again so the rest of the group started toward MainStreet so Nicki could meet Minnie Mouse and we went on both Splash and Big Thunder in under and hour. I had a disposable underwater camera that I had intended for use at a water park that we never made it to so we took some on the ride pictures on both. The pictures turned out good, especially the part where you come out of the climbing tunnel and start the big drop, good panoramic view of the park. The Big Thunder Pictures are a little blurry as the ride is in motion, but most of them turned out pretty good too. I hope to get them scanned this weekend and post them on my web page: http://www.atl.mindspring.com/~monkyman.
We met up with all but Tom, he had to start the drive back in order to be at work the next day, and visited the 25th Anniversary center to get our lithographs. We met Donald and sat through the Commercial disguised as a movie.
Alas our trip was coming to an end. Nicki wanted to ride the MonoRail all week so we hopped on the Resort MonoRail for a round trip journey. Halfway through the driver offered to let some of us sit up front so Nicki got to ride in the drivers compartment. All the stops made the trip about 30 minutes, but it was Air Conditioned so all were happy.
We boarded the bus back to the hotel only to change over into Shelly's moms van and stopped at the Olive Garden for lunch. We made the Airport in plenty of time and had an uneventful flight home.
Final Thoughts:
I came to the realization that you can not see it all in 5 days, you can't even see half of it. The late rising/splitting up really hurt our touring time, but it kept all of us sane. It still amazes me how much we missed. I made sure that the first timers took in the biggies like Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Splash Mountain but I still feel like we missed a lot.
It was interesting seeing the World through the eyes of first timers, although we did spend a lot of time just looking instead of riding. Tom was amazed at their ability to move people through the attractions with grace and speed. He was also impressed with the way some CM's would play the part of the ride, like at the Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion.
Universal Studios was not very good. All that went agreed that the only redeeming qualities were Back To The Future and possibly the T2 Movie. The fact that they only serve Pepsi products should have clued us into their second rate standings.
Shelly and I had taken in Sea World on our June trip and thought it was a much better value for the dollar, but with only 5 days we had to make choices.
Honey I Shrunk the Audience has the best Movie and the Best Pre-Show of all Epcot Attractions.
I could ride Splash Mountain over and over for the entire vacation and not get bored. John felt the same way about Space Mountain.
Dixie Landing is an incredible value for the dollar. The landscaping is awesome and it was very quiet. Port Orleans' decor made it seem dirty to us.
I am returning to the World in Spring '98 with My family (Sister and her husband/kids, brother and his wife, and our friend Mike and his girlfriend) and will stay at DL again on that trip. Hopefully the Splash Mountain rip off at Sea World will by open by then, as well as the Animal Kingdom. I have given up on Test Track ever opening.
Any questions, comments, etc.: monkyman@atl.mindspring.com
Thanks for reading. Check out my web page : http://www.atl.mindspring.com/~monkyman to see pictures of our '95 trip and hopefully many of the '97 shots in a week or so.
Andrew Langley
monkyman@atl.mindspring.com