Background:

Aug 3rd-Aug 12th 1998
Marcia(Mom, 38), Mallory (13 1/2), Hannah (11)
First trip in 95, this is second trip.
Found out in May that I was losing my job due to moving our office from Louisville to Cincinnati. If I stayed till July 31st. I would get a 15% bonus. WOW "found money". What to do? Save it, No!!! Ask the girls what to do with the money, the answer is Go to Disney World.

I need some time off, so I quit my second job (part-time cellular phone sales for the past 3 years). I also went back to college last year and carry 9 credit hours a semester. 4.0. Yes, my children are healthy and happy and have active athletic and social lives. They also are very mature and responsible. So instead of our usual jaunt to the beach, plans for WDW went into action.

Had plane tickets just waiting for a destination. (world perks from my brother who can't use them fast enough). Got plane reservations and made resort accomodations at All Stars Sports. Had to call a few times to get the room within dates but it happened. Sent a fax week before to Room Controller(assigner) and asked for the Surf's Up bldg. Stayed there in 95 and it suited us fine.

Plane leaves at 6:05 pm. Have to fly to Detroit from Louisville, then back down to Orlando. Yeah, I know but this is the way of Northwest. (remember free tickets)

Was a little upset because of 33% taken out of my bonus they took 41%. Quite a bit more than I was expecting and from what Human Resources told us (displaced office workers). Have to adjust plans. Rental car is out to take to the beach one day and Sea World will have to wait another year.

Day One Monday, August 3rd

Left Louisville on time and reached Detroit without problems. Changed planes and onward to Orlando. Arrived in Orlando at 11:51 pm. Picked up luggage. Went to Mears booth and arranged transportation to WDW. Waited about 10 minutes for bus. There was a family of four going to AS Music and us on the bus. Very quiet on the bus. Driver was Jamaican and was hard to understand.

Arrived at Sports without mishap. The lobby was empty except for 1 CM behind desk. Maybe this was a good time to travel. Ticket computer went down for the night so I can't purchase our 7 days passes. Have to wait until tomorrow. Paid for room and went up. 3rd floor, Bldg 1 Surf's up. Unpacked, and settled in for the night. Lights out 3:00 am.

Day Two Tuesday, August 4th

Since my children like to sleep and Hannah requires at least 10 hours or she is very hard to get along with, I made a promise to myself that we would relax and not rush around. I got up at 10:00, went down and purchased hour 7 day passes and e-tickets for that night. I have allowed $100 a day for food, (we brought a huge suitcase full of poptarts, snacks and cereal). Got the girls milk and oj and bought them refillable mugs. We had one left from 95 visit.

After waking and showers and breakfast in room, we left at 1:00 pm for AK. Bus pulled up as soon as we got there. This was to be our whole trip. Only once did we wait more than 10 minutes for a bus, boat or monorail.

Arrived in AK, looked around Tree of Life, it is amazing. Walked around to get our bearings and found a patch of shade for the Artimal parade. It was cute. Time for our 3:00 PS at Rainforest Cafe. Waiting for a table we shopped and Hannah found a denim floppy hat she had to have. Well, it would come in handy on this trip and she does wear alot of hats. OK $22.00 of her money gone.

Seating was on time but waited 30 minutes for food. It was plentiful and ok, atomsphere was great. The girls loved this restaurant.

After lunch went to Countdown to Extinction, rode twice (no lines). Hannah walked through the play area, wasn't impressed. Saw Jungle Book show, it was ok.

Walked on to "It's tough to be a bug". Mallory hates bugs of any kind but she suffered through this. I thought it was very funny.

Time to head to MKingdom for E-ride night. Arrived at MK at 8:00 pm. exchanged our cards for wristbands. Wanted to watch the parade at 9:00. There wasn't anyone by the rope by City Hall. We sat and it started to rain. Never fear, Mom has umbrellas and ponchos.

Parade started on time anyway and started on Main street. As it moved down, so did we. Went to Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. Nobody at the tree so we took our time, over to the Jungle Cruise. Very funny CM. Then it was 10:00. Went to Pirates of the Caribbean. rode this 3 times, no line!!! Splash Mountain was next. rode this twice, 5 minuted wait both times. Big Thunder Railroad had a 30 minute wait. No way off to Country Bear Jamboree. Girls didn't want to go, but I made them. They thought is was funny after all. Haunted Mansion was next. rode this twice, no line.

Off to Tomorrowland. Astro Orbitor is down because of lightning. Went to Timekeeper. Really liked this. Girls rode Space Mountain twice in about 20 minutes. Hannah wanted to do Alien Encounter, Mallory wouldn't go and I said "no way" was I going to ride.

1:00 am time to go, took some good pictures of the castle. Bus was waiting for us. Bed around 3:00 am.

Day Three Wednesday, August 5th

This will be a free day for us. No parks. Slept really late, but Hannah felt good when she awoke. (she is one of those children where if she isn't happy, no one is).

Going to Downtown Disney today. Arrived around 3:00 pm. Now this bus ride from Sports does take awhile.

Looked at shops at Marketplace, walked over to PI, wanted to eat at Planet Hollywood but 1 1/2 hour waits. West Side- ate at House of Blues. We all loved this place, wished we had one around us. A horrible thunderstorm started as soon as we ordered. We took our time eating. As a suprise I was going to take the girls to Disney Quest. Had to explain what it was, of course Hannah was all for it. She is a super nintendo, sego playing, video game junkie. Mallory is like me, we can take it or leave it. But, I did want to do virtual reality as I never have experienced this before.

After we finished eating we rushed over (still raining) bought $20 worth of units for each of us. Did Aladdin's adventure first. It was fun but I believe this would be better if you had experience with some type of video game. Mallory & I kept running into things. Then the Jungle Cruise. This was the best!!! I don't think I have laughed so hard in months. Hercules was next. Very good also. We were laughing so much in this one that the CM came in and asked if everything was OK.

Then the girls wanted to design their rollercoasters and ride them. I don't think they realized that they would actually get into a simulator and feel the loops. They both wanted to ride each others. Their thrill meter was only a 3, but when I watched their faces on the monitor screen it looked higher than that. (5 is the highest).

They wanted to do some Alien game. So of course with only a few units left on theirs, they took mine and finished it off. I think we left with around 2 units each left. The other games? looked interesting but very similar to what we have at our local science musuem.

Went back to Sports. ate individual pizzas for supper and swam rest of night. Lights out around 12:00.

Day Four Thursday, August 6th

Up and out at 9:45. Have 11:15 character breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Rode bus to MK. Monorail to Contemporary. We got to ride upfront on the monorail with driver.

Breakfast was good, but girls were moving slow. Mickey and Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Goofy were there and made their rounds. I think if we had done this the first time we came in 95 they would have liked it much better. It was fun and I am glad we did it.

Left there and caught bus from Contemporary to MGM. Rode Tower of Terror, lots of fun. waited about 10 minutes for this. Did Star Tours (nobody liked this ride), Superstar TV ( girls loved this). The Great Movie ride twice. (both times walked into pre show area). Honey I shrunk kids playground, and the Indiana Jones show.

Did Muppet 3-D. waited first time about 10 minutes. Had to do this 2nd time because Hannah left her glasses in the room and she wanted to sit in front row because she couldn't see well. Walked on into pre show area the 2nd time and set in 2nd row. I do believe this show is better closer to front.

Started to storm. Bring out ponchos, no umbrellas in lightning. Walked around in rain, (we love to do this) after lightning quit.

Ate at Sunset Ranch Mkt. and Rosies Red Hot. Ate desert at Prime Time Cafe. No PS but it was 8:00 pm and ate in lounge. The Smore's desert was fantastic, but rich. Left around 8:45 so don't know if Socery in Sky happened or not. We see fireworks so many times during the year this is not a priority for us.

Wanted to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid but waits were over 30 minutes every time we went there.

Back to room and lights out around 12:00 (again).

Day Five Friday, August 7th

Bus to MK, boat to River Country at 12:00. I must say I was very impressed with this water park. Did not expect sand or lake area plus pool area. Found chairs without any problem. Hannah went off to slides etc. at pool and lake area. I found the lake area to be very nice. Water was great!!! If I knew how nice it was, this would have been a full day. A definitely must for next time.

Left River Country at 4:00 to go change for MK and e-ride night.

Back to MK at 6:00pm. Received wristbands. Time to hit Fantasyland. Did all the rides at Fantasyland. Only line was at Peter Pan. First time we looked 30 minutes. no way. later it was down to 15 minutes. Did did both sides of Mr. Toad (Mallory loved this ride).

Went to Toontown. Horrible crowds here. Hannah had to ride Barnstormer, can't remember how long we waited for this, it seemed forever. The ride was very short. Didn't linger in this area. Worst crowds so far and so many crying children.

Ate at Cosmic Ray's for supper. Something went wrong with the parade, so it didn't get started till around 10:20. Crowds were still heavy. Many people getting angry because of e-ride's. I heard many say they thought MK was open till 12:00. Do they not read anything?

CM's were very good about only letting wristbands on after 10:00. They had 4 CM's and 1 security at Space Mountain at 10:00. Girls rode again.

Hannah wanted to ride Alien Encounter. She was on her own. She goes in line. As Mallory and I waited at the exit we tried to guess how she would look when she came out (so we could gauge her mood). Now this is a child who is not afraid of anything but moths. (weird huh). Here she comes, she looks glassy eyed. I asked her if it was fun, she said no and that she didn't think she would ever ride again. I told her that she looked liked she had been crying. She would never admit to it, but I know my child. If she thought it was bad, then there was no way Mallory would ever step foot in line for this ride. (me either).

Went to Haunted Mansion and rode this twice again. Big Thunder Railroad, hey 10 minutes wait. Girls rode this, I sat this one out.

Splash Mountain here we come again. Girls got front seats, I was second seat and two guys in last seat. Girls trying out poses for camera because I want this picture. They ended up holding their noses like they were going under water. Turns out guys in back wanted the picture also. We met them in line for photos and told each other that we would never forget the other. WDW makes you do weird things. Tigger outside, pictures all around.

Time to leave. Bus takes Sports and Music and Coronado Springs (3 bus stops).

Arrived at Sports around 1:30. Lights out around 3:00.

Day Six Saturday, August 8th

Finally left resort and ended up at Epcot at 3:00 pm. Walked on to Spaceship Earth and played in Global Neighborhood.

Did Ice Station Cool. Some drinks weren't bad.

Went to World Showcase. Ate at Cantina San Angel in Mexico. Hate to say but my food was terrible. Did boat ride. Off to Norway. Ride for Maelstrom is very long. Skip this, onward. Watched two different performances in China. African drum concert between China and Germany. Went to the American Adventure, had to wait about 15 minutes for this. Very serene and cool in rotunda area. Good show, we all loved this.

Onward, at Canada the girls got leather bracelets with their names imprinted on. Watched Junkaroo caravan. They played several Brazilian dances for a tour group who was dancing to their music. We did see many Brazilians but all looked to be family groups and never ran into any chanting or obnoxious behavior.

Had time to do Horizons and left Epcot right at Illuminations start up. Girls went swimming for awhile. Ordered large pizza from food court.

Lights out around 12:00

Day Seven Sunday, August 9th

Epcot at 12:00pm. I forgot on Saturday night, we went back around and did Maelstrom ride. no wait at all this time.

Started with Wonders of Life. Did Body Wars, I really can't believe we waited 3 years for this ride. Wasn't able to do it in '95 and the girls really looked forward to this this trip. We didn't care for it all, very short.

Watched Cranium Commands and a group of three who did a comedy act. I can't remember their name (anticomical?) They were funny. Girls played around for awhile while I rested.

Went to Ellens Energy, I really liked this.

Ate at the Electric Umbrella. Onward to the Living Seas. Spent time watching a CM feed the Manatees and a dolphin demostration. First the Seas then the Land. Did the boat tour and Food Rocks. Couldn't get any interest in anything else in here from the girls.

Journey into Imagination ride. Spend time in the play area. Really neat place. Huge line for Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We'll wait till later.

Back to Canada for leather bracelets for two friends of the the girls. Ate some frozen yogurt as we worked our way back toward HISTA. What, no people out front. Mallory didn't like this show before so she said she would sit this one out. Hannah and I walked into the pre show area and were soon flinching along with the rest of the audience.

Back to resort to watch Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Day Eight Monday, August 10th

Wow two days left.

AK at 7:30 ( the earliest we were up so far). Did Discovery Boat, Grandmother Willow show (very good). In line for the Festival of the Lion King. Waited about 30 minutes for this show. This was spectacular. WE LOVED IT. I can't wait until the road tour for the broadway show of this.

Took some pictures of the Tree of Life and off to MGM.

Went to 12:00 show of Hunchback. Someone told me this was not to be missed. I didn't care for the movie (much to sad for me) and neither did the girls. The show was OK. Line for Voyage of Little Mermaid still long. PS at Sci-Fi Diner. Had lunch, sat in the front part of the car with a table. To me this was much better than an actual car. The girls got a kick out of the movies.

Picked a spot for the 3:00 pm parade, very hot today. Parade was good. We all loved the Mulan movie. Seems like we did something else at MGM but I can't remember.

Anyway we were going to Typhoon Lagoon that evening, so off towards the front. Look at the board, what no wait for Tower of Terror, we have to go!!! Off to the tower, walked right into the Library. Asked CM for front row (I think I want a picture). Picture was horrible, sent Hannah to check lines, no line. Lets ride again. Front row again, horrible picture, Mallory was fixing her bangs. Can we do it, yes one more time, front row, picture perfect. I bought the picture.

But wait, the girls want to do it one more time. Sorry, I am resting. So off they go. 4 times in a row. There was no wait at all for this ride. (must have been around 4:30). Our luck was unbelievable.

Caught bus back to Sports, ran up, changed and caught bus to Typhoon Lagoon, this was a long trip 30 minutes, Sports, Music, Downtown Disney, PI, West Side then Typhoon. Finally there at 6:00. Loved this water park, this will be an all day for us also next time. Girls did Shark Reef, Mallory got into the reef and looked at me across and said I really don't want to do this. I just pointed into the water and she went. I knew if she got out then she would regret that she didn't do it. Of course, she didn't waste any time getting across either. Hannah did fine. Both got out and had to go again. Hannah said she never could get her mouthpiece to work, so she held her breath and came up a couple of times for air.

They did receive very little instruction, but there was a lifeguard in the water as well as one sitting up in a chair along with one giving instructions.

Left at closing. Girls went to arcade as it would be closed for renovation on Tuesday. Hannah did the arcade every night. She ended up with around 500 tickets after this last night.

Day Nine Tuesday, August 11th

Last day. bus to MK and boat to WL. 9:00 PS at Whispering Canyon Cafe-boat arrived at MK at 8:30 on the dot and short ride over. was seated early. Very good breakfast and beautiful resort. We vow to come here at least a couple of nights on our next stay if we can't stay the whole time.

Discovery Island is next- caught the Contemporary resort launch from WL to DI. really liked this place. Spent a couple of hours here. watched the reptile and the feathered friends show.

Caught Contemporary launch to the Contemporary. Monorail to the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. Like the Poly also. Hannah liked the Grand Floridian. Mallory and I didn't feel that we would be comfortable staying here.

Monorail back to MK. Rode the steam train to Frontierland. Rode Jungle Cruise looks different in day. The CM let Mallory "drive" the boat through the whole cruise. She did look really cute that day and he was very young, so maybe that was it, or maybe they always do this, I don't know. 10 minute wait for this.

Off to the Tiki Bird show walked right in just before show. This was cute, the girls loved this. I think better than before Hannah wanted to do the Adventureland game. Hannah and Mallory did the game, they lost. Someone won who was an old pro at this. The prize was head of the line for the Jungle Cruise. The girls really didn't understand what was going on in this game. Of course Hannah complained to the CM that she didn't get the proper instructions so naturally they got to go on the cruise along with the winners. Hannah was mad so I knew what was next. I was right, she wanted to do it again.

Now was time for parade. Walked into Frontierland. There was no one along the roped area. Good, and this was 10 till 3:00. Parade started at our end. Very good parade, last time we were here it was Mickey Mania.

Back to the Tiki Birds in order to catch the pre show. Didn't know there was one. I still don't know how the girls knew there was. At the end of the show when Iago? said "On your feet". We were the only ones who stood up. The CM had to come over and tell everyone to get up.

Back to Adventureland for the game. Alot of people this time. Hannah and a couple were neck to neck this time. They reached the idol just hands before Hannah and I mean if this man hadn't been 6 feet tall she would have won.

So of course the CM (it was the same one) let her go on the Jungle Cruise (same prize) along with the winner. She was ok with how close she came but, of course she wanted to go again. She is a very competitive person.

I said No, enough is enough, it was time for the Sword in the Stone show. This was cute. Off to the lowering of the flag on Main street. This was a great show, when they let the doves fly it was spectacular. We did some shopping and ate tacos at Adventureland.

It was time for the Hall of Presidents show. I loved this show last time we were here and the girls enjoyed this more this time. We were skipping the e-ride this night as we had an early day on Wednesday to leave for home.

Left right before 9:00. Girls went swimming while I packed up.

Lights out as usual around 12:00.

Marcia Head

MHead32856@aol.com