Trip Reports
01-07-2007, 06:10 PM
Summary:
Dates - Saturday, May 15 to Sunday, May 23.
Travel Method - Delta Airlines (by Comair), Rental Car (by Avis)
Resort: BCR
Accommodations: Standard Room - Water view
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience: Veteran
Cast of Characters: Donald (38 turning 39 on the trip, your narrator for the adventure), and wife, Grace (just turned 43 four days before). Met friends Mark (38), Debbie (42), Matthew (13, and Donald's wonderful godson) and Allison (almost 3, and Grace's beautiful goddaughter). Mark is a Disney Cast Member (computer programmer) who recently moved from New Orleans to Celebration, and would like me (not a computer programmer) to do the same! Also met RADP (rec.arts.disney.parks newsgroup) friend, Carole, and her friends, Irene and Tina (ages withheld out of self-preservation).
This was such a different trip than any we'd been on before:
Past - We'd gone four years in a row on two annual passports.
Present - haven't been since 1996.
Past - Drove from New Orleans on Friday after work/school stopping halfway in Tallahassee, then driving the rest of the way Saturday morning.
Present - Flying Saturday morning, then renting a car.
Past - Offsite accommodations.
Present - Beach Club Resort.
Past - caravanning it with Mark and Debbie, or at least meeting them at the same hotel or condo.
Present - seeing Mark and Debbie while we're there, but not hanging out with them all the time (they're not on vacation!).
Past - going with son, Alan, now 18 and a graduating high school senior.
Present - grownups only!
Past - Commando style.
Present - Relaxed style. No kidding, really! I've even scheduled time each day to not have to follow a schedule! How's that for relaxed? :-) Seriously, we know where we'll likely start each day and have a few Disney scheduled events in mind to see, but much of this trip we're playing by ear.
This trip was originally planned for September 1998 but cancelled due to a) my beginning law school at night, and b) my mother's cancer reoccurring. Unfortunately, my mother lost to cancer, and I was forced to withdraw from law school after the fall semester to help settle things. Still, we wanted to get our lives back in order and celebrate our 10th anniversary that we didn't get to do last year. With both of our birthdays falling in May and Grace finishing her final exams (she's a junior in Education) the weekend before this trip, this was the best time to go.
The Airline Tickets - After it was decided to fly (we'll drive when we go back with friends in November), we found that for the days and departure times we wanted for a non-stop flight, Delta had the best rates at $132 each non-stop. MAGIC! Grace was a little nervous about it being only a 50-seater, but she'd be OK.
SUGGESTION #1 - Airplanes save valuable vacation time (figure in how much that is worth), the stress of driving (figure in how much that is worth), and won't cost that much more if you're paying for only two or three people.
The Car Rental - Getting a rental car was a no-brainer for us because we didn't want to bother our friends to pick us up, and we wanted the flexibility to come and go as we pleased. Touring the resorts as we planned to do also requires a car. Disney Transportation is very efficient except when traveling between resorts (not counting those linked by monorail). We'd definitely be going to the Character Warehouse (and now the newer Character Premiere) in Orlando as we always do. Simple breakfast items were a must for the room so a stop at Publix or Gooding's would be required. Having driven in Orlando on four previous long trips, I knew my way around. I was afraid to use a rental company I hadn't heard of, so I stuck to the big names. Alamo had the best rates (about $150 promotional rate for nine days in a compact car), but I didn't like that it was offsite of the airport terminal. When I got a discount a couple of weeks later at Avis, an in-terminal site, for just $14 more I took it. MAGIC! Now we wouldn't have to worry about shuttling offsite and could just get right into our trip.
SUGGESTION #2 - If you can get a discount in-terminal that approaches an offsite location, you'll save more stress and valuable vacation time. If you're just after saving money, don't worry about the big name rental companies, and get a car from any offsite rental company. It can save significant dollars over the more well known names.
The Resort - The Yacht and Beach Club have always been our dream hotels. They're right in the middle of everything, and walking distance from our favorite park, Epcot. The water park, Stormalong Bay, is unparalleled at any Disney resort. Unlike the Grand Floridian, the luxury and class are understated, but still evident. Without appearing stuffy, they're still rich-looking and have a certain, well, maturity about them. Children are, of course, welcome, but would probably be just as happy at any other Disney resort. With an Annual Passholder rate, the Beach Club was just what we wanted at a discounted price. Because of the location, it beat out the Polynesian (available at the same price) for us hands down. MAGIC!
SUGGESTION #3 - If you're traveling with younger children but still want the deluxe accommodations that will please you (the kids won't care), consider one of the three monorail resorts by the Magic Kingdom first. That will almost certainly be their favorite park, it's MUCH easier to come and go at those than any other resorts, and you'll still have the amenities you want. With older kids who may not need the ease of returning to the hotel as much as the younger ones, also consider the Wilderness Lodge. A co-worker of mine who has a 4-year-old girl took the family to the Boardwalk Inn, another Epcot Deluxe resort, but hated the Epcot location because they still had to walk quite a distance through the park to get back in the afternoon to rest. Coming and going weren't as easy as they'd hoped. Another co-worker and his son stayed at the All-Star Sports and had an easy time utilizing the busses. If the kids aren't into Epcot's multi-cultural edutainment, enjoying the cuisine of other nations, or club hopping at the Boardwalk, you won't see much advantage to staying at the Epcot resorts. If luxurious amenities aren't your goal for the trip, you'll probably be just as happy (and a lot richer) staying at one of the All-Star hotels. Bus transportation at the All-Stars is also better than at any other hotel, including the Deluxes. The kids will be just as happy there. I don't see much advantage for kids in staying at any of the Moderate hotels except perhaps for older kids utilizing the water activities available at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Is having a big water slide on the pool worth $50 per night? Adults can also find a somewhat more relaxing atmosphere at the Moderates, particularly Dixie Landings and Port Orleans. Keep in mind, though, that these used to be the budget hotels of WDW. When the All-Stars were built the prices of the Moderates (especially) and Deluxes (somewhat) shot up. That's where the REAL money of the All-Star hotels is made.
Disney's Schedule - As I said earlier, all I planned this trip were a few events Disney has running, such as the last SpectroMagic parade ever on Saturday, May 22. But what if it rains that night? That means Friday's parade is the last ever. So which did I plan to see, Friday or Saturday? Friday, of course. I wanted to play golf while I was there. Because I wanted to see the parks before I golfed, I figured on playing either Thursday morning or Friday afternoon. Which one did I shoot for? Thursday. I wanted to see Fantasmic on a night I wasn't planning to see SpectroMagic or Illuminations. That left Wednesday or Thursday. So which did I plan on? Wednesday.
SUGGESTION #4 - Always have two dates/times allowed for anything you want to see that Disney has scheduled and can be rained out, and plan on going to the first one. That way, if they cancel it, you've got a back-up plan.
Our Schedule - Except for meeting with friends and the above Disney events, I was flexible. We wanted to avoid early morning wake-up calls so Early Entry surprise mornings were out. That meant simply avoiding those parks on their early entry days.
SUGGESTION #5 - If you plan out your days, divide each day into four parts - mornings, afternoons, evenings, and nights. Keep in mind the sun is out during Daylight Savings Time for all parts except the nights. That leaves lots to do in the evenings. This is important because you should never plan to do anything in a morning and an afternoon in the same day. One should be left open to relax. Either sleep late and get an easy start later in the day, or start early and go back to the hotel to relax in the afternoon. Most people get an early start and stay throughout the afternoon. These people are very tired by the time the evening rolls around. Not only are the wiser people fresh in the evening, but they also have a less-crowded park to deal with because the morning/afternoon people were too tired to stay.
Videography/Photography - I'll bet this one surprises you, but the fact is it's not that much fun to watch the videos of rides after you get home from your trip. On our last trip, I knew we weren't going back for awhile so I wanted to preserve a lot of the rides on tape so I could relive it. That was a big mistake for several reasons. 1) Auto focus won't work if it's dark so you'll have to do it manually. Doing all the work means you're not enjoying the attraction as much because you have to watch the ride through a viewfinder. I didn't go to Disney World to watch it on a small monitor through an eyepiece! 2) A small light on top of my camcorder would have been disturbing to other guests if I hadn't kept something (like my hand) over it. 3) It's MUCH more fun to keep the memories until you go back so the attractions are fresh when you're there in person. "Oh, I'd forgotten about that part." How fun is it to ride Spaceship Earth if you've seen it on tape so much that you can recite the narration?
SUGGESTION #6 - Whenever we watch videos of our trip we skip over the rides and enjoy simpler moments. 1) Walking between attractions. "Look at the ducks!" "Check out that bush shaped like a dinosaur!" "See that little girl over there? She's dancing and singing out of the pure joy of being with her family on Main St." 2) Conversations amongst ourselves such as in the pastry shop in France. "You can have that pastry only if you can pronounce it!" (one of those long names that seemed to only have vowels) 3) Manatees in The Living Seas. They're not pre-programmed Audio-Animatronics! 4) Anything that will be closed soon after. I do feel fortunate to have Horizons and the SpectroMagic parade on tape.
SUGGESTION #7 - For still photography - 1) DON'T USE FLASH in an attraction. Not only is it against the rules and disturbing to everyone else, but it's probably only good for 10-12 feet. That decorated and painted wall just 30 feet away is going to end up just as black in your picture as if you hadn't used a flash at all. You'll get a nice picture of the back of people's heads in the three rows ahead of you, though. 2) Get CLOSE to your subject. Take photos of your group from about the waist up. Don't include their feet AND all of the castle behind them or you won't even know who the people are. 3) Don't skimp on film. So what if you waste two pictures to get the one you want. Take different angles and/or poses if it's a picturesque location. "Look at me. Now look at each other. Now look past me over at Splash Mountain." Simple.
DAY ONE - Saturday, 15 May
Grace isn't the easiest flier and this was just a 50-seat commuter jet, but I told her it wouldn't be so bad. I let her know the plane was very safe - a Boeing 7. Not 747, just 7. Don't even notice that the pilot has on goggles and a helmet, I said. And so what if in-flight movie is silent, everything will be fine as long as they issue us the same parachutes the flight attendants are wearing! OK, so maybe I exaggerated a little...
The flight was supposed to land at 10:53 AM, but here we were just pulling into the gate and it was already 11:15. I was just hoping this wouldn't throw off our entire day!
Anyway, after an uneventful flight, we took the monorail at the airport to get our luggage and rental car. I remember thinking it was a good thing we made rental arrangements because, as you know, the monorail doesn't go to the Beach Club.
We waited at the carousel for our suitcases to come down. How do you like that? Here I'm the one going to Disney World, and yet my bags got to ride a carousel before I did.
As I said, I'm very familiar with Orlando and knew exactly how to get to the Beach Club from the airport. You know, there's nothing quite like seeing purple signs to know you're in Disney World. Our room wasn't ready so we headed over to Epcot. On our last trip we had a French Onion soup in France on a cool night that really hit the spot, so we headed over there once again. After activating our Annual Passports at the International Gateway, we headed over to the Chefs de France. We were afraid we wouldn't get into that popular lunch spot at 1 PM without Priority Seatings, but we were seated right away. This would be an indication of things to come as crowds were bearable all week. It helped that we were only a party of two.
We saved room for dessert and headed straight for Beaches and Cream, the ice cream parlor in the YC/BC next to Stormalong Bay, for a couple of cones. Grace had the flavor of the month, Chocolate Chip, while I had the Coffee flavor. We agreed the Coffee was better.
Next, we walked all through the Beach Club and Yacht Club to see what was where. The front desk people said our room would be ready between 3 and 3:30. It was 2:30 so we waited in the lobby. We didn't want to go far because we wanted to get right to our room as soon as it was ready. They gave me a pager to let me know when we could move in. Unfortunately, they didn't page us until 4:30. We had long since looked thorough the gift shop and walked around the grounds. I had a bad half-hour nap on a chair in the lobby. You know, the kind where you don't really sleep. You just stay groggy. It didn't seem to matter when we found out we had a complimentary upgrade to a Junior Suite (hooray!) and got the King bed we'd requested rather than the two Queens most of the rooms had. We were paying for a regular water view room, but this was a slightly bigger room on the 2nd floor that did overlook the water. Unfortunately, it overlooked it completely. What a lovely view we had of that tree growing in front of the window. To make matters worse, when we got to the room, it didn't have a King bed. It had the standard two Queens. Hmmmm.
That's okay. It was a really nice room, and it had a full balcony (most Beach Club rooms only have a step balcony unlike the Yacht Club rooms which all have full balconies). A quick call to the front desk indicated that no, we didn't get the King they said we had. No kidding. None would be available during the trip. Oh well, at least we could see the quiet pool off to the side. This would have been a magnificent room if we were solely looking for peace and quiet, but we preferred the activity and noise from Stormalong Bay if we could get it. The manager who had arranged this for us would be in the next day, so I decided to call then. It wasn't like we were slumming, for goodness sakes!
We drove into Kissimmee to get some groceries at Gooding's. It's right on the Splendid China entrance road off of Hwy. 192. We got coffee, tea, bottled water, cereal, milk, etc., then headed over to meet our friends, Mark, Debbie, and their 3-year-old, Allison, at the Wilderness Lodge (Their 13-year-old son, Matthew, was at a friend's that night). I had made 6:40 Priority Seatings at the Whispering Canyon Café for four people because they couldn't fit six (which turned out to be five) in until after 8 PM. And that was with me calling two weeks ahead of time, also. We hoped they would find a way to get us all in anyway. Except for a Grilled Portobello Mushroom plate, there wasn't much for me and Grace who don't eat meat. The others had no trouble eating the standard Fred Flintstone meal. The servers are funny here, and Grace wanted to play along so after the waitress carefully explained about each of the four dipping sauces, Grace asked for ketchup. The waitress told her to shut up!
Grace also bought Allison some candy. Grace explained that's what having an "Auntie" Grace is all about. (This won't be the last time you come across that last sentence in this trip report.)
We headed over to the Magic Kingdom from the Wilderness Lodge by boat. It's much more fun than a bus, and it's very scenic going by the Contemporary at night. The Magic Kingdom was open until 12 M so we'd have time to do whatever we felt like.
When we entered, the SpectroMagic parade was going by so we caught the second half of that. With Allison in tow, we went to her favorite ride - Buzz Lightyear. That was the only new attraction in the Magic Kingdom we hadn't ridden before, so I was happy with that. I learned two good hints for this ride.
SUGGESTION #8 - Before you enter the first room with targets, start shooting at the wall with your trigger held in. The light will rapid-fire and you can judge where your little red dot is landing. Also, the far away and moving targets are worth more points than the close, stationary ones. That seems logical, but it's not written anywhere. Give that ride a 9.
After that, Allison wanted to ride the Wedway People Mover (sorry, I just can't seem to call it by its unexplainably changed name, the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority). Grace bought Allison a Buzz Lightyear toy. Grace explained that's what having an "Auntie" Grace is all about. By the way, Allison would be turning three years old a week after we left so all of this wasn't so out of the ordinary.
Walking back, Allison wanted to ride the Carousel, so she and Debbie went on it while we waited. Oh well, we planned to be back to the Magic Kingdom later anyway. On the way out, we caught the 11 PM SpectroMagic parade. Boy, I love this parade - a definite 10. Is it wrong to admit it always makes me teary-eyed? Too bad it will be gone after this week.
After our breezy boat ride back to the Wilderness Lodge, we drove back to the Beach Club.
DAY TWO - Sunday, 16 May
Today was to be our main souvenir shopping day, but it had a rocky start. I worked out at the small, but quaint Ship Shape Health Club while Grace slept in. Grace, you see, cannot start any day without a full load of caffeine in her. The Beach Club no longer has coffee makers in the rooms. No problem, the lobby has free coffee, so we'll get some on the way out. But, Doh!, they stopped serving it at 9. Oh well, the Cape May Buffet is still serving breakfast. Surely, we can buy a cup there. Wrong. They won't sell a cup of coffee there, just character breakfast buffets. Try Beaches and Cream, they said. Funny, but Beaches and Cream had the door locked. It seems they close between 10:30 (it was 10:31, honest) and 11 AM to close up from breakfast and get ready for lunch.
Do you know how someone acts when they can't get their morning caffeine? It's not a pleasant sight. But off we went for Orlando and the Character Warehouse anyway. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts on International Drive, but Grace said they must have reused the same coffee grounds from an earlier pot because the coffee was like water. We drove on and stopped again when we came to a Starbucks. Success! A good cup of java and Grace had finally arisen from her nocturnal abyss!
We looked around at the Character Warehouse, but did our purchasing at the hard-to-find Character Premiere across the street as they had pretty much the same items. Then, it was onto Downtown Disney where we met Mark, Debbie, Matthew, and Allison. We did quite a bit of damage (to our budget, I mean) at the World of Disney and Team Mickey's.
Lunch was a great meatless pasta dish at Wolfgang Puck's Express. Grace had the kids meal of Grilled Cheese Sandwich (her favorite) and Fries. Around 5 PM, we headed back to our room so we could rest and get ready for dinner at O'Hana's in the Polynesian.
Two calls to the front desk and a call back from the manager revealed we could get a king-size bed in a room overlooking Stormalong Bay Tuesday afternoon. Great! He said it wasn't a Junior Suite, but we truly didn't care about that!
Dinner at O'Hana's was incredible. The Polynesian also seemed to be bustling with activity. We liked this place as much as the Beach Club. Grace and I had the vegetarian plate, which was fantastic. Imagine polynesian marinated vegetables grilled over an open flame with the softest rice in the world sprinkled with soy sauce. When the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom started, the lights dimmed, the sound was piped in and we saw them through the giant windows on that side of the restaurant. We walked along the small Polynesian Beach after dinner, then drove back to the Beach Club and strolled all around Stormalong Bay to the farthest edge of the Yacht Club before heading to bed. After the coffee problem, this was a pretty good day.
DAY THREE - Monday, 17 May
I brought Grace a cup of coffee from the lobby so we could get ready for the 8:30 opening at the Animal Kingdom. We were really looking forward to this day because we're such animal lovers and had never been to this theme park.
We drove because the only park worth taking the bus to from the Beach Club is the Magic Kingdom. We parked in Unicorn 26, and took the tram in. What a unique and different kind of park Animal Kingdom is. We hit the 3-D Bug movie in the awesome tree of life and found it cute, but not as much fun as the similar Honey, I Shrunk the Audience in Epcot. Give it a 7. Second, we went to Countdown to Extinction, which probably doesn't go faster than 10 miles per hour, but throws you about seemingly unnecessarily because much of the ride is dark. Give it a 5. We headed back to Africa and rode the Kilimanjaro Safari (after the longest wait of the week - 40 minutes). The driver pointed out one gazelle right next to our vehicle who chose that time to squat and do what gazelles do after eating, so I commented out loud to no one in particular, "Boy, they sure go for realism with these Audio-Animatronic animals, don't they?" Grace laughingly elbowed me in a can't-I-take-you-anywhere kind of way. It's an interesting way of seeing animals in the wild, but they really don't need the poacher storyline. Still, a definite 10. We ate lunch at Tusker House. I got a Roasted Veggie Sandwich with Tabouli and Grace got a Kids Meal Mac 'n Cheese. I never realized so many Kids Meals were meatless. And they're not really small, either. We did some walkthrough exhibits, but skipped the Get-Soaked-River-Raft ride in Asia. Who needs a ride in which you're guaranteed to get drenched? And it's hardly an original concept. The Lion King show was really outstanding - perhaps the best live show in any theme park - another 10.
Overall, the Animal Kingdom was like a nice zoo, perhaps even a zoo of the future. But New Orleans already has a world-class zoo and a world-class aquarium, so this didn't seem all that special. Don't get me wrong. It's fun, but it's just not that special a theme park. Perhaps if they hadn't cut back the budget on the original plan of this park, it might have been better and had more attractions. We may go back every other trip or so, but we won't be planning whole days around it.
Back at the Beach Club, we rested, I worked out at Ship Shape, and we went to Stormalong Bay. Here's where Grace discovered she lost one of the gold Mickey Mouse earrings she had just gotten the day before at World of Disney. We searched all around the lounge chair she was lying on (she hadn't gone in the water when she discovered it missing), all over the hotel room, and all in the car, but it was nowhere to be found. We think it may have come off at Countdown to Extinction earlier in the day, but we're not certain.
By this time, we decided to walk over to the Boardwalk and check out the hotels, restaurants, clubs, and all. It was very nice, but we still liked the Beach Club more because it was just a little closer to Epcot. It was getting late so we decided to eat a quick dinner back at Beaches and Cream. We got a couple of Veggie Burgers with cheese and ice cream cones before heading back to the room.
DAY FOUR - Tuesday, 18 May
We decided to sleep in today. I went down to Ship Shape and brought Grace a coffee back from the lobby. We had never taken the boat to MGM, but decided to do so because we weren't in a hurry. It's a good thing, too, because this is one of the slowest boats in the world. It's the same kind of boat that's used in the World Showcase lagoon at Epcot. What really slows it up is that the Yacht and Beach Club is the middle of three stops (the first being the Swan/Dolphin when going and the Boardwalk when returning) along the way. Why don't they use the kind of boat used on the Wilderness Lodge - Magic Kingdom run?
At MGM, we really had no game plan as we had done most of everything in the past. Remember, we knew we were returning in November commando-style with first-timers. So when we saw sign-ups at the front gate to see a taping of the Animal Planet program, Petsburgh, USA, we signed up for a 10:50 show. If you've never seen this show, you should know it is hosted by Brianne Leary, a woman who Grace and I believe to be the worst talk-show host in the history of television. She seems very nice, but can be alternately embarrassing (to herself), insulting (making fun of guests' accents comes to mind), or just plain stupid. However, the show books wonderful guests, very often Animal Kingdom animal handlers, any one of whom would do a better job of hosting than Leary. Grace told me not to boo her. I asked if I could just howl a bit. No, she said giving me that same can't-I-take-you-anywhere look from the day before. I assured her I'd be good. We were to see a segment about making dog biscuits that would be aired Nov. 19, 1999. This should be good because we have a Golden Retriever and three Miniature Dachshunds.
Actually, I don't know why they have a studio audience. They don't applaud or react much to anything going on. They're more quiet spectators than anything else. Perhaps they feel it's a way to generate interest in the show.
Anyway, Leary didn't let us down. During the second of two takes in which she and her guest were mixing the flour and ingredients with their hands, Leary said, seemingly out of nowhere, "You're from Canada, aren't you?" Surprised, her guest replied, "Uh, yes, I am." "Yeah, I could tell," Leary said before returning to the glop in her hands. HELLO, EARTH TO LEARY, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT??? I looked over at Grace and it was all we could do not to bust out laughing at the unnaturalness and inappropriateness of that comment. We left as soon as we could (along with most of the audience) after that.
We still had time before lunch to do one of our favorite rides - Star Tours (always a 10). Of course, exiting Star Tours into the gift shop was like being transported into the set for Star Wars 1 - The Phantom Menace, which would be opening in theaters the next day. Darth Maul lunchbox anyone? No, thanks.
Mama Melrose's was our lunch destination. We each got personal-size pizzas - mine with goat cheese and grilled veggies; Grace's with regular cheese and sliced red and yellow tomatoes. We probably should have ordered one and split it because they were pretty big. We were stuffed afterwards. We shared them and they were both very good.
We went to the Hunchback of Notre Dame show next, which was preceded by Matt the Juggler, who was outstanding. Although MUCH TOO LOUD, the Hunchback show is also very well done (give it a 6 that goes up to an 8 if you have earplugs), but to follow the plot you really need to have seen the movie first, which we had. In fact, Grace saw it at its world premiere in the Superdome with 60,000 other people! It's not as simple a story as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, which is another reason for its appeal. Figuring we'd be back to see more later, we took the very slow boat back to the Beach Club and hung out at Stormalong Bay. We had Priority Seatings at Spoodles on the Boardwalk that evening to meet RADP friend, Carole, and her traveling companions, Irene and Tina. We also met Mark, Debbie, and their kids so we had a fun table. Grace and I ate light because of our big pizza lunch.
After that, we followed Carole and friends to a roped-off VIP area behind the United Kingdom to watch IllumiNations. I don't know how she got this pass, but it was a great vantage point. Thanks, Carole! This is the first time we saw the re-vamped IllumiNations show kept from the 25th anniversary year, and, frankly, we were a little disappointed - giving it only a 7. It's shorter than the previous show, and has less activity with the nation's lights around the World Showcase lagoon. Still, it was a good ending to a surprisingly relaxing day.
DAY FIVE - Wednesday, 19 May
We went to Epcot for opening so we could get to Test Track before any lines formed. Even though we entered the International Gateway at the 9 AM opening, we still had a 15-minute wait by the time we had reached Test Track. We thought it was a fun ride, and not as hairy as we anticipated. Give it an 8. We went to Body Wars and got dermatopically purified! It doesn't hold up as well as Star Tours, but we give it an 8. We like Cranium Command a lot, too, but skipped it for now. We hadn't seen the new Universe of Energy, and wanted to see it before lunch. We waited about 10 minutes outside in the sun, and I was glad to have a Pocket Spa - a little, misty fan sprayer.
The new Universe of Energy is a definite improvement from before - a 7. We headed over to Mexico, and the relaxing boat ride (only a 4). This ride is due to be upgraded to El Rio del Tiempo 2.0 this summer, and will feature Donald Duck. Speaking of which, WDW as a whole needs a lot more Donald Duck! He's a major character and acts like a genuine person, with normal frustrations as opposed to the sweet and childlike Mickey and friends. I love the mouse, but Donald is real as well as lovable.
We had Priority Seatings in Mexico for lunch, and Grace declared this to be the best meal all week. We split a Soup Azteca (a cheese tortilla soup) from the regular menu and the Plato Combination from the vegetarian menu. We stopped at Innoventions and sent Alan, our high school graduating son, an e-mail picture postcard.
Next up for us was The Living Seas, to see our friends - the manatees. We discreetly asked a CM if we could skip the film as I laughingly explained, "And it rained, and it rained, and it rained." In case you don't know, that's a line from the film, which is worth seeing once or twice, but is too long to see every time you go. Following our trip through the Hydrolator, we were the only people getting on the ride vehicles. I explained to the CM operating the vehicles that we skipped the film, and SHE said, "And it rained, and it rained, and it rained." HA!
After 20 minutes or so with the manatees and talking to their caretaker, we looked around at some other exhibits, before heading over to the Land. We did the featured Living With the Land boat ride, which is about a 7, but the Circle of Life film there is almost as entertaining. However, we still miss Kitchen Kabaret, which was replaced by the inferior Food Rocks. Kitchen Kabaret had original music in different styles whereas Food Rocks just uses oldie rock and roll songs with changed food lyrics.
Then we did something we've never done on any trip to WDW before. We went back to our room in the afternoon and took a nap. Afterwards, we felt so laid back that we didn't even mind taking the very slow boat back to MGM. We had dinner at the 50's Prime Time, one of our favorite restaurants. I had a pasta dish and a chocolate shake. Grace couldn't find anything on the menu she wanted to have. The waiter asked her to tell him what she'd like and the cook would do it for her. She figured she should ask for something simple, so she asked for a Grilled Cheese sandwich with tomato and a pickle. He said no problem, and delivered a triple-decker Grilled Cheese sandwich with huge slices of tomato and a giant pickle. It was really done well for her. Our server was OK, but not as funny as what we've had in the past. Still, we were glad not to get the girl serving at the next group of tables. She had the usual "no elbows on the table" comments, but said it rather ugly and with a stern face. She didn't smile one time. I don't think her diners enjoyed their meals as much as most. After eating at three "fun" restaurants this trip, we can say Whispering Canyon had the most boisterous fun, but also had the worst food. O'Hana's had the best overall atmosphere (during the fireworks) and food, but was more subdued than the others. The 50's Prime Time was a good combination of all three.
After dinner, we had time to take in the Great Movie Ride before going to Fantasmic's 9:30 show. It had an unexpectedly long wait. We stood through three playings of the movie trailers in the queue. The finale has added one or two recent film clips. I noticed Disney's Armageddon was there. I think they also added a clip from Independence Day. I know they made a lot of money at the box office, but somehow those two movies just don't belong with other classics like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Patton, Amadeus, etc.
The wait was so long for The Great Movie Ride that we decided not to chance anything else on the hopes of getting a seat for Fantasmic. Unfortunately, we were too late, and the 50's Prime Time doesn't participate in the Dining/Fantasmic plan. Only Mama Melrose's and The Hollywood Brown Derby offer dinner and guaranteed Fantasmic seats. When we were finally let in on the hill at the top of the bleachers, Grace and I kept walking all the way to the end and down the aisle to luckily find a low row that still had two seats on the end. It's true that there's not a bad seat at Disney. We thought our view was just fine. The show was fun, but I wasn't wowed like I thought I'd be. Be warned that the water sprayers on which the projections are shown get the audience damp, especially those people seated down low. I still give it a solid 7. The park was closed after the show. The very slow boats apparently had a mechanical breakdown, so the wait was a bit longer than usual to get back to the Beach Club.
DAY SIX - Thursday, 20 May
I had been told that at this time of year, the golf courses wouldn't be full so I wouldn't need to get tee times far in advance. But two weeks before the trip, Disney announced green fees were cut in half ($45 instead of $90) for those starting after 10 AM. I had heard the half-price cut-off time was 3 PM in the past, so this was a good deal. I called when I heard about it and got a 10:12 AM tee time for the Palm course. The Palm has wide fairways, but a lot of sand and water. The roughs are thick with pine so if you do miss the fairway by much, you can kiss your ball goodbye and take a penalty stroke. I was matched in a foursome with a father and son from Savannah, GA and a guy from Buffalo, NY. Grace isn't a golfer (one might say I'm hardly one either!), so she slept in, then met Debbie and her 3-year-old, Allison, to go to Epcot for a little fun and, yes, shopping for Allison. Grace explained that's what having an "Auntie" Grace is all about. They ate lunch (a Mickey cheese pizza at Pasta Piazza Ristorante in Future World) and went swimming back at the Beach Club. I was finished around 3 PM and drove back to the Beach Club. Disney golf offers all Disney resort guests free cab service for the asking to their courses, but Grace said she wouldn't need the car and it was easier for me to just drive myself there.
SUGGESTION #9 - If you're playing golf and have a flexible schedule, call as soon as you can (60 days for resort guests, or 30 days for day guests) to see if there's a price break on green fees after a certain time of day.
After a shower and change, we hung around the resort before going to meet Carole, Tina, and Irene at Morocco. This restaurant meeting was how I first came to e-mail Carole. She had posted on the RADP newsgroup about this unique restaurant, and I had been looking for a different cuisine for us to try. Because her group's stay at the Beach Club overlapped ours we decided to meet for dinner. The earlier meet at Spoodles was planned later when she got that VIP IllumiNations pass.
Grace and I split a Jasmina's salad and a Vegetable Couscous. Couscous is small, round pasta dots. This was a great dinner, and we were completely stuffed. Incidentally, the restaurant manager told us they will be going to a family-style, pay-one-price dinner soon. We had planned to go to E-ticket night with the others, but I was wiped out from golfing during the heat of the day and knew I wouldn't be able to run around the Magic Kingdom until midnight, so we bowed out.
Instead, we leisurely walked around the World Showcase lagoon and took in the Maelstrom in Norway (skipped the movie) - a 7, China (skipped the tiresome movie - a 2), Italy, and Japan. We got a kaki-gori at Japan to try even though we were still full from dinner. I'd heard it was finely shaved ice, which sounded like the Sno-Balls available in New Orleans, as opposed to the crunchier Sno-Cones I've seen elsewhere. It was like a Sno-Ball although it didn't use the giant ice shaving machine invented in New Orleans for its use. Apparently they don't do the volume business of a typical New Orleans Sno-Ball stand. We got the rainbow flavor, which is a combination of all three flavors - tangerine, strawberry, and honeydew melon if I'm not mistaken. It was very cooling, but the flavors were rather subtle. We didn't even wait for IllumiNations to enjoy a slow walk back to the Beach Club and go to sleep early.
DAY SEVEN - Friday, May 21
Today was our day to explore the remaining Deluxe resorts. We started out at the Polynesian, which we had only seen at night. After an unsuccessful search at the Lost & Found in the Magic Kingdom Kennel Club for Grace's lost earring (Mark had said this was where all found items would be sent), we headed over to the Poly. We had breakfast at the Kona Café because I wanted to try the Tonga Toast. It's sort of like a hunk of bread about four slices thick, but hollowed out, stuffed with bananas, resealed, and made into French Toast. It's really delicious once you scrape off the three or four pounds of sugar coating it. I also had a tropical juice mixture called Lilikoi juice made up of orange, passion, and guava. Grace had Kona coffee (naturally), poached eggs, and regular toast, but, of course, we shared our meals.
We walked through a couple of buildings and decided the Polynesian, like the Wilderness Lodge, would be a good alternative to staying at an Epcot resort. It had quite a bit of activity and seemed like a fun place. We then monorailed it over to the Grand Floridian. It was, of course, very nice, but seemed almost too sterile. The pool activity seemed fun and the beach was very nice. In fact, it has the best beach of any resort anywhere. Overall, it's a beautiful place to stay, but it's not number one on our list.
It felt strange taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and not exiting, but on we went to the Contemporary. Before the Grand Floridian was built, the Contemporary had the most expensive standard rooms in WDW. The lobby is magnificent with the monorail going through it, but staying in the wings didn't appear to be anything special. The rooms were very large as we saw one being prepared by housekeeping, but not much different from staying at a nice Hilton or Hyatt. I must admit that it thankfully didn't have the businesslike atmosphere of the Swan or Dolphin, though. We thought the pool area was nothing special. The watercraft for rent appeared to be much zippier than those we'd seen elsewhere. The tennis center was also huge for racketheads. Chef Mickey's seemed to be a lot of fun at the Character breakfast we saw, and the California Grill is spectacular. Still, I think we'd pass on the Contemporary unless we were staying in the tower.
After monorailing it back to the Polynesian, we returned to the Beach Club and set out for Epcot. Grace still hadn't gotten her mother a Flower and Garden Festival shirt yet, so we did a lot of walking through those exhibits. I wish she would have done this when I was golfing. Along the way we walked through the United Kingdom and saw the movie in Canada (a 9 that would be a 10 if it had the 5-screen France setup instead of the 9-screen lean-railed setup).
We found Ice Station Cool in Future World, but were disappointed to see that it was just a six soft-drink setup and not the 35 or so drink machine arrangement we had experienced at the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. We walked through the World Showcase looking through Germany, the USA (skipped the good, but overlong show that I give a 7), and went onto France's movie (a 9). This combines the comfort of a sit-down theater with a beautiful five-screen semi-surround performance. Five screens are the most one can see at once anyway. With nine, you're uncomfortable and always missing something happening behind you.
We walked back to the Beach Club pointing out our old room as we walked by ("right there behind the tree"). I went to Ship Shape, then met Grace at Stormalong Bay. Mark, Debbie, and the kids met us in the lobby later for dinner. We showed them the room, then decided to try for dinner at an Epcot restaurant. Grace loved Mexico, so we tried there first. Unfortunately, they were booked for the entire evening. Norway was next along the way, but the menu looked like 15 different types of marinated cold fish. China was next. They could seat all six of us after a brief wait. The Nine Dragons restaurant has gone to a dinner buffet that really isn't much different from your local Chinese restaurant. Nevertheless, we had plenty of Lo Mein Vegetables, Vegetable Stir-Fry, Egg Rolls, Egg Drop soup, salad, cookies (fortune and almond), and fresh fruit. We didn't stuff ourselves because we wanted to go to Beaches and Cream for dessert. I had a coffee ice cream cone and Grace had a vanilla malt with an added scoop of chocolate ice cream. We made plans to meet the others the next day at Downtown Disney.
DAY EIGHT - Saturday, 22 May
Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear me-e, Happy Birthday to me! Mickey got us up as usual with his wake-up call. Shortly thereafter, RADP friend Carole, Tina, and Irene called me up to sing Happy Birthday to me over the phone! I went down to Ship Shape. As I was leaving, the CM there, Nicole, stopped me and sang Happy Birthday to me in Greek! Apparently, when I went down there, Grace called her to see if she could get one of the characters from the Cape May Buffet in the Beach Club to go see me in Ship Shape, which is just outside Cape May next to Stormalong Bay. Nicole told her the characters weren't allowed near the pool area, but she volunteered to sing me Happy Birthday in Greek. Thank you Grace and Nicole!
Grace decided we should celebrate with a room service breakfast. I had already eaten cereal, but I said I'd order something for her. She got a poached egg, toast, and a pot of coffee. The waiter put the tray in our room and left. I didn't pay any attention to it because I wasn't eating and Grace was in the shower. When she got out, she discovered they didn't bring the pot of coffee! What is this with the Beach Club not wanting Grace to have coffee? Another call to room service got us the coffee delivered quickly.
We met Mark, Debbie, and the kids at Downtown Disney with the hopes of replacing Grace's lost gold earring. The CM told her if she called back later in the week when we were home, her manager might be able to sell her just one, so we didn't buy the pair as we had intended to do. Still, we did a little more damage there and at Team Mickey's. We lunched at Wolfgang Puck's (cheese pizza for me and a grilled cheese sandwich for Grace) as we had the week before, and again followed it up at Ghiradelli's ice cream parlor. Grace had the three waitresses sing me Happy Birthday and give me a balloon, which I gave to Allison.
We spent the afternoon at DisneyQuest. It was OK, but not really worth it. They had a good bumper car ride, some new arcade games, some old arcade games, some good interactive riding/driving games, and a virtual reality game. Most required some waiting, but not too much. Overall, I'd still rank it behind a place like "Dave and Busters" because it didn't have batting and golf simulators, or other more adult games like pool tables and darts, but it was similar to that. We checked out the Virgin Record Store (nothing we don't have back home) and made a note to go to Cirque du Soleil next time. We especially like the idea of Cirque du Soleil having a circus show without any animals for trainers to abuse.
We went back to the Beach Club to rest and change for dinner because we were going to the California Grill high atop the Contemporary. Because we had already seen SpectroMagic twice this trip, I didn't feel the need to see its last ever performance at WDW. Instead, I wanted to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the California Grill. The menu there changes every 10 days, so I don't know if what we had stays there or not. For appetizers, Grace had Asparagus Soup with Lemon Pepper Puffs and I had Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with Shiitake Mushrooms, Basil and Sundried Tomatoes. For a main course, Grace had Castroville Artichoke and Mushroom Gratin Baked in an Iron Skillet. I had Spring Market Vegetable Risotto with a Spicy Poblano Chili Relleno and Porcini Nectar. It was all excellent.
As it turned out, they didn't pipe the Fantasy in the Sky music in and dim the lights here as they did at O'Hana's, but the 15th floor observation deck outside the restaurant was open and had the soundtrack piped in there. It was an interesting perspective to see just how far behind the castle the fireworks were. I videotaped that after dinner. While I was outside, Grace informed the waiter of my birthday. Because of the subdued atmosphere of the restaurant, they don't sing nor do any antics. They did give me a complimentary Cappuccino Quake dessert with a candle in it, though. This was quite a memorable birthday.
DAY NINE - Sunday, 23 May
We slept late, then went to Stormalong Bay for a last swim. We packed our bags and brought them out to the car. We had express checkout so we didn't even have to stop at the front desk. We drove over to Mark's place in Celebration. After seeing where he lived, he took us to the Season's Café in the hospital/gym for lunch. Because Seventh Day Adventists run this hospital, it's completely meatless. I had a great Spinach Lasagna that was very inexpensive. They had a free health fair screening so Grace got checked out. Mark took me to the huge workout facility with their computerized weight machines. You put your ID card in each machine and it brings up your routine, past performance, goals for each set and workout, and plots it against your long-term goals. Wow! Earlier at his place, he had explained how Matthew's homework assignments from the school there are downloaded over Celebration's internal internet (intranet?) connection. They also don't have grades as much as they have goals for the students to meet. Celebration is certainly a town of the future, but living there also means paying exorbitant prices for very small lots.
Oh well, it was time to say goodbye to our friends, to Celebration, to Disney, to Orlando, to Florida... well, you get the picture. We'd be seeing our friends when they come back to New Orleans in July, and we planned to return in November with friends. Because it will be our friends' first time at WDW, we were happy to have a relaxing, laid back vacation this trip. We know the next one will be more frenetic. Avis's check-in was easy, the flight home in our miniature plane was gentle, and we were glad to see that our son, our home, and our pets each were more or less in one piece.
SUGGESTIONS SUMMARIZED
Airplanes save valuable vacation time and stress over driving, and that's worth some amount of money.
Rent a car if you're driving out of the World or will be resort hopping. You can save money with any offsite rental company, but, like choosing flying over driving, consider the cost of convenience and stress relief with an in-terminal rental company.
Kids will be just as happy at the All-Star hotels as any Deluxe resorts, but if you do choose to take the kids to Deluxe accommodations, consider the Magic Kingdom resorts first. You'll appreciate the convenience when they're all Buzz Lightyear'd out. On the other hand, for a romantic getaway consider the Wilderness Lodge (for seclusion) or the Epcot resorts (if Epcot or MGM is your favorite park) first, although we can't fault the Magic Kingdom resorts as an intimate home, either.
Disney cancels scheduled outdoor events in bad weather so plan on seeing the first of two possible scheduled events when you can.
Divide each day into mornings, afternoons, evenings and nights. Leave either the morning or the afternoon open for relaxing time away from the parks. During Daylight Savings Time, the evenings are almost as good as the mornings.
Video everything you want EXCEPT the rides and attractions themselves. That will keep them fresh for the next time you visit.
For still photos, don't use flash in any attraction, get close to your subject, and take more than one photo in slightly different ways at good locations.
On the Buzz Lightyear ride, keep your trigger held in and start firing on the blank wall right away to check your aim. Aim for the moving and farther away targets to maximize your score.
If you're playing golf and have a flexible schedule, call as soon as you can (60 days ahead for resort guests, or 30 days ahead for day guests) to see if there's a price break on green fees after a certain time of day.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Donald Blum
dsharp88@hotmail.com
Dates - Saturday, May 15 to Sunday, May 23.
Travel Method - Delta Airlines (by Comair), Rental Car (by Avis)
Resort: BCR
Accommodations: Standard Room - Water view
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience: Veteran
Cast of Characters: Donald (38 turning 39 on the trip, your narrator for the adventure), and wife, Grace (just turned 43 four days before). Met friends Mark (38), Debbie (42), Matthew (13, and Donald's wonderful godson) and Allison (almost 3, and Grace's beautiful goddaughter). Mark is a Disney Cast Member (computer programmer) who recently moved from New Orleans to Celebration, and would like me (not a computer programmer) to do the same! Also met RADP (rec.arts.disney.parks newsgroup) friend, Carole, and her friends, Irene and Tina (ages withheld out of self-preservation).
This was such a different trip than any we'd been on before:
Past - We'd gone four years in a row on two annual passports.
Present - haven't been since 1996.
Past - Drove from New Orleans on Friday after work/school stopping halfway in Tallahassee, then driving the rest of the way Saturday morning.
Present - Flying Saturday morning, then renting a car.
Past - Offsite accommodations.
Present - Beach Club Resort.
Past - caravanning it with Mark and Debbie, or at least meeting them at the same hotel or condo.
Present - seeing Mark and Debbie while we're there, but not hanging out with them all the time (they're not on vacation!).
Past - going with son, Alan, now 18 and a graduating high school senior.
Present - grownups only!
Past - Commando style.
Present - Relaxed style. No kidding, really! I've even scheduled time each day to not have to follow a schedule! How's that for relaxed? :-) Seriously, we know where we'll likely start each day and have a few Disney scheduled events in mind to see, but much of this trip we're playing by ear.
This trip was originally planned for September 1998 but cancelled due to a) my beginning law school at night, and b) my mother's cancer reoccurring. Unfortunately, my mother lost to cancer, and I was forced to withdraw from law school after the fall semester to help settle things. Still, we wanted to get our lives back in order and celebrate our 10th anniversary that we didn't get to do last year. With both of our birthdays falling in May and Grace finishing her final exams (she's a junior in Education) the weekend before this trip, this was the best time to go.
The Airline Tickets - After it was decided to fly (we'll drive when we go back with friends in November), we found that for the days and departure times we wanted for a non-stop flight, Delta had the best rates at $132 each non-stop. MAGIC! Grace was a little nervous about it being only a 50-seater, but she'd be OK.
SUGGESTION #1 - Airplanes save valuable vacation time (figure in how much that is worth), the stress of driving (figure in how much that is worth), and won't cost that much more if you're paying for only two or three people.
The Car Rental - Getting a rental car was a no-brainer for us because we didn't want to bother our friends to pick us up, and we wanted the flexibility to come and go as we pleased. Touring the resorts as we planned to do also requires a car. Disney Transportation is very efficient except when traveling between resorts (not counting those linked by monorail). We'd definitely be going to the Character Warehouse (and now the newer Character Premiere) in Orlando as we always do. Simple breakfast items were a must for the room so a stop at Publix or Gooding's would be required. Having driven in Orlando on four previous long trips, I knew my way around. I was afraid to use a rental company I hadn't heard of, so I stuck to the big names. Alamo had the best rates (about $150 promotional rate for nine days in a compact car), but I didn't like that it was offsite of the airport terminal. When I got a discount a couple of weeks later at Avis, an in-terminal site, for just $14 more I took it. MAGIC! Now we wouldn't have to worry about shuttling offsite and could just get right into our trip.
SUGGESTION #2 - If you can get a discount in-terminal that approaches an offsite location, you'll save more stress and valuable vacation time. If you're just after saving money, don't worry about the big name rental companies, and get a car from any offsite rental company. It can save significant dollars over the more well known names.
The Resort - The Yacht and Beach Club have always been our dream hotels. They're right in the middle of everything, and walking distance from our favorite park, Epcot. The water park, Stormalong Bay, is unparalleled at any Disney resort. Unlike the Grand Floridian, the luxury and class are understated, but still evident. Without appearing stuffy, they're still rich-looking and have a certain, well, maturity about them. Children are, of course, welcome, but would probably be just as happy at any other Disney resort. With an Annual Passholder rate, the Beach Club was just what we wanted at a discounted price. Because of the location, it beat out the Polynesian (available at the same price) for us hands down. MAGIC!
SUGGESTION #3 - If you're traveling with younger children but still want the deluxe accommodations that will please you (the kids won't care), consider one of the three monorail resorts by the Magic Kingdom first. That will almost certainly be their favorite park, it's MUCH easier to come and go at those than any other resorts, and you'll still have the amenities you want. With older kids who may not need the ease of returning to the hotel as much as the younger ones, also consider the Wilderness Lodge. A co-worker of mine who has a 4-year-old girl took the family to the Boardwalk Inn, another Epcot Deluxe resort, but hated the Epcot location because they still had to walk quite a distance through the park to get back in the afternoon to rest. Coming and going weren't as easy as they'd hoped. Another co-worker and his son stayed at the All-Star Sports and had an easy time utilizing the busses. If the kids aren't into Epcot's multi-cultural edutainment, enjoying the cuisine of other nations, or club hopping at the Boardwalk, you won't see much advantage to staying at the Epcot resorts. If luxurious amenities aren't your goal for the trip, you'll probably be just as happy (and a lot richer) staying at one of the All-Star hotels. Bus transportation at the All-Stars is also better than at any other hotel, including the Deluxes. The kids will be just as happy there. I don't see much advantage for kids in staying at any of the Moderate hotels except perhaps for older kids utilizing the water activities available at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Is having a big water slide on the pool worth $50 per night? Adults can also find a somewhat more relaxing atmosphere at the Moderates, particularly Dixie Landings and Port Orleans. Keep in mind, though, that these used to be the budget hotels of WDW. When the All-Stars were built the prices of the Moderates (especially) and Deluxes (somewhat) shot up. That's where the REAL money of the All-Star hotels is made.
Disney's Schedule - As I said earlier, all I planned this trip were a few events Disney has running, such as the last SpectroMagic parade ever on Saturday, May 22. But what if it rains that night? That means Friday's parade is the last ever. So which did I plan to see, Friday or Saturday? Friday, of course. I wanted to play golf while I was there. Because I wanted to see the parks before I golfed, I figured on playing either Thursday morning or Friday afternoon. Which one did I shoot for? Thursday. I wanted to see Fantasmic on a night I wasn't planning to see SpectroMagic or Illuminations. That left Wednesday or Thursday. So which did I plan on? Wednesday.
SUGGESTION #4 - Always have two dates/times allowed for anything you want to see that Disney has scheduled and can be rained out, and plan on going to the first one. That way, if they cancel it, you've got a back-up plan.
Our Schedule - Except for meeting with friends and the above Disney events, I was flexible. We wanted to avoid early morning wake-up calls so Early Entry surprise mornings were out. That meant simply avoiding those parks on their early entry days.
SUGGESTION #5 - If you plan out your days, divide each day into four parts - mornings, afternoons, evenings, and nights. Keep in mind the sun is out during Daylight Savings Time for all parts except the nights. That leaves lots to do in the evenings. This is important because you should never plan to do anything in a morning and an afternoon in the same day. One should be left open to relax. Either sleep late and get an easy start later in the day, or start early and go back to the hotel to relax in the afternoon. Most people get an early start and stay throughout the afternoon. These people are very tired by the time the evening rolls around. Not only are the wiser people fresh in the evening, but they also have a less-crowded park to deal with because the morning/afternoon people were too tired to stay.
Videography/Photography - I'll bet this one surprises you, but the fact is it's not that much fun to watch the videos of rides after you get home from your trip. On our last trip, I knew we weren't going back for awhile so I wanted to preserve a lot of the rides on tape so I could relive it. That was a big mistake for several reasons. 1) Auto focus won't work if it's dark so you'll have to do it manually. Doing all the work means you're not enjoying the attraction as much because you have to watch the ride through a viewfinder. I didn't go to Disney World to watch it on a small monitor through an eyepiece! 2) A small light on top of my camcorder would have been disturbing to other guests if I hadn't kept something (like my hand) over it. 3) It's MUCH more fun to keep the memories until you go back so the attractions are fresh when you're there in person. "Oh, I'd forgotten about that part." How fun is it to ride Spaceship Earth if you've seen it on tape so much that you can recite the narration?
SUGGESTION #6 - Whenever we watch videos of our trip we skip over the rides and enjoy simpler moments. 1) Walking between attractions. "Look at the ducks!" "Check out that bush shaped like a dinosaur!" "See that little girl over there? She's dancing and singing out of the pure joy of being with her family on Main St." 2) Conversations amongst ourselves such as in the pastry shop in France. "You can have that pastry only if you can pronounce it!" (one of those long names that seemed to only have vowels) 3) Manatees in The Living Seas. They're not pre-programmed Audio-Animatronics! 4) Anything that will be closed soon after. I do feel fortunate to have Horizons and the SpectroMagic parade on tape.
SUGGESTION #7 - For still photography - 1) DON'T USE FLASH in an attraction. Not only is it against the rules and disturbing to everyone else, but it's probably only good for 10-12 feet. That decorated and painted wall just 30 feet away is going to end up just as black in your picture as if you hadn't used a flash at all. You'll get a nice picture of the back of people's heads in the three rows ahead of you, though. 2) Get CLOSE to your subject. Take photos of your group from about the waist up. Don't include their feet AND all of the castle behind them or you won't even know who the people are. 3) Don't skimp on film. So what if you waste two pictures to get the one you want. Take different angles and/or poses if it's a picturesque location. "Look at me. Now look at each other. Now look past me over at Splash Mountain." Simple.
DAY ONE - Saturday, 15 May
Grace isn't the easiest flier and this was just a 50-seat commuter jet, but I told her it wouldn't be so bad. I let her know the plane was very safe - a Boeing 7. Not 747, just 7. Don't even notice that the pilot has on goggles and a helmet, I said. And so what if in-flight movie is silent, everything will be fine as long as they issue us the same parachutes the flight attendants are wearing! OK, so maybe I exaggerated a little...
The flight was supposed to land at 10:53 AM, but here we were just pulling into the gate and it was already 11:15. I was just hoping this wouldn't throw off our entire day!
Anyway, after an uneventful flight, we took the monorail at the airport to get our luggage and rental car. I remember thinking it was a good thing we made rental arrangements because, as you know, the monorail doesn't go to the Beach Club.
We waited at the carousel for our suitcases to come down. How do you like that? Here I'm the one going to Disney World, and yet my bags got to ride a carousel before I did.
As I said, I'm very familiar with Orlando and knew exactly how to get to the Beach Club from the airport. You know, there's nothing quite like seeing purple signs to know you're in Disney World. Our room wasn't ready so we headed over to Epcot. On our last trip we had a French Onion soup in France on a cool night that really hit the spot, so we headed over there once again. After activating our Annual Passports at the International Gateway, we headed over to the Chefs de France. We were afraid we wouldn't get into that popular lunch spot at 1 PM without Priority Seatings, but we were seated right away. This would be an indication of things to come as crowds were bearable all week. It helped that we were only a party of two.
We saved room for dessert and headed straight for Beaches and Cream, the ice cream parlor in the YC/BC next to Stormalong Bay, for a couple of cones. Grace had the flavor of the month, Chocolate Chip, while I had the Coffee flavor. We agreed the Coffee was better.
Next, we walked all through the Beach Club and Yacht Club to see what was where. The front desk people said our room would be ready between 3 and 3:30. It was 2:30 so we waited in the lobby. We didn't want to go far because we wanted to get right to our room as soon as it was ready. They gave me a pager to let me know when we could move in. Unfortunately, they didn't page us until 4:30. We had long since looked thorough the gift shop and walked around the grounds. I had a bad half-hour nap on a chair in the lobby. You know, the kind where you don't really sleep. You just stay groggy. It didn't seem to matter when we found out we had a complimentary upgrade to a Junior Suite (hooray!) and got the King bed we'd requested rather than the two Queens most of the rooms had. We were paying for a regular water view room, but this was a slightly bigger room on the 2nd floor that did overlook the water. Unfortunately, it overlooked it completely. What a lovely view we had of that tree growing in front of the window. To make matters worse, when we got to the room, it didn't have a King bed. It had the standard two Queens. Hmmmm.
That's okay. It was a really nice room, and it had a full balcony (most Beach Club rooms only have a step balcony unlike the Yacht Club rooms which all have full balconies). A quick call to the front desk indicated that no, we didn't get the King they said we had. No kidding. None would be available during the trip. Oh well, at least we could see the quiet pool off to the side. This would have been a magnificent room if we were solely looking for peace and quiet, but we preferred the activity and noise from Stormalong Bay if we could get it. The manager who had arranged this for us would be in the next day, so I decided to call then. It wasn't like we were slumming, for goodness sakes!
We drove into Kissimmee to get some groceries at Gooding's. It's right on the Splendid China entrance road off of Hwy. 192. We got coffee, tea, bottled water, cereal, milk, etc., then headed over to meet our friends, Mark, Debbie, and their 3-year-old, Allison, at the Wilderness Lodge (Their 13-year-old son, Matthew, was at a friend's that night). I had made 6:40 Priority Seatings at the Whispering Canyon Café for four people because they couldn't fit six (which turned out to be five) in until after 8 PM. And that was with me calling two weeks ahead of time, also. We hoped they would find a way to get us all in anyway. Except for a Grilled Portobello Mushroom plate, there wasn't much for me and Grace who don't eat meat. The others had no trouble eating the standard Fred Flintstone meal. The servers are funny here, and Grace wanted to play along so after the waitress carefully explained about each of the four dipping sauces, Grace asked for ketchup. The waitress told her to shut up!
Grace also bought Allison some candy. Grace explained that's what having an "Auntie" Grace is all about. (This won't be the last time you come across that last sentence in this trip report.)
We headed over to the Magic Kingdom from the Wilderness Lodge by boat. It's much more fun than a bus, and it's very scenic going by the Contemporary at night. The Magic Kingdom was open until 12 M so we'd have time to do whatever we felt like.
When we entered, the SpectroMagic parade was going by so we caught the second half of that. With Allison in tow, we went to her favorite ride - Buzz Lightyear. That was the only new attraction in the Magic Kingdom we hadn't ridden before, so I was happy with that. I learned two good hints for this ride.
SUGGESTION #8 - Before you enter the first room with targets, start shooting at the wall with your trigger held in. The light will rapid-fire and you can judge where your little red dot is landing. Also, the far away and moving targets are worth more points than the close, stationary ones. That seems logical, but it's not written anywhere. Give that ride a 9.
After that, Allison wanted to ride the Wedway People Mover (sorry, I just can't seem to call it by its unexplainably changed name, the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority). Grace bought Allison a Buzz Lightyear toy. Grace explained that's what having an "Auntie" Grace is all about. By the way, Allison would be turning three years old a week after we left so all of this wasn't so out of the ordinary.
Walking back, Allison wanted to ride the Carousel, so she and Debbie went on it while we waited. Oh well, we planned to be back to the Magic Kingdom later anyway. On the way out, we caught the 11 PM SpectroMagic parade. Boy, I love this parade - a definite 10. Is it wrong to admit it always makes me teary-eyed? Too bad it will be gone after this week.
After our breezy boat ride back to the Wilderness Lodge, we drove back to the Beach Club.
DAY TWO - Sunday, 16 May
Today was to be our main souvenir shopping day, but it had a rocky start. I worked out at the small, but quaint Ship Shape Health Club while Grace slept in. Grace, you see, cannot start any day without a full load of caffeine in her. The Beach Club no longer has coffee makers in the rooms. No problem, the lobby has free coffee, so we'll get some on the way out. But, Doh!, they stopped serving it at 9. Oh well, the Cape May Buffet is still serving breakfast. Surely, we can buy a cup there. Wrong. They won't sell a cup of coffee there, just character breakfast buffets. Try Beaches and Cream, they said. Funny, but Beaches and Cream had the door locked. It seems they close between 10:30 (it was 10:31, honest) and 11 AM to close up from breakfast and get ready for lunch.
Do you know how someone acts when they can't get their morning caffeine? It's not a pleasant sight. But off we went for Orlando and the Character Warehouse anyway. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts on International Drive, but Grace said they must have reused the same coffee grounds from an earlier pot because the coffee was like water. We drove on and stopped again when we came to a Starbucks. Success! A good cup of java and Grace had finally arisen from her nocturnal abyss!
We looked around at the Character Warehouse, but did our purchasing at the hard-to-find Character Premiere across the street as they had pretty much the same items. Then, it was onto Downtown Disney where we met Mark, Debbie, Matthew, and Allison. We did quite a bit of damage (to our budget, I mean) at the World of Disney and Team Mickey's.
Lunch was a great meatless pasta dish at Wolfgang Puck's Express. Grace had the kids meal of Grilled Cheese Sandwich (her favorite) and Fries. Around 5 PM, we headed back to our room so we could rest and get ready for dinner at O'Hana's in the Polynesian.
Two calls to the front desk and a call back from the manager revealed we could get a king-size bed in a room overlooking Stormalong Bay Tuesday afternoon. Great! He said it wasn't a Junior Suite, but we truly didn't care about that!
Dinner at O'Hana's was incredible. The Polynesian also seemed to be bustling with activity. We liked this place as much as the Beach Club. Grace and I had the vegetarian plate, which was fantastic. Imagine polynesian marinated vegetables grilled over an open flame with the softest rice in the world sprinkled with soy sauce. When the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom started, the lights dimmed, the sound was piped in and we saw them through the giant windows on that side of the restaurant. We walked along the small Polynesian Beach after dinner, then drove back to the Beach Club and strolled all around Stormalong Bay to the farthest edge of the Yacht Club before heading to bed. After the coffee problem, this was a pretty good day.
DAY THREE - Monday, 17 May
I brought Grace a cup of coffee from the lobby so we could get ready for the 8:30 opening at the Animal Kingdom. We were really looking forward to this day because we're such animal lovers and had never been to this theme park.
We drove because the only park worth taking the bus to from the Beach Club is the Magic Kingdom. We parked in Unicorn 26, and took the tram in. What a unique and different kind of park Animal Kingdom is. We hit the 3-D Bug movie in the awesome tree of life and found it cute, but not as much fun as the similar Honey, I Shrunk the Audience in Epcot. Give it a 7. Second, we went to Countdown to Extinction, which probably doesn't go faster than 10 miles per hour, but throws you about seemingly unnecessarily because much of the ride is dark. Give it a 5. We headed back to Africa and rode the Kilimanjaro Safari (after the longest wait of the week - 40 minutes). The driver pointed out one gazelle right next to our vehicle who chose that time to squat and do what gazelles do after eating, so I commented out loud to no one in particular, "Boy, they sure go for realism with these Audio-Animatronic animals, don't they?" Grace laughingly elbowed me in a can't-I-take-you-anywhere kind of way. It's an interesting way of seeing animals in the wild, but they really don't need the poacher storyline. Still, a definite 10. We ate lunch at Tusker House. I got a Roasted Veggie Sandwich with Tabouli and Grace got a Kids Meal Mac 'n Cheese. I never realized so many Kids Meals were meatless. And they're not really small, either. We did some walkthrough exhibits, but skipped the Get-Soaked-River-Raft ride in Asia. Who needs a ride in which you're guaranteed to get drenched? And it's hardly an original concept. The Lion King show was really outstanding - perhaps the best live show in any theme park - another 10.
Overall, the Animal Kingdom was like a nice zoo, perhaps even a zoo of the future. But New Orleans already has a world-class zoo and a world-class aquarium, so this didn't seem all that special. Don't get me wrong. It's fun, but it's just not that special a theme park. Perhaps if they hadn't cut back the budget on the original plan of this park, it might have been better and had more attractions. We may go back every other trip or so, but we won't be planning whole days around it.
Back at the Beach Club, we rested, I worked out at Ship Shape, and we went to Stormalong Bay. Here's where Grace discovered she lost one of the gold Mickey Mouse earrings she had just gotten the day before at World of Disney. We searched all around the lounge chair she was lying on (she hadn't gone in the water when she discovered it missing), all over the hotel room, and all in the car, but it was nowhere to be found. We think it may have come off at Countdown to Extinction earlier in the day, but we're not certain.
By this time, we decided to walk over to the Boardwalk and check out the hotels, restaurants, clubs, and all. It was very nice, but we still liked the Beach Club more because it was just a little closer to Epcot. It was getting late so we decided to eat a quick dinner back at Beaches and Cream. We got a couple of Veggie Burgers with cheese and ice cream cones before heading back to the room.
DAY FOUR - Tuesday, 18 May
We decided to sleep in today. I went down to Ship Shape and brought Grace a coffee back from the lobby. We had never taken the boat to MGM, but decided to do so because we weren't in a hurry. It's a good thing, too, because this is one of the slowest boats in the world. It's the same kind of boat that's used in the World Showcase lagoon at Epcot. What really slows it up is that the Yacht and Beach Club is the middle of three stops (the first being the Swan/Dolphin when going and the Boardwalk when returning) along the way. Why don't they use the kind of boat used on the Wilderness Lodge - Magic Kingdom run?
At MGM, we really had no game plan as we had done most of everything in the past. Remember, we knew we were returning in November commando-style with first-timers. So when we saw sign-ups at the front gate to see a taping of the Animal Planet program, Petsburgh, USA, we signed up for a 10:50 show. If you've never seen this show, you should know it is hosted by Brianne Leary, a woman who Grace and I believe to be the worst talk-show host in the history of television. She seems very nice, but can be alternately embarrassing (to herself), insulting (making fun of guests' accents comes to mind), or just plain stupid. However, the show books wonderful guests, very often Animal Kingdom animal handlers, any one of whom would do a better job of hosting than Leary. Grace told me not to boo her. I asked if I could just howl a bit. No, she said giving me that same can't-I-take-you-anywhere look from the day before. I assured her I'd be good. We were to see a segment about making dog biscuits that would be aired Nov. 19, 1999. This should be good because we have a Golden Retriever and three Miniature Dachshunds.
Actually, I don't know why they have a studio audience. They don't applaud or react much to anything going on. They're more quiet spectators than anything else. Perhaps they feel it's a way to generate interest in the show.
Anyway, Leary didn't let us down. During the second of two takes in which she and her guest were mixing the flour and ingredients with their hands, Leary said, seemingly out of nowhere, "You're from Canada, aren't you?" Surprised, her guest replied, "Uh, yes, I am." "Yeah, I could tell," Leary said before returning to the glop in her hands. HELLO, EARTH TO LEARY, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT??? I looked over at Grace and it was all we could do not to bust out laughing at the unnaturalness and inappropriateness of that comment. We left as soon as we could (along with most of the audience) after that.
We still had time before lunch to do one of our favorite rides - Star Tours (always a 10). Of course, exiting Star Tours into the gift shop was like being transported into the set for Star Wars 1 - The Phantom Menace, which would be opening in theaters the next day. Darth Maul lunchbox anyone? No, thanks.
Mama Melrose's was our lunch destination. We each got personal-size pizzas - mine with goat cheese and grilled veggies; Grace's with regular cheese and sliced red and yellow tomatoes. We probably should have ordered one and split it because they were pretty big. We were stuffed afterwards. We shared them and they were both very good.
We went to the Hunchback of Notre Dame show next, which was preceded by Matt the Juggler, who was outstanding. Although MUCH TOO LOUD, the Hunchback show is also very well done (give it a 6 that goes up to an 8 if you have earplugs), but to follow the plot you really need to have seen the movie first, which we had. In fact, Grace saw it at its world premiere in the Superdome with 60,000 other people! It's not as simple a story as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, which is another reason for its appeal. Figuring we'd be back to see more later, we took the very slow boat back to the Beach Club and hung out at Stormalong Bay. We had Priority Seatings at Spoodles on the Boardwalk that evening to meet RADP friend, Carole, and her traveling companions, Irene and Tina. We also met Mark, Debbie, and their kids so we had a fun table. Grace and I ate light because of our big pizza lunch.
After that, we followed Carole and friends to a roped-off VIP area behind the United Kingdom to watch IllumiNations. I don't know how she got this pass, but it was a great vantage point. Thanks, Carole! This is the first time we saw the re-vamped IllumiNations show kept from the 25th anniversary year, and, frankly, we were a little disappointed - giving it only a 7. It's shorter than the previous show, and has less activity with the nation's lights around the World Showcase lagoon. Still, it was a good ending to a surprisingly relaxing day.
DAY FIVE - Wednesday, 19 May
We went to Epcot for opening so we could get to Test Track before any lines formed. Even though we entered the International Gateway at the 9 AM opening, we still had a 15-minute wait by the time we had reached Test Track. We thought it was a fun ride, and not as hairy as we anticipated. Give it an 8. We went to Body Wars and got dermatopically purified! It doesn't hold up as well as Star Tours, but we give it an 8. We like Cranium Command a lot, too, but skipped it for now. We hadn't seen the new Universe of Energy, and wanted to see it before lunch. We waited about 10 minutes outside in the sun, and I was glad to have a Pocket Spa - a little, misty fan sprayer.
The new Universe of Energy is a definite improvement from before - a 7. We headed over to Mexico, and the relaxing boat ride (only a 4). This ride is due to be upgraded to El Rio del Tiempo 2.0 this summer, and will feature Donald Duck. Speaking of which, WDW as a whole needs a lot more Donald Duck! He's a major character and acts like a genuine person, with normal frustrations as opposed to the sweet and childlike Mickey and friends. I love the mouse, but Donald is real as well as lovable.
We had Priority Seatings in Mexico for lunch, and Grace declared this to be the best meal all week. We split a Soup Azteca (a cheese tortilla soup) from the regular menu and the Plato Combination from the vegetarian menu. We stopped at Innoventions and sent Alan, our high school graduating son, an e-mail picture postcard.
Next up for us was The Living Seas, to see our friends - the manatees. We discreetly asked a CM if we could skip the film as I laughingly explained, "And it rained, and it rained, and it rained." In case you don't know, that's a line from the film, which is worth seeing once or twice, but is too long to see every time you go. Following our trip through the Hydrolator, we were the only people getting on the ride vehicles. I explained to the CM operating the vehicles that we skipped the film, and SHE said, "And it rained, and it rained, and it rained." HA!
After 20 minutes or so with the manatees and talking to their caretaker, we looked around at some other exhibits, before heading over to the Land. We did the featured Living With the Land boat ride, which is about a 7, but the Circle of Life film there is almost as entertaining. However, we still miss Kitchen Kabaret, which was replaced by the inferior Food Rocks. Kitchen Kabaret had original music in different styles whereas Food Rocks just uses oldie rock and roll songs with changed food lyrics.
Then we did something we've never done on any trip to WDW before. We went back to our room in the afternoon and took a nap. Afterwards, we felt so laid back that we didn't even mind taking the very slow boat back to MGM. We had dinner at the 50's Prime Time, one of our favorite restaurants. I had a pasta dish and a chocolate shake. Grace couldn't find anything on the menu she wanted to have. The waiter asked her to tell him what she'd like and the cook would do it for her. She figured she should ask for something simple, so she asked for a Grilled Cheese sandwich with tomato and a pickle. He said no problem, and delivered a triple-decker Grilled Cheese sandwich with huge slices of tomato and a giant pickle. It was really done well for her. Our server was OK, but not as funny as what we've had in the past. Still, we were glad not to get the girl serving at the next group of tables. She had the usual "no elbows on the table" comments, but said it rather ugly and with a stern face. She didn't smile one time. I don't think her diners enjoyed their meals as much as most. After eating at three "fun" restaurants this trip, we can say Whispering Canyon had the most boisterous fun, but also had the worst food. O'Hana's had the best overall atmosphere (during the fireworks) and food, but was more subdued than the others. The 50's Prime Time was a good combination of all three.
After dinner, we had time to take in the Great Movie Ride before going to Fantasmic's 9:30 show. It had an unexpectedly long wait. We stood through three playings of the movie trailers in the queue. The finale has added one or two recent film clips. I noticed Disney's Armageddon was there. I think they also added a clip from Independence Day. I know they made a lot of money at the box office, but somehow those two movies just don't belong with other classics like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Patton, Amadeus, etc.
The wait was so long for The Great Movie Ride that we decided not to chance anything else on the hopes of getting a seat for Fantasmic. Unfortunately, we were too late, and the 50's Prime Time doesn't participate in the Dining/Fantasmic plan. Only Mama Melrose's and The Hollywood Brown Derby offer dinner and guaranteed Fantasmic seats. When we were finally let in on the hill at the top of the bleachers, Grace and I kept walking all the way to the end and down the aisle to luckily find a low row that still had two seats on the end. It's true that there's not a bad seat at Disney. We thought our view was just fine. The show was fun, but I wasn't wowed like I thought I'd be. Be warned that the water sprayers on which the projections are shown get the audience damp, especially those people seated down low. I still give it a solid 7. The park was closed after the show. The very slow boats apparently had a mechanical breakdown, so the wait was a bit longer than usual to get back to the Beach Club.
DAY SIX - Thursday, 20 May
I had been told that at this time of year, the golf courses wouldn't be full so I wouldn't need to get tee times far in advance. But two weeks before the trip, Disney announced green fees were cut in half ($45 instead of $90) for those starting after 10 AM. I had heard the half-price cut-off time was 3 PM in the past, so this was a good deal. I called when I heard about it and got a 10:12 AM tee time for the Palm course. The Palm has wide fairways, but a lot of sand and water. The roughs are thick with pine so if you do miss the fairway by much, you can kiss your ball goodbye and take a penalty stroke. I was matched in a foursome with a father and son from Savannah, GA and a guy from Buffalo, NY. Grace isn't a golfer (one might say I'm hardly one either!), so she slept in, then met Debbie and her 3-year-old, Allison, to go to Epcot for a little fun and, yes, shopping for Allison. Grace explained that's what having an "Auntie" Grace is all about. They ate lunch (a Mickey cheese pizza at Pasta Piazza Ristorante in Future World) and went swimming back at the Beach Club. I was finished around 3 PM and drove back to the Beach Club. Disney golf offers all Disney resort guests free cab service for the asking to their courses, but Grace said she wouldn't need the car and it was easier for me to just drive myself there.
SUGGESTION #9 - If you're playing golf and have a flexible schedule, call as soon as you can (60 days for resort guests, or 30 days for day guests) to see if there's a price break on green fees after a certain time of day.
After a shower and change, we hung around the resort before going to meet Carole, Tina, and Irene at Morocco. This restaurant meeting was how I first came to e-mail Carole. She had posted on the RADP newsgroup about this unique restaurant, and I had been looking for a different cuisine for us to try. Because her group's stay at the Beach Club overlapped ours we decided to meet for dinner. The earlier meet at Spoodles was planned later when she got that VIP IllumiNations pass.
Grace and I split a Jasmina's salad and a Vegetable Couscous. Couscous is small, round pasta dots. This was a great dinner, and we were completely stuffed. Incidentally, the restaurant manager told us they will be going to a family-style, pay-one-price dinner soon. We had planned to go to E-ticket night with the others, but I was wiped out from golfing during the heat of the day and knew I wouldn't be able to run around the Magic Kingdom until midnight, so we bowed out.
Instead, we leisurely walked around the World Showcase lagoon and took in the Maelstrom in Norway (skipped the movie) - a 7, China (skipped the tiresome movie - a 2), Italy, and Japan. We got a kaki-gori at Japan to try even though we were still full from dinner. I'd heard it was finely shaved ice, which sounded like the Sno-Balls available in New Orleans, as opposed to the crunchier Sno-Cones I've seen elsewhere. It was like a Sno-Ball although it didn't use the giant ice shaving machine invented in New Orleans for its use. Apparently they don't do the volume business of a typical New Orleans Sno-Ball stand. We got the rainbow flavor, which is a combination of all three flavors - tangerine, strawberry, and honeydew melon if I'm not mistaken. It was very cooling, but the flavors were rather subtle. We didn't even wait for IllumiNations to enjoy a slow walk back to the Beach Club and go to sleep early.
DAY SEVEN - Friday, May 21
Today was our day to explore the remaining Deluxe resorts. We started out at the Polynesian, which we had only seen at night. After an unsuccessful search at the Lost & Found in the Magic Kingdom Kennel Club for Grace's lost earring (Mark had said this was where all found items would be sent), we headed over to the Poly. We had breakfast at the Kona Café because I wanted to try the Tonga Toast. It's sort of like a hunk of bread about four slices thick, but hollowed out, stuffed with bananas, resealed, and made into French Toast. It's really delicious once you scrape off the three or four pounds of sugar coating it. I also had a tropical juice mixture called Lilikoi juice made up of orange, passion, and guava. Grace had Kona coffee (naturally), poached eggs, and regular toast, but, of course, we shared our meals.
We walked through a couple of buildings and decided the Polynesian, like the Wilderness Lodge, would be a good alternative to staying at an Epcot resort. It had quite a bit of activity and seemed like a fun place. We then monorailed it over to the Grand Floridian. It was, of course, very nice, but seemed almost too sterile. The pool activity seemed fun and the beach was very nice. In fact, it has the best beach of any resort anywhere. Overall, it's a beautiful place to stay, but it's not number one on our list.
It felt strange taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and not exiting, but on we went to the Contemporary. Before the Grand Floridian was built, the Contemporary had the most expensive standard rooms in WDW. The lobby is magnificent with the monorail going through it, but staying in the wings didn't appear to be anything special. The rooms were very large as we saw one being prepared by housekeeping, but not much different from staying at a nice Hilton or Hyatt. I must admit that it thankfully didn't have the businesslike atmosphere of the Swan or Dolphin, though. We thought the pool area was nothing special. The watercraft for rent appeared to be much zippier than those we'd seen elsewhere. The tennis center was also huge for racketheads. Chef Mickey's seemed to be a lot of fun at the Character breakfast we saw, and the California Grill is spectacular. Still, I think we'd pass on the Contemporary unless we were staying in the tower.
After monorailing it back to the Polynesian, we returned to the Beach Club and set out for Epcot. Grace still hadn't gotten her mother a Flower and Garden Festival shirt yet, so we did a lot of walking through those exhibits. I wish she would have done this when I was golfing. Along the way we walked through the United Kingdom and saw the movie in Canada (a 9 that would be a 10 if it had the 5-screen France setup instead of the 9-screen lean-railed setup).
We found Ice Station Cool in Future World, but were disappointed to see that it was just a six soft-drink setup and not the 35 or so drink machine arrangement we had experienced at the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. We walked through the World Showcase looking through Germany, the USA (skipped the good, but overlong show that I give a 7), and went onto France's movie (a 9). This combines the comfort of a sit-down theater with a beautiful five-screen semi-surround performance. Five screens are the most one can see at once anyway. With nine, you're uncomfortable and always missing something happening behind you.
We walked back to the Beach Club pointing out our old room as we walked by ("right there behind the tree"). I went to Ship Shape, then met Grace at Stormalong Bay. Mark, Debbie, and the kids met us in the lobby later for dinner. We showed them the room, then decided to try for dinner at an Epcot restaurant. Grace loved Mexico, so we tried there first. Unfortunately, they were booked for the entire evening. Norway was next along the way, but the menu looked like 15 different types of marinated cold fish. China was next. They could seat all six of us after a brief wait. The Nine Dragons restaurant has gone to a dinner buffet that really isn't much different from your local Chinese restaurant. Nevertheless, we had plenty of Lo Mein Vegetables, Vegetable Stir-Fry, Egg Rolls, Egg Drop soup, salad, cookies (fortune and almond), and fresh fruit. We didn't stuff ourselves because we wanted to go to Beaches and Cream for dessert. I had a coffee ice cream cone and Grace had a vanilla malt with an added scoop of chocolate ice cream. We made plans to meet the others the next day at Downtown Disney.
DAY EIGHT - Saturday, 22 May
Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear me-e, Happy Birthday to me! Mickey got us up as usual with his wake-up call. Shortly thereafter, RADP friend Carole, Tina, and Irene called me up to sing Happy Birthday to me over the phone! I went down to Ship Shape. As I was leaving, the CM there, Nicole, stopped me and sang Happy Birthday to me in Greek! Apparently, when I went down there, Grace called her to see if she could get one of the characters from the Cape May Buffet in the Beach Club to go see me in Ship Shape, which is just outside Cape May next to Stormalong Bay. Nicole told her the characters weren't allowed near the pool area, but she volunteered to sing me Happy Birthday in Greek. Thank you Grace and Nicole!
Grace decided we should celebrate with a room service breakfast. I had already eaten cereal, but I said I'd order something for her. She got a poached egg, toast, and a pot of coffee. The waiter put the tray in our room and left. I didn't pay any attention to it because I wasn't eating and Grace was in the shower. When she got out, she discovered they didn't bring the pot of coffee! What is this with the Beach Club not wanting Grace to have coffee? Another call to room service got us the coffee delivered quickly.
We met Mark, Debbie, and the kids at Downtown Disney with the hopes of replacing Grace's lost gold earring. The CM told her if she called back later in the week when we were home, her manager might be able to sell her just one, so we didn't buy the pair as we had intended to do. Still, we did a little more damage there and at Team Mickey's. We lunched at Wolfgang Puck's (cheese pizza for me and a grilled cheese sandwich for Grace) as we had the week before, and again followed it up at Ghiradelli's ice cream parlor. Grace had the three waitresses sing me Happy Birthday and give me a balloon, which I gave to Allison.
We spent the afternoon at DisneyQuest. It was OK, but not really worth it. They had a good bumper car ride, some new arcade games, some old arcade games, some good interactive riding/driving games, and a virtual reality game. Most required some waiting, but not too much. Overall, I'd still rank it behind a place like "Dave and Busters" because it didn't have batting and golf simulators, or other more adult games like pool tables and darts, but it was similar to that. We checked out the Virgin Record Store (nothing we don't have back home) and made a note to go to Cirque du Soleil next time. We especially like the idea of Cirque du Soleil having a circus show without any animals for trainers to abuse.
We went back to the Beach Club to rest and change for dinner because we were going to the California Grill high atop the Contemporary. Because we had already seen SpectroMagic twice this trip, I didn't feel the need to see its last ever performance at WDW. Instead, I wanted to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the California Grill. The menu there changes every 10 days, so I don't know if what we had stays there or not. For appetizers, Grace had Asparagus Soup with Lemon Pepper Puffs and I had Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with Shiitake Mushrooms, Basil and Sundried Tomatoes. For a main course, Grace had Castroville Artichoke and Mushroom Gratin Baked in an Iron Skillet. I had Spring Market Vegetable Risotto with a Spicy Poblano Chili Relleno and Porcini Nectar. It was all excellent.
As it turned out, they didn't pipe the Fantasy in the Sky music in and dim the lights here as they did at O'Hana's, but the 15th floor observation deck outside the restaurant was open and had the soundtrack piped in there. It was an interesting perspective to see just how far behind the castle the fireworks were. I videotaped that after dinner. While I was outside, Grace informed the waiter of my birthday. Because of the subdued atmosphere of the restaurant, they don't sing nor do any antics. They did give me a complimentary Cappuccino Quake dessert with a candle in it, though. This was quite a memorable birthday.
DAY NINE - Sunday, 23 May
We slept late, then went to Stormalong Bay for a last swim. We packed our bags and brought them out to the car. We had express checkout so we didn't even have to stop at the front desk. We drove over to Mark's place in Celebration. After seeing where he lived, he took us to the Season's Café in the hospital/gym for lunch. Because Seventh Day Adventists run this hospital, it's completely meatless. I had a great Spinach Lasagna that was very inexpensive. They had a free health fair screening so Grace got checked out. Mark took me to the huge workout facility with their computerized weight machines. You put your ID card in each machine and it brings up your routine, past performance, goals for each set and workout, and plots it against your long-term goals. Wow! Earlier at his place, he had explained how Matthew's homework assignments from the school there are downloaded over Celebration's internal internet (intranet?) connection. They also don't have grades as much as they have goals for the students to meet. Celebration is certainly a town of the future, but living there also means paying exorbitant prices for very small lots.
Oh well, it was time to say goodbye to our friends, to Celebration, to Disney, to Orlando, to Florida... well, you get the picture. We'd be seeing our friends when they come back to New Orleans in July, and we planned to return in November with friends. Because it will be our friends' first time at WDW, we were happy to have a relaxing, laid back vacation this trip. We know the next one will be more frenetic. Avis's check-in was easy, the flight home in our miniature plane was gentle, and we were glad to see that our son, our home, and our pets each were more or less in one piece.
SUGGESTIONS SUMMARIZED
Airplanes save valuable vacation time and stress over driving, and that's worth some amount of money.
Rent a car if you're driving out of the World or will be resort hopping. You can save money with any offsite rental company, but, like choosing flying over driving, consider the cost of convenience and stress relief with an in-terminal rental company.
Kids will be just as happy at the All-Star hotels as any Deluxe resorts, but if you do choose to take the kids to Deluxe accommodations, consider the Magic Kingdom resorts first. You'll appreciate the convenience when they're all Buzz Lightyear'd out. On the other hand, for a romantic getaway consider the Wilderness Lodge (for seclusion) or the Epcot resorts (if Epcot or MGM is your favorite park) first, although we can't fault the Magic Kingdom resorts as an intimate home, either.
Disney cancels scheduled outdoor events in bad weather so plan on seeing the first of two possible scheduled events when you can.
Divide each day into mornings, afternoons, evenings and nights. Leave either the morning or the afternoon open for relaxing time away from the parks. During Daylight Savings Time, the evenings are almost as good as the mornings.
Video everything you want EXCEPT the rides and attractions themselves. That will keep them fresh for the next time you visit.
For still photos, don't use flash in any attraction, get close to your subject, and take more than one photo in slightly different ways at good locations.
On the Buzz Lightyear ride, keep your trigger held in and start firing on the blank wall right away to check your aim. Aim for the moving and farther away targets to maximize your score.
If you're playing golf and have a flexible schedule, call as soon as you can (60 days ahead for resort guests, or 30 days ahead for day guests) to see if there's a price break on green fees after a certain time of day.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Donald Blum
dsharp88@hotmail.com