Sheri Niklewski - December 2001 - Swan, Offsite

Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Personal Car, Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Swan, Offsite
Accommodations: Standard Room, Villa Vacation Home
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult, Senior
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, Frequent, Infrequent, Rookie
Comments: Fifteen different people were involved in this trip to see Sheri and her husband renew their wedding vows. Sheri told me, "As you can see, we were diverse. There were fifteen of us in all at one point. Plus, we met up with Larry Wilmot and Sue Holland a couple of times. This is a long report... Having this many people and so many special moments make for an extreme report. Also, I like to include details. There's your warning. Proceed with caution."



Sheri Niklewski -- December 2001 -- Walt Disney World (Swan, Offsite)

December 28, 2001 - January 6, 2002

Introduction

This is a trip to renew our wedding vows on our 20th anniversary. I never thought I could pull this off but it looks like it's going to happen. I will say that this has taken *the* most planning I have ever done for any Disney World trip. I started over a year in advance. And then things changed. And then they changed again. And again. And again. Hopefully, I'll be able to do my normal day by day report but it just might be with the Younger Niklewskis. I will try and summarize everyone's thoughts throughout the report.

This is a long report so be prepared. Having this many people and so many special moments make for an extreme report. Also, I like to include details. There's your warning. Proceed with caution.

The Final Participants (I'm going to do them in groups to avoid confusion later in the report - although I even lost sense of who was where, when and how and I actually took the trip!)

The Younger Niklewskis from Buford, GA and Bellevue, NE - all are Disney veterans with each of us being there at least a dozen times. I'm approaching the 20th time.

Me - Sheri (39) - the planner and report writer. I'm an accountant at a manufacturing firm. I'm the Disney freak in the family. Everyone just puts up with it like I put up with their hobbies. Last time at Disney World, Thanksgiving, 2001.
Devoted Husband - Rich (41) - Enthusiastic collector, sports freak, and all around great guy. Last time at Disney World, Thanksgiving, 2001.
Wonderful Son - Chris (19) - AMC24 booth employee. He's the guy that sets up your movies and gets them running on time. Star Wars, Star Trek, and James Bond junkie. Also one of the most sarcastic people I know. He lives in Nebraska. Last time at Disney World, June 2000.
The Older Niklewskis and son - from Maryland - we showed the parents Disney World for the first time in November, 2000. David has never been. Rookies.

Father-in-law - Ed (71) - retired psychiatrist and very mellow fellow.
Mother-in-law - Bobbie (65) - retired nurse and educator.
Brother-in-law - David (40) - physicist and takes after his father if not even more laid back. Disney cynic.
Our niece, Shanna, was going to join us but in mid-October found out that her mini-semester at the University of Delaware was going to start on January 2nd and she didn't want to miss that much of school. We will miss Shanna's presence but understand that she needs to get her education first. Heck, there's always the 30th wedding anniversary to attend, right?

The Sowas - from the Florida Keys - they've been to Disney World several times and I consider them infrequents. They know there are four parks but they don't know all the other offerings.

Dad - Bob (72) - retired master scuba diver with his own limited shop in the Keys.
Stepmother - Betty (late 50s) - also a master scuba diver, mortgage broker, and computer expert.
The Beardslees - from the Florida Keys and California (Ashley and Caroline) - the Floridians go quite often since they moved there. They used to tour in commando mode but this trip will be more relaxed with the two older girls who have never been. Experienced and rookies.

Sister - Sandy (41) - school helper and wonderful mother.
Brother-in-law - Rich B. (early 40s) - lawn care professional and fantastic father.
Niece - Ashley (16) - the talker in the family (wonder where she gets that from Sandy?)
Niece - Caroline (13) - the quieter of the California girls but don't mess with her.
Niece - Kelsey (10) - bright, bouncy child.
Nephew - Wesley (8) - as my dad says "typical tough guy".
Ashley and Caroline are a wonderful result of Sandy's previous marriage. At first, they weren't part of the trip. Then, the ex-husband (who is a royal pain in the rear end) decided that he had other plans for Christmas so he re-arraigned the visitation so the girls would be in Florida for both holidays. Sandy almost bagged the entire Disney trip but decided to take all four kids and expand the trip to include Christmas Day. It'll tax their finances but it's going to be an early graduation present to Ashley. I should mention that Rich B. had a heart attack earlier this year and is not in the best of condition right now. Especially with four kids. Sandy and I discussed renting a wheelchair for Rich B. but he doesn't want it. I will try and report on his experiences from a healthy looking guy who really isn't that healthy right now.

Friend - Veteran.

Lindy (29) - a friend from Salt Lake City I met through these trip reports. I met her in September of 2000 and then Rich and I had some fantastic times with her in May and Labor Day of 2001.
Lindy is like our little ray of sunshine of the trip. She expanded her trip (why can't I do that?) to come down before New Year's and I offered up an extra bedroom at the house for her for when she's not in her own accommodations. She accepted. I'm so glad. She will move into the Best Western at Downtown Disney on January 1st but I'm sure we'll meet up with her during that time. I have absolutely no doubt that our families will all mix together with Lindy.

Meeting people

Larry - from Scotland and writer of trip reports (you all know who he is). I read on the newsgroup that he would be here at the same time and thought, what the heck, why not see if he wants to meet up. We are on December 29th at the beaver tail cart in Canada. He invited along Sue Holland from Ft. Myers as well.
Barb - a local that shares our common interest in Off Kilter. She's an elementary school teacher and said that she'd be there since the schools were out. We last saw her over Thanksgiving. We don't correspond but figured we'd see each other in Canada at least once.
When:

I can't believe I'm keeping all this straight. More planning has gone into this then the D-Day invasion.

December 28, 2001 - January 6, 2002 for the Younger Niklewskis. The others will vary the times. The Older Niklewskis will arrive on December 30, 2001 and leave January 4, 2002. The Beardslees will arrive on the 25th and leave on January 4th. The Sowas planned to arrive on January 2nd and leave on the 6th (weather and traffic had an effect on that). Lindy will arrive on December 29th and leave on January 8th. Lindy will be the only one arriving by airline (Chris flies into Atlanta before Christmas, though) - everyone else will drive. That has to do with proximity and has nothing to do with September 11th.

Where: Offsite, The Swan

How: Personal vehicles from Georgia, Maryland, and the Florida Keys; airline from Nebraska to Georgia for Chris; airline for Lindy from Utah; rental car for Lindy after she gets to Florida (she doesn't want to rent from the airport).

How this all happened

Rich and I were married on January 3, 1982. So that meant that our 20th wedding anniversary was coming up. We honeymooned at Disney World and it has played a very important part in our lives since then. We've both been there over a dozen times and enjoy it very much (OK, my devotion borderlines on obsession). The three of us have a brick right outside the turn styles at Magic Kingdom. It says "Rich, Sheri, Chris Niklewski, Bellevue NE". We bought it way back in 1994 when the bricks were first offered and have visited it every trip. It's very special to us since you can stand on the brick and see the entrance to Magic Kingdom. I'm the romantic in the family and the Disney freak, so I came up with the idea of renewing our vows on our 20th wedding anniversary on our brick. The exact same day at the exact same time.

I started out with just the three of us. And then I mentioned something to my sister about being my matron of honor again. And I said something to each set of parents. The next thing I knew, all had committed to being there to see the ceremony. In fact, my sister made her reservations before I even did! Once everyone was on board, I told Rich about it. He is the most unromantic person I have ever seen. But I still love him for it. He claims I "ambushed" him but that's OK. He'll be there and once that happens, he'll enjoy it.

The renewal ceremony will take place on January 3rd, 2002 at 4:00 PM. Exactly 20 years later. Sandy will be the matron of honor again and Chris will be our best man. He really is the best man in our lives. The dress will be very casual. I have a copy of the original vows and we'll repeat those with a few minor adjustments. We have changed slightly in 20 years. It will not be a formal ceremony but a gathering of family and friends to celebrate a commitment that doesn't happen very often in these days.

Rich and I moved to outside Atlanta in April. Since we were so close to Florida, we made several trips there during the summer. Epcot played an important part in each one of those trips so I changed the place for the ceremony. If you read my trip reports for May 2001, Labor Day 2001, and Thanksgiving 2001, you'll see that Canada and the Off Kilter stage were a big part of our trips. So I decided to have the ceremony at the Off Kilter stage area instead of at Magic Kingdom.

I asked my brother-in-law, Rich B. (it'll get confusing with these two Rich's - my Rich is just Rich, the other one is Rich B. It is hilarious that my Rich's sister married and divorced a Rich during our time together. What are the chances?) , if he would recite the vows for us. He agreed. Lindy volunteered to videotape the whole day and that was greatly appreciated. And I know my father-in-law, Ed, will take a ton of still pictures. We will have a reception before the ceremony and then dinner after. This ceremony will involve more planning than the original one 20 years ago.

Resorts

Since we were married right after New Year's, the timing of this kind of stinks. Nothing has been available at a price anyone wants to pay to stay onsite. Sandy made her reservations at the Ramada near the Maingate. She said that there was no way she was going to share accommodations with anyone. I can't blame her. Her family of six tours very well together and will want their own family time. She got a decent rate with the New Year's time being inflated but they will also get a free breakfast every day and she needs that with her kids.

For everyone else, I've booked a rental home. The reasons for this are numerous. First, the Older Niklewskis did not want to commit to anything until closer to the time. And neither did the Sowas. I knew that if they didn't get something early (like Sandy did), we might have the entire family strung all up and down Highway 192. That is not going to make for a relaxing trip. Also, although I'm going to try and avoid it, I'm probably going to play tour guide again so having everyone in the same place will help out with this. And I got a five bedroom home for around $235/night (including tax). I went through www.floridadreamhomes.com since they had the most information about their houses on the site. I was particularly interested in location and this site had maps of where the rental properties were. We'll have five bedrooms (one queen bed, one full bed, one fold out full couch, and three rooms with two twin beds in each - the house can sleep 12), three bathrooms, full kitchen, and best of all - a private screened in pool. And the deposit was a fully refundable $250 as long as we cancelled within 30 days (I never had to pay a deposit because I gave a credit card number). If you are interested in a rental home, check out the deposit and cancellation policies. Most places will want a nonrefundable deposit. I wanted some flexibility in case people start bailing out. This company will provide some of that. We all will split the cost based on who is staying there that night. It's the only fair way to do things. Rich and I will be onsite at the Swan for two nights for our second honeymoon.

Lindy was just going to come after New Year's and was going to try and hook up with some Cast Member friends to get a discount at a Disney resort. However, she decided that the call of Disney was louder than the call of staying at home for New Year's and wanted to fly in on the 29th. So I offered up an extra bedroom in the house for when she needed it. She accepted. I also offered to pick her up and drop her off at the airport if it worked out. The pickup worked, the drop off didn't since she was leaving after us. She took Mears back.

Our Anniversary Night - we want some time to ourselves!

I had called and gotten a tower room at the Contemporary about a year in advance. The price was extremely expensive ($359/night) and that had me a little worried about just how I was going to pay for all this! But at the time, I thought it was worth it.

I wanted the Contemporary with the original plan of the Magic Kingdom ceremony. Once I thought about doing this at Epcot, I immediately thought about The Swan. I've stayed here twice and always park there when we go to Epcot. I love it. I tried going through www.wdwinfo.com and the DreamRes system but the 2002 rates weren't out yet. I really wanted to get something by this time since it was late September. I called 407-WDISNEY to see what they had available at the Epcot resorts. The Annual Pass rates weren't out but I was told I could call back later and get the rate applied to the reservation.

The Cast Member I talked to was one of the friendliest ones I've ever encountered. I asked about the Boardwalk, hoping to get a studio since I wanted to have a reception prior to the ceremony. But it was booked. I asked about the Beach Club and the CM said "I'm already looking there". I could get a king room with an "unspecified view" for $289. Well, it's much cheaper than the Contemporary so I booked it.

I went home and emailed my good friend, Adrienne, who is a fellow Disney geek, about switching to the Beach Club. She said the 2002 rates for the Swan were now available. I swear I checked the site that morning and couldn't get them. So I immediately went on a search. What I found thrilled me to no end. I think I ended up floating downstairs to ask Rich if he minded if I booked this. What I got was an Entertainment Card rate of $210/night. For a Club Level room (their version of Concierge). I could not pass this up. Not only do I get to stay at my favorite resort, I get to be pampered a little. A Magic of the Mouse Moment for sure.

Tickets

Rich and I will have Annual Passes. Chris was up in the air. He lives outside Omaha, we live outside Atlanta. We are paying for this trip because it's important to us to have him there. A seven day hopper pass might be the way to go with him. Sandy's family all have Florida Premium Annual Passes, except for Ashley and Caroline, so they aren't going to have a problem. Ashley and Caroline will get Florida Annual Passes (or Premiums) once they get there. My dad and Betty were going to do Florida resident passes but decided on Florida Annual Passes so they didn't have blackout dates. The Older Niklewski clan had me decide which hopper pass works for them. I'm thinking the four day hopper pass. They won't want water parks so this should be fine for their needs.

I did decide on the seven day hopper for Chris and the four day hoppers for the Older Niklewskis. I will pre buy the tickets. Sometimes the ticket lines are pretty bad. I'll put everything on my credit card and Bobbie will send me a check once I do the ordering.

And then I changed my mind yet again. I researched all the options for Chris and decided that we would definitely be at a park for all eight days. That meant a seven day hopper really wasn't enough. We could get a one day pass but it would be good just for one park. We could plan that but with the way we tour, I wanted to have flexibility. Especially with the holiday and the ceremony. I looked at the costs. For just about the same amount of money, I could get Chris an Annual Pass instead of a seven day hopper and a one day pass.

Back in July, I had called our local Disney Store and ordered my Annual Pass voucher over the phone. So I called the Disney Store again for Chris' pass. No problem with ordering it. I asked if they still sold the four day hoppers and said I would need three of them. Not a problem at all. I really want to have all this taken care of before anyone leaves for the trip. Chris' pass is actually just a voucher which we will have to activate once down there. We'll take care of that at the International Gateway at Epcot since they are almost never busy. All Chris has to do is show his driver's license and he'll be taken care of.

Dining

For after the ceremony, I'm doing an early dinner at LeCellier at the Canada pavilion at Epcot. We ate lunch here before and I really liked the casual elegance. And I liked the food and the attentiveness of the service. After dinner, we can hopefully catch a showing or two of Off Kilter.

I called in September to make the seating and had to go through group reservations. Right now, I have a party of 16. With group reservations, you have to guarantee with a credit card and there's a 24 hour cancellation policy. If I don't cancel within 24 hours of the seating, I will be charged $10 per person. I guess by January 2nd, I will know if dinner is going on or not.

One thing I think Disney does best is food. Especially at the sit down places. I thought about the first night the Older Niklewskis will be there. They will arrive in time for dinner but I'm sure they don't want to have to think about what to do. We love Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge and I figured Ed would love the Lodge for the animals. So I booked that. I know Bobbie will like the buffet aspect and Dave (not a big meat eater) will like the other selections. And I won't cringe at the salads and the desserts either. Dave scoffed at this but I put my little foot down and said we are going. I had to go through a bunch to get a seating here and I just know everyone will love it.

The saga on this seating. I called to get a 7:00 seating. Not available for our party. The only thing I was offered was 8:45. I know my in-laws. There is no way they are going to wait that long to eat. But I booked it anyway. Then I called back and asked about a seating for two. I got a 7:00 time. Then I called back again and asked if I could increase my party size from two to seven. Not a problem so I'm in. Lindy will be dining with us.

I thought about going to the Osborne lights for a New Year's Day night. So that meant MGM that night. I called and made a seating for Sci Fi Dine Inn for six people for January 1st. I was told we would have our own car which is great. I wanted this place for the atmosphere and they do have a burger on their menu (thanks Deb for the menus on your site) so that's a good fallback for anyone.

I really wanted to go back to the 50s Prime Time but then I remembered I would have Dave "Disney Cynic" in the party. I sent Bobbie the description of the antics that go on in there and said that it's a nice place for a meal but I really didn't think Dave would enjoy any aspect of it. Bobbie decided to play a little trick on Dave and told him that I had made a seating at 50s Prime Time and then read the description to him. He said no way in hell he would step foot into a place like that! He was a little ticked off until Bobbie finally told him that we were not going there. I can just see Dave putting his elbows on the table and being told to stand in the corner. He would never talk to me again. Humm, maybe I should change that reservation... Just kidding.

And then Rich went out to some site and plugged in "the best pizza options" for Atlanta and Orlando. I guess he was bored. But that led into him looking at the Disney dining options on that site. Anyway, he came back and asked what O'hana had to offer. I had thought about getting something for us when we are alone on January 2nd but didn't know what to do. So I went out to Deb's site (www.wdwig.com) and looked at the menus. Again. I told Rich what O'hana had to offer and he said the price was fine (I really think Rich has gotten over Disney ticket shock) and he would be interested in everything. So I called and made a seating for that too.

Touring

The Beardslees will tour on their own. Since they are staying somewhere else, it would be hard to coordinate their movements. We'll probably communicate where their group and our people will be each day and see if the plans match up.

With the rest of the group, well, I'm kind of in a bind. I just know I'll have to play Tour Guide Barbie again. I did this with my dad and Betty in September of 1999 and then with Bobbie and Ed in November of 2000. Each time, the parents aggravated the heck out of me. Chris knows Disney very well so he's fine. David hates crowds, thinks Disney World is a big waste of time and is dragging his heels to go there. So I'm going to have my hands full. Bobbie and Ed really don't know Disney World at all so they will need lots of direction. My dad and Betty have been there enough on their own that they should be fine. But everyone will look to me for advice. I will pull out my phrase so Rich knows when I'm getting fried. It's "damn Skippy". If I tell him I'm feeling "damn Skippy", he knows that he needs to step in and give me a break. I don't mind playing tour guide but it can be overwhelming especially with this many different people. This is supposed to be a good time for me so I don't want to be overloaded.

Airline

The only person in my party that is flying (Lindy is making her own reservations), is Chris, our son. I hadn't made any reservations before September 11th. After all that, I wanted Chris to drive if he thought it would be a problem. His response was basically "to hell with those guys, I'm flying". Chris has been greatly affected by the events and wants to show the world that Americans are not going to alter their lifestyles because of some other people. So I went in search of airfares the week after the attacks.

Rich found a discount coupon for Northwest for $188. Great. There's a layover in Minneapolis which was fine. I got an afternoon departure time (Chris is *not* a morning person) and then a decent time for him to leave Atlanta. He would fly out on December 20th and leave here on January 7th. So he would be here for Christmas. But when I plugged in the coupon codes, I got the discounted rate until I reached the credit card screen. Then it said that the rate had gone up to over $280. No way. Getting airline fares out of Omaha for under $250 is, in my opinion, great. But I'm not going to cow-tow to the airlines with an extreme rate.

So I went searching. Since we are in Atlanta and Delta is huge down here, I checked them out. Available but more than I wanted to pay. I went to my favorite airline (shameless plug coming on), Midwest Express. I love this airline. I trust my only child to them. OK, Chris is 19 and technically not a child but I don't think you ever think of your child as not a child. What I got was wonderful. Chris would have a direct flight into Atlanta. Leaving around 1:45 in the afternoon which is nice for him. He'll be here around 7:00. The way back is around 4:30 in the afternoon (I think Rich and I will just plan on having dinner at the airport and wait for the Atlanta traffic to calm down) with a stop in Kansas City. Chris will have to take a prop plane from there (19 whole seats) but he's fine with it. Chris will get excellent service and excellent food so I'm very happy. Total cost is $241. Well worth it to have my only child here for the holidays.

We did have a change. The non-stop flight from Omaha to Atlanta was discontinued. Chris would leave at 1:15, go through Milwaukee for a stop (1-1/2 hours) and then get into Atlanta around 7:30. Not a huge dilemma for us. With everything else going on, this is nothing.

Lindy flies in on the 29th via Delta at 11:00 PM. Rich and I will pick her up and get her back to the rental house.

Rental Car

Everyone except Lindy will have their own personal vehicle. Lindy didn't feel comfortable driving from the airport to the rental house and vice versa. So we will pick her up from the airport when she arrives. She'll take Mears back when she departs. However, she wanted her freedom during her stay so a rental car to go from the house and Best Western to Disney World was necessary. She just didn't want to rent it from the airport. I knew there was a rental company at the Dolphin so I called there and was told it was National. Off to check the National website (www.nationalcar.com). I plugged in as many combinations of discounts with the Magic Kingdom Club Card as I could. I gave the options to Lindy. She was thinking about renting for just a portion of the trip but then decided to do the whole time. We emailed back and forth quite a bit and Lindy asked me to make her reservation for her.

I looked at all the options and decided on something I think she'll like. She'll pick up her compact car from the Dolphin on the 1st and return it there on January 8th. She will use her Magic Kingdom Club Card and get a nice discount. I could have gone with an economy car but the compact was only $5.35 more for the entire time and I wanted to get her the largest car I could in her price range. Lindy will take Mears back to the airport after dropping off the car on the 8th.

Kid of the Day/Icing Moments

I promised my very special friend, Rudy, Jr. that the Kid of the Day would return with every trip report. It'll be here again. It's just someone (not just a kid because *everyone* is a kid at Disney World) that is enjoying a special moment with the Mouse.

And I'm changing my Sense of the Day into Icing Moments. Something that I think Disney does to enhance the experience just a little. If I find some Sprinkle Moments, I'll add those. The Icing reference goes back to Lindy. She said that the rides are the cake. Everything else is the icing. I like the icing. I even get some sprinkles on top of the icing on each trip. Our last trip was over Thanksgiving weekend. Our first trip since September 11th. It was the most emotional one I have ever taken. I had a lot of icing moments. My cake moments? Two - Twilight Zone (although I had an icing moment on that) and Sounds Dangerous. The icing moments? Numerous. The icing will never go away. And I added Candle Moments too. The icing is what you get on top of the cake, the sprinkles are on top of the icing and those candles just are the best.

Dedications

My first dedication goes to my Disney friends - Adrienne, Donna, and Lindy. They've lived with this trip for over a year now. They've offered advice and help with everything. I've met all three ladies in person and they are wonderful. Thanks for all the insight and for letting me vent when I needed. I feel like their families are a part of mine and I hope they feel the same way.

The second dedication goes to my family. My dad and stepmother (who makes my dad happy so that makes me happy); my mother-in-law and father-in-law, Dave, Shanna (who I wish could be there but I understand); Sandy, Rich and their four kids; and to Chris, who is the reason I know I have served a purpose on Earth.

Of course the last dedication is to Rich, my husband of 20 years. What would I have done without him? He is my best friend and partner. He puts up with my weirdness and I put up with his. We are in synch with each other 99% of the time. The other 1% gets resolved by the next day. What can I say? I love the guy.

The week or two before

First of all, I have to say that planning a Disney World trip of this magnitude so close to the holidays is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. And our Christmas with just the three of us is going to be very simple. Rich's gift to me and my gift to him is the trip. Our gift to Chris is forgiving his rent for the month of February (the January rent is already forgiven since he'll be here). The cats (Todd, Gus, and Belle) will have more under the tree then we will. But we are together and that is what really counts.

My dad and Betty asked me about getting some Disney Dollars for the Beardslee kids to spend at Disney World. Since they don't have Disney Stores in the Keys, I went to the Mall of Georgia and got $100 for them and $80 for us. These kids will have plenty to spend on souvenirs. On December 10th, Rich sent the Dollars down to the Keys. Would they get there on time? Barely. After a few phone calls, a few emails, and a trip to the post office (we sent them insured), the darn things finally showed up on the 20th. I have all respect in world for the post office but their handling of the situation left a lot to be desired. We were told "it's only been ten days". Heck, I could have driven the things down there and back three times in ten days.

Chris arrived in Atlanta on the 19th. I was so concerned with having to try and find him at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport which is now the busiest in the country. And we couldn't go to the gate. Chris is travel savvy and I felt comfortable with him making it to baggage claim. We left in what we thought was plenty of time. We live about an hour from the airport. His flight was landing at 7:20 and we thought leaving at 6 was fine. Nope. We barely made it there. As it turned out, Chris was already on the ground but it took him 15 minutes to go from the gate to baggage claim (Hartsfield is huge).

Anyway, it took us a while to get into the parking garage. Anyone who says Americans aren't flying is full of it. This place was mobbed. And since only ticketed passengers can get to the gates, everyone else just crams up outside the security check points and waits. And waits. We figured it would be a while for Chris to make his way to get his bags so we went in search of a beverage. The least these airports can do is to offer someplace, any place, for people to go while they wait outside security. Nothing that wasn't mobbed. So we just stood over to the side and waited.

There had to be at least 500 people milling around. I didn't have much hope of finding Chris in all this. We knew where his bags would be and decided to wait between the check point and the claim area. We were just looking around, wasting time and I looked up. At the exact moment Chris passed by. We all were amazed we hooked up like that. We hadn't seen Chris since June but it was amazing that we all went back to our same old patterns and routines. Chris met his new brother and sister (we adopted Gus and Belle while here in Atlanta) and Todd remembered Chris. We very quickly went back into our family mode.

Organization - I wanted to put this in here because I'm trying to stay up to date with so many different people with so many different touring styles and arrival times. It's hard to keep up with everyone. I have a Day Runner address book. I realized that the size of it was the same as index cards so I went and got organized and kept everything in one place. I have a card for the packing list. Another one for "things to get" (that one got updated quite often). Another one for the schedule of who was arriving on what day. This one was really hard since everyone is getting in and leaving on different days. I also included the priority seatings and confirmation numbers. And any other phone numbers I already didn't have. I did another card for the park hours for our entire trip. I know those change but it gave me an idea of what I could expect. Now everything is in one place and it'll be fairly easy to slip this in my fanny pack or the glove compartment and I'll be set.

For the rental house, there are things that we need. Like trash bags, toilet paper, dish detergent, etc. There is a Dollar Tree near my work where everything is $1. I went during the weeks before and got the essentials. Not a ton of money and I got the things I knew no one would think of. Even though everyone will be a separate party, I still fell like I'm the host and should provide these things. Rich and I don't drink coffee at all so the parents are on their own for that. No way I'm even considering thinking what they want. We will have a coffee maker and they can do whatever with that.

I also picked up some extremely cheap games so people would have things to do at the house. The older Niklewskis can't just sit and watch TV. They * have* to be doing something. So I got Parcheesi, Racko (a classic from my younger days), Chinese Checkers, a couple of decks of cards, and Uno. I also planned on taking my Disney Monopoly game (definitely not cheap but themed for the trip).

Glitches

#1 - No matter how much anyone plans, things are going to go wrong. Ashley and Caroline, flying in from California to the Keys, never made it on the plane. Ten minutes before flight time, they were required to fill out forms since they were minors flying unaccompanied. Fine. But while they were filling out the forms, the plane took off. Three days before Christmas. Everything else was booked for the next day. If they flew into Miami or anywhere else, their return flight would be voided.

I understand all the security and policies of the airlines but this put me over the top. Ashley is 16, Caroline is 13. I highly doubt they are international terrorists. Read my report from Thanksgiving and you'll see I've been greatly affected by September 11th. There are rules and regulations but why is it that my son, who is just three years older than Ashley, goes through the entire security system at the busiest airport in the country and has absolutely no problems but two young girls go through hell?

As it turned out, the girls' father really wanted to be somewhere on Christmas Day so he made all the phone calls he could and managed to get them booked on a flight into Orlando that landed on the 25th. They would still return from the Keys on the 6th without penalty. Why the idiot couldn't do something like that while they were still at the airport is beyond me. At least Sandy got it right the second time around as far as husbands are concerned. Fortunately, I have had the best for the only time (thanks Rich!).

#2 - A very unfortunate incident left me with stitches in my forehead on Christmas Eve. I had to have them removed in five days. Hum, what's five days from the wee hours of the 24th? The 29th. Everyone involved assumed I'd be in the Atlanta area during that time. Nope. So I'm going to have to go to CentraCare and get these things removed. If I don't on the fifth day, it might leave a scar. The backup plan is to have Ed remove them when he gets there on the 30th. He's a physician and should be able to do it. Not exactly what I planned for a first day at Disney but it's necessary. I'll just make sure my bangs cover whatever is left on the forehead when we take the ceremony pictures. I'm also on pain killers up until that time and I hate doing that. Lots of time for packing was lost so this should be interesting.

I also ended up with a strain of the right deltoid muscle that had me in pain after Christmas Eve. I went to a doctor to see about that since I had broken my right shoulder two years ago (badly) and am always concerned with any pain in the area. I asked the doctor to give me a second opinion on the stitches (he was not the one to put them in) and he said I could wait until Sunday and Ed could remove them. I was given some medications for the shoulder problem. Great, let's go to Disney World and be on drugs (dropped all the medications before the trip - no way I want that). But at least I'm going and I'll be with family and friends. A little steri-strip ain't going to interfere with that. After the events of the last week, all of us need this vacation. We are leaving the real world behind and going to *the* World.

Day One - Friday, December 28, 2001

I stumbled out of bed at 6:00 and got ready for work. Everyone else was sound asleep when I left. Chris' friend, John, was visiting from South Carolina so I couldn't even check emails. Oh well, I'll use some work time for that. With everything that happened during the week, I was close to exhaustion but I had missed Thursday at work so I needed to go in and make sure everything was taken care of. I did manage to get things packed Thursday night. I boxed up everything for the rental house and then got my clothes together. Rich and Chris were on their own.

I managed to get everything done at work that I needed shortly after lunch. My co-workers realized I needed to "de-stress" as they said and told me to get out of there. Our original plan was to leave Buford around 6 PM in order to wait for Atlanta traffic to die down. However, the morning commute was so easy that I figured we could leave at any time. Unfortunately, Chris procrastinated on his laundry so when I left work, he still had all his clothes to wash. I paced while the clothes were washed and dried. We said goodbye to John (he was a possibility to go with us but couldn't in the end - more college classes that needed to be worked around) and then got the car packed up. I was taking *way* too much but I had the things for the rental house and for the reception so I felt everything was needed. We ended up with the two coolers and a box of 2 liter sodas and champagne in the back seat. Oh well, we'll just fill up that space with our souvenirs on the way back.

Rich started us out driving just before 3:30 in the afternoon. He insists on driving us through Atlanta. Something about my driving habits. I just don't have the patience. Why can't people just go the normal speed limit consistently and be done with it? It was tough using the cruise control. I snoozed for a while and Rich got us past Macon, GA. We needed a rest stop break and switched drivers. Then I got to deal with the slow down and speed up people. Grr.

We made it to Valdosta, GA and were checked into the Shoney's Inn by 7:15. We made great time considering there was a lot of traffic on the roads. Americans are definitely traveling. The Shoney's is at exit 16 off I75. There are a ton of options here (I made our reservations via internet) and there are also a lot of restaurants and gas stations. We stayed at this exit last month at a Days Inn which was fine but I like to try different places. The room here is standard with two double beds, small table with two chairs, single sink outside the shower area. It's fine for the $40/night. There's a continental breakfast offered so we'll check that out tomorrow morning before we leave.

Things started looking up right away. We have A&E here! Whoo hoo! "Law & Order" is on at 7:00 and I knew it was a Logan episode so I got to have a little eye candy while we relaxed in the room. And since we were staying at a Shoney's Inn, of course there was a Shoney's right next door. Perfect for dinner. It was a little crowded but we didn't have much of a wait. Rich did his chopped steak, Chris did a Philly cheesesteak, and I did a traditional breakfast for dinner. Total here was about $28 including tip.

Then just back in the room watching TV. I think we should buy stock in Dick Wolf Productions because we watched "SVU" and then another "Law & Order" (not a Logan episode, though) on A&E.

Kid of the Day - me. I had such a very bad week. A horrible one. A week that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. But once we were on the road, all my problems seemed to disappear. They'll still be there when I get back but I get to forget about them for a while.

Icing Moment - when my co-worker, Amy, who is a very practical person, asked me, very excitedly, if I could get her a Sorcerer Mickey ornament if I found one. This woman has never been to Disney World, has no kids, and still gets excited with the thought of a Mickey ornament.

Day Two - Saturday, December 29, 2001

We had set the alarm for a little after 6:30 AM so we could be on the road by 8. But someone set off a car alarm shortly after 6 and that got us up. Actually, we thought it was on my car so Rich and I were both up, grabbing for the keys. It wasn't ours but neither one of us felt like going back to bed for just a half hour.

We had told Chris that when we said to get up, he had to get up. I think the boy has grown into a man because he got up after Rich and I did our morning routine. Unbelievable. We walked down to the lobby and checked out. Total cost here, with taxes was a little under $45. I'm not sure I'll be back, though. The room was fine but the walls were thin. I didn't expect much and I didn't get it. The continental breakfast was OK - mini powdered and chocolate doughnuts plus little cinnamon rolls. And bagels to toast. I got some orange juice and a couple of the doughnuts. The guys passed, saying the doughnuts wouldn't satisfy them at all.

We wanted to gas up before we left Georgia (we have the lowest gas prices in the country right now) so a stop at Shell was next. $12 later the car was happy and we again headed south on I75. Rich drove and the effects of the past week caught up with me again and I dozed while Chris read and listened to his music. We reached Ocala and exit 68 off I75 and we made our now traditional stop at the Disney Welcome Center. It's great for a bathroom break and to switch drivers. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

BTW - a travel note here. Why can't Florida finally change their exit numbers to the mileage markers? How many other states don't do this? If Georgia can change, why can't Florida?

After our break (there was no music being played, darn it - that makes this stop for me), I took over driving. At Thanksgiving, I didn't drive us on property and I missed it. I had to drive us on today. Before we left the room, I had made sure I told the guys they had to be park ready. We couldn't check into the house until 4:00 and we were meeting Larry at 1 at Epcot. So I told both guys that we would just drive directly to Epcot and spend the day there. Remember that. I was prepared with my American Express fanny pack and small camera case. Chris had his wallet. Rich, however, would prove to be the problem.

We drove the turnpike off I75 and paid $1 in tolls to Route 27 to get down to Highway 192. As we got closer to Disney World, the traffic really picked up. I think I got every red light on the road. I hoped we didn't have this commute from the house every day. Would my luck be changing from bad to good?

I got us on property and told Chris to get his nose out of the book he was reading. His reply - "I've been here before". Is this my kid? No sense of being "home" once you see the first purple sign? I sure did. I parked us at the Swan and this is when Rich announced that I needed to carry his wallet because the pants he was wearing weren't good for carrying things. He was definitely not park ready. Chris and I gave him such a hard time about that. We had debated taking shorts or just wearing jeans the whole time. Chris and Rich did a combo but I just brought jeans. Temperatures today would be in the 70s but windy. I was glad for the jeans. Rich was wearing some sort of casual sports pants and his wallet would have fallen out. I had packed my fanny pack with just what I needed so I had to shove things around to accommodate the wallet. We travel extremely light in the parks and I wasn't happy with having to take Rich's things.

We walked over to Epcot via the Boardwalk and used the Guest Relations at the International Gateway to activate Chris' annual pass. I had gotten him the voucher that he needed to trade in for the real deal. That was quickly done although they didn't have any sleeves left so we'll see about getting him one later (we never did since we were told the sleeves wouldn't be available for another week). Through the turn styles and we're here!

Security issues - we never really had any problems with security lines. Rich and Chris had nothing to be checked. I had a fanny pack and the camera bag (most days). Either people are getting used to this or things aren't being checked quite as well because the lines (if there was one) moved very quickly. I did make Rich on a couple of occasions take the camera bag and have it looked at. Why should I do everything? I did discover later in the trip that if you have a fanny pack but your shirt covers it, you can walk right through security without a search. Not advocating avoiding a search but if you aren't breaking any laws, you can do this. And to answer anyone's question about if you can still bring in food and drinks, the answer is yes. These guards are not looking for that kind of stuff.

Then we had the first communications breakdown of the trip. Hopefully, the last. I had breakfast, the guys didn't. Rich had said something about a McDonald's burger (yeck!) so I figured the guys were hungry. I knew Chris likes the nachos in Mexico so we headed that way. Away from my wine in France (please bring back the wine at the Fountainview Bakery!). Once we got to Mexico, Chris says he's not hungry and Rich says the same thing. I got a little testy since these guys will not communicate their needs until it reaches critical levels. I think I made my point, though. It's going to be hard enough for me just to coordinate everyone else, let alone have to think about these two guys.

We just strolled through World Showcase, which is something Rich and I love to do. Chris, being a teenage male, doesn't really care for it. While we were passing by Germany, Chris mentioned that a friend back home wanted a pilsner glass. What better place to look for one than Germany? So we started searching the shops in the rest of the countries. We made our way around to France and Rich bought me my glass of wine (finally) as an apology. He also got one (total $6.50). We stopped at the International Gateway walkway and looked at our watches. We had 45 minutes until the meet with Larry so that didn't give us much time for any attractions. Chris actually agreed to going back to Canada and waiting with a beer (no, Chris didn't have a beer, we did).

Canada's kegs, which are hit and miss to begin with, supposedly were on. But when the Cast Member went to fill up the cup, nothing came out. Grr. We really like to take this break. But we were offered the same amount of suds from the bottled beer. Fine by us. We took our drinks over to the empty Off Kilter area (they were off this weekend, drat it) and sat and talked for a while. I like these moments at Disney World. Having your family together and just talking about inconsequential things. I feel like I get to know a lot more about my guys with these kind of talks.

Right before 1:00, we made our way to the Beaver Tale Stand. Larry had picked out that meeting place since he said he knew where it was. But the Holidays Around the World character was doing his presentation right next to it. I didn't think we'd ever meet up. The three of us stood across the way and a few minutes later, this very nice man comes up to me and says "this might seem a bit odd, but are you Sheri?" with a wonderful Scottish accent. We meet Larry! And then he brought over his wife, Jill, and Sue and her friends. Also there were Larry and Jill's sons, Gregory and Edward, and Sue's son, Chris. It was wonderful talking with Larry and Jill about their trip. They were close to ending their trip so their mission was to get to the things they hadn't done yet. I hate having that dilemma. Sue was staying at the Swan for a couple of nights so we talked about the resort. Sue doesn't have a high opinion of it but I still like it. We talked with Larry and Jill for about a half hour and watched a marching band from Gainesville, GA go by. We live very near to Gainesville so that was kind of neat. Larry's party was breaking up to go their own separate ways and we were going to go off in search of food (the guys finally said they needed some). Larry did say that travelling with a larger party was kind of difficult and everyone needed to understand that breaking into smaller parties needed to be done. Let's see if I can convince any of my family of that fact. Larry and I agreed to swap trip reports as soon as they are written. It was great to put faces to names. Thanks to Larry and his family and to the rest of his party.

On note here. Larry, Larry, Larry. I have to kid you about this. You were wearing not only an Islands of Adventure shirt but also an IOA hat! At Disney World? Come on! I think for Larry's next trip, I will make sure he only wears Disney T-shirts at the parks. Jeez. (Just kidding Larry. It was great meeting you and your family. Now I want to plan a trip to Scotland).

The three of us went towards The Land since they have a good food court and each of us could get what we wanted. Epcot today was extremely crowded and I remarked that we might not have good luck getting counter service since it was right after the typical lunch time. I wasn't joking. We flocked into The Land with a zillion other people, peered over the railing towards downstairs, and headed back out. I think that was the first time I hadn't seen an empty table at the food place. Rich suggested the Electric Umbrella. Burgers and fries. I'm going away from the meat thing (although I do eat it from time to time and love seafood) so that wasn't appealing to me but I could get some fries or maybe a pizza. We walked over there and the entire outside seating area was full so we didn't even venture inside to check it out. We made a quick stop in Mouse Gear to check out watches but didn't find anything I was interested in.

We decided to head out and get some offsite food. We still had to wait until 4:00 to check into the rental house so we had a couple of hours. I jokingly told Rich we could go to Beaches and Cream (we had a horrible experience there last May) but he said something about it being mobbed since the seating area is so small. I offered up the ESPN Club. Rich laughed and said it was a Saturday afternoon, wouldn't it be crowded? But we were walking by it and there was no line. In we went. We were seated immediately which was very nice. And we found out why it wasn't crowded. The sports on the screens stank. Some college football bowl game we weren't interested in, women's basketball, college basketball, and, believe it or not, a rerun of college dance national championship. It was so bad, we ended up being drawn to the dance championship. It was like a bad traffic accident. You just have to look at it. I'm not saying these ladies weren't talented or anything but I think something like this would be better served on any other station then ESPN 2.

Chris and Rich both had burgers, with Rich adding bacon to his. I got the roast beef and cheese which was very good. Our server, Roxanne, was very attentive and did a nice job. Total here, with tip, was a little over $50. Nice break and took up the time until we could check in for the house.

We got the car from the Swan and then drove to Publix for some supplies (about $20). Check in with Dream Homes is on Highway 192 at Liberty Park which is near Olde Towne. I'd say that it's next to Darryl's but that place treated us like dirt over Labor Day weekend so I can't recommend them. And I wouldn't want to say anything bad about the place, would I? Oops.

Check in went fine, if a little distant. We weren't told where the house was until now. I hoped close in. Well, let's learn to be flexible. We were way out on Route 27! Technically, it is less than 10 minutes to Disney World which is what was promised. But, that stretch of 192 going into Disney World is horrible in the mornings. And my luck certainly didn't change from bad to good. Let's make the best of the situation. Unfortunately, I drove us back. And got every red light on the way back. Grr. And then we're about 2 miles south of 192 on Route 27. I was not a happy camper when we turned into the development. And kept driving. We are so far into this place! I grumpily told Rich that I wanted to thoroughly check the place out before we unpacked. If *anything* was out of place, we weren't staying.

We stayed. It's a very nice house and laid out perfectly for our group. Everything was clean and fresh. Here's a description of the house. (Skip this paragraph if you don't like this kind of stuff). When you walk in the front door, there's a small seating area with the dining table (which seats six) off to the left. To the right is the master bedroom with a very large bathroom with a shower stall (with a clear glass door) and a separate tub. The only problem here is that there is no door to the bathroom from the bedroom. There are no secrets in this room! I declared this room for Rich and me. The kitchen is next to the first seating area but is walled off. Beyond the kitchen, there is a breakfast table with four chairs and then the main seating area. Each seating area had two couches. The main seating area had the TV (our bedroom had one too). Off of the main seating area, near to the kitchen, were two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with twin beds separated by a bathroom. Beyond the main seating area, there were adjacent bedrooms, which I thought would both have twin beds. But one had a double bed. There was another bathroom in this area too. The pool was accessed by the main seating area, the other seating area, our bedroom, and one of the bathrooms.

After checking out the layout, I decided that Bobbie, Ed, and Dave would get the two bedrooms off the main sitting area near to the kitchen. It kind of had a suite feel to it. I thought the area beyond the sitting area was perfect for Chris to set up shop for the entire time. I convinced him to take the room with the two twin beds. That way, Lindy could use the double bed for her couple of nights and then my dad and Betty could have it when she left. Perfect. It didn't take much convincing Chris. Once I explained why I wanted to do it, he was fine with it.

We unloaded and I unpacked all our essentials. The house was fairly well stocked but we had brought soap, toilet paper, trash bags, washcloths, sponges, detergents (laundry and dish), etc. The house has all the plates, silverware, and glassware we needed. Very nice setup. I didn't like the location but once we're here after the parks, we'll be able to relax and enjoy it. And everyone will be able to have their privacy for the entire time. The two sitting areas work out so nicely. Ed likes to write in his journal and read at night. Bobbie also likes to read so they can use the smaller area for that while the rest of us use the main one with the TV. And if anyone wants to play games, the breakfast area is going to be nice for that. I brought along a lot of games so everyone can be occupied at the house.

We unwound for a while and played Disney Monopoly and Racko. Don't ask me how I did in either one. The guys creamed me fairly well. While we were relaxing, (well, I wasn't relaxing, I was at the mercy of the guys) my sister called the house. Which surprised us because we hadn't given her this phone number here. It turns out that Sandy called the rental house company and was given the phone number. We talked about the Beardslees coming over but Rich B. was tired out. Sandy said they might still make it. Ashley called back a little later (told you she was the talker in the family) and she, Sandy, and I had a conversation about what we all were doing the next day. I would talk to Ashley, she would relay what I said to Sandy, get an answer and then talk to me. Why the phone couldn't be handed to Sandy is beyond me. But we discussed that all of us would be at MGM tomorrow and we would meet up outside the 50s Prime Time Café at 1:00. The Beardslees had a seating there at 1:35 so that worked out nicely.

We also had a phone call from Bobbie that ticked me off tremendously. The older Niklewskis had planned to get to Jacksonville, FL by tonight and then go to some fort in St. Augustine tomorrow. However, they hadn't even made it to Jacksonville and were stopping for the night. Bobbie said that she thought they would still make it to the house by 3ish or 4ish tomorrow. But she wasn't sure. I love the in-laws but their travel methods are just so different from mine. If I was driving from Maryland to Florida, I'd take a day and a half at the most. They took three days and did "stuff". That's fine. But I've been planning this for over a year and I expect *some* of my wishes to be honored. Like getting to the stupid place. And making sure you're there in enough time to make the Boma seating like I requested. Not much to ask for. Plenty of time to make your own travel arrangements.

I called the Delta automated line and heard that Lindy's plane was not only on time, it was early. So Rich and I headed out before 9:30 for her 11:00 arrival time. We had to drive down Highway 192 again and Rich did the driving this time. He made all green lights! I think I'll let him drive down the highway from now on. We made it to the airport with plenty of time and easily found a place to park. We just didn't go onto the first couple of levels and went to the top. Not a problem.

We had arranged to meet Lindy at baggage claim and so we waited in some comfortable chairs for a while. Soon, here was Lindy coming down the escalator! We hugged and went over to the carousel for her bag. We had a long time to get caught up since they made an announcement that these bags were temporarily detained. After about 45 minutes, the bags were finally unloaded. Makes for a long night. We got back to the car and then Rich drove us back to the house.

Lindy met Chris and we finished our intense Racko game. And we visited with Lindy and updated her on my situation. We finally went to bed around 2:00 AM.

Kid of the Day - Lindy. She literally bounded off the escalator and was darn glad to be here.

Icing Moment - meeting up with Larry and his family. And I had a Sprinkle Moment in seeing Lindy again. Disney World has brought us all together. I've met so many new friends because of these trips.

Day Three - Sunday, December 30, 2001

We were driving Lindy around so a game plan for today was in order. We decided on MGM since I knew Chris would want to get there (huge movie buff, go figure - he works in a movie theatre) and it's Lindy's favorite place. We all thought we'd just sleep in until we naturally woke up. Us staying up until 2:00 did not mean we were going to get up and hit the parks at opening. Rich and I were up shortly after 9:00. We didn't really want to get up but figured we better get going so we could do some things before we met with the Beardslees at 1:00. Rich got ready and then I struggled up. Lindy was already getting ready. We got Chris going and, again, he surprised me again by not complaining. Maybe because he knew we were going to MGM.

I put our Christmas gifts to the Beardslees kids into my fanny pack (Disney Dollars) and told Rich and Chris to remind me to give them the envelopes when we met with them. Why do I trust these guys? We had to go back to the house after heading out because I didn't bring Bobbie's cell phone number. I wanted it just in case they had problems or we changed plans.

Rich drove us on property since he didn't trust my Highway 192 inclinations (the speed limit on most of this road is 55 until you get closer to Disney. Why can't we do that?). We reached the Swan around 11:00. Chris had made sure that Rich was park ready before we left the house. Thank you, Chris! Temperatures today were in the high 60s, low 70s. I was fine in a T-shirt and jeans, Rich was in shorts, Chris was in jeans. We all were comfortable during the day.

All four of us took the walkway to MGM. We did take a "shortcut" and walked along the canal on the Swan side and then crossed the bridge over to the Boardwalk side to continue on the walkway. The walkway ends on the Swan side and doesn't continue onto MGM. Our only problem was the over zealous watering of the Swan grasses. We dodged the aggressive sprinklers on the way.

We arrived at MGM and had our first look at the holiday crowds. Epcot was a little crowded yesterday but this was way, way more crowded then I have ever seen. Even the day after Thanksgiving wasn't this bad. First of all, the lines for security were very long. But we moved along quickly since everyone actually had their bags open and ready to go. We certainly had enough time for people to realize the drill. Once through there, I got kind of a shock. The lines just to get tickets were backed up to the security tables! Lindy and I just looked at each other and said "APs" and "pre-buy" and all four of us bypassed this unnecessary line. I guess if you are reading this, you know some of the shortcuts and pre-buying your tickets is the way to go. Especially today. The lines through the turn styles weren't that bad and we went all the way to the right and made it through quickly.

Hollywood Boulevard was an absolute mess. We made it down the street to the wait board and saw that Twilight Zone and Rock N Roller Coaster were both 120 minutes. Yes, two hours for these. At this point, we said goodbye to Lindy so she could go off and do her Hunchback thing and visit MGM the way she wanted. We were going to meet up at Boma that night. No matter if the older Niklewskis made it in time or not (I had a feeling this was going to be a Damn Skippy day and I was proved right), I was at least going to be dining at Boma. Lindy too.

We (the we from now on for today will be just Rich, Chris and me) went to check out the FastPass times for our two favorite attractions. We had warned Chris that maybe we'd just do one thing and then leave. FastPass for Twilight Zone was for 2:40-3:40. With the crowds, we didn't think we'd be here at that time. The FastPass time for Rock N Roller Coaster was 2:30-3:30. Better but still not what we wanted. We knew we'd be back so we decided to skip these this time. I was getting hungry and suggested a beer and pretzel combo at the Back Stage Catering Company, one of our favorites for a snack. While walking down Sunset Boulevard, Chris suggested going to check out Star Tours. He's the big Star Wars fan so this is a favorite of his. Rich indicated FastPasses could be obtained. Off we went.

The FastPass distribution lines were manageable but the last two machines on the right were out of FastPasses. The return time was 12:40-1:40 so that was perfect for after meeting with the Beardslees. And we could eat first. But we were in the line for the last two machines on the right. Once we realized what the problem was, I went to tell a Cast Member. There wasn't one in sight. So I bypassed everyone and went behind the machines. I finally found a CM. Rich and Chris had moved over to the left so I went over there first. A foreign guest was in front of me and kept putting just his pass into the machine. It kept spitting out "not a valid FastPass" tickets. I took pity on the guy and told him he wasn't getting FastPasses. I put my ticket into the machine and showed the guest what a valid FastPass looked like. At this point, the CM had moved over in front of the machine. I explained that the two right hand machines were out of paper. The CM's attitude really ticked me off. He said that that wasn't the case. They just didn't have any more FastPasses available. Bull! If we were getting valid FastPasses for just an hour and a half away, how could all the FastPasses for the day be gone? And why didn't he go and check out the situation? The foreign guest wanted to know why his ticket didn't work and the CM couldn't be bothered. I was a little bit irritated by this attitude. I was more helpful than the CM. On the way out of this area, with FastPasses in hand, we encountered people trying to use the two right hand machines. We told them the machines were out of order, to go over to the left hand ones and to complain to the CM about it. I really felt like just standing there and directing the FastPass traffic myself. I might have to start added Grr Moments to these reports.

But we went off to the Back Stage Catering Company for the beer and pretzel combos. We did two of those for around $17 (we included nacho cheese for Chris' pretzel). Chris went off for a Coke for himself and I asked him to get me a cup of water. Chris came back with a normal size cup full of ice and water. Not what I expected. I usually just get a kid's cup of water. Nicely done and it restored my faith in the Disney Cast Members. We sat at the tables under the trees and just talked and people watched. While we were there, I saw Larry and his group walking by so I hailed them. Larry said a couple of people in his group had gotten into the hot seat like he had on his earlier trip. Way to go! It was strange seeing this group in the crowded park. But another thanks to Larry and Jill for coming over and talking with us.

Rich cannot say he doesn't know Disney. While we were sitting there, Rich remarked that since our window for the Star Tours FastPass opened at 12:40 (when our time at Star Tours started), we could go by Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Play It and get a FastPass for that too. My guy - he came up with a great idea. We finished up the pretzels and the beverages and headed for the FastPass machines for Millionaire. Return time of 2:05-2:15. Absolutely perfect. We'd meet with the Beardslees, do Star Tours, then Millionaire and then go back to Tatooine Traders for Chris to have a look around (we figured he wouldn't after the ride). And that's what we did.

We met with the Beardslees sitting on a bench outside the 50s Prime Time Theatre. I think they were having a great vacation. And we learned what actually happened with Ashley and Caroline trying to get to Florida on the airplane. It turned out their idiot father just dropped them off at curbside and then let them check themselves in. A sixteen year old and a thirteen year old. No way in hell I'd have my kid check themselves in on their own in these times. I wouldn't have even done that before September 11th. Once Ashley (a minor) and Caroline (an unaccompanied minor) reached the check-in desk, they were informed of the paperwork to be filled out. By an adult. They didn't have an adult with them. Heck, even if my ex-brother-in-law was with them, I highly doubt he would have qualified as an adult. So that's why the plane took off without them. They had to call the idiot to come back and get them. And he has primary custody of the girls? Grr. My faith in the legal system went way downhill this week.

But they had good stories too. Ashley mistakenly dissed Hercules. She wanted a picture with him and asked him "will you 'pretend' to flex your muscles for me?" Hercules said "pretend?!" And they had an encounter with Cruella DeVil who demanded of my sister "just how many children do you have?" Sandy also said that a guest in the encounter with Cruella was on a cell phone so Cruella took the phone and asked the caller (or callee) "do you know who I am and why are you interfering with what I'm doing?" We don't do the character encounters so these moments with the kids were nice to hear about.

Rich B. had a heart attack earlier this year and Sandy and I were concerned with his health. I wanted to report on how a healthy looking guy would deal with this problem. Rich B. has extremely bad circulation in his legs right now and walking is a problem for him. But he will not rent a wheelchair. He thinks people who don't look handicapped shouldn't have wheels. I assured him that people would understand. He thought that a man with four kids prancing around while he was sitting in a chair would look strange. Nothing I said would make a difference to him. Sandy said Rich B. was in a world of hurt two days earlier but refused to rent a chair. He seemed fine with us but when I mentioned them parking at the Swan and walking to Epcot, Sandy immediately said "no, Rich can't walk that far". So the man needed some help but wasn't going to get it because of pride. Damn Y-chromosome. I haven't seen that much wheelchair abuse lately and almost all the queue lines are wheelchair friendly. I have taken the position that just because a person *looks* healthy doesn't mean they are healthy. Never pre-judge anyone.

Rich B. went to check the clan in and was told they needed to come inside to wait. Which was OK with us since we had the FastPass for Star Tours. So we parted ways and we'd be in touch via phones for future plans. We headed over to Star Tours and walked by all those stand by people that had to wait 60 minutes. We had a little bit of a delay with our line but were in our cruiser in 10 minutes. We did have some unruly teenagers (no adult) in there with us but I ignored them. I was in the last seat in the last row and there is no seat in front of this one. I was literally swinging around. My feet didn't hit the floor at all and this thing always jerks me around. But I loved it even though it is dated. One bad note - on the way out, I saw a bag left behind. So I picked it up, intending to turn it over for recovery. Unfortunately, the bag was filled with garbage. Including a sticky cup that leaked all over my hand. Yeck! Why are some people pigs? Don't tell me Disney World doesn't have a ton of trashcans all over the place. I disposed of the crap on the way out and then we headed for a restroom so I could clean up.

With that taken care of, we went over to Millionaire. We were early but I knew they would let us into the preshow area before 2:05. So we handed in our FastPasses and then got a surprise. Chris had never done this before but Rich and I had. We knew that *everyone* plays the game. But they have these "Fastest Finger" seats. Ten in all just to make the set look like the real game. As we handed in our passes, we were asked how many in our party. I said three and then I was asked if we wanted to be in the Fastest Finger seats! All it gave us was a little early admission and we were on the floor. It didn't give us any advantage to the Hot Seat. But I took the passes and in we went. Oh, it was a thrill (especially since none of us will ever make it to the Hot Seat). Once they let the "commoners" in (we'll be a commoner again, I'm sure), we felt like royalty sitting there. I heard a couple of "how did they get those seats?" We did nothing. We were just asked.

Rich made it to the top ten board once but other than that, we were just average. We kept getting shown on the video screens. It was kind of cool since we each had our own screens to watch on the Fastest Finger row. We went through three contestants and all three didn't get very far. Not like the only other time Rich and I saw this and the 9 year old kid made it up to the 1 million point mark. But it was fun and we really liked those Fastest Finger seats. I think Chris was impressed. And we didn't do anything special to get them. (Later Chris admitted that it would be hard for him to go back and sit in the regular seats - this was definitely a highlight. I got to impress my son!).

After the show (and those Fastest Finger seats let you exit the show extremely quickly), we went over to Tatooine Traders for Chris to have a look around. Oops, it was 2:50 and the parade was going to start at 3:00. We used all the back ways I could think of and got to the store without a problem except people flocking to see the parade. Chris had a good look around, saw some things he wanted but said he'd be back and he'd get them then. OK, let's get out of here and get back to the house. But the parade had started. We really had a problem getting around people who either didn't know where to go with the parade restrictions or just stopped because they wanted to see the parade. We finally made it to Hollywood Boulevard and went through the shops to get out. Until the last one. People wanting to see the parade were clogging up the exit of the shop. A Cast Member was there to direct traffic but no one was listening. There were strollers in the way, leading me to think about my objection to having strollers in some of the shops. Some aisles are just too darn narrow to even walk through, let alone have a stroller go through there. But we excused ourselves, pardoned ourselves, and got out of there. Once I could breath again, we headed for the exit. We were done getting pixie dust for the day.

On the way out, I was asked to participate in an exit survey. The Cast Member has this Palm Pilot thing and asks you a bunch of questions about your day at the park. I do these every chance I get. It's basically to get a feel for what you did and how you liked the park. I just wish they would ask the question "is this your first time to Disney World" first. That way, they can judge your reactions based on experience. That question is usually one of the last ones. I was asked about if I got to do everything I wanted. I said no but it was because of the crowds. I was asked if I had any bad encounters today and I explained about the Cast Member at the Star Tours FastPass lines. This CM expressed regret we had to go through that (no a big deal to us because we kind of know the place but a big deal to the foreign guy and a big deal to the people who still wanted to use the lines that were out of paper).

I was asked if my day was a good one. Yes, it was. Even though I didn't do everything I wanted? Yes. And that's the key to everything. I couldn't get that into the survey but even though I didn't get to go on Twilight Zone this trip, it didn't make the visit any less exciting. I filled it with so much more. A ride is a ride is a ride. An experience is an experience is an experience. Big difference.

We took the walkway back to the Swan after briefly talking about taking the boat. The line was way too long. So we walked. The day was nice and we had a nice talk along the way. I really like spending quality time with my guys. Rich decided he would drive us back to the house and I wanted to stop at Publix for some supplies on the way. There's one right at the intersection of Highway 192 and Route 27 so that was our first stop. We got what was needed and then headed for the house, hoping the older Niklewskis would already be there. That was not going to happen and taught me a nice lesson on being flexible while at Disney World. I try to be but my over-planner instincts go into overdrive sometimes.

Damn Skippy Moment - as we are driving to the house after Publix, which was around 4:15, Rich's cell phone rings. We had it on the whole day since Bobbie was going to call when they got closer. They hadn't called. Rich was driving so I answered the phone. It was Ed. They were still on I4 but were on their way. I was not happy. I chatted my way through the cell phone problems and then we hung up. I was totally miffed. I had told them about the seating at Boma and how I wanted to be there by 6:00 so everyone could see the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Now I knew they wouldn't be at the house until after 5:00 and then we'd have to unload them and go back to Disney World for dinner. I exploded on the guys for a while and then decided that no matter what, I was going back to Disney World at 5:45 and if I was alone in the car, fine. But I was going back for dinner. I totally Damn Skippied out.

We got back to the house and relaxed with football for a little while until Chris turned on his game cube. We were working out us watching TV and Chris doing his games. I didn't care. I updated the report, Chris played his games, and Rich watched and waited for his parents. Around 5:15, they finally showed up. They were lucky. I had just told Rich that I was leaving in a half hour. Well, it took a half hour to get the megavan unloaded (check the July trip report for that little saga) of all this stuff. How three people take this much stuff for a week of vacation is beyond me. I showed them the house and pointed out the laundry facilities. Bobbie said "I don't plan to do laundry". Well, that explains the seven suitcases for just the two of them. And don't even go into the seventeen boxes of cereal they had. Seriously. I held back all my Damn Skippy comments and got everything into the house. We did manage to get going back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge before 6:00 which I thought was pretty darn good. Rich drove us all in the megavan.

We went through the Animal Kingdom Lodge security check with no problems. Bobbie and Ed insisted they had been there before but Rich and I corrected them. We had taken them to the Wilderness Lodge last year. Dave and Chris had never been here at all. Once inside, all four were totally impressed. I knew they would be and wanted to shout out "TRUST ME!" But I refrained. We went outside to the fire pit and the animal viewing areas. Even Dave, the Disney cynic, was won over. I *knew* it!!!! As we were walking back to the Lodge, Lindy was coming our way. We introduced everyone, talked a little, and then went inside to go to the gift shop (which Chris thought was going to have the typical Disney stuff - it doesn't). Lindy and I looked at watches and I think I might have a couple I like and will fit. Rich saw the price tags and blanched but he'll live. Then I looked at the watch and it was 6:50 and the seating was for 7:00. I sent Chris off to tell Rich Lindy and I would check us in so we headed downstairs.

We checked in with no problems and everyone else met us downstairs. We were told we would be seated by 7:15 which was very good. I knew this was a hit when Dave asked if he could go outside again and see the animals. I said that he could but if we weren't in the waiting area, he'd have to come into the buffet area and find us. Once that pager went off, I was going to be finding some zebra domes. Dave decided to wait with us. After about 10 minutes, we were paged and seated. The seater person talked to the four that hadn't been there before what to expect and our server also did the same. Dave had been extremely concerned about the food selection and we had tried to tell him he'd be fine. Why don't these people trust me?

As it turned out, this meal was a success. I know I rolled out of there. Chris ate plate after plate after plate. Everyone found something they liked and I finally tried the flank steak. Excellent. And I did something totally out of the "ordinary". My first course was salad with a mix of dressings. And a chocolate mousse and a zebra dome. Why wait until after the meal when you are stuffed to have dessert? Why not have it first and then get everything else? Everyone was looking at the others' plates and then going back for what they wanted. I do have to say that every time I came back with a plate, a zebra dome accompanied it. These things are addictive. It's a mousse but it's not sickening sweet like mousses can be. Everyone except Rich and Chris had a zebra dome. Rich likes the fruit tarts more and Chris is not into things like this. But that didn't stop him from having a huge plate of other desserts. Total here for the seven of us with tip (which we tussled over leaving 10% versus 15% with the older folks sticking to the 10% buffet rule and us younger folks saying that the server cleaned away the dishes ASAP, served the drinks, made sure everything was OK and deserved at least 15%), was $200. Ouch. But it was well worth it. I still think this is one of the better meals on property.

Rich drove the megavan back towards the house and we had to make the obligatory stop at a grocery store. Rich's parents *always* have to stop at a grocery store. It never fails. They have seventeen boxes of cereal but Dave didn't feel that was enough. Then Bobbie suggested getting oatmeal since Dave would have hot water. He didn't realize he would have hot water. Hello, we are at a rental house, there's a teapot on the stove. Oh, that's right, you didn't get there in enough time to check things out. And we have the milk issue. These guys will easily drink a gallon in about a day and a half. But they won't buy a gallon because "it might spoil". In a day and a half. So they buy half gallons. Every single day. Back to the same Publix we were at just five hours ago. Lindy, Rich, Chris, and I stayed in the megavan. We kind of joked and laughed about the Older Niklewskis' habits because I was getting them right time and time again.

Back to the house where we wanted some football scores on. Darn Falcons lost. Why does every team I start rooting for end up being losers? The Redskins were playing New Orleans so at least we could watch that. We are Redskins fans as well with Rich growing up near that area and the older Niklewskis living there. Bobbie, Dave, Rich, and Chris played Racko with Rich and Chris teaching Bobbie and Dave how to play. I worked on the report, Ed and Lindy read and watched the game. Ed did take the stitches out of my forehead so I'm not running around with steri-strips anymore. Thank goodness I have bangs. And thank goodness I have a physician in the family. BTW - if you need medical care, the CentraCare near Splendid China is open on Saturdays. I checked that out before I left as a backup to Ed removing the stitches.

I called Sandy at the Ramada after having to get Bobbie to get her AAA travel book. Either Sandy gave me the wrong number or I wrote down the wrong one. We couldn't even dial a "local" call from the house so we were on the cell phone. Which was almost dead and needed a charge. I finally got through. We had decided (well, I had decided with Lindy's help) that tomorrow would be an awful day trying to get into a park so we'd do non-park things. I thought about starting out in Downtown Disney and maybe Lindy and I could sneak off and go to at least the Premium Outlets for a while. Then maybe some miniature golf and then watching the early fireworks from the Epcot resort area and then back to the house for New Year's Eve. Sandy said she'd be in touch by phone and they would try and get into Epcot. I figured even if we did get into Epcot, we'd be elbow to elbow and that was not going to be a good experience. So we made alternative plans.

I mentioned to Ed that I would like to take the two vehicles tomorrow so if parties decided to split up, we could. He reaction was total "no way". He wanted all seven of us to be together and he didn't want two cars. Grr twice over. Three times over. I quietly spoke to Lindy and she agreed with me. We're just too diverse to have to do everything together. Especially with the parks hitting their capacity. Dave mentioned something about going to some rock shops (he likes old rocks - don't ask). What if he finds an Orlando phone book (we have the hicksville phone books) and gets in touch with a rock shop? Sorry, don't ask me or Lindy to go to a rock shop. So why can't we have two vehicles? It gives us so much more flexibility. I pulled another Damn Skippy moment after everyone else went to bed and told Rich that there is no way I'm not driving myself onto property tomorrow. I'll take Lindy and whoever wants to go with us. Otherwise, everyone else is on their own. At this point, I can drive around here blindfolded. Rich was still asking me for directions tonight. But the situation did get better the next day.

Kid of the Day - the Beardslees. It's been tough for them. Through the divorce, the remarriage, the separations, the heart attack. But wow - what a family. I love Barry Manilow and if you could play "I Made it Through the Rain" for them, that would fit to a T. I am so proud of these six very special people.

Icing Moment - being on the Fast Finger seats at Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Play It. It didn't cost us or Disney anything more but just being there made us feel more a part of the whole thing. And we didn't ask for it. We were just in the right place at the right time. No, we didn't make it into the Hot Seat but I think our seats were better for us anyway. And a Sprinkle Moment - those zebra domes. Heavenly. Simply put. Heavenly.

Day Four - Monday, December 31, 2001

We had decided to wake up naturally again. With seven different people in the house, this was the easiest. No one really wanted to try and get to a park today so we all just slept. Rich and I were up right after 9:00. Bobbie and Ed were doing their thing in the kitchen (don't get me started with their morning routine - it takes about two hours for them to get ready). Lindy was getting ready while Rich was in the shower. I attempted to go through the trip report but when Bobbie started to read out loud the Sunday "Parade" magazine ver batum, I bailed and headed to get ready myself.

Everyone got up on their own except Chris. Once the "adults" were up, I went into Chris' room and said something to the effect that we all we up and in the process of getting going so he should to. He again surprised me and got up within five minutes. He normally works a 12-6 shift six days a week at the theatre but that's been new since we moved to the Atlanta area. And he's been in charge of the roommates at the house. My boy is growing up!

With everyone up, showered, and ready to go, this was our first challenge. The weather was kind of nasty. Not that cold (well, not for this transplanted Northerner/Midwesterner), about 60ish but cloudy and with just a few sprinkles (not Sprinkle Moments). We all took sweatshirts and jackets with Lindy taking an umbrella (she would be lucky with that tonight - a Sprinkle Moment). However, Lindy and I wanted to tackle the outlets and no one else wanted to. So we discussed and I basically said that Lindy and I were going to the outlets and whoever wanted to come with us could. Otherwise, the Other Niklewskis (we switch from younger Niklewski and older Niklewskis to the Other Niklewskis - it is my trip report) could do what they wanted.

The parks were out of the equation. Even if we could have gotten into one, there wasn't one of us who wanted to stand elbow to elbow with people for the whole day. Bobbie loved doing Fantasia Miniature Golf so that was high on her list. Perfect for parking. And she really wanted Dave to see the Epcot resort area. OK, you guys do that, Lindy and I will head for shopping. A word about this - I do not shop. Don't see me as a silly female running around outlets, trying to find bargains. As early into this trip, I was ready for an in-law break (Damn Skippy, right?) and I was ready for some Disney stuff. I knew where the Premiere Outlets were and I had been at Belz before (although I never went into any stores, just scoped out the location). I had car keys and someone who wanted to go. Let's do it!

No one except Lindy and I were real thrilled with our parties breaking up. We had cell phones. Rich had his, Bobbie had hers, Lindy had hers. We exchanged numbers and then Lindy and I headed out. I think over the objections of everyone but that's too bad. You just can't expect to keep a party of seven all on the same course. It's not going to happen. The Other Niklewskis headed out with the plan of Fantasia golf followed by a walk around the Epcot resort area. I suggested using the phones and then meeting up at some time at Downtown Disney. More shopping but at least the World of Disney was there and if people can't spend some time in that place, you're not normal. Let's see if my group is normal.

The Lindy and Sheri Day - we started out around 11ish. It was a challenge to get to the Premiere Outlets. I knew where they were but got a little turned around. Lindy kept saying that I was a whiz at motoring around but I got into some I4 traffic and got off at the correct exit but then made a huge blunder and didn't go straight and made a left turn instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It took an extra 15 minutes or so to turn around at Crossroads and head back. But Lindy got to see the area. She's moving into the Best Western tomorrow so now she knows everything that's around there.

The Premiere Outlets - if you go to the Downtown Disney resort area, go towards the Crossroads (a shopping center with Goodings, which is a grocery store, and several restaurants). Make a right on 535. You'll go under I4 and then the next left will be on Vineland Road. Take that. It'll twist and turn but the Premiere Outlets will be on your right after a while. There's a Disney outlet there. It's an official one and it's hit or miss but you can find some bargains.

I finally found the outlets and it was tough going to get a parking space. But then I just went way out into the back and there was plenty of parking. If you do go there, just don't park up front unless it's a non-busy day. We went towards the back and had our choice of spaces. We did a little hunting to find the Disney place since I had always entered here through the front. But we found it. Oops, Rich is *not* going to be happy that we found it. Lindy actually managed not to spend anything but close to $60 later, I was loaded down. I won't go into the exact descriptions of what I bought today but my Disney wardrobe was greatly enhanced. Four shirts (one was for Rich, come on, give me a break), a Christmas decoration (which Bobbie later said "what does that do?" - nothing but it's Mickey and it's Christmas and it's half price - go get an imagination), and a shot glass for Chris to take back to his one of his roommates ($0.99 so even if he didn't want it, I didn't feel like I wasted any time or money).

Then onto Belz. I4 was totally bogged down so I went out to International Drive (forever more called Idrive). When Lindy is here, she normally will rely on Mears or a town car service to get her from the airport to her resort. And then she takes Disney transportation. So all this driving around was new to her. I'm very glad we "had" to take Idrive to Belz. And we took it the whole way. It was clogged, like I expected, but that was fine. Lindy got to see the back side of Sea World and noticed its location to Disney World. And then we saw all of Idrive. Wonderworks (what is up with that?), FAO Schwartz, the Mercado, Ripley's Believe It or Not, Wet and Wild, the Convention Center. We did the whole drive. Stop and go with the traffic lights but we weren't in a hurry. I think we stayed in neutral at Sand Lake Road for about ten minutes with the lights. Grr. Oh well, we watched the Belz Outlets signs change several times. 2 more miles.

We finally broke free of the traffic and hit the outlets. I found a parking space (these were at a premium) and we got out. We didn't see anything remotely related to Disney so we had no idea where to go. We just started walking around. It wasn't like we thought. It was an outside mall area. We found a store that had outlet maps so I grabbed one. We looked. No Disney at all. Oops. Did they decide not to have these stores anymore? We were disappointed so we headed back to the car and I drove us around the site but we couldn't find anything. Then Lindy saw more stuff down on the Idrive. OK, let's go there. I'm not near my in-laws (although I do love them), so let's go. It turns out we were in the Belz Designer Mall. Don't go there unless you want fashion clothes. We finally found the "real" Belz Outlets. Great for us!

We found plenty of parking and went into Mall 1 first. For those who don't know - there are two Disney outlets here. One in Mall 1 and one in Mall 2. Both Lindy and I found the Belz Outlets to be confusing. Too many malls and too many annexes. We knew the Disney stuff was in the malls and not in the annexes and we were lucky to start off in a mall with a Disney store. Oops (I should start adding Oops Moments to the reports too). I hope Rich understands. I kept to just two items (one for me and one for Rich). Lindy did a little more damage. And then onto Mall #2 which we had a little bit of trouble finding. I just couldn't read the map. Blame it on playing tour guide. We walked towards the wrong entrance and then figured where we needed to be was back towards the car. OK, at least the car realizes where it should be!

Onto the Character Warehouse in Mall #2. This is where the credit card companies are going to love us. Actually, it wasn't that bad. I got a Brer Rabbit (everybody's got a Laughing Place, a Laughing Place) and a couple of photo albums (the 2001 ones that were going to be extinct after today). Lindy went through the place picking up T-shirts for all her nieces and nephews. Postcards were $.09 so Lindy stocked up on those too. I had to check out because the Rabbit and the albums were cumbersome to carry around. I did that while Lindy loaded her pile up.

Grr. I know I love when Disney wraps up the fragiles so they don't break on the way home. But every single aisle had people with multiple glassware. Ugh! But I waited and then I found a register that didn't have that problem and I moved over there. Whew! I got checked out and then went back in and found Lindy doing her postcard search. We hung out for a while and then it kicked in again. They had these really neat Mickey goblets and I had to have two of them. So I grabbed a couple and Lindy and I checked out together (the goblets were $3 each). I was first and it was easy to check out (OK, I griped enough about wrapping things up for the trip home - I'm glad for it), Lindy had a ton of T-shirts but she didn't even spend $30. Great! I would call this day a success at this point. But it's only around 3:00.

Up to this point, no one with the other party had called us. Lindy's phone was out of range so we thought that might be a problem. Everyone has voice messaging and Lindy didn't have any messages. So, once out to the car and with good reception, we called Rich's phone. And he didn't have it on. But then I thought to call Bobbie's phone. She answered. It was hilarious. Me - "Hello, it's Sheri". Bobbie - "Who?" Me - "Sheri - you know, your daughter-in-law". Bobbie - "Who?" I finally made her realize who was calling her. Come on, you are on vacation in Florida with just about your entire family, two people that you are vacation with are off on their own and say they will call you via cell phone, and you actually have to ask who it is that is calling you? Lindy and I had a good laugh over that. Bobbie passed the phone off to Rich.

This is where I am *so* glad we split up for the day. These guys had played Fantasia miniature golf and were walking around the Epcot resort area. Bobbie said she just loved it when we stayed at the Boardwalk last year and wanted Dave to see it. But does it take three hours to walk around Crescent Lake? With these people, yes. They enjoyed it but Rich and Chris were less then thrilled. I think they would have rather been with Lindy and me. At least they were able to have the Spoodles takeout window pizza. Lindy and I love the stuff and were so disappointed when we found out they enjoyed it without us. When we finally connected with Rich, they were crossing over to look at the Beach Club. OK, well, we can be at Downtown Disney in less than a half hour. Why not meet there? Lindy and I would have enough to do and we'll just wait. We agreed we'd call when we got there. Thank goodness for cell phones although the range here leaves a lot to be desired. And it helps if things get charged up before we leave the house.

I took the very long way around to I4 (you have to go around Islands of Adventure first - that was great for Lindy). We did discuss how you can't see anything of Disney World until you are right there. Seeing the back of IOA as we're driving by kind of took away from the "magic". We had no problem on I4 and were to Downtown Disney in good time. The Marketplace, which was the first place we got to, was undergoing some refurbishment so the main entrance was closed off. I just went up to the next one and Lindy found a car getting ready to leave. Most of the Downtown Disney parking was closed off in preparation for this evening's festivities (Cyndi Lauper and Tone Loc and you had to get a hard ticket for $65). However, I didn't see another car waiting for the spot. Once I saw that, I continued on. I could have easily snuck into the space but that wouldn't have been fair. So I just went out farther and got a space. Right near the World of Disney. Perfect.

Then I again became so glad our parties split up. The Other Niklewskis were *still* at the Epcot resort area! They hadn't even made it make to the Swan yet. Rich sounded so, so Damn Skippy. It was 3:30 and I thought that if they got to the megavan and drove over to Downtown Disney, they should be at the World of Disney by 4:00. So that was the plan. Why plan anything with these people? Lindy and I used the restrooms and tried for our free chocolate at Giardelli with our Annual Passes but the line here was way too long and was taking too much time for a free little square of calories. So we left. Oh well, maybe next time but a free sample is not worth the hassle or the time.

Lindy had been shopping for a watch so I suggested she go into the Scary Store (that's what we call the World of Disney) and look while I waited. And I had a long wait. At 4:15, I went into the store to see if Lindy had found anything. I couldn't find Lindy (trying to find anyone in this store is a near impossibility) but scanned the watches for myself. Possibilities but I didn't have my Magic Kingdom Club Card. And Rich was going to have a heart attack with what I already bought. I went back outside and then Lindy found me. Before the Other Niklewskis got there. And we waited. And waited. And waited. I called Rich and he said they were at Planet Hollywood and had a hard time finding a parking space. We didn't but they had pulled in at the AMC theatre which, of course, was packed. And parking that megavan is cumbersome. OK, they are at Planet Hollywood, Pleasure Island is closed off for tonight so they should be here in about 10 minutes, right? And so we waited. And waited. And waited. Lindy and I just couldn't bear to stand there so we started walking towards Pleasure Island. We finally met up with four of the five on the other side of the Lego Store. Chris had gotten so frustrated with the pace that he walked ahead to find Lindy and me. Oops. So Lindy and I walked ahead and found Chris and then waited until the other four *finally* got there. It would have been a Damn Skippy Day if I had to do this all day.

We would have eliminated meeting at Downtown Disney altogether except that Chris wanted to check out the Virgin MegaStore and the World of Disney. Virgin MegaStore for Star Wars books and the World of Disney for what I thought was going to be 2001 things. It turns out that he really wanted 100 Years of Magic stuff and thought that was ending today. Nope, my man, that'll go on for another year. But the reactions of the rookies to the World of Disney was priceless. Chris went in to check out the 100 Years of Magic merchandise. He was gone for a while and Bobbie noticed just how big the store was. She said something about going in. Dave went with her. As they were leaving I said "we'll send in a search party for you". I was kidding. But Chris came out a little bit later and said the store was too confusing and too big. If Chris is saying that, I knew we'd have a problem with Bobbie and Dave. Dave managed to get out and then we waited for Bobbie. And waited. She finally was spotted by Chris wandering from the other side. None of the three rookies wanted to go near the place again. I guess I know I'm a veteran since I (1) knew there actually was a watch room and (2) could walk to it without any problems and (3) could get out knowing I had to go through the plush room.

Since all seven of us were back together again, we talked about our plans for the evening. Bobbie likes fireworks and I had read on Steve's site that there would be fireworks at Epcot at 7:30. I thought we could see them from the Boardwalk without any problems and then head back to the house for midnight. That was the plan as of this morning. But now Bobbie and Ed wanted to get champagne for tonight and I figured the grocery stores would close early, maybe around 8:00. So we couldn't do that after the fireworks. The Older Niklewskis (we're going back to the original groups) all wanted some sort of dinner before the fireworks but they wanted it offsite. I didn't want to do that since it was getting towards 5:30 and I didn't want to cut it too close to the 7:30 fireworks time. Rich understood that, Lindy understood that, Chris understood that. No one else did. Grr. But we overruled the Older Niklewskis (majority rule). We still had to make a grocery stop for the champagne, Diet Coke (for Rich) and a newspaper. Ed is newspaper addicted. So I suggested that at least Lindy and I go to Goodings since we were close to Crossroads. I know it's more expensive but at this point, convenience won out. The others could go back to the megavan (Chris had already checked out Virgin MegaStore which he said had a poor selection of Star Wars books) and then drive over to the Swan. We'd all meet in between the Atlantic Dance Hall and Jellyrolls on the benches on the Boardwalk. Before Lindy and I left, I offered up a ride if anyone wanted to go with us. Chris eagerly accepted. He said at least we moved. The others just meandered. I think Rich would have joined us but he had the driving duties on property with his parents.

So Chris, Lindy, and I went to Goodings and got the supplies. I think we were in and out of there in five minutes. Diet Coke, check, beer, check, champagne, check, newspaper, check, checkout, check. Done. We were joking that we'd make it to the Swan before the megavan. Lindy paid attention to the route so she would be able to duplicate it since she's moving into the Best Western and would have her rental car for transportation and would be parking at the Swan.

So we get to the Swan. Only to encounter a guard. Drat. I tried my best excuse and was told the only parking available was via valet. OK. Think fast. I'm not trying to duck paying to park but the Swan has always been such a perfect place for us. Great access to MGM and to Epcot. Yeah, it's a bit of a walk but it works out well. I had Lindy try and call Rich but no phones were on there. Chris said it first. Park at Fantasia Miniature Golf. My exact thought. So we did. Right next to the megavan. And Rich said he didn't know the ins and outs of Disney World!

One note here and Rich brought it up. What if we were staying at the Swan that night? And we were late getting back? Would we have been directed just to valet parking? Or were there really spots in the parking lot (it didn't look like there were) and we were being turned away? Rich said he would have been really mad if he had to do valet parking while being a guest there. Again, not advocating ducking parking fees since we wouldn't anyway with an Annual Pass but none of us were going into Epcot or MGM. We just wanted some nonpark time. And don't say the TTC which already closed had closed their parking lot or Downtown Disney which was the same thing. So was Epcot's lot. Not a lot of options if you just wanted to swing by the Boardwalk and go to their clubs. Yes, that was full up too except for valet parking. I guess the thinking is that if you are out at Disney World on New Year's Eve, you are willing to pony up some bucks for valet (I know, it costs only $5 but do you really *not* tip the guy when you pick the thing up?). Parking rant on New Year's Eve off. It wasn't that big of a deal, we managed, but it sure doesn't allow for a ton of flexibility. Forget about those afternoon breaks on days like this.

As the three of us were walking towards the Boardwalk, Chris spotted Ed and Dave playing miniature golf. The more normal course. They had played the regular miniature golf course earlier (there are two courses here). Rich and Bobbie had already gone over to the Boardwalk. We just kind of chatted briefly and then continued on to the meeting spot. Where no one was. I knew what had happened. It was kind of chilly so I figured Bobbie needed a coffee or something. We just continued to the Boardwalk and sure enough, here comes Rich and Bobbie and Bobbie had a cup of coffee with her. Can I predict my in-laws or what?

We were close to the Spoodles take out window so I told Rich that I was getting a beer, darn it. He wanted one too. He looked like he needed one at this point. After I got the suds and we were standing around, I realized that I needed some food. I told Rich that I was going into the bakery to see if they anything for me. Bobbie said they looked in there earlier and didn't see anything. I went in and Lindy went with me. I found a fruit tart for $3. Enough for a snack since I knew we'd be eating dinner after the fireworks. The five of us grabbed a table along the water for me to eat and everyone else to drink. Chris went and got some nachos since he was hungry (we call him Hiemlich). Lindy went in search for someone to tell her what the entertainment schedule was. Jugglers at 6:00 and fireworks at 7:30. Lindy has a thing for one of the jugglers so she was hoping he would be there. 6:00 came and went (Bobbie was looking for Ed and Dave throughout this time but we figured it would be close to 7 before they finally finished) and Lindy was getting restless. So she went searching again. This time, she found someone with an entertainment schedule. The juggler was coming out at 6:30 and it was Randy, *her* juggler!

Bobbie left to go back to the original meeting place to hook up with Dave and Ed. Lindy, Rich, Chris, and I waited for Randy. Lindy a little bit more then the rest of us. As we were sitting there and it was close to 6:30, I turned a little and saw Randy coming down the Boardwalk. I told Lindy to look right. She did. And then announced "there's the man we've been waiting for, Randy the Juggler!" That got his attention and he came over and started talking with us. He said something about not being able to do his lame routines since we had probably seen them many times before. I said only Lindy had seen them before, the rest of us hadn't. So Randy said this would be our show.

Then he asked about our apple juice (meaning the beers). Mine was almost full but Rich had taken a few sips from his. So Randy picked up Rich's "apple juice", balanced it on his forehead and then juggled while doing that. Rich said something about not spilling it and Randy said "don't worry, I know you probably paid $20 for this". A little bit of a crowd started gathering and Randy ended up doing his whole routine right next to our table. It was very good and I can see why Lindy likes this guy. He has a great personality and is a fantastic juggler. It was here that Lindy taking her umbrella paid off. Randy had her throw the umbrella to him. It was more of a chuck then a throw and Randy missed it but Lindy got to be part of the show. After the performance, Lindy asked if I would take a picture with her and Randy. I gladly did. I hope it turns out. Lindy was so happy! During the performance, Bobbie came back and said Dave and Ed were with her but didn't want to come over since she told them we didn't have any extra chairs. Actually, the two guys don't like any of this kind of entertainment at all.

We all joined up again and Lindy had suggested that maybe the Boardwalk lobby had an entertainment schedule. I was looking for the Off Kilter times for the rest of the week. The new schedules come out on Mondays but I couldn't get near Epcot to get one. So Lindy and I went for a bathroom break and to see if we could get the Off Kilter times. We did the bathroom stop first and then went into the lobby. No show schedules. That didn't stop Lindy (who says she's shy but not at Disney World). She went up to Guest Relations and asked Jon if he knew what the times would be. He didn't but he called someone who then had to call someone else. In the end (with me holding my breath the whole time because I thought for sure the guys would be on vacation or something and I'd miss them), Jon told us they'd be performing Tuesday-Thursday. When he started saying the times, I realized Off Kilter was back to their 15 minute sets and six times a day (they switched to 30 minute sets four times a day during the Candlelight Processional times). But they were going to be there! Whoo hoo! I was so excited. Just about as excited as Lindy was with Randy's performance. Now you know why we keep coming back here again and again.

But my excitement was easily contained once we got back to our group. There was a little boy, about five, with Rich. We have long passed our time with the ankle biters. They had found a lost child. Edward. Lindy went in search for a Cast Member and Rich was trying to get as much information out of Edward as he could. Edward, being a child of knowledge, volunteered just enough to let Rich know that his mother had curly hair and he was there with his parents and his brother. We really didn't know what to do but at least Edward was with seven adults and not wandering around the Boardwalk on his own. And he was at the last place where he saw his parents. And he was safe. A few minutes later, Edward's parents came back and "found" him. They were very grateful for us taking the time to stay with Edward. Rich was wonderful with him. It turns out that the parents actually had five kids with them (I guess they had three extra ones) and all of them had been sitting on the benches eating. They got up to leave and Edward mistakenly left his hot dog behind. He ran back to get it and then got confused because he couldn't see anyone he knew. The parents went a ways before they realized Edward wasn't with them. They retraced their steps and found him. Edward was upset but didn't cry. Poor Edward!

After this, I shared my good news of Off Kilter and Rich just rolled his eyes. We had quite a discussion on what we were going to do tomorrow. I wanted the first three shows of Off Kilter. The rest wanted MGM. Lindy was checking into the Best Western and I was going to drive her there. I suggested I do that and then do Off Kilter and meet everyone else at MGM. We had a seating at 5:00 at Sci Fi Dine Inn but if we didn't make it, we didn't make it. If everyone else wanted to go to Epcot, then fine. Rich didn't like me going off on my own but it's been a whole month since I've seen the guys and that's about 30 days too long. I appeased the situation by saying that we'd see what happened in the morning and I could meet up with everyone else at MGM later.

We moved over to watch the fireworks. It turned out that the fireworks were just the regular Illuminations run. We could see them but if I had known that, I would have insisted we move closer to Epcot. Rich and Bobbie wanted to be back in between the Atlantic Dance Hall and Jellyrolls. I had suggested the bridge going over to Epcot but was overruled. Why don't these people listen to me? Lindy had gone off since Randy was now juggling fire but we all met up again. It was time to get out of Disney World and go for some dinner. On the way back to the vehicles, I turned around and asked the Older Niklewskis "do you realize that you've been at Disney World all day and you haven't even entered a park?" Dave raised his eyebrows at that. He didn't even think about that at all. They had spent almost nine hours at Disney World, had a good time, and never even got near a turn style.

I had told Lindy that if we were eating offsite, she'd be "enjoying" the Restaurant Dance. My in-laws, though I love them, have this problem with deciding where to eat. It's either not the right food or it's too expensive or they have a "hiring now" sign out or it's too bright or it's too dark or it just doesn't look right. They are never satisfied with anything. We could drive around for an hour before they finally pick a place. And we might leave after looking at the menu. Grr. Rich knows how I feel and he feels the same way. Let's just pick a place. We had seen a pizza place on Highway 192 that also had Italian food and that would be a great place for the seven of us. But Rich wasn't sure where the place was. I was going to follow the megavan since it can't go very fast but Rich wasn't comfortable with that. So I led with the car. And watched my speed so the van could keep up with me. The pizza place came up faster than either Rich or I thought. Chris spotted it first (he went with Lindy and me in the car - again because we would be going faster).

The pizza place is New York Pizza World. It's very close to the maingate on the west side of I4 on Highway 192. I would highly, highly recommend this place to families on budgets who want something more than fast food. It's not the ritziest place - more like a diner. But the food is good, the prices are good, and the service was good. The menu is Italian but varied. For the seven of us we had: one extremely large pepperoni pizza (Dave and Rich), spaghetti (Ed), manicotti (Bobbie), tuna sub (me), cheese raviolis (Chris), and a small white sauce pizza with mushrooms (Lindy). All the pasta dishes came with a salad bar and cheesy garlic rolls. It was a great value but I have no idea what the total price was because Bobbie and Ed picked up the check. Thanks! But we will be back here again and will recommend it to anyone in the area.

After dinner, we made it back to the house. I just beat the megavan back. Unfortunately, Rich saw my shopping bags in the trunk since we also had to get out the groceries. Sorry dear, but I very rarely shop. But when I do, I do. The most expensive thing I bought was $15.99 and that was a nice long sleeved shirt for Rich. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

The evening was spent with Lindy writing postcards (until she got tired of it), me doing the report, and the rest playing cards and Racko. That Racko is turning out to be the highlight of the trip! At 11:00, I turned on "Law & Order" since it was a Logan episode. Lindy got to see a Logan episode! Rich and Chris made fun of my obsession but I ignored them. We had some champagne early since we weren't sure Bobbie would make it to midnight. But that Racko had her going. We all stayed up and watched the ball drop on Times Square. Bin Laden, you didn't do anything to us. I think New York was just as crowded, if not more crowded, then any other time. Everyone turned in shortly after that. Chris stayed up a little longer to celebrate New Year's with his roommates back home in Nebraska. Just another hour to say he was up when they hit midnight.

Kid of the Day - Edward. Poor kid had his parents loose him. But he was brave, didn't cry, and offered just enough information for us to feel comfortable to try and find his mother and father. And Edward's parents who probably felt awful when they realized Edward wasn't with them. We, unfortunately, had a couple of very brief instances with Chris when we lost him but we found him quick enough. Imagine New Year's Eve at Disney World and you lost your child. Edward, you have some nice parents and vice versa. Glad to see that these days.

Icing Moments - well, I think these both qualify as Sprinkle Moments. The special ones. The ones that go on top of the icing. The icing is the Disney World entertainment. The Sprinkle was me holding my breath waiting to hear if Off Kilter was going to be there this week. And my huge sigh of relief when the hours were told to me (and handwritten down - thanks Jon!). And a big Sprinkle Moment with Lindy's reaction to Randy and his reaction back to us and him "doing the show" for us. I don't know what Disney pays Off Kilter or Randy but to us, it's just not enough. They make the trip for us.

Day Five - Tuesday, January 1, 2002

At 7:30, I couldn't sleep so I got up and worked on the report. Lindy got up about an hour later and said "isn't that where I left you last night?" No, I don't go overboard on the report while I'm on the vacation but I've just been keeping up while I can. For the Thanksgiving trip, I didn't keep up and wrote the majority of the report after the fact. But I try and keep up with notes as I go along. I take a laptop with me and write each day. If I can't do that, I at least jot down short one line notes and keep all receipts to help with the timelines.

Bobbie and Ed got up shortly after this and so did Rich. I was to drive Lindy to the Best Western so she got ready and so did I. Rich wasn't very happy with me going off on my own again but that was too bad. Dave and Chris still weren't up when Lindy and I were ready to go so we took off. I told Rich that my plan was to drop off Lindy and then head for Epcot. We could communicate via cell phone about their plans once they decided on them. The MGM day was still the option but anything with these people could happen. If they really wanted me there, I could take the walkway from Epcot to MGM.

I got Lindy to the Best Western and she was a little disappointed that the Plaza Drive was so far away from the Epcot and MGM areas. But I assured her it wasn't that bad. Lindy checked in. The lobby was "smushed" according to Lindy. She was right. It's fine but it's just confining. Her room wasn't ready and we didn't expect it to be. But she checked her bags and then we drove over to the Swan to park. No guard this time (there normally isn't). We walked together over to the Boardwalk and then Lindy went towards MGM and I headed to Epcot.

Once at Epcot, I picked up an official entertainment schedule just to verify the Off Kilter times. Yep, they are here. My decision was made. I'm staying here for the first three shows and then I'll meet up with everyone else (except Lindy who will remain in the report as an outside member of our little group from now on) before our 5:00 seating at Sci Fi. If they didn't like that, they could come over to Epcot and get me. Otherwise, I'm watching my guys. I was hungry so I went in search of breakfast/lunch. Fountainview Bakery was my first choice. But there was a line to the door so I chose something else. Test Track and the singles line. Yeah, I know. No food but I was in the vicinity so why not? In and out within 10 minutes. I rode with all first timers so that was nice. I took notice that all the lines (singles line, fastpass return and standby line) all go through the same sort of queues. Different ones but inside. I whizzed by a ton of standby people (90 minute wait) and one little girl came up to the Cast Member who was giving out the single riders line passes and asked "excuse me, but why are you letting these people go on first?" I felt like a criminal!

After the ride, I really needed the food so I went back to the Bakery. Still too full. So off to France and their bakery. No line. I ordered a strawberry tart for $4 and then took that outside and got a glass of wine for $3.25. I enjoyed this lunch while sitting on a bench in the sun. The day so far had been a little brisk but the sun was great. I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and was a little cold. Temps were probably in the 50s but if you were in the shade, you were going to be cold.

And I sat there, in the sun, warming up. I looked across and saw the American pavilion and right next to it, the Japanese one. How long ago was it when these two countries were at war? Just a generation removed from me. Yet, I had the most peaceful time. I just hope that our country can get back to normal again and very quickly. Life is too darn short to hate other people.

I had called Rich on the way over but he was "on a boat". I didn't know which boat. I knew Ed was entranced with the Friendship boats and wanted to ride at least one of them on this trip. If they had parked at the Swan, it was possible that they took the boat to Epcot or MGM. I didn't know which one. I told Rich to call me back when he could. My phone rang before I got to France. Rich kept saying that they were at security and it was bad. I kept asking him *where* he was. He finally said they were at MGM. I said I'd be at the Off Kilter stage until I met them for the dinner. Rich was going into a Damn Skippy Moment. The poor guy would have more Damn Skippy Moments then me during this trip.

This might go into the reports as my All Time Greatest Disney Day. After I finished off the strawberry tart and the wine, I thought about going the whole way around World Showcase and finish up at Canada. Nah. I just went the other way, through United Kingdom and decided to wait until the first show at 1:40 for Off Kilter. I did grab a $10 beer for the afternoon. As I was sitting there, I took notice that Barb and her friends were across the seating area so I went over and talked with them. They are locals and know Off Kilter quite well. I didn't want to take much of their time but we chatted for a while and then I went back to "my seat".

What can I say about watching Off Kilter? Especially by myself? All Time Great Disney Day, remember? It started off really strange because Jamie, the bagpiper, kept cracking up over something. He couldn't even sing because he was laughing so much. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. But they got it together and even did the new song "Like You". Which I happen to like very much. And then with the second set, Jaime still was breaking up with laughter. This time, they did "Irish Rover" which is also very good. And something happened which had me in hysterics. Normally, whenever anyone wants a picture of the guys on stage, they all get together during the performance and "pose". That's what they did when this one lady approached the stage with camera in hand. Instead, she motioned for Randy and Mark to go away and all she wanted was Jamie. It was so funny. Randy and Mark acted miffed and Jaime didn't know what to do.

For the third set, I moved over to Barb and her friends since they were now in seats that were getting warmer. "My seat" was in the sun and theirs wasn't so I declined their invitation to join them earlier. I wanted the sun. But I thought I could tolerate it now. This time, Off Kilter did "Nothing Changes" which is another new song and I like that one too. All in all, the guys did twelve songs in three sets and I loved every one of them. Barb and her friends requested "When the Roving Dies Hard" on the last one and Jaime lost it again on that one. It's a very strong song but Jaime had a thing going today. He recovered quite nicely, though. I didn't want to leave but those darn family engagements have me occupied. Drat. I almost called and told them to go to Sci Fi on their own but I refrained. I just had almost a day to myself. The least I could do was to be with my family. Drat. Double drat. Wanted to be with Off Kilter, she says, pouting as she heads for the Epcot exit. Darn. Darn. Darn. Damn Skippy. Drat. (insert a whole bunch of other words that won't make it into a family trip report). Phooey. That sums it up - phooey.

I took the walkway to MGM. On the way, I looked at the watch and decided there was no way I was going to make it to Sci Fi by 4:30. The seating wasn't until 5:00 but I felt I needed to give the others some leeway in getting there by 5:00. I finally got within sight distance of MGM at 4:20. I reached for the cell phone. I called Rich. Oops. They were already waiting outside Sci Fi for me! They actually were ahead of schedule for once! Well, guess what guys? I've had to wait for you, you can now wait for me.

Sidenote - the Other Niklewskis Day (going back to Rich, Chris, Dave, Bobbie, Ed). They did Sounds Dangerous, FastPasses for Twilight Zone (even Ed did this one), and the Backlot Tour. That was it for them. They had the infamous pretzels and beer combos (Rich had the beer) at the Soundstage Catering for lunch. Bobbie said the pretzel was "fine" (see the November, 2000 report for the search of the perfect pretzel). I found out later that Rich had the seatbelt seat at Twilight Zone. Yikes! I had been wanting to try this seat for the heck of it and to dose my fear of the ride. Never had the guts to request it. Rich didn't request it this time but just got it. And the Other Niklewskis saw Lindy and chatted with her. She later said it looked like Rich was having a Damn Skippy Day. He was. I was ready to get him out of the house, away from his parents, and into the Swan.

A description of Sci Fi Dine Inn. You eat inside but in "cars" and are facing a drive inn screen that shows trailers for B horror movies from the 50s and 60s. The food is decent and has good portions. I go there more for the experience then the food and I wanted Rich's family to see it at least once. The cars seat six so our party was nicely accommodated. If you are less then six people, you will have other people in your car. It's three seats of two so plan accordingly. Last time, Rich and I were in the front, Chris behind us by himself and then a "hitchhiker" in the back seat by himself.

I made it to Sci Fi even with going around the parade traffic. I hadn't had to think about a parade at MGM for while so I didn't even check that schedule. But I took the back route and was at the entrance of Sci Fi at 4:27. Three minutes shy of our meeting time. I checked us in but I knew they wouldn't seat us until after 5:00 since then it would be dinner and we'd be paying higher prices. Was I right? Yep. While we were standing there, Chris said that Steve Tyler of Aerosmith was in there. They had seen him earlier entering. And there were a ton of people rushing to go back and see him. No big deal to us, right? Most of us went to use the restrooms during the wait. A word here - Sci Fi does not use the beepers. They just have everyone clustered around the seating desk and yell out names. I really wish every Disney restaurant would use the beepers. Right before 5:00, we were called and were being led back to our car.

I almost knocked over Steve Tyler. He and his son were coming around the corner to use the restroom as we were entering the main seating area. Of course, I was leading the party and was right behind the Cast Member. I did a double take, turned around to Chris, who was behind me and had this huge jaw drop, and said something like "can you believe it?" but it was more colorful. Chris was beside himself. Rich saw what was going on (he was behind Chris) but everyone else was clueless. Bobbie and Ed have no idea who Steve Tyler is (sorry) and Dave was behind everyone else. A brush with celebrity!

We were seated in our car. Rich and I were in the front (Rich was the driver), Bobbie and Ed were behind us, and Chris and Dave were in the seat behind that. Chris and us exchanged the "can you believe we just went by Steve Tyler" comments while Bobbie, Ed and Dave had no idea what we were talking about. We were impressed with Steve Tyler's attitude during this visit. He wanted to be treated like a "normal" person and he was. No bodyguards (although I think he did have one), no entourage. He was in a car like everyone else, was watching the screen like everyone else, and I do believe expected his son to be like every other kid in the place. Nothing special here. And the people inside respected that. No mass flocking to his car to get his autograph, no staring, no picture taking. Rich did ask our server if Liv Tyler was there but she wasn't (Chris said she's probably out promoting her new film) and our server did say that it was Steve Tyler and he was one of the many celebrities they have go through there. All of them want no special treatment. But to eat your dinner, look towards your right over six cars and have Steve Tyler there is beyond the day.

Back to the dinner. Chris ordered a Caesar salad and the shrimp penna pasta, Dave the chili and Caesar salad, Bobbie the shrimp penna pasta, Ed the prime rib, Rich BBQ chicken, and me the herbed chicken. Everyone liked what they had but the raves we had were this. Ed thought the prime rib was the biggest cut of meat he had even seen in his life. He struggled to get through it. He couldn't believe how big it was. And my chicken was heavenly. Perfectly cooked (sorry Lindy - it did have a face). The potatoes with it were great. But I was still hungry. So I ordered the Kaulua mousse thing. I had looked at the desserts before we ordered just in case. This one sounded interesting. And oh, my, my. Remember those zebra domes? This is a very, very close second on those. Next time, I'm getting a salad and two of these desserts. End of story. I oinked my way out of there. I love that I can eat all that I want at Disney World and I never seem to add any pounds. I'm small to begin with and being able to enjoy splendid meals is just wonderful. This might be a Sprinkle Moment.

No idea of the cost because, again, Bobbie and Ed picked up the check. Thanks! Told you I loved the in-laws.

Next up was the Osborne lights. What can I say? I can't say anything. I absolutely cannot describe in words what those lights did to me. I just can't do it. Magical, wonderful, delightful, enchanting. Nope, not enough. It goes beyond what my mere mortal mind can come up with. My mouth was hanging open, the camera was flashing, and the tears were going. I think I said "this is so cool" at least a dozen times. I openly danced at Disney World. I announced that this was going to be an annual event for me. I *have* to see these every year. Bobbie, Ed and Dave were thrilled with the "snow". I did tell them the effects afterwards but not while the biggest smile ever was on my face. It was fantastic.

So now you know why this was my All Time Fantastic Disney Day. But it's not over. As we are coming out of the Osborne Lights, I hear and see that Hunchback of Notre Dame just started. I knew Lindy would be there. I said something to Rich who said something to his parents and then we were moving. Bobbie likes this stuff, Ed tolerates it for Bobbie, Dave and Chris hate it, Rich has seen it but will go. I love it. We went it. What a show! Dennis was Quasi and Lindy later informed me that Shaun was Clopin. It was the same Esmerelda that I had seen before but she seemed a little lacking. We were on the left side but towards the middle so the seats weren't that bad. Chris and Dave stayed outside the seating area and waited for us (they later said the show was "fine" - high praise from these two). I just lost myself into the story.

After the performance, I wanted to find Lindy. Rich said, no, let's go. Nope, I know she's here. And she was. She was so excited to see me there. I walked with her out after she visited with her Cast Member friends. All seven of us walked back to the Boardwalk area via the walkway. Lindy and I shared our stories about the day (she still hasn't seen Off Kilter). Bobbie and Ed took off because they were cold and wanted to get to the megavan (Rich started to call it the Big *** Van or BAV like the newsgroup calls the hat at MGM the Big *** Hat or BAH). I had a sweatshirt and Rich was freezing so I gave him mine. I was fine in a T-shirt. Dave stayed with us.

We parted ways with Lindy at the Boardwalk. She was going in search of her juggler. We needed to head home. We had totally lost Bobbie and Ed with them going ahead of us. Dave ducked into the Swan gift shop and picked up a newspaper for Ed, the newspaper addict. Otherwise, Rich would have had to stop and get one on the way back. I thought I would be driving myself back but Chris said he would go with me. In the car, he said that it was quicker to get around with me. Darn right. I stop and smell the roses but I don't analyze every petal on the flower. Ed does that and we now realize so does Dave. Stopping, smelling, analyzing times two. Humm, now you know why I need my own time.

Got back to the house and the evening was spent playing Racko (told you that game was addictive), watching the Sugar Bowl (yeah, I know it has a corporate sponsor but give me a break - get your stupid name off there), and then Chris played some game cube game. I worked on the report.

Kid of the Day - Jamie Holton of Off Kilter. I don't know what the heck got him going but he was so off kilter today. It was hilarious. I later found out that Mark kept saying things to Jaime about what Jaime was singing about and the comments were a little on the racy side.

Icing Moment - seeing Off Kilter three times in a row. Has to be. A Sprinkle Moment? Well, let's see, the great dinner at Sci Fi? No wait, seeing Steve Tyler and almost knocking him down. I have enough legal problems in my life, I don't need a civil suit for doing bodily damage to Steve Tyler. But it was great seeing him and his family just having a nice,"normal" dinner with us average people. Thanks, Mr.Tyler.

And how about a Candle Moment? Something even on top of the Sprinkles. The Osborne Lights. What a show. Again, I just can't describe them. Awesome isn't even enough.

Day Six - Wednesday, January 2, 2002

I again couldn't sleep and was up at 7:30. I had told everyone the night before that I wanted to leave for the Swan "no later" then 10:30. I should know the in-laws by now. Even though most of us, except Chris, were up and ready to go before 10:00, we could *not* leave until 10:30 because that's what I had said the night before. I really had a fine Damn Skippy Moment since I was running around trying to get all the stuff I brought along for the ceremony together and out to the car. While Rich read the newspaper. Bobbie and Ed kept asking me just *when* would my dad and stepmother be getting there tonight? I had no idea because Betty didn't know if she would needed to go into work or even what time they would leave the Keys. First Bobbie asked, then Ed asked. Then they asked Rich! Like he would know.

I will put the bad moments in the report because every Disney trip has a least one. We're all human. Dave said it. He didn't realize that Rich and I were moving into the Swan today. He said "oh, that's right, this is the day we are free". Now, I felt like I had given them all the freedom they wanted. They did their own thing on New Year's Eve and most of yesterday. And what I planned for them (the dinner and the lights) were fantastic hits with everyone. I loudly said that I was going to the Swan, no one was going to stop me, and an "atta boy" would be nice every once in a while. Then I went into the bedroom and slammed the door. What a nice way to start the day. But I knew Rich would talk to his parents about having a little more respect for all the planning that went into this. No one else was keeping track of who was where on what nights, who was coming on what days, and what everyone wanted to do. This was a Grr Moment. They are unfortunate but they happen.

I did drive myself to the Swan. I raced ahead of the BAV on purpose. I think Rich didn't push the BAV just so I could get out on my own and work my mood out of my system. I knew once I was at the Swan, I'd be happy. I got to the Swan and went to check in. That went fine and I was given the information on the Club Level. Breakfast from 7-10 AM and then hors d'oeuvres from 5-7 PM. I knew we probably wouldn't do the hors d'oeuvres but the breakfast the next day was a definite. We were in room 1262 and it was ready. It was a two queen bed room and I did ask for a king room if available. None were and that was fine. I mentioned why I was making the request for our anniversary and the guy congratulated me. And he told the clerk next to him. Hey, I've put up with Rich for 20 years, I deserve some congratulations, right?

On the way out to the car to start hauling things up to the room, I ran into the rest of our group (Dave, Rich, Bobbie, Ed, and Chris). We all turned around and went up to the room first before we unloaded. Our view is very nice, even though we look out over the parking lot. But we got to see Fantasmic! and the Illuminations fireworks that night. Nice. The room is just like a standard size Swan room. I did the Club Level room because it was a special time. I'm not sure I would pay the extra money in the future. But now I can say I actually had some special treatment.

Bobbie was chomping to get going and "do things". I don't see how she gets along with Ed and Dave's style of travel and touring. She later said that she just gets them going and lets them do whatever they want to. So we all went down to the car, loaded up and brought the things to the room. I already had my ideas on how I wanted to decorate and I was anxious to get that done. But it would wait until that night.

Animal Kingdom was the park of choice for the day. Again, I let the others decide what they wanted to do (talk about freedom - what was Dave thinking?). Dave had never been there and Bobbie thought he would like it. I told Rich that I would drive the BAV because there was no way we weren't going to use my parking trick and I didn't want to have to deal with having to describe it to anyone. Ed would have had a fit. On the way there, it started to sprinkle. Umbrellas were brought out in the parking lot and I rolled my eyes. I have never carried an umbrella or worn a poncho at any Disney park. Ever. Rich, Bobbie, Ed, and Dave had the umbrellas with Dave bringing an extra one. In case I changed my mind. Would I? The day was getting colder. Add rain to that. Humm. I am a stubborn little girl, though.

Rich's plan for any park is to check out the tip board and see what the waits are. I said he could lead us around today. Rich and Chris know the Disney parks very, very well. In fact, they surprised me this trip by being able to navigate not only through the parks but also around the entire Disney area. Rich drove some of the time and even knew how to get onto Osceola Parkway instead of Highway 192. Rich did get us back to the tip board and we thought the Safari would be good since it was raining and we figured the animals would be out. Rich started to go towards Dinoland. Er, wrong way, dude. So I was back to being Tour Guide Barbie again.

The Safari said a twenty minute wait but it was basically a walk on once people started to just walk. We were right about the animals and I attempted some pictures. Usually, the ride is so rocky, my shots come out blurry. The elephants were in the water and that's highly unusual. And the lioness was sitting up straight on the rock, just surveying everything. She actually was awake. Mr. Lion, though, was snoozing. Our guide said something like "doesn't that sound familiar?" And the guide was a male! I thought the rain was easing up a bit so we hit the Pagani Trail.

It wasn't that bad since most of the trail is shaded by trees. Chris and I continued on without umbrellas. The naked mole rat exhibit was crowded because it's under a roof. When we approached the exhibit, I was shocked. My African bullfrog was gone! He sat outside the entrance to the exhibit and I make sure I visit him every time. I was astounded. No one ever went over to this poor guy so I made an extra effort. Everyone else had gone inside. And there was my bullfrog! They moved him inside! Wonderful. Now more people can see him and stop by.

After the trail, food was next up. I had whispered to Rich that I just *knew* his dad would say something about food. About five minutes later, Ed said "how about something to eat?" I just laughed. With the cutbacks, the fast food places at Animal Kingdom don't have a lot of variety. We passed Tusker House and neither Rich nor I thought that was going to be good. Too much meat and too big of portions. Meat limitations for Dave (although I later found out Ed is cutting back on the meat as well) and the portions for Bobbie. She might complain about me not eating (what about the Sci Fi Dine Inn meal or my Boma adventure?) but she barely finishes a meal. So Rich offered up Pizzafari. I wanted Ed to make a decision outside the place whether or not we'd be eating here. The menu was posted. He said he didn't care, he wanted something to eat. If that man got into here and then decided he didn't want anything, I was going to head out the exit of the park and go home. I hate the Niklewski Version of the Restaurant Dance. Plus, the rain and winds had picked up quite a bit. Rain I can handle. Winds I can handle. But at the same time with the temperature dropping? Ugh.

This turned out to be a good choice. The seating area was kind of full but Rich and Dave immediately found a cleaned off table for six. I knew there was pizza here (duh, it's called Pizzafari) so I said I'd keep the table while the others went off and ordered. Rich knows my tastes and appetite so I trust him to get me something. Rich and I shared a pepperoni pizza, Chris had his own, Dave did the veggie one (portabello mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach - sounded good except for that spinach), Ed did baked ziti, and Bobbie had a kid's meal with a grilled cheese sandwich on pretzel bread. She liked that one. Again, Ed picked up the tab so not sure what the cost was. Rich, the good man that he is, got each of us a beer. Now I know why I married the man.

We sat and ate and watched the weather get worse. But "we are here" was the common thought. Chris and I were soaked and cold. We still had It's Tough to be a Bug and Dinosaur to do. If we were doing these, I finally gave in and took the stupid umbrella. You kind of need to do that when the rain is blowing sideways. Poor Chris just had his jacket as protection. I offered the umbrella up to him and Rich and I could share one. Nope, Chris is holding out longer then me on the umbrella issue. Did he inherit my stubbornness? Yep, I do believe he did.

It's Tough to Be a Bug was a walk on as well and we barely had time under the Tree of Life before we went in. This one turned Dave. He absolutely loved it! A huge hit. Bobbie and Ed didn't remember it from last year so they liked it again. The people behind us were new to the attraction and they just jumped up with the last effect of the show. I always laugh at everyone else's reactions. After this, we had to do Dinosaur since that was the last thing here. There was no way in heck we were going on Kali River Rapids and the other Trek was a possibility but I don't think any of us really wanted another walk through the rain (now if it was "A Walk in the Irish Rain" by Off Kilter, I would have done that!). So we slogged over to Dinosaur and I mentally thought that we'd do this and then go some place dry.

Dinosaur was another walk on. Poor Dave, who really wanted to see the beginning exhibits, was "forced" to walk through that area fairly fast. I told him he can come back but let's do the ride first and then we'd have him go back in. This was another hit although I was concerned about my right shoulder again. But I did fine and once off the ride, the darn rain had stopped. Dave and Ed went back in through the entrance queue and looked at the exhibits. Rich, Chris, Bobbie, and I waited outside. Then we met up and we went into Hester and Jester's. I took a few pictures of the new ride back here. Looked fine for the younger set. The roller coaster thing wasn't open and it was behind walls but, again, it looked nice for the younger set. Dave found some things at Hester and Jester's. He's so into fossils and rocks and things like that.

On the way out, Dave expressed an interest on doing It's Tough to Be a Bug again. Well, if Dave is getting into this, even though it's wet and cold, then let's go for it. But Chris and I were soaked and the thought of slogging through the queue and sitting underground was a little too much for us. So I got everyone over to the entrance of the attraction and said I wasn't doing it. Chris said the same thing. So the other four went on it and Chris and I went over to the old Flame Tree BBQ seating area (I miss that place) and got under cover to wait. I knew the others would go walking by here after the show. Chris and I had a great time watching this crane picking at the trash. Sounds gross but someone left an almost eaten turkey leg at the top of the pile and the bird was very patiently picking through the bones to get the meat. Fascinating for us nature lovers. Circle of life and all. Rich later remarked it technically was cannibalism. Bird eating bird.

We met up with the other four (I told you they'd be walking right by where Chris and I were sitting) and walked our sorry little wet behinds up to the exit. But not without first going by and seeing Chris' anteater. And he even referred to the critter like that. "Where's *my* anteater?" It must have been the weather because the anteater was out and actually walking around. So we ended the day on a high note.

And I was asked to participate in another exit survey (what is it with me?). Not the same survey at MGM but a little similar. I was asked if I got to do everything I wanted to do this day. Surprisingly, yes. Then I was asked about the crowd level - higher than expected, expected, lower, etc. I had to say higher then expected. I did *not* think these people would be here on January 2nd with the rain pelting down. The Older Niklewskis asked me if I got anything for doing the survey. I said no but don't you think a sticker would be nice? Oh, cutbacks. Darn cutbacks.

Chris and I were really soaked and each of us wanted to get into dry clothes. I could easily do that back at the Swan but Chris was staying at the rental house so he had a worse situation. After much discussion, it was decided that I would get us back to the Swan and then Bobbie, Ed, Dave, and Chris would go back to the house. Rich and I would do our own thing for the night.

We parted company and the others stopped at TGI Friday's on the way back for dinner. I don't know what everyone had but Chris did his typical fried shrimp dinner. The boy was really complaining about being cold and wet but I guess food won out in the end. They did a grocery store run (at least for the newspaper) and then spent the evening watching movies.

Rich and I went up to the room and changed out of our soaked clothes. Even though Rich had an umbrella the whole time, he was still wet. You can imagine what I looked like. It was too late for the 5:00 show of Off Kilter (yes, I am addicted but Rich didn't say no). The Club Lounge was open so we went there and had some hors d'oeuvres. Nothing much and we felt strange because it was only us and another couple. The Concierge came around and talked with us for a while. But I wanted to get to my guys.

We left a little later than I wanted to and had to walk faster to get to the stage. Barb was there so we sat with her for the 5:55 show. Off Kilter did "Like You" again and this was the first time Rich had heard it. He liked it just as much as I did. After the set, Barb was off to see British Invasion and Rich and I were going for a beer and a little walk. We got the mega beer at Canada (32 oz for $10) and shared it since the night was so cold. We walked over to Mexico and then stood at the rail there and watched Tapestry of Dreams across the lagoon. I love this music and the message and I don't have to be right there to see it. We went back to Canada by 7:00 and then waited for the 7:25 Off Kilter show. Barb came back and we chatted about the guys and how Barb can watch their show all day. So could I (and I have on previous trips). Rich could too.

The last set of the night was introduced by a Canadian Cast Member who was working her last night. The guys played "Like You" for her. This has to be the all time "Like You" request! Usually, if the guys have done a song during the earlier sets, they won't repeat it. But it was a very special request. Barb had requested "A Walk in the Irish Rain" for me at the 5:55 set so that was next. Barb, Rich, and I talked about the ceremony the next day and Barb had decided to stay and watch it. Since Off Kilter was going to be on at 5:00 and our group's seating at Le Cellier wasn't until 5:30, I said that I would make sure everyone would be here for that 5:00 show. Barb asked what we would like to hear and she would request it for us earlier in the day. I immediately said "Like You", Rich wanted "Fields of Athenry" and "Rap". Then I said "Amazing Grace" for Rich's father who loves that kind of stuff. Yeah, it's a rocking version of "Amazing Grace" but it's still great. Barb wrote down the requests and said she would see what she could do. Heck, just one request would be nice.

After this set, Rich and I went back to the room via the Boardwalk. We were trying to find Lindy but the night was so cold and still wet that most of the entertainment acts weren't out. So we just went back to the room, watched TV, and warmed up. My second pair of socks for the day were soaked through. This is nasty, nasty weather. Oh well, a bad day at Disney World is definitely better then a good day at work. I also got most of the decorations set up. I have favors for everyone and set up the desk with champagne glasses and soft drinks. We'll go to Publix tomorrow for some munchies.

We called the rental house to find out if my dad and Betty had gotten there yet. They were supposed to call when they did but we hadn't heard anything. Bobbie said they weren't there and they hadn't heard anything either. Great. Whose cell phone number is the one I don't have? Betty's. So I called Sandy's cell instead. Betty had called Sandy and told her what was going on. Gee thanks. Who is the one planning all this stuff? Betty had to go to work and then they got a late start out of the Keys. With the rain, they didn't make very good time and decided two hours out of Kissimmee that there was no way they could continue on. So they stopped for the night. Wouldn't it have made more sense to call the rental house (they had the number)? So I called Bobbie back and told her what was going on. Bobbie said something to the effect that it was nice to know they wouldn't have to wait up for my dad and Betty. Yeah, that's very, very true. Communication with this group would be limited but I didn't expect anything different.

Kid of the Day - Dave for wanting to see It's Tough to Be a Bug twice. You see, even cynical people can find *something* at Disney World.

Icing Moment - I know it sounds bad but watching the crane with Chris at the old Flame Tree BBQ. It was nice to sit with my son and no one else and talk about things. We were cold and wet but we don't get these moments very often.

Day Seven - Thursday, January 3, 2002 - Happy Anniversary!

I had put in a request yesterday for the room to be cleaned between 10 and noon so I could make sure that the beds were made and the towels replaced before everyone got there at 2. Rich and I set the alarm and got up at 9 so we would be out of the room during this time. We went to the Club Lounge for breakfast and managed to get a couple of seats at a table for four. That was the only table left. Rich saw a husband and wife looking for a spot and offered the other two seats to them. They took them. I was wearing my "bride" pin today. I also was wearing white jeans, a long sleeved white shirts and then a white sweater over that. The husband saw my pin, asked what was going on and that got a conversation going. I love that aspect of Disney World. Talking with different people from all over the country and the world. This couple was from Houston and we talked about how cold the weather has been. The Atlanta area got over 4 inches of snow and it was going to be a cold one here at Disney World today. Oh well, the first ceremony was cold and it rained so why should anything be different now? If that's what it takes for 20 years of a good marriage, then I'll do it.

Rich and I headed out for Publix at 10:00 for the snacks. On the way, Rich pouted a little about going to "his" K-Mart. He found this one way, way, way down on Highway 192 right at the Turnpike on a previous trip. I told him (I was driving) that if we did this, we would take the Osceola Parkway and pays the darn tolls. He just reached for our quarter roll (we never drive down here without one of these - the tolls can be a bit much) and said to go for it. So Rich got his little K-Mart fix (he's always searching for sports cards). I saw the traffic on the way back on Highway 192 was a little bit much so Rich drove us back. We found a better way to get to Osceola Parkway so we took that and got back to the Publix at Xentury City without a problem.

We were expecting to get some meat and cheese trays at Publix but they didn't have any like they did at Kroger back home. So we made do with a veggie tray, a couple of those chips and dips snack things, some cubed cheese, and crackers and spreadable cheese. After all, we were eating a nice dinner at Le Cellier after the ceremony. Rich grumbled about getting all this but, in the end, it was needed.

We were back in the room by 11:45. Rich had to go back to the car since he forgot his sports cards so I took all the groceries up to the room. I walked in and thought the beds were made. Yes! But they weren't. And no sign of housekeeping at all. When we left, the cart was just a couple of rooms from ours so I was sure everything would be taken care of. I called housekeeping and they had the special request. The person I talked to said she would have to get in touch with the floor supervisor. I wasn't very happy. Messy beds aren't that big of a deal and I can handle making my own. But I just wanted the room to be extra nice for my guests.

I did turn on my cell phone and there was a message from Betty. It was from 8:30 that morning and they had arrived in Kissimmee and were going to see the Beardslees and then go out to the house. I had given Betty Rich's phone as a primary number and we left that one on all night. But she called mine instead. It turns out that Betty *finally* called and hooked up with Bobbie who said they were on their way to the Swan to park. So the Sowas and the Beardslees just went to Disney World instead.

I waited and fretted for a while and then thought, screw it. I'm going to finish the decorations and move the furniture around the way I wanted. The end table was all the way in the corner behind the easy chair and I wanted the table out where other people could use it. So Rich and I switched those around. I moved one of the desk chairs over by the door so it was more accessible. I told Rich I'd give housekeeping until 1:00 and then he could call down there and tell them we were doing the room ourselves and to forget about the service for the day. At 12:50, there was a knock on the door. Housekeeping, finally! The lady did apologize and made things right for us. But it was close.

After housekeeping left, I started to get changed. It was around 1:30 and I was almost done when my dad, Ashley, Caroline, Wesley, and Kelsey showed up. Someone actually was early! I was embarrassed because I was changing in the room and Rich had the door open just a little since he had just gotten back from getting ice. Oops. The rest of the Sowas and the Beardslees were going back to the car for items. The kids were a little shy at first but then the girls opened up. Wesley was being shy. I guess living with that many females and a very boisterous father will do that to an 8 year old. My dad was being himself. He's such a smart aleck. I finished getting ready (in the bathroom this time) and Rich was on the phone when I got out. It was Lindy. She had to call our room from a house phone because the front desk wouldn't give out our room number. I figured that and had called Lindy earlier and left a message on her cell phone with the room number. She never got the message. My sister had the room number from our conversation last night.

Lindy arrived and I made the introductions. Then the rest of the Sowas and the Beardslees got there (Rich B., Sandy, and Betty). More introductions with Lindy. I got the food opened and the kids really chowed into it. My dad parked a chair next to the desk where the food was and almost got run over by the troops. I think this group spent the day at Epcot. It was so hard to keep up with what everyone was doing. I thought I did a good job with wherever Chris was. That was my top priority. My dad asked me who was staying where, who was leaving when, and who arrived when. I got it all right and then said "now you know what I've been doing for the past year". Grr. But it was my day so I left it go.

Right at 2:00, the Older Niklewskis and Chris arrived. Chris looked like he had a Damn Skippy Day and I was proved right later. I hate to say it, but having the guys deal with the Older Niklewskis really was a good thing. Now they know what I go through playing tour guide. It's hard taking so many diverse people and attempting to make them happy. We've been to Disney World so much that we don't have to see and do all. But to have someone turn to us and say "whatever you want" and then go off a half dozen times on tangents gets to all of us. Rich and Chris never had to do this before so it was a learning experience. At least none of us played tour guide with the Beardslees or the Sowas. Exactly what I thought would happen. And we traded off with the Older Niklewskis. Not what I expected but it was a good thing.

I made the final introductions and everyone just went off and visited in the room. My dad, Betty, and Bobbie hunkered down in the corner and I heard my name mentioned about guiding. I don't think Bobbie liked that I wasn't around all the time. Too bad. Trust me, if I hadn't had that time away from them, that blow up yesterday morning would have been twice as bad. Maybe even three times as bad. Chris didn't socialize much and neither did Dave. Much to my surprise, neither did Ed. I found out later that the Older Niklewskis and Chris tried to get lunch at the Land food court and, since it was lunchtime, thought it was much too crowded. So they hadn't had anything to eat. Chris and Bobbie were fine but Dave and Ed needed to eat. I had food in the room but that wasn't good enough.

We had some champagne and Rich and I opened some Christmas and anniversary gifts from the Beardslees. My dad and Betty gave us a nice check and Chris got some stuff but didn't share with us what it was (turns out it was a check for $30). From the Beardslees, we got a nice clock and some homemade items (candles and food) in a very nice basket. Thanks guys! And I *finally* gave the kids' their Disney dollars from us. Stupid me forgot them when we met the Beardslees at MGM. They only had one day to use them but I believe each of them either did get something or were saving them for another trip. Sorry guys, but I was thinking about too many things on this trip.

By 3:00, I could tell these people who like to be doing "things" wanted to be out doing "things". There was only one "thing" I wanted to do. Off Kilter was on at 3:30, darn it. I suggested that to Lindy, she was up for it. I announced that maybe we would want to get to Epcot a little early, watch Off Kilter for this show, and then everyone could do something until 4:00. Eagerly accepted by everyone.

We all crowded into the elevator and rode down. Once we got outside, most of the group wanted to take the boat over. No way, Jose. I am not riding the boat. It takes forever and it's much quicker to walk. So we split up. I think this group is finally understanding that you *have* to split up with a large party. Even the six of us needed to.

Lindy, Rich, Chris, me, Ashley, and Caroline walked. Dave and Ed decided they needed a slice of pizza at the Boardwalk so they headed there. Bobbie went with them. I really think Dave was scared he wouldn't find anything he liked at Le Cellier. The six younger people left them there and continued on. We had Off Kilter to watch! My dad, Betty, Sandy, Rich B., Wesley, and Kelsey took the boat. At the last minute, I looked at Ashley and Caroline and asked if they had their passes. They said no, they had the hand stamp. Err, no, you need your passes. They ran back and got them from Sandy.

Why did the others take the boat? Rich B. still had his problems from his heart attack and his circulation problems. Sandy and I already agreed he needed the boat. Their two kids didn't want to go off without their parents. My dad had knee replacement surgery last year and while that left him a heck of a lot more mobile then he was before, he takes every advantage not to walk.

We made it to Epcot before the boat even left the Yacht Club dock. Ashley and Caroline thought that was funny. Once inside the turnstyles, Chris took off to do some souvenir shopping for his roommates and friends. I told him that was fine but he needed to be at Canada by 4:00. On time. He was our best man, we couldn't start without him. So he went off. Lindy, Rich, Ashley, Caroline, and I went to Canada. The girls went off to do a little shopping on their own and the adults visited with Barb. The night was cold. I had brought a nice sweater with me but was waiting to put that on until after the ceremony. The sweater was extremely light blue (it was Eeyore) but I wanted to wear white.

The rest of the parties caught up with us either right before the performance or during it. I didn't know when because we were sitting with Barb and the others had to stand. Even though it was cold, the performance had a nice crowd gathered. The guys did another new song, "Here I Stand" (aka "Barb's Song). Again, very nice. During the performance, my dad came to me and said "I know why they are called Off Kilter". They even did the "quando song". Great introduction to the ceremony. I later found out that Ashley thought the whole Off Kilter thing was going to be stupid. She didn't want to listen to bagpipes. My dad said that she totally changed during the first song she heard. She said that she couldn't believe bagpipes could be that entertaining.

After the performance, we waited until 4:00. Chris showed up at 3:58 so that was a little bit of a worry. But I knew he wouldn't let me down. A word about this ceremony. I knew Off Kilter was off the stage. I knew we wouldn't interfere with their schedule. We did *not* use their stage. No way I'd even dream of doing that. That stage may have given us hours of entertainment but it's not my stage. Rich and I stood in between the two sets of seats. Chris was with Rich, Sandy was with me. Rich B. read our original vows. Rich and I kissed and that was that. Ed took a ton of pictures (we had to kiss a couple of times, oh well, right?). Lindy videotaped the whole thing like she had videotaped the reception in the room. Thanks! A couple of groups stopped during this brief ceremony and asked what was going on. It was over very quickly and it didn't interfere with Disney World, Canada, or Off Kilter at all. It was such a nice way to celebrate 20 years. Exactly 20 years.

The next show of Off Kilter was at 5:00 and that's the show that Barb made our special requests. I really wanted everyone to be there just in case they did one of our requests. But I couldn't make everyone stand around waiting. Chris and Dave went off to do the singles line at Test Track. We had an earlier discussion with Rich B. about the singles line here. He said the standby wait for Test Track today was 3 hours (Rich B. has a tendency to exaggerate things so I can't say for sure it was that long - longest I had seen it this trip was 90 minutes). I said we only do singles line now. He said it's too hard to coordinate the six of them. I can see that but Ashley and Caroline certainly can handle themselves. Kelsey would do fine with a "wait at the end" warning. And one of the adults can stay with Wesley until the very end. The singles line is a special line where they will fill the cars to capacity with single riders. You are a party of one, no matter how many people are in your party. Rich B. thought that he would have to send each person in separately and not keep everyone together in the queue line. You can all be together in the queue line, you just might have to ride in separate cars. As far as Chris and Dave's ride, they both rode in the same car. You just never know.

Rich, Lindy, and I stayed at the seats and talked for a while. Barb went to see British Invasion again. We kind of spread things out on the first two benches on the left side. Some people in our party would have to stand but we knew the older folks wouldn't like the sound level. Everyone got back by 5:00. Chris sat with us and the others were scattered around behind us. Here came our guys. I told Rich I'd be happy with just "Amazing Grace". Remember those songs we requested? What did these guys do?

"Like You". The first request! Cool. "Fields of Athenry". Second request! And then Jaime said that they had a request for the next song and they usually don't do it but they were going to. "Rap"! Third request. I couldn't hope. But they did it. "Amazing Grace". All four requests for us! It was almost freezing but they went out of their way to make the night so, so special. After the show, Jaime said that "weather permitting" they would be performing at 5:55 and 7:25. Weather permitting? I had to thank the guys so I went up towards the stage. An older man was telling them that "Amazing Grace" was his favorite and would it be on the third CD? They said yes. Thank goodness. I asked then about the new stuff. All would be on the new CD and they would finish it this year. Yes! I did thank the guys for the requests and then asked if they would be there at 7:25. Jaime said he highly doubted it. I thought it was because they were uncomfortable but they said it was because of the instruments. I hadn't thought about that. The moisture and the cold were not good for this hi-tech equipment. So that was the Off Kilter performances for me for this trip. And what a way to end it!

I got everyone over to Le Cellier (not a far walk). I checked us in. The seater said that we were set up with three tables side by side but would we prefer one table for all of us? That's what I would have preferred and I said that. I was given the beeper. They now have these cool interactive things. You can take a tour of Disney World. The thing chirps when you're called. Boy, does that chirp! We were all inside and out of the cold. Bathroom breaks were taken and I think we were seated within fifteen minutes which was about what I expected with a party of our size.

Kristie was our server and she did such a nice job. She was so friendly and Rich said later she was brave for taking on our group. We have so many different personalities. My dad can be quite outspoken. He means it in a good way but he can come across a little mean. But he was pretty good. Rich B. is quite loud but kept it toned down. Kristie wanted to know if this was a special occasion so we told her what we had just done. She said congratulations so that was nice. Drinks were ordered. Rich B., Rich, and me did some alcohol (I forgot to write down the wine Deb Wills recommended here, drat it - I won't make that mistake next time). The rest did soft drinks, iced tea, and coffee. Food was ordered and I didn't have any limitations for anyone. Rich and I were picking up this check. Lots of people had the seafood pasta. Steaks were also a favorite. Caroline and Ashley got adult meals (Caroline actually got salmon - what 13 year old do you know that orders salmon?) and Kelsey and Wesley got kids meals. I also asked for extra kids menus in case the picky eaters wanted a simpler meal. But everyone found something. Dave, the picky one, got three bean chili and Caesars salad. I won't go into what everyone got but will mention my meal. I went completely overboard and still don't know how I ate the whole thing (still loving how I can eat and eat at Disney World and not be thinking about calories - that makes a vacation for me).

I started off with mussels. Anytime I can get mussels, I will. That was my appetizer. Then the prime rib. I have a hard time with prime rib if it's not done the way I like it. This was pure perfection. I don't think I used a knife to cut it. It might have even melted in my mouth. And I leaned over to Rich and told him I was still hungry. He rolled his eyes. It was like the Sci Fi Dine Inn all over again. I couldn't decide between the Walt Disney 100 Years Chocolate Cake or the Raspberry sorbet. Ashley and Caroline were sitting across from me and told me to go for both. No one else was interested in dessert. I figured since I was paying for all this, I'd go for it. So I ordered both for me. And I took pity on everyone else and asked for 15 forks. What can I say? I had to be almost forced into passing the desserts around the table. I ate half of them and then passed them around. It sounds awful but I was still hungry. The desserts made it back to me and I demolished the rest of them. BTW, both plates were decorated with chocolate and said "Congratulations". Nice touch. And Kristie told me the sorbet was on the house. Very nice touch.

And then the bill came. Ouch! But it was important to have my family and my friend here with me. Total for all 15 of us with unlimited menu, appetizers, drinks, and desserts was $400 including tip. The 15% was automatically included and I rounded up since Kristie did a very nice job. Excellent meal and I'm sure to be back here on future visits. Oh, and the bread was a highlight. We got multiple rounds of the pretzel stuff. I would have rolled out of here but I actually was still hungry. Great, great time.

While I was doing my pig out of the desserts and settling the check, Lindy asked if it would be all right if she went off in search of her juggler. Of course! So she went off for the Boardwalk. The rest of us walked out (well, I think I was wheeled out - great, great food) and towards the International Gateway. The Beardslees were leaving for the Keys in the morning and they needed to get back to the Ramada to get packed for the next day. My dad and Betty hadn't been to the house yet so they wanted to get going as well. Chris was cold so he opted to go with them. Bobbie and Ed wanted Dave to see Tapestry of Dreams and Illuminations. I wavered but since Rich wanted to stay with his family, I stayed with them. Rich and I made arrangements with my dad and Betty to meet at the fountain inside the Swan lobby tomorrow morning at 11:00. They would bring Chris to us. They had said they wanted to go to Animal Kingdom but the younger Niklewskis were done with Animal Kingdom. The Older Niklewskis were leaving in the morning as well so we needed a switch off of our only child. We hugged goodbye to everyone who was leaving. My whole family was here for this special day. That just makes me realize that nothing, nothing in this world can get you down if you have your family. Nothing.

Dave, Bobbie, Ed, Rich, and I headed for Germany since that's our favorite place to watch both the parade and Illuminations. However, just as we got there, an announcement was made that because of the weather and the wind, the parade was cancelled. It was frigid. Off Kilter did not do their last two performances. Their stage was all covered when we went by. Bobbie still wanted Dave to see Illuminations so we needed something to do for an hour or so. The American Adventure was suggested. We were fortunate enough that a performance was just starting so we walked right in. I usually love this show but the full day got to me. It was a struggle to stay awake at some parts. But when "Golden Dreams" came on, I did my usual and started to cry. This was the first time I had seen this since September 11th. I could have seen it at Thanksgiving but that trip was way too emotional as it was. I won't go off on my usual patriotic mode but let's just say I love America.

We had about 15 minutes until Illuminations and I questioned everyone's sanity at this point. It was cold! It actually snowed in Atlanta today. But we braved the wind and the cold and watched Illuminations. I love this show and the music. And they played "Promise" as we were walking out. I had passed out these words before the ceremony to everyone. It's a great song to commit yourself to someone else. It was perfect to end the day. Maybe a bit cold but perfect.

I offered for Bobbie and Ed to come up to the room for coffee to warm up. It was so cold that I didn't even think about having a beer in Germany! What is this world coming to? We all walked back to the Swan and the Older Niklewskis left to go back to the house. Rich and I went to the room. TV didn't interest us at all and we easily fell asleep after the long, cold day.

Kid of the Day - all fifteen of us and then Barb. Enjoying everyone's company and mixing and matching very well. I feel so fortunate that both sides of my family get along so very well. Ashley and Caroline don't know us since they live in California but they felt comfortable with us and my sister felt fine with letting them go with us. Kelsey warmed up to us. Wesley will in time. Rich B. gets along with everyone. My dad and Betty talk with Bobbie and Ed like they just saw them last week. Sometimes I feel like the outsider! Thank you to my family for making a special day even more special.

Icing Moment - has to be the dinner at Le Cellier. The service was wonderful, the food was excellent, the conversation flowed. And the Sprinkle Moment? Well, it's not even a Sprinkle Moment. *Has* to be a Candle Moment. The four requests that Off Kilter did for us. These are guys that will go out of their way to make a guest feel better. I can't describe how it felt when all four requests were made on such a cold night. I'm sure Barb had something to do with that but the guys didn't have to do it. One request would have been enough. But all four were the Icing and the Candle. Thanks again to Off Kilter. They have been Kids of the Day, Icing Moments, and Candle Moments. Any reason why someone doesn't understand why I keep coming back here?

Day Eight - Friday, January 4, 2002

I knew I was in trouble when I woke up at 7:00 AM and felt not quite right. I didn't feel awful but I didn't feel great. Rich was snoozing beside me so I hoped for the best. I realized that it was not going to be my best day but wanted to do something with my family. The Beardslees were leaving today (we would not see them), the Older Niklewskis were leaving today (we would not see them). We didn't have plans to meet with Lindy and the Sowas were dropping Chris off at the Swan at 11:00. So today would just be the Younger Niklewskis. As much as I love my entire family, I was looking forward to going back to seeing Disney World the "old way". Just the three of us.

I finally got Rich going around 9:45 so we could pack up and get things to the car. Rich, again, wanted to overload and I didn't. I finally just said that we would take some things down, move the car to the front of the resort, and then take everything else down. He wanted to try and do things in one trip. Absolutely no way. With my shoulder, I was having a problem. Plus, my back started to act up (overcompensation with the shoulder). I wasn't very much help with the luggage but I tried. We took one load downstairs and Rich left me in front of the resort while he went to get the car around. The day was cold but at least it was sunny today. Yesterday was so overcast. We could hope. Rich brought the car around, we loaded up the trunk and then went for the second load. We still couldn't get everything down. Rich fretted but we did have those Christmas and anniversary presents this time. I am a planner, Rich is a worrier. If we don't have ulcers by the time we're 50, I'll be amazed.

While we were loading up the car this time, Chris came over. They had just gotten there. So we thanked them for being early and helping us with the luggage. Ha, ha. We only had two things up in the room yet. But we all trekked up there and everyone used the facilities. Then we came back down, finished loading the car. Dad and Betty were off to Animal Kingdom and I shared my parking trick. But they didn't use it. We had a seating at Boma for that night at 5:00 and we discussed meeting up for that. If it worked, it worked. If it didn't, it didn't. Dad and Betty left and Rich, Chris and I talked about what we wanted to do. We hadn't been at Magic Kingdom this trip so that was the plan.

We re-parked the car at the Swan lot and were going to go through Epcot to get the monorail. On the walk there, though, we realized that the wind was picking up and the day would be kind of a cool one. Not like yesterday because the sun was out but still cool enough. We talked about what we wanted to do at Magic Kingdom and it was the three mountains - Splash, Big Thunder, and Space. Splash Mountain was a big thumbs down because (1) it would get us wet and (2) it was outside. Chris realized that Big Thunder was also outdoors so he vetoed that as well. So why go to Magic Kingdom? We've all been here enough and done all these things. We just wanted a "down day". We re-grouped and decided that doing some Future World stuff at Epcot was going to be it. Chris also wanted to finish his souvenir shopping. I was fine with all that. I still wasn't feeling the best and suggested we just bag the Boma seating. Chris hadn't realized that I made yet another seating and didn't want to eat at the same place again. So that kind of relaxed things quite a bit. We would be in contact with Dad and Betty via cell phone through the day.

A word about the cell phones. I have complained about these things in past reports. I just don't see the need to be walking through any theme park and conducting business on the darn things. But they are good for keeping in touch with large parties. As I've said before, though, turn them off during attractions and even during the attraction lines. Other people don't need to hear the conversations. And nothing stops a performance more than those cell phone rings. We were extremely careful with how we used the phones. Voice messaging was how we communicated. And when we had to use the phones in the parks, we made sure we were off to the side and not interfering with anyone else. Like when I called Rich and he was "on a boat". That conversation lasted about 15 seconds and he called me back when he was in a more private location (on the walkway to MGM but off to the side). Once I got that call, I moved off the walkway at Epcot and got to a private spot. I called Betty today to leave a voice mail. We were at a table at Lotus Blossum Café but no one was near us when I made the call. So that's my rant on the cell phone stuff.

Back to the report. It was cold going through the Boardwalk area but we made it to Epcot and the International Gateway. I learned on this trip that if you have a fanny pack but have a shirt (or, in this case a sweatshirt on top of a sweatshirt) that can cover the pack, you can walk right by security. I'm not advocating that but I'm also not carrying any weapons and don't plan any harm to Disney World. The security checks are necessary and I support them.

We were early and World Showcase wasn't open yet (it opened at noon - what the heck was I doing at Disney World before noon?). The first stop was a bathroom break and then a decision on what to do. Rich kept saying Living With the Land and Chris kept saying "no way". So that entire side of Future World was not going to happen. I would have wanted to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience but Chris had just seen it the day before and Rich and I saw it last month so not a big deal. Off to Mouse Gear for Chris to finish his shopping. He did that (to get something for his roommate's girlfriend). Rich still wanted an attraction and he wanted Test Track. He was the only one of the three of us that hadn't done that yet. Chris didn't want to do it because it was still kind of cool. My back was almost killing me so I was not keen on it either. But Chris relented and I left the guys to do the single rider's line. I went into the gift shop and exhibit area and slowly sank to the floor and rested. It would be a bad back day.

The guys were in and out within fifteen minutes. We love the single riders line. Although Rich said that there was a couple that didn't understand the concept. They insisted on riding together. Rich said the Cast Member was getting quite exasperated with this couple. The female was placed in the line for one car and her husband was placed in the line for another. Six people per car. The female left her line to get back to her husband. The Cast Member sent the female back to her line. It's hard enough to get these lines moving, let alone have someone want special needs. If you are in the single riders line, you have no guarantees you will ride with anyone you know. Chris ended up being in a car ahead of Rich but just met him after. And then all of us met in the exhibit area. And it's not like they don't have enough warnings about riding single. Oh well, Rich finally rode Test Track on this trip and it didn't take an hour.

Rich was tossing up Cranium Command and Ellen's Energy Adventure. Humm, 15 minutes versus 45 minutes. Both inside, both warm. We hadn't done Cranium Command for a while and I thought I'd fall asleep during Ellen. I love that show but I still was not feeling the best. Not bad but not the best. So off to Cranium Command we went. We did make a stop at Mission: Space to see the outside of the building. It's coming along. If the "ride" is as good as the outside, we're going to be in for a treat. Let's hope. Let's please hope.

Onto Buzzy and General Knowledge. It was great as always but we still discuss updating this one. The kids are straight out of the 80s. Chris suggested Adam Sandler somewhere here. That would be good. Who to replace Hanz and Franz as the heart? The only bad thing was a girl behind us not only in the preshow but during the show that was smacking her gum. Chris and I couldn't get it out of our minds. Chris even made smacking noises to demonstrate what she was doing. She didn't get it. We ignored it and enjoyed the show. Now I know why Disney World doesn't sell chewing gum at the parks.

After we had our fill of what it takes to pilot a brain, food was up next (think George Wendt as the stomach had anything to do with that?). All of us were hungry but we were all hungry for different things. I suggested that Chris get the nachos to go at Mexico and then we'd all eat at China at Lotus Blossum Café. Rich and I love to snack on egg rolls and pork fried rice here. But we were walking past Electric Umbrella and a pizza was spied. Let's check that out. We stayed in the *not* moving line before Chris came back with the Mexico/China option. We left. Extremely smart choice.

We got to the outside Mexico place and, surprise, the lines were almost non-existent since people thought you needed to eat outside. Just go somewhere else. Chris got his nachos and Rich got us a Dos Exis. Then we traveled two more pavilions and got to China. Rich and Chris got us a nice table in the sunlight (it was warming up) and then Rich went and got the two egg rolls and pork fried rice. Chris enjoyed his nachos and we enjoyed the Oriental offerings. We had a nice sit. Our goal was Germany and a Piglet glass that Chris had seen for me. Actually, I was just going for a walk around the Showcase. That's what I love doing here.

After our snack, we continued on. I did make that phone call to Betty and told her we decided against the seating that night. Not a big deal. I did want my dad and Betty to experience Boma but maybe another time. I checked out the glass at Germany but didn't get it. Maybe the next time. Notice all these "next time" remarks. Oh yeah, "been there, done that, going back". That's me.

All three of us were ready for a break from everyone else so back to the house for us. I worked on the report and Chris and Rich watched a movie (there's a VCR here and we came amply supplied from our video collection). Betty called and they had decided also to bag the seating and do the "lake lighting" thing at MGM. Which I took to mean Fantasmic! So we were on our own for the evening. I was totally tired with the events of the last two weeks so I headed off to take a nap while the guys watched the rest of the movie ("Rules of Engagement"). Once I woke up, they were watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark" so I knew it was a lost cause. They had decided dinner would be Flippers which is a delivery pizza place. Fine. I decided on what I wanted and then looked at the locations. No way in heck they would be delivering out here. But the guys didn't listen to me. They waited (and I fussed) and when Rich called, guess what? We were out of their delivery area. Go figure. So the guys went to Subway instead. We waited for Dad and Betty to get to the house.

We ate and got over our moods. All of us were really feeling the effects of being tour guides and dealing with relatives. The three of us tour together extremely well and never have to even ask another one of us for our feelings because we've literally been together for twenty years. Even though Chris has been back in Nebraska for the last six months, we were back in synch within an hour of him landing. I guess there is family and then there is family. I don't think I can function without Chris and Rich in my life and vice versa.

Dad and Betty came to the house and we all visited for a while. It turned out that they really wanted to see the Osborne Lights which, of course, is not Fantasmic! And they wanted a "cocktail" so they went to the Brown Derby for that. Nope, nothing there. They were directed to the Tune In Lounge which is next to the 50s Prime Time Theatre. They couldn't find it. I told them that they should have called us. I can direct anyone around Disney World with my eyes closed. But they finally found it and had their cocktail. My dad is not a beer drinker so those vendors were off limits. But they loved the Osborne Lights so the day and the evening were a hit. Dad went to bed fairly early but Betty stayed up and visited for a while. She went to bed and then I watched "Law & Order" in the bedroom (Curtis episode, drat it) while the guys watched yet another movie in the living room.

Kid of the Day - Rich for being able to enjoy Test Track finally. And Chris for traveling around Disney World with his parents and actually not griping about it. My son is now, I think, a man. And I couldn't be more proud of him.

Icing Moment - just being with my little family after a long vacation with other relatives. Sure, we had some Grr Moments during the day but we got over them very fast.

Day Nine - Saturday, January 5, 2002

I wanted to say goodbye to my dad and Betty so I was up at 7:30 (again). Rich and I had a huge disagreement last night about doing laundry. Chris had started and I thought Rich had gotten our things in there. Rich always does the laundry at home so I guess my mistake was thinking he was going to do it here. Nope. Right before I was ready to hit the sack, I realized that we still needed to do the wash cycle. Rich did stay up and put the things into the dryer but I had to stay in my regular clothes since my pajamas were in the cycle. This morning, while waiting for my dad and Betty to get up and get ready, I folded all the clothes in the dryer. Not my idea of a great morning (Grr).

Dad and Betty made their coffee and packed to get ready to go. They loaded up their car and Rich also got up to see them off. They left and came back twice to get things they forgot. Rich got ready while I waited for yet another load of laundry. How we managed to forget one crucial load last night is beyond me. So we were in a casual frame of mind today. Once the laundry was done (and I had something to wear - how did my jeans end up *not* being washed?), we woke up Chris (he can sleep until early afternoon if allowed) and he got ready. I worked on the report and Rich just watched some sports TV.

The three of us headed to Disney World. Our goal was to finish up MGM with a ride on Rock N Roller Coaster. We parked at the Swan yet again (I love this place!) and took the walk to MGM. We did the Swan route first and then crossed over to the Boardwalk. You have to go over on the bridge but Rich seems to think it saves some time and effort. I'm not totally convinced but I'll go along with it.

The security lines at MGM were long yet again and the ticket lines were even longer. Chris asked why all these people didn't pre-buy their tickets and I didn't have an answer. We headed directly to Rock N Roller Coaster for a FastPass. It was around noon and the return time was 1:25-2:25. Chris wanted to do Indiana Jones so he and Rich were headed over there. I did not want to do Indy again so I was going to just meet up again for the FastPass time. I didn't know what I was going to do but at the last minute, I realized that Beauty and the Beast was just starting. I said a hasty goodbye to the guys and I think I said we'd meet outside the theatre at 1:30. The previously agreed upon meeting place was outside the Animation Store for the same time.

Beauty and the Beast. I know this show has its' fans but I'm not one of them. This was the first time I've seen it. It'll be the last. I thought the story was disjointed at best. Belle is in the town, Belle gets serenaded by the servants, Gaston and the villagers come to kill the Beast, Belle saves the Beast by saying she loves him. They even made references to Belle's father but he never shows up in the whole thing. I looked around to leave early but I couldn't since my seats were at the end of the row and I would have had to excuse myself through a couple of families. So I sat and suffered through the show.

I was hungry by now and still had some time until I met the guys. A beer and pretzel combo back at the Soundstage Catering Company sounded good. I headed there. But I was sidetracked on the way by the new Walt Disney: One Man's Dream exhibit. In I went. I could easily spend all day here. I think I had a goofy grin on my face throughout the whole museum part. I had to check my watch since I still wanted food before I met with the guys. I got into the film part and this was a treat. I sat all the way to the left and I'm glad I did. I was wiping the tears away the whole time. What this man did and dreamed and accomplished is just beyond words. No, Walt Disney was not perfect and I don't think he ever pretended to be. But he gave us so much. He gave us so much that it continues today and into the future. I had to make sure my sunglasses were back on before I left the theatre so people couldn't see how much the eyes leaked. This is an excellent production and I hope it continues well after the 100 Years of Magic celebration.

The day turned out to be very nice. In the sixties and sunny. I finally headed back to get the beer and pretzel and hurriedly rushed through half of each. Then I walked very fast to the Animation Store. I had called Rich on the cell phone and left a message that I thought we agreed on the Animation Store but also thought maybe we said the AFI Store. But I was going to the Animation Store. I got there and no Rich and Chris and it was after 1:30. So I called again. Rich answered this time. Now I remembered that we agreed on meeting outside Beauty and the Beast. So I hustled over there. Rich was not happy. Not a Damn Skippy Moment but it could have been. Thank you, cell phones. The three of us met up, shared the pretzel and Rich had some of the beer. We did Rock N Roller Coaster. Chris thinks this could be better and after this ride, I admit I have to agree. Maybe I've done it enough but I thought it was too short. Or it could be that I ate with Steve Tyler a few days ago. It's not a criticism on the ride because I think it's great. But it was my last thing to do. Or so I thought.

We were done with MGM and the guys wanted to do Magic Kingdom since we hadn't been there yet. Actually, I hadn't been there since May. But I had absolutely no desire to go there on a Saturday. And I'm not a fan of ankle biters and that's what I thought would be at Magic Kingdom. I didn't want that to be my last thought of Disney World for this trip. Rich wanted me to go with them but I resisted. I wanted Epcot. My favorite. Off Kilter wasn't around today but that didn't matter. The day was beautiful and I wanted one more walk around World Showcase. Rich reluctantly went with Chris to the buses (reluctantly because I wasn't going with them). I suggested they take any of the monorail resort buses and then either walk or take the monorail over to Magic Kingdom. We all went through the turn styles together and I saw them off. I was going to Epcot. Our final meeting place was going to be at the empty Off Kilter stage at 7:00 if we didn't get in touch via cell phones by that time.

But I called Lindy first. I hadn't talked to her since after the ceremony and I just knew she was back inside MGM watching Hunchback of Notre Dame all day. So I called and she answered. I expected to get her voice mail but she had her phone on. I asked if I could join her and she said yes. On the way there, I stopped at the store outside Sounds Dangerous and picked up a couple of pins for Chris. He is definitely not into collecting these but he mentioned that his favorites were Star Tours and Indiana Jones and he wanted the pins for those but he wasn't willing to pay the $6.50 each. I'm his mother, I have to spoil him just a bit. So I got the three pins (Star Tours has two of them). Then I went and found Lindy already in line at Hunchback.

No jugglers for the preshow and both of us were disappointed. Lindy, of course, already knew this. I really hadn't thought about it since I just wanted to spend a little extra time with my friend. We just talked about what both of us had been up to the last couple of days. We knew this could possibly be the last time for a while that we saw each other. I know Lindy will be down here again and so will we but our schedules have matched up so nicely this past year. Who knows what will happen in 2002? Hunchback was great as always. Dennis was Quasi, Jean Paul was Clopin, and I had the same Esmerelda and Frollo that I've had every show I've seen. But Lindy did point out the Gypsy she liked.

After the show, Lindy walked with me to the exit of MGM and then she was going back for the parade and the final Hunchback show of the day. And then Lindy was asked to do an exit survey! She had said earlier that she really wanted to do one so now was her chance. We really did skew these results, though. Ask a MGM fan what she thinks about the park. I thought that maybe Lindy wasn't being asked for exit surveys because she's usually a single female. Getting a good crossbase is essential.

Lindy and I hugged and promised to keep in touch via emails once back to the real world. Damn real world. On the way out of MGM, I saw a little boy, about Edward's age, crying. Another lost one! I went over and asked if he was lost and he tearfully nodded yes. I was getting ready to take him to a Cast Member when Dad came over and said "Austin, there you are". Poor little guy! The dad thanked me and I hope that Austin reminds his parents that it's so very easy for them to lose these tiny folks at such a big place. But in both cases (Edward and Austin), the parents realized they were missing a vital part of their family quickly and were able to retrace their steps and get their kids. Talking with your kids about what to do if you get separated is not a bad idea at all. We did that with Chris when he was younger (heck, we still do that now) and always had a designated meeting place.

Then I was off to Epcot. I called Rich on the cell but he didn't have it on. I kept walking on the walkway and was rearranging my fanny pack. Then my cell went off. It, of course, was Rich. They had just gotten off the monorail and were heading for the turn styles at Epcot. I was on the path so I didn't bother anyone else with my conversation. I even stopped and completed the talk before moving on and no one was around me. We agreed to meet at the France wine cart which is where I was headed anyway.

I walked over there, thoroughly enjoying the day. It was beautiful but a little disheartening. My last day! My last walk! I wanted to get home to the cats - Todd, Gus, and Belle - but I wanted to stay. I belong here. Well, there's always the next trip. And that'll be a good one. More on that later - it's Chris' idea and that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

My pass didn't work at Epcot and the International Gateway. For the first time, I had to show a picture ID. I hate when the Cast Member tells me to relax my hand at the biometer. I wish they would come around and have to do that every darn time they go through the gate. But I was waved through after the ID check. I thought for sure the guys would already be there and waiting for me. But they weren't. I pulled out the phone to call them. And then I heard "don't call, don't call, we're here". And they were. The line for wine was the longest I've seen it. So we caught up with what each other did. They only did one thing - Alien Encounter. The FastPasses for the mountains were for after 5:00 and neither one wanted to stay that long. They said Magic Kingdom was extremely crowded. I figured it would be since it was a Saturday. Early Entry might be gone but the Saturday crowds are still there. And Rich and Chris mentioned that on the monorail ride into Epcot, they saw Journey Into Your Imagination was closed. Yes! Maybe that darn rehab is finally going to happen. Bring back Figment, Bring back Figment!

Here's Rich and Chris' take on Magic Kingdom on a Saturday in January. Don't do it. The FastPasses were for way too far out. We had quite a discussion later about how to do FastPasses. Rich was such a FastPass critic when they first started. But then he saw the light. This is what the guys had to say about their experience today. OK, we get to Magic Kingdom at 2:00 and the FastPass is for after 5:00 for Space Mountain. We can get another FastPass for Splash Mountain at 4:00 (two hours after the first one) but we *still* can't do anything without waiting in a line for an hour (maybe they are exaggerating but I wasn't there). And the return time for Splash Mountain is for 6:00. Still nothing to ride. Their suggestion is to have FastPasses available again after just a one hour wait. You can't change the return times but you can manage your time a little better.

Personally, I found the biggest problems with FastPass return times to be at Rock N Roller Coaster. Maybe because it has "coaster" in its name. Rich and Chris wanted to ride the mountains but couldn't. Yes, they could have if they wanted to stay there the entire day and/or night. It just doesn't work with us. Or you could get there in the morning and get a FastPass for later in the day and return. Still doesn't work with us. I'm not saying there should be special treatment and I don't expect any. FastPasses can work in some situations (like our Day Three at MGM with FastPasses for Star Tours and Millionaire) but in other cases, it's not worth it. I guess the moral of the story is that you can't expect to get to Magic Kingdom on a Saturday, get three FastPasses for the three mountains and not spend all day using them all. I knew that but the guys learned a lesson.

My time in the wine line was "enhanced" by me getting extremely upset over these two kids who dropped an empty film box on the ground just next to a trash can. And then they started kicking it around. A definite Grr Moment. Please place your trash in the receptacles conveniently offered. I finally went over there (almost losing my place in line but some things are more important) and asked them to give me the trash and I'd throw it away. Rich thought I was overreacting and maybe I was but we work so hard at keeping our country clean and I'd like to keep it that way. The parents of these kids were the ones right in front of me and they did absolutely nothing during this whole time. Oh, they did insist on sampling every single one of the wines, though. Rich, who didn't want wine, said next time we should just sample the wines and save some money. Let's see, nine wines, nine samples. Yikes!

Chris was hungry and wanted a funnel cake so off to America we went. We sat outside at the tables while Chris ate and we drank (Rich had picked up a Canadian beer on the way to meet me). We finished all that and then it was time. Time to leave! I couldn't. I wouldn't. But I had to. Darn responsibilities again. Chris said something about wanting to go home. Meaning Nebraska. He said he wanted his normal life. Is this my kid? No, unfortunately, he's not. He's his own person and an adult now. I've had many life moments at Disney World and this was one of them.

I did manage to slow the pace down a bit by going back for another glass of wine (yeah, yeah, I know - two glasses of wine) but it's a tradition to end my trip with something from France. Usually it's champagne but we had a bottle back at the house. We stood along with railing and looked out at World Showcase Lagoon and my tears started. I didn't want to leave. I knew I'd be back and I knew when but I still didn't want to leave. Once we were done, I kept looking back and asking if we could stay. Both guys said no and we kept walking. Bummer. I went through the exit and silently cursed because I knew there would be no hand stamp for me today. Or again on this trip.

Somehow, I made it to the Swan without running back to Epcot. Pure willpower I guess. Rich drove us off property and I think the tears dried up somewhere along the way. I think Highway 192 has that effect. Our goal was an Italian place behind TGI Friday's. Rich wanted pizza and he knows that I can only do a slice of what he considers pizza (loaded with pepperoni) so we always look for a place that offers more than just pizza. This place was Giordano's. We were seated right away but it took a long time for someone, anyone to come and even acknowledge us. A server finally came just before I was ready to walk out. But this guy made things right and the service after that was fine. Rich and Chris shared a large pepperoni pizza and I got the chef's salad. Both were fine except Chris actually complained there was too much pepperoni on the pizza. I had half of a slice and had to agree. Rich took care of the check (I had been doing the paying up to this point but Rich said my American Express card was going to combust soon).

Then back to the house where the guys watched a movie and I took a well deserved nap. I did a final load of laundry later and hoped for a Logan episode of "Law & Order" at 11:00. It was not to be. I like Benjamin Bratt but give me Chris Noth any day of the week. Oh well, there's always next week.

Day Ten - Sunday, January 6, 2002

Check out time for the rental house was 10:00 so we were up and getting ready early enough. We had had all that stuff for the reception and had gone through most of it. So why did we have more stuff coming back? Oh, outlets and Disney shopping. I don't know how Rich did it, but everything got into the car. Chris had plenty of company on the back seat, though. Yikes, one of the bad reasons for driving. "Oh, we can just throw that into the car on the way back". Yeah, right.

As it turned out, we left the house exactly at 10:00 and encountered the cleaning people waiting in their cars to get the place ready for the next guests. So why is check in time after 4:00? Humm. Might have to challenge that in the future. We had to drive all the way back to Disney World to return the keys. I made Rich go in and fight the pool not being heated. It wasn't. No where near 85 degrees. Why did every other pool in the neighborhood steam during the cold weather but ours was cold? We did complain and we wanted the extra $200 back for a heated pool. It wasn't heated. Rich handles these things more diplomatically then I do. He did get the discount so that was fine. Everyone who stayed at the rental house was going to be dividing things up based on the number of people there each night. No one paid us during the trip because we wanted this discount. Now I have to go back and tell people what they owe. I hate doing that.

With all that taken care of, we decided to take I4 straight to the Turnpike instead of heading back west on Highway 192. It worked out well. The drive home was utterly boring and even the football on the radio didn't occupy us very much. Chris listened to his tunes on his headphones and Rich and I took turns driving, sleeping, and listening to the Falcons totally being the Falcons. Well, there's always next year.

Chris had to stop at Borders on the way home for a couple of books for the airplane trip home. I picked up the Vegetarian's Guide to Disney World and cursed myself for not getting it before the trip. Oh well, I'm going that way now so this will be interesting reading. Then we had dinner at On the Border and I hated it. We won't be back there again. And home to the cats! They weren't nearly as mouthy as they have been once we get home. Maybe the cold weather had something to do with that. No sign of snow but we did get some, I guess. Our only problem was that Rich and I had some champagne for Christmas and had washed the glasses before we left. Silly me left the glasses on the counter and the cats were a little on the rambunctious side while we were gone. Said glasses are history. Shattered to the floor. Our cat sitting service cleaned it up for us and checked the cats' paws for glass. Nothing bad happened to the cats or to the floor. The only thing was that these were our anniversary glasses from twenty years ago! We bought them at the Crystal Arts place on Main Street at Magic Kingdom. We had our names and the date we bought them (1/7/82) engraved on the glasses. What are the chances that these things would break right after we renewed our vows? And we discovered this one day before 20 years of getting them? OK, out with the old, in with the new. What do you think will be the first things we buy next trip?

Afterwards

The three of us had to get up extra early thanks to my troubles right before the trip. Those matters were taken care of in an hour so we had plenty of time to explore downtown Atlanta. Rich has been here almost a full year, me since April. But we still haven't done the "touristy" things. We did World of Coke and Underground Atlanta. And then went to the airport to drop off Chris. We had a ton of time and Chris was the only one checking in at Midwest Express. We didn't know it but his entire return flights had changed drastically. We thought he left at 4:40 but he didn't leave until 5:30. And then he was supposed to change planes in Kansas City and take a little one back. That was changed to staying on the same flight with just a layover in KC. No one told him that and when I called to get the arrival flight changes, no one told me of the departure changes. I didn't realize anything changed until I logged onto the internet site after we got home and saw what was going on. It was too late to contact Chris at that point. He ended up calling us from Kansas City and saying he was confused. I explained what happened, he said he figured that's what was going on. He finally made it home.

Final Thoughts and Overall Observations

I always put the good, the bad, and the ugly in these reports. You have to. I'll start with the ugly.

#1 Ugly Moment - when I had my little temper tantrum at the house the day Rich and I checked into the Swan. Not good but I needed to vent. It did sooth my nerves and made everyone aware that I wanted a little understanding about all the planning and the hoops I went through to make sure everyone had a good time.

And that's it for the Ugly Moments. Not that bad for 15 people, different arrival and departures time, and a mass of personalities.

Bad Moments - all involved the house but none were that bad. The distance from the parks was a concern but no one seemed to mind and I just let Rich drive through Highway 192 when I thought it would be congested. But having 192 three lanes each way is so much nicer then before. Now I just have to accept the fact that most of these tourists don't understand that you can do the posted 45 MPH speed limit and be fine.

The non-heated pool was a disappointment but that was taken care of with a credit. Most of the days, it was too cold to swim anyway. The only other gripe with the house was that we couldn't call Kissimmee without it being a long distance call. We have cell phone agreements so that wasn't a problem for anyone but it still was an inconvenience. The last "complaint" about the house was the heat inside. Rich, Chris, and I thought it was fine. We normally will have a sweatshirt on and be under a blanket at home. We lived in Nebraska for 11 years so we know what cold is. We don't get the thermostat up that high in any house. Maybe we're cheap but it saves money and gives some more back to the environment (I just realized I made it through this whole report and that's the first environmental message I sent). The in-laws thought the house was too cold. My dad and Betty froze since they are used to the Keys weather. The really cold weather came through while Rich and I were at the Swan and when we returned to the house, we thought it was too hot. Go figure.

I did leave behind some items at the rental house. It is suggested you do that so the next person doesn't have to be totally prepared. I brought some dish detergent but there was a 1/4 filled bottle there. I left mine behind. No one thought to bring trash bags and we certainly went through enough garbage with the maximum seven people in the house. I left most of those behind. I also brought toilet paper and what was not used was left. Nothing like getting to a house and not having this item. I also left a roll of paper towels because we very seldom use these in our house.

I had plenty of Grr Moments (and they might go into the reports as a feature) but I expected that with so many people and such a diverse group.

But I had plenty of Icing Moments and Sprinkle Moments and even the new Candle Moments. Seeing Steve Tyler was great. And what Off Kilter did for us was way beyond words. I never expected a totally requested set but we got it. I do request songs but don't expect them to do anything they don't want to do. I am a fan but I hope I'm not seen as a fanatic. I really appreciate everything they do. They have such talent and have so much fun on stage. They let me forget about *everything* for the length of their sets.

The meals we had were fantastic. Nothing disappointed us. No repeat of Darryl's at Labor Day (oops, I wasn't going to mention that again, was I?). Boma was a big hit with all seven of us. The four newbies rolled out of there along with the three veterans. And getting a zebra dome with every plate was a wise choice for me. Sci Fi Dine Inn was another good choice, Steve Tyler or no Steve Tyler. My chicken was wonderful and I think everyone else had good food. I was too busy looking over at Mr. Tyler. And that dessert! Yum! I can't even describe the experience at Le Cellier. No one was disappointed and the prime rib was wonderful. And that dessert! Yum! (Didn't I just say that?) And both of them were wonderful. Food and Disney World have to go hand in hand.

And even the offsite place - New York Pizza World - was great. Rich and Chris are pizza freaks and this was an option for a second visit during the trip. We will be back again. It's not the Ritz, far from it, but it's very good.

Being with just about my entire family during this time was so great. We were missing Rich's sister, our niece and nephew, and my mother but they all were invited. I wish they could have been there but understood. The time we spent with the others was fantastic. I loved how everyone got along. You can't ask for anything more than that. My family has been so, so supportive during my problems. It was great to get away from the problems for a week and to have that support from the family. Maybe I could have gotten that somewhere else then Disney World but I really don't think it would have been that special.

The rental house, even though I had some Bad Moments, was the best decision I made. We had so many different people coming and going but it all worked out. Everyone had their own space and privacy but could visit in the evenings or the mornings. The commute worked out and I don't think anyone was inconvenienced at all. We only had two keys but someone was always there in a good time for the others. We did make contingent plans to leave the sliding glass doors at one of the pool entrances open if needed. It never was. If I had a large party again, I'd definitely do a rental house and I'd definitely use www.floridadreamhomes.com again. In fact, I'm looking at them again for the next trip.

The weather was lousy for a couple of days. The Keys people were cold but prepared. So were we. The only things I wished for were gloves (thin ones, though) and a hat. I would have been much warmer. And those things don't take up that much space in a suitcase. Lesson learned. But the rest of the trip was cool but sunny. Be prepared for anything if you're visiting during this time.

Traveling with a large party required a lot of planning and a lot of compromise and communication. I handled the planning part. I also communicated throughout the year of planning with emails and phone calls. I even compromised on meals (except for Le Cellier and I was going no matter what). Everyone had different arrival and departure times. That was fine. I did let everyone see the "schedule" on that but no one really bothered to look at it. We were all different ages and that was a factor as well. Sandy and her crew went off and did the trip themselves which was great. My dad and Betty were on their own for their short time. Bobbie, Ed, and Dave needed help in getting around. All that was fine. Except for one thing. I was the only one trying to keep it all straight. I am a proactive person, not a reactive person. Everyone else is reactive. So I think ahead, all the others (except Lindy), think about "what am I going to be doing in the next five minutes". My thinking is "what is everyone going to be doing tomorrow?" I tried to adapt to everyone else but felt like there was no give and take with what I was trying to accomplish. A few Grr Moments happened but we're all still family and friends. If I ever do this again, I will concentrate on my little family and let everyone do what they want. It wasn't that bad, though. It actually turned out better then I expected.

I asked Lindy what she thought of staying offsite and renting the car. She said that she didn't think she'd make another trip without doing this. She's so into the Disney magic but gets enough of that at the parks that she doesn't have to have that with her room or transportation. Lindy was a little hesitant with staying offsite and driving around but I think it worked out well for her. I'm not saying that staying on property and relying on Disney for getting you to where you want to go is bad. I've been there, done that and have liked it. But there are so many choices. Pick the ones you are comfortable with.

The Osborne Lights were absolutely wonderful. I have to see these every year until I get tired of them. I don't think I ever will, though. Having a nice dinner at MGM and then strolling through the lights is a highlight. *All* the Christmas decorations were a highlight. This was a first time for me and I loved it. We got a little taste of everything at the Thanksgiving trip and I believe I will have to make sure I'm there for not only Thanksgiving but for some time closer to Christmas/New Year's. The magic just doesn't stop.

Meeting Larry and his family was so, so nice. Yet another internet meeting that worked out. And seeing Lindy again was priceless. We get along with her so well and yet we are opposites. The day I spent with Lindy going to the outlets cannot ever be duplicated. It happened on a whim and it was fantastic.

Off Kilter is now doing 30 minute sets four times during the day. At Thanksgiving, we saw these sets (lengthened due to the Candlelight Processional). I *loved* them. The guys get a chance to really get into the set. So I'm glad for that. I hope Disney World keeps them at the 30 minute sets for a while. Fifteen minutes is fine but we have to come back so many times for me to get my fill. OK, it's a groupie attitude but that's the way I feel.

The first extra special memory of this trip - Chris, on his own, decided that he wanted to come back over Memorial Day weekend! It's going to be his 20th birthday and he has not yet worked at the movie theatre during that time (it's a horrible weekend for movies - lots and lots of new films and people go insane). But we had to work it out after May 16th since that's when the Star Wars: Episode II comes out. So I'm working on getting Chris down here on May 17th and then he'll have two Star Wars weekends. And he wants those since it'll be the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: New Hope (episode 4 if anyone cares).

And the best extra special memory of the trip - we renewed the vows. Rich really didn't want to but it was painless for him. The day started out with just the two of us, then the entire family joined us, we had the awesome set by Off Kilter (thank you guys yet again), and a wonderful dinner at Le Cellier. We ended up the evening with just the two of us again. No matter how bad things get (and they were bad right before this vacation), Rich will be there for me and I'll be there for him. Disney World might come and go but we'll be there for each other. Disney World just enhances everything for both of us.

People think of Disney World as this crazy, out of control place where you have to go, go, go. That's not the way Rich and I (and Chris) see it. We do what we want, when we want. We have such private and special moments here. Sitting with Chris at the old Flame Tree BBQ place waiting for the others from It's Tough to Be a Bug was special. Sitting with Rich and Chris at the empty Off Kilter stage that first day was special. Even the day that we had enough and went back to the house and the guys watched movies and I took a nap was special. Because the three of us were together and not even thinking about the outside world. No bills, no work, no terrorism. We were a family. The unity I feel with these two very special people is my life. Adding some pixie dust makes it even better.

I'm working on the next trip and it might involve a couple of Chris' friends. I'm looking at the rental house again. Or two rooms at All Star. Or who knows. Tons of possibilities. I'm also trying for an Easter trip for just Rich and me. Just the thought of a trip to Disney World is enough to get me through the day.

Feel free to send any emails, suggestions, or comments. Just include "Disney Trip Report" in your subject line so I can separate you from the spammers. Have a great day!

Sheri Niklewski