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The Caros family... Jenny, Bryce, Megan, and Lance.

April 6th through April 21st, 2002

The Cast

Lance - I'm 37 and work as a commercial underwriter for an insurance company. I'm the trip report writer, husband of Jenny, and Dad to Megan and Bryce. I've been a lifelong Disney fanatic thanks to my parents who took us frequently to Disneyland while visiting my grandparents in California. I truly believe Disneyland is the happiest place on earth and Walt Disney was the greatest person of the 20th century. My Mom (the greatest mom in the world) tells me that we sat next to Walt at a breakfast on Main Street when I was 9 months old and they chatted briefly with him. I've logged about 50 trips to Disneyland over the years. This was my seventh trip to WDW.
Jenny - She's my beautiful wife of 12 years and mom to Megan and Bryce. She works part time as a quality assurance specialist for the same insurance company and is the most organized person I have ever met. I don't think she will take offense if I also mention she's quite a babe. She married me knowing about my Disney addiction. Thankfully she acquired one too. She's been to Disneyland many times and this was also her seventh WDW trip.
Megan - Our beloved first born. She turned 9 shortly after the trip and finished 3rd grade. Thankfully she got her mom's looks and smarts. She loves to draw and wants to be an artist when she grows up. She's very tall for her age and meets all attraction height requirements. She's very adventurous and will go on any ride. She was born into loving all things Disney. She's pretty easygoing but likes to occasionally torment her parents with whining. She first went to Disneyland at 6 months old and has logged 10 trips there so far. This was her fifth WDW trip.
Bryce - Our beloved second born. He turned 5 shortly after the trip. He's usually pretty sweet although he enjoys occasionally tormenting his sister. He's becoming more independent and headstrong as of late. He's also very tall for his age and meets the height requirement of most rides. He loves almost all the characters but especially Peter Pan. He also loves anything to do with pirates and dinosaurs. He's been to Disneyland 3 times starting at age 6 months. This was his fourth WDW trip.


Hometown - Carnation, WA a beautiful rural area in the Cascade foothills about 30 miles east of Seattle. It's the former home of the Carnation company (now owned by Nestle) which used to provide the ice cream at Disneyland.

The Prior Reports

This was our fourth annual trip to Disneyworld and this is my fourth trip report. The prior three averaged almost 37,000 words each and while this one is a bit shorter it's not exactly succinct. In real life I'm generally a man of few words. Something about a Disney trip though brings out the tortured novelist in me. So, you have received fair warning!

If you would like to see our previous trip reports they are posted here on MousePlanet. In my opinion it's the best site for Disney information anywhere on the Internet. The direct links to the reports are below:

June/July 2001 (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=65072)
April 2000 (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=64867)
March 1999 (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=64707)

The Preplanning

We started planning this vacation pretty much right after we got back from our 2001 trip. We purchased annual passes last year so this was a "free" trip. Yeah, right! Actually this was the least expensive trip we have taken to WDW. We ended up getting great deals on airfare and lodging.

After we got back we started the long wait for airfares and room rates to come out for our trip dates. We already had planned the two weeks when we would go in April. The second week of our trip would be during Meg's spring break. This is our traditional time to visit and we were really looking forward to getting back to visiting in spring. Our trip last summer was wonderful. The crowds were surprisingly not much different than in spring but the heat and humidity were very difficult on us. Visiting the theme parks for two solid weeks is physically taxing enough but adding heat and humidity to the mix really slowed us down on the last trip.

Airfares were cheap at the end of the year but it seemed to take forever for the prices to fall for our time frame. Finally a couple of days before Christmas the airfares dropped. Unfortunately, they sold out quickly! It's frustrating to find online fares and go through the reservation process to find they are sold out. After much searching and frustration trying to get a fare under $200 from Seattle to Orlando I finally had the bright idea to search Seattle to Tampa fares. I had read other trip reports of people flying into Tampa and saying the drive to WDW was a little over an hour and it was a very nice and convenient airport. The thought of a smaller airport (and fare!) really appealed to me so I searched Orbitz and up popped a $146 round trip fare on American. They aren't our first choice of airlines but the flight times were close to what we wanted and the fare couldn't be beat so we booked it. I'm still amazed that we are flying about as far as possible across the lower 48 states at that price. The airlines can't be making any money off those fares. No wonder they are in trouble.

So, with airfare taken care of the next step was lodging. I was still really hoping to stay onsite but our lodging criteria and budget are pretty specific. We wanted a one (or preferably two) bedroom condo under $125 per night. I had been reading about some of the annual passholder discounts for the Fort Wilderness cabins and they weren't much more than that. My mom had given us a very nice Christmas gift of cash that we planned to use at WDW and it was really tempting to put it towards an onsite stay. However, the first week of the year Jenny checked back with the Oak Plantation to see if the "Entertainment" rates were out and they offered us a price of $72.50 a night for a two bedroom unit! We were amazed. We have stayed here twice before and loved the place and thought it was an outstanding value for the $100-125 we paid. This deal was just too good to pass up.

The last piece of the puzzle then was the car rental. Just like the lodging we are pretty specific in what we want, a minivan for less than $30 per day. I've had good luck getting that in the past. Dollar always has a lot of good discount codes to use for minivans so I started my search and got a rude surprise. Prices were over $140 per day! I started searching all the national rental agencies and trying every discount code, Costco coupon, Disney Club, frequent renter rate, etc. but came up with nothing reasonable. I didn't want to use an offsite rental company since we would be leaving Tampa very early on our return flight and many of the companies do not have 24 hour shuttles. I tried Hotwire and Priceline also without success. So, with panic setting in after a few weeks I pleaded for help on the DIS "transportation" message board. Some kind soul steered me to Cheaptickets.com where I was able to get a weekly rate of $260 through Hertz. It was more than I was hoping to pay but far less than anything else I had received so I booked it. I kept searching and found out that the problem with the rates was that all of the various discounts a most of the rental companies were not valid the week following Easter (March 30th through April 6th). If we were picking up the van a day later I could have got a $189 weekly rate through Dollar. I'm so cheap that I looked into renting the van for the one day then returning it the next in Kissimmee and then renting at the lower rate. It didn't work out but at least we finally had a fairly reasonable price.

About 60 days out I made up our itinerary. At about 45 days out I noticed Jenny had our suitcases almost completely packed. I took that as a sign that things were getting close so I made all of our priority seating arrangements through the Disney Club toll free number. I had a very helpful and patient cast member enter in the many priority seatings planned over our 15 days.

The Plan: Day 1: Saturday, April 6th, 2002.

Travel day.

American (operated by TWA) flight #3098 leaves SeaTac at 6:10AM. Arrives in St. Louis at 12:00PM. Flight #2822 leaves at 1:18PM and arrives in Tampa at 4:38PM

Pickup rental minivan at Hertz

Go to Super Wal-Mart for groceries.

The Reality:

We went to bed at 8PM in anticipation of our early flight. At 8:45 my otherwise wonderful mother called to wish us a good vacation and was surprised that we were all asleep. I wasn't at my most gracious as I kind of rushed the conversation and worried about trying to get back asleep (sorry mom!).

Megan is prone to getting a bloody nose and it had happened three times earlier in the day. At 11:45PM it happened again with a vengeance while she was asleep. Poor kid, she rushed to the bathroom as quick as she could but I got to spend the next 20 minutes cleaning blood off the carpet (you gotta love that Oxyclean). Thankfully, Meg went back to sleep but not Jenny and I. I read trip reports for almost 2 hours and then Jenny got up at 2:30AM to start getting ready.

I got the kids up at 3 and thankfully they were in good moods so that made things easier. We got dressed and had some toast and loaded up the car. We were on the road at 3:40. The one nice thing about leaving so early was that there was absolutely no traffic. After an uneventful hour long drive to the park and ride it started to rain as we waited for the shuttle bus. It didn't bother us though, as we were about to leave the typical Seattle dreariness for the warm Florida sun.

There was a short check in line at American and we got a very friendly agent when it was our turn. I hadn't flown American in a long time but this was the first of many good impressions we had of them during the trip.

We rounded the corner anticipating a long security line but it wasn't too bad. We were through it in 15 minutes. Now all we had to do was wait 70 minutes for the plane and try to keep the children from driving us nuts. We ate muffins and bagels, sat, read and generally were unsuccessful at convincing the kids that it was way too early in a long day to start asking the dreaded "when are we going to be there?" question.

We finally got boarded and found we were at the next to last row. I don't mind the back because it's fairly loud and there are fewer people around for the kids to bother. The downside is that you end up with people standing around you waiting for the bathroom. Not exactly my idea of a lovely view but what can you do?

The young teenager seated behind Megan had not flown before. His sister was across the aisle seated by Jenny and his parents were somewhere in the front. He had a CD player that kept him entertained and he played drums on the tray table. Of course, this made for an annoying ride for Meg who could feel every thump. We eventually had to gently tell him to cut it out.

In order to keep the kids entertained I broke open the two new game boy advance games, Pac-Man and Super Mario World 2 that were surprises for the journey. Pac-Man held little interest except for me. Mario was a hit though and got us fairly peacefully through a good portion of the flight.

Breakfast was muffins, applesauce and OJ. I had a low fat meal of a whole grain bagel with sugar-free jam and applesauce. Bryce gulped down three cartons of orange juice before I regained my senses and cut him off. We spent a good deal of the rest of the flight visiting the rest room. Jenny and Megan traded seats so Meg could play cards with the little drummer boy's sister. They had fun together and it helped her to pass the time since Bryce and I hogged the game boy.

The flight got fairly turbulent near the end. We had a good half dozen "air time" moments that surpassed the Tower of Terror on the thrill meter. I'm glad the kids weren't bothered by it (although Jenny did look a little green).

We landed on time and uneventfully. The girl Megan was sitting next to reached out to grab away a bag her sister was carrying while walking by, only to discover that it was the air sickness bag that had been put to good use. The look on her face cracked all of us up (including the airsick sister).

The St. Louis airport is really a dive. Not third world bad but not what I was expecting for a big city. They even had a big smoking lounge in the middle of concourse C with the doors wide open!

We tried to go to Burger King so Bryce could get a kid's meal with an "Ice Age" toy but the restaurant was back in the main terminal. We didn't want to go through the security gauntlet though so instead we got a grossly overpriced pretzel from a semi-catatonic employee. Bryce really didn't want the food from Burger King anyhow (he never does, it's all about the toys) and was happily bribed with a pack of gum from the gift shop.

Our hour wait then started for the boarding of the next leg of our journey. The kids were relatively well behaved and we finally boarded and left just a few minutes late. This was a very easy flight and the kids continued to be well behaved. Jenny brought out school workbooks for both kids and that helped pass the time. Both kids seem to have inherited the strange gene from their mother that makes them actually like homework. I may have to get a DNA test to confirm my paternity.

We got headphones and watched "King of Queens". There was no meal service on this flight since it was only a couple of hours but we got drinks and snack mix. We ended up landing about 15 minutes early at 4:20PM.

The airport at Tampa was as nice as St. Louis was seedy. It's similar to Orlando and we hopped on the tram to baggage claim. Jenny and Meg waited there while Bryce and I went to Hertz to get the van. There was a short line and when we got up front they said it would be a 15-minute wait as a van was being cleaned. After 15 minutes the girls showed up with the luggage but there was still no van. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where they didn't have a car for him after he made a reservation.

I went back to the counter and they said it would be at least another 15 minutes but we could have an SUV right away. I told them no thanks we would wait. The kids need to be in separate rows to avoid needling each other. With a fair amount of driving each day that was not something that I was willing to forgo while on vacation. So, we sat and waited next to a guy that kind of looked like a Floridian version of Santa. He was a nice fellow who gave us directions out of the airport and onto I-4.

We finally got the vehicle after 30 minutes wait total. It was a Mazda MPV, which was a nice change of pace. It was actually fairly sporty for a minivan. We found I-4 with no problems although you do need to pay attention to the signs. Traffic was at a crawl though. We finally went past two cars that had a minor fender bender and traffic opened up. Then about 1/2 mile further we came to a complete stop. There was a car on fire in the left lane. The police and fire departments had not yet shown up and as we made our way past it was fully engulfed. Everyone was out of it and safe although I was surprised they weren't standing further away from it. I was nervous just driving by. We gunned it past there and finally hit the wide-open highway.

Bryce fell asleep about that time. It was long overdue and was a good chance for everyone to relax. To keep Megan entertained I found 990 AM Radio Disney, which never stopped playing for the next two weeks. One of the nice things about the MPV was the radio controls on the steering wheel including a mute button which made it handy when we wanted to talk.

We made a quick convenience store stop for beverages along the way and got to 192 in about an hour. From there it was a 15 minutes of familiar road to Oak Plantation. There was a long line at check in and I prayed there would not be another mix-up like last year and everything would go well. I heard another lady who was being put in two 1-bedroom units instead of one 2-bedroom unit and didn't take that as a good sign, I assumed it meant that there were none left.

The room controller gods were smiling on us that day though. When I checked in I heard them make a call and ask if the machine was out of room 1309 yet. I was so excited to hear the room number, which was one we had requested, that it didn't occur to me to ask what machine had been in it. When we got to the room we could detect a faint smell of smoke. We only noticed it that first night. The machine must have been some air-cleaning device.

Jenny was thrilled to get one of the rooms we had requested. We had spent a good deal of time over the last few years looking all around the complex for the best areas and are pretty particular about where we stay. This room was actually our second choice. It's a little ways to the pool but has a great view of the pond and fountains. There is also a picnic table and two grills right in front of it.

We brought everything in and looked around for a few minutes then I took the kids to Wal-Mart while Jenny unpacked. Wal-Mart was packed as always. We loaded up on breakfast items, eggs, milk, cereal, pop tarts, bagels, cinnamon rolls, bread, cream cheese and butter. Also, got water, pop, wine, beer and loads of chips and snacks. The kids had been good so I let them pick out a treat. Meg got a math workbook and Bryce got a miniature gumball machine to satisfy his growing gum obsession.

At 9PM we finally checked out of Wal-Mart and decided we should get some dinner. So it was off to Taco Bell drive-through for a big miscellaneous bag full of cheap eats topped off with another stop for potato wedges at the nearby KFC. We went back to the condo for a late dinner and got ready for bed.

Everyone was pretty much asleep by 10:30PM which was good because we lost another hour due to daylight savings time that started a few hours later. The long tiring day of travel coupled with the ungodly early hour we got up actually worked out pretty well in getting acclimated to East Coast time. We felt we were in pretty good shape to be ready to go the next morning.

The Plan: Day 2: Sunday, April 7, 2002.

Typhoon Lagoon. Open 10AM to 6PM.

Camp out at Ketchakiddie Creek and let the kids run wild.

Bring a picnic lunch.

Go to the Character Premiere store at the Orlando Premium Outlet.

Dinner at Taco Bell, Chevy's or Jungle Jim's.

The Reality:

Jenny got up at 7, Megan at 7:30 and Bryce & I at 8. Jenny packed up the provisions for the day ahead while I started the morning routine of getting the kids breakfast, getting them dressed and putting on sunscreen. The kids had pop tarts and I had Cheerio's. Jenny doesn't normally do breakfast so it was just a couple of cups of coffee for her.

It was a little cool outside but not enough to stop us from going to a water park. The kids were playing outside watching the weird looking "dinosaur" ducks. I'm not sure what type of ducks they are but they have odd red bumpy skin and protrusions around their head. The ducks were fighting and making quite a bit of noise. Bryce came running inside a bit spooked by all of the commotion, which was just as well. I glanced out the window at the ducks and saw that it must have been a courtship ritual rather than a fight because what they were doing sure wasn't fighting now!

We left the room at 9:20 and arrived at the Typhoon Lagoon parking lot at 9:40. They had one long line for entry rather than having everyone huddled at the front as they used to. I saw lots of security people and wondered if we were going to be able to take in our small soft-sided cooler. I had read that they were no longer allowing any coolers in the water parks, which really bummed me out because we always like to take a lunch and drinks with us. Looking around in line though I saw lots of people with coolers so I took that as a good sign. In fact a cast member behind us with her family had one as well. I would have gladly left the cooler in the car had security asked us to but they had apparently eased up the earlier restriction.

At 9:50 we were let into the park where we waited at the blocked off areas for the official opening. I took Bryce and got a locker then met up with the girls right at rope drop. We were the first family at Ketchakiddie Creek and we snagged a good table with an umbrella right in the middle of the area.

Bryce immediately took off for his favorite tube ride in this area for the first of what were probably 50 trips on it today. He loves that ride! Jenny and Megan went off to the big slides while I alternated between watching Bryce and writing out trip report notes. While standing watching Bryce I asked a nearby cast member if and when River Country would open this year and he thought that it wouldn't ever open again. That really bummed me out. Another cast member in the area said it was permanently closed and would be torn down. She said the lake water and bacteria were causing too many problems and they constantly struggled with pollution. What a sad end to River Country, we love all three water parks it held a special place in our hearts. It was one of our traditions to spend our first day of vacation there and usually our last as well. It was such a relaxed and beautiful setting. When Jenny and Megan returned they said a cast member told them he thought that River Country would reopen when attendance picked back up and they would refurbish it. I hope so but seriously doubt it.

Meg and I then went off to the storm slides and had a good time going down twice. I suggested Shark Reef since she had really enjoyed it last year. We got our gear and took off snorkeling and poor Meg struggled. I think the fit of her mask wasn't very good which was part of the problem but the snorkel really threw her this year. She kept getting a mouthful of water so we eventually just slowly swam across. We did get to see lots of fish, two sharks and a ray. Afterwards we went below in the ship to take a look at more fish.

As we were walking back by Humunga Kowabunga I asked Meg if she wanted to go on it and was quite surprised when she said yes. I just happened to ask her but wasn't going to push her into it or even mention it after what I assumed would be a "no" from her. I would never have had the courage to go on it at her age. I remember being a bit frightened on my first ride on it when I was 25! We marched right up to the top of Mt. Mayday and she went down without hesitation and I followed a minute later.

When I got to the bottom I saw her laughing at my splashdown. We both had wedgies and sore backsides but it was a good father-daughter bonding experience. On the way back we stopped at the wave pool which Meg loves.

When we got back we told our tale of daring to Jenny and Bryce. Jenny told us about a really nice cast member from Hawaii who liked Bryce's humuhumunukunukuapua'a shirt. He kept calling Bryce humuhumu every time he saw him. Everyone was hungry so we got out our lunch of bagels & cream cheese, Pringles and soda. After eating we stashed our valuables in the locker and all went on Castaway Creek together. Bryce got one of the tubes with the bottom in it, which made him feel more comfortable. As we were relaxing and floating there were some obnoxious teen boys stacking tubes and roughhousing but they eventually got yelled at by a lifeguard and left. It clouded up a little and became breezy. We all got a little chilly. Both kids wanted to go to the wave pool so I took them over there while Jenny went back to our spot because she was freezing.

Bryce loved the waves. He did karate kicks and punched the waves as they came at him in the shallow area. Meg went out a little farther and I had to constantly try to get her not to go too far so I could keep an eye on both of them. We had a good time for about half an hour then Bryce got knocked over and under by a wave. He scraped his knee on the rough bottom and it was bleeding a little so we went to first aid. It was a minor injury but he made a bit of a production of not being able to walk so I carried him there. A very nice cast member patched Bryce up with some Bactine and Band-Aids and sent him out the door with a lot of stickers. She was very sweet to him and he left raring to go and miraculously able to walk again.

We stopped and got a cold Corona with lime for Jenny and chocolate mint Arctic Dots for the kids. When we got back we found Jenny had already stopped for a beer so I valiantly traded her almost empty warm domestic swill (Bud Lite) for the cool, refreshing Corona. I'm such a martyr!

After a brief rest the girls went back out for another go on the slides. I watched Bryce and followed him as he (and seemingly every other child in the area) went running over to one little slide that very few kids had been going on. There was a fantastically enthusiastic cast member there who was rounding up kids and cheering them on as they went down this tiny little previously lonely slide. This guy was great and was really getting into it. There was soon a line of about 30 kids waiting for it and they were all running to get right back in line once they went down. It was nice to have so many positive cast member experiences today. That's really one of the major parts of the magic of Disney for us.

Meg brought Jenny back for one final parent swap. We went on both tube rides then back to the wave pool. We played in the waves for about half an hour. I enjoyed swimming out beyond huddled masses that were congregated where it's shallow enough to stand. While I was out there I did my good deed for the day. There was a portly teenager by himself taking pictures of the waves with a waterproof disposable camera. He seemed to be having a great time trying to body surf and snapping photos in between. I offered to take his picture and got a great shot of a wave cresting right over him.

Meg and I were tired out so we went back and found Jenny and Bryce all packed up and ready to go. Bryce was falling asleep while eating Pringles in his stroller. We were all tired so it was a good time to leave. It was 2:45 and Bryce immediately fell asleep in the van and kept sleeping in the condo until 4. Jenny went back out shopping at the nearby Kash n' Karry. She said the clerks there were like zombies which she remembered from last year also. I guess Disney gets all the good ones.

We took off again at 4:45 for Downtown Disney. Our first stop was the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. There was a one-hour wait but our Safari Club card got us in to a table in 5 minutes. Meg ordered a strawberry smoothie, which also had an unadvertised banana in it. Jen and I got the big double cans of Foster's lager. Our Safari Card got us a free flatbread quesadilla appetizer and it was very good. We also had a $5 anniversary gift certificate they had just sent us, which was good because the prices seem to have jumped even higher from last year. Jenny ordered the Blue Mountain chicken club sandwich for $11.99 and she shared it with Megan. I ordered the $14.99 jambalaya and Bryce had a few bites of his $6.95 "Jurassic tidbits" chicken nugget meal and shared the rest with Megan.

We had a table way in the back along the wall by the restrooms. It was actually a pretty good table despite that since it wasn't as crammed together as some other tables. We were out of the way where we didn't have to worry about the kids disturbing others. The service as usual was inattentive. The Rainforest servers always seem to disappear for long stretches without serving any other tables. Maybe it's a long walk to the kitchen. Still, our server was pleasant and it was a good meal, we were all stuffed and we took home half of the quesadilla. The total cost after the coupons, tax and tip was $57.65.

After our leisurely meal it was time to burn off some calories in the frenetic World of Disney store. I always go into sensory overload at this store. It's just an overwhelming amount of merchandise and crowds. I can't say that I dislike it but it's not a place I would willingly go shopping more than once or twice on a vacation. Megan got a "How to draw Mickey" art book and Bryce got a lollipop about the size of his head. I also bought them the Disney Magic Moment hand held video game and a Tree of Life Magic Moments pin. Total after the Disney Club card discount was $43.87 and I paid with the money we had saved in our coin jar through the year.

The kids had fun playing with the pin and game on the way back to the condo. We all went to bed early trying to catch up a little on sleep from the day before and to get fully on Florida time. I wrote notes for the trip report while Bryce fell asleep playing the new game. I finally turned out the lights and hit the hay at 10PM.

The Plan: Day 3: Monday, April 8, 2002.

Epcot. Future World open 10AM to 9PM. World Showcase open 11AM to 9PM.

Fast pass attractions: Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Test Track, Maelstrom, Living with the Land

Test Track and get a Fastpass.

Honey I Shrunk the Audience.

Go to the Land and get a Fastpass for Living with the Land and see Food Rocks.

Visit the Annual Passholder lounge. Check in at the Garden Grill restaurant.

Send IBM postcards from Innoventions. Go to World Showcase at noon opening.

Lunch around the countries with definite stops at the Yakitori House and Tangierine Café.

Wander through all the countries and see as much live entertainment as possible.

Visit Stave Church in Norway, Japan's store and exhibit.

See Impressions de France at the France pavilion.

No dinner plans

The Reality:

We got up at 7:30 and watched the Weather Channel. The weather looked to be only a few degrees cooler with a high of 80 but it was supposed to be windy. We didn't want to pass up the opportunity to visit the Animal Kingdom on what might be the coolest day of our vacation so we switched our plan around. The Animal Kingdom always seems to be the most uncomfortable of the parks when it is hot out and just seems hotter than the other parks.

I did the morning routine with the kids while Jenny packed up for the day. Megan and I had cinnamon rolls and Bryce had a Pop Tart. The kids got dressed without too much prodding and after applying sunscreen we were out the door at 8:30. As we turned onto 192 we saw there was an accident and they were diverting traffic so we turned around and went to the Osceola Parkway which was a bit out of the way but beat trying to get around the accident. We got a fairly close parking spot and walked to the front entrance. Security was quick and easy and we entered the park right at the 9AM opening.

We really took our time in the Oasis and talked with the cast members that had various critters in Plexiglas boxes. Bryce particularly liked the scorpion since we watched the "Crocodile Hunter" on TV chasing them the night before. The cast members were very friendly and offered up lots of interesting facts about the animals.

We eventually got to Kiliminjaro Safari at 9:30. There was a 30-minute standby but the Fastpass return time was 9:45 so we got those and decided to go through the Pangani Trail. Before doing so though we had to activate the first game on our Disney Magic Moment handheld video game. This is such a cool thing. The handheld game itself is kind of like a cheap, black and white, poor mans version of a Gameboy. The extremely cool part of it is that certain attractions at each of the four main theme parks beam out a signal that a sensor in your game picks up when you are near the attraction. It then unlocks a new game on the unit that you get to play. So, Kiliminjaro Safari was the first game we unlocked and it's a "breakout" type game. That kept both kids entertained while we strolled through the trail.

Lots of the gorillas were out and they were very active. The largest bachelor was walking around and looked right into our faces, which was almost eerie. He has such massively powerful muscles that ripple when he walks. He's fascinating to watch and very impressive. The silverback in the family group was also impressive and walking around with a few others. We got some good pictures of them. Further down the trail we saw a hippo in the underwater viewing area and a ton of fish.

We went back to the Safari and got right on with the Fastpasses. What a Safari, it was our best yet. We stopped for at least 5 minutes as a baby rhino walked in front of our vehicle and the driver didn't want to go between the mother and baby which was very wise. Another rhino came up to the back of the vehicle and the mother came to the front near the baby. They gave us a very good look over and appeared to be very willing to charge at us if we moved any closer to the baby. We had been rammed by a rhino for no apparent reason on a Safari a couple of years ago so I don't doubt an angry mother rhino would do so had we moved. They finally decided to move off the road and we finally got moving again (along with the 6 other vehicles lined up behind us). We saw lots of elephants, which pleased Megan. There were no cheetahs out but the usual assortments of other savanna animals were grazing. We had to stop again, this time for a one eyed ostrich blocking the road. He came right to the back where Bryce and I were sitting and I quickly moved Bryce over but the ostrich was just checking us out and quickly poked his head into the vehicle then went back to blocking the road. Our guide joked that our "two week tour" that she had warned us of as we boarded was now turning into a three week tour. Bryce was pleased to hear and see that we rescued Little Red. He asked if the poachers were real and I told him that these were just pretend but there are real poachers in some places.

After the Safari we took the path from Africa to Asia and were disappointed to find the secret path was gone. It's now blocked off and overgrown. It had been such a fun little secret that so few people knew about that the kids always felt like they were park experts for knowing about it. They were bummed out to find it gone. So, to saddle the children with their dad's same unhealthy association with food as comfort I bought them ice cream to make them feel better! Bryce got a Simba's paw print and Meg got a Nestle Toll House ice cream cookie sandwich.

We walked over to the new section of Dinoland and everyone liked it although I had an internal debate. I looked at it two ways, with a jaded view of it as a cheap addition to the area with the standard carnival type theme and rides. Also, though as kind of a wink and a nod to those kitschy, dino-themed parks I remember from my childhood like Jellystone National Park. I guess I was somewhere in the middle but leaning more towards the latter. After going through some of the shops especially and looking at the details I could tell what they were trying to do but I'm not sure if the theme would get lost and just seem tacky to most tourists. The one thing that kind of won me over was the asphalt. Yes, it made it very hot in the area (even on a relatively cool day) but the occasional painted stripes in it and other details really gave it a feel like they had just set up this carnival in a parking lot. I thought that was pretty cool and decided I would think of it like a Toontown for the Animal Kingdom.

We saw the Primeval Whirl was having a soft opening (operating before it's official opening date) so we got Fastpasses for it and went over to Triceratops Spin which only had a 5-minute wait. It was cute but basically the same ride as Aladdin's Magic Carpets. The front seats with Jenny and Megan controlled the frontward/backward pitch of the triceratops while the back seat with Bryce and I controlled the height. Just another Dumbo type clone but it fit into the theme of the area.

When we got off, our Fastpass time was still 20 minutes away but the standby time for Primeval Whirl was only 5 minutes so the girls went there while Bryce and I went to play some midway games. I let him play the whack-a-dino game but he only ended up hitting a couple of them and an older girl won. He then urged me to play the dino race game where you roll the rubber ball into holes labeled fast, medium and slow. I lost also and got a very long face from Bryce. I tried telling him that you don't win every time you play and it's fun just trying but by the time the girls met back up with us he was close to tears. Now the last thing we need in our house is another stuffed animal to go with the hundreds we already have. We also didn't need one more thing to carry with us on the trip home but I couldn't resist that sad, pathetic face of his. My mission was clear. My kids are still young enough to believe I can be a hero. So, with club in hand I put down my $2 and braved the whack-a-dino challenge. There were about half a dozen others playing including a steely-eyed dad next to me. We shot each other a Clint Eastwood "High Plains Drifter" stare and waited for the bell to sound. I whacked with all my might as if my position as alpha male in the family depended upon it. I was in a zone, never missing a dino. Near the end I stole a glance at the other dad who was even with me. When the bell rung I thought I had lost but I was soon handed a blue, stuffed dino that Bryce named Tri (ceratops). The look in his eyes like I was the greatest dad in the world made my whole trip. I guess it's kind of ironic that it was over a cheap stuffed animal from a cheesy midway game that I could have played back home but in all sincerity it was a nice moment.

Meg and I then used our Fastpasses for a ride on Primeval Whirl, which turned out to be much more fun than I had anticipated. It looks like a basic "mad mouse" type coaster with some cheesy "blast to the past" theme but the totally cool part was how your vehicle occasionally spins at various points. The spinning is fairly intense and seemed to catch most people by surprise. It really added to the ride, which is almost guaranteed to make you laugh. It was like riding a roller coaster on a "spinning teacup". When we got off Meg and Jen used the final two Fastpasses for another ride on it while Bryce and I went over to Dinosaur for Fastpasses there. We also activated the game on his handheld and played that as we walked back to meet the girls. We all looked in shops for a while and posed out back with the dinosaur statue. When we finally headed back over to Dinosaur we were still a bit early for our Fastpasses but the standby line was only 10 minutes so we went right in. We were very pleasantly surprised at how perfect the crowds and weather were today.

We had fun with the "Magical Moments" Tree of Life pin. It's such a neat idea. There are several lights of different colors on it that activate at various parades, rides, places in the parks, etc. There is a sensor in the pin that picks up signals beamed out when you are in these areas. Sometimes the pin just lights up in random ways or sometimes in coordinated colors. It lit up quite a few times during the ride. Bryce loved the ride again this year. It always surprises me that he likes it since it's very loud, very dark and fairly scary. Like seemingly all boys though he loves dinosaurs. We got off the ride and right back on after going through line with our Fastpasses. Bryce had me hold up Tri during the part where your picture is taken so he could be included with the rest of the family. I noticed that my pin was no longer lighting up. The batteries were dead after only one day. The pin came with another spare pair but they were back at the condo. I asked a cast member in a shop if I could get a replacement since we had bought the pin less than 24 hours before. They just offered to sell them to me though and I was too cheap so I waited to replace them that night at the condo.

Jenny ran ahead to get Fastpasses for "It's Tough To Be A Bug" but they weren't dispensing them since there was no wait for the show. We were all getting hungry by then so we went to the Flame Tree Barbecue and found our favorite spot down by the river. I was pleased to find the restaurant open since it had been open only "seasonally" and it's always one of our favorite places to relax. I went up and got a basket of seasoned fries, onion rings and was about to order a salad when I noticed that the lunch platters came with coleslaw (which Megan likes) and corn on the cob (which Bryce likes) so I ordered a BBQ chicken breast sandwich platter instead. To drink we had a large diet Coke and 3 cups of ice water. The total was $17.35. We shared everything. The sandwich was good with a very smoky BBQ sauce. The fries were not as good as in the past but the onion rings were a new menu addition and delicious. We enjoyed our lunch and the setting. It was a perfect way to slow down for a little while and get refreshed.

After lunch we went to the Tree of Life for "It's Tough To Be A Bug". We all enjoyed it again this year and I was glad Bryce did so well with it since there was (and always is) so many crying kids. It's pretty intense but he's familiar with all the characters in it and has seen the show several times now. Afterwards we were going to see the Pocahontas show but it had already started so we did our usual walk around the tree and the various garden areas. We spot new animals carved in the tree every time we look at it. Jenny loves those quiet, out of the way paths where they play the Animal Kingdom soundtrack so we took our time looking around.

By the time we had finished wandering around we had missed the final Pocahontas show of the day which was no big deal. Instead we decided to make our first venture to Rafiki's Planet Watch. I had always purposefully avoided the area just because there didn't seem to be much there and it was out of the way with a train ride involved. It was getting very warm out and we were glad to have the Misty Mate along. I had bought this after our last trip so this was our first time using it. I like it better than the Squeeze Breeze that we brought along also. The Misty Mate is basically a 16 ounce container that you fill with water (I also put in ice), pump up and then spray yourself with a nozzle that projects an ultra-fine cloud of mist. It supposedly can lower the air temp around you by 30 degrees. The Squeeze Breeze is more of just a regular spray bottle with a fan attached.

I'm glad we went to Rafiki's Planet Watch. The train ride was well themed and it was a relaxing ride back to the area. As I had read there wasn't a lot to the area but it was still nice to see something new. The kids enjoyed the petting farm but their favorite spot was the restroom with the animal noises playing and the various animal "poop facts" that are printed all over.

It was nearing 4PM and we were all starting to drag a little bit so we decided to call it a day. We took the train ride back and made the long walk to the van. When we got back to the condo the kids immediately changed into their swimsuits and went running to the pool with me closely following behind. I really enjoy the pool area at the condo and it was nice to get some quality down time to recharge after a day in a theme park. We all swam for a while and I took trip report notes. We finally dragged the kids out of the pool at 6PM so we could get dinner.

We first made a quick trip to the Character Premiere store at the Lake Buena Vista mall. We didn't find anything too interesting this time. I love the prices here and they always have a great selection and very good deals but we just didn't find much to suit us this time. Meg did end up with a ring and Bryce got Pooh lollipops but that was it. We were starving so we went to Jungle Jim's at Crossroads, which is our favorite cheap table service restaurant. The restaurant was about half full so we got seated right away.

I had a diet Coke, Jenny had a Bud light and the kids had water. I had printed a coupon from the Internet for a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees. We ordered the chicken nachos, which were big enough to feed all of us. Of course we were all hungry so that didn't stop us from ordering more. The girls shared a "safari" club sandwich and the boys shared a mushroom, onion and Swiss cheese Gardenburger. The food was good and the value was great as always. The total bill with tax and tip after the coupon was $26.16, can't beat that for a meal that left all of us happy and stuffed.

We got home at 9 and everyone else fell asleep quickly. I wrote trip report notes for an hour but soon joined the rest of the sleeping crew.

The Plan: Day 4: Tuesday, April 9, 2002.

Pool day. Water Mice rental in the late afternoon.

Dinner at Chef Mickey's at 5:45PM PS#23631131. No fireworks today at the Magic Kingdom.

The Reality:

After adjusting our schedule yesterday to add in the Animal Kingdom we pretty much threw the rest of the "plan" out the window. Actually we stuck to most of it but we just changed the days around. Today we wanted to go to Epcot so we were all up by 8AM and had breakfast of cinnamon rolls and orange juice. Jenny as usual skipped breakfast but made a new breakfast creation of a bagel with scrambled eggs and left over Taco Bell hot sauce. She took it along in cooler for later.

It felt odd to be getting to Epcot so "late". I didn't like the new 10AM opening. We are early risers and the one-hour later start just gave us less advantage over the late sleepers. We left the condo at 9:20 and had to park out further than usual when we got to Epcot but we still got through the gates right at opening. We found a photographer and had our annual picture taken (the one at the beginning of the report) in front of Spaceship Earth.

After that we made a beeline for Test Track and got Fastpasses valid from 10:50 to 11:50. The standby line was a 20-minute wait and Bryce was begging to go on it but we convinced him we would come back in an hour with no wait. So, we went over to the Honey I Shrunk the Audience. During the pre-show the cast member asked how many people had seen the show before. There were very few raised hands so we knew we would be for a good show. I wouldn't see this show again if it weren't for the fun of watching and hearing first timers reaction to all of the special effects. There was a lot of screaming when the mice were turned loose. For some reason Bryce just doesn't like this show. I don't think it's fear because it's certainly less intense than the similar It's Tough To Be A Bug show he saw the day before. For whatever reason though he always asks to leave about halfway through the show. Being the evil parent I am though I plopped him on my lap and made him stay. He was OK, not crying or anything, just kind of bored and wanting to get to Test Track which I believe was probably the real reason he wanted to leave.

After the show our Fastpass time had arrived so we started over to Test Track after a quick restroom stop and visit with the talking drinking fountain. Several people were drinking from the fountain and not even realizing that it was talking to them. The kids had fun with it though. Jenny and Megan also stopped and got matching "friends forever" ankle chains that they still wear often. It was very sweet. As we were there the Jammitors started their routine. We always enjoy them so we watched for a few minutes. They look like regular Disneyworld janitors but they break out into some wild percussion on their trashcans. They are very entertaining and worth seeing.

We finally arrived for Bryce's first ride on Test Track. He had been all set to go on our last trip but when we got close to it he backed out. Well he talked about it for the next 9 months after that and how it was going to be his favorite ride. Here we were and he seemed set to go. Unfortunately, the ride broke down so we had a 20-minute wait but that wasn't too bad. It was just long enough that he started getting a little nervous in line. He didn't say anything but I could sense it. As we got closer I told him it was OK if he didn't want to go but he said he wanted to ride. We got in the car and started. He absolutely loved it. As we went over the cobblestone roads, mountain trail, ABS area, etc. he kept shouting, "yeah, baby!" It's now his favorite ride. He looked a bit nervous during the start of the outside speed area but he did fine with it and was holding up his arms by the end. I had on the Magic Moments pin and it lit up frequently during the ride. The coolest part was when we were in the environmental tests. In the heat room the pin lit up all in red lights. In the cold room it was all in blue lights. In the corrosion room it was all in yellow.

After exiting we got Fastpasses again but they were for 2:30 to 3:30. The girls went to Mousegear for some shopping. Bryce wanted to go to Ice Station Cool so I took him there but it wasn't yet open. We looked through the entertainment schedule and saw that Krystos was starting a show in just a few minutes. We called the girls on the family radios and told them to hurry over. It's only about a 5-minute show but is very impressive. Three people are dressed in strange head to toe, form fitting tights that give them the appearance of aliens. They perform by gracefully lifting each other and contorting into an array of acrobatic positions. They are a favorite of Jenny's.

We finally got over to World Showcase around 11:45. We went to Mexico first and were surprised to see El Rio del Tiempo open early from it's rehab so we took a ride on the south of the border "Small World". After that the kids got their requisite photos while wearing sombreros of every size. While in the Mexico pavilion we started our pressed penny collection. We decided to get one from each country that had Mickey and some symbol of that country. It was a fun way to move the kids along when needed and it was a cheap souvenir at $.51 each.

Bryce wanted to go play on the viking ship so we went over to Norway but the ship was walled off for repairs. I saw that Maelstrom was open although I thought I had read that it was down for repairs. Fastpass was not operating though. Before going for a ride we stopped in the Kringla Bakery and got a sweet pretzel and lefse. The kids loved the pretzel and liked the lefse but decided it wasn't as good as Grandpa Blomster's. We also for the first time took a look inside the stave church. It's a small but very interesting exhibit. Jenny's dad would love it. We finally got to Maelstrom and it was a complete walk on. We walked right on to a waiting boat. No wonder they were not operating Fastpass. Both kids enjoyed the ride through the fjords, the North Sea and past the trolls. On our way out through the gift shop we stopped and got our Norwegian pressed penny.

China was next up and we first stopped for a couple of egg rolls for our traditional snack walk around the world. We looked all over for a pressed penny machine but could not find one in the shop. We finally asked and found out they don't have one in China. We strolled around a while then moved over to the Outpost. It was starting to get warm so we hosed everyone down with the Mistymate and stopped for more snacks. I had a tray of pineapple, Bryce had a cookies and cream ice cream sandwich, Megan had a Nestle Toll House ice cream sandwich and Jenny was her usual disciplined self and drank ice water.

The trains in Germany were calling to Bryce so he ran over there and we followed. We were able to drag him through some shops with the promise of finding a pressed penny. I've always wanted to try the Biergartern restaurant so we looked inside to scope it out for a future meal. Although everyone liked the atmosphere I was the only one not repulsed by the overpowering aroma of sauerkraut. Still, I think I'll be able to convince the rest of them to eat there on the next trip. The kids would really enjoy the Octoberfest theme and dancing while Jenny and I would enjoy the liters of beer! We went back through some shops and found our pressed penny.

After stopping for a restroom break we wandered over to Italy for our next penny purchase. We took a look in Alfredo's and liked the atmosphere but it's not high on our priority list of Epcot restaurants to try. We also got our penny in one of the shops.

We were all getting a bit tired from the heat so we decided to go to America where we just missed the start of the show. That was fine though as it gave us a nice rest in the air conditioning and we got to see all of the Voices of Liberty show which I've always been fond of but seems even more poignant post September 11. For some reason we broke the cardinal rule of not letting the children sit next to each other and so there was quite a bit of pinching, poking and prodding during the American Adventure show. And that was just from Jenny telling me to keep them quiet. We all enjoyed the show and as usual I had my only cry of the year during the Golden Dreams segment with the pictures of Ryan White, Walt Disney, Jim Henson and Ronald Reagan. There are lots of other folks in that segment of course but for some reason the site of those four just always gets me. It was good to get that out of my system for another year. After the show we got our penny in the shop and also bought a patriotic Mickey print. We have it framed in our hallway at home now.

The Yakitori House in Japan was calling to us so we got a Shogun combination, a couple of ice waters and a diet Coke. We've never had the beef here before and it wasn't all that great, tasty but fairly fatty. The chicken was a hit as always though and the kids ate most of it. We stopped at the little shop at the base of the hill and got rice candy for both kids. We then went through the exhibit of Japanese baseball which was very interesting. I enjoyed the pictures of Sadaharu Oh who I got to see once in a home run hitting competition with Hank Aaron after they were both retired. They both had amazing careers. We then browsed through the Mitsukoshi store and discovered there are no pressed pennies in Japan but they said they had Japan version in Morocco.

Over in Morocco we did the pennies then Megan got a frozen strawberry bar and Bryce got a Itzakadoozie popsicle for our stroll through the medina. After looking through the shops we went to France where we found a very funny mime blending in with the crowd. He would pick out one person and follow very close to the side and slightly behind them copying their every move. He was very talented and after enough people caught on to what he was doing and a crowd formed he put on a show. Everyone gathered around in a circle and he brought one person up at a time, usually a child, and did hilarious interactions with them. After the show we got our pressed penny and moved on.

It was very warm and we were getting tired so we skipped the UK and Canada although we did hear a little bit of British Invasion as we were walking by. Jenny got a Labatt's in Canada and the kids stopped at the store at the front of the lagoon where Bryce got rock candy, Megan got Jellybeans and Jenny bought some Mickey mints a photo album.

We decided to call it a day but the kids begged me to take them into Ice Station Cool where Megan stuck to her favorite Kinley lemon and Bryce and I enjoyed the Vegi-beta. It was very refreshing on a hot day. I then took the kids on Spaceship Earth while Jenny went to the camera center and bought the picture of us that we had taken earlier in the day.

We finally left Epcot at 6:15 after a very fun and long day at the park. We went back to the condo and then straight to the pool where the kids swam for two hours straight. Jenny ran to the store for a few more groceries and picked up our gourmet dinner from Taco Bell. We ate back in the room and after our long day everyone was asleep by 9PM.

The Plan: Day 5: Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Magic Kingdom. Open 9AM to 6PM.

Breakfast at 'Ohana. 8:30AM PS #23631135

Fast pass attractions: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan

Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. Pick up Fastpasses for one then ride the other first.

Pick up Fastpasses for Space Mountain.

Ride Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin.

Carousel of Progress if it is still open.

Go to the Haunted Mansion.

Pirates of the Caribbean.

See the Tiki Room show.

Lunch at Tony's. 1:00PM PS#23631138

No dinner plans

The Reality:

We decided to make today a down day by the pool after the past two theme park days. We did our normal morning routine and were to the pool by 9AM. There were lots of salespeople around giving the dreaded 90-minute timeshare tour. I don't mind doing those things but I'm still glad to just be paying a nice low price to be staying here and not be subjected to the presentation. We spent two hours in the pool relaxing and finally convinced the kids to come in and shower after promising them we would rent water mice. We went to the Wilderness Lodge and looked all around before going to the marina to rent the boats. We got two of them. Bryce and I were in one and Jenny and Megan in the other. The very nice cast member signed us out late and gave us an extra 15 minutes free. We cruised all around Bay Lake and were very saddened to see River Country drained. We had a great time though jumping over the wakes of the ferries and bigger boats and looking at all of the great scenery in Seven Seas Lagoon. We cruised for 45 minutes but were only charged for 1/2 hour. The total charge for both boats after the annual pass 15% discount was $37.39

We went over the Downtown Disney for the rest of the day. Our first stop was Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch. I got a four cheese pizza for the kids to share and a Chinois chicken salad for Jenny and I to share. The kids drank water, I had a diet lemon Coke and Jenny had a Labatts. The total after our 20% Disney Club discount was $19.45 The kids inhaled the pizza which was small so I ordered another one and got a huge brownie for dessert. The total this time was $8.46 The Disney Club discount essentially made the brownie free. The salad was very good and the pizza was good but not great. For the price I thought it would be much better. I wouldn't be in a hurry to return here for a meal.

We started the walk over to the World of Disney store but stopped for the train rides first. We were very pleasantly surprised to find very few people in the store. Bryce found a stuffed Tigger and Jenny got a "been there, done that, going back" license plate frame that looks really cheesy on our minivan back home but we had to get it. I got the die cast miniature "doom buggy" that I had kicked myself for not buying last year. Megan didn't find anything but reserved her right to make a future purchase since her brother got something. So, we managed to escape the store having spent a modest $21.95 after the 10% Disney Club discount.

We were too lazy to walk so we drove over to Disneyquest. There were no lines for anything except Virtual Pirates of the Caribbean so of course that is where we went first. It's our favorite thing in the place so we didn't mind waiting 15 minutes for it although it was a little frustrating since they only had two of the simulators operating. We finally got on our ship with Jenny as the captain and we set sail. That is until we got to the end of the harbor. For some reason we couldn't leave and we kept bumping into something. It was the same sensation as when you bump into land but we were clearly in the middle of the passageway to go out to the open sea. After 5 frustrating minutes I went and got a cast member who reset us and we finally had things in working order. We did very well. We sunk quite a few ships and defeated the ghost pirate. We got the third highest ranking but I can't remember what it is called. I do remember harbormaster was the top ranking and we were two down from that.

The virtual Jungle Cruise next door had no line at all so we went there next. We went a very long ways according to the map but we didn't find the beacon. Does anybody ever find it? We always seem to do pretty well on the ride but never find anything.

The girls went to do the Aladdin ride while Bryce and I did the Treasure of the Incas. He tried yelling out which directions to go but we only ended up with 3 or 4 treasures. We had a good time playing though. We met back up with the girls and convinced Bryce to try Aladdin. Megan sat out a second time though as the helmet hurt her head. This was Bryce's first time on the ride as well as mine. You sit on plastic contraptions that look vaguely like bicycles and wear virtual reality helmets. The helmets have microphones and headphones so you can hear each of the other players. That was the best part. The storyline is pretty cool. You try to find a golden scarab and then the Genie before hot tailing it out of the cave. Bryce found the scarab and I found the Genie. It was hilarious to hear Bryce's running commentary throughout the ride including "I'm getting hot!!" when he was in the lava tunnel. It was a very fun ride.

We went up to the next floor where Megan and Jenny played around with some of the exhibits while Bryce and I designed two coasters for Cyber Space Mountain. The first one had 7 inversions but came out at a level four (five being the wildest) so we really tried to kick the second one up a notch and managed to get in 9 inversions and get the level five rating. Jenny and Megan were riding first (Bryce is too short) and we gave them the level five ride. Jenny had been fighting a cold ever since we got to Florida and after her 7 inversions she was a bit nauseous but OK. Megan and I then did the level 4 coaster.

We went back to the condo after that for a brief rest and Jenny felt much better. We decided on Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club for dinner so we drove there and when I told the guard we were going to Beaches and Cream for dinner he said "no you're not, you're going for dessert!". We all got a laugh out of that. He was a nice fellow and I took it as a sign of that crowds being lower since we didn't get a parking pass when it was near the time folks would start arriving for Illuminations.

Bryce had fallen asleep in the car so we put him in the stroller and walked around Stormalong Bay. This has got to be the coolest pool I have ever seen and I've seen some pretty opulent pools but you can't beat this one for fun. It's just a sprawling complex of water that is basically a mini water park.

We got to Beaches and Cream and woke up Bryce who was in a surly mood. Even though I knew he wouldn't drink much of it I let him order a strawberry shake to avoid what was looking to be a potential meltdown. As I suspected the $4.95 milkshake (just like in Pulp Fiction) went largely untouched but it seemed get him through the meal without making a scene. He saved that for later. The girls split a cheeseburger and fries, I got a veggie burger and fries and we got a side order of onion rings. Megan had root beer, I had diet Coke and Jenny had Bud Light. We had very good service. The drinks were out right away and the food was quick as well. When the girls' burger arrived it was split onto two plates for them and each had a full order of fries. We had more than enough food for all of us and stuffed ourselves trying to finish. The burgers were just OK, nothing special this time but it's a fun atmosphere in the restaurant. The total with tax and tip came to $38.

Jenny was not feeling all that great but was being a trooper and said we should all walk to the Boardwalk instead of just going back to the condo for the evening. We stopped in the arcade next to the restaurant for a quick game of air hockey, which turned out to be a big mistake. Bryce scored the first goal but Megan scored the next two, which prompted him to throw his paddle. That earned him a timeout and a good cry while I finished the game with Meg. We continued out to the Boardwalk and he was in full melt down. So we put him in his stroller and continued on while he wailed the entire way. I sure wish I could have got a nap out of him earlier. He finally turned off the siren about the time we got over to bridge past the Swan.

We saw lots of entertainment out. Megan got to twirl a lasso with a cowgirl and we watched Randy the juggler put on a very entertaining show. We stopped at Seashore Sweets for Baby Bottle Pops for the kids (at about 3 times the cost back home). Jenny and I each had ice cream in waffle cones. Cookies and cream for her and butter pecan for me. The ice cream was delicious and the temperature was perfect for a lovely night out on the Boardwalk with everyone finally happy. As we were eating we saw a little but heard a lot of Illuminations. That was a fun way to end the evening.

We called it a night and went back to the condo arriving just before 10PM. I made trip report notes for an hour but the others were snoozing in no time.

The Plan: Day 6: Thursday, April 11, 2002.

Blizzard Beach. Open 10AM to 6PM.

Snag a good spot with shade in Tike's Peak.

Take along a picnic lunch.

Dinner at Chevy's or the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs.

The Reality:

Wow, I woke up at 8AM. I slept nine hours and it felt wonderful. Jenny's cold was a little worse this morning so it was probably a good thing we were sticking to our plan of a waterpark and a laid back day. We did the morning routine. Bryce had a cinnamon roll and orange juice for breakfast. Megan and I had Eggbeaters and toast.

We were out the door at 9:30 and took the Osceola Parkway straight to Blizzard Beach. We got into the park a few minutes before rope drop so I sent Jenny and Megan ahead to get our favorite spot and they did. Bryce was in the stroller and we leisurely got a pressed penny, a lifejacket, a locker and a $10 mug with free refills all day. We met up with the girls in Tike's Peak and all immediately got on the chair lift to the top of Mount Gushmore. We had a great view up there of all of the other park landmarks. We rode the Teamboat Springs family raft ride and had great fun. It always surprises me at how long of a ride it is.

We convinced Bryce to go on Runoff Rapids on the backside of the mountain. Bryce and I went on one of the double tubes and he loved it. It was the magical moment for the day. At each turn he would yell out "ooh baby!". When we got to the bottom he demanded to go on it again with Jenny. With some chagrin Jenny counted the 137 steps up to the top of the ride. It was nice though that Bryce didn't complain a bit about climbing them. Normally he would be asking me to carry him. He enjoyed the second ride just as much. After that Jenny and I took turns doing the Downhill Double Dipper with Megan. This was only slide in the park that I hadn't been on before. My extreme body mass propelled me to the fastest time (5.76) that I saw. It was a fun ride but over very quickly

Jenny went back to Tike's Peak with Bryce. Megan and I bobbed in the waves of Meltaway Bay for quite a while. We came back and had our bagel sandwich with cream cheese, egg and salsa along with Pringles and pink lemonade in our new mug. It was pretty cool how the mugs work. There is a sticker with a bar code on the mug coded to the day you buy it. At the drink stations you have to scan the bar code and it then unlocks the soda dispenser.

After lunch the girls went on Cross Country Creek and a few more slides. Bryce of course was perfectly content in the kids area and had a great time going down all of the slides. I was able to take trip report notes for a long while. When everyone met back up later I convinced the kids to go on Cross Country Creek with me. I just love floating around this lazy river in the big inner tubes. The kids still don't see the point of doing anything relaxing so they generally splashed and chattered incessantly at me. Bryce wasn't too keen on all of the areas that squirt water on you so in trying to keep him away from them I got soaked each time. The ice water dripping from the cave is freezing! Jenny found and joined us about half way around. She was feeling lousy but making the most of the day and not complaining. We saw a really nice moment with a dad and his teen son with advanced MS having a great time nearby. It was very touching and sweet to see how loving and gentle they were with each other.

We all went to Melt Away Bay and swam for a long time and then went to the Ski Patrol Training area. This is Megan's favorite part of the park as it's designed for kids just her age. It's nice to have an area like this for kids who are too big for Tike's Peak but not ready for the intense slides in the rest of the park. So, we spent quite a bit of time letting her have fun there.

We left the park at 3:30PM and went back to the condo to get showered and cleaned up. I tried to get Bryce to take a quick nap to avoid another meltdown like we had the day before but he was having none of it and I gave up after an hour. So, we took back off and drove to the Contemporary. I pointed out the water bridge that you drive under and they thought it was pretty cool that we had been in the water mice over the roadway a few days before.

I always like visiting the Contemporary, it's a fun place but it wouldn't be high on my list of lodging choices. For the price I would rather stay somewhere else and just visit. We went up to the fourth floor and arrived at Chef Mickey's. I saw a whole stack of pagers at the podium, which I took as a good sign since we didn't have priority seating. They said it would be a fifteen-minute wait but by the time we got our family picture the wait was only 5 minutes. We had an OK table in the middle of the room but a very good server who took several pictures of all of us with the characters. He even brought out a pitcher of diet Coke for me after I downed the first two in quick order.

We wasted no time and went right for the buffet. I found an outstanding olive salad with five varieties of olives and feta cheese. I did my Greek heritage proud by eating my fill of it. I tried a small piece of cod in a garlic sauce, which was OK but nothing too special, a couple of chicken fingers and huge scoop of those fantastic parmesan mashed potatoes. Jenny did the sensible thing as usual and had a green salad first. Megan our carnivore on the other hand dove straight into the meats including turkey breast (OK), BBQ pork loin (tough and dry) and numerous other things. Bryce stuck with the parmesan mashed potatoes with gravy, pizza and a hot dog. Both kids had chocolate milk with dinner, which was included in the price of the buffet.

As usual the food was very good and the character interaction was great. There was the standard group of Mickey, Minnie, Chip (but for some reason no Dale) & Goofy. Donald was up at the front of the restaurant where he usually resides. We all went back for seconds and tried a few different things but mostly stuck to the favorites from the first time through. We really did some damage on the dessert buffet after that though. We even convinced Jenny to try a dainty slice of cheesecake. The rest of us each had a half dozen diffent things. Both kids made the requisite cupcakes which they only picked at. They like the idea of them much more than actually eating them. They both loved the tiny fruit tarts though. Megan had seven of them! I had some key lime pie, a warm brownie, a chocolate chip cookie and then a stomach ache. I don't each much like that anymore but it sure was treat. The total cost of the meal with tax and tip was $80.

After dinner we hopped on the nearby monorail and made a full loop around the Seven Seas Lagoon. We didn't dally too long though because it was Thursday and as much as I'm ashamed to admit it that meant Survivor: Marquesas. What can I say? I'm hooked on it; it's one of the few guilty TV pleasures I have. I was disappointed to see the loathsome Boston Rob voted off the island, not because I liked him but because he made the show interesting. The rest of the family fell asleep by 9:30 and I stayed up until 11 taking trip report notes.

The Plan: Day 7: Friday, April 12, 2002.

Disney-MGM Studios. Open 9AM to 8:30PM.

Fastpass attractions: Rock N Roller Coaster, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, Muppet Vision, What Wants to be a Millionaire.

Make Fantasmic! dinner reservations for 4:45PM at Mama Melrose next Wednesday, April 17th.

Rock n' Roller coaster first then Tower of Terror.

Try to catch the first Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid shows.

Muppetvision 4D.

Hunchback of Notre Dame show.

12:15PM lunch at Sci-Fi-Drive In. PS#23631142

Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.

Animation tour.

Go to the Great Movie Ride.

See Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.

The Reality:

We all were up by 7AM. I made omelets and toast for the kids breakfast, then badgered them into getting dressed and brushing their teeth. They are slowly resigning themselves to the fact that sunscreen will be applied regardless of the amount of whining or wiggling. I sometimes still do those things but the children have at least stopped.

We left the condo at 8:25 and parked pretty close to the entrance of Disney Studios. We walked in a few minutes before 9AM and lined up on Sunset Boulevard for rope drop. Jenny and Megan went straight to Rock 'n Roller Coaster while Bryce and I got Fastpasses for the Tower of Terror. I got a good laugh out of a teenage boy saying to his dad "Hey, I think that hotel has a ride in it". My response, which didn't leave my mouth, was "Duh!" Didn't these people ever read a guidebook, the park map, the billboard advertising the ride on the way in, the signs in the park pointing the way to the ride? Something? Anything? I guess not everyone prepares for a trip to Disneyworld with the same precision as the battle plan for storming the beach at Normandy. To each their own.

After the girls rode the coaster, Megan took me on it again with very little wait. She was not pleased with our seat in the very last row as the ride is considerably more rough there. She did fine with it though after giving off an indication that a snit was brewing just under the surface. I love this ride and just can not help laughing when you are launched at the beginning. It's actually a fairly tame coaster despite the launch and three inversions but in typical Disney fashion it's all about the theme and I really like Aerosmith.

Speaking of theme, the Tower of Terror is one of my favorite rides as much for the wonderful hotel and grounds as for the ride itself. We went over there next where Bryce shocked us all by saying that he wanted to ride. Megan has always been very game to just jump right onto whatever ride we take her on. Bryce is much more cautious and we don't push him. That strategy finally paid off this year. After a five-minute wait for our Fastpass time to arrive (during which time we were pleased to watch a cast member direct a smoker to the smoking area and away from the waiting area) we got in line. We had very little wait in the lobby of the hotel, which is a shame because it's my favorite part. After a five-minute wait in the boiler room we finally got on our elevator and had a great time. After the ride was over Bryce exchanged high fives with everyone but then announced that one ride was enough.

We went to the first show of Beauty and the Beast and got there early to see 4 for a Dollar the great a cappella group but they were not performing today and there was no pre show entertainment. The show was great though as always and the highlight of Jenny's day at the Studios. After the show we split up. Megan and Jenny went for another ride on Rock n Roller coaster while Bryce and I went to the Playhouse Disney show. Bryce enjoyed the show and liked all of the additional characters that are now in it compared to the past when it was just Bear in the Big Blue House. After the show we all met back up and got Fastpasses for Who Wants to be a Millionaire before continuing on to Star Tours. There was only a five-minute wait to get on. Bryce really enjoyed the ride much more this year since he is now familiar with the Star Wars movies (and Yoda is his hero).

It was noon so we went over to the Sci-Fi Drive In for our 12:15 priority seating. We got there just as a torrential downpour started. It was raining buckets and everyone had the same idea to escape the rain and eat at the Sci-Fi. Thank goodness we had priority seating because the waiting area was jam packed. We were shown to our car after five minutes. Jenny and I both ordered the Sci Fi salad which is fantastic. It's one of my favorites at Disneyworld. It has mixed baby greens, walnuts, blue cheese and an excellent viniagrette. It's small but still a good deal at $3.25. We also got fries to share and the kids split the children's hot dog meal. For dessert the kids split a 100th anniversary cookie monster dessert which was not listed on the menu but they made it when we asked. After Bryce promptly snatched and gobbled up the chocolate sorcerer's hat on top some sibling squabbling ensued. Jenny and I debated on sneaking out of the back seat of the car and leaving the children with the bill. They finally realized that the dessert was melting during the bickering so they got over it and down to eating. Other than that it was a perfect respite in the middle of the day and a great way to wait out the rain. The total bill with tax and tip was a quite reasonable $23.52

Our Millionaire Fastpass time was up so we went there although there was no real need for the Fastpass. There was plenty of open seating and no wait for the standby line. I got the fastest finger question correct but not fast enough. A teen girl in front of us got it in 3/4 of a second! She didn't do very well and had used a couple of lifelines already by the time she hit the 1,000-point mark. She lost on the question after that but at least she got the hat and pins for reaching that level. I knew that you had to not only answer the questions correctly but quickly to get on the leaderboard so I started pressing the right answer repeatedly when the question was displayed but before the time to answer arrived. That seemed to help because when they showed the next leaderboard I was in fifth place. When they showed that my magic moments pin lit up and went nuts, very cool. I wonder how they did that. My pin didn't light up on the first round when they showed the leaderboard and I wasn't on it. Do they somehow beam a signal out to just the seats that are on the leaderboard? If that is the case I'm really impressed (and a little alarmed) at the technology. Whatever the case though I thought it was pretty cool although I would have much preferred to be in the hotseat. The show stopped with the current guy in the hotseat at 8,000 points so I'll have to wait until next time to fulfill my dream.

On our way out we saw that Sorcerer Mickey was inside the little area next door with no line so we went and got some pictures with him. That motivated us to go over to the One Man's Dream exhibit. I loved it. It was a celebration of all things Walt who I consider to be one of the greatest individuals of the 20th century because of the joy and imagination he inspired among millions (perhaps billions). The man was truly a genius. The scale models of castles and the Tree of Life were very impressive but the most touching was Walt's elementary school desk, which he had carved his initials into. The kids liked that although I told them not to get any ideas. We didn't stay for the movie although I wish now we would have. It was all very interesting and well worth the visit.

Since we were right next to the Great Movie Ride we went over there and had a ten-minute wait. The kids love the Tarzan and Munchkinland sets but the rest of it is a bit boring for them. I always like the film clips at the end.

In order to finish off the area we looked at the exhibits under the giant Sorcerer's hat. The kiosk's with trivia questions were fun although very easy. The magic moments pin lit up every time we got a correct answer which the kids thought was very cool. They made me answer questions at one kiosk while they were each at different ones and had me shouting out the answers to them.

We went to the Backlot after that and activated the last game for the Magic Moments video game (having already activated the Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster earlier). We strolled around the New York Street just enjoying the atmosphere. I tried to talk Bryce into going to the Muppets but had no luck. I still don't know why he loves It's Tough to be a Bug but hates Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and Muppetvision 3D which are essentially the same concept but a little more tame.

We sent the kids off to run free in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playset. Jenny and I meanwhile had a break at the Studio Catering Company next door. I ordered a diet Coke and popcorn while Jenny went to a different stand a got a beer and pretzel combo. An older guy in front of her with a thick northeast accent ordering a "dark" beer entertained her. This confused the gal selling it who thought he was ordering a "Doc's" hard lemonade. They finally got the language barrier cleared up and my beloved and I enjoyed a rare couple of minutes alone.

The kids had burned off enough energy that we felt they were in good shape to sit for a while for the upcoming parade. So, we went all the way back to Mickey Avenue at the entrance to the park and found a spot on the curb to sit on. The Stars and Motorcars parade was good but not great as far as Disney parades go. I thought the motorcycle cops at the beginning of the parade looked a bit swishy with their black sashes and chrome helmets. There were lots of characters in the parade and Bryce really enjoyed it. He was thrilled to see Mike and Sully from Monsters, Inc. We left immediately after it was over at 5PM.

We went back to the condo and then straight to the pool. We stayed for several hours. The children only left the pool long enough to make an occasional mad dash to the restroom before making a running leap back into the pool. I believe they are growing gills. Jenny ran out for another gourmet dinner to go from Taco Bell. We all ate by the pool. The children barely chewing so they could leap back in the water. Mom, if you are reading this I apologize for not making them wait 1/2 an hour.

The Plan: Day 8: Saturday, April 13, 2002.

Morning at Disneyquest. Open at 11:30AM. Afternoon at the pool.

9:30AM character breakfast at 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian. PS#23631146

Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express or Rainforest Café.

Dessert at Ghiradelli.

Shop Downtown Disney. Use DC discount.

The Reality:

We got up at 8AM and were out the door at 9 for our 9:30AM priority seating at the 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. We had a five-minute wait and the kids colored at a little activity table and watched a video. Mary Poppins came over and visited them for a while so we got some good pictures of them.

Breakfast was excellent. Bryce got a plateful of items but ate 1/2 slice of bacon. That made for an expensive $10 buffet but after meeting some characters he eventually ate a bunch of fruit. Megan and I made up for him. I had pineapple, a pecan sticky bun, scrambled eggs, cheesy hash browns (which were really good), fried potato wedges (which were not) and more bacon than I had consumed in the entire previous year (about 6 slices). I also had the famous strawberry soup, which was delicious and very rich. One cup was plenty. The girls had mostly the same items and we enjoyed everything. The Mad Hatter came around and first commented on how many freckles Megan had. The hostess had also made a comment to her when we were seated so I guess they have really popped out in the Florida sun. The Mad Hatter then decided that she had chicken pox so he pretended to not want to be near her. He was very funny. I listened in as he worked the room and he prattled off about half a dozen different one liners at each table.

We all went back for made to order omelets after that when common sense should have told us to quit eating. Alice, Pooh and Eeyore rounded out the other characters that came to visit us. I must have drunk 8 glasses of orange juice during breakfast. It was wonderful and they continually topped off my glass. The service was excellent. When we finished the kids were getting a bit antsy. Jenny took them out of the restaurant while I stayed and paid the bill ($65.00 with tax and tip). It was funny to have all of the characters come around and either ask what I did to scare away my family or make some crack about sticking me with the bill.

We pretended we were rich guests and strolled the grounds after that and looked over the pool and beach areas. Someday when money is no object we will stay here. I'm not holding my breath.

We drove over to the Wilderness Lodge and went down to the rental building where we got a 4 seat surrey bike and set off on the trail to Fort Wilderness. The bike was a blast and despite it being very heavy the trail was nice and flat so it was easy to pedal. We felt like we were at least attempting to undo the some of the calorie carnage from breakfast. It was only a 10-minute ride on the trail. We parked our bike and a peacock came over to it. He saw his reflection in the chrome fenders and he was none too happy about it. We watched him for about 5 minutes and it just got funnier. He puffed out his chest and just kept eyeing his rival. He eventually started pecking at the reflection. We were easily amused by the display but then after realizing we were paying $42 an hour for that privilege we moved on.

The kids made a quick once over of the petting farm. They got some feed for the goats and Bryce cracked up as one of them belched as he was feeding it. That's just about the ultimate in entertainment for a five-year-old. We also took a quick look in the stables at the draft horses. They were all big, beautiful animals. Bryce saw the pictures on the wall of horses from famous Disney scenes and he asked about the headless horseman. He had never heard of it before so I made up an abridged version of the story which creeped him out for a few days afterward. He kept nervously asking questions about it. He's not scared anymore but he wants to see the movie. We looked around a couple of places for it later in the trip but couldn't find a copy.

We pedaled back to the Wilderness Lodge and made a quick stop and tour of the Villas. I really enjoy the Iron Spike room with memorabilia from Walt's trains. We turned in the bike right at the hour mark. There was no annual pass or Disney Club discounts so the total was $43.99

It was fairly warm and the kids were clamoring for pool time so we went back to the condo where Jenny and I relaxed while the kids whipped themselves into an aquatic frenzy. It may not be on par with the design and theme of Disney pools but this is still a pretty nice pool and the kids love it.

The only thing that convinced them to leave the pool was the promise of miniature golf. We all had quick showers and then went out to Winter/Summerland. We decided on Summerland. With the 50% annual pass discount it was $18.60 for the four of us. Not a bad deal. The kids had a grand time. Jenny and Bryce had never been here before and they loved all the little details that make this to golf courses what the Magic Kingdom is to amusement parks.

I'm thinking Megan might have a shot at making the LPGA cut. She had two holes in one early on and finished with the low score in our group. In fact she was only one over the daily course record. She was justifiably proud. Bryce was equally proud when he managed to have the putter make contact with the ball. It happened every now and then.

After our 18 holes we felt another big meal was in order so we went to Chevy's at Crossroads. There was a very large group of teens that entered right before us but we were still seated within five minutes. It's one of our favorites with good and plentiful food at reasonable prices. Jenny and I split a pitcher of Bud Light. Jenny and Megan split a huge order or nachos and I attempted to split a huge platter of two chimichangas and enchilada with Bryce. He was a bit wound up though and was a quite a handful. Thankfully he wasn't loud and bothering anyone else but it wasn't exactly a relaxing meal. Of course no meal is a relaxing meal with our children but we can generally get them to calm down with the promise of dessert which turned out to be free today. Our waitress brought out ice cream cones for both kids at the end of the meal. That was very nice. It was a very good meal and more than we could eat. The nachos rock. $36 with tax and tip.

We got back to the condo at 8:30 and just relaxed a bit before turning in early.

The Plan: Day 9: Sunday, April 14, 2002.

Animal Kingdom. Open at 9AM to 5PM.

Fastpass attractions: Dinosaur, It's Tough to be a Bug , Kilimanjaro Safaris

Kiliminjaro Safari

Camp Minnie-Mickey to see the characters

Pocahontas and Friends

It's Tough to be a Bug

Lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue if it is open. Tusker House if not.

Tarzan rocks

Dinosaur

Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch

Play at the Boneyard

Explore the Tree of Life Gardens

Taco Bell take out poolside at the condo for dinner.

The Reality:

We got up at 7AM prepared for our day ahead. Since we had visited the Animal Kingdom at the beginning of the week we decided we should finally get to the Magic Kingdom today. We left the condo and parked at the Polynesian (yes, I know I'm an evil person for taking up a parking spot that should be for hotel guests only). On the way through the resort we saw the Character Caravan. We got some pictures with King Louie and Pluto who also licked Bryce.

We went up to the second floor and got right on a waiting monorail to the Magic Kingdom. After we got through security we walked up Main Street and were lined up on the bridge to Adventureland a few minutes before rope drop. I walked a little ahead of the rest of the family and got Fastpasses for Splash Mountain and then we all met up and rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad together. This was Bryce's first ride and although we didn't push him into it he was much more nervous than he was about the Tower of Terror. After the ride he said he was glad he did it once but I have my doubts about how much he enjoyed it. I tried pointing out all of the neat details in the ride but he pretty much had his head buried in my side for most of it. I guess he just wanted to prove to himself that he could go on it.

That was definitely enough thrills for him though because he decided that he didn't want to go on Splash Mountain, which I actually think he would have enjoyed. Megan and Jenny rode with the first two Fastpasses while Bryce and I activated the Big Thunder and Splash Mountain video games. We had fun playing those while we waited. The game turned out to be a fantastic way to divert the kids or kill time when necessary. Megan and I then went for our ride on Splash and had fun rocking the log from side to side. We didn't get too wet, which I wouldn't have minded since it was already getting quite warm.

Bryce had requested a ride on Aladdin's Magic Carpets so we went there next after a quick stop for Jungle Cruise Fastpasses. We had just a short wait for the carpets. This is a pretty cool ride despite the Dumbo similarity. The spitting camels got us a couple of times.

We all love the Swiss Family Robinson movie so we climbed up their treehouse and enjoyed the views before going over to Pirates of the Caribbean. It was almost a walk on and I had fond memories of riding it with my parents. Of course that was the vastly superior Disneyland version but it's still a great ride.

We couldn't escape the gift shop at the ride exit and Bryce finally got his pistol, hook and pirate skull do rag that he had been wanting. Jenny had been wringing her hands over his desire for a "gun" and I agree in theory with the concern. In reality though boys just seem to instinctively find a way to "shoot" something (be it a finger, stick or toy) regardless of how much you try to shelter them from that. About the best I could do was to give him some ground rules about never pointing it at anybody and never playing with any other guns because they could be real. Jenny still frets but that's her job as a mother. Maybe I'll freak her out and take him hunting or target shooting soon (just kidding, I've never done either. I've never fired and gun and hope I never will). Megan let us off easy with only two candy bars. Total damage done was $27.40 and a nervous mom.

As we left the shop we saw the Tiki Room show was about to start so we went there and got a kick out of the "new" show there. I know it's a few years old now but we've only seen it a couple of times and we have seen the original so many times that this one is still very funny. The kids were cracking up at all of the jokes and that darn line of "hunky tuna tostada?!?!" instead of Hakuna Matata from Iago always makes me laugh.

We hurried over to the Jungle Cruise for our Fastpass time since the window was almost over. Fastpass is definitely the way to go on this ride. The standby line was 45 minutes and we were on it in less than 5 with Fastpass. We had a pretty good guide this time too.

After the return to civilization we were starving so we went to Pecos Bill's for an early lunch. I got Kit Carson salads without chicken for Jenny and I, an adult's hot dog meal for Megan and a kid's hot dog meal for Bryce. The total was $23.69. For a fast food place these salads are delicious. It's a nice fresh green salad with some cilantro, jicama, cheese, tomatoes and lime vinaigrette. It was just what we were in the mood for. The salads were huge but I completely finished mine and Jenny made it through the better part of hers. We will split one next time. Megan as usual devoured her meal. Bryce actually did fairly well with his as well. He hasn't quite found the appetite that his sister has. We sat on the backside of the restaurant on a covered patio area and watched a big rain squall move through.

When it finally cleared up we went over to the Diamond Horseshoe Review. I was looking forward to this as it's something I hadn't done since I was a kid and I thought our kids would enjoy it (and I'm too cheap to pay the $47.80 for adults and $24.81 for kids to the Hoop-Dee-Doo revue at Fort Wilderness). There was a huge line as we got to the entrance but that turned out to just be for the food. So we went on in and found a table right up front on the right side. The show wasn't starting for another 15 minutes so I ran over to the Haunted Mansion and got Fastpasses. When I came back the food line was still very long but I saw another lonely cashier at the other end of the bar that was waving people over but no one was going. I happily obliged and ordered a hot fudge brownie sundae for $3.98 I'm ashamed to admit that I mostly devoured it after the rest of the family had a few polite and dainty bites of it and were finished.

The show was fantastic. A magician came out and teased Bryce about covering his ears (due to the six-gun fire from the hostess a moment before). He asked him how old he was and when he answered the magician told him he was a very big 4-year-old but he was looking for a 5-year-old (which was just as well since Bryce was being uncharacteristically shy). The highlight of the show happened then. The magician picked five year old Thaddeus from Apopka. The magician asked him how his name was spelled and he couldn't quite understand the answer so he asked if his mom or dad could spell it out. In a classic moment that stunned the magician, Thaddeus did a double take at the word "Dad" and said in a loud voice and thick drawl "My daddy's in jail!" There was an awkward second or two with complete silence where no one quite knew how to react. Thaddeus' exuberance at proclaiming his dad's incarceration made someone giggle and the whole audience soon went crazy laughing. Thaddeus was just beaming being in the spotlight and entertaining the crowd. His mom and partner were having a good laugh too, which made me feel better about it. It was funny watching the magician recover from that.

The magician was very funny if not much of a magician. He had lots of fun with Thaddeus who made a very good assistant. We also enjoyed singing along to old western songs with the cowboy singer who came on next. All in all it was just a really fun show and a delightful break from the crowds and heat.

It was pouring upon our exit so we trotted briskly over to the Haunted Mansion. I parked the stroller under a covered area then once again kind of slapped myself upside the head and wondered why I bothered with Fastpass. Even in the rare times where there is a line it moves so quickly and the Fastpass line is so short before it merges with the standby line that there is no real advantage to using it. The Haunted Mansion just never gets old for me. I'm was just as happy riding it on what was probably close to my 100th visit as I was on my first ride. Actually, I probably enjoyed it more since I now keep my eyes open (through most of it anyhow). When we exited I tried to find the brides ring in the pavement but we couldn't locate it.

It was raining harder now so we ran over to the Hall of Presidents and waited inside about 20 minutes for the next show. It was packed as everyone was trying to escape the rain. It was interesting to see the show with George W. now. I was glad his speaking part seemed a bit shortened. Clinton's speech I believe cut into honest Abe's speech time. I also much preferred the new narration (James Avery?). I like Maya Angelou very much as a writer and poet but just didn't care for her as narrator.

As we exited the show the rain was coming down harder than ever. Everyone stopped at the theater exit and didn't want to leave. A bunch of cast members had to politely encourage us repeatedly to move. They weren't having much luck but we finally escaped before the cattle prods came out. We ran over to the Christmas Store just because it was dry and uncrowded. We found a bench inside to sit on and wait out the rain. There was a lot to look at and it helped pass the time. After about 1/2 hour they cancelled the 3PM parade and we decided to venture out amongst the yellow poncho clad masses.

I went over to retrieve the stroller and found that someone had pushed it just beyond the covered area and it was completely soaked. Grrrr. It must have been karma coming back after me for abusing the Polynesian parking lot this morning. We walked through the backside of the castle to see if there was anything in Fantasyland that wasn't packed but had no luck. As we were waiting under cover in one area I saw Jenny handing a tissue to a lady who looked like a racoon. Her mascara was running all over and I figured she must have been out in the rain. It turns out she was crying as she had lost her husband. She had two young kids in strollers and the rain deluge must have been the final straw for her. We felt bad and tried to help her out and look around for him but there wasn't much you could do. We did suggest that she try City Hall since you can leave messages their and they help with lost people. Some other folks came to help her and we moved on. I hope she didn't have too long of a wait to find him.

We slowly made our way out of the rainy park and got on the monorail back to the Polynesian then got in the van and drove back to the condo. The kids declared it pool time so we swam for about 90 minutes with very few people around. Megan found a five dollar bill on the bottom of the pool while she was swimming.

Dinner was at the Pepper Market in Coronado Springs and we got seated right away after arriving. We had a table that was kind of on a main path but at least we were close to the food stations. Jenny had a beer, Megan had a Sprite, Bryce had water and I had a diet Coke. To eat Bryce got the kids pizza meal, I got linguine with roasted vegetables and a mushroom sauce and the girls split a penne alfredo dinner. The pasta bowls were huge but I polished mine off. It had eggplant, squash, yellow bell peppers, zucchini and onions. It was very tasty and fairly healthy. It felt good to eat some vegetables. The girls liked their pasta and Bryce's pizza was OK. The total dinner bill was $33.35

After dinner we took our customary stroll over to Digsite pool area and let the kids run around on the playground. We also tried to play a game of air hockey at the nearby arcade but there was no puck. Instead Jenny and I played a car racing game against each other. It was a riot bumping into each other and both getting soundly thrashed by the computer controlled cars. The kids still had a hankering for air hockey so we went to the larger arcade in the main building and they played until they had their fill. No paddles were thrown in anger this time.

We got back to the condo at 9:30 and went straight to bed.

The Plan: Day 10: Monday, April 15, 2002.

Typhoon Lagoon. Open 10AM to 6PM

Stake our claim in Ketchakiddie Creek.

Take a picnic lunch.

Evening at Epcot.

Dinner at Rose and Crown at 7:30. PS#23631152 Request patio table for Illuminations view.

The Reality:

We woke up at 7AM and decided there was still a lot of the Magic Kingdom that we wanted to see so we switched the plan to that today. Everyone had breakfast and we were out the door at 8AM.

For some reason (probably my guilty conscience for parking at the Polynesian the day before) I parked at the dreaded Ticket and Transportation Center, which turned out to be a big mistake. I didn't feel like folding up the stroller and hauling all of our gear on and off the tram so Bryce and I took the fairly lengthy walk while the girls rode. There were big lines at the gates and they didn't let anybody through until right at 9AM. That was a major drag. We took the ferry across and went as quickly as we could but it was 9:10 before we got to the end of Main Street.

Bryce had been begging for a ride on Buzz Lightyear so that was our first stop and there was no line. Jenny went to get Winnie the Pooh Fastpasses while I rode with Bryce and Megan had a car to herself. She was shooting both lasers and must have found a big point item because she ended the ride with the highest score of the three of us at 183,000. I had a pathetic 77,000 points. Bryce had 7,000 and was just happy to not have zero and to have defeated Zurg. After our ride we met up with Jenny and all went on it again with no wait.

We figured we should do the Speedway next since the line is always long and it's very hot on that asphalt. We waited 10 minutes, which wasn't too bad. We discretely bumped each other's cars a few times and generally drove poorly. Bryce saw the Teacups after that and demanded a spin and there was no line so we went to it. Neither of the girls felt like getting nauseous this early in the day so I was the lucky victim. All I heard was a continuous "faster, faster, faster" from my darling son who I believe would have used a riding crop on me if he had one. We very dizzily exited and I ran over to Space Mountain for Fastpasses and met up with the others at Pooh where the standby line was now 30 minutes. Fastpass got us on in 2 minutes. I really enjoy this ride and think it's a good addition. I don't know if it's necessarily better than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride but I don't think significantly worse and having something new is fun.

The end-of-the-ride-dump-out-you-into-a-gift-shop-trick is just so obvious on Pooh but it suckers us in almost every time. Bryce got a stuffed Tigger and look and find book. Megan decided to save her money. We walked over to Toontown for the 10AM opening. Barnstormer was about the only thing we wanted to do here so we got on the second ride of the day. Goofy was riding on the first one and that looked neat to be in there with him.

We stopped in the outdoor gift shop at the exit and Megan got some candy and I got a tray of pineapple. I ran back to Fantasyland and got Peter Pan Fastpasses while the others took the back trail to Tomorrowland. Megan and Jenny went on Space Mountain first and then Megan and I. Jenny and I traded off playing with Bryce in the arcade while the other rode. I enjoyed a game of pinball and then had a very humbling game of Frogger. I don't know what happened to those skills I developed on the game so many years ago. They are gone now. Bryce got a good laugh everytime I got squashed!

Tomorrowland was packed so we decided to get the heck out of there. We went to the Plaza Pavilion for an early lunch a bit before 11:30. I had a large diet Coke and salad with chicken. Bryce had a PB&J sandwich kids meal that came with cookies. Jenny had a side salad. Megan had a cheese pizza with a breadstick. The total was $23.16 and we all ended up sharing most of our food. There was plenty for everyone. Once again I was very pleased with the salad. Jenny and I love salads and Disney really does them well now.

After lunch we went back to Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan and I discovered that I had lost two of our Fastpasses. I decided I would tell my sob story to the cast members and plead for leniency. A nice older fellow said no problem and let all four of us through with the two passes. After the ride we couldn't find anything in Fantasyland that wasn't packed. Even It's a Small World and Snow White had half an hour wait times!

We took that as a sign to get the heck out of there so after a quick stop for Fastpasses on Big Thunder Mountain we took the raft over to Tom Sawyers Island. I ran around with the kids and remembered that some of my best memories as a kid were right here. It's just such a fun place to explore. We spent a long while in Injun Joe's cave, which was air conditioned and felt wonderful. We convinced Jenny to go in but she lasted about 30 seconds before she decided the narrow dark passageways were not to her liking. We then went to the fort and Jenny and I sat on some crates and relaxed while the kids explored together. It was so much more relaxed and pleasant on the island than it was in the increasingly crowded rest of the park.

The kids eventually wore themselves out and we took the raft back to the mainland where the girls rode Big Thunder Mountain with the Fastpasses I had picked up earlier. I had lost one Fastpass so after the girls used two I had one lone one left. We decided to leave the park then so I tried to give away my lone Fastpass for about five minutes. People acted like I was trying to sell them crack! I couldn't give the darn thing away. Lots of people still have no idea what Fastpass is which amazes me. I'm glad though because I get to use it at their expense as they wait in those standby lines.

On the way out of the park we stopped at the Kodak Expo Hall on Main Street. There were some super pin traders near the back that were comparing collections. It looks like a fun hobby but I'm not into the pin thing. These people were a little too into it. Kind of like the folks that go to Star Trek conventions (no offense if you are one of them). We played around with the props in the back, watched the movie, met some characters and played some trivia on on the 100-year anniversary interactive kiosks.

We took the monorail back, then road the tram to the car. I was too lazy to walk it again. We went back to the condo for a quick swim and rest. After getting cleaned up we headed back out at 5PM.

We parked at the Beach Club and took the boat over to Epcot. It's an easy walk but the kids like the boat ride so we waited a few minutes for it. Our first stop in Epcot after entering through the International Gateway was Innoventions for some long overdue email photo postcards. There were no lines so we sent a bunch to friends and family. They are such a neat thing and free which is a rare thing at Disney.

As we exited, it started raining hard so we ran over to the Land. I remembered the new annual passholder lounge so we went up there to check it out. It was very cool. We showed our passes to the very friendly cast members at the desk and one of them took us on a tour of the lounge. There was a water cooler, coffee station and two small, funky soda machines that looked like some sort of weird espresso setup. You chose Coke, diet Coke or Sprite and this thing would send out alternating streams of syrup and carbonated water. It had a very Italian feel to it. There was no ice anywhere, which would have been a nice touch.

The lounge areas were all along the windows facing the Listen to the Land ride and it was neat to look down and see the boats full of people. There were lots of comfortable chairs and tables with a TV and coffee tables in a very nice and relaxing atmosphere. It was just a very pleasant place and a world away from the bustle of the theme parks. There was a separate childrens area with board games, a disney video playing, coloring pages with crayons and stuffed animals. The kids felt like royalty. They drank hot chocolate and colored while Jenny and I soaked up the peaceful aura of the place. The cast member that showed us around said that they had 180 people visit that day and the record was 900 during Easter week. The kids pleaded not to leave but we promised them we would return.

We went downstairs to Food Rocks and saw the final show of the day. I always love this show, very clever with good music and no crowds. A couple of months later back at home the kids heard Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen for the first time and made me crank up the radio so they could listen to the "Food Rocks song".

We left the Land at 7 as it was closing and the skies were very ugly. We walked to World Showcase and stopped in Canada to get one of the pressed pennies we had missed the previous day. At 7:30 we went to the Rose and Crown pub in the United Kingdom to check in for our priority seating time. I asked if we could wait for a table on the patio and they said it was now just the first avaible table. They were battening down the hatches for what was looking to be a lot of rain in the near future. They had put clear plastic curtains over the entire outdoor patio area and it just looked like a hot, steamy and uncomfortable place to be. I enjoy the Rose and Crown and think on a nice night there is no better place to watch Illuminations and enjoy dinner at the same time. Tonight just wasn't a nice night though so we decided to skip it and try our luck elsewhere.

The first stop was the fish and chip stand next door where we got one order and shared it in the back garden area where British Invasion plays. It's always very relaxed back there and one of our favorite spots. The fish and chips were good and we made short work of them as the first course in our dinner.

Bryce wanted to finish the World Showcase pressed penny collection so we went into a shop nearby and found the final one. We started our next quest for food while the rain fell harder. Nothing in France or Morocco was too appealing to everyone so we continued on to Japan to our favorite, the Yakitori House. We didn't fool around this time with the combinations. We just got two orders of yakitori and Jen and I split a Kirin, which is one of my favorite beers. Total was $14.58. We took our time inside and watched for the rain to let up a little.

When it did ease up we went outside again just in time for the start of Tapestry of Dreams. We had completely forgot about it but Tapestry of Nations had been one of our favorite parades so we watched it right up front. It was very similar to the prior parade and still very moving and the music was beautiful. After the parade Bryce spotted the rice candy again so we made a quick stop there.

The big decision now was from where to view Illuminations. We figured it was probably too late to try the annual passholder viewing area which I heard was small and got very crowded. That didn't sound too appealing anyhow. We walked back towards the International Gateway and found an excellent spot under a tree along the railing of the lagoon between Morocco and France. We claimed our spot and started the 20-minute wait for the show. I went in search of dessert in France and discovered that every other person in Epcot had the same idea. Once I saw the line at the bakery I quickly decided to skip dessert.

As usual Jenny, master packer, produced spinning light up toys for the kids to keep them entertained. The wait went fairly quickly despite the slight drizzle. The tree above us helped quite a bit. The show started and we had an excellent view. We saw the globe very clearly and all of the images on it. It was a perfect way to end the evening and it was one of those moments that in itself makes the trip all seem worthwhile.

The nice part about the spot we chose was the very quick exit and walk over to the Beach Club to our car. We were back in the condo by 10 and everyone fell soundly asleep.

The Plan: Day 11: Tuesday, April 16, 2002.

Magic Kingdom. Open at 9AM to 7PM.

Fast pass attractions: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan

Pecos Bill's for lunch at 11AM

See the Diamond Horseshoe Revue.

No dinner plans

The Reality:

We slept in until 8AM and had a very leisurely morning before leaving at 9:30AM. We decided on Typhoon Lagoon would be a good relaxing interlude after the back to back days of theme parks. We got there right in time for the rope drop and we power walked past the hoards. As we got to Ketchakiddie Creek another family had claimed "our" table. I couldn't believe their nerve. Didn't they know that was our table? They must have realized their mistake because as we kept walking in the area they picked up their things and moved to another table. Score! We got our spot back.

Today was pretty much a repeat of our first day here. The girls went off first to the tube slides and then the storm slides while I watched Bryce go on his favorite tube ride about 100 times. It's amazing how he can't walk a block at home without him wanting me to carry him but he must have logged several miles today with a smile on his face the whole time.

When the girls came back we all went to Humunga Kowabunga where there were no lines. Jenny and Bryce watched Megan and I go down it. I still can't believe Megan does not fear this slide. I'll have to talk her into Summit Plummet next (more likely she will have to talk me into it).

Bryce and Jenny headed back to his favorite ride while Megan and I went on the storm slides. I went on the middle one this time, which I think is the best of the three. After that Megan vetoed another snorkeling adventure in shark reef. I don't blame her after the tough time she had on the last visit.

Her request was for the wave pool so we went out there for probably about an hour and had a great time. She loves going out in the big waves. After she had her fill we did the two tube rides and then met back up with Jenny and Bryce in Ketchakiddie Creek.

I convinced the kids to go for a float on Castaway Creek with me while Jenny enjoyed some time in the sun. It turned out that neither kid floated though. They decided they didn't want tubes and would swim around the creek. I told them that they had to have a tube so they got one but they kept "losing" them. Jenny came to wave at us from an overhead bridge and fretted about Bryce not being in a tube. He could stand up in the creek but with all of the tubes floating in it I had to stay right with him (mostly to appease nervous mom). The kids just had a blast and I'm afraid this is their new preferred way of travel in the creek.

After a full circle and a half around the park I dragged the two fish out and met up with Jenny. It was 2:30 and that is our usual time for packing it up. We stopped for Arctic Dots which was the bribe to get the children to leave.

We drove back to the condo and about half way there we hit a huge rainstorm with drops that sounded like hail on the car. I couldn't believe it but the rain kept coming down harder and harder. I didn't think that was possible. I've seen a lot of rain in Seattle and some intense tropical rains on Kauai but this was something else. We were on 192 pretty close to the turn for the condo when it was so heavy I had to slow down the car to about 10 MPH. As we were waiting for a traffic light to change we watched the road around us and it looked like a river. Water was just gushing down the street. If we hadn't been only a couple of blocks from the condo I would have just stopped and waited. We made it back and then made a mad dash for the room. Despite the short distance we got soaked which was fine since we were already in our swimming suits. Megan commented how the rain was like a shower so I convinced her to go outside in it with me. Bryce thought we were insane but we stood out in the rain and had a blast. It was warm and fun getting pelted. Jenny even joined us for a couple of minutes. After that excitement we all had indoor showers and a rest in the condo.

We left again at 5:45 for dinner at Jungle Jim's. It was practically deserted. The wait staff was just kind of hanging out chatting. There were probably less than 6 tables occupied. We used another free appetizer coupon and got the Tree Top Treat which was awesome. It looked like a little metal coat rack that was covered in curly fries and onion rings hanging from the branches and scattered all over. The whole thing was dusted in parmesan cheese. There was a spicy Cajun sauce and ranch dressing for dipping. What a fry fest! I had a diet Coke and Jenny had a Bud light. We all shared an Asian chicken salad and a bacon cheeseburger. It was the first "real" burger I had had in a long time and it was very good. The salad was very tasty but had way too much dressing. The total bill with tax and tip was $26 and we all left full. What a deal. It was almost 7 when we finished and it was still very slow in the restaurant.

We drove over to Downtown Disney after our meal and caught the boat to Port Orleans. The captain, Howard, was very funny and reminded everyone to buckle up their seats until we reached our cruising altitude. It was funny to see how many people started hunting for the seatbelts. Captain Howard warned us as we docked that there was a long line for the return trip. We walked around the Riverside area for a while and over to Ol' Man Island to look at the pool. The kids of course wanted to jump in and go on the water slide.

We went back to the dock to get in the long line and just got in ahead of a huge group. It seemed like it was just a whole bunch of families that knew each other, what chaos. Some of them didn't want to wait in the long line and some did and no one seemed in charge. There were about 25 of them and I could tell things would get ugly if they kept trying to do everything together. That's just too hard with that many folks. They eventually left the line and decided to take the bus to Downtown Disney. I'm sure we got there before them but I was glad to see them go as it was much more peaceful without them. We finally caught the third boat after a 25 minute wait.

Darkness was falling on the ride back and the closed down French Quarter was downright spooky. It was so well maintained but deserted. It was sad. It really had a feel to it like Disneyland's Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Square.

Back at Downtown Disney for a stop at Ghiradelli. It was packed there and all of the tables were full so we found a table down by the water. It was nice night out and this was a more pleasant spot anyhow. The only drawback was the really annoying chairs that are metal and very heavy. Whenever you scooted one even to get up it made quite a racket.

I had a 15-minute wait for the ice cream. Megan went to the other side of the store for "Flicks" which I loved as a kid. They are just called milk chocolate drops now. While we were both waiting two ducks flew into the store through the open door. They caused quite a commotion and couldn't seem to find their way back out. They would start flying then hit the ceiling and it appeared that they were probably going to be hurt if they didn't get out soon. Some of the employees were trying to shoo them out without success. Finally a guy washing dishes in the back calmly came out and grabbed each and carried them back outside. He got a round of applause.

I got our a cable car sundae and a hot fudge sundae and took it back to our table. They were both delicious and it was the perfect way to end the evening on a beautiful night. The cable car sundae always reminds me of my sister who loves Ghiradelli. We were soaking up the atmosphere and I was telling the kids that the sundae was aunt Sonya's favorite. Megan then said how excited she was to have Sonya and her husband Dom move back closer to us soon. Bryce lifted up his water bottle and said "cheers to that!!". We all had a good long laugh at that then toasted aunt Sonya and uncle Dom. We called it a night and went back to the condo at 9:30 where everyone fell asleep quickly.

The Plan: Day 12: Wednesday, April 17, 2002.

Disney-MGM Studios. Open 9AM to 8:30PM.

Fastpass attractions: Rock N Roller Coaster, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, Muppet Vision, What Wants to be a Millionaire.

4:40PM dinner at Mama Melrose. PS#23631155

The Reality:

We were all awake by 7:30 and out the door by 8:25. We stuc