Trip Reports
02-20-2007, 08:35 AM
Kelly McBride -- May 2002 -- Walt Disney World (CR)
May 11-18, 2002
My group: Myself 34, My husband Shane 28, My mom 57, stepdaughter Lynn 10, daughter Katy 2 1/2, daughter Shelby 1
First time visit for all.
Saturday 5/11/02
After several months of planning and talking with Brian and many cast members at Disney I thought I was totally prepared. We had a 6:30 a.m. flight out of Sacramento, CA (where we are from) and therefore woke at 3:30 a.m. We had packed everything and had our clothes all laid out the night before. Got the kids up and packed everyone in the car and went and picked up my mom. Arrived at the airport around 4:30 and checked in. We found out that the desk doesn't open till 5:00 a.m. so we had to stand in line for awhile but that was ok. Lucked out at security and didn't have too long a wait except my mom's suitcase has one of those collapsible handles and they were convinced it was something devious and totally unpacked her carry on bag and made her take off her shoes, etc. We laughed because mom always has that kind of luck. Had a quick breakfast and got on the plane. We had a 1 hour layover in Salt Lake City and then back on the plane to Orlando. The 4 hour plane ride was a little rough with 2 little ones and we will definitely buy an extra seat next time. We had the 1 year old on our laps and that was really hard. We finally arrived in Orlando around 4:00 p.m. eastern time (1:00 p.m. our time) and were picked up by a really great driver from a Towncar company. He was very friendly and helpful. We arrived on property and were very impressed by the size and grandeur of it all. Being from California, Disneyland is completely different. It is right in the middle of a large city and there is the typical dirt and traffic and crime that you would have especially in L.A. Disney world was a refreshing change. I used Net Grocer and after check in we went to package pickup and two boxes were waiting. One thing I did learn is that you must allow a certain number of days before you arrive for shipping and add a day or two for approval of payment. Luckily I had called on Monday and it all worked out. Even though the groceries were a little pricey it was a great thing with kids. I ordered diapers, wipes and baby food and saved my luggage space as well as having to make a run to a grocery store. I highly recommend this if you have small kids or even if you want some snacks or something and don't want to have to bring them or stop and shop. I received my groceries and we hunted for our room. My husband is in the military and had gotten a room through Shades of Green but because of the renovations they have moved to Contemporary. The only downside is they gave us the absolute farthest room possible. We were in a garden room completely at the end. We definitely got our exercise. After getting to the room and stowing our luggage and changing into more appropriate weather related attire we were off to California Grill for our 8:30 dinner reservation. Unfortunately the crew was quite tired and cranky from such a long day and we passed on the dinner and ended up going back to the room for room service. We ordered a few pizzas not knowing how large they were and then we were stuck with 2 very large pizzas. 1 is plenty for a family of 4 or 5. I have to say it was not that good and sort of burnt. We hit the sack and were off to the next day.
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Even with the time change we still all managed to get up around 6:30 Florida time which is only 3:30 our time but we handled the time change well. We woke up and headed down to the food court. We purchased the refillable mugs and bought some muffins, etc., for breakfast. I must say I wasn't impressed with the food but it was what I expected. We then took the monorail to the TTC and then took the Epcot monorail to Epcot. We originally had planned to see Future World that day but since we had lunch reservations in Norway we opted to simply do test track and then head to World Showcase. My husband, stepdaughter and myself headed to fast track and hoped right on. We opted for the single rider line and although we were separated it was no big deal. Got on the ride within 15 minutes. Mom did the baby swap and as soon as we got off I met mom and she and I went back through the exit and went on the ride again. We liked the race part at the end but were a little bored with the interior part of the ride, especially the second time around. My husband thought it was going to be a lot better than it was and was not impressed. We then headed to World Showcase were we dined at Akershus. Unfortunately we were still full from breakfast and it was a shame because the buffet was wonderful. I forced myself to eat some lox and many of the other native dishes which were all very good. We enjoyed speaking with the cast members who were young people from Norway. It was a nice place and we enjoyed everything about it. I highly recommend this place. Just be aware that it does have some unusual but very good food. We then took a ride on the Maelstrom which we enjoyed and although the little ones were a tad bit afraid they made it through with flying colors as long as they were sitting next to us. We then started working our way around the World showcase. We bought my stepdaughter a passport and that was a real hit with her. It gave her something to do and a suggestion for parents, we also had her take a picture with a cast member from each country to go along with the signatures. Upon arriving in Morocco we were pleased to find Jasmine and the Genie and my stepdaughter was able to get autographs and photos taken. By the way we also bought the autograph book which was a great success. Upon arriving at the American Experience we watched the show and left dad outside with the little ones. This show was quite long and unfortunately the 2 year old was having a melt down so things were a little rough but mom, Lynn and I enjoyed some wonderful singers who were singing old folk songs and we thought the Ben Franklin show was good and a good history lesson for my 10 year old. We worked our way to France where we had 6:00 dinner reservations. We got there a little early but they were able to seat us right away. The food was excellent but they sat us right up front near a window and the sun was blaring down on everyone. I know they didn't realize this but it made it tough to enjoy our dinner. We were able to view the living statue however and it was quite funny watching him scare people! After dinner we continued around the showcase mostly viewing shops. We did not see any of the films because of the little ones but we did ride on the El Rio Del Tiempo ride in Mexico twice as well as Maelstrom, both of which we enjoyed. I think more for the coolness then anything else. We enjoyed all the countries and found it quite interesting and fun. After working our way around we decided to camp out to watch illuminations. We were all quite tired by this time from both the heat and the walking and wanted to relax and get a good seat. We ended up sitting over by the bridge the leads to Future world on the Great Britain side. These were pretty good seats however there are trees in the way and I ended up having to stand on my bench which I'm sure the cast members would not have approved of had they seen me. We were very impressed with the show however and thought it was great. As soon as it was over we made our way with the throng of people to the exits. We were very afraid we would be stuck for hours but luckily we got on the first available monorail. We got back to our room and immediately hit the hay.
Monday May 13, 2002
Got up and got an early start once again and did the food court for rolls. This time we sent mom and Shane down with the mugs to fill them up and get the muffins. These mugs are a great idea but if you are as far away as we were it is a little tough to refill them as much as possible and we never took them with us in the mornings because we had too much stuff to carry as it was. Next time we will probably just get lockers and leave them. I do recommend them though since they are a great deal. After our breakfast we took the monorail back to the TTC and then waited for a bus to Animal Kingdom. We since found out that you can take a bus directly from our hotel to many locations. I wish I had known that but now we do. Needless to say it was about a 30 minute wait for the bus but it finally arrived and we made it to AK just as it was opening. We were very impressed with this park and thought it was absolutely beautiful. My mother has been to Costa Rica and said it made her want to go back. She also goes to Mexico twice a year and loves this type of place so she was extremely happy. We headed directly for the Kilamanjaro safaris and after about a 15 minute wait boarded our bus. We were able to take all the kids and had no problems. The 2 year old loved the animals and we got a lot of great shots both with the video and still cameras. At one point the male lion came out and stood perched on a rock and looked just like Mufasa in the Lion King. It couldn't have been more awesome if they had staged it that way. It was a great shot. We very much enjoyed this. After disembarking from the buses we went on the Pangani trail which was also interesting although we were hot, tired and had to use the restroom which was no where near where we were so we kind of hurried through this. We then basically went around the park in a clockwise fashion stopping at Rafiki's conservation station. We took the train in and kind of hurried through the beginning where they had some interactive exhibits for the kids. We went into the conservation area and the kids meet with Rafiki and Pocahontas. Now we were a little worried about how my 2 year old would handle the characters as she was terrified of the Easter Bunny this year. She did great though and by the end of the trip went ga ga every time she saw one. She would jump up and down and clap and call their names out and we had to restrain her from charging in front of someone. That really made the trip worthwhile to me and everyone who said we were crazy for taking a 1 and 2 1/2 year old was wrong. Even my 1 year old did great. I don't think she got much out of a lot of it but she was very well behaved and hardly ever cranky and by the end of the week even she was interested in the characters and I think she finally figured out they were ok. We next stopped at the petting zoo which was also a big hit with my 2 year old and I highly recommend this for anyone with little ones. We had to drag her away to move to our next stop. Now we have several water raft rides at parks near our home and everyone had vetoed the Kali River Rapids before we got there but it was so hot by the time we got there we changed our minds and glad we did. Although the ride seemed really short it was a nice cool off and even mom did the baby swap and went on it with my stepdaughter. By the way we had lunch at the Husker house which was good and we bought the meal certificates which is a great deal. We got our lunch and beverage plus an additional beverage and ice cream cone later on for 11.00 a person. I highly recommend this! Shane and I had our free ice cream and waters while we waited for mom to get off the rapids. Unfortunately we missed the Maharajah trek as we felt we were running short on time and wanted to get to Dinosaur and Camp Mickey and Minnie. We did stop and watch Flights of Wonder however and it was very good! Highly recommend! Upon arriving at Dino Land we immediately went on Dinosaur while mom stayed with the little ones. We then did the baby swap and mom rode while I waited with the kids. Everyone enjoyed this ride. We then went on the triceratops spin which is exactly like Dumbo and Aladdin. Then we rode Primeval whirl which was fun but very much like a carnival ride. I was amazed at how much this area seemed like a midway and to me it cheapened the whole Disney fantasy for me. To me Disney has always been so much better than any carnival or even a 6 Flags type park but this area was definitely that way. This is only my opinion. We then hoped over to Discovery Island to watch it's tough to be a bug. This was awesome. I really loved it as did Shane and Lynn. Mom stayed out with the little ones and had it not been such a long wait and if we weren't short on time I would have insisted she see it as I know she would have truly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this show as well. We were running out of time and ran over to Camp Minnie and Mickey and had missed the last Lion King show which I was disappointed about. We did get to see all the characters though completely by ourselves. It was great. It was about 15 minutes before closing and no one was there. My 2 year old saw Goofy and went running and just before she got there she saw Mickey and did an about face and ran into his arms. Goofy acted like he was crying and it was priceless. We got some great photos of Katy and Mickey and Goofy as well as Minnie, Donald and Daisy Duck. This is a good plan on your way out if you want your kids to see the characters without all the crowds. This is a great park but I think you could spend at least a day and a half especially with little ones. We definitely didn't get to see everything. We then headed out. We had priority seating at the Boardwalk for the Flying Fish but it had been a very long, hot, exhausting day and we decided to skip it as we didn't want any long waits for extra buses. This is when we found out we could get a bus directly back to our hotel and this is what we did. We arrived at our hotel and were able to walk into the Concourse steakhouse. The food was excellent and no one was there. This place is right next to Chef Mickeys who steals all their business. This is a great place that I think no one really takes advantage of. Again I highly recommend. We had a great friendly waitress also! Since it was an early night and we were so beat we decided to try out the hotel pool. We all get dressed and headed for the pool which felt great after a long hot day. We stayed for awhile and then mom took the little ones to the room while Shane and I stayed and enjoyed the Jacuzzi. After an hour or so we headed back and turned in.
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Once again we were up early and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Since we were at the Contemporary and had our own monorail we were there in no time and arrived well before the park opened and before they were even letting people in to Main Street. We found out from a cast member however that there were some extra tables at Crystal Palace and we decided to have a character breakfast. The food was very good and the characters were the Pooh clan, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, etc. The kids loved it and it was a lot of fun. As soon as we were done eating we headed to Frontierland and Splash Mountain. We were able to ride this 3 or 4 times in a row which was great! We then went to Thunder mountain and again rode a few times in a row. We decided to back track to Adventureland and got fast passes for the jungle cruise and took the little ones on Aladdin. They loved it. We then visited the Tiki room which was a little loud but I think the kids liked it. By this time it was time to use the fast passes which we did and enjoyed our jungle trip. Shane wasn't impressed but mom loves this ride. Unfortunately Pirates of the Caribbean (another of mom's fav's) was broke down so we never did ride it that day. We also stopped at the Swiss Family tree house although my 2 year old wasn't as impressed as I thought and Shane had to carry her the entire way. He was not pleased. We then attended the Country Bear Jamboree which the 2 year old enjoyed but the little one was sleeping and they do not allow strollers even if the baby is asleep so mom had to wait outside. While out there it started pouring and she realized I was right and we should have brought some rain gear. She purchased the Disney poncho's and thought they were a little pricey but they came in handy. We never wore them but bought 2 to cover up our double stroller. After this we went on the haunted mansion which is always a favorite and by this time the baby was awake and everyone rode. The little ones weren't afraid but I think when they are older and know they are "supposed" to be afraid it might be a different story. It was also neat to see the mansion as it looks completely different than ours at Disneyland. I actually thought it was neater looking and it was interesting to note the differences in a lot of the rides. Both the mansion and Pirates are quite different as far as the décor in the beginning, etc and even some of the interior stuff. We had lunch at the Columbia Harbor House and it was good but I have to say they don't offer much choice for little ones. My 2 year old is VERY picky and many times their choice was mac and cheese or a baloney sandwich. Now I realize that a lot of kids like this but mine doesn't. She is a grilled cheese or peanut butter sandwich girl. So that could stand to be changed but otherwise our food was ok. We next headed to Fantasyland and realized that we should have come here first. It was absolutely jammed. We rode on It's a Small World and got fast passes for Peter Pan but ended up not using them because when they came up we were in the middle of something else. We were able to ride Pooh without the fast passes because we still had the passes for Peter Pan. We only had a 30 minute wait so that wasn't bad. We took the kids on the carousel and then Shane, Lynn and I rode the tea cups. I will never ride with my husband again. I suffer from motion sickness and I had to keep my eyes shut the entire ride and even then when it stopped I was very woozy and could hardly walk. I could have killed him for that. We passed on Snow White as we figured it was too scary and the little mermaid was packed. We also skipped toon town and figured we'd hit it our 2nd day. We headed to Tomorrowland and rode space mountain several times in a row. We also did Alien Encounter but were not impressed. Carousel of Progress and Timekeeper were both closed. Mom's favorite ride from Disneyland is the People Mover's which is very much like the TTA so we rode on that while Shane sat with the sleeping kids. By this time it was close to park closing so we went ahead and headed out as we had priority seating at Rainforest in Downtown Disney. We took the monorail to the TTC only to find out that we had to take another bus to MGM to get a bus to downtown Disney. This was a giant screw up and we did not know there were no direct buses to Downtown Disney from the TTC. This amazes why this is this way. It really screwed us up time wise and when we got to MGM no one knew which bus stop was for Downtown Disney. Needless to say the moods were not very good. We finally figured it out and made it to Downtown Disney a half hour after our reservations. We decided to try it anyway and got a great guy who let us in anyway. That was really great of him and I'm glad we did as that place is a lot of fun!!! After enjoying our dinner Shane had promised to take the kids back to the room so mom and I could shop in peace. After they left we did a little shopping at the Rainforest and they have some really great deals and souvenirs plus their food was awesome and a great atmosphere. Another highly recommended stop! Mom and I checked out Pooh Corner and World of Disney and finally had back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Wednesday, May 15, 2002
Once again we were up with the chickens and did our trek to the food court to fill up the mugs and get some Danish. After eating we headed out to MGM. Upon arriving we had a bit of a problem when my mom was busy with the tickets I pushed the stroller through the gate with my little one and mom had Katy. Well we had gone into the park and pretty soon I hear "mom!" I look out and there she is on the other side of the gate. Mom got so busy with the tickets she forgot Katy and my husband freaked. We quickly rounded her up but Shane was not too happy with mom at that point and she tried to laugh it off. Luckily it all went ok but I have to say you really need to keep an eye on the little ones and not let everything that is going on distract you. Later that evening at Fantasmic there was a woman standing on top of a pillar screaming out her child's name and description as they had gotten separated. They were apart for over half an hour before security rounded her up. Scary!!! We headed directly for Tower of Terror where Shane and Lynn decided to take a trip. We told them we would meet them at Rock and Roller Coaster and since there was no line I went on it by myself while mom waited with the little ones. I was able to ride and get done before Shane and Lynn. They thought it was awesome and I thought Rock and Roller Coaster was awesome as well. The three of us then went on Rock and Roller Coaster and then headed on to the next area. We tried to get into the Disney playhouse but it was already full so Shane, Lynn, Katy and I went to the Little Mermaid show while mom stayed out with the baby who was sleeping. We very much enjoyed this and I recommend it. We then headed over to the Star Tours area where mom, Shane and Lynn rode that while I waited with the kids and then we hoped in to the Sci-Fi drive in. We had no reservations but just walked in. Definitely eating early is the key. Our food was so so but the atmosphere was a lot of fun and the kids got their food on a Frisbee that they got to keep. After lunch we watched the Muppet show which was great and then Shane and I did the backlot tour while mom waited with the kids. That was a waste of time to me. I have been to Universal and it nothing compared to that. It was very short considering how long we waited to ride and not that interesting. I wouldn't waste your time. While on that the kids played at the honey I shrunk the kids playground and again no strollers were allowed and the little one was sleeping so mom couldn't take Katy. Therefore Shane and I took her and she loved it. After that we headed to the Beauty and the Beast Stage show which was terrific and then went to the Animation Exhibit and Walt Disney Exhibit both of which were interesting and recommended. Unfortunately we were unable to go to the Millionaire, Indiana Jones, or Playhouse Disney as we ran out of time. We had priority seating at Hollywood and Vine which was good and it was a Fantasmic dinner package. We had a minor snafu in that our hotel had made the PS for the wrong day and luckily mom looked at the info and headed over in the morning and was able to resolve it and get us in. The place wasn't that crowded though so I don't see what the fuss was about. After dinner we watched the stars and motor cars parade which was good and then headed over to Fantasmic. We waited a short time and then watched the show. It is somewhat different than the California version but it was nice to actually have seats. In California you have to sit on the ground and that gets old quick. The kids did really well and even fell asleep which was amazing considering how loud it was. Also if you want to tape it make sure you have a long tape. Ours ran out right before the end. This was a great park and one of our favorites. We had planned to come back on Friday morning to do the things we had missed but unfortunately never made it back. I would definitely spend more time next time. After it was over we again fought the mass crowds to the bus stop and then were in line for the first bus but it came to standing room only and decided to let several others pass because we couldn't stand with our large stroller and 2 sleeping babies. We probably let 10 people past us on the first bus. We were therefore first in line for the next and believe it or not this guy behind us nearly pushed me over to get on the bus even though we were ahead of him. Now he was right behind us and certainly would have gotten a seat even after us. Then as the bus filled the bus driver asked him to stand and let an elderly woman have his seat. He looked right at the bus driver and said "NO". I was astounded and said quite loud "how rude!" Everyone gave him the evil eye and his wife wanted to crawl away in shame. It really amazes me how rude. In fact we encountered a few other rude people at our hotel. We were on the 2nd floor and one morning waited through 5 elevators before we could get on. People kept getting on the 3rd floor and there was no room. No I can understand taking the elevator if you are old, feeble or have a stroller but if you are perfectly healthy, give me a break. Finally mom had to get in, ride it down, and then back up again to try to make space. These people got on even though she told them we had a large stroller and they wouldn't budge. So Shane and the kids crammed in and I looked right at them and said "forget it, I'll take the stairs". I couldn't believe how rude. Luckily we didn't encounter that very often and most people were very nice. Once we finally arrived at our hotel we all crashed for the night.
Thursday, May 16, 2002
Once again it was back to the Magic Kingdom and this time we decided to make it a kids day and take it easy and not stress. We headed directly for Fantasyland and were able to ride Small World, Peter Pan twice and Pooh all within 30 minutes. We then took Katy and Lynn to see the Little Mermaid which took awhile but was worth it. We got some great photos. We then headed to Toon town and unfortunately Minnie's house was closed but we did visit with characters in the Judge's tent and I really like how they do this. In Disneyland the characters come out and people swarm around them and there is no order to it. No one waits in line and it is impossible to visit with the characters or get a decent picture. I really liked how they handled it here. After leaving Toontown we headed back to Adventureland to try Pirates and yeah, it was open so we went on it twice in a row. We then had lunch at Pecos Bill's and had a really nice waitress help us out with our 2 year old who was acting her age and throwing a fit. This gal talked to her and even got her to eat some of her food which she was refusing to do. Mom wanted to hire her to come back with us (lol) We then headed back over to splash mountain and got some fast passes and rode on that twice using the passes and the baby swap. Boy do you get evil looks from the people in the standby line. We never once waited more than 30 minutes for any ride our entire stay. If we saw the line was long we simply did Fastpass. No big deal. Mom an I commented how we didn't understand why more people don't do this. We then headed back to Tomorrowland where we rode Buzz Lightyear a few times and mom and I went on the TTA again. Finally it was time for our dinner reservations at Crystal Palace where we once again had a character dinner. The food was good and the girls just loved the characters. The park also closed while we were eating and we were able to walk around the park with no one there after dinner and get some nice photos of the castle, etc., without all the people. I have to say though closing at 6:00 is simply way to early for this park. After we ate we headed back to our room where we tucked the kids in and Shane and I got ready to head to downtown Disney. We had gotten to the bus and even boarded when we realized we did not have our tickets. Mom had been holding on to them for everyone so we wouldn't loose them. WE got off at the Polynesian and rode the monorail back around. Shane ran and got the tickets and we finally got back on the bus. That was a screw up that killed an hour but we eventually made it back. I definitely recommend a night alone if you can swing it. It was nice to get away. We did some shopping and even had our picture taken with Mickey and Studio M which is a lot of fun and I recommend it. We then went to Pleasure Island and although it was a lot of fun we were not used to all the smoke. You are not allowed to smoke anywhere indoors in California and we didn't stay long at 8 Tax because of the thick smoke. We then walked around and checked out Planet Hollywood and the rest of the West Side. Shane wanted to try out Disney Quest but it was closed. We then headed back to our hotel and turned in.
Friday, May 17, 2002
Once again we were up with the chickens and this time we had our one and only planned breakfast. We had priority seating at Chef Mickeys. Unfortunately mom had come down with a cold and stayed in the room. We all went down and the food was ok and we enjoyed all the characters. After breakfast we met up with mom and because she wasn't feeling well and by this time we were all so exhausted we decided to go straight to Epcot and forgo MGM. I wish we hadn't because I was not that impressed with Future World. To me it was like going to the state fair and viewing all the exhibits. I am more of a ride type person. By this day we were all pretty worn out, hot, and tired. The little ones were cranky and I had terrible blisters even though I brought comfortable shows. We were all coming down with the cold by now. Everyone viewed most of the exhibits and rode most of the rides in Future World but nothing was that impressive to us and we decided when we come back we will only spend a few hours in Epcot. This was our least favorite place. We did send the video e-mails back to a few people which was fun. We had lunch at the food court in the land and had PS for dinner in Germany but it was only 4:00 and PS wasn't till 6:00 and we were sooo hot and exhausted we said forget it and left. We got back to our room and decided to try and get in Ohana. We lucked out and got in at 6:30. It was very nice and fun and the food was good. We liked the resort and thought it would be a nice place to stay another time. After dinner we got back to our hotel and mom and the kids hit the sack while Shane and I hit the pool. We weren't in the pool more than 10 minutes when an electrical storm hit and everyone cleared out. We don't get a lot of thunderstorms where we are from so Shane and I sat on beach chairs and just watched the beauty of nature for awhile. It was neat and relaxing although I wish I had more time the Jacuzzi. We then turned in our last night.
Saturday, May 18, 2002
We actually slept in a bit this day as it was our last and we had nothing planned. After waking we were distraught over the idea of having enough room in our bags for all our clothes and packages. I ended up buying 2 extra bags and still barely had enough room. We managed to get everything crammed in and were off to an impromptu breakfast at 1900 Park Faire. Originally we had planned to hang out at Downtown Disney until we had to leave but knowing how long it can take for buses we decided not to chance it and we wanted to check out the Grand Floridian anyway. So we took the monorail over and were awestruck at the posh ness of this place. We walked around a bit and then checked in for our meal. We met with Mary Poppins in the hall which the kids loved and then met with Pooh and the gang as well as Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. It was another nice breakfast. We then walked around a bit more and admired the beautiful hotel and then headed back to our own to get going. We checked our luggage with the bell boy and headed down to the food court to fill up our mugs one last time and checkout. After we checked out Shane and Lynn played games in the arcade while mom and I sat with the little ones and watched cartoons in the lobby. It was finally time to go and we met our driver and took off. The flight from Orlando to Atlanta was a little bumpy and even though I had taken Dramamine I was a little queasy. The kids were ok though until the second leg of our trip. This flight was an hour longer for some reason and it definitely had it's moments but we finally made it back home and were glad to be back. All in all it was a great trip and we very much enjoyed it. We learned a lot and now feel much more prepared for our next visit. We did do a little of the commando approach but had the parks been open longer we might have had more downtime. I also recommend one of the hotels on the monorail for the shear convenience. We will be returning in 2007 when the little ones are old enough to enjoy it so we are looking forward to our return and what new things we might see then.
Kelly McBride
Kelmac284@cs.com
May 11-18, 2002
My group: Myself 34, My husband Shane 28, My mom 57, stepdaughter Lynn 10, daughter Katy 2 1/2, daughter Shelby 1
First time visit for all.
Saturday 5/11/02
After several months of planning and talking with Brian and many cast members at Disney I thought I was totally prepared. We had a 6:30 a.m. flight out of Sacramento, CA (where we are from) and therefore woke at 3:30 a.m. We had packed everything and had our clothes all laid out the night before. Got the kids up and packed everyone in the car and went and picked up my mom. Arrived at the airport around 4:30 and checked in. We found out that the desk doesn't open till 5:00 a.m. so we had to stand in line for awhile but that was ok. Lucked out at security and didn't have too long a wait except my mom's suitcase has one of those collapsible handles and they were convinced it was something devious and totally unpacked her carry on bag and made her take off her shoes, etc. We laughed because mom always has that kind of luck. Had a quick breakfast and got on the plane. We had a 1 hour layover in Salt Lake City and then back on the plane to Orlando. The 4 hour plane ride was a little rough with 2 little ones and we will definitely buy an extra seat next time. We had the 1 year old on our laps and that was really hard. We finally arrived in Orlando around 4:00 p.m. eastern time (1:00 p.m. our time) and were picked up by a really great driver from a Towncar company. He was very friendly and helpful. We arrived on property and were very impressed by the size and grandeur of it all. Being from California, Disneyland is completely different. It is right in the middle of a large city and there is the typical dirt and traffic and crime that you would have especially in L.A. Disney world was a refreshing change. I used Net Grocer and after check in we went to package pickup and two boxes were waiting. One thing I did learn is that you must allow a certain number of days before you arrive for shipping and add a day or two for approval of payment. Luckily I had called on Monday and it all worked out. Even though the groceries were a little pricey it was a great thing with kids. I ordered diapers, wipes and baby food and saved my luggage space as well as having to make a run to a grocery store. I highly recommend this if you have small kids or even if you want some snacks or something and don't want to have to bring them or stop and shop. I received my groceries and we hunted for our room. My husband is in the military and had gotten a room through Shades of Green but because of the renovations they have moved to Contemporary. The only downside is they gave us the absolute farthest room possible. We were in a garden room completely at the end. We definitely got our exercise. After getting to the room and stowing our luggage and changing into more appropriate weather related attire we were off to California Grill for our 8:30 dinner reservation. Unfortunately the crew was quite tired and cranky from such a long day and we passed on the dinner and ended up going back to the room for room service. We ordered a few pizzas not knowing how large they were and then we were stuck with 2 very large pizzas. 1 is plenty for a family of 4 or 5. I have to say it was not that good and sort of burnt. We hit the sack and were off to the next day.
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Even with the time change we still all managed to get up around 6:30 Florida time which is only 3:30 our time but we handled the time change well. We woke up and headed down to the food court. We purchased the refillable mugs and bought some muffins, etc., for breakfast. I must say I wasn't impressed with the food but it was what I expected. We then took the monorail to the TTC and then took the Epcot monorail to Epcot. We originally had planned to see Future World that day but since we had lunch reservations in Norway we opted to simply do test track and then head to World Showcase. My husband, stepdaughter and myself headed to fast track and hoped right on. We opted for the single rider line and although we were separated it was no big deal. Got on the ride within 15 minutes. Mom did the baby swap and as soon as we got off I met mom and she and I went back through the exit and went on the ride again. We liked the race part at the end but were a little bored with the interior part of the ride, especially the second time around. My husband thought it was going to be a lot better than it was and was not impressed. We then headed to World Showcase were we dined at Akershus. Unfortunately we were still full from breakfast and it was a shame because the buffet was wonderful. I forced myself to eat some lox and many of the other native dishes which were all very good. We enjoyed speaking with the cast members who were young people from Norway. It was a nice place and we enjoyed everything about it. I highly recommend this place. Just be aware that it does have some unusual but very good food. We then took a ride on the Maelstrom which we enjoyed and although the little ones were a tad bit afraid they made it through with flying colors as long as they were sitting next to us. We then started working our way around the World showcase. We bought my stepdaughter a passport and that was a real hit with her. It gave her something to do and a suggestion for parents, we also had her take a picture with a cast member from each country to go along with the signatures. Upon arriving in Morocco we were pleased to find Jasmine and the Genie and my stepdaughter was able to get autographs and photos taken. By the way we also bought the autograph book which was a great success. Upon arriving at the American Experience we watched the show and left dad outside with the little ones. This show was quite long and unfortunately the 2 year old was having a melt down so things were a little rough but mom, Lynn and I enjoyed some wonderful singers who were singing old folk songs and we thought the Ben Franklin show was good and a good history lesson for my 10 year old. We worked our way to France where we had 6:00 dinner reservations. We got there a little early but they were able to seat us right away. The food was excellent but they sat us right up front near a window and the sun was blaring down on everyone. I know they didn't realize this but it made it tough to enjoy our dinner. We were able to view the living statue however and it was quite funny watching him scare people! After dinner we continued around the showcase mostly viewing shops. We did not see any of the films because of the little ones but we did ride on the El Rio Del Tiempo ride in Mexico twice as well as Maelstrom, both of which we enjoyed. I think more for the coolness then anything else. We enjoyed all the countries and found it quite interesting and fun. After working our way around we decided to camp out to watch illuminations. We were all quite tired by this time from both the heat and the walking and wanted to relax and get a good seat. We ended up sitting over by the bridge the leads to Future world on the Great Britain side. These were pretty good seats however there are trees in the way and I ended up having to stand on my bench which I'm sure the cast members would not have approved of had they seen me. We were very impressed with the show however and thought it was great. As soon as it was over we made our way with the throng of people to the exits. We were very afraid we would be stuck for hours but luckily we got on the first available monorail. We got back to our room and immediately hit the hay.
Monday May 13, 2002
Got up and got an early start once again and did the food court for rolls. This time we sent mom and Shane down with the mugs to fill them up and get the muffins. These mugs are a great idea but if you are as far away as we were it is a little tough to refill them as much as possible and we never took them with us in the mornings because we had too much stuff to carry as it was. Next time we will probably just get lockers and leave them. I do recommend them though since they are a great deal. After our breakfast we took the monorail back to the TTC and then waited for a bus to Animal Kingdom. We since found out that you can take a bus directly from our hotel to many locations. I wish I had known that but now we do. Needless to say it was about a 30 minute wait for the bus but it finally arrived and we made it to AK just as it was opening. We were very impressed with this park and thought it was absolutely beautiful. My mother has been to Costa Rica and said it made her want to go back. She also goes to Mexico twice a year and loves this type of place so she was extremely happy. We headed directly for the Kilamanjaro safaris and after about a 15 minute wait boarded our bus. We were able to take all the kids and had no problems. The 2 year old loved the animals and we got a lot of great shots both with the video and still cameras. At one point the male lion came out and stood perched on a rock and looked just like Mufasa in the Lion King. It couldn't have been more awesome if they had staged it that way. It was a great shot. We very much enjoyed this. After disembarking from the buses we went on the Pangani trail which was also interesting although we were hot, tired and had to use the restroom which was no where near where we were so we kind of hurried through this. We then basically went around the park in a clockwise fashion stopping at Rafiki's conservation station. We took the train in and kind of hurried through the beginning where they had some interactive exhibits for the kids. We went into the conservation area and the kids meet with Rafiki and Pocahontas. Now we were a little worried about how my 2 year old would handle the characters as she was terrified of the Easter Bunny this year. She did great though and by the end of the trip went ga ga every time she saw one. She would jump up and down and clap and call their names out and we had to restrain her from charging in front of someone. That really made the trip worthwhile to me and everyone who said we were crazy for taking a 1 and 2 1/2 year old was wrong. Even my 1 year old did great. I don't think she got much out of a lot of it but she was very well behaved and hardly ever cranky and by the end of the week even she was interested in the characters and I think she finally figured out they were ok. We next stopped at the petting zoo which was also a big hit with my 2 year old and I highly recommend this for anyone with little ones. We had to drag her away to move to our next stop. Now we have several water raft rides at parks near our home and everyone had vetoed the Kali River Rapids before we got there but it was so hot by the time we got there we changed our minds and glad we did. Although the ride seemed really short it was a nice cool off and even mom did the baby swap and went on it with my stepdaughter. By the way we had lunch at the Husker house which was good and we bought the meal certificates which is a great deal. We got our lunch and beverage plus an additional beverage and ice cream cone later on for 11.00 a person. I highly recommend this! Shane and I had our free ice cream and waters while we waited for mom to get off the rapids. Unfortunately we missed the Maharajah trek as we felt we were running short on time and wanted to get to Dinosaur and Camp Mickey and Minnie. We did stop and watch Flights of Wonder however and it was very good! Highly recommend! Upon arriving at Dino Land we immediately went on Dinosaur while mom stayed with the little ones. We then did the baby swap and mom rode while I waited with the kids. Everyone enjoyed this ride. We then went on the triceratops spin which is exactly like Dumbo and Aladdin. Then we rode Primeval whirl which was fun but very much like a carnival ride. I was amazed at how much this area seemed like a midway and to me it cheapened the whole Disney fantasy for me. To me Disney has always been so much better than any carnival or even a 6 Flags type park but this area was definitely that way. This is only my opinion. We then hoped over to Discovery Island to watch it's tough to be a bug. This was awesome. I really loved it as did Shane and Lynn. Mom stayed out with the little ones and had it not been such a long wait and if we weren't short on time I would have insisted she see it as I know she would have truly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this show as well. We were running out of time and ran over to Camp Minnie and Mickey and had missed the last Lion King show which I was disappointed about. We did get to see all the characters though completely by ourselves. It was great. It was about 15 minutes before closing and no one was there. My 2 year old saw Goofy and went running and just before she got there she saw Mickey and did an about face and ran into his arms. Goofy acted like he was crying and it was priceless. We got some great photos of Katy and Mickey and Goofy as well as Minnie, Donald and Daisy Duck. This is a good plan on your way out if you want your kids to see the characters without all the crowds. This is a great park but I think you could spend at least a day and a half especially with little ones. We definitely didn't get to see everything. We then headed out. We had priority seating at the Boardwalk for the Flying Fish but it had been a very long, hot, exhausting day and we decided to skip it as we didn't want any long waits for extra buses. This is when we found out we could get a bus directly back to our hotel and this is what we did. We arrived at our hotel and were able to walk into the Concourse steakhouse. The food was excellent and no one was there. This place is right next to Chef Mickeys who steals all their business. This is a great place that I think no one really takes advantage of. Again I highly recommend. We had a great friendly waitress also! Since it was an early night and we were so beat we decided to try out the hotel pool. We all get dressed and headed for the pool which felt great after a long hot day. We stayed for awhile and then mom took the little ones to the room while Shane and I stayed and enjoyed the Jacuzzi. After an hour or so we headed back and turned in.
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Once again we were up early and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Since we were at the Contemporary and had our own monorail we were there in no time and arrived well before the park opened and before they were even letting people in to Main Street. We found out from a cast member however that there were some extra tables at Crystal Palace and we decided to have a character breakfast. The food was very good and the characters were the Pooh clan, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, etc. The kids loved it and it was a lot of fun. As soon as we were done eating we headed to Frontierland and Splash Mountain. We were able to ride this 3 or 4 times in a row which was great! We then went to Thunder mountain and again rode a few times in a row. We decided to back track to Adventureland and got fast passes for the jungle cruise and took the little ones on Aladdin. They loved it. We then visited the Tiki room which was a little loud but I think the kids liked it. By this time it was time to use the fast passes which we did and enjoyed our jungle trip. Shane wasn't impressed but mom loves this ride. Unfortunately Pirates of the Caribbean (another of mom's fav's) was broke down so we never did ride it that day. We also stopped at the Swiss Family tree house although my 2 year old wasn't as impressed as I thought and Shane had to carry her the entire way. He was not pleased. We then attended the Country Bear Jamboree which the 2 year old enjoyed but the little one was sleeping and they do not allow strollers even if the baby is asleep so mom had to wait outside. While out there it started pouring and she realized I was right and we should have brought some rain gear. She purchased the Disney poncho's and thought they were a little pricey but they came in handy. We never wore them but bought 2 to cover up our double stroller. After this we went on the haunted mansion which is always a favorite and by this time the baby was awake and everyone rode. The little ones weren't afraid but I think when they are older and know they are "supposed" to be afraid it might be a different story. It was also neat to see the mansion as it looks completely different than ours at Disneyland. I actually thought it was neater looking and it was interesting to note the differences in a lot of the rides. Both the mansion and Pirates are quite different as far as the décor in the beginning, etc and even some of the interior stuff. We had lunch at the Columbia Harbor House and it was good but I have to say they don't offer much choice for little ones. My 2 year old is VERY picky and many times their choice was mac and cheese or a baloney sandwich. Now I realize that a lot of kids like this but mine doesn't. She is a grilled cheese or peanut butter sandwich girl. So that could stand to be changed but otherwise our food was ok. We next headed to Fantasyland and realized that we should have come here first. It was absolutely jammed. We rode on It's a Small World and got fast passes for Peter Pan but ended up not using them because when they came up we were in the middle of something else. We were able to ride Pooh without the fast passes because we still had the passes for Peter Pan. We only had a 30 minute wait so that wasn't bad. We took the kids on the carousel and then Shane, Lynn and I rode the tea cups. I will never ride with my husband again. I suffer from motion sickness and I had to keep my eyes shut the entire ride and even then when it stopped I was very woozy and could hardly walk. I could have killed him for that. We passed on Snow White as we figured it was too scary and the little mermaid was packed. We also skipped toon town and figured we'd hit it our 2nd day. We headed to Tomorrowland and rode space mountain several times in a row. We also did Alien Encounter but were not impressed. Carousel of Progress and Timekeeper were both closed. Mom's favorite ride from Disneyland is the People Mover's which is very much like the TTA so we rode on that while Shane sat with the sleeping kids. By this time it was close to park closing so we went ahead and headed out as we had priority seating at Rainforest in Downtown Disney. We took the monorail to the TTC only to find out that we had to take another bus to MGM to get a bus to downtown Disney. This was a giant screw up and we did not know there were no direct buses to Downtown Disney from the TTC. This amazes why this is this way. It really screwed us up time wise and when we got to MGM no one knew which bus stop was for Downtown Disney. Needless to say the moods were not very good. We finally figured it out and made it to Downtown Disney a half hour after our reservations. We decided to try it anyway and got a great guy who let us in anyway. That was really great of him and I'm glad we did as that place is a lot of fun!!! After enjoying our dinner Shane had promised to take the kids back to the room so mom and I could shop in peace. After they left we did a little shopping at the Rainforest and they have some really great deals and souvenirs plus their food was awesome and a great atmosphere. Another highly recommended stop! Mom and I checked out Pooh Corner and World of Disney and finally had back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Wednesday, May 15, 2002
Once again we were up with the chickens and did our trek to the food court to fill up the mugs and get some Danish. After eating we headed out to MGM. Upon arriving we had a bit of a problem when my mom was busy with the tickets I pushed the stroller through the gate with my little one and mom had Katy. Well we had gone into the park and pretty soon I hear "mom!" I look out and there she is on the other side of the gate. Mom got so busy with the tickets she forgot Katy and my husband freaked. We quickly rounded her up but Shane was not too happy with mom at that point and she tried to laugh it off. Luckily it all went ok but I have to say you really need to keep an eye on the little ones and not let everything that is going on distract you. Later that evening at Fantasmic there was a woman standing on top of a pillar screaming out her child's name and description as they had gotten separated. They were apart for over half an hour before security rounded her up. Scary!!! We headed directly for Tower of Terror where Shane and Lynn decided to take a trip. We told them we would meet them at Rock and Roller Coaster and since there was no line I went on it by myself while mom waited with the little ones. I was able to ride and get done before Shane and Lynn. They thought it was awesome and I thought Rock and Roller Coaster was awesome as well. The three of us then went on Rock and Roller Coaster and then headed on to the next area. We tried to get into the Disney playhouse but it was already full so Shane, Lynn, Katy and I went to the Little Mermaid show while mom stayed out with the baby who was sleeping. We very much enjoyed this and I recommend it. We then headed over to the Star Tours area where mom, Shane and Lynn rode that while I waited with the kids and then we hoped in to the Sci-Fi drive in. We had no reservations but just walked in. Definitely eating early is the key. Our food was so so but the atmosphere was a lot of fun and the kids got their food on a Frisbee that they got to keep. After lunch we watched the Muppet show which was great and then Shane and I did the backlot tour while mom waited with the kids. That was a waste of time to me. I have been to Universal and it nothing compared to that. It was very short considering how long we waited to ride and not that interesting. I wouldn't waste your time. While on that the kids played at the honey I shrunk the kids playground and again no strollers were allowed and the little one was sleeping so mom couldn't take Katy. Therefore Shane and I took her and she loved it. After that we headed to the Beauty and the Beast Stage show which was terrific and then went to the Animation Exhibit and Walt Disney Exhibit both of which were interesting and recommended. Unfortunately we were unable to go to the Millionaire, Indiana Jones, or Playhouse Disney as we ran out of time. We had priority seating at Hollywood and Vine which was good and it was a Fantasmic dinner package. We had a minor snafu in that our hotel had made the PS for the wrong day and luckily mom looked at the info and headed over in the morning and was able to resolve it and get us in. The place wasn't that crowded though so I don't see what the fuss was about. After dinner we watched the stars and motor cars parade which was good and then headed over to Fantasmic. We waited a short time and then watched the show. It is somewhat different than the California version but it was nice to actually have seats. In California you have to sit on the ground and that gets old quick. The kids did really well and even fell asleep which was amazing considering how loud it was. Also if you want to tape it make sure you have a long tape. Ours ran out right before the end. This was a great park and one of our favorites. We had planned to come back on Friday morning to do the things we had missed but unfortunately never made it back. I would definitely spend more time next time. After it was over we again fought the mass crowds to the bus stop and then were in line for the first bus but it came to standing room only and decided to let several others pass because we couldn't stand with our large stroller and 2 sleeping babies. We probably let 10 people past us on the first bus. We were therefore first in line for the next and believe it or not this guy behind us nearly pushed me over to get on the bus even though we were ahead of him. Now he was right behind us and certainly would have gotten a seat even after us. Then as the bus filled the bus driver asked him to stand and let an elderly woman have his seat. He looked right at the bus driver and said "NO". I was astounded and said quite loud "how rude!" Everyone gave him the evil eye and his wife wanted to crawl away in shame. It really amazes me how rude. In fact we encountered a few other rude people at our hotel. We were on the 2nd floor and one morning waited through 5 elevators before we could get on. People kept getting on the 3rd floor and there was no room. No I can understand taking the elevator if you are old, feeble or have a stroller but if you are perfectly healthy, give me a break. Finally mom had to get in, ride it down, and then back up again to try to make space. These people got on even though she told them we had a large stroller and they wouldn't budge. So Shane and the kids crammed in and I looked right at them and said "forget it, I'll take the stairs". I couldn't believe how rude. Luckily we didn't encounter that very often and most people were very nice. Once we finally arrived at our hotel we all crashed for the night.
Thursday, May 16, 2002
Once again it was back to the Magic Kingdom and this time we decided to make it a kids day and take it easy and not stress. We headed directly for Fantasyland and were able to ride Small World, Peter Pan twice and Pooh all within 30 minutes. We then took Katy and Lynn to see the Little Mermaid which took awhile but was worth it. We got some great photos. We then headed to Toon town and unfortunately Minnie's house was closed but we did visit with characters in the Judge's tent and I really like how they do this. In Disneyland the characters come out and people swarm around them and there is no order to it. No one waits in line and it is impossible to visit with the characters or get a decent picture. I really liked how they handled it here. After leaving Toontown we headed back to Adventureland to try Pirates and yeah, it was open so we went on it twice in a row. We then had lunch at Pecos Bill's and had a really nice waitress help us out with our 2 year old who was acting her age and throwing a fit. This gal talked to her and even got her to eat some of her food which she was refusing to do. Mom wanted to hire her to come back with us (lol) We then headed back over to splash mountain and got some fast passes and rode on that twice using the passes and the baby swap. Boy do you get evil looks from the people in the standby line. We never once waited more than 30 minutes for any ride our entire stay. If we saw the line was long we simply did Fastpass. No big deal. Mom an I commented how we didn't understand why more people don't do this. We then headed back to Tomorrowland where we rode Buzz Lightyear a few times and mom and I went on the TTA again. Finally it was time for our dinner reservations at Crystal Palace where we once again had a character dinner. The food was good and the girls just loved the characters. The park also closed while we were eating and we were able to walk around the park with no one there after dinner and get some nice photos of the castle, etc., without all the people. I have to say though closing at 6:00 is simply way to early for this park. After we ate we headed back to our room where we tucked the kids in and Shane and I got ready to head to downtown Disney. We had gotten to the bus and even boarded when we realized we did not have our tickets. Mom had been holding on to them for everyone so we wouldn't loose them. WE got off at the Polynesian and rode the monorail back around. Shane ran and got the tickets and we finally got back on the bus. That was a screw up that killed an hour but we eventually made it back. I definitely recommend a night alone if you can swing it. It was nice to get away. We did some shopping and even had our picture taken with Mickey and Studio M which is a lot of fun and I recommend it. We then went to Pleasure Island and although it was a lot of fun we were not used to all the smoke. You are not allowed to smoke anywhere indoors in California and we didn't stay long at 8 Tax because of the thick smoke. We then walked around and checked out Planet Hollywood and the rest of the West Side. Shane wanted to try out Disney Quest but it was closed. We then headed back to our hotel and turned in.
Friday, May 17, 2002
Once again we were up with the chickens and this time we had our one and only planned breakfast. We had priority seating at Chef Mickeys. Unfortunately mom had come down with a cold and stayed in the room. We all went down and the food was ok and we enjoyed all the characters. After breakfast we met up with mom and because she wasn't feeling well and by this time we were all so exhausted we decided to go straight to Epcot and forgo MGM. I wish we hadn't because I was not that impressed with Future World. To me it was like going to the state fair and viewing all the exhibits. I am more of a ride type person. By this day we were all pretty worn out, hot, and tired. The little ones were cranky and I had terrible blisters even though I brought comfortable shows. We were all coming down with the cold by now. Everyone viewed most of the exhibits and rode most of the rides in Future World but nothing was that impressive to us and we decided when we come back we will only spend a few hours in Epcot. This was our least favorite place. We did send the video e-mails back to a few people which was fun. We had lunch at the food court in the land and had PS for dinner in Germany but it was only 4:00 and PS wasn't till 6:00 and we were sooo hot and exhausted we said forget it and left. We got back to our room and decided to try and get in Ohana. We lucked out and got in at 6:30. It was very nice and fun and the food was good. We liked the resort and thought it would be a nice place to stay another time. After dinner we got back to our hotel and mom and the kids hit the sack while Shane and I hit the pool. We weren't in the pool more than 10 minutes when an electrical storm hit and everyone cleared out. We don't get a lot of thunderstorms where we are from so Shane and I sat on beach chairs and just watched the beauty of nature for awhile. It was neat and relaxing although I wish I had more time the Jacuzzi. We then turned in our last night.
Saturday, May 18, 2002
We actually slept in a bit this day as it was our last and we had nothing planned. After waking we were distraught over the idea of having enough room in our bags for all our clothes and packages. I ended up buying 2 extra bags and still barely had enough room. We managed to get everything crammed in and were off to an impromptu breakfast at 1900 Park Faire. Originally we had planned to hang out at Downtown Disney until we had to leave but knowing how long it can take for buses we decided not to chance it and we wanted to check out the Grand Floridian anyway. So we took the monorail over and were awestruck at the posh ness of this place. We walked around a bit and then checked in for our meal. We met with Mary Poppins in the hall which the kids loved and then met with Pooh and the gang as well as Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. It was another nice breakfast. We then walked around a bit more and admired the beautiful hotel and then headed back to our own to get going. We checked our luggage with the bell boy and headed down to the food court to fill up our mugs one last time and checkout. After we checked out Shane and Lynn played games in the arcade while mom and I sat with the little ones and watched cartoons in the lobby. It was finally time to go and we met our driver and took off. The flight from Orlando to Atlanta was a little bumpy and even though I had taken Dramamine I was a little queasy. The kids were ok though until the second leg of our trip. This flight was an hour longer for some reason and it definitely had it's moments but we finally made it back home and were glad to be back. All in all it was a great trip and we very much enjoyed it. We learned a lot and now feel much more prepared for our next visit. We did do a little of the commando approach but had the parks been open longer we might have had more downtime. I also recommend one of the hotels on the monorail for the shear convenience. We will be returning in 2007 when the little ones are old enough to enjoy it so we are looking forward to our return and what new things we might see then.
Kelly McBride
Kelmac284@cs.com