Sheri Niklewski -- May 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Swan)


Participants
Me - Sheri (40) - the planner and report writer, accountant at a manufacturing firm. The job sounds boring and it is but it's a job. Enough said with today's economy.
Husband - Rich (42) - Enthusiastic collector and excellent cat care taker.
When: May 22 - 27, 2002. I know, it's over Memorial Day but we'll be fine
Where: The Swan
How: Personal vehicle from Georgia
Experience: Veterans - I'll be taking my 20th visit
Why...


I mentioned a Memorial Day weekend visit during our January trip when our son, Chris, was there as well. Chris is 19 and lives in Nebraska (we did a reverse on the kid leaving home - we moved and he stayed behind). He said something about wanting to come since May 25th was his 20th birthday and he also didn't want to work over Memorial Day weekend (he works at a movie theatre and they are always in overload). So I set up a Disney World trip for nine days with the intent of flying Chris into here and then driving down. However, Chris got into some financial things and decided that taking time off work was not going to be feasible (how he got to be so responsible is beyond me). We were going to pay for the whole trip and even offered to reimburse him for lost wages but it was not to be.

Which left me depressed. I was not going to be with my only child when he passed out of the teenage years. I handled turning 30 without any problems. I handled turning 40 this past February without a look back. Personally, I think age is a number and nothing more. I act like I'm 20 and I don't think I look 40 so no big deal. However, my two life crises have come up because of Chris. The only other one I've had was when Chris left elementary school and went to junior high. He left the innocence of youth behind and entered into some harsh realities that I couldn't protect him from. Now he's entering full fledged adulthood and it's so very hard (for me, not him). He's been on his own in Nebraska for almost a year but cutting those apron strings has been a gradual process (for me, not him). Knowing that he's no longer a teenager has an effect on me (not him).

I wanted to be in my favorite place in the world. It's still Memorial Day. I had asked for a day off in March so I could make an Easter trip so I just asked if I could take some time off in May. "Sure" was the answer. I had the vacation so I condensed the May trip to five nights. We'll be there on Chris' birthday and maybe that'll make it better.

I did have an unusual situation when I finalized all this and then went to my boss and asked for May 22-24 off work. He said fine and I was in the process of filling out the vacation leave form when the president of the company called our little accounting staff into the conference room. This wasn't good news as my boss was no where to be found. He had been fired! Another victim of America's economy. The month leading up to this trip would be very stressful as we replaced bosses and the new one had been working as a consultant. She had all of the old boss' responsibilities but was the complete opposite in personality. Let's just say the former boss was a ride on the Liberty Square Riverboat and the new boss is like a ride on Rock N Roller Coaster. The first thing I did after the announcement, and this was completely selfish, was to tell the new boss that my vacation had already been approved and would she so kindly sign the vacation form? She made her first official act giving me three days off. Thank you!

Resort

Warning - this is a typical Sheri Niklewski dilemma of resort choices. Read at your own risk.

When it was the three of us for nine nights, I wanted some Disney resorts. The only ones I haven't stayed at and are still open are Grand Floridian, the Polynesian (have to hit the lottery for what I want in those), Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Old Key West. So that narrowed the choices quite a bit. Old Key West didn't appeal to me (sorry to all the DVC members who rave about it - I've been there but wasn't impressed on the brief visit - I should try it again). So it was the two Lodges.

Through www.mousesavers.com, I saw a special Annual Pass rate code for the time. I called and asked about availability. Both sites were there. Hum, which one. The Wilderness Lodge was a little less expensive and since the Animal Kingdom Lodge was newer, I figured I'd have more chances to stay there later. So I booked the Wilderness Lodge with a lot of reservations.

First reservation - this was through the Walt Disney World Travel Company. For those who don't know, their cancellation and payment policies are more restrictive then if you go through the Central Reservation Office (CRO). With the Travel Company, you are charged the first night deposit immediately. Fine, I can live with that. However, within 14 days, the entire amount of your stay will be charged to your credit card. Yikes! It's not even February and I'm being charged for a May visit. OK, fine, I'll just pay it off before we go. But the kicker was the cancellation policy. It's 45 days out. Ugh. I make and break so many reservations for a Disney trip so that was not good. I'd be locked into this by April. Not a prospect I liked but I figured a deal was a deal.

Second reservation - Wilderness Lodge versus Animal Kingdom Lodge. I *love* the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's beautiful. And I really do want to stay there. However, I would want a savannah view to watch the animals and the only thing this time I could afford would be the standard view. I could do a Larry and possibly get a free upgrade but this was a special trip with our son and if the view wasn't what I expected, I'd be disappointed. Rich and Chris wouldn't care but I would and that would be a down mark in the vacation. I know that sounds silly but Rich and I both spend a good deal of time on the balcony, soaking in just being together or alone and that's important. (Side note - Rich and I are staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for Labor Day - told you I'd stay there some day.)

So I went with the Wilderness Lodge, standard view (don't care about a parking lot here) from the Travel Company.

And then those good folks at the newsgroup came through. New rate code out there. Same rates as with the Travel Company but you go through CRO. The difference? I would have the first night deposit charged to a credit card *but* I wouldn't have to pay the balance until I checked in. Big difference to me. My poor American Express card would be relieved until May. And the cancellation was only 5 days out. Can you say "dial 407-WDISNEY" on a Sunday morning?

I did while Rich was still getting up. I got the same darn rate but with a better policy. Not knocking the Travel Company but I want and need flexibility with my trips (as you will see). Poor Rich came into the room as I was giving out the American Express number and he just groaned. He thought I was making yet a different reservation! I had to explain to him what I was doing. Then I called and cancelled the Travel Company reservation. I could do that and my credit card still hadn't been charged for the full amount. I have probably saved thousands of dollars on these trips thanks to the newsgroup. Again, guys, thank you!

Once Chris bailed out (I shouldn't say bailed out, should I? I should say taken financial responsibility), I thought about how just Rich and I tour for a shorter trip. I talked to Rich about it and he said that after the January Saturday visit to Magic Kingdom, he didn't care if he ever set foot in the place again (it was mobbed). So we were going to concentrate on our favorites - Epcot and MGM. Animal Kingdom would be a day visit but we drive there. If we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, we'd just be driving over to the Swan to park for Epcot and MGM. Why not stay at the Swan?

So I booked through www.wdwinfo.com and DreamRes. I am a Starwood Preferred member so I'll earn points for the stay. I love the Swan. For the convenience to our two favorite parks. For the elegant lobby. I know people have a problem with this place because it's not a Disney resort. However, I am a K Mart kind of person so staying at a Sheraton/Westin place is a treat for me. I'm more of a Days Inn person. This place is upscale for me. The Swan was slightly more than the Wilderness Lodge but that location is worth it. The rate at the Swan before taxes and with an Entertainment Card was $155/night. $172 after taxes (jeez with the taxes). I decided to check on the Disney Epcot resorts with all the discount codes and the Annual Pass rates. The Boardwalk Inn was $247 a night! I get just as much elegance with the Swan for a heck of a lot less and I'm impressed with the Swan. It's not Disney but it's close.

The Wilderness Lodge reservation was canceled and the deposit moved over to our Easter trip at Caribbean Beach. My money gets moved around more at Disney World then it does at Bank of America!

I did book a Days Inn at Lake Park, GA for Tuesday night. We will leave Buford after I'm done working and then drive the four hours to just five miles from the Florida border. It breaks up the drive and gets us to Disney World before noon. This Days Inn (which we have stayed before) is very cheap and you don't get much. But for just sleeping, it's fine.

Tickets

Annual passes, of course. Just the regulars and not the Premiums. We found out we don't do the water parks, Pleasure Island, or Disney Quest at all. We know they are there but never used them when we did have the Premium Passes so I opted to buy as we go if we really want to. Rich and I got our passes in July of 2001 so we're set for another couple of months.

Touring

We tour in the extremely relaxed state of mind. There will be no "we were at rope drop" in this report. We go to Disney World often enough that we tend to just go with the crowd levels and the entertainment. We thought we'd have to deal with Star Wars Weekends but Mr. Lucas decided to do his "Indianapolis is better than Disney World" thing so that's not happening. We will have Memorial Day weekend crowds but we'll work around them.

We will see our favorite group, Off Kilter, whenever we can (take notice that this has changed to "our" favorite group and not just "my" favorite group). Hopefully, they will be playing Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday so we'll have plenty of opportunities. Also, the Flower Power series for the Flower & Garden Festival will be going on. The Grass Roots followed by Arlo Guthrie are on for this time. After last year's total success with seeing the Flower Power series, we'll check this out as well. We'll also take some time enjoying the special Flower & Garden Festival exhibits. The attractions on this trip will be secondary.

What we find ourselves doing is trying to get in as many MGM things as we can when we first start out. Now, we usually don't start touring until close to noon. So we grab Fastpasses or use the stand by lines for Twilight Zone, Rock N Roller Coaster, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Sounds Dangerous, and Star Tours. We've done the tours at MGM so they are not a high priority with us (although I haven't been to the Animation Tour for a while). We don't expect to get everything in at MGM so we just do what we can and then move on.

To Epcot. Our favorite. We love to walk around World Showcase, take the rest of the day easy, have a snack or a late lunch or a dinner and just be with each other. We like Animal Kingdom and will go over there and try for the "big four" - the Safari, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, and It's Tough to be a Bug. Again, anything else would be if we just happened upon it.

Magic Kingdom? Well, it's not for us right now. Especially with a holiday weekend. We'll let the ankle biters and the crumb crunchers and their parents enjoy it without us. Rich went with Chris to Magic Kingdom in January and now says he never has to go back again. OK, it was a Saturday and I figured it would be crowded but I have to let the man experience that on his own, right? Yes, Magic Kingdom is the original park and yes, I have special memories of my times there. But just not this trip.

Food

Chris' actual 20th birthday will be at 7:52 PM on May 25th (trust me, you remember the exact time of childbirth). I want to be somewhere, enjoying a nice sit down dinner to make up for not being able to eat while in labor. I just have to figure out where. I will be on the phone at that time to wish Chris a happy birthday. Sorry to anyone who is sitting around me when I pull out the cell phone and make the call.

We had a special lunch treat from Chris at Le Cellier in Canada in June, 2000. And Rich and I (along with Chris and all our family) celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary here in January, 2002. That became a choice.

We had dined at Rose & Crown for Thanksgiving, 2001 and had a great unplanned dinner the Saturday before Easter as well. We had also lunched here with Chris in June, 1999. Another nice choice. I feel like I have special thanks to give to Great Britain in the aftermath of September 11. Ever since then, I have never been disappointed with this pavilion. Chris was greatly, deeply affected by the attacks. I can't ever go through here without thinking about the special bond between countrymen and families. So this was a choice.

I made two priority seatings. We'll decide which one we want. Both are for 7:20 PM. We should be finishing up or enjoying dinner at 7:52. For the Rose & Crown seating, if we decide to do that one, we will be out of there for the Illuminations viewing. Just doesn't excite me the way it does for other people. I'll go to the special Passholder viewing area in Italy (which was discontinued on May 1st) or to our favorite spot in Germany. But either way, I will cancel the seating we don't want whenever we decide our preference.

I decided on the Rose & Crown seating. That decision was made when Rich and I went to the local TGI Friday's and they had fish & chips on the menu. Rich was thinking about getting that meal but then said that he would forever more compare any fish & chips to the Rose & Crown and he was afraid he would be disappointed with the TGI Friday's version. Now, if my husband is thinking about Disney World while not at Disney World, well, I've got to go for it. Le Cellier was cancelled. We have plenty more trips planned for a return visit here.

And I wanted a nice, adult meal. Sorry to everyone who has kids but the idea of Chef Mickey's frightens me. We've been there so I know the atmosphere. I decided on the California Grill for flatbreads or maybe sharing an entrée, and having dessert. No, I am not going to try and plan this around the Magic Kingdom fireworks. No interest in that at all. I just want to experience the restaurant. We've never been here before and it's very upscale for us. I was told there was a dress code and hurried out to the newsgroup for advice. No tank tops. Shorts are fine. So we're going with shorts and a collared shirt. Rich's idea of a gourmet meal is when the food comes in a basket and it's not wrapped up. I guess after this meal, I will have to appease Rich with Domino's and McDonald's for about a month!

I made the seating for 5:45 with the intention of maybe going to Magic Kingdom for just a few hours after. Not a definite and if the crowds are intense, we'll simply leave. At first, I made the seating for Sunday night. And then one day it dawned on me. Off Kilter usually performs on Sundays. My last day there. Why was I going to be at dinner when the last two shows of my stay would be going on?! I almost slapped myself. Rich was dying with laughter when I told him I had to change the seating. I moved it to Friday night instead - usually Off Kilter is off on Fridays. I am not going to have to do any marathon Off Kilter days with this trip but I want to see them whenever it fits into the touring (which I will conveniently arrange for the last two shows of each day the guys are performing).

Kid of the Day/Icing Moments/Grr Moments

I usually put in a Kid of the Day as someone who is enjoying Disney. The Icing Moments are the special touches Disney does to make a guest's stay just more enjoyable. Sprinkle Moments are better than Icing and Candle Moments are the best. The Grr Moments are the ones that go wrong (no trip is perfect).

Dedication

This report is dedicated to Chris. He's the reason I know I have served a purpose in life. Chris is such a special person and he contributes to the world every day. He's not a brain surgeon or an astronaut but he is my son. He gives so much back. He is thoughtful, thankful, and responsible. We don't hug or kiss each other but all three of us are so, so close. An example. After the September 11th attacks, I tried to call Chris in Nebraska. I couldn't get through. I figured the phone lines were tied up. Then I tried to call Rich. Again, I couldn't get through. I kept calling from work. I finally got Rich after about a half hour. Turns out that Chris had called Rich as soon as he heard about the attacks. The first people you turn to in times of adversity are your family. And that's Rich and Chris. Thank you Chris for being the person that you are and not letting anyone else tell you what you should be. You are my son. And that makes me a better person.

The Week Before

I know I've been to Disney World enough since I spent most of this time planning my sister's trip in July then doing my own! But I put a nice packet together for Sandy. She will pay me back by distributing my Disney World Trip Planning business cards whenever she can. But I did do enough for myself.

Work was as stressful as I thought it would be. My new boss and I didn't mesh very well to begin with but we worked out the kinks and I think we're going to be a good team. We both realized that when I get back, my month of June will be a hell month for me. So I am determined to have a great time on this vacation because the four weeks after will not be pleasant.

The May park hours were posted and nothing was out of the ordinary. Magic Kingdom is going to be open until 10:00 Friday night so that's going to work very well with the California Grill seating. We'll avoid Spectromagic and if we're anywhere to see the fireworks, fine. Otherwise, I think we'll just try and fit in some attractions.

I checked out Steve Soares' Disney World entertainment at http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/index.htm. This really is an invaluable and excellent website for seeing what kind of entertainment is available at the parks. Steve does a great job of updating the site on Saturdays for the next week. I checked out the Flower Power series and it was still The Grass Roots and Arlo Guthrie. I checked out The Grass Roots website and saw they do some songs that I actually knew. Rich, the music lover, had no idea what the songs were. I guess me listening to oldies stations and him listening to the stuff they call music today is the difference. But once he listens to the band, he'll remember the songs. Me singing them in what I call a voice didn't help (my mother said I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket).

Off Kilter's schedule was what I thought it would be. I literally held my breath when I checked Steve's site. There have been times when I've been there and the guys have been on vacation. But I was relieved to see that they would be there. I told Rich (well, I kind of shouted "yes!") and he said "there goes my life". Honestly, the only show I really, really want to be at is the first show on Wednesday. After all, it's been over seven weeks since I've seen them.

I also checked the weather forecast and saw that it would be very hot. In the days before we left, Georgia went through a very mild period so we needed to be prepared. And we were. We took a ton of different clothing options.

It was announced that there would be a new Annual Passholder lounge at the Animal Kingdom on May 18. We enjoyed the new lounge at Epcot on the Easter trip so we'll be sure to check this place out. It's located at the Pizzafari restaurant. You can also get preferred viewing of the Mickey's Jammin' Jungle parade here as well as making arrangements for preferred seating at the Festival of the Lion King stage show. Since it'll be hot, we will make ample use of the air conditioning and the free soft drinks.

One thing that Rich and I have not done yet is the longer course at the Fantasia miniature golf. We've done the traditional side of the course but not the chipping and putting side. Rich has always wanted to try it. We get 50% off with our Annual Passes and Fantasia is just a short walk away from the Swan. To reward Rich for putting up with the California Grill, I'm going to surprise him and suggest we do this course Friday morning. It'll probably be hot but if we need to cool down after, we can go back to the room for a while.

And my good friend, Adrienne, sent me such a nice package Saturday before we left. Thank you Adrienne! It had Mousekeeping envelopes in it to put the housekeeping tip in. These things are wonderful. You can download the graphics from the internet and print out envelopes to put the tip in. I know people disagree on whether or not you should tip housekeeping. We always do and will continue to do so. Adrienne also sent me these cool card holders for our Annual Passes and it has enough room to put the room key as well. Her library gives these out and they are just perfect for the passes. Rigid enough, water proof enough, but flexible enough. Excellent. Again, thanks Adrienne!

We did laundry Sunday and I packed my things that day. I wasn't sure how hectic Monday after work was going to be. I really didn't want the night before the vacation to have me flying around trying to get things together. Our cats will be ticked that a suitcase is out but they're going to have to get over it. They get so, so spoiled by Donna, our cat sitter.

Day One - Tuesday, May 21, 2002

I had to go to work today. Yeck. And it was a full day. My boss took over doing some of the more urgent work but she called me in from time to time to take over. I would have much rather done the whole thing than just pieces. But it made for an interesting day and at least I wasn't bored. By late afternoon, the boss had taken over things so I decided to head out around 4:30. I felt guilty leaving the department in such a crisis state but two people in my department will be taking vacation next month and I have to cover for them. For over two weeks. So they can cover for me for three whole days.

I made it home within an hour, thanks to some new found shortcuts. Once there, I found that Rich had already packed the car. I had taken the truck to work to save time on the leaving end. Rich gassed up the car and checked all the tire pressure. An oil change had already been done last week. All I really had to do was change shoes and say goodbye to the cats. But we delayed until 6:00 in the hopes that the Atlanta traffic would be at lower levels. We headed out of the house shortly after 6.

Only to go a mile and have Rich slap himself on the head and say "oh darn". To which I calmly replied "what, dear?" And he says "I forgot my Diet Cokes". Please understand that Rich cannot be in any vehicle and *not* have a Diet Coke. Or two. I said we could go back and get some cold ones (we had twelve of the huge bottles in the back seat but they were warm). No, Rich said to continue on and he would "suffer". About 15 seconds later, Rich says "we could stop at the QT and pick up some sodas". I gave up. We finally got on the road after fighting some traffic at 6:30. Sigh. Diet Coke is my man's life.

Rich drove us through Atlanta since he doesn't like the way I drive through there. And what can I say about the drive from Atlanta to south of Macon? Absolutely nothing. I crashed big time. I did wake up after Macon and forced myself to be in a good mood. Ugh! Rich and I had talked about taking sandwiches in the car but then decided to just stop and get fast food and switch drivers. Rich hadn't had McDonald's in weeks so that was the first choice. Yeck for me but he's putting up with all this so that's fine. $6.50, a cheeseburger, fries, strawberry shake, and a double cheeseburger value meal and we're set. I took over driving and we continued south to Valdosta.

Actually, it's Lake Park south of Valdosta at Exit 5 of I75. We're at a Days Inn where we stayed for the Easter trip. The place is clean, efficient, with easy on and off access. And it's cheap. I walked to the front desk and was cheerfully helped by the clerk. "Are you paying for both rooms?" Whaa? I made this reservation over the internet and I *never* hit the "reserve" button more than once. And I only received one confirmation notice. "Err, no, I only have one reservation". The clerk was great and cancelled the other one and we would not get charged for it. We were on the second floor, close to the stairs, on the other side of the ice machine. Not a bad room.

Except we really wanted to watch the season ender of "NYPD Blue". Which station was the only one we couldn't get? ABC. Oh well, I'm not sweating it. It's 10:00, I'm officially on vacation so I'm not worrying about a TV show. We were kind of jazzed up after the drive so we stayed up until 12:30 and then finally turned in. I convinced Rich into a 6:30 AM wakeup call. And I realized the one item that I forgot to pack. There's always something, right? My contact case! I had gotten a new one ready to go and I'm sure it's still sitting in the spare bathroom, right next to the sink. I hope the cats enjoy it because I certainly won't. I used the Days Inn Styrofoam coffee cups as a substitute. Again, I crashed.

I do have to say that I might be getting Rich into a different travel train of thought. He didn't even blink an eye when I suggested that for this one night that we pack a very light bag with just essentials so we wouldn't have to unload the entire car. A bag later, we're in the room. It's taken 60+ vacations with the man and he might finally be listening to me!

Day Two - Wednesday, May 22, 2002

The alarm dutifully went off and I bounded out of bed. Disney World called! Usually, Rich is the first one up but for some reason, I went off and did my thing instead. Once I was ready, Rich was still in bed. I had a few things in the car that I needed to retrieve so I did that while Rich got ready. Everything was repacked, including my new "contact cases" (well, not really since we never had to unpack) and Rich *still* hadn't grunted a word. I said something about him being a grump. Then he confessed that he hadn't slept very well the night before. That would come into play all day today and lead to quite a few Grr Moments.

I should mention here that Rich had recently been diagnosed with an arthritic condition of his right ankle. His ankle was very swollen after a hiking trip with his parents to Gatlinburg. So bad that he could barely walk. He rested it for a few days but when it didn't get any better, I finally made him go to the doctor. Rich was put on anti-inflammatories until the swelling went down. The doctor told him if he was going to do any kind of physical exercise like walking long distances or hiking, he should take a pill to ward off any reaction. Of course, Disney involves a ton of walking so he decided to take one once we got to the Swan. That would also come into play all day today and it too would lead to Grr Moments. Lack of sleep and a couple of pills. Disaster is coming.

We checked out with no problems and grabbed enough mini cinnamon rolls and mini muffins to last for a few days on the trip. I put them in a Ziploc bag. We never travel without Ziploc bags. We gassed up to take advantage of the lower Georgia prices, Rich grabbed two Diet Cokes from the store, and we were off right after 7:30.

I decided to be the good wife (that was probably the last time I was a good wife today) and volunteered to drive the whole way. It's only a little over three hours and we usually stop in Ocala at the Disney Information Center to use the bathrooms so it wasn't that bad. Except the drive from Lake Park to Ocala might be the most boring stretch of road along I75. One thing to mention here in case anyone is driving on I75 in the near future and you have an older map. In the last seven weeks since our last trip, all the exit numbers have been changed. They now reflect the mileage markers like most of the rest of the country. About half the billboards have been changed. For example, the Ocala exit for the Disney Information Center used to be Exit 68. Now it's Exit 350. One of the Disney billboards still said Exit 68 and one said Exit 350. The actual highway exit sign says Exit 350 with a smaller attached sign that says Old Exit 68. So be careful with the exit numbers.

I took our normal route of the Turnpike to Route 27 (paid $1 in tolls), and then I take Highway 192 in. I don't like the west side of Highway 192 since it's usually so congested the closer you get to Disney World. I had gone out on the newsgroup and asked if there were any shortcuts to avoid the most congested places. I got such great advice and used it this trip. The traffic wasn't that bad though, but I wanted to try out the route for future visits. Worked like a charm! Thanks guys!

We were pulling into the Swan's parking lot right before 11:00 which was when I wanted to. I like checking in around check out time. Before I left, I told Adrienne that I've been so spoiled at the Swan and I shouldn't expect a balcony or a king bed since I was paying the standard rate. The other two times I paid standard rates, I was given a balcony room. Yes, I was spoiled. Not this time. The only room with a king bed was a balcony room and the clerk said I would have to pay $30 extra per night. Neither Rich nor I thought it was worth it so we just took the two queen bed room. The clerk went through the spiel about room charging privileges (only good at the Swan and the Dolphin - not at Disney World), where to get park information, how the mini bar works, etc. Later, Rich said he wished he could have had a remote like on a DVD player so we could skip the chapters we've already seen. I think the first question a front desk clerk should asked is "have you ever stayed with us before?"

The Swan review - I'm putting this in because there aren't a lot of trip reports out there about the Swan. So here's my rundown on the resort. I love it. The lobby is elegant, the front desk staff efficient, the bell services wonderful (the few times we've used them). There is a nice swan fountain where the hallway branches off the lobby to the two elevator areas (East and West). Beyond the fountain is the lounge and then Palio's and Gulliver's/Garden Grove are located on branches off this. Beyond that is the doorway leading to the walk over to the boat area for MGM/Epcot and to the walkway for both of these as well.

Our room was very bright and pleasant and done up in pastel colors. We did have an easy chair with the two queen beds. The beds were very comfortable and we had extra pillows in the closet which is always appreciated. When we had the king bed room, we had a couch instead of the chair. We also had the typical desk and two chairs for that. There are four very nice sized drawers for clothes and the closet is a good size. You do pay $8 extra for newspaper delivery, 60 minutes of free local calls, coffee in the room (with a 4 cup coffee maker), and the safe. The only things we use are the newspaper and the safe. We do take some of the coffee with us. For our future coffee drinking guests at home. We don't drink the stuff.

The bathroom area is nice since it has a good size sink outside the shower area. This sink also has the hair dryer and coffee maker. You are given two glass coffee mugs plus the coffee and condiment packages. They also provide tea bags. In the shower area, there's another sink with lots of counter room.

One thing to note here. They have what I'm sure they think is a nice palm tree emblem on the light fixtures. The first time I took a look at this, I had to laugh. This looks just like Beaker from the Muppets! It's hard to take life seriously when you look at a light fixture and think of Beaker.

We did see lots of conventioneers but nothing major. Crowds seemed to be a little heavier and when we got our "reminder" call that we were going to be checking out the next day (like I had to be reminded), we were told that no late check outs would be honored. That might have had something to do with the strike stuff we saw later on. Overall, the Swan gets high marks from me.

We're in room 445 and it's fine for what we want and need. I didn't mind not getting the balcony because the view from the room is very nice. We're overlooking the Boardwalk and the canal going to MGM. Unfortunately, most of the Boardwalk on this side is covered in scaffolding but the part we can see if we're sitting down is fine. But we could stand up and watch the construction workers if we wanted. Also, the window here opens up. We like fresh air so that's nice. Unfortunately, the winds were very, very bad today so the window didn't stay open very long.

We went back to the car and unloaded everything. We have learned our lesson from many, many, many unloading fiascos at Disney World. Well, I've always known this but it has taken me having Grr Moments with Rich for him to finally get it. We took a luggage rack carrier with wheels on it. And we packed the flexible cooler and not the huge one. Everything we had then either was wheeled in (the suitcase has wheels) or had a strap and was slung over a shoulder. We easily made it in one trip.

We unwound in the room and unpacked everything. Rich will live out of a suitcase but I won't. Rich took his pill and I took some aspirin for the headache I usually get after driving. We left for Epcot after having a discussion about how late we would be out. I said it probably won't be that late since it's our first day and we should pace ourselves. And we could come back for a break since the Swan is so close to Epcot. Rich said it would be late. Which one of us was right? We left around 12:30.

The day was sunny and a little cooler than predicted. And those winds were whipping. I thought we could take in the first show of Off Kilter and then walk around and see the special Flower & Garden exhibits and the wonderful topiaries. We started with France and looked around there. Then we made our way back to Canada to wait for Off Kilter. The benches were kind of full even though it was a half hour before show time. But most of the people were just sitting for a break and weren't interested in the show. We sat in "my seats" which were shaded. Rich went to get us a beer to share but the keg wasn't cooperating. I asked him to get a couple of bottled beers. Here's where the Grr Moments start. Heck, this was kind of a Grr Day.

Rich is a tightwad. He is constantly price comparing and will not budge if something costs a buck or two more. Even if you want it. For example, I will occasionally drink Coke in the morning. But I can't drink that much since I am totally off caffeine. So a 20 oz. bottle will last me a week. I told Rich that I could buy one at the parks and that would be fine for the entire trip. He refused, saying he'll get me one for $1 instead of paying $2.50 at Disney prices. So, he refused to get the bottled beer because it was more expensive and you didn't get as much. Grr. I pouted. Told you I quit being a good wife. I guess I pouted enough because Rich just gave a huge sigh and stomped off to get the beer. And the kegs were back on so he got what he wanted.

But the next half hour was extremely pleasant as Off Kilter did a great show. The guys were really on today with lots of enthusiasm and jokes. Excellent set. After the show, I was making my way out of the area and Rich just takes a turn and goes directly over to Randy (the lead guitarist). We had talked with Randy several times before but I thought we were taking a low keyed Off Kilter trip this time. Rich had other ideas, I guess. Communication between the two of us would go downhill today quite rapidly. That and the effects of Rich's lack of sleep, the pill he took, and his eating habits and me wanting to relax on my first day of vacation would test the strength of our marriage.

Rich asked Randy if in the next couple of sets they could play "A Walk in the Irish Rain" and "Like You". Two of my favorite songs. Randy said they would get them in if they could. Rich said we'd see them for the next show. Not what I had thought about but if Rich was saying it, I was doing it. I never pass up an Off Kilter show.

We went off to look at the Flower and Garden exhibits, going towards Mexico this time. I really liked the Lady and the Tramp topiary at World Showcase entrance. I was taking pictures to try and convince my father-in-law to come down next year. I wanted to show him all the different things that Disney does for this special event. Rich made a comment about me getting something to eat. I wasn't really all that hungry but we were passing by the hot dog vendor and I asked if he wanted to split one with me. There's no way I can eat one of those by myself. Rich asked if we could get a plastic knife but the Cast Member cut it in half for us instead. Perfect. Rich loads his up with ketchup. I just put a little on mine. We sat on a bench and ate. I was satisfied for a while. Little did I know Rich wasn't. And he was feeling the effects of the pill. But he didn't say anything to me.

We looked at the Flower & Garden Festival poster. We could get it half price with the Annual Passes. Not sure if we will or not (we did - excellent souvenir for $6 after the discount). We also saw some wildflower playing cards that we'll get for Rich's father. Ed is so into wildflowers. Rich wanted to get some beverages in Norway (surely not just to talk to the stunning Norwegian Cast Member, right?). We continued on and admired the Chinese panda topiaries. Then we grabbed a bench for a while.

We were seated next to a young guy in an electrical cart and his wife and his mother. We kind of eavesdropped on the conversation a little. It was hard not too since they weren't the shy type. After a little while, the guy whizzes off (and he did move pretty fast) to go get some pretzels. When he came back, he was laughing. His wife and mother took one look at how big the pretzels were and were amazed. The guy said he thought about getting a water bottle strap to carry the pretzel back since they were so big. He takes the pretzel, holds it up, and says to us "do you see how big this is?" We had to laugh and said that if you're paying Disney prices at least you get Disney portions (even after just getting a half of the hot dog, I think it was bigger than a ballpark hot dog). And that got a conversation going. This guy kept saying how much he loves Epcot. It was a very nice way to pass some time. The wife and mother wanted to go on and they had to get up and start going on their own before the guy joined them! Rich and I got up and continued on ourselves.

We went into the Kid's Garden area since there were some nice topiaries in there. I had to take a picture of Belle from Beauty and the Beast since one of our cat's name is Belle. Right in front of this topiary, there was a series of blocks that you step on and music plays. One boy was having so much fun on them. And he was pretty good at making a tune. Rich was worried he would interfere with my picture because the boy was not aware of his surroundings except for those blocks. But I got a good shot. When we were leaving, I heard the best quote I have ever heard at Disney World. The boy was leaving with his mother. She almost had to drag him out of there. She said it was time to go on some rides. The boy, who was about seven or so, says "wasn't that a ride?" It was so cute. *That's* the Disney World I keep coming back to time and time again. Where a kid takes something so many people think is ordinary and turns it into something special. That's the Disney magic for me.

I was glad I had that good experience because the next hour or so would not be a good one. Except for the Off Kilter show, of course. We made it back to Canada and were sitting waiting for the 3:30 show. Rich started acting "loopy". The effects were now starting to outwardly show. I finally demanded what the heck was going on. He admitted how he felt and said he probably should get something to eat. He wanted a pretzel. I guess he had wanted one earlier but shared the hot dog with me and it wasn't enough. But he never said a word to me. He said he'd be fine until after the show. I had wanted to do some shopping and get a drink in France but the top priority after the show became food for Rich. By the way, Off Kilter did do "Like You" which was one of the songs Rich requested.

We walked all the way back to Germany for Rich's pretzel. That's what he wanted so, darn it, I was determined to give it to him. The last thing I wanted was a loopy husband to contend with for the rest of the day. We got the pretzel and then came all the way back to Canada. I hadn't expected to do this much walking today! Rich did feel better after the pretzel. On the way back, we checked out how the audience was being seated for the Flower Power concert at the American pavilion. We didn't know if there would be a queue or if you could enter whenever. You could enter whenever so going to see the 7:10 show of the Grass Roots went into the plan. Rich's theory of us being out late was coming true.

We returned for the 5:00 Off Kilter show and moved over to the "Barb seats" which are opposite of where we were before. We talked with a guy that had been there for all the shows today as well. It turns out he's one of Randy's neighbors! He said he's usually there on Wednesdays since Tuesdays and Wednesdays are his "weekends". When the guys came on stage, Randy was looking around at the audience. Then he spotted us and asked if "A Walk in the Irish Rain" was our other request. We said yes and were thrilled that he not only remembered but found us in the audience after we had moved our seats. This song has very special memories when Rich had already moved to Atlanta and I was still back in Nebraska. I played it over and over again since it's such a cheerful song. Some of the Celtic tunes, like "Danny Boy", can be downright depressing if you listen to the lyrics. Randy told Jaime (the lead singer) that they had a request and Jaime looked at us and said "ain't going to happen" and then he laughed and said that was fine.

The guys did several songs and then Jaime announced that there had been a special request and pointed over to us. Then he said we requested "YMCA". Mark (the bassist) almost started playing it. Then Rich yelled out "no, we requested Spice Girls". Off Kilter does a great Spice Girls. So they did that! And then they followed it up with "A Walk in the Irish Rain". And it was topped off by Jaime saying the request was for their special friends! Any reason someone doesn't understand why I like this group so much?

Randy came down after the show and we thanked him for getting in the request. Tony also came down and gave me a kiss. Extremely nice guys.

We stayed put for the 6:00 show. We didn't request anything but this might have been one of the best sets ever. The guys were just really into it today. I think doing the 30 minute sets instead of the 20 minute sets is great. I think they get more rocking and are looser.

Then we headed back for the Grass Roots. Like I said, I knew some of these songs but Rich said he didn't. There were front row seats available about a half hour before show time. This would prove to be a mistake since we were overwhelmed by the guitar. And we were seated in front of and next to some locals. I listened to their conversations. They come over to Disney World all the time. There actually were two separate groups behind us. The one guy said he comes later for the evening since they don't charge for parking that late. The other guy behind me said "Boardwalk is where we park". The first guy said he never thought of that. I turned around and said "you could just say you're eating at the ESPN Club". The guy said he didn't know there was an ESPN Club there. I told him we were staying at the Swan. He had no idea there was a place called the Swan. And this guy says he comes here all the time? What does he do? Drive around blindfolded?

The lead singer, Rob Grill, who has been with the band since it started 37 years ago, had a leg injury so he was confined to a stool. But the show was fantastic and I knew not just some of the songs but *all* of the songs. And the audience was highly encouraged to sing along. Rich had no clue of the songs. It was a kick, though, to see these older folks just getting into the music! Older woman and lots of men just grooving along with the band.

And then our communication between the two of us totally broke down. I was pretty jazzed up with the Off Kilter shows, especially with the special request, and with the Grass Roots show. Rich, on the other hand, was getting pretty tuckered out and was disappointed with the Grass Roots. I wanted to keep going. Tapestry of Dreams had been cancelled due to high winds. I had mentioned earlier that I had to get Boardwalk pizza sometime this trip and it would be perfect for on the way out. However, I followed that comment up with the fact that it would be a little cold and windy on the Boardwalk. Rich took that to mean I didn't want it. So he kept bugging me about getting something to eat. Again. I said I wanted the pizza. He said we could get room service pizza. Aargh! So we argued and ended up each going our own way. Time out for everyone. A definite Grr Moment. Not a good way to end your first day of vacation. Will the Disney magic work for us?

We ended up meeting over at the Boardwalk pizza window. The Boardwalk was absolutely mobbed. There were several conventions and special events going on. Rich had gotten to the Boardwalk before I did and caught up with Randy (not from Off Kilter), a juggler we like to watch. Randy was going to be doing his show in front of the Flying Fish in about 25 minutes so that was perfect for getting pizza and then seeing Randy. However, the pizza window was mobbed and the line was moving so slowly. Rich and I even argued about the pizza! He wanted a whole pie. Which meant pepperoni. I was getting so tired of meat. I had the McDonald's cheeseburger the night before and even a hot dog today. Yeck! All I wanted was one lousy slice of cheese pizza. I finally said that I was going to look for a table, Rich could stand in the not moving line and to please get me a slice and that's all I was going to say to him for a while.

After about fifteen minutes, Rich comes over with two slices of pepperoni for him and a cheese one for me. Dear man also got me a glass of wine to calm my nerves. I finished and went into the candy store to see what they had for me to take back to my co-workers. When I got out, Rich said Randy was setting up shop down the Boardwalk. In front of the bakery and not in front of the Flying Fish. So we went down there and kidded him a little about the location. He said another performer was still doing his show and they can't compete for the space. So he just moved down. We ended our day on a high note. The Disney magic was there in the form of Randy, the juggler.

This was a great show. Randy juggled fire which we had never seen him do. We told him that's because we never were out this late (which is very true). He also juggled while balancing a bowling ball on his face. A crowd had formed and kids just love this kind of stuff. Randy is so interactive with everyone, especially the kids. When Randy was trying to get the bowling ball from his head to the bridge of his nose, this one little kid, about three or four, kept yelling things like "you can't do that" and "that's dangerous". Which, of course, made the audience crack up and Randy as well. He had to keep starting over again. And he made comments like "now I know why some animals eat their young". I laughed so hard, I cried. After Randy successfully completed this routine (the kid's mom finally put her hand over the kid's mouth), he called the kid up to participate in the next one. The little kid's name was Christian. He was very cute and funny and Randy clearly won him over. It was a great show and Randy is such a great sport. After the show, we asked him how he puts up with the kids. He said he has to have a good sense of humor. And he definitely does. Unfortunately, this would be the only time we would be able to see him on the Boardwalk since a group had taken over most of it for the next couple of nights and all the regular performers were not working. But Randy would be doing the Saturday and Sunday Hunchback of Notre Dame shows at MGM.

So we dragged our drooping little butts back to the Swan. The wind had really picked up and I knew we had gotten wind burned. I was proven right back in the room. We both crashed on the bed and I knew the wind was bad because I even had to take my contacts out since they were so dry. We turned in fairly early around 10:30.

This was a very long day for both of us. We had been up since 6:30 and really never slowed down during the day. We didn't do what people think is a typical commando tour but it sure felt like it to us. And add to the fact that we were not communicating very well and that increases the tiredness level.

Kids of the Day - there were a lot of them today. The guy with the pretzel who just loved Epcot. The little boy who thought that musical stone area was a ride. Christian. Rich is still talking about him.

Icing Moment - the Grass Root concert, at least for me. Sprinkle Moment - Randy the juggler. Candle Moment - getting "A Walk in the Irish Rain" played and having the band calling us special friends.

Day Three - Thursday, May 23, 2002

I was up at 8:30 and started on the trip report. Rich, who needed sleep, stayed in bed and that was the best thing. I tapped away, Rich snored away, and we were both happy. I think Rich got up sometime before 10:00. We had our "do not disturb until" noon sign on the door so we knew housekeeping was not going to bother us for some time. We slowly got ready for the day and decided what to do. What else? Off Kilter was going on today and then would be off (kilter?) until Sunday. Four more shows? Why the heck not? But we would do some of Future World and the Flower and Garden Festival today instead of World Showcase. I had picked up a Flower and Garden Festival brochure yesterday and went through that this morning. We missed the Troll topiary in Norway and knew we had to see that for Lindy, who loves trolls. And we saw that Canada did have a topiary - a peacock. So that was on "the list". We finally headed out around 11:30 or so. Rich did *not* take a pill. Makes the difference in the two days.

We made our first stop at one of the special Flower & Garden Festival gift areas at the World Showcase entrance. I had mentioned to Rich that they were offering a special butterfly collection of flower seeds. Rich is trying to get the half of our yard that is *never* going to grow grass to grow something else. It's the Georgia soil. So he's intent on trying wildflowers and such. One good reason to be here this year. No seeds so we went to the other special gift area. No seeds so Rich asked. He was told they were back at the first one! Well, we'll try that later. Then we went through Future World and checked out the Festival Center.

Which Rich loved. There were so many items here for sale. Both for him and his family. There were seed packets marked down from $3.50 to $.45. Rich decided to come back and get every packet they had. He figured he'd just seed what he could and what took, took. They also had some plants for Rich's father and an air fern for us. Very nice exhibits here.

And then it was time to go back to Canada for the first Off Kilter show. I made Rich promise that we would both behave and not request anything and just enjoy the shows. The sets today were sort of a repeat of yesterday which was fine by us. We did sit in "my seats" and had a couple of the band members wave to us as they took the stage. Whoops. We've been here enough. We're definitely *not* requesting anything today. We'll enjoy the shows. Which we did.

Then it was time for something to eat. We were not going to repeat yesterday at all. We were strolling along World Showcase and Rich was saying something about America and meat. Yeck! But then he looked along the lagoon and said "um, China". OK, I can live with that. I had munched on the mini muffins in the room so I was OK but still needed something. Rich loves the pork fried rice at the Lotus Blossom Café and I could handle doing the fortune cookies here. Perfect! And cheap. So far, Rich cannot gripe about me spending that much money on food. We spent a nice respite at the outside seating area with the food and a cup of water. Excellent for the day. Which was sunny and definitely breezy. We did check out the Canada shop for a Christmas present for Rich's sister. We have to shop all year long for our family. I think we found something. And then we strolled through the gardens here and saw the peacock topiary. And what a topiary! The body of the peacock is the actual topiary. And then the gardens are planted with flowers to form the tail. Over 2,000 plants were used in this. Very nicely done.

Back for the next Off Kilter show. The guys were definitely animated and it was another fine half hour. We did have an older couple sit down next to us. They didn't know what to expect. Rich and I thought they'd be gone by the first song but they thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. This couple was easily in their 70s and they loved it. The woman did say that her ears were ringing and I agreed it is a loud show.

After this set, we had about an half hour until I wanted to be back for the last two shows. Rich did not want to sit on the benches because his back was stiffening up and he wanted to walk. So we did yet another walk around World Showcase with no stops. Just a walk. It was great to get out the kinks. We had done so much walking the day before and we had the muscles contract during the night. Excellent choice.

One note. On both walks around World Showcase, we caught the ending of the Fife and Drum Corps at the American pavilion. Rich loves this kind of stuff and I'm a very patriotic person. The last song they did at the end of both performances was "God Bless America", my favorite patriotic song. On a pre September 11 trip report, I wrote that we saw this done and the audience was encouraged to sing along. No one did. On this trip report, I am very happy to write that both times, the audience far out sang the leader of the Corps. I couldn't sing because I was too choked up. This is Memorial Day weekend and we should be honoring those who died in defense of our country. It's tough to realize that thousands of innocent people will be remembered this year and forever more. I also saw a ton of people wearing shirts with American flags on them. I brought three with me.

We got back to Canada for the 5:00 show and we stayed here for a while. Before the 5:00 show, we had a woman come up to us and ask "this might sound weird but are you Rich and Sheri?" We hadn't met this woman before. I said we were and she said that she read my trip reports and she just knew it was us. She said my Piglet shirt and Rich's ESPN hat gave it away. Plus the fact that we were at Off Kilter! We met Peggy from Buffalo. She was here with her two daughters and her niece. It was so nice to meet someone who has read the reports and it was nice to know that the reports are out there for everyone. Thank you Peggy for taking the time from your vacation to connect with us. It meant a lot. Although now Rich says he has to go out and read all the reports so he can see what I've been writing about him!

The 5:00 show had a ton of graduating College Program students. The guys did a special request for them and that was very nice. This show was quite crowded with the young adults but not a mob scene. Very vocal audience, though.

We held onto our benches for the last set of the night. Rich had graciously decided that we would go to the Grass Roots show at 7:10. I knew he really didn't know the music but he knew that I wanted to hear the set from somewhere other than the first row.

The last Off Kilter show was great. Because the guys came out, waved to us and then Randy asked us if we wanted any requests! Totally unexpected. I was dumbfounded. I finally blurted out "Fields of Athenry" which is one of my all time favorites but the guys don't do it very often anymore. I was so surprised that they asked us for a request. Without us doing anything. And they did it. Wow! One more reason that you know why I come back and see this group time and time again. We did not ask for this and yet we got so much more. Again, wow. And again, thank you Off Kilter!

After Off Kilter it was back to America for the Grass Roots. We did stop in at the American fast food place for some drinks. We've never had much luck here and I bet Rich that we would be here for at least twenty minutes waiting. I even bet him the four shows of Off Kilter on Sunday. We had our drinks in five minutes. Rich said that we would be doing something else besides Off Kilter on Sunday. I said he never called the bet. Ha!

This Grass Roots show was so much better than the first one. First, Rich was not "loopy". Second, we were not in the first row but more towards the center and behind the first section so we could hear a heck of a lot better. We both enjoyed this. The older fans were still going crazy but there was one thing that will always live with me. There was a very young man intently taking a video during the whole performance. He was with other young men and an older man I thought was his father. The young man was maybe 14 or 15. Why was he so intently videotaping the Grass Roots? After the show, I had to ask. It turns out that this "kid" had been coming to the Flower Power series for the last three years and taped every single show that they had been to. He loves the music! I thought that was great. And I told him so. Grass Roots has been together for 37 years, 3 years younger than me. And a kid that could easily be my son is a fan. I loved it. A little more Disney magic for me.

Because of the high winds, Tapestry of Dreams was cancelled again. So we decided to call it a night. Our muscles were sore and we thought a dip in the hot tub would be nice. We headed out and through the Boardwalk. At this point, Rich says we need to see Randy, the juggler again. Err, dear, didn't you tell me last night that Randy said he wouldn't be here anymore during our trip because of the special Discover Magazine stuff going on? He admitted that he didn't quite remember all of last night thanks to the pill he took. Fortunately, his ankle is not bothering him so the medication will stay in the container until he really needs it.

The Discover Magazine had booths set up and all the activities were free. Things like trying to score a hockey goal, a pitching machine, and the worst - a Disney sing-a-long that was like karaoke. Ugh! Unfortunately, this was right outside the Boardwalk pizza window where we once again decided to have dinner. Yes, Rich is a pizza fiend and I can take this stuff twice in a trip. I'll more than make up for all this "healthy" stuff in the next couple of days. We had to eat our pizza and listen to people who sing worse than I do get up and sing along to classic Disney tunes. Walt must be spinning in his grave. I'd have to be as loopy as Rich was last night to even consider doing something like this. I don't know what it would take to actually get me to open my mouth and "sing".

We made it back to the room and changed for the hot tub. We headed for the quiet pool area and the tub there. The signs said that this area was only open until 9:00 PM and it was 8:45 so we could enjoy for 15 minutes or so. Rich didn't think they would actually kick us out but 15 minutes would be enough. We were joined by a mom and I think her daughter and, hopefully, a son-in-law. What the two younger ones were doing in the tub was a little on the risqué side. Fortunately, we were ready to leave. I'm not a prude but I wouldn't be doing what those two were doing (1) in front of strangers and most importantly (2) not in front of my mother!

Back to the room for relaxing and TV watching. Nothing on but reruns so I worked on the report and Rich read a little. We were in bed fairly early after a very nice day. Let's recap - how many attractions have we done? None. The first day was a little loopy but we repeated everything except the medicine on the second day and had a blast.

Kid of the Day - the teenager that was videotaping the Grass Roots. Disney brought together a generation that might not have ever heard this kind of music before. I hope this continues as long as it can. After each set, the Grass Roots received a standing ovation and they deserved it.

Icing Moment - having Peggy come up and take the time to talk to us. Very nice gesture. Sprinkle Moments - the Grass Roots again. Much better from farther back. The singing to "God Bless America". Please do. Candle Moment - having Off Kilter ask us if we wanted a request. This band is just great. And since Rich didn't call the bet, we'll be back on Sunday for all four shows. That will have to last me for quite a while (ha - I'm going back much sooner than I thought I was!).

Day Four - May 24, 2002

This time, I was the sleepyhead but finally got out of bed at 9:00. We had talked last night about what we wanted to do today. It's the California Grill seating and, thanks to Steve's site, I knew that there would be a live band at the Flag Retreat at Magic Kingdom at 5:00. Rich still hadn't seen the Retreat and I had only seen it once. After September 11 and our family's reaction to it, I've been wanting to go back. Today would be perfect. We could do that and then go over to the Contemporary for our seating at 5:45. The question was, what to do first? And how to get over to the Contemporary and/or Magic Kingdom from where we were?

Rich had said that we didn't have to do Animal Kingdom this trip. If we made it, we made it. If not, fine. OK, scratch that from the plans of today. We hadn't been to MGM and I had asked Chris if he wanted/needed any Star Wars stuff. I swear that he'll be looking for this stuff until he has grandchildren. I think Mr. Lucas' creativity will last a long, long time. We had Chris' wish list (anything with Jango Fett or with Yodo and a light saber). The only two attractions we were interested in here were Rock N Roller Coaster and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The first for Rich, the second for me. We like everything else but it'll be there next time.

We took the walkway from the Swan to MGM. Security was a breeze (and has been up to this point) and so were the ticket turnstiles. First up was to get a Fastpass for Rock N Roller Coaster. Down Sunset Boulevard and towards the huge guitar. Only to be stopped by a very lovely couple. Who asked us, so kindly, did we want two Fastpasses for Rock N Roller Coaster that were due to expire in the next fifteen minutes? Of course! I had expected to do only one of the two attractions on our wish list because of the Fastpass limitations but this just solved our dilemma. This is the second time that we have had this happen to us. Gotten Fastpasses for the Coaster from someone leaving MGM. Whoo hoo!

I honestly don't think we stopped walking from the minute we left the Swan until we boarded our limo at Rock N Roller Coaster. And where were we in the limo? Without asking, in the front row. Jeez! As Rich said (after we were safely off the ride), it's a totally different experience in the front row. When we stopped after rushing through the LA freeway, I just busted out laughing. Rich's hair was literally sticking straight up! He looked like he was one of those classic characters who had been scared by a ghost! It was all due to the wind and the speed but it was hysterical.

It was now only 11:30 and I had to question my sanity if I had already gotten to a park and done a coaster and it still wasn't noon. I asked Rich if we could go and check out a Fastpass for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He said sure. I'm thinking he was totally satisfied with riding the Coaster so the rest of the day was mine, all mine. So off to Millionaire for Fastpasses. Only to see the Cast Members at the stand by line encouraging people to get on inside since the show would be starting in just three minutes. In we went. We even got nice seats just three rows back. This time, I was the one not on the leader board. Rich was. But nowhere near a hot seat appearance. It didn't help that I screwed up the very first question. I know that the Earth is larger than Mars. I just pushed the wrong button. Totally messed with my confidence for the rest of the day. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. The hot seat contestants today were very nervous. Makes me think about how I would react if I was ever in that situation. I'd probably throw up or something.

After the show, we made our way over to the Big *blank* Hat. I was a defendant of this until now. This was the first time we actually looked at the stuff underneath it. We were looking to see if they had anything leftover from the Star Wars weekend. I thought this would be the place. Ick. What a waste of space. Nothing you can't get at any other shop at MGM or all over Disney World. This didn't take us very long and then we headed for the Tatooine Traders at Star Tours.

And we hit the big time. A Jango Fett poster, a Jango Fett pin, a Jango Fett notepad. Plus a figure of the bad guy that the Cast Member said was very hard to get. No Jango Fett figure because the same Cast Member said that they sell out of those as soon as they get on the shelf. I had the package shipped back to the Swan. Then we had to check out the AFI shop which is the shop you go through at the end of the Back Lot Tour. There is a separate entrance so you don't have to take the tour. No Star Wars stuff. But I think Chris will be satisfied with what we got. We'll see tomorrow when we call him (and he turns 20!).

It was lunchtime so we did what we normally do at MGM. Stopped at the Studio Catering Co. for a beer and pretzel combo. I love taking this break, sitting outdoors, and watching the people go by. We discussed what we wanted to do for the rest of the day. Going to the Animation Store is always a must for us so that's where we headed for. Only to go by that pesky Millionaire show again. They had just let all the Fastpassers in and were saying that anyone could now enter. Which we did. It was funny with this show because the host for the first show was now the stage manager. We got seats all the way in the very last row but every seat here has a good view point thanks to the large monitors. There were two things that dampened this show. A tour group in front of us who wanted to do the wave and chanted whenever they could. And a little girl next to me who kept asking her mother which button to press. My chances at the hot seat were shot to heck with those distractions. Rich did well again, number two after one point. I have my excuses for my poor performance.

We made it to the Animation Store and I saw some Piglet figures that I wouldn't mind getting. Maybe, maybe. I could always return Chris' stuff, right? Then we headed out and back to the Swan. Rich didn't want to make any decisions so I did and told him he was not allowed to say I dominated the trip. We relaxed in the room until it was time to go over to the Contemporary. Housekeeping hadn't done their thing yet so we just stayed out of the way for a while so that could be done. We didn't mind since we are not the "normal" Disney guest and get going early in the day.

We changed into our collared shirts so we were totally within the dress code. I decided to drive, keep the car at the resort and walk over to the Magic Kingdom for the Flag Retreat. Technically, a little illegal but we were eating at the Contemporary. I was sure we'd be within a three hour window for a parking pass. We had the most awful five or ten minutes in the room. We couldn't find our car keys! I had a set, Rich had a set. Neither one of use could find them. Rich said they were in the drawer with the cell phones and adapters and all the "extra" stuff. No, they weren't. My keys were not in my bag. Where the heck were they? We hadn't used the car since we got here. I *know* we had them in the room at some point. Where were they? Panic, panic, panic. We checked everywhere. I finally re-opened the drawer with the "extra" stuff in it. For about the fourth time. I looked and it finally clicked. I saw the room safe key. Err, dear, didn't we put all that kind of stuff in the safe? Oh yeah, we did! OK, even reasonably intelligent people do stupid things every once in a while. This trip, we were doing at least one a day.

I drove us over and we were prepared with the priority seating confirmation number and a photo ID to be let into the Contemporary parking lot. All the gate guard did when I told him we were eating dinner at the California Grill was to mark down our license number, tell us the restaurant was on the 15th floor, and point us to the free parking on the left or the valet parking on the right. No Parking Lot Nazis this trip.

We parked and then walked over to the Magic Kingdom. The security here is very strange. This is the first time I made it to Magic Kingdom after September 11. No lines or anything but you definitely have to walk around a ways from the bus stops. We had plenty of time before the Retreat so we went into the Animation shop on Main Street and looked around. Boy, I sure wish we could hit the lottery and could afford some of this beautiful art work. We still had time so I made the mistake of going into the Fire Station since I had never been in there before. Just looking at all those patches and knowing the sacrifices made in the last year made me tear up. I hustled myself out of there before I lost it.

We grabbed a bench near the flagpole and people watched. I made Rich move over to in front of the train station and he said "why?" I said that he would see. I also made sure that we did not sit in the center part where the flag pole was. I knew they roped that area off for the actual Retreat. At 5:00, the Main Street Philharmonic came down Main Street and played "America" in front of the flag. Rich thought we had horrible seats because the band was on the other side. I told him to trust me. And then the band marched right in front of the train station. We had front row seats. Once the Color Guard and the veteran (they choose a veteran to present the flag to) started marching towards the flag, we stood up. The colors technically were being presented. Then the band started to play "Star Spangled Banner". The doves were released, the flag was presented and the veteran and the Color Guard proudly marched away. And guess what I did? Yep, the eyes were getting moist again. I've always been this way. And I hope there's no cure for it.

Time to go over to the Contemporary but we checked out our brick on the way out. It's now confined in the exit area. Rich made a comment like "looks like people have been walking on it." Duh! That's what it's there for!

Once in the Contemporary, we hit the stroller hell of elevator service. Boy, oh boy. Makes me so glad my days of carting around a stroller are over. Of course, we always did the very cheap umbrella stroller that easily folded up. So we could use escalators and stairs without a problem. Some of these modern strollers are absolutely huge! Elevators are needed. I think everyone with a child and a huge stroller came back from the parks at the same time. There actually was a line for the elevators! Rich and I looked at each other and knew we'd last about two seconds in the line and maybe even if we got into an elevator, about two more seconds with overly tired parents who had to wait to get their overly tired children to their room. So we took the escalator up to the fourth floor to try and get squeezed onto an elevator to the fifteenth floor. If that didn't work, I was going to take the stairs.

One mention here - on the fourth floor, there are two banks of elevators. Only one of them will take you to the fifteenth floor. We didn't know that and Rich got on one and went to press the button. It only went to the 14th floor. A nice guy told him why. So we waited for a correct one. Please post this information somewhere. We finally made it upstairs. I think it took longer for this little episode then it did for the entire Flag Retreat! The Great Elevator Retreat.

We checked in and were seated right away. Not with a great view since all those tables were taken. Rich joked that we didn't tip the seater enough. But our view was of Epcot and MGM so it wasn't too shabby. We had David as a waiter and I must say that he was wonderful. David asked if we had ever been there before and when we said no, he made sure he went through the menu very carefully. Then he did something that I sort of wish every server would do. We had absolutely no idea what wine we wanted or what food we wanted and David could see that. He said he would go get us some water and then give us time to look at the menu. He asked if we needed to be anywhere and we said no so he said to take our time. Kudos to David for finding out what your guests' needs are.

Rich and I both decided on a house Sauvignon Blanc ($6.50 per glass - I had warned Rich not to blink at the prices). David came back after a while and asked if we had any questions or if he could take our drink order. We ordered the wine and he let us taste it before he poured. Excellent. Rich and I were tussling with what we want to eat. I had shown Rich the menu before (www.wdwig.com) and he knew there was some sort of meat on there. I thought I'd do a flatbread and mussels (anytime there are mussels on a menu, I'm there). But I was hungrier than I thought. The spit roasted chicken sounded good too. But I want my mussels. Rich wanted the beef tenderloin with barbeque glaze but when David said it was 8 ounces, Rich wanted something more. He shocked me by saying he was thinking about the three cheese flatbread. What? A dish with no meat? But I wanted the mussels *and* the chicken. David came back and asked if we had decided. So we told him our situation. He said that since we were in no hurry, what he would do was to bring out the flatbread first and we could share that. Then he would bring out the mussels, also to be shared. Then he would do the entrees. Excellent service from this guy!

The flatbread came out fairly quickly and it was very good. I had two small pieces since I was saving myself for the mussels. David then brought out some bread with olive oil that he said went along with the mussels. And then the mussels. Rich had two. He actually thinks mussels are disgusting but he tried them anyway. They were served with this excellent basil pesto sauce that was to die for. It enhanced the mussels tremendously. When David came back to clear the plates after I stuffed myself silly (there were over a dozen of the mussels and Rich couldn't believe how big they were), I had to ask if there was a recipe available for the sauce. David said he'd check for me.

And then the entrees were brought out. Does Disney just breed large chickens or what? I think a family of four could have lived on the chicken breast I got and then I also had a leg and a thigh on there. Rich's beef was cooked perfectly for him and he said he loved the sauce. But he wouldn't ask for the recipe. There was no way I could finish my meal and I actually said I'd pass up dessert! What is up with that? Rich said I could have a Mickey bar later if I wanted. At that point, I couldn't even think of food! David came back and cleared the plates (I think we went through a setting for twelve at that point with all the different courses we had) and said he would check with the chef for the recipe and bring our bill. I had told Rich I would put this on my American Express card as a treat. I actually didn't want him to look at the bill and faint.

David came back and said the chef didn't have a recipe written down but she would be happy to talk to me on the way out and tell me how to make it. Rich groaned. Disney interaction! But how could I say no? I looked at the bill and I almost groaned. I did tell Rich that he wouldn't have to figure out the tip (yes, I'm an accountant but I can't multiply or add without a calculator) since it would be easy. He rolled his eyes and said "let me guess, it's $100 even, right?" Err, yes. I told him to cheer up - it was cheaper than the Yachtsman Steakhouse (OK, but $10 is $10, right?). Rich and I overtip just about every server who does a good job. We normally figure 15% and then round up a little. But we both agreed that David deserved 20% if not more. He really made us feel comfortable and went out of his way to point out the observation decks and to talk to the chef for me. Once the bill was settled, David walked us up to the chef and she explained the recipe. She made it sound so simple. I steam mussels for myself at home all the time so I'm going to have plenty of opportunities to try it out. Basil, olive oil, and lime juice. Sounds easy, right?

Then we went out to the observation deck. I really should say that I was looking forward to this. One of the reasons I made the seating was to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I was expecting more. It's more of an observation slab with a railing. The view, of course, is fantastic. But I'm not sure I would make a special trip over here to view the fireworks. I'm just not that type of a person. This is the sort of thing Rich's mother would get into. But now that I know where the observations slabs, err, decks are, I can show this to her if I ever get her down here again.

The trip back down the elevator was a lot less eventful then the trip up. I attempted to drive us back to the Swan. I know the Disney roads and have given lots and lots of driving advice to many, many people. I will never give this route to anyone. I knew that coming out of the Contemporary, you have to go past the TTC and the Polynesian and loop all the way around. I thought that was stupid and surely there would be a better way, right? So I went straight instead of right. Oops. OK, we'll go over to Fort Wilderness. Hey, all you campers! I got us back onto familiar territory only to zig when I should have zagged and guess where we were? Back showing our Swan room key so we could re-enter the Magic Kingdom parking lot gates! Whoo hoo! Rich was thoroughly amused. Actually, he was busting a gut from laughing so hard. A quick tour around the Car Care Center and we were now heading the correct direction on World Drive. Only ten minutes later than we would have been if I wasn't so darn stubborn and taken the correct route to begin with.

We had *plenty* of time to talk about what we wanted to do for the rest of the evening. I was cranked up with the food. Rich said we hadn't seen Illuminations yet so why not go over there? What? My husband, suggesting the evening Epcot stuff? The stuff that always gets me going? I wasn't going to argue. Off to what turned out to be the best Illuminations viewing I have ever had. No, Disney didn't change it. One little girl did.

We went through the International Gateway and headed towards our favorite spot, Germany. Yes, the Italy pavilion has a special viewing spot for Annual Passholders (well, they did until May 1st) but we still think Germany is better. We walked along as Tapestry of Dreams was going on. Disney has done a great job with controlling the walkers during this parade. It used to be a nightmare getting through but it's a cake walk now. The only problem was we were on the other side of the walkway from where we wanted to be. We were not on the lagoon side. But the parade stopped so the puppeteers could do their thing. Rich saw a Cast Member letting people over to the other side so we asked if we could go over too. Of course, was the answer. Glad we did that.

We watched the rest of the parade through the trees and realized that this section had ended. We were right at the railing of the lagoon and could look over towards Mexico and see the whole parade from a distance. But the music that I love was still going on. It was great. We made it to the railing just before lots of people came to the area. We did have a semi-pushy family to the left of us but we weren't going to move. Rich had to go to the bathroom and I was a little concerned about keeping his space. But people were very nice when they saw I was trying to save just one space. Most people can stand behind me and still see everything since I'm so short. Rich's isn't exactly the tallest man on earth either. So we were set for the show. And then we had the Caitlyn episode.

Caitlyn was about 4. Maybe. Little blond girl. Who was with, I'm assuming, her grandmother. Maybe the rest of her family was somewhere near. I don't know. But Caitlyn couldn't see over me, obviously. She came in between Rich and me. Fine. The grandmother stood behind us but kept an eye on Caitlyn. What can I tell you about Caitlyn's reaction to Illuminations? I might be giving away some spoilers so be prepared. She was thrilled with the introduction and all the fireworks and the fires and the music. And then there's that part that sloooowwwws down. Caitlyn wanted to know where the good stuff went. Rich laughed and said "yeah, this is the boring part". Which provided some chuckles to everyone around. Caitlyn said she wanted to leave.

Now, I'm not a kid lover. I love my child and tolerate everyone else's. However, Caitlyn's remark had me talking to her. I told her that it would pick up and she would be thrilled. I based my comment on her earlier reaction to the introduction. Sure enough, the ending starts and those fireworks are going off, the music is sounding and with every single boom, there's Caitlyn shouting "Wow!" "Wow!" "Wow!" The look on her face was absolutely priceless. Both Rich and I were beaming with this.

After the show, the grandmother apologized if Caitlyn was bothering us. No way! She enhanced this show so much with her innocent reaction to it. I asked the grandmother if I could give something to Caitlyn for making us enjoy the evening so much more. The grandmother said yes. I had made up trivia cards in case kids were getting antsy in line waiting for attractions. I had the question on the front and the answer on the back. Something to pass the time. I made up packets of ten cards and carried a set around with me. I had 100 questions in all. So I gave Caitlyn a packet. The grandmother said that was perfect because they were leaving tomorrow and that would give her something to do on the plane. I really almost lost it then. The last memory Caitlyn will have of Walt Disney World is Illuminations and I know she loved it.

We said goodbye to Caitlyn and I'm sure she's going to contribute to our future. Gee, maybe I could introduce Caitlyn to Christian. What do you think?

We went back to the room and I fell fast asleep while Rich watched some TV. Maybe we should go back to having fast food!

Kid of the Day - do you even have to ask? Caitlyn, of course. The total innocence of her watching and loving Illuminations. Her last memory of Disney World. What could be better than that?

Icing Moment - the dinner at the California Grill and David's excellent service. Yeah, we paid for it but it was great and not something we'll do every trip. Sprinkle Moments - the Flag Retreat and the trip to the Main Street Fire Department. Enough said. Candle Moment - ranks right up there with the All Time Candle Moments - Caitlyn and Illuminations. A little girl made so much Disney magic for me and she didn't even know it. Thank you Caitlyn.

Day Five - Saturday, May 25, 2002 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!

Well, it's the day I've been dreading. My son will no longer be a teenager once it's 7:53 tonight. I got up knowing that he's still my "boy" for a little while longer. And I got up knowing that I needed a break from being with Rich 24/7 for the last couple of days. I love my husband dearly but I wanted some space. While we were doing our nice little tour of Disney World in the car last night (that's what I'm calling my little miscue of driving back from the Contemporary), we talked about plans for the day. I had thought about doing the rest of MGM but that was before we did our "must sees" within two hours yesterday. Chris' favorite park is MGM and that would have been a salute to him. But Rich and I agreed we were done with it. Rich said something about going to K Mart. You have to understand his sports collecting hobby. Just like my Disney hobby. The thought of driving down Highway 192 did not appeal to me so I had him go on his own. He was a little hesitant since he didn't think he knew the way. But when he told me what he thought was the way, he had it nailed. See you later, my darling. I just worked on the report and enjoyed the quiet time.

It took Rich a lot longer to go to K Mart than I thought it would. Of course, he had to throw in a trip to Target too. The trip was a success not only for him but he picked up a Jango Fett figure for Chris as well. And Rich cannot ever say he doesn't know his way around here. He even did the short cut up International Drive to the Osceola Parkway. Rich did pick up our package from MGM that was delivered to the Swan. We had a message when we woke up that it was at the front desk. I was so involved in the report and the quiet that I was nowhere close to being ready to go out for the day. And we didn't have any specific plan of action. So we changed the "do not disturb until" noon sign over to 1:30 and just chilled in the room.

After I finally got ready, we decided to go over to Epcot and make the purchases at the Flower & Garden Festival Center that we saw the other day. Mostly things for Rich's father. Father's Day is next month and Ed's birthday is also around that time. And Rich would be with his dad since they are going back to Nebraska to work on our house there. This would be his combo present. Rich didn't want to have the package delivered to the resort so we were just going to carry the bag back. Ha! What bag. How about bags.

First up were some discounted seeds. Regularly $3.50 marked down to $.49. These will be the seeds Rich throws in the backyard and hope take. He didn't get very many. Oh no, not Rich. Well, we do have a rather large backyard and only half of it will grow grass. That's his excuse and he's sticking to it. Fourteen carefully chosen packets later, he was happy. I used the time to pick out a nice basket for Rich's father. I got a fairly nice sized one for only $1.25. Those Disney prices - gotta love 'em today. At the Festival Center, there were individual booths set up with different vendors. They used to have this along the Rose Walk but now it's inside Innoventions West. Works very nicely. You go to each booth and get a voucher of what you bought and then take everything to one cash register station. Nice organization. So we headed to the booth that had the Plumerias. What the heck are they, right? It's the plant of love from Hawaii. It's very hardy and blooms from April through November. And they can be grown anywhere in the world. It kind of looks a little like a bamboo stalk.

One mention about the vendors here. All were very knowledgeable and all were more than willing to talk about care. They obviously knew their stuff and were proud of what they did.

Have I ever mentioned that Rich is very indecisive? This purchase, which should have taken no longer than 10 minutes stretched into almost a half hour because he had to ask the vendor all kinds of questions while other people were coming up and being helped. So anytime Rich made any headway in line, he'd stop and ask another question or decide on a different stalk and lose the space. I took the basket and the seeds and sat in a chair over to the side. Rich finally made the deal and got his voucher (4 for $25). And then back to where the air plants were. These don't need very much care - just a misting every week or so. And they don't need much sunlight. I thought one of these would look nice in our bedroom. Of course, Rich couldn't decide which one to get. So I picked one out and sent him to get the voucher ($18 with a very nice pot). It took all of two minutes for me to make the decision. Rich can't even pick out a bottle of ketchup without an internal debate. Oh, he always gets Heinz but what size to get? I almost never go grocery shopping with him.

We paid at the cash register and Rich had to make small talk with the lovely ladies there. Actually, they were old enough to be his grandmother but they sure knew their flowers. Rich took the bag with the basket and the seeds and went back to the booths to get our other purchases. Wow! Do those people take their packaging seriously. Three huge bags later, we were set. The air plant was in this huge box. We looked so much like the typical Disney tourist on the way out. We stopped in Canada and picked out a small hand designed ceramic cat for Rich's sister for Christmas. She has something like 15 cats. Of course, Rich couldn't make up his mind again (they were literally dozens of "Lucille" which was the smallest one). Each had different colors. I stepped in and made the decision. This was my idea for a present anyway so it should be my decision. We went to the register here and the Cast Member said "you know what's great about these?" and threw the cat onto the floor! She said she loves doing that. The things are unbreakable. She said the designer wraps them in wrapping paper. They are ceramic but since they don't go through a baking process, they don't break like other ceramics. Very nice to know. The Cast Member said she has a great time whispering to little kids to go up and throw them to the floor. She says the look on the parents' faces is priceless.

Suitably loaded with packages, we headed back to the Swan. And I must say that I can predict my husband. The weather so far has been great - in the 80s and sunny. But the last days were breezy which helped with the sun. However, today was the hottest and least windy. I knew what Rich would suggest. And he did. "Why don't we take the longer way around the Yacht and Beach Club since we haven't done that yet". I had to laugh. But we did. Halfway around, Rich said "maybe this wasn't such a great idea on the one day we have packages". I had to laugh again. I held back a "told you so".

We made it back to the room and still didn't have a plan in mind. I was tired and took a little nap and mistakenly told Rich to wake me up around 3:00. At exactly 3, he did. I was still tired but he wanted to go out and do something. What do you want to do? Anything. Specifically, what? Let's do a walk around World Showcase because it's free. I went a little nuts with the comment. I had suggested Fantasia miniature golf but he said that cost money, blah, blah, blah. Fortunately, this little disagreement was interrupted by housekeeping wanting to make up the room. We felt bad for this lady. We were so late going out every day so she always had to come back. Yesterday and today we waited in the room while she did her thing. By the way, we had different maids each day so the tipping every day was necessary. Thanks again, Adrienne, for the Mousekeeping envelopes.

After housekeeping was done, we headed out over for yet another walk around World Showcase. Rich really wanted to see Arlo Guthrie since it was part of the Flower Power series and we've always had good luck with these groups. However, I wasn't sure about this one. I explained the kind of music we could expect to hear and Rich wasn't that thrilled but thought we should just go and check it out anyway. So we did. I have all the respect in the world for Mr. Guthrie but it just wasn't what we wanted. But we stayed and listened anyway. As Rich said, he wanted that half hour back in our lives sometime. Not a bad concert by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn't the Grass Roots either. Oh well. We go on.

We did stop at Germany for some beverages. We still have an hour or so until our Rose and Crown seating and I convinced Rich to take it easy and sit in the Outpost area where there were tables and chairs. We were "doing" something but I didn't want to keep going and going and going. I'm not the Energizer Bunny. So we sat and sipped and I managed to take another nap with my head on the table. Energy level going down now. I went over to the fruit cart and picked up a package of grapes for $1.55. Perfect to get sugar levels back up and not overload us before our dinner.

I wanted to check in at the Rose and Crown around 7:00 for our 7:20 seating. We had seen the waiting area earlier and since this is a popular place, it was crowded. And I knew that a lot of people don't understand about priority seatings and just think you can walk up and get seated immediately. So check in here can take some time. Well, I was wrong today. I think there was one person in front of me. The timing for the meal was sort of critical because I wanted to be on the phone at 7:52 with Chris. We were given a pager and told it would be 10-15 minutes. OK, I'll use the restrooms across the way. Once I got back, Rich had this amused look on his face. He said the pager went off and boy, did it go off! You don't have to worry about missing a Disney pager going off. We were seated inside which was new for us. I kind of expected this because we had always been seated outside before and all my little spoils were not happening this trip. Back to being "ordinary". But this worked out very well as you will see.

Rich was sold on the fish and chips but then saw the salmon cake, fish, and prawns basket. He asked the server if he could substitute the salmon cake with another piece of fish and she said "sure". Since I had chicken last night, I opted for the prime rib because I never had it here before. The server asked if I wanted horseradish sauce and I said "of course". Can't have prime rib without horseradish sauce. That's barbaric. Rich had a pint of something and I ordered champagne to toast Chris. I did a test call to Chris to make sure he was home and he was. I also realized that there was no way I'd be able to hear him inside the Rose and Crown and I certainly would be disturbing the people around me if I did make the call. I told Rich I'd go outside and find a private spot.

The meals were delivered and while we were eating, a family of four was seated next to us. The two little boys were very cute and very well behaved. Mom and Dad were very attentive and it was a nice family. The timing of the meal was perfect as I had just finished what I wanted at the right time. At 7:50, I went outside and went into one of those red phone booths. There's no phone in there so it worked out well with my cell phone. I made the call and it was a nice mother/son moment. Chris and Rich were very close when Chris was in junior and senior high school. My work prevented me from being there all the time. That kind of changed later on, especially when I was alone with Chris after Rich moved to Atlanta. I wished him a happy birthday and he said he was alone at the house. That sounded depressing but he said that's what he wanted. His roommate is involved with a band and their friends have another band that is very popular in Omaha (Venaculas for anyone who is interested). They practice at the house all the time. However, both bands had concerts tonight so Chris was glad for the quiet. He said it was the best birthday present they could give him! Our purchases for him were given a thumbs up even though he had the figures already but said he'd take more. I told him about the Jango Fett pin and he was thrilled since he thinks it's very limited to Disney World. We ended the conversation with me telling him that I loved him. He said "yeah, yeah, me too". Which was very emotional for both of us. That's about as far as we go with the huggy, kissy stuff. But it meant a lot. My son is now an adult.

I went back inside and found that Rich had struck up a conversation with the family at the next table. Dad had taken the older of the two boys for a bathroom break so it was just Mom and the younger boy when I got back. We chatted for a while and this boy was absolutely adorable. People don't think you can go to Disney World if you don't have kids. Why not? You just live it through the eyes of all the kids there. We certainly have been doing that this trip. Rich surprised me by asking if I had brought any trivia cards with me. I had brought three packs along. Rich wanted to give a set to this boy. So we did. His mom was very pleased and so was the little guy. Dad and the older boy came back and I gave another set to him. Dad looked at the cards and said they were kind of tough. Rich hadn't known the answer to the one question he looked at. I thought these were kind of easy or at least you can figure out the answer while at Disney World. The question Rich couldn't get was "who is the leader of the Captain of the Guards in 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' and who provided the voice?" Well, I can see not knowing Kevin Kline was the voice but you can go to MGM and see the show and know that it's Phoebus. I did have the answer on the back, though.

By this time, it was getting close to 8:30 and the day was yet another long and late one for us. We're usually back in the room, relaxing and watching TV by now. So what does Rich suggest to do? Fantasia miniature golf! I guess my earlier little comments about him being cheap got to him. He and I disagreed earlier that it basically was two for one with the Annual Passes. Rich insisted that it was just 50% off on one admission. Yeah, with each Annual Pass. Therefore, each one of our admissions would be half price. So one of us was technically free. And we had never done the longer course and Rich always wanted to do that one. We headed over there. At the Swan, some sort of business thing was going on along the walkway next to the quiet pool. I thought we'd have to walk around it. Rich said he paid for using this walkway so, darn it, we were walking it. Yikes, Rich! So we went through the business thing and no one stopped us. If it had been something like a wedding reception, there's no way we would have done something like this. But we bothered no one, didn't even look at the food, and just passed through.

And I was proven right with the admission. Ha! Rich should really learn to listen to me with this stuff. We headed for the longer course which is designed kind of like a chipping and putting course but without the chipping. You get a putter only. If the ball goes into a sand trap, you do *not* hit out of the trap. You place the ball to the side and do not take a penalty stroke. I think that's so they don't get people just hacking away in the sand and spraying it all over the course. All other golf rules apply. Let's just introduce this whole adventure by saying that Rich and I are miniature golf experts. Rich is a very good golfer. I haven't played in a couple of years due to a bum shoulder and moving to Atlanta. However, I do know the rules and we are some of the few people we know who are constantly looking for a golf tournament on TV during the weekends. So we know how to golf.

The course kicked our butts. The maximum amount of strokes on a hole is 6. After the fifth hole, I told Rich to mark me down for 6 for the rest of the holes because I wasn't going to keep score. He just laughed. But by the ninth hole, the scorecard went away and we just had fun. People were bunched up in front of us (thanks to a slow moving group of five even though the max number in a group was supposed to be four), leading us to have some nice conversations with two Asian men who were having fun too. They certainly didn't know how to golf! But there was no one behind us so after we decided the course was very tough and we had no competitiveness in us, we just kept playing the hole over again until there was no wait at the next one. We were laughing so hard at some of our shots. We did try but those hills and the traps and the rocks were just too much. What really got us going was that Rich's father and Rich's brother had *loved* this course in January. They played it twice! Neither one of them will ever be mistaken for Tiger Woods. Heck, neither one of them will ever be mistaken for a golfer. I have more golfing capabilities in my little finger than they do. But they loved the course. We were frustrated at first but then loosened up and just had a blast. I wish I could have seen Ed and Dave play this course. The best was Rich's reaction to the whole thing. At the eighteenth hole, the ball goes down and disappears. Thankfully. I holed it first and went to pick up the ball to find it gone. I told Rich that. He said "thank goodness, I never want to see that ball again - they can take the damn club too". And then it didn't help that a Cast Member came out from a side door after we were done and cheerfully said "so, how'd you do?" It was too, too funny.

Rich was working without a watch so he had no idea what time it was. We had gotten to the course around 9:00 and it was now after 11:00. He was shocked. He said something about two agonizing hours that he was never going to get back in his life. But then Mr. Tightwad said "at least we got our money's worth". Yes dear, for a little over $10, the two of us had two hours of laughter and togetherness on our son's birthday. Chris couldn't be here in person but he's here in our hearts and will always be in our hearts. Somebody cue up Phil Collins from the "Tarzan" soundtrack.

We went back to the Swan and were amazed at all the people still in the lobby and milling around outside. We've never really been up and around at Disney World this late. Do people normally do this? The remains of the business reception was still outside and it was just a couple of tables with people trying to fill up on free drinks. The Cast Members were cleaning everything up so I didn't feel as bad going through here. Up to the room for Saturday Night Live. Jack Black was the host. Who the heck is he? It was a rerun but we love Weekend Update. Into bed after that.

Kid of the Day - the two brothers at Rose & Crown. This family was doing Disney World right. The kids were having a great time, the parents were not stressed. And, of course, Chris. The best Kid of the Day. If only for one more day.

Icing Moments - the Flower and Garden Festival. Nicely done, Disney. Sprinkle Moment - the two hours we spent golfing at Fantasia. We had goofy fun, lots of laughs, and a good time together on a special day. Candle Moment - well, it's a Life Moment. My son is an adult. We shared it together even though he was 1,000 miles away. It's the power of family.

Day Six - Sunday, May 26, 2002

Ugh, the last day. And it did start off bad. I woke up around 7:00 AM and wasn't feeling the absolute best. I think the effects of the last two heavy meals and the late nights were working their way through me. Ugh. Again. I turned over and just went back to sleep and hoped for the best. Rich was a saint and let me be. Finally, at 10:00, I got up and said that I needed some extra time this morning and could we take it slow? Rich agreed. He got ready and I got myself as together as I could. Very slowly. How did I ever come down here last year for 18 straight days and survive? I think I'm getting so spoiled by the shorter trips. I'm into Disney meltdown - help me!

I went to get the Mousekeeping envelopes and we had a bit of a surprise. The envelopes were soaked! We had been keeping them in the drawer directly below the mini bar refrigerator. Which was now leaking. We hadn't used or planned to use the mini bar so we never checked it. The only problem was that this was the drawer with our "other" stuff. Like our phones and adapters and other things electronic. Lesson learned for us - store this stuff someplace beside directly below a potential leakage. I called the front desk and they said they would send someone up right away. I think the mini bar might still be waiting to be fixed. No one ever showed up. We moved our stuff to another drawer.

We headed out after noon for a marathon Off Kilter day. Again. What can I say about this group? They have given both of us untold hours of contentment and togetherness. Thanks guys. Before the show, a woman that we've met before and with this trip found out she's always here on Sundays showed up. She apologized for not being here for the wedding renewal ceremony in January and then told Rich that she was sure he was cheering it up when Maryland won the NCAA basketball championship. She wanted Iowa to win. Oh well! We ended up going over to one side with our friend and I ended up staying there all day long with her. We also met with another young lady and her mother. The young lady had just graduated from college and was set to be relocated to Orlando through a manager-in-training program from New Jersey. We had seen her earlier and she is an Off Kilter fan as well. So we all made new acquaintances and renewed old ones.

Off Kilter came out and Rich and I were in for a surprise. No Tony on the keyboards! Whoa! But he was amply substituted with Jason on fiddle. Not saying that we didn't miss Tony, because we did, but Jason was fantastic. I started referring to him as the Sixth Beatle. I don't think one single performance was underplayed. A different sound, yes, perhaps, but it didn't diminish from anything. A wonderful day. After the first set, we had an hour and a half until the next one. I really didn't feel up to doing any walking around and the crowds were a little higher than normal because of the holiday weekend. Rich, though, wanted to "do something". Sigh. So I suggested something that was totally, well, off kilter. I told Rich to take off and do whatever he wanted to do. He knew where I'd be and I knew he'd be back for the next show. Much to my surprise, he did it! He went off on a solo tour of Epcot! Awesome! I sat back, relaxed, took it easy, chatted with the other ladies and just had a blast on my own. Exactly what I needed.

And it turns out Rich headed straight for Test Track and the singles line. He didn't have that much luck with the line. Standbys were horrible and he had to wait 30 minutes just for the singles line. But he had some time to himself and he's *never* had that here. I think he really needed it and didn't realize just how liberating it is. I want him to do this much more often.

We met up before the 3:30 show, switched bathroom breaks and then had a couple of beverages that lasted us through the rest of the shows. Rich did go and get us a pretzel to share after the next set. That was our lunch. Our friend requested "Rap" from Off Kilter but Randy didn't think it was going to happen. I guess Tony, the keyboardist, is essential to that one. We all wanted to hear it but the group doesn't do it very often and it was not going to be done today. Oh well, what we did hear was great.

For the fourth set, Jason was featured on a violin piece with Jamie saying it was for Memorial Day and to remember just why this holiday was here. I really don't think this was a "holiday" for America this year. It was a time for reflection and for thanking those who contributed so much over the years. And to everyone still serving today. Off Kilter has added "America the Beautiful" to some of their sets. It's not just an American holiday anymore. It, I think, is a world holiday. Thanks to every country who has helped us not only in the last year but over the years. And not just military wise - spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. One of these days, the whole world will be united. That is something we can all wish for.

After all the sets and the great visiting with our new friends, it was over. The trip was over. No more entries on our Annual Passes (oh but there will be one more on mine). But renewals will be there. Jamie, the lead vocalist, was down off the stage visiting with his family and wished us goodbye. We said we'll be there on Labor Day. Ugh. The entire summer without a live Off Kilter performance? (not anymore for me) We will be at Disney World in July but only for one night. It's a long story and that's the next trip report (second trip report). We said goodbye to everyone and then set out for the night. For dinner. Remember that Rich isn't the restaurant type. He likes his food wrapped up. So we were looking at Hurricane Hanna's which is the poolside place at the Beach Club for dinner. Not Club Med but not McDonald's either. On the way, Rich said something about a burger. Which Hurricane Hannah's had. But they had almost nothing for me. A fruit boat was what I was going to get and so I said that. Rich asked if I had any better ideas. I said not really because the only other option would be Cape May Buffet. To which my loving husband said "OK, let's see about that". Wow! He could get his shrimp, salad, ribs, mac and cheese. I could eat my heart's content on shellfish. Cool. But, err, dear, it's like $20/person. Rich, the darling tightwad but loving husband he is says "that's probably what we would spend anywhere else". Score!

I asked at the podium how long it would be for a party of two to be seated without a priority seating. Less than 30 minutes. We were promised less than 30 minutes. Fine. Bathroom breaks later and a buzzer in our hands and we were seated in the lobby. We were relaxed and we actually both kind of snoozing and then damn buzzer went off. In about seven minutes. Both Rich and I were disappointed. We both wanted the nap! But in we went and made ample use of the buffet. I did some heavy damage on the shellfish and Rich loaded up several plates of various other items. I attempted some desserts but wasn't successful at much. Ugh. Didn't I learn my lesson from the last two nights? Nope. Disney overindulgence. Waddle, waddle, quack, quack. Let's pay the bill and get the heck out of here.

Only for me to realize that I still hadn't gotten my co-workers anything. I wanted to stop at the Boardwalk candy shop on the way out and get something. And where is the candy shop from Cape May? Directly across Crescent Lake. We can't walk on water so it was all the way back and around. I was so, so tempted to go back into Epcot and watch Illuminations. But Rich was severely lagging at this point. I wanted to get him back to the room ASAP. The candy store was mobbed since it's also the ice cream store. Oops, nope, the co-workers are not that important and I'll get up early tomorrow and come down here. Oops, the store opens at 1:00 and we'll be halfway to Georgia by then. Oh well. Rich suggested the Swan gift shop. Smart man. Although he'll regret it when the credit card bill comes in.

We get to the gift shop and I start looking at the candy. Has to be chocolates. I work with chocoholics. Doesn't do much for me but I did promise. As I'm looking at things, Rich calls me over. He spotted a snow globe, which we moderately collect. It's kind of like a Heroes one. We have the Villains one and he thought this would be a compliment to it. Yes, it would be. Remember, he's indecisive. It was $80 which really was not that bad. It was very intricate and had a ton of characters and lots of detail. I left Rich to make up his mind and decided on a box of chocolates and then picked up a sampler of coffees for my mother-in-law for her birthday in August. She loves coffee.

I went back to where Rich was and he had turned away from the snow globe. He asked me if I had ever seen one like that. I hadn't and said so. But he *still* didn't make a move. I went up to the counter, put down the chocolates and the coffee, picked up a Winnie-the-Pooh rocket Fourth of July plush (you have to see this thing), and then said "and we'll take the snow globe too". Signed, sealed, delivered, it's ours. On the way up in the elevator, loaded down with bags just like yesterday, Rich asked me why I did that. Why not? He puts up with me so much, the least I can do is to get him something he wants. I just have to figure out how to redo the living room. The Villains and the Heroes snow globes have to go next to each other. And they have to be out of the cats' reach. So where do all the other snow globes go? Our king cat, Todd, can jump quite the distance. And we're not always around. Oh well, we'll figure something out.

Rich really needed to get some sleep so he crawled under the covers and I worked on the report and watched TV. Then I switched off the TV and read Adrienne's latest book. Big mistake. She always ropes me in. I'm not normally a romance reader but her books get to me. I did have an unfortunate incident. I couldn't figure out why I was hearing so many conversations. We were on the fourth floor, the TV was off, the windows were shut, it was after 11:00. I listened and it was coming from the room next door. The one without the connecting door. So it was loud. Teenager voices. And not getting any quieter. Rich was snoozing away but I actually couldn't concentrate on my book. I gave them about an hour to quiet down and then went over there. I hate doing this but it was after 11:30 by this time. To me, settle down after 11:00 PM and start up again after 8:00 AM if you want. Especially at some place like the Swan. I just knocked on the door and heard a young lady say, "guys, you *have* to settle down". She answered the door and I got a glimpse in the room. Lots of teenagers and if there was a guardian in there, they were not doing a very good job. I just said that we were next door and could they keep it down? The young lady said "sorry" and then went back in. All these "kids" were in various stages of getting ready to go out for the night. Yikes! It was graduation weekend for lots of kids but still. But I don't rank it as a Grr Moment. Things quieted down for a while, I got back into the book, things went back up a little. I decided to ignore it. I was getting tired enough anyway. I put the book down (reluctantly), and went to bed.

Kid of the Day - Jason for doing such a great job for filling in for Tony for Off Kilter. None of the sets were affected by this and it was such a different sound. The Sixth Beatle.

Icing Moment - the spontaneous moment to eat at Cape May Buffet. Another nice meal here. Candle Moment - the whole time of watching Off Kilter with old friends and new found ones.

Day Seven - Monday, May 27, 2002 - MEMORIAL DAY

Rich made me promise that I would not try and talk him into staying for the first Off Kilter show and I honored that request. I'm glad I did. I was still feeling under the weather and those shellfish of last night didn't help. Ugh when I finally struggled out of bed at 9:00 and got us going. Rich did his shower thing and I packed up. It wasn't that hard. Dirty laundry in the suitcase, the few remaining clean clothes in the carryon bag, the laptop back in the case. The hardest part was to rebag all our purchases. Man, Disney gives you a bag for everything, in some cases two! I think we left behind more empty bags then we took with us!

Now I know that I have Rich convinced to my way of travel. There was no way in heck we were going to get all this stuff down to the car in one trip. Last night, Rich was insistent. Hum, let's do a check here, dear. Same luggage as when we came down. Plus four more bags including this huge snow globe, two plants, and 12 small cans of coffee that weigh a ton. He finally admitted defeat and we took one load down to the car. We took everything except the Disney bags.

We made our final trip out shortly before 10:00 and Rich headed us out Highway 192. The trip was great and I didn't want to leave but it would be nice to get back home to our normal lives and to the cats. I did some early snoozing so the under the weather effects went away. I took the middle shift of driving and then Rich drove through Macon and Atlanta. Boring, boring, boring. About the only thing that made it interesting was that the Florida and the Georgia police were out in total force for speeders. We rarely do 5 MPH over the speed limit so we didn't have a problem. But lots of people did. It was kind of interesting seeing people flying by us doing 85 MPH only to slam on their brakes whenever they saw a cop. And some were not so lucky to see the cop before the cop saw them. Oh well. I do have advice, though. Sometimes, depending on how fast you are going, you can't just pay a Georgia speeding ticket and have it done with. You have to appear in court. So unless you are willing to come back to our fair state, think again before that accelerator goes down to the floor.

We stopped once for gas in Florida. Another word of advice. If you are driving through here, get your gas in Georgia and not in Florida. $.30 per gallon difference in price. Georgia doesn't have the gas tax like Florida does. We just couldn't get to the border before we were going to run out. We stocked up on some snacks and then continued on.

We were home by 5:30 which was exactly seven hours from when we left the Swan. The cats were noisy but happy to see us. I think they are getting used to us being gone for a couple of nights or so. Todd did his King Cat thing and bit Gus within an hour of us being home. Gus survived and ended up chasing Todd around the house for a while.

Candle Moment - I'll forgo the Kid of the Day. The Candle Moment was Memorial Day. We listened to the Atlanta Braves game on the way home and we watched other baseball games when we did get home. The playing of "Taps" during the seventh inning stretch, the flybys by the military planes, the singing of "God Bless America" was too much. Last year, we wouldn't have even thought about this. Now we do. We take our freedom to heart. I cannot think of any other place that I have felt so close to other countries than at Disney World. I've traveled since I was six months old. All in America. None in other countries except Canada and a quick trip to Mexico. But I feel so close to so many other countries. Thanks to everyone who supports America. It is a two way street - we'll be there for you.

Final Thoughts and Overall Observations

Resort - I still love the Swan. However, this was my fourth visit in a year and it's time to move on. We haven't been to Port Orleans Riverside (aka Dixie Landings) since 1993 and we've never stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter. Time to check those out. And Wilderness Lodge is a definite someday. However, the next trip in July will be at the Polynesian and the Labor Day trip will be a savannah view at the Animal Kingdom Lodge so the credit cards will need a break for Thanksgiving.

A downside to the whole Swan experience this time was something we could not avoid. Strike talks. There even was a plane flying around with a banner saying something about stopping the abuse of workers at the Swan and Dolphin. I will not say where Rich and I stand on union issues. But suffice to say that one of us would have been crossing the picket line and one of us would have been off finding new accommodations. We totally disagree on this issue. One of the few things we do absolutely cannot agree on. But this didn't interfere with the trip at all. Just kind of a reminder that these are not Disney Cast Members.

Touring - what did we do this trip? Lots and lots of Off Kilter, which I honestly did not expect. I was willing to give up some sets but Rich never said he wanted anything different and I wasn't going to argue with him (well, I do argue with him but not about this). We did Rock N Roller Coaster (thanks to that nice couple and the Fastpasses) and two shows of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. At Magic Kingdom, we got as far as the Fire Department on Main Street and saw the Flag Retreat. We never made it to the Animal Kingdom. But I came home tired and my muscles were sore from all the walking. And I was content. I guess the trip was a success.

Food - I finally got my Boardwalk pizza! And I more than made up for missing it the last two trips.

The California Grill was very good and the service was excellent. However, I don't think we'll be back anytime soon. The place was noisier than I thought it would be and there were more kids so it wasn't the adult atmosphere I was looking for the night. It was a nice experience and I'm glad we did it. We only do these types of meals once a year or so. I'll have plenty of time to figure out somewhere else to try next time.

Rose & Crown was a hit again. We've never been disappointed with the food. However, this one goes on the retired list for a while. Not that we don't like it but, like with the Swan, it's time to move on. We've been here three times in the past seven months. Rich can get his fish & chips at the outside vendor if he wants. There aren't very many places we haven't tried at Epcot but there are a few. Again, I'll have plenty of time to find another one.

The last minute decision to eat at Cape May Buffet was a good one. We both were satisfied and we were seated quickly. Being a party of just two seems to get you seated fairly fast. And it helps that all Disney restaurants are non smoking.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Exceptional - I'll start with the Ugly and work my way up.

The Ugly - Rich's reaction to the drugs on the first day and my reaction to his reaction. Definitely not a good way to start a vacation. But we regrouped and went on and had a blast for the rest of the time. Even with just two people, you need communication about how you are feeling and for the other people in your party to have some understanding. If someone is lagging, speak up. And if someone does speak up, understand and take a break or even go back to the room for a nap.

The Bad - nothing to report here.

The Good - the food, which I've explained above. Nothing exceptional but nothing bad. The Millionaire Show. Still love playing this thing even though I totally stank th