Glenn Vines - December 2002 - All Star Movies

Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle
Resort: ASMoR
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Pre-School, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent, Rookie
Comments: Glenn and his family are all Disney novices compared to some of our regular report writers (Glenn is the most experienced with six trips to Disneyland and a 1971 trip to WDW). But that's what we like to read most: park reports through fresh eyes.

Glenn Vines -- December 2002 -- Walt Disney World (ASMoR)

The Basics
Cast…

Glenn (me) 39-Organizer, planner, researcher of the trip. My wife says I have everything planned down to bathroom breaks. 6 trips to Disneyland. Last Disney World visit, December 1971.
Jody (my wife) 33-Lover of all things Disney. Two trips to Disneyland. First trip to Disney World.
Carly (our only one for now) 4-First trip to Walt Disney World.
Glenda (my mom) 59-Disneyland 4 times, Disney World twice, but when it was just Magic Kingdom.
Bob (my dad) 65-Disney World twice, again when it was just Magic Kingdom.
When…Sunday, December 22-Sunday, December 29

Flight Plan…Champaign, Illinois to Orlando with layover in St Louis

Accommodations/Admission…All-Star Movies Resort ‘Fantasia’ Building (paid $10 per person per day for preferred location) Adjoining rooms and refrigerator for my Dad’s insulin. Booked everything through Disney Travel Company with Resort Magic Package with length of stay passes, and 1 Flex Feature.

The Start:
We booked our vacation in February 2002, so had a lot of time to think about December’s trip. We decided on December since Carly’s daycare is closed that week and Jody and I had already arranged our vacation time around that week. One night in January I came home and suggested the idea to Jody, who wasn’t hard to convince. I called Mom to check her interest and said she had been thinking about going too. Actually on a previous family trip to Florida in 1971, we took the monorail thru the Contemporary and said we would like to come back someday and stay there. Now is the time. However, we decided to go with something less expensive and chose the All-Star Movies Resort. I used Birnbaum’s Official Guide and Disney with Kids in additional to some online sites, Mouseplanet being the only one I checked almost daily.

120 Days out (and the week thereof)
Made Priority Seatings for Chef Mickey’s Character Buffet (Carly’s 4th birthday) for breakfast, Rainforest Café for dinner and Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for lunch.

60 Days out (and the week thereof)
Made Priority Seatings for dinner at the 50’s Prime Time Café and Crystal Palace Character Buffet.

Day 1
The Plan

Fly from Champaign to St Louis, eat lunch in St Louis during our layover. Anticipated arrival of 5pm in Orlando. Depending on the tiredness factor, head to the Magic Kingdom for ‘SpectroMagic’ or maybe take the railroad to Toontown.

What actually happened

Everything went as planned, with flights on time, etc. We arrived by taxi at Willard airport about and 1 ½ prior to our flight. Security was tight but fairly quick. I think they may be more thorough since they aren’t as busy. Our ID’s were checked several times, a little overkill but no complaints here. We took a breakfast break at the airport snack bar; Dad had a cup of coffee and toast, Mom a sweet roll and OJ, Jody toast and coffee and Carly a banana and OJ. I was feeling quite hungry so got a huge ham and cheese omelet and OJ, and no I couldn’t finish it. We were scheduled to leave at 10:17am and left right on time. Our flight from Champaign was packed on an American Express commuter prop plane. It was kind of noisy, but enjoyable because I sat in the back in the lone seat on the left by the Flight Steward, who I chatted with about his job, how they have to distribute the weight on the plane and other challenges on a small aircraft. On this flight someone had a cat in a carrier that he had to situate. It is only about a half-hour flight to St. Louis but we still got a drink and pretzels. Carly loved flying and said she had to chew her bubble gum to keep her ears from hurting. We had nearly a 3-hour wait in St Louis; but the time went fairly quickly between disembarking, finding our gate for the next leg of the journey and getting some lunch. (Report Note - meals going forward will just reflect meals for Jody, Carly and I, since my parents took care of their own bills, you know how expensive food is in ‘The World’!) We settled on Burger King; where we got cheeseburgers, fries, and cokes (lemonade for Carly, fortunately she doesn’t like pop, unlike Mom & Dad) total: $14.60. We found our way back to our gate and relaxed with a little people watching and Carly dozed off for about a half-hour. Our flight on American Airlines left around 3. Carly seemed to enjoy looking at the flight card and explaining to us what all the pictures meant. She also kept busy with her Color Wonder book and markers. If parents aren’t aware of these, they should be. Crayola makes 6 colored markers that only mark on the special paper, which you can buy in blank tablets and coloring books and not clothes, skin, etc. Once again beverage and pretzels were offered on our flight, which was about 2 hours to sunny Orlando.

Upon arrival we made our way down to baggage claim where our limo driver awaited us with a sign and my name on it. I decided to go with a limo after realizing my original choice of a Mears van wasn’t time effective. Going to multiple locations wasn’t my idea of convenient airport transportation, and was told by Disney Travel that a town car could only accommodate 4; so I thought why not go in style. Tony picked us up in a white stretch limo, very cool. It had interior neon lighting that looked like stars on the ceiling and sides that changed colors, which Carly really liked, and us country folk thought was pretty neat too. As we approached WDW, Tony even slowed down for Carly to see the lighted Walt Disney World sign and Mickey Mouse greeting us at the entrance. We arrived in style unloaded the luggage and tipped the driver. We took advantage of the bag service, which held our luggage until we got our room assignments. I know it is an economy resort, but the All-Star Movies looked great. The Christmas decorations looked nice, themed to go along with the resort and a hand bell choir was getting ready for a performance in the lobby. Check in was fairly busy and we waited about 20 minutes before Jose went over everything and gave us our room assignments. While Dad and I waited for check in, Carly enjoyed the classic Disney cartoons while Jody and Mom enjoyed the atmosphere. Upon getting our room keys Carly requested we get an autograph book, so a stop at Donald’s Double Feature was in order, $5.89 with tax. We were in rooms 8816 & 8817, second floor of the ‘Fantasia 2000’ building. We took the elevator behind the huge jack-in-the-box. The view out our room was of one of the ‘Love Bug’ buildings with the huge wrench on it, opposite the Fantasia pool. Our bags were already waiting in our rooms when we walked in, so a quick unpack and filling of the dresser drawers. We then headed to the World Premiere food court where we got 2 personal pizzas, mac & cheese, chocolate milk and 2 refillable mugs $40.82, welcome to Disney! Well, too tired to go anywhere, especially since Carly was tired and we were waking at 6am on Monday, the rest of the evening was meant to relax. Jody and I were able to sneak away from Carly to the Fantasia pool for about 30 minutes (staying with Grandma and Papa was not difficult) Not sure of the outside temperature but steam was rising from the heated pool. We enjoyed watching Sorcerer Mickey commanding the streams of water off his perch and kids deciding if they wanted to be in the line of fire or avoid getting splashed. We toweled off quickly (a bit chilly, but hey how often does a “northerner” get to swim outside in late December) and headed back up to the room with lights off by 9:30. Tip for those thinking of packing beach towels, save the suitcase room. By our elevator/stairwells was a huge rack of large white towels, not as big as beach towels but they do the trick and saves souvenir room too!

Day 2
The Plan

Magic Kingdom (the thought is most people will wait till Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to attend). Planned an afternoon break and a 5:20pm Preferred Seating at The Crystal Palace for the Winnie the Pooh Character Dinner.

What actually happened

We would find out that this was the only day where the actual events matched up with the plan, but hey, it’s a vacation right? Up at 6am with some breakfast bars, etc. in the room and a run to the World Premiere food court for coffee and hot chocolate. The first bus to the Magic Kingdom was pulling out at 7:27am as we were coming out of our building but another pulled in within a couple minutes and we were off. Dad made sure to point out the big McDonald’s (since he is a big red meat/burger fan) each time we went past, which was every day, coming and going. And, no we never stopped. We arrived at the MK just as a train loaded with characters was pulling into the station and enjoyed the music as we whisked through security and the admission gates. In the rush I thought I had videotaped some of the program but oops, forgot to take it off pause. (Cheap solicitation, anyone have a video copy of the opening?) Oh well, however, we did take the obligatory photo in front of the Mickey topiary and 100 years sign. We headed left under the railroad station and immediately ran into Friar Tuck. We scrambled for the autograph book and right behind Tuck was Launchpad McQuack. Then the magical exit from the tunnel and alas, I NEVER tire of seeing Main Street and the overwhelming feel of a magical time. In addition, the giant Christmas tree, holiday music and decorations really moved the experience to another level. As we viewed the hub, we could see several characters scattered about, so we headed to the square and got autographs from White Rabbit, Clopin (who thoroughly delighted Carly with his French charm), and Fairy Godmother. We also saw Cruella De Vil, Captain Hook & Mr. Smee, but didn’t want to stand in line so we headed down Main Street snapping pictures and taking video all with a very sparsely populated park. We moved down to the Walt & Mickey statue and had someone take a picture of all 5 of us then proceeded on through the castle. I was so surprised that there was barely anyone in Fantasyland that I felt silly continuing on with my touring plan of attack but pressed on anyway. We grabbed ‘Peter Pan’s Flight’ FASTPASSES, and then boarded ‘Dumbo the Flying Elephant’ for a walk on; then over to ride ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’ with another walk on and the ‘Mad Tea Party’ with, yes another walk on. Time for a restroom break, so we took the path to Mickey’s Toontown Fair and visited Pete’s Garage. Carly stopped for a photo-op in the little car outside. Since we were close to the ‘Tomorrowland Indy Speedway’ we slipped over to Tomorrowland and didn’t seem to mind the 15-20 minute wait. I drove one car and Jody let Carly steer in another. The only bad thing about the course is getting behind a slow car/driver, which happened, not a big deal, but fun to run ‘em wide open. Time for the Peter Pan FP, but while strolling past the Character Festival area we stopped to get autographs from Jafar, Prince John and the Queen of Hearts who were standing outside due to little or no lines. Jumped into the Pan FP line and cut a 25-minute wait to less than 5, then across the street to ‘it’s a small world’. By this time the park was starting to fill, fortunately we were having a pretty successful morning, so we thought we would wind down prior to an 11 am lunch by riding the ‘Tomorrowland Transit Authority’ (which was an easy walk on). Then we had about a 20-minute wait in the stand-by line for ‘Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin'. I think I got 48,800 points, Jody assisted Carly for about 20,000 points and Mom & Dad hit theirs accidentally for 100 & 800 points as they just enjoyed the ride.

Just after 11AM we turned the corner and found floor seats for ‘Sunny Eclipse’ at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Jody and I had Stacker sandwiches & Cokes and Carly picked thru a burger, fries and OJ, $27.62. After a relaxing lunch break, we wanted to make the ‘Jungle Cruise’ during daylight hours. Last time at Disneyland we did the Cruise at night for the first time and did NOT like it. I thought the floodlights highlighting the scenes seemed to detract from the adventure. We waited about 20-25 minutes in a line that moved pretty well. I enjoyed the theming here. Listen for the radio announcements about malaria and the jumping spider in the cage near the loading queue. I noticed the ride seemed to be longer than in California and I think I enjoyed it more, especially the “cave”. With that done it was time for a break, so back on the bus to the All-Star Movies for a break. On the way out we were fortunate to catch Baloo and King Louie for pics and autographs around the ‘Swiss Family Treehouse’. We got Carly a $6 Mickey/Minnie Mylar balloon as we turned onto Main Street and headed to our bus stop.

After a good rest, including naps, we hopped the bus back to MK around 4:30. We made a quick stop at City Hall for a birthday button, as Carly would turn 4 on the 27th. I went in by myself and the lady questioned me who it was for, I thought I’d have to go get my daughter for proof, but then she went back and got me one. We proceeded on to the Crystal Palace and checked in. Wow, what a wait even with PS! We were scheduled for 5:20 and were finally seated about 5:40, but it was worth the wait. I guess the Palace was even more popular considering it had just come off of refurbishment. Anyway, it was beautiful and Carly LOVED Pooh, Tigger, Piglet (who came around twice) and Eeyore, who we had to chase down in the lobby for photo and autograph. Our waiter, Jack, was AWESOME; he was what Disney is all about. He made sure we saw everyone, kept our drinks full and even took Carly to the birthday parade line, walking, clapping and watching her all the way through. Dinner was good with a nice buffet: prime rib, shrimp, pork, etc. and wonderful desserts. Try the tiramisu! Total for Jody, Carly and I, $57.21.

After dinner we went to Adventureland for the ‘The Magic Carpets of Aladdin’ with only about a 10 minute wait, then walked into ‘The Enchanted Tiki Room’, which had always been one of Mom’s favorites, but not anymore. ‘Under New Management’…was just okay, I can understand an update of the show, but the addition of Iago was irritating. The addition of Zazu was okay, but we all liked the original. We closed our day with the ‘Country Bear Jamboree’, which was changed to a Christmas show. This one doesn’t hold my attention like it used to, the corny songs and jokes only go so far, but the holiday version was a nice touch. This was one of Carly’s favorites as well. We planned to go back and see it again for her but it never happened, fortunately I got it on video. Following the Bears, which was a walk-in, our mission was to avoid the 8pm ‘SpectroMagic’ crowds by catching the ‘Frontierland Depot’ Railroad stop. Unfortunately, because of where we were, we couldn’t get to or couldn’t seem to find a route that wasn’t blocked by parade traffic, so after much backtracking we headed for an exit. When walking past the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Carly saw the flashlights with the colored extendable tubes that make it look like a light saber/sword and had to have one. I said no, which upset Carly immensely as she was getting pretty worn out, but Jody reminded me how good she had been. Plus it breaks my heart when she cries. She really had been such a good girl, so $5.66 put a smile back on her face.

We caught fireworks while waiting for the bus so it must have been 9pm. Back “home” and to sleep.

Day 3
The Plan

Disney MGM Studios, with 11AM PS for Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater, an afternoon break and a 5pm PS for 50’s Prime Time Café.

What actually happened

Rise and shine at 6am again. It was an “Extra Magic Hour” day, so we got to the park early for the 8am opening. Wow, what a mob was waiting to get in. People were skirting around security. We commented how some people don’t think security checks apply to them even though the officers were telling people to stand in line if they had bags. Well we made it through and then waited for 8am. You had to show your resort card to gain entrance and a couple people ahead of us stood around with confused looks because they weren’t staying at a resort, bummer! My first impression was “what a great atmosphere”. I loved the architecture. Since we hadn’t had breakfast we stopped and got a table at Starring Rolls, mmm…mmm. Jody had a bagel and Carly and I had a huge danish. About $10 with juice. Since the shows we wanted to see didn’t start till after 9-10am we wandered over to the Sorcerer’s Hat and Chinese Theater area. I really like the hat, but agree that the theater is a more fitting setting for MGM. I hope the “hat” finds an appropriate place somewhere else in the World. After shopping the souvenir area I got the 100 Years Magic Moment Pin, $15.99. We used the rest of our time reading the inscriptions and viewing the footprints in the concrete in front of the Theater. Soon it was 9am and time for ‘The Great Movie Ride’ as the first ride of the day. We got the gangster version. I won’t spoil the plot if you haven’t done it, but it was a fun ride. Carly wasn’t too thrilled though, kind of scared in the shootout, Alien and Witch areas, animatronics are pretty real to a 4-year old. Time to move on to other adventures and as we headed past the hat we saw several characters and Carly got Alice’s autograph and a picture. We were going to get Hercules too, but he had to move on and so did we. We proceeded down Sunset Blvd afterwards and got ‘Tower of Terror’ FP and then stopped for the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ show. The show was good but the warm up was even better in my opinion. If you haven’t seen it, the sound check guys end up entertaining with some good doo-wop four-part harmony.

It was about 10:30 now and time for our FP for ToT with a PS at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at 11AM. Mom and Dad took Carly and strolled over to the Sci-Fi while we ventured toward the Hollywood Tower, my fears come true. Now keep in mind I AM NOT, a “thrill ride” fan, Six Flags, King’s Island, etc. are not my friends. However, since I love my wife, I do these things for her. In had my roller coaster baptism in 1995 by going on ‘Space Mountain’ and ‘Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’ (which is now a favorite) at Disneyland and had fun, but my fear was always the drop. ToT would not be my choice but I had read so much about the premise and theming that I couldn’t dare miss something I might like. I have always loved haunted houses and the like so ToT would probably be okay. Well, I admit, everything was GREAT! ToT is now my favorite. The only thing I missed is by doing FP, we missed a lot of the lobby theming, as we walked through pretty quickly and our first stop is the library where we see the Rod Serling intro. The ride was super, I yelled and laughed and yes we had to get the photo, $17.97. It always amazes me the different expressions. Jody and I had both eyes closed and mouths wide open, but others looking just like they went in for a photo sitting. Come on people, humor us! We lingered in the gift shop for a couple minutes then a power walk to our PS, as it was 10:55. Here’s where the cell phones came in handy; gave Mom a call to let us know we were on the way. We had good signals and service, outside the attractions, if you are thinking of doing that instead of walkie-talkies. We arrived shortly after 11AM and were seated in a couple minutes. What fun this place was. Jody and Carly in the front seat, I in the middle and Mom & Dad in back. Jody told them to behave themselves. Carly and I split a huge turkey sandwich and Jody got the reuben. Ice tea for me, Coke for Jody and chocolate shake for Carly. We also had to get the souvenir cup with the red glowing ice cube. Total $39 plus tips.

After lunch we got a FP for the 1:40pm ‘Voyage of The Little Mermaid’ show and stood for about 5 minutes at ‘Playhouse Disney’ before the doors opened at 12:30pm. The line was huge, but so was the theater, so we got in, although in the back. When we got out we started getting some rain. The typical Florida type, on again off again, one minute heavy the next minute nothing. We had some time before ‘Little Mermaid’, and being Christmas Eve, needed a few stocking stuffers for Carly. We stopped at the In Character store across from ‘Playhouse Disney’ while Mom & Dad pushed the stroller to divert Carly’s attention. Disney has those fun interactive “toys” so picked up a Tinkerbell glow baton; light chaser and Princess cup $29.18. More time to kill, so a walk back across the park to finish up some shopping at the Hollywood Tower Hotel for us. Only picked up an “I Survived” refrigerator magnet, but still fun. While in the gift shop the heavens opened and we waited out a downpour, mind you we had been walking in a sprinkle for about a half an hour now. As the rain subsided ever so slightly, we trekked to use our Mermaid FP and got into the waiting queue, got inside the doors just as another downpour started. As we were admitted to the theater we got front row center. If you have not been to this show before, beware. As the scenes change a curtain of water is used on stage and we caught some of the mist, no biggie though, just thought we had escaped the rain outside! Finally, Carly got to see Ariel. Since Monday morning she mentioned on a few occasion she wanted to see Little Mermaid. What a cute show with the puppets and live actors too. The only disappointment was the middle part of the story edited together in a film version. It lost me a bit and I’ve seen the movie several times, good thing I know the story. Well after this show Carly was starting to get pretty tired from our pace and we elected to take our break. After a nap, the three of us hit the pool. Carly had such a good time. She really started taking to a “deep pool” this summer and loves it. We were able to rent a life vest at the hotel’s Arcade at no charge. We just gave our room number and date of checkout.

After some thought, we decided to relax in our rooms for the rest of the day to give Carly some rest. She was a little moody at times, and since we had early starts the previous mornings we thought it in her best interest to relax. We even started hearing, “I want to go home,” which meant to our house in Illinois! Definitely time for a rest. We did some talking and decided to rearrange our schedules, since the interest level for Carly would not be as great at EPCOT, and we still wanted to go back to MK, MGM and we hadn’t made it to Animal Kingdom yet. We decided to sleep in Christmas day and then finish MGM. We all decided that was the thing to do. Unfortunately that meant we had to cancel our PS for the 50’s Prime Time Café, but perhaps we could fit it in later.

We were getting hungry so off to the food court for some eats at the World Premiere (WP). While not fancy, the food is quick, good, and fills you up. I had the chicken quesadilla, Jody the Philly cheese steak sandwich, and for Carly PB&J. For dessert chocolate pudding, cheesecake and chocolate cake, total $31. We stopped by Donald’s Double Feature, did some looking and picked up a penny book for $6.42. The pressed pennies are fun, although we didn’t get near as many as I had hoped. Just another reason to return, right?

It was Christmas Eve and we got Carly to go to bed and to sleep pretty quickly, so we stuffed her stocking and set out her gifts from Santa. Not too long after it was off to bed for us all.

Day 4
The Plan

EPCOT, play it by ear. It’s Christmas!

What actually happened

Woke around 7:30am. My parents were already awake so they came into the room as we woke Carly to see what Santa brought. On our room door handle a little gift bag had been placed with little candy canes and chocolate Wonder Balls. Jody called her family to wish them Merry Christmas and found out Christmas Eve produced 5-7 inches of snow! After a bit of playing and clean up we headed to the food court for breakfast. Another good meal as Jody got the breakfast platter; I got the croissant sandwich, Carly a cinnamon roll and 3 OJ’s. Good stuff, mmm, mmm, $19.95. By 10:30 we were ready to head out to the park. We headed to MGM, got through security and headed toward the New York street area. As we passed the 50’s Prime Time Café we took a shot at another PS for 7:10pm. We picked up ‘Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!’ FP for 12:45pm, then maneuvered our way through the crowds to ‘Jim Henson’s Muppet Vision 3D’ where we waited only about 10 minutes before entering the theatre. It seemed this section of the park was not crowded at all, but heard the bus driver commenting to stay away from the MK today, although never heard if it closed for the day. Anyway, Carly wasn’t too sure about the Muppets show. Kind of neutral I think. She is not as familiar with the Muppets, other than Big Bird, Elmo and a few others. Jody and I grew up on Sesame Street and the Muppet Show but Carly has Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, etc. that we never had. After the Muppets we circled back to Al’s Toy Barn where there were short lines to meet Jesse and Buzz. No Woody. The helper didn’t think Woody would appear all week even in the parades. Kind of odd, since it was Christmas week. Carly got her photos and autographs (Buzz had his own stamping machine), but passed on the Green Army Man. Time to move on to the more congested area around Indiana Jones for our FP time. Now Indy was really for me since those are probably among my all time favorite movies. The casting of the show was better than the show itself, not sure why, but had trouble getting into the spirit of things. Perhaps due to being a little tired and although the Christmas decorations and background music were nice; it just wasn’t the chill and snow of an Illinois Christmas. The temperature was a little cool and breezy in the mid 60’s. A little warmer when the sun came from behind the clouds. Carly was also a little moody. Still kind of tired, and the shows didn’t appeal very much to a little girl. We stopped for an ice cream at Dinosaur Gertie’s Ice Cream of Extinction and some popcorn from a nearby vendor and grabbed a table by Echo Lake near the Min & Bill’s Dockside Diner. The time had come; Jody wanted to do the ‘Rock ‘n Roller Coaster’. If you recall from the ToT commentary, I’m not a coaster fan, but for Jody, okay. We suggested Mom & Dad take Carly to the next ‘Beauty and the Beast’ show while we waited in line. We approached the entrance and noticed the stand-by line was 50 minutes. We thought about forgetting it and started walking back, but changed our minds (there was no way Jody was going to miss this ride). By then the stand-by had changed to 40 minutes, so we got in queue. Not sure how long our actual wait was but it was worth it. Since I had done ‘Space Mountain’ in the past I thought it would be similar and it was to some extent. I guess it was good that I couldn’t see the track otherwise I might have chickened out. While meandering back and forth it was fun watching the ToT doors opening and listening to the screams. Finally, we entered the building and got in our “super-stretch limo”, what a rush. I loved the neon icons we rushed past and through as well as the loops, and the take off was amazing, you can’t prepare for the speed. As we disembarked there was a stretcher and a guest in a wheel chair getting some attention. Now we knew why there was a bit of delay in loading just before our limo rolled up, so it goes to show, don’t ride if you can’t physically handle it. We had our discount coupon because we bought the ToT photo, so got the coaster photo $13.73. What a shot, Jody and I with our eyes closed and hair blowing. I looked like I was in tremendous pain. The kid in front of me didn’t seem to be phased. Almost no reaction, just a little smirk! We took advantage of staying on site as we had the photo sent back to the hotel, so as to not bend it. Pick up was by noon the day after, and the hotel left us a message on our room phone to remind us when it arrived. Cool. We then met up with my folks and found out Carly had a tired melt down and they didn’t return to ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Instead she dozed in the stroller while Mom pushed her around in the shops and tried to stay warm, as the wind made things a bit chilly. We hoped a rest would help.

Once again the timing was off for our 50’s Prime Time Café PS, so we’ll have to put it at the head of our list for our next return to Disney. Back to the resort for a rest then dinner at the WP at about 5:30pm where Jody, Mom and I split a pizza, and of course Carly had a PB&J. If your kids love these, at the check out they had the prepackaged Smucker’s sandwich, bag of chips and box of raisins for $3.99. Meal total including strawberry milk, $24.14. We then headed back to MGM to finish off the park. Our goals were ‘The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights’ and ‘Fantasmic!’ We headed to the ‘Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream’ area to see Lilo & Stitch; since we got a tip that they would be available in the evening with no or little lines, which was correct! Also, the first ‘Fantasmic!’ performance had begun, so the park in general wasn’t busy. We got the pics and autographs; actually Jody did since Carly wasn’t too sure. We then made our way to New York Street for the Osborne Family Lights. I had read some on this and had seen pictures, but nothing like the real thing. Just spectacular. This was one of my parent’s favorite parts of the trip and we got some good video of the animated parts of the display. We were now pushing the clock a bit with about 50 minutes till the second ‘Fantasmic!’ it was a bit of a power walk across the park. Sure glad we brought our stroller. We got there about 40-45 minutes in advance and sat in about the 6th row to the left. Carly had been dreading this, although Jody and I didn’t know how much. We thought she would be okay after viewing a Day in Disneyland video, but the dragon on TV is different than a dragon for real. I bought her the light up Sorcerer’s hat I had promised, $36, hoping that would help, but I ended up holding her, her face against my chest. I don’t know if she was scared, chilly or a combination. She TOLD me she was cold, uh-huh, Daddy knows. We did get her to look at the princess floats and Mickey at the end and by the time the fireworks were shooting and the steamboat passed in front of us she was okay. Oh well, some parts are on video, so she’ll catch some of what she missed. Later we found out she told Papa she didn’t want to see the show, that it scared her. However, some of us did enjoy the show, but not quite as much fun when your little one is not happy. Our time at MGM was now done. We exited the park for the bus stop, which was a pretty long wait, but we were prepared for it. They did a pretty good job of getting extra buses for the All-Stars to move the line along. Time for a well-deserved rest!

Day 5
The Plan

Animal Kingdom. PS for Rainforest Café at 5pm.

What actually happened

Since we decided to eliminate EPCOT this trip, we revisited the MK to do the rest of what we missed the first day. We didn’t set the alarms, so woke up rested, which was especially crucial for Carly to enjoy the rest of our vacation. We got a morning snack in the room and headed out. As we headed under the RR, I spotted Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, and although Carly was unsure about waiting for autographs and pictures of these scoundrels, I did. We then ventured down Main and were serenaded by singers performing “Walking Down Main St, USA”. We then headed for Mickey’s Toontown Fair and asked Carly if she wanted to try ‘The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacres Farm’. We were surprised she said yes, even after watching the circuit. We asked a few times to make sure, because she was scared trying the “Alligator Coaster” at the Labor Day carnival. The line proceeded with only about a 10-minute wait, and it was a fun ride. I got the front seat and Jody and Carly took seat 2 so she could hold her tight. Jody said Carly tensed up when we got going, but it is a pretty quick ride. She did okay but didn’t want to do it again. It was a little more that she expected. Goofy and Max were posed for pictures near the end but we skipped them because we knew we’d see Goofy the next day, or so we thought. Anyway on to the character greetings, where we found out Cinderella was waiting in the Hall of Fame. Cinderella along with Ariel being the 2 princesses Carly wanted to see most. We waited about 15 minutes before we were called in. Us and about 2 or 3 other family’s had Cinderella and her 2 mice to ourselves. Upon exit into Cornelius Coot’s County Bounty store, we found the last item we needed for Carly’s birthday on Friday, and got her a pull string Jesse doll, $21.20. We had it sent to the front of the park under the Disney RR, which we would pick up when we exited for the day. About that time we got a call to the cell phone from Jody’s sister that her Uncle had died. He was full of cancer, so we knew the time was close. She wasn’t very close to him, but would attend the funeral, which had been scheduled for the day after our return. On to happier things in Fantasyland, and since we were getting hungry, we opted for Pinocchio’s Village Haus right at the noon rush. Mom and I got food while the others got lucky with one of the large booths in the back, near the exit out to the restrooms. We relaxed chatted and watched the people and enjoyed cheeseburgers, turkey sandwich for me, Coke and chocolate milk for $25.70.

After lunch we looked to see what the wait to see Ariel was, arrghhh, 50 minutes. We had been promising to see her since our first day but thought, perhaps closer to the 2PM parade would be a better return time so we suggested that Carly ride the ‘Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel’ which she was okay with. Mom took her while Jody and Papa watched and I fought my way through the throngs to get ‘Haunted Mansion’ FP for Jody, Mom and I. I noticed as I passed by, the waits for ‘it’s a small world’ and ‘Peter Pan’s Flight’ were extremely long; so glad we planned this all out! Back in time to see Carly and Mom ride the Carrousel, for some season she has wanted to ride on the “couch” for the past 6 months, whenever she rides, kind of curious, huh. Anyway only about 15 minutes taken there so we thought we’d see the Country Bears again, since it seemed it was at the top of Carly’s list and no wait time. On through the congested street from Fantasyland to Liberty Square when Papa (who was pushing Carly in the stroller) was not with us anymore. We had reached the loading area for the ‘Liberty Square Riverboat’ when we discovered they were “missing”. Jody walked back to the archway to Fantasyland and Mom proceeded through Liberty Square without finding them. We had been headed for the Bears so decided to see if they proceeded to the attraction as well. Unfortunately they didn’t, so we decided to head back to Main Street since a CM suggested City Hall for separated parties. We crossed under the Fantasyland archway when, ta da, there they were (much to Jody and Mom’s relief) Papa decided to stay where they were, thinking we’d come back at some time. He said a large group of people exited the area at the same time and they couldn’t keep up and we were too far up to see or signal to us. Carly took it in stride. She said we (me, Jody and Mom) got lost. She played with her one use camera, framing people as they walked and generally having fun. Two tips here: Make sure when it’s really busy, keep updating meeting places, and if you have 2 cell phones, make sure you stay in those two groups. Mom had one but walked ahead with us, who had the other one. Who says adults are always logical.

We proceeded with our ‘Haunted Mansion’ FP, while Carly and Papa rode the paddlewheel. We were to meet at the entrance afterwards. Comparing this to the California Mansion, I like the Disneyland ride better. No hanging person in the stretch room in WDW, and no walk down corridor. I like the Mansion building in WDW better though and we saw Madame Leota’s tombstone. Look for her eyes to occasionally open, very cool.

Carly and Papa had a good time on the “boat” and we made it back to Fantasyland to meet Ariel in her Grotto. The wait time hadn’t really reduced, despite the parade it was posted about 50 minutes, but this was a must see for Carly, anything for our baby. We got a frozen cherry something and a bag of Doritos (exotic, huh?) for the wait. The grotto area is great for kids and Carly ran around the soft floored play area while Jody and I scooted our way along the wall, to save our feet, watching and videotaping her playing and listening to Sebastian “sing” over and over. Good thing I like those calypso tunes. The wait wasn’t too bad, maybe 25 minutes and the line moved quickly. Pictures and autograph with Ariel, does she sit in something, or are her feet in the tail? We exit to see the lagoon with no attraction. King Triton is cool, but seems to need company; kind of odd Disney hasn’t come up with something for the space. We did nearly all we had wanted to do so headed for the exit. Along Main Street a stop for some fudge at the Main Street Confectionery was in order and we got 2 tins of assorted types, $29.76. We decided to close the afternoon with a leisurely Railroad trip around the MK. I have been on the Disneyland RR several times and wondered if it was similar to the MK. No canyons or dino dioramas but enjoyed the sights in the woods from Frontierland to Toontown. Time to call it a day for most of us. We had discussed going to Downtown Disney for some souvenir shopping and talked about it during dinner. Arrived at the WP food court about 5:30. I had the chicken quesadilla again; Jody the chicken taco salad, Carly PB&J and apple juice $23.07. Still room for dessert so brownie and cheesecake for $6.40. By the time we got back to the room, Mom decided not to make the trip to DD, so Carly stayed with Grandma, and Papa, Jody and I made the walk to the bus stop. A full bus pulled up with standing room only. We didn’t feel like going on a crowded bus where we would probably stand so as it pulled out I mentioned going back to MK to ride ‘Alien Encounter’ and ‘Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’ and maybe ‘Space Mountain’. Kind of surprised, but Jody thought that was a good idea so we got on a half-empty bus and headed out with a plan to ride the RR to Toontown. We walk to Tomorrowland and see what the ‘Space Mountain’ wait time was, ouch, 1 hour, and FP return at 11pm, NOT! On to ‘Alien Encounter’ which was a walk on. I had read up on what to expect but Jody had not. She was definitely given the creeps, but what a fun show. They should rate this one PG13 because it is very scary for younger ones. We reversed our trek back to Toontown for the RR back to Frontierland to catch ‘Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’. This one is in my top 5 attractions at Disney and includes some elements the California ride doesn’t, like the animatronics prospector and “falling” rocks. Since ‘SpectroMagic’ was getting ready to run the wait was a quick moving line (less than 10 minutes). We completed the rides we wanted, so back to the RR for a quick escape out of the park. Easier said than done, as we were informed this was the last train from Frontierland to Toontown before fireworks, as they stopped the run due to falling debris during the shoot. We were unable to walk around another way to get past the crowd lined along the parade route, so we opted for the train to Toontown and walked from the back to the front of the park easier than what we expected. As we walked across the Tomorrowland Bridge the castle was dyed in a royal blue with snowflakes, so the walk was worth it. It now seems to me it is quicker to walk than take the train, but you don’t have to battle crowds, however it put us out later than we thought and Mom joked we were grounded for being out past curfew.

Day 6
The Plan

Carly’s Birthday. Celebrate at Chef Mickey’s with PS at 8:45am. The rest of the day is open to visit what we’ve missed.

What actually happened

Up and at ‘em for Carly’s 4th birthday. We took our bus to the MK and hopped the monorail to Disney’s Contemporary Resort then down the stairs to Chef Mickey’s. We had our photo taken at the entrance and were quickly seated, even before our PS time. They mentioned Carly by name and had a “My special day” placemat with the characters signatures on them for us to take home. As soon as we were seated and got coffee and OJ, Pluto came by, followed by Dale, Chip, Mickey and finally Minnie. They all posed for pictures, signed autographs, and a few even wrote a birthday greeting. When Mickey came around, he and our CM led the room in the special song for birthday kids and the traditional napkin wave. Carly got a chocolate cupcake with whipped cream; along with her pancakes she certainly had her sugar fix for the day. We all enjoyed the atmosphere and food, even got some seconds, as breakfast is my favorite meal. Near the end of our feast a cast member sold us a picture package of 2 8x10’s in the Chef Mickey’s folder and 2 wallet size photos in a magnetic refrigerator frame for about $26. We couldn’t resist since the picture had all 5 of us and was pretty good. Time for our bill, we used our “Flex Feature”, and found gratuity was included, $52.00. We were told when we walked in that Goofy was appearing as Santa Goofy in the lobby, rather than making the table rounds. So we made our way out, unfortunately he was taking his break at the time. We found out he wouldn’t return for 20 minutes, so decided to make our exit, which disappointed Jody & I more than Carly. We took the monorail to the ‘Transportation and Ticket Center’ (TTC) and caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom. This was an “Extra Magic Hour” day for AK and it was very busy. We made our way to Africa and got FP for ‘Kilimanjaro Safaris’, then made our way to the train to ‘Rafiki’s Planet Watch’. Our stay there wasn’t long, but it was a memorable trip. We enjoyed seeing the night quarters for the animals and hearing about the general operations in AK. Upon arrival we came upon the talking trashcan. “It” spied Carly and her birthday button, and sang her the “Happy Birthday Song” and tried to get the crowd to go to the gift shop to buy her presents. How fun. Jody and Papa took Carly into the petting area while Mom and I watched the goats play “king-of-the-hill” by standing on a rock and butting heads for several minutes, what a crowd they drew!

We decided to conclude our visit so back to the train to Harambe to use our FP. We enjoyed the Safari, a nice assortment of animals were out, rhinos, elephants, warthogs, giraffes, crocodiles and even a brief glimpse of a resting lion. Most people enjoyed seeing the animals and hearing facts about them but I’m not sure how much they paid attention to the storyline of Little Red. The bottom line was everyone enjoyed this attraction and was a top 10 for the week. As we exited the Safari we got the pleasure of viewing the gorillas, which Jody loves, and they certainly put on a little “show” for the audience by running around, climbing in the trees and pounding their chest. We decided to take the ‘Pangani Forest Trail’ and then call it a day, as the park was becoming close to unmanageable. We strolled back toward the Oasis and saw a couple cute T-shirts for Carly, $31.80 at Creature Comforts. The CM noticed we were from Illinois and we found he is from Danville, which is only about 30 miles from us. To top it off we found out he worked with and knows my Grandfather at the old GM plant, you can start singing the song in your head now, it’s a small world after all…

We headed back to the hotel for a rest, dinner and then do that trip to Downtown Disney for some shopping. Dinner at our resort consisted of fried chicken, cheeseburger and (what, no PB&J? yes it’s true) spaghetti and meatball for Carly with chocolate milk, $19.32. After dinner, Dad rested in the hotel room while the four of us headed to DD. We skipped the first bus and took the second where we could sit. What a long ride. The All-Stars must be the furthest point from DD. We stopped at the Disney Days of Christmas to get a Mickey ornament with 2002 on it, $10.60, then made our way to the toy shops winding up at the huge Disney Store where we spent over $100 on a Navy sweatshirt and polo shirt which had the Sorcerer’s Hat and 100 Years of Magic and a couple other small items. We made our journey all the way to the Lego Store to see the sea monster, space ship and snoring man and had our hands full of bags and money spent. We got some fruit smoothies, a chocolate chip cookie and pretzel from a vendor and relaxed on a bench while enjoying the atmosphere. On the way out we got a Pooh and Buzz Spinner for our 2 nephews for Christmas and were back by 9-9:30 to our rooms.

Day 7
The Plan

Open Day. See what happens.

What actually happened

Up and going and on the bus to Animal Kingdom by 8:30 and thankfully avoided the crowds of Friday. We decided to forgo the ‘Maharajah Jungle Trek’ and ‘Kali River Rapids’. Getting wet on a day where it was 65 F was not our idea of being comfortable, so you see the logic here. We made a right at the Oasis to Dinoland saw “Sue” and Jody and I headed to ‘DINOSAUR’, while my folks took Carly to play in the Boneyard. ‘DINOSAUR’ was a fun ride, which reminded me of the ‘Indiana Jones Adventure’ in California, an all time favorite, but not quite as good. The picture was pretty good in front of the Carnosaur but we passed this time, since we already bought ‘Rock n Roller Coaster’ and ‘Tower of Terror’ photos.

Next stop was ‘Primeval Whirl’, which was a wilder than it looked because of the sudden spins, drops and whirls. Just before we boarded our time machine we got to see them take a car off the tracks and bring a new one on, not very magical, but interesting to see. While we were riding, Carly and Mom did the ‘Triceratops Spin’. We wrapped up Dinoland with some more Christmas shopping for our nephews, with some AK animal totes from Chester & Hester’s. Just a side note, while we didn’t explore the carnival games, but I thought the area was fun and just the right amount of kitsch. Done with Dinoland and on towards the Tree of Life for ‘It’s Tough to Be a Bug’ FP then to Camp Minnie-Mickey. We got a snack of a chocolate chip cookie, ice cream sandwich (it included 2 large cookies and a slab of ice cream put together before your eyes), coke and juice for about $12. We then proceeded to the ‘Festival of the Lion King’. Spectacular! We had no idea. This was so good I can’t even explain it, so I’ll leave it at that. Actually the only thing I’ll add is it was in our top 3 for all 5 of us. Our FP time was coming up so unfortunately no time to stop for character autographs but we saw Terk, Brer Rabbit, Country Bears and short lines for Donald, Daisy, Goofy, etc. We made our way to the FP line and admired the carvings in the Tree of Life. Got into the theater as the last 5 in but no seats, so out to be the first in the theater for the next show. Carly wasn’t too thrilled but waited it out. She did like Flik and the stinkbug, but the darkness and extra effects weren’t her style, still she didn’t have to leave, cry, etc. Some parents were seen taking their little ones out. This is one I wish I could see on video, so clever. We wrapped up our must-sees and headed out with a couple stops at the gift shops and an AK T-shirt $20.14 at Island Mercantile.

Our time in the parks was dwindling, but still ahead was our last night, so we rested up for a final visit to MK. We did lunch at the hotel at about 2PM with 2 individual supreme pizzas, PB&J and apple juice for $20.29. While waiting for the pizzas the CM told us how fresh they keep the food and that every 10 minutes they dump the pasta and fries. Time for some r&r then back to MK to grab our spots for the 8pm ‘SpectroMagic’ Parade. While in our room we received a call from the limo company asking what our flight time was and set up our pick up for 10:45am, nice.

We arrived in the MK and plotted our seats right in front of the Main Street Confectionery about 6:15; perfect to see the floats turn the corner around the hub and straighten out before getting to us. Since we had a late lunch, dinner was popcorn (a souvenir bucket for Jody and I and a smaller cardboard container for Carly and cokes. I still needed more though, so found a foot long dog with cheese for $3. Ahh, that’s the ticket! Some high school bands preceded the parade and finally ‘SpectroMagic’ made its way past. Another super must-see and an appropriate way to conclude a magical week.

We made another stop at Donald’s Double Feature to get the Disney DVD and a 100 Years coffee tumbler, $48.14, then a final hot chocolate refill on our mugs and back to the room to pack.

Day 8
The Plan

Bummer, pack and go home.

What actually happened – Rise at 6:30, called for a luggage pick-up then down to breakfast. Crumb cake cheese Danish, cinnamon roll, breakfast pizza, 2 bananas and OJ, $22.71. We then went to check out and shot some final video and pictures of the resort area. The limo arrived about 10:30, so we loaded up and headed out. No surprises heading home. Flight was on time at 12:17pm. Carly colored for most of the 2-hour flight, we snacked on pretzels, coke and juice. On time to St Louis, and a stop at Pizza Hut for individuals for all 3 of us, $17.98. For the rest of our nearly 3-hour layover we watched football before boarding our half-hour flight back to Champaign. The Chicago Bears hosted Tampa that Sunday night so Memorial Stadium’s lights welcomed us home to cold and snowy Illinois. We caught the taxi van back home and paid the driver $25 including tip for the 3 of us. Fortunately we had also arranged to use vacation time thru January 5th, so time to relax and reflect on a wonderful time.

Summary

Take your own stroller – What a benefit. Carly loves to walk, but the park was busy enough, we always knew where she was and she liked to ride! There are so many stroller-parking spots throughout the park, many with CM attendants; we had no fear of leaving it. Our stroller looked a lot more comfortable than the Disney hard plastic ones, and it saves rental and return each day. Plus the airlines treat it as another piece of luggage. Actually put it in a large plastic bag. Good for storage at home!
When staying at the Disney resorts get the refillable mugs. A nice souvenir of your resort and we got our money worth. Hot Chocolate in the mornings and pop the rest of the day. I also saw mugs from past years and even mugs not showing a Disney logo of any kind. Remember to be courteous; I stood in line for 20 minutes behind about 4 or 5 people with multiple mugs. One person had 4! The hot chocolate machine filled slowly and you had to push the button 2 times to fill it up.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year to go, just have a plan. Splitting days in the 3 parks was a great way to go for us, just stay away from the commando stuff so the younger ones can enjoy as well. Take a break, especially if you are staying on site.
The bus service was great. Just go with the expectation that you may have to wait for the next bus or that if it is busy you may need to stand. But usually not for the whole trip as people going to the All-Stars usually all rode the same bus. But again, very efficient and you don’t have to drive, which is what I liked.
Disney certainly has the characters out and about. My only disappointments were missing Jasmine and not having the time to get pictures and autographs of more of them. The character meals are definitely worth it. Make extra time to take advantage of all the character meet-and-greets that are available, and book character meals.
The weather was mostly in the 60’s and a little breezy too as a cool front went thru on Tuesday afternoon of our stay. We were prepared by keeping track on weather.com the weeks prior to our trip.
As mentioned the Christmas decorations, trees, garland and music throughout the parks were wonderful. We did start to tire of the music though by December 27th.
Top Ten Lists (in no particular order)
Disappointments
Didn’t get to see Princess Jasmine and not enough time to see all the characters
‘Tiki Room Under New Management’
Missed ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
‘Space Mountain’s’ wait was too long to fit in a ride
Struck out on attempts to eat at 50’s Prime Time Café
Jody was disappointed in the ‘Alien Encounter’ (she was hoping it was more of a ride)
Hoping for warmer weather, but still better than snow and cold at home.
Tiring Carly out.
Missing EPCOT.
Had to miss the afternoon parades due to needing those breaks.
Overall Top Ten (things we all did together)

Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater for a very unique experience
Chef Mickey for Carly’s birthday was priceless and we got great video
The Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh Disney Character Dining, for same reasons as Chef Mickey.
‘Fantasmic!’
‘SpectroMagic Parade’
‘Festival of the Lion King’ - possibly the best attraction we saw all week.
‘Kilimanjaro Safari’ – as close as you can get to an African safari, extremely well done
‘Playhouse Disney’ – very lively, a thrill to see the TV show live, a definite favorite of Carly.
‘The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights’ – just spectacular, difficult to describe.
Fantasyland (First thing Monday morning with the rides and characters, most with little or no wait)
Personal Top Ten

‘Tower of Terror
‘Rock n Roller Coaster’
‘Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’
‘Alien Encounter’
‘Buzz Lightyear’s Space Rangers Spin’
‘The Great Movie Ride’
‘Haunted Mansion’
‘Primeval Whirl’
‘The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacres Farm’
‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’
If you have any questions, comments, etc. please feel free to email me. I love to talk Disney.

Glenn Vinces