Lance Caros - November 2002 - Offsite

Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Offsite (Oak Plantation in Kissimee)
Accommodations: 2-bedroom condominium
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Lance's fifth trip report is about his shortest visit to Disney World (only 8 days) and is therefore his shortest trip report so far (only 20 pages). As always it well written and contains all the details that provide insight for our own trips.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/report_files/wdwtr02/caros02no.jpg

Lance Caros -- November 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)

The Cast



Lance - I'm 37 and work as a commercial underwriter for an insurance company. I'm the trip report writer, husband of Jenny, and Dad to Megan and Bryce. I've been a lifelong Disney fanatic thanks to my parents who took us frequently to Disneyland while visiting my grandparents in California. I truly believe Disneyland is the happiest place on earth and Walt Disney was the greatest person of the 20th century. My Mom (the greatest mom in the world) tells me that we sat next to Walt at a breakfast on Main Street when I was 9 months old and they chatted briefly with him. I've logged about 50 trips to Disneyland over the years. This was my eighth trip to WDW.

Jenny - She's my beautiful wife of 12 years and mom to Megan and Bryce. She works part time as a quality assurance specialist for the same insurance company and is the most organized person I have ever met. I don't think she will take offense if I also mention she's quite a babe. She married me knowing about my Disney addiction. Thankfully she acquired one too. She's been to Disneyland many times and this was also her eighth WDW trip.

Megan - Our beloved first born. She’s 9 and in the 4th grade. Thankfully she got her mom's looks and smarts. She loves to draw and wants to be an artist when she grows up. She's very tall for her age and meets all attraction height requirements. She's very adventurous and will go on any ride. She was born into loving all things Disney. She's pretty easygoing but likes to occasionally torment her parents with whining. She first went to Disneyland at 6 months old and has logged 10 trips there so far. This was her sixth WDW trip.

Bryce – Our beloved second born. He’s 5 and in kindergarten. He's usually pretty sweet although he enjoys occasionally tormenting his sister. He's becoming more independent and headstrong as of late. He's also very tall for his age and meets the height requirement of most rides. He loves almost all the characters but especially Peter Pan. He also loves anything to do with pirates and dinosaurs. He's been to Disneyland 3 times starting at age 6 months. This was his fifth WDW trip.

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

The Prior Reports

This is my fifth trip report.

The April 2002 trip is at http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/report_files/wdwtr02/caros02ap.htm

The June/July 2001 trip is at http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/report_files/wdwtr01/caros01jn.htm

The April 2000 trip is at http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/report_files/wdwtr00/caros00.htm

The March 1999 trip is at http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/report_files/wdwtr99/caros99.htm

Saturday, 11-2-02
Bryce was up and raring to go at 5:30AM. Too bad our flight is not leaving until after noon. Thankfully both kids were in a good mood and the morning sibling battle ritual was brief and blood free. It was a frosty but beautiful sunny morning when we left the house at 9:50AM. The drive to Sea-Tac was uneventful as was the offsite parking and shuttle ride to the terminal. We arrived to find a huge check in line at Northwest. Before getting in line I surveyed all of the areas and found the practically empty e-ticket check in area. We walked right up and were checked in within 2 minutes. Surely at least a few of the several hundred people waiting in line also had e-tickets and could have done the same. I guess it's a lot like Fastpass. Some people just don't take the time to understand the process.

We stopped by the restrooms after that and a middle aged British gentleman was waving his wife to hurry up to security. She yelled back over to him "I'm in queue for the loo". It was all I could do not too laugh out loud. It just struck me as very funny for some reason especially in that very proper accent.

Security was very speedy. The new TSA staff was in place and seemed a much more professional group than those they replaced. There also seemed to be at least three times as many of them which really speeded up the process. I was surprised at how many were assigned to "eyeballing" the crowds. As we got near the metal detectors Jenny remembered she had some nail clippers so I took them and mentioned them to the guard who just had us put them in our backpack that went through the x-ray.

We hopped on the subway for our third mode of transportation for the morning (or fourth if you count walking) and arrived at our gate. We stopped at Burger King for a fish sandwich meal for Megan and a chicken tender kid’s meal for Bryce. I drank about 4 cups of diet Coke which probably wasn't that wise before getting on an airplane. I debated getting a bowl of udon which looked really good but I was too cheap to spend the $8 for it.

After an hour wait we finally got on the plane and left on time. The plane was not full so we got both rows of three seats for each pair of us. It was nice to stretch out. The kids played game boy and listened to CDs. Jenny pulled out a new workbook for Bryce who loved it and spent the rest of the flight completely engaged in it.

Lunch was either a turkey or pastrami sandwich, a bag of Fritos and an apple. I'm not sure who the genius was that came up with the Frito idea but they should be forced to sit in an enclosed space with 250 people all munching away on a stinky snack. Don't get me wrong, I love Fritos but think they are kind of smelly.

We landed in Detroit and the airport was nicer than we remembered. The kids burned off energy during our one hour layover by running on the moving sidewalks. Our next flight was completely full. It took off about 20 minutes late after several very large guys, I'm guessing sky marshals, came on to the plane and removed an elderly gentleman. He eventually came back on and we took off. I'm not sure what that was about but was glad to be on our way. It was another very easy flight. Bryce slept most of the way. There was no meal, just pretzels and a drink. Megan had a terrible ear ache as we were landing. We tried chewing gum, yawning and "clearing" the ear with pressure but had no luck until just before we landed. Poor kid, I think she had a mild cold and that pressure must have been very painful in the sinuses. There were several babies on the flight that were just howling so they must have had the same problem.

We finally landed in Tampa and the terminal we were in was deserted. I guess they don't have many late night flights. We took yet another form of transportation, the monorail, to the main terminal where the girls went to collect the bags from baggage claim and Bryce and I went to Dollar for the rental vehicle. There was a British family in front of me that took about half an hour to finalize their 21 day rental. What a nice long vacation. No wonder they weren't in a rush. I finally was helped and for the third trip in a row Visa set off a fraud alert on my card as they saw it being used so far from home. I wonder if Florida gets special scrutiny by the credit card companies. I haven't ever had that happen traveling elsewhere including Hawaii, New York and Europe. The Dollar employee was pretty new but with the help of another employee they made all the necessary calls and verification. I suppose I should be thankful that Visa is looking out for my best interest and investigating potential fraud but it was another 20 minute delay on top of a very long day of travel. I was thankful to finally be out of there.

We ended up getting the last van they had and what a dog! It was a Chevy Astro van that was actually fairly new and had quite a few options on it but it was still a big lumbering beast that handled like a tank and got about the same gas mileage. At least cargo and passenger room wasn't a problem. We could have fit in another family or two. Everyone but me snoozed on the 70 minute drive to the condo. It was an easy drive with no traffic. I stopped at the Wal-Mart for a few groceries and picked up bread, butter, bagels, cream cheese, milk, water, beer and soda. I made the purchase about 30 seconds before the 2AM cutoff for alcohol sales. The great Michelob god must have been watching over me.

We got the Oak Plantation to find a sleeping front desk attendant. She wasn't the most helpful gal. We had been upgraded to a two bedroom unit but it was right next to the pool which closes at 1AM. We didn't want to stay there 9 nights with lots of noise and little privacy so we opted for one of the few open 1 bedroom units in the back of the complex in a nice wooded area. It's the smallest one bedroom unit and almost half the size of the two bedroom. It's very compact but had everything we needed including a bedroom with a king sized bed and bathroom, a full kitchen including a bizarre, all-in-one front loader washer/dryer. There was a small counter with 4 chairs that served as the dining area. Bryce and I slept on the couch that folded out into a double bed. We finally got into bed at 2:30 and to sleep around 3.

Sunday, 11-03-02
Jenny was up at 6:30 followed by me at 7 and the kids at 7:30. It was a nice morning and we were ready to get started. We had a quick breakfast, put sunscreen on everyone and were out the door a little after 8. We got a good parking spot just a short walk to the entrance but I forgot the parking pass so ran back and got it so we could get our $7 refunded for that days parking. Free parking is a nice benefit of buying the annual passes. We will only have to park 263 days at WDW this year for the passes to pay for themselves!

There were two older couples in front of us at guest relations and only one window open. They seemed to be trying to make some sort of transaction on par with taking out a jumbo home loan despite past bankruptcy problems. After their 15 minute ordeal we finally were helped by a friendly cast member from Brazil. I thought I caught her almost laughing as I gave my name which I believe translates into something like "expensive yacht" in Portuguese.

We got our passes and noticed Jenny's name was misspelled as Jeney but we didn't want to wait in line again so we just went on in. The biometrics worked fine. I ran ahead to get Test Track Fastpasses then met up again with the family and we all went on Spaceship Earth together.

For some reason Bryce didn't want to ride Test Track so we took turns riding without him. Megan and Jenny rode first in the standby line since it was short then Meg and I used two of the Fastpasses. We gave the other two away. We let Bryce decide what was next so of course it was over to Ice Station Cool. They apparently allow strollers inside now and we got stuck behind a big family with a double stroller that was completely blocking the path. We got snowed on for quite a while in the backup but the kids enjoyed that. Once we got fully inside Bryce and I each downed about a gallon of Vegi-Beta. Meg stuck to Kinley Lemon and Jen abstained while trying to trick unwitting folks into drinking the vile Beverly. I wouldn't be surprised to see the stuff on Fear Factor someday.

The newly revamped Journey into your Imagination was next. I'm not sure it's much of an improvement over the last version but the kids enjoyed it. It was cool seeing more of Figment but still doesn't seem to have that "little spark" of the original. The kids always love Image Works after the ride and spent a good deal of time contorting their faces in the special video cameras and playing with everything else. We all loved the crystal things that you could have etched with your photo but we were afraid to find out the price on them.

We went to World Showcase right at the 11AM opening so we could experience our first visit to the Food and Wine Festival. We were all dying to try the cheddar cheese soup we had read so much about in trip reports so Canada was our first stop. We got the soup and a piece of pan seared salmon with a honey-maple glaze. The salmon was very good but we were all a bit disappointed in the soup. Jenny and I both thought it was inferior to either of our mom’s homemade potato soups. It wasn’t bad by any means, just not particularly memorable or cheesy for that matter.

The Southeast Asia stand nearby had an interesting cabbage slaw with torn chicken so we tried that. It had very good vinaigrette and crushed peanuts. It was one of my favorites of the festival. The size of the samples at most of the stands was small as expected. Each item was only a few dollars but it could add up if you were trying to satisfy your hunger. My wallet emptied faster than my stomach became full.

The United Kingdom was practically deserted when we arrived so we took the opportunity to get an order of fish and chips and eat at the tables in front of the Rose & Crown. We were amazed at the lack of crowds. We had never seen Epcot with such low attendance although this was our first visit during the “low” season. We had a great time enjoying our fish and chips and soaking up the atmosphere in the UK. I couldn’t think of a more pleasant place to relax on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The weather, by the way, was beautiful all day with sunny skies and a high in the upper 70’s.

Megan had read that France had truffles so we found the stand there but they were all out. The escargot looked good but the kids were in more of a mood for dessert so we went to the patisserie. Megan got a slice of cheesecake and Bryce had a chocolate éclair. Meg loved hers and Bryce didn’t care for his which was fine with me. After sharing a bite with the girls the rest was all mine. It had a delicious chocolate crème filling. We looked around the shops a bit before seeing Impressions de France. The sights and the music in it were as beautiful as always. I would love to take the kids to the real France someday. I’ve only been there twice but each time I felt very “at home” there. It’s a beautiful country. We saw Clopin as we exited the theater and he was his usual witty self.

Morocco was the next stop and we wandered around the shops. Megan bought a wooden flute. Shortly after that we ran in to the Genie from Aladdin who motioned to Meg to play the flute. She told him that she didn’t know how to play yet but her mom did. So, the Genie convinced Jenny to entertain the crowd. She played a rousing rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and received a round of applause.

The kids clamored for rice candy from Japan so we got some before shopping for a long while in the Mitsukoshi department store. It’s a great store to browse with hundreds of interesting things to look at. I was amused by a group of Japanese teenage girls who were very excited to find snacks from home in the store. I said hi in Japanese and got back a giggling chorus of “konichiwas”.

Jenny saw that some of her favorite entertainment was about to start so she went out and grabbed a Bud Light and a prime spot to watch Matsuriza. They are traditional Japanese taiko drummers and definitely worth watching if you are in the area at one of their performance times. Even if not you can hear them from quite a few countries away! I left the kids with her and got a Kirin for me and another food sample for us to share. It was the creamy baked chickpea with crispy bacon pie from Chile and Argentina. It was by far our favorite although it was very rich. I looked at the recipe later and found out why with generous amounts of cream and butter. It was served along with a very good roasted red pepper sauce.

After the show we went to the American pavilion and found the Fife and Drum Corps in the middle of a performance so we watched them. It was nice to see them attract a large and appreciative crowd now. That wasn’t always the case in past years. The kids wanted to make new masks at the KidCot station so they worked on those for a long while. Jenny went into the gift shop and bought another copy of a patriotic Mickey print that our brother-in-law had admired at our house.

As we left the pavilion I saw there was a specialty beer garden setup and they had Michelob, Jen’s favorite, in a honey lager and Red Stripe, my favorite. The honey lager Michelob was fantastic which is high praise from me since I don’t generally enjoy beer that much (although I consumed two already today).

We were all getting a bit tired after our long day of travel and late night so picked up our pace around the countries. We skipped Italy but then stopped in Germany for a long while as the kids love the model train setup there. Jenny and I found a bench where we could watch them and relax. It was wonderful. The only thing that would entice Bryce to leave was the promise of ice cream so we went next door to the Outpost and he got a Simba’s Paw Print ice cream bar. Megan got a chocolate covered frozen banana.

We remembered there was a cool little back massage roller in China so we stopped in the store there and bought it before finally leaving Epcot around 2PM. Meg had a bloody nose on the way home but got it under control pretty quickly. The poor kid is very prone to them but she’s an old pro now and knows the drill. Luckily, we had a box of tissues with us in the van.

The kids wanted some pool time and I believe they were changed into their swimsuits before I had even dropped off all of our gear in the condo. They had a great time in the pool and were the only two in it for most of the couple of hours we were there.

We went to Chevy’s for dinner and all we had was Sprite for the kids and a big plate of nachos for all of us to share. It was a very cheap dinner but was plenty of food.

Meg had another bloody nose in the van on the way home. I guess the afternoon swimming probably didn’t help with that but she took it in stride and got it under control. We were all exhausted after our first long day so we made it an early evening and everyone was asleep by 9:30PM.

Monday, 11-4-03
Everyone was up by 7AM and after the usual morning routine we were out the door by 8. I always dread getting to the Magic Kingdom. With the amount of stuff we cart along with us it’s a big pain to load it on to the tram from the parking lot at the Ticket and Transportation Center. So, I was a bad guest and parked at the Polynesian and rode the monorail over from there. Yes, I did feel guilty about it.

It was another beautiful day with no rain all day and a high near 80. It was a wonderful day to be strolling up Main Street. We went straight to Buzz Lightyear and I rode with the kids while Jenny went and got Fastpasses for Space Mountain. Buzz was great, I was on a roll. We got into the room with the volcano and I nailed it a few times and had over 600,000 points when the ride stopped for about a minute. I quickly maxed out my gun at 999,999 and Bryce urged me to do the same on his.

After the ride we met up with Jenny who started to explain that the Fastpass machines were not working. Before she got a chance to finish, Megan decided to show her displeasure with a small snit including a stamp of her foot. Jenny further explained that cast members were handing out Fastpasses instead. We went over to Autopia before the line got unbearably long. Our wait was about 5 minutes. Meg drove in her own car for the first time and was a bit frustrated by the imprecise steering. Jenny was in the car in front of her and didn’t realize Meg’s frustration. Jen playfully stuck out her tongue at Meg who wasn’t in the mood for it and had another small snit at the end of the ride along with proclaiming “my car wouldn’t steer!” We had to stop and have a quick talk about her attitude but we soon moved on to Pooh which had a 5 minute standby wait. We were amused by the family in front of us who as they neared the entrance all said in unison “It’s a ride!” We enjoyed the ride so we got Fastpasses for it again as we exited and then went to Peter Pan which also had a 5 minute standby wait.

After Pan we went back to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain. Bryce was willing all morning to go on it but decided against it as we got close. No big deal so the girls went on the mountain while I took Bryce back on Buzz. We all met back up and the kids went on the same ride again with the other parent this time. I was surprised that even the standby line was very short at 10:30. We were pleasantly surprised again today at the amazingly light crowds which really makes a difference in the Magic Kingdom. After that we saw Tomorrowland Brass was performing so we watched them for a while. Like all of the live entertainment at Disneyworld they are well worth stopping for.

Since the crowds were light we went back to Fantasyland and used our Fastpasses to ride on Pooh again. In the gift shop Megan got a Pooh bracelet with her name on it. Bryce got a Tigger golf set and I dreamed of my future Tiger Woods supporting me in my old age. For some reason It’s a Small World had a 20 minute wait which was longer than any other attraction in Fantasyland. So instead we took a quick ride with Snow White. Unfortunately, as we were exiting the ride Megan had another bloody nose.

I took Bryce ahead to get Splash Mountain Fastpasses but the ride and the Fastpass machines were down so instead we got them for Big Thunder Mountain. We met back up with the girls who had gone ahead to El Pirata y el Perico to get our favorite table on the patio. I went and got lunch from Pecos Bill’s. Bryce had a kid’s hot dog meal which I ate most of. Megan had the adult hot dog meal and a root beer float. Jenny and I shared a Kit Carson salad which we both love and an order of McDonalds fries from the nearby fry wagon. I also had a diet Coke and the total of everything was a reasonable $21.89. We took our time and had a leisurely lunch. This is a favorite spot of ours to relax and recharge the batteries.

The 1:15 Diamond Horseshoe show was about to start so we went there to find the place packed. Just as we were about to give up a family decided to leave so we got their table. Bryce was not very enthused about seeing the show as he remembered the hostess with a loud six shooter. He was relieved to see that her holsters were empty so he enjoyed the show a bit more this time. I tried to encourage him to volunteer when they seek out a 5 year old audience member. No luck there but the volunteer Patrick was very funny. The magician asked Patrick about his family and explained that there are two types of moms. One kind lies around on the couch all day watching soap operas and the second type is always on the go, driving kids around and is very organized. So he asked which one his mom was and Patrick pointed in the audience to her and said “that one”. He got a big laugh with that. It was another very good show and a great way to relax and take it a little easier in the afternoon when things can get hot and crowded in the Magic Kingdom.

We all wanted to go for a ride on Pirates and we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was a walk on. After the ride Bryce had to stop in his favorite place, the pirate gift shop at the exit of the ride. We got out pretty cheaply with just a pirate pistol that shoots suction cups. I took the kids to the Tiki Room while Jenny went to the Christmas Shop. I think I’m one of the few to actually prefer the new Tiki show to the old. Iago cracks me up. The kids got one of his feathers when the tiki goddess zapped him.

Thanks to the FRS radios we easily met back up with Jenny and shared a couple of Dole whips before starting our way out of the park. We stopped at package pickup and got all of our purchases. It was 4PM and I thought about staying since it was such a pleasant day and we were all in pretty good spirits (Megan’s earlier surliness had disappeared). The crowds were really light again after the 3PM parade but we decided to go back to the condo for a swim and then spend the evening at Epcot.

The kids swam for about an hour and the pool once again had very few people in it. After I finally dragged the kids out of the pool we all got cleaned up and left for the Beach Club. We saw the new villas for the first time and dreamed of someday staying there and walking over to Epcot every evening. We entered through the International Gateway and stopped in the United Kingdom for 2 orders of fish and chips and a pint of Bass. We ate in the garden area in the back which is always a lovely spot to relax. The fish was excellent and made a great dinner.

Megan still wanted a truffle from France and was pleased to find they had them this time. She raved about it. Imaginum was just starting a performance so we stopped and watched. There was a big crowd around with many people not at first realizing that the statue was a living one.

I tried to find a good Illuminations viewing area but many of the best spots were taken up by special food and wine festival events and viewing areas. After walking back and forth a bit we finally found a good spot along a chest high wall in Morocco next to the Friendship launch. We had a half hour wait but it was a pleasant evening. Megan found a pair of chairs nearby and set in the empty one next to a lady who was on her first trip to Disneyworld. Meg gave 30 minutes worth of expert unsolicited advice but the lady seemed to enjoy the company and her enthusiasm.

There was a family next to us and Jenny was next to the mom who was seeing Illuminations for the first time. She absolutely loved the show and had tears streaming down her face by the end of it. I think that really made the evening for Jenny. We were both a little misty ourselves. It’s one show that I can’t imagine ever getting tired of. I could happily see it every night.

We went back to the condo after a quick stop at Walgreen’s for some Vaseline for Meg’s dry nose. We were all in bed and asleep a few minutes after 10.

Tuesday, 11-5-02
Today turned out to be warmer at around 84 and a bit more humid. We were all up and around by 8AM and left the condo at 9:15. Blizzard Beach was packed! Typhoon Lagoon was down for it’s regularly scheduled annual maintenance and since our beloved River Country closed the year before this was the only water park open today.

It seemed like a very long wait to get in. We didn’t get our usual favorite spot but did find a nice table in the shade in Tike’s Peak. The girls immediately took off for the slides before the crowds got to them. I took Bryce and got a locker, life jacket, refillable mug and a frozen lemonade bar which Bryce made short work of. We chatted with Doris a grandmother next to us who lived nearby and was with her grandchildren. She had several old refillable mugs and told us how you could buy a new sticker for them for $5 that allowed you to refill them for the day. I’ll have to remember that.

The girls came back after riding their favorite Downhill Double Dipper a couple of times. We all took off together and scaled the lofty peaks of Mount Gushmore to ride Teamboat Springs, the family raft ride which has got to be the best of it’s type (at least that I’ve been on). We all had a blast on it again and giggled the whole way down.

We went around the backside of the mountain to climb up and ride Runoff Rapids. After looking around at the flagrant use of Speedo’s and Lycra on body types where it didn’t belong I started feeling not so out of shape after all. Of course Jenny is always the hottest babe around wherever we go but it was a nice feeling for me by comparison anyhow!

Bryce and Jenny went on a double tube while Megan and I did single tubes down the enclosed middle slide. Megan was hungry so Jenny took her back to our spot for lunch. Bryce loves these slides now after taking his first ride on them in April so I stayed and went with him. As we were waiting our turn in line for a double tube a lady came up, looked at the line and then snuck around to the front of it and attempted to nab a tube. The lady in front of me caught her red handed though and gave her an earful. She skulked off to the back of the line. We climbed the 127 steps again (yes we counted). Bryce is pretty entertaining to ride with as he keeps a running commentary throughout punctuated by a lot of “yeah’s!”, “ooh baby’s!” and “woohoo’s!”.

Bryce and I were hungry after that so we went back and had our gourmet lunch of bagels with cream cheese and a can of Pringle’s (they were the cheese kind which made for the gourmet part). We all took off for Cross Country Creek after that but it was pretty packed. We walked halfway around the mountain to a spot where we didn’t have to wait in a line for tubes. The kids had a blast. They especially enjoyed seeing Jenny get “sneezed” on by Santa and came up with the charming name for it of a “santaloogie”. We floated all the way around for an entire circle of the park. Meg and I then went in the bobbing waves of Meltaway Bay and played for about half an hour.

When we went back to our spot Jenny pointed out the 4 kids next to us who were alone after the parents and older siblings went off to the bigger slides. A girl about 8 was in charge of her 3 younger brothers, the youngest of whom was around 3. It seemed very irresponsible but I guess everyone has differing ideas of what they feel comfortable with. The parents eventually showed back up and then we all went back to Meltaway Bay before deciding to pack it up around 2PM. I got probably my fifth diet Coke refill on the way out.

When we got back to the condo Jenny went to the office to see if we could switch to a larger unit. They found one (about 200 square feet larger) and in our favorite spot with a view of the pond. So, we all helped move a few things over but I then took the kids out so Jenny could finish and get everything settled in the new unit. I should mention that Megan had been practicing on that accursed wooden flute that she bought in Morocco. We actually didn’t mind that much but after 30 minutes or so of squeaky notes we usually sent her outside “to share the lovely music with the neighbors and the wildlife”. She was playing outside and seemed to become the pied piper. Several stray cats came up to her and even two bunnies. Maybe they were tone deaf. Actually she did get better at it although we had to ban it from the van.

We went to Winter Summerland for some miniature golf. On the way there I noticed a few dark clouds in the broken sky. There were lots of patches of sunlight around though and I figured we would be safe by the time we got to the golf course. When we got there though a couple of drops started falling and we debated on if we should stay. I told the kids the sky didn’t look too threatening and it would clear up in a few minutes. So we went and paid for our golf and as they were handing us the clubs the skies opened up and a monsoon hit. There must have been an inch or two of rain in just a couple of minutes. It was amazing how all at once the entire sky became gray when just a few minutes before it was only partly cloudy. All of the golfers on the course came running back seeking refuge. The friendly cast members were offering rain checks to any that wanted them. After five minutes and no sign of the rain letting up we decided to get a rain check also. They just stamped the receipt with the words “rain check”.

We made a mad dash for the car and got absolutely drenched in the hundred yards we ran. I had to turn on the air conditioning and defroster to clear up the steamy windows in the van. We were faced with the dilemma of what to do. Megan wanted to go shopping at Downtown Disney and Bryce wanted to go to Disneyquest. Unfortunately, they couldn’t agree and much bickering ensued so I decided for them and we did neither. I got a couple of “evil dad” glares from the back seats which guilted me into a stop at Krispy Kreme for a dozen original glazed donuts.

The rain lasted for several hours so it was a good thing we didn’t try to wait it out for the golf. We didn’t have any major plans for the evening and with the crummy weather we decided to just have dinner and call it an evening. Jungle Jim’s at the Crossroads shopping area is one of our favorites because of the good food an excellent value. We had a free appetizer coupon so we got the tree top treats which is a mixture of curly fries and onion rings hanging from a metal “tree” and all dusted with parmesan. It rated thumbs up from the whole Caros clan. We ordered a club sandwich and a Monte Cristo figuring we could just share it all. Kyle our server though told us it was kids eat free night and we should get a couple of kids meals. We told him that was very nice but we were already getting the appetizer free and didn’t think we needed even more food. He insisted though and said to pick out two kids menu items and at the end of the meal he would bring them all boxed up so we could take them home. He was just a genuinely nice guy and provided probably the best service of our entire trip which was filled with good service. The Monte Cristo was delicious as always and the club was also very good. Both sandwiches were huge and we couldn’t finish either of them. Kyle insisted that we take everything home and he brought out the kids meals also which were chicken nuggets and a Monte Cristo like (fried) peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Both kids’ meals were in large containers that were absolutely packed with curly fries. So, we got an appetizer and two kid’s meals free. Even the pint of beer at $1.50 was a ridiculously good deal. For such a shamefully large amount of food we paid $19.25 including tax. We left a very generous tip for our Kyle and waddled out of there completely stuffed and with enough food left over for another meal.

Megan’s eyes are frequently bigger than her stomach and she felt a bit sick on the way back to the condo. I asked her if she was going to be OK and she said yes. Bryce took the opportunity to chime and tell us he liked the taste of barf. I’m sure that comes from Jenny’s side of the family. He said it so cheerfully that we all couldn’t help but break out laughing and chuckling the whole way home. Actually I think he was referring to month before when he ate a Harry Potter “vomit” jelly bean (kids have such charming candies these days. I have to admit that I sampled the black pepper, dirt, booger and sardine flavors). We were back to the room by 7:30 and just relaxed before turning in early.

Wednesday, 11-6-02
We were all up at 7 and left the condo at 8:15. Bryce’s ear had been draining during the night and he was in a surly mood. That wasn’t a good sign. He’s our ear infection guy and after several sets of tubes the ear infection every month routine is finally slowing down as he gets older but this had all the signs of a doctor visit in our future.

We went to the Disney Studios and got a close parking spot and walked to the entrance. We waited 5 minutes for the park gates to open. It was raining but Jenny found a spot under a canopy so were able to stay dry. The park opened 10 minutes before 9 but we had to wait at the end of Mickey Avenue for the official opening time. The girls went ahead down Sunset Boulevard and made a beeline for Rock N’ Roller Coaster while Bryce and I went to get Fastpasses for the Tower of Terror. As I was pushing Bryce down the street in his stroller a cast member pointed to him and said “look it’s Grumpy!” He didn’t know how right he was. The girls called on the radios and said that both the Tower and the coaster were not operating. What a fiasco to have both of them down at park opening. There were lots of bummed out people trying to figure out if they should wait or not since most of the shows in the park didn’t start for another hour. We got a Fastpass for the Tower and then went to Star Tours where I had to convince Bryce to ride despite it usually being one of his favorites. He was just out of sorts today. He had a great time though once we got on the ride an seemed back to normal.

I ran back to Rock N’ Roller Coaster for Fastpasses after that and then met the family at the Great Movie ride. It had 30 minute wait which really surprised me but I guess it must have been crowded since the two biggest attractions were down. The girls heard that the coaster was open so they went on that while Bryce and I browsed in the candy store. He got a bag of cotton candy and we got a chocolate and M&M covered Mickey pretzel for Megan.

The girls had a great time riding the coaster and reported that there was no standby line so they kept their Fastpasses. Megan and I then went for a ride and also got on with no standby wait. She commented that we sat in the same fourth row that she had just been in with Jenny. I heard what must be one of the few Aerosmith songs I don’t know but it was a great ride. Jenny and Meg then used Fastpasses for the coaster again and the Tower. Bryce and I went over to Indy to get Fastpasses for a later show there. We then got in to the Playhouse Disney show just as it was about to start. It’s a cute show and Bryce really enjoyed it but don’t bother with this one unless you have someone under 7 with you.

We met up with the girls and Sunset Boulevard where Bryce started complaining that he had an ear ache. OK, that’s decided then. He’s got all the signs of another ear infection. We debated what to do and decided that we had to have lunch regardless so I got a turkey leg, baked potato and French fries for everyone to share. When I met back up with the rest Bryce was asleep in his stroller. We decided to take him to a walk in clinic but since he was asleep I encouraged the girls to ride the Tower again with the last set of Fastpasses.

It was nice having some quiet time for myself as he was sleeping in the stroller. I got to look through a lot of the shops on Sunset Boulevard and really soak up the atmosphere. The only thing I bought was one of the guest of honor pins which I had engraved with Bryce’s name. Megan already had one from a previous trip. They are a fantastic souvenir for $5 and the cast members really interact with the kids when they see them wearing them and treat them like fellow cast members.

Bryce woke up right as we met up with the girls after their ride and he was in a much better mood and said his ear no longer hurt. We told him that we needed to go to the doctor though and he wasn’t too thrilled with the idea because now he was game to go on some rides and was looking forward to Indiana Jones. We convinced him that we would come back though and see the show another day.

We left the park at 12:30 and I dropped the girls off at the condo and then took Bryce to the Centra care walk in clinic a few blocks from our place. I was kicking myself for not bringing my trip report notebook because we had a 90 minute wait to see a doctor. Thankfully Bryce was feeling much better and was remarkably patient. We finally got in and saw a very friendly doctor who diagnosed him with acute otitis media better known as the common ear infection. So, we paid our $116 and got a prescription for amoxicillin and a recommendation for Sudafed for the pressure and Motrin for the pain. The nearby Walgreen’s had all of those and we had our prescription filled in about half an hour. Along with a bag of Funyuns (the greatest snack of all time in my humble opinion) and a small Lego set for Bryce the total Walgreen’s damage was $35. I felt like a meth addict when purchasing the Sudafed. There were signs around it limiting how much you could buy and they had the right to refuse sale of it to anyone.

We relaxed in the condo a bit before heading back out. Our destination was the Contemporary resort. We parked and immediately went to the California Grill on the top floor, passed through it and then out the doors to the balcony. The Magic Kingdom fireworks started at 6:15 just as we stepped out on the balcony. It was perfect timing. It was beautiful watching from there again. There are so many great places to watch the fireworks but this place is one of the best.

After the fireworks were over we went down to the 4th floor and arrived 15 minutes early for our priority seating time at Chef Mickey’s. We were seated within 10 minutes though. We had a very good server who kept our drinks refilled and plates cleared. I started with the great olive salad, chicken strips and beef tips with mushrooms. The beef tips were very good and I later went back for more to smother over a mound of parmesan mashed potatoes. The girls both had grouper and said it was very good. Meg had ham and Jen had prime rib both of which got thumbs up from them. Bryce stuck mostly to the corn bread muffins. Dessert of course started with the make your own cupcakes for the kids which they basically ignored once they had made them. They were more interested in making ice cream sundaes. Meg also had a slice of cheesecake which is her favorite so she was happy. I took it a bit easy on the entrees but got a little crazy with dessert. I had a chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream with caramel, key lime pie and petit fours in German chocolate, double chocolate and grand Marnier flavors.

We sat in a corner section which was to the right as you are facing the waiting area. It wasn’t a very good spot for character interaction but I realized that the kids are starting to outgrow the character visits. We saw Minnie, Chip and Dale. No Mickey and no multiple visits from any of the characters. It was probably a signal to ease up on coming here every trip when Bryce seemed to feign interest in Minnie but hurry her along so he could go get more corn muffins! It was sad seeing a little bit of the magic dissolve but that’s part of growing up and you eventually find it again as you get older. So, I came to the conclusion that it was time to break our $90 dinner tradition at Chef Mickey’s and move on to somewhere else next time (like ‘Ohana!). It was still a good meal as always and we were all completely stuffed. We were back at the condo by 9PM and asleep not long after.

Thursday, 11-7-02
Today was cold but sunny with no clouds or rain all day. We were up at 7 and arrived at the Animal Kingdom at 8:20 where we parked right next to the AAA diamond lot. We were able to enter the park a few minutes early and explore the Oasis. It was a nice relaxed way to start the day. The kids enjoyed interacting with the cast members who had insects in clear boxes. By the time we got past there the entire park had opened so we picked up the pace and walked to Kilimanjaro Safari where the standby line was already at 20 minutes. We waited figuring that it would probably go quicker than that and most of that time probably just involved walking through the queue which turned out to be true. Every safari we go on seems to be better than the last although our guide “Frosty” seemed more surfer dude than safari driver. It wasn’t as fun as having an authentic sounding guide but the safari is about the animals anyhow and we saw most of them out and about.

We hurried over to Dinoland before things got crowded and I picked up Dinosaur Fastpasses and then met up with everyone for a ride on Triceratops Spin. Bryce likes this ride a lot and with its slow Dumbo-like loading we made sure to get to it first. It’s fun to be able to fit all four of us on the same triceratops. When I got the Dinosaur Fastpasses I noticed there was no standby wait so we went over there and got right on and saved our Fastpasses for later in our hour window. It was still early but I broke down and got ice cream, an orange juice bar for Bryce, a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich for Megan and a 100 years of Magic chocolate ice cream and caramel bar for me. I love those things.

After that we all went on Primeval Whirl. This was Bryce’s first ride and he was a bit nervous about it but after it was done he proclaimed it one of his new favorites. It was only a five minute wait for the standby line and while we were there we got Fastpasses for 30 minutes later. The girls went back for another Dinosaur ride with the Fastpasses as Bryce wasn’t interested and I gave the other two Fastpasses away. We then did Primeval Whirl again and got to ride the identical right hand side as it was operating just for Fastpass which was cool.

The kids were ready for some digging in Dinoland so we let them roam around the Dig Site. Jenny and I even went down one of the bigger slides. For a brief moment I had a vision of me being stuck Pooh-like in the tube but all went well except for the nasty static shock at the end. Once the kids had their fill of digging up fossils we decided it was lunch time at our favorite, the Flame Tree Barbecue. Jenny took the kids down to the seating area by the water and I ordered a chicken breast sandwich with corn bread and beans, a salad with chicken breast, a seasoned fry basket, onion rings, a large diet Coke and a Safari Amber. It totaled just over $30 and I asked the CM if there was an annual pass holder discount and he said no but there was a 20% cast member discount. I told him thanks but I wasn’t a cast member.

The salad wasn’t as good as in the past but was still OK. The sandwich was good with a very smoky BBQ sauce. The fries were excellent as were the onion rings although they were quite salty. The Flame Tree is another of our favorite spots to relax for a while and regroup during the middle of our day at the Animal Kingdom.

There were very few people in the area that we were in and at a nearby seating pavilion there appeared to be a cast member meeting going on. It happened to be in an area that had all of the condiments. Jenny went over there to get more napkins and startled a cast member who said to her “it’s OK, you can be here”. How nice of her to allow us access to what we had paid for! She didn’t mean for it to come out that way but it did sound funny.

The Pocahontas show was starting soon so we power walked over to find a fairly full theater. Megan was being a bit of a stinker since we couldn’t find a place to sit. A mom on a nearby bench scooted her kids closer together though and made room for Bryce and Megan. That was very sweet and put our “princess” in a fairer mood. The show was just OK; it’s not really something that we would need to see again. As we were leaving we stopped at Chip & Dale’s Cookie Cabin for some cookies which were nothing special but that didn’t stop the children from making short work of them.

It’s Tough to be a Bug rarely has more of a wait than what is necessary for the next show to start so we wound our way round the Tree of Life and past all the people stopping to ogle it along the way. Jenny and Megan both had first timers next to them which made for a really fun show. It was much more entertaining watching them than the actual show. They were totally suckered in by all of the little surprises especially the one “you get in the end!”

We continued on to Asia and walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I love the details and theme of the trek. It just has a very authentic feel to it. The bats are interesting especially when people realize there is little separating them from you in their area. The tigers are beautiful and it’s such a thrill to be so close to them. There were several lying against the windows or walking nearby.

It was a little warmer so I convinced Megan to go on Kali River Rapids with me. I made sure to remove everything that I didn’t want to get wet. I didn’t realize how much stuff I had. By the time I left my socks, watch, wallet, hat, pedometer, radio, Magic Moments Pin and emptied my pockets Megan was losing patience! It was her first ride and she really enjoyed it. I got pretty wet from the first geyser but didn’t get too much water after that. Meg lucked out and stayed basically dry throughout. The guy across from us was the unfortunate soul to go backwards down the big rapids and have the wall of water cascade over him. At the beginning of the ride we removed our shoes and put them in the center storage area. Everyone looked at us and said what a good idea that was then they started taking of their shoes and cramming them in the center also. We had to squish everything down to keep the lid closed. When we got off the ride and dried off we all decided to call it a day. It was 4PM so we had a pretty good day and saw most everything that we wanted to see.

We went back to the condo and took the kids for a quick swim. I reheated some of the Jungle Jim’s leftovers from the night before and the kids worked that over by the pool. After getting cleaned up we went right back out again to the Beach Club. We took the long way around the villas after I tried to find a shortcut! We finally found our way to the International Gateway and in Canada watched Off Kilter as they just started a set. I really liked their cover version of Runaway by Slade. They did a great job with it. After the show we walked around the front of the World Showcase Lagoon and over to Mexico. We went inside and browsed a while and rode El Rio del Tiempo which of course had no wait.

The crowds for the Food and Wine Festival were definitely bigger tonight and when we went over to Norway the Maelstrom had a 20 minute wait so we skipped it and the kids played on the Viking ship. Jenny went into the Kringla Bakery and bought some lefse. They gave her a second order of it free so we had plenty to share. We just wandered around until the 7:45 Tapestry of Dreams parade started and we found a good spot to sit and watch it in Germany. It was as wonderful as always. We all wanted a little something else to eat so we found a table in the Yakitori house and got two orders of Yakitori, two ice waters and a Kirin. There was a group of six somewhat professional looking thirty something’s at the table next to us that were really loud. They weren’t too obnoxious or drunk but it was kind of strange as they were just inappropriately loud in their conversation.

At 8:40 we found a spot along the wall in Morocco near where we had been a few nights before. At 8:59 some obnoxious guy came running up to the wall and practically climbed on top of Bryce’s stroller so he could get his digital camera set up and take pictures. I felt like knocking the damn thing into the water but then I got back into vacation Zen mode and let it go. Illuminations was fantastic once again but we were all worn out by the end of it. As we walked back to our car we got to see some of the Christmas decorations going up in the Beach Club. The tree in the lobby was decorated and it was beautiful.

Friday, 11-8-03
Today was sunny and a little warmer. It was actually just perfect as it felt like room temperature most of the day. We were up at 7AM and the kids feasted on Krispy Kremes. We left the room at 8:15 and drove to the Polynesian and parked there again to avoid the Ticket and Transportation Center. Yes, I know I’m evil. There was a long line at the monorail but plenty of room on it so we got right on the next one and made the trip over to the Magic Kingdom.

There was a security guard just waiting for us so we got through quickly and then the main gates opened up just as we walked to them, perfect timing. Bryce and I went to Splash Mountain for Fastpasses while the girls went for a ride on Big Thunder Mountain since Bryce doesn’t care much for it. We met them as they came off and since there was no wait Megan and I went on and then Jenny and Meg went again. So, that was three quick rides in half an hour. Jenny was feeling slightly nauseous after the last ride but we went over to Splash Mountain and all went along for Bryce’s first trip to the laughin’ place. He loved it although he buried his head into me at every drop and kept asking if it was the big one.

When we exited Jenny was really feeling poorly so we went to the gift shop and bought some Pepto Bismol tablets. We let her rest for a while on a bench but she encouraged us to go on while she took a breather. The kids wanted to go back on Splash Mountain so we used our Fastpasses and got right back on. Bryce had no fear this time and now it’s his favorite ride. Meanwhile Jenny had been on a wild ride of her own and had lost the nausea battle she had been fighting. She was hoping it was all out of her system but she still wasn’t feeling too well. We walked over to Liberty Square and she found a rocking chair to relax in while the kids and I went on long fruitless search for Dramamine. Many of the shops have a supply of single dose over the counter medicines that they keep behind the counter. The shop by Splash Mountain had Dramamine so we should have just gone back there and got it but instead we tried about 4 different shops in the area with no success. We checked back in with Jenny and she said it was OK and that she just needed a rest.

I took the kids on to the Haunted Mansion which was a blast as always. I really enjoyed the new Leota tombstone with the moving face and eyes. It caught a few people off guard as we were waiting in line. As we were exiting Megan was looking on the ground for the bride’s ring and a Mansion cast member walking by pointed it out to her. We continued on to It’s a Small World where both kids complained about the 10 minute wait. During the ride they pestered me incessantly wanting to know every country that was represented. I didn’t mind their enthusiasm but they were wearing me out and being a little too loud and I was worried about them bothering others on the boat. I tried to get the to just kick back and enjoy the ride but by the time it was over Megan had hurried off ahead in a huff and a stamp of her foot and Bryce screamed at me that we had to go again and name all of the countries. If the kids were younger it would have definitely been a signal of an overdue naptime. I guess our busy week was starting to wear all of our patience out a little.

We called Jenny on the radio and found her on a bench in the shade across from the Aloha Isle. She had gone to first aid and they gave her a combination of anti-nausea medicine and Mylanta and let her lay down for 15 minutes. That seemed to do the trick and she was looking much better when we found her. She said the cast members were very helpful and sweet. She must have been feeling better because on the way back from first aid she even stopped at Casey’s for a foot long hot dog for Megan (who loved it). Jen said she wanted something for her empty stomach and thought a baked potato from Liberty Square sounded good. I left the kids with her and first got Jungle Cruise Fastpasses and then got the potato. She ate most of it and that seemed to do the trick and get her back to normal. I finished off the potato skin which was very good with the little containers of bacon and cheese! Dole pineapple whips were calling to us so we indulged.

The kids wanted to climb the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse so I went to the base of it and let them climb it alone. They had fun exploring and were ready for a ride with the Pirates when they came down. Even Jenny went along. There was no line and it was great all being together on a ride again and with the kids in a better mood. Our Jungle Cruise time had arrived so we went there and got right on ahead of all the folks in the 30 minute long standby line. We had a pretty good skipper this time but there’s only so many times I can go on this ride and still be entertained by it.

Jenny was feeling so much better that she suggested sharing a taco salad at El Pirata y el Perico. We got our usual spot after picking up some McDonald’s fries and Nestle Crunch ice cream bars for the kids. The taco salad was pretty good although with the occasional piece of gristle in the ground beef. I’d probably skip the meat on it next time. We had a nice relaxing time before walking over to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain Fastpasses. We continued on to Toontown and looked through Minnie and Mickey’s houses. Meg got a box of popcorn as we hopped on the train at the Toontown station. We completed a full circle of the park and then went for a circuit on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I stopped and got a strawberry smoothie from Auntie Gravity’s and it was pretty good. We had stalled long enough and our Space Mountain Fastpass time had finally arrived. Bryce shocked us by saying that he wanted to go for his first ride on it. I guess his first ride on Splash Mountain earlier in the day bolstered his courage. Whatever it was we didn’t question it and hurried inside before he changed his mind! I think he enjoyed the ride although it was a little harder to tell than when he went on Splash. He didn’t seem scared but at the same time he wasn’t offering to go right back on it.

Since it was our last day at the Magic Kingdom I wanted to end it at my favorite ride, the Haunted Mansion, as Jenny had missed it earlier. We pointed out the new Leota headstone to her and the ring as we exited. We stopped at the cart nearby and admired the Haunted Mansion Clue game. It looked so cool since we love that game and the ride. At $40 though it just seemed to steep a price to pay. I may rethink that on our next trip. It really does look neat.

We walked down Main Street and stopped at the bakery where I got the kids worms and dirt (gummy worms in a mixture of chocolate pudding and crushed Oreos). Bryce liked the idea of it more than the actual eating of it. Meg had no problem polishing it off though. We stopped at the Town Square and waited at the Roy and Minnie statue for the flag retreat ceremony that was starting in 10 minutes. I always make a point to see it when we are around at the appropriate time. It always makes me feel good and I hope it does the same for the kids. A fifty something gentleman next to us was sitting and relaxing with his daughter when a photographer asked if he was a veteran and would like to participate in the ceremony as they were short a veteran for the day. Someone must have volunteered earlier in the day and been unable to make it. I don’t think the fellow next to us really had any idea of what the ceremony was and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He was a veteran and accepted the offer. They gave him instructions for a few minutes then the band came out and played several patriotic tunes. The security guard detail lowered the flag, folded and presented it to the veteran. They all marched off while the band played again. The veteran received a certificate for participating and his daughter looked very proud of her dad and took a ton of pictures. It was quite moving to see him snap to attention and salute back to the security detail. It made me wish Jenny’s dad could have the opportunity to do this.

We hopped onto a waiting monorail, found our van at the Polynesian and drove back to the condo at 5:30. The kids swam in the pool for a couple of hours while Jenny and I relaxed at a nearby table and occasionally joined in the fun in the pool. I worked on trip report notes most of the time while sipping on my Blizzard Beach mug full of Cabernet. Jenny went out for another lovely takeout meal from Taco Bell which we all enjoyed at our breakfast nook. Another sophisticated evening of high culture for the Caros clan!

Once again we were all exhausted from a long day at the park and then a couple of hours in the pool. By the way the pedometer which I had been wearing only intermittently throughout the trip showed that we had taken 13,019 steps today. I’m sure the 7.5 miles it showed was quite a bit overstated as it’s calibrated to my normal power walking stride back home rather than a theme park shuffle but it still seemed like we had covered a fair distance for the day. We were all asleep by 9PM.

Saturday, 11-9-02
We were up by 7AM today and had to badger Meg about writing her trip report. She had started off the week well but it was tough for her to keep up as we were so busy. It was her homework though for the week so we kept the pressure on her. We left the condo at 8:15 and for the first time in a long time parked on the left side of the Epcot lot. As usual we skipped the tram and just walked to the entrance. We were able to enter a few minutes early at 8:45 so we went right on to Spaceship Earth which had no wait. After the ride I ran ahead to Test Track for Fastpasses and then met up with the family at Wonders of Life. We practically had the place to ourselves at that hour. It was great. We went right on Body Wars and for a change none of us felt sick from the ride. The family favorite, Cranium Command, was next and we enjoyed it as much as always. Then we did a first which was the Making of Me film. I love Martin Short so enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a good way to get the message across to the kids. It was very well done with just enough detail. We then played around in the exhibits for a long time. They’ve changed a few of them and they are well worth spending some time with. I especially enjoyed several dealing with optical illusions.

After a while Bryce started making noise about not having been on Test Track yet this trip. Our Fastpass time was open and we quickly got into our car and enjoyed the ride. The outdoor speed section is always a good rush. From there we went to the 11AM opening of World Showcase. We went straight to Norway and rode Maelstrom which had no wait. We skipped the film as usual. I suggested staying for it but was outvoted. The kids brought their masks they started earlier in the week and stopped at the KidCot station in the Norway gift shop. They took their time and appropriately decorated the masks and got stamps on the sticks.

We walked back by Mexico and cracked up at the huge line of people waiting in the line for the Food and Wine Festival booth there. It was near lunch time and I think some people were probably mistakenly thinking they could grab a quick Mexican food lunch from the booth. If that was the case they were going to be sorely surprised by the portion sizes. If they really were there to sample the Food and Wine Festival they would have been much better off forging ahead to one of the dozens of other booths with more adventurous offerings and no lines.

It was starting to get a bit hot out so we went to Ice Station Cool. I must have drunk 10 cups of Vegi-Beta. It really hit the spot. Now where’s the nearest restroom? I figured Journey Into Your Imagination would be a good close attraction to try next. It turned out to have a 10 minute wait which really surprised me. The kids took the opportunity to start bickering and getting on each others nerves. After the ride we went into Imageworks and the fighting escalated into a big blow up and I had to intervene. That led to Meg stamping her foot and walking away from me and Bryce having a time out in a corner for hitting. I wondered why I bothered to play the part of referee when both sides ended up being angry with me. Such is parenthood I suppose.

The Land was our next stop and after some sulking in the lobby of Food Rocks both kids were smiling and friendly again by the time they heard Bohemian Rhapsody. Nothing like a nutrition related Queen tribute to restore the family peace. I hope Freddy Mercury was smiling from above on that. Jenny had picked up Living with the Land Fastpasses and marveled at the fact that the Fastpass return time was 30 minutes away yet people kept piling into the standby line which had a 45 minute wait. We got right on and all really enjoyed the ride. It’s always interesting.

It was mid afternoon but rather than risk any more grumpy kids we decided to call it a day and go back to the condo for some pool time. We got in a couple of hours at the pool. I may have to check to see if the children have gills now. They did spend quite a bit of time in the water this trip but that’s one of their favorite things so why not? We left the condo at 6PM to go to Disneyquest. The Westside was absolutely mobbed with crowds from the Festival of Masters which was going on this weekend. We escaped into Disneyquest and found short lines which was nice. Virtual Pirates of the Caribbean was about the only thing with a wait (10 minutes) but it’s our favorite so we waited. We totally rocked with Captain Jenny at the helm. We scored the second highest ranking again. We can’t seem to grab that top prize but we will make it one of these days. There is something so cathartic about the awesome firepower of those cannons and being able to blast the other ships away. I absolutely love this attraction.

We continued the virtual reality helmet tour with the much less comfortable version at the Aladdin attraction. What the helmets allow you to do is very cool but it sure would be nice if they weren’t so bulky and somewhat painful to wear. Megan felt a little nauseous from them. I believe I found both the scarab and the Genie but it’s hard to tell as once someone finds either item you all are gathered around it regardless of where you actually were before. We went back downstairs for another pirate battle and got a similar score as the first time and had just as much fun. When I get really rich I’m having one of these simulator theaters installed in our house. The kids really enjoy the virtual Jungle Cruise so we went to it. I don’t really care that much for it as we can never locate that darn beacon. We always go a very long ways on the map but it kind of seems purposeless without finding the beacon which seems to be the object of the ride.

We left Disneyquest and browsed through Magnetron which is such a fun store. It was packed in there but we had a great time looking at every conceivable magnet. The kids didn’t want to leave but I urged them on with the promise of the Lego store. We walked past Pleasure Island and looked for the Lego Yoda sculpture that was advertised for the Festival of the Masters but couldn’t locate it. We continued on to the World of Disney store which as usual was a complete zoo. It’s a stressful place to shop when there is so much to look at while trying to keep and eye on the kids. Jenny found a big box of Mickey mints for work, Bryce didn’t find anything to suit his fancy and Megan was unable to locate the Radio Disney Jams volume 5. They only had volumes 1, 2 & 4. So, we went to the new Once Upon a Toy store which is just awesome. It’s a very good toy store but the best part was the large model setup in the middle of the store. Bryce’s jaw dropped when he saw it. It’s an awesome display of many of the Disneyworld, Disneyland and California Adventure models they sell including the castle and many of the rides and resorts with the monorail going around everything. Bryce ended up buying the Toy Story 2 activity center CD-ROM.

By the time we finally got out of the store it was after 8PM and we were all starving. We drove over to the Crossroads mall and tried to go to Chevy’s but didn’t want to wait the 30 minutes for a table so instead we drove to the Chevy’s by the condo and got right in. Bryce was fooling around walking on a curb in the parking lot and he fell and got scraped up a bit. When we went inside the friendly hostess brought him a bag of ice which was the TLC he needed. We had a very nice server who didn’t mind that all we ordered was soda, beer and a plate of nachos. She said that she is always surprised when British guests often each order the nachos as an appetizer and then have an entrée and dessert also. I thought the good ol’ USA was supposed to hold the gluttony title! My national pride was hurt. The portions here are huge and the nachos easily fed us all. We made sure to leave a good tip but the total check including tip and tax was still a very reasonable $28.33.

We went back to the condo and straight into bed at 10pm.

Sunday, 11-10-02
Today turned out to be fairly warm bordering on hot. There was no rain although there were quite a few clouds. We were up at 7AM and left the condo at 8:15. We parked on the left side of MGM as well which again seemed weird as we normally end up on the ride side in the morning at all of the parks. We had a fairly long walk to the entrance. The entire park was open early and we entered at 8:45. We picked up the super soap guide on Mickey Avenue and hurried past the masses that were planning their day around the soap opera stars. It was really strange being in the minority that turned down Sunset Boulevard. There were no super soap events down that way yet so it was really cool to have very little wait for the rides. The girls went on Rock N’ Roller coaster while Bryce and I picked up Tower of Terror Fastpasses. The girls called on the radio to say the coaster was down so we met up at the Tower which Meg and I rode while Jen stayed with Bryce. When we came back out the coaster was operating so the girls went on that and then the Tower again while I took Bryce over to get Indiana Jones Fastpasses.

We also took a quick ride on Star Tours. Bryce thought it was pretty cool that just the boys got to go on it and I agreed. It was a fun father and son adventure. As we were exiting there were two groups of women meeting up after seeing different soap stars. It was hilarious. One of them ran up to the others and excitedly told how close she was to her favorite star. She put her hand up in front of her face as an example and in a thick New York accent said “I was this close to him! Swear to Gawd!! Swear…to…Gawwwwd!” She was practically breathless. Her enthusiasm and the fact that she had the rest of the group of middle aged women giggling like schoolgirls just cracked me up. You had to admire how passionate some of the soap fans were although I saw a few during the day where the word “rabid” came to mind. Of course, who am I to talk as I was at the same time involved in my Disney obsession?

Bryce got a Minnie strawberry bar as we strolled back to the center of the park and met the girls at the Great Movie Ride. It had a 15 minute wait but the kids really wanted to go on it and we were in no hurry to do anything today so we waited. We got the gangster section this time. I always enjoy the ride. After that we got a frozen Coke and frozen lemonade to take with us into the Indiana Jones stunt show. We really didn’t need the Fastpasses as the theater didn’t fill up and we entered at the same time as everyone else. The show was the same as always. I don’t really care to see again but the kids enjoy it. Jenny left halfway through the show to go see the noon General Hospital talk.

I took the kids to the backstage tour where we were seated in the next to the last section of the tram which led to Meg stamping her foot and declaring that we would “hear everything the guide says before we get there!” The little princess seemed to calm down as we set off on the tour though. We had a terrible guide. I usually don’t even notice that much but this guy was just a lousy public speaker. His diction was terrible and he flubbed the script repeatedly. Hopefully he’s just “earning his ears” and will get better in time. The kids spent some time in the AFI exhibit and gift shop after the ride.

We met back up with Jenny who was hot after standing out in the sun and she felt ready to leave. We had priority seating at the Sci-Fi though and the kids kind of had their heart set on that for lunch so we went there. The place was mobbed. We had a 1:10PM priority seating time and I heard them telling people it would be a 2 hour wait without priority seating and that was for one of the picnic tables in the back of the restaurant. We waited for almost 20 minutes but I was very thankful I had made the priority seating. We got a great “car” table right in the middle of the restaurant. Bryce had an order of fries, Meg had a kid’s hot dog meal and Jenny and I both had the house salad which we love. It’s a mix of baby salad greens, walnuts, crumbled blue cheese and very tasty vinaigrette. Bryce had us all entertained. We were watching the film clips and there was one of a robot from the 50’s singing “Great Balls of Fire”. Bryce was apparently somewhat familiar with the song but had misheard the line “you broke my will but what a thrill” and was proudly singing “you broke my wiener but what a thrill”. I guess I shouldn’t have laughed so hard but hearing that especially with the title of the song just cracked me up. Jenny gave me the “don’t encourage him” look. Lunch in the air conditioning combined with Bryce’s performance refreshed us all but we still decided to get out of the park because it was pretty packed with the soap opera masses.

Back at the condo we swam for an hour or so and then I took the kids out to Winter/Summerland while Jenny stayed back at the condo and packed up. When we got to the golf course I noticed on our receipt which was also stamped as a rain check from the previous day that we had been overcharged. We got just the 15% guest of an annual pass holder discount rather than the full 50% annual pass holder discount. I mentioned it to the cast member and he said to just golf for free today and keep the rain check and come back any time we want as it was good forever. Sounds good to me! We played Summerland but should have done winter. There were two large groups in front of us, one with 6 people and the other with 8. I didn’t mind that they were bending the rule of four people to a group but they waited for everyone in their group to finish the a hole before they moved onto the next one. It was very slow going and they didn’t offer to let us play through. Eventually we skipped three holes and moved ahead of them and then came back and played those holes at the end. At one point Bryce was climbing on a rock that he shouldn’t have been on and fell off and scraped his leg. He was OK though and I didn’t give him any sympathy after doing something he shouldn’t have. On another hole Megan’s ball got stuck under an obstacle and both kids bent down to look for it and hit their heads together. Meg got the worst of it and I knew it hurt but she let out a howl that I really thought was excessive. I tried the no sympathy trick on her as well as she can have a tendency to overreact and she made a nice production for some of the other golfers to watch. I’m sure they thought I was an evil dad for not consoling and instead giving her the “if there’s no blood, deal with it yourself look”. She finally got over it and we moved on with the game. Both kids did pretty well and despite the couple of mishaps they had a very good time. It’s one of their favorite things to do.

We finished up then picked up Jenny at the condo before going to Jungle Jim’s for dinner. There was a 20 minute wait for the table but out front there was a gal doing free temporary airbrush tattoos which were pretty cool. Both kids got one and I gave her a good tip. We were shown to our table and had another excellent server and meal. We had the spudmania potato skins appetizer and then split a bacon cheeseburger and a Monte Cristo. Once again we had more than enough food for all of us. A guy making balloon animals came around and made a really cool pirate hat and sword including holster for Bryce and an equally cool poodle for Megan. He was a very nice guy and we asked him if many people finish the $20 headhunter burger that we saw some folks ordering. He said that was how he got the job at the restaurant. He had been eating there with his girlfriend and he finished an entire headhunter burger but it took him some time to polish it off. While he was taking a break he made some balloon animals for kids at the table next to them. The manager came around and liked his creations and offered him a job. We enjoyed talking to him and I gave him a very good tip. I noticed later when he was at another table that he had a pronounced limp and perhaps MS. I suppose that shouldn’t matter but I wished I would have tipped him even more. Then I felt guilty for thinking that. I should have been a Catholic, I’m riddled with guilt. Anyhow, he was a nice guy and I hope he makes a good living there.

From there we went back to the condo and finished packing up for our flight the next morning. We were all in bed early.

Well that was basically the end of the trip. We took a couple of flights back home the next day of course but I didn’t take any notes and frankly it was an uneventful day leaving us with plenty of time to reflect on our very busy eight full days at the World. The shorter trip was fun but not very relaxing. We had a few moments towards the end where all of our patience was wearing thin. Having more time would have helped with that as we could have scheduled in more down days between the theme park day which are mentally and physically draining.

So with that in mind our next vacation will be a full two weeks, from April 5th through the 19th. As I finally finish writing this report up that’s less than a week away.

Well, this turned out to be my shortest trip report but then again it was our shortest trip to Walt Disney World. I guess it still wasn’t very succinct so if you have made it this far thanks for reading. I’m always happy to discuss Disney, parenting or life in general so feel free to email.

Lance Caros