Robin Goble - May 2004 - Boardwalk, Polynesian Resort

Time of Year: Spring
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: BW, PR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Robin Goble you just made it through another terrible tax season, what are you going to do now? That's right, Robin, a CPA, rewarded herself with a trip to Disney World. And compared to last minute extensions, how could Grad Night crowds seem like a problem?

Robin Goble -- May 2004 -- Walt Disney World (BW, PR)

Cast

Robin/Me - 40; trip planner/recorded; 11th trip to WDW
Paula/Sister to Robin - 30; 5th trip to WDW
HISTORY

Gosh, is it already that time again? Time for a visit to Walt Disney World? Well, no, not really, but I'm never one to let an opportunity to go to WDW pass. So, during a particularly nightmarish tax season (I'm a CPA, have I mentioned that? Yes? Well, sorry, but you'll just have to bear with me because I want to make sure that all the first-time readers are on the same page as we are.), I began to craft a clever plan to take a trip to WDW, my excuse being that I needed a break after April 15th. Which, in fact, was really not an excuse but truly a valid reason? Did I mention that this tax season was hellish, at best? Twice? Sorry.

The choice of traveling companions was fairly easy to make this trip. I had already taken my nephew, Michael, out of school for a week when we went to WDW in November, and I don't like for him to miss more school than that for vacation. Thus, the role of sidekick would be aptly played by my sister, Paula, who is always more than willing to take a trip to Disney.

The only problem with Paula going with me was that she had just started a new job in January and wasn't due any vacation time until she had worked there a while, so we were unsure whether she'd be able to arrange to take a week off or not. Being the resourceful girl that she is, Paula waited to ask her boss for the time off until the boss was praising Paula's performance. Then, Paula laid it on thick about how this trip was the only thing that her poor sister had to look forward to, and how it would help her sister get through tax season (did I mention that this tax season was unmercifully hideous?….Oh, right.), and how Paula was the only one available to go with me because I had no friends and no hope of finding anyone else before May and my dog didn't even like me and many other highly unflattering descriptions. I would have been offended at her portrayal of me, but it seemed to work on her boss so I let it slide.

Airfare

Luckily, about the time we got it cleared with Paula's boss that the trip was a go, Southwest Airlines was running some decent airfare specials. Round trip to Orlando was only $230 per person instead of the usual $335-$350. The only drawback was that our only choice for a return flight left at 9:30 in the morning, thus squelching any park time on our last day. However, since this was by far our most inexpensive option, we booked it anyway.

Lodging

I initially made reservations at the new Pop Century Resort since no codes or Annual Passholder discounts had been issued for our time-frame. In February, Disney came out with a decent discount code (CTV) which I used to make reservations at the Boardwalk Inn (BWI) for the first half of the week, and the Polynesian (PR) for the end of the week. Normally we stay at the Beach Club for the Epcot/MGM portion of our trip and at the Polynesian for the Magic Kingdom (MK)/Animal Kingdom (AK) portion; however, there were no rooms available at the Beach Club or Yacht Club with the discount code, so we went with the Boardwalk instead.

We had never stayed at the Boardwalk Inn before, but had visited the resort and thought it was lovely, so we were excited about the opportunity. Later in March, annual passholder rates were released and we got a slightly lower rate for our stay.

Rental Car

As usual, we went with National for our rental car. Our initial reservation, made in February was $165 for an intermediate for the week. I kept checking the rates and, by the time April had rolled around, had lowered our rental cost to $127.

Meals, etc.

After our super-budget trip last September, Paula and I were in the mood for a few better meals this trip than only cheeseburgers and hot dogs, so we made a few priority seatings before we left. Paula requested another meal at Le Cellier and wanted to try Boma's this trip (I had eaten there, but she had not). We also wanted to do the afternoon tea at the Garden View Lounge in the Grand Floridian again since we had enjoyed it in the past. Priority Seatings at ‘Ohana, Tony's Town Square Restaurant, and the Cape May Cafe rounded out our list.

Finally, I'm sure you will all be thrilled to hear that I have moved into the 21st century with this trip report. Yes, I have jumped on the technologically savvy bandwagon and purchased a laptop computer that I plan on taking to WDW with me. While I don't think I could ever write a trip report live and post it daily on-line such as the very brave but stern Larry Wilmot has done, I'm sure it delights you that I can type my notes now instead of laboriously writing them out longhand to the detriment of my tired wrist and fingers. Or maybe not.

Anyway, the tentative plan looks like this:

Saturday, May 1 - flight to Orlando; check in at BWI; MGM

Sunday, May 2 - Epcot; dinner at Le Cellier

Monday, May 3 - MGM; lunch at Sci Fi Diner; dinner at Cape May Buffet

Tuesday, May 4 - Epcot; dinner at Boma's

Wednesday, May 5 - move to Polynesian; MK; tea at Grand Floridian; MK for Wishes

Thursday, May 6 - AK; dinner at ‘Ohana; Downtown Disney (DTD)

Friday, May 7 - MK; dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern or Tony's Town Square

Saturday, May 8 - flight back home

Shortly before time for our trip we read where Its A Small World (IASW) was going down on May 2nd for an extensive rehab, thus leaving our first day as the only day the ride would be open. Unfortunately, the day we arrived was also a Grad Night at the Magic Kingdom (where the park closes early to the general public and stays open until 4:00 in the morning for graduating seniors), so the prospect of going there just to ride IASW, was not a very pleasant one. Since this is one of Paula's favorite rides, I told her that I'd leave the decision of whether or not to try to make it to IASW before it was closed up to her.

Day One - Saturday 5/1/04

"I’d be screaming like a girl at an Aaron Carter concert." Or, How I Won a Wet T-Shirt Contest

The Plan: flight to Orlando; check in at BWI; MGM

I was up at 5:00 to finish packing and get ready. Paula and Wes, her husband, got to the house at 6:40, and Wes obligingly took us to the airport. For the first time ever since the beginning of recorded flight at Kitty Hawk, both Paula and I made it through airport security without have to be wanded, scanned, swabbed, body-cavity searched, sniffed by bomb-detecting dogs, or any other more embarrassing forms of airport torture that the FAA has come up with. Generally, Paula is the one singled out for airport humiliation, although I've had my share of scrutiny lately.

I picked up a couple of magazines at the airport gift shop to occupy our time on the long flight from Albuquerque to Orlando. The flight to Albuquerque was quick and we had a couple of hours to kill before our next flight, so we walked all over the airport. The find of the day was what can only be described as a magnetic Liberace glitter acrylic bottle cap. Baffling, I know, but that's the gist of it. And actually, they weren't limited solely to Liberace. They were metal bottle caps (like off a bottle of coke) which an "artist" (and I'm using that term very loosely now) had painted and then applied a magnet to the back of. On the inside of the bottle cap was a tiny picture of, say, Liberace, for example, which the "artist" had decorated with glitter and little confetti stars and hearts and then filled with clear acrylic so that the picture was protected for all eternity (thank goodness, because I'm fairly certain some of these objects d'art were priceless).

Now if these works of art had all been Liberace, why that in and of itself would be stellar, but the beauty of the collection was in the sheer randomness of the "artist's" subjects. There was Marilyn Monroe, Rudy Giuliani, Ed Norton, Santa Claus, Little LuLu, Garth Brooks, the Jolly Green Giant, and various and assorted religious icons and saints, one of which, I'm almost positive, was Saint Hubbins, the patron saint of sensible footwear. One can only imagine how Paula and I are having to live with the agonizing regret that we did not purchase any of these fine items.

After we marveled over the bottle caps, we grabbed a sandwich and coke each at Quizno's for the low, low bargain price of only $13.29. There's nothing like airport food to get you mentally prepared for Disney prices.

When it was finally time to line up for our flight, we struck up a conversation with an older woman who was standing in line next to us. She asked if we were going to WDW and if it was our first time. We explained that we had been several times before, and then came the proverbial question. "What's the attraction?" she asked. *Sigh* Some people just don't get it.

The flight from Albuquerque to Orlando was very long, but we arrived on time at 3:40. We enjoyed our first monorail ride of the trip and made our way to the luggage carousel. Our suitcases were easy to spot since Paula has Winnie the Pooh tapestry luggage and I have the tan and brown Mickey Mouse suitcases--much better than the standard issue black.

The Emerald Aisle at National was fairly full of cars. There were several SUV's again this trip, but Paula's eye fell on a bright red PT Cruiser, so we took it. It was a nice little car with plenty of room for our luggage.

On the drive to WDW property, I asked Paula what her decision was about Its A Small World. She admitted that it would probably be more hassle than it was worth to get to the MK, on a Grad Night, for one ride, so she bravely said that she could forego riding it this trip. I think Paula has made it to that milestone that those of us who are fortunate enough to come to WDW on a regular basis finally reach where, while we would like to be able to do certain things, we realize that its not the end of the world if we miss a few things here and there because we'll be back.

We made it to the Boardwalk by 4:30 and pulled into valet to unload our luggage. I left the keys in the car for the valet and Paula and I both got out of the car. The valet CM unloaded our luggage for us and shut the hatch back. At the same time, another valet shut the driver-side door of the car. Wouldn't you know, the car locked automatically with the keys still in the ignition. We tried the hatch back, the driver's door, and the front passenger door, to no avail. We could also see the extra key to the car, sitting in the console inside the locked Cruiser. Joy.

Interestingly enough, we weren't the only car in front of the Boardwalk which had the keys locked in it--there was another car as well. As we debated what to do, the valet CM tried the passenger-side *back* door and, fortunately, it was unlocked. The first thing I did was to get the spare key and put it in my purse to avoid this happening again.

There was no line to speak of at check in and we were quickly registered and assigned room 1348 by CM Joe. Joe called bell services for us and had our luggage sent to our room, then he gave us some rather vague directions on how to get to the room while he circled vast expanses of the resort on the map. When he was done with the map of the resort it looked rather like one of John Madden's plays on Monday Night Football with lots of X's and O's and wiggly lines, but we weren't concerned because, after all, how hard could it be to find a room in a hotel, right?

Well, twenty minutes later, Paula and I were still wandering the halls in search of the elusive room 1348. We had a lovely tour of the convention center and had found our way out onto the Boardwalk two or three times, but couldn't find our room to save our lives. The directions we got from Joe were becoming more and more vague all the time. "What did he say to do after we got off the elevator?" I asked Paula, "Nip up the wickershams?"

"Yes," Paula replied. "Then I think he said to pop round the gorn and scumbles." Well, we might have been lost, but at least we still had our senses of humor, or perhaps we were just a bit simpled out from wandering the halls for so long. We finally ran into a bellman with our luggage, coming off the elevator. He had been to the room, apparently finding it with no problems, and was on his way back to the lobby since we weren't there. "That's our luggage!" I cried; glad to see anything familiar at this point. We confessed to the CM that we couldn't find our room and he nicely took us to it.

Our room was great--it was a corner room, so it was larger than most. Our patio looked out onto the quiet pool and a nice fountain. The bathroom was huge and had a small chest of drawers in the sink area, which was very handy. We didn't want to waste time looking around the room, however, when there were rides waiting to be ridden, so we quickly changed into shorts and headed out to MGM.

You'll be pleased to know that we couldn't find our way out either, but on our wanderings we saw the cottage rooms with their own private gardens that I had heard so much about. They were very pretty. Eventually, after several dead ends, a few elevator rides, much backtracking, and a trail of breadcrumbs, we made it out onto the Boardwalk.

The only drawback I can see to staying at the Boardwalk is that you've got that "Under the Boardwalk" song constantly running through your head while you're there. Not that I have anything against the song, its just that it gets a little old after about the 500th time you've sang it, in one day.

There wasn't a boat in sight when we exited onto the boardwalk so we took the walkway to MGM, which was very pleasant. Along the way we saw a momma duck with her baby ducks and a rabbit or two. The weather was lovely, for now anyway, and I asked Paula if I had mentioned to her today how much I love being at WDW.

We were soon at MGM and into our first park of the trip. Of course we immediately headed to the Tower of Terror (ToT). Paula got in line for ToT while I went to get Fast Passes (FP) for the Rock ‘n Rollercoaster (RnRC). The RnRC was out of FP's for the day, so I checked at the Fast Pass machines for the ToT, but they were closed as well, so I joined Paula in line for the ToT. The stand by wait time was posted at 30 minutes but the line didn't look that bad to us, plus we had our hearts set on riding.

We were surprised at the number of high school kids that were in the park tonight. We had expected the MK to be overflowing with them, but really didn't expect the Grad Nights to effect the other parks. Also, it was a Saturday night, and I'm sure that had something to do with it as well.

There was a most annoying couple in line behind us as we waited for the ToT. The husband was constantly on his cell phone and the wife was talking non-stop to him (whether he was on the phone or not) about how busy their schedule was for the next few months. If anyone is interested, email me and I can give you their complete itinerary through July at least.

The best thing that we were forced to overhear, however, was when the husband was (shocker) talking on his cell phone. Apparently he needed to come up with some sort of access code so he asked the man that he was on the phone with what his favorite three-digit number was. Your favorite three-digit number? Does anyone actually *have* a favorite three-digit number? I would be hard pressed to come up with a favorite one-digit number. Luckily, we lost them in the library of the ToT.

It was also in the library where we met the nicest group of 7th grade boys from Atlanta Georgia. They had driven down for a band concert at Epcot and were going to be driving back tonight. There were about five of them in line along with an adult sponsor. They showed us the pictures they drew on the animation tour and generally kept us amused with their talk in the library and all through the line in the basement.

One of the kids asked us if we had ever tried to float a penny in the elevator shaft. I said that I had never tried it, but I had heard about doing it, so the kid dug around in his pocket and gave Paula and me each a dime (as he was out of pennies) to float in our hands on the ToT. We balked at the idea of taking his dimes, but he insisted saying that we had to try it. Sure enough, you can float a coin on the drops, which is a pretty neat effect. We did catch up with the boy after the ride was over and give him his dimes back.

We went to Rock ‘n Rollercoaster next. There were some newlyweds in line ahead of us and a CM pulled them out of line, made them kiss in front of everyone, and then let them go to the front of the line.

While we were waiting, Paula began to feel faint. We decided that it was probably because the last food we had eaten was about ten hours earlier so I promised her we could get something to eat after the ride. (I'm not heartless, I said we could get out of line and get something to eat now, but Paula said she could make it until after the ride.)

The delightful boys from the ToT were behind us at RnRC also and we talked to them some more, comparing notes on where to sit for the best ride. They told us the very back was the best and, while I have ridden in the very front of the limo, I haven't ever been in the last seat, so I'll have to take their word for it.

Once we got into the recording studio, one of the boys said that he wished it really was Steven Tyler in the studio and not just a film of him. If so, then he'd be screaming like a girl at an Aaron Carter concert, which I thought was a vivid comparison. I'm sure Steve would be pleased to know that they're still appreciated by the younger generation.

I had never noticed before how many Lava Lamps they have in the recording studio. I wonder if Aerosmith is really into Lava Lamps or if someone in the prop department just got a good deal on them in bulk.

After our ride it was after 8:00, so I suggested that we go find some seats for Fantasmic and maybe grab a pretzel and something to drink (we didn't want to get too much to eat because we both had our hearts set on one of the corn dogs that they sell on the Boardwalk). We stopped at the entrance to the amphitheater to get a pretzel to share and some water. Once inside we found out that it was standing room only. We went over to the SRO section and found a space on the concrete risers to sit while we waited.

While we were waiting, the clouds that had been threatening all evening opened up and it began to rain. Not daunted by a little wetness, we waited until some of the wimpier guests departed and then we grabbed some seats in the bleachers. The announcement was made that the start of Fantasmic would be delayed due to the weather and then finally another announcement was made that the show would be canceled. We found out later that this was the third night in a row that they hadn't been able to have the show due to the lightning and rain.

We waited for the crowd to clear a little and then slogged out in the rain. Of course, Paula's umbrella and my poncho were both safe and dry back in our room, so we were very wet by this time. Somehow, being wet at Disney is a lot more fun than being wet at home, so, while we walked out of the park, Paula and I amused ourselves (not hard to do) by coming up with alternate lyrics for one of the most annoying songs in the Disney catalog, "Step in Time." Thus, instead of the usual maddening "Flap like a birdie, step in time," or the equally inane "Link your elbows, step in time," (I know, you're frightened that I know so many of the lyrics to the song. Believe me, so am I) we came up with such enduring classics like "Gee my butt's wet, step in time," and "Scrunch your hair up, lift and fluff." Like I said, we're easily amused.

We ducked through a gift shop on the way out of the park where we discovered that the clever marketing folks at Disney have added more Disney-exclusive Mr. Potato Head parts such as a park hopper pass, Goofy ears, Mickey and Minnie bride and groom ears, a car from Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the laser gun from the same ride. Sadly, we knew we would probably be sucked into buying all of these before the trip was over.

We decided to take the boat back to the Boardwalk so we got in the rather long line waiting at the dock. A boat quickly pulled in but we were too far back in line to make it on the first boat. We did, however, make it under the awning and out of the rain to wait for the next boat. We made it on the second boat, which was standing room only. We rode as far as the Swolphin where, since we were both getting woozy from the smell of all the plastic rain ponchos inside the confines of the boat by this time, we got off and walked the rest of the way to the Boardwalk.

On the short walk to the Boardwalk Paula came up with even more lyrics in our continuing saga to corrupt "Step in Time." She had inadvertently worn different sandals from the ones she usually brings with her to WDW. The different sandals had already rubbed blisters on her feet, causing her to begin to limp. This reminded us of a trip that she and I (and her husband Wes) had taken to Disneyland a few years ago. We had been in the parks all day long without a break and, as we plodded out at closing time, we noticed that we all had developed our own distinctive limp. Paula had remarked that we looked like extras from the Planet of the Apes. So, since Paula was lurching along this evening, we quickly added "Planet of the Apes walk, step in time" to our growing repertoire.

Back on the Boardwalk, we looked through the gift shop and made a few purchases while we dried off slightly before going to order our corn dogs (one corn dog, one corn dog basket—which comes with fries and a drink—and another drink for me for $14.99). While they cooked our food we went into Seashore Sweets to look around.

Disney's newest marketing ploy seems to be the genius that is…drum roll please…The Sugar Bar. Inside almost every shop we went into was this kiosk which dispenses almost every color imaginable of what is basically sugar. Well, okay, so it's colored and flavored sugar, but it's still sugar. (Remember Pixie Stix? Or sherbet dabs for our British readers (all three of you)? Same exact thing. It's a giant pixie stix machine where you can mix and match your own colors and flavors—or just put your head under the spout and dispense it straight into your mouth if you're needing a quick pick-me-up!) Just what little Johnny and Susie need—a straight shot of sugar.

By the time we were finished watching all the poor parents trying to scrape their kids off the ceiling after having partaken of the Sugar Bar, our corn dogs were ready. We grabbed a table by the water and enjoyed the beautiful evening (the rain had stopped for now) while we watched the lightning in the distance and ate. Paula took a bite of a french fry which was still piping hot and yelped in pain so, of course, I stupidly had to try one. I quickly agreed that they were, indeed, hot molten french fries, which actually comes out more like "Ot Olten Inch Eyes" when you try to talk when your mouth is burning.

Our meal was not entirely without its educational benefits as we learned (from reading the signs on the corn dog booth) that the average American consumes 80 hot dogs per year and that Chicago sells the most hot dogs per capital of any other location.

After we finished eating we found our way back to the room with no further incidents. I called our mother to let her know we had made it to WDW, and Paula tried to call her husband but couldn't reach him. Being very tired after only two hours of sleep the night before, we watched Disney cartoons and updated our trip report notes. Paula went to bed around 10:30 and I followed around 12:30.

Day Two - Sunday 5/2/04

"There's no vomiting in space." Or, Honk If You Love Mouse Gears.

The Plan: Epcot; dinner at Le Cellier

I was up by 7:30 and Paula soon followed. We were ready to go by 9:00, choosing the very pleasant walk to Epcot via the International Gateway. You could already smell the flowers and plants from the Flower and Garden Festival before you even entered the park.

We walked through the very quiet World Showcase and took the rose path to Future World, stopping long enough to look at the Doggone Maze and the Lady and the Tramp topiary, complete with plate of spaghetti (which Paula said looked like maggots—Yum!).

We cut through Mouse Gears (a recurring theme throughout the day) on our way to pick up Fast Passes for Test Track (TT), before heading to Mission: Space. As we were walking through the queue, we overheard a kid behind us trying to talk his mom into coming on the ride with him and his dad. "You might be nauseous, but you won't throw up," was the best selling point he could come up with. I turned around and tried to reassure the mom. "There's no vomiting in space," I told her, which reminded us of Tom Hank's line in A League of Their Own where he says, "There's no crying in baseball!"

We were quickly through the queue and into our briefing room to hear our instructions from our capcom Gary Sinese. Is it just me or do you stand up a little straighter when he's talking to you?

Paula was the Navigator and I was the Pilot for our flight. After our voyage to Mars, we stopped in the Advance Training Lab long enough to send some video email postcards to friends and family. Some of the postcards you can send are quite amusing and we know our friends are just *so* appreciative to hear from us at WDW while they're busing slaving away at their mundane lives back home.

We still had about 10 minutes before our return time for Test Track so we went to the Fountainview Café for some breakfast (2 bagels and cream cheese, an apple juice and a diet coke for $8.58). We threw some leftover bagel to feed the birds (tuppence a bag) and then ducked in to Ice Station Cool (which was freezing this morning as it was cloudy and cool outside anyway) where we couldn't seem to talk anyone into trying the Beverly but consoled ourselves with doing a little shopping and having the package sent back to our resort.

After we emerged from Ice Station Cool, we went to TT via Mouse Gears. Paula decided that Disney must have called up Art of Noise (a bizarre 80's pre-techno trio for those of you too young or un-hip to remember) and asked them to write some "garage-sounding" kind of music for the queuing area of Test Track.

Our Fast Passes got us quickly inside the briefing room where we listened to Smug Bill (who seems to get more smug every time I hear him) set up our test run. Apparently Bill added a new blow dry styling feature to the outside loop because my hair looked much like Cousin It from the Adams Family by the time we finished our speed run.

After we smoothed out our hair as best we could we went *back* through Mouse Gears, only this time we stopped long enough to pick up some souvenirs for the folks back home. When I bring my nephew, Michael, with me I usually have to find some kind of small, inexpensive trinkets to take back to the 20-25 kids in his class as school. Since I didn't have to worry about that this trip, I decided to be a generous co-worker and bring back something to the people I work with hoping that they would quit boo-ing me every time I announced that I was taking another trip to WDW.

So, what do you buy for an office-full of boring accountants? Why, pencils, of course. But not just any old pencil—mechanical Mickey Mouse ears pencils, to be exact. Actually, I had bought one of the mechanical pencils for myself on my last trip and had gotten several comments on it, so I decided that I'd bring one back for everyone else. I'm no dummy, however. I have a red one so I got blue for my co-workers. They can steal each other's pencils all they want, but I can always tell which one is mine. Ha Ha.

After we exited Mouse Gears, we headed to Spaceship Earth (SE), but remembered that we wanted to send some email picture postcards from Innoventions, so we went there instead (stopping long enough to go *back* to Mouse Gears—I told you that was the theme for today--because we wanted some Mickey Mouse ears to complete our picture). Postcard sent, we looked around in Innoventions for a few minutes, even taking the time to crawl through the Bug display (which obviously was intended for little kids, but that never stopped us before). Brushing the plastic matting from our knees after our crawl, we left Innoventions and continued our journey to Spaceship Earth.

There was a big crowd going into SE, so we went to the front of the park and looked at the Flower and Garden Festival topiaries instead. The one of Tinkerbelle was very cute and the one with the Fab Five having a picnic, oh, excuse me, MAGICAL GATHERING, was gigantic. Goofy was huge.

We went to the Living Seas next and looked at the new Finding Nemo display they had added since our last trip. Paula took my picture with Nemo, just to prove that we did indeed find him. She had a hard time getting it taken, however, because little Amanda, a small child who was climbing on the Nemo display, was not budging. Even when her parents called to her, she wasn't about to leave Nemo.

Inside the Living Seas we spent almost all of our time with the manatees like we usually do. They only have two manatees now, Lou and Bock. One of the CM's said that Mo had been moved to the Tampa Zoo about a month ago.

Bock, the youngest, was up to 560 pounds now (he had been 480 when we were here in September). Just so you know we're not neglecting our education, I'll take this time to inform you that manatees live to be 50-60 years old and that the water in the tank is kept at around 68 degrees. Now isn't that what you want from a trip report—riveting trivia facts as well as amusing banter? No? Well, too bad because that's about as good as it gets.

After spending a long time upstairs taking pictures of the manatees from the top of their tank and watching them eat lettuce (Restaurant-grade romaine lettuce, if you must know. Sorry. I'll stop now.), we went downstairs to watch them swim. We finally just gave in and sat down on the floor next to the tank. At one point, we had everyone in there sitting on the floor with us. I asked Paula if she thought it was weird that I'm proud when other visitors admire the manatees and she said that no, she felt the same way. Of course, you're thinking that that only proves that we're *both* weird. You're probably right.

After we tore ourselves away from the manatees (hey, we looked at some Rays and some Seahorses too), we stopped and got a coke then walked through new sculpture garden feature of the Flower and Garden Festival towards the entrance to World Showcase.

We admired the Fantasia topiaries and, as the Character Caravan had just pulled up, took advantage of the relatively short lines to visit with Friar Tuck, Chip and Dale, and Baloo and King Louie. While Paula was having her picture made with Baloo and King Louie, Baloo stole her hat and put it on himself, which made for a cute picture.

We pressed on to Mexico with the rather ambitious goal of learning more lyrics to everyone's favorite annoying little song, El Rio Del Tiempo. My whole point is this: if you're going to be stuck with that song in your head for the better part of the rest of your life, you might as well know more of the lyrics than "Hola mi amigos….la, la, la, la, la, la," which is about all we knew.

As usual there was no great line waiting to board the boats, so Paula and I had a boat to ourselves. We sat in the very first row of the boat which was great. You could put your legs up on the bow of the boat for a very comfortable ride, and didn't have to worry about any other passengers' chatter interrupting your lyric listening. The music to the song begins when you enter the It's a Small Fiesta section of the ride (the room with the kids that escaped from It's a Small World), but the lyrics aren't added until you get to the room with the mariachi band and the two couples straight out of the 1970's in the hot tub. Sadly, we only picked up a few more words to the song (at some point they seem to switch entirely to Spanish, which loses me every time), so we decided to ask if we could stay on again.

The funny thing was that a man and his son in the boat in front of us asked if they could stay on the ride again. The somewhat shocked CM (you know they don't hear that request very often) told him that was fine. Then, we get up to the unloading dock and ask if we can stay on again as well. I think you could have knocked the CM over with a feather. After a look of disbelief she said, "Of course," and we were on our way again, still with a boat to ourselves.

It was way past lunch time by now and the food at San Angel smelled really good. We both wished some of the patrons would toss us a chip or two as we rode past. We picked up a few more words this time around and got off the ride vowing to come back later this trip and try again.

As we got off we noticed that there was actually a line of people waiting to get on—a rush almost. Apparently the word had spread that the ride was so good people were asking for another go at the ride. Poor saps.

Snickering at the people waiting in line, we moved along to Norway for a ride on Maelstrom. We decided that what Norway needs is a catchy song like Mexico (and even Canada) has. Just think of the possibilities--why even I can rhyme "fjord" and "Smorgasbord." Well, almost.

We hurried through the gift shops that we were dumped into after the ride, passing particularly quickly through the perfume peddling room, which makes me woozy if I linger there. I'm sure the stuff probably smells good on one person at a time, but the clouds of stuff that fog up that tiny room like bug spray just smell like eau de whale blubber to me.

It was after 3:00 by the time we made it to China and we were more than ready for some lunch. We stopped at the Lotus Blossom Café for an order of egg rolls, some vegetable lo mein and two bottles of water ($13.29). After lunch we looked through the shops in China marveling at the Kung Fu Fist, a plastic fist attached to a plastic gun by a stretchy, extending thingy (technical descriptions are not really my forte). When you squeezed the trigger, the fist extended, with no great accuracy, to punch whatever happened to be in its way (in our instance, other shoppers who were much annoyed).

The other item of interest was foam nunchaku (or, as we say in Texas, numchucks)—you know, the two sticks with a chain in between them, that no self-respecting ninja would be caught dead without—except these were made of a spongy foam instead of the usually lethal metal. These seemed to be quite popular among the 5-to-8-year-old boy demographic. In fact, we saw several young boys beating their siblings about the head and shoulders with these things with remarkably little or no permanent scarring or brain damage at all. Brilliant.

After China we moved along through the Outpost and into Germany where we did a little shopping at the Christmas Shop (how have I missed this store in the past?) and the toy store. Paula remarked that everything smells like vinegar in Germany.

As we advanced into Italy, Paula remarked that I should get ready for swarthy men to throw themselves at me. Sadly, there was no throwing of swarthy men at me in Italy or Morocco as I have experienced in the past. I must be losing my touch, or maybe it's the unappealing way the humidity, combined with the Test Track styling salon, has made my hair frizz. Italy smelled greatly of chocolate, which was a much better scent than vinegar.

We caught the tale end of the Fife and Drum Corp in America. Paula said she didn't feel like crying, so we skipped the American Adventure for now and just looked through the gift shop.

In Japan we looked at the Bonsai trees by the Koi pond. We were particularly impressed by the--I swear I'm not making this up--Florida Strangler Fig. We browsed through the new Tin Toy Stories exhibit and through the gift shops with me looking for something to take home to Michael. Paula had been looking for a miniature Zen rock garden for her husband, but there were none to be found. Paula's poor blister-ridden feet were hurting so she finally gave up and waited outside while I finished up.

In Morocco we looked through the shops and had some fun trying on hats. Genie, from Aladdin, came out and just wandered about for a while, creating chaos and mass confusion. I think he ditched his handler in the photo area and struck out on his own for some fun. Genie gave me a thumbs up for the hat I was trying on (does he count as swarthy?) before moving on his way.

After Morocco, we took a break at the Ultimate Backyards exhibit, which had a great porch swing in the tropical gardens section. There was also a nice play area with the ever-popular Rubbermaid shavings to walk around on.

We made it to France at 6:00, just in time to watch Impressions de France. This is one of my favorite films at Epcot, more so because of the music than the scenery, although that's not too shabby either. It makes me mostly just want to close my eyes, listen to the music, and enjoy the dark theater.

For the Flower and Garden Festival there was a new perfume garden, which was very interesting, out back by the quay. They had the flowers and plants that Guerlain uses to make some of its most familiar fragrances (Shalimar, Samsara, etc.) and placards for each fragrance that listed the main scented ingredients. You could lift a small flap on each placard and smell the finished product and see if you could pick out any of the individual scents.

We crossed over the bridge into the UK and looked through some of the shops there. At the back of the Toy Soldier we had a quick visit with Pooh and Eeyore. A small boy standing in line to see the characters remarked, "Eeyore always looks so sad Mommy," which caused everyone in line to smile.

Off Kilter was playing as we passed through Canada, so we stopped to listen to the last couple of songs in their set. The lead singer seemed to be in a particularly good mood as he was wearing Furry Mickey Mouse ears as he jumped off the stage and danced around.

We moved on to Canada next where we watched, not surprisingly, ‘O Canada. This was the first time I had ever seen the film and I must say, this song is just about as persistent as that darn Mexico song, if only slightly less annoying. They were playing the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald as we left the theater, which is enough to depress even the most cheerful of folk. Play some Rush for crying out loud or some Bryan Adams or something remotely cheerful please. We're begging you.

It was 7:30 by now so we went to Le Cellier for our 7:40 priority seating time. They were turning people without priority seatings away at the door. We had a short wait and were seated right at 7:40. While Paula visited the ladies room I struck up a conversation with a lady at the table next to us. She said her family had just finished up a Disney Cruise and she thought the steak at Le Cellier was better than what she had at Palio's.

I had the maple-glazed salmon with corn custard and grilled portabella mushrooms, while Paula ordered the herb-crusted prime rib—rare. I raised my eyebrows about that, I'm a medium girl myself, but Paula insisted that she liked her meat rare. When our food arrived, "rare" didn't even begin to describe her prime rib—it looked like a mafia hit. I swear she hit a bleeder once as she was trying to cut it. She said it was good but we got really tickled as she ate it. I reminded her of the fact that, by the time they are age 40, the average adult has five pounds of undigested red meat in their intestines. After this meal, I imagine hers has doubled. Dinner was around $50—Paula bought my meal (isn't she sweet), so I don't remember the exact amount.

We finished eating at 8:45 and were going to wait and watch Illuminations but it was beginning to rain and neither one of us felt like being as wet as we were last night so we decided to catch it later. I haven't seen the fireworks from anywhere besides an Illuminations Cruise in so long I wouldn't even know where to find a spot to watch it anyway. (Ugh. That sounded very elitist, didn't it? Well I didn't mean to offend you, dear reader, but rather meant to emphasize the fact that I've grown too *lazy* to watch Illuminations from on shore, rather than the fact that I don't wish to mix about among the commoners.)

The heavy rain came right as we got to the International Gateway, so we stopped in the gift shop and bought ponchos and enjoyed our walk back to the Boardwalk in the rain.

We were back to our room by 9:05 and we heard the fireworks start right as we got to the courtyard outside our room.

Paula went to get us some cokes and ice and I updated my trip report notes and checked my email. We watched our proverbial cartoons until we drifted off to sleep.

Day Three - Mon 5/3/04

"They're more like guidelines, really." Or, Attack of the Killer Pooh-Deer.

The Plan: MGM; lunch at Sci Fi Diner; dinner at Cape May Buffet

I had taken a cold right before our trip to WDW and my cough kept me up till after 3:00 in the morning. Why is it the minute you lay down you start to cough. I figured Paula was sick of hearing me, so I finally went and sat in the bathroom for a while to give her a break from my coughing.

I woke up at 7:20 to pouring rain outside. We watched the weather channel and learned that it was supposed to rain all day, so we changed our plans around and decided to go to Downtown Disney this morning instead of MGM, with the thought that we could go to MGM later this afternoon if it cleared off.

That's the beauty of having a tentative schedule for your trip. As they say in Pirates of the Caribbean (the film, not the ride), "They're more like guidelines, really." So, we felt free to change them around.

We picked up our car from valet and drove to DTD. Wow, you can get a parking spot right up close when you get there first thing in the morning.

We started out with Basin where we made our first purchases of the day. Since we were parked so close, we took purchases back to the car after we were finished. World of Disney was next where I just gave up and had them ship my stuff back to our room. We took a quick look inside the Lego store (not much of a demand to go there without Michael), and then we took Paula's World of Disney purchases back to the car as well.

We stopped by Ghirardelli for a sample of chocolate and to ask where phone was as we wanted to call and check on making a priority seating for tea at the Grand Floridian in case the rain continued. There was only one seating left which was 4:30. We decided that was too late, and decided to just keep our original PS for later in the week.

We browsed through the Sand and Sun shop before making our way to Once Upon a Toy where we were, once again, confronted by the new Mr. Potato Head parts, only even more of them. I honestly don't know what possesses people but Paula and I both had packed up two boxes of the things before we could even stop ourselves—and I don't even particularly like Mr. Potato Head. We might as well just throw handfuls of $20's at them.

It was really raining by the time we finished squandering our money so we ran across the way to the pin store and looked in there for a while.

We went to the new Earl of Sandwich for lunch, which was very good. There was a constant line of people at the register and it was hard to find a place to sit, but it was just a little after noon when we got there and the line moved fairly quickly.

We tried to decide on a sandwich to split as I wanted to try their Chinese Chicken salad as well, but we couldn't agree on one. Paula wound up getting the All American (turkey, ranch dressing, cranberries, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato) while I got the Caprese (roma tomato slices with mozzarella cheese, basil and olive oil) and the salad. Sure enough, half of the sandwich with the salad was plenty—too bad they don't have a half sandwich special. Chips for Paula and two cokes made our total $21.62.

After lunch we walked through the candy store (avoiding the Sugar Bar area) on our way to the Christmas store. On the cash register of the Christmas store was a stuffed Winnie the Pooh dressed up like a reindeer. I walked over to see it, and when I touched Pooh, he came to life and took a menacing step towards me, scaring me to death and prompting a loud scream. Apparently it was one of those walking, wind-up creatures that hadn't completely wound down yet. Of course I was mortified at having screamed at the killer pooh bear and caused several customers to walk waaaaaaay around me as they shopped.

While we were making our way through the store, we got stuck behind a cute little old man who was the slowest walking guy I had ever seen. And it wasn't just that he was slow, it was the way he walked. He would raise his foot high in the air until he was leaning backwards and practically tipping over and then ever-so-slowly lower it to the ground, then repeat the same process with his other leg. Paula was behind him imitating his steps while I laughed so hard that I cried. Adding this to her Planet of the Apes walk, I dubbed Paula the keeper of silly walks.

Next up was the Art of Disney where we took a Sword and the Stone quiz. The CM said we knew more of the answers than most, so we felt pretty good about that. We finished up with the Disney Home store and Pooh corner before heading back to the Boardwalk.

Back in our room, we dumped our packages and Paula called her husband to touch base with him (she had sent him an email earlier, but this was the first time she had gotten to speak to him). After the call, we decided to brave the weather anyway and go to MGM.

We went down to the dock and waited for the boat. The CM's on the boat talked about Gertrude the duck who was at the Swolphin. The helper CM (not the captain) left some food for Gertrude on the corner of the dock and called to her to come and eat, which she did.

At MGM we headed straight to the ToT. We got Fast Passes first, and then got in the stand by line which had a 15 minute wait posted but didn't take anywhere near that long. We rode twice in the stand by line and then, as our ToT Fast Pass window was open, went and got a FP for the RnRC.

After getting our RnRC Fast Passes, we used our ToT Fast Pass, and then rode again for a 4th time. Whew! By now it was almost time for our RnRC Fast Pass, but we waited until we could get another Fast Pass (for ToT, of course) before we went to ride the RnRC. It was pouring down rain anyway, so we were glad for the shelter of the Fast Pass area as we waited for our time to open up. While we waited, we listened to the CM explaining the loading procedure for the new ToT at Disneyland. Hopefully, our whole family is taking a trip to Disneyland at Christmastime this year, so we'll be able to try it out firsthand.

After the rain let up we took our ride on the RnRC. We were in the very front car, so we still don't know how the ride in the back is.

Next, we went to the pin store under the Sorcerer's Hat (avoiding the Stars and Motorcars Parade on the way) to pick up a free 15th Anniversary of MGM commemorative coin available to annual passholders. Since we were in the area we went ahead and rode the Great Movie Ride as well.

After the Great Movie Ride it was time to go back to ToT for our fifth ride of the evening. We rode standby the first time and then again with our Fast Passes, for a total of six rides. On one of the rides there was a cute little precocious British girl (8 years old with bright red hair and a rosy round face) in line in front of us that we talked to for a bit. Actually, her mother had been in line as well but, after hearing Paula's description of the ride, she took the chicken exit and left her daughter to ride on her own. When I asked the little girl how old she was she said that she was eight and then volunteered "My Mum is a terrifying 43 and is dead scared of this ride." She said she had been practicing her American accent this week and was going to go home and say "dollar" instead of "pound" so people wouldn't know what she was talking about.

On the next ride, we were in line with a British boy (Honestly, I think we were the only Americans in the parks this week. Well, okay, apart from the several million graduates.) who was unsure of the ride. We told the boy all about what to expect and assured him he would love it. He was in the same elevator that we were so we gave him a thumbs up on the ride before it took off. After the ride we asked how he liked it and he said it was awesome.

It was 7:00 by now and we had an 8:00 priority seating for the Cape May Cafe. We started heading back out of park, looking through the gift stores along the way. We fed the ducks while waiting for the boat, and soon had everyone else waiting for the boat feeding them too.

We got off the boat at the Yacht Club and walked to the Beach Club and Cape May. We checked in at 7:40 and had about a 10 minute wait. As we waited at the podium, the CM checking us in was wondering who Hades was. She had never seen Fantasmic and was trying to figure out who all the villains in the show were. Paula and I both told her about the show and she promised that she was going to try to go see it soon.

We finished eating at 8:50 ($51.10 before tip), and added a new verse to our ever growing parody of Step in Time since we were so full--"Throw your food up binge and purge." Lovely, I know.

As we walked back to the Boardwalk, we debated going into Epcot and watching Illuminations, but Paula was tired. We watched the high fireworks from the Boardwalk and then went to the gift shop to pick up our packages from yesterday.

Back in the room, I ran to get ice and cokes. We called home, checked email, and updated trip report notes while watching cartoons per our usual bedtime routine.

Day Four - Tuesday 5/4/04

"The bonding of humanity at Disney World." Or, Pop Goes the Weasel.

The Plan: Epcot; dinner at Boma's

I was up at 7:30, and we were ready to go by 9:00. We walked to Epcot and noticed that they had installed poles across the entrance to the International Gateway. We wondered if this was to prevent surrey bikes from being driven that far. We found out later that Disney had been busy installing high-tech barricades at the service entrances of all four theme parks that were designed to stop a 20,000 truck traveling at 70 miles per hour as a security measure, but I don't think these were part of that installation.

The weather was absolutely beautiful today. Bright sunshine, without a cloud in the sky, and no humidity—our first really pretty day since we arrived. We walked along the rose garden path again to Future World, this time taking the time to go through the Doggone Maze.

On the way to get Fast Passes for Test Track, we took lots of pictures of butterflies at the butterfly garden. We picked up our Fast Passes and then went to ride Mission: Space. Paula was the engineer this trip. We joked about her being the expendable crew man and the most likely to be killed on a mission, as all she had to do was put us into hypersleep. For some reason, this flight made Paula very ill.

We went to the Advanced Training Lab at the end of the ride and waited in line for the next Space Race. While we were waiting, we talked to CM Kris from Tennessee. He told us about Walt sleeping above the fire station in Disneyland. Kris said legend had it that Walt would go around to areas of the park at night and leave notes for everyone that would say "Can we do this better?" and point out a particular problem that he was concerned about or just a note with a new idea that he had. Another CM joined our conversation and said he had heard that there were people who worked for Disney who wrote and submitted reports to Walt on a daily basis. After Walt died, they kept on submitting reports even after he had been dead for a year because that's what they always did and Walt would have been mad at them if they quit.

Paula and I were both astronauts for Team Triton for the Space Race. We won, of course, but Paula hurt her hand by accidentally slamming it into a metal post instead of the boost button. Woops.

After Mission: Space, we used our Test Track Fast Passes to pay a visit to Smug Bill, who was doing fine. After our test run, we took the path to the World Showcase by Odyssey restaurant building.

We came out right at Mexico so we had to ride El Rio del Tiempo again (twice, I might add and in the front seat of the boat both times) to try and pick up some more lyrics. Sadly, we still don't have even a full verse and we've searched all over the internet for the words, to no avail. So, if someone has the lyrics and is kind enough to want to stop my obsessing, please email me.

In Norway we took a minute to listen to a few songs from Spelmanns Gledje. After a couple of numbers, Paula said we could leave if we wanted to as they weren't as "Norwegian" as she thought they would be. Even she admitted that she had no idea what that meant.

We hurried through China, the Outpost, and Germany, because we had decided that we'd try lunch at L'Originale Alfredo di Roma in Italy today.

We checked in at the podium and were given a choice of eating inside or outdoors. We chose to eat outside on the patio and were seated immediately. Our waiter's name was Luca (he lived on the 2nd floor—sorry, very obscure reference that I just couldn't resist), and he was quite precious (and good-looking to boot), peppering his speech with lots of "Signore's" and "Bella's."

We shared the Mozzarella alla Caprese salad while Paula had the Fettuccine Alfredo and a coke and I had a mushroom pizza and iced tea ($41.38). I told Paula that some of my favorite times at Epcot were just sitting in a random country on a beautiful day, watching people and enjoying a meal.

Before too long, some characters came to the piazza, and we were amused by Pinocchio running and hiding from a group of children. After lunch, we noticed that one of the characters was Jiminy Cricket, whom neither of us had ever seen before, so we had to go and meet him. Jiminy was tiny--Peter Pan could beat the crap out of him. We also visited with Pinocchio, Gepetto, Honest John, and Gideon (the cat sidekick to Honest John). Actually we had never known Gideon's name before, but we asked his handler and she told us what it was. So, there you go, your Disney trivia for the day.

As we exited the piazza, we noticed the Imaginum statue was out, so we took a few minutes to watch him. Actually, watching his snarky handler was almost as amusing, as she had a tendency to snap commands at guests who accidentally walked in front of the statue.

We were just about to leave Italy when the World Showcase Players came by and put on their production of Kiss Me Shrew, which we stayed to watch. Apparently Italy was *the* happening country in the World Showcase today, entertainment-wise.

Paula was still in no mood for crying so we bypassed the American Adventure again and went to Japan instead.

In Japan, the candy lady was out making her animal-shaped suckers. Paula had never seen her before and watched in amazement as she quickly made a dragon, dinosaur, dolphin, tiger, panda bear, swan, and rabbit, all the while saying "Candy. Candy for you. American corn syrup candy."

In Morocco, Paula was on a quest looking for belly dancing kit (for a friend) and a bathroom, but we had no luck with either item. We moved on and sat in the Ultimate Backyard Gardens display again, this time in the "Entertaining" section, while we discussed what to do for the rest of the day.

We had a priority seating at Boma's (Paula had never eaten there and wanted to try it) at 8:00, but hadn't watched Illuminations yet either and this was our last night at our Epcot resort. We ultimately decided to keep the seating at Boma's.

We continued on through France in search of a coke with ice, to no avail, so we wound up at Harry Ramdsen's in the UK for our beverages. We looked through the Flower and Garden Festival gift store in Canada and saw the Character Caravan pull up at the entrance to the World Showcase again.

We were on a mission to ride Spaceship Earth but got sidetracked by a performance of Kristos (the weird alien/lizard looking acrobats) since Paula had never seen them before. We both agreed that they were creeping us out so we left them and went on to Spaceship Earth for a nice, dark ride before making our way back through World Showcase towards the International Gateway.

It was now 4:00 and Off Kilter was playing in Canada, so we stayed and listened. After the show we went to the gift shop so Paula could buy one of their CD's. The CM that checked her out commented on the group saying, "They're totally awesome, eh?" Paula was thrilled that a Canadian had actually said "eh?" to her.

We left Epcot through the World Showcase (with me getting my customary last day hand stamp) and walked back to the Boardwalk. We stopped at gift shop to pick up the packages we had sent from Downtown Disney and saw slow walking man from the day before, which sent us into another fit of giggles.

We made it back to our room by 5:00. Paula napped while I updated my trip report notes and chatted for a bit on the internet.

After a while we got up and got ready to go to Boma's at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL). We picked up the car from valet and drove to the AKL. We were a little early for our priority seating so we looked around the Arusha savanna for a while and saw some zebras and one giraffe.

We checked in for our priority seating and were seated in about 10 minutes. Both Paula and I enjoyed the food, particularly the soups. Their butternut squash soup was excellent—good enough for dessert really. We finished dinner by 9:15 and took some time to look around in the gift shop.

After dinner, we decided to drive to the Pop Century resort to check it out. We started in the lobby, looking at all the shadow boxes along wall, where we found many items from our childhood (and even some things from our parents' childhood that we recognized). I thought it was neat that the music they play in the lobby is progressive. They play a song from the 50's and then the 60's, 70's, etc. before starting over with the 50's again.

We looked through the gift shop and food court before going out back to look at the pool. We wound up walking to each decade to see the icons, quiet pools, and take pictures, stopping along the way for an impromptu game of Twister.

When we came back in the lobby, "For What It's Worth" (by Buffalo Springfield) was playing. I was singing along as we came through the sliding doors and we met a man on his way out who was singing along too. We exchanged sheepish grins at having been caught singing and Paula commented on the wonders of "the bonding of humanity" at Disney World.

We were very thorough with our exploration of the new resort, even stopping to look at the phones on the way out. I'm saddened to report that Paula swiped one of the note pads by the phones because she was out of paper to write her trip notes on (see, my computer is already coming in very handy on this trip--no need for paper).

We made it back to hotel by 11:15. We fell into our usual routine of updating our notes while watching Lambert the sheepish lion. I also download the pictures we had taken for the day.

Day 5 - Wednesday 5/5/04

"Try it again without the whining." Or, A Mother and Daughter Tea.

The Plan: move to Polynesian; MK; tea at Grand Floridian; MK for Wishes

We were up at 7:30 this morning knowing we needed to get everything packed up to move to the Polynesian. I had Paula give me a 10 minute warning (10 minutes before she would be ready to go) so I could call bell services to come pick up our luggage. After I made the call, I left Paula in the room and went to the lobby to check out. When I got back to the room, bell services had already come and picked up our things, so we went out to valet to pick up our car, which had our luggage already placed inside.

We drove to the Polynesian and left our luggage with bell services while we went inside the Great Ceremonial House (GCH) to check in. I was surprised that they had rooms immediately available and the CM gave us our choice of the Tokelau or the Tahiti longhouse. We chose room 2948 in Tokelau with a view of the quiet pool.

We got our leis and then went back out to valet to get our luggage and be driven to our room. We had to wait a few minutes for a spare cart to take us to our room, but a nice cast member talked to us while we waited. That's one of the reasons that I like the Polynesian so much, I love their cast members here. They have always been, without exception, the friendliest and most helpful out of all the places I've stayed.

We dumped our stuff in the room, took a second for Paula to look around, and then headed straight back to the GCH to take the monorail to the MK.

Paula wanted her usual first ride of Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC). I said that we should probably pick up some Fast Passes for Philharmagic first so, since her feet had still not recovered from their blisters, I sent Paula on to Adventureland while I ran and got the Fast Passes and then met up with her outside of PotC.

As we were walking in to the ride, we overheard a snarkey mom behind us telling her child "Try saying it again, without the whining." We couldn't help laughing because obviously the child couldn't do anything BUT whine since that's just how the mom talked--in a constant whine. There was another snarkey mom ahead of us in line who wouldn't let her kids touch anything.

I commented to Paula that it was ironic that she liked the MK best of all the parks given the way she feels about children (not a fan of the kids), since the concentration of children is definitely higher here than anywhere else. Paula laughed and said she was thoroughly convinced that WDW is not for kids! Actually, she relented and said that it wasn't the kids that bothered her, but the grumpy parents. How else are the kids going to learn to appreciate the magic of Disney if they can't touch it?

After our ride we looked through gift shop, stopping long enough for Paula to mail a coconut postcard to her husband. And when I say "a coconut postcard" I mean an actual coconut that she wrote a postcard on. It was really pretty neat. You pick out your coconut and take it to the cash register where the CM gives you a permanent marker to address the postcard and write your message. After you're finished you give the coconut back to the CM, pay for it, and then they mail it for you. We laughed at the vision of the mailman trying to fit the coconut into her small mailbox at home.

We took the long way to Philharmagic, stopping at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR) along the way to pick up another Fast Pass.

We had great timing with our Fast Passes at Philharmagic and were let in just as the show was about to start. It was Paula's first time to see it and she thought it was great.

It was now straight up noon and we were hungry and I was in need of a diet coke. Although, I told Paula that WDW was the only place in the world where I could go without my caffeine in the mornings. We stopped at Columbia Harbor House where Paula had the tuna sandwich with chips and a coke and I had the garden galley salad and a diet coke ($16.86).

After we got our table, I went to the Haunted Mansion (HM) to pick up a Fast Pass for later. There was only a 5 minute wait for the stand by line, so I backtracked and picked up a Fast Pass for Peter Pan instead before going back to join Paula for lunch.

We quickly ate our lunch and then went to the HM at 12:45. We decided that the clever folks in marketing need to make Madame Leota snow globes. They would be perfect since she's already in a crystal ball.

After the Haunted Mansion we went back to use our Fast Passes for BTMRR. Big Thunder Mountain is one of my favorite rides to use Fast Passes on during the day because the queue is out in the blazing sun on some kind of heat reflecting concrete. It's hot and miserable if you have to stand in line for any length of time.

Next we went to Tomorrow land to get a FP for Buzz Lightyear. Our Fast Pass window was not quite open yet so we took a zippy ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA), which is always a favorite. After our ride, we decided to get Fast Passes for Pooh instead of Buzz since the stand by line for Buzz was only 15 minutes and the line for Space Mountain (SpM) was only 10 minutes.

In Fantasyland, the stand by for Pooh was 40 minutes. We got Fast Passes but noticed, too late, that the return time was 3:55-4:55, which will conflict with our date for tea. Oh, well.

We used our Fast Passes for Peter Pan, and then headed back to Tomorrowland to see the Carousel of Progress (or PRO-gress for our British readers—all three of you). Now it shames me to admit it but, as many times as I've been to WDW, I have never seen the Carousel of Progress (CoP). I know, I know, that's grounds for having my Disney card taken away from me. So, I had informed Paula that we were going to see it this trip or die trying. Needless to say, Paula was not very fired up about sitting through it and had a bad attitude from the outset.

We sat quietly through the first scene with the man and his dog Rover. When we got to the next scene and discovered the same man and the same dog, only twenty years in the future, Paula exclaimed, "Oh great! Rover's going to die. That's a whippin'!”

"Where is your Disney spirit?" I hissed back at her. "Walt won't kill the dog."

Sure enough, you can rest easy that Rover didn't die but was roughly 700 and something in dog years by the end of the presentation.

During the middle of the presentation, an eerie disembodied voice announced "There is NO filming in the Carousel of Progress. Put the video camera down," like the great and powerful OZ. I'm not sure who was taping the show but they must have stopped as there were no further incidents.

Can I just take a moment to say that "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" has been indelibly burned into my brain now. And I thought "Canada, My Canada" was persistent. Ha.

It was 2:30 by now, so it was time we left to go to tea. We left Tomorrowland and went to Main Street through the rose garden path by the Plaza. There were several baby rabbits out on the lawn eating grass.

We caught the monorail to Grand Floridian and arrived at the Garden View Lounge by 3:00. Dennis was our waiter and he recommended the Garden View Bouquet tea (a special blend created exclusively for the Garden View Lounge) instead of the usual Darjeeling that we always get. We took his advice and it was very good. Not being a big tea person, my criteria was that it must have been good because I didn't even have to put milk in mine like I usually do.

Reading the menu, we were amused by the statement that "Tea is both calming and a stimulant." No kidding. I think I've mentioned in the past how goofy I get after being hyped-up on about three cups of tea.

Paula and I both ordered the Buckingham Palace tea (which used to be the Tea for Two) which includes tea sandwiches, scones and a jam tart, and strawberries and cream or your choice of pastries, plus your tea, of course. They always bring you an assortment of sandwiches, each one on a different kind of bread. I wondered aloud to Paula, "Who comes up with what sandwich goes on what bread?" I know there are recommended wine pairings for some dishes, but are there actually *bread* pairings for egg salad? Who makes these choices? See, I told you tea did weird things to me.

Dennis was nice enough to bring us double scones in lieu of our jam tart for our second course, since the scones are our favorite part. At some point during the tea, the piano player in the lobby of the Grand Floridian began to play some tunes. Well, I say "tunes" but they all kind of sounded the same and we got quite tickled about the tuneless piano songs. I remarked that at least it was better than the last time we listened to him and he played the theme from "Somewhere in Time," which is possibly the *worst* movie with the *saddest* theme song of all time. We had been so depressed that we couldn't even get up off the furniture and make our way to our room.

Well the words were barely out of my mouth before he actually started playing the blasted song. Nothing sadder than crying into your tea while they play the theme from Somewhere in Time. Actually, it was more like laughing so hard that we were crying, but that's beside the point. At one point I was laughing so hard that I actually snorted which prompted Paula to say "There's no snorting at tea!"

By the time our last course of strawberries and cream arrived, we were both too full to do more than pick at it. Paula discreetly made a replica (not to scale) of the BTMRR with the cream from her dish of strawberries and cream. After our behavior, I don't think the Queen is going to be inviting us to tea anytime soon.

The only low spot during tea (for me anyway--Paula thought it was funny) was when our waiter made a comment about our Mother and Daughter tea. Aaarrrgh! I, being a mere 10 years older than Paula, was mortally offended at being taken for her mother, while Paula thought it was vastly amusing. I was quick to correct him and he was very apologetic, but the damage was done. Might as well give me a paper cut and pour some lemon juice in it while you're at it.

We were also amused by a lady at a table across from us who, I swear, never drew a breath for talking so much. The two people with her were hating their lives. I think at one point their teeth actually turned backwards in their heads and had eaten their brains. One of the lady's more memorable comments was," My husband always sneezes twice anytime he gets near peppermint. Or, if he only sneezes once, then he gets the hiccups." I'm thinking Christmas time must be horrible for him.

After we had finished and before they could throw us out for laughing so much, we paid our bill ($37.28) and took the monorail back to the Polynesian.

Back at the room, I took our refillable mugs to Captain Cooks for some beverage. We then took some time to explore our location a little better. This was Paula's first time to stay at the Polynesian and my first time to be in Tokelau (I've stayed in Samoa, Niue, and Raratonga). The Tokelau longhouse has nice, wide hallways and nice sitting areas/lobbies by the elevators on each floor. Even though we were on the second floor, our room had a balcony, which overlooked the quite pool. We decided that it was a great location.

We rested, updated notes, checked emails, etc. until around 6:45, then changed clothes to go back to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Wishes fireworks.

I was the first one of us through the security checkpoint. When Paula came next, the security guard commented that we both had the same purse (obviously a man--the purses are similar in color but definitely not the same purse). "Are you sisters or something?" he asked. When Paula said "yes," he asked which one of us was older. After the beating my ego had taken at lunch, I stopped dead in my tracks at his comment, turned around, and went back and kissed him on the cheek. Thank goodness for Disney magic.

We went to Fantasyland first to check on the wait time for Pooh. The ride was out of Fast Passes and the stand by line was 40 minutes. No thanks. We went to Tomorrowland next and found only a 10 minute stand by for Buzz, which was really more like five.

On our first ride Paula's score was way higher than mine, prompting me to advance the theory that the first person in the car gets the better score since Paula always gets in first. Always being up for a scientific experiment, we put the theory to test by my getting in the car first on our second time around. Sure enough, I was high score this time with 381,000.

After the second ride, we walked over to Space Mountain only to see a wait time of 30 minutes. Not to be daunted, we went back to Buzz to continue our experiment, this time each taking their own car. This action resulted in both of our worst scores of the night. Oh well. So much for science.

By now it was 8:35 so we went to Main Street to get a spot for Wishes. We stood just south of the hub pretty much in the middle of the street and had a great view. I had seen the fireworks back in November, but this was Paula's first time to see them. She made it as far as Aladdin saying "Genie, I wish for your freedom." before she started crying. Me? I can't much seem to make it past the first line of the song.

After the fireworks were over we sat on a bench and waited for the crowds to clear out a bit, and enjoyed watching the exiting masses. We saw 5 year old blonde girl dressed as Tinkerbelle dancing with her grandmother, and some very patient parents with a crying little girl, so our faith in the future generations was restored.

After a few minutes we started down Main Street but stopped again to watch the kiss goodnight before exiting the park. We made it on to the third monorail (counting the one that was pulling away from the station as we walked up. It was standing room only, but it wasn't long before we were back at the Polynesian.

Back at the PR, we went to Captain Cooks for some late dinner. We ordered 2 cheeseburgers and I went to get our mugs while Paula waited on food.

We were back to the room by 10:15. I went with Paula to the laundry so she could wash some socks and her jacket (as her jacket is white and she had apparently sat in something very red). All the machines were taken at first, but a guy came in shortly and took his clothes out of one. Paula and I got tickled because he kept on pulling out clothes and pulling out clothes like a magician pulling scarves out of a hat. I don't know how he got that many clothes stuffed in that one machine.

Paula was worried about the red stain coming out of her jacket but didn't have anything to treat the stain with. There was a bag on the counter that had a bottle of Shout sticking out of it. We asked around, but it didn't belong to anyone in the laundry, so we said we were going to borrow it just for one stain. Another man, upon hearing of our stain problems said we could borrow his Spray ‘n Wash stick. More bonding of humanity at the laundry.

After we put the clothes in to wash, Paula went back to the room and I went to fill up my mug again.

We updated our notes, finished the laundry, and were to bed by 1:30.

Day Six - Thursday 5/6/04

"You mean Kim Possible lied to me?" Or, Make Your Own Magic.

The Plan: AK; dinner at ‘Ohana; Downtown Disney

I was up at 7:30, but after our late night, decided to go back to bed for a while, so I didn't actually get out of bed until 8:30. We got ready and left by 9:45. On the way to the GCH, we stopped by Captain Cooks to fill up our mugs. We picked up our car from valet and drove to the Animal Kingdom.

We were so late this morning that we actually got to park somewhere besides in the Unicorn section--Dinosaur. Woohoo. Paula forgot to put on sunscreen this morning, so we bought some as soon as we got into the park and we stopped for a moment while she put some on. We immediately stopped again at the Ibis habitat so Paula could take some pictures. Paula is fun to go to the AK with because she has a tendency to randomly stop dead in her tracks and takes pictures of everything. I'm sure *I* would *never* waste a bazillion pictures on one animal.

We took my favorite path with the bouncy bridge through the Oasis. Our plan was to pick up a Fast Pass for the Kilimanjaro Safari (KS) and then go see the 11:45 showing of the Festival of the Lion King (FotLK). I went to go get our Fast Passes, while Paula waited by the entrance to Camp Minnie Mickey.

On the way in to Camp Minnie Mickey, there was a guy pushing an empty stroller. A CM stationed at the entrance said to the man, "You've left someone." I said "It's me," and pretended to get in the stroller. "There you are," joked the stroller guy with me, while the CM looked on, very confused.

We watched the FotLK and then went to back to Africa after the show. I had read someone's trip report that said to be sure and look at the potatoes in Africa, that there were pots and pots of fake potatoes. Well, we looked for potatoes. There are no potatoes in Africa, at least not that we could find. Perhaps there was a famine recently.

The Fast Pass line to Kilimanjaro Safari was all the way back to the stand by line (which was a 25 minute wait). We didn't want to wait in a long line, so we got another Fast Pass for the ride and then went to eat lunch.

Paula wanted to eat at Pizzafari so we headed back in that direction. On the way back we past yet another cart with the make-your-own charm bracelets and necklaces. I'm not too sure that I'm fond of the new slogan for this marketing campaign—"Make your own Magic." It's almost like Disney is disgruntledly saying, "Hey buddy. Make your own magic. We've been making it for years and what do we get? Griping about the lines and the ticket prices and the condition of the parks. You try making some magic for a while. See how easy it is." Maybe it's just me.

Back at Pizzafari, Paula and I each got one of the Animal Kingdom Meal Deals which we used for a Deli sandwich for Paula and a cheese pizza and salad for me. We ate in the Camouflage room. Actually, I didn't know it was called the Camouflage room until a CM saw Paula and I discussing the pictures on the wall and came over to ask if we knew what the name of the room was. We finished up around 1:15.

After lunch, we went back to KS and used our first Fast Pass. The long line had gone away by now and we were on the ride in a matter of minutes. Afterwards, we walked the Pangani Trail. Now here's where I have to apologize to Paula for making fun of her taking pictures of everything. When we got to the Okapi, it was walking around very close to the front of its pen. I had never seen the Okapi so out in the open before and I must confess that I took more than a reasonable amount of pictures of it. Okay, so if you put all the pictures together you could flip them and make one of those stop-action animated books, are you happy now? I'm sorry I mocked her.

We watched the naked mole rats for a while and, when I remarked that it didn't look like they could see very well, learned from the CM that they are indeed blind. Paula was surprised and saddened to hear this bit of news. "You mean Kim Possible lied to me?" she said. "Rufus shouldn't be able to see?"

After walking the trail (and yes, taking many pictures), we went back to KS and used our second set of Fast Passes to ride again.

Next, we took the train to Conservation Station, where we listened to the Sounds of the Rainforest. Twice. I find this exhibit very relaxing and dark—I could stay in there all day.

Rafiki and Stanley (from Playhouse Disney) were out signing autographs. I don't really get the connection, but okay. We looked at a display which showed the various types of food that they feed to the animals—alfalfa cubes, rabbit pellets, etc. There was even a container marked "Primate Maintenance Biscuits." Paula, who had been quoting the Rod Serling dialogue from Tower of Terror ever since we had ridden it six times in a row, was quick to change the line from "This, as you may recognize, is a maintenance service elevator." to "This, as you may recognize, is a primate maintenance biscuit." I told you we were easily amused.

Next, we went out to the petting zoo and sat and admired the goats.

After taking the train back to civilization, we walked to Asia and went through the Maharajah Jungle Trail. I don't think I would be remiss by saying that Paula's pictures of the tigers rivaled mine of the Okapi for sheer volume.

We walked over new bridge by Expedition Everest and took some pictures of the construction going on. It's very nice that there's a new route to Tarzan Rocks, which always seemed very isolated to me.

We planned on going to see the 4:40 showing of Tarzan Rocks, but 3:15 was the last showing, so we went on down to Chester & Hester's to ride Primeval Whirl instead.

It was 5:00 by the time we made it off the ride, so we made our way out of the park, stopping to get cokes on the way out.

We stopped at the All Stars Movies resort on the way back to get a bunch of Mickey Mouse straws for our co-workers. We made it back to the Polynesian by 5:50. We got new leis for the day, and, as it was almost time for the torch lighting ceremony, we went to Captain Cooks to fill up our mugs and then went back to the lobby to wait until 6:00.

Paula had never seen the ceremony and was very impressed by the fact that the torch lighter actually blew a conch shell to call everyone to the ceremony. Not only that, but it was very loud, too. During the ceremony, the torch lighter shook some people's hands. He then put fire on his palm with his torch and offered his flaming hand to a man to shake. Needless to say, the man refused, but it got a big laugh.

We went back to our room at 6:15 and checked in with the folks at home. We went back to the GCH at 7:00 for our priority seating at ‘Ohana. We checked in at the podium and then looked around in the gift shops. We were seated at 7:20 at a nice table with a great view of Cinderella's castle.

The food was excellent as usual and we were done with dinner about 8:30 ($51.10). We looked around in the gift shop downstairs and then went back to our room to get jackets before walking down to the beach. We walked out on Sunset Point and looked at the view, then took our shoes off and walked along the beach, admiring the hammocks and swings.

We went down by the volcano pool and got two chairs to sit in to watch the firework. I went and got a towel since I had been wading in the shallow end of the pool, and then we moved the chairs out into the sand and sat and watched the fireworks. The sand on our toes felt better than a Blue Corn Scrub at the Grand Floridian. Well, okay, never having *had* the Blue Corn Scrub at the spa, I guess I wouldn't be an accurate judge of that, but it did feel really good.

Unfortunately, just mentioning the Blue Corn Scrub got that annoying Pocahontas song on our mind and we wound up singing "Did you ever hear the wolf cry to a blue corn scrub?" for the rest of the evening. I'm pretty sure that the Blue Corn Scrub at the Grand Floridian is why the grinning bobcat grins. Sorry. Really. I'll stop now.

We watched the fireworks and then once they were over, the Electric Water Pageant immediately started. Paula was mocking its simplicity and I again told her she was losing her Disney magic. The rest of the crowd was very appreciative anyway and there was much applause after the stirring Tribute to All Nations, but Mostly America finale.

After the Electric Water Pageant moved on, we sat for a while and played in the sand with our feet. We then got up and walked over to the quiet pool where we sat on the edge of the pool and dangled our legs in the water until about 10:00.

Back in our room, Paula called her husband while I went to fill up our mugs. We updated our notes and watched cartoons until we went to bed at 12:45.

Day 7 - Friday 5/7/04

"Oh, don't be stupid. That's actually nature." Or, The Fast Pass Polka.

The Plan: MK; dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern or Tony's Town Square

We were up this morning at 7:30. I went to Captain Cooks to fill our mugs while Paula finished getting ready, and we left for the MK at 9:00. As we walked to the GCH, I remarked on how good the gardenias blooming in the flowerbeds smelled. Paula admitted that she always thinks someone is burning a good-smelling candle when she walks past and then thinks, "Oh, don't be stupid. That's actually nature."

We took the monorail over to the MK where the characters were out in force on Main Street. We took pictures with the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John, who made me kiss his ring. We also saw the Mayor on Main Street and shook hands with him. He said he was "the best mayor money can buy."

I went to get Fast Passes for Pooh while Paula headed to her favorite Pirates of the Caribbean, which we rode after I met up with her. During the ride, the girls behind us kept asking where Jack Sparrow was, and the people in front said that they heard Disney had updated the ride to be more like the movie. Aaaarrrgh!

After the ride, Peter Pan and Wendy were out for pictures, as well as Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. A couple was passing by and the husband asked, "Who is that?" When his wife replied that it was Mr. Smee, he asked, "What's he in?" Aaaarrrgh, again. Let's see, he's standing with Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Wendy, I don't know, maybe Mulan? Can't they give these people a quiz or something before they allow them into the parks?

We got pictures of Wendy and Peter, which were just the cutest little couple (although I still say Peter could take Jiminy Cricket with no problem). Paula said she felt like a lumberjack standing next to them.

We started making our way to Fantasyland, stopping at the Haunted Mansion to ride it twice. We found the hidden Mickey in the graveyard on our first time through, so of course, we had to see it again, thus the second ride.

Back on course towards the Winnie the Pooh ride, this time we stopped to get Fast Passes for Peter Pan. We rode Pooh (which is another great ride for using Past Passes simply because it always has a long line). Afterwards, we had time to see Philharmagic again.

It was still a little early for our Fast Pass for Peter Pan, so we walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, something I hadn't done in years. Before going back to Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan, we got Fast Passes for Jungle Cruise.

We went back to Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan. The CM who was loading the ride said that he loved our Tinkerbelle and Wendy costumes. Huh? I might could see the resemblance between Paula and Wendy since Paula's brown hair was pulled back and she had a blue shirt on, but my white T-shirt and khaki shorts weren't really saying "Tinkerbelle" to me.

After we got back from Neverland, we went to Pecos Bills for some lunch. Paula had the cheeseburger and fries with a coke and I had the chicken wrap with fries and a diet coke ($18.17).

After lunch we went to pick up Fast Passes for Splash Mountain and then backtracked to use our Jungle Cruse Fast Passes. Just like the Kilimanjaro Safari line had been, the Jungle Cruise Fast Pass line was backed up too, so we rode Pirates again, got Fast Passes for BTMRR, and *then* went back and rode the Jungle Cruise.

Brian was our Skipper and he was hysterical. He emphasized that he was the Skipper and not the Captain because the Captain goes down with the ship while the Skipper skips away at the first sign of danger.

Next we used our Fast Passes for Splash Mountain. I wickedly got in the log first and let Paula have the right side of log. About halfway through the ride I told her that she was on the wetter side because of the waterfall at the end of the ride that's on that side of the log. She was just about in my lap when we got to it, trying to keep from getting wet. I saw the hidden Mickey fishing bobber on the ride for the first time.

We had some time before our BTMRR Fast Pass, so we took the train for a ride around the park. When we stopped on Main Street, I got off and went to get us Fast Passes for Space Mountain while Paula rode on around to BTMRR. It was very hot today, and the parade was about to start as I made my way down Main Street. Luckily, the marching bands going down Main Street were pretty easy to dodge.

On my way back to Frontierland, I stopped at the Dole Whip place and got a pineapple spear and a bottle of water ($4.09). The pineapple spear was the bargain of the park at only $1.49.

The parade was just starting as I came through the Pirates of the Caribbean Plaza, so I had to run through Pecos Bills and out into Frontierland to beat the parade so I could dash across to the BTMRR side of the street before the parade got there. Whew!

I met up with Paula in front of BTMRR and we ate the pineapple before getting on the ride. The CM working the Fast Pass line let us keep our FP to use again. After we got off the ride, Paula declined a second ride and wanted to go to Space Mountain instead.

As we walked to Tomorrowland we saw lots of tired, hot kids and parents. I said that this is the time of day that parents should take all children home and let them splash around in the pool for a while to cool off. Paula moaned pitifully and said that goes for adults too, admitting that she was tired and hot and needed a break.

We went ahead and rode Space Mountain and then made our way out of park. We saw and entire family of bunnies on the rose garden path this time. We were back to our room at 4:30 via the monorail, stopping in the GCH to get new leis for today.

Back in the room, I called Disney dining and moved our Priority Seating for dinner back from 6:00 to 7:40.

Paula napped while I went swimming in the quiet pool to cool off. There was a mother duck and two babies in the pool with us just swimming around. Back in our room I showered and updated my trip report notes.

We left to go back to the MK at 6:45, taking the monorail over.

There were more characters out on Main Street. We got our picture made with Governor Radcliffe, who kicked me in the rear as we left. He was busy putting a small boy in the trash can as we went back by.

We decided to go ahead and try to get a seat at Tony's, and checked in at 7:15. They were playing the movie Lady and the Tramp in the foyer. Nothing sadder than crying to Bella Notte at Tony's.

We were seated in about 5 minutes. We both had a house salad, shared an order of fried calamari and an order of spaghetti ($41.26). Our waiter brought out bread with sun dried tomato pesto before our meal. When he asked if we wanted dessert we declined saying that we were planning on a Mickey ice cream bar for the fireworks. Paula and I decided that that was the best place for a Mickey ice cream bar. It has to be at the Magic Kingdom, and it has to be at the fireworks.

After dinner we went to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz Lightyear. Our scores were pitiful, so we rode it again. They were much better the second time around, so we could stop.

It was now about 8:40, so we made our way to Main Street to get a spot for the parade. I went to get our ice cream bars at the 10 minute announcement, but the line was very long. The fireworks had already started and gone through Tinkerbelle's flight before I got the ice cream.

Somehow, the fireworks were even prettier tonight—brighter and more colorful. How do they do that? Of course we cried again, especially as this was our last night. Once again we waited on a bench and finished our ice cream bars while the crowd cleared. We decided to wait until they stopped playing the depressing love songs/sad music (Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Wishes, etc) before we left so as to avoid the temptation to end it all and throw ourselves under a double stroller.

We took the monorail to the Contemporary Resort, where I continued my quest to find a Contemporary pin. As with last trip, I had no luck. The Gift shop CM said they'd been out of them for quite a while. Apparently they were supposed to be designing a new pin and it was supposed to be in any day now, but who knows.

We bought a few things and then I took Paula for a ride in the elevators so she could hear the character voices announcing each floor that I so enjoyed when I stayed here last November. Sadly, the voices weren't working on the elevators. We got in and out of several different elevators and tried going to different floors but to no avail. Paula now is quite certain that I'm losing my mind. My insisting, "But I swear I heard voices!" doesn't seem to change her opinion any.

We took the monorail to back to the PR. While we were stopped at the Transportation and Ticket Center, a lady on the monorail said that if you're waiting for the Spanish instructions, you've already been crushed in the doors. You know, she makes a good point. The doors are pretty much already closing by the time the announcement starts. We got very tickled thinking about the poor Spanish-speaking guests. "Por favor mantangense…..Eeeeeaaaaahh!"

Back in our room, I went to fill up our mugs. We updated our notes, checked email, and half-heartedly packed some things up. We went to bed at 2:00

Day 8 - Saturday 5/8/04

"We have *got* to get some less depressing music." Or, Now Hiring Smiling Faces.

We were up at 5:00 to pack and get ready to go, knowing that we needed to leave for the airport by 7:30. Of course, we were finished and ready to go by 6:30. Oops. Looks like we overestimated that a tad. We waited around until 7:00 and then broke down and called bell services to come get our luggage.

We got our car from valet and stopped at the new Hess station (formerly the Tiger Mart) to fill up with gas ($9.35).

It always sad having to go, but it seemed particularly harsh to have to leave so early in the day without having had any Disney activities to make it better. We drove by Pop Century one last time and I told Paula about our last trip when Michael said, "Just wait until we get off property—that's when the happiness stops." He's a grim child, I know. Perhaps we should see about getting some therapy for him.

Paula had a Disney CD that we had been listening to in the car, which had been great as long as we were driving around on Disney property but, as we drove to the airport, the songs became more and more depressing. "Reflections" from Mulan, then some very uncheerful song from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, then Bella Notte, and then, the straw that broke the camel's back, When You Wish Upon a Star! Nothing sadder than sobbing uncontrollably as you drive down the turnpike. I finally told Paula that she was going to have to find some less depressing music before I was so distraught that I drove the car off an overpass to end our suffering!

Luckily, we made it safely to the airport where we immediately decided that the Orlando airport is 100% magic-free. Curbside check-in was mobbed with a huge line, so we decided to return the rental car and then just check in normally. We turned in the car and then schlepped our luggage down the elevator. "They don't care here." I moaned to Paula as we struggled with our luggage. As we got off the elevator, a woman greeted us, asked us what airline we needed, gave us directions and told us to have a nice day. I stand corrected. But she was the last one that did care.

Check in inside was a little better. Well, it seemed to be moving faster anyway.

At the security checkpoint, I was lucky (?) enough to be felt up by the friendly security personnel. For some reason I kept setting the metal detector off, even after I had removed everything that I could without being cited for indecent exposure. The security people kept asking me if I was sure I didn't have any artificial limbs, joints, dental work, implants, etc. until I was ready to scream. I walked through the metal detector at least 10 times and was scanned by hand three or four times.

Finally they brought over a lady who patted me down and declared me safe for air travel. She was very apologetic but that didn't stop her from doing a thorough job of it. It was quite amusing really--I was actually hurt when she didn't ask me for my phone number.

Then, to add to our insult, we were snipped at by minimum-wage-earning McDonald's employees. Having some time before our flight, we decided to get some breakfast at McDonalds. Paula wanted a sausage biscuit but when I ordered one the clerk barked at me "We don't do biscuits!"

Well, okay, that was our fault as we probably should have looked at the menu and noticed that they only had Egg McMuffins and Bagels, but that's the beauty of McDonalds--you don't *have* to look at the menu, it's supposed to be the same everywhere.

When she settled for a Sausage McMuffin the clerk then snapped "Do you want egg on that?"

"Doesn't it come with egg?" Paula meekly asked.

"Yes," the clerk snapped back and Paula said that yes she did want the egg on there then.

I, of course, had to throw them for a loop by ordering a ham and egg bagel but with no cheese. Paula and I were tickled by this time as several other people had come up and tried to order biscuits until all the cashiers were livid with rage. I wanted to tell the other people in line to be sure to ask about their biscuit special, but didn't quite have the nerve.

Every time Paula and I laughed the employees visibly winced. "Look," I told Paula. "They're not used to the sound of laughter, its making them angry."

We had to wait for our order and when the manager-guy handed me the sack Paula swears he said, "Here's your bagel without sauce and a mushroom."

I, on the other hand, plainly heard him say, "Here's your bagel without sauce, and I mashed it for you!"

Well, this sent me off into gales of laughter. How kind of him to pre-mash my breakfast for me--just like Mother used to make! And I don't even know what he meant by "without sauce." I swear I was laughing so hard that I was crying. Nothing sadder than crying at the airport McDonalds. They had a big sign posted that stated, "Now Hiring Smiling Faces." I can certainly see why they would need them as there are none there currently.

Our flight home was the Twilight Zone flight of death. There was an entire semi-pro Basketball team on our flight who got to pre-board, a sick child sitting across the aisle from us whom they brought a garbage bag to throw up in, a drink spill in the row in front of us (which woke up Paula from her nap, what with the ice in her shoe), and a Southwest Airlines hater sitting next to us. Its things like that that make you glad to get home.

SUMMARY

Well, I suppose this wouldn't be a very helpful trip report without a handy summary of all things good and evil about our trip so, without further ado, here it is, the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Goble Girls' Spring Fling....Wait a minute, not so fast. I think a word of explanation is in order.

It goes without saying that the "good" part of any Disney trip is easy to write, it's the "bad" and the "ugly" parts that are rather difficult--most of them feel like I'm grasping at straws. I mean, it *is* Disney after all, so the "bad" are more like mild disappointments, and the "ugly" are more "homely" really than out and out ugly.

THE GOOD

Lodging

This was our first stay at the Boardwalk Inn and we couldn't have been more pleased. Aside from the rather confusing layout of the resort, I thought everything about the Boardwalk was great. The location, in particular, was wonderful, even rivaling my beloved Beach Club for ease of access to Epcot and MGM.

I also really liked the walkway to MGM. This was my first trip to actually use it (thought I've sent my poor Mom down it on her ECV on more than one occasion). As long as the weather is pleasant and you're not beat down by a long day in the parks, it's far superior to talking the Friendships in my opinion.

Did I mention that I loved the bathroom at the Boardwalk Inn? Yes? Well, I did. The chest of drawers in the sink area kept all the usual clutter off the vanity and was very handy. See, it's the simple things in life that keep me happy.

The Polynesian of course is always a favorite resort of mine. As I previously mentioned, I love the CM's here and I love watching the fireworks from the beach as well. Plus, being on the monorail line can't be beat for visiting the MK and for going to activities at the Grand Floridian or the Contemporary.

And, since we're talking about resorts, I have to go ahead and put the new Pop Century resort in here as well. I'm thrilled that Disney has added another value resort and I loved the theming of this one. I've always said that I think the All Star Movies resort is the most Disney-themed of any of the resorts and I think they've continued that feel at the Pop Century with the Lady and the Tramp icons, the giant Mickey phone, Mr. and Ms. Potatohead, etc. I'm looking forward to staying here on a future trip (hopefully very soon).

Weather

Aside from the first three rainy days (which are mentioned in the "bad" section), we couldn't have asked for better weather--nice warm days without even the slightest bit of humidity. I have been in May before when it was definitely wetter, but all in all, I think it's a great time to visit.

Food

We didn't try a whole lot of new eating places this trip, but we enjoyed all the ones that we did try. Earl of Sandwich was very good, as was Tony's Town Square in the MK. Of our old stand-bys, Le Cellier is always a favorite (although if you order your steak "rare," be sure that you mean it!) as is ‘Ohana and the afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian.

The lunch we had at Alfredo's in Epcot was a particularly nice stand-out for the atmosphere, nice waiter, and lovely day, as much as the food.

Miscellaneous

Now here's where I throw in all manner of random thoughts about what we enjoyed.

First up are Fast Passes. Even during times of more moderate attendance, these things are great. As long as you don't mind a minimal amount of back tracking, I think it's a good idea to always be holding Fast Passes for an attraction. Then, before doing the current attraction via your Fast Pass, get another set for some other attraction. It saves time, energy, and you know it makes sense.

Secondly, I love the special events they have at Epcot--The Flower & Garden Festival as well as the Food & Wine Festival in the fall. Of course, I'm probably a bit partial since Epcot is my favorite park, but I think these events are well worth going to. Even if you don't participate in any of the special demonstrations or events, just admiring the displays is worthwhile.

Finally, I have to give a big nod to the Cast Members. All of the ones that we encountered this trip were very friendly and helpful and, for the most part, knowledgeable. Also, the character CM's we encountered were all great. From Governor Radcliffe kicking me in the rear to Prince John disdainfully making me kiss his ring, to Pinocchio playing chase with the children, they were all playful and delightfully in character. The only thing I missed at all on this trip was being felt up by Tigger.

Not really. Sorry--bad joke. And in extremely poor taste as well (although I'm sure you would expect nothing less from me by now). We were amused however by the lack of Tigger in the parks. It looks like they're keeping a low profile where he's concerned.

THE BAD

There's not too much to talk about that was bad on this trip. The crowds on Grad Nights are fairly significant and we were surprised at how the other parks beside the MK were affected. The crowds weren't unmanageable, but might have been surprising if we hadn't known about them in advance.

We did miss seeing Fantasmic and Illuminations (two of my favorites) this trip because of the weather. Fortunately, we know that we can always see them next trip (and we did see Wishes three times this trip, so that should count for something).

On a similar note, the rain the first few days was a mild annoyance mainly because our rain gear was usually back at our resort instead of with us when we needed it. I really don't mind splashing around in the elements at Disney despite how bad my hair looks--the rain seems to thin out the crowds and, as most of the attractions are indoors anyway, doesn't really affect your enjoyment of the rides. Also, we were flexible about our plans and switched going to a park for shopping while it was raining.

The only other bad thing was Paula bringing the wrong shoes by mistake and getting blisters the first day. It made for a rather miserable rest of the trip for her.

THE UGLY

What can I say, it's Disney. The only really ugly part (besides the distinct lack of biscuits at the airport McDonalds) is having to go home.

Although, it's hard sometimes when everyone you wish could go to Disney with you can't make the trip for whatever reason. No matter how much fun Paula and I have on our all-girl trips, there is a slight element of guilt for being at Disney by ourselves. For example, Paula celebrated her wedding anniversary with me at Disney this trip instead of with her husband (who is a dear and patient man, by the way, for loaning her to me on such a regular basis).

So, I guess that would be the only other bad thing about our trip. However, it's good to know that there will be more trips to Disney in our future and that those trips will be made with the people that we love. And isn't that what makes Disney so special?

Thanks for reading. Until next time,

Robin Goble

Robin Goble - May 2004 - Boardwalk, Polynesian Resort


that took a while to read/.

Excellent report! But surely you have gone again since 2004! Me want more trip report!

I don't know if you still want this since the ride has changed to the Gran Fiesta Tour, but here is a link to the words of El Rio Del Tiempo:

http://www.disneypixarstudios.org/board/viewtopic.php?p=15664&sid=9bbb200bd4db6115a303b8e8872ff2e3

Great report!

Thanks for another great trip report. Always enjoy reading yours.
Sounds like a great time.

You MUST go again - and I liked your narrative!

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