Hi all. I have been reading trip reports at Mouse Planet for some time now, and just returned a few days ago from my third trip to WDW. I must have been crazy to go in August, but I have a teenage son whose school schedule dictates that our vacations are taken only during summer or winter break.

Cast: Myself: 42 year old single Mom
Son: 15 years old
Grandpa (Son's grandpa-- my father-in-law, age 67)
Grandma (Son's grandmother, my mother-in-law, age 54)

After separating from my husband 10 years ago, his family and I became closer than ever, and we have vacationed together a total of 4 times-- twice to WDW and twice to Disneyland in California. I guess most folks consider this to be strange, but this is like having an adopted family, and we are closer than we ever were back in the days when I actually WAS a member of the family. Now this is not my in-laws' idea of a vacation-- their idea is a two week respite in the Carribean, with daily snorkeling and cocktails by the pool. WDW is very hectic, by comparison, but the in-laws were great sports, ran around with us, and allowed my son and I to micromanage everything. It was so important to my son (and to me, also) that he get in another memorable family vacation with his grandparents.

I am one of those micromanaging types, when it comes to planning a vacation. I think I have almost as much fun planning as I do actually having the experience. I found an excellent rate for the Royal Plaza (one of the not-owned-by-Disney, but "official" WDW hotels), complete with 2 nights free, and daily buffet breakfast for two. I also had fun making our dining reservations, and for the most part, was happy with what we had selected. One restaurant turned out to be a bummer, but I will get to that later.

Day one: July 31st:
I had scored a great airfare on the internet from San Jose, California, to Orlando, but it required that my son and I fly out at 2:30 PM on 7/31, and arrive in Orlando at about 12:30 AM the next day. Flight was okay-- about 3 1/2 hours on one leg and 2 1/2 on the other. My son and I amused ourselves by listening to Stephen King horror stories on cassette tape. I have one of those old-fashioned sports Walkmen, with two plugs for the headphones. My son and I could each plug in a headset and listen to the tape at the same time. We have found that to be a really fun way to pass the time on the plane.

We landed on time and Tiffany Town Car service (which I had booked a few weeks earlier) was waiting for us at baggage claim. (About the same cost as using a cab, and infinitely less stressful.) My in-laws were not due to arrive until the next day... or since it was already 12:30 AM , I should say much later that same day, so my son and I had some time to ourselves for a while. Our bags came out fairly quickly and we were soon on the way to the hotel. The driver made a stop at Goodings Supermarket (you have to request this when you make your reservation) and we ran in to grab some supplies for a very late dinner. My son spotted this enormous cold Cuban sandwich-- it was over a foot long and maybe 5 or inches wide-- and asked if he could have it. The sandwich was $5.99, and looked like it could possibly satisfy his teenage appetite, so I said yes. Normally, the folks at Tiffany Town Car don't care to stop at Goodings, since it is a designer market with designer prices. However, it was the only 24-hour supermarket nearby, and everything else had closed by midnight. I didn't mind going there-- we nearly had the place to ourselves, and the prices weren't really horrible. Our groceries, including 2 small sandwiches for me, that monstrous thing for my son, 2 12-packs of soda, chips and cookies from the bakery, came to about $30.00 and the soda and snack stuff lasted us several days.

Check-in was fast-- another advantage to arriving at such a late hour, and by 1:30 AM, we were in the room, splayed out on our beds, chowing down and watching the Top Seven Things to Do in WDW on the TV. Our host, Stacy, was a little more annoying than the host we remembered from our last visit, Chrissa... or is it Krissa? Stacy was quite perky, rather childlike, and said many silly things, but she actually grew on us after a couple of days. I unpacked while my son drove me crazy playing with the 6 pillows on his bed-- he especially had fun using the long cylindrical leg pillow as a sword. The child is 15 years old and can be quite mature at times. Just not this time. He delighted in repeatedly telling me what the pillow's shape reminded him of,but finally settled down when I threatened to sleep in until noon the next day.

You can read about the Royal Plaza Hotel all over the internet, and see pictures of the newly renovated rooms. We had a "deluxe" room on the sixth floor, with an upgraded bathroom complete with Roman tub. The beds were plush and super-comfortable, with fluffy comforters and the afore-mentioned six pillows per bed. There was a loveseat in the room, we had floor-to-ceiling windows, and the room was painted a lovely shade of green. All of this for $135.00 per night, including tax and resort fee, and two nights free. I was feeling rather smug and pleased with myself.

We probably got to sleep around 2:30 AM, with the intention of getting up by 9:00 and hitting Epcot before the rest of the family arrived.

Hey, this trip reporting is going to be fun! I shall try not to ramble on too much. Will log back on in a day or two for the next installment.

We read about the great reviews for the royal and are totally interested in staying there.. but are trying to compare the benefits to staying there or at a disney value or mod... if you can provide any further details on your thoughts on that that would be so cool! I cant wait to read more about your trip!

Sunfun94 has asked for more info on the Royal Plaza-- specifically, advantages vs. the Disney value and moderate resorts. (Thanks Sunfun94! Someone has actually read this, so far! :o) I must admit that I have never stayed at a Disney-owned resort in Florida (although I once stayed at the Disneyland Hotel in California, which is ultra-cool). I honestly would have loved to have stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter this time, since the theming looks wonderful, and you have to stay in a Dis resort in order to be on the dining plan and enjoy the "extra magic hours." This was my second stay at the Royal Plaza, and on my first visit back in 2001, I had stayed at the Grosvenor (another independent hotel on WDW property).

So why did I end up choosing Royal Plaza? The nightly rate was roughly about the same as the rate for a moderate Disney resort, we had utilized a mousesavers.com discount and package deal, offering every 4th night free, and we had a complimentary full buffet breakfast for two every morning. When I started adding up all of the savings, Royal Plaza started having an edge over Port Orleans. Also, since we were traveling with my in-laws, I wanted to find a place with interior corridors, a readily accessible full-service restaurant and a bar.

Port Orleans has exterior corridors (as do all the value and moderate Dis resorts) and the rooms do not appear to be as spacious or luxurious as Royal Plaza. There are a total of 7 independantly owned hotels on WDW property, with their own bus routes to the theme parks. Their buses are now operated by Mears, and are VERY comfortable (soft coach-like seats). Disney's buses are okay, but they have typical city bus seating, which are hard and uncomfortable after a long day in the parks.

Royal Plaza shares its bus with the Hilton and Doubletree hotels, and there was usually ample seating for everyone-- a big plus for us, since my father-in-law ("Grandpa") has major knee and foot issues, and has trouble walking long distances or standing for long periods of time.

Service at Royal Plaza was very good. Housekeeping always had our room made up when we returned to the hotel around midday, the staff were friendly, and it is a rather small hotel, so no walking long distances to the pool, laundry room, bus stop, etc. The concierge could have been more knowledgeable-- one night, I asked exactly where the bus stopped at Pleasure Island, and she had no idea. Another evening, I asked her to call a cab for me and she said that cabs are always waiting outside. This sounded odd to me, and it turns out that she had no idea what she was talking about. If you want a cab, you ask the bellman outside to call one for you. Or you call Yellow Cab yourself.

The buffet breakfast was free every morning (courtesy of Mousesavers), and it was just fine. Each of us were able to order different kinds of drinks (Grandma usually ordered milk, apple juice, and coffee-- all covered under the voucher) and the food selections were decent. I would never pay for this buffet, however-- the restaurant (Giraffe Cafe) charges about $17.00 per person, which is steep, considering what you get. This is Denny's-style food, not a gourmet breakfast-- potatoes, scrambled eggs, french toast, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage links, cheese blintzes, breakfast burritos, 3 kinds of cereal, pastries and fruit-- pineapple chunks (fresh, not canned), melon, and strawberries. There was also Yoplait yogurt and do-it-yourself Mickey waffles. We were able to chow down every morning, and have it tide us over past the normal lunch rush.

One thing that was kind of funny-- Every morning, my mother-in-law would ask for a glass of nonfat milk. The server would usually blink at her and say, "Lowfat? 2 percent?"

"No," Grandma sighed. "Milk with NO fat. Nonfat milk."

The server stood there, looking mystified.

I decided to add my two cents' worth. "You know... skim milk," I chirped.

The server returned with a bottle of 2%.

Most mornings, Grandma would eventually end up with at least one glass of nonfat milk, but only after a lengthy discussion about it. Strange...

We had dinner there twice. The food was okay-- most selections were pretty reasonably priced, but I noticed a steak on the menu for $30.00, which seemed ridiculously high. Grandpa ordered the steak medium-rare and it was served almost well-done. I guess he should have asked for it rare. Grandma ordered the free-range chicken breast one night and said that it was overly garlicky for her (and she does have an appreciation for garlic) .My son's and my dinner bill was usually about half of his grandparents' portion. The grandparents enjoy a cocktail or three with dinner, which always pushes the cost through the roof. My son and I always had sodas with free refills.

Anyway-- Royal Plaza was a good choice for us, despite the tiny little annoyances. Bus service to the parks was every half hour, and the ride was never very long. Good looking, restful rooms, nice public areas, adequate restaurant, nice pool. Oh-- one other change I noticed-- you can now have your park purchases sent to your hotel-- a perk that was previously reserved only for Disney-owned hotels. Now you can stay in any of the Hotel Plaza Blvd places on the WDW property and enjoy this benefit.

Hope this info is helpful. I will get around to the next installment a little later.

Wednesday, Aug 1st--

Woke up of my own accord around 9:00 AM. Son was still asleep, so I decided to try out the in-room coffee and see if the general quality has improved. It hasn't. I don't know why those prefilled filter packets have to be so weak and tasteless. I used half of the recommended amount of water for the whole packet, and it still tasted watered down and tired. Usually I remember to bring my own coffee, but since Royal Plaza "proudly serves Starbucks," and it was included with breakfast, I decided I could wait a bit.

Waking up in Florida on the first day of vacation, when you are used to Pacific time, is always a challenge. Eventually, my son and I got ourselves ready and stumbled downstairs for breakfast.

Son was too excited to eat, and I managed to eat a few bites of bacon and eggs to go along with the coffee (the real stuff this time) before our bus arrived. Bus pulled up at 10:00 precisely (they do start running 1 hour before the parks open and for two hours after they close, by the way). We were soon off to Epcot. Grandma and Grandpa weren't due to arrive until after 5:00 PM, so we had plenty of time to goof around.

Now I must mention here that my son was working on overcoming his jitters about rollercoasters and other thrill rides. He and I had never been on Test Track before, and he had always refused to do Tower of Terror, Rock 'n Rollercoaster, etc. Last year, after viewing countless footage of Disney rides on Youtube, long discussions about what they were like, and plenty of pep talks, he had finally bitten the bullet and tried Space Mountain in Disneyland for the first time, along with Matterhorn. He had tried Splash and Big Thunder a few years before and didn't care much for either, but gave them another try also. All of this occurred during a 2006 Disneyland vacation, and I was so happy for him. Part of him always hated waiting out while the rest of us rode, part of him thought that the rides would be fun, and the other part was scared silly to try them out. Poor guy-- I always felt so bad for him, and it was so hard not to beg him to ride something, especially when I was certain he would enjoy it. It was one of those "fear of the unknown" kind of things.

For this reason, I had never tried out Test Track before, as I always sat out with him, and I usually kept him company while everyone else did the other thrill rides. He always felt bad about that, as well.

So last year in Disneyland, he conquered all 4 mountains, but couldn't manage to get on California Screamin' (the only upside down rollercoater in DCA) or the Tower of Terror. Several months before we left for Florida, we started pep-talking about the things in WDW that he had not tried yet. By the time we left, he was willing to give Test Track, Kali River Rapids, and Expedition Everest a shot. But Tower of Terror and Rock n' Rollercoaster were definitely out. I was bummed, but glad that we could experience at least 3 new thrill rides together.

We arrived in Epcot around 10:30 and made a beeline for Test Track. I was excited, having never ridden it before, and he was excited, but nervous, asking questions like, "you're 100% sure that I can handle this?" I kept reassuring him that I would never betray his trust and that if he could handle Space Mountain, then Test Track looked easy. We wound our way through the queue, enjoying the fact that Disney always manages to give guests something cool to look at while waiting in line.

We were seated in the front row, and by the time the car started accelerating, my son was grinning like an ape. When it was over, my son told me how awesome he thought it was and how much he wanted to go again. I loved this ride also, and was so glad to have finally tried it out.

We headed over to Ellen's Energy Adventure, aka Universe of Energy, which we have always enjoyed before. It was great fun, and a nice break from the already hot weather outside. Then we headed back to Test Track for another run, before having lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Son had a hamburger and fries, which he pronounced delicious-- I had a chicken sandwich which tasted fine as soon as I added some honey dijon sauce to it.

By this time, it was already about 2:00, the park was getting crowded, and we were ready for a break. We found our bus and headed over to the hotel for a rest.

My in-laws were due to land around 4:30 PM, and they were also using Tiffany Town Car and making a grocery stop. I called Grandma on her cell phone a little after 5:00 and learned that they had just left the grocery store and were on their way to the hotel. My son and I raced down to the lobby so that we could meet them when they pulled up.

Even though I only live about 30 miles away from my son's grandparents, and we see each other fairly often, it was exciting to meet up with them at the hotel. It had really started to rain hard by the time they arrived, and when the car pulled in, we helped them bring their luggage in and hung around while they checked in. They wanted us to come along while they unpacked, so we hung out in their room, chatting while they got settled in. They had opted for a Premium room on the 15th floor, which looked very similar to our deluxe room. But for $8.00 per night extra, they had a table and two chairs, and a whirlpool tub. Nice! My son kept joking about how he was going to come over and take all of his baths in Grandma and Grandpa's room.

The entire hotel is non-smoking, and Grandpa is the only smoker in our group. He was slightly bummed that the sliding glass door only opened a few inches, so he did all of his smoking outside of the lobby, which is what the hotel management intended.

We had dinner at the hotel's Giraffe Cafe. I don't remember what I had, but it was okay, I suppose. Son had a massive cheeseburger, which he enjoyed.

Son was hoping that Grandma and Grandpa would be up to theme-parking-it after dinner that evening, but after their flight, they were pooped. We promised the kid that if everyone got to bed at a decent hour, we would hit MGM Studios the next morning at opening. He was a pretty good sport, and he and I were drowsing off to sleep around 10:00 PM.

Next installment-- MGM Studios on Day 3. Son digs heels in and doesn't ride the coaster or Tower of Terror. But will he ever change his mind? We'll see....

Thursday, August 2nd:

Just before parting ways the previous night, we had all agreed that we would meet in the Giraffe Cafe for breakfast at 7:00 AM. My son and I were up at about 6:00 and downstairs by the appointed time. We waited until about 7:15 for the grandparents to arrive, and then my son went up to their room to rattle their cages. He came back 5 minutes later, saying that Grandma had opened the door all sleepy and puffy-eyed and apologetic that they had slept in. Grandma and Grandpa were going to throw themselves together in a hurry and meet us in the restaurant ASAP.

They made it downstairs by about 8:00 and my son was getting antsy, watching the shuttle buses pulling out without us every half hour. "I suppose that Grandma and Grandpa would like to have breakfast before we leave, huh?" he asked me, and I reminded him that we had slept in on our first day also, and that they were entitled to the same courtesy. I also pointed out that he might not be hungry, since he had already eaten, but that his grandparents would be. My kid is a good person at heart, but sometimes forgets "the needs of the many." He sighed heavily, said something sarcastic about the parks being overcrowded by the time we would get there and gave me a "I am suffering" glance. Somehow, he managed to survive this minor snafu and still had fun. Ah, teenagers and their perspectives on life....

Grandpa ate a huge breakfast, commenting on how he didn't need to eat again until dinner. He said this every morning, but usually ended up eating lunch with us anyway. He also remarked every morning that he usually doesn't eat such a large breakfast... ("I usually have my one egg and some coffee. Sometimes a bowl of Wheaties. But not this big of a breakfast.") I told him one morning that I would be happy to order him one egg and a cup of coffee if it would prefer, and he grinned, saying that since the breakfast was free, he felt obligated to take advantage of it.

This was the first day of the Great Nonfat milk caper. Grandma got her skim milk on the third try. And drank the 2% also. I left a $5.00 bill as a tip and Grandpa protested, telling me that I didn't need to do that since we were serving ourselves. I disagreed, since we were a very needy group in the beverage dept, and kept the server hopping with our multiple requests for more coffee, different milk, tabasco sauce, and catsup. Grandpa is an overly generous tipper in other regards-- I was often shocked to see him tipping other servers and cab drivers 30 or 40% sometimes, compared to my paltry 15 to 18%. He has his opinions about appropriate tipping and I have mine.

I think we made it on the 9:00 AM bus, which wasn't bad, since MGM was opening at 9:00. It was drizzling rain, and stayed rainy all day. We headed straight over to Tower of Terror after getting Fast Passes for Aerosmith. My son sat out on both rides and amused himself in the gift shops. Fortunately, he did not have to wait long for us, since it was still early in the day. My son is a budding metal-head guitarist and Aerosmith is one of his favorite bands. I was dying for him to ride Rock 'n Rollercoaster, as I was sure he would love it. But I bit my tongue as I watched him gaze wistfully at the unloading area.

The rest of us love this ride. Even Grandpa, anti-heavy-metalist that he is, enjoys Rock 'n Rollercoaster. Grandma could not wipe the smile off her face. We all looked like idiots in our photo, much to my son's delight. Tower of Terror, as usual, was great, even though the kid sat this one out also. The whole Twilight Zone theming is so well done, and I love the way the 5 missing hotel guests materialize in front of you and beckon you to join them. Again, I wished that my son could see this for himself, and deal with the verticle drop part.

After TOT, we began searching for a "Grampa area." This is a long-running joke in our family. The first time Grandma and Grandpa joined us on vacation in Disneyland in 2000 (Grandpa's first visit ever), Grandpa began the habit of studying the park map as soon as we entered, looking for the designated smoking areas. We joked that we would plan our touring and timing to allow adequate and convenient stops in "Grampa-Land." Since he is the only smoker in the group, he would mildly protest that he didn't want to hold us back by taking a smoke break, but would eventually allow himself to be persuaded. ("Well, if you all insist... Far be it for me to argue with the rest of you...")

After Grampa-Land, we headed over to The Great Movie Ride. My son had been sulking just a bit that he hadn't ridden anything yet, and didn't appreciate being reminded that this had been his choice. But he loves the Great Movie Ride and it was nice to get out of the rain and off our feet for about a half hour. This was followed by another quick stop in Grampa-land, and then it was time for our lunch reservation. Grandpa maintained that he wasn't hungry but wouldn't mind an afternoon cocktail. The rest of us decided we were starving. I had made a 12:30 reservation for the Sci Fi Dine-In, and we were seated about 15 minutes after checking in. I love the Sci Fi, and have managed to get in at least one meal there every trip. The food is average, in my opinion, but not bad. It is the atmosphere that I really love. You get to sit in a "car," and watch clips of 50's B-Movies (Think Plan 9 from Outer Space and Devil Girl from Mars) as you dine. In-between the movie previews, you can see clips of "News of the Future," cartoons, and reminders to visit the refreshment stand. It's dark, meant to look like you are parked at a drive-in movie at night, and such a cool, unique experience.

My son and his grandfather each had a Reuben sandwich, which they loved. I had a cheeseburger and fries, which made me very happy. I think Grandma had the chicken sandwich. A lovely little 5-year-old English girl and her father were "hitchhikers" in the back seat, and we enjoyed chatting with them while waiting for the food to arrive.

After lunch, we headed over to "Sounds Dangerous," which is fun. By this time, Grandpa was looking very tired. I mentioned earlier that he has knee and foot issues. Unfortunately, he is a proud, somewhat stubborn man who refuses to cater to his infirmity by riding in a wheelchair. On our three previous vacations with him, we would consistently avoid long lines, and he would usually leave the parks before we did, since he was frequently in pain. We were hoping that he would bite the bullet this time, and let us get a wheelchair. Alas, it was not to be. At least, not yet. (Do you detect a bit of foreshadowing here?)

After Sounds Dangerous and another visit to Grampa-land, we decided to head back to the hotel for a rest. We had dinner reservations at the Brown Derby that evening and agreed that we would catch the 6:30 PM bus back to MGM.

We had a nice long rest at the hotel and were on the bus in time to make it to our dinner reservation. This was our first time at the Brown Derby and it was really lovely. I had a scallop and pork belly appetizer and roast chicken for my entree. Son had the seared Ahi, which he pronounced to be delicious. Although my portion was plentiful in size, I thought that many of the other dishes were very small, considering what we were paying for them. I don't think that many of the dishes and appetizers are a good value. I suppose that what you are paying for is ambience. Grandpa enjoyed having his martini poured for him directly at the table and said it was the best he had in a long time. (I wouldn't know... I was on my 3rd glass of Coke by then.)

Settling the bill was a tiny bit awkward for me. Grandpa had insisted on paying for lunch at the Sci Fi, and I felt a self-imposed obligation to reciprocate. Last time we all went to WDW, we would take turns paying the entire check, and since my son and I don't drink, I ended up paying more than I would have if we had gone dutch. Splitting the bill in half doesn't exactly work either, for the same reason. I budget for meals very carefully, and don't have a lot of leeway for awkward bill settling. So I had decided that when my son and I placed our orders, I would round up to the next dollar, and quickly calculate the total in my mind, adding 25% for tax and tip. Naturally, my son's and my portion was usually around 1/3 of the entire bill (the grandparents also enjoy wine with dinner), and I hoped I wasn't coming across as a cheapskate. One night, when Grandpa talked about settling the bill, I already had my cash in hand, ready to hand over to him. He challenged me just a bit, saying, "How do you know what your part is? You haven't even seen the bill yet." I told him that I had done the math in my head, including tax and tip. (I was still paying a bit more than I would have with separate bills, but it was still better than splitting right down the middle.)

To be perfectly fair, Grandma and Grandpa did treat us to one other lunch and a very expensive meal on our last night.

So after dinner, my son asked us if we were up to hitting the Magic Kingdom for a while. To my surprise, the grandparents wanted to go, and we quickly hopped a bus to the TTC and transfered to the MK monorail.

Main Street was very crowded, and Grandpa was limping along slowly, not happy with the hordes of people we were encountering. We headed for Tomorrowland and saw Stitch's Great Escape for the first time. Very cute, although Grandpa was disappointed that this wasn't a "ride." Space Mountain was up next, and the posted wait was only 20 minutes. I enjoyed Space Mountain, but I have to concur with my son's opinion that the Disneyland version is much better. In Disneyland, you are seated side-by-side, and there are speakers on either side of your head, playing this excellent "space rock" kind of music. We missed the music very much-- it adds so much to the ride. Son pronounced Space Mountain kind of a letdown, and I cheerfully told him that Rock 'n Rollercoaster could make up for that. He gave me a dirty look.

Grandpa was in serious pain by now, and we made our way out of the park and back to the Royal Plaza. I had whispered to him that I would be happy to grab him a set of wheels, but he said it wasn't necessary. Ah well...

Next installment-- Day Four in Epcot with Grandparents. Grandpa refuses wheelchair again and son refuses Mission Space.

Friday, August 3rd:

Our day to visit Epcot again, this time with the grandparents. We arrived around 10:30 or 11:00 AM and ended up staying until closing, as we had an 8:00 PM reservation at Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada.

But first-- another big buffet breakfast at the Giraffe Cafe. Another disclaimer from Grandpa that he was all set, didn't need to eat again, didn't usually eat this much, etc. Another quest for the ever-evasive nonfat milk. I think that Grandma got it on her second try this time. Progress is progress. I was starting to get tired of the buffet and kept myself busy separating the considerable slabs of fat from my bacon strips, which made the meat part quite palatable. The resulting carnage on my plate wasn't too appealing, though.

We passed by the wheelchair rental spot and I shot an inquiring/pleading look at my father-in-law. He shook his head firmly. Nevertheless, we spent a nice day at Epcot, revisiting Test Track twice, and spending quite a bit of time checking out all cars in the GM showroom. I spied my wanna-be midlife crisis car there-- the Saturn Sky in that lovely greyish blue color. My son worshipped at the Altar of Corvette. Grandpa rambled about, reading the sticker info on the vehicles, and stopping in morbid fascination in front of a Hummer. I started making jokes to Grandpa about Hummers, using lines from the movie Shrek, like, "Now what are we compensating for, I wonder?" No insult intended to Hummer lovers out there--just kidding around. We had noticed that all of the other cars had mileage info readily available, but not on the Hummer. Grandpa and I joked that the miles per gallon were probably purposely withheld from the sticker, so that the customer could have time to fall in love and decide he could never walk out of that showroom without having one of these. ("Miles per gallon, you ask?" we imagined the salesperson saying to the drooling customer; "Well, let's not worry about that just now.... What say we take this baby out for a run and see what it can do?" By that time, the customer has formed an attachment that he (or she) cannot begin to explain-- Remember Arnie the first time he saw his 1957 Plymouth Fury in "Christine?")

We continued our quiet little verbal assault on Hummers (all the while admiring the interior and marveling at the leg room...) and a GM rep/cast member (both?) was suddenly at our side, begging to differ with us. Apparently, it was the last straw for him, when he overheard Grandpa and I joking that we would fill the in the mileage info on the sticker: 4 MPG in the city, and 6 on the highway. We were chortling and thinking ourselves very clever, when the Hummer Champion swooped in to enlighten us and show us the error of our ways.

Actually, I had the impression that we hurt the guy's feelings. We listened respectfully to his (defense) pitch, nodding and attempting to reassure him that we weren't REALLY slamming Hummers. We make fun of so many things, even things we love. He finished his speech, turned briskly on his heel and was gone from us before we could say anything else. I turned back to the Hummer, patted it on the hood and said I was sorry.

Eventually, we left the showroom and headed over to Mission Space. I had tried this out in 2004, and would have loved it, were it not for the spinning motion, which of course, creates the very effect you are seeking on this ride. I can do monster roller-coasters, but put me in anything that spins repeatedly, and I am ready to hurl. Sadly, my son inherited this intolerance, so we do not do Teacups or anything else that spins more than 3 or 4 times in a row. Grandpa and Grandma had never tried Mission Space and were eager check it out. Son and I waited in the gaming-virtual-play area at the exit. Son was tempted to try out the ride, but decided against it. We found a bench and a couple of sodas and soaked up the airconditioning and atmosphere while we waited for Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa emerged from the ride with smiles on their faces-- Grandpa said later on that it was probably his favorite ride of all. We found a Grampa area, and took a short break. Next up was Ellen's Energy Adventure again, and we eventually ambled over to World Showcase.

We spent the late afternoon slowly exploring the countries. It was horribly hot outside, and we were grateful for the air conditioning inside the pavillions. We walked around the marketplace in Mexico, which is always lovely, and tried out the former Rio del Tiempo boat ride-- much improved since they added Donald Duck and the other two Caballeros to it. It seemed a little more culturally sensitive, in that the whole insulting stereotypical scene with vendors trying to push their wares on you has been eliminated. Instead, you are now trying to help Jose and the other bird (I don't remember his name) find Donald. It is very cute. We did miss what we used to call "Revenge of the Carousel Horses." There used to be a carousel near the end of the ride, holding human puppet figures instead of horses. It is gone now, but the ride is much better overall, in my opinion.

We checked out Maelstrom in Norway, after visiting the Stave Church replica and the Viking ship. Maelstrom is kind of a short non-thrilling boat ride, but I like it. My mother's family on her father's side are Norwegian, and I have traced my great-great grandfather's birthplace to Norway. I know quite a bit about my Irish heritage, but virtually nothing about the Norwegian side. It is kind of interesting and mysterious to learn about the country and its people, thinking that these are, in part "my people." Poser-ish of me, I know. An affectation? You bet! I do love to eat gravlax and pickled herring, though... if that means anything at all. And my grandmother used to make lefser, the traditional soft Norwegian bread.

One additional digression while we are still in Norway-- Back in 2001, on our first WDW trip, and waiting to board the Viking boat ride Maelstrom, I began "entertaining" my son by telling him that the picture of the Viking painted on the wall was a painting of our ancestor, Lars Andersen. Actually, I told him the ancestor's name was Lars Ulrich Andersen. (No, he didn't know about Metallica yet, and no, he didn't know I was kidding.) The poor little guy was 9 years old at the time, and ate up every word, as I began to regale him with stories of Lars' exploits. "Really, Mom?" he asked, his little face so full of awe and trust; "Yes, son," I replied solemnly. It became even more convincing when Grandpa joined in and said, "Oh, yes... I remember seeing a portrait of Old Lars some time ago.... That's your ancestor, alright."

My then-9-year-old son's face shone with pride and respect for his newly discovered lineage. "I'm Norwegian AND Irish Mom? I'm descended from a Viking? That is so cool!" He boarded the ride, still beaming and was even more delighted when we "discovered" that the audioanimatronic Viking also resembled Old Lars. Lars Ulrich Andersen, that is.

The ride is short, but kinda cool, and when you get off the ride, you are ushered into a small theater where they show you a brief (travel pitch) film about Norway. I was starting to feel like a major heel as I looked at my little son's face, smiling and beaming as he soaked up Norwegian culture. The film is entitled "The Spirit of Norway," and the narrator ends the film by saying something like, "The spirit of Norway lives on..." My son turned to me then, glowing with pride, and said in a hushed voice, "The spirit lives in ME."

Did I feel like a complete jerk? Is the Pope a Catholic?

Later, I did confess to my son that I had embellished the truth quite a bit, in that he really IS Norwegian, but that Lars was a figment of my imagination. When my son learned 3 years later that the drummer for Metallica is Lars Ulrich, he promised to pay me back for that.

So now fast-forward to 2007, and we are once again boarding Maelstrom. I looked at my son and started to say, "Remember when..." and he cut me off quickly, saying, "Don't start!" We made it past the trolls and polar bears and into the theater. At the end of the Spirit of Norway film, my nearly grown-up son turned to me and said, "The spirit lives in ME!" He was smiling, so maybe he's not mad at me anymore. He has mentioned that he's going to do the same thing when he takes his own kids to WDW, if Maelstrom is still there.

After Norway, we explored the African outpost, passed by China and checked out Germany. My son had some money burning a hole in his pocket and was looking for a special souvineer to take back to his father. He found a beer stein with a pewter lid (Made in Germany, of course) and thought it would be perfect. Then he blanched when he saw the price tag-- $55.00. He had enough to cover it but also was considering presents for his two half-sisters (and himself) also. Grandpa saw him holding the stein and asked him about it. Son said he was thinking of getting it for his dad (Grandpa's son), but wasn't sure. We wandered back outside while Grandpa stayed inside the shop. Turns out that Grandpa bought the stein secretly and had it delivered to the hotel. He told my son, "Give it to your dad, and you don't have to mention any involvement from me." My son was touched, but at the same time, felt bad that he hadn't been the one to put out the expense. He offered to pay Grandpa back, but Grandma told him, "The best way you can pay him, is by just being with him. He has more money than time these days..."

We rested at a table outside of the America pavillion, and at 7:30 breezed by the rest of the countries to make it in time for our 8:00 reservation in Canada.

Got to Le Cellier a little early, and waited about 15 or 20 minutes to be seated. Another first time restaurant for all of us, and I had read such glowing reviews that I was in a lather of anticipation. We really had skipped lunch that day, and were all ravenous. The wine cellar theme is lovely and restful to the eyes. I had the famed cheddar cheese soup, which was good, and some pretzel bread. I think that Grandma had mussels for her appetizer and son had Ahi. It was interesting to note that the appetizer portion of his seared Ahi was roughly the same size as his dinner portion the previous night at the Brown Derby.

I ordered the New York strip steak for my entree and everyone else had the filet mignon. I was barely able to finish half of my steak and Grandma kindly offered to take it back to the hotel and keep it on ice for me, since they were leaving for the day, and my son and I were headed for Magic Kingdom again. The food was delicious. Steak was ordered medium-rare, and cooked perfectly. I usually have to order a steak rare to get it done to my liking, but this was fantastic. Charred on the outside and tender and red on the inside.

One unfortunate thing happened while I was away from the table for a few minutes. When I came back, Grandpa was ranting louding about little crying babies in nice restaurants, Son was looking mortified and a bit scared, and Grandma was trying to soothe the ruffled Grandpa. Evidently, some baby starting crying while I was away, and the parents had to take him out of the restaurant. Grandpa couldn't resist saying (loudly) "Get that kid out of here!" When my son gave me the whole story later on, it seemed that Grandpa couldn't resist broadcasting his annoyance, even though the parents were trying to move quickly to avoid further disturbing the other patrons.

He was still ranting about parents bringing their babies into nice restaurants and into theme parks that they will never remember, when I broke in and tried to change the subject. "Hey, that was some meal, huh?" Grandma and Son giggled a little, and we asked Grandpa how he had liked his steak. I try really hard not to argue in situations like this, since it never helps. Eventually the atmosphere lightened up, and we paid the bill and headed out of the park along with the rest of the crowd. We helped Grandma and Grandpa find their bus stop and said goodnight. Then my son and I boarded the monorail so that we could check out MK, which was closing at midnight.

We arrived in MK around 10:00 PM, and son really wanted to get on Splash and Big Thunder Mountains. Both lines were horrendously long, so we opted for Pirates of the Caribbean. I hate to say this, but the Disneyland version is better for this ride also. You get two substantial drops down a waterfall instead of just one, and the ride in Disneyland seems a bit longer. It also feels strange to board the boat and NOT float past the perpetually dark Blue Bayou Restaurant before entering the Pirate's cave. Still, this was fun. I noticed that the refurbishments include more politically correct interactions between the pirates and the wenches now.

After Pirates, we hopped on the Jungle Cruise. We like this version as much as the one in Disneyland-- perhaps even a little more, since you get to float inside a ruined temple in the WDW ride. That was fun. Then we headed over for the last showing of the day for the original Country Bear Jamboree.

Now THIS is nostalgia. I remember the original Jamboree in Anaheim on my first visit to Disneyland as a six-year old child. It was replaced in the 80's with the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown, which was almost as good, but I missed Big Al singing Blood on the Saddle. Finally, the attraction closed forever in Disneyland in the 90's to make way for the new Winnie the Pooh ride. I understood that changes are unavoidable, but I was so sad when they got rid of the bears. My son did not remember much about the show, and had never seen the original version before. I was so happy that he laughed at all the old jokes and got a kick out of Big Al and Liverlips McGrowl.

The park was closing to all the non-Disney hotel resort guests, so we walked over to Main Street, and had a massive ice cream there before heading back "home." It was after 1:00 AM when we got into bed.

Next installment: The grandparents take a break from theme parks for a day, and the 15-year-old anti-coaster boy conquers Expedition Everest.

I'm having a great time reading your trip report; keep it coming!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the further info on the Royal! :o)
Your trip report is great! Looking forward to reading more!

I seem to remember resolving not to ramble on when writing these installments, chapters, episodes... whatever they are. But as I skim over this report, I see that it is turning into a manifesto. The digressions are growing in number and threatening to take over. But I digress...

Sat, August 4th:

After 2 days of theme-park-ness, the grandparents told us on Friday evening that they needed a day of rest, and were going to spend Saturday hanging out by the pool. "But you kids run along and have a good time..." I told them that we would probably sleep in just a bit ourselves.

I seem to remember waking up around 9:00 AM to the sound of the hotel phone ringing. It was Grandpa, telling us that they were headed down for breakfast. I mumbled something about seeing them in a half hour and then closed my eyes for just a second. When I opened them again, the clock said 11:20. My head was still very heavy on the pillow, but I was afraid to close my eyes again. My son was slow to awaken, and was dismayed to learn that we had lost the entire morning. Somehow, we managed to throw ourselves together and oozed downstairs to say hello to Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa were parked comfortably at poolside, with their reading material and beverages close by. These are the tannest people I have ever seen, their having recently spent 2 weeks at St. Maartin. We chatted for a moment and then Son and I boarded the Animal Kingdom bus, with the oath to ride Expedition Everest or die. Or at least be really, really disappointed if we didn't make it. Son asked for a refresher pep-talk about Everest, which was hard for me to give, since I knew no more about it than he did. But I played up the "no upside down" angle quite a bit and asked him if this feeling of dread was any worse than how he felt just before trying Space Mountain and Matterhorn for the first time. He said that the feeling was pretty much the same, and he knew he had to jump on the train and get the initial ride over with. He loves Disneyland's Space, Splash, Big Thunder and Matterhorn mountains now, and he said he was reasonably sure he would love Everest also.

It seemed to me that this was the hottest day during our vacation. Perhaps I had that impression because we arrived so late in the day, but by the time we queued up for Ex. Everest (EE, I think Mouseplanet has dubbed it), I was miserable. There was a tall young lady standing in line directly in front of us and after a few minutes her boyfriend/husband/whatever returned with two bottles of water, and ice cream for himself, and a frozen strawberry juice bar for her. The idea of ice cream didn't do anything for me, but I gazed longingly at the water bottles... they certainly looked cold. And the frozen strawberry bar made me gulp. I felt like I could down two bottles of water without taking a breath. Not long afterward though, the line brought us inside and out of the sun. It wasn't super cool (temp wise) inside, but it made a difference and we were distracted for a while by all of the artifacts and mountain gear on display, as well as the Yeti Museum. At one point, the line stopped moving entirely, to the dismay of everyone. But after about 10 or 15 minutes, things started up again, thank goodness.

What can I say about Expedition Everest? I loved it! Another stroke of Disney genius. Why can't other theme parks invest the time to make their thrill rides more interesting the way Disney does? (I'm not slamming Universal, since they also do a good job in this dept.) The roars of the Yeti, the ripped up train track, the caves, the snow on the mountain-- the Yeti himself! Amazing. Disney doesn't HAVE to add an animation of the Yeti's shadow and he rips up another piece of track, but it's such a thoughtful, wonderful plus. As my son says-- you are never just riding a coaster with Disney-- there is a reason and story behind each ride. (With the exception of California Screamin', but that's another issue...)

My son, by the way, totally enjoyed this ride. I made a point of telling him that I thought EE was much scarier than Tower of Terror or Aerosmith. I also told him that I had read some reviews of EE, and a couple of people had warned that if you don't like Rock 'n Rollercoaster, then you definitely should not ride Everest. My son was quiet, but we was listening to me. I didn't want to push my luck, so I said nothing more.

We had Fast Passes for Dinosaur, and enjoyed this ride also. I made the idiotic mistake of not looping my backpack around my ankle, and I lost it on the ride. Thankfully, there was nothing irreplaceable in there, and I always keep money, cards, and ID upon my person-- not in a backpack. I probably could have re-couped it from Lost and Found at the TTC but we never made it back over there after that day. (As an aside-- all found items from all parts of WDW are sent to the TTC and you can call the next day to see if your item was turned in. The Disney staff walk the tracks of all their rides after closing and pick up lost items, so it would have been more than likely that my backpack would have been recovered.)

We found a covered table and chairs, and finally got our much coveted bottles of water and frozen treats. I bit into a lemonade bar and felt like I had gone to heaven. (Did I mention how hot it was outside? :o)

It was getting late, and we needed time to clean up and get ready for our dinner reservations with Grandma and Grandpa. On the bus ride back, my son turned to me and said, "Mom, I think I'm going to ride Rock n' Rollercoaster. And probably Tower of Terror also. I'm 90% sure about Aerosmith, and 80% sure about Tower."

I had to try really hard not to appear overly excited. As much as I wanted to squeal "Really! Yippee!" I simply said, "Hey, that's great. I'm sure you'll like them both, but it is up to you, and if you change your mind, I'll understand."

That was so hard to say. I have tried to talk him into things he was dead set against in the past, and all I have managed to do was make him feel pressured. We kind of dropped the subject after that, and spent the rest of the ride home chattering about Everest.

We had a 7:10 reservation for dinner at 'Ohana, and hopped on the 6:00 bus to the Magic Kingdom. Once we arrived at the TTC, we picked up the resort monorail, which took us swiftly to the Polynesian resort. What an absolutely lovely hotel. Very retro-seventies, but that's right up my alley. I loved the waterfall in the lobby and all of the lush plantlife. If I could ever afford to stay here....

We quickly found 'Ohana and I notifed the guy at the podium that we had arrived. The lady in front of me was trying to get a table as a walk-in, and was told that there would be a minimum 2-hour wait. In retrospect, I wish I had given her my reservation, if it would have accomodated her family, and taken my group elsewhere. Allow me to explain...

I had been looking forward to the 'Ohana experience very much. One unofficial Disney guide had said that you are "entertained with island wit and banter, as food is served on skewers from a fire pit." I knew this wasn't a luau, but I expected something else... I don't know quite what I expected, but it never happened.

Oh, it all started off innocently enough. My family and I sat in the bar area, enjoying our beverages at our own table, while we waited for our pager to go off. The atmosphere was very pretty and relaxing, and I was feeling quite happy. Eventually we were seated and the server started bringing food to us. This is one of those restaurants that are price fixe, and you get mass quantities of many different things, served family-style. I was a little sad when our server failed to say "Aloha" to us. (I was really looking forward to that Aloha.) However, the food arrived quickly, and we were soon enjoying salad, fried wontons, chicken wings, shrimp, and various dipping sauces. So far, so good.

After the starters and appetizers came out, we were served these delicious scalloped potatoes and crisp steamed vegetables. Then the skewered meats came quickly. Geez, it was coming out so fast, and it was more than we could possibly eat. Roast pork, sausage, steak (well-done, unfortunately), and either chicken or turkey, which was a bit on the dry side. However, everything had a nice smoky taste, and I was even prepared to overlook the overcooking of meat abomination. But then things started going horribly, horribly wrong...

We were entertained. By an entertainer. A Hawaiian entertainer. Playing a ukulele. I cringed a little when she started to sing and chat with us, but tried to keep an open mind. I was sure that things would get better. Alas, I was wrong. I don't remember the young lady's name, and I don't wish to be cruel, nor do I want to come across as one of those bah-humbug people. I will try to explain what the entertainment was like.

The young female entertainer walked loudly into the room, wearing a cordless microphone on her head. She was actually quite lovely, and was dressed in an Aloha-kind of gown (yellow and flowery), with a flower in her hair. It seemed to me that she had new shoes on, to which she had not yet become accustomed, because she was taking those kind of awkward small steps that one takes in unfamiliar heels, and clunking loudly as she made her way around the room. She carried her ukulele with her, smiling widely and perpetually, as she told us, "I am from Hawaii!" Actually, the way she said it, sounded like, "I am from Ha-WAI-EEEEEEEEEeeeeee......" I am trying to come up with a description of her vocal intonations and inflections... She addressed us as though we were a room full of pre-schoolers, her intonations sounding like a cross between Barney the Purple Dinosaur and South Park's imitation of Michael Jackson (aka Michael Jefferson). I don't know it that helps, but it is the best I can do.

In any case, she would say Hawaiian words and ask us to repeat them to her, telling us how clever we all were.

"I am from the island of HaWAI-eeeee! Can you say Hawaii?"

We could do that.

"Does everyone know what this hand gesture means? It means 'hang loooooose!' Can you all do that?"

We could do that also. (My son had to restrain himself from offering his own hand gesture.)

She glanced around the room, beaming at us. "Great job, every-onnnnnne!"

She then invited all of the little kids to join her in a coconut race ("We are all WINNERRRRRSSSSS!") and a stab at doing the limbo.

She played her ukulele and sang. She could carry a tune, but again, it reminded me of circle time when I was in Kindergarten.

So-- saying all of this to say, that if my son had been 5 or 6 years old and interested in participating in the entertainment, I probably would have had a different attitude about the whole thing. I am not going into this much detail for the sole purpose of slamming the experience (well, maybe a little...) but rather, to give others a clear idea of what to expect. Yes, my observations are somewhat tainted and awfully judgemental, but in a nutshell, I would probably recommend this restaurant for families with young kids, or families who don't mind a heavy dose of silly factor with their food. Or people who like their meat really REALLY cooked. Our own group dynamics didn't work well with this experience, so this is no one's fault. My in-laws were kind enough not to say anything, but later when I asked if they would like to go back to 'Ohana, they hurriedly declined. :o)

To wrap this up, allow me to say that the bananas foster bread pudding is awfully, awfully wonderful. What a fantastic dessert. All banana-y and carmel-y and ice-cream-y and good.

After 'Ohana, the grandparents were willing to take the monorail to MK with us and have a stab at Big Thunder and Splash Mountains. The posted wait for Big Thunder was only 30 minutes, and it felt more like 20. Good deal for Grandpa and his knees. We got in line for Splash Mountain (posted wait time 30 minutes) and some lady in the fast pass line came up to me and asked if I wanted free fast passes. "Really?!" I blinked; "Yes, thank you!!" we all cried. She gave me 8 fast passes for Splash Mountain. Eight! I started to try to share 4 of them with another party, but there were seven in their party, so no go. Later, Grandpa asked me if I were crazy. "We can ride twice!" he pointed out; "I'm all for benevolence, but aren't you taking it a bit far?"

So we rode Splash Mountain twice in a row with no wait.

After that, we started heading out of the park as Grandpa was in pain, despite the short waits in line. Poor guy. Grandma spotted an obviously abandoned wheelchair (no name on it, nothing attached, and nothing nearby to indicate that anyone would be returning to it). She sent me over to grab it, and Grandpa finally caved and sat down. He heaved a sigh of relief and said, "This is much better. You know what? I'm thinking I might do this again tomorrow!" We all breathed our own sighs of relief and told Grandpa that we wished we could have thought of that. :o)

Son grabbed a frozen lemonade and kept feeding it to Grandpa as we meandered our way to the front of the park. Back on the monorail to the TTC and then on the bus back home for the night.

Next episode: Grandpa rides wheelchair all day in Animal Kingdom, we introduce the grandparents to the Yeti, and Mom frets about getting her sneakers wet on Kali River Rapids. Stay tuned.

I hope your son did end up riding RRRC and TOT, because although he didn't know it, he actually DID go upside down in EE, and he did it going backwards, in the dark!!! I'll look forward to hearing if he made it on two of the best rides in WDW. Sorry you didn't enjoy Ohana's. I'm a vegetarian, myself, and thus will never go there.

Hi, and thank you so much for validation! I could have sworn that we were going upside down, backwards in the dark on EE, but couldn't be sure. My in-laws argued that we were merely only backing up a very steep incline, but my son and I could have sworn that it felt upside down. Thanks again!

hi have a couple of questions ! where do the buses drop you off @ epcot since you were staying [off property]? like grandpa stance towards kids ! in lecellier why should his dinner be ruined . love kids myself but there is a time & a place for everything.

Hi. There is a designated bus parking lot for all non-Disney owned buses at Epcot. I believe they drop you off at spaces 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 at all of the major theme parks. It is a little further away from the main gate than where the Disney buses let people off, and at Epcot, it is actually the furthest walk to the main gate. Luckily for us (and Grandpa's knees) Epcot has courtesy wheelchairs that you can borrow from the gate to the bus area, so that those who have trouble walking long distances don't have to hike all the way back to the bus parking lot. Nice, thoughtful touch. Hope that helps!

Hey, I'll let Grandpa know that he has someone who appreciates his stance on the crying kid issue. He will appreciate that. :o) Thanks so much.

I think I

Oops-- sorry for the incomplete post up there. Totally an accident, but here is the next chapter:

Sunday, Aug 5th:

We managed to get ourselves over to the Animal Kingdom around 9:30-- this time with Grandma and Grandpa along. Usual drill before the bus came: Buffet breakfast at Giraffe, skim milk shenanigans, same kind of food we had every other day. I was getting really tired of seeing all the meat, potatoes and eggs, and loaded my plate up with pineapple and not much else. Son ordered a Coke for his beverage and returned to the table with his plate full of pastries. I could see the horrified grandparents blanching under their tans, and I took a moment to ease their concerns and tell them that the kid never gets to eat like this at home, but when we are on vacation, he gets to have pretty much what he wants. Grandpa assured us that he was full, wouldn't eat again until dinner, etc. There is comfort in certain routines, don't you think?

Once we got inside the gates of the Animal Kingdom, I made a beeline for the wheelchair rental place. The CM asked me how many days I would need it for, and I said 3 days. He charged me $24.00 for the three days, which was a $6.00 savings over renting day by day. It also meant that we could bypass the lines at the cashier, and simply show our receipt to the CM handing out the equipment every morning.

Grandpa sat down, and Son offered to be his chauffeur. So began Grandpa's Wheelchair Rite of Passage.

My son was quite happy to be pushing Grandpa around, and had a great deal of fun whipping the chair (and Grandpa) from side to side, speeding up, popping wheelies, and charging straight for walls, poles, etc., all the while, chattering urgently in Grandpa's ear, "Turn right or left? Right or Left? Make a decision! Quick!!" Grandpa played up the role of hijacked victim very well, crying out desperately for help and waving his arms frantically. When Grandpa took his breaks in Grampa-land, my son would commandeer the chair, whirling in circles, chasing little kids in it, etc. How a kid can have so much fun with minimal effort on our part, I will never know. Maybe next year, I won't bother saving for an expensive vacation. I'm renting a wheelchair for a week and telling the kid to knock himself out.

Grandma and I, on the other hand, are quite boring and wheelchair chauffeurs. My son would be upset whenever I "took Grandpa away from him," and pushed the chair along at a pleasant, sedate pace. Grandpa must have missed all the action, because he asked me, "Do you think the boy could have another chance?"

Easy for him to say. He had no idea that the kid would let go of the handles periodically on a downslope and jog along behind as Grandpa rolled away all by himself.

The lines for EE are totally w/c accessible, so we couldn't cut in through the exit or anything glorious like that. But it was still so nice to know that Grandpa wasn't being tortured by the long waits. What a difference! As we stepped in line for EE, we also grabbed some Fast Passes for a later ride. We know our priorities.

Grandma and Grandpa adored Everest (we knew they would). We headed over to Kali River Rapids next-- a first for me and the kid, the second time for the grandparents.

I had heard so many things about people getting drenched on Kali, and my son had just returned from a Disneyland trip with his dad, and had ridden Grizzley River Run there, so I knew that the potential for getting soaked was high. Unfortunately, I had put my sandals in my backpack the day before (anticipating that we would do the water ride) and they were now lost. There were stands all over the place selling Disney Crocs and flip-flops, but at that point, I was sure I would get my backpack back, and refused to buy water-resistant shoes on principle. I was in jeans and athletic shoes with cotton socks. yes, I am an idiot.

I must say that I was extremely lucky, and was facing forward when we went down the falls. Grandma and Grandpa were drenched, and I fared much better by comparison. Shoes and socks stayed dry, and I tried to ignore that annoying feeling of wet pants. Ack.

The lines for both rides had been quite long, and Grandpa was longing for a midday beverage in air-conditioning. Fortunately, we had a 12:50 reservation for the Rainforest Cafe. We ordered some appetizers-- calamari, mozz. cheese sticks, crab dip, and hot wings, and had them with our beverages. Son and I had Cokes and Lemonade-- grandparents had something a wee bit stronger. Son also ordered a blue crab cake sandwich, and said he could really taste the crab in it, rather than having the breading taking center stage. Grandpa had some clam chowder and insisted on paying for lunch, waving my protests aside. Nice of him.

Time for me to take a little break in the middle of Day 6. I promised the kid 30 minutes ago that he could have the computer and now it's time to pay up! :o)

Im loving your trip report so far. I find it so entertaining to read these at work and it helps contain my excitment for my Turkey day trip this year!

Thanks so much! Glad to hear that I'm not boring everyone out there.
(*Whew!*) Congrats on the upcoming T-Day trip! I am so jealous! :o) The weather ought to be nice at that time.

great exposition! keep up the good work; you have a reader in australia who is keen to hear how things panned out! :)

Great report! I've been a longtime lurker and avid reader of trip reports on this site, and I've posted to the Disboard forum a few times, but this trip report pulled me out of my lurkdom. Can't wait to read more! :D

An aside....

This trip report is the first time I have really participated in any kind of online community, and I had no idea it would be so much fun! I have been an unregistered reader of reports for a couple of years now, and it is so cool to feel like I am a part of things now. If you're going to belong to any online community, then what better group than a bunch of fellow Disney enthusiasts? :o) I love seeing the feedback-- thanks so much! I need to start doing the same for others.

On to Sun Aug 5th, Part II:

Let's see... where did we leave off? Ah yes... A brief respite at the Rainforest Cafe. I know that many people don't care for the Rainforest. However, this was my second visit to the AK restaurant, and I have also been to the ones in the Disneyland Resort and also in San Francisco. I have never had anything there in the way of a memorable gourmet meal, but I do thrive on atmosphere. I could eat a bowl of corn flakes in there and be happy. (Well, I may be exaggerating just a tad here...)

Anyway-- the food was just fine. Nothing to send any of us into the throes of food-joy, but it was good. The kid finished his lunch and was ready to leave first, so he went outside to "guard" the wheelchair. For anyone who has not been to the Rainforest Cafe in the Animal Kingdom-- the restaurant entrance is located just outside of the theme park. You have to exit the park and return when your meal is over, presuming that you still have things to do in the Animal Kingdom.

We still had many things to do. We had EE fast passes, and were ready for another run. After EE, we grabbed fast passes for Dinosaur, and then made our way over to "It's Tough to be a Bug."

My in-laws had never experienced this attraction before, and although they were willing to have us lead them around, I wondered if the cutesy factor might be a bit much for them-- especially since they didn't care too much for Stitch in the MK. To my delight, they really seemed to get into this, and enjoyed all of the tactile experiences. At the end of the presentation, while "waiting for all of the cockroaches to make their exit first," Grandma squealed and jumped out of her seat. Both Grandma and Grandpa enthusiastically pronounced this as "really cute." I was so glad. I love thrill rides, but I also dearly love Disney's theatre presentations, little dark rides, parades, window displays, and all the other little surprises that can immerse one fully into the magic. I must have some kind of Peter Pan syndrome, but I am aware that others aren't always as eager to embrace the inner child.

But I digress... After Tough to be a Bug, and paying our respects to Grampa-land, we headed for Kilimanjaro Safaris. It was awfully warm outside, so I wasn't holding out too much hope for a bunch of animal activity. To my surprise, however, we saw lions, ostriches, giraffes, and more. The wait in line wasn't too bad, and hooray! They revised the poacher story to make it a little less distressing. When I was there last, the story was that poachers had shot a mother elephant (Big Red) and we were on a mission to rescue her baby (Little Red). At the end of the ride, Little Red has been found, and is smiling happily at you. In this improved version, the baby elephant has been separated from his mother, poachers are on the move, and you, intrepid explorers, must help reunite him with his mother. Oh yeah, and I think the poachers get caught before they can harm anyone or anything. Much better. You still get to see the little baby animatronic elephant at the end.

We all enjoyed this very much. When it was over, it was time to use our fast passes for Dinosaur. We were all hot and tired and decided that this would be our last stop before leaving the park. Alas! The ride was not operational and no one knew when it would be up and running again. My family took the opportunity to speculate that probably some person (they wouldn't say whom) had lost her backpack on the ride the day before, and the backpack had probably been accidentally knocked into the track and jammed up the whole ride. My son delighted in asking me throughout the day for some item that he knew had been lost in the backpack. "Hey Mom, do you have any Tylenol? It's in your back... Oh wait... now I remember...." Grandpa and Grandma were quick to jump on the "Let's ask Mom for things she has lost" bandwagon.

Of all the bus areas in all the theme parks, I like AK's the least. It is hot, there is very little shade, and it feels desolate. We were all roasting by the time we had exited and Grandpa had to say a regretful goodbye to his wheelchair. I think we had about 20 minutes until the next bus arrived and we spied a row of taxis, layed out before us, in a tantalizing array. Grandma, Son, and I all started trying to talk Grandpa into taking a taxi home instead of waiting for the bus, but Grandpa stoutly maintained that he could wait. Grandma overrode his objections and we all collapsed into a cab and were soon on our way back to the hotel. The fare wasn't bad-- only $19.00, and with tip, it totalled only $23.00. Worth every dollar. And definitely an advantage over renting a car, in that we didn't have to pile into a car that had been sitting in the hot sun all day. Grandpa started to object when I paid the driver, but my hand was quicker than his.

Then Grandpa said, "But I wanted to give him a nice tip!"

I asked Grandpa if he thought I would fail to tip the guy.

"Well," Grandpa mused, "Sometimes women can be so cheap with tips..."

(((What?!!)))

But I took a deep breath. "The tip was a little over 20% of the fare, which I would hardly consider cheap."

"Well, great then! Very good!" Grandpa blustered. "Glad to hear it! You're different then."

(((WHAT??!!)))

I allowed for a pregnant pause. It took all of my willpower to keep from saying, "This is coming from the guy who keeps the wait staff hopping every morning at breakfast and then stiffs them on a small gratuity for their trouble?"

But I restrained myself. I could have said all kinds of things about thoughtless sterotypical comments about women, but I am older now, and not as eager to argue as I used to be, 10 or 20 years ago.

We had a nice rest at the hotel, and got ready for our 8:00 PM reservation at Raglan Road.

I wasn't certain where the downtown Disney bus would drop us off, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be near our restaurant. The concierge didn't know anything about it, even though she sat behind a sign that said "Transportation information." I asked her if she had a map of Downtown Disney so that I could see where Raglan Road was. She did not. I asked if she herself knew where Raglan Road was located. She did not. I asked her to call a cab for us, and said it wasn't necessary because cabs are always waiting outside the hotel lobby. I looked outside and nary a cab to be found.

She was very professional in her non-knowledge of things, though.

I called Yellow Cab and even though the fare was only $4.00 or $5.00 to get us to our destination, the driver was prompt and courteous. (Grandpa gave him a "nice tip" afterward.) The driver also had no idea where Raglan Road was, but by this time, I had figured out that it was closer to the Marketplace end of Pleasure Island. I asked him to drop us off there.

He dropped us off at the West Side, all the way at the opposite end. But he did it courteously.

So we walked. Grandpa started stressing a little about being afraid that we would miss our reservation time. It was 7:35, our dinner time was 8:00, and we had plenty of time to walk there. Every couple of minutes, someone would ask me if we were getting close yet. The walk was slow and painful for Grandpa, and I felt bad for getting us to the wrong side of the complex. We walked all the way through West Side, and all the way through Pleasure Island before finding Raglan Road. It was 7:57 when we arrived.

This was our first visit to Raglan Road, and my son and I picked the place out especially for Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa's great-grandfather was born in Ireland, and Grandpa is exceedingly proud of his Irish heritage. He has studied Irish history, learned many Irish songs, knows all about the IRA, and he and Grandma even travelled to Ireland back in 1994. So to say that he is a proud Irishman is an understatement.

He and Grandma adored this restaurant. There was a solo musician/singer on the stage, singing Irish folk and drinking songs, and we were hardly seated when Grandpa and Grandma were completely immersed in the Irish Pub Experience, singing along, drinking along, clapping their hands, etc.

It was really loud in there-- not unexpected, of course. The food was good, although I ordered a goat cheese terrine appetizer and didn't like it very much. However, my entree "Salmon of Knowledge" was delicious. Son ordered the "Crock 'o Mussels" and zoned out for several minutes while consuming said mussels. Grandma kept waiting for the boy to offer her a bite, but he was in his own happy mussel world and lost to us for a time.

I think the service was a little slow there, but very friendly. The entertainer was excellent. One interesting development, was that 30 minutes after the meal was over, my son was kind of done with the pub scene (as was I) and clamoring to go outside and do something... anything. We made those "getting ready to get up and leave" subtle motions, but Grandma and Grandpa were oblivious. They had just ordered another couple of beers, and showed no signs of being ready to leave. My son started tapping me on the shoulder, letting me know he was bored, etc. I glanced at the grandparents, who were beaming happily at the entertainer and having a great time, and whispered to the kid that we needed to hang out and let them enjoy this. They had gone along with everything we planned, and this was the first thing that they were really crazy about.

Ten more minutes dragged by, and still no sign that we were going anywhere. Grandparents still clapping, singing and smiling. I look over at the boy, and he has his face buried in his hands. I am not kidding. I ordered him to take his face out of his hands, not make such a point of letting everyone know that his was miserable, and to "sit up and look like you're somewhat happy!"

I don't think I'm going to win Mother of the Year. But my son sat up. Grandparents still way off in the Ireland Zone. 5 more minutes went by, and we told them that we were going to head out. Grandma gave us a big hug, thanked us warmly for bringing them here, and we said goodbye.

Once outside, I started to lecture the kid about his behavior, focusing on the face-buried-in-the-hands angle. My son listened, and then asked if he could offer a defense. I finally quieted down and let him talk.

Evidently, the woman seated at the table next to him was quite lit, and singing and shrieking right in my son's ear. The constant high-pitched "Whoo-HOOOOS" got to be so much that he was getting a headache, hence the face buried in his hand.

To sum it up, he admitted that he could have handled it better, and not given the impression to the rest of us that he was sulking. And I admitted that I had not been aware of how much the screaming lady at the next table was impacting him. Son later called his grandparents to apologize, and explain what had been going on. Grandparents were very gracious about it. (Grandpa said he hadn't noticed any rude behavior, so he was surprised to get an apology.)

I really wanted to go into the Comedy Warehouse and Adventurers Club, since we had never been there before. But the full club-hopping ticket seemed too steep a price to pay for two clubs. (Son is too young to enter any other club there.) I am a little put off that you can buy a one-club ticket to any of the dance clubs (which we didn't care about anyway), for about $10.00 or $11.00, but if you want to see the Adventurer's Club, you must buy the multi-club ticket. So if a kid wants to see the Adventurers Club, he must have a multi-club ticket, which he cannot use anywhere else except the Comedy Warehouse, because he is under age 21. Is it a means of discouraging children from coming to Pleasure Island? I know that PI is supposed to be an adult area, but hey, this isn't Vegas or anything. So sadly, we passed on the Adventurer's. Maybe next time we'll buy passes with plus features and hit PI and the waterparks.

We ended the day by exploring the Virgin Megastore, which my son adored. Then back to the hotel and off to bed.

Next chapter: The Return to MGM Studios. Boy faces off with Aerosmith and Tower of Terror. Will he ride? Will he back out at the last minute? Will these ridiculous annoying cliff-hanger questions never end? See you soon!

Fun, fun, fun! Sorry you had trouble with transportation, i.e., where the bus would leave you; this is one of the reasons I like staying on-site: very rarely do you get an "I don't know," from the Disney CMs. As for Raglan Road, didn't you have dessert? I heard they have this incredible dessert there; I just can't remember what it's called. Looking forward to more of your trip report.

Great report!

Unfortunately for Expedition Everest, the ride does not go upside down. It does feel like it, but if it did go upside down then they would have to give you the over the shoulder harnesses, not the lap bar. I wish that Everest did go upside down, because that would be awesome!

Can't wait to read more!

Jennifer

Thinking about Petesimac's comment about staying on-site. I believe you have an excellent point there. I would really like to stay on-site next time we go, and have the benefit of interacting with hotel employees who know their stuff. The "I don't know" stuff from our hotel concierge got old quickly. The Great Cab Caper was blatently ridiculous. I wonder what would have happened if I had asked her for the nearest ice machine... Maybe she would have said that I don't have to go to an ice machine, because ice hangs out all day in front of the hotel lobby.

I was attempting to be snarky here, but I think I have only managed to sound silly...

As for Raglan-- We would have loved to have had dessert (I have heard things about their bread and butter pudding-- is that the one you are thinking of?), but we were too stuffed. If we had foregone the appetizers, we might have been able to manage some dessert. Unfortunately, we are a group of "instant gratification" type folks. Dessert seems an awfully long ways away when you have potential appetizer goodness staring you in the face... :o)

I am sure that jmb910 must be right about EE-- I guess we would have to have the shoulder harnesses if we were going upside down... Oh well, the effect of backing up that steep incline in the dark is still a major rush!

Great report!

Unfortunately for Expedition Everest, the ride does not go upside down. It does feel like it, but if it did go upside down then they would have to give you the over the shoulder harnesses, not the lap bar. I wish that Everest did go upside down, because that would be awesome!

Can't wait to read more!

Jennifer


Not to go too far off topic, and not to steal your thread lllmtz, I guess you're right, Jennifer; I could have sworn, based on the reaction of my upheld hands that seemed impossible to keep up whilst in the dark part of the ride, that we were going upside down, but again, I suppose you're right about the harness -- I cannot think of an upside down ride that doesn't have those. Ah well. Thanks for the correction -- now back to you're regularly scheduled trip report. Take it away lllmtz!

YES!! The bread and butter pudding. We almost ate there, just for the dessert, but it didn't work out this time around.