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Thread: Pam Wilt - WDW (3-10 Feb, 1996) - Carribean Beach Resort

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    Pam Wilt - WDW (3-10 Feb, 1996) - Carribean Beach Resort

    • Time of Year: Winter
    • Travel Method: Unknown
    • Resort: Carribean Beach Resort
    • Accommodations: Standard Room
    • Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
    • WDW Experience Represented in Group: Frequent
    • Comments: Pam and her Husband and their two elementary-aged kids spent seven nights at the Carribean Beach Resort on this trip. Short, but it covers the bases.


    Hi All,

    This is not just a trip report - it's a huge "THANK YOU!!" to all of you kind people who frequent this group and share their thoughts! My husband and I, and our fourth and fifth grader just got back from our second trip to WDW, seven nights of pure pampering and fun! And I owe SO MUCH of the "smooth sailing" to all you folks! Thank you!

    We were at the Caribbean Beach Feb. 3-10. (I didn't feel comfortable announcing our vacant home over the Internet so I didn't mention any dates in all my pre-trip posts.) It was very cold - our picture album starts with us in coats, peeling layers as we go! Bad news: 30 degrees for SpectroMagic Sat. Feb 3rd. Good news: Perhaps it kept the crowds down. And though the temp. was cold, it was still better than sub-zero wind chills at home! Caribbean Beach was great, but I did like the intimacy of the smaller Port Orleans last year. Despite having a WDW travel package and "white glove", Trinidad South was the best they could do for us. Luckily we had a car and just drove to Port Royale Food Court and caught the buses from there in the AM. Liked the free pots of coffee in the rooms and the buy-a-mug/free drinks deal. The TV was bad, thought about ignoring it but the kids use it a lot during rest periods. So I called to ask if there was anything they could do on Sat. 10 PM and a new set was installed by 10:30! That kind of service is what brings you back! We covered most of the "first-trip" sights, what follows are things that were a little different for us. Again, thanks to all of YOU (like Kenny Cottrell) who hang around here and help folks like us!

    Went to Epcot first, as I posted separately, we rode Horizons and were so glad to catch it - we know it won't be around and it wasn't open last year when we were there. Concentrated on Future World stuff - did World Showcase in three other evenings. That's what I love about the Length-of-stay passes - being able to "park-hop". We met friends there who had four day passes- they felt obligated to stay all day to get their money's worth whether or not they were tired. The kids really enjoyed their "passports" (a little pricey at nine bucks each, but they had such fun with them!) They look and feel like a real passport, come with neat stickers from each country with map/flag, and actual scenes from WShowcase. The employ...excuse me, cast members sign their book, write some nice sentiment in their language, and translate each one. Morocco enjoyed it so much, he had them then repeat the sentiment back! Mom kept busy scarfing up raspberry cheescake from the France bakery! (two nights - almost went for a third!) Oh, I forgot, then they stamp the passport with a Mickey wearing something distinctive to each country, and with a different color for each country. Real cute!

    One ride we missed last time was Mexico's - it's delightful! Their village square is lovely, the ride is wonderful! There's a whole "small world" type area with its own cute song, and I liked the neat morphing effect at the beginning where an art figure turns into a person. There was no line so they let us stay in our boats for a second spin around. Next we went to Mag.Kingdom and started with the "dark rides" in Fantasyland. We particularly enjoyed "Mr. Toad" - since there was no line we rode the right side, then jumped right back on and rode the LEFT side. Back to back we could appreciate how they are very different - almost like two different rides. Peter Pan seemed really dark, but could have been from being in the bright sun beforehand. **Thank you for pointing out "Timekeeper" - we may have not noticed it at ALL except for all your posts about it. It was lots of fun, and the kids had fun seeing what Simba's "Uncle Scar" looked like. (Jeremy Irons plays HG Wells) Alien Encounter was ok, but perhaps I'd read too much about it ahead of time and spoiled the surprises. Our son says he felt a rubbery thing brush his neck - I didn't have the experience. Maybe it was all those layers of coats and long pants we were wearing! We did Autopia for the first time as we'd never wanted to wait in line for it! Got on most of the usual things - the Haunted Mansion was a favorite as always.

    We "ate our way" around WDW! The Dolphin Dining coupon in the Fodor's WDW For Adults book is good as gold - fifty bucks off your bill! We had been skeptical about it, thinking maybe you had to be a guest there or something but not the case! THe waitress wanted to know what book it was from so she could get one for friends she had coming to visit. (The book is only $15) One thing I particularly liked about this trip was that we ate at all three of the "big" resorts - the Minnie breakfast at the Polynesian, the steakhouse at the Contemporary, and the food court at the Grand Floridian. It was fun seeing each place. I was surprised that self parking at the GF is a lo-o-ong walk across the street. I guess most people there valet park or something. (Not us.) Planet Hollywood was wonderful - they had Star Wars models, the "Speed" bus, the Jamaican bobsled from "Cool Runnings", a T2 cyborg, a Forrest Gump outfit, and just more stuff than I could ever list! We had a great meal, then spent lots of time just checking out the three floors of exhibits. The kids loved being there! (We didn't even need to use the "go-to-the-head-of the line coupon in the afore-mentioned book)

    Our son also enjoyed the water sprites at the hotels! He's in fifth grade and can't drive a car but he can captain a "speedboat". Suggestion: if you're gonna do it, do it at the CONTEMPORARY! (same price everywhere) He drove one first at CBR which is on a long "canal/lagoon". Since the Contemporary is on big Bay Lake, I think the motors were more powerful there - he zipped around like mad and drove in circles around Discovery Island. (we made it there this time, too - nice afternoon with fun animal shows.) Curiously, the Grand Floridian's were nice but are on a smaller part of the lake. You can access the Contemporary side, but only after going through a long, slow "no wake" passage. It was too time-consuming for our son who preferred to zip around at faster speeds.

    We did get off site one day to Kennedy Space Center. Thanks again to all of you, we knew we could go to the visitor's center without doing the long bus tour. We enjoyed the full size space shuttle model - it was neat going "in" the cargo bay. Took lots of pictures there. The astronauts' memorial was very moving. They use a light effect which draws from the sun/sky to light the names - the shading changes with the sky. The kids wanted to learn more about the Challenger from being there. We ate at "The Lunch Pad" - we knew there was better food around but enjoyed being there. The rocket garden was fun - my husband enjoyed seeing the engines and noting that they were fastened to the rockets in only a few places!

    In the afternoon we went to Cocoa Beach, walked the beach and checked out the fishermen. We enjoyed the pelicans who were so brazen that you could walk right up to them. They hissed if you got too close, though. Saw a man-o-war on the beach (didn't touch!!) and armadillos at the side of the road on the way home. (no neon ones) (but maybe they were line-dancing!)

    MGM! We spent lots of time here. And Epcot. The Toy Story parade is SO cute - quality makes up for short duration! GO EARLY! Even during our off-peak week, we had trouble finding space ten or fifteen minutes before. The costumes are SO CLEVER, right down to the green plastic soldiers' injection molding tabs sticking out of their backs, and the barrel of monkeys opening up and the monkeys dismantling Mr. Potatohead! Don't miss the Etch-a-Sketch at the end, writing, what else..."The End!" The good news is that if you're not going to be in WDW in the near future you can still see some of this delightful parade - they are nearly sure to have footage on the annual WDW Easter Parade TV special. Unlike the "What time is the 1:00 parade?" question, the Easter Parade MIGHT not necessarily be shown on Easter - perhaps check listings in April.

    Pizza Planet is cute - there's a PP van outside to take pictures with. I had a friend who requested a TStory alien - the ones in the "claw-grab" machine. I'd heard there was an actual machine there but it's just a prop! So we took pictures! Now if *I* had made the machine, I'd have had the claw pulling up not an alien but a Buzz with Woody hanging on his leg! But no one asked me. (it's midnight - getting punchy!)

    ACE VENTURA was such fun! THis was a bonus - I hadn't realized there was a show there. Again we were skeptical - after all, WHO could replace Jim Carrey?! But the guy is incredible, he has the character down pat, the stunts are fun, the show is very funny, and the kids got pictures with him afterwards. If you go, watch the show from within the white ropes to the right. That's the queue for the after-show autographs, pictures. It's timed out - when the music runs out he has to leave, so if you want a great picture with Ace, go to the right. There are no chairs which bothered us at first, but since most of the show is ON TOP of the buildings you can see from anywhere! BTW, when he leaves he throws "autographed" cards in the air to the line. Our daughter was the next one in line when the cutoff came (phone rings, he makes exit) and was so sad about not getting a picture that we came back to see it again. We might have done it anyway - it's a great show! There are also funny scenes in the area to take pictures with - you can be "in a scene" with Jim Carrey. It's in the NYC area of MGM.

    Indiana Jones was great to see again, we also caught "Pocahontas" which was very nice. I liked how the English (except for J.Smith) were stick figures - the legend was presented by the Native Americans. HOWEVER, both my daughter and I were disappointed by the "Beauty and the Beast" show - Pokey seems to have acquired all their budget! We were spoiled perhaps, because we saw it last not at WDW, but at Disneyland, when it resembled the Broadway show so much more! It opened with the telling of the tale, some magic as the spoiled prince is turned into the beast, and it accounted for the major scenes in order, complete with dancing appliances in "Be My Guest". None of that is the case with this one which opens with "Be My Guest" and THEN goes back to "Little Town", and yadda yadda yadda to make a long story short it just doesn't have it any more. I wonder if it's either budget or that perhaps they don't want to give away too much of the Broadway show? (BTW, the Broadway show is not done with foam costumes - Lumiere, Cogsworth and all are in stylized costume with their faces showing - they act.) (Example of budget cutting: they open with brightly colored trimmed costumes and sing "BMGuest", then go into "Little Town" wearing the same costumes! The bright neon colors just don't exactly fit the village!) (All they needed were some dancing neon armadillos.... ) (REALLY getting punchy!)

    The week of course went so fast! We had a great time, and all I can say again is thanks so much for all the good advice and info to be found here and on the web.

    Best, Pam
    pwilt@postoffice.ptd.net
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