Dennis Coleman - April 2001 - Old Key West, All Star Music
Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: OKWR, ASMuR
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: In this report, Dennis provides a "Reader's Digest" version of the trip. It's a compact description, given day by day, and laced with lots of ideas and opinions on the park attractions and restaurants.
Dennis Coleman -- April 2001 -- Walt Disney World (OKWR, ASMuR)
April 13-20, 2001
Here is the Readers Digest Version of our Trip report:
Dennis (Dad)
Mike (13)
Nicole (11)
April 13
We packed the car and headed down I-95 for our Overnight stopover at Florence South Carolina. We got on at Interchange 109 in Maryland and cruised at 65 mph until 2 miles before the dreaded Woodrow Wilson Bridge. There we slowed to a 5mph roll till we got over the bridge and picked up speed till it was time for I-395 & 95 to split, then it was back to a 5mph roll. We left at 8:45am and arrived at 7:45pm, traffic was heavy but rolling along up to speed except the 2 areas above that cost us about 1 hour. We stopped at McDonald's in Virginia for lunch and when we arrived in Florence the kids wanted to go to their favorite Quincy's Buffet so we did, They got the buffet and I made the mistake of ordering from the grill, they burnt my steak YUCK!. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Florence, Its amazing we have stayed there every year for the past 10 years and the price is still $59 a night! They are still Full every time we stay and the place is immaculate!
April 14th
We were up at am, got a quick breakfast at the hotel lobby and on the road to WDW. Well, we started out at 70mph and about a mile down I-95 we were at a dead stop for about 45 minutes while they cleaned up a jackknifed trailer from the road. People amaze me sometimes, people were turning around and driving the wrong way on the median to try to get back to the entrance to get off instead of just waiting. Well, we stopped at McDonald's again for lunch, about 1 hour behind schedule. We arrived in Orlando at a friend's house about 4pm , we stayed there till about 6pm then went to WDW. We checked in at All Star Music for the night. After checking in we hit the food court for a quick dinner then off to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived there about 9:30pm and took in the fireworks and a few rides. We rode Buzz Light-years Space Ranger Spin, Pooh's Grand Adventure, and TTA. On the way out we caught Spectromagic. Then it was back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
April 15th Happy Easter!
We woke up around 9am and packed the suitcase and car. We stopped at the food court for a quick donut and juice then off to Old Key West. We arrived there about 11:30am and had a Looooonnnngggg check in line and as our luck would have it, no room ready! We decided to go to MGM and take in Tower of Terror (30 min wait) and got a fast pass for Who wants to be a Millionaire Play it! Millionaire was exciting, the 1/2 hour show flew by with only 2 people making it to the hot seat, I really like how everyone gets to play, although I question the validity of the scores as I had every answer right within a second and never showed up on the leader board. After Millionaire we returned to OKWR and got our room, we unpacked and caught a bus for Epcot where e did Spaceship Earth and the kids got lost in Innoventions. At 8:45pm we had a priority seating at Japan for Teppanyaki Dining. We had a delicious Japanese Easter Dinner, the food was outstanding and plentiful as usual. The only negative was that it was a long walk back to the OKWR bus but after all that food, we needed it!
April 16th
I was up at 9am and off to do laundry and sit in the hot tub, the kids slept in for a while then showered, when I returned we were off to Animal Kingdom to do Tarzan Rocks and Dinosaur. Then it was off to Kona Cafe for another delicious dinner along with one of their great deserts. After Kona the kids wanted to go to Downtown Disney so we did. To our surprise they were having a FREE Street party on Pleasure Island till 9pm, so we went in and watched France and the West End Boys perform and another act on the small stage. After 9 we went back to the marketplace and browsed the shops till 10pm and caught the Trumbo ferry back to Old Key West.
April 17th
We were off to Epcot at 11am only to find all fastpasses issued for the day so we did single rider and were on in 30 minutes, it would have been faster if the darn thing didn't break down for 15 minutes! We did Body Wars and the kids were attached to Innoventions again. We left Epcot at about 4pm and went to the Magic Kingdom and did the Country Bears and TTA. we browsed the shops and left at 8pm to head for Ft Wilderness and the 9:30pm Hoop Dee Doo. Another Great show, the food is getting old but the show is still one of our favorites!
April 18th
It was off to MGM today, we had lunch at the ABC Commissary, its a whole new different menu, the food was really good for fast food. We rode the Great Movie Ride, Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous, Did the Backstage tour and Catastrophe Canyon and the Backstage Pass tours. We had a dinner appointment with some friends form Orlando at 7pm so we headed back to OKWR to meet them. We went to the Boardwalk and the Big River Grill & Brew, we were all disappointed the service was marginal, the food was HORRIBLE, BURNT, NO TASTE. It was a restaurant that always looked so good when we walked by, I guess looks can be deceiving! After Dinner we went back to OKWR and called it a night.
April 19th Our Last Park Day
We were up at 8am and off to the Magic Kingdom where we did park Commando! Space Mountain, Alien Encounter, Timekeeper, Thunder Mountain, Pirates, Liberty Belle River Boat, TTA, and Carousel of Progress. All by 5pm! we then met our Brother and sister in law for dinner, we did Planet Hollywood there was a 2 hour wait so we did Market Place, the Free PI Street Party until 9pm and the West Side. Dinner there was expensive and better than Big River Grille!
April 20th
We were up at 8am, left OKWR at 10:00am and went to Polynesian do my daughter could get a bathing suit saw earlier in the week. We were on the road to visit old Co workers in Apopka for lunch and finally back on I-4 to Florence at 1:30pm. Traffic was heavy but moving at speed for the most part. We arrived at 9pm and did a McDonald's Dinner. Mike Played Millionaire and won $5.00!
April 21st Back on the road again toward Delaware and home, were up to speed till once again 2 miles before the Woodrow Wilson bridge where e slowed to about 20 mph, we arrived back hone at 8:00pm right on time.
All in all it was a relaxing week, The parks were mobbed, but we expected that, we are now counting down to our summer vacation that will start on June 30th for 2 weeks!
C ya all
Dennis Coleman
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