Todd Carlson - WDW and KSC (4-12 May 1996) - Offsite

[Trip Reports]

• Time of Year: Spring
• Travel Method: Personal Car
• Resort: Offsite
• Accommodations: Suite
• Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Rookie
• Comments: Todd wrote this trip report in an amusing "you are there" style. The main facts about this trip are that Todd and his family (wife and three children) stayed off site (we'll have to work with him on that one). The report has sufficient detail to know what happened... and Todd and his family share their opinions on attractions, restaurants, and how to handle the trip.

Over the last year, the good folks of RADP have given me a lot of advice and hints on how to enjoy our family's first WDW vacation. We have just returned and I am submitting this trip report as my way of paying back the favors. I know many of you Disney veterans enjoy reading these trip reports and maybe some Disney novices can learn from our experiences (and mistakes). I would appreciate any feedback you care to give on our trip or this trip report.

So take small children by the hand, and please keep your arms and legs inside your Trip Report at all times.

Planning The Trip

Our family consists of myself, my wife, son (age 8), and daughters (ages 7 and 4). My goal was to have a 1 week WDW vacation for under $2000 without sacrificing too much comfort, relaxation, or Disney "Magic". My wife and kids had never been to WDW. I visited DL when I was a kid. I started planning the trip a few years ago by checking out WDW guides from the library. Although these were a bit out of date, they gave a good overview of WDW and I eventually bought my own copy of the one I liked best - "The Unofficial Guide" (UG). I particularly like the way it rates the attractions for different age groups and includes feedback from readers. I also like "WDW with Kids". This guide is more manageable and its kid orientation is quite valuable for us. I also like its more casual approach to touring plans.

The 1st question was when to go. All of the guides stressed that going in the off season is important in order to avoid crowds (it also saves money). With my work schedule, I can not take a vacation during the academic year so early May was the obvious time to go (our semester ends in late April). I have no problems taking the kids out of school for a week as I think they lean more by traveling than they do in the classroom.

The 2nd question was how to get there. The preferred mode of transportation was also a "no-brainer". We just couldn't afford to fly so we would have to drive the 1300 miles from Grand Rapids MI to WDW - two days down and two days back. We left on Sat May 4 and returned on Sun May 12, leaving us 5 days in Orlando.

The 3rd (and biggest) question was the old on-site/off-site controversy. As much as we would have liked to stay on-site, we chose to stay at the Residence Inn, Lake Buena Vista. It is about as close as you can get to WDW without being in WDW. The main reason is that we were eligible for a special employee's discount so we could get a 2 BR/2 bath villa with kitchen and washer/dryer for $84/night (breakfast included). This way our kids could go to bed early or take naps and we could still watch TV, get ready for the next day, etc. The kitchen allows us to save money on food. We still ate out at least once a day but every meal we ate in saved a lot of money and I hate "cooking" out of an ice chest and a hot pot for a week. Besides, keeping our kids happy in a restaurant is very stressful and fast food get old real fast.

The 4th question was the admission tickets. We chose the 4 day park hopper tickets. They were only a little more than the 4 day value pass and we wanted the option of park hopping. The 5 day passes were $200 more and wouldn't give us much for the extra money. We were not interested in Pleasure Island. The water parks were unnecessary as the hotel pools were more than enough to please our 4 non-swimmers (and much more convenient). We had planned on one non-Disney day and for us WDW novices, the 3 major parks had more than enough to keep us busy the other 4 days. We bought the tickets at the local Disney Store. Thanks to RADP, we were informed of the price increases in late Feb. and were able to get our 5 passes at the old price of $611.

The last question was touring plans. We followed the UG's advice and avoided the early entry days.

The UG also recommended starting with EPCOT and saving the MK for last. We planned on EPCOT on Mon, Movie Studios (MS) on Tue, MK on Wed, non-Disney stuff on Thur. Friday we left open to hit the things we missed. As for daily plans we loosely followed the UG's touring plans but with more of the unscheduled spirit of the WDW with Kids guide. Basically we listed the attractions we most wanted to see, identified those that tend to have long lines and hit those first, but also see things that were close in order to avoid too much walking. I had no idea how much stamina we would have so all touring plans had to be very flexible. The best advice I got was to be very familiar with the parks and attractions so you can make it up as you go.

We also decided to have a character breakfast, a lunch at World Showcase (WS) in EPCOT, and a dinner at a resort restaurant. This would give us a good sampling of Disney dining experiences without busting the budget. The restaurant reviews in the UG, and of course RADP, were invaluable. We made reservations for lunch at Chef's de France for Mon (our EPCOT day), breakfast at Artists Point in the Wilderness Lodge for Thur (our non-Disney day), and dinner at O'hana on Friday (our grand finale). And since it comes up about once a week on this news group, YES - off-site guests can make dinner reservations up to 60 days in advance (at least for now).

If you plan to re enter this trip report, please be sure to get your hand stamped at the gate as you exit.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday

Warning: Attraction descriptions may contain spoilers.

We left as early as possible Saturday morning (7:20 AM for us) on the 700 mile drive. No matter how much I push, we always average 50 MPH including stops. With this figure, I could always estimate our time of arrival to within 15 minutes. The 5 minute rain in Dayton OH was the last rain we would see until the trip home. We had a picnic lunch in southern OH, dinner at a Cracker Barrel in TN and we arrived at the Holiday Inn in Cleveland TN at bedtime (for the kids). My wife and I sat up in the dark room thinking how nice it will be to have a multi-room villa in Orlando. The hotel was adequate (barely) for a 10 hour stop over. We were in the warm air for the first time since last Summer.

On Sunday we got on the road by 8:00 AM - 600 miles (and 12 hrs) to WDW. We celebrated our daughter's 4th birthday at the Applebee's in Macon GA. We got to the Disney Visitor's Center in Ocala at 6:15 for a picnic supper and to use those famous ultra clean Disney bathrooms only to find it had closed at 6:00! We were quite irritable from 2 days of driving so we just pushed on to get the trip over with as quick as possible. We checked in to our villa at the Residence Inn, LBV only to find they didn't quite have the room we had requested (only 2 beds and no washer/dryer). They said they might have a better room available on Wednesday. We were by now a bit cranky but we survived the trip and were looking forward to tomorrow at EPCOT.

We were all up early on Monday. The hotel provides breakfast at 7:30. We ate by the main pool (very nice). We got to the main gates just before they opened at 8:30. Although it wasn't necessary, the man at the ticket booth exchanged our old tickets for the new ones (they were much easier to carry in a wallet).

We rode Spaceship Earth with no wait. Everyone gave it a thumb's up. We then went to the Land pavilion. We wanted to see the Pumba and Timon movie but had just missed the show so we went down and saw Living With the Land (no wait). As a rule, the kids liked any boat ride without a waterfall. When then walked into Food Rocks just as the show started. This was our first dog (nobody liked this show). Unfortunately, we once again just missed the movie so we went to the next pavilion.

We all thought the Journey into Imagination ride was OK. The Image Works area upstairs was a bigger hit. We spent quite a bit of time here. By then it was time for our morning snack and bathroom break. We then headed across to see Horizons. In retrospect, we should have done this later as this added a lot of walking to the day. However, the ride was a favorite of everyone. The giant screens are amazing - on my best things at WDW list - at least until Horizons is razed :- ( At this point we not up to walking to France for our 12:15 lunch reservations so we took the boat. I don't think the guide books give enough credit to the intra-park transportation. We see these as attractions in their own right and enjoyed many of them as you shall see later. Anything that can save some walking is of value, even if it takes a bit of time.

We walked through Morocco and France and then had lunch. Lunch for 4 (the youngest just nibbled) was $65. That included one glass of wine, two salads, one dessert, two coffee, tax and tip. The food was excellent, as we had expected. I thought that the kids would have needed to rest but not even a day at EPCOT can get my kids tired enough to sit through a whole restaurant meal so while the adults finished up, they went out to play by (and sometimes in) the fountain in the courtyard. They were also entertained by the wondering clown - a very funny fellow. The after dinner coffee was fabulous and the napoleon for dessert was incredible. (both are on my best things at WDW list).

As we headed for the bus to Mexico, our son became visibly upset. It seems the one thing he really wanted to see in WDW more than anything was the Eiffel Tower. He could see it off in the distance but we never could get closer. He was sure we had missed a street way in the back of the pavilion. No amount of lecturing on forced perspective was going to satisfy him so I let him drag me to the furthest reaches of France to satisfy his curiosity. In the back of the last souvenir shop, I explained our predicament to the store manager. She was very sweet. She said "Now we don't usually do this..." and took us to the back lot through the "CM Only" door to show us that their Eiffel Tower is a relatively small model sitting on the roof of a building in the back of France. Our son was still disappointed that it was so unimpressive but at least he was satisfied that there was nothing more to see.

We then took the double decker bus to Mexico (again, more intra-park transportation). The driver said it was $5/ride. I must admit I almost fell for it. After all, this IS Disney and I was already getting too used to spending money. We all liked the Mexico Pavilion (indoors/nice art/another boat ride). We were also especially fond of Norway (with a name like Carlson, what would you expect?). The Stave Church was cool and the Maelstrom was neat. I didn't tell the kids about the waterfall. It was short and not in the dark.

I figured it was good training for Pirates and Splash Mtn on Wed. In these pavilions we did our first shopping. We bought some musical instruments in Mexico and started a mini-flag collection in Norway.

We then walked through China. The older kids have been studying Japan and China in school so they really wanted to see these pavilions.

By then it was mid afternoon and we needed a break so we took the long walk back to the car. When we passed Spaceship Earth we saw there was no line so we jumped on for a second ride. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel pool. The pool has a stone arch over the middle with a water fall - hardly BB or TL but the kids were in heaven. The weather was very hot. Every day the high was in the low 90's with no rain. We had a simple meal in the room and the went back to EPCOT for Illuminations. We didn't get there until after 8:00 so we had to walk all the way to the International Gateway before we found a spot on the rail. Illuminations was great - better than I had expected. From where we were we couldn't see many of the countries but the laser effect from Mexico (or Norway?) came right over our heads which was neat.

We got back to the room late and tired but we had seen and done most of what we wanted.

Attention Trip Report passengers - Please remain seated. Your Trip Report will resume momentarily. Thank You.

Tuesday

After such a big day, we slept a bit late and got off to the Movie Studios (MS) around 8:30. The guide books recommended getting to The Little Mermaid Show ASAP. Unfortunately we couldn't get in the first show and had to wait a half an hour for the second show. It was already quite hot (hotter than Monday), the kids were tired because of the late night at Illuminations, we were packed like sardines in the outside waiting area, and to top it off, our son is having a fit because he has this thing against TLM. Needless to say, the day was off to a rough start. We finally got in and we all (with the aforementioned exception) liked the show very much.

After that we went to the Great Movie Ride. The line was just to the outside doors. I didn't realize that there was such a long queue inside (a common Disney trick). At least the line moved and was air conditioned. The kids got a quick lesson on movie history in the waiting area/theater. We all liked the ride. My wife especially like the Wizard of Oz scene. The "scary" part in the middle wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe. Even the 4 year old realized it was all just pretend, just like the movies (with a little reassurance from dad).

We then went over to Muppet 3-D (or is it 4-D? They can't seem to make up their minds). Again we had quite a wait but the line is full of very funny Muppet stuff - we are all BIG Muppet fans. Be sure not to miss the Miss Piggy Fountain. We all really loved the 3-D movie - our favorite MS attraction by far. By this time it was 11:30 and we were already very hot, tired, and had only seen three shows. We opted for an early lunch at Pizza Planet to rest and avoid the lunch rush. The pizza was mediocre. We typically spent from $15 to $20 for fast food lunches at the parks. None of our kids are big eaters and us parents tried to eat light.

All the kids had expressed interest in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area nearby so we went over there to burn off lunch. The kids really liked the play area although we parents spent many anxious minutes trying to find the kids - they kept getting "lost". It was almost 1:00 so we though we would head over to the parade route (a mistake). The crowds were huge and it was really getting hot. We needed another ride with no line. The Studio Tour Tram Ride fit the bill nicely. Catastrophe Canyon was neat, and the back lot area was interesting, especially the props and the residential street, but mostly is was nice to get away from the crowds and into a cool breeze.

We had originally planned to take the boat up to EPCOT after the MS, but we really needed a break so we went back to the hotel. My wife took the kids to the pool while I went grocery shopping. We had an early dinner and went refreshed back to EPCOT to see some stuff we missed earlier in the cool evening.

We started at the Living Seas Pavilion. Aquariums are a sure hit with the kids, although I expected more. I was underwhelmed by the preshow and movie but the aquatic mammals were a big hit.

We walked over to WS and caught the boat over to Italy. We walked briefly through Italy and were fortunate to walk into The American Adventure just before it started. I think the parents liked the show more than the kids. I spent most of the show explaining US history to my son. I hope my soft commentary wasn't too distracting to the people around me. It was dusk when we strolled through Japan. I thought this was one of the most beautiful of the pavilions, especially at dusk. It was there we saw the most spectacular of the wondering performers - the stilt birds. Three people on stilts with elaborate dinosaur-like heads that are controlled by levers. The whole contraption was made of wood and looked as if it was a person riding an ostrich. Does anyone know where these folks came from? Their show was incredible - unlike anything I had ever seen. We would run into them again on Friday.

By this time, the crowds were getting thick for Illuminations. It would have been nice to see it again but the kids really needed to get to bed. Unfortunately, the boats and busses didn't seem to be running at this late time so we had to walk all the way back to the car. As we were driving out of the parking lot I noticed that it was 9:14 so I pulled over and we watched the fireworks from the car - not a bad way to see the grand finale actually.

Obviously this day was a bit more frustrating. None of us liked the MS much. I found it much too crowded. The landscaping at EPCOT (and MK) is so much nicer. The MS is too urban looking for my taste. And even though we didn't get to see much, there wasn't too much more I really wanted to see. I'm sure I would have enjoyed ToT and Star Tours, but no one else in my family is interested in rides that thrilling. The BatB and IJSS shows would have been enjoyable but we were not up to waiting for long outdoor shows in the afternoon heat. Anyway, we had saved the best last. Tomorrow is MK day.

Howdy Partners - Your Trip Report is now pulling in to Tuesday night. If you are getting off here, please remain seated until the Trip Report comes to a complete stop. If you are going on to Wednesday, just remain seated. I assure you that your Trip Report will be underway real soon.

Wednesday

We got a bit of a late start on Wednesday because we had to pack up everything to move to a better room (see part 2). I thought this might wreck our touring plans. I had to keep telling myself to relax, we're on vacation. As it turns out my concerns were unfounded. I expected the park to open at 8:30. I didn't realize that they don't even open the gates at the TTC until 8:30. So even though we didn't get to the parking lot until 8:30, we were still on the first ferry boat to MK. We got through MK gates with no wait, walked into the town square and jumped on the waiting antique truck for a ride up Main Street. The driver stopped to let us chat with the Mayor. We still got to the central hub 10 minutes before the ropes dropped so we took a few minutes to take picture in this most photogenic of places.

We walked into the castle to be ready for the Dumbo dash. When the ropes dropped we walked quickly to Dumbo and got on the 3rd or 4th cycle with little wait. The Dumbo line had grown substantially by the time we got off so it pays to hurry. Even though there were several hundred people ahead of us at the rope, we passed most of them as they paused to gawk at Fantasyland. My advice is to hurry to Dumbo and gawk later. Learning from our unfortunate TLM experience on Tuesday, I planned the rest of the morning around the schedule of The Lion King show. Rather than wait for TLK show, we proceeded to ride Peter Pan with no wait. This was a favorite of everyone's, although I thought the ride was too fast and too dark.

I think it would be much better if the improved the lighting and slowed the boats.

After PP, it was still not time for the next showing of TLK so we hopped onto It's a Small World. This was also a favorite of everyone. We liked trying to figure out each of the countries although we were disappointed we couldn't find Korea (our older daughter is adopted from Korea). After IaSM, we dashed over to catch TLK just in time for the next show (no waiting!). We all really liked TLK although none of the kids could see the pre-show and the unexpected darkness standing in a room packed with people sent all of the kids in the room groping for their parents. This was a common problem with all the pre-shows. There must be a better way.

It was time for our morning break. Then we headed over to The Jungle Cruise. This was our first wait.

The sign said 30 minutes and that was just about right. But by the time we got off, the sign said 50 minutes so I think we were doing something right. The ride was fun. The kids mostly enjoyed the jungle while the parents mostly enjoyed the jokes. The best joke came after the cruise was over. While waiting for the boat to dock, Levi (our guide) asked where everyone was from. Amazingly our boat had families from MI, IN, IL, WI, IA, and WI. That was funny enough. Then Levi quipped "What did the Big 10 grad say to the ACC grad? ... What do you want to drink with your Big Mac?" ;-)

We thought that Adventureland would be a good place to buy some refreshment so we all shared a lemonade and a pineapple whip. We then headed over to do Pirates of the Caribbean. The adults really liked this but the kids found it to be a bit too spooky. By then it was lunch. We took to raft to Tom Sawyer's Island to eat at Aunt Polly's. My wife was not impressed with the choices and our older daughter only wanted the more expensive non-kids meal. This was a reoccurring problem at lunch. While there are many choices of food in the parks, it seems that any one counter service place has a rather limited menu. If I had a more complete listing of choices, we could have planned lunches better.

After lunch, the kids enjoyed running around TSI. "Losing" kids was even easier here as it is much bigger than the HIStK play area at the MS. We never made it over to the fort as we always ended up in a tunnel that took us to the other side of the island. It was hard to get the kids to leave. From Aunt Polly's we could see that they were using the river boat dock for character greetings (the river boat was out for rehab). At this point we split up. My wife too our son and younger daughter to see Pooh while I took our older daughter to ride Splash Mtn. This was the one thrill ride I was able to do. It was all I could do to convince our 7 year old to ride. She was most proud of the fact she didn't scream on the last drop although I found the double drop in the dark much scarier. The other kids never did get to see Pooh but they did get to see Minnie and a couple of other characters and everyone seemed happy.

We then headed over to the Haunted Mansion. The 4 year old was really scared and the older kids were a bit spooked. My wife was not impressed and I must admit I liked this attraction much more when I saw it in DL when I was 11 years old. We all got more than a bit annoyed at the howling you can hear all over this part of the park. It was now about 2:20 and we though we should get a place to watch the 3:00 parade since we missed the MS parade on Tuesday. We got to the central hub just in time to get a place on the curb before the crowd built up. We bought some ice cream to keep us cool while we waited.

Unfortunately, by 2:50, the sun had come out from behind the clouds, the crowds had blocked any breeze and it was terribly hot. By the time the parade came the kids were all in tears. The parade was nice but not worth an hour of misery.

We followed the parade down main street as it was the fastest way out. The vendor in the train station gave us a big glass of ice and we poured ice water over the kids who were now near heat stroke. After a long break from the sun, we heard the train upstairs so we got on board for a ride around the park. The train ride was most refreshing (we all like train rides) and we all left the park much happier than after the parade. Back at the hotel we had the required pool time and supper.

After supper we went to the Village Marketplace to do some shopping. We were all quite disappointed with the shopping. Everything was way overpriced. The kids had been saving their allowance for weeks and still couldn't find anything they could afford. The kids were ready to spend their money on any stupid thing they could find. It was hard to convince them that we would eventually find something better. As it turns out, we were right.

As you enter the next Trip Report, please move to the seat at the end of the row. All of the seats in this Trip Report are good seats.

Thursday and Friday

We started Thursday with our Character Breakfast at Artist's Point in the Wilderness Lodge. Even though we stayed off-site, we wanted to get to see some of the resorts (this was the first of four we would see). The WL is just a spectacular as we had heard. Too bad the rooms only sleep four. Breakfast was great and the kids got to meet Goofy, Chip, Dale, and Pluto. The AYCE breakfast was heavy and hearty (often greasy) but very good. (BTW, the French toast is no longer blueberry stuffed). The best part was the fresh squeezed OJ. I had at least 5 glasses (also on my best things at WDW list). Breakfast for 5 cost $62.

After breakfast we walked "down stream" to see the renowned pool and lakefront area. Unfortunately we did not get to see the geyser go off. Then it was back to the car for the drive to the Kennedy Space Center.

At the KSC we walked through the space shuttle, played in the Lego's, and saw one of the IMAX films - Destiny in Space. KSC is free - the film was $14 for the 5 of us. On our way out we stopped at the gift shop and finally found a lot of cool stuff for the kids to buy at non-Disney prices. There were many exhibits we did not get to and we skipped the bus tours but we all really liked the KSC. We then drove up to Titusville and had a picnic at a nice park by the waterfront where the road heads east to the Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge.

As we drove out to the MINWR the kids asked if the animals would be real. "Yes kids - this isn't WDW :-)". We took the 6 mile scenic drive to look for wildlife. We never did get to see an alligator but we did see a lot of water birds and a mother raccoon with a baby. The visitor's center is small but very well done with several nice exhibits. We also walked the short trail out back. The woman at the visitor's center said that manatee's had been spotted at the manatee viewing area (not on the map), but by the time we got there, they were gone. We headed out to the beach at Canaveral National Seashore and saw an endangered Scrub Jay along the road. We also got a good look at the space shuttle on the launch pad. We spent a couple of wonderful hours at the beach. All afternoon we saw a total of maybe 10 people. We left with a big bag of sea shells and had a pizza delivered to our room for a late supper.

Friday was our last chance to do and see stuff. We let ourselves sleep late. This time we rode the horse drawn trolley to the central hub. We first rode the Teacups. This attraction is often maligned in the guides but all of our family really liked it. As we walked over to Tomorrowland, the youngest and oldest asked to ride the Grand Prix Raceway. Neither of the kids is tall enough to drive so I went with them while my wife and 7 year old rode the Teacups again. The GPR are a real waste of time and space (IMHO) but the kids had fun. Between the GPR and 20,000 LUtS, much of this end of the park is doing nothing. I think some significant investment is due here.

We headed over to Tomorrowland and rode the People Mover (I mean TTA).

We liked the overview of Tomorrowland. We wanted to se the Transportarium but there was a bit of a wait until the next show so we headed over to the Carousel of Progress. I fondly remembered CoP from DL in 1970 and I still really like it. The rest of the family liked it much more than they expected. After our morning break we could have caught the Transportarium but others in the group really felt the need to shop. As this was our last day, we were feeling more laid back and did not feel compelled to rush to every attraction we could. We shopped in Tomorrowland for a bit but still didn't find anything we wanted or could afford.

After shopping we rode the Skyway to Fantasyland. Everyone else is a bit afraid of heights and were very nervous waiting in line but after we go up they all really enjoyed the view. The wait was quite long, partly because the loading area in Fantasyland is closed for rehab. You could get off or ride round trip back to Tomorrowland. We wanted to ride PP again but the line was too long so we rode IaSM again. I enjoyed it more the second time. By then it was 11:30. We had an early lunch (to beat the crowds) at the Pinocchio Village Haus. Again, the selection wasn't very good (PB&J was the only thing on the kid's menu). But we got a very large and very good pasta salad and fresh fruit cup. It felt great to have a healthy lunch again.

After lunch we took the raft back to TSI to see the fort we had missed on Wednesday. The fort was fun but it wasn't as compelling as the rest of TSI. I had finally talked my wife into riding Big Thunder Mtn RR but the line was too long so we just took the train back to main street. I do not think that we would have been able to use all of the intra-park transportation if we had rented a stroller. We brought our own folding umbrella type stroller for the 4 year old. It worked great. We were able to take it everywhere (even on the Skyway) with no problem. Plus we had use of it outside the parks (parking lots, monorail, resorts, etc.)

Considering that you can buy a stroller for the price of 3 or 4 days of rental, it really is the way to go.

From the Main Street Station we walked in to see Mickey who was greeting people in the theater behind the Disneyanna Shop on the Town Square. BTW, what is this theater used for at other times? We really lucked out here. The lobby was empty when we arrived, but a few minutes later there was a line out the door. After a short wait, a CM brought us in to see the mouse. It was a great way to end our visit to the MK.

Outside the MK, we caught the bus over to the Yacht Club. They did not ask us for ID as the bus was nearly empty. We walked and gawked through the lobby over to Peaches and Cream for and afternoon snack. The ice cream was good but Disney needs some lessons on how to do old fashion ice cream sodas.

From there we walked by the famous pool area, through the Beach Club and to the International Gateway - a very convenient back door to EPCOT. We went back to EPCOT mainly to shop. We finally found some stuff we really liked in England and the Discovery Shop in Inoventions West. We also got to see Canada so the only country we missed was Germany. We stopped to see some street performers (the stilt birds were harassing people in England) and the really neat fountain was doing its show. We stood down wind to get a cooling shower. We rode Horizons for one last time :-(. BTW, Horizons had extra significance this time after having seen the CoP in the morning. We walked past the topiary Dinosaurs by the closed Energy Pavilion on the way out. The monorail took us back to the TTC and our car.

Back at the room we refreshed ourselves and got ready for dinner at O'hana in the Polynesian resort.

O'hana is a fun and very good place to eat - and when they say "all you can eat" I take it very literally. We had a window seat with a sunset view of the castle. Only the 4 year old really got into the floor show.

Some of the grilled meats were better than others, but the side dishes were perhaps the best part of the meal. Dinner for 5 came to $87 including tax and tip. After dinner we strolled down by the pool and the docks to watch the sun set - a great way to end our trip. We could have stayed a few minutes to watch the water parade but we had all had enough so we went back to the room to pack.

We decided that the Polynesian would be our resort of choice if we ever get the chance to do Disney first class.

As you leave this Trip Report, please gather up your personal belongings and exit to your right.

Epilogue

There were two items we wanted to shop for at the last minute - an Orca t-shirt for the 7 year old and some local produce (oranges). We stopped at an off-site t-shirt shop but never found the former. The latter we found in abundance on I-95 north of Daytona. The trip home was marred when our AC died in GA. In SC it made a burning smell and in TN it started to make noise.

On Sunday morning in Knoxville we found an auto repair shop that opened at 10:00 AM. The mechanic just took off the belt to the AC to prevent any more serious damage and we got on our way by 11:00 AM. We didn't need the AC on Sunday as we were back in the cold north. We got home at 11:15 PM. All in all we had a great trip. We had seem most of what we wanted and spent just about exactly what we had planned. We definitely plan to return.

Some facts and figures:

• Average high temp in Orlando for the week - 92 F (ouch)
• Average high temp in Grand Rapids MI for the week - 55 F (heh heh)
• Total mile driven - 3016 miles (ugh)
• Number of different license plates observed - 42 states, DC, US Navy, US Gov't and 4 provinces (including PEI and Newf/Lab!!!!). That would be 43 states if we can count the NV plates on the Honey I Blew Up the Kid van on the MS back lot tour. We are still debating if that one counts.
• What was in my fanny pack - camera, film, mole skin, insect repellent, sunburn ointment, sunscreen, aspirin, children's tylenol, bandaids, and kleenex. (all of these except the insect repellent came in very handy).
• What was in my tote bag - rain gear, change of underwear and pants and wipes for the 4 year old, a bottle of drinking water, a zip-lock bag of snacks (such as granola bars, mini-cookies, fruit rollups, and PB/cheese crackers) and souvenirs purchased during the day.
• Granola bars consumed for the week - 20

Best things at WDW (IMHO):

• The Coffee and Napoleons in Chef's de France
• Giant screens in Horizons
• Fresh squeezed OJ at Artist's Point
• Muppet 3- or 4-D
• the Stilt Birds around World Showcase
• The view from the MK skyway
• Riding up and down Main Street
• The Polynesian Resort