Lowell Ross - November 1999 - Offsite

[Trip Reports]

Arrived November 25, departed December 4
8 days on the ground, November 26-December 3
Dramatis personae:
Lowell - 42, lives in Redmond, Washington, originally from South Carolina, 6th visit to the World
Lucy - 36, lives in Redmond, Washington, originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1st visit to the World
On the morning of Day 1, we woke, dressed, and gathered our bags together. There was a knock on our door and we opened it to meet our van driver. Loaded our stuff onto the van, and set off to pick up numerous other people before heading to the airport. Trip took forever, will drive to airport next time. Arrived at the airport in plenty of time, checked in and hung out until our flight was called. Took United, connected in Denver. Trip was uneventful.

When we arrived in Orlando, we collected our bags and set off to our ground transportation. Got a rental car from Avis, pretty good rate. Car was waiting for us on our arrival, we just had to get over there to it. We then set off to our resort. For the first 3 days, we were staying at the Marriott Residence Inn resort on International Drive. We went the wrong way when we hit I-4 and wound up at exit 27 in Lake Buena Vista. We were hungry, however, so took this opportunity to eat at the Waffle House, a wonderful themed restaurant. The theme is of an old-fashioned roadside diner. The food was pretty good, and cheap, and the Waffle House CM’s handled the transaction quickly and efficiently. We then got oriented and headed back up I-4 to Sand Lake Road, where we easily found our resort. Check-in was uneventful, except that we were offered the opportunity to tour a timeshare. I like to tour timeshares, so I signed up eagerly. The pay was above average, 2 park tickets for $10. We chose IOA tickets, which have a value of $47 each, so our net was going to be about $84, good pay for what I always find to be a pretty fun experience. After check-in, we went off to our room. We immediately noticed the theming of the room. The room was themed like a hotel room, with bed, TV, and full kitchen. We watched the NBC Thursday Night lineup, and then went to bed.

November 26 1999

The next morning we went to our timeshare presentation, pretty typical. Nice enough room, but if you take the cost and multiply it out to get the total cost of the property it was staggeringly expensive. Maintenance fees too, remember, multiply the fee out by 52, what kind of maintenance are they doing, taking out the plumbing fixtures and replacing them with gold? We didn't buy, naturally, and we collected our tickets and left. We then went to Epcot. Figured Epcot, being the largest (at least, having the largest area open to the public), was going to be the easiest park to get around in, figured parks would be pretty crowded the day after Thanksgiving. Parked at the BoardWalk, walked around a little and then went on in to Epcot via the International Gateway. It was about 11 AM, so traffic in the World Showcase was pretty light. We saw the American Experience and the Wonders of China presentations, just had to wait for the previous shows to get over before entering. Walked around World Showcase a little more, then went to Harry Ramsbottom's on 192 for some fish and chips. Not bad.

Came back to Epcot and toured Future World a little. Went to the Living with the Land presentation, I told Lucy that was worth a 40-minute wait, but we didn't have to wait that long. We then went to the Living Seas. I like SeaBase Alpha a lot, but you can't get in there without watching that movie and riding the ride. No problem for first-time visitors, but what about people who like the exhibits but have already seen the movie and ridden the ride more than they care to? They need to put in an entrance directly into the exhibit area to permit people to bypass that other stuff if they want to. Next time I think I will attempt to just sneak in the exit as people are leaving.

That was about it for attractions, although we walked around a good bit just enjoying the beauty of our surroundings. We also marveled at the lines. There was a long line for Test Track, so we didn't ride that day. We also went to the Death Star a couple of times, but there were huge, huge lines the whole time. I told Lucy, we'll ride the Death Star next week, and when you ride it you will be amazed at the lines you are seeing today. I think the Death Star is a really great ride, but it is not the sort of thing people are usually willing to spend a lot of time in line for.

That was about it, we left Epcot, ate at Popeye's Fried Chicken. CM's at Popeye's were pretty fast and efficient, food was surprisingly good and reasonably priced. Popeye's is one of the very best fast-food fried chicken joints around, I think. Went back to the hotel, watched ER, rested.

Saturday 11/27/99

Didn't attend any timeshares, went over to the Magic Kingdom, must have been before 11:00 AM. Big crowds. Rode the train first, rode it all around the park. I wanted to ride it back around to Frontierland but Lucy wanted to walk, so we did. Took a look at the line for Big Thunder Mountain, quite long. Didn't bother with FastPass, as we figured we would ride the next week. Line for Splash Mountain very long, in addition to which I don't like the drop much. Went over to Liberty Square, went in Hall of Presidents. Lucy nodded off a couple of times, told me later that she tried to stay awake because she didn't want to offend me. I told her she was entitled to do whatever she wanted, she wasn't obligated to feel any particular way about anything, the World is for everybody to enjoy in their own way. Also told her, how could you think I'd be offended, didn't I tell you you might have to watch American Adventure alone because I wasn't sure I could sit through it another time? I feel that Hall of Presidents is very interesting in a sort of indirect way. It is no longer interesting in itself, but it is a sort of snapshot of a stage of development of the technology of entertainment. It is fascinating to sit there and watch it and think, this used to be really advanced, and it used to be really entertaining and astonishing to watch these figures move the way they do.

Checked out line for Haunted Mansion, long.

Went to Timekeeper next, lots of fun. We then went on the Peoplemover. Even this was not quite a walk-on, we had to walk slowly and wind our way through the queuing area just a bit.

Maybe we went on Pirates of the Caribbean that day, I'm not sure. We did watch the parade, I chose quite a good vantage point. After the parade I think we walked around some more, checked out line for Haunted Mansion, still very long, and then went into Fantasyland. Just amazing lines, there was a huge line for Small World! I was simply astonished, told Lucy once you ride this thing you will not understand how there could be this kind of line for it. There was a long line for Peter Pan's Flight which is to be expected, I went on that at Disneyland once and it is a great ride. Snow White had a long line, I forgot about Winnie the Pooh, but bet the line was wrapped around the building. We walked over to Dumbo and there was a huge line for that, all waiting patiently. Same for the teacups. We then went over to Fantasyland because I had heard a lot about Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, 45-minute wait for that so we didn't go on.

If we had gone on that day all hot to ride, rather than simply to walk around, enjoy the park, and see and ride whatever we could manage, taking what was available, we would have had a miserable day. As it was, however, we had a fine time. We were still looking forward to the next week and so were able to just relax. If we had only a limited time, the thing to do would have been to get up early and be at the parks when the opened, and to tour more efficiently. As it was, we just mostly walked around and took it all in.

I don't think we went to another park after the Magic Kingdom. Ate at Don Pablo's on International Drive. It is pretty good, it was much better than any Mexican food I was ever able to get in South Carolina, but there is a chain called Azteca in the Seattle area that is quite a bit better than Don Pablo's. The rice and beans at Don Pablo's, while good, are still not as good as those at Azteca. CM's at Don Pablo's are as good as you'll find anywhere, though. Although those at Azteca are equally good.

Sunday, November 28

We checked out of our resort and moved into the next resort on our schedule. This was the Residence Inn Resort Lake Buena Vista. We showed up at about 10 but the room wasn't ready, so we just left and went to the MGM studios. The first ride we went on was the Great Movie Ride; that was my first ride on my first entry into MGM back in 1996. Next, we went to Star Tours, basically a walk-on. One of the lines was going unnoticed, so I got in it. Lucy is not as experienced with Disney as I am, so she ragged on me about being in an improper line, fearing we wouldn't be able to ride. We just walked through the queuing area and had to wait only for the preflight briefing. Unfortunately, our pilot was very inexperienced and the ride was sort of rough. I'm hoping to ride again in the future; maybe we'll get a more experienced pilot.

After that, I believe we wandered around a little trying to find our way out of the backlot area, and then came upon the Backlot Tour. We went on that, I wound up on the starboard side of the tram. Lucy sort of smirked when the announcer said that the passengers on the starboard side would get a little bit wet, but she didn't smirk after the next piece of information we received. After that, we went into the AFI showcase and looked at all the exhibits, and were then able to find our way out of the backlot area. I love the AFI showcase. There are always some really memorable pieces in there.

We then went on the animation tour, my favorite attraction at MGM. It was interesting, as always, slightly changed from the previous time I went. It was Sunday, so we couldn't watch the animators at work.

After that I'm not too sure what we did. Maybe we watched the Mu Lan parade. Anyway, after we left the park we went and moved into our room at the Residence Inn Resort at Lake Buena Vista. Theming of this resort is similar to the Residence Inn Resort on International Drive. The room was themed like a small apartment, with one bedroom, nice-sized kitchen, and washer and dryer. It could use refurbishing, but it was clean. It was also big.

I think we took a little rest and then ate. Then we came back to MGM for Fantasmic! We joined the throng assembled to enter the stadium, waited patiently to be admitted, and trooped in there as soon as we were allowed. We needn't have bothered. By this time, the Thanksgiving crowds were pretty well cleared out, and even people who showed up right before showtime were able to sit down. It was a great show, one of the most amazing productions I have ever seen. Departure after the show was handled smoothly. I had been somewhat concerned that we would take as long getting out as we did getting in, but this was not the case. Went back to the resort.

Monday, November 29

We went to our timeshare presentation, the timeshare CM spent the whole time drawing circles with lines going to them, no time talking about the actual property. I thought this was bizarre. Anyway, we collected $50 and went on out of there. We then headed over to the Animal Kingdom. Lucy was hungry, wanted something from McDonald's, so we found a restaurant in Dinoland USA serving McDonald’s food eventually. We wandered around first, got a little disoriented and wound up at Countdown to Extinction. We got Fastpasses for that, but then discovered the regular line was so short we didn't need to use the Fastpasses. There was a serious problem with the ride, the guy in charge of it unlocked the security codes and we were sent back to a time very close to an asteroid impact. I hope that the next time we ride that guy will be replaced and the security procedures improved. In so critical an operation, I don't believe it should be possible for one person to override the security codes. It should be a two-person operation, involving simultaneous turning of keys or something like that. Anyway, we barely managed to escape with our lives.

After that, we managed to find food. The CM handling the food service seemed to have taken tranquilizers, as she moved in a very slow and deliberate fashion. Anyway, we got some Chicken McNuggets and fries, and a Coke. Reasonable McDonald's fare. Certainly vastly better than standard Disney counter service. I really don’t understand why so many people object to moving McDonalds things into Disney. At least with McDonald’s you know what you’re getting. With Disney food there’s always the question, is it edible, and sometimes the question is, what is it anyway???

We then toured some of the dinosaur exhibits and managed to find our way out. We then headed over to the Asia section and toured the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It was fairly crowded, next time I want to go on the Jungle Trek I will show up earlier in the morning. It was great, though. We then made it over to the Africa section, but the wait for the Kilamanjaro Safaris was too long and we were worn out so we left for a break. Came back to another one of the parks after the break, not sure which one, maybe MGM. Anyway, whenever we did go back to MGM next, we watched Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Muppet 3D. After leaving, I believe we ate at Uno's in the Crossroads Shopping Center. The Crossroads is themed like a small shopping complex, and Uno's is themed like a pizza restaurant. The CM's at Uno's were quick and efficient, and the pizza was good. Think that was it for the day.

Tuesday, November 30

We went back to the Magic Kingdom. No timeshares, no change of hotels, we had had a good rest so headed out fairly early. We visited the Wilderness Lodge first, went in there, walked around a little. It was an impressive sight, but if you inspect things too closely you realize those logs are cement or something, not real wood. I told Lucy I expect the rooms cost around $300 per night, she said who stays here, I said we could stay here if we wanted, it wouldn't be any kind of financial strain, but there wouldn't really be any advantage in staying there, you can spend $300 per night to stay at the Wilderness Lodge but that doesn't buy you your own washer and dryer in the room like we had at our resort. Anyway, we headed back out to the Magic Kingdom, got there maybe before 10 AM, certainly before 11. We took the train to Frontierland and rode Big Thunder Mountain. We were then able to ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Small World, Snow White, Teacups, Buzz Lightyear in about 2 or 3 hours. Also saw Legend of the Lion King. Basically no wait for anything, except about a 10-minute wait for Buzz Lightyear. Then left, ate, rested, headed to Epcot. Rode the Death Star at Epcot. Just walked on to it, a vast change from a few days before when there was a huge line winding around the building. As I said before, the Death Star is a really impressive ride, I really like it. It gives you time to sit there and think about what you're being shown, and how much things have changed in your lifetime, and even since the last time you rode the Death Star. For example, I had last ridden the Death Star in December of 1997, and since then I have discovered a free Internet to telephone service, www.dialpad.com, which allows you to use your computer to call other people using their ordinary telephones! Free. Before December 1997, the previous time I had ridden the Death Star was in May of 1997, and during that interval I had learned how to do computer-to-computer voice communication. Every time you ride the Death Star you have time to sit and think about all these wonders.

As a continuation of this line of thought, after I wrote the first draft of this report, we discovered a pay internet-to-phone service called net2phone, which allows you to make international calls. Calls to Kuala Lumpur were 14 cents per minute, which we thought was a great price. But on January 1, they changed the pricing, and now you can call Kuala Lumpur for 6 cents per minute! The next time we ride the Death Star, we will have yet another opportunity to think of the vast improvements in communication that have occurred during our lifetimes.

After disembarking from the Death Star, we were discharged into the AT&T Global Neighborhood, which seems to consist mostly of worthless junk. We went into this room with a supposedly voice-controlled entertainment system. We went in there to find out if we could see when ER came on. The thing reacted to voice commands all right, but all it does is detect a noise, and then it goes right on with what it was going to do, no matter what you said. It was useless, and we left. We then rode Test Track, short wait, maybe 15 minutes. I liked Test Track, fun, fast ride but not rough or scary. I went on it without much trepidation because I figured, it's a car, it can't subject you to accelerations beyond what a car can achieve. And I was right, it was fun but not too wild. Don't understand the CMs' warnings about the line, the notice said there was a long wait, and then a CM made an announcement about how long the wait was and how you could get in the single-rider line. I said we wanted to do that, but the CM handling the line said we would be riding in 10 minutes. I don't understand line management for that ride, people making announcements need to pay attention to what is really happening, there are some times of year when the line is short.

Not exactly sure what we did next.

Wednesday, December 1

Went to Animal Kingdom. Headed to the Africa area, went on Kilamanjaro Safaris, no line. Nice and cool, too. Just amazing, it was like we were really in Africa. Perhaps the best ride imaginable. One aspect of it which I found disquieting was that we went over this old bridge which nearly collapsed under us. The park opened in 1998, how old can that bridge possibly be? And I also wonder about the wisdom of taking a truckload of unarmed people chasing after poachers who have weapons which can bring down an elephant? Oh well, I expect this was a very unusual set of circumstances, and unlikely to be duplicated in the future. We managed to drive the poachers into the police dragnet, so I expect that subsequent rides didn't encounter any poachers or anything like that. After Kilamanjaro Safaris, we went on the Punjabi exploration trail. Very uncrowded, cool. Our next visit will be in May, not quite so uncrowded as this time of year, so we will hit the park at opening time, go on the trail first, and then ride the Safari. You can easily spend an entire day on just the Punjabi trail and the Maharaja Jungle Trek, and that's what I intend to do someday. I think Lucy was starting to wear out after that, so we headed back to the Bug show, watched the Bug show, very entertaining with lots of surprises, and left. I then dropped Lucy back at the resort and went to Best Buy. Then went to the Barnes and Noble next to Best Buy, looking for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but it was in hardback only. Then went back, rested a little and then Lucy and I headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We rode Space Mountain, I did not like it, too rough, and we think Lucy strained her shoulder a little. She liked it, though. We then went to Main Street to take up our position for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Chose a good position, parade started in Frontierland, however, so we had to wait quite a while. Worth it, though. A lot of people didn't wait for the fireworks, many many people left, thinning out the crowds and making movement much easier. We were able to walk to a better fireworks position and then watch the fireworks show. I then told Lucy, well, we have to alternatives, we can go to Epcot, hold down another slab of concrete for another 2 hours, and watch Illuminations, or we can go back to the resort and watch ER. Lucy had thought that Illuminations was a stadium show like Fantasmic! When she realized it was a stand and watch show, it didn't take her long to realize that we didn't have the energy to catch it that night. We then headed to our car and left. I believe I got Chick-fil-a and brought it back, we then ate while watching ER.

Thursday, December 2

This was our day to visit Universal. We paid $6 parking fee, parked, headed toward parks. Saw Hulk roller coaster from the ground, it was doing a split-S. Lucy started complaining about her shoulder, I said sit here while I change our timeshare tickets to 2-day passes, that way we can go to Universal Studios which has mostly shows and slow rides. Anyway, passes don't expire. So I did this, then we discussed the medical issue, our conclusion was that we didn't want to burn a day's admission if we weren't going to be able to stay the day, and there was substantial risk that we wouldn't be able to last out the day. So we left. As we were heading to our car, a parking lot CM stopped us to offer directions to the parks (obviously it looked like we were lost, because it was way to early to be leaving. We told him we were bailing out, he said go to Guest Services and get a voucher to come back. I told him we hadn't been inside, so that wasn't a problem. He said, well, you paid for parking, right, go to Guest Services and see what they can do about that. So we did, and the long and short of it was that Guest Services gave me a parking refund without even making me hike back to my car to get my receipt. We were really impressed with the Universal CMs' attitude toward guest satisfaction. Anyway, we will be going to Universal and IOA on our next visit, and I have some months to build up nerve to ride the big coasters.

We went to the Ming Court and ate. We then came back and I dropped Lucy off at the resort and headed off to the Magic Kingdom. I rode the Space Ranger Spin and Pirates, and walked around. Then headed over to Epcot, tried to ride Test Track but it was broken. Walked around and enjoyed Epcot, and then left. I walked through the Millenium Village, which I felt was a colossal waste of time. It took me about 10 minutes to get out of there, and I feel that I was cheated out of 10 minutes of my life. After finishing up at Epcot, I headed back to the resort. I believe we went to Uno's, and then came back and watched ER.

Friday, December 3

Last day. Went to MGM. Parked at BoardWalk, took the boat over. Very pleasant ride. Watched Hunchback, ate pizza from the Pizza Planet (not that good but not awful - thus pretty good for Disney food) went on the animation tour again, walked down to Tower of Terror, decided not to ride because of the shoulder issue. Walked around the park, shopped a little, then left. Took bus over to Epcot. Got on just as it was leaving. Lucy didn't want to ride Test Track because of the shoulder issue, I waited in single rider line for a few minutes, then decided not to ride, fairly long wait. We then saw Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and Cranium Command. Left, took a break, then went to Pebbles for dinner. Wanted to see tree lighting ceremony at the Magic Kingdom, but the service was so slow we weren't able to. Good food, but the CM's at Pebbles were not that great. Missed the tree lighting ceremony, but we did get to watch the fireworks again.

Saturday, December 4.

Did some shopping at Belz, went to the toy store and to Character Warehouse. Very good stuff at Character Warehouse, I got Since the World Began for $5, and we got some toys and things for gifts. Next time we will shop more. We then went to the Golden Corral buffet, which Lucy liked quite a bit, then back to the airport. Avis CM's handled return of our car quickly and efficiently, and then we checked in at the airline and went over to the gate. Within a few hours we were back home.

Lowell Ross

lrss@msn.com