Steve Russo - POFQ & BCV - January 19-25, 2008

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Planning & Day 1 of 7

January 19 – 25, 2006

Port Orleans – French Quarter & Beach Club Villas Resort

The Cast

Steve – That would be me. Handsome; dashing; heroic in every way. I do 100% of the planning, make all the reservations, handle the packing and schlepping of luggage, take all the pictures and write the trip report. My sole purpose in life is to support my better half in the manner to which she plans to become accustomed.

Barb – The woman that walks on the ground I worship.

Planning

Since we became DVC members in 2000, we’ve been pretty successful in taking 2 to 3 Disney World trips each year. Unfortunately, this trip will take place more than a year after the last one ended. How did we let that happen? I don’t know that answer but I’ll vow to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Originally, we were set to stay from December 8-14 at the Boardwalk Villas, which would have put us on site for Mousefest. For several reasons, we canceled that reservation and rebooked for January. While I would’ve liked to have been there for Mousefest and the Holiday RADP meet, not to mention the Christmas decorations and festivities, it turned out to be a blessing that we had re-scheduled. Those that read and can remember back to my 2001 trip report will recall that we brought my father – the (then) 85-year old ‘Pop’. Pop’s now 92 and, unfortunately, he hasn’t been feeling real well for the past couple of months. As a matter of fact, in November he had a couple of fairly major surgical procedures done. After a 3-week hospital stay, he was placed into a Specialized Nursing Facility for therapy. His first week there butted right up against December 8, so we would have had to postpone that trip.

Rooms

This trip began with us having reserved Sunday-Friday in a Preferred View room at the Boardwalk Villas. While the Boardwalk is our DVC home resort and we absolutely love it there, my feeling is that if I were going to pay the few extra points for a preferred view, I’d just as soon stay at the Beach Club Villas if available. I’m not sure why that is except we’ve stayed many nights at the Boardwalk and the Beach Club is just a bit ‘newer’ to us. I recently read another trip report from someone that did the same thing in reverse – their home resort was the Beach Club but they commented on how nice it was to stay at the Boardwalk for something different. I guess deep down I feel as if I’m cheating on my home resort. I’ll even resort to exiting a bus at the Swan so the Boardwalk won’t see me continuing on to the Beach Club – the price I pay for my infidelity. Anyway, I wait-listed the Beach Club Villas and that came through for us in October.

Rather than use points for the more-expensive Saturday night stay, and trying to save some point for the 2-bedroom villa next year, I was able to get a AAA rate at Port Orleans – French Quarter. It’s one of the resorts we haven’t yet stayed in so it will give us the opportunity to sample something new while knocking another resort off our list.

Dining

We’re convinced that the Dining Plan is not for us. I’d be the first to agree that it can save you money if you plan on paying cash for a snack, counter service and table service meal each day… and your meals include desserts. We don’t typically eat like that during a Disney World stay so… I’m going to try very hard during this trip to keep records of all our meal expenses so I can contrast what we’ve spent versus what the Disney Dining Plan would have cost. We will have the Disney Dining Experience so I’ll be able to contrast the two plans – sort of a DDP v. DDE (I was going to try to make a joke here with a reference to the Alien versus Predator, or AVP, films but everything I came up with was too lame. I just wanted you to know that I tried.) Stay tuned.

At the 180-day window, I roughed out a general plan of attack for what parks we’d visit on which days. From that, I called and made several Advance Dining Reservations. The restaurants booked included some new ones (for us, anyway): the Trail’s End Buffet, the Yachtsman Steakhouse, the Plaza Restaurant and the Flying Fish. It also included the Rose and Crown, where we’ve had lunch before but never dinner. I also made our third reservation at the Hollywood Brown Derby at the Studios – a place where I’ve had reservations twice before but, for different reasons, canceled both.

I’m already on record griping about the need to plan meals 180 days in advance, mainly due to the popularity of the Disney Dining Plan, so I’ll spare you from another rant. But I still don’t like it.

Passes

For the past several years, we’ve been taking advantage of a significant DVC discount and purchasing Annual Passes. We attempt to take further advantage of these passes by scheduling to get 3 trips within the 12-month period. It requires a little planning and a little flexibility but does work. This time would be no exception as we’re planning the next 2 visits in October (for Barb and me to visit during the Food and Wine Festival) and January (another ‘whole family’ trip).

As Annual Pass holders, we’ve always found that we get tremendous value from the Disney Dining Experience card so I had planned to purchase a new one in December. Shortly before that, Disney announced a new plan that allows you to purchase and receive your card at the World so we’ll buy it there.

Transportation

Flying from Albany, NY, we don’t have tons of options beyond Southwest and USAirways. Southwest has been our choice, mainly due to more non-stop flights at better times and (usually) better pricing. I’m always torn between buying our tickets as soon as the window opens on our time frame or waiting for a Ding! or other reduced fare. In the past, I’ve purchased early and re-booked using Ding! fares and sometimes had to eat the savings when I didn’t have another trip scheduled in time.

Earlier this year, however, we traveled to Las Vegas and I watched as fares did nothing but go up (and up) after the window opened. So, I bought our fares immediately and, for the first time ever, have not seen them come down a bit in the ensuing months.

We’ll use Magical Express to get us to and from the airport. I thought about a rental car but, when staying at an Epcot resort and not intending to travel off-site, I’ve found a car rental to be a waste. We walk to Epcot and the Studios. We bus to the Magic Kingdom but, I think everyone would agree that the Magic Kingdom is the one park that driving is actually more cumbersome. That leaves just Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney and we usually visit each of those only once per trip so… I think you’d agree that a rental is just not a good value for us.

Friday, January 18, 2008 – Departure Day minus one

I write this just to give you an idea of what Southwest Airlines has forced us to become. I normally leave for work at around 6:30 AM. Not so today. At 7:15, I’m at my computer surfing to find the most accurate time available – which I find is from the US Naval Observatory Master Clock. I ensure that my computer’s clock is set to it and then visit Southwest’s web site to print my boarding passes exactly 24 hours before flight time, which is tomorrow at 7:20 AM.

I key in our confirmation number and my name, then click on Retrieve Reservation. It takes me to a screen that tells me I’m too early (I know this) and I hit the back button. Now, not knowing if Southwest Airlines is set to the most accurate time of the US Naval Observatory Master Clock, I begin my process a minute early at 7:19. I click ‘Retrieve Reservation’, they tell me I’m too early, I click the back button and try again. They entire process only takes 3-4 seconds so I’m feeling pretty good about my chances of scoring the first 2 boarding passes. Suddenly, one of the clicks take me to my reservation. It shows a line for me and one for Barb and asks which ones I would like boarding passes for. It’s a silly step, in my opinion, but I quickly check both boxes and click on the button to retrieve boarding passes and learn that we’re in the ‘A group’ but… I have numbers 26 and 27. What? 25 people beat me in?

Dejectedly, I head to work and endure another day of drudgery. Friday night we visit Pop at the nursing facility making sure he’s got what he needs for the week. Our children will be visiting and handling the day-to-day stuff while we’re gone. Our son, Stephen, will also be moving back home for a week to tend to our dog. We head home; I packed (Barb has already completed the task of emptying her entire closet into a suitcase), loaded the car, set the alarm for 4:00 AM and turned in.

Saturday, January 19, 2008 – Headwinds, lightening, tornados… and Foxy Brown

This is the first day of our vacation and I am psyched.

I’ve said this countless times in past trip reports but, I always awake before the alarm sounds. Today, that was at 1:51 AM. I fully realize how insane it is to be awake at that hour but, trust me, it wasn’t my choice. I tried very hard to get back to sleep. So hard, in fact, that I think I have a permanent furrow on my brow from the effort. Unfortunately, sleep never came so I gave in, got up at 3:45 and made the coffee.

We showered, dressed, caffeine-ated, fed the dog and left at 5:15. The trip to the airport, at that hour on a Saturday, is fairly uneventful. We parked in the garage, finding a spot on the same level as the covered bridge into the terminal but… about as far away from the bridge as possible. There’s something eerie about rolling your luggage through an empty, cold and dark garage that early in the morning. The only sounds are the wheels on the luggage and the clack they make every 5 seconds when they hit the concrete joints.

We check our luggage, after a short wait, at 6:00 and make it through Security by 6:15. As I was re-dressing on the other side of Security, there was an angry older gentleman muttering about reporting them and suing the whole lot. Apparently, his daughter and granddaughter (about 3) were enduring the extra scanning. I’m guessing one of them must have set off the scanner when coming through. The TSA employee was lightly frisking and scanning the child and the child, quite naturally, was crying. Grandpa was very angry but his wife was trying to explain why this was necessary – how it’s not outside the realm of possibility that people would plant something on a child to get it through Security. The whole thing was a sad comment on where we are today.

At 6:20, we hit the Coffee Beanery where we shared a coffee and a muffin. We then headed to our gate at about 6:50.

Now, the premise of the new Southwest Boarding system is that you will board in the order dictated by how early you got your boarding pass (we’re number 26 and 27). Given that, there’s absolutely no reason at all for people to camp out in the boarding lanes as they’ve done for so many years, right? Then what the heck are these idiots doing, lined up in front of the C 1-30 sign, 30 minutes before the flight?

In a few minutes, they call up the A group, numbers 1-30 on the left and 31-60 on the right. You’re supposed to line up numerically and are expected to police this yourselves. I can’t wait for the fistfights this causes. On this flight, we seem to be an orderly bunch and the guy with number 28 actually tells us to get in front of him. I also learn that no one has numbers 1-15 as they’re reserved for those that purchased Business Select fares – basically a way you can spend 50-250% more for your ticket but guarantee being one of the first 15 on the plane.

We board and snag the Emergency Exit row, the one row with only 2 seats in it. I then sit and watch as folks store ever larger and larger suitcases in the overhead bins. This is only my opinion but this has gotten entirely out of hand. Southwest, like many airlines, has an open bin by the gate. It states that if your bag fits inside the bin, you can carry it on. If not, they’ll be happy to check it for you. There are folks that carry on bags that have no chance of fitting in those bins after Wayne Szalinski hit ‘em with his shrinking machine. Dennis Miller’s rant about airline travel is so appropriate – he talks about the "wizard who tries to beat the system by gaffer-taping a twine handle to a Frigidaire freezer box and calling it carry-on." And it’s appalling how some of these folks treat whatever was placed in the overhead before them. Don’t ever leave anything breakable in a coat pocket. Trust me.

We push back at 7:20 and then sit through the de-icing procedure. I always have mixed emotions on this – I’m glad they noticed the frost before we took off but not entirely comfortable with the haphazard way they spray on the solvent.

We finally get the wheels up and we are treated to the flight from hell. The pilot quickly informs us that preceding flights have reported unstable air and heavy turbulence at the upper altitudes so we would be cruising at a fairly low 26,000 feet. This doesn’t get us out of the cloud cover and results in a very bumpy flight – so turbulent that the flight attendants are asked to take their seats for several lengthy periods. I’ve started a new book (Into the Wild) that came borrowed from and highly recommended by daughter Stephanie but… I have a hard time reading when it’s this bumpy.

There are 3 people seated directly behind us and they are talking, loudly, pretty much non-stop. That’s normally not a big deal but the woman has a very loud and high-pitched voice (think Minnie only louder) and, when she laughs, which is frequently, it’s more of a cackle. I drag out my MP3 player and crank up the volume but, sadly, even that doesn’t drown it out completely.

From past experience, we know that the flight from Albany to Orlando takes right around 2 hours and 30 minutes, assuming no problems. For whatever reason, Southwest lists the flying time as 3 hours – so we almost always land earlier than the scheduled time. Not today. After takeoff, the pilot announced our flying time as 3 hours and 10 minutes. What? And… that was the last we heard from him. Periodically, one of the flight attendants would make an announcement about the “ugly head winds” we were enduring but we never had a progress report.

I can usually brave the 2 ½ hour flight without visiting the ‘facilities’ but, this flight is running longer and I’ve now had 3 coffees and a water. This leads me to my first (of probably many) complaints – the airline rest room. I remember a time when using these facilities wasn’t a problem. Now? First, you’re not allowed to queue up at the forward area so timing is everything. If you’re seated in row 13, there’s a good chance that, by the time you exit your row and make your way forward, someone in row 6 will get up and beat you there. So you return to your seat… and wait… and try again.

Eventually, you’ll make your way there, enter, close and latch the door. You turn around and find you’re in some weird misshapen phone booth. Now I have to be a bit delicate here. The room is all the way forward and to the left side, directly behind the pilot, so the curvature of the roof line is very pronounced. For those that plan on sitting for this activity, they’re presented with an opportunity to kind of back in, leaning slightly forward so their back actually conforms to the airliner’s roof curvature. However, if you plan on standing for this event, and are over 6’ tall, you are presented with two alternatives: 1) you can stand at the door and determine if your aim and distance are everything they used to be; or 2) you can limbo into the proper position. I’m not kidding here. If you attempt to get closer to the toilet, you’re forced to assume a limbo like position with your head cocked to one side to conform to that roofline.

Finally, after 3 and one-half hours of flying, we began our descent. We had flown most of the way through clouds so we were looking forward to seeing land of any kind. We bounced around the sky quite a bit and I commented to Barb that “it looks like when we finally break out of these clouds, we’ll only be a few hundred feet above land.” Boy, was I wrong. After a longer than usual descent, we broke free of the clouds and looked down to see the runway – about 8-10 feet below us. To say it was foggy was an understatement.

We touched down at 11:10 and deplaned at 11:20 – four hours after pushing back in Albany. The longest flight yet. We made a restroom stop and caught the shuttle to the main terminal, then rode the escalators down to Level 1 and walked to the end to find Disney’s Magical Express. There was a short line so we checked in in less than 5 minutes. The woman that checked us in was from Bogota, Columbia and had a very thick accent. At one point she asked “You are sheeshing da bells?” It was pretty comical when Barb and I, in unison, looked at each other then back at her. She must have sensed our confusion and asked again, “You are sweetching hotels?” Ah, yes, we are.

We walked to the corral and took a spot as the only ones in line for Port Orleans and Saratoga Springs. Before long there were 6-8 others in line and, within 10 minutes, we were ushered out to a waiting bus. The bus left in about 10-minutes. To date, all of our experiences with Magical Express have been very good. This one? Not so much. Our driver, Bill, informed us that the video on the bus was not working. That would’ve been OK. Unfortunately, he must have felt obligated to provide entertainment for us for the duration of the trip. For 50-minutes, we were treated to the comedy stylings of Bill the Driver. For the first 5-10 minutes, it was OK. After that? Again, not so much.

He did inform us we were on the slowest bus in the fleet – and, after the 50-minute trip, it felt like it. Because Saratoga Springs was our first stop, we entered the property by International Drive and through the Downtown Disney area. The traffic there was heavy and made a long trip even longer but, as Bill pointed out, it did give us an opportunity to compare the gasoline prices at multiple stations. Surprisingly, this may be the one thing Bill told us that I found interesting. In the last 2-3 miles of our trip, the price of regular unleaded varied from $3.02 to $3.59. There was one spot that offered a $.17 difference between stations that faced each other across a street. Weird.

We dropped folks at Saratoga Springs and then, thankfully, we were dropped at the French Quarter. We hustled inside and found a check-in area with 3 CMs and only 1 customer. We were helped by Sharon who was earning her ears. She did just fine and had us checked into room 6323 in under 2 minutes – and the room was ready.

This was our first time at PO-FQ and I was impressed. I liked the theming of the French Quarter ‘streets’ (Café Au Lait Way and the Rue D’Baga). We found building 6 and took the elevator to the 3rd floor. Room 6323 turned out to be a corner room, windows on 2 sides, with a very nice view of the Sassagoula River. It was typical of a moderate with twin sinks and a separate, but very tiny, bathroom (toilet and tub). We did have a king bed and Mousekeeping had left us a towel animal – only the 2nd one I’ve ever gotten. Although… I’m not quite sure I know what it is. It appears to be an octopus-like thing but with only 4 tentacles. A quadrapus? A squid that was involved in a horrible motorcraft accident? Here’s the picture… http://picasaweb.google.com/srusso10...21893245554962

We freshened up a bit and decided to head to the food court for some lunch. I should mention here that it’s a very comfortable 78-80 degrees and mostly cloudy – still foggy, really. The forecast is calling for a cold front to come through, bringing some storms tonight and colder weather tomorrow. Then, it should warm up again for Monday-Thursday.

I took some photos of the streets and pool area before we headed into the Sassagoula Float Works. It’s a small but serviceable food court. We split a turkey sub (made fresh) and a bottle of water ($9.24) – both good. From there, we hit the bus stops. There was a waiting bus for the Magic Kingdom (MK) and we walked quickly to it. I stopped briefly to take a photo of a bus stop sign identifying that stop for travel to ‘Magic Kingdom’ and ‘Disney’s Hollywood Studios’. Mark Goldhaber of Mouseplanet had asked if I could send some photos of the new signage for Hollywood Studios, and any construction pics of the (not yet announced as a DVC resort) construction at the Contemporary. This would be the first of many I found – some showing Hollywood Studios while others were still listing it as Disney-MGM.

During the bus ride to the MK, the sun finally broke through and began burning off some of the fog. By the time we reached the MK, it had become sunny.

At the MK, we first needed to stop at a ticket window to exchange our Annual Pass (AP) vouchers for actual passes and to purchase our Disney Dining Experience (DDE) card. I had a moment of mild panic (and possibly a ‘senior moment’) on the bus when I couldn’t remember if there was a ticket window at the MK. I knew they were at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) but… not to worry. It was all the way to the right and just outside the turnstiles. In 5 minutes we had 2 brand spanking new APs and a new DDE card ($60) that’s good through February 2009.

We entered the MK… or tried to. Barb’s AP worked fine but mine wouldn’t let me in. I explained to the CM that it was brand new. He put it through the machine again, this time upside down, and when that didn’t work, asked me to put my middle finger on the scanner. I had been using my index finger for some time without a problem so I’m not sure what might have changed. It seemed to work and I was allowed entry but the CM also seemed to be doing some ‘other stuff’ with that little keypad they have there so I was a bit worried - justifiably so as it turned out.

Once inside, I immediately noticed construction at City Hall. I’m not sure what they were doing but the front of the building was hidden behind a tarp. And on the tarp, was a life-size image of City Hall. I saw them do this once before with the China pavilion at Epcot. Have they always done this with theme park buildings under construction? It’s pretty cool and just another example of how Disney usually goes a step or two beyond their competition.

We made a bee line for the (newly renovated – at least since I saw it last) Haunted Mansion. There was a posted wait time of 30-minutes but we got into line anyway. I didn’t time it but I’d say we were inside in 20. I busied myself taking some photos of the building’s exterior (it looked great – somehow cleaner than I remembered), the hearse, etc. The sound in the stretching room was much improved. The whole ride just looked fresher and newer with a soundtrack that was much cleaner than any time in the past. The new components – the stairs, bride with the ax, etc. – all work well. All in all, a great job by the Imagineers in improving what was already an excellent attraction.

We walked up the hill and into Fantasyland to try for Mickey’s Philharmagic. We were let into the lobby outside the theater and queued up with a moderate crowd. OK, here’s one sign the Apocalypse is almost upon us. Cell phones are everywhere at WDW. People are talking on cell phones while walking in the parks, in queues, in restaurants, on benches. We’re standing just outside Door #2 to Philharmagic, listening to Minnie tell us they’re almost ready for us. Next to us are 3 moms, a tweenage boy, and 3 teenage girls – each about 14-16. Each of the girls has a cell phone in hand and they’re frantically keying text messages with one or both thumbs. Their thumbs are flying across these Lilliputian keypads so fast all I can see is a blur. I’m wondering if they are texting each other. One finishes sending and returns the phone to a jacket pocket. I swear, it wasn’t out of her hand for 5 seconds before she reached in and, in one fluid motion, whipped it out and flicked it open - kind of like Obi Wan with a light saber. I can only guess she was checking to see if whoever she was texting to had responded. You could almost sense how uncomfortable she was in the 5-seconds the phone was out of her hand. All 3 continued keying until the doors opened and we were well inside the theater.

Philharmagic was as enjoyable as always. When we left, we wandered a bit through the adjacent store and found a Mickey polo we’d like to buy for our grandson. We’ll hold off on that for now. We wandered outside and, for the first time, I found Cinderella’s Fountain. I know, I know. I’ve probably walked by it dozens of times and never realized it was there.

We walked near the castle and toward Adventureland and decided it was time to head back to PO-FQ to see if our luggage had arrived. Just as we made the turn, 2 women walked by us with Dole Whips. OK, slight detour to Aloha Isle and into a 3-deep line. I had the pineapple Dole Whip while Barb had vanilla ($6.16). Call me biased but I just don’t understand her infatuation with vanilla. To me, it’s like Switzerland: a neutral flavor. Kind of like tofu… or cardboard. We grabbed a table out of the sun and finished our whips, then headed for the exit.

We waited about 5-minutes for a bus to PO-FQ and re-entered Sassagoula Float Works. I had heard so much about Beignets that I had to try them. The idea was to buy 3, sample 1 and save 2 for breakfast. It took me quite a while to get my 3 Beignets and a coffee for Barb ($3.31 after $.78 off for DDE). The reason was there were a bunch of teenagers in the food court having a late lunch or early dinner. I’m surmising they were on the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) because each one was getting a dessert with their entrée, and the desserts are ordered and prepared by the one CM manning the station that sold the Beignets. As I walked up, 4 or 5 of these kids formed a line at the station and I fell in behind. One would order a Strawberry Sundae, the CM would go off and make it, bring it back and the next one would order something similar. I hate the Dining Plan.

The Beignets were made fresh and we took a table to sample one. I was a bit disappointed in that they’re nothing more than the fried dough I used to get as a kid. Not that they were bad, it’s just I was expecting something different.

There were lots of teens in the food court and I would see many groups of teens around the parks over the next week. I’m not sure why but I did see one group with ‘Senior Trip’ t-shirts. There were also quite a few college kids around for the UCA Cheerleader competition that would run through tomorrow. Unfortunately, there was also a ton of Brazilian tour groups here as well… more on them later.

We went back to the room and discovered our luggage had been delivered. We unpacked a few things, freshened up and Barb called Stephanie to check on things at home. Steph lives in NYC now but was spending the weekend back home. I turned on the tube and caught some of Stacy’s Top 7 Attractions. She certainly is an enthusiastic young lady. She’s attractive but shouts a bit too much for my taste. We flicked on the Weather Station and caught the forecast which still called for storms tonight with the cold front. There were also tornado warnings. The front was expected to come through late tonight. They lied.

An interesting thing about the Weather Channel here – when it’s not delivering the forecast or local Doppler, it’s in commercial; more specifically, an infomercial for a way to make money via the Internet. They ran through 4 or 5 testimonials from women. Each woman was filmed from the waist up and was… er… how shall I say this? They were all Dolly Parton-esque. And each was displaying a more than ample amount of cleavage. Barb quickly named this the “Boob Channel”.

I had a 5:30 reservation at the Trail’s End Buffet but, we really weren’t very hungry so we decided to cancel that and eat later. Another reason why planning your meals 6 months in advance is a bad idea. At 5:30, we caught a waiting bus to Epcot. I now remember why riding the bus from a moderate resort was a bit of a hassle – we made 3 or 4 stops at Riverside before heading out. There was a Dad on the bus, busily folding a stroller. He was wearing a pair of beige Crocs so I asked him what he thought of them for park touring. He answered quickly with “They’re great. Like walking all day on a rubber mat.” I’ve got to try a pair because they sure don’t look that comfortable to me. When we exited the bus at Epcot, I felt a few sprinkles and immediately thought of the ponchos and visor I had left back in the room. Ah, well.

We were through security quickly and entered the park. Spaceship Earth listed a 15-minute wait so we got into line. I really like the changes during the first half of the ride. The new animatronics are great and the narration is very good. Everything looks like it’s been refreshed – cleaned up, repainted, whatever. Just a couple of observations:

- Didn’t the newsboy (Calling “Extra. Extra.”) used to be at the front of the building facing you? Now he’s kind of in the alley facing the other way. It almost looks like they had an accident with the animatronics’ face and are hiding him;
- Please don’t think me a dirty old man but didn’t the female sculpture have an exposed breast? That’s been taken to a G-Rating now;
- I’ve seen a number of comments about the guy in the garage developing the PC (actually, I think it’s an Apple). Some say it’s Steve Jobs. I’ve even heard an opinion that it’s Bill Gates. In my opinion, there’s no question it’s Steve Wozniak;
- I’ve worked in mainframe computer rooms in the late-1960s and early 1970s. The depiction here has a bit of Hollywood to it. Hollywood almost always depicted a computer by showing a spinning tape drive. This scene has plenty of blinking lights and lots of reel-to-reel tape drives – but no DASD. Not really an accurate representation;
- And what’s up with Foxy Brown in the computer room? The mini-skirt, go-go boots and Afro are just a bit much.

While I really enjoyed the first half of the ride, I have to say I thought the second half was a bit lame. There’s a pretty cool blue-light star field and then you begin answering some questions using the touch-screen monitor in your ride vehicle. The questions are a bit inane. At the end, it shows an animated rendering of *your* future, based upon your answers. They take your photo at the beginning of the ride and then paste your face on the animated characters in this look into your future. Unfortunately, there are still a few bugs in the system because the faces shown in our car weren’t us – unless we suddenly became a couple of female teenagers. As a matter of fact, I looked around and those faces didn’t belong to anyone in the cars around us either.

We exited the ride into the new post-ride room complete with a number of electronic entertainment opportunities. Each one was occupied so we just looked around for a few minutes and then made our way to the exit. It was raining. Hard. There was thunder and a flash of lightening every few seconds. I reminded myself that Florida is the lightening capital of the USA based upon the number of strikes per year. We exited and jogged between rain drops to the little shop below Spaceship Earth on the right. During the trip, we narrowly avoided a monster puddle on the Spaceship Earth side that looked to be about 3” deep.

There were lots of folks taking shelter in the shop and outside under the ample overhang. We hung out for a few minutes and I thought “Why wait it out here when we can ride Spaceship Earth again?” There was no line so we sprinted across and began walking up the entrance when a CM stopped us. I thought she had said we’d have to leave but she was just backing everyone down the aisle so she could back a wheelchair out. Someone tried to enter with a chair which is a no-no there.

The ride was the same as the first including 2 new faces in our animation at the end. As you exit the vehicle, the ride stopped. We were literally inches away from the point where the access door would slide open and we could exit. Unfortunately, as the CM explained, the ride needed to be reset and he couldn’t open the doors. “Just sit tight.” After a few minutes, a young couple about 3 cars behind us jumped out and left. Two maintenance guys (overalls and serious looks) came in, surveyed the situation and decided they could fix it. I’m not sure what they did but, a few minutes later, the ride started, our doors slid open and we exited.

It was still raining but not as hard. It seemed as though the lightening had picked up. It was also getting pretty windy. We spent a few minutes in the store. Barb went around the corner to the rest room and I actually got into a long line to buy ponchos. When Barb got back, I looked outside and asked her if she wanted to risk a run to the buses. She seemed game so off we went. We actually stayed fairly dry by staying under cover most of the way out. The toughest part was the last 100 yards which is mostly open. I made the mistake of trying to use a line of trees for some cover and caught a few good-sized drips for my trouble.

A bus was pulling up as we got to the stop. It filled up quickly and we were lucky to be the last 2 boarded. That meant we were standing at the front but we were out of the rain and reasonably protected from lightening. I’m not exactly sure of the route we took but, at one point we were stopped at a light waiting to make a left-hand turn. I *think* it was a turn on to Buena Vista Drive but I’m not 100% sure. Anyway, the light was red and stayed red… for a long, long time. I’m certain it was at least 5-minutes when I asked the driver if this light was always this long. He said “Never” but was, justifiably, reluctant to pull a crowded bus through an intersection, against the light, in the rain, with the cross traffic coming through at 50 mph. I could understand that. A few more minutes went by and I asked him if there was someone we could call. He wasn’t sure. It was maybe 3 more minutes when the light did finally change and we were through. I’m betting we sat at that light for a full 10 minutes, in a bus that was standing room only, and not one passenger complained.

Back at PO-FQ we decided we were now hungry so it’s back to the food court. It was packed. It seemed the storms had driven a lot of folks back to the resort. I thought the food court was small and I was proven right tonight. With so many people, we were tripping over each other to find the proper line for each station or the check-out. There are 4 stations there, each offering a different menu. We actually based our selection on queue length. I had Chicken Gumbo soup and a Chicken Quesadilla while Barb had Chicken Caesar Salad. And we split a large Diet Coke. Total cost was $18.46 with $3.69 DDE savings.

Empty tables were almost non-existent as a lot of folks had pulled 2, 3 and 4 tables together for large groups. We finally found a vacant table by the back door but had to borrow a couple of unused chairs from our neighbors to sit. Barb had trouble finding a plastic fork for her salad and wound up traipsing to the counter at the other end of the court. It was hectic in there.

The food was pretty good – maybe very good by food court standards. We finished up and made our way back to the room by 9:00 – again using covered walkways for as much of the trip as possible. We turned on the tube and found that a tornado had touched down in Hernando County. I have no idea where that is but, I assume it’s close by. We watched a little TV and turned in early. It had been a long day.

Miles Walked Today: 6.50

Things I Think I Think - I think 4 hours is much too long for a flight from Albany to Orlando. I think some engineers need to go to work on the rest rooms on airplanes. I think I like PO-FQ and wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again. I think I’ll give the Imagineers 10 out of 10 stars for the Haunted Mansion rehab and 8 of 10 for Spaceship Earth. I think I need to remember the ponchos when rain is forecasted. I think there’s an awful lot of Brazilian tour groups here.

[tdelaney_98]

Awww, Steve, you made my night!! It was worth staying up late to read another one of your terrific trip reports. Looking forward to day 2!

[srusso100]

Originally Posted by tdelaney_98

Awww, Steve, you made my night!! It was worth staying up late to read another one of your terrific trip reports. Looking forward to day 2!

Thank you. Day 2 coming shortly. I'm having some formatting issues.

[srusso100]

January 19 – 25, 2006

Port Orleans – French Quarter & Beach Club Villas Resort

The Cast

Steve – That would be me. Handsome; dashing; heroic in every way. I do 100% of the planning, make all the reservations, handle the packing and schlepping of luggage, take all the pictures and write the trip report. My sole purpose in life is to support my better half in the manner to which she plans to become accustomed.

Barb – The woman that walks on the ground I worship.

Day 2 of 7

Sunday, January 20, 2008 – Beach Club, Flying Fish and Brazilians

Today is actually the first real day of vacation because we’re moving into our DVC accommodations. I am psyched.

Today’s forecast is for a high temperature in the upper 50s and wind. I know this scares the bejeezus out of the locals but, really, it’s not that bad - particularly if it’s sunny.

I get up at 6:00 and make a pot of coffee. We have coffee and the 2 remaining Beignets for breakfast. They’re not as good as yesterday so they don’t get finished. I guess they’re better consumed fresh out of the fryer. We shower, dress, pack up the few things we unpacked last night and roll our luggage down to the main building. Out front, I ask the Bell Captain if he can call us a taxi, which he does.

5-minutes and $9.00 plus tip later, we’re checking in at the Beach Club Villas (BCV). The CM gives me a “Welcome Home” and, after hearing my requests, says she’s going to make some magic. My requests were an upper floor with an Epcot view and… I’d like a room that’s ready now. She was able to handle the first 2 but couldn’t help with the last one so… we got our package, room keys and a promise that they would call my cell phone when the room was ready. We stored our luggage with Bell Services and decided it was time for a proper breakfast.

We headed to the Yacht Club and one of our favorite spots, the Captain’s Grille which, just a few weeks ago, was known as the Yacht Club Galley. We were seated quickly and had a very nice breakfast of eggs and bacon for me and eggs and sausage for Barb. And lots of good, brewed, non-Nescafe coffee. They were also very good about allowing me to substitute fresh fruit for breakfast potatoes and whole wheat toast for a biscuit. This bill came to $24.36 after a $4.87 DDE deduction. As promised, the bill did include an 18% tip ($4.38) which is a recent change with the DDE card.

NOTE: For the rest of the stay, most uses of the DDE card included the 18% gratuity but some did not. However, almost every check I received had two lines on it indicating the dollar amounts for an 18% and 20% tip. They were obviously there as a guide (or a suggestion) and, I’m betting, are a direct result of the tip being removed from the Disney Dining Plan. Just my $0.02.

After breakfast, we made the short walk to Epcot and entered through the International Gateway (IG). We window shopped a bit at the World Traveler and joined a moderate crowd at the rope by the bridge to France. At 9:00, they dropped the rope and we made the long power walk to the Land and downstairs to Soarin’. The wait time was already listed at 20-minutes. This is the price we pay for entering through the IG. Those at the front of the park are so much closer. I snagged 2 FastPasses (FP) that were good from 10:06-11:06 and we entered the Standby queue.

The first thing I noticed was that the large wall pictures in the queue had changed but, the interactive games that the waiting crowd plays were not running. Apparently, they don’t start them until later in the day. They also stopped the line at a spot some distance from the loading ramps. I’ve always felt they do this on the popular rides (Soarin’, Test Track, Space Mountain, etc.) so the line of people reaches the entrance. I’m convinced this is done at park opening to encourage the crowds to spread out.

We were in line for about 15 minutes before boarding. We were seated in the 3rd row but I think this is a great ride from anywhere. I wasn’t disappointed.

Next stop was the Seas With Nemo. I took a photo of the gulls out front and waited for the “Mine. Mine. Mine.” bit before entering the attraction. The lengthy queue was almost empty but, one little guy walking through felt the need to screech about every 3 seconds. It was blood curdling in there. We spent a few minutes looking around the aquariums and then got in line for Turtle Talk With Crush. This is still a very cute show and I heard one of the best questions yet. “What kind of soup do you like?” I think Crush’s answer was something like “Not turtle soup, little dude.”

Next we walked up to take in a showing of ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Audience’. I’m a little tired of the lost dog story and still prefer the old True Colors pre-show. The film itself is still good but starting to feel a bit dated. I remember how cool I thought the effects were when it first opened. Now it’s kind of ho-hum.

Back to Soarin’ to use our FP. As we’re walking down the ramp, upstairs in the Land pavilion, we see a scene that we see repeated many times over the next few days. Mom and Dad are walking at a breakneck clip in order to get to the next ride. The kids are strewn out behind them. In this particular case, a boy of about 6 was rushing about 10 yards behind Mom and Dad when he pancaked and fell flat on his face. Barb and I were right there and helped him up asking if he was OK. 10 seconds later Mom realized he was missing and turned to find him standing with us looking a bit hurt and embarrassed. He was fine but… ah, never mind.

We rode Soarin’, again in the 3rd row and picked up two more FPs on the way out. They were good from 5:54-6:54. I discovered something new to add to my ever growing list of annoying walking styles at Disney World. While it’s not really a walking style, I’ve found more and more people that reach the top of an escalator and are suddenly overwhelmed by what’s in front of them. They slow considerably or stop completely, oblivious to the pile of humanity stacking up behind them (kind of like the conveyor-belt chocolates heading for Lucy and Ethel if you get that reference). There’s absolutely nowhere for the folks being pushed off the escalator to go. I’ve decided to place this group (along with the Dead-Stoppers, Wide-Walkers, etc.) into a classification called Park Peeves. I just need a good name for them. So far, I’ve come up with Esca-Waiters but I’m not too keen on it. Any ideas?

It was now after 11:00 and World Showcase had opened so we made our way back there. It has become a bit of a tradition for us to kick-off these trips with a beer at the Rose and Crown pub in the UK. The bar was moderately crowded but I was able to find an opening and surprisingly quickly caught the eye of a bartender… er, bartendress… serving wench. Yeah, I like that. I ordered a Boddingtons for me and a Stella Artois for Barb while she went in search of a table. We got lucky in that ‘our’ table for two had just vacated. It’s our table because, for some reason, it’s the one that always seems free when we’re there. The drinks were $15.00 plus $.78 tax plus $2.70 gratuity less $3.00 for DDE. Got all that? OK, let’s all say this together, “You know you’re at Disney when you spend $15.00 for 2 draft beers and it doesn’t ruin your day.” Glad we got that out of the way.

We sat, sipped, chatted and decided to have a second one. Barb called the Beach Club and determined that our room was ready (room # 563). I wondered why they hadn’t called me and checked my cell phone to find I had a message from them. I learned that, with my phone on vibrate, I can feel it when it’s on my belt but not when it’s tucked into a pocket. I was carrying it in my pocket because my belt was occupied with my camera and pedometer. Pretty soon I’ll need Batman’s utility belt to hold all the paraphernalia I carry with me at Disney.

We finished our beers and made our way back to the Beach Club. Barb headed to the room to call Bell Services to have our luggage sent up while I hit the Marketplace for coffee creamer, butter, English muffins and a bottle of Merlot. Sounds like fine dining doesn’t it? This came to $24.87. I gave the CM at the register a twenty and a five… and then remembered the pile of change in my pocket, fished in there and gave her two pennies for a total of $25.02. Uh, oh. I could see the wheels spinning as she tried several times to get my change out of the register. I finally said “I think you owe me $.15” and she breathed a sigh of relief.

I know that many wine bottlers have switched to synthetic corks, mainly due to a shortage of good cork (and trust me, I have no idea what “good cork” is). I’ve heard many are also now using screw caps - historically associated with cheaper wines but, apparently, today’s cap and wrap technology makes them equivalent to or better than a good cork. Anyway, our bottle of Pepi merlot, has a screw cap.

We met up in the room – the typical DVC studio: queen bed, sleeper sofa, table and chairs and a kitchenette with sink, coffee maker, toaster and microwave. Mousekeeping had left us another towe; ‘animal’. This one was a towel and 2 wash cloths, arranged in the classic 3-circle Hidden Mickey. I put it next to our quadrapus from PO-FQ (Yes, I brought it with us). Here’s a photo:
http://picasaweb.google.com/srusso10...21983439868242

We unpacked and decided it was time for a walk. I always have a problem deciding which way to walk around Crescent Lake from the Beach Club. It’s easy if you’re heading to Epcot but, if you’re walking to MGM is it shorter to go left (toward Epcot) or right (past the Yacht Club)? Someday, I’ll need to map it. We were heading to the Boardwalk so we went right, past Stormalong Bay and the Yacht Club, up over the bridge and past Atlantic Dance Hall and Jelly Rolls. We stopped into Thimbles and Threads and I was struck by the lack of any real DVC merchandise there. There used to be a fair amount in the back of the store. The Marketplace had just a little (shirt, hoodie, glasses and a Xmas ornament). Here there was nothing at all. I asked a CM and she said all the DVC stuff was upstairs in the shop off the lobby.

We made our way up there and found only the merchandise that was at the Beach Club. The CM there indicated that most merchandise had been moved to the shop at Saratoga Springs – where the DVC sales office now was. We left and headed back to Epcot, again through the IG.

Security has been a bit of a breeze for us this trip. Barb has, finally, decided she can visit a park without her purse. That’s a good thing because her purse could rival the Smithsonian for pure capacity and age of the contents. I only had the small camera bag on my belt and, as a Security CM told me, keep the camera in your hand and the bag unzipped and walk through the lane for ‘Guests without bags’. It worked like a charm. Sometimes, too well as I would walk through showing the empty bag and be completely ignored by the CM there.

Once through Security, however, we were in a pretty good pileup of people. The 4 Security lines dumped into the small waiting area where there was only one turnstile open. There are 4 turnstiles there, why were they closed? The single CM there was busy as it seemed everyone was having ticket problems – including me (again). The CM was a tall guy, wearing a hat and coat. I took notice because there was a lot of hair peaking out of the baseball cap and it seemed to be tied into a pony tail. Has Disney relaxed their standards for CMs recently?

We wandered through World Showcase, counter-clockwise this time and stopped in Germany for a pretzel and a bottle of water from Alex, yet another attractive, young, blond, German girl working the beer stand. I’m beginning to think my dream job would be to do the hiring for this spot. We’ve been looking for one of the cream cheese filled pretzels I had read about but couldn’t find one so we settled for a salted one. Like always, there was a bit too much salt and we needed to scrape about half of it off. This is one receipt I neglected to save but, if memory serves, $3.29 for the pretzel and $2.00 for the water plus tax.

We shared both as we continued our walk. We stopped in Mexico to take our first ride on Donald’s Gran Fiesta Tour. I was kind of neutral on the old ride and, while this has certainly cleaned things up and provided some brighter, cleaner film, it’s not something I’ll need to ride every trip. Just an OK.

Continuing around we stopped in both shops by the World Showcase Plaza but didn’t really see anything of interest. We continued around and stopped in the UK where the World Showcase Players had just begun another presentation of King Arthur and the Holy Grail. I had been chosen to play King Arthur several trips ago so I was certain they would, once again, recognize my superior thespian talents and place the crown upon my… what’s that? Who’s he? They had the audacity to choose someone else? I will admit that, with his neatly trimmed white hair and beard, he did look a bit more regal than I.

I always find this show entertaining. The shtick is pretty much the same but they do enough adlibbing to keep things fresh. During my stint, my big line was in response to the crowd’s shout of “Long live the king.” To which I replied “Hot-cha-cha-cha” accompanied by a hip-shake. I now see that they have significantly increased King Arthur’s role because this guy got to do a bit of a strut, followed by “Hot-cha-cha-cha. I’m the king, baby!” I’m really hurt. One of the two ‘wenches’ in the show (one of the CM Players, not a guest) was a tiny Japanese girl (don’t ask, I don’t know) and she was hysterical. She had a constant stream of really bad puns that she would follow with “Well, it’s funny in Japan”. One of the worst was when they have Lancelot limbo under something. The crowd was encouraging him and she told them to back off because “…you can’t Rush Limbo. Well, it’s funny in Japan.”

Back to the Beach Club where I caught some of the AFC Championship Game. The Patriots were up 14-9 and it became 14-12 before we left. We had a 6:00 reservation at the Flying Fish so we changed into something ‘business casual’ before heading over – basically, I swapped my jeans for Dockers. Walking past, there was a huge crowd in and around the ESPN Zone. After we passed, there was a big roar. I’m guessing that it was something good for New England – only because my unofficial poll said there were more Patriots fans there than Chargers fans. It turned out I was right. That was the touchdown that made it 21-12, the final score.

We checked in at the Flying Fish and were asked to wait. In a matter of 2-3 minutes, someone brought us to our table. We were all the way in the back of the restaurant, as far from the front door as possible. Did we look that badly that they were trying to hide us? We were at a banquette table for two, next to the door that was adjacent to the sidewalk from the Boardwalk hotel (Belle Vue Room stairs) to the boardwalk. Kind of on display, if you know what I mean. On our left was the rest of the banquette table which was set up for a group of 12. The restaurant was only about 20% occupied and my inclination was to ask for a different table. I didn’t, however, and this actually turned out well. We were isolated from a lot of the hustle, bustle and noise in the restaurant. They eventually broke up the table for 12 and seated a group of 6 down to our left. The table next to us went unoccupied until we left.

Our server was Madlen from Berlin and she did a great job. She was very knowledgeable about the menu and made a few recommendations for us. She also made it a point to explain that an 18% gratuity would be added when I mentioned the DDE card. I knew that but was impressed that she mentioned it. We started with a cocktail; Makers’ Mark Manhattan for me and a Tangeuray and Tonic for Barb. We decided to share an appetizer, the Crisp Jonah Lump Crab Cake ($16, very good and big enough to be shared). Barb had the Citrus Zest and Schezuan Peppercorn-crusted Yellowfin Tuna Loin and I ordered the Char Crusted New York Strip Steak - mainly because I recently heard this referred to as the best steak on property. Both were excellent and came precisely as ordered. Was it the best steak on property? Close, but that still goes to the California Grill’s filet mignon (the 2005 version, not the 2006 which was overpowered by the teriyaki sauce). We each ordered a glass of wine, choosing the wine recommended for each entrée on the menu. Mine was a Kiona Lemberger (never heard of it or had it before – neither had Madlen) and Barb’s an Eroica Reisling. No complaints there as well.

We usually don’t order dessert but I had also heard some wonderful things about the Warm Valrhona Chocolate Galette, so we ordered one to share and two coffees (freshly ground here before brewing – once again, no Nescafe). The Galette was chocolate inside chocolate covered with more chocolate. In other words, the perfect dessert… for me. It was to be savored – cut a piece with the fork, place it into your mouth, enjoy it, rinse and repeat. I think Barb had 2 bites.

The bottom line here was it was a very good meal for a total of $141.52. That breaks out as follows:
Food $100.38 (Appetizer, entrees and dessert)
Drinks (Cocktails, wine and coffee) $36.75
Tax $7.14
Tip $24.68
DDE Discount $27.43

We left an even $150 to reward Madlen for an excellent job.

Back to Epcot through the IG, The sun had gone down and it was much colder now but still, not really cold enough to be a problem. I once again had a problem with my AP getting through the turnstiles. I was helped by that CM from earlier – remember the guy with the ponytail? ‘His’ name is Patricia – boy do I feel stupid. Good thing I didn’t call her ‘Sir’.

We headed down to Soarin’ where we used our FP from earlier. We were beyond the FP window but that didn’t seem to matter. The Standby time was listed at 80-minutes and no FastPasses were available. Even at 80-minutes, people were still joining the queue. Another great ride, this time in the 2nd row.

Test Track had a 50-minute wait so we skipped that and took another ride (walk-on) on Spaceship Earth. This time we had no pictures at all in the animated finish.

We stopped at the Pin Station and bought a Limited Edition 2008 Mickey pin ($8.95) for our grandson, then made our way to World Showcase Plaza where we bought one of those battery operated, spinning, Mickey-head light things for $15 from a vendor. This was a request from daughter Michelle, for the child of a friend of hers. On our way to World Showcase, I asked two different couples if I could take a photo of them. Let me rephrase that – there were two separate couples on the way to World Showcase. Each had one of them taking a photo of the other in front of some scenery. I offered to take the photo so both of them could be in the shot and, in both cases, the offer was appreciated and accepted.

We had decided to watch Illuminations – Reflections of Earth (IROE) from the Plaza. It’s been years (1990?) since we’ve watched it from this end of the park. The area is all concrete and slopes gradually from the water’s edge on back so it provides a nice area for standing and watching without having to worry too much about people jumping in front of you. We picked a spot behind a family of 3 – mom and dad were sitting on the ground wrapped in a blanket and there was a small child in a stroller. We were approximately ½ way back from the railings on the water. It was about 8:40. I did notice a couple of Brazilian tour groups already in place by the railings. How did I notice them? They were singing, dancing and otherwise just making a nuisance of themselves.

At 8:55, several more groups came in complete with the flag-toting tour guide. An additional flourish was each flag was topped with a battery-powered glowing light of some kind. Wouldn’t you know that one group planted themselves directly in front of the family in front of us? They were maybe 2-3 feet away. The family moved further left to afford themselves a better view and we commented, loudly, that they should not have had to do that.

IROE began and I had to go up and tap the flag-toter on the shoulder to ask her to please lower it. She naturally ignored me. I don’t think she understood English. So I tapped again and made my point with a few gestures. She seemed to understand this and, thankfully, lowered the flag.

This *is* the best view of IROE. Better even than the view you get under the bridge with the Illuminations Cruise. The show was, indeed, designed to be seen from this location. Everything is symmetrical around the USA pavilion; fireworks, lasers, etc. When the countries light up, you can see them all without having to turn your head around. Really very nice.

When IROE ended, we had to swim upstream for a bit to make it back through the IG to the Beach Club. On the walk back, I began to have some difficulties with dinner. I’ll need to be somewhat delicate here once again. I was experiencing some gastro-intestinal discomfort that was making it difficult to walk. But walk I did and, finally, to our villa where I locked myself in the reading room for some time. Feeling a bit better (obviously, something in that Flying Fish dinner didn’t agree with me), we watched the 4th quarter and overtime as the Giants beat the Packers 23-20. It’s a Giants-Patriots Super Bowl. My God, I guess I’ll have to become a Giants’ fan for the day. Go Big Blue!

Miles Walked Today: 9.15

Things I Think I Think – I think some parents need to keep better tabs on their children. I think the Beach Club is a great place to stay – so nice and so convenient to Epcot. I think I like Soarin’ (ya think?). I think a Boddingtons at the Rose and Crown is a great way to start any trip (even you’re not really ‘starting’ the trip). I think that while many will tell you it was bitter cold here today, to me it was almost perfect park weather. Sure, I’d love to see 80 degrees but, a pair of jeans and a light pullover kept me comfortable all day – and no sweating. I think the Flying Fish is very nice but, something I ate there gave me a problem. I think I’ll need to watch IROE from the Plaza more often. I think there are an awful lot of Brazilian tour groups here and, on the whole, they’re very rude.

[Teenkerbell]

Woohoo, a trip report from Steve Russo!

I definitely need to add Things I Think I Think to my next report; those are priceless.

P.S. I like Esca-Waiters. So clever!

[tdelaney_98]

Last thing before I went to bed....Read Steve's report.
First thing I did this morning....Read Steve's report.

Perfect weekend, don't cha think?

BTW, I like esca-waiters, but I've heard that it's funnier in Japan!

[srusso100]

Day 3 of 7

January 19 – 25, 2006

Port Orleans – French Quarter & Beach Club Villas Resort

The Cast

Steve – That would be me. Handsome; dashing; heroic in every way. I do 100% of the planning, make all the reservations, handle the packing and schlepping of luggage, take all the pictures and write the trip report. My sole purpose in life is to support my better half in the manner to which she plans to become accustomed.

Barb – The woman that walks on the ground I worship.

Monday, January 21, 2008 – Early morning walks, Brazilian soccer coaches and blisters

Today is actually the first real day of vacation because the temperature should be back into the 70s. Yesterday was too cold to be accurately considered vacation. I’m psyched.

I’m awake at 3:45. Dammit! I’m on vacation and I usually sleep better and longer on vacation. I got up at 4:30 and decided to take an early morning walk. I threw on some sweats, laced up the New Balances, and strapped on the MP3 player. I quietly left the room and got about 20 feet down the hall when I realized the battery in the MP3 player was kaput. I retraced my steps and made a ton of noise reentering the room to ensure I woke up Barb (Dammit!), found another battery and started over.

I did 2 laps around Crescent Lake and a bit more around Stormalong Bay (about 1.7 miles) with a steady diet of Meat Loaf, the Stones, the Beatles, the Who and U2. I really didn’t plan it (the MP3 player was on random) but it was an excellent mix for a fast-paced walk. I love early morning walks at Disney World resorts – before everyone wakes up. It’s quiet but well lit, the water’s calm… just very peaceful. When I came through by Jelly Rolls the first time, I noticed an open door at the side of the building with a CM sitting inside. When I came through the second time, I looked closer – he was fast asleep. The joy of the night shift.

Also on the second lap, while walking down the Boardwalk I saw someone coming in the other direction. I first thought it was a CM but then realized it was a guest out for a walk like me. Except… she was bundled in a coat, gloves and a dark scarf that was wrapped around her face and head. When I got closer I thought she was a ninja.

I was back in the room by 5:15 and Barb was still fast asleep so… I put on some coffee and holed up in my favorite room and updated my trip report notes. After coffees, showers and a light breakfast (English muffins) we left at 8:00 and had another walk to the Boardwalk. It was Barb’s idea. From there, we waited 5-minutes for a Magic Kingdom bus. I had another problem with my Annual Pass and swore that I would visit Guest Services today and take of it.

We watched the opening ceremonies from inside the turnstiles, and then were let into the park. We cut through by the Tomorrowland Noodle Station (*still* closed – I have yet to see this open) and into Tomorrowland. Our first stop was Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor (MILF – gotta love that acronym). We entered the waiting area but, when we saw only 10 other guests in the queue, we decided to come back later when there was more of a crowd.

We took a spin on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and I bested Barb – but the scores were only 75,000 to 26,000. I blame my pitiful score on the fact I entered the car first, which I never do, and had to drive right-handed while I fired my laser with my left hand. I want a rematch.

There was only a 5-minute wait for Stitch’s Great Escape, and we hadn’t seen it in several years, so in we went. My apologies to its’ fans but I still think it’s a bit lame. Not something I’ll need to do for several more years. I wasn’t a big fan of Alien Encounter but I did like it better than Stitch.

Back over to Monsters Inc. (notice how I cleverly avoided using the acronym MILF? Drat!) where we joined a more sizable crowd. It was a cute show – obviously using the Turtle Talk technology with a few twists. Most of the humor was aimed at the 3-9 group though. “Why was 6 afraid of 7?” kind of jokes. Nevertheless, we did enjoy it.

It was time for a spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA), nee WEDway. A great and fun ride, as always, although we found it was a bit chilly while riding through the shaded areas. Very nice in the sun though. While riding through, we saw no line whatsoever at Space Mountain (What? Isn’t today a holiday?) so in we went. The Standby wait was posted at 10-minutes but we never paused in the queue until we reached the loading platform on the right side.

This is where we decided that old age has finally caught up to us. We used to ride Space Mountain multiple times per trip. This time, we both came off commenting that it seemed to toss us around a bit more than we remembered and be both felt a bit ‘off’ in the tummy. Maybe it was just our timing.

We walked up to Fantasyland for a ride on It’s a Small World (IASW). I seemed to enjoy this more than past years although I’m not sure why. Unfortunately, the song was now lodged firmly in my brain. To replace it, we took in another showing of Mickey’s Philharmagic. That seemed successful as my new ear-worm was ‘A Whole New World’ from Aladdin.

We stopped in the shop at Philharmagic’s exit and purchased that Mickey polo for our grandson. We also picked up a tin of those Altoid-like mints – Minnie’s Wintergreen I believe. We took the mints with us but had the shirt shipped back to the resort. We walked to Liberty Square and rode Haunted Mansion again. This time it was almost a walk-on. A second viewing is almost essential to really take in all the changes. Someone tell me… was the suit of armor, by the ‘Hidden Donald’ chair, always there or is it new?

It was about 11:45 so we decided to have lunch at the Columbia Harbour House. There was a small line inside and we ordered the Anchors Aweigh for me and another cute name for Barb. Basically, I had a tuna sandwich and chips and she had chicken strips and fries. While at the pickup window, a CM behind the counter asked where we were from. I replied, “Upstate New York”. The couple at the next window said they were as well, hailing from Rochester. Then they got more specific and said “Canandaigua”. They seemed almost disappointed when we said we were from the Albany area.

Both lunches were very good – I really like their tuna sandwich here. It’s fresh, tasty and made on a very nice, toasted, whole grain bread. We took our lunch upstairs and sat in a quiet room by a window – looking out over the people in Liberty Square. When we left, the queue at the registers was 10 deep. Apparently, it pays to have lunch a few minutes before noon.

We walked back to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR) and found a wait of 20-minutes at 12:25. They were offering FPs for 1:05 so I grabbed two and we hustled off to Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC). By the way, my AP failed to give me a FP here. I flagged down a CM and he gave me a FP. He also gave me a card that would give me FPs for the rest of the day and advised me to have my pass corrected at Guest Services.

We rode PotC after a 5-minute wait and then walked to the Jungle Cruise. The posted wait said 10-minutes (this *is* a holiday, right?) so we got in line. Our skipper was a good one and we enjoyed all the standard jokes as well as a few adlibs.

It was now 1:10, and within our FP window for Big Thunder, so we headed back there. This was almost the perfect use of FastPass. Faced with a 20-minute Standby line, we opted for FP and will now have ridden 3 attractions in 35 minutes. Not bad. We got the next-to-rearmost seats on BTMRR and enjoyed the ride, although… we both again complained about being thrown around a bit and feeling a little queasy after the ride. For cryin’ out loud, I used to videotape on this attraction. I’m hoping this is just an off day and not the full onset of old age.

Splash Mountain is down, dry and in rehab. We did use the restrooms by the exit and then went up to the train station to ride to the front of the park. We got there while the train was still there but, the CM had just closed the gate. We were so close. I certainly understand they need to cut off boarding and let the train go but, I decided this CM’s position was a job I would not want. I can only imagine how much guff he gets from guests that are denied boarding while the train is still in the station. No thanks.

The next train was along in about 6 minutes and we boarded. On the ride, I counted 5 women in my immediate vicinity that were talking on cell phones. It sounded to me as if all were chatting with other people in the park – as in “We’re on the train so I’ll meet you at City Hall in…”.

Speaking of City Hall, that’s exactly where we went. I needed to correct the situation with my Annual Pass. The CM listened to me, took my pass (with Mickey in the teacups) and issued me a new one. This one had Mr. Incredible on it and the CM suggested it should be “masculine enough” for me. He suggested I take it through a turnstile telling the CM there that I wanted to reset the biometrics.

Last night, I had discovered a problem with my camera’s batteries. I use 2 rechargeable NiMH batteries, AA size. The 2 originals were fine but I discovered that my 4 Duracell Super Heavy Duty batteries would no longer hold a charge. And they’re only about a year old. I can get by on only the 2 batteries – they need recharging about every other day – but I like having backups, just in case. We went to the Camera Center, across from City Hall and learned they have some very expensive AA batteries but do not carry rechargeable ones. In fact, I couldn’t find rechargeable AA batteries anywhere on property.

So… we exited the park and I came back through, resetting the biometrics, and had no problem. I told the turnstile CM that I wanted to try entry one more time, just to make sure, and it worked perfectly. Problem solved.

We just missed a bus to the Beach Club – it pulled away as we were walking up – but, a Boardwalk bus pulled in 2 minutes later. It’s nice to have options. We took the Boardwalk bus and made it back to the room by 3:15. It seems that, at least so far, we’re spending more time in the parks than usual. I’m not sure why that is.

We took a little R&R in the room, freshened up and headed out for Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS) at 5:30. I snapped a few photos along the way for Mouseplanet – a Hollywood Studios sign on the path from the Boardwalk, MGM signage on a Shades of Green bus and bus parking signs at the Studios.

My pass worked fine entering the park. Our only goal tonight was to see Fantasmic! We felt we could use a little snack now and maybe some dinner later. I actually had an 8:00 reservation at the Rose and Crown but we had doubts we could make it there after Fantasmic! If we can’t, it’s another indication of why scheduling meals 6 months in advance is very difficult to do. We scouted the food opportunities on Sunset Boulevard and everything seemed to have lengthy lines. We settled on a hot dog vendor and got into a line of about 6 people.

There were 2 guys in front of me – one was a Brazilian soccer coach. Now, you’re asking, “how could he determine this gentleman was Brazilian? And… even if he is, a soccer coach? C’mon.” Let me put on my Columbo raincoat and educate you. He was around 40 years old, unshaven, hair was uncombed, wearing Umbro shorts, white socks and sneakers. A soccer coach. He was also speaking Portuguese and smoking a cigarette in this line – indicating a rudeness factor of 10. Brazilian! See? It’s not that difficult.

We grabbed 2 hot dogs ($8.50) and a bottle of water ($2.00) and learned the ‘fixin’s bar’, just mustard and ketchup really, was not working. They did have the packets of mustard and ketchup there. As I was reaching for the mustard, the soccer coach cut in front of me, basically emphasizing his Brazilness. We found a nearby table and sat to enjoy this fine dining.

We walked into the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at about 6:35 and I was surprised to see it already full with the exception of the last 2 sections. We walked all the way down and rather than queue up to squeeze into the next-to-last-section, we took two seats at the left-most edge of the amphitheater. You couldn’t be any farther left than we were and still be in the amphitheater.

Here’s another one of my Park Peeves, and I believe this one is getting much worse over time. It’s always been fairly common to see members of a party enter a queue while one of their members heads to a restroom. When finished, that member will excuse their way through the queue to catch up to their group. I never particularly liked this practice but, I understood it. Truth be told, the way we’ve always done it is to wait by the restrooms for whoever was in there and then join the queue as a group. I’m not saying everyone should do that but, it’s how we roll.

What I’m seeing more of now is, a few members of a party get into a queue while a few other members are off riding another attraction. When they finish the first attraction, they jump into the second queue and “excuse me – just catching up” their way until they join the other members of their party. I feel this is very wrong on many levels. I’ve even see this orchestrated with cell phones.

Back to Fantasmic! We’re now seated, all the way to the left as I mentioned and our section, the last section, is filling rapidly. At 6:50, two women commandeer the row that’s 2 rows in front of ours. They do this by dropping a number of items (water bottles, fanny packs, etc.) across a number of seats. Several people try to enter this row but are put off by these women with “These seats are taken.” One of the women is then on a cell phone. From what I hear, “It won’t take long after you’re in the building”, it appears the rest of her party is in line at either Tower of Terror or Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster. She also gives them instructions on how to find her and indicates she hopes they can make it.

Eventually, many people are turned away toward the Standing Room Only section in back. Just as the lights go out and Fantasmic! starts, an adult and four teenage girls make their way into this row – joining the 2 women. I know I’m getting older and becoming a bit of a curmudgeon but, I think this is wrong. Getting off the soapbox now…

So Fantasmic! starts… sort of. We hear “Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Fan…”. And then nothing. The lights come up and everyone groans. A few minutes later, it starts again successfully.

We enjoyed Fantasmic! There is one drawback to being this far left. As the boats enter from the other side, and the music plays, I find that the music ends or changes before the boat reaches us. A minor annoyance but I have to pick on something. Nah, let’s also get back on the soapbox and pick on the 15% of the crowd that gets up and leaves as soon as the boat appears toward the end. I guess it’s OK to be disruptive to 4,500 other folks as long as you can get out of there 3 minutes earlier.

We waddled out with the rest of the masses. As we neared the intersection with Sunset, a young man unhooked a chain on the left side and let himself and a couple of young ladies through. My guess is that he (or they?) was a CM and was taking a backstage shortcut to Oscar’s Service Station. As we exited, there was a very large crowd at the boat dock but we prefer walking anyway. It was now about 7:40 though and there appeared to be no way we could make our dinner reservation at the Rose and Crown. We decided to forgo it (another reason why making dining plans 6 months in advance is silly) and look for something on the Boardwalk.

When we hit the Boardwalk, we had decided that neither of us was hungry enough for a full dinner so we would give the ESPN Zone a try. Surprisingly, for a non-NFL Monday night, there was a line out the door waiting for tables. I waited in line while Barb went in to the bar area to check for free tables there. The agreement was that if she didn’t come out in 3-4 minutes, she found a table and I should go inside. After a few minutes, I craned my head around and saw her sitting at a table so in I went.

We made due with a couple of beers, Sam Adams for me and a Bud Light for Barb, a Dinger (basically, Buffalo-style chicken strips) appetizer for Barb and a Dinger sandwich for me. I was also informed that I couldn’t use the DDE card today because “It’s a holiday.” Huh? No discounts given on MLK day because…?

Anyhow, the bill came to $31.67 and it had the (now) usual 2 lines of suggested tips: one for 18% and one for 20%. AND… it also had a notation that said the tip is NOT included on the Dining Plan. This is the first time I’ve seen that but, I think, it’s a good indication of servers being stiffed by people who have assumed the tip is still included in the Plan (or cheapskates who want you to believe that).

After ‘dinner’, we hustled back to the Beach Club Villas to take in Illuminations from our balcony. I poured us each a glass of merlot and we stepped to the balcony exactly at 9:00. And waited. And waited… At 9:08, I heard the lady’s voice (is it Mary from Comedy Warehouse?) announce that “In 5 minutes…”. At 9:13, we heard the beginning (male voice) and the show started. Our balcony afforded us an excellent view. We could see all but the lowest fireworks – even the top part of the flames from the barge. We could even hear the soundtrack quite well except, at this distance, it was easily drowned out by the sounds of the explosions. I have IROE on my MP3 player and actually toyed with listening to that during the show but, somehow, it just seemed a bit too geeky.

After IROE, we finished our wine, watched some news and turned in.

I have a confession to make here. I violated one of my long standing tenets on this trip. I brought along, and have been wearing, a brand spanking new pair of New Balance running shoes. I did this because my New Balance Cross Trainers, although broken in, are a bit bulky and heavy. I buy Cross Trainers more because I used to play basketball and tennis a lot and old habits are hard to break. I really don’t much play either any longer but you never know when I might run into LeBron James and he could challenge me to a quick game of Horse. Anyway… I made the decision to go buy a pair of light and flexible running shoes for this trip. They’re soft, supple, light, and they have worn a blister on my left heel. I thought I felt something there today and hindsight says I should have checked it. I’ll deal with it.

Miles Walked Today: 8.80

Things I Think I Think – I think early morning walks around the Boardwalk area are great. I think groups should enter an attraction queue together – I have some tolerance if one or two members are using a restroom. I have zero tolerance if they’re just enjoying another attraction. I think Disney should sell rechargeable batteries. They can even take their typical 300% markup. I think I like the Columbia Harbour House. I think Brazilian soccer coaches shouldn’t smoke in line. I think I’ll continue to make dining reservations months in advance but, I’ll probably cancel or be a no-show for several because our plans have changed. I think I really enjoy being able to see IROE from my balcony. I think I’d like it more if Disney could pipe the soundtrack through the television. I think I should obey my own rules and only wear a well broken-in pair of athletic shoes to Disney.

[srusso100]

Originally Posted by tdelaney_98

Last thing before I went to bed....Read Steve's report.
First thing I did this morning....Read Steve's report.

Perfect weekend, don't cha think?

BTW, I like esca-waiters, but I've heard that it's funnier in Japan!

Good one. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[srusso100]

Day 4 of 7

January 19 – 25, 2006

Port Orleans – French Quarter & Beach Club Villas Resort

The Cast

Steve – That would be me. Handsome; dashing; heroic in every way. I do 100% of the planning, make all the reservations, handle the packing and schlepping of luggage, take all the pictures and write the trip report. My sole purpose in life is to support my better half in the manner to which she plans to become accustomed.

Barb – The woman that walks on the ground I worship.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 – Chocolate milk, a Year of a Million Dreams Prize and Joseph Addai

Today is actually the first real day of vacation because yesterday was a holiday. I’m psyched.

Up at 6:20 this morning – really sleeping in. We have our light breakfast, shower and dress. I found some moleskin in my shave kit, most likely from a prior trip, and dress the blister on my heel. I also switch to a well-worn pair of Nike running shoes I brought along as a backup.

The television news today is predicting a dire day for the stock market. I can’t help but feeling that this stuff usually comes under the heading of a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. If you broadcast repeatedly that the market will go in the toilet, you will cause a lot of people to sell their stocks which will put the market in the toilet. I can see it coming and it doesn’t make me happy. As I get closer to retiring, I’d like to see my nest egg growing.

While walking down the hallway in the Villas, I noticed a Hidden Mickey in the carpet. Once you see it there, it’s hard to envision it ever being missed. Plus, it’s repeated about every 20 feet so there are probably 600 of them in the building. Anyway, I took a photo of it that you can view here: http://picasaweb.google.com/srusso10...22327037252242

We hit the Marketplace and split a cinnamon bun and chocolate milk. I almost never drink chocolate milk and I have no idea why because I really like it. Anyway, I think I’ll start drinking more.

We’re heading back to the Disney’s Hollywood Studios this morning and decide to walk toward the Yacht Club and by the Swolphin to get there. On the way in, I take a few more photos of the signage for Mouseplanet. My new Annual Pass works perfectly today, thank you, and we’re walking through the shops on the left side, waiting for rope drop.

Just before the rope drops, we head to the right side shops, browse for a minute, then take up a spot on the sidewalk. Four young men (late teens?), are there and one comments that they don’t have a map. Another of them starts to leave to get one but Barb hands them hers – she picked up an Attractions Schedule card on the way in and it came with a map, which we really don’t need.

At rope drop we followed everyone down Sunset where we broke off for the Tower of Terror. The majority of the crowd still heads to Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster. The Tower was just about a walk-on. We were in the library in just a minute. Here we verified a bit of trivia. The other night we were discussing what year the Tower was struck by lightening. Barb thought it was 1933 while I thought it was 1939. Was there ever a doubt who would be right?

I still think the Tower is one of the best-themed rides anywhere. I love the entire attraction – except the drops. I only tolerate those. I am getting older.

Next up was Star Tours which was a complete walk-on. I’d heard or read something about Kermit being in the queue here. My information said to take the first turn to the right and look down. We did that but no Kermit. Anyone?

Star Tours is still fun but desperately needs that new film. There were some fairly solid rumors about 6 months ago about a new 3D film with some specifics about changes to the simulator vehicle. I’ve heard nothing since but I hope it’s in development now.

We watched MuppetVision in a theater that was about half-full and then back-tracked to catch the Great Movie Ride – with a 30-minute wait. I’ve heard that each movie in the pre-show is represented in the attraction. Can anyone verify that? We caught most but not all of the pre-show and I was able to identify each of the films we saw as being in the attraction – Footlight Parade, Singin’ In the Rain, Mary Poppins, The Searchers, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Casablanca – but there are a few more in the film, I think.

I hadn’t seen Walt Disney – One Man’s Dream in a couple of trips and wanted to see it today. I also wanted to see if they left Eisner in the film or replaced him. We walked in the door and around the corner and… there stood two very nice ladies in that blue and white Year of a Million Dreams (YOMD) costume. “Hi” they said. “Hi” we answered. They asked if we were having a great time and we said that we sure were; and they asked what attractions we had seen so far and we told them. And all this time my mind is telling me that the only 2 YOMD prizes we had won (Mouse Ears and the Dream FastPass card), had been won as part of a larger group of people. Here we were, being stopped and chatted up by these 2 ladies and… there’s only 2 of us. That means we won something big. Maybe huge. I’m thinking of spending the night in the Castle. Maybe that around the world to all Disney parks thing. How about the DVC membership? How cool would that be?

One of the CMs says she remembers Barb from entering the park this morning. She was the one that handed her the map and times card. She probably remembered her because Barb is wearing a pretty distinctive white shirt – with the Mouseketeer logo in the center. They continue making small talk and then they tell us we have won… a Dream FastPass. We thank them profusely, take our FastPass and begin to walk away when I hear them both say “Hi” to the next guest through the door.

I don’t want to seem ungrateful here but, we’ve already ridden everything we wanted to ride in the Studios. One Man’s Dream was the last attraction before lunch and the exit. Plus… most everything was a walk-on or a short line anyway. Stupid Fastpass! I’m in full Tinkerbell pout mode now. We decided then that we would give them away to some deserving couple on the way out.

We spent 10-15 minutes touring the exhibits. I always enjoy it here. It also seems to me that I’ve heard early audio of Walt announcing Epcot in two different ways. One as the “Experimental Prototype City…” and again as the “Experimental Prototype Community…”. Am I remembering this wrong?

We watch the film and I learn that the Eisner segment is gone. The film is now narrated by Julie Andrews but she’s not on screen. Actually, most of the narration is done by Walt himself anyway.

We left One Man’s Dream and made our way to the Hollywood Brown Derby where we had a 12:00 lunch reservation. I checked us in and we were seated inside (our choice) after a 2-3 minute wait. Our server was Ashley and she was great. We’ve really never had a problem with a waitperson at WDW but, it seems that on this trip they’ve all been really great.

I had iced tea and Barb had coffee. I had, long ago, decided I would have the Cobb Salad. After all, it was invented here and they still used the original recipe (can you call it a recipe for a salad?). Barb ordered the Barbecue Chicken Salad. We also split a very good Goat Cheese Cremini Mushroom Tortellini appetizer. Everything, including the service, was excellent. Our bill was $43.84 which included a $7.65 tip and a DDE savings of $8.50. I was very impressed with the Brown Derby and would like to try it again – maybe for dinner next time.

It was time to exit and I entrusted Barb with the job of bestowing our Dream FastPasses on two deserving, yet unknowing, lucky guests. She scanned the crowds coming down Hollywood Boulevard for several minutes until settling on a young couple (early 20s or so). We felt a bit like John Beresford Tipton (let’s see who gets that reference without Googling). They were appropriately thankful, which pleased me. Nevertheless, they could have at least offered some cash or a firstborn son… something.

We exited the park and walked to the Saratoga Springs bus stop. Our intention was to visit the Downtown Disney Marketplace for some souvenir shopping but I wanted to try Saratoga Springs first – to see if they really had any DVC merchandise there. One of our problems is that Saratoga Springs is a large, sprawling resort with multiple bus stops and I know nothing about it. Where is/are the gift shop(s)? There was a young couple at the stop so I asked them if they were staying there and where I might find the gift shop. They were staying there but it was their first day and they weren’t sure… but suggested the first stop. First stop it is.

After a few minutes, we boarded the bus. Seated directly in front of us was a young (Black or African-American, please choose one. I never remember which is currently politically correct and I don’t want to offend) man. He was fairly big, very athletic looking and was wearing an Under Armour shirt and jeans shorts. He just looked like a football player to me. At one point, I noticed a large gold ring on his right hand. The ring had a large stone in the center and a bunch of writing around the stone. As I started to read it, he switched positions and it was no longer in view. I told Barb that he looks like a football player and that could be a Super Bowl ring. Out came the Columbo coat again. He’s young, so he’s won a recent Super Bowl. He’s at Disney now so his team has already been eliminated. Must be the Colts. He’s young and about the size of a big running back – it’s Joseph Addai!

I was pretty proud of myself here but Barb wasn’t having any of it. Alright, I said, if you tickle his right ear, he’ll bring that hand up and I’ll be able to read the ring. For a few minutes, we had a pretty good Seinfeld episode going. Unfortunately, she was too much a chicken to tickle his ear, knock his hat off, or whatever else it would’ve taken. Plus, she said, “If he’s Joseph Addai, why is he riding the bus?” Damned logic!

We exited at the Grandstand and walked to the Carriage House. We did find the Gift Shop there but they carried precisely the same DVC merchandise as we had found at the Beach Club and Boardwalk. Damned lying CMs!

We exited out the back of the building and made the short walk to the boat dock. They were doing some construction on the entrance to the dock so we walked a bit farther to another entrance and joined 3 or 4 people waiting. Some folks that followed us, didn’t want to walk the extra distance and, instead, walked down the exit ramp and queued there. When the boat arrived, the driver explained that, because it wasn’t full, he would allow them to board. However, if there had been enough people on the entrance side to fill the boat, those queued at the exit would not have gotten on. Just another reason why I don’t want to be a CM.

It’s a short, and very pleasant, ride to Downtown Disney. We visited our usual haunts (Christmas shop, the Kitchen place, etc.) but bought mostly at the World of Disney to take advantage of the 10% discount with – pick one – Annual Pass, Disney VISA, DVC. We wound up with a Mickey sweatshirt (me), a Tink hoodie (Barb), a Tink figurine, with an attitude, (to replace one Stephanie broke while moving to NYC), a 2008 Christmas Ornament (Michelle), chocolate pretzels (Will), Mickey socks (William) and Mickey dish towels and oven mitt for Stephen’s new apartment. Don’t laugh – he’s been asking for oven mitts. We also stopped in Ghirardelli’s for a free chocolate sample.

At several locations in the Marketplace, we ran into a few ladies of the Red Hat Society. I used to think this club was fictional when I first saw it mentioned in the comic strip ‘Pickles’. It’s real and a bunch of them were at Downtown Disney today. If you’d like to see a photo:
http://picasaweb.google.com/srusso10...22623389995954

We caught a bus back to the Swan and were walking to the Beach Club, via the Boardwalk, when I suggested a beer at Big River. I was pretty thirsty and a brew sounded good. I had ale of some kind (I actually can’t make out my own writing in my notes. It looks like it might be a ‘Stampede Ale’? I just checked the menu on allearsnet, it was Steamboat Pale Ale). Barb had a Southern Flyer Light Lager. Both were good but I neglected to get a receipt here so I have to assume they were free.

We walked to the Beach Club and stopped in the Marketplace to pick up the package we had delivered (our grandson’s Mickey polo), then headed to the room. A quick check of the TV indicated the Dow Jones was down 128 points – not the devastation predicted but, not too good either.

We freshened up, rested for a bit and headed out at 5:15. We had a very short wait for a bus and then traveled to the Magic Kingdom. On our walk down Main Street, we stopped in the Art of Disney, what used to be the movie theater. They have some very nice stuff in there and I was taken by a few of the post cards. They’re made on heavy card stock with beige backgrounds and contain some of the Disney art I’ve always liked – particularly the painting of Mickey painting Walt and one of a semi-transparent Walt walking around Cinderella’s Castle. I thought, with the right frame and matting, this could make a very nice collage. Maybe on the way out tonight.

Back to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. Another good show but, many of the same jokes (Because 7 ate 9). I had decided that I wanted a counter service burger tonight. I think I ate a dozen of these every trip in the 1990s and now, I don’t think I’ve had one for 5 or 6 years. We took a quick look in Pinocchio’s and saw they didn’t offer burgers (when did that happen?) so it was off to Pecos Bill’s (where I have never eaten). We each get a cheeseburger and vary the sides so we get one order of fries and one of apple slices to split. The apple slices come vacuum-sealed in plastic but are surprisingly fresh and tasty – leave it to Disney. The burger is just so-so. It was tough finding a place to sit inside. Tables and stools are packed in and strewn around so it’s like negotiating an obstacle course while carrying a tray of food.

After this bit of fine dining, it was off for another viewing of Mickey’s Philharmagic (can you tell what our favorite attractions are in each park?) with a very short wait. After the film, they had roped off areas in Fantasyland in anticipation of Wishes so we had to make our way around to Tomorrowland and, from there, to Main Street. We arrived at 7:45 and staked out a spot in the center of the street – about mid-way between Casey’s and the hub.

We saw Tink fly. Wishes was great, as usual, marred only by the steady stream of people trying to exit down the center of Main Street during the fireworks. It wouldn’t be too bad except many of them are negotiating their way through the crowd, pushing a stroller, with their head turned around watching the show. When it was over, we waddled with the masses but stopped at the Art of Disney. I bought 5 of those postcards and, someday soon (I hope), will attempt to turn them into a framed collage.

Even with this extra time on the way out, we were able to board a bus (and get a seat) in less than 5-minutes. Another young, athletic-looking guy got on the bus wearing a Jets (my team) hat and shirt. I told Barb that was Darrelle Revis, the Jets starting rookie cornerback. She didn’t buy the Joseph Addai thing and she certainly wasn’t buying Darelle Revis – although that’s not a familiar name to her and she kept referring to him as Phil Ivey who, I think, is a professional poker player. Man, we have some strange conversations on WDW buses.

We made a quick stop at the Yacht Club, then we de-bused at the Beach Club and headed to our room. The television coverage was inundated with the sad news of Heath Ledger’s death. I certainly didn’t know him, and had seen only one of his movies (The Patriot), but this type of thing should never befall someone that young. It’s just very sad for him, his family and friends.

Back to my blister. I had developed a bit of a limp for most of the day. It seems the moleskin was putting a bit too much pressure on the spot. I know that if I continue to favor the foot because of a painful heel, I’ll probably cause a problem somewhere else so… I went to work and removed the moleskin. Holy smokes, that stuff doesn’t want to come off. And when it did, it took most of the blister with it. I put on a little cortisone cream and a simple Band-Aid. I was able to walk on it without pain, and without a limp. We’ll see how it does tomorrow with a shoe on it.

Miles Walked Today: 7.29 (with a limp)

Things I Think I Think – I think I never should have used the moleskin, and won’t again. It might be more preventative than a treatment. I think I’m an ingrate regarding the YOMD prize – but I really wanted the additional DVC points. I think I like the Brown Derby and would like to try it again. I think the service there was among the best on property and the food and décor were also very nice. I think I had my second Red Hat Society sighting – I’ve also seen them several times at a local Chinese buffet. I think I’ve had my fill of counter service burgers for another couple of years. I think I like Wishes although I wish people didn’t have to leave during the show. I think it’s so sad when someone Heath Ledger’s age passes on. It just shouldn’t happen.

[arnoldvb]

Hi Steve,

As usual, I'm having a lot of fun reading your trip report. I just love your sense of humor in the reports. Going through, I thought of comments to make along the way, but the onset of old age has made me forget most of them by now. Here are some that I remember:

- I'm 6' 2", so I can relate to your comments about the restrooms in airplanes. They sure weren't designed with tall people in mind.

- I'm glad the waiting list worked for you. We're on the waiting list for Boadwalk Villas in April, and hope it works out for us too.

- Could that quadropus towel animal have been a swam? On seeing your photo, my first thought was that the "arm" on the right could be the neck and head, and one on the left the tail, and the other two its wings.

- Glad to have someone confirm my feeling that Illuminations was designed to be viewed from the World Showcase Plaza, and not from the countries side of the lake. You miss the symmetry of the show from anywhere but center stage.

- I completely agree with your "soap box" comments about line cutters. I can tolerate the one or two persons moving through the queue after a restroom stop, but cutting the line after coming off another ride or attraction is really the height of rudeness. Like you and Barb, Helena and I wait for each other at restroom stops before even entering a queue. Unfortunately, a lot of society (not only at WDW) has gotten very "me" oriented, with very little if any sense of courtesy.

Well, that's it for now. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

Arnold

[srusso100]

Originally Posted by arnoldvb

Hi Steve,

As usual, I'm having a lot of fun reading your trip report. I just love your sense of humor in the reports. Going through, I thought of comments to make along the way, but the onset of old age has made me forget most of them by now. Here are some that I remember:

- I'm 6' 2", so I can relate to your comments about the restrooms in airplanes. They sure weren't designed with tall people in mind.

- I'm glad the waiting list worked for you. We're on the waiting list for Boadwalk Villas in April, and hope it works out for us too.

- Could that quadropus towel animal have been a swam? On seeing your photo, my first thought was that the "arm" on the right could be the neck and head, and one on the left the tail, and the other two its wings.

- Glad to have someone confirm my feeling that Illuminations was designed to be viewed from the World Showcase Plaza, and not from the countries side of the lake. You miss the symmetry of the show from anywhere but center stage.

- I completely agree with your "soap box" comments about line cutters. I can tolerate the one or two persons moving through the queue after a restroom stop, but cutting the line after coming off another ride or attraction is really the height of rudeness. Like you and Barb, Helena and I wait for each other at restroom stops before even entering a queue. Unfortunately, a lot of society (not only at WDW) has gotten very "me" oriented, with very little if any sense of courtesy.

Well, that's it for now. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

Arnold

Hi Arnold,
As I've said before, I think we have a lot in common regarding touring WDW. Thanks for the comments. And good luck on the Boardwalk wait-list.

No, I don't think it was a swan. The tentacles (if that's what they are) appear to be identical to each other and each has a rose petal on the end. I'm still not sure.

[srusso100]

Day 5 of 7

January 19 – 25, 2006

Port Orleans – French Quarter & Beach Club Villas Resort

The Cast

Steve – That would be me. Handsome; dashing; heroic in every way. I do 100% of the planning, make all the reservations, handle the packing and schlepping of luggage, take all the pictures and write the trip report. My sole purpose in life is to support my better half in the manner to which she plans to become accustomed.

Barb – The woman that walks on the ground I worship.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 – The Perfect Storm, Chateaubriand and the Perfect Disney Day

Today is actually the first real day of vacation because yesterday I had a problem with my foot. I’m psyched.

Up at 6:20 and put the coffee on. The forecast today is for rain until about 11:00 AM (Actual – we saw no rain at all. It was mostly cloudy and 78-80 degrees). Based on that forecast, we changed plans and were heading to Epcot instead of the Animal Kingdom.

I showered first but, when Barb went in, the light in the bathroom was out. It’s one of those large, projection bulbs so I swapped it with an identical one from the foyer area, just outside of the bathroom vanity. No go. At this point, I suspected we’d have to call maintenance to replace or repair the fixture but, I decided to play ‘musical light bulbs’ one more time and swapped in the other foyer bulb, from the fixture by the door. Success! Barb didn’t have to shower in the dark. Looking back, I couldn’t recall ever seeing the ‘bathroom foyer’ light on, so that bulb had probably been out all along. We called maintenance to report two bulbs out.

Because it *might* rain, we searched for our ponchos. They were no where to be found and we speculated we might have left them at PO-FQ when we moved. Oh, well. (Note – Upon returning home, said ponchos were located in the outside pocket of one of the suitcases. They’re now 4 years old and have yet to be removed from their protective cases.)

We decided on another breakfast at the Captain’s Grille. More eggs for me and, this time, pancakes for Barb. When I asked about substituting fruit for the potatoes, Dee said I could have fruit or grits or… I stopped her there. I’m one of the few people that live north of… well, north, and like grits. These were good but a little too watery for my taste. I prefer my grits to have a bit more thickness to them. Y’all.

We entered Epcot via the IG (no pass problems, thank you) and headed for… you guessed it… Soarin’.

(NOTE – the next two hours or so brought us into the ‘perfect storm’ of rides and FastPasses. It actually took us 2 or 3 tries to document the exact sequence of events and FP times. Here goes.)

We rode Soarin’ with a wait of about 15 minutes after picking up FPs for 10:00.
We walked to Test Track and picked up FPs for 10:27.
We rode Test Track with a short wait.
We rode Mission:Space (green side) with a short wait – but a long delay when the ride broke down.
We picked up Mission:Space FPs for 11:00.
We rode Test Track using the FPs.
We rode Soarin’ using the FPs.
We picked up Soarin’ FPs for 4:56.
We rode Mission:Space (green side again) using the FPs.

We rode Soarin’, Test Track and Mission:Space twice each and we still have Soarin’ FPs for tonight. This was all done between 9:15 and 11:15. I don’t think this is any kind of record but it was pretty cool how it all fell together. The delay inside Mission:Space (after the first pre-show film) is actually what made the timing work.

While in the Mission:Space pre-show, we were asked to hold our places but they would leave the rear door open so we could “breathe”. Naturally, one of the guys in the next row took that as an opportunity to step out and walk around. CMs asked him twice to stay in the room, to no avail. After 10-minutes, he was complaining loudly and they allowed him, and his wife, to leave – after they gave him FPs to return. I saw him later outside the pre-show in Test Track. For some reason, there was a delay there as well as the other two rooms opened twice before ours opened for us to enter. I blame him. Also… both Soarin’ rides were in row 3. What are the odds? We’ve probably ridden it 5 or 6 times and have had row 2 once, and row 3 for the rest.

In Mission:Space, our pre-show was filled almost entirely with non-English speaking people. One family of 3 was wearing red headphones (with Mickeys on the ears) that gave them the Spanish translation. Good investment, whatever it cost. The others were clueless. They didn’t understand a word of Gary Sinise’s instructions and, worse; you know how the CM comes in and says “Follow me. Row 1, followed by 2, followed by…”? She left with row 1 and the woman at the head of row 2 just stood there. We got her attention and motioned that she should follow. Then the man at the head of row 3 just stood there. Sheesh!

We took in a fountain show and then headed to World Showcase. We had a reservation at the Yachtsman Steakhouse at 6:00 PM this evening so we were looking for just a light snack for lunch. We cruised past the Mexican Cantina but nothing there looked appealing. We settled on a pretzel and a Diet Coke in Germany and took a bench there for a while. I finished what I wanted from the pretzel and left Barb on the bench while I took a few photos and walked through the shop. I walked in one door, walked through browsing, and walked out at the far door. When I returned to the bench, Barb was gone so I assumed she followed me into the store so… in I went again. If we could‘ve speeded this up and played the appropriate music, we’d have had a Benny Hill skit. Anyway, we finally found each other in the store.

At Japan, we saw that Miyuki (the candy lady) was out. We had never seen her before so we elbowed our way through the crowd to get a view. This woman is incredible. If you’ve never seen what she I can do with sugar, coloring and a pair of scissors, I’d strongly suggest you take in a show. Here’s a photo:
http://picasaweb.google.com/srusso10...22997052151074

We stopped in the USA pavilion. The American Adventure was down, in rehab to have draperies replaced, but we stopped in to view the National Treasures exhibit. It was pretty cool but I was disappointed when they wouldn’t let me try on Lincoln’s stovepipe hat.

On to Canada where we wanted to take in the new ‘O Canada’ film. The CM that introduced the film was Vanessa and she graduated high school in June 2007. There was a family of 4 chatting with her and, while I could only hear snippets of the conversation, they didn’t know each other but apparently lived only blocks apart. I heard Vanessa say “I went to grade school there”. Small world (Dammit! There’s that song again).

The new film, with Martin Short, was fun. A bit more humor than the old one but, only if you find Martin Short funny. We left Canada and were walking by the UK when I noticed Alice (from Wonderland) was out for a meet and greet. Now, I have been making bad puns for the entire trip (most of my life, actually) and Barb usually reacts by chuckling (if they’re funny), rolling her eyes (if they’re not) or hitting me (if they’re really bad). I take one look at Alice and comment “I didn’t know she lived here any more.” Now, c’mon. That’s pretty good, right? A play on the movie title ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Any More’. Barb rolled her eyes *AND* hit me. A double diss! She’ll never hear a pun from again (yeah, right).

We went back to the room and found it lit up like a Christmas tree. All 3 projector bulbs were on. I think I burned my retinas it was so bright in there. Today was also our day for trash/towel (DVC doesn’t get daily housekeeping) and we found another towel animal. Actually, Mousekeeping added on to our quadrapus by giving him/her an upper body. Here’s a picture:
http://picasaweb.google.com/srusso10...23113016268146

Barb went down to the pool (it was now sunny and 80 degrees) while I went over to the Atlantic Dance Hall for the DVC Welcome Home Wednesday. I did this last year and scored a light-up pin, some free lemonade and cookies, and had some fun watching a DVC version of Jeopardy. It was a little different this year. They checked for your DVC ID before allowing entry and were giving away some stickers rather than a pin (no, thanks). They still had the lemonade but the cookies had been replaced by a table with small bags of chips, Cracker Jacks or Smart Food popcorn. I grabbed a lemonade and a popcorn and sat at a table way over to one side.

We were quickly introduced to Miss DVC, a rather portly lady with a bubbly personality and a very high-pitched voice. And she was loud. They did a couple of pitches for DVC, talking about Adventures by Disney and the Passporter collection. Why were they trying to sell people that already purchased DVC? They picked 4 people to play the Jeopardy game but I was already tiring of Miss DVC. Some samples:
“What do you call a 3-legged cow? Lean Beef.”
“What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground Beef.”
“In Wisconsin, they breathe Dairy-Air (derriere, get it?)”

I lasted 3 questions into the game and then dashed for the door. I’d had enough. It was a lot better when I attended last year. I also am embarrassed for some of my fellow DVC members. It seemed that several thought the chips/popcorn table was an opportunity to stock up for the year. I saw more than a couple of people grabbing 6 or 8 bags each.

I already mentioned the abundance of Brazilian tour groups that are here. You couldn’t swing a cat without hitting 3 or 4 of the obnoxious twits. I should also mention that Lotusphere is here as well. The attendees seem to mostly be staying at Epcot resorts and it appears that many, if not all, of the conferences are here as well. As a result, I’ve seen hundreds of folks sporting name tag lanyards and wearing black and yellow backpacks (an obvious conference giveaway). It’s just weird when you see them sporting their nametags in the parks as well.

Back at the room, we showered and changed into our business casual duds for dinner at the Yachtsman. We headed over at 5:10 and took a couple of stools, next to 3 ladies, at the bar in the Crew’s Cup Lounge. I had the usual Makers’ Mark Manhattan and Barb ordered a margarita. Bill the bartender delivered our drinks and asked the 3 ladies on our left where they were from. “New York” was the reply. Barb asked where in New York and the replies were:
“Watervliet” (Bonus points for anyone south of New Jersey that can pronounce that correctly. If you get it right, try ‘Schaghticoke’, ‘Kayderosseras’ and ‘Skaneateles’.)
“Duanesburg”
“Averill Park”

All 3 are areas surrounding Albany, NY and Averill Park is actually the town next to ours. Small world (Dammit! There it is again). They were all having fun drinking some variation of a Cosmopolitan with pomegranate juice and sugar on the glass rim. I made some comment about how healthy that drink was because pomegranates were very high in antioxidants. I neglected to mention that a recent article in Men’s Health also praised it for forestalling prostate enlargement and (here I go being delicate again)… helping men, er… be all that they can be. Draw your own conclusions.

We chatted for a bit and found that they were all retired from the phone company and had worked together in North Greenbush. We live in East Greenbush (and, surprisingly, there is no West or South Greenbush). One of them (Averill Park) is a DVC member and graciously provides the rooms for all 3 of them. They were very nice and we had fun chatting with them.

We finished our drinks at around 5:55 and decided to head next door to check in for dinner. Along the way, we saw the cooler where they display the fresh cuts for today. On display were rib-eyes, strip steaks, Porterhouse, filet mignon and chateaubriand. There was a guy standing there watching the cutting and he asked what chateaubriand was. I probably gave him more explanation than he needed or wanted. It was moot anyway. We saw him later, dining alone at the bar, and the chateaubriand is only available for two.

We checked in with the CM at the podium and learned that our reservation was in the system at 7:00, not 6:00. I made this reservation 6 months ago but I’m reasonably certain the mistake is theirs, not mine. Nevertheless, the dining room was nowhere near crowded so I didn’t think it would be a problem. The CM, however, wasn’t sure and gave us a pager and asked us to wait and she’ll see what she can do.

So… we head back to the bar and rejoin our 3 new friends. We order another round of drinks because Manhattans are like Martinis, and Martinis are like breasts… one’s not enough and three are too many (I just had to sneak that line in there). In 5 minutes the pager goes off. I settle up with Bill (again) and, this time, we carry our drinks in and are seated at a table for two.

Our server was Kathy and she kept the streak of fine service going. We split a Caesar Salad (large enough to share) and ordered the Chateaubriand for Two. It came with mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms and has moved to number one on my ‘best steaks at Disney World’ list. The Chateaubriand was $80 ($64 after DDE discount) – or $32 each. At that price, I think it a fair value. And it was very, very good. We each had a glass of wine with dinner. I had a glass of cabernet and Barb a syrah. The brand on the syrah was Woop Woop. I liked that a lot. The bill came to a ‘not too bad’ price of $96.28. That included a DDE discount of $22.60 but did NOT include the tip. This is really consistent, isn’t it?

After dinner, we walked to the dock at the Yacht Club to ride the boat to Epcot. It’s funny how, when we dine at one of the Magic Kingdom resorts, we’ll ride the boat to the MK as a treat. We never seem to do that at Epcot – we always consider walking faster. Tonight, we decided to make it a treat so we sat outside on the boat and thoroughly enjoyed the ride, with a stop at the Boardwalk and then on to Epcot.

We headed to Soarin’ to use our FP from this morning. It was just after 8:00 and the Standby time was 55 minutes – and people were still going in. We went through the FP queue and took our spots waiting to board. This time, when the CM said “Row 3”, I explained that we had been riding row 3 for 5 days and could we wait to get the top row. “Sure. Just stand by the wall.”

We took a spot on the wall, next to another couple about our age. We got to chatting and found they were from central New Jersey, were also DVC members at the Boardwalk although they stay mostly at Old Key West for the larger rooms. They also alternate solo trips with family trips. Small world (Dammit! That song again.)

Once the folks in the pre-show boarded, the CM called us to Row 1 in ‘B’, the center section. I was the 4th one in so I sat in almost the dead center of the attraction, in the top row. OK, it’s a great attraction and you have a good view from anywhere but… dead center in the top row is the way to go. It definitely was better than any other ride this trip (of course, that could be the 2 Manhattans and glass of wine talking).

By the time we finished the ride, it was 8:40. Did we have time to get to France, visit the Boulangerie Patisserie for pastry and coffee and then find a spot to watch Illuminations? Sure.

We hit the Patisserie, bought a chocolate éclair, an abeille (looks like a big cannoli), and coffee and headed to Morocco to stake out a spot by the wall. We get there and… huh? The area by the wall behind Morocco is roped off and some folks are in there and there’s a table with coffee and drinks. What? I zip around the rope and ask CM Elton what’s up with this? He explains it’s a special viewing area and that these folks had won this as a YOMD giveaway. I say I’ve not heard of this and he explains it’s the first night it’s been done. OK, I guess I just learned something new.

We take up a spot a bit further to the left, by the boat dock. As we’re noshing our pastries and sipping our coffee, an older CM with a flashlight walks over and says we won’t see the lower ones from here. They’ll be blocked by the canopy on the boat dock. Double damn! I see that he’s one of 2 CMs guarding entry to another roped off area – essentially the entrance area to the boat dock. I ask him who I have to sleep with to get in there and he explains it’s for AAA members. “But I have a AAA membership…”. He cuts me off. “These folks are staying at one of our resorts on a AAA package.” Oh. He then offers to let us in if we promise to tell anyone that asks that we have a piece of paper authorizing this. Wait… you’re asking me to lie so I can get a better view of Illuminations. What kind of person do you think I am?

The view from inside there was very good. Similar to viewing from Morocco except the wall is lower and you’re closer because the area is further out in the water. So as not to be too obtrusive, we kind of hung to the back of the viewing area. We didn’t want to impede the view of the nice folks with the AAA packages. And, yes, I still sing along to Illuminations – even the instrumental parts.

After Illuminations, we walked back to the room and decided that it was such a nice night, a swim was a good idea. We changed and went down to the quiet (DVC) pool. There is an elevator 15 feet from our room that takes us within 30 feet of the pool so it’s very convenient. There’s a dad and 3 kids in the hot tub, and one woman taking some very leisurely laps in the pool. She’s very quiet and barely disturbing the water with her breaststroke. Naturally, I decide to cannonball in. Nah, just kidding. We join her in the pool and ask her to join us in a game of Marco Polo. Nah, just kidding again. We splash around a bit as dad and the 3 kids leave and the woman heads to the hot tub. We spend a few more minutes with me holding Barb’s head under water and making her carry me on her shoulders before we also head to the hot tub – which, if truth be told, was our main destination anyway.

The hot tub is wonderful. I sink in and the water is very hot… and bubbly… and I could stay in there for a long, long time. We have a nice conversation with the woman, who turns out to be from Montana. She may be the only person I’ve ever met from Montana. She asks where we’re from and that leads to us swapping horror stories about snow. What is it about cold weather folks meeting in Florida that immediately turns the conversation to cold or snow?

We spent 20-minutes in the tub, then back in the pool, then a quick trip up the elevator to the room. Today came very close to being the ‘Perfect Disney Day’. Great breakfast… the Perfect Storm of FastPasses… multiple rides on Soarin’, Test Track and Mission:Space… a great dinner at a great steakhouse… a boat ride to Epcot… coffee and pastries in France… a special viewing area for Illuminations… a swim and a hot tub. And the Band-Aid and Nikes did the trick. No pain from the blister all day. As I lay in bed, I felt totally relaxed and just really good about the whole day.

Miles Walked Today: 10.74 (without a limp)

Things I Think I Think – I think the Band-Aid and the older shoes did the trick on the blister. I think I may never again experience that combination of FastPass timing. I think I may skip the next Welcome Home Wednesday I’m here for. I think it’s neat how I can fly 1,200 miles and run into 3 (almost) neighbors at a bar. I think the Yachtsman Steakhouse may now be my favorite restaurant here. I think coffee and pastries from France, and a special spot for viewing Illuminations, are a very nice treat. I think a swim and a hot tub should close every Disney day.

[srusso100]

Day 6 of 7

January 19 – 25, 2006

Port Orleans – French Quarter & Beach Club Villas Resort

The Cast

Steve – That would be me. Handsome; dashing; heroic in every way. I do 100% of the planning, make all the reservations, handle the packing and schlepping of luggage, take all the pictures and write the trip report. My sole purpose in life is to support my better half in the manner to which she plans to become accustomed.

Barb – The woman that walks on the ground I worship.

Thursday, January 24, 2008 – Monorails, burgers and ice cream

Today is actually the first real day of vacation because… OK, I’ve got nothing here but I’m keeping the theme going. I’m psyched.

It’s our last full day and we haven’t yet visited Animal Kingdom so that’s where we’re headed. We rise at 7:10. 7:10! I haven’t slept past 7:00 in years. Yesterday must have been special.

We get to the bus stop at 8:20 and I notice I’m getting some pain from my heel. What’s up with that? It was fine all day yesterday. I take a bench, remove my shoe and peel back the sock and see that the Band-Aid has come unstuck – probably when I put the sock or shoe on, it pulled loose. Now it’s a rolled up mess that was putting pressure on the blister. I took it off completely and was going to head up to the room for another when I remembered the park First Aid stations. I could get one there.

The bus was along in just a couple of minutes and we made it to the Animal Kingdom at 8:40. There were very long lines, 30-40 deep, at each of the turnstiles. So we did what I would never advocate. We entered the RainForest Café, walked through the gift shop, and entered the park at the turnstile there – behind only 2 other people. There was a half-filled soda cup on the turnstile. The CM asked if it was mine. I said it wasn’t but I’d be happy to dispose of it for him. He thanked me and I carried it to the nearest receptacle and dumped it.

We walked up to the rope and commented it was the closest to the opening ceremony we’d ever been. At rope drop, we walked with 80% of the crowd toward Expedition Everest (ExE). We breezed through the queue and were in the 4th row of the 2nd train of the day. It’s really a great ride and there’s a lot to recommend it but… I really don’t enjoy the backward ride in the dark. Maybe I’ll get used to it if I ride it more frequently.

We walked to Kilimanjaro Safaris and rode with a short wait. It was an excellent safari with some very up close looks at some rhinos and giraffes. One giraffe crossed in front of our truck and stayed by the road until we passed. I did notice a change – we still corral the poachers for Wilson but the Little Red storyline is gone.

We stopped at the Kusafiri Coffee window for muffins and coffee. While in line, I commented that we should probably get hot chocolate instead of the Nes-crap-e they’re serving here. The woman in front of me turned and grunted her agreement. We did get the hot chocolate and 2 muffins which we took to a table at the Dawa Bar.

We hustled down to try to make the 10:30 showing of the Festival of the Lion King (FotLK). On the way, we passed the First Aid station but, we were short on time to make the show and my foot felt OK so I thought I’d go there later. The show, as always, was great. However, on entry, we encountered yet another seat saver. When we entered, the place was probably 80% full. A woman in front of us was trying to save 5 spots on the bench. The CM said, “I’m sorry, but they have to be present. There are a lot of people that want to sit.” The woman responded rudely “*I’m* sorry but I’m not giving these up.” The CM just continued helping others find seats. After the show started, several people came in and climbed over others to reach these seats.

When the show ended, Barb headed to a restroom and I visited First Aid. The place was empty and the nice lady listened to me say “blister”. She asked “Heel, bottom or toe?” I said “Heel” and she pulled out a laminated card with 5 or 6 life-size pictures of differently-shaped bandages. She pointed to one that was H-shaped and said she recommend it if I thought it would cover the blister. She gave me 5 of them. I put one on there and it worked like a charm.

We had only a little time to cross the park and try to make the 11:30 showing of Finding Nemo – The Musical. When we got there, we joined the line and moved right inside although we were seated way up at the top. A good show but I didn’t find myself loving it as much as I did the first time I saw it. Maybe it needs to be an every other trip viewing.

We left the park at 12:10 and went to the bus stops. We felt this would be a good opportunity to kill a couple of birds with one stone. I wanted some photos of the Contemporary construction for Mouseplanet and I hadn’t yet ridden the monorail. We caught the bus to the Contemporary and I took my photos of the “it’s not a DVC resort” construction. I took a few pictures from ground level but the view was better from the observation deck on the 4th floor. I also took a few pictures of the new gift shop with the 3-circle Mickey entrance.

From there, we monorailed to the TTC and switched to the Epcot line. At Epcot, we picked up FastPasses for… c’mon… you can guess… Soarin’. The FPs were for 5:30. What was interesting was that the tip board listed the wait times as 30 minutes for Soarin’ and 40 minutes for Test Track. I’ve not seen that since Soarin’s been open for business.

Now it was a forced march back to the Beach Club. I needed to get up to the room and pick up my Southwest confirmation number, then get down to Lobby Concierge to ask them to check us in and print out our boarding passes. And this needs to be done precisely at 2:30. We made it with minutes to spare and the nice CM at Concierge was understanding and got in right at 2:30 to get us ‘A’ boarding passes, numbers 29 and 30.

Time for a late lunch or early dinner. I have heard folks say that Beaches and Cream had the best hamburger on property. To date, I had given that award to Big River Grille and Brewing Company but it might be time to test it. We went to Beaches and Cream and found it was full but there was a chance of counter seating soon. The couple in front of us chose that and was seated immediately. We said OK to counter seating and were given a pager and the promise of “a few minutes”. It took about 10 minutes and we were seated at the counter, next to that first couple.

We were seated at 2:55 and ordered almost immediately. I had the cheeseburger and Barb ordered a turkey sandwich. Our food arrived at 3:25. Before our food came, the guy next to me received and ate his burger, then ordered, received and devoured a sundae, received his bill, paid and left. I have no idea what happened but Gloria thanked us for our patience and mumbled something about one of the cooks being on break. We sat staring at the cook the entire time – watching her make burgers, grilled roast beef sandwiches and fries.

The delay notwithstanding, we enjoyed it a lot. I’ll rank the burger above Big River’s but, it’s made on one of those metal grills – and I’ve always been partial to burgers cooked on them. The bill was $19.59 and included $3.42 gratuity and a $3.80 DDE discount.

Back to the room for a little rest. We were out again at 6:00 and walked to Epcot for our last ride on Soarin’. It was drizzling the entire way down. For some reason, it took us almost 30 minutes for this ride. When we exited the Land, that drizzle had become rain – it was pouring. We u-turned and went down to the Seasons food court and shared a soda and a table for 15-20 minutes. When we saw fewer ponchos entering upstairs, we figured it was safe to leave.

We spent the next hour cruising the shops in World Showcase. With the rain, that was the best way to have some fun and stay reasonably dry. Eventually, we reached the bridge between France and the UK and made the decision to head back to the Beach Club. We made it, a little frizzy but mostly dry, and settled in at the bar in Martha’s Vineyard. I had my Manhattan and Barb had a coffee/Amaretto drink. We quit after one but stopped at the Marketplace for a snack. We settled on sharing a pint of Edy’s ice cream which we took to the room. Barb has been pining for her waffle cone all week but the situation just hasn’t presented itself. Maybe tomorrow.

Back in the room, we shared the ice cream, finished the merlot (now there’s a combination), and watched Illuminations from our balcony. And… we started packing.

Miles Walked Today: 9.85

Things I Think I Think – I think we didn’t spend enough time at Animal Kingdom this trip. I didn’t see either of the walking trails, DeVine, etc. I think it will be fun to stay, on DVC points, at the new Contemporary building. I’ve never stayed on the monorail line. I think Beaches and Cream has a very good hamburger, maybe the best on property – but their service today was not good. I think I hate to pack for the trip home.

[srusso100]

Day 7 of 7

January 19 – 25, 2006

Port Orleans – French Quarter & Beach Club Villas Resort

The Cast

Steve – That would be me. Handsome; dashing; heroic in every way. I do 100% of the planning, make all the reservations, handle the packing and schlepping of luggage, take all the pictures and write the trip report. My sole purpose in life is to support my better half in the manner to which she plans to become accustomed.

Barb – The woman that walks on the ground I worship.

Friday, January 25, 2008 – Pow, Pow… Magical Express

Today is actually the first real day of vacation because… oh, never mind. Going home today.

The rain last night was due to another cold front coming through. Today’s high would be only 63 degrees. I guess that’s good because I won’t have to worry about working up a sweat before heading to the airport. We were up at 6:44 and completed most of the packing, then headed down to the Captain’s Grille for our last breakfast.

For the first time this week, Dee is not our server. His name is Genesis. That’s pretty interesting. I have the usual eggs over easy but revert back to the fresh fruit instead of the watery grits. Barb has (gasp) the same thing.

We took a lap around Crescent Lake taking some photos. It’s a bit chilly, especially in the shade, but it’s a beautiful clear, crisp, sunny day. We stopped and bought some more mints in the Screen Door. Finally, we head back to the room and complete the packing – including our towel animal. Yes, they can sue me but I’ve absconded with two wash cloths in the shape of a quadrapus. It now sits in my bathroom at home.

We wheeled our luggage down to the lobby but all the sofas were occupied. We went instead to the Solarium. What a nice place to sit and relax for a while. They’ve got a very nice 60” HDTV there but, unfortunately, it was set to the Disney Channel. Our DME pickup was 11:40 so we only had about 30 minutes to kill. We did some reading and then went outside to wait at the stop.

One false alarm (just dropping off) and our ride showed up. A Mears bus. There was an EMT truck out front and they loaded a mom, dad and 2-year old in the back. I saw no obvious signs of injury and I’m speculating that the child may have taken a fall and they’re going in for some precautionary work. Just a guess.

Our DME driver was Erving Mayorga. Taped over the front monitor was his caricature. Under that was a sign that read ‘erving_mayorga@hotmail.com’. That sign had been strategically placed below the ‘Tips are appreciated for…’ sign. His name covered the words “exceptional service”. Erving was a talker. He wanted us to be “happy, happy, happy”. We made stops at the Boardwalk and Caribbean Beach Resort. Every time we approached an automatic gate, he would ask us to “say the magic word, abracadabra”. When the gate opened, he would then say “You have the power”, make two explosion sounds with his mouth (Pow, Pow) and say, in a hushed tone “Magical Express”. After each stop, when he boarded the bus, he would close the door and fire his two finger pistols at it.

Every time he made an announcement on the PA, or stopped the bus, the automatic soundtrack would stop. It would always restart at the beginning. Six times, I heard the opening two bars of a song from Tarzan, followed by the Circle of Life, followed by A Whole New World. Somewhere in the middle of A Whole New World, we’d get to the next resort and it would start over. When we left a resort, we’d be barely into Circle of Life when he’d do the abracadabra thing and we’d start over again. We were hysterical.

At the airport, I retrieve our luggage (tipping Erving for the show) and look for a Skycap. Where the heck are they? Then it dawns on me that we’re on level 1 and departing flights are up on 3 – so we head up there, walk outside again and all the way down to Southwest and a very nice Skycap takes care of us in about 3 minutes.

Back inside where there’s a big crowd at Security. It takes us 30-40 minutes to get through. On the other side, I hit McDonald’s for some grease while Barb finally gets her waffle cone. We then visit the rest rooms. On the way out, I stop a nice older lady and inform her she’s about to enter the Men’s Room. She’s very embarrassed, and thankful, and I direct her to the proper door for the Ladies Room. A guy out front says he’s seen that 3 times in the last 20-minutes.

We make our way down to Gate 106 at 1:45. We board on time. We have a flight attendant that’s auditioning for stand-up comedy. During the safety spiel he gets off a few good ones. Regarding what to do with the oxygen masks, “If you’re traveling with a child, place your mask on first before helping with theirs. If you’re traveling with more than one child, pick the one with the most potential…”

Our flying time to Albany was 2 hours 30 minutes (see?). We snagged the same 2-seat exit row. The flight was uneventful and I got some reading done. We landed in Albany and made our way to baggage claim. Here’s one more rant (and you thought you were done). When getting your bags from the carousel, wouldn’t it be easier for all of us if everyone stood back just a bit and then, we you spot your bag, step forward, grab it, and walk away? Is that what happens? No. Everybody, and their kids, crowd the edge of the carousel so that, even when you see your bag, you have to elbow your way through to grab it. It could be so much easier. OK, rant off.

We grab our bags, make the looong walk to the car and drive out of the garage. But first… I fish out my EZ-Pass and affix it to the windshield to cover the parking charge and the toll home. They had the audacity to suspend it for 2 months for driving too fast through a toll booth… twice. Anyhow, it’s live again as of January 21 so “look out toll booths”.

Miles Walked Today – 2.08

Things I Think I Think – I think it was a good trip and I’m already looking forward to the next one. I think I really like staying at the Beach Club Villas but… somewhere in the next couple of trips, we have to work in a few days at the Animal Kingdom Villas… and maybe the Contemporary when it’s ready. I think we’ll visit the Brown Derby and the Yachtsman Steakhouse again. I think some of the DME (Mears) drivers are working too hard at soliciting tips – and trying too hard to be entertaining.

You can view the rest of the photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/srusso100/WDWJan200802.

DDE versus DDP
It looks like this trip verified what I already knew… while the Dining Plan may be a good value for some, it’s not for us. During the week, we had a total of 14 table servings (I’ve counted Flying Fish and Yachtsman as 2 each because they each require 2 credits on the DDP). Our 6 nights would have given us 12 so one meal we would have had to pay for out of pocket.

We had 9 snacks and 9 counter service meals – leaving 3 available for both. I didn’t include our breakfasts in either category because they would have been out of pocket either way.

The Dining Plan would have cost us $455.88. We spent a total of $481.90 total for food and soft drinks, including tax. However, if I back out the breakfasts and incidentals (mints, etc.), that drops to $348.68.

The DDE card cost $60 and saved us $97.54. It paid for itself in one trip and we hope to take two more before it expires. Bottom line? For us, the DDE card makes much more sense.

If you got this far, I admire your stamina. Thanks for reading.

Steve

Questions or comments? Email me at srusso@nycap.rr.com. Just put ‘Trip Report’ in the subject line or risk being washed away with the spam.

[EJ4Disney]

Wonderful as always!! I look forward to your trip reports.

Thanks,
Ellen

[Big V]

Thanks for writing your trip reports Steve. I haven't actually read it yet, but I copied it and will print it out to read later.

[petesimac]

Great trip report, Steve, as usual. It's like I went on vacation with you. Thanks.

Oh, by the way, I'm Brazilian; contrary to the tenor of your report, we are actually pretty nice people (despite the singing and dancing thing); I'm sorry that a few of my compatriots were not so well behaved. I'm sure you've never encountered Americans behaving badly or smoking in line, but I can assure you, rudeness has no borders. A little tolerance goes a long way, Steve, but you are a smart guy, so I know you know this. Thanks again for an otherwise delightful trip report.

[srusso100]

Originally Posted by Big V

Thanks for writing your trip reports Steve. I haven't actually read it yet, but I copied it and will print it out to read later.

Thank you. Let me know if you still want to thank me after you read it ;-)

[srusso100]

Originally Posted by petesimac

Great trip report, Steve, as usual. It's like I went on vacation with you. Thanks.

Oh, by the way, I'm Brazilian; contrary to the tenor of your report, we are actually pretty nice people (despite the singing and dancing thing); I'm sorry that a few of my compatriots were not so well behaved. I'm sure you've never encountered Americans behaving badly or smoking in line, but I can assure you, rudeness has no borders. A little tolerance goes a long way, Steve, but you are a smart guy, so I know you know this. Thanks again for an otherwise delightful trip report.

Thank you for those nice comments.

Yeah, I do single out Brazilian Tour Groups specifically because my experience with them has not been positive. And, if you've read my other trip reports, you know I've also expressed displeasure with groups of high school cheerleaders and smokers at Epcot, to name a couple.

I've also encountered numerous rude Americans, such as the 'seat savers' and 'line cutters' I referred to in this report. I don't always call them Americans because, frankly, I'm not always sure.

I hear you, though. And I think I understand exactly what you mean. I harbor no ill will toward Brazilians... nor any other nationality and I hope you understand that. My intolerance is for individuals or groups that place themselves above the others around them - their enjoyment at the expense of others. I sincerely hope it comes across that way.

[anniedg]

Thanks for the great report -- I really enjoyed it and your pictures, they're wonderful.
Too bad about the blister; I chuckled about the first aid lady, think she's seen a blister or two before?!?

[tdelaney_98]

Steve, love the report. All 7 of your "first days." Sorry you encountered rude Brazilians. And contrary to our good friend Pete, I've heard lots of stories such as yours. Love Beaches & Cream too. Your trip was wonderful. Looking very much forward to your next trip!!

[srusso100]

Originally Posted by tdelaney_98

Steve, love the report. All 7 of your "first days." Sorry you encountered rude Brazilians. And contrary to our good friend Pete, I've heard lots of stories such as yours. Love Beaches & Cream too. Your trip was wonderful. Looking very much forward to your next trip!!

Thank you, Tina. I appreciate it. Next trip is scheduled for late October for Food and Wine.

My issue is not really with the Brazilians I encountered (excepting the one guy smoking in the food line) - it's with the Tour Groups. As I mentioned, I've had similar problems with groups of cheerleaders in the past. For whatever reason, I think, people tend to behave differently when they're part of a larger group. I don't think it has anything to do with age... or nationality. It presents a problem, at least to me, when their fun starts to impact those around them. That was the point I was trying to make... and, I guess, I made it badly.

Anyway, thanks for writing. I'm glad you enjoyed the report.

[FortWilderness IsHome]

Hi Steve!
Absolutely LOVED reading about your trip!! Your trip reports can bring me back to my favorite place (even if I am sitting here in cold snowy New Hampshire!!!!!) and entertain me at the same time!!! Great job! I have to mention that I totally agree about the whole line cutting thing to catch up to your group. Totally drives us nuts. When somone trys to climb over me in line with the reason being that there group is ahead, I nicely suggest that they stay right where they are and there group COME BACK to them, that way they are all together! Doesnt always work though. I find the worst place for this is Soarin and Expedition Everest. Anyway, thanks again for sharing your trip! Heidi Commerford

[srusso100]

Originally Posted by FortWilderness IsHome

Hi Steve!
Absolutely LOVED reading about your trip!! Your trip reports can bring me back to my favorite place (even if I am sitting here in cold snowy New Hampshire!!!!!) and entertain me at the same time!!! Great job! I have to mention that I totally agree about the whole line cutting thing to catch up to your group. Totally drives us nuts. When somone trys to climb over me in line with the reason being that there group is ahead, I nicely suggest that they stay right where they are and there group COME BACK to them, that way they are all together! Doesnt always work though. I find the worst place for this is Soarin and Expedition Everest. Anyway, thanks again for sharing your trip! Heidi Commerford

Hi Heidi (I just love saying that),
Thank you and right back at ya. I also enjoy your reports and look forward to seeing the next one. I like your approach to the line cutters - I'll have to try that.

[Jokline14]

Steve, first off... love the report. I was at the world at the same time you were staying at PO-Riverside. Anyway, I had a similar towel animal in my room as well. We decided that it must have been a bouquet maybe... hence the rose petals. We guessed that because it did not resemble any animal we've ever seen. Anyway, I'm trying to be ambitious and write my own trip report, so we'll see. Maybe I'll just stick to reading others! Keep up the wonderful writing!