PDA

View Full Version : Brian Charles Kohn - WDW (1-6 Oct, 1994) - Grand Floridian, Offsite



Trip Reports
02-07-2006, 10:24 AM
Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Grand Floridian Beach Resort, Offsite
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent (at the time)
Comments: As I post this report (in January 2000), this report is just over five years old. However, Brian has provided updated commentary to the original report, so it will be interesting to read for anyone (even folks that didn't even know what WDW was back in 1994).


As promised, please find my 1994 Trip Report attached, with up-to-date commentary [Ed: updated comments in italics].

October 1-6, 1994

My wife and I spend the first week of October at Walt Disney World, ostensibly to celebrate our honeymoon delayed 15 months. I began planning our adventure in February. We stayed at the Grand Floridian Beach Resort and had the time of our lives. What follows is a report of that trip. Please feel free to ask any questions, or take issue with any of the opinions herein.

Friday, September 30

I can't believe we got food on the flight. I thought Continental forswore feeding its passengers on flights less than 2 1/2 hours. This was a 2 hour 10 minute flight. Lunch was a Subway sub; Actually, about 1/3 of one. Not bad...a definite improvement over Continentals typical fare.

Of course, airlines have continued to cut back on in-flight meals. Now, I suspect what I had for lunch back in 1994 in coach is probably being served in the First Class cabin now.

Arrival. What a relief to be off that Airbus. I've never trusted non-American aircraft.

Back in 1994, I had just started flying full-time (200k miles per year.) I came to really appreciate Airbus aircraft and ended up preferring some of the Airbus models over their Boeing counterparts. (Also, incidentally, there were three major aircraft manufacturers back then; now there are only two.)

Hertz gave us a Mazda Protege. Had a little trouble keeping it between the lane dividers. It kept veering off to one side or the other. I think we'll let Disney do most of the driving this week.

During this trip we did make great use of Disney Transportation, but not busses. As Disney has since added new destinations, especially Animal Kingdom, which aren't accessible by boat or monorail, I've gotten to the point where I use the rental car almost exclusively to get around WDW property.

I had to take a look around the property. First stop, Disney Village Marketplace. Sheesh! All that construction. What are they building? Then we reached where they're putting up Planet Hollywood. Impressive. Did I hear that it was going to be open by Christmas? It sure doesn't look it from what I saw. It's not even a shell yet.

Of course, most of that construction became what we now know as Downtown Disney. This is well before West End was dreamed up.

We drove around the Disney Vacation Club.

Now known as the Old Key West Resort.

Robbie loved the Key West feel of the place. I wasn't as affected, but I could see that it was a very nice place to stay. Finally we made it to the Beach Club Resort. The pool is interesting, but wasn't as big as I had thought. To tell you the truth, the Beach Club wasn't as nice as I had thought it was. It seemed to me that the architects "pushed" the design to accommodate how big they wanted the hotel to be. The look of the place begs to be smaller.

I had just gotten back from a week at the Claremont in Berkeley CA, and the BC just couldn't match the intimacy of the Claremont.

Inside was a different story. Wow. Comfort and understated opulence.

Remember, this is my impression of the Beach Club Resort. We didn't check out the Yacht Club lobby during this trip. Many of you know that it makes the Beach Club lobby look like a schlock carnival. It just goes to show that you don't miss what you don't know about.

We had dinner at the Cape May Cafe. Robbie was in heaven. She loves blue crab, and that's just about the highlight of the buffet. I thought the food was "okay," but I had expected more. Most of the clamshells were empty! (Could they really have put the empty shells in the bucket after putting the clams in the chowder? The chowder was great. Not too rich, very meaty.) The mussels were kinda lean too, and the corn was overcooked. The salad was great though...fresh; and the Caesar salad was very tasty.

My second trip to the Cape May two years later showed a remarked decline in food quality, unfortunately.

Unfortunately, we had to go back to the Days Inn to sleep that first night. What a fleabag! This is the first Days Inn you hit on 192 as you go east on 192 from I-4. They didn't even have any shampoo at the main office! Sheesh. Am I spoiled or what?

Saturday, October 1, 1994

Someone couldn't wait to get to WDW! (And it wasn't my wife.) I was up at 5:00am, and we had already finished breakfast at Denny's by 8:00am. It was off to the Grand Floridian.

Incredible!!! Breathtaking. After the lack of "wow" last night at the Beach Club, it was a relief that all my expectations of the GF were realized.

We ended up staying at the Beach Club in 1996 and at the Grand Floridian (again) in 1997. The Grand still strikes me as utterly awesome. The Beach Club is still less than inspiring to me.

It was painless checking in. No problem getting our choice of room: Boca Chica, 5th floor. (T'tell you the truth, though, I wouldn't have been so pleased with the room if it was a different time of the year. We were in room 8523, and there is a big pine tree blocking our view of Cinderella's Castle and therefore where the fireworks would have been, if there were to be fireworks.)

I still heartily recommend this room in this view; with the same proviso about the pine tree. Understand that quite a few rooms at the Grand (and I'm sure elsewhere) have their expensive views partially obstructed by trees. If it is really a detriment, complain and get yourself moved to another room.

Our room wasn't ready so we hit the monorails; off to EPCOT. The fences around the Spaceship Earth are quite annoying. They really restrict getting around. If I'm not mistaken, when Spaceship Earth is open you can go around it to the left to get to the Universe of Energy. The way things are now, you must circle Spaceship Earth around to the right.

I believe these fences were up due to the construction of the Global Neighborhood exhibit.

We arrived at 9:15am and did World of Motion, Horizons, Body Wars, Cranium Command, and Universe of Energy before 12:20pm. Horizons is hurtin'. The video is all scratchy with lines through it. The audio is a bit distorted.

See, even 5 years ago I wasn't keen on the future of Horizons.

Body Wars had definitely been toned down. I was seriously ill coming out of it three years ago. I'm three years older but was almost unaffected this time. Cranium Command was my favorite. I was the only one, however, who yelled "Norm" when George Wendt appeared.

Yeah...I was a bit immature back then.

Lunch was at Akershus, better known as gustatory heaven. I begged Robbie to let us go back later in the week. (No luck yet. We'll see. ) Tomato herring, curry herring and herring salad. Smoked fish, cucumber salad, tomato salad. Smoked pork loin, wolf fish stew, lamb and cabbage (I ate all the cabbage in the bowl ). Smoked goat cheese (oh my...like eating chocolate). Our waitress Cecilie was in her 11th month and was homesick. She was looking forward to getting home next month.

Akershus has, of course, become a constant dining destination for me. I've eaten there a half dozen times, and will probably do so again later this year. The food is still just as good as it was the first time. The servers are just as breathtakingly sweet and friendly.

After lunch the rains came. We, of course, left our ponchos in the car back at the hotel. But we were troopers. We took in the Mexican ride (where we hit our only line: getting OFF the Mexico ride) and Maelstrom at Norway. Mexico's ride is way too commercial. Just think of it as a way of killing some time, IMHO. Maelstrom was nice, though too short, with just enough of a thrill to keep one awake.

The worse experience of the day happened at the end of the Maelstrom. There are little understated ads all over the walls as you leave the ride. And one really big ad right in front of you as you get off--you can't miss it. It's for Det Norske Veritas. No one knows who they are except me: They're my biggest competitor...last thing I wanted to be reminded of on vacation!

Luckily, I no longer work for a competitor to Det Norske Veritas, so I can now enjoy the Maelstrom without cringing.

We made it back to the GF without getting too wet. Our room was ready. The terraces on the top floor are a bit small...but that is more than made up for with how private they are. After all, the terrace is big enough for two, and that's all of us there are! The other great thing about this room is the volume ceiling. Really great. Robbie and I wanna move in.

Every place we've lived since has been measured against this room at the Grand Floridian. Our bedroom in Salem, MA had a volume ceiling and wall paper that would have looked very much at home at the Grand. Our current home also has a volume ceiling in the bedroom, and although we don't have the right wallpaper in place yet, we'll probably be very much affected by our love of the Grand when we do go shopping for wall treatments.

So we're resting in the room watching the informational channel. Hah! She *never* would have believed me if I told here I thought so, so I never mentioned it to her, and she never saw it before: My wife is the woman in the WDW promotional video shown operating the machine that did the chandelier crash in the Monster Sound Show.

Alas, this promotional video only ran a year more. My wife is no longer a TV star at WDW.

We're off to Disney/MGM Studios for "Screech Saturday." The park closed late (9:00pm) but Sunset Boulevard and the Tower of Terror closed at 10:00pm. We started out with Star Tours. Yet again, no line. We went right in. They really need to replace the armrests; It looks like people have been chewing on them! I dunno if I'm just going senile or what, but I don't recall most of the plot twists having happened last time I experienced Star Tours. Robbie was very amused that I still sweat my forehead on Star Tours.

I needed a small snack to regain my composure. (A Mickey Ice Cream Bar, yum! Rich, premium vanilla ice cream with a thick, sweet chocolate coating. Better than a Dove Bar! I think this replaced the old chocolate/vanilla Mickey bar that everyone was breaking their teeth on last time I was here. I think they kept it very cold since it tended to melt quickly. With the chocolate coating, the new bar keeps its shape better in the heat.)

It is funny; the chocolate coated Mickey bar is such a staple now that I had forgotten that back in 1991 it was a completely different type of ice cream bar.

Next stop, the Great Movie Ride. Just as with the Universe of Energy this morning, we ended up in the back. Bad deal. Definitely try to get to the front. It doesn't matter if you're centered left-and-right, but being in the back of the tram means everything happens "up there" and you miss half the action. (You do get to see some of the "resets" that aren't intended for guests to see.) Then we had dinner.

I've become quite proficient at directing my party to the right placement to sit in one of the first two rows of this ride. It really makes a difference.

We had a few appetizers for dinner at the Brown Derby. Of course, we split a Cobb Salad. Not what I expected: better. Very rich (for a salad). Not much lettuce...most of the green that was in the salad was arugula, actually; Very bitter; But a perfect counterpoint to the richness of the blue cheese and avocado. Next, Baja Shrimp. Eh. No great thrill. The creamy dipping sauce was quite interesting, but otherwise, the dish wasn't too special. Finally, California Snails. They were great; Taste better than mussels. (Much better than the mussels last night at the Cape May Cafe.) What really made it for me was the sauce of tomatoes that the snails came in. Robbie had a Spanish Coffee (brandy, kahlua, and coffee) and almost fell off her chair with the first sip.

This was such a perfect meal that we've tried several times to reproduce it, without success. The Cobb Salad is consistently great, but we've not been lucky enough to catch the Snails on the menu again.

It wasn't enough, alas, to get her nerve up enough for us to do the Tower of Terror. We stood there in the pouring rain for about twenty minutes in our yellow Mickey ponchos, watching the folks coming off the ride. None of them convinced Robbie to take the plunge. Well, maybe later in the week.

Sorcery in the Sky was worth the wait, even in the rain. It was incredible how the pyrotechnics and music were so well synched.

I do mourn SitS's passing, of course, but feel very confident that Fantasmic more than makes up for it.

Sunday, October 2

The Fates were with us today. It did rain, quite a bit; However, we missed all the rain taking in indoor attractions. We started just a bit beyond on time, with breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe. Though it was intended for Character Breakfasts, the GFC accepted the one free breakfast we got with our package.

Yeah, I was young and silly back then; buying packages instead of going a la carte.

The pancakes were huge, and the frittata was very fluffy and unique: whole corn kernels were an interesting touch. The coffee left a lot to be desired.

We've eaten at the GFC again since, and was very pleased, even with the coffee.

We caught a water launch from the dock beside our building to begin my first trip to Magic Kingdom.

This is probably the best reason to stay in the Boca Chica or Conch Key building; proximity to the dock.

The water launch is faster than taking the monorail (especially, as we later found out, on the return, since the monorail from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian makes three other stops). Once ashore, we quickly entered the park; Again, no lines. Down to the hub, and off to the left, we entered Adventureland.

This was probably the last year that October was truly empty at WDW.

Jungle Cruise was less corny IMHO than proported by some. Next was Pirates of the Caribbean, where we again experienced a line...leaving an attraction. I don't remember it all being so intricately detailed. My memory must be going... Passing the various shops it struck me how much the design of Adventureland echos the World Showcase: A little Far East, a little Arabian, a little African.

By 9:45am, we hit mountain #1: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Here we encountered our first genuine wait--less than five minutes. A great way to get yourself psyched up for the bigger mountains to come!

Next, we headed up to Bluebeard's place, the Haunted Mansion. This made me really start getting on Robbie's back about chickening out on the Tower of Terror last night. It was during this argument that we realized the Robbie thought that the ToT was a stand-up ride, without restraint straps, as depicted in all the promotional material including the model on the main entrance from 192. (Later in the week we were on a bus on the way to the Studios where we overheard an identical conversation concerning the nature of the ToT. They really should get rid of those misleading promos...) One of the pamphlets I had had a picture of the crew who designed the ride sitting in one of the elevators. I showed her this, and told her what I knew about the restraints; that they all had the same kind of restraints except the one in the middle in the back, which had straps. It looks like we're going to ride the ToT after all!

I did feel a little self-conscious standing in line for Peter Pan's Flight and The Legend of the Lion King, being the only adults there sans kinder. However, both attractions were delightful. I see more in PP'sF than I do in the Skyway (which was closed most of the day due to high winds.) We walked over to Tomorrowland and Robbie commented on how little of it remained from her last trip here several years ago. We took in Dreamflight and I was underwhelmed, which was expected. Then we took in the new people mover and I was surprised; It was quite good. Robbie says it moves much faster now, and covers more ground(?). Definitely got us psyched up for mountain #2.

In reality, the People Mover was moving much faster, but covered the precise same track as before.

We took the left side of Space Mountain (the A side). I had never been and didn't really know what to expect, beyond what I could see from the people mover. I was in the front of the train, and I am kinda glad. Though my eyes did play tricks on me quite a lot, I did derive some comfort from what I could see when I saw what was really there! Any darker and I think I might have had a heart attack from fright. But it was truly fun. Definitely gonna do that again on Wednesday.

We walked around a bit to clear the butterflies from my stomach before heading to King Stefans. The lunch menu is not really that great. I expected roast beast on the menu, and didn't want to settle for Prime Rib. So it was Caesar Salads for us both. Quite mediocre, as was expected, but the view of Merlin performing the Sword in the Stone ceremony from the window by our table made it all worth it. Someone must have told the person who seated us to treat us well!

After lunch we enjoyed the Hall of the Presidents. (I'm not sure how I missed it on our first clockwise journey around the MK earlier in the day.) I never saw the original so I can't comment whether the new is better or worse, but all-in-all I was taken with how life-like the figures of the presidents are. I really felt at times that one or two on the back row had come to life. It amazes me, not only here but elsewhere where animatronics are employed, how much effort Disney puts forth to synchronize lip movements and words.

Lunch having been digested, it was time for mountain #3: Splash Mountain. Again, no line; Just walked right on. And what a trip! This is a hybrid between an It's a Small World type of ride, a log flume, and, at times, a roller coaster. The best part (and those of you who have enjoyed Splash Mountain know what I'm referring to) really scared us! The picture they took of us was hilarious: Closed eyes and open mouths on both of us!

We've had a lot of fun in the years since with this picture. We've done all the faces; the bored look always works the best.

Time for a little rest. We boarded the railroad for 3/4 of the circuit around the park. I think they could have done the set-up visuals for the ride a bit better, but I'd prefer to see greater integration between the railroad and the attractions it passes, such as the integration of the people mover and Space Mountain.

Of course, the railroad at Disneyland is a little more like this.

We reached Main Street Station at just past 3:00pm. The parade was just reaching the end of the street. We walked out of the station and were amazed to see places to view the parade available with no one in front of you. Too bad we hate rap.

Does anyone else remember that horrible parade??? (Editor: It was called the Mickey Mania Parade.)

Thus ended our day at the Magic Kingdom. We fully intend to return, to catch two rides we missed: Swiss Family Treehouse and Carousel of Progress, and return to the three mountains!

I was fixated on those three rides back then. Though we still do Splash Mountain during every trip, we only occasionally go on Space Mountain now, and never go on BTMM RR anymore.

At this point we radically changed our approach. Since we've been flying through the parks, we see no point in arriving early for early entry. Since we have been advised that if you're not taking advantage of early entry you should avoid that park that day (at least through the mid-afternoon of that day) we switched our plans for a return trip to MK from Monday to Wednesday, and our plans for a return to D/MGM from Wednesday to Monday, leaving our only early entry on Tuesday at EPCOT. (Later, we would change this all around again; So much for advance planning, eh?)

There you go. The basic kernels of trip planning, which I finally realized in 1994.

Back at the hotel we perused the shops (bought some GF tee- shirts)

Which we still have.

and told ourselves that we really ought to get around to enjoying the pool sometime soon...maybe tomorrow. We rested a couple of hours before heading over to the Wilderness Lodge via water taxis (one from the GF to the MK, and another from the MK to the WL.)

The slow way, but definitely the most fun.

Incredible. Indescribable. Magnificent. These words don't come close to explaining the interior of the Wilderness Lodge. We marveled at the timber framing and the stone fireplace chimney. The detail is breathtaking. Inlay-work in the tables, walls, and doors. The sconces have critters in their designs. There is a richness to the theming here that even the Grand Floridian does not come close to. While the GF is the king of elegance and luxury, WL is truer to the spirit of WDW: WL gives you more of what you come to WDW for. (Don't get me wrong: I am very glad we stayed at the GF! But I wouldn't have been too upset if we had to "settle" for the WL, and we're likely to stay at least part of our next trip to WDW at the WL.)

Which is precisely what we did...stayed a part of our next trip at WL, in a Smokehouse view room.

It seems that there is a penthouse(?). (You can see a stairwell, seemingly inaccessible from public areas, on one side of the atrium above the 7th floor.)

I believe these are the junior suites, right?

We ate dinner at the Artists' Pointe. They're clearly understaffed, but our waitress was a trooper.

This is remarkable for me to read, since we've been back to AP every year since and I definitely feel that we've "always" gotten great service there. Evidently, our first time there the service wasn't as great.

As it was, we were again visited by the good-seating fairy. Another great view overlooking the pool (which didn't look so small to me.)

The raspberry house dressing is quite good, and the smoked salmon pate complementary with bread was excellent. We wanted to take some back to the hotel to schmear on our bagel tomorrow morning! I had prime rib. Overcooked, IMHO, and not as tasty as I would have expected, except around the edges where the smoking did its magic. Robbie also had smoked beef, this time in the porterhouse variety, again a bit dried out.

My jaw is dropping reading this! I can't believe we didn't even care for the food at AP back in 1994! Amazing.

Dessert was Chocolate Silk Bread Pudding and a Berry Cobbler. Robbie thought the Bread Pudding was superb (I don't like bread pudding) and I really liked the cobbler, though one or the other would have been more than enough for *three* to share for dessert.

Okay...so THAT'S why we went back to AP; the desserts.

Getting back to the GF, via bus and then monorail, was not that bad. They didn't feel like opening the doors for us as we were getting on at the monorail station, so the CM asked us to sit up front. (Cool! Didn't even hafta ask!)

We made it back in time for the Electrical Water Pageant. It's cute; Worth rushing back from dinner at the Artists' Pointe, but not worth missing something like Sorcery in the Sky for. I don't remember who recommended Boca Chica Top Floor, but it *is* a great location. Except our room, 8523. There is a pine tree blocking our view of the castle, as I mentioned before, and the water pageant drifted behind the tree as time went by. The tide (?) also swept the pageant around a bit so we ended up seeing the back of the last couple of characters. I suspect that our neighbors, while they could see the castle, probably missed even more of the pageant than we did due to this tree.

Monday, October 3

Budget breakfast this morning still costs $12. We chose from the McDonald's-like selections at Gasparilla Grill and Game Room. Unfortunately, the downpour forced us to eat subjected to the raucous adulation of kids banging on one of the video games. (I later found out that this was actually the point of that game: to bang on the machine fast enough.)

By breakfast's end, the rain had stopped and we took the bus to the Studios. Heading straight for the Muppet 3D attraction, we passed a multitude of folks, clearly guests who had never been to WDW before, trying to figure out what to do and where it was. The 3D show was great. I was really caught off guard with the end, and it took a while for me to figure out how they did that! The 3D effects were much more than I thought possible, not so much in terms of realism, but in terms of how close into my face the characters were able to get.

Next came the various tours: Special Effects tour, Animation tour, and the Backstage tour. Quite frankly, I wasn't impressed. The CMs just didn't have the fire for their roles as much as they should have; either that or they just weren't as talented as they should be. I did see some drawings from Pocahantas, but much of the animation area, where cels from the movie would be inked-in, was obscured by venetian blinds. I didn't see my favorite pre-show, the one with Michael Eisner and Mickey Mouse.

I really wish I had another chance to see this pre-show. It is the one in which Mickey has a Michael Eisner watch.

Since Robbie wasn't feel quite good enough to do ToT we left, hoping to return later in the week. On the spur of the moment, and since the bus was stopping there before it got to our hotel, we de-bussed at the Wilderness Lodge and had lunch at Whispering Canyon. Lunch is served family-style. We had the hot skillet, with just about the best baked beans in the world, some really tasty smoked ribs, BBQ pork, and fried chicken (which ended up uneaten.) They start you off with waffle fries (even if you end up ordering the cold lunch). Also, we requested cole slaw with the hot lunch and had no problem getting it.

This place has changed quite a lot. The food isn't as good, the price is higher, and some freebies are gone.

They were filming something there...some pilot for a TV series.

I never did find out which one.

Leaving the Wilderness Lodge, we encountered our first transportation problem. We must have waited over 20 minutes for the five minute boat ride to the Magic Kingdom dock. I suppose to even out the score, the launch to the Grand Floridian was waiting for us when we arrived. I told Robbie that if we stay at WL next time, we're definitely going to have a rental car and definitely going to use it instead of Disney transport.

We spent about an hour out by the pool. The spa is wonderful, though I can't stay in one long without getting light-headed. They're power-washing the clapboards of the buildings here at the GF. Robbie says she sees mold problems with the facade, and that the power-washing is to control that.

Back to EPCOT. We walked ourselves silly. About 3/4s the way around three times, yet we never passed United Kingdom. We did take in a lot of the shops, snacked at Mexico,

I didn't mention in the TR how bad the food was at the outdoor cafe at Mexico. I haven't heard it has gotten any better.

saw O, Canada, and bought incense at Japan. Amazingly, we did not see the films in China, The American Experience, or France, mostly because we arrived at each theater more then ten minutes until the next show. I don't think we'll see China; The stand-up and watch thing is not for us. However, I hope to catch the other two later this week.

I always agreed with people when they said that EPCOT was their favorite place at WDW, but I've changed my mind. Future World *is* excellent, but I now feel that the World Showcase is primarily a big shopping mall, with the exception of the Maelstrom. I think I'll be putting less attention into the World Showcase in the future.

We had dinner at Bistro de Paris. No amount of name-dropping or wearing the look of disappointment could get us a window seat, so we didn't get an appetizer or dessert, in order to be able to see Illuminations after we left the restaurant. The atmosphere isn't really all that special; Once seated, we couldn't have told that we were in a French restaurant, and we certainly didn't get any feel we were in France. We ordered Rack of Lamb for two, which was superb. It is served with a brown sauce and a light fluffy egg-tomato-egg side dish. The service was not bad, even though I drink lots of water during dinner. So food: very good; atmosphere: average.

I was very politic in this description. The way I remember it, the service was bad.

Illuminations is neat, from the standpoint that the fireworks are shot off rather close-by to you, and that the show explodes so close to you. The music/fireworks synch is good, but it surely is time to redo the show, to include the "new" nations of Morocco and Norway. Quite frankly, after Sorcery in the Sky on Saturday, Illuminations was a disappointment.

The International Gateway is a great way to beat the exiting crowd after Illuminations. A hint, though, if you're parking at the Beach Club Resort, don't try to shortcut the walk back to the car. There is only one good way to walk to the self-parking lot. We walked through the hotel (no security?) and out a side door, ending up in a cast parking lot. But wait, there's our car! Walk walk walk. Whoa! Don't fall in the moat!

Tuesday, October 4

Another late start, so another day we forsake early opening. Two chances remain, tomorrow at Disney/MGM, which we're planning on, and Thursday at Magic Kingdom, which we are not. Presto-change-o, we're on our way to the Magic Kingdom to hit the only attraction we missed, and re-do the three mountains.

We arrive at 8:30 and peruse the shops along Main Street. I finally find a tie chain;

Over the years, I've collected quite an assortment of tie tacks and tie chains. Now that I'm no longer wearing suit-and-tie to work, I've started collecting Mickey Mouse earrings. (What I need, though, is to find another guy, so we can swap single earrings...)

Robbie finally found socks. We stop into the bakery and get breakfast. I eat an overpriced, stale bagel; Robbie chows down on a fantastic apple fritter.

These apple fritters are really good. We've gone back to this bakery a few times since just for those fritters.

Just after rope drop we walk into the Carousel of Progress. Robbie and I had the theater to ourselves.

Literally. This is before the started having shortened hours at CoP.

The lights came down and a spotlight came on to illuminate the CM who was supposed to introduce the show. We suppose s/he decided to skip it this time since the spotlight highlighted an empty space at the side of the theater. We availed ourselves of the opportunity an empty theater presented and took some flash photographs. Now hear this! Be on the lookout for not a hidden Mickey but a hidden KOHN. Our last name is prominently apparent as the name of the Chinese restaurant in one of the segments! What a thrill.

Only one side of Space Mountain was open. Luckily, it was the side we didn't catch earlier in the week. I still have a crick in my neck from ducking throughout Space Mountain. We then caught the Skyway and got a good view of the 20,000 Leagues tank...sad... I hope they do something good with it.

Once on the other side we hoofed over to BTM only to find an enormous line. (Very strange indeed.) There was just a 10 minute wait for Splash Mountain so we took our second trek through the Br'er Patch. Robbie didn't stop humming the song until after noon. (Actually, the song came back that night and she's still humming it a couple of days later.)

So here we were, just past 10:00am and leaving the Magic Kingdom. We decided to pick up our abandoned schedule and took the monorails to EPCOT. Weaving our way past Innoventions (it looks so tacky) we spent about three hours in the Land. First up was Symbiosis: preachy and inspiring.

Remember Symbiosis? Don't get me wrong; I like the new film, but Symbiosis was great.

Well, it killed enough time so that when we got out our table was ready at the Garden Grille. It was not bad; Actually it was quite good. Given a different choice of entrees, I could see it being very plain. I, however, ordered a Portobello Mushroom and Green Tomato sandwich. Mmmmm... Robbie had a burger. Ho hum. The staff was very friendly and quick to provide a free soda refill. The view wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. Not much to see, really.

This was back when the Garden Grill really was the GARDEN Grill, before they got rid of the vegetable-focused menu and before they brought in the characters.

After lunch we waited on line for about 15 minutes to see Listen to the Land. Not a must-see, but somewhat entertaining.

Very strange. I now consider this a must-see. Getting older I suppose.

Finally, Food Rocks, which was far more entertaining than Robbie thought it was going to be. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that the original artists provided the voices.

Next, we visited Figment and Dream Finder. This turns out to be one of those "really neat the first time" attractions. Not much to it the second time around. Magic Eye Theater is closed, of

This was during the refit for HISTA. Captain Eo had just closed.

course, so we headed back to the hotel, walking through the Polynesian on the way back. We could be happy staying there for sure. Next time, we'll play the Annual Passport hotel rates waiting game and see what we can get. I'd still rather come back to the GF.

We ended up never getting an AP rate at a hotel, despite 5 years of trying.

Another afternoon rest, and then dinner at Narcoossee, our most expensive meal topping out at over $85. Narcoossee had the advantage of being just outside the front door of our lodge building, so it was very convenient. We started with well- prepared but undistinguished conch fritters with mustard sauce. Robbie had a Florida Sizzler (a heavy-duty drink). For dinner, I had Swordfish (they didn't have any lobster tails) and Robbie had Shrimp over Angel Hair. The fish was perfectly cooked and extremely well-presented. There was a noticeable lack of vegetables with dinner: no salad and no veggies on the dinner plate. There is no question that Narcoossee knows how to do dinner, but the question of value cannot help but being raised.

Of course, Narcoossee has gone through two revolutions since then, the most recent this past February.

We walked dinner off via a brief trip to the Contemporary. I had dreamed of the Contemporary since I was 12, but in the end, it is just a big hotel. We went up to the observation decks, and mistakenly went back into the hotel on the 14th floor, the concierge level. Very quiet. Very private. I'm sure it's very nice but alas we didn't see into any of the rooms.

Sure, we'll take in the Water Pageant again tonight...why not? One more full day to go. Depression looms in our future, but for now, we're happy campers.

Wednesday, October 5

Early to rise, early to the Studios, again via Disney bus. We've found Disney transportation excellent from the GF. We had a limited itinerary this morning, and almost accomplished all of it. First, we headed for the Tower of Terror, which I can confirm *is* open as part of Surprise Mornings. Robbie loved it (and so did I!) It's much tamer than rides like Space Mountain.

We also experienced the Great Movie Ride again, because we were forced to sit in the back last time. This time we were in row 3. We really missed a lot sitting in the back earlier in the week-- no, we missed almost everything sitting in the back. (And beware, when you board you're actually boarding two separate trams: Make sure you're not in the back AND not near the middle.) I thought it was interesting that all six tram operators I saw while there today and earlier this week were female. I wonder if they're doing that deliberately.

Before they let the masses in, we managed to take in Star Tours. It was my first time in the first row, without the step in front of me to brace myself against. It's a different ride up front.

We had breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. The food was actually quite good: fluffy biscuits and omelets, great tasting (if a bit leathery) bacon, and fantastic orange juice (well, this IS Florida.) $17 is a bit steep for breakfast for two, though, especially since we had to wait in line for about 20 minutes before getting our food. They only had one side of the buffeteria open, despite a line going out the door into the street. Here and there the cutbacks are clearly evident.

This from someone who had only two previous visits to base such an assertion on. Duh. It hasn't gotten much worse since then, though Hollywood and Vine is, of course, very much different. The food was horrible when we went back in 1995 or 1996, and of course, now it is a character meal.

After breakfast we tried to catch the Making of the Lion King, but Robbie ducked into the bathroom just before we got there and I watched the doors to the theater close before she came out. Next show wasn't for 30 minutes so we headed back over to the ToT. Just as we got there they closed it due to mechanical problems. We're sure glad we caught it before it went down. We might try again tomorrow.

And so we left, just as the crowds started arriving. We took the Friendship from the front of D/MGM directly to the Yacht Club and immediately switched boats to the Friendship that took us to the International Gateway at EPCOT.

We arrived just minutes before the World Showcase opened and got into a conversation with an older CM who was guarding the entrance. He took the initiative to strike up a conversation about the cutbacks and the reduced hours. He said that now they're cutting back the character walk-arounds too, due to low attendance at World Showcase. ("If they don't have anything going on over here, what makes them think that people are going to want to come over here?") He's retiring and it was clear that this was the first time he felt comfortable with speaking out. It was clear that his colleagues around him agreed with him, in spirit if not in verbalization.

Of course, that was when they got rid of the character walk-arounds in the World Showcase. They double-decker bus lasted a few years longer, I believe.

I agree completely. It seems clear to me that EPCOT is no longer the best part of WDW as it was for me three years ago. It's a shame. We loved this trip so much that we're seriously hoping to come back next year or 1996 at the latest. I hope the WDW we come back to is as good as the one we will leave behind tomorrow.

I was being particularly pissy here. We did go back in 1995 and at least once a year since.

We had some pastry at France before seeing the show. I had never seen it before and it was pretty good, especially since each person had their own row in the theater. We then wanted to see the American Experience, but they're only running the show once an hour. Sure, the off-season is great because there are no lines; However, you still have to wait just as long! We walked over to Italy and I was intrigued by how much space was available for new attractions: between the shop at the lagoon side of the street and Alfredos there is a two story building that is not used. It seems that both the first and second floors could be utilized. Also, the entire other side of the street was empty. Does anyone know what the plans are for Italy? It seems so inadequate as it is.

We walked back to America and walked around the rotunda before finally seeing the show. Stirring, and (from my strictly American-born perspective) very well-balanced. Between this and the Hall of the Presidents, it is clear that if the imagineers can do anything, they can do animatronics for patriotic figures.

Finally, we walked through the United Kingdom, the only country around the World Showcase that we hadn't visited this week. It was getting to be mid-afternoon and we didn't want to knock ourselves out as we did earlier in the week. We took monorails over to the Polynesian and had lunch at the Coral Isle. We had the sampler (I loved the Crabmeat Rangoon), potato skins (which were good, but surely out of theme), and a fruit plate (are those Puerto Rican oranges?). After experiencing the GF and the WL, I just can't understand why people love the Polynesian so much. I mean, it's okay, but for theming, comfort, and service, ...well I suppose ev'ryone's entitled to their own opinion...

Another restful afternoon. No, we never did take advantage of our access to NMR, River Country, Discovery Island, etc. Really could have done this whole trip much cheaper...live and learn.

You betchya.

Final night, and it's EPCOT. We arrived about 5:30pm and walked through some of Innoventions. Robbie agreed that it was just too commercial. We did enjoy the little Innoventions intro from Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and really wished we could have taken in the Imagineers exhibit. The rest of it could have passed without notice.

We then walked over to the United Kingdom for dinner at the Rose and Crown. It was much better than we expected. I had a special, Lamb Curry, and Robbie had Cottage Pie. Both were excellent. The curry was very spicy! That's very surprising, especially since you'd figure EPCOT, catering to the masses, tends to tone down spice whenever it would be evident. The Cottage Pie was rich and tasty. I had a couple of pints of Bass Ale, which enhanced my attitude remarkably throughout the rest of the evening. Robbie had a glass of Zinfandel. We had a Apple Blackberry Crumble served with warm custard on top for dessert. I felt that it was the best dessert we had had. (Robbie voted it #2.)

This time we stuck around to watch Illuminations at our dinner table. We had a decent view from our table, though it was substantially obstructed by the umbrella for the table just in front of ours. You really want a front row table at the Rose and Crown to view Innoventions. For some reason, it seemed like a better show this time; Perhaps due to the effect of the Bass and Zinfandel.

The trek out to the monorails was pleasant. We planted ourselves by the side of the road there, just by Innoventions and watched the folks flood out of the park. So cute, how some of kids were trying to mate their hand-held light-fibers with those implanted in the ground outside Innoventions. It was a very reflective time.

We *will* be back, and it won't be that long. Staying on- property has made that essential; This experience cannot be denied once experienced once. We're tired, but happy. I'm not sure that I can be depressed (as I feared I would be) after this experience despite having to go back to the real world; The lingering feelings will buoy my spirits for at least several weeks, if not until we return here.

Tomorrow, we fly home, but not before we make final return visits to perhaps both the Magic Kingdom to revisit the three mountains, and the Disney/MGM Studios assuming they've gotten the Tower of Terror back into action. But that's all gravy; I'm satisfied tonight. (Of course, I haven't seen the bill yet. We've charged lots of meals and souvenirs! )

Thursday, October 6

Just as on Day 1, I was unable to sleep a full night. I woke in time to watch the sun rise behind the clouds behind the Contemporary. We took our time getting started since it was our last day. Our bill was slipped under our door overnight. The shock wasn't that great. It seems clear that we did better than we would have had we had chosen the Grand Plan. It will take a bit more calculating to determine if the Food and Fun Card would have saved us any money.

As easily as we were inserted into our home-for-the-week, we were extracted by a professional and attentive valet.

Since we have enjoyed meals at the Wilderness Lodge so much, we decided to do breakfast this morning there. Just as good as the other meals, and again, very reasonably priced. The breakfast included scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries (which were great-- crunchy and hot!), warm applecakes (which were sweet, though a bit dry), personal waffles, and biscuits. This all for less than $8 per person, including beverages.

Next stop, Disney/MGM Studios for one more ride on the Tower of Terror. The lines were much longer today; We waited 55 minutes to ride. Only one drop-elevator was working, and the CM who let us in indicated that the whole ride was to be off-line all day tomorrow. It makes me wonder. It really seems like this ride is off-line more than it should be, even for a new ride. I tried the penny-trick with a nickel and it didn't work; Sometimes it doesn't pay to be a big spender. Robbie felt the ride more today, perhaps due to a fuller stomach, perhaps due to the heat, or perhaps to the fact that she knew what to expect rather than not knowing and figuring the worst.

And we never rode Tower of Terror again.

We also finally caught the Making of The Lion King. Note: This is the same special we've all probably seen on the Disney Channel. (What do you mean you don't get the Disney Channel? ) Still, it was a good presentation, and I was humming a bit when I left the theater.

Zip we go, off to the Magic Kingdom. It is much more crowded today, most likely due to the Surprise Morning. We waited 35 minutes for Splash Mountain, sho' 's yo' bone. I still cannot get through that just-before-the-last part with my eyes open. Splash Mountain actually has more stomach rolling thrills than the Tower of Terror, and a bit more plot.

The park was so crowded that we passed on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Haunted Mansion, settling instead to cap off our trip on the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority. That was a very good choice, in a way, since it brought us past two attractions being constructed, Alien Encounter and Transportarium. It clearly gave us the message that we must return, and showed us what will be waiting for us when we do.

We wanted to catch a late lunch and ran into a bit of reality to end our vacation. We started off at the Contemporary (since that is where we parked the rental car after breakfast in the morning) but both the Concourse Steakhouse and the Contemporary Cafe were closed. We drove over to the Wilderness Lodge only to find that Whispering Canyon had just closed as well. No amount of seething disappointment would get them to seat us. The only options given us were Coral Isle and Grand Floridian Cafe. We chose the latter.

The meals weren't a big deal; just a couple of Caesar Salads. Still, the magic still was there, and it was nice to end the vacation there, where we spent so much of the time.

End of the line. Continental, please get us home in one piece. Back to the real world, until the next time.

Brian Charles Kohn

bicker@yahoo.com