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View Full Version : Ed Vawter - WDW (1-8 Jan, 1995) - Old Key West Resort



Trip Reports
02-07-2006, 10:36 AM
Time of Year: Winter
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Old Key West Resort
Accommodations: Unknown
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, DVC Member
Comments: Ed and his wife had a nice long trip, staying at the Disney Vacation Club (now OKWR). They also brought Ed's niece and nephew along, so the report covers alot about how to do WDW with kids too. Ed's report is very detailed and covers alot of infomation that can help others plan a trip.

I'll go thru my trip in chronological order and then at the end and give my overall impressions and other notes. I'll warn you, this is long!!!

Dec 30th Friday

My wife and I arrived on time at the Orlando International Airport at about 10:30 pm. We don't normally like to arrive this late, but since one of our tickets was free and that's the only flight on Friday we could use our free ticket on, we weren't complaining. We rented our car (National $160/week) and took the Florida Turnpike south to our hotel. We didn't want to burn our Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points when we were arriving this late (it would have been quite a few too since this is the highest season point-wise). We finally found the Travelodge Kissimmee Flags located on US 192 ($29/night, AAA discount!!!!) about midnight and crashed for the night. Luckily we had planned for this and only had one small piece of luggage to take into the hotel.

December 31st Saturday

We got up early and ate breakfast at Bob Evans. [An aside: We don't have Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel restaurants out here in NJ and these are 2 of our favorites from when we lived in the midwest, so we always plan on eating at these when we're at WDW].

We were meeting my 8 year old nephew and 8 year old niece for the week and needed to pick them up at the airport. I made the mistake of following the signs to the airport rather than watching for the road names. I ended up on the Central Florida Greenway instead of the Beeline Expressway. Not only does it take longer (it goes along the south side of the airport) but the tolls are higher too. Anyway, we met the kids, picked up their luggage and headed towards Disney World. On the way, we stopped at Godding Grocery at Crossroads and got some munchies and breakfast food. My wife also found an excellent little book on Disney World for kids. It had places for them to check off what rides they done and where they ate. It also has places for them to fill in their favorite attraction/restaurant, etc. along with areas to put in photos. These really came in handy as it gave the kids something to do in the evenings and provided us a way to discuss and talk about what we'd dome that day and what they wanted to do the next day.

We got to the DVC and checked in. However, there was a problem with admission. Annette (my wife) and I got free passes (DVCer's get length of stay passes thru 1999) but we needed to purchase admission for the kids. It seems that the length of stay pass is not for the length of stay of the person using the pass, but for the length of the reservation. Since the kids were only staying thru Friday morning, and our reservations were thru Sunday, we would have had to pay for 2 days they wouldn't be there. I expressed my displeasure and was told I could get 5 day passes but they would have to be purchased at guest relations. we ended up doing this, but I wasn't very happy about the arrangement since this would mean there would be one day they wouldn't be able to go into the parks. I was told that this was the best they could do for me. I plan on writing a letter about this situation to the powers that be. [Another aside: There are several things that will be included in my letter to guest relations and I'll mark these along the way]. After we got back from our trip I did remember that we could have gone back after using 1 day and traded the remaining 4 days in for a new 5 day pass. I assume they still allow guests to do that. I liked the days (back in 1991) when, if you were staying at one of the resorts, you could buy as many days as you wanted (up to I think 10). At that time we bought 8 day passes although we were only there for 5 days. We used the remaining 3 days on our next trip.

Finally, about 2:30 pm we went to Epcot. Remember, this was New Years Eve, the busiest day of the whole year for Disney (or at least pretty close to it anyway). We planned on only hitting the large capacity rides and those that move quickly. We started at Universe of Energy (about 8 minute wait). The kids really liked the dinosaurs and I kind of like them too since I have a passing interest in paleontology.

From there we moved on to the World of Motion (15 minute wait), one of my favorites since my father works for GM and it is one of the fastest loading rides in Epcot. We watched "The Bird" in the Transcenter afterwards and the kids got a kick out of it.

We then proceeded to Mexico. I noticed that the lighting seemed to be much brighter than on previous visits. The line for El Rio de Tiempo snaked clear out to the front door and since I know its not worth that long of a wait, we just browsed thru the shops. The kids had fun playing with the various toys and putting on the giant Sombreros.

We went by Norway, but the line for Maelstrom was too long also. We skipped on to China and caught some live entertainment. It was some Chinese acrobats/performers. The kids seemed to enjoy this and managed to sneak their way pretty close to the front, so we let them enjoy it for a while. I personally am not that big of a fan of the live performances at Disney. I always find their live shows to be overly cute and not that entertaining to me.

We then moved on around World Showcase to catch The American Adventure. While there was a 20 minutes wait, we did get to hear the Voices of Liberty sing Christmas carols!! I found this very enjoyable and had not heard them before. It was in my "notes" (pun tended) to try and hear them since some of you out there had spoken highly of them. I also noticed that in the scene where President Roosevelt is giving his famous speech about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it is cut off just before he mentions who did the bombing. I thought I had noticed this before and had made myself a mental note to double check this on my next trip and sure enough, it fails to mention who did the bombing. Guess Disney doesn't want to offend anyone.

It was by now getting close to 7 pm and Annette wanted to celebrate New Years Eve in Great Britain (with the 5 hour time difference, it would be New Years in England at 7 pm). All the cast members from England came out into the walk in front of the Rose & Crown and danced a little and sang Auld Lang Syne. They didn't sing God Save the Queen like they did went we were there in 1992-93.

We had dinner reservations at Morroco for 7:15 pm, so we hustled back that way. We didn't have more than a minute or so wait before we were seated. We ended up ordering several appetizers and a couple of adult meals and we all split it. I always enjoy eating here and found the shish kabobs to be very good.

After eating we decided to take in Impressions De France (15 minute wait). My 8 year old nephew really liked the movie (I think it was because of the castles) and rated France as his favorite pavilion in World Showcase.

We still had over 3 hours before the big fireworks and people were already staking their claims for places to watch it from. I absolutely refuse to waste 3 hours just sitting doing nothing, so we took the kids into the Living Seas (walk on; no wait). The kids were bored with the preshow and movie ( I personally think the preshow is just one big United Technologies add!!). However, once we got them into the aquarium part, they were hooked. Now Annette doesn't like aquarium's, so she found a nice little bench next to a wall and leaned back to get comfortable. It's good think she did as the kids spent over 2 hours there!! Annette actually took a nap while she was waiting. I spent some time pointing out the various animals to the kids and telling them their names and trying to answer their questions (at one point in my life I had wanted to be a marine biologist). The nice thing was that Living Seas was probably the least crowded of all the places we visited that day; we practically had the place to ourselves since everyone else was out claiming their space to watch the fireworks.

Finally about 11 pm I decided we had better go find a place to stand. Now I had spent sometime chatting with some of you about places to watch the fireworks from and finally decided that the bridge between China and Germany (near the Africa themed concession stand) was a good place. So we headed off in that direction.

I had figured that the most difficult part of getting from LIving Seas over to the bridge would be going thru the area between Future World and World Showcase. Most people tend to watch Illuminations from there so they can make a quick exit immediately after Illuminations is over. Working our way thru this area was quite easy. In fact we didn't have problems until we reached the Mexican pavilion. It seems that all the large Brazilian and Columbia tour groups (more on these later) had decided to stand "en mess" in front of the pavilion thereby blocking all access between Future World and World Showcase going around this direction. People were backed together like sardines and we unfortunately got caught up in the mob and couldn't get out. To make matters worse, Disney had decided to place a Mexican cantina band right in the walkway too. The situation quickly deteriorated into a mob mentality with everyone trying to forceably push their way thru. It was at this point that I was seriously concerned for the safety of the kids, my wife and even myself. However, there was no way to get out of the middle of the mob. I had already told Annette where to meet in case we got separated and each of us had one child. I eventually found a few other level-headed people and we managed to calm some folks and keep others from pushing and crushing people against the Cantina wall. This was by far the most frightening occurance I've ever had at Disney World. It ended up taking about 20 minutes to get by the Mexican pavilion; a walk that even on a busy day would only take a minute or so. Surprisingly, the kids were not too shaken by the experience and we purchased coke and rootbeer floats to clam everyone down (myself included).

20 minutes before Illuminations was to begin on New Years Eve, we found a place right up against the railing!!!! While we couldn't see any of the ground level stuff, we still had great "seats". THe only minor problem was that there were no speaker nearby since we were actually on the bridge but the music was loud enough that that didn't make a big difference. The New Years Eve fireworks were like nothing I had ever seen before! They did the regular Illuminations show and then pulled out all the stops for the big finale. For what seemed like forever (more like 8-10 minutes) there were 5-10 explosions in the air at all times!!! After the show, a boat full of the Pyrotechnicians passed under our bridge and everyone gave them a standing ovation!! We just waited for a while to let the crowd disperse before we tried leaving; we didn't want to get caught up in a crowd again like we had earlier. When we did leave, Disney had lots of personal out helping keep things moving in an orderly fashion. It took us an hour and a half before we finally got back to the DVC. This had been a very long day for the kids since they had to get up and catch an 8 am flight that morning and it was 1:30 am before they finally got to sleep.

January 1st Sunday

Although we had been up late the night before, we got up and had breakfast at Bonfamiles over at Port Orleans. This meal was for me as I always have breakfast one morning at Bonfamiles on every trip (I don't even have to look at the menu). You see, I absolutely love their french toast!!

We had driven over to Port Orleans in the car and left the car there to catch the bus over to Port Orleans. About half-way to MK, I realized I'd left my Disney cap at Bonfamiles. Since the kids and I were going to do Splash Mt and Big Thunder Mt and Annette had no intentions on doing either of these, she volunteered to ride the bus back to Port Orleans and get my hat while the kids and I did the Mts. We got there just a few minutes after the official opening time and quickly made our way over to Splash Mt (no wait) after that, we went over to Big Thunder Mt (5 minute wait). My nephew (8 yrs old) does not like roller coasters and my brother warned me that he wouldn't go on anything resembling a roller coaster. I told him what it was and he only asked if it went upside down. When I told him no, he got a big grim on his face and said he wanted to go.

After we finished Big Thunder, we were going to wait for Annette by the entrance to the Railroad there in Frontierland. THis also happens to be right by the entrance to Splash Mt. The kids begged and pleaded to go on it again, so since we gotten thru both Mts so quickly and I knew it was going to take Annette sometime to get back, we went on it again. This ended up being one of the kids' all time favorite attractions.

When we got off a second time, Annette was waiting for us. We then headed for Adventureland and caught the Jungle Cruise (7 minute wait). We also had the privilege of having a female skipper!! For those of you who didn't know, it wasn't until just recently that female castmembers were allowed to be Jungle Cruise Skippers. I did notice that there were some minor changes on the Jungle Cruise, mainly in the scene were the Gorillas are tearing up the campsite. There's now an upside down jeep and a pith helmet "floating" in the river (at least I don't think these were there on my last trips a year ago).

We then went thru Frontierland and Liberty Square and headed for the Haunted Mansion (2-3 minute wait). The kids took all this in stride and weren't the least frightened by the ghosts.

We then went back and caught the Country Bears Jamboree (10 minute wait). It was still the Christmas show which in my opinion is better than the usual show.

We then went back to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Caribbean (15 minute wait). Now, I was aware from conversations on AOL that Pirates had changed, but I guess I had just refused to believe it (you know, the denial thing). Sure enough, now the women are all chasing the Pirates. The thing I find hard to understand, is how those scenes were upsetting to enough folks that Disney would change it when there is another scene where they're selling the women and there's one kind of portly female on the auction block and one of the pirates asks if they're selling her by the pound!! I personally find this more distasteful than a couple of pirates chasing around women. Oh well.

By this time, lunchtime had rolled around. We had wanted to eat at the Adventureland Veranda, one of my favorite places to catch a quick bite when I'm on that side of the MK. However, the Adventureland Veranda was closed for rehab. Since we'd planned on going back to our rooms for a nap anyway, we headed back that way and took a look at the Crystal Palace. Annette couldn't find anything on the menu she liked, so we ended up going over to the Plaza Pavilion. Disney has a way of causing confusion when it comes to names in my opinion; there's both the Plaza Pavilion (counter fast-food) and the Plaza Restaurant (sit-down). Then there's Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness (to be further confused when Wilderness Junction is added); and the whole mess with the Disney Village Resort aka Walt Disney World Village aka The Village Hotel Plaza aka Disney Village Hotels (all of these are names are from various Disney brochures, maps, and road signs).

After lunch, we made it back to our rooms around 2 pm and we all took naps.

We slept until 4:30 and then got up and got ready to go to the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at the Whispering Canyon. I had heard quite a bit about both the Lodge and the restaurant from some of my online friends and all of it was absolutely true. The lobby is fantastic; from the huge log columns to the fireplace made of rock strata representing the Grand Canyon to the rocking chairs in front of the fireplace it was perfect! I think Disney has done this resort up right. There's even a "hotspring" in the lobby that becomes a waterfall before becoming the pool.

I had dropped Annette and the kids off at the front door and then parked the car. I came into the lobby and immediately had a new favorite hotel. Wilderness Lodge is even better than the Grand Floridian (of course I love this sort of decor). They even have a couple of totem poles in the lobby!! Annette had been given a beeper and told it would be about a 20 minute wait. After less than 5 minutes the beeper went off and we were seated.

We ordered the pork spareribs along with the smoke BBQ Beef brisket as our 2 other meat dishes. The salad was pretty good and Annette definitely liked the raspberry vinagrette dressing. Even the kids seemed to like the dressing. When they brought the skillet out I was amazed. THe food was very good and I really liked the pork spareribs. I had also noticed a bottle of stuff sitting on the table that I couldn't identify. I asked our waiter and he explained that it was a ginger/garlic/maple barbeque sauce!? I was somewhat hesitant until he also told me that the same sauce was used to prepare the pork spareribs, which I thought had a great unique taste! I ended up putting it on all the meats.

After dinner (7pm), we caught the boat from Wilderness Lodge to the MK. Now I've heard complaints from folks who stayed at Wilderness Lodge, and I must agree that the boat system is not as efficient as the bus system. We ended up waiting about 30 minutes before the boat came. There was much complaining while we were waiting. Also, there were 8-10 people already waiting, so I don't think we had just missed the previous boat.

We ended up getting to the MK and found a place just outside the camera shop to watch Spectromagic. We had to catch Spectro tonight as this was the last performance until Easter (I was told this by several cast members). While I waited with the kids, Annette went and got marshmallow treats from the Confectionery shop (this is a family tradition of ours; we always have a marshmallow treat while watching MK parades). The kids really enjoyed the parade and I managed to get a few good pictures.

We then caught the boat back to the Wilderness Lodge and drove back to DVC. The kids wanted to go swimming again, so they did for about 30 minutes before we all went to bed.

January 2nd Monday

We had cereal in the room and then got to the MK about 8:20am (used the bus; I never drive to MK unless there's a very good reason. I hate having to wait for either the monorail or the ferry before getting to the car.) MK seemed much busier today than on Sunday, probably because on the 1st everyone slept in from the New Years Eve celebrations. THe kids wanted to ride Dumbo, so we headed for that 1st (I know what the lines for Dumbo can look like later in the day). Only had a 5-8 minute wait. After that, there were quite a few characters right there behind Dumbo. Since we had bought the kids autograph books earlier in the week, they wanted to start "collecting autographs". I'm still amazed at how the site of a Disney character can make an adult lose all manners and sense of reality. Annette always tries to start a line if there's not already one (she collects character signatures too!), but its amazing how many normally polite adults forget everything and either walk right up to the character ignoring the line or just pushing their way thru the line. However, Annette has found that if she politely says "The end of the line is back there." it helps immensely. The adults seem to be magically awakened and come back to reality. In some cases, its quite amusing to watch :)

I finally dragged them (the kids and Annette) away from the characters and we made our way over to Space Mt. By this time, the park had just been opened to the general public and so we ended up with a 35 minute wait (longest wait of the entire trip). Still, I didn't think that was too bad. Annette went thru the line with us and then exited just before the inside lines as she doesn't do Space Mt.

Annette then got us some caffeine (I hadn't had mine yet and was starting to get a headache [Yes, I admit I'm addicted to caffeine]) and I took photos of the kids as they rode the Teacups (walk-on, no wait). From there we went to Peter Pan's Flight (10 min wait). This is one of our favorite Fantasyland rides. After that, we went across the way and rode Small World (5 min wait). As we went back across Fantasyland, Annette and the kids noticed new characters were out over by Dumbo again. So we got a couple more signatures and then rode Mr. Toads Wild Ride (8-10 min wait). I personally like this ride although I'm not sure why.

Next we got in line for Snow White's Scary Adventure (10 min wait). I knew that it had just recently been reopened after going thru rehap and I was anxiously waiting to see what changes had been made. The old one was confusing until you realized you were seeing things as if you were Snow White. Also, the old ride seemed to have a witch popping up everywhere. I must say after going on the ride that this is by far the best redone ride I've ever seen Disney do!!!!! It actually now tells the story of Snow White from beginning to end and makes sense! You actually get to see Snow White at several points and there aren't nearly as many witches, although she is still there several times. I think this is now my favorite Fantasyland ride and I highly recommend folks check this one out.

By now, it was getting on towards lunch and we decided to go over to Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe. Based on Laura237's recommendation (Thanks again Laura!) we checked out all 3 sides before ordering. The kids split a 1/4 chicken (pretty good for fast food) while Annette and I had cheese steak sandwiches (not as good as the ones we get in Philly, but still respectable).

After lunch, I decided we should go see The Lion King. Annette wanted to do some shopping, so the kids and I got in line and she left. The sign said a 50 minute wait(!!!!) but I looked at the line, noticed there was no winding que lines and knowing the theater holds quite a few people I decided to que up. Ended up we only waited about 10 min before we were admitted to the preshow area. For those who haven't seen this yet, the preshow is a mix of live action and clips from the movie (Circle of Life scenes from the opening of the movie). From there, the show itself is a mix of a live character (Rafke) and puppets. My only complaint was the great number of people who ignored the fact that flash photography was forbidden. One guy a couple of seats from me took 5 or 6 pictures even after I yelled at him. Finally, I told him I was going to find the nearest cast member if he didn't stop taking flash photos (and he was from the US and spoke perfect English!!!). THis was by far the worst attraction I've ever sat thru in terms of the number of folks baltently ignoring the no flash photography rule.

The kids wanted to go see Mickey's Starland and catch the live show there. Since Annette and I had never done this we decided to go try it. We ended up with only an 11 minute wait before we got into the theater (after a leisurely stroll thru Mickey's house). Although I felt the show was kind of corny (I personally think most of the Disney live shows are kind of corny) the kids really enjoyed it. After the show, they burnt off some energy at the play area in Mickey's Starland.

We then went back to Tomorrowland and saw the new Tomorrowland Transportarium (10-12 min wait). Robin Williams is pretty good here and I like the combination of audio animatronics with the 360 movie.

We then caught Carousel of Progress (5-10 min wait) and afterwards rode the new Tomorrowland Transportation Authority (no wait; not really much new here; basically the same WEDway people mover with a new name). By this time it was 4 pm and we headed back to the DVC for some much needed rest.

Getting back to the DVC took quite a while as the incoming bus let off a wheelchair guest and then the mechanism for loading/unloading the wheelchairs became stuck. It wouldn't let the doors go closed and the bus' are set up so that if the door are open, the bus won't go in gear. The driver and a driver from another bus worked on it for sometime and couldn't get it fixed. Since it was a fairly full busload, I was surprised that the driver didn't phone in for another bus. We ended up having to take the next bus (i.e. we spent over 45 minutes waiting to get on a working bus). On top of all that, there were so many people by this time, that we ended up having to stand all the way back.

By the time we got back to our room, we only had about 45 min to relax before we had to get ready for our 6pm dinner reservations at Ariels over at the Beach Club. While Annette and I are neither one big seafood fans, we knew the kids love it. Since we have a goal of eating everywhere on world at least once, we figured we give it a try. It was also convenient since they have the Sand Castle Club for kids; Annette and I were going to Pleasure Island for the evening. The food was pretty good (I had surf and turf) and the kids liked their lobster. Annette had the chicken strudel which she said was good but a little overdone on the outside of the pastry.

We left the kids at the Sand Castle Club (not overly expensive and the kids really seemed to enjoy it) and headed over to Pleasure Island. Since I know a manger at PI, she got us 2 complimentary admissions (ended up she wasn't working that night). Since it was only 8pm and a Monday night, the place was basically empty. WE stopped by Manniquinns and it was deserted. We then went to the Comedy Club and caught a show. The imporv comedy is pretty good, but really depends on the audience. That night it was funny, but not hilarious. We then went over to the Rock N Roll Beach Club (one of my favorites; plays 70's music) and stayed for awhile. After this we went back to Manniquinns and things had picked up some so we stayed for some time. By now it was getting close to time to pick up the kids, so we left, drove back to the Beach Club to pick up the kids and then went back to our rooms.

January 3rd Tuesday

Ate in our room again and made it to Epcot by 9am. In my opinion, the opening at Spaceship Earth was very poorly handled. Normally (at least every time in my experience) the ropes along the right side of Spaceship Earth are open so you go past the main entrance around the right side to que up. well, there was a large crowd between the fountain in front of Spaceship Earth and its main entrance. I went around this large group thinking it was tour groups getting organized and folks trying to decide what to see and where to go. It ended up this was the line for Spaceship Earth!! The "line" was about 20-30 people wide and stretched from the fountain to the main entrance to Spaceship Earth. I've never witnessed a line (if you can call it that) like this ever before. Normally, Disney folks are pretty good about opening the ques and keeping things from getting out of hand. It took us 10 minutes to get on (mainly do to people pushing in from all sides trying to get thru the one person wide gate). It wasn't until we had almost gone inside that someone finally showed up and started herding people into the ques. This is the worst crowd control I've ever witnessed at Disney World (excepting our New Years Eve mentioned earlier). Anyway, the changes to Spaceship Earth are minor until the end, except for the new narrator (Jeromy Irons). I did notice though that it seems to move much smoother than previously. I also noticed that there are now 2 boats in the scene where they talk about the Phoenicians creating an alphabet for trading purposes. I personally like the new ending visually, but musically it leaves a lot to be desired. I use to get off the ride at the end in a happy upbeat mood. now, with the classical music they're using, it doesn't leave you with anything. I got off feeling very out of sorts. On top of this, the new "neighborhood" after the ride sponsored by AT&T wasn't open yet, so we had to walk thru a semi-maze of curtains and walls to get outside.

We then headed over to Body Wars (12 min wait). Annette skipped this, so I took the kids. they thought it was a little too jerky, but they seemed to like it.

We then crossed Future World and went into the Land Pavilion and qued up for Living With The Land (12 min wait). THe kids quickly became bored and didn't seem at all interested.

We then went over to Journey into Imagination and rode it (10 min wait). The kids thought it was okay, but weren't as impressed by it as I thought they would be. Annette had to go to the restroom, so we waited for her outside the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" Theater. While we were waiting (practically no one was around as everyone was in line for Honey..) DreamFinder showed up along with Figment. I was glad we had already ridden the ride so the kids knew who it was. We played around with him for a while, took a few photos, and by the time Annette got back, the line into the theater was moving so we joined the crowd.

I must say I agree with Laura237's observation that this is the most intense Disney attraction (more intense than Alien Encounters, but I'm getting ahead of myself). I won't give out all the secrets, but my wife took off her 3D glasses after just a few minutes and kept her feet up and her eyes closed!! Even the kids looked away on several occasions. I personally enjoyed it very much. It is probably my favorite new attraction in all of Walt Disney World.

By now it was getting close to our reservation time at Italy. I had been avoiding both Italy and China on previous trips, since I can get great chinese and italian food right in my hometown for about half the price. However, since I want to eventually eat at every single sit-down restaurant and since I knew the kids liked spaghetti, we had decided to check it out. While the prices were high for pasta, we did get more than we could eat. I had the house speciality, fettucini alfredo. It was very very good, with a sauce different than your normal heavy cream sauce that comes on fettucini. It was quite light and very tasty.

We then moved on to cover the other side of World Showcase. We caught the movie in China (10 min wait) and then rode the Maelstorm in Norway (15 min wait). The kids liked the ride, but were bored by the short film at the end.

Mexico was next on our agenda since the line was so long on New Years Eve. We only had to wait about 2-3 minutes. If any attraction needs a good rehab it's this one (although I think Dreamflight might be worse).

Annette had stopped by the Apple Exhibit at Innovention to see if Mike Bounds (aka So There) was working. So I decided to go talk with him while Annette and the kids rode the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom. They had been asking all week to ride the monorail and my niece had decided she wanted a monogramed classic Mickey Mouse Ears (only available at La Shappel on Main St.). THey just missed one monorail and were 2nd in line for the next one. Annette mentioned to the kids that sometimes you can get to ride in the front of the monorail. She told my nephew that they wouldn't get to ride in the front unless they asked the cast member. An older grandfatherly cast member on the platform overheard them and asked my nephew, "Ask me what?" My nephew then asked and they were allowed to ride in the very front of the monorail with the driver!! I was jealous when they told me this!

Anyway, while Annette and the kids rode over to the MK in the front of the monorail, I wandered over to the Apple Exhibit at Innoventions and chatted with Mike Bounds. It was good to finally meet him after our many exchanges by e-mail and on AOL. We talked about many things; too many to go into here. Thanks again Mike for all the info!!!

After talking to Mike for over an hour, I had to leave to go back to the room to get our 20% off coupon for our dinner at Germany. Once again, it took quite awhile to make the trip by bus, mainly because the bus didn't show up on time (Note: for the DVC, there is a regular bus scheduled posted at all the DVC bus stops at all the parks). I ended up making it back to meet Annette and the kids with enough time to catch Cranium Command:15 min wait; we just missed the previous show :(

WE had dinner at Germany and the kids really liked it! I think that part of the determining factor in how much you enjoy your meal at Germany is who you get seated with. We ended up with 4 fun and interesting people who enjoyed the kids.

After dinner, we went back to the DVC and the kids spent about a half hour swimming and then it was off to bed for everyone.

January 4th Wednesday

Again had breakfast in our room and then went to MGM. We arrived about 8am (early entry day); Annette had breakfast at Cafeteria of The Stars while I took the kids on Tower of Terror (20 min wait). I personally thought that ToT was just okay and not near as good as the hype had made it out to be. The ride itself is way too short; something like maybe a couple of minutes. You get seated in an "elevator" (since when do elevators have seats??) and then go up; the doors open for a couple of good special effects. then your "elevator" travels a short distance before the door again open and you get a very brief glimpse of the park. THere's a very short drop followed by the so called "big drop". I found you barely had time to realize what was happening before it was over. By the way, I did the penny on your knee physics experiment and can confirm that you are indeed falling faster than gravity (i.e. the penny floated up to almost eye level before I snatched out of the air).

After this the kids and I met up with Annette and we stood in line for THe Little Mermaid (30 min). Now I really think this show is way too cheesy and I hate having to wait 30 minutes to get in. I also know that if we didn't do it 1st thing in the morning, you could end up with a long wait indeed. But, the kids wanted to do it, so we bit the bullet and stood in line.

I must say that ToT has forever changed the traffic patterns at MGM. After TLM, we made our way over to Star Tours (in the past, this would always be our 1st stop). I was expecting a wait of at least 20 minutes; we ended up walking on. Now either the popularity of this rides has greatly dropped, or everyone was over in line at ToT. My biggest complaint is that I've never gotten to stand in line long enough to catch all the jokes, announcement, and dialog.

After Star Tours we went over to THe Great Movie Ride (10 min wait). The kids didn't seem to enjoy this probably because they haven't seen most of the movies. By now, they had also kind of grown accustomed to the Disney style entertainment and neither one even flinched when our car was taken over by a gangster (BTW, everyone does know that there are 2 different versions of the live action didn't you?).

By now, my nephew was begging to go on the Animation tour. he loves to draw and wanted to watch the animators at work. we headed over to the Animation Dept. and had a brief (5 minute) wait. Now I don't mind waiting here since you can browse and see the cels, including whatever it is that they are currently working on. Found out that "Fa Mulan", a Chinese folk tale (to be released sometime in 1996) will be the 1st project done totally in FL. THere were some cels from the upcoming Pocohantas; they look pretty good, but the style seems to be different from the past few animated films.

I don't really like the new way the monitors are used in the animation tour. Use to, in went from one to the next and kept folks moving thru the area in a semi-orderly fashion (which allowed me to stick around and get to see things without fighting the crowds). Now however, all the monitors show the same thing, so people tend to just mill around (and prevent me from enjoying the show in semi-privacy). I also feel that the current expansion has ruined the logic flow that use to exist. I asked a cast member about these concerns and was told the changes were because of the number of guests complaints about not being able to see the one monitor (guess it didn't dawn on them to just stick around and see it the next go-around). He also told me that he thought the wall with all the art works and signatures from various famous visitors to the studios (such as Mike Peters [Mother Goose & Grim], Charles Schultz [Peanuts], Jim Davis [Garfield], Mort Walker and others) had been disposed of!!!! :( I was also very disappointed that they no longer show the Disney clips at the end, including the "famous" (or at least my favorite) scenes of Mickey with the Michael Eisner watch and the monster from Night on Bald Mt (Fantasia) being told to get down in front by Mr. Eisner and the monster saying "Oh, sorry Mr. Eisner". I loved those scenes along with all the short clips from Disney movies. THey're now showing "The Making of the Lion King" there (already saw this on the Disney Channel).

By this time, we were approaching our meal reservations, so we headed over to Mama Melroses. The food here was good, but everyone had led me to believe that the food was excellent, so I was somewhat disappointed. THe meal was also somewhat rushed since my nephew really really wanted to see the Alladin parade (the movie is his favorite). I hurriedly finished by pizza and took the kids to see the parade while Annette paid the bill. We ended up not getting a very good place to see the parade (saw it from in front of Star Tours). There were too many people in front of us so the kids couldn't see much. I took turns lifting each of them for a minute or two so they could at least see a little of it.

We then went over to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I must say that I like them allowing you to go on in and sit down while waiting for the show to start. We only had a 5 minute wait, but this meant that we had not so hot seats (all the way over to one side and just a couple of rows back). THe kids thought it was okay, but I was disappointed that they cut the show short (it was raining and they didn't do the last sequence with the airplane because of the stage area being wet).

We then walked onto the Tram tour. Nothing much new here. I feel they could really do a better job with this. THe most interesting thing to me was some of the costumes they had on display at the costuming shop. The kids also felt that Catastrophe Canyon was sort of hookey.

We then qued up for the Special Effects tour (30 min). We unfortunately just missed getting in on the 2nd group and had to wait for the next group. This ended up being a blessing in disguise (we were the very 1st ones in the next group). While we waited, we got to chat with a very nice cast member (he's the one that told use about the monitors on the animation tour and the wall there being destroyed). After we went thru the special effects water tank, Annette told the kids to move quickly to the next stop. I knew she had something in mind!! We were greeted by a very nice cast member who asked my niece and nephew if they'd like to help out and be in a "movie"!!! Having been on this tour several times, I knew at once what was up :) They got chosen to ride the bee in the sequence from "Honey a Shrunk the Kids" where they show how blue screens and computer controlled cameras work. They were perfect for the parts; dressed in bright jogging suits, brother and sister, about the right ages (8 & 9). Annette and I got to accompany them and see this part from a couple of directors chairs on the floor (remember that all the rest of the folks are standing up on raised catwalks. I took quite a few pictures to show to their mom & dad. They enjoyed it a lot although my nephew said he was embarrassed afterwards.

From there, we headed over the the Muppet 3D Movie (25 min wait). THis is my 2nd favorite attraction after Star Tours. The kids enjoyed it and remarked that it was much less intense than the one at Epcot (i.e. Honey I Shrunk the Audience).

We then caught the Monster Sound Show (5 min wait). Having seen the show before, I knew what was coming. When they asked for everyone to yell "Monster Sound Show" I screamed it at the top of my lungs!!! Now my voice tends to carry anyway and this on top of the fact that everyone else was pretty subdued meant that you could plainly here my voice when the sound engineer played it back. The rest of the show was okay; we had 1 person who took their job as foley artist very seriously and did a great job (i.e therefore not being that funny) but there was one person who just didn't seem to be able to understand what they were suppose to be doing. This made for some great laughs. This is another of those shows that vary depending on who gets picked to participate (has anyone else noticed the great number of audience participation attractions at the Studios?)

Dinner at the Brown Derby was next on our agenda. We ended up having a pretty bad waiter. He screwed up our drink order (brought my nephew the wrong thing), brought the wrong entree to my niece (she had ordered cheese bagel pizza and he brought out pepperoni). Then Annette asked what would happen to it and he said they would throw it away. She politely asked if we could just keep it and someone else eat it rather than wasting food. He rudely said no he couldn't and when I inquired as to why he told me that he had to justify to the chef why he was asking for another pizza. I told him that that was his problem since he hadn't gotten it right in the 1st place (I was very polite about it) and he walked off in a huff. He came back a few minutes later and insisted that we keep the pizza. I said no, but he said that he had cleared it with his manager and simply left the pizza without another word. It's not so much the situation that bothered me as it was his body language and tone of voice. Believe me, he didn't get a very good tip!!!

The food itself was quite good; I love the Cobb salad. Annette asked at the front when she went to the restroom and they brought out a laser printed copy of the recipe complete with dressing!! We were disappointed though to learn that the French Onion soup is not available at dinner!? This seems to be kind of strange to me. We asked (at the front on the way out, we didn't ask our waiter) and they didn't know why this was the case.

The crowds at the Studios had been pretty heavy all day (it didn't drop off in the afternoon like it normally does), so we left since the kids were getting tired and the only thing left was the Superstar Television. On the way out though, I noticed that the park hours had been extended by 1 hour (The Studios were scheduled to close at 6pm but were extended to 7pm sometime in the afternoon). We had also received a voice-mail message earlier in the week from the DVC front desk stating that the hours for the MK had been extended.

[B]January 5th Thursday

Annette and I got up and went to breakfast at Olivias and let the kids sleep (we told them the night before that we were going to do this; they seemed very happy and content to sleep in late). THis was the big morning for Annette and me; we had reservations to go on the Innovation in Action Tour!!!! Now at $60/person, this was not cheap (there were about 40 people on this with us, so you figure how much money Disney made for 4 hours of work involving 3 cast members and 2 buses), but well worth it I felt.

We had made arrangements with "Fairy Godmother" before we had left home to arrange for baby-sitting. While I don't recommend getting a baby-sitter while on vacation (the tour is for those over 18 only), if you do then I highly recommend Fairy Godmothers!!! They come right to your room and will watch the kids (up to 3 in the same family) for $6/hr with a 4 hour min and a $5 travel fee. Not too bad when you consider they're the only game in town (at least that I know of).

The program started off over at the Yacht Club convention center with a short VCR tape of Walt explaining his dream for Epcot. After this, we boarded buses to go around the grounds. Our 1st stop was to see one of many flood control gates. They use a french designed watergate called an Emile gate. It automatically controls the water level without any external energy source or intervention from humans.

We then went by the waste water treatment facility and from there on to the compost area. Here solid material from the waste treatment are mixed with food scraps to form an organic fertilizer that Disney uses on all its plants and greenery. At one time, there was some thought of selling the fertilizer, but Disney ended up using at all themselves. the castmembers did have a contest to name it and came up with "Zip A Dee Doo Doo".

THe next stop was the horticulture area where they grow topiaries and keep "understudy trees". Since Fl is the number one state for air to crowd lightning strikes, there is a replacement tree for every 7 trees out "on stage" (i.e. any guest accessible area). THey also use drip irrigation to keep water usage to a minimum.

We then proceeded to my favorite area; the backstage production area behind Pirates of Carribean at the MK. Here we got to hold and touch some of the costumes for Spectromagic and see the interior of the floats and here how the computerized lighting system works. We also saw the practice dance floor with markings on the floor for any of the stage areas through out WDW! This way the cast only has to come in after park hours one time for a dress rehearsal. Out behind this building is where they keep the Electric Water Pageant Floats. THe explained how this was Disney's 1st electric parade and explained how they keep the floats pulled tight (they use a 70 hp outboard motor to pul and a 50 hp outboard running in the opposite direction to keep everything tight).

From there, we got to go into the Utilidors (Utility Corridors)!! THese amazing tunnels have 2 basic functions; one is to allow easy repair of utilities without disturbing guests. Two, it allows castmembers to come up in the appropriate land in costume so some in a Tomorrowland outfit doesn't have to wander through Fantasyland to get to his/her work location. As we were walking thru the tunnels, I heard a flop, flop, flop liking someone running coming up behind us. I saw a cast member in most of a Pluto outfit, holding his head in his hands!!! He even said hi!! First time I ever heard a Disney character speak.

We came up near Tinker Bells Treasures near the Castle. Our guide told us a little about the castle. It's not based on any single European castle, but rather a conglomerate the best of many castles. Here our host also told about the use of "forced perspective". Its the use of scale to fool your eye into seeing something not as it really is (i.e. an optical illusion). THis is used on the castle to make it seem taller than it really is. Forced perspective is also used on the Christmas trees; the ornaments at the bottom of the tree are larger than the ornaments at the top of the tree, hence the eye tricks the mind into thinking the tree is much taller than it truly is. THis is not only used horizontally, but also vertically. Did you ever look down Main St. from the entrance and think that it looked very long. This is forced perspective again. Notice the distance between the buildings and the curb at the entrance end of Main St. vs the distance between the building and the curb at the castle end of Main St. This perspective also works to Disney's advantage at the end of the day. When you look down Main St. from the castle it looks like the entrance is very close, especially useful mentally after spending a long day in the parks. This perspective is also used horizontally on Main St. to make the buildings look taller than the are (there are only 4 buildings on Main St. and they're only 2 stories high although they appear to be 3 stories high). Our host also shared that if you proceed from Tomorrowland in a counter-clockwise direction, you will be going down hill slightly all the way. THey especially recommend touring in this direction for folks in wheel chairs.

Our guide also mentioned that Disney uses a fake cookie smell that is pumped onto Main St. through out the day, even when the bakery is not making anything. They originally tried blowing air over the baked goods, but found out it ruined the baked goods. No details though on what the ingredients for the cookie smell is. Our host also pointed out the many names in the windows above Main St. and pointed out the Walt's is the only name facing the castle.

The MK is not the only place with tunnels contrary to popular belief. Our guide also told use there are tunnels under Future World and Pleasure Island. The ones at Future World are used to get merchandise into the shops (i.e. Centorium) without guests seeing it and at Pleasure Island for the same thing (only for the buildings located on the water side of PI).

After 4 hrs, it was finally over and they returned use to the DVC. We went back to the rooms, paid the baby-sitter, and took the kids to lunch at Olivia's at the DVC. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at the Village Market place for souveneires. I did notice that the Village looks much better with its recent facelift although parking is still a problem. There's also a new fountain you can walk/run thru similar to the one at Epcot.

We went back to the room and changed so we could go swimming over at the Yacht & Beach Club. Now let me say that Disney Resort guests are only suppose to use the pool at their resort. However, DVC members have been granted the privilege of using any of the pools at WDW. THe kids really enjoyed the Y&B pool and I had to practically pull them out so we could go to dinner. [Note for Laura237; the Friendship launches were running when we were there). However, when I reminded them that they hadn't got Mickey or Minnie's signatures and that both of them would be at 1900 Park Fare over at the Grand Floridian they jumped out of the pool and got dressed quickly. Guess you just have to know how to motivate kids :)

Dinner at 1900 Park Fare was okay, but I personally am not a big fan of buffets. The food isn't as hot or "fresh". After this, we went back to the DVC and helped the kids pack since they would be leaving in the morning.

We left the DVC and went to Bob Evans for breakfast. After breakfast, we had to take the kids. They seemed ready to go home; no hassles and no complaining. After making sure they got off the ground alright, Annette and I caught lunch at the Cracker Barrel on 192.

After lunch, Annette wanted to go back and rest, and I wanted to catch the new Mickey Mania parade, so she dropped me off at the Poly and then went back to the DVC. I took the monorail from the Poly over to the MK and I must say that it was the longest I've ever seen it take. I waited almost 15 minutes before the monorail arrived. I boarded and then we sat there another 3 or 4 minutes before leaving the Poly. This trend continued at the Grand Fl; we waited about 8-10 minutes before leaving the GF. Grand total for trip from Poly to MK: 27 minutes!!! I thought I was going to miss the parade.

THe parade wasn't really all that it had been hyped up to be. I personally felt Disney was trying way too hard to be hip and appeal to the younger crowd. The skateboards and bicycle riders along with the float with a ramp were just too much in my opinion. It felt it really didn't fit the Disney Image. The floats also seemed to rather "skimpy" without much "substance". That's the closest I can come to explaining my feelings about it. Needless to say, I won't miss it when its gone. I did get to see our tour guide from the Innovations tour. He's a stilt walker; 5 ft stilts.

That night, we had dinner at Artist Point over at the Wilderness Lodge. I must say that I think this restaurant gets overlooked. They have great murals on the wall of famous places in various National Parks (at least thats what I thought I recognized). We ended up having an excellent waiter; Jay Hemelrick (we found out later he was a dream cast member; his picture was on a plaque in the lobby). I had bought a wonderful bottle of wine when Annette and I had visited Washington State a few months earlier (BTW, Washington St is the 2nd largest wine producing state). I asked Jay to recommend a wine to go with my Porterhouse steak and described the one I'd had. He recommended an excellent Cabernet Sauvginon which was very reasonable (for alcohol at Disney that is). It went very well with my meal. I must say that my steak was one of the largest Porterhouses I've seen. My meal also came with a grilled onion that was very tasty. Annette had the 3 bean expresso chicken with the expresso bean sauce on the side. She liked the chicken, but didn't even try the sauce. I was to stuffed after my meal to even order dessert. Our waiter brought out the bill along with a chocolate; regular and white chocolate layered with a fresh berry on top. They were absolutely fantastic!!! We mentioned this to Jay and jokingly asked if they sold them in the gift shop. He asked us to wait a minute and came back with a carryout dish with 13 of these in them!!! Needless to say, he got a very good tip!!

After dinner we wandered around the lobby some more and I decided to stop in at the gift shop and see if they happen to carry the wine I'd had for dinner. While they didn't have the wine I wanted, I was pleasantly surprised to find in the gift shop a Humphrey Bear!! For those who may not remember (or are too young to remember) Humphrey was the bear who starred with a ranger (trivia: IMWonderin or anyone else remember the ranger's name?) on some of the cartoon shorts (circa 1950's) on Wonderful World of Disney Sunday nites. Seems that the Wilderness Lodge has adopted him as their symbol (along with Mickey Mouse). There's even a profile of Mickey with a hobo stick and Humphrey on the "mailbox" at the entrance to Wilderness Lodge.

After dinner we went over to Pleasure Island to meet another of my cast member friends. She wasn't working when we went earlier in the week and I wanted to have a chance to thank her and chat for a while. After several tries, the folks at the ticket window got ahold of her assistant and he got us complimentary admission again. He explained that things were kind of hectic since it was raining and my friend is in charge if the outdoor beer carts. I did at least see her very briefly and at least say hi but that was about it. She was busy all night (I kept checking with the guys at the beer carts) so Annette and I hung out until closing at the Adventurers Club (1st time I've ever closed the Adventurers Club)! By this time we were both tired and decided to call it a night.

Saturday Jan. 6th

We went to the MK for early admission; shortly after we left the room, the clouds let loose with torrential rain. I looked on the bright side. the park was absolutely deserted!! I rode Alien Encounters (~2 min wait), while Annette went and bought dry socks and made reservations for us for breakfast at Tony's Town Square. I felt the pre-preshow for Alien Encounters was very good. They show a sort video that set up the premise for Alien Encounters (I won't give it all away). After the video was finished, it was a good 5-10 minutes before we were allowed to enter the preshow area. In the mean time, they put up brief announcements of event that were supposedly happening in the Interplanetary Convention Center. My favorite was a lecture entitled "Mission to Mars, Fact or Misguided Fantasy" or something to that effect. I thought it was very funny, but evidently, a lot of folks either didn't get it or didn't find it humorous.

The preshow itself was very well done. A robot (I know the voice, but can't think of the name of the actual person. I think he's an actor. Can someone help me with the name?) demonstrates the transporting system with a very cute and adorable character (don't know if he has a name, but they could make a fortune selling a stuffed version of him). Of course something goes wrong with the transporting, but the cute character survives albeit with singed fur.

You then enter the actual old Mission to Mars "theater". It still looks basically the same only the seats now have bars that come down to gently hold you in place. While the visual aspects are pretty good (there is one point where a flashlight gets dropped when the Alien attacks a "worker" that I felt could have been done more convincingly) the sound system was pretty poor. You're suppose to hear the Alien walking around and then stopped right behind you. While you could clearly hear, there wasn't any since of movement. I was slightly startled at one point (I won't give it away, but there's a similar effect in Honey I Shrunk the Audience), but was basically disappointed. I'm certainly glad I didn't wait also long as 2 hours (yes one day we were there the wait was indeed 2 hours). Talking to a cast member I found out that the soundtrack was very frightening and convincing in the sound studio with headphones on, but just didn't make the transition to the actual speaker system in the headrests.

I met Annette and we went to ride Snow White Scary Adventure again. In my opinion, this is the very best rehab I've ever seen Disney do. Now its not my favorite Disney ride, it just shows great improvement over the old one.

We went to breakfast at Tony's Town Square. I had never eaten here before and was impressed with the decor. We also own a lovely brown female cocker spaniel who I think looks a lot like Lady (no her names not Lady). The complimentary cinnamon rolls were fantastic!! I had the french toast (similar to my favorite french toast at Bonfamiles, but not quite as good) while Annette had the Lady and Tramp waffle. The food was good, but I really like all the drawings and the like from the movie.

After breakfast, I took Annette to see the Lion King show (10 min wait) since she had skipped it earlier in the week. I really enjoyed it and this was a good excuse to get to see it a second time.

After that, we left the MK and headed over to the Studios. We rode Star Tours (5 min wait) and then went over to the Brown Derby for lunch. We had our usual (2 Cobb salads and 2 french onion soups). The service was much better than our previous meal here.

Annette and I were both tired since we'd been up so late the night before, so we headed back to the DVC and took naps. When we got up, we decided to finish up Epcot, so we headed over that way. I missed the turn off of Buena Vista Drive onto Epcot Center Drive and we were headed out towards the All Star Resort, so we decided to check it out. After seeing the grounds and buildings from the car, we decided not to stop. The decor is really pretty tacky and the colors of a couple of the buildings were much too bright for me. I must say, I don't care for this resort on the surface anyway.

When we finally got to Epcot, it was midafternoon, so we decided to walk thru Innoventions since we hadn't really seen any of it yet (Annette had gone thru the Sega area with the kids earlier in the week). I must say that although its an improvement over the old Communicore, its like saying a cold is an improvement over the flu. Maybe its because I'm an information junky or because I'm science oriented, but nothing there was really cutting edge and almost all of it is already commercially available. I mean the electric car that GM was showing I saw back in the late 80's (of course, my father works for GM). The computer controlled musical instruments in the Eclectronics exhibit I saw back 6 years ago at a local Macintosh computer user group meeting at Purdue university. The only thing that impressed me was the Hammacher Schlemmer area and then it was only 2 items; the LIfe Fitness Entertainment Cycle and the on screen TV program selection by topic. The Life Fitness cycle is a across between an exercise bike and a video game and looked like great fun (I didn't get a chance to try it out). The TV program selection by topic I found to be a great idea. I often know what I'm in the mood for (a science fiction movie, or maybe a sit-com), but its hard to find items based on this in the TV Guide or the electronic cable version. I would love to have access to something like this, but they're just now starting to test it in limited markets.

The only "new" attraction left to experience was Food Rocks at the Land. WE had a short wait (about 5 min) and then went into the theater with about 8 other people (although people complain, I understand perfectly now why they close Future World early; it was about 7 pm). The show wasn't that great and I miss the old KItchen Kaberet. The lighting when I saw it was off (i.e. the figures weren't centered in the spotlight) and the music was unmemorable. Since when does Disney need to use some elses music? You just don't leave humming anything from this show unlike the old one (I use to go around for days with that Veggie, Veggie, Fruit Fruit tune going thru my head).

We then went over to World Showcase and caught the 360 movie at Canada (no wait). This was the only thing we had missed earlier in the week. Afterwards, we admired the gardens and how much they looked like the Buchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia since we had visited there back in September. Annette and I have been lucky to visit several sites shown in the Norway film, some of the castles in the France film, and Victoria harbor and the Buchart Gardens in the Canada movie.

On the way out of the park, we decided to see Spaceship Earth again (3 min. wait. I really hadn't decided how much I liked it on the previous ride. The first thing I realize was that Scar was narrarating (maybe this was because I had seen the Lion king show earlier in the day). Although his voice is good, it just doesn't inspire the confidence that Walter Cronkite's voice did. And although I again realized the ending was better, I felt that the lack of a catchy tune greatly diminished the overall impact of the ride for me. In fact its down right dark and forboding music just before you get off. It didn't leave me in a happy state of mind.

We went back to the DVC and caught a late dinner at Olivia's. It was then back to the room and packing for the trip home the next day.

Sunday January 8th

We caught the 7 am flight out of Orlando and were back in Philadelphia by 9 am. We spent part of the flight talking and planning for our next trip to Disney World!!

Now for some general impression and random thoughts:


I felt that the new and redone were pretty good visually, but they all lacked that characteristic Disney musical or acoustical impact. in particular I'm thinking of Food Rocks, Spaceship Earth and Alien Encounters. I feel Disney needs to put some more effort in to making the attractions sound right too.
I loved the new Snow White, but disliked the changes in Pirates. If Disney bows to pressure on something like Pirates, I hate to see what will occur with Disney's America; maybe a rewriting of American history.
I also feel that if Disney is going to have these early entry mornings, they should do a much better job of checking ID's. We were never once asked for our ID's on any of the early entry days at any of the parks and we used early entry privileges 4 times!!
While on the subject of early entry, I must say that I found that when we entered a park on an early entry day, the crowds seemed to be much larger than when we enter a the same park on a non-early entry day. That is, if I were doing things over again during a busy period, I would either avoid parks on their early entry days, or enter very, very early (even on early entry days the parks were always open before the stated time) and then leave just as soon as the other 2 parks opened. This also seems to be what the Unofficial guide is advising.
I had thought that going down the 1st week of January wouldn't be too bad. I knew the crowds for New years would be huge, but I felt the numbers would diminish later in the week. This was not the case. It seems that many people came down for the college football games (I think there were 3 or 4 bowl games in Fl that weekend; I know I saw tons of football T-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.) and decided to spend the rest of the week at WDW. On top of this, on Thursday the number of internationals coming for the Disney marathon picked up and so the crowds were pretty heavy through out the entire week.
I also was amazed at the number of people visiting Disney world carrying cellular phones and beepers!!! I had noticed them before, but this trip it seemed they were everywhere. I can't imagine getting beeped in the middle of an attraction, or needing to make or accept a phone call while standing in line, but I witnessed it happening this trip.
I think Disney is doing a much better job of advertising performances, especially at Epcot. Use to, you just had to kind of discover the comedy troupe or some of the other street performances. Now they actually have a schedule of performances. I like the idea; if you want to see the comedic players in Great Britain, you can do so without investing a lot of time waiting around.
Now on the bad side I must say there's only been one other time when the tour groups, especially those from Brazil were this bad. By bad, I'm not talking about the sheer numbers, I'm talking about politeness and courtesy. I also got really angry when they tried to push thru ahead of you in line and when you confront them, all of a sudden they don't know how to speak any English. Now I tend to be a pretty forgiving sort of fellow and I can overlook language barriers, but its kind of hard to feel that way when you heard them speaking English to one another earlier and you can tell from their body language that they understand the announcement that was just made about the doors opening.
While I felt that the service in the restaurants was improved slightly overall from my last trip (with one notable exception mentioned earlier in this report), the quality of the cast members in the parks at the rides and attraction I felt was slightly degraded. I'm not saying that it was bad, just not quite up to that level of excellence I've come to expect from Disney. THe body language and tone of voice showed more bored and disinterest than it had before. Part of this may be due to something a castmember shared with me. Disney, like a lot of companies these days, is saving money (since they don't have to provide benefits) buy hiring 2 part-time employees when a full time employee leaves or retires. To me, you then get the people who see it as a job and not as a career. They just don't seem to care as much about the quality of their work. Let me reiterate that I'm not saying it was bad, just noticeably less than use usual excellent service.

Well, I think I've written enough and can only hope that people enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments or questions or answers to any of my questions, feel free to drop me a note via e-mail.

Take Care,
Ed Vawter

EdwardV2@aol.com