Gina
Remembers the Great DIS Board Crash of '99
- Joined
- Aug 16, 1999
I know I wonâÂÂt have time to make a full trip report, so I thought IâÂÂd at least give some highlights and my thoughts on a few things. IâÂÂd be happy to answer any questions anyone might have!
Dates: 2/3 â 2/10
Resort: All-Star Movies
Cast: Me (34), DS (almost 5) and my ex-inlaws (their first time to WDW)
Thoughts on ASMo: We loved Music, and we loved Movies even more. You canâÂÂt walk around there and not smile! We were in Toy Story 10, the Buzz building, just as I had requested. The rooms were spotless, and every CM and worker we encountered was a true example of classic Disney hospitality. The food court was as good as always. The mug designs have changed now, and they have added a new commuter-style mug along with the old style.
Crowds: Crowds were a dream for most of the week, even over the weekend, but things really picked up all the sudden the last couple of days, starting around Thursday. They picked up a LOT. By Friday late afternoon, there was a 45 minute wait for Peter Pan! Space Mountain was over an hour. But that is why we do early entry every day.
I was surprised to see the crowds pick up that much. Maybe the east coast schools are staggering their PresidentâÂÂs Week holidays now? Or maybe the midwest, because there seemed to be a sudden influx of people from Wisconsin, Iowa, and the like.
E-Night: This was possibly the best $10 IâÂÂve ever spent in my life!! I was so hesitant to try it again, after the PresidentâÂÂs Week e-night that was such a horror of crowds, but this was just a dream. We rode everything, again and again, and my proudest accomplishment was somehow scoring 302,000 points on Buzz!!
I have NO idea what I hit, but I made my ex FIL take a picture of my score for tangible proof. 
And it was so incredibly magical to be there with so few people⦠The rest of our bunch went inside Country Bear Jamboree to wait for the next show, and I went to wait outside for a bit. I sat on a bench and finally got to notice all the amazing little details that Make Disney parks unlike any other in the world. The flickering lanterns in Frontierland, the details in architecture, the seamless transition of music from land to land. It was one of the highlights of my trip. My biggest piece of advice now would be to NEVER EVER go to e-night during a holiday period. Never. EVER.
Food: We mostly ate at the food court, with a few exceptions. We did Chef MickeyâÂÂs for our traditional first-night dinner, and it was as good as always. Being Texans, we had to try the all-you-can-eat barbeque skillet at Whispering Canyon Café, and I swear I can still taste that maple-garlic barbeque sauce. It was amazing. We ate like pigs, then ate some more. We had dinner at OâÂÂhana one night, and this got our unanimous seal of approval too. The meat was really tender and really flavorful. My little boy was so looking forward to participating in the coconut races, but they seemed to skip over that for the hula-hoop contest twice. I asked our really nice server about the races, and she went to find out. She came back to tell us that for some unknown reason, they were doing just hula-hoops then, and the coconut races wouldnâÂÂt be until later that evening. My DS was crestfallen. Our server reappeared a few minutes later with a surprise for my son. She told him that she felt so bad that he wasnâÂÂt going to get to be in the races, she brought him first prize anyway. A whole bag of gummy worms! This was better than a treasure chest to a preschooler. We did 1900 Park Fair for breakfast one morning, and that was as good as always, too. I love the characters at that breakfast. This time it was Mary Poppins, Alice, the Mad Hatter, Pluto, Pinocchio and Gepetto. I think IâÂÂm not forgetting anyone! But the pipe organ was broken. 
I love the sound of that thing. We were at the DIS meet at OâÂÂhana for breakfast, and that was pretty good too, but not my favorite. Last was the Sci-Fi Diner for dinner one night. I knew the reviews were really mixed on the place, but we wanted to at least try it. We all loved this place! Our server was so much fun, and we all loved the food. (We all had the meatloaf.) And those shakes⦠YUM!!!
Transportation: The busses seemed really weird this time⦠there was a whole lot of bus-sharing going on. I mean, there was the usual sharing between All-Stars and that is expected, but it was more than that. For instance, one time we got on a bus at the Magic Kingdom marked âÂÂAll Star MoviesâÂÂ, in the ASMo parking slot. We assumed (foolishly) that we would be going straight to ASMo, or at least the All-Stars in general. We stopped at the Contemporary, the TTC, and the Poly before finally heading to ASMo. (???) This type of thing happened several times, and it was really hard to try and estimate how much time you would need to get from one place to another, because you had no clue where youâÂÂd be going in between. My first theory was that they share busses in slower periods, but they didnâÂÂt do that in early December when it was even slower. IâÂÂm not sure what was going on. During one trip, we stopped to let people off at the Poly, but the driver wouldnâÂÂt let anyone else on because he was headed out of service after the last stop. I thought the people waiting were going to tip our bus over in rage. One man was yelling and really upset, and said that they had been waiting there for an MK bus for 40 minutes. IâÂÂd be upset too! IâÂÂm really not sure whatâÂÂs going on.
Parks: We had just barely touched on Animal Kingdom on our first trip, and not at all last trip, so we spent about 4 ý hours there this time. I think we can say that we have seen AK now, and I really have no desire to go back. It was okay, but it is just so badly designed⦠way way too much back-tracking required, and it somehow feels hotter than it is. It was only in the mid 70'â when we were there, but it felt a lot hotter. I canâÂÂt even conceive of how people can go there in the summer. The safari was cool, and the Maharajah jungle trek was very peaceful and neat, but that was about it. I know some people love this park, but it just wasnâÂÂt my cup of tea. I think it might appeal more to people who live in smaller towns that donâÂÂt have giant zoos just like AK. One cool thing, though: The âÂÂsecretâ entrance through the gift shop in the Rainforest Café worked like an absolute charm. We were first in line, with only about 5 people behind us, and we just waltzed into the park at opening time. We had a lead on everyone, and walked right onto the safari.
Another tip that worked, big-time: Watching the MK fireworks from Town Town. I had written this tip down a while back, and decided to try it this trip. I was told to go left of the train station in Toon Town, walk as far as I could into the dead-end area, and stand there. It was amazing. The fireworks were right above us, and we were the only ones there. There were other people watching from Toon Town, but they were on the benches in front of GoofyâÂÂs Barnstormer and DonaldâÂÂs boat, where you had a slightly obstructed view through trees and over roofs. No one else thought to go where we were, and it was a breathtaking view. I was so happy to be able to see MSEP one more time before itâÂÂs gone. I led my ex-inlaws to my favorite place to watch it, sitting on the wall at the very end of the parade route, in front of the patio for Pecos BillâÂÂs. Dennis was teasing me, saying, âÂÂSheesh, Gina, next time could you get us a little bit closer to the parade??â It was great â the floats are just right in front of you there, with no rope or any other barrier.
Epcot still remains my favorite park. I could spend all day on Spaceship Earth and be happy as a clam. Patience also paid off one EE morning. It was really cold that morning, and Test Track was closed due to ice (!!) on the track. They kept shooing people away, saying they had no idea when it would be open, but the cars kept running and I figured the sun would warm things up soon. We camped out and waited, took some pictures, had some snacks, for about an hour. Finally it opened up, and we were first on! That was a very cool feeling.
We all enjoyed Illuminations, but it was Tapestry of Nations that once again stole the show. This parade moves and inspires me more and more every time I see it. And every time I see it, I am more and more confounded by the people who say they actually donâÂÂt like this parade. I would suggest they take their pulse, or see if they cast a reflection in a mirror, but thatâÂÂs just my opinion.
Neat things and misc. stuff: It continually amazes me how 99% of the visitors to WDW seem to have no plan and no clue. Whether it was beating the entrance crowd at AK, or riding up front in the monorail, or CMâÂÂs calling us by name because of our Guest of Honor badges, or waltzing to the front of the line with Fast Passes, people were constantly
Staring at us like, âÂÂHow in the heck did they do that?!?â And those GoH badges are a hoot â I canâÂÂt tell you how many CMâÂÂs even thought we worked there. And lots of people were always asking us questions about how to get somewhere, or what time an event was. The other 3 in our party just kept pointing to me. LOL! We all really did get a lot of extra attention because of the GoH badges. It was quite cool.
Speaking of my GoH badge, the first one I get must have been defective because the clip was hanging on by a thread by the next morning. I stopped at the front desk at ASMo to see if they had any superglue or anything, and the CM offered to bring me some of her own from home the next day. How sweet! Then we headed to MK, and I stopped at City Hall to see if maybe they had any way to fix it. (We werenâÂÂt going to be back at MGM anymore, so I couldnâÂÂt exchange it.) The incredibly sweet CM there, Katie, said that she would see what she could do. By the time we got back to the resort for our mid-day nap, I had a message from Katie saying that she had called the 5 & 10 at MGM, and they were sending over another badge for me. The next morning, it was there, and an even nicer one with bigger letters. And people wonder why I love going there so much??? Try getting service like that at Six Flags, or even Universal.
It was a magical, wonderful trip⦠and now itâÂÂs time to book the next one!
-gina-
ASMo 2/3/01-2/10/01
DxL 12/1/00-12/4/00
ASMu, 2/19/00-2/24/00
Dates: 2/3 â 2/10
Resort: All-Star Movies
Cast: Me (34), DS (almost 5) and my ex-inlaws (their first time to WDW)
Thoughts on ASMo: We loved Music, and we loved Movies even more. You canâÂÂt walk around there and not smile! We were in Toy Story 10, the Buzz building, just as I had requested. The rooms were spotless, and every CM and worker we encountered was a true example of classic Disney hospitality. The food court was as good as always. The mug designs have changed now, and they have added a new commuter-style mug along with the old style.
Crowds: Crowds were a dream for most of the week, even over the weekend, but things really picked up all the sudden the last couple of days, starting around Thursday. They picked up a LOT. By Friday late afternoon, there was a 45 minute wait for Peter Pan! Space Mountain was over an hour. But that is why we do early entry every day.
I was surprised to see the crowds pick up that much. Maybe the east coast schools are staggering their PresidentâÂÂs Week holidays now? Or maybe the midwest, because there seemed to be a sudden influx of people from Wisconsin, Iowa, and the like. E-Night: This was possibly the best $10 IâÂÂve ever spent in my life!! I was so hesitant to try it again, after the PresidentâÂÂs Week e-night that was such a horror of crowds, but this was just a dream. We rode everything, again and again, and my proudest accomplishment was somehow scoring 302,000 points on Buzz!!
I have NO idea what I hit, but I made my ex FIL take a picture of my score for tangible proof. And it was so incredibly magical to be there with so few people⦠The rest of our bunch went inside Country Bear Jamboree to wait for the next show, and I went to wait outside for a bit. I sat on a bench and finally got to notice all the amazing little details that Make Disney parks unlike any other in the world. The flickering lanterns in Frontierland, the details in architecture, the seamless transition of music from land to land. It was one of the highlights of my trip. My biggest piece of advice now would be to NEVER EVER go to e-night during a holiday period. Never. EVER. Food: We mostly ate at the food court, with a few exceptions. We did Chef MickeyâÂÂs for our traditional first-night dinner, and it was as good as always. Being Texans, we had to try the all-you-can-eat barbeque skillet at Whispering Canyon Café, and I swear I can still taste that maple-garlic barbeque sauce. It was amazing. We ate like pigs, then ate some more.
We had dinner at OâÂÂhana one night, and this got our unanimous seal of approval too. The meat was really tender and really flavorful. My little boy was so looking forward to participating in the coconut races, but they seemed to skip over that for the hula-hoop contest twice. I asked our really nice server about the races, and she went to find out. She came back to tell us that for some unknown reason, they were doing just hula-hoops then, and the coconut races wouldnâÂÂt be until later that evening. My DS was crestfallen. Our server reappeared a few minutes later with a surprise for my son. She told him that she felt so bad that he wasnâÂÂt going to get to be in the races, she brought him first prize anyway. A whole bag of gummy worms! This was better than a treasure chest to a preschooler. We did 1900 Park Fair for breakfast one morning, and that was as good as always, too. I love the characters at that breakfast. This time it was Mary Poppins, Alice, the Mad Hatter, Pluto, Pinocchio and Gepetto. I think IâÂÂm not forgetting anyone! But the pipe organ was broken. I love the sound of that thing. We were at the DIS meet at OâÂÂhana for breakfast, and that was pretty good too, but not my favorite. Last was the Sci-Fi Diner for dinner one night. I knew the reviews were really mixed on the place, but we wanted to at least try it. We all loved this place! Our server was so much fun, and we all loved the food. (We all had the meatloaf.) And those shakes⦠YUM!!!Transportation: The busses seemed really weird this time⦠there was a whole lot of bus-sharing going on. I mean, there was the usual sharing between All-Stars and that is expected, but it was more than that. For instance, one time we got on a bus at the Magic Kingdom marked âÂÂAll Star MoviesâÂÂ, in the ASMo parking slot. We assumed (foolishly) that we would be going straight to ASMo, or at least the All-Stars in general. We stopped at the Contemporary, the TTC, and the Poly before finally heading to ASMo. (???) This type of thing happened several times, and it was really hard to try and estimate how much time you would need to get from one place to another, because you had no clue where youâÂÂd be going in between. My first theory was that they share busses in slower periods, but they didnâÂÂt do that in early December when it was even slower. IâÂÂm not sure what was going on. During one trip, we stopped to let people off at the Poly, but the driver wouldnâÂÂt let anyone else on because he was headed out of service after the last stop. I thought the people waiting were going to tip our bus over in rage. One man was yelling and really upset, and said that they had been waiting there for an MK bus for 40 minutes. IâÂÂd be upset too! IâÂÂm really not sure whatâÂÂs going on.
Parks: We had just barely touched on Animal Kingdom on our first trip, and not at all last trip, so we spent about 4 ý hours there this time. I think we can say that we have seen AK now, and I really have no desire to go back. It was okay, but it is just so badly designed⦠way way too much back-tracking required, and it somehow feels hotter than it is. It was only in the mid 70'â when we were there, but it felt a lot hotter. I canâÂÂt even conceive of how people can go there in the summer. The safari was cool, and the Maharajah jungle trek was very peaceful and neat, but that was about it. I know some people love this park, but it just wasnâÂÂt my cup of tea. I think it might appeal more to people who live in smaller towns that donâÂÂt have giant zoos just like AK. One cool thing, though: The âÂÂsecretâ entrance through the gift shop in the Rainforest Café worked like an absolute charm. We were first in line, with only about 5 people behind us, and we just waltzed into the park at opening time. We had a lead on everyone, and walked right onto the safari.
Another tip that worked, big-time: Watching the MK fireworks from Town Town. I had written this tip down a while back, and decided to try it this trip. I was told to go left of the train station in Toon Town, walk as far as I could into the dead-end area, and stand there. It was amazing. The fireworks were right above us, and we were the only ones there. There were other people watching from Toon Town, but they were on the benches in front of GoofyâÂÂs Barnstormer and DonaldâÂÂs boat, where you had a slightly obstructed view through trees and over roofs. No one else thought to go where we were, and it was a breathtaking view. I was so happy to be able to see MSEP one more time before itâÂÂs gone. I led my ex-inlaws to my favorite place to watch it, sitting on the wall at the very end of the parade route, in front of the patio for Pecos BillâÂÂs. Dennis was teasing me, saying, âÂÂSheesh, Gina, next time could you get us a little bit closer to the parade??âÂÂ
It was great â the floats are just right in front of you there, with no rope or any other barrier. Epcot still remains my favorite park. I could spend all day on Spaceship Earth and be happy as a clam. Patience also paid off one EE morning. It was really cold that morning, and Test Track was closed due to ice (!!) on the track. They kept shooing people away, saying they had no idea when it would be open, but the cars kept running and I figured the sun would warm things up soon. We camped out and waited, took some pictures, had some snacks, for about an hour. Finally it opened up, and we were first on! That was a very cool feeling.
We all enjoyed Illuminations, but it was Tapestry of Nations that once again stole the show. This parade moves and inspires me more and more every time I see it. And every time I see it, I am more and more confounded by the people who say they actually donâÂÂt like this parade. I would suggest they take their pulse, or see if they cast a reflection in a mirror, but thatâÂÂs just my opinion.
Neat things and misc. stuff: It continually amazes me how 99% of the visitors to WDW seem to have no plan and no clue. Whether it was beating the entrance crowd at AK, or riding up front in the monorail, or CMâÂÂs calling us by name because of our Guest of Honor badges, or waltzing to the front of the line with Fast Passes, people were constantly
Staring at us like, âÂÂHow in the heck did they do that?!?â And those GoH badges are a hoot â I canâÂÂt tell you how many CMâÂÂs even thought we worked there. And lots of people were always asking us questions about how to get somewhere, or what time an event was. The other 3 in our party just kept pointing to me. LOL! We all really did get a lot of extra attention because of the GoH badges. It was quite cool.
Speaking of my GoH badge, the first one I get must have been defective because the clip was hanging on by a thread by the next morning. I stopped at the front desk at ASMo to see if they had any superglue or anything, and the CM offered to bring me some of her own from home the next day. How sweet! Then we headed to MK, and I stopped at City Hall to see if maybe they had any way to fix it. (We werenâÂÂt going to be back at MGM anymore, so I couldnâÂÂt exchange it.) The incredibly sweet CM there, Katie, said that she would see what she could do. By the time we got back to the resort for our mid-day nap, I had a message from Katie saying that she had called the 5 & 10 at MGM, and they were sending over another badge for me. The next morning, it was there, and an even nicer one with bigger letters. And people wonder why I love going there so much??? Try getting service like that at Six Flags, or even Universal.
It was a magical, wonderful trip⦠and now itâÂÂs time to book the next one!
-gina-
ASMo 2/3/01-2/10/01
DxL 12/1/00-12/4/00
ASMu, 2/19/00-2/24/00
. It wasn't until the second night we were at Epcot and I watched the parade again that after the parade, I caught a number of people humming the theme and kind of dancing in step to it as they headed off to their next activity. It actually gave me 'mousebumps' and teary eyes both times--and I'm an almost 50 year old guy 
