jesdmill1
Eeyore lover
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2001
- Messages
- 77
Trip Dates: June 11-17, 2000
The Cast:
Me, Jessica, 22 and a first time Disney visitor
My Mom â 45, a Disney nut dying to see Animal Kingdom
Sun Jun 11 âÂÂ
My Mom woke me up at 7:00 in the morning to get ready for our 9:00 flight⦠I still had things to pack that I hadnâÂÂt been able to fit in my suitcase the night before! My boyfriend Ryan dropped me off at my MomâÂÂs house, telling me he wished he could be going with me, and I told him we could take a trip there together sometime soon. My MomâÂÂs friend Dawn arrived to take us to the airport. She brought a whole stack of People magazines with her for me to read on the plane so I wouldnâÂÂt be too nervous.
Our flight was on Delta Express. The first thing I noticed upon entering the plane was how little leg room the seats had! The flight was mostly uneventful, but IâÂÂm a white knuckle flier so I distracted myself by reading my copy of the Unofficial guide to WDW to calm myself.
We arrived in Orlando where our driver from Tiffany Town Car, Darcy, was waiting for us. Darcy was an excellent driver, very friendly, I would recommend him, as I would recommend the whole Tiffany Towncar service. We were so glad to not have to wait with the crowds for the shuttle! I was getting more and more excited as we turned onto Disney property. We arrived at our hotel and were dropped off. We left our bags with bell services and went to check in.
Check in went smoothly, we got our park passes and then bought e-ticket passes for Friday and made reservations at the Brown Derby for the fantasmic dinner package. We were prepared to not be able to check in yet, but they had our room ready and we went right up. ItâÂÂs a good thing too, because I was developing a really bad sinus headache from the plane and needed to rest! Let me say a little about the hotel. Port Orleans is themed to look like the French Quarter in New Orleans. Jazz plays throughout the resort. The courtyard area was very nice, and the food court was nice, though small. Our room was lovely, with 2 beds, a table and 2 chairs and an armoire with television. Oh, and one end table between the beds. The sinks were outside the bathroom. The bathroom, by the way, was my only complaint. It was small and extremely dimly lit â to the point where I couldnâÂÂt read the back of my shampoo bottles when I was taking a shower! Anyway, it made me feel very claustrophobic, and was the only time I felt like our hotel was less than deluxe. Our room faced into the courtyard, which was very beautiful and quiet. This is a really lovely resort, and captures the old south feel well. I didnâÂÂt use the pool, but it looked to be nicely themed with colorful sculptures and a waterslide.
After I rested for a half hour I felt better, so we went down to the food court to get some lunch. I had the grilled chicken salad while my Mom had the bacon and cheddar potato. The food was adequate but nothing special, and we didnâÂÂt come back here again except to grab a quick breakfast. We also purchased our refillable mugs while we were here â these were wonderful! We used them every morning and evening and more than got our money back.
After our meal we went out to the bus station and caught the bus to Epcot. I was so excited when I saw spaceship earth appearing! When we got in the park we stopped to take pictures, and then headed straight for Spaceship Earth! I agree this ride may be a little hokey, but nothing can compare to the ending when you turn around into the stars. I thought it was excellent, and was sad that we didnâÂÂt get to ride it again later in our trip. After spaceship earth we headed over to Honey I shrunk the audience. I should mention that Epcot was practically deserted that day⦠I donâÂÂt know why, but we walked on to spaceship earth and only waited a few minutes for HISTA. IâÂÂd see honey.. at Disneyland the year before, so I knew about the effects. I really tried hard to keep my eyes open during the snake part, but it was just so scary that I couldnâÂÂt!
It was raining as we excited HISTA, so we quickly headed to Journey into Your Imagination to keep dry. I didnâÂÂt see this ride before they changed it (obviously), but I did find it to be somewhat lacking â it wasnâÂÂt very interested, and it was rather short. By the time we came out though the rain was finished! We wandered around a bit, and then my Mom needed to find a smoking area. She asked a CM where one was, and the CM told her how glad she was she asked, that most people wouldnâÂÂt. We were constantly on a neverending quest to find one of these areas all week, looking for the little ashtray boxes in out of the way places.
We had 6:00 PS at 1900 Park Faire for the first night of the VillainâÂÂs dinner. When we arrived the Grand Floridian, I decided I was definitely going to stay there one day! The lobby of this hotel is beautiful, and I would have loved to be on the monorail. We were a little early, so we sat in the lobby and watched a wedding party getting their pictures taken. I talked about how romantic it would be to get married at Disney⦠but so expensive too! IâÂÂve heard their packages start at 10,000 dollars!
We checked into our PS about 15 minutes early and were given a beeper. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes before we were seated. The Queen of Hearts was in the lobby interacting with guests â wow, this is a huge costume! She was great with the adults, although some of the children were scared of her. We were finally seated and had our drink orders taken quickly (iced tea for me, water with lime for Mom). We went up to the buffet and served ourselves â Strawberry soup for me, salad for Mom. The strawberry soup was cold, and was absolutely to die for! While we were eating the characters began to come around. The characters were: Brer Fox, the Wicked Witch, and Captain Hook. Interaction was the best of our trip. Each character came around about 4 times and were really great! I told the witch my Mom had been a big fan of hers (ha ha) and she tried to give me a poisoned apple! Both Brer Fox and Captain Hook came over and got down on one knee, asking my Mother for my hand, and then got into a mock fight with each other! It was so much fun â I really loved the characters, who were different from what you usually see. I will say though that children should be prepared for this meal. This was the first night of the Villains dinner, and many children had obviously thought they were going to be seeing Mary Poppins, and were absolutely terrified â screaming and trying to get away, especially from the witch. I think if they were prepared properly they would not be scared though. As for the rest of the buffet, I was not impressed at all. The Prime Rib was undercooked in my opinion, and the desserts were only so so. Still, we came for the characters, and they certainly did not disappoint. This is a must do on my next trip as well! I just canâÂÂt say enough good things.
After dinner we decided to take the bus to Downtown Disney, where we browsed for a little while before heading back to our room for the night. The next day was MGM, and I was really looking forward to Fantasmic, which I had seen in Disneyland.
August 2001 - Wilderness Lodge
June 2000 - Port Orleans
August 1999 - Disneyland
The Cast:
Me, Jessica, 22 and a first time Disney visitor
My Mom â 45, a Disney nut dying to see Animal Kingdom
Sun Jun 11 âÂÂ
My Mom woke me up at 7:00 in the morning to get ready for our 9:00 flight⦠I still had things to pack that I hadnâÂÂt been able to fit in my suitcase the night before! My boyfriend Ryan dropped me off at my MomâÂÂs house, telling me he wished he could be going with me, and I told him we could take a trip there together sometime soon. My MomâÂÂs friend Dawn arrived to take us to the airport. She brought a whole stack of People magazines with her for me to read on the plane so I wouldnâÂÂt be too nervous.
Our flight was on Delta Express. The first thing I noticed upon entering the plane was how little leg room the seats had! The flight was mostly uneventful, but IâÂÂm a white knuckle flier so I distracted myself by reading my copy of the Unofficial guide to WDW to calm myself.
We arrived in Orlando where our driver from Tiffany Town Car, Darcy, was waiting for us. Darcy was an excellent driver, very friendly, I would recommend him, as I would recommend the whole Tiffany Towncar service. We were so glad to not have to wait with the crowds for the shuttle! I was getting more and more excited as we turned onto Disney property. We arrived at our hotel and were dropped off. We left our bags with bell services and went to check in.
Check in went smoothly, we got our park passes and then bought e-ticket passes for Friday and made reservations at the Brown Derby for the fantasmic dinner package. We were prepared to not be able to check in yet, but they had our room ready and we went right up. ItâÂÂs a good thing too, because I was developing a really bad sinus headache from the plane and needed to rest! Let me say a little about the hotel. Port Orleans is themed to look like the French Quarter in New Orleans. Jazz plays throughout the resort. The courtyard area was very nice, and the food court was nice, though small. Our room was lovely, with 2 beds, a table and 2 chairs and an armoire with television. Oh, and one end table between the beds. The sinks were outside the bathroom. The bathroom, by the way, was my only complaint. It was small and extremely dimly lit â to the point where I couldnâÂÂt read the back of my shampoo bottles when I was taking a shower! Anyway, it made me feel very claustrophobic, and was the only time I felt like our hotel was less than deluxe. Our room faced into the courtyard, which was very beautiful and quiet. This is a really lovely resort, and captures the old south feel well. I didnâÂÂt use the pool, but it looked to be nicely themed with colorful sculptures and a waterslide.
After I rested for a half hour I felt better, so we went down to the food court to get some lunch. I had the grilled chicken salad while my Mom had the bacon and cheddar potato. The food was adequate but nothing special, and we didnâÂÂt come back here again except to grab a quick breakfast. We also purchased our refillable mugs while we were here â these were wonderful! We used them every morning and evening and more than got our money back.
After our meal we went out to the bus station and caught the bus to Epcot. I was so excited when I saw spaceship earth appearing! When we got in the park we stopped to take pictures, and then headed straight for Spaceship Earth! I agree this ride may be a little hokey, but nothing can compare to the ending when you turn around into the stars. I thought it was excellent, and was sad that we didnâÂÂt get to ride it again later in our trip. After spaceship earth we headed over to Honey I shrunk the audience. I should mention that Epcot was practically deserted that day⦠I donâÂÂt know why, but we walked on to spaceship earth and only waited a few minutes for HISTA. IâÂÂd see honey.. at Disneyland the year before, so I knew about the effects. I really tried hard to keep my eyes open during the snake part, but it was just so scary that I couldnâÂÂt!
It was raining as we excited HISTA, so we quickly headed to Journey into Your Imagination to keep dry. I didnâÂÂt see this ride before they changed it (obviously), but I did find it to be somewhat lacking â it wasnâÂÂt very interested, and it was rather short. By the time we came out though the rain was finished! We wandered around a bit, and then my Mom needed to find a smoking area. She asked a CM where one was, and the CM told her how glad she was she asked, that most people wouldnâÂÂt. We were constantly on a neverending quest to find one of these areas all week, looking for the little ashtray boxes in out of the way places.
We had 6:00 PS at 1900 Park Faire for the first night of the VillainâÂÂs dinner. When we arrived the Grand Floridian, I decided I was definitely going to stay there one day! The lobby of this hotel is beautiful, and I would have loved to be on the monorail. We were a little early, so we sat in the lobby and watched a wedding party getting their pictures taken. I talked about how romantic it would be to get married at Disney⦠but so expensive too! IâÂÂve heard their packages start at 10,000 dollars!
We checked into our PS about 15 minutes early and were given a beeper. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes before we were seated. The Queen of Hearts was in the lobby interacting with guests â wow, this is a huge costume! She was great with the adults, although some of the children were scared of her. We were finally seated and had our drink orders taken quickly (iced tea for me, water with lime for Mom). We went up to the buffet and served ourselves â Strawberry soup for me, salad for Mom. The strawberry soup was cold, and was absolutely to die for! While we were eating the characters began to come around. The characters were: Brer Fox, the Wicked Witch, and Captain Hook. Interaction was the best of our trip. Each character came around about 4 times and were really great! I told the witch my Mom had been a big fan of hers (ha ha) and she tried to give me a poisoned apple! Both Brer Fox and Captain Hook came over and got down on one knee, asking my Mother for my hand, and then got into a mock fight with each other! It was so much fun â I really loved the characters, who were different from what you usually see. I will say though that children should be prepared for this meal. This was the first night of the Villains dinner, and many children had obviously thought they were going to be seeing Mary Poppins, and were absolutely terrified â screaming and trying to get away, especially from the witch. I think if they were prepared properly they would not be scared though. As for the rest of the buffet, I was not impressed at all. The Prime Rib was undercooked in my opinion, and the desserts were only so so. Still, we came for the characters, and they certainly did not disappoint. This is a must do on my next trip as well! I just canâÂÂt say enough good things.
After dinner we decided to take the bus to Downtown Disney, where we browsed for a little while before heading back to our room for the night. The next day was MGM, and I was really looking forward to Fantasmic, which I had seen in Disneyland.
August 2001 - Wilderness Lodge
June 2000 - Port Orleans
August 1999 - Disneyland
