Our Trip to Disney World
December 9-14, 2001
Two people, Wendy and David, both 33.
I, Wendy, had finished chemotherapy for a brain tumor just two months prior to our trip.
To see pictures go to: http://www.sameasiteverwas.net/albums/photos.php
Day 5 Thursday, December 13
We were so exhausted from the past three days, that we thought wed just take it easy today perhaps go to Downtown Disney or the Boardwalk or even to Celebration. Ha! This was the craziest, and busiest day yet! We had tickets to go to Universal Studios Florida and/or Islands of Adventure, so we thought wed take a short trip, maybe two hours, and check out Islands of Adventure. I thought we would just check out the park and not ride any of the rides; David knew better. Immediately, we saw that the crowd was quite different from the Disney crowd. At Disney World, we were pretty much an oddity, two 33 year olds with no kids. There were very few teenagers or young adults around the age of college students. At Islands of Adventure, there was a much larger contingent from those age groups, and fewer elderly people. Upon entering the park, the first thing we saw was a hideous looking Incredible Hulk green roller coaster (we both were green just looking at it!). And then there was Doctor Dooms Fearfall nope, not for us. I had heard that the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man was a pretty good ride, but that some people got motion-sick from it. David really wanted to ride it so I sat it out, and explored some of Marvel Super Hero Island. He got out and said it was really amazing and convinced me that I should ride it. So I did. It was really incredible. I think it was the best ride out of all of the rides we rode including those at Disney World. It combined a motion simulator, a 3-D movie, an actual ride, and I dont know what else but it was superb.
We headed over to Toon Lagoon, and rode Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls, which is similar to Splash Mountain but you get MUCH wetter. Since we were already soaked, we decided to ride Popeye & Blutos Bilge-Rat Barges. They were similar to Kali River Rapids, but it was much longer, and wilder, and we got completely soaked. At that point, we decided to get another wet ride out of the way the Jurassic Park River Adventure. It was a pretty mild log ride until the end, where we shot down a giant flume (again, similar to Splash Mountain). They took a photo on the way down the chute, and we bought it. We were sitting in the front, David has his eyes squeezed tightly shut and I have my mouth open, screaming. We wandered around the The Lost Continent for a bit, impressed by the theming, and then got to Seuss Landing which was pretty incredible. It really felt like we were in a Dr. Seuss book! Of course we had to ride The Cat in the Hat and I got my picture taken with the real live Cat in the Hat! It was very exciting! I also borrowed a child to slide down Mt. Crumpit Snow Plummet (Background: You couldnt slide down unless you had a child under 9 so I asked a little girl if I could ride with her. The attendant at the top of the slide said I could ride down alone, and I think the child was quite relieved to be going down the slide with her brothers instead of a strange woman.) Davids favorite Dr. Seuss book was Mc Elligots Pool (which oddly I had never heard of) and he found a sign pointing to the pool and wanted me to take a picture of him with the sign. There was even a Green Eggs and Ham café. We didnt eat there, but it was very cool nonetheless.
About the food at Islands of Adventure: in a word pathetic. I had read that we could find vegetarian sandwiches at the Comic Strip Café, but it was closed all day probably due to the lack of people, but cmon, it was the only place that served even remotely vegetarian meals. We wound up eating at The Enchanted Oak Tavern (and Alchemy Bar) where we found some roasted corn-on-the-cob and fries. Also, unlike Disney World, where they had at least one place in each park which sold frozen lemonade (Mmmm ), Universal only had Icees which are loaded with artificial food colorings. I was desperate for an iced drink, so I had one; the red dye lasted on my tongue until the next morning. Ugh.
On our way out from Islands of Adventure, someone who worked there asked us if wed been to Universal Studios to ride the Men In Black ride. We said no and she said You must ride it! and so we went. One thing thats great about Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, is that they are within walking distance of each other. Parking is all centralized, then you walk probably a half mile to get to either one of the parks through CityWalk, Universals answer to Downtown Disney. To get to Islands of Adventure you take the left bridge over the lake, to get to Universal Studios, you take the right. But the cool thing is that they are connected by a walkway (again, about a half mile long) on which youll find NBA city, and Hard Rock Café Orlando. By the way, our shirts had dried, but our shorts were still damp from the multiple soakings we underwent from all the water rides
Of course the Men In Black ride was at the opposite side of the entrance. By the time we got there, I was tired, and a little wary of the Men In Black Alien Attack ride, so I let David ride it alone. Good thing! He exited the ride quite dizzy and told me it was cool, but very spinney and not as good as Buzz Lightyear. Im really glad I didnt ride it, especially since I was pretty exhausted at the time. I regained some energy, and wanted to ride Earthquake The Big One. I think I wanted to ride it because Earthquakes terrify me, and experiencing one in a controlled environment might help to conquer my fears. David didnt want to do it, so I went on it alone (very brave of me, I might add). In all, the ride was pretty lame. A group of us were led into two different studios where the detailing of the making of an earthquake movie went on, and they chose some people out of the audience to serve as extras. Finally we got to the ride part which should have been exciting since it happens at a BART station while were riding the tram. The tram shook and dipped in place and that was it. Very disappointing.
We decided that we had just enough energy to explore the rest of the park, and went into Woody Woodpeckers Kidzone, we looked at the playground for kids entitled Curious George Goes To Town which was very cute. And we rode the E.T. Adventure which was surprisingly a pretty good ride. O.K. Now were going to leave! But no. Terminatior 2: 3-D Battle Across Time had just let out and there was another one starting very soon. We asked the people who had just seen it whether it was good, and they exclaimed It was excellent! So we did it. And it was excellent! It was a combination of live action and a 3-D movie with great special effects. Well worth it. I dont remember much of the walk back to our car, though I do remember it was long, and we were exhausted.
David and I collapsed for about an hour, then we had dinner in our home-away-from-home which consisted of everything we had bought and couldnt take home with us, and then we headed out again, this time to Downtown Disney. We parked at the West Side because I thought that that was where the big Disney store was, but I was wrong. It was pretty far away at the Marketplace, which meant more walking. We went into Magnetron (a magnet store) where there were wall-to-wall magnets pretty overwhelming but we bought a mechanical hamster in a ball that we thought the cats would love. (When we got home, the cats seemed nonplussed by it but Keesha, our dog, was a bit freaked out by it and she seemed to have a good time barking at it.) We passed Pleasure Island, and went over to the Marketplace. The Lego store was amazing, but even more amazing were the Lego creations that were outside of the store. There was a father sleeping on a bench, a spectacular giant sea monster in the lake, an alien spaceship with aliens, and a mother and infant in a stroller. It was a very impressive display. At the Disney store, I couldnt find any t-shirts that I wanted. I had already purchased a t-shirt in the Animal Kingdom with Pooh holding a magnifying glass up to a tiger and asking Tigger, is that you? I really wanted a Mickey Mouse t-shirt, but there werent any Mickey t-shirts without the phrase Walt Disney World on them and I didnt really want one of those. I did buy a small Tigger stuffed animal from Pooh Corner. When we were walking over towards the store, I started singing The House at Pooh Corner which I thought was a James Taylor song, but I later found out that it was actually a Kenny Loggins song. I love that song (and its in a chord I can sing!) By the time we got out of there, most of the stores were closing up. It was 11:00 and I was exhausted. David jokingly (or I think it was jokingly) asked me if I wanted to go to Pleasure Island. I politely declined.
Day 6 Friday, December 14
Time to go home. We slept late, had a groggy breakfast, packed up, and left Old Key West. I really wanted to stay longer; it was such a great escape. We had some time before our flight left and so we went to the Wilderness Lodge to check it out. Very impressive. We also went to the Polynesian Resort where my family stayed when I was a kid (I was maybe 12?). It looked the same as I remembered it; a few changes here and there, but basically the same. I was getting hungry, so David suggested that we hit the Disneys Boardwalk Resort. What a grand hotel! We walked through the hotel to the Boardwalk which was empty and most of the stores and restaurants were closed. But a bakery was open and I found exactly what I was looking for a cinnamon raisin bagel, and a cart was selling a lemonade slush. Perfect food for me before taking a flight. We left Disney World and I had tears in my eyes. In fact, Im getting teary just writing this!
December 9-14, 2001
Two people, Wendy and David, both 33.
I, Wendy, had finished chemotherapy for a brain tumor just two months prior to our trip.
To see pictures go to: http://www.sameasiteverwas.net/albums/photos.php
Day 5 Thursday, December 13
We were so exhausted from the past three days, that we thought wed just take it easy today perhaps go to Downtown Disney or the Boardwalk or even to Celebration. Ha! This was the craziest, and busiest day yet! We had tickets to go to Universal Studios Florida and/or Islands of Adventure, so we thought wed take a short trip, maybe two hours, and check out Islands of Adventure. I thought we would just check out the park and not ride any of the rides; David knew better. Immediately, we saw that the crowd was quite different from the Disney crowd. At Disney World, we were pretty much an oddity, two 33 year olds with no kids. There were very few teenagers or young adults around the age of college students. At Islands of Adventure, there was a much larger contingent from those age groups, and fewer elderly people. Upon entering the park, the first thing we saw was a hideous looking Incredible Hulk green roller coaster (we both were green just looking at it!). And then there was Doctor Dooms Fearfall nope, not for us. I had heard that the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man was a pretty good ride, but that some people got motion-sick from it. David really wanted to ride it so I sat it out, and explored some of Marvel Super Hero Island. He got out and said it was really amazing and convinced me that I should ride it. So I did. It was really incredible. I think it was the best ride out of all of the rides we rode including those at Disney World. It combined a motion simulator, a 3-D movie, an actual ride, and I dont know what else but it was superb.
We headed over to Toon Lagoon, and rode Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls, which is similar to Splash Mountain but you get MUCH wetter. Since we were already soaked, we decided to ride Popeye & Blutos Bilge-Rat Barges. They were similar to Kali River Rapids, but it was much longer, and wilder, and we got completely soaked. At that point, we decided to get another wet ride out of the way the Jurassic Park River Adventure. It was a pretty mild log ride until the end, where we shot down a giant flume (again, similar to Splash Mountain). They took a photo on the way down the chute, and we bought it. We were sitting in the front, David has his eyes squeezed tightly shut and I have my mouth open, screaming. We wandered around the The Lost Continent for a bit, impressed by the theming, and then got to Seuss Landing which was pretty incredible. It really felt like we were in a Dr. Seuss book! Of course we had to ride The Cat in the Hat and I got my picture taken with the real live Cat in the Hat! It was very exciting! I also borrowed a child to slide down Mt. Crumpit Snow Plummet (Background: You couldnt slide down unless you had a child under 9 so I asked a little girl if I could ride with her. The attendant at the top of the slide said I could ride down alone, and I think the child was quite relieved to be going down the slide with her brothers instead of a strange woman.) Davids favorite Dr. Seuss book was Mc Elligots Pool (which oddly I had never heard of) and he found a sign pointing to the pool and wanted me to take a picture of him with the sign. There was even a Green Eggs and Ham café. We didnt eat there, but it was very cool nonetheless.
About the food at Islands of Adventure: in a word pathetic. I had read that we could find vegetarian sandwiches at the Comic Strip Café, but it was closed all day probably due to the lack of people, but cmon, it was the only place that served even remotely vegetarian meals. We wound up eating at The Enchanted Oak Tavern (and Alchemy Bar) where we found some roasted corn-on-the-cob and fries. Also, unlike Disney World, where they had at least one place in each park which sold frozen lemonade (Mmmm ), Universal only had Icees which are loaded with artificial food colorings. I was desperate for an iced drink, so I had one; the red dye lasted on my tongue until the next morning. Ugh.
On our way out from Islands of Adventure, someone who worked there asked us if wed been to Universal Studios to ride the Men In Black ride. We said no and she said You must ride it! and so we went. One thing thats great about Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, is that they are within walking distance of each other. Parking is all centralized, then you walk probably a half mile to get to either one of the parks through CityWalk, Universals answer to Downtown Disney. To get to Islands of Adventure you take the left bridge over the lake, to get to Universal Studios, you take the right. But the cool thing is that they are connected by a walkway (again, about a half mile long) on which youll find NBA city, and Hard Rock Café Orlando. By the way, our shirts had dried, but our shorts were still damp from the multiple soakings we underwent from all the water rides
Of course the Men In Black ride was at the opposite side of the entrance. By the time we got there, I was tired, and a little wary of the Men In Black Alien Attack ride, so I let David ride it alone. Good thing! He exited the ride quite dizzy and told me it was cool, but very spinney and not as good as Buzz Lightyear. Im really glad I didnt ride it, especially since I was pretty exhausted at the time. I regained some energy, and wanted to ride Earthquake The Big One. I think I wanted to ride it because Earthquakes terrify me, and experiencing one in a controlled environment might help to conquer my fears. David didnt want to do it, so I went on it alone (very brave of me, I might add). In all, the ride was pretty lame. A group of us were led into two different studios where the detailing of the making of an earthquake movie went on, and they chose some people out of the audience to serve as extras. Finally we got to the ride part which should have been exciting since it happens at a BART station while were riding the tram. The tram shook and dipped in place and that was it. Very disappointing.
We decided that we had just enough energy to explore the rest of the park, and went into Woody Woodpeckers Kidzone, we looked at the playground for kids entitled Curious George Goes To Town which was very cute. And we rode the E.T. Adventure which was surprisingly a pretty good ride. O.K. Now were going to leave! But no. Terminatior 2: 3-D Battle Across Time had just let out and there was another one starting very soon. We asked the people who had just seen it whether it was good, and they exclaimed It was excellent! So we did it. And it was excellent! It was a combination of live action and a 3-D movie with great special effects. Well worth it. I dont remember much of the walk back to our car, though I do remember it was long, and we were exhausted.
David and I collapsed for about an hour, then we had dinner in our home-away-from-home which consisted of everything we had bought and couldnt take home with us, and then we headed out again, this time to Downtown Disney. We parked at the West Side because I thought that that was where the big Disney store was, but I was wrong. It was pretty far away at the Marketplace, which meant more walking. We went into Magnetron (a magnet store) where there were wall-to-wall magnets pretty overwhelming but we bought a mechanical hamster in a ball that we thought the cats would love. (When we got home, the cats seemed nonplussed by it but Keesha, our dog, was a bit freaked out by it and she seemed to have a good time barking at it.) We passed Pleasure Island, and went over to the Marketplace. The Lego store was amazing, but even more amazing were the Lego creations that were outside of the store. There was a father sleeping on a bench, a spectacular giant sea monster in the lake, an alien spaceship with aliens, and a mother and infant in a stroller. It was a very impressive display. At the Disney store, I couldnt find any t-shirts that I wanted. I had already purchased a t-shirt in the Animal Kingdom with Pooh holding a magnifying glass up to a tiger and asking Tigger, is that you? I really wanted a Mickey Mouse t-shirt, but there werent any Mickey t-shirts without the phrase Walt Disney World on them and I didnt really want one of those. I did buy a small Tigger stuffed animal from Pooh Corner. When we were walking over towards the store, I started singing The House at Pooh Corner which I thought was a James Taylor song, but I later found out that it was actually a Kenny Loggins song. I love that song (and its in a chord I can sing!) By the time we got out of there, most of the stores were closing up. It was 11:00 and I was exhausted. David jokingly (or I think it was jokingly) asked me if I wanted to go to Pleasure Island. I politely declined.
Day 6 Friday, December 14
Time to go home. We slept late, had a groggy breakfast, packed up, and left Old Key West. I really wanted to stay longer; it was such a great escape. We had some time before our flight left and so we went to the Wilderness Lodge to check it out. Very impressive. We also went to the Polynesian Resort where my family stayed when I was a kid (I was maybe 12?). It looked the same as I remembered it; a few changes here and there, but basically the same. I was getting hungry, so David suggested that we hit the Disneys Boardwalk Resort. What a grand hotel! We walked through the hotel to the Boardwalk which was empty and most of the stores and restaurants were closed. But a bakery was open and I found exactly what I was looking for a cinnamon raisin bagel, and a cart was selling a lemonade slush. Perfect food for me before taking a flight. We left Disney World and I had tears in my eyes. In fact, Im getting teary just writing this!
