Chach's Trip Report 2/20-3/8/03 (long)

[chach]

Our cast of characters:
John Ciarcia Jr. (mid 40’s/Me/Trip Report Writer)
Nancy Ciarcia (mid 40’s/Wife)
Amber Ciarcia (10 year old daughter)
Johnny Ciarcia (7 year old son)

Thursday, February 20th
We picked up the kids at school at 12:45. We were surrounded by 5 feet of snow with a temperature of 38 degrees. The kids changed, the house was secured and we were on our way by 1:30pm. We stopped for some supper before the kids went to sleep. When it got dark out we were still surrounded by snow but when it became daylight we were surrounded by groundcover that was all grass.

Friday, February 21st
With several “power naps” we made it to Orlando by 8pm (The trip from Rindge, NH. to Disney World took us 30.5 hours, including stops and catnaps). Since we made it a couple of days earlier we had stopped at the Florida tourist center and picked up several brochures for inexpensive hotels for the next two nights. The temperature in Kissimmee was a very warm 78 degrees. The first two hotels were full so we grabbed a place called “Knights Inn” on Rt. 192 (right outside Disney). We weren’t looking
for anything special and we didn’t get anything close. We unloaded the car and went to sleep by 10pm.

Saturday, February 22nd
We planned on doing the Disney Parks today. We got up at 7am and went to the hotels pathetic version of a “continental breakfast” which was coffee, OJ and some kind of prepackaged apple thing. Since no one was full we went to the McDonald’s nearby for a light breakfast.
We took a shortcut that we discovered two trips ago and were on Disney
property within 3 minutes. We entered the Animal Kingdom by 8:30am
(the park was scheduled to open at 9am) and the park was open. We went to
the back of the park and did the “Safari” (no wait). We went to the front of the
park and did the “Dinosaur” ride (no wait) and then went to the carnival area which
was new for us. We rode both the “Primeval Spin” and the “TriceraTop Spin”
(no waits on either). From Chester and Hester’s we went to the “Tarzan Show”.
The show was alright but we really enjoyed the music. Next we did my favorite
attraction in AK, “A Bug’s Life”. At this point we had done all the things on
our must-do list so we walked the animal trails and the kids played in the
“Dinosaur Dig Playground”. Once they were done playing we headed out by 1:30pm.
We went to lunch at the onsite McDonald’s and were in Epcot by 3pm.
Our first stop was to get a fastpass for “Test Track”. We then went to the Land
Pavilion. We rode “Living with the Land” (10 minute wait) which is one of Nancy and my favorite Epcot attractions. Every year we try to do the “behind the scenes” tour and never seem to time it right. Now it was time for “Food Rocks”. Neither Nancy or I really care for this attraction but the kids love it. So we flipped our usual coin and I got to be the one that attended it. Next we did the “Journey into Imagination Ride”
(twice- no wait) which We all enjoy. The newest version is even more enjoyable with all of Figment’s appearances. It was now time for our Test Track fastpass. Since my daughter won’t go on it I did “Test Track” first with my son. As soon as we got off my wife and son went in again. This is where it got a little hairy. I was sitting in the waiting room with my daughter and it was taking unusually long for my wife and son to finish a fastpass ride. We finally thought something was wrong and went to the front of the building where we found out it was pouring and they closed down the attraction. Instead of sending people out the exit they sent them back through the entrance. By the time we found them they were soaking wet. It was almost 7pm (closing) so we did the “Honey I Shrank the Audience Show” and then left a wet park. Since we had no desire to head back to our “luxurious” hotel we decided to explore the Polynesian which is one of our favorite resorts. Timing was on our side tonight. First we walked onto the beach just as the Magic Kingdom fireworks were going off. At about 8pm we decided to just take the first boat for a ride across the Seven Seas Lagoon. To our surprise we found out that this was the only night that MK was open until 9pm. Figuring we might be able to do one attraction we headed into the MK at 8:15pm. From 8:15-9pm we were able to do
“Peter Pan”, “Winnie the Pooh” and “It’s a Small World” (all short waits). We took a spin on the monorail, picked up our car at the Polynesian and headed back to the hotel to sleep. (We walked 11 miles/ average temperature 88 degrees)

Sunday, February 23rd
Today we checked out of “Le Dive”. We headed across the street for a Buffet Breakfast at the Ponderosa. We then drove about 4 miles down Rt. 192 and did an early check in (room wouldn’t be ready until 4pm) at our timeshare the “Summer Bay Resort”. With pre-checkin done we headed to “Downtown Disney”. We spent a long time in
“Planet Hollywood” looking at the movie/TV props. For some reason the kids really got into them this year. We then looked at many of the shops and finished by browsing through the Rainforest Café gift shop. My children fell in love with two monkeys in the gift shop and by the end of the trip had purchased them. At this point we decided to see if our Condo was ready. We got back to “Summer Bay Resort” and were able to move into our room at 2:30pm. After unpacking, we started our run of 13 days in the swimming pool/ hot tub/wildlife watching. We stayed at the pool from 3:30-5:30pm. As everyone showered I went out and did some food shopping. We spent some time on our balcony watching the unusual wildlife, watched some TV and went to bed.
(We walked 6 miles/ average temperature 76 degrees)

Monday, February 24th
We woke up to another beautiful day. After eating breakfast we took a dip in the pool. We then had lunch in the Condo and headed out to some local stores. On our way back to the Condo we stopped to explore the “Animal Lodge”. This is the newer resort at Disney that actually borders the edge of the Animal Kingdom. We then headed back to the Condo. It was 6pm and I was on my second day of feeling sick. Nancy took the kids to the pool for another quick swim and then we all went to bed early.
(We walked 5.5 miles/ average temperature 85 degrees)

Tuesday, February 25th
The kids gave us our 7am wakeup call. We had breakfast and then headed over to Magic Kingdom. We rode “Buzz Lightyear”, “Snow White”, “Haunted Mansion” and “Pirates of the Carribean” (all with no wait). We then tried the new “Aladdin Ride”
(10 minute wait), took a complete ride around MK on the train and finished up on the
“Tomorrowland Transit Authority”.
We had a lunch (noon-2pm) at the on-site McDonald’s.
After lunch we went to MGM. We were inside MGM by 2pm and headed right over to the “Rock and Roll Rollercoaster” (10 minute wait). We went to get a fastpass for the
next “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” show and then lined up 10 minutes before the “Motorcade Parade”. We watched and enjoyed the “motorcade parade” and then had a little time before the “Who Wants to be a Millionaire Show”. This was our only mistake of the trip. We lined up to go on “Star Tours” right after the parade and ended up having a 20 minute wait. We barely made it from “Star tours” to “Millionaire”. This was our first time at the “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” show and we all enjoyed it very much. It was time for our “Muppets 3D” show which we always enjoy and then another flight through space on “Stars Tours” (5 minute wait). When this trip was planned I never thought the evenings would be warm enough to attend “Fantasmic”. The evening was gorgeous (as every other evening of our trip) and the timing was perfect so we thought we would try to get seats in the show. We arrived 10 minutes before showtime and got fantastic seats (halfway up and just to the right of the middle section). The show was Fantastic and we all loved it. We went back to the Condo, took a 10pm swim and
went to bed. (We walked 10.5 miles/ average temperature 78 degrees)

Wednesday, February 26th
This morning started a little strange. For some reason I woke up with a huge swelled lip. Since we were going to Disney property today I thought I’d fit in quite nicely (I looked like Donald Duck). We had breakfast and went to the Boardwalk. One of my daughter’s few request was to rent a Surrey Bike and ride around the Boardwalk. After exploring the Resorts around the Boardwalk and then rented a Surrey Bike. The kids still weren’t big enough to pedal so they sat in the front basket while Nancy and I pedaled.
We had been having trouble with a couple of our Park Hoppers so we decided to take the Boardwalk Boat to MGM and get a couple of new ones. The boat was almost empty and we had a pleasant ride. We had no problem getting 2 new tickets and then waited at the boat dock for our return to the Boardwalk. While waiting the kids fed these extremely friendly ducks by the dock. The ducks would actually eat out of our hands. We took the boat to the Y & B Club and then walked around the lake to the Boardwalk. After leaving the Boardwalk we went to the Walmart Superstore and then back to the Condo. We ate dinner and then took our daily journey to the Pool/Hot tub. After showering we took a walk to the Condo office to have our keys repaired. When the Surrey Bike company on the Boardwalk took our keys for collateral they somehow demagnetized them, which made them useless. We watched TV (monitored the weather
Channel everyday to see what it was doing on the east coast) and went to bed.
(We walked 6 miles/ average temperature 85 degrees)

Thursday, February 27th
Woke up, had breakfast and then headed to MGM. First we listened to “Drew Carey’s Sounds Dangerous” and then with a short wait we rode the “Rock and Roll Rollercoaster” twice (10 minute wait). Then off to outer space where we did “Star Tours”(no wait) again. My son would have ridden this 100 times if we let him. We then sat for the “Muppets 3D” and “Indiana Jones Stunt Show” before going back to the Condo for lunch.
After lunch we headed over to Epcot. We grabbed a Test Track fastpass and then went through “Ellen’s Energy Pavilion”. We went into the Health Pavilion, did a few of the hands-on experiments and then went into “Body Wars” (no wait). We watched “Cranium Control” and then headed toward the Imagination Pavilion. On the way over we bumped into some friends of my Parents. After chatting for a while and taking a couple of pictures we hopped onto “Journey into Imagination” (no wait) once again. It was now time for “Test Track”. By using our fastpasses and the childswap we did the “Test Track” 3 times (10 minute waits). When Future World closed at 7pm we headed to the back of the park to visit the countries. We did the first two countries and rode on the “Mexican Boat Ride” and then the “Norway Boat Ride”. Our timing was perfect and as we exited Norway we watched the “Tapestry of Dreams Parade”. At this point the kids were getting very sleepy. We watched the “American Adventure Show” and then headed back toward the front of the park. Unfortunately there was a private convention/party going on so we weren’t able to see the “World Trade Center Flag”. As we went to the front of Epcot the “Illuminations” show began so we watched this. We got back to the Condo by 10pm and took our daily swim before going to bed.
(We walked 12 miles/ average temperature 82 degrees)

Friday, February 28th
While my wife slept I took the kids to the pool for a couple of hours. We needed to do some food shopping. My wife and son were under the weather so I took (while they slept) my daughter and we went next door to shop at the Publix grocery store. After shopping we went to the local library and I checked my email (my server had closed down because of excess junk email). When we returned they were still sleeping so we visited the Rainforest Café at AK and then the one at Downtown Disney looking for a particular stuffed monkey. After buying some pastries we headed back to the Condo for a quiet night. (We walked 5 miles/ average temperature 72 degrees)

Saturday, March 1st
We started out the day by visiting the Beltz Outlets. After having a Taco Bell/Kentucky Fried Chicken lunch we headed over to Universal/IOA. We decided to do IOA first. We first stopped for a “Spiderman” fastpass. We then walked around the whole park and rode “Cat In the Hat” (no wait) and “One Fish, Two Fish” (10 minute wait) in Seuss Landing. We then went over and rode “Storm Force” 3 times (no wait). Since “Spiderman” was out of order we headed over to Universal Studios.
We started watching a show called “Extreme Ghostbusters”. It started out slow but we all ended up liking it. Next we walked into the 3D show “Terminator 3D”. As we were leaving the show a small parade of characters came by throwing out bead necklaces
to everyone. We went on “ET” (10 minute wait) and “Back to the Future”
(10 minute wait) and then lined up for the “Animal Planet Show”. The kids like the show but we thought it had gone down hill since we last saw it. We had time for one more ride before the “Mardi Gras Parade”. We did “MIB” (20 minute wait) and then lined up for the parade. The kids stayed in the kids area (which gave them a better shot at the beads) and we stood along the parade route. The parade was enjoyable and we all got plenty of beads. The kids were getting tired so we listened to 5 songs being played by the “Allman Brothers Band” and then headed back to the Condo. We were leaving the Condo tomorrow and checking into a hotel so we did some packing before we went to bed.
(We walked 9.5 miles/ average temperature 82 degrees)

Sunday, March 2nd
We checked out of the Condo by 10am. Since we couldn’t check into the hotel until 3pm we decided to do some things in the Disney area. We went back to the Polynesian Hotel and took the monorail to Magic Kingdom. We walked along the 7 Seas Lagoon until we came to our brick. After taking a few pictures we took the monorail back to the Polynesian and headed to International Drive. Our destination was the “Sierra Suites”
Point Orlando, International Drive. To kill a couple of hours we parked the car and explored “Pt. Orlando”. We checked into the “Sierra Suites” at 3pm. After a lengthy swim/hot tub we showered and went to bed.

Monday, March 3rd
What would become a pattern for the next 5 mornings, the kids woke us up early to go to the hotel’s Continental Breakfast. The Continental Breakfast was good enough to fill us all up each morning, which saved us both time and money for the 5 days we were there. We got into Univeral at 10am. Everyone posed for pictures with family favorite “Spongebob”. After taking pictures of the “Rugrats”, “Thornberries” and “Jimmy Neutron” we headed to “Jaws” (10 minute wait). We then did “MIB” (no wait), “Back to the Future” (no wait) and 3 runs down the raft ride in Feival Land (no wait). We did two rides on “Woody Woodpeckers Coaster” (no wait) and then sat down for the “Horror Makeup Show”. The “Horror Makeup Show” was completely changed since we last saw it. We thought the recent show was very good.
After the show we walked over to IOA and headed right for “Spiderman”. We did “Spiderman” twice (10 minute wait) and “Storm Force” twice (no wait). We watched a silly character show and then left the park at 5pm. Another dip in the Pool/Hot tub and off to bed. (We walked 8 miles/ average temperature 70 degrees)

Tuesday, March 4th
This was a lazy day. We had our Continental Breakfast and then went for our daily visit to the Pool/Hot tub. We visited the Beltz Outlets again for souvenirs and then had lunch at “Bill Wongs”. We have been to Bill Wong’s several times and really enjoy the food and variety. We parked our car back at the hotel and walked to the “Mercado”. We are not sure why this place is popular because we thought it was such a dive. We swam at the hotel (second time today) and then the kids played several games of Air Hockey before they went to bed.

Wednesday, March 5th
The kids carried food back to the room from the Continental Breakfast as we got dressed for our last day at the parks. We got to Universal Studios by 10am and posed for several pictures with the characters. We took a ride on “ET” (no wait) and the kids wanted to do “Fieval’s raft ride”. We killed the next hour with them riding the raft 5 times (no waits). We followed this with 2 rides on “Woody’s Coaster” (no wait), “Back to the Future” (no wait) and “MIB” (no wait).
We headed over to IOA and did “Cat in the Hat” 3 times (no wait) and the “Unicorn Family Rollercoaster”. Now it was time for the whole family to muster up the courage and do the “Jurrastic Park ride”. It turned out to be a great success. We took our last and
favorite park ride “Spiderman” (10 minute wait) and headed back to the hotel. We took our daily swim, watched some TV and went to bed.
(We walked 6 miles/ average temperature 88 degrees)

Thursday, March 6th
We had our morning Continental Breakfast. With my cough/cold getting worse my wife convinced me to visit the local clinic since I had a 30 hour drive ahead of us the following morning. After wasting 3 hours and not getting anything that helped me we headed to the hotel pool/hot tub. After showers and dinner we spent the next several hours packing our car for the next morning departure. Four more games of air hockey and then we went to bed. (average temperature 82 degrees)

Friday, March 7th
I was hoping for an early departure and we got one. After our daily Continental Breakfast we finished packing the car and were on the road by 7:08am. Because of my lack of sleep the previous 2 nights our 30 hour drive seemed like 90 hours, but we didn’t hit any bad weather so that worked out great. What an awful feeling it is leaving 80 degree weather and green grass and 24 hours later facing ice, single digit temperatures and 5 foot snowbanks.

Summary:
Drive- We were leery driving down the East Coast during the Winter months but it worked out great. We had no bad weather conditions either driving down or driving home 2 weeks later.
Weather- We had heard that the weather can do anything during this time of year and we were extremely lucky. The lowest temperature was 72 and the highest 93 with an average of mid 80’s. The rain we got was infrequent and didn’t hinder us at all. From the first day when we changed into shorts/T-shirts we never wore warm clothes until the day we headed home. We watched the weather channel everyday and noticed while we were on vacation that Florida was the only state getting warm temperatures.
Crowds- With school breaks I thought we’d hit bigger crowds but it never happened.
We only used fastpass a few times and most of the rides were walk-ons.

Knights Inn (Rt. 192) – Since we got into the Disney area earlier than we planned we needed a place for a couple of nights. We didn’t care for this place at all. The first night was very humid and the hotel air conditioner didn’t work. The room was relatively clean, I think. The “Continental Breakfast” was coffee and some kind of prepackaged apple thing that tasted awful.
Summer Bay Resort (Rt. 192)- This was a great place. Through a timeshare exchange we got a 3 bedroom condo unit with 2 balconies, 5 TV’s, a larger hot tub in one bedroom, a smaller hot tub in another bedroom, 2 washer/dryers, 3 very heated pools/ hot tubs, a clubhouse, bar, boat rentals and store. The units were new and extremely clean. The pools were large and warm enough to swim in during any weather.
Sierra Suites (International drive) – We thought this was a very nice hotel. The room was very reasonable and was over-sized. It had 2 Queen beds, a foldout couch, a beanbag chair (which my kids loved), a small bathroom and a kitchen. There was a decent size heated pool, a hot tub, a laundry room and a small game room. They offered 24 hour coffee/tea which came in handy. The Continental Breakfast was very good with bagels, muffins, cream cheese, apples, 3 cereals, 2 milks, coffee, tea and 3 juices.

 

[pumba]

You did so much at each of the parks........our snow banks are slowly dwindling......I hope anyways.....we leave in a few .....actually ten days and the recent 40s and 50s made us soooooo happy....thanks for your summary of the hotels and your eating places....that did help......thanks again

 

[Krissalee]

Thanks for sharing your report with us! You seemed to create a nice balance of relaxing days, and action filled park days.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Wow! Thanks for sharing your trip with us. And remember, no report is too long!

 

[wilderness01]

Thanks for the great trip report. Did you notice the crowds getting larger as March approached? Does anyone know if the beginning of February is slower or about the same as the last week of February for crowds?

 

[LMHB]

Thanks for that report! I was really looking forward to your review of Summer Bay and was so pleased to see it! I hope we will enjoy it as much as you seemed to!

 

[Credit Man]

WOW! You did alot! Thanks for posting.