Erik See World -- Dec 3 - 11 (Now complete with pix!)

[erikthewise]

OK it's time to do the report -- it's now or never! I promise I'll finish it soon! The title is a take off on the band "Jimmy Eat World".

Cast
Self: Family planner. Likes seafood, gets up too early, walks too fast. Insists on going to parks at opening. Can accurately estimate the duration of any sequence of activities, and hates being late.
DW: Family photographer. Hates seafood, likes to sleep in, walks too slow. Doesn’t like being rushed. Not a slave to the clock.
DS12: Doesn’t like anything that has a hint of a thrill. Loves interactive games, arcades, slow rides, and hamburgers.
DS9: Will ride anything. Has both the enthusiasm and the patience of a forest fire. Doesn’t like anything that isn’t a ride or a meal, unless it’s his idea.

We spent 8 nights at Beach Club Villas in a one-bedroom suite. I have also posted a restaurant report ("Erik Eat World") at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=978627, so I won’t discuss details of meals here.

If you want to see ALL the photos, go to http://www.math.wright.edu/People/Richard_Mercer/Disney/WDW2005/WDW2005.html.

 

[erikthewise]

12/03 Sat: Here, try these keys!
We left the house at 5:45AM for our 8:00 Airtran nonstop from Dayton to Orlando. After dropping off everyone and the luggage, I was able to get an economy parking space close to the terminal, and walked back in. We decided to splurge a little on the way down by flying in business class. Justification: We got a good price on the tickets, Airtran has been good to us in the past, and the upgrades were only $50 each. I had used reward points to get one business class upgrade, and then paid for three more at the counter; fortunately they were still available. We checked six bags and headed for security. Wait a minute – last year we only checked five. Where did the other one come from?!

Unlike last year security went smoothly. We didn’t have to de-ice the wings, so we took off on time. Business class turned out to be full, so I’m glad we got to the airplane on time to get those seats. Airtran now offers XM radio, about 60 channels of music, news, talk, etc., including Radio Disney. But the free earphones provided are necessarily so low in quality that it’s hardly worth the trouble. If you have good earphones, bring them with you!

When we landed in Orlando, our gate was occupied by a plane that was having maintenance problems. One of its engines was wide open but we couldn’t see anyone working on it. I could easily imagine our plane sitting there for an hour waiting for a gate, but fortunately we got one after only a 15-minute delay. The luggage was slow in arriving, but when it did we used a porter to take it over to National Car Rental.

National had an even worse selection on the full-size half-aisle than last year. There were a couple Malibu’s, which aren’t even full-size. We ended up with the only actual full-size car available, a Buick Century. I hate this model, but have to admit it was somewhat better than the Century we had in 2001. Even still I would not only not buy one, I would not accept one for free. It drives like a boat, and has a number of quirky features. Ours had the additional feature that the vent selection knob was missing, so we couldn’t change the setting (no extra charge). I never was able to turn off the air conditioning, nor was I able to turn on headlights during daytime. It had “automatic” headlights which came on at night, and running lights in the daytime, but I prefer to have headlights on full in daylight. I even asked at the Test Track GM exhibit how to do it! But for the price we got ($156 for 9 days), I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

When we checked in at BCV, our room (358) was not ready yet. We got spoiled our first two years staying there when our room was ready on arrival. While waiting we ate lunch at Yacht Club Galley (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858447&postcount=2). We should have eaten at Beaches and Cream, since that closed for remodeling during our stay and we never did get another chance to eat there.

After lunch I went over to the MegaMouseFest meet & greet at the Dolphin at 1:00, while the others chilled out at the Beach Club. This was the capstone event of MouseFest, and turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. Just about every major Disney webmaster, guide book author, and travel agency was there (along with some minor ones too). Without dropping names, I was able to hobnob with everyone I wanted to, and renew a couple friendships too.

When I left around 2:00, I called to see whether our room was ready, and it was! The front desk CM had told me to not even try until 2:30 or 3:00, so this was welcome news. I gathered the others and we went up to our room. The key didn’t fit. At this point I started to wonder whether I had misremembered our room number, in which our room might not actually be ready. The front desk CM had written it down for us in some obscure place, and now I couldn’t find it. So back to the front desk we went. It turned out that I had remembered the number correctly, and new keys were made for us. THIS time they worked!

We have not dropped off our luggage in the lobby since getting chased out of the circle by an arrogant valet attendant a few years ago. We just self-park next to BCV and carry it up ourselves when we’re ready. After doing that we went shopping at Publix, getting breakfast foods and a few other essentials (such as ice cream). This year we remembered to bring our own ice cream scoop!

I then went up to Epcot guest relations and exchanged my annual pass voucher for the real thing. There was no line and it went smoothly. The CM even asked if my name was spelled correctly, a nice touch, especially the last time I had an AP my name was NOT spelled correctly!

Soon it was time to leave for Downtown Disney. We had dinner at House of Blues (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858447&postcount=2), one of my favorites, and then went to the 6:00 Cirque du Soleil performance. This was their last night before a ten day break, so it was our only chance to see them this year. The first time we had good seats in row D, but this time we sat higher up and enjoyed it even more. Some of the acts seemed to have actually improved, and others were about the same, but it was definitely worth seeing a second time.

 

[erikthewise]

12/04 Sun: Pizza Wars
This was Epcot day! We entered through the International Gate, just a short walk from Beach Club Villas. My plan was to concentrate on the right side of Future World this morning, and hit the left side another day. They let us through the turnstiles and held us at a rope just before the UK pavilion.

Once the rope dropped, we headed for the Land pavilion, and grabbed fastpasses for Soarin’. Then we went on the Living with the Land boat ride. The male host came on strong at the beginning with a geeky and high-pitched voice and tried too hard to be cute, and I feared he would be hard to put up with. But once the ride got underway, he calmed down a little and ended up being very entertaining. When we got off, it was still only 9:37 and our fastpasses weren’t good until 10:00. Although it was tempting to run off somewhere to do something else and come back, I decided it was be better to hang around until 10:00, when the fastpass line would still be pretty short. So we spent about 10 minutes checking out the new Sunshine Seasons counter service, then relaxed until our fastpass time came up.

It didn’t take long to get onto Soarin’! Everyone enjoyed it, even DS12 who I was a little worried about as he doesn’t even like the drops in Maelstrom, but he was OK here. We were in the center of the second row of the middle section, exactly in the middle of the theater. The strange thing about this ride is seeing a row of sneakers from the row above you!

Next we saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience and most of the Kodak preshow. I asked the boys if they wanted to see Journey into Imagination as well, which they had really enjoyed the last couple years, but to my surprise they said no! It wasn’t lunchtime yet so instead we went into Innoventions West which we hadn’t seen at all in our four previous trips. The highlight there was playing the Pizza game, where one tries to match states which grow various pizza ingredients to see which team can make the best pizza. We got absolutely creamed by an innocent-looking older couple who beat us 13 ingredients to 5!

It was then time to head to our 12:00 reservation at the Rose and Crown (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858469&postcount=3). Afterward we decided to return to our room which was just a short walk back through the International Gate. DW pointed out that the weather report indicated that today was likely to be the best day for swimming, so I took the boys to Stormalong Bay to do just that. We stayed for about an hour and a half, about half of which was spent in the whirlpool! DS9 used a life vest for some of the time but eventually decided to do without it. I was surprised to hear the CM at the rental stand tell us we could keep the life vest until we checked out! Since I wasn’t sure we’d go swimming again (we didn’t) I returned it anyway.

After relaxing for a while we headed back to Epcot for our 5:40 reservation at Le Cellier (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858469&postcount=3). We had vague intentions of hanging around long enough to see Illuminations, but that turned out to be harder than I thought. It was past 7:00, so the pickings were slim in Future World. The reader board said 60 minute wait at Test Track, 40 minute wait at Soarin’, and Spaceship Earth was down. I was the only one who wanted to ride Mission Space and the other attractions were closed, so there was really nothing for us to do in Future World. We decided to head toward Mexico and Norway and do the boat rides there. There seemed crowded so I thought there would be waits, but in fact both Rio de Tempo and Maelstrom were both walkons. This was the first time the boys had been inside the Mexico pavilion, and the first time for DW and I since we had dinner there in 1992.

Nobody was interested in the China movie, so we continued on to Germany where we looked briefly in the shops. It now about 8:15, we were tired, it was crowded, and Illuminations was still 75 minutes away, so we decided to skip it and return to our room.

What did we do when in our room? The boys watched Toon Disney a lot as they don’t get that at home. DS12 also worked on homework some. DS9 and I spent some time writing our reports. His was part of his homework and he took it very seriously – it’s probably a more interesting report than mine. One nice thing about having a one-bedroom suite is that that there are two TVs in separate rooms.

We also made some use of the washer and dryer. Since our vacations are 9 or 10 days it’s inevitable that we need to do some washing and it’s nice to be able to do it without leaving our room.

 

[erikthewise]

12/05 Mon: Walt’s Birthday!
Today I got up early to go jogging around Crescent Lake. I didn’t remember it being so dark at 6:15! But it’s never really dark at WDW, “the resort that never sleeps”, and there are always a variety of CMs moving about on various vehicles and busy at various tasks. It’s a great time to be out exercising as you almost have the whole place to yourself. The BC health club (called “Ship Shape”) opens at 6:00 so I was able to put in some time there too. It was pretty busy in there. I was at a loss to understand the people using the treadmills when just outside was one of the best jogging paths one could imagine! I guess it’s just a matter of what you’re used to.

If you want to know what things are like during “off hours”, the book “One Day at Disney” is what you need. Not many words, but plenty of pictures showing the four Disney resorts at various hours of the day. Unfortunately it seems to be out of print.

Today was MGM day! We drove over, and as usual were given a tour of the parking lot and ended up parking out in right field, with hundreds of perfectly good unused spaces closer to the turnstiles. Apparently people entering from Buena Vista Drive are always treated in this way. There were already a lot of people lined up for the tram, and not only was no tram in sight, it wasn’t clear we would make it onto the first one that came. So we walked to the entrance, only a five-minute walk. And when we got there, we had our own private bag check CM, whereas all the people from the trams, buses, and boats had to wait in lines! We entered the park five minutes before the rope drop. The crowd wasn’t bad at all.

DS9 and I made our way to Rock’n’Roller Coaster, where we rode in the front of the third limo of the day; we both love it! DW and DS12 don’t, and didn’t say where they would go instead, but I didn’t worry because we had cell phones. After we got off, I called DW – no answer. She must be someplace where she’d have to turn it off. I suspected they went to Great Movie Ride as we have a history of doing that early in the day. So DS9 and I went over there too, and got in line, continuing to try the cell phone. Just as we were entering the ride, we saw DW and DS12 exiting! We waved and shouted, but they wouldn’t look our way! Oh well, we rode it anyway. Great Movie Ride has been refurbished since the last time we rode, and it shows, but no major changes. The film montage at the end has been edited to add scenes from recent Disney efforts such as Finding Nemo and Narnia, and they stick out like sore thumbs.

After we got off the ride, I tried calling again and this time got an answer. They were waiting on a bench near the new stunt show Lights, Motors, Action! Which was just the right place to be. We hustled over there and all went in to see it. DW was concerned about seating as she had watched many people go in while she was waiting. I assured her it had 5000 seats and there weren’t even that many people in the park yet. Sure enough the theatre was mostly empty, and in any case you’d be hard pressed to find a bad seat. It is pretty cool with a lot of stunt driving, and it remains to be seen whether MGM can sustain two stunt shows or whether Indiana Jones will shut down. It probably will, but if I were seeing both for the first time, I’m not sure I wouldn’t still prefer Indiana Jones. They both have great stunt work, but LMA is about “here’s how we produce a run-of-the-mill action movie with plenty of cars and guns and nothing else of value”, while Indiana Jones is connected to a beloved classic trilogy. Hopefully it will stick around for a while yet.

After we left the stunt show we were able to get into the first Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show just before it started. I was hot, and after the first contestant reached 32,000, I was in second place! The next question asked in what field Lilly Pulitzer had made her mark. I should have smelled a trap, but when you’re in the audience there is no time to think. I answered C: Journalism as soon as it came up, but the correct answer was D: Fashion! If I had gotten that one right, I would have been in the hot seat! Just as well, I suppose, as DS12 would have had a conniption fit. He didn’t even want to go in because he was afraid one of us would get in the hot seat.

After Millionaire was over, we had the dread half-hour gap before our lunch reservation. Not enough time to do anything without being late, but too early to check in. So we walked sloooowly over to Sci-Fi Dine In and checked in 15 minutes early (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858474&postcount=4 ). We got to sit in the front row!

After lunch we watched Muppet 3-D, and then split up again. DW went to two more Millionaire shows, and the boys and I went to Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground, followed by One Man’s Dream. Since it was Walt Disney’s birthday, I wanted to be sure not to miss that. Sure enough the CM hosting the movie mentioned Walt’s birthday. I didn’t realize until after I returned and read about it that Michael Eisner had been edited out of the movie. Didn’t even miss him.

After we all got together again, we went on the Backlot Tour, which we hadn’t done for several years. You can actually get some good “backstage” views of Lights, Motors, Action from the Backlot Tour, and we had seen several trams from the tour going past when we watched the show that morning.

Once again we had an embarrasing half-hour gap before our dinner reservations at Brown Derby (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858474&postcount=4), and again had to check in early and wait a little. Afterward we were kind of bushed and headed back to our room without even seeing the Osborne lights or Fantasmic.

Later that evening I got a second wind and headed over to Epcot to see Illuminations. It was kind of crowded so a grabbed a good spot in front of Canada 50 minutes ahead of time. I was standing next to a woman from Strongsville, OH and had a nice conversation with her about Disney, Vegas, Cirque du Soleil, etc. Her husband said hi then spent the 50 minutes talking to a woman on his other side. But as always Illuminations was well worth waiting for.

 

[erikthewise]

12/06 Tue: Duuuude!
Today was MVMCP day! (Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party) The party runs from 7PM to 12PM, so we needed to get in an afternoon nap. In the morning we returned to Epcot, this time driving to the main entrance instead of entering through the International Gate. DS9 and I made the dash for Test Track, while DW and DS12 (who didn’t want to ride Test Track) went over to Soarin’ to get fastpasses. We hit Test Track at 9:05 so I knew the line wouldn’t be too bad yet. But by the time we got out, the sign said 30 minute wait in the standby line!

In between we all rode Spaceship Earth with no wait, which led to perfect timing for our return to the fastpass line at Soarin’ at 9:54. Once again we were in the center of the center row in the center section! This time we remembered to watch for the “hidden Mickey” on the golf ball that is hit right at you. A warning though: if you get in the standby line around 10:00, be prepared for it to take longer than the sign says, because the fastpass people start coming through.

Next we went over to Living Seas at 10:30 to check out “Turtle Talk with Crush”. We found ourselves in a long line waiting to enter the theater. <flame on> Here we experienced the first of several incidents where people decided it is OK to barge their way in to rejoin their party. If you had to take a young child to the bathroom be prepared to explain that on your way back in. If it was a teen or adult who had to go to the bathroom, too bad! You should have gone before you got in line, and the rest of your group should have waited for you. If they didn’t, I guess they don’t need to have you with them. Be prepared for a problem if you try to line jump. The simple solution: take care of business first, and if you want to be together, stay together. <flame off>

Once we got into the theatre, Crush (the tortoise from “Finding Nemo”) was great! It was nearly a full-wall video screen simulating an aquarium, and sure enough Crush swam up and starting talking to the audience, concentrating on the young ones, most of whom were seated up front on the floor. Actually we were seated on the floor too as there weren’t anymore bench seats available by the time we got in. Crush is just like in the movie, only more so. He is animated of course, but interacts with the audience in real time, responding to questions the children ask. At one point he gave us a lecture on how to use the word “dude” in many different ways. At one point Dory made an appearance too. “Hey I remember you. You’re Flush!” This is a great addition to the Living Seas pavilion. Afterward we hung around for quite awhile checking out the rest of the pavilion. They are still reworking the entrance so for the time being you enter and leave through the gift shop on the left side. It was actually nice because ordinarily getting in is a major production.

Afterwards we headed back to our room for lunch. Our suite comes with a full kitchen but we only used it for breakfast, snacks, and this one lunch. Then it was naptime. Zzzzzz.... The boys actually slept some this year (I did too), which was good because that meant we would be able to stay for most of the Christmas party.

After naptime we drove over to Magic Kingdom, and miraculously got a good parking space around 4:00, close enough that we could easily walk to the monorail. We arrived at MK about 4:30, got our party wristbands, and killed some time taking pictures and half-heartedly watching some of the Cinderellabration show in front of the castle.

Eventually we wandered over to Liberty Tree Tavern where we had a 5:15 reservation. We actually got seated ten minutes early! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858481&postcount=5 )

After 6:00 the park was officially closed except for party guests. Fantasyland was closed even to them, but fortunately they let us use the restrooms next to Peter Pan! We went on Haunted Mansion (five minute wait) and Pirates of the Caribbean (walk-on). It was then about 7:00 when the party officially began, so we headed over to the Adventureland Veranda to get our free photo taken, and the line wasn’t too bad. The party was now in full swing, and this was the first time we’d been in MK this year, so we decided to skip the first parade and do some attractions. We walked across the castle forecourt and over to Tomorrowland. Buzz Lightyear was just a five-minute wait.

I’ve done Buzz a number of times but don’t really know what I’m doing. This time I somehow got 325,400! I have no idea what I hit to get that score. If I did it again it woiuld probably be 25,000, which was about what the rest of us got. Next we did the TTA (we call it the Blue Line), and DW and DS9 did Space Mountain (10 minute wait). DS12 doesn’t do coasters so he and I went to the Tomorrowland Arcade which is conveniently right next to the Space Mountain exit. Then we headed up to Fantasyland and saw PhilharMagic and Small World, which had been closed for refurbishment last year. It really was an improvement with brighter colors and costumes, but the ride did not change in any important way.

It was then time to head back to the castle forecourt to see the Holiday Wishes fireworks. This was a big disappointment for me because I was expected the usual Wishes with a holiday addition, as is done with Illuminations. For me the music is more important than the fireworks, and I kept waiting for the Wishes music, which never came. Instead the soundtrack was some sort of holiday mush, music that sounded like holiday music but little that was recognizable. I would much rather have had the regular Wishes.

We next headed over to Big Thunder Mountain where DS9 and I rode with no wait. It was then 10:15 and the parade route was starting to get crowded, so we grabbed a less than perfect spot on Liberty Square, and waited for the 10:45 parade. It’s a great parade with more floats than you think there can possibly be, even if you saw it last year! The crowd wasn’t too bad, but it was more crowded than I expected the second parade to be. Afterward we took our time walking out, left the around 11:30 and got back to our room a little after midnight.

 

[erikthewise]

12/07 Wed: Segway Master
The day after the Christmas party is usually a good day to rest up. But two of us had tours scheduled this morning.

I had scheduled the two-hour Segway tour and Epcot for 8:30, so I was up early and drove myself to the Epcot front gate. I knew we were supposed to meet at guest relations at 8:15. However I had forgotten (or never knew) that unlike many Epcot tours, we were supposed to meet at the INSIDE guest relations to the left of Spaceship Earth. So I showed up at the OUTSIDE guest relations at 8:15. After waiting patiently for a couple minutes, they told me I had to go to the other one. Unfortunately the only way into the park at that time was through two turnstiles next to a sign labeled “Princess Breakfast”, each with a couple dozen people in line. I got in the line with an old man carefully checking IDs against a list and letting through about two people per minute. I wanted to scream “I don’t care about the stupid princess breakfast, I just need to get in!!” Fortunately I didn’t. I did eventually get in, and sprinted up to (the other) guest relations to arrive at 8:24, and was escorted to the location where the tour begins. It turned just about everyone else was already there – I have no idea how they got in. Moral: when they say be there 15 minutes early, make it 25!

Soon we were receiving instruction and practicing using the Segways, turning them on and off, mounting and dismounting, maintaining balance, moving forward and backward, turning, going up and down ramps. Then we were ready to venture outside! We went single file through part of Future World and into World Showcase until we got past the Norway pavilion (where the princess breakfast is held). From Norway to France there are no “day guests” permitted until 11:00, so we had a lot more freedom. We were taken along some challenging routes through the various countries, and were given a few bits of trivia about World Showcase. There was an opportunity for pictures, and lots of time to “freestyle” near the Italy pavilion. Eventually it was time to head back. We got unique pins on our return. I don’t collect pins, but no, you can’t have mine!

After the tour disbanded, I decided there was time to ride Mission: Space before heading back. DS9 wasn’t sure he wanted to ride it, and the others were sure they didn’t, so this was really my only chance. Since I could use the singles line there was no wait at all.

DS9 was doing the Albatross Pirate Cruise today, which departed from the Yacht Club marina at 9:30. I had told DW I planned to be there to meet him at 11:30, so I thought I’d better really do that in case she was counting on me to be there. It was already 11:00, so I hustled back out of Epcot, and went back to my car. Except that I couldn’t find it! I went up and down the rows several times and finally found it, but it was now 11:10. I did manage to make it to the Yacht Club in time, and actually saw the whole crew of pirates on the Beach Club beach near the shipwreck. While I was sitting at the marina, I heard a loud “aaarrrghh!!” from the beach and saw pirates running around. Soon DW and DS12 arrived, so we all saw our pirate get off the boat. The cruise is for ages 4-10, and we think he was the oldest kid on it.

We had been planning to eat at Beaches and Cream, but it was closed for repainting, so we had lunch at the Dolphin Fountain instead. A similar menu, but not as good as B&C! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858487&postcount=6 )

After lunch we went back to our room to crash and finally recover from staying up late at the Christmas party, but on the way back we had our picture taken with Art the Greeter, a Beach Club cast member, institution and near-celebrity whose job is to greet people in the lobby and spread good cheer.

That afternoon DS12 and I went over to the Germany pavilion to do research for a school project which, believe it or not, was to report on Christmas celebration in a country of family heritage, and DS12 had chosen Germany. On a way I dragged him into the UK to listen to a couple songs from British Invasion, and as a result we almost missed the Holiday Storytelling at Germany. But we made it, and on orders from DW spent $11.00 on a "pickle ornament" which was supposedly a German tradition. Actually the storytelling we had just listened to said it was more of a German-American thing as the CM from Germany had not heard of it. .

We managed to rouse ourselves for our 5:00 dinner reservation at Kona Café (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858487&postcount=6 ). The idea behind this reservation (besides good food) was to give us a chance to visit the Polynesian resort, and also to put us in a good position to slip over to Magic Kingdom and see Spectromagic if we were so inclined. But in spite of the early reservation, the timing still didn’t work out right for a 7:00 parade, and we weren’t that ambitious. It was a shame because our parking pass was good until 10:00!
Instead we settled for going to the Grand Floridian to check out the Christmas decorations in the lobby. Afterward we returned to our room to complete our “rest day”.

 

[erikthewise]

12/08 Thu: Rain and Blisters
Reality intruded upon our vacation today. The weather had been great at the start of our trip, but had been slowly deteriorating as the week wore on. This morning it was just plain raining. Not pouring, but not just drizzling either; if we went outside we were going to get wet.

In addition DW had been slowly succumbing to cumulative blisters, and this morning she just couldn’t face going to a park. She was scheduled for the Hidden Treasures of World Showcase tour today but had to cancel. I called WDW-TOUR to officially cancel even though her tour started in less than an hour, because I didn’t want them to be looking or waiting for someone who wasn’t going to show up. The CM said it was too late for a refund, and I said I understood but she just can’t do it today. When we got home I went online and found a refund on our credit card! I didn’t expect that.

Actually rainy days can be the best days to go to the parks. So DS12, DS9 and I decided to go to Animal Kingdom, since DW doesn’t like that park as much as the others. Not only that we decided to take a bus, a big step for us because we had a bad experience when taking a bus in 2002, and hadn’t taken a bus since. We went out to the bus stop about 8:20, and only had to wait about 5 minutes for our bus. I was very pleased to hear the bus was only picking up from Yacht Club and Beach Club, so we would go straight to AK. We were the only people on the bus! So we didn’t expect much of a crowd at AK, and we were right. Everything we did that morning was a walk-on.

We headed directly to Safari and ended up on the third truck of the day with a CM named Brandon who did a fine job of narration. There were loads of animals out, as many as I’ve ever seen, and I kind of regretted not bringing my camera, but I didn’t want the hassle of carrying it around on a rainy day. We saw both male and female lions and four cheetahs among many others.

After Safari, we walked back over to Dinoland, and on the way I got out our dollar ponchos and we put them on. I made the tactical error of wearing a long-sleeved jacket, and the ponchos were short-sleeved, so the sleeves of my jacket got pretty wet even though I spent a lot of time with my arms inside the poncho. We all rode Dinosaur, which DS12 doesn’t mind for some reason. DS9 and I rode Primeval Whirl for the first time. It is a ride which has a mild thrill level that families can do together, but it’s the type of ride you might find in any amusement park. It’s worth doing if you’re right there and there’s no line.

The rain was coming down harder now so we backtracked to It’s Tough To Be A Bug, which was indoors. I’ve heard stories of screaming children who couldn’t stand this show, but I’ve never witnessed anything like that when we’ve seen it. It is the most likely of the 3-D movies to bring on such a reaction, I suppose. Just about everybody seems to enjoy it though it does have a certain “gross-out” factor.

I had heard that the “Tarzan Rocks” show was going to be discontinued in the near future, so this would be our last chance to see it. So see it we did! No it isn’t as good as Festival of the Lion King, but it was worth seeing once. Whatever you think of the show, the performers do a great job of making the most of it.

On the way out of the theater we took a right turn and cut through Asia, coming close to Expedition Everest and seeing an empty car go racing down the mountain. There are several things we still haven’t seen in Asia but a rainy day was not the best time to see them. Besides it was lunch time! We walked back over to Africa and had lunch at Tusker House (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858492&postcount=7 ).

I would have liked to have stayed and watched Festival of the Lion King, but I was tired of dealing with the rain and the boys wanted to go back, so we left the park and caught a bus back to Beach Club. On the way back we were again the only people on the bus! It had to stop at Swan, Dolphin, and Yacht Club before dropping us off, and nobody got on.

We had 4:30 reservations at Garden Grill in Epcot, and there was also a DVC Member Mixer event scheduled at 3:00 in the courtyard just outside the International Gate. I decided to try that, and when it turned out to be cancelled due to the weather, I decided to hang out in Epcot for an hour and wait for the others who would come to Epcot at 4:00. Unfortunately there was no live entertainment taking place because of the weather, so I just looked through the shops in UK and France. Belle and Aurora were having a character event over in France that I stumbled upon. I seldom have pictures taken with characters because there are usually many children waiting in line, but Belle was free for moment so I had my picture taken with her. That was a pleasant surprise because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie.

At 4:00 I had to go back to the International Gate, not only to meet my family but to give them their tickets! Originally I had planned to meet them at the Member Mixer and we’d enter together, but now I just handed them their tickets over the fence.

Our dinner at Garden Grill was fine, and overall better than that at Liberty Tree Tavern (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858503&postcount=8 ). It was part of a Candlelight Processional Package which meant that we also had preferred seating for the 6:45 show.

After we finished dinner, we walked around World Showcase to the American pavilion to wait in line to be seated. By this time the rain had stopped completely, but the seats were still wet. Fortunately we still had a couple ponchos we could lay out on the seats during the show. The show was enjoyable but it seemed to be exactly the same music as the last time we saw it in 2003. The narrator was Jaci Velasquez, who was clearly having voice problems. She seemed to be hoarse and barely able to talk, so she wasn’t as effective a narrator as she could have been. DS9 behaved better than in the past. The first time we saw it when he was 5 he put up a real stink about being forced to watch it. I think this time he almost enjoyed it.

 

[erikthewise]

12/09 Fri: Princes of the Caribbean
I got up early again today to go exercising. I had hoped to do that three times during our stay, but guess what? It only happened twice.

Today was Disney Quest day. I had promised the boys we could go to Disney Quest this year since we didn’t go last year. DW didn’t enjoy our last excursion here, so she opted out. She wandered around World Showcase and ate at Tangierine Café, but that’s all I heard about her adventures.

We parked at the West Side about 10:20 and walked over to the Lego Store so the boys could play there for awhile. About 11:10 we headed back to the West Side and got in line for Disney Quest which opened at 11:30. The line was pretty short, and in any case about 30 people go in each elevator to the third floor, which is how you enter. They call them “cybrolators”, kind of like the old hydrolators at Living Seas, only these really do go up two floors.

It had been two years and it took a few seconds to get our bearings, but that was better than most, so we were second in line for Virtual Pirates of the Caribbean. We were short one cannonier (DW) so we didn’t do quite as well as last time, but it was still fun. Then we moved along to Virtual Jungle Cruise. This went better than last time, because I asked what actually makes the paddles work. The pressure your oars exert on the inflated cushions alongside your raft is what makes the game work.

This year DS9 was 52 inches tall, so he met the 51 inch height requirement for both Cyberspace Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear’s Astroblaster. We went to Cyberspace Mountain first, and it was so uncrowded we did it twice in a row! You get to design your own coaster on a terminal, kind of like Roller Coaster Tycoon. But then you get to ride your creation in a simulator! Even the most extreme settings just result in fun rides, as long as you don’t mind being upside down.

Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlaster has enclosed two-person bumper cars combined with firing rubber cannonballs at each other. If you hit one of the other cars with a cannonball in the right way, they go spinning out of control. The boys rode this together while I watched.

After that it all runs together in my mind, but we did quite a bit. We ate lunch at FoodQuest (just pizza), played Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam three times, rode Aladdin’s Magic Carpet and Ride the Comix, did Cyberspace Mountain one more time, played a bunch of video and arcade games, especially Star Wars Podracer, even a couple well-worn actual pinball machines. The boys also did Radio Disney Songmaker, where you “compose” your own song by choosing a subject and musical style, then choosing among various phrases to fit the melody. They chose the subject “Boys are Better than Girls”, and the less said about that the better, except that I did not decide to purchase their song on CD!

About 3:30 we had done as much as we cared to, and drove back to BCV. The original plan had been to go to the Tree Lighting ceremony at Epcot, but we decided instead to go to the Member Open House at Saratoga Springs as we had not visited that resort yet. They were showing a grand villa, which is really nice and correspondingly expensive, and also a regular two-bedroom villa. We also checked out the public areas such as the community hall, lobby, and and shopping area. But the most interesting thing about that visit is that on the road between Old Key West and Saratoga Springs you could see the old treehouse villas lit up in the woods, as if elves were living there! It turns out they are being used by international students in the college program. But it is very unlikely they will ever again be available to the public.

Afterward we went to a wonderful dinner at Boma (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858507&postcount=9 ) in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Driving there at night is a little strange because it is so isolated. The road narrows to one lane and there is only a minimum of street lighting so you really can’t see where you’re going very well. You almost expect it to turn into a dirt road, and then suddenly you’re there.

 

[erikthewise]

12/10 Sat: Never on Saturday
All right, I’ve painted us into a corner. Only one full day left, we need to go to Magic Kingdom again, and it’s Saturday! I used to have a firm policy against going to MK on Saturday, but last year our youngest wanted to go to MK on Saturday when I wanted to go to AK, so I relented. It wasn’t too bad. Also the Unofficial Guide says Saturdays are OK.

If you’re going to do this, it’s essential to be there at opening time and get your essential attractions done early. Again it was just the boys and I since DW’s blisters had not relented. We took an early bus and arrived at about 8:45. The opening crowd wasn’t too bad, but the crowd management left a little to be desired. They let us through the turnstiles but then held us back with an immediate rope that kept us in the entrance courtyard. Naturally the small crowd lined up to enter, meaning that they pushed to the far ends of the courtyard where the tunnels under the railroad were. A loud CM kept encouraging people to move to the center of the courtyard in front of the floral display, but of course no one did, and soon the crowd had backed up to the turnstiles, also at the ends and not in the middle! They ended up “opening” five minutes early, allowing us to move down Main Street, and by the time we got there the second rope dropped as well.

Because we had already done Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear once, we started in Fantasyland. We were the very first people on Winnie the Pooh, then moved on to Peter Pan. After that we headed for Adventureland, where our adventures were somewhat complicated by the fact that Jungle Cruise and the Enchanted Tiki Room didn’t open until 10:00. So we did Aladdin’s Magic Carpets and Swiss Family Treehouse while we were waiting, and then Jungle Cruise. This cruise was enlivened by several sorority sisters sitting in the back of the boat with us, one of whom laughed loudly at all the bad jokes. She should have received a special award.

I had specially designed our plan this morning to make sure we saw the Enchanted Tiki Room. In spite of annual trips since 2001, I had not seen it since 1992, and the boys hadn’t seen it at all. It’s worth seeing, but I wish they had included a little more of the classic show before letting Iago and Zazu take over.

Next we went over to Main Street Bakery for a mid-morning snack. There we had the longest wait of our entire trip, but it was worth it! The boys had cinnamon rolls and I had french toast loaf. Very good and very filling – we didn’t eat lunch until 2:00!

We went to Stitch’s Great Escape and grabbed fastpasses before heading over to Tom Sawyer Island. This is the only time our boys get to shoot toy guns (in Fort Langhorn), as they aren’t allowed ot have any at home. And you can fire cannons at the riders on Big Thunder Mountain! After going through caves and mines and across wobbly bridges for awhile, we returned to the mainland and back to see Stitch. The line wasn’t that bad and our fastpasses probably weren’t necessary. Afterward the lines were pretty bad at Buzz Lightyear (50 min) and Space Mountain (60 min). There were even lines at the fastpass machines, so we just rode TTA again and started thinking about lunch. The good places (Pecos Bill and Columbia Harbour House) were clear on the other side of the park, so we decided to leave and eat at Concourse Steakhouse (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858516&postcount=10 ). I thought DS9 would enjoy it since he had asked a couple times “Why don’t we ever get off at the Contemporary?”

I didn’t think we’d have too much of a wait at Concourse Steakhouse, but it turned out there was a big Democratic Party convention at the Contemporary, and it was pretty busy. We were told a half-hour wait, but it turned out to only be half that. When we were seated, I could see that two-thirds of the people were from the convention. After lunch we rode the monorail all the way back to MK and caught a bus back to Beach Club. Once again we didn’t have to wait long. This time (unlike the return from AK) the bus only stopped at Yacht Club and Beach Club.

That afternoon I went on a 90-minute photo tour of the Epcot resorts, taking pictures of everything that I thought of. Here are just a couple, the view from the balcony of our room, and the Beach Club plus Spaceship Earth as seen from the Boardwalk.

Our dinner this evening was at Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge. We try to visit Wilderness Lodge each year since they have wonderful Christmas decorations, and this gave us an excuse to do it this year. For some reason the “spring” in the lobby was not operating. After a nice dinner and dessert, we decided not to try to go to Magic Kingdom for one last theme park fix.

 

[erikthewise]

12/11 Sun: All Good Things

Today was a typical departure day. For some reason packing takes forever, so as usual it took nearly until 11:00 to get ready to leave. We decided to eat lunch at Olivia’s in Old Key West, but it didn’t start serving until 11:30, so we ending up waiting nearly half an hour, much of the time spent in the adjacent gift shop. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858524&postcount=11 )

After lunch we drove up to DeLand to visit DW’s cousin and her husband, about an hour’s drive north from WDW. It’s a nice relaxing way to spend departure day, but they are trying (not too hard) to sell their house so it’s not clear if we will be able to do the same next year.
On the way back, we take I-4 back down to 417 and that to the airport. We must be the only WDW guests who regularly take the northern segment of 417 to the airport! There is no way on 417 to tell where to find a gas station. There are no signs on the highway, and you can’t see anything at any of the exits until you are past the ramp. This year I didn’t do so well, having to drive well over a mile from 417 to find one. But we did notice that just after we get onto 528 there are gas stations at the first exit (Semoran Blvd?).

Our rental return at National went very smoothly, and a porter was waiting to help us with our luggage. After checking in at the Airtran counter, we ate dinner at Chili’s Too. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=10858524&postcount=11 ) Our 7:47 flight arrived on time in Dayton, but we had to wait forever for our luggage, and we didn’t get home until a little after midnight, with school the next day!

But it was a great trip!

 

[swankybeth]

Great report so far! Can't wait to read the reserved/reversed spaces!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Keep the reports coming! I've enjoyed reading them.

 

[annie1995]

Keep them coming! it's nice to read, it seems like so long ago that we were there!

 

[erikthewise]

annie1995,

Congrats on getting tagged! Good to know the tag fairy is still alive and well!
I hope you get your wish for a princess. We had to stop at two boys.

 

[MazdaUK]

Love your reports!

 

[DisTeach1]

Can I ask how many days you took your 12 year old out of school for? We are going same time next year, and he will miss a full week, but I want to stay for an extra day, so he will miss closer to two weeks. Yikes!

 

[erikthewise]

Can I ask how many days you took your 12 year old out of school for? We are going same time next year, and he will miss a full week, but I want to stay for an extra day, so he will miss closer to two weeks. Yikes!

We took the boys out of school for one week. As it turned out, Friday was a snow day back home so they actually missed four days of school.

 

[PolyGuy]

You really resemble James Woods in the pics...great report!

 

[erikthewise]

And WHO is James Woods?
This is why I will never win at Millionaire -- too weak in Popular Culture.

 

[erikthewise]

Just giving this a shamless bump since I actually finished it.