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- Jun 1, 2000
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We checked out of Port Orleans about 9:00 and left our luggage with Bell Services to be forwarded onto the Villas. We drove over the Magic Kingdom, parking in the Minnie lot just a hop skip and jump away from the front gate. You may ask us why we didn't park at the Wilderness Lodge and take the launch... Well duh, we thought of that on the ferry over to the MK. Oh well, we're on vacation, who cares? We didn't understand why everyone wasn't just walking the 4 rows of cars to the gate, but would rather walk the whole aisle length to the trams, then wait a while, only to travel 200 yards or so. Maybe it's just we know what we're doing and most others just are first timers? Again, something we just shrug our shoulders at. Ok, we ran into another thing when we went through the ticket area. Brittany (3 1/2) was in the stroller, I was pushing. Gael and I have Premium Annual Passes, so we did the finger thing, but the CM never asked for Brittany's ticket. Did they change the age of children's tickets, and he assumed he was free? Gael thought I did the ticket, and I thought she did. Oh well. We'll make sure we ask the CM next time. We didn't realize the mistake until we were standing on main Street. MK was a ZOO today, amazingly enough. We thought it wouldn't be quite so bad, but oh my god, there were people coming out of the woodwork. The lines were huge, fastpass was even crazy.
We laid low most of the day because of this. We only really went on two rides - Dumbo and Cinderella's Carousel. Most of the rest of the day we spent searching for characters. During our two separate visits to the exposition hall, we saw Chip and Dale, the Mad Hatter, and Dopey. Unfortunately, the side street that contained the barber shop was closed for renovation, so no hair cut for me. We walked through adventureland, bummed that the Dole stand was closed, and with the remodeling for Agrabah, there wasn't any character area there anymore. We grabbed lunch there, cause Brittany seemed like she was hungry. The food hit the spot and the little girl that was getting whiny perked up a bit. Just before we left adventureland, we saw Mr Smee and Captain Hook. Brittany was scared to death of Captain Hook, so daddy got to get the autographs and picture. Standing in line I met a nice couple from Michigan and another from Indiana. The husband of the Indiana couple was waiting at the beginning of the line, taking pictures for all the people that wanted group pictures. He took my picture, and I took theirs.
We stopped to get some lemonade ice, and I took another picture of Cast Members. Gael thinks I'm insane, but I like Dan Murphy's idea (on the DIS) who takes pics of everyone and anyone. I have been taking pics of the cast members that have excelled and been smiling and helpful.
We swung over to Toon Town fair, and there were lines out the door and down the street for Mickey and Minnie's house. We went to the character greeting area and waited in line for Minnie and Donald for what seemed like forever. While waiting in line, I traded pins with a girl who was there on her birthday. I opened my entire collection up to her and told her to pick whichever one she wants. Although I may have some valuable ones, the joy kids have looking through my collection makes it all worth it. I still have a hard time calling pin trading more than a hobby for me, as kids seem to get much more out of it than I do. At this point Brittany was getting tired, so after we went through that line, we popped her in the stroller and took a slllloooooowwww walk down the back path to Tommorrowland. When we came out the other end, she was asleep and we spent some time looking for Angie (Angiebelle for you DIS members) with no luck. We asked a 'suit' (Disney employee with a suit and name tag - they always seem to know what is going on) and he pulled out a bunch of papers and looked to find out Angie was off. Bummer. Those of you looking for Angie again (since I don't know her last name either) ask for Angie the college intern that sings. That identified her enough to the suit and got our answer. We'll be back to MK, so we'll look for her again. We walked towards main street, but just over the bridge we realized it was parade time and we wanted Brittany to sleep, so we turned around and walked back the other way. We strolled back over to Toon Town, and eventually Brittany woke up. We went through the lines again in the character greeting area, and went to see Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. While waiting in line, one of the cast members asked us if we were on the DIS. She saw our green ribbons(!) and just had to ask. Her name was Katie and her DIS name is tinkermon(?). We talked a bit and when we were done, we parted ways saying we were going to get in line to see Cinderella. Amazingly, she winked at me and snuck us back out the in door and got us over to see Cinderalla right away. WOW! Thanks Katie! Certainly something we weren't expecting, but really appreciated. Unfortunately, Brittany was deathly afraid of Cinderella, even though she talked about nothing but seeing Cinderalla the whole time we were planning the trip. Mommy got her picture with Cinderalla, and I got Perla's picture. She wouldn't even go near the mice, she was so terrified. Again, oh well. Much as we thought she would love to see her, she was scared to death. Hopefully we won't have the same trouble when we have our character meals.
We ate dinner at cafe in Tommorrowland (don't eat the vegetarian hamburger), we left the park and drove to our new Home, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. I checked in and got a nice packet of info about the club, and lots of other stuff such as maps, a sheet about hidden mickeys, etc. Gael was bummed as we walked past the workout room. She didn't bring workout clothes and is dying to try it out. We might be stopping somewhere tommorrow so she can pick up something to work out in. Our room is GREAT. We have a 1 bedroom that just seems absolutely huge compared to the room for Port Orleans. After unpacking (we need more hangars) we went down to Roaring Forks to get some ice cream and pick up our refillable mugs (duh, we forgot our other WL mugs at home so had to buy new ones). Ok, the cast member here told me something I will have to verify for validity. She told me it was her understanding that you could use the mugs in ANY parks, and get a refill at any soda place that fills cups with soda for 99 cents. She says she's been told that, and done it at the water parks although she said it seems not every cast member seems to know that. I will certainly be checking this out tommorrow for sure. We stopped at the Mercantile on the way back to our room, picked up some milk and chips, and was litterally shocked out of my shoes to see a nice selection of DVC merchandise and Villas merchandise, ranging from polo shirts, shot glasses, pens, and nice jackets. It was a little pricey (what disney stuff isn't) so I didn't blow all of my money to buy stuff but I will be back. I have heard through lots of sources that there's a lack of merchandise, but certainly not at the mercantile.
Back at our room, we turned in for the night, and found the range has a nice little night light on it, so our daughter doesn't need an overhead light on, which will help her sleep a lot better. Certainly the room is much nicer than I expected, and I'm just loving it. Tommorrow we have a character breakfast here at Artist Pointe, and a birthday/fireworks cruise with another DISer at 8:00pm. We're planning on Animal Kingdom between the two. Up to this point, Gael has stuck with her agreement to not commando the parks, we'll see on day 2.
Pictures - Day 2
We laid low most of the day because of this. We only really went on two rides - Dumbo and Cinderella's Carousel. Most of the rest of the day we spent searching for characters. During our two separate visits to the exposition hall, we saw Chip and Dale, the Mad Hatter, and Dopey. Unfortunately, the side street that contained the barber shop was closed for renovation, so no hair cut for me. We walked through adventureland, bummed that the Dole stand was closed, and with the remodeling for Agrabah, there wasn't any character area there anymore. We grabbed lunch there, cause Brittany seemed like she was hungry. The food hit the spot and the little girl that was getting whiny perked up a bit. Just before we left adventureland, we saw Mr Smee and Captain Hook. Brittany was scared to death of Captain Hook, so daddy got to get the autographs and picture. Standing in line I met a nice couple from Michigan and another from Indiana. The husband of the Indiana couple was waiting at the beginning of the line, taking pictures for all the people that wanted group pictures. He took my picture, and I took theirs.
We stopped to get some lemonade ice, and I took another picture of Cast Members. Gael thinks I'm insane, but I like Dan Murphy's idea (on the DIS) who takes pics of everyone and anyone. I have been taking pics of the cast members that have excelled and been smiling and helpful.
We swung over to Toon Town fair, and there were lines out the door and down the street for Mickey and Minnie's house. We went to the character greeting area and waited in line for Minnie and Donald for what seemed like forever. While waiting in line, I traded pins with a girl who was there on her birthday. I opened my entire collection up to her and told her to pick whichever one she wants. Although I may have some valuable ones, the joy kids have looking through my collection makes it all worth it. I still have a hard time calling pin trading more than a hobby for me, as kids seem to get much more out of it than I do. At this point Brittany was getting tired, so after we went through that line, we popped her in the stroller and took a slllloooooowwww walk down the back path to Tommorrowland. When we came out the other end, she was asleep and we spent some time looking for Angie (Angiebelle for you DIS members) with no luck. We asked a 'suit' (Disney employee with a suit and name tag - they always seem to know what is going on) and he pulled out a bunch of papers and looked to find out Angie was off. Bummer. Those of you looking for Angie again (since I don't know her last name either) ask for Angie the college intern that sings. That identified her enough to the suit and got our answer. We'll be back to MK, so we'll look for her again. We walked towards main street, but just over the bridge we realized it was parade time and we wanted Brittany to sleep, so we turned around and walked back the other way. We strolled back over to Toon Town, and eventually Brittany woke up. We went through the lines again in the character greeting area, and went to see Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. While waiting in line, one of the cast members asked us if we were on the DIS. She saw our green ribbons(!) and just had to ask. Her name was Katie and her DIS name is tinkermon(?). We talked a bit and when we were done, we parted ways saying we were going to get in line to see Cinderella. Amazingly, she winked at me and snuck us back out the in door and got us over to see Cinderalla right away. WOW! Thanks Katie! Certainly something we weren't expecting, but really appreciated. Unfortunately, Brittany was deathly afraid of Cinderella, even though she talked about nothing but seeing Cinderalla the whole time we were planning the trip. Mommy got her picture with Cinderalla, and I got Perla's picture. She wouldn't even go near the mice, she was so terrified. Again, oh well. Much as we thought she would love to see her, she was scared to death. Hopefully we won't have the same trouble when we have our character meals.
We ate dinner at cafe in Tommorrowland (don't eat the vegetarian hamburger), we left the park and drove to our new Home, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. I checked in and got a nice packet of info about the club, and lots of other stuff such as maps, a sheet about hidden mickeys, etc. Gael was bummed as we walked past the workout room. She didn't bring workout clothes and is dying to try it out. We might be stopping somewhere tommorrow so she can pick up something to work out in. Our room is GREAT. We have a 1 bedroom that just seems absolutely huge compared to the room for Port Orleans. After unpacking (we need more hangars) we went down to Roaring Forks to get some ice cream and pick up our refillable mugs (duh, we forgot our other WL mugs at home so had to buy new ones). Ok, the cast member here told me something I will have to verify for validity. She told me it was her understanding that you could use the mugs in ANY parks, and get a refill at any soda place that fills cups with soda for 99 cents. She says she's been told that, and done it at the water parks although she said it seems not every cast member seems to know that. I will certainly be checking this out tommorrow for sure. We stopped at the Mercantile on the way back to our room, picked up some milk and chips, and was litterally shocked out of my shoes to see a nice selection of DVC merchandise and Villas merchandise, ranging from polo shirts, shot glasses, pens, and nice jackets. It was a little pricey (what disney stuff isn't) so I didn't blow all of my money to buy stuff but I will be back. I have heard through lots of sources that there's a lack of merchandise, but certainly not at the mercantile.
Back at our room, we turned in for the night, and found the range has a nice little night light on it, so our daughter doesn't need an overhead light on, which will help her sleep a lot better. Certainly the room is much nicer than I expected, and I'm just loving it. Tommorrow we have a character breakfast here at Artist Pointe, and a birthday/fireworks cruise with another DISer at 8:00pm. We're planning on Animal Kingdom between the two. Up to this point, Gael has stuck with her agreement to not commando the parks, we'll see on day 2.
Pictures - Day 2
