Hilary's resurrected TRs - March 2001

[Hilary]

These reports were lost in the DIS boards crash of long ago, but I've been asked to re-post them (I won't say who asked me as I wouldn't want them to attract too much hate mail ). To avoid taking up the whole TR board, I'm posting each set as a single post. Here goes:

The Cast

Hilary (Me) – devoted daughter, selflessly accompanying my mother (Eve) on a trip to WDW. I will try to enjoy myself, but it’s to be Mum’s holiday – I’m just there to act as guide and mentor. (Well, something like that, anyway…) Wondering how I’ll cope without Jeremy, Rhian and Amy. Wondering whether they’ll miss me. Spend weeks (no, make that months) preparing lists and instructions in the naive belief that the household will collapse without me there to oversee everything. The freezer is begging me not to try to cram any more in and I’ve bought extra school uniform for Amy in case the washing machine breaks down.

Eve (Mum) – devoted Nanna who has (fairly willingly) been persuaded to treat herself to a holiday, and has very sensibly decided that Orlando would be a great choice. No, I can’t imagine how she came up with that choice of venue, but I’m not going to argue with it. Oh alright, I admit I may have made a few heavily loaded suggestions, but I tried to get across the idea that if she was ever likely to want to go there ‘one day’, then she should do it sooner rather than later as stamina was a fairly critical ingredient to getting the most out of it. A week by a pool in Majorca could wait… This was to be her first experience of WDW, first visit to Orlando, first trip to USA, first long haul trip anywhere. Worried that the dog (Max) would go into a rapid decline as soon as he heard the word ‘kennels’.


Preparation

Having been unable to get a flight from Cardiff (our ‘local’ airport) without enduring a 24hr journey with at least two change-overs, we’d booked to go with Virgin from Gatwick. Gatwick is a real nightmare departure point for us, as it’s a good four hours drive to get there and, more importantly, at least four hours to get home after the return flight. So after much indecision we agree to travel up by train and stay overnight in a Gatwick Bed & Breakfast on the way there. Then comes last year’s succession of train disasters and we think that maybe the coach sounds good, but that would take six hours! We’re undecided right up to the last week, but then find we can qualify for the reasonably priced ‘Super-Advance-but-only-bookable-when-there’s-an-‘R’-in-the-month-and-must-be-purchased-whilst-standing-on-one-leg-and-singing-Rule-Britannia’ train tickets, and the decision’s made.


Sunday, 4th March 2001
…and they’re off!


Take Max to kennels. This has been a major concern all along, as Max is eight years old, on medication and special diet for a heart condition (i.e. a physical wreck), has never been in kennels before and is spoilt rotten. Mum thinks she will never see him alive again or that if, by some miracle, he manages to survive the abandonment, that he’ll never trust her again, and who could blame him? Max led off to depths of kenneldom with tail between his legs and a reproachful stare. Begin to think she may be right about never seeing him alive again…

Collect Mum’s luggage, complete Fort Knox procedure on her bungalow and wave goodbye to the neighbours. Have lunch at our house, then Jeremy, Rhian and Amy take us to the train station. Worry that I’ll never see them alive again… hang on, this sounds familiar – pull myself together and wave a cheery goodbye from the platform with lots of hugs and kisses and promises to phone home as often as I can. It feels strange not to have Rhian and Amy chattering away beside me on the train, but I try to relax and enjoy the luxury of being able to read the Sunday papers without interruption. Mum interrupts. “Do you think they’ll be alright?” A bit late to be wondering that now…

Train takes longer than scheduled to reach Reading, so we just miss our connection and have to wait nearly an hour for the next one. Last time this happened to me in Reading I was very impressed with the shops and cafes in the concourse outside, but find that there is a now an exit barrier to pass in order to reach nice shops and cafes and we decide we can’t face trundling the cases through, so just salivate over the fresh coffee smells wafting across to cold draughty platform instead.

Eventually arrive in Gatwick and I get quite excited at the hustle and bustle of the check-in area as we pass through from the train platform. We are booked in to the Lawn Guest House in Horley, about five minutes away from the airport, and have been instructed to phone the proprietor on our arrival in Gatwick so that he can come and collect us. This works very well and no sooner have we signed in at the Lawn than said proprietor has even arranged our taxi for the morning. Very efficient.

Decide to sample the delights of Horley for something to eat this evening, and pass several eating places which appeared promising on the town map, but seem to assume no-one wants to eat on a Sunday evening. Of the few places open there’s a burger bar, but we want a more up-market start to our holiday than that, thank you very much; a couple of Indian and Chinese places, but we don’t fancy anything that substantial; and there’s a pub serving food, but everyone visible through the window appears to be under 25 and the juke box and disco lights are working overtime. The burger bar wins.

Breakfast the next morning provides good grub and interesting conversations to be overheard on other tables. I try to work out where the other guests are going – it’s obvious everyone else is also heading for the airport – but our taxi arrives before I can reach any conclusions. £4 for the trip to the airport seems good to me, and our driver puts us down right where we need to be. Virgin check-in is pretty busy, but it doesn’t take us long to get to the front of the queue and I’m really chuffed to find we’ve got the seats we requested.

I send Rhian and Amy a postcard from Gatwick (!), Mum sends Rees and Laura a postcard from Gatwick, we both look around the shops. Phone Rhian and Amy from Gatwick (they had a school INSET day today) and am told the cat’s been sick, but they’ve cleaned it up (sigh of relief that they haven’t left it for me to deal with when I get back). Look around a few more shops and then it’s time to board. Because our seats are at the back of the plane we are called to board early on and get the impression that we should feel privileged to be able to spend even longer sitting down than everyone else. There are two empty seats behind us until, right at the last minute, a very large lady comes to sit there and takes up at least one and a half seats on her own. Ponder the fare structure for passengers unable to fit into one seat, make mental note to find out sometime (passing curiosity, but you never know when it might be useful information).

Take off about 40 minutes behind schedule, but the pilot assures us that our estimated arrival time is about the same as it would have been anyway. Leave Gatwick resplendent in spring sunshine. Tell Mum that I want to watch a film, and enjoy being able to see the whole of ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ without Rhian and Amy interrupting. Yes, I’m missing them already! We enter the adults in-flight competition (name the seven dwarves) and win one of the prizes – a bottle of champagne! Things are looking good… About an hour before we’re due to land, pilot makes an announcement over the tannoy: “Today is one of those very rare occasions when the weather in Orlando is worse than the weather we’ve left behind in Gatwick.” What have we done to deserve this? I suffered record low sub-zero temperatures over New Year in WDW with Jeremy and the girls, and now Mum’s coming on this trip of a lifetime and it’s grey and raining.

Land to gloomy skies, but at least it’s fairly warm and has now stopped raining. Collect luggage from carousel, but discover my case is now minus its strap – a very neat Mickey design which Rhian brought back for me from school trip to Italy. Speak to Virgin rep., but she thinks it unlikely I’ll ever see strap again, so we press on through the 27 million different areas of immigration control, customs, baggage, shopping, shuttles, hotels, shopping, etc., etc. (boy, am I glad I’ve been here before with family and know roughly where I’m going) until we finally make it to the last baggage carousel and see Tiffany driver holding sign with my name on it. It’s the same driver who met me at New Year, so have a bit of a chat (as if we’re old friends!) while waiting for the baggage to appear. Mum still quite concerned about my missing strap.

Out to the Florida air and Mum impressed with the temperatures, even though it’s disappointing by Floridian standards. Wait for Tony (our Tiffany driver) to bring the car round, and see group of about 50 leather-clad bikers from our plane boarding their coach over to Daytona for Bike Week. Lots of thinning hair, grey beards and beer bellies amongst the tattoos and piercings. And that’s just the women… (I know, it’s an old joke).

We enjoy the trip out from the airport and Mum’s busy taking it all in. Before long we are driving through the Walt Disney World archway and then in to Port Orleans Riverside Resort. Until last week this was Dixie Landings Resort and I’m amazed that they’ve changed all the signs and everything so that there’s no trace of the old name anywhere.

Check-in without too much of a wait, and very, very chuffed to find we’ve got a room just where we’d wanted it in Alligator Bayou building 14, nearest to the food court and bus stop, etc. Don’t want Mum’s little legs to be working any harder than necessary outside of the parks.

Mum gets busy straight away with her unpacking, then it’s off to the food court to fill up the mugs and get something to eat. Now I quite agree that it’s easy to lose your way around the DxL buildings (I know it’s Port Orleans Riverside, but I’m going to carry on calling it DxL anyway) especially for the first couple of days, but Mum seems to find navigation here particularly challenging, and is pretty much guaranteed to pick completely the opposite direction to the one she actually wants. Make mental note not to encourage her to set foot outside the room on her own without echo-location equipment. Eventually make it back to the room and collapse into bed, prepared to be awake very early the next morning.

 

[Hilary]

Tuesday, 6th March 2001
Day 1, Theme Park Initiation

Wide awake by 5:00am, so make a cup of tea for us both. I’d envisaged a leisurely mid-morning breakfast in Epcot, but as we don’t need to get the bus until around 7:00am we decide to have something to eat in the DxL food court when it opens at 6:00am. Make mental note that two adults (Mum and me) can get organised and out of room in around one tenth of time required by two adults (Jeremy and me) plus two daughters (one being a teenager with more extensive daily beauty routine than Joan Collins).

Not many others in the food court this early – maybe because they’ve already discovered the cooked items don’t become available until 7:00am. Cereals and muffins it is then. Cashier inspects our refillable mugs suspiciously, apparently confused by cunning colour coding added by me (all DxL and PO mugs are identical, so I swapped our lids at home for those on our AS mugs which come in several colours – much more sensible). Manage to persuade her the mugs are all above board and she shrugs us through. Looks like smiles from the cashier aren’t available at 6:00am either…

Walking to and from the food court gives us a chance to test outside temperatures before setting off for the day, and we decide long trousers, jumpers and waistcoats will be required, at least for the morning. The Weather Channel gives current temperature as 51 degrees with a forecast high of 62 degrees. Disappointing.

And so we’re off for Mum’s first immersion in to the heady delights of a Disney theme park – Epcot, to be precise. I’ve been trying to remember my first impressions of Disney to have an idea of what Mum is likely to be thinking, but give up due to more pressing need of making sure Mum is still with me en route from our room to the bus stop and not wandering off in the wrong direction. Get annoyed with myself for never being able to remember which of the two main DxL bus stops is for which bus, therefore destroying any hope of looking as though we’re old hands at this lark. Might as well have ‘just checked in last night’ tattooed in neon on our foreheads.

In true London bus tradition we stand by as several Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios busses pass through. Can’t get to grips with the concept of sending busses for parks which aren’t due to open for another two hours, but am not surprised that there’s no-one waiting for them. Epcot bus arrives after about ten minutes and we’re glad to get on board and enjoy the heating! Bus arrives at Epcot and we begin the long walk to the turnstiles. Mum’s enjoying looking at all the plants along the way, I’m enjoying the music. There are a couple of queues beginning to form outside the turnstiles, but we opt to stand in a warmer sunny spot a little way away and feel smug when we’re then right on hand to start a new queue when the Cast Members take up their positions. Note that Cast Members are all in huge quilted anoraks, gloves and woolly hats – should we be worried? Brief Mum on turnstile routine, emphasising that I’ll need to put my fingers in the Annual Pass verification equipment, but she doesn’t need to as she’s got a Hopper Pass.

Music amplifies, “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls…” announcement comes over the PA and the turnstiles are open. Pass through turnstile in front of Mum and wait for her to emerge, ready to head for Spaceship Earth – I can’t wait! Look back to make sure Mum’s okay and find her standing with her fingers firmly inserted in to the AP finger-checker wondering why nothing’s happening. Drag her and her hopper pass clear of the queue of other guests waiting to pile through after her, and off we go.

For the past few months I’ve bombarded Mum with guide books and park leaflets to try to get a feel of the kinds of attractions she’s interested in, but she hasn’t really come to any firm conclusions. I do understand it’s difficult to assess what you might like when you haven’t been to WDW before so I’ve devised our schedule purely on what I think she’ll enjoy. I have been undecided about the suitability of Test Track and mentioned this to Mum last night because, if she does want to try it, this morning is going to be our best opportunity, but if she doesn’t like it I’d hate it to make her apprehensive about everything else I take her on thereafter. After a bit of thought she said she’d leave everything up to me, as she’d only worry about making a wrong decision. In her words “You lead, I’ll follow”. Sounds good to me.

So, Spaceship Earth, here we come! Minor setback when we can’t find the entrance and I wonder whether this really is one of the rides open for Early Entry after all. Everyone else is heading for Test Track so we join the crowds and hope to find someone to ask. Spot Cast Member trying to fight against the tide of people heading for Test Track and approach him. He’s sure Spaceship Earth is open and leads us back the way we’ve just come and points to the now growing line of guests going in to Spaceship Earth. Doh! I still don’t know whether we just missed the entrance or whether it hadn’t opened when we passed. Anyway, Mum is on her way to her first Disney attraction and I’m excited on her behalf. Rhian has instructed me to tell Mum that there’s nothing to be concerned about on Spaceship Earth, as she’s worried that she might think it’s going to be a roller-coaster when it starts to climb. I reassure her and introduce our family’s way of measuring a ride’s scare-factor - is there a safety belt? As we emerge at the end of the ride, Mum looks pleased with herself and says “Yes”. Not “Yes” in an air-punching, high five kind of way, but enthusiastic enough to mean “Yes, I enjoyed that”. So far, so good. Look for a free Family Phone booth in the exit zone so that we can try to speak to Rhian and Amy, but they’re all occupied (just as well, as with hindsight I realise they’d have still been in school now!), so I take an executive decision and lead Mum over to Test Track. It’s now or never.

No lines yet and we’re in the briefing room straight away (doesn’t give Mum any time to worry) I explain that this isn’t the ride, just a pre-show, before she starts saying “I don’t know why you thought I might not like that, it wasn’t at all scary”. Into the cars and Mum wonders why there’s a safety belt (she’s remembered our ride test). Reassure her, telling her there’s only a seat belt because it’s supposed to be like a real car. Car sets off to first hill climb - and stops. There are ‘technical difficulties’ which don’t help with any apprehension, but it’s not too long before the difficulties are resolved and we continue. Mum seems to be enjoying this (well, she’s not trying to climb out anyway), and then we reach the outdoor track and accelerate, with the wind in our hair (and a chill down our necks) and back to the disembarking area all too quickly. Stop to look at ride photo, Mum hesitates and thinks about buying it, but I don’t think it’s all that good and she doesn’t get it (Holiday Regret Number One). I’m so pleased Mum’s done this, and so is she – she can’t wait to tell Rhian and Amy!

How to follow that? There’s not a lot else open for Early Entry that’s on our itinerary, so we head over to Wonders of Life to keep indoors in the warm and have a browse in the shops. Tempted to nip into Body Wars but decide that really would be too much for Mum on her first morning, so opt for Cranium Command instead. Pleasant, but not much more than that really, and it passes the time until the other pavilions open. Next, we take three hours to buy one postcard, as guest in front of us wants to charge his purchases to his room card, but hasn’t got correct ID. Wait patiently. Second Cast Member comes to help sort out guest’s problem, both Cast Members now attending to same guest. Are we invisible? Wait less patiently. Wish I had a badge saying “Can’t wait long – only got a week to do it all”. Guest eventually decides it’s all too complicated and won’t make purchase after all. Our turn to be served - hooray – “…and a stamp, please”. “We don’t have stamps here…” Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.

Honey I Shrunk the Audience well and truly open by the time we’ve completed our postcard-buying fiasco and we manage to get in just as the pre-show finishes. Great timing. Mum shrieks her way through this one and loves the mice and the dog. In need of a coffee now, so try the Season’s Fair Food Court in The Land, catching a glimpse of Mickey as he makes his way around the Garden Grill. Mum’s hoping to find a garden gnome (Disney style) for Hugh-and-Mavis-next-door, so tries the shop here, but doesn’t find anything suitable for them. Finds a great gardening theme baseball hat for herself, though. I phone Rhian and Amy who are now home from school. Have nice chat with them, try not to have mental picture of £5 notes burning furiously as we talk.

Executive decision here as I decide against waiting 35 minutes for Living with the Land as I’m confident we’ll find it a walk-on later in the holiday and we head to Imagination instead. This ride is another hit with Mum. Emerge in Image Works and don’t have to wait too long for a photo station to send our e-mail photo home. Admire upside down fountain outside (bloop-bloop fountains not working today) and then head for World Showcase. Main Epcot fountain doesn’t seem to be working either – hope it will spring to life later on.

Insist Mum tries one of the drinking fountains we pass, and am rewarded with look of surprise on her face as she hears “Hmm, next time add a slice of lime”. Stop to look at the play fountains, but its too chilly for anyone to be playing in them this morning.

Reach Showcase Plaza just as character bus arrives but Mum declines my offer to buy her an autograph book and we just watch everyone else lining up. Catch the boat over to Morocco (very civilised) and make our way leisurely round World Showcase to Mexico. Don’t ‘do’ all the pavilions in detail as we’ve another evening scheduled to do this, but make the most of no line for the ride in Mexico and declare this as another ‘pleasant’ attraction. Maelstrom in Norway has technical difficulties this morning, and is closed when we pass.
Decide to look in on Living with the Land before going back to DxL, but there’s now a 45 minute wait and I hope we haven’t missed out on this as it’s one of the rides on Rhian and Amy’s ‘must do’ list for Mum. Take further executive decision and leave it for next time. Browse in a couple of shops on our way out and then get bus back to DxL.

Lunch in DxL food court, buy stamps in DxL shop and nip back to our room to write a couple of postcards, then out again for bus to the Magic Kingdom. Make mental note that Mum is still absolutely hopeless at finding her way to and from room – even she suggests one of those wrist strap attachments for toddlers might be a good idea (I think she’s joking…)

Magic Kingdom full to bursting point and when we arrive, everyone is staking out their places for the afternoon parade. This parade doesn’t feature in our itinerary, so we weave our way through the Main Street shops to Tomorrowland and on to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (pleasant) and then into Timekeeper (okay – although now we’ve read this is scheduled to close, we’re glad we caught it). Move on to Frontierland, hoping to do It’s a Small World on the way, but there’s a 25 minute wait so we leave it for now and catch the next Country Bear Jamboree show just going in. Great timing again. Corny but cute. Detour through a shop in Adventureland where Rhian has asked me to look for some cheap surfy gear (Quicksilver, Roxy, etc.). Decide ‘cheap’ and ‘surfy’ are mutually exclusive and come out empty handed.

Head for the Pirates of the Caribbean, but there’s no sign visible giving an estimated wait time. Executive decision to go for it, keeping fingers crossed we’ll be out in time for our dinner reservation. Wait turns out to be about 10 minutes, so we’re okay. Lots of “aah”s from Mum at small girl in queue ahead of us who makes it all the way to the front of the line before deciding she’s not going to ride. Wonder whether Mum thinks small girl’s got more sense than the rest of us. We board our boat and Mum makes our ‘no seat belt’ check. Our boat makes it back into port without being taken over by Pirates – phew!. It’s now time for our dinner reservation at The Crystal Palace and Mum’s introduction to the concept of a character meal. We’re a little early so wait outside on the porch, watch the world go by and make the most of the opportunity to rest our feet.

We’re soon seated and our server gets the drinks and explains the buffet. Mum and I make our way to the buffet pushing aside any small children who get in the queue ahead of us (no, not really). Mum’s in front of me and absorbed in discovering what all the dishes are. I fill up my starter plate with an array of salads and, seeing no sign of Mum ahead any more, return to the table. Mum’s nowhere to be seen. Knowing that a sense of direction is not one of her strong points, and that the Crystal Palace has two symmetrical dining rooms I wonder whose table she’s joined on the other side of the room. Return to the buffet area and spot Mum now in the entrée line, balancing her starter plate in one hand and trying her best to load up an entrée plate at the same time. Explain concept of American all-you-can-eat buffet does not usually mean all-you-can-get-in-one-visit-to-the-buffet-counter. Return to table with one plateful each.

Settle down to chomp our way through starters when we’re interrupted by large yellow fur-fabric object behind me. Oh, it’s Pooh! Make suitably appreciative noises and Mum takes embarrassing photo of me in clinch with said large yellow fur-fabric object. Mum further declines my offer to buy her an autograph book for future furry encounters. Survive further embarrassing photo shoots with Eeyore and Piglet. Make mental note to ensure I’m not sitting on the outside of the table for any future character meals. Funny, I enjoy meeting them when I’m with Rhian and Amy, but it doesn’t seem the same without them. Manage to do justice to both entrée and dessert selection before leaving. Bill comes to $50 including tip.

Waddle back into Adventureland to check wait time for Jungle Cruise – it says 30 minutes but looks much shorter. Seem to remember devious circuitous queuing area here, but decide we may as well wait anyway. Wait turns out to be two seconds longer than it takes us to walk through, and our guide is excellent (in a very corny way).

Next on our itinerary is the Main Street Electrical Parade, but it’s not for another hour yet. How can we possibly have managed to end up with time to spare in our ‘got to do it all in a week’ schedule? Try to come up with quick infill itinerary but can’t, so spend time looking around shops, watching Splash Mountain logs coming over the precipice and admiring the Liberty Belle River Boat. Eventually decide we may as well be standing in situ for parade as anywhere else, and stake our claim on the rope in Liberty Square near the stocks. Congratulate ourselves on finding such a top spot so easily. From here we’ll be able to see the floats coming round the corner from the bridge and should get some great photo opportunities. Smug expression disappears as I wonder which way round the route parade is scheduled this evening – if it’s going the other way we’ve managed to pick a pretty dumb spot. Stress quietly to myself.

Eventually, the lights dim, the music starts up and the parade is on its way – the right way round. Drag small boy from back of crowd to stand in front of us so that he can see. His parents are highly delighted, he looks aghast and babbles nervously to them – in some foreign language. Mum reassures him – in English. Small boy looks even more confused. Small boy’s parents now sounding concerned as well and send over comforting supplies of biscuits to him. Then the first float appears and everyone, small boy included, is immersed in the parade. Mum reassures small boy - in English - at regular intervals. Mum’s camera works overtime as parade passes and she finishes first film of 40 exposures.

There’s half an hour to wait after the end of the parade until Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks, so we walk slowly up to Fantasyland. Spot non-existent queue for It’s a Small World and drag Mum on, reassuring her that there’ll be time to do this and still catch the fireworks when we come out. Try to make boat go faster by telling Mum you have to row yourself round this one, and try to stay calm when I hear familiar booming noises from outside as we exit up the ramp. As we pass through the It’s a Small World exit barriers we can see the fireworks which have already started and try not to trip over too many people as we race round to a better viewing spot and still watch the sky as we run. Make mental note to administer suitable punishment to self as I’ve made Mum miss Tinkerbell’s flight (Holiday Regret Number Two). We enjoy the fireworks anyway.

In my months of planning I’d fondly imagined that, having no accompanying children to worry about, we two adults might spend a relaxing half-hour perusing the shops in a civilised manner when everyone else was making their lemming-like exit from the parks with their families. However, at 8:10pm, Mum was yawning and mentally calculating how many hours past our bedtime it must be back home. So we joined the crowds and let ourselves be swept out to the bus stop.

No time at all before we’re back in DxL, all tucked up in bed and ready to charge up our batteries for tomorrow’s expedition to Kennedy Space Centre. I think we’ll sleep well tonight.

 

[Hilary]

Wednesday, 7th March 2001
Day 2, One small step…

A first for me as well as Mum today – a trip to Kennedy Space Centre. There’s a shuttle launch scheduled for tomorrow, so have decided to visit KSC today in hope of seeing shuttle all ready on launch pad. Hoping to view actual launch from back at DxL tomorrow morning. This visit was top of Mum’s list of places she wanted to see during the holiday and I’m very curious as Jeremy, Rhian and Amy and I keep saying we’ll visit, but have never managed to get around to it.

Mears transport arranged for 8:15am pick-up. Both awake by 5:30am, but delay breakfast in the food court until after 7:00am (learnt that lesson yesterday) so that we can get a full range of cooked items on board before setting off for the day. Weather still decidedly less than tropical and we debate whether or not to take fleeces with us today to add to our long trousers, jumpers and waistcoats. Decide not to as we don’t want to be stuck with carrying them around all day unnecessarily (optimistic, eh?). This marks milestone for Mum, who is renowned for packing extensive range of food and clothing items to cover all eventualities when venturing out of doors for longer than half an hour. Can only assume she must be more tired than I thought.

Stand in position waiting for bus. Move to sunnier spot to try to find some warmth. Watch several Mears vehicles arrive, call out ‘Sea World?’ ‘Universal Stooodios?’ etc, but none for KSC. By 8:25am begin to worry we’ve been forgotten. Arranging this Mears pick-up is also a first for me (booked from UK before we left), so begin to think I’ve got details wrong. 8:30am and a small 7-seater van arrives. Driver shouts out ‘Kennedy?’ and we present ourselves. Driver explains she’s been waiting round at Port Orleans French Quarter because no-one’s used to DxL being called Port Orleans Riverside yet! We’re the only passengers – wonder how much of a tip we should give for personal service all the way to KSC, think what a bargain this service is for only $20. Set off and soon turn in to driveway for Hyatt Orlando Hotel. We’re not the only passengers after all. Resume journey and turn in to Pleasure Island parking lot alongside several other 7-seater Mears vans. Wait until 9:00am when large 52-seater Mears bus arrives and we all transfer on to it. Not such an exclusive service after all – but very comfortable.

Bus makes good progress out to Kennedy Space Centre. Entertainment en-route provided by Mr Bean videos. Strange choice – wonder whether they expect most customers to be Brits? As we are nearing the entrance, driver gives very useful tips about visit and emphasises arrangements for return journey – making sure we all understand that he can’t wait for anyone who’s late and that a taxi back to Orlando will cost around $150! We’re convinced. Disembark into teeth of freezing gale and huddle round ticket booths. Send Mum to wait in the warm somewhere – no point both of us freezing to death whilst we wait. These must be the most inefficient ticket booths I have ever encountered – even slower than Madame Tussaud’s last summer (and that takes some beating). Why don’t they go and see how it’s done in the Orlando parks? Only comfort is that all booths appear to be equally tortuous. Lots of moans and groans all around me in every queue. Brain still active enough, despite boredom and cold conditions, to remember to ask whether there’s any discount for AAA members.
There isn’t. Fail to understand why cashier was taking at least four or five minutes to serve everyone else, but had me all ticketed up and out in about thirty seconds flat.

Eventually make it through to the entrance hall and take Mears driver’s advice to do KSC bus tour first. Think bus loading could take a tip or two from Disney as well, but eventually we’re off to the first stop on the tour – the Observation Gantry. En-route, driver points out impressive sights, including Vehicle Assembly Building (the one in all the photos with the sideways Stars and Stripes on it), Shuttle Crawler Way and Countdown Clock in front of Press Viewing Gallery (where the Press view launches, not for viewing the Press…). Choose lift over stairs for ascent of Observation Gantry, take photos from top, scurry back down to seek warmth in cup of coffee and film theatre. Slightly disappointed that shuttle in-situ on launch pad is practically indiscernible from here – Observation Gantry is exactly one mile from launch pad and shuttle is on far side of its tower. Still, we know its there.

Next stop on bus tour is Apollo / Saturn V Centre. Very excited when we spot an alligator sunbathing at side of roadway next to water-filled ditch. Never mind the space exploration, just look at the wildlife. Arrive at centre and go in to real-time Launch Countdown reconstruction. This is excellent. Don’t know how realistic it really is, but I’m convinced! Decide most of KSC holds significantly more relevance for those of us old enough to have lived through great Space Exploration milestones. Not that younger ones wouldn’t enjoy it, but it wouldn’t hold the same “remember where you were when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon?” memories as it does for those over about 40 – 45. Spend a while here (it’s indoors and its warm!), pick up some souvenirs for Rhian and Amy, take lots of photos and feel very privileged to be able to touch a piece of genuine moon rock – try to ignore fact that millions of others have already done exactly the same before me. I may never wash that finger again…

Back on the bus for quick stop at the International Space Station Centre. Feel rather sorry for staff here as it’s bound to be an anti-climax for most visitors after Apollo / Saturn V. Some people don’t even bother getting off the bus here. After a quick tour round, we’re back on the bus for the main Visitor Centre. Bus driver points out Bald Eagle’s nest and then resident Bald Eagle. Disembark and head straight for some lunch. Can recommend the tuna sandwich at the Orbit café.

Spend the afternoon wandering through Visitor Centre attractions, including IMAX film ‘The Dream is Alive’. Make mistake of sitting too near front for this, and we probably don’t get as much out of this film as if we’d sat further back.

Phone Rhian and Amy (“Where are you?” “We’re in Kennedy Space Centre” “Wow!” - feel guilty). Take quite a while in very comprehensive shop, (assuage guilt by buying more souvenirs for Rhian and Amy), sit outside in the sunshine (at last) and generally potter about to wait for 5:30pm when the Mears bus will be back.

See ‘Astronaut Encounter’ about to start nearby, so decide we may as well wander over. I expect to see some guy in an astronaut suit signing autographs and posing for photos like a Disney character. What we get is the highlight of the day for me. After obligatory ‘warm up’ from young lady with a microphone, a big smile and bigger hair, out comes Story Musgrove (no, I hadn’t heard of him, either), retired astronaut. Story then gives a talk about his background, education, training, career, etc., before holding a question and answer session with the audience. He’s flown six missions, was in the ground control team for many others, and had such a varied life I can’t begin to remember everything he told us. There are handouts with information about him at the end of the presentation and these include his web-site address – www.spacestory.com . So glad we decided to see this, as we so nearly didn’t bother.

Time for a bit more shopping and wandering, then back to the bus. Everyone makes it back before the deadline of 6:00pm, and entertainment this half of the trip is more Brit comedy - Fawlty Towers. After transferring to the 7-seaters in Pleasure Island parking lot, we’re back in DxL by about 7:45pm. Our 7-seater drops off at All Star Movies, so Mum gets a chance to see this resort as we drive through. Up until a few days before we flew out, we were booked in to ASMo for three nights before transferring to DxL (then got a great deal on DxL so switched to seven nights there instead), and Mum’s curious to see what we missed. She says that, although she likes the look of ASMo, she thinks she prefers DxL. Thank goodness for that!

A late tea in DxL food court (beginning to think we should qualify for a frequent visitor discount here) and then a spot of shopping in the DxL shop. Ask at Guest Services desk for best place to view shuttle launch tomorrow morning, expecting them to be as excited about it as us. I guess when you live in Florida you get blasé about that kind of thing as none of the three Cast Members here seem very sure. They are all agreed that it will be ‘in the East’, but we don’t know which way is east! Try to remember pattern of sunrise / sunset here and agree on general direction. Wish I’d still got those Clarks Tracker shoes with the compass in the heel.

Another early night as the launch is scheduled for 6:45am in the morning. Back to Disney tomorrow – MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom, here we come!

 

[Hilary]

Thursday, 8th March 2001
Day 3, Shuttle, Studios, Safari and Shopping

Mickey’s alarm called wakes us at 5:45am this morning so that we have plenty of time to have a cup of tea, get ready and gather cameras, etc. for viewing the shuttle launch. No, I wouldn’t normally leap out of bed at this time in the morning quite as happily as I do today, but then I wouldn’t normally be getting ready to see a launch (even if ‘only’ from afar). I’m sure that in a few years time it will sound as old-fashioned to say you’d got up especially to watch the shuttle launch, as if your grandparents said today that they remembered making a special journey to see an aeroplane take off. Anyway, at 6:30am we set off with high expectations, and stand by the DxL waterway with a good view in the general direction we believe to be east.

Not many other guests out and about at this hour, but there’s a man standing around nearby looking as much at a loose end as us, so we assume he’s got the same motive. After a while we strike up conversation and agree that none of us is very sure in which direction to look. We scan the skies hopefully and then see a slight vapour trail. Now I should know better because I got ‘caught’ like this before. I saw a launch a couple of years ago and, after taking several photos of what turned out to be an aeroplane before seeing the actual shuttle, was convinced that I’d never make the same mistake again – the shuttle’s vapour trail looks so different. So this morning I manage to take three photos of decoy plane, before turning 45 degrees further north and seeing a magnificent vapour trail from the real thing. We’re so pleased to be here to see this and, after taking more photos of the real shuttle, feel very self-satisfied as we head for breakfast.

Mum tucks in to the full cooked brekkie, I tackle a bowl of oatmeal and a banana. Decide Mum’s definitely got the better deal.

Off to MGM Studios this morning and we get to the turnstiles by 8:15am. The weather is gradually improving day by day, but it’s still chilly waiting around. Turnstiles open at 8:30am, but only the shops are open. Spend a relaxed twenty minutes perusing shops, then line up at rope ready to head for the Great Movie Ride when the Cast Member ‘drops rope’.

There aren’t many others lined up, so no need for mad dash to Great Movie Ride. Most other guests are heading for Star Tours, Tower of Terror or Rockin’ Rollercoaster, but these don’t feature on our itinerary (lots of seat belts involved in those!). We’re led to front row of second car and get the gangster scene. We enjoy this ride and come out smiling. I’m conscious of need to make a speedy exit to get in to the first Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show of the day, so make Mum scuttle out as fast as her little legs can carry her. Needn’t have worried as show is no more than three-quarters full. Metal seats uncomfortably cool in the sitting department! Mum really likes this show and is definitely getting into the theme park swing of things this morning. MGM is surprising her today, because a friend of hers recently returned from WDW and told Mum that she’d been disappointed with MGM, so Mum’s expectations aren’t very high to start with.

On to the Animation Tour – pleased to see quite a lot of activity going on today. When I’ve been in the past I’ve never seen much sign of anyone actually working here, and even wondered whether it really is a working studio. Mum’s keen to see it all. Peruse the animation cells in shop as Amy has said she’d like one for her birthday if it’s not too expensive. Afraid she’s out of luck without lottery win. Hadn’t realised they were quite that expensive. Take coffee and muffin on board somewhere, can’t remember when or where!

Next stop is the Backstage Tour and I stand aside politely to let Mum board the bus first so that she can sit on the left. Get the usual Cast Member announcement about “those of you sitting on the right may get wet – those of you now laughing and sitting on the left will get soaked!” I haven’t said anything to her about this ride and I think she’s a bit concerned when the Catastrophe Canyon effects get underway. Decide to keep quiet. We’ve time to do Drew Carey Sounds Dangerous before we leave (Mum particularly likes the killer bees!) and then we get the bus back to DxL.

We’ve a Priority Seating for dinner in the Rainforest Café later, so we skip lunch (DxL food court takings will be down today, then) and do a quick turn around and get the bus to Animal Kingdom. As we arrive we decide we don’t think we’ll be hungry enough to do justice to the Rainforest Café and cancel our Priority Seating before we enter the park. Mum thinks we can make better use of time in park than in restaurant (she really must be getting into the swing of things!)

Head straight to get a Fast Pass for Its Tough to be a Bug, but standby is showing only 10 minutes wait, so go straight in to line. Mum likes the waiting area and we’re soon inside the theatre. Lots of small children apparently terrorised by this show, judging by the screams and wails, but I’m pleased to hear Mum laughing her way through it.

Mentally score highly in own book as I manage to negotiate our way around the park without mishap. This is the only Disney park I find difficult to get round – I can visualise the map, no trouble, but I usually slip up trying to translate that to what I see in the park. Don’t let on to Mum as she’s having enough problems of her own getting back to the room at DxL every day without worrying about the parks as well.

Straight to the Maharaja Jungle Trek to see the tigers, then catch the next Tarzan Rocks show. I’d forgotten just how much loud music there is in this – I’d remembered it as more like a stage musical with some trapeze work. Could do without the ‘rock group’ bit really, but think this may be down to age so keep quiet. Think Tarzan actor would give Johnny Weissmuller a run for his loin-cloth any day.

Check wait time for Kilimanjaro Safaris and decide to go for it as its showing only 10 minutes. Walk straight on and get the best guide I’ve ever encountered here. This guy sure knows his safari banter and manages to make the whole thing very informative as well as great fun. Mum takes more photos than I’d have thought possible in space of ten minutes.

Animal Kingdom scheduled to close shortly, so make our way slowly towards exit, taking in a few shops along the way. Soon back at DxL and keep food court takings buoyant by grabbing a quick tea.

Then we get the boat to Downtown Disney. Boat hasn’t been running the last few days, due to inclement weather conditions, so we’re glad its back on track tonight. Disembark and are staggered at crowds here. First real evidence we’ve seen so far of groups of students on Spring Break. Make way to World of Disney Store and try our best to spend over $25 to qualify for Disney Club discount – succeed with aplomb. Find Courtney, our favourite Cast Member here. Continue search for Disney garden gnome without success. Tour around other shops then decide we’ve seen all we want to today as we’re beginning to wilt. Wait in line for boat back to DxL. Wish we’d got fleeces with us in line. Board boat. Wish we’d got duvets with us on boat. Still find this boat trip absolutely magical in the dark, but definitely more enjoyable on a warm balmy evening.

Collect hot chocolate from food court to warm us up and collapse in to bed, happy that tomorrow’s start isn’t going to be quite as early – we’re off to SeaWorld.

 

[Hilary]

Friday, 9th March 2001
Day 4, If It’s Friday It Must Be SeaWorld

Take advantage of a later start this morning and recharge the batteries a little. Not that I want to give you the impression that we’re lounging around in bed until midday exactly. Far from it, as the Mears bus is due to pick us up at 8:20am this morning to take us to SeaWorld, but it’s the latest start we’ve managed so far this trip. Breakfast from – bet you can’t guess? – yes, that’s right, the DxL food court again! Mears mini-bus arrives without mishap this time and we arrive at the SeaWorld entrance by a quarter to nine.

Enjoy strange sensation of warmth whilst we stand waiting for the ticket booths to open. First morning this trip we haven’t been worried about hypothermia setting in before we can get through the barriers. Things are looking up in the weather department. Ticket booths burst in to action (okay, I’m exaggerating – someone pulled up the blind and started taking money) and I remember to ask about AAA discount and cashier gives us 10% reduction without batting an eyelid. Wait around for official opening and try to look suitably subdued and reverential during National Anthem playing.

Then we’re off! We head straight towards Dolphin Cove to try to beat the crowds here, but make a brief detour to the Stingray Lagoon and Turtle Point on the way. Reach Dolphin Cove and it’s so quiet I wonder whether it’s open yet. Soon reassured as more people make their way over to the side of the pool to try to touch the dolphins. Once the feeding station opens I encourage Mum to part with large number of $s in exchange for small number of fish. Let the feeding commence. Mum is an instant hit with the dolphins (well, they’re not daft, are they?) and I get some great shots of her in full dolphin-friendly mode. She’s impressed!

Manatees next, and Mum’s equally impressed with these. You’d think SeaWorld would have wised up to the possibility of a feeding station here with paper cones of lettuce leaves available for vast sums, but apparently not. After admiring the manatees, we spend a while at the themed gift shop handily placed at the exit of the exhibit and pick up a few leaflets for Amy. Don’t spot any must-have manatee souvenirs, though. Then we make our way slowly over to the Shamu stadium, taking in everything along the way and enjoying the warmest weather we’ve encountered so far this week.

Shamu didn’t disappoint! This was the first attraction Jeremy, the girls and I encountered on our first ever trip to Orlando, which always makes it a special hit with me, and I think Mum was just as enthralled. Apart from her admiration of the star of the show, I think her favourite part was the ritual humiliation and soaking of the audience, so she was pleased I’d persuaded her not to sit in those nice empty seats right at the front… Nearly lost the sole of my trainers when I tried to stand up, as it was practically welded to the safety rail I’d been resting my feet on. Closer inspection revealed build-up of spilt cola, popcorn and assorted sticky things covering most of the floor and railings in this area. I guess that’s one disadvantage of sitting out of the splash zone – it doesn’t get a regular wash down! Mental note – they’d clean it up if it was in WDW.

After Shamu we had time to look through the Tropical Reef before the next performance of Clyde and Seamore Take Treasure Island, and we picked up an enormous salted pretzel each to munch through whilst we enjoyed the pre-show mime in the stadium. Phew, those pretzels had enough salt on them to keep our local chippie in business – I admitted defeat and didn’t manage to finish mine. The mime was great (glad we weren’t sitting on the end of a row) and, of course, so were the sea-lions, walrus and otter.

Stopped for drinks next to quench the thirst after all that salt, and I phoned Rhian and Amy. Had the usual “Where are you?” “In SeaWorld” “Wow!” conversation which necessitated visit to nearest gift shop to assuage feelings of guilt by buying pressies for them. Next, to Terrors of the Deep – not too terrifying, but very good all the same.

Next attraction was a new one on me – Pets on Stage. Clever animals, but not sure whether I liked the concept of this or not. Don’t think I’d lose too much sleep if I missed it in future.

Penguin Encounters next, and they really emphasise how entertaining they can be all on their own, compared to the very stage-managed show we’d just seen. A tad smelly, but I guess they can’t help that!

Continuing with the Arctic theme we scuttle over to the Wild Arctic and take the walking option. (I really wish there were more attractions in Orlando with an “I’d-like-to-see-what-this-is-all-about-but-I-don’t-fancy-being-thrown-around/soaked” opt out route. Splash Mountain, for example, could have such a lot to offer without the drops and drenching, but it can’t be done.) Where were we? Oh, yes, walking to the Arctic. Great stuff.

Spent a while in the post-show shop here looking for a baseball hat for Jeremy without a cute cartoon character emblazoned all over it, as I remember we’d picked up some neat stuff here a few years ago. Well, they’ve obviously changed their marketing strategy, because the shop is now packed to the rafters with fluffy polar bears and seals. Then we find the Anhauser Busch shop round the corner and bag up with just the job. A discreet ‘Budweiser’ logo on the front of Jeremy’s hat will be quite acceptable, I think.

The last item on our agenda for today is another new attraction for me – the Cirque de la Mer. There’s a mime in action as pre-show entertainment here too, but, although his style is similar, I don’t like him as much as the one at Clyde and Seamore. In fact, when the show starts, it turns out that he’s one of the stars of the show as well. Felt the bit with ‘volunteers’ from the audience was a bit laboured, although they were all good sports. A tip for any men reading this - as per all SeaWorld attractions requiring male volunteers - don’t! (You have been warned…)

Nothing else we wanted to do, but we still had an hour or so until our pre-arranged Mears pick-up, so made the most of it and had a good browse around the shops, then people-watched, and rested our feet whilst we waited for the bus. Mears have obviously got this well rehearsed and we were back in DxL within half an hour.

Tea in the food court and then, for a little light relief from all this theme park enjoyment, off to the laundry. As it was getting dark by now, Mum’s chances of finding her way back to the room unaided were pretty much zero – and that’s being generous – so she put her feet up and watched the weather channel whilst I pottered back and forth between the room and the laundry, waiting for the various wash / dry / cycles. Very miffed to find someone had nicked my Disney laundry bag during the ‘dry’ cycle. Not only did I consequently have nowhere to put my clean stuff, but it also meant I couldn’t take the laundry bag home as a souvenir along with the Mickey soap and shampoo from the room. Back to the room to find old M&S bag (decided against joke here – “no, I didn’t mean Mum” - as it would be too obvious) and scrutinise all other laundry users for guilty “I cannot tell a lie, it was me who stole your complimentary WDW laundry bag” expressions, but they’re all clutching old supermarket bags, too.

Back on the treadmill tomorrow – we’ve scheduled an early start in Magic Kingdom.

 

[Hilary]

Saturday, 10th March 2001
Day 5, Magic (Kingdom) Moments and MGM

Okay, time to confess – my note-taking has dwindled from a pretty conscientious start at the beginning of the week to completely non-existent from this point on. I did make a point of recording the attractions we ‘did’ because I knew we wouldn’t remember them otherwise, but from then on it’s down to the little grey cells (always a dodgy one, that). Still, who’s going to argue with me if I get a couple of things in the wrong order, eh?

So it’s another early start today, as we want to hit Magic Kingdom before the crowds build up. Even though it seems like we’ve only just arrived in Orlando, this morning will be our last visit to Magic Kingdom this trip, and our last time in MGM Studios this afternoon. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?

I nip to the food court to fill up the mugs so that we can have a coffee and munchy bar in the room (never fear, Dear Reader, breakfast will feature later). I’m puzzled by a group of teenage girls in the food court area who are all wearing more or less the same kind of matching outfits (short skirts, crop tops or sweat shirts), some of them with strange contraptions on their heads that look like shower caps in six sizes smaller than required. Puzzling, but not enough to delay me on my coffee mission.

We make it to the Magic Kingdom entrance with a few minutes to spare before they open up the turnstiles at 7:30am. It’s straight down Main Street, ignoring the beckoning shops for now, and I drag Mum on a detour to the left towards Adventureland.

I know Adventureland isn’t open for Early Entry, but the Cast Member on ‘guard’ at the rope starts to make his way over to tell us we can’t go through. Good, just what I wanted. “Do you think you could take our photo, please?” I ask him. He obliges. It’s a family tradition with Jeremy and the girls that we have a photo taken from this spot with the castle in the background every trip, and I wanted to make sure we got one here with Mum and me together. Getting it done so early in the day means there aren’t crowds of people in the background as well, only trouble is the sun isn’t shining yet. Never mind, mission accomplished.

Camera away and through the castle to Peter Pan’s Flight. I’m unsure what Mum will think of Fantasyland, as I’ve always viewed it as something we do for the kids, but she seems happy enough when we come out of Peter Pan and make straight for Winnie-the-Pooh to get a Fast Pass. There’s no-one in the standby line, so the Fast Pass option seems a little unnecessary and we wind our way through to the loading area. My, we have a grumpy Cast Member this morning! Not so much as a smile, or even an acknowledgement that someone might be interrupting her conversation with her chum. She doesn’t even look as we climb aboard our hunny pot. Maybe she’s been taking gloomy lessons from Eeyore. Mum goes slightly green around the gills during the bouncy bit, but we like the ride and the gift shop at the end.

I head for the Cinderella’s Golden Carousel next, but Mum hangs back and says “I don’t think so, thank you”. Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but personally I don’t think you can say you’ve done the Magic Kingdom without riding the Carousel!. However, it’s Mum’s holiday, so I bite my lip and try to ignore all those horses’ eyes following us reproachfully as we walk straight past them. I could practically hear them snorting under their breath – and frankly, I couldn’t blame them. Mum’s loss, I feel, but we’ll say no more about it. I don’t even think about suggesting Dumbo…

Buzz Lightyear’s Spaceranger Spin beckons, so I throw caution to the wind and walk in before Mum can protest (sometimes you just have to). I don’t think this would be in her top ten attractions list, but I get a decent score, so I’m happy. As we exit from Buzz, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority is looking forlornly empty, so we give it another go. Not on today’s itinerary, but after the body-blow at the Carousel it seems unimportant.

We’ve got a breakfast Priority Seating booked at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant at 10:00am, but it’s only about quarter to nine and we’re starving. We decide to give it a go anyway, and see if they can fit us in a bit early (a bit?!). As we get to the roundabout at the top of Main Street, the fire engine is there – empty - and seems to be waiting just for us. The driver poses for a photo with Mum and then we set off with just the two of us on board. Surprisingly, there are no pedestrian casualties as the fire engine weaves somewhat recklessly through the crowds coming up Main Street. As we disembark, the horse drawn vehicles are coming out and we’re tempted to go straight back up to the castle, but hunger gets the better of us, and we go into Tony’s about an hour early for our PS.

We are kept waiting all of 45 seconds, and then it’s straight in to the restaurant. “Would it be possible to have a table in the Conservatory, please?” I ask. “That’s where we’re headed” the server replies. Mum looks like the cat that’s got the cream here – it’s her kind of place – and we both choose the waffles with fruit. It’s not busy, so we take our time and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere inside as we watch the world rushing past outside. Our server is an interesting mix of an Arnold Swarzenneger accent in a Basil Fawlty body.

We prise ourselves out of the very comfortable chairs and move out into the sunshine, then make our way across to the station to board the WDW Railroad for a complete circuit of the park. “All Aboooarrrr-D!” I’d forgotten how little you actually get to see from the train, as we usually only use it to get from one place to another, rather than for the ride itself. We return to the top of Main Street and spend a while in the shops as we make our way back up towards the castle. Mum treats herself to some Mickey-shaped pearl earrings amongst other things in The Emporium. I think she must be beginning to realise that we’re getting near to the end of the holiday and she won’t get another chance to shop in the Magic Kingdom after this morning. We arrange for the purchases to be delivered to our room, and then look in some of the other shops as we make our way towards Adventureland.

As we get to the spot where we had our photo taken this morning, I’m aware of how much better the shot would look now that the sun has put in a more impressive appearance, so we stop for another go. I can’t see a Cast Member nearby to ask to do the honours this time, so decide it’ll have to be a shot of Mum on her own. I’m just about to take the photo when a gentleman coming along the pathway tears himself from his wife’s side and leaps in to the frame with his arms around Mum. “Excuse me, Sir, but would you be so kind as to unhand my mother this instant?” I splutter indignantly (no, I didn’t). I take the photo of them both, and then he kindly offers to take one of Mum and me together, telling us, (as he disappears over the horizon with his wife back on his arm) that “if anyone asks you who that guy in the photo is, tell them my name’s Ralph!” First the photo with the fire-engine driver, now Ralph – the neighbours will definitely be talking. Wish Ralph had managed to get the castle in the picture as well as me, Mum and some perfectly ordinary railings, but it seems churlish to complain.

We opt for a quiet sit-down in the Enchanted Tikki Room after that (too much excitement in one morning won’t be good for us, you know) and I manage not to fall asleep. With impeccable timing we make it into the next Diamond Horseshoe Saloon Revue and get a good seat upstairs (carefully avoiding the ones downstairs because I’ve been here before!…) This show is a real hoot – but I would have enjoyed it even more if the air conditioning hadn’t been quite so fierce.

Out in the sunshine we stroll towards the loading area for the Liberty Belle Riverboat, and wait for what is to be our final ride in the Magic Kingdom. As we do the circuit round Tom Sawyer’s Island, we win the bonus prize of spotting a turtle scurrying along the water’s edge. We disembark and make our way towards the park exit, gasping at the wait time for Peter Pan’s Flight, which is now showing 70 minutes. The Magic Kingdom is uncomfortably busy now.

We stop in a couple of shops on the way out (we like the sweets travelling around the ceiling on their conveyor belt) and take a few photos, then we get the bus back to DxL to have a quick freshen up before setting off for the afternoon and evening in MGM. No lunch required today (I almost feel we should stop at the food court and explain our absence) as we’ve had a biggish brekkie and we’ve got another Priority Seating today for an early dinner in MGM.

When we arrive at the bus stop, there are more teenage girls in various forms of matching dress, again with some of them sporting strange shower cap type headwear. They seem to be in teams and have group leaders with them. Some get the bus with us to MGM Studios, and as we move through the turn-style there are more of them round every corner. Then we spot the billboard just inside the entrance with details of the Cheerleading competition being held at MGM after park closing this evening. That explains what they are doing here, but it’s not until later that I work out the shower cap arrangement – they are co-ordinated fabric versions of hair nets to cover the girls’ tightly curled ringlets piled on top of their heads. Well, I suppose you’ve got to keep those curls in mint condition somehow until it’s time for the show. Wish Rhian could be here to see this – she’d have eyes on stalks by now!

The itinerary doesn’t feature the Mulan Parade, but as we’ve got time to fit it in, think we may as well give it a go. (Little did I realise it at the time, but this was one of the last few Mulan Parades to be shown – glad we changed our itinerary). Find excellent viewing spot near Star Tours and wonder why no-one else has it staked out yet. Soon moved on by Parade Manager as we seem to have picked a spot that’s actually part of the parade. Find slightly sub-standard viewing spot further round, but then realise it’s a lot better than we thought, because of a walkway area that’s being kept open right next to us.

Parade starts from very near our viewing spot, so as soon as the last float passes us we scuttle down to the Muppet 3D Show and pick up our 3D specs. We enjoy this, but I think the impact of the 3D shows never matches up to your first experience of one.

After the Muppets, I make the daily phone call to Rhian and Amy, but today’s conversation has a slightly different twist to it, and goes as follows
“Hello” I say
“Where are you?” Amy asks
“In MGM”
“Whereabouts in MGM?”
“Next to Muppet 3D, where are you?”
“In the dining room – next to the sideboard!”

We want to catch the next showing of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but can’t fit it in before our Priority Seating for dinner at Mama Melrose’s, so decide to try to eat earlier, and see the last Hunchback of Notre Dame show of the day after dinner. We report at the podium and only have to wait about five minutes before being seated – well before our Priority Seating time again. We’ve booked the Fantasmic Dinner Package so that we won’t have to sit for too long to get a seat in Fantasmic later this evening, and our server gives us the prized orange ticket to get us in the ‘back door’ entrance.

We love the meal, and waddle out to try to walk off some of Mama’s cooking before we need to claim a seat in the Hunchback auditorium. On our wanderings we see a sign apologising for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular being closed today – what a good job we saw that a couple of days ago when we were here, as Mum said she “wouldn’t have missed that for the World!” Wonder whether they are using the Indy stage for the Cheerleading competition?

The Hunchback show is as good as I remembered, very colourful and full of energy, and I manage to collect some of the paper streamers for the scrapbook without causing permanent damage to the various small children fighting me for them (no, not really). We’ve plenty of time after this show finishes before we need to get our seats for Fantasmic, so there’s time for more shopping and a gawp at the poor souls in the Tower of Terror as the doors open when the car is at the top of the hotel. Afford ourselves a smug chortle at them because we know we’re not going on! (Obviously I was as keen as anything to go on, but I didn’t want to leave Mum on her own...)

Head for the back door entrance to Fantasmic – feel like we’re being let in the stage door – and make our way up to the auditorium. I’ve carefully worked out another of my cunning plans here. It’s a bit breezy tonight, and we have jumpers, but wish we’d also brought coats. So my plan is to make sure we are sitting in the middle of a row, not on the end like we would normally opt for, and not at the front or back either. That way, I reckon that if we are surrounded by other warm bodies we’ll be kept warm too. So, who cares if we can’t see the show too well? Good plan, huh?

We spot a suitable space on the bleachers (is that what they call the benches? That’s what it sounds like anyway) and slide along. Next to Mum there’s a gap, but the cunning plan has taken that into account, and the three Cheerleaders behind us are following in nicely to close the gap and keep Mum warm on the other side. What the cunning plan didn’t foresee was that the Cheerleaders next to Mum are part of the group on the other side of me. Being a well brought-up kind of girl, I’ve opened my big mouth to ask if they want to swap places, and sit next to their friends, before I can stop myself. They do. Mum’s now on the end of the row with no one to insulate her on that side, and won’t budge even though I try to persuade her to swap with me. The people behind must really like the way we’re bobbing up and down like a set of pistons, but there’s only the pre-show ‘entertainment’ for them to see so far, so we’re not in their way at the moment. Eventually, the lights dim and Fantasmic gets underway. As spectacular as ever.

After the show we follow the crowds out to the bus stops and detour to take a peek in the Beauty and the Beast Theatre as, although this has been closed for refurbishment, there’s obviously something going on in there, judging from the sound system that’s going full blast. It doesn’t seem to be anything to do with Cheerleaders.

We’re very impressed with the WDW transport again, and the way the system copes with so many guests all heading out of the park at the same time. We’re back in DxL in no time at all and spend a leisurely evening with some hot chocolate and a browse around the DxL shop. We’re really hitting the nightlife this holiday, aren’t we?

Tomorrow will be our last park day, so it’s got to be another early start to squeeze every second out of our time in Animal Kingdom and Epcot.

 

[Hilary]

Sunday, 11th March 2001
Day 6, Not a Namby Pamby Day

First stop this morning is to be Animal Kingdom at 8:00am, so we’re on the bus by a quarter to, and find the park already open when we arrive (you’d think they could have waited for us – it is our last park day, after all). Hot foot it to the Safari and decide to go for the 10minute standby rather than the planned Fast Pass. Approach the boarding area and find the next jeep is waiting for more guests to fill it. We oblige – and are sent to the very front seat, which is usually reserved for guests accompanying wheelchair users. We’re practically in the driving seat with the driver here, and couldn’t wish for a better view unless we were stuck on the bonnet like the Rolls Royce ‘Spirit’. I sense another David Bailey moment coming on, and Mum’s already cranking up the box Brownie.

Much happy snapping later, we disembark and head for the Pangani Forest Trail. Now, I like a naked mole rat as much as the next person (probably quite a bit more than some of them, judging by the squeals of disgust coming from many of the guests here), but they aren’t really the main attraction for us, and it’s the gorillas we’re hoping to see. They are out and about in fine form, with the little ones of the group having a great game of rough and tumble with some straw as well as each other. The cameras are in danger of going into meltdown, but there are too many good photo opportunities to miss.

After so much animal viewing we’re in need of a mid-morning little something, and find the cookie cart. Mum plays safe with a chocolate chip, I try the sugared version. We head for the first Festival of the Lion King show of the day, and happily munch away as we wait in line. The sun is getting pretty warm by now (we’re not used to this) and it’s nice to have some shade in the queuing area. Also a great opportunity to eaves drop and people watch. It’s easy to relax and forget it’s our last day in the parks.

Before long the lines are moving forward and we cross the auditorium to get seats in back row of the elephant section, as these have backs to them, unlike the other rows. Before long, the lady next to me starts up a conversation, as she’s heard our British accents and wants to hear more. I ask where she’s from and she tells me “Pennsylvania”. Nothing unusual in that, except that Rhian happened to point out on our last trip that whenever an audience member in WDW is asked where they’re from, there’s always someone from Pennsylvania. Now that she’s alerted me to her theory I’m always on the look out for it as well, so when this guest next to me tells me she’s from Pennsylvania, I can’t help smiling, and then have to explain myself to her! She’s very good-humoured about it, thankfully.

My neighbour says she’s heard that this show is the best in WDW, and I tell her I’ve seen it before and it’s my favourite as well – I hope she likes it after a build up like that! The performers are excellent, and I’m amazed that, whichever WDW show we see, you never get the impression that they perform it several times every single day. I suppose that’s professionalism for you. Mum and I enjoy the show, and I think the family next to us is just as impressed, apart from the baby who manages to sleep through the whole thing.

Browse around the shops, and Mum buys herself an Animal Kingdom tee shirt with a Tree of Life motif on the front. She’s quite keen on another one with a character on, but I suggest that she might not want to be wearing that round Sainsbury’s when she gets home. Isn’t it easy to forget, when you’re surrounded by them in WDW, that you don’t often see 75 year-old women with Mickey Mouse tattoos at home? No, she didn’t really want a tattoo, but give her another week in this place and I wouldn’t have been at all surprised. Mickey Mouse earrings and an Animal Kingdom tee shirt today – next week it could easily be Winnie-the-Pooh dungarees and a Goofy hat. Hope this isn’t going to be another holiday regret.

Off to Flights of Wonder next, and I pick seats which I think may be in a good spot to see the birds flying over the audience. We’re right next to a sturdy post with a few bird droppings down it, so I don’t think it would take Sherlock Holmes long to work out that something probably sits there. We sit next to it. Mum doesn’t know what to expect, and likes all of it, but especially when the owl comes and sits on the post right next to her. I got it wrong about being in the right place for the birds swooping over the audience, but we still got a good view of the rest of it.

I remembered the part where they ask for someone in the audience with a $1 bill, and get one ready (from Mum) in my pocket, hoping I can get Mum to do the bit with the bird. When the Cast Member asks, I’m there, waving my $1 around in the air, (along with three million other people) and the Cast Member says “yes, that lady in the blue top”. She doesn’t seem to be looking at me, but I’m wearing a blue top, so I start to stand up – then I see another lady in front of me wearing a blue top, already on her feet. Me, standing up? No, I was just stretching my legs a bit, that was all. Keep my head down for a bit after that.

At the end of the show, Mum says “Yes, I really like Animal Kingdom, I think it’s my favourite.” We have another look in the shops on the way out and then say goodbye to Animal Kingdom and get the bus to Epcot.

Have you noticed the rash “it’s our last day, so you needn’t think we’re going to do the namby pamby midday-break-back-at-the-hotel bit”? Well, our bodies are now fine-tuned to the hectic pace of the past few days and it doesn’t matter if we’re incapable of doing anything tomorrow because we’ll be going home anyway. Mentally calculate maximum hours sleep achievable on combination of plane and train back to Swansea. Decide it won’t be enough, but try to forget it for the moment.

Arrive at Epcot and make straight for the Living with the Land boat tour, as we’d skipped this on our last Epcot visit because of long lines. Lines even longer today, but we have to stick with it as we won’t get another opportunity. Rhian and Amy would never forgive me if Mum missed this. Wait about 35 minutes (do they realise we’ve only had a week to do it all, and we’re going home tomorrow?) but it’s worth the wait as Mum finds it very interesting. Every time I do this ride I’m left wondering whether it’s genuine. No reason why it shouldn’t be, but somehow it all looks so perfect that it makes me wonder…

Relieved to have got that one ticked off the ‘must do’ list, we go for lunch in the Electric Umbrella. Mum chooses a burger, I switch at the final hurdle and ask for the fruit plate. Never had this before, but it sounds healthily spartan, so order a muffin to fill me up as well. Should have known better – fruit plate, when it arrives, is size of small supermarket fresh produce display, and I end up giving bits of it away to anyone who’s interested. Get bird’s eye view (we’re sitting upstairs) of the Jammitors when they start up just under the window next to us.

We move out in to the sunshine, and head to World Showcase, stopping in the shops near the lagoon. Stock up on beanies (for Amy souvenirs and forthcoming birthday presents) and ask for them to go to the package collection point so that we don’t have to carry them round all day.

We tackle World Showcase by starting with Canada and working our way anti-clockwise round the lagoon. In the UK we can’t resist looking in the shop and I try to read the Cast Member’s name badges, as I know there are usually students here from the Institute of Higher Education at home. I spot a lad with Swansea on his badge and can’t help myself shrieking at him. He doesn’t look too alarmed, and the girl with him even offers the information that she’s in the same college, even though her name badge says she’s from Reading originally. They are both on one-year stints in WDW as part of a four-year course. The girl has another six months left to do, the boy a further three months. I ask whether they are enjoying their time here and they seem genuine enough when they say they are, but when I ask if they get paid, they’re a bit hesitant and say “sort of…” Pleased to have met them, we say our goodbyes and leave them to it.

I’m disappointed that the Living Statues are nowhere to be seen in France when we pass, but hope we might catch them later (we don’t). We’ve got a Priority Seating in the restaurant in Morocco for dinner, so we take a preview look at the menu and Mum decides we won’t want anything that substantial, so cancel the Priority Seating at the podium. Not as easy as it sounds because there’s a lot of drumming going on right next to the podium, and the Cast Member doesn’t seem to understand the little English she can actually hear. I just hope she did cancel it. We’ll take pot-luck on finding something to eat when the time comes.

Next stop, the Mitsukoshi store in Japan. We’re on a mission. On our family trip to WDW in 1998, we bought a pearl oyster here, and ‘hatched’ it out for Mum. At the time we didn’t get the pearl put on to any item of jewellery as I’d got the bright idea of having that done at home. Three years down the line and I hadn’t found anyone at home willing to do anything with said pearl, so Mum’s brought it with her to see whether they can finish the job at Mitsukoshi. We tentatively approach Cast Member and begin to explain. No problem at all – just need Mum to choose her setting, and then call back in about 10 minutes. Very satisfied customers. Can’t imagine it being as simple as that in the UK! Not much problem browsing for 10 minutes whilst we wait. Manage to resist entire range of ‘Hello Kitty’ products, despite imagining squeals of delight from Rhian and Amy, as this is where they usually spend at least 75% of their holiday pocket money. Collect pearl, proceed with spring in step to American Pavilion.

We seem to have timed things very badly as we don’t find any ‘street performers’ outside any of the countries we’ve passed so far. I’m disappointed, as I know Mum would appreciate the diversion, but it doesn’t seem as though we’re likely to be in the right place at the right time for any of them, according to the schedule on the park map. Bad planning on my part although, as a disclaimer, I’d like to say that it’s a shame you can’t get an itinerary in advance to plan before you get to the parks for all these ‘extras’. Once you’re on the spot it isn’t always easy to tie everything together with what you’ve already got in mind.

At least I’m sure the American Adventure will be showing, and as we enter the lobby area the Gospel Choir are just finishing their performance (I told you it was bad timing). We enjoy the final two bars of whatever it was. Then we follow the crowds in to the theatre for the film, and a welcome sit down in comfy chairs. Still, can’t sit around here all day, so when the film has finished, we move on to Italy.

Don’t find anything compulsive about this pavilion – even the shop only gets a cursory glance, and we head round towards Germany. I think we must be suffering from jet-lag after speeding from one country to the next, as we don’t seem to be taking as much interest in these pavilions. However, China is next, and here we do spend a while investigating everything.

The young acrobatic display team is performing as we arrive (and they don’t appear to be just coming to the end of their stint for a change) so we find a good viewing spot and watch for a while. These youngsters really are amazing. The bazaar is calling, so we leave the acrobats and Mum attempts to buy up half the Chinese market, one item at a time. Every time she completes one purchase, she sees something else that she wants to buy, but it’s a good way to get rid of some of the coinage she’s been accumulating over the week. Her purse is several kilograms lighter at the end of this shopping expedition, but the purchases have made up for it, and we struggle out under the weight of several carrier bags. (Slight exaggeration possibly)

As we exit from China, the acrobats are still in full swing, so we stay for a while longer, making the most of finding some performers in action at the ‘right’ time.

The next stop is Norway, and I’m surprised to see that there is no queue for Maelstrom visible out in the courtyard. Last time we were here the ride was down, so it seems that luck is on our side – it’s working and there’s no line. In we go. We’re all of two yards inside the door when we hit the end of the queue, but we don’t mind waiting, as it’s another opportunity to rest for a while. Make mental note that the midday break wouldn’t have been quite such a namby pamby idea, in retrospect. Bodies not quite as finely tuned as had hoped (some hope). The ride goes smoothly until the very end, when we’re all waiting to get out of the harbour area and in to the film. Boats are unloading, but no-one can move away, and the harbour is getting a bit overcrowded. Just as we’re getting cheesed off with waiting around (‘we’re only here for a week’ syndrome kicking in again) the doors open and our patience is rewarded. The Cast Member announces that anyone who does not wish to stay for the film is most welcome to exit through the far doors. ‘Rat up a drainpipe’ would be the phrase that springs to mind and 90% of the assembled crowd sprint for the quick exit.

As we fend our way past the heavy brocade knitwear and oilskins to the Trolls, Mum appears to be on the verge of getting her purse out again, but we neatly side-step any purchases here and nip in to the Kringla Bakery instead. This place has been on my WDW wish list ever since our first visit, but we’ve always been too stuffed from a meal somewhere else to risk venturing inside. Mum’s decision to cancel the Priority Seating for dinner in Morocco must have been heaven-sent for this very reason. We drool over the goods on display inside and finally decide on a Rice Cream for me, and a Danish (yes, I know we’re in Norway, but the label said ‘Danish’) pastry for Mum. Mmmmmm, mmmm! Sit in indulgent gastronomic delight for a while longer, then make our way to Mexico.

It suddenly seems much busier everywhere, so we don’t hang around outside, but go in to the pavilion and have a good look around the indoor market. Decide against doing the boat ride again – once was pleasant enough, thank you.

So we’ve managed to complete the circuit of World Showcase, and we think we may as well use our time to visit the Energy and Living Seas pavilions in Future World. These have been on our reserve list because Energy takes so long to complete (and we’ve only had a week to do everything – remember?), and The Living Seas wasn’t a must-do as we’ve been to SeaWorld. Anyway, we now have time to do both, so we head round to join Ellen on her Energy Adventure. But Ellen doesn’t want to play ball today, and the ride is down ‘momentarily’. The Cast Member doesn’t have any indication of how long it’s likely to be out of action, so we decide we’d better leave Ellen and Bill Nye (The Science Guy) to their own devices, and dive down to Sea Base Alpha instead.

SeaWorld has spoilt us a bit for all that The Living Seas has to offer, but we quite enjoy it nevertheless. We’re definitely starting to wilt now, and I have to stop myself sitting down in case I can’t get going again. When we decide we’ve seen enough of Sea Base Alpha, we take the hydrolator back to the surface (allegedly) and think we may as well go to collect our shopping from the package pick-up point now, when it will be quiet, rather than after park closing, when there could be a long wait. What faith we have.

Have been told that pick-up point is outside the park barriers, and worry that, once out, we might encounter difficulties getting back in. No idea why we’re worried about this as there are hordes of people coming from the monorail and in to the park, presumably in time to catch Illuminations. Find pick-up point with no difficulty, but actually retrieving our packages proves somewhat trickier. There are two people in the queue ahead of us, the first one being attended to by an unseen Cast Member in the depths of the storage area behind the counter. After a few minutes there are several hundred people waiting behind us (this is my trip diary, and I’ll exaggerate if I want to). After at least five minutes (not exaggerating this bit) the person at the head of the queue is losing patience and asks second Cast Member at cash desk if she can send search party to find first Cast Member. Much negotiating later and a third Cast Member comes to help and manages to find out that the package has been sent to the pick-up at International Gateway in error. Worry that our beanies might also have been lost for good, wonder whether Amy will ever forgive me for losing her requested souvenirs, wonder whether I should just shoot myself now, but third Cast Member manages to locate our packages immediately. Clutch bags in hot little hands, fight our way past the long line still waiting to collect their packages, and nip back in to the park.

By the time we get round to the UK and the gateway where the parade makes its appearance, it’s nearly time for the Tapestry Of Nations Parade to start, so we look for a spot near the Rose and Crown. I want to check out the garden at the side of here for Illuminations later, so we take the path down and find there’s a very convenient wall, just at the right height for us to sit down and still be able to see both the Tapestry Of Nations parade route and the lake for Illuminations. Our weary feet make the decision for us, and we plant ourselves on the wall and wait. The view of Tapestry Of Nations isn't the best, but it’s fine for us, and we’re too tired to want to look for anywhere else. I wonder whether we’ll get fed up sitting here to wait another 45 minutes for Illuminations, but somehow I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

Tapestry Of Nations starts and we get a better view than I’d expected, because so much of the puppetry is above head height anyway. I resolve to buy the soundtrack CD before we leave, as I really like this music. The parade finishes and we sit quietly waiting for Illuminations. Our quiet wait is soon loudly interrupted by a family of British Grandma, Mum, Dad, Son and Daughter who squash themselves into a viewing spot nearby. Grandma is apparently not too good on her pins and is instructed by Mum to stay put “…or else!” whilst they go to buy the obligatory fish and chips from the Harry Ramsden’s stall nearby. Son and Daughter stay with Grandma, and Grandma unwittingly does a great impression of Mo from ‘Eastenders’. Well, it all adds to the entertainment.

The area by the lakeside has been roped off for a private party, and it’s very entertaining watching the ‘I can see it’s been roped off to keep people out, but it can’t mean me’ contingent ducking under the rope and settling themselves down on the benches, only to look most put out when the Cast Member comes and asks them to leave. This happens a few times and then the next group of infiltrators manage to remain unseen for about fifteen minutes. When the Cast Member eventually rumbles them, they make a bit of a song and dance about being moved on. All the sanctimonious lot on the veranda above (Mum and me included) are watching – trying not to show we’re watching – and a collective mumble of approval goes round when the Cast Member gets her way, and the group leave the restricted area, tails between their legs. Mum and I are practically glued to our bit of wall by now but, just as I’m starting to get fidgety, the lights around World Showcase are dimmed, and Illuminations: Reflections of Earth gets underway. As I watch, I’m aware that this will be our last park ‘experience’ this trip, and I really hope that Mum has enjoyed her week as much as I have.

As the last fireworks fade on the water, Mum declares herself pretty pleased with the day’s activities, and is in high spirits as we make our way out of the park to the bus stop. I make sure we pass the sparkly pavements and also manage to find the twirly pavements, which usually elude me when I’m looking for them. Wend our weary way to the furthest bus stop possible, and are soon on board (even get a seat) and then back in DxL. This is a late night for us (must be all of quarter to ten by the time we get back to the room!), but Mum still manages to get cracking on her packing, ready for checking out in the morning. I decide to leave my bags until tomorrow, as I know I’ll only end up doing the whole thing twice if I start now.

Our last night in DxL, tomorrow night we’ll be on the plane. We’ve still got a few things up our sleeve for tomorrow, though…

 

[Hilary]

Monday, 12th March 2001
Day 7, The Resort Tour and home


No great rush to get up early this morning, but (typically) we’re both awake by around 7:00am and I take a tentative peek outside the room to see whether the ‘Express Checkout’ service has left the bill yet. The bill is there, so now I feel as though we really are going home today. We potter off to the food court for our final DxL breakfast this trip, then return to the room to finish (or – in my case – start) the packing process. We phone to ask Bell Services to collect our bags and store them for us until we need to collect them later, and then take a few final photos of the room (looking uncharacteristically neat and tidy!).

We’re on our way out of DxL shortly after 9:00am, and get the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We leave the bus stop and head, not for the turnstiles, but for the monorail platform. We board the Resort monorail, intending to start with a full circuit of the Resorts then decide which ones Mum would like to take a closer look at, and stop off accordingly on the next circuit round. First port of call (although we’re not getting off) is the Contemporary Resort (I’m always impressed whenever I see the entrance looming and then the train going straight through the atrium). Then comes the Ticket and Transportation Centre – nothing much to note here apart from the huge scale of the car park. Then it’s on to the Polynesian Resort and a view of the tropically themed grounds as we approach the main building. Unfortunately there are hoardings up along the platform because of the maintenance work being carried out here, so we don’t get too much opportunity to peer through into the building itself. Last stop is the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, and I’m mentally calculating the possible income levels generated here in view of the number of rooms we pass and the average nightly rate! Before I visited WDW I’d imagined the deluxe resorts to be fairly small and exclusive, and was amazed that they all had so many rooms – and all at a pretty high occupancy rate, apparently. Also en-route is the Wedding Pavilion on its promontory into Seven Seas Lagoon, but there doesn’t seem to be a ceremony taking place this morning. Having made the complete circuit, we arrive back at the Magic Kingdom station.

Mum’s been wanting to ride on the monorail all week, so enjoys this taster run, but decides she’s seen all she wants to of the Resorts here, and has no great desire to continue round in order to stop off at any of them. Well that’s thrown my careful planning, but no matter…

Back at the Magic Kingdom, we head for the boat across Bay Lake to the Wilderness Lodge Resort. We have a ten-minute wait here, but by now the temperature’s rising and it’s very pleasant sitting under the shaded canopy on the quayside with a gentle breeze keeping us cool. When the boat arrives, we sprint in to get seats out on the deck at the prow (?.. the sharp end, anyway) to make the most of the best weather we’ve had all week. Mum really likes this trip – I think she feels it’s a step up on the bus run from DxL! The view of Wilderness Lodge looms as the boat rounds the bend, and we disembark and make our way through the pine trees to the Lodge grounds. Although it’s almost within spitting distance of the hustle and bustle of the parks, this place feels as though it’s a million miles away.

We do a tour of the amazing lobby, sit by the roaring log fire (!), and then take our time browsing around the shop here. Very civilised! I’d booked a Priority Seating for lunch today at the Whispering Canyon Café but, in common with most of the Priority Seatings I’d made for the week, we’ve cancelled this, as Mum thinks we can manage very well with something less substantial. This is a very different approach to that employed by Jeremy when we come to WDW as a family – he seems to have a mission to eat as much as possible in as many different places as he can. We decide we could manage a little something though, and I’m dispatched to the Roaring Forks for muffins whilst Mum sits, camera at the ready, in the sunshine waiting for Ol’ Faithful (the geyser) to erupt. Yes, we could get used to this lifestyle.

Whilst we munch, we debate our movements for the rest of the day, as we’ve deliberately left today’s planning a bit more flexible than the military precision covering every waking hour of the previous week. I suggest taking the boat over to Fort Wilderness, but don’t really know that we’d have much to do once we got there, but Mum’s quite keen to get back to DxL to explore the resort. We’ve been staying there all week, but haven’t really seen much further than the room, food court (and we’ve certainly seen a lot of that!), shop, boat dock and bus stop. We take a final stroll around the grounds at the Wildness Lodge, then get the boat back to the Magic Kingdom and the bus back to DxL. Our last WDW transport of this trip.

Back at the resort, it feels strange not to be able go back to ‘our’ room, because we’ve checked out, so we stake out our base camp in the comfy chairs of the bar area, just off the lobby. After five minutes we’re getting fidgety again (not used to all this unstructured time), and decide to walk down to Port Orleans French Quarter before a late lunch. It’s really quite hot out by now, so we take it slowly, stopping for a gulp from our water bottles and a sit down on the benches at the waterside every now and again, marvelling at the energy (i.e. stupidity) of a couple of joggers who pass us, half expecting to find them collapsed in a heap further up the path.

We take a look around the French Quarter and decide that, although it’s very attractively laid out, DxL is more ‘our style’. The pool here is very imaginatively designed, but seems to be busier than those at DxL. Maybe because DxL has several quiet pools as well as the main pool on Ol’ Man Island. Browse in the shop, glad to get inside to the air-conditioning, and then sit for a while in the glazed entrance lobby, quietly contemplating the past week. Mum says she’s had a lovely time – and I certainly have!

Once we’ve cooled off we make our way back along the water’s edge to DxL and our final visit to the food court for lunch. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the real reason Mum wanted to cancel the lunch Priority Seating at the Whispering Canyon Café – so that she could fit in another meal here!

After lunch we take a tour of the Dixie Landings grounds, admiring the Magnolia Mansions’ manicured lawns and fountains, then taking shaded pathways around the hidden ponds and areas of dense vegetation of Alligator Bayou. On the way along the water’s edge, we pass a glass case on a stand with several butterfly chrysalises inside. It’s not until I am compiling the scrap-book at home later that I see there’s a Butterfly House marked on the map too. We didn’t find that on our travels! Then we go over to Old Man Island and look around. If we weren’t still stuffed from lunch we’d have stopped for a drink at the pool bar, sitting in the rocking chairs on the shaded veranda – a favourite haunt of Jeremy’s when we’ve returned here in the evenings after a busy day in the parks. Back over one of the bridges to look nostalgically as we pass ‘our’ room and wonder who will be staying there tonight, and then back in to the air conditioned cool of the main building.

Mum installs herself in the comfy lounge chairs again, I go to make the last phone call of the trip to Jeremy and the girls. It’s hard to imagine that I’ll be seeing them again tomorrow. It’s a shame that Mum couldn’t phone Max every so often, to check on how he was coping without her – on second thoughts, maybe it’s just as well that she couldn’t!

The Tiffany car is coming to collect us at 4:45pm, so at about four o’clock we go to retrieve our bags from Bell Services and then leave it until the last possible minute to change into our travelling clothes. There’s another family doing the same as us, and we get chatting. They’re on the same flight home as us, but they’ve been here for three weeks. They checked in to Dixie Landings Resort, but have now checked out from Port Orleans Riverside – slightly bizarre! We discover that we just missed the worst weather of their three weeks, which they had for a couple of days before we arrived, but that we were unlucky to hit the cold spell at the beginning of our week. Today’s heat is typical of the majority of the weather they’ve experienced.

Our driver arrives and loads us in to the car, but appears to be about to drive off without our bags. I remind him and he scuttles off to get them – I suppose I should have pointed them out, but I assumed he would be looking for a bit more in the way of luggage than a couple of back packs.

We arrive at Orlando International Airport within half an hour and don’t have too long to wait for check-in. We’re allocated our requested seats, so I’m pretty pleased. I really like this airport – there’s plenty to keep us occupied - and we head straight for the Discovery Channel shop to check out their tee shirts. Success here, (tee shirts were reduced) and Mum and I both stuff our newly acquired shopping into our hand luggage. By the time we’ve done the shopping bit, got the shuttle over to the terminal and bought a drink, there’s not much time to wait until we board.

The flight home was the usual depressing ‘we’re-on-the-way-home-but-we’d-rather-be-staying-where-we-are’ sort of journey that we’d all rather not think about, so I’ll say no more about it. Well, almost no more about it. Remember the very large lady on the outbound plane? Well, she was on the return flight, too, and this time she was sitting next to someone just behind us. I’m sure they didn’t know each other before the flight, but I think they probably did by the end of it, as she must have been practically sitting in his lap for most of the time. Don’t think that was fair on either of them.

Arrive in Gatwick a bit late, so a bit worried about not getting the train we hoped to catch. When we get off the plane we don’t have the usual tunnel, but have to battle against the force ten gale down some rickety steps – yep, we we’re back in the UK alright! Then we’re all herded on to the shuttle bus and driven for miles. Literally miles – I think the plane must have been diverted to Heathrow and they didn’t want to tell us, just stuck us on the bus and drove us back to Gatwick. Getting seriously worried about the train now. Then I notice something sticking out of Mum’s ear and realise she’s left in her earplugs from the plane. That cheers me up no end – she’s not quite so amused. Arrive somewhere and are shown across tarmac to luggage retrieval hall. Now thinking I may have been wrong about being diverted to Heathrow and think maybe we’ve landed in a military airbase, as the buildings look very run-down and more like a provincial bus station than an International Airport baggage hall. But no, this is Gatwick all right. Wonder what on earth foreigners must think when they land here.

Must admit things do look better once we’ve found our luggage, and we leg it to the train station with minutes to spare. Find our train is running half an hour late (yes, definitely back in the UK) so wait on freezing platform. Feel a lot warmer than the couple who had been sitting in front of us on the plane probably feel. They are also on the platform – in shorts. Feel smug and wrap fleece tightly around self.

The train journey was pretty humdrum and we were back in the house just before Rhian and Amy came home from school. The house was still standing, the cat still breathing, and even the washing and ironing was up to date!

A great end to a fantastic holiday.


P.S. Max did survive his stay in the kennels, and doesn’t appear to have taken it as a personal affront. He might even enjoy a return visit some time!…

 

[wicket2005]

Thanks again Hiliary, enjoyed your report though have not got much work done, when all the reports are on at once I cannot resist reading on.

It was a very special holiday you shared with your Mam and one that will always stick out in your mind. Our first trip to Orlando was with my parents and sister, and that always feels very special. The other two holidays we have had with just us tend to blur into one memory but the extended family one always sticks out.

 

[gilld]

Loved reading your report...all of it! We took my Mum, also from Swansea, a few years ago...she loved it all as well, though I'm not sure I could have managed a whole week with just the two of us!!!!