Hilarys' resurrected TRs - October 1999

[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:

This trip report covers our fourth trip to WDW and our first to include other parts of Florida.
Our first trip in 1995 was our ‘Once in a Lifetime’ holiday which had us hooked from the outset. As with so many on these boards, the ‘once in a lifetime’ took on a life of it’s own and we’ve been fortunate enough to return every year (apart from one) since and we’re still just as mad about the place!

We are:

me - Hilary (44) who’s the most Disney-obsessed of the family, also the main trip organiser.
DH - Jeremy (45) who appears to just ‘go along with it’ but really enjoys it as much as everyone else. Fishing fanatic, so will be found at the water’s edge at any and every available opportunity.
DD1 - Rhian (15) who’s becoming as obsessed as her mother (that’s my girl). The only one of us to have also visited DL Paris (with school). Shoppaholic. Spends too many hours in the bathroom.
DD2 - Amy (11) very lively, can’t sit still for two minutes! Is now old enough to enjoy looking forward to our WDW trips as well as being there - another budding obsessive...Doesn’t spend long enough in the bathroom.

Advance apologies for including all the stuff that doesn’t involve the parks - I just couldn’t leave it out as it was all part of the trip, but I won’t mind if you don’t read it!!

The fun begins:


...a whole week after the last trip, the flights for 1999 are booked...

We had a flight only from Cardiff to Orlando, departing 15th October 1999, returning 29th October 1999, with Britannia Airlines, booked through Thomson’s Founders Club (10% discount). Trip number four was in hand!

Our itinerary gradually took shape into a three night stay in Kissimmee, the next three nights at Crystal River (on the Gulf Coast), returning to WDW for the last eight nights. I booked a Kidsuite room at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, Maingate East, a room at the Plantation Inn and Resort in Crystal River, and for our DisneyWorld choice, well, we were back to Dixie Landings again. We had thought (very briefly!) about a couple of nights in the Polynesian Resort (Rhian’s wish list) but apart from being too expensive, we decided that having already changed hotels twice by the time we arrived on Disney soil we would probably be glad to settle in one place for the end of the trip. We couldn’t come up with a better choice than Dixie Landings, as we felt it had everything we could ask for (especially the fishing for Jeremy), so I made the call to CRO and booked it.

I had wondered, as a result of reading information posted on the Internet (hadn’t discovered DIS at this stage!) whether we should apply for a Magic Kingdom Club Gold Card in order to take advantage of discounted Disney room rates, but hesitated because of the cost - around £60. If I was able to get discounts it would more than make up for the cost of the card, but there was no guarantee. Eventually I decided to apply on the basis that my £60 would buy me the membership magazines, if nothing else (expensive way to buy a couple of magazines!).

We were all set to go...

Day 1 - Friday 15th October 1999

The flight was at 11:35 and we had to check in by 10:35, so we agreed (I had to do a little heavy persuading) to leave the house by 8:30 to allow for rush hour traffic out of Swansea and car parking, etc. at Cardiff Airport. Jeremy was sure it would take us only an hour to get there, but I wasn’t convinced, and as it turned out we were checking in just about on time! (told you so...) The seats had all been pre-allocated before check-in, so we didn’t know what to expect, but we’d booked extra legroom seats, so knew we would be boarding first. Eventually we were called to the boarding tunnel and found our seats - Jeremy and Rhian were right at the front with Amy and I in the row behind them. For Jeremy’s long legs this was brilliant - nothing between him and the cockpit door, and the girls and I settled ourselves into the roomier seats quite happily, too. Fairly uneventful flight, but isn’t it amazing how littile you can achieve when sitting with kids on an aeroplane? I don’t think I managed to read more than one page of my newly purchased book, and I still don’t know whether Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts ever got together at the end of Notting Hill (well alright, yes I do, but I didn’t manage to see it).

Well, some nine and a half hours later and we were landing at Orlando International Airport and feeling the rush of warm air as we left the plane. Apart from going to the wrong carousel and wondering why our luggage had not appeared (!) we got through the immigration / customs / double baggage retrieval with little hassle and then we went to find a taxi to take us to our first base, the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites at Maingate East. Rhian looked longingly at the stretch limousines, but we settled for a town car and were soon heading along the Beeline Express and then onto Highway 192 and into the Holiday Inn reception area. I think the taxi cost us around $40 plus tip.

We were quite happy with the hotel, and the girls were impressed with the goody bag they were given at their own Kid’s Check-in (yes, even at 15 Rhian will stoop to being a ‘kid’ if she gets something free out of it!). The bunk bed arrangement was a nice alternative, too, although as there were three beds in the Kidsuite ‘fort’ area, neither of the girls slept on the top bunk anyway. It did mean they didn’t have to fight in a double bed, though, which gave us a peaceful few nights start to the holiday!

As usual, we were all really tired by the time we had settled into the room as it was getting on for midnight British time, even though it was only early evening in Florida. We were also pretty hungry, so we headed off to the Food Court to get something quick and easy to keep us going until breakfast. We grabbed a pizza and, hunger satisfied, we went back to ‘Fort Apache’ (room 148) and fell into bed, knowing that we were likely to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow before we got adjusted to local time.

 

[Hilary]

Day 2 - Saturday, 16th October

It came as no surprise to find ourselves wide awake by 5:30 and trying to keep quiet as we made cups of tea and got dressed ready to track down breakfast as soon as the restaurant opened.

We had decided not to arrange or pre-pay for car hire in the UK as we felt we would be able to do a better deal once in situ. We were wrong! We had a pretty stressful time sorting everything out - too stressful to reiterate itall here - and felt we’d paid quite a bit more by doing it this way - we’ll know next time! (talking about next time already!) We eventually left the rental office parking lot and Jeremy got used to US driving again. We headed for the Crossroads shopping area and found it quite easily and went into Goodings supermarket to stock up on in-room supplies (beers). The girls found some amazing goodies, including something disgusting but appropriately named Rainbow Bread. It was just a sliced white loaf loaded with every food colouring you could imagine - I reckoned we could been sky high by skipping the beer and having a few slices of the rainbow bread instead! (but we didn’t).

The weather when we arrived last night had looked a bit stormy, but living on the Welsh coast we’re quite used to a bit of wind and rain! However, watching the Weather Channel last night and this morning we were surprised to hear about hurricane warnings further south in Florida, and extreme conditions here in the Orlando area. We kept looking out of the window, but apart from a bit of wind, it didn’t look too bad and things never got anywhere near as rough as at home! I think further south there was some damage, though.

We set off to explore Old Town Kissimmee which was just next door to the hotel. The guide books had described it as a shopping and entertainment area, but in the middle of the afternoon it was pretty sleepy, with only some of the shops open. So after a quick look around we decided to return later to watch the advertised (as mentioned in Simon’s book!) Saturday night vintage car cruise. When we set off back to Old Town to get something to eat this proved far more difficult than we had imagined as there weren’t many restaurants to start with and not all of them were open yet. Of those that were open there wasn’t much that looked suitable, so without much optimism we tried somewhere called ‘Damon’s Sports Bar’. Once inside we could see that the whole of one wall was taken up with five large screen televisions showing different sports channels. Although the girls weren’t very interested in the sports, the menu looked interesting and the atmosphere was good. Even the sports programmes were a novelty, if nothing else. We had ordered our meals, but were still enjoying a drink before they arrived, when we could see one of the servers going around the tables and leaving something which looked like a hand-held computer game console on some tables. This turned out to be a device for taking part in a quiz! I assumed the quiz would be sports biased (we were in a sports bar, after all) and American sport at that - what hope did we have?! Anyway, we accepted the challenge and tried to work out how to enter our team name into the console. Eventually our team name came up on the centre screen with all the others, so we knew we’d got that much right, and we waited to hear the questions over the microphone like a typical British pub quiz. More by chance than anything we suddenly realised that the first question had appeared up on the screen. It wasn’t a sports quiz at all, it was a general knowledge / trivial pursuit format, and there were multiple choice answers - just my cup of tea! But how on earth did we get our answers into the console?? The scores showed us pretty near the bottom of the table, but we carried on to the end of the round and I was really enjoying myself. So much so that we decided to continue into the next round as well! I had also managed to work out how to enter the answers, and we actually did quite well now that we knew how to tell them to the machine. Thumbs up for Damon’s!

The Saturday night vintage car cruise was beginning, and we watched several pretty amazing cars coming into the Old Town complex and start cruising the circuit. As we walked around the shops we came across an area behind one of the streets where all these cars were parked after the cruise so that they could stay for the evening to be admired by passers by, whilst the vehicle owners continued polishing and basking in the reflected glory. Rhian, especially, had wanted to see the cars, so she was pleased that we managed to find them, and spent a while deciding which ones she would like! A girl can wish, can’t she? All in all a bit of a thumb’s down from us for Oldtown (apart from Damon’s).

 

[Hilary]

Day 3 - Sunday, 17th October

We were off to Universal Studios today, so we didn’t mind being up early (body clocks still not adjusted!) and I went to get some cereal from the Food Court for us to eat in the room before we headed up I4 to be one of the first cars into the Universal parking lot. We hadn’t been here since our trip in 1997, and that time we’d arrived by taxi, so we hadn’t experienced the new parking lot layout - it was absolutely huge - and I think we ended up in Spiderman, but that’s another story! We were glad it was pretty much empty when we arrived so that we didn’t have far to go before being shown where to park. As we headed through the walkways and along the passenger conveyor belts we could see the new Islands of Adventure park and wondered whether we had made the right decision to give it a miss this trip (wimp symdrome setting in). As we went through another new (for us) area with all the night-clubs, shops and restaurants I could see the ‘parting of the ways’ ahead, and was pleased to see that most people were going to IOA, and only a few were going the same way as us to the original US park. Not such a daft idea after all.

The gates hadn’t opened when we arrived, but we didn’t have long to wait before we were heading through the entrance and off to my favourite - Back to the Future. We were amongst the first few groups here, so it was straight into the pre-show area and then into the car. This time we had the back row for the first time, and I didn’t think it gave as good a ride as the front row, but we still enjoyed it. From here we retraced our route to go to the ET adventure (still haven’t managed to get our names right - I suppose there’s no chance for Rhian, is there? LOL) and then into Terminator 2 3D. The lines had built up a little by now, but it took us only about 10 minutes to get into the pre-show. We had to wait for ages here as there was a technical hitch, and by the time we got into the main show area we’d lost some of our enthusiasm. Jeremy really likes this attraction, but the girls and I aren’t as keen. Once we’d ‘done’ Teminator we set off for King Kong and all enjoyed this ride again.

Now it was time for lunch and we went to Mel’s Drive-In at Rhian’s request. It was busy here and we struggled to find a table, and felt the run-of-the-mill burger menu didn’t live up to our expectations of such a well themed outlet. After lunch we had enough time to head over to the other end of the park for Jaws, but the queues were so long we decided to go to the next Wild, Wild West Stuntshow Spectacular instead. When this finished we made straight for Jaws - a mistake, as everyone else coming out from WWWSS was heading in the same direction. I should have known this from all my planning research, but somehow these things get forgotten in the middle of the action, don’t they? We joined the queue and must have been there for a good hour. We like the Jaws ride, but wouldn’t have waited that long if we’d realised the full extent of the queue - and the heat! So after Jaws we thought we should try something new and made our way to the Twister ride. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to do this ride because I thought it might be a bit too realistic to be ‘fun’, but we all joined the pretty long queue, again in the heat. We got into the pre-show area and I thought that was quite well done, so by now was glad I’d decided to stay with the others. When we got to the main ‘show’ we were really disappointed. It was a let-down for all of us. I got more entertainment from the family behind and their reactions than from the attraction itself. Anyway, you’ve got to try these things, haven’t you?

By now the heat had worn us down as well as the jet lag and time difference taking their toll, so Rhian, Amy and I went to sit down and watch the Beetlejuice Graveyard Review whilst Jeremy had a sit down in the shade outside. In BGR the character Wolfman had a basketball vest (I hope it wasn’t Steve Fry doing a holiday job!!) with ‘Wolfie’ written on the back. This is Rhian’s nickname at school (our surname is Wolfe, you see) and we tried really hard to get a photo showing the vest, but failed so we’ll have to go back now! After the show and a few shopping stops in USF we decided to call it a day and made our way out of the park towards the shops in the Citywalk area. On the way out we passed the Hanna Barbera show which Jeremy said he’d not done before, although the rest of us were sure we had. He thought it would be too child-orientated for his liking, but we persuaded him to give it a go. He now says it’s one of his favourite USF rides! And they say women are fickle...

We didn’t stay too long in the Citywalk shops (sorry, Janice, letting the shopping team down badly so far this trip), but the girls did a bit of looking around before we were herded back to the car and then the hotel.

Back in the hotel we came across Todd, the resident magician who told us that he was doing a magic show later that evening at the Camp Holiday children’s complex. Now I have to say we would normally have to be dragged kicking and screaming to anything like this, but we had nothing else planned for the evening, and it was on the way back to our room anyway and... we decided to look in on Todd. The things you do on holiday, eh? The place was deserted apart from one little girl of about four, who had Todd all to herself! We sat down very self-consciously, aware that there would be no chance now of slipping out unnoticed, but ended up having a really great time! It was all very over the top and obviously geared to the children and there was much audience participation (a few more people arrived after us), but Todd was an absolute star! A very unexpected evening’s entertainment. So on a high note we went back to our room to spend our last night in Kissimmee before packing up and heading off for the next leg of the holiday in the morning.

 

[Hilary]

Day 4 - Monday, 18th October

After breakfast in the hotel we checked out and set off on the next stage of our trip. Our only previous experience of driving any more than a couple of miles in America was on our very first visit to Orlando when we drove to Busch Gardens. We had found the journey easy enough, but quite bland, so we wondered how this trip would compare. The first part of the route was on the main Florida Turnpike, but even so we were hesitant about stopping at a service station as we didn’t know how safe these places would be - one of the big things about Orlando, and WDW especially, is that we have always felt safe to wander around anywhere without a second thought. The service station turned out to be very user-friendly and we knew we would be happy to stop somewhere similar on our return journey.

The driving so far had been very straightforward, but the scenery was nothing very exciting - I remember passing an awful lot of bill-boards. Once we had to leave the Turnpike, however, things changed. Firstly, we couldn’t find the right road, but once we’d got back on track the area changed into quite a small, backwoods kind of place with very little other traffic around. We passed a couple of Nature Reserves and camp sites and felt that at last we might be on our way to seeing a less commercialised version of Florida than we had so far.

Once in Crystal River we found the Plantation Inn without too much trouble and our first impressions were “Wow!”. We were too early to check-in, but we thought we might see if there was anywhere here to have lunch, and went to the front desk to enquire. They were very helpful and showed us where to go, but when we saw how civilised the restaurant looked (not a child in sight anywhere) and how sophisticated the menu, we thought we would do better out of the hotel. Rhian and Amy were amazed to find the sand in the ash trays had been imprinted with the hotel logo, and was obviously re-done every time the ashtray was used - now that’s what we call posh!. We found a roadside cafe called the Village Inn not far away from the hotel, and found just the sort of lunch we were looking for (i.e. not at all posh!).

We had a ground floor room with a veranda leading down to the river, and Jeremy could practically fish without even leaving the room, so he was in heaven for this part of our trip! The girls and Jeremy went for a swim whilst I unpacked and then I joined them by the pool and Jeremy went off to explore the fishing possibilities. As he left he pointed to a building near the volleyball court and said “look there’s a bandstand and someone has left their trombone in there”. When we left the pool a while later, Amy ran on ahead and disappeared into the bandstand building. Rhian followed and I could hear shrieks of laughter as I caught up with them - the ‘bandstand’ turned out to be a hot-tub under cover, and the ‘trombone’ was the handrail for the steps into the tub! An easy mistake to make - well, you don’t see many outdoor hot-tubs where we come from!

We went back into Crystal River to find somewhere for an evening meal, but couldn’t see anywhere very exciting and ended up in the local Pizza Hut - not very adventurous! After the meal we had a wander around the hotel grounds and Amy continued her lizard count which she had started on our arrival in the hotel parking lot - grand total by the time we left was about 300 and something!

 

[Hilary]

Day 5 - Tuesday, 19th October

In the hotel restaurant for breakfast (best behaviour all round), Amy asked for pancakes and the server suggested a ‘short stack’ would be enough for her. When it arrived we thought the short stack would probably have been enough for all four of us to share, but Amy made a good job of it. I’d like to have seen her try to get through a ‘long stack’!

We had decided to do our manatee spotting (main reason for coming to Crystal River) today and thought that we would try on our own with Jeremy at the helm in a hired boat (fishing experience can come in handy sometimes!), on the basis that if we were unsuccessful we could always try an organised boat trip later. We went to the marina and into ‘Captain John’s Dive Shop’ to sort out the boat hire. This was a bit of a marathon (after our experience with the hire car and now this we thought we must look a particularly shifty bunch of characters), but we were eventually allowed to take out our boat and given a map of the river system and the spots where the manatees were commonly seen.

It was very hot by now and we were glad we’d ‘upgraded’ to a boat with a canopy to keep off the worst of the sun. Jeremy got used to handling the boat and off we went, looking for any likely shapes in the none-too-clear water. We were very aware of the danger to the manatees of boat propellors, and dropped from idling speed to a standstill as soon as we thought there was anything in the water which could be a moving, so we made fairly slow, peaceful progress around the many inlets and islands adjoining the hotel grounds. We had been out for about 45 minutes and all the shapes we’d seen had been just shadows or logs, when I saw something I was sure was moving along and must be a manatee. Jeremy manouvered alongside, but it turned out to be yet another log. Just then, he saw another shape and we all looked to where he was pointing and were just in time to see a mother and her cub swimming right under our boat. We were all really excited, but didn’t want to make any noise which might disturb them and send them away. It was quite a magical moment, and one which was repeated twice more before we had to turn the boat around and head for shore to return the boat on time. We really couldn’t believe our luck - we’d seen a total of six manatees in one trip, and all our own work! Very self-satisfied grins all around!

On our way back we were approached by a Marine Conservation boat and the crew asked whether we’d seen an injured mother and cub swimming together. We told them of our sightings, but that we hadn’t seen any injuries on ‘our’ manatees, but that we would keep our eyes open and report anything if we did see them. Apparently there had been reports of an injured mother and they were trying to find her to assess whether or not she needed help. We didn’t see her, and we returned the boat to (rather grumpy) Captain John without further incident.

We had set aside the afternoon for going on an organised manatee-spotting trip if we hadn’t found any on our own in the morning, but now that we had successfully ‘done’ that, we had a free afternoon and decided to go to the local shopping mall to see what was there (pay attention now, Janice!). It was very hot by now, and we were pleased to find the mall comfortably cool. The girls found some stationery items which they wanted and then we headed for a huge store which seemed to sell everything. It didn’t take long for Jeremy to track down the vast fishing tackle section, and all he kept saying was “do you know how much this would cost at home?” and telling me how much we could save by buying everything here. *Save*? Oh, sure! We managed to get him out without buying any tackle, although we found a bum-bag to replace his trusty leather one which had broken this morning. Very low-key shopping by some standards, I’m sure. LOL.

Our evening meal was in the friendly ‘Village Inn’ in Crystal River where the proprietor took it upon himself to be a one-man Florida promotional office! He was so enthusiastic and keen to give us lots of advice, and recommended the Best Western as a cheaper alternative to the Plantation Inn if we ever returned to Crystal River. We were in no hurry, so made the most of listening to his local knowledge, but all the time we were talking to him I was convinced he was really Kenny Rogers in retirement (those of you my age will remember him and his ‘Lucille’!), and found it a bit difficult to concentrate entirely on what he was telling us!

Back at the hotel and we enjoyed a peaceful beer, sitting on the veranda and listening to the sounds of the water a few feet away.... ah, that was the life!

 

[Hilary]

Day 6 - Wednesday, 20th October

Off this morning to the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park about five miles away from the hotel. We arrived at the very impressive Visitor’s Centre and were told where to go to board the boat to the park entrance. This was unexpected, as we’d seen no mention of a boat trip, and it turned out to be an excellent and informative ten minutes. Although we were, at first, right next to the highway it felt as though we were in a totally different world - it was so quiet and peaceful. When the boat stopped at the park entrance we could see that there was another car park, so we were glad we hadn’t known about this or we think we probably would have been tempted to park here (saves queueing for a boat) and would have missed the boat trip experience. We had also failed to discover that we could have received discounted tickets on production of our AA (yes, AA, not even AAA) cards - these were safely tucked away in the hotel room! It wasn’t an expensive ticket, by theme park standards anyway, so we didn’t lose too much sleep over this.

There were a couple of suggested routes around the park, so we picked one and went to the ‘fishbowl’ viewing area. This is a floating capsule with windows below water level so that visitors can look out directly into the water to see manatees and lots of fish swimming around right outside. Although the waterways are within the confines of the park the fish and animals in the water are free to come and go as they please (apart from those being ‘hospitalised’ or convalescing), and can leave the park waters at any time. We didn’t spot any manatees here, but there were shoals of beautiful fish everywhere, so Jeremy was happy!

Further round the pathway we crossed onto a wooden bridge over the river system with crystal clear water a couple of feet below us. (This bridge was recently featured on Blue Peter in an item on manatees - such fame!). We were half way across the bridge when we saw some shapes under the bridge, and as we stood and watched, a group of about five or six manatees came right under us and swam slowly around in the shallow water near the bridge and shore. We stayed here for as long as we could bear before diving into the shade to cool off, but kept coming back out onto the bridge until all the manatees had swum too far away for us to be able to see them very clearly.

There were quite a few other animals to see, but to be honest we didn’t think some of them looked very comfortable in their surroundings. I remember a particularly sorry-looking Florida Brown Bear and some birds of prey who didn’t seem to be having much fun, but when you’re not used to the climate (like us) it’s easy to assume the animals are as uncomfortable as you are, when they are probably quite happy just taking it easy. The alligators looked quite at home, anyway. After a visit to the shop - outbreak of plush manatees - and a pretty awful lunch in the cafe, we got the boat back to the parking lot and were treated to a very informative talk all the way back from the (female) boat driver. She pointed out a humming bird nest above our heads which she said weighed about 2grms! It was so tiny and delicate that if I’d even noticed it without it being pointed out (very unlikely) I might have thought it was a cocoon or something. We also passed right underneath a web spun across the waterway and there in the middle was the web-owner (a type of spider whose name escapes me at the moment, but I recognised it at the time) which sent Rhian and Amy hiding under their seats (what would you do with them?).

After a quick trip back to the hotel to ‘freshen up’ we returned to the shopping mall with more time than on our visit yesterday, and Jeremy produced a long shopping list for the fishing tackle department (he’d even phoned the fishing crowd at home to get their ‘orders’!). The girls and I left him to it (bad move) and went exploring all the other items stocked here. They seemed to have just about everything you could think of from lawn mowers to lingerie and ice boxes to inflatable ghosts (don’t ask - but it was nearly Hallowe’en). Eventually Jeremy had filled a trolley with spinners, jigs and lures and various other items of tackle he couldn’t possibly leave behind, and we paid up at the cash desk. I think Jeremy’s choice of essentials probably brightened up the cashier’s day, if only so that she could tell her family “You’ll never guess what this guy from the UK came and bought today!” No, we didn’t have any trouble getting it back through the airline check-in, but I was a bit worried!

An excellent meal this evening at Charlie’s Fish House on the riverside, which rounded off our stay in Crystal River.

Tomorrow - an appointment with the mouse...

 

[Hilary]

Day 7 - Thursday, 21st October

After checking we hadn’t left anything in the room we put the cases into the car and went to check out at the front desk. Then it was into the car and we were off to DisneyWorld! The journey was fairly uneventful apart from a slight detour when we missed the sign for the Turnpike (!), and we stopped at the service station with less apprehension than on our trip over to Crystal River three days ago. It was such an exciting moment when we drove under the roadway arch that said ‘Welcome to Walt DisneyWorld!’, and it was the first time we’d been along this stretch of road on our own in a car - usually we’re in a taxi or coach - so we were all able to “oooh” and “ahhh” without fear of being overheard! I felt a new chapter of the holiday was about to begin.

Because of our slightly complicated car rental arrangements, and the fact that we couldn’t have our room keys until after 3 o’clock, we decided that after we had dropped off our luggage and checked in to Dixie Landings we would drive back to the rental office in Oldtown Kissimmee and return the car, then ask the clerk to order us a taxi to take us to Downtown Disney (the nearest place we would be able to connect into the Disney transport system). I don’t know whether it was the car rental clerk’s little joke, or whether I was being particularly sensitive, but when the taxi arrived it had ‘Veteran’s taxi service’ emblazoned along the side (well I didn’t think we looked that old!). It turned out it was the driver who was a veteran (and very pleasant he was, too).

By now we were hungry and getting into Disney mode, so I went to try to get a table in the Rainforest Cafe to set us off on our Disney part of the holiday. We hadn’t been able to get a table at this Rainforest Cafe before (or at least, not without a four hour wait!), so I was quite surprised when we were given an estimated wait time of 25 minutes which turned out to be nearer 15. When we were shown to our table we were surprised to see an awful lot of empty tables which couldn’t be seen from the front of the restaurant, and I came to the conclusion that everyone is given a wait time so that they have a while to spend some money in the shop while they wait! Or am I just over suspicious?

By the time we came out of the Cafe and had a quick look around the Downtown area it was time to head back on the boat to Dixie Landings to reclaim our luggage and find our room. We knew when we had checked in earlier that we had been allocated a room in the building I had requested, but it was great when we got to our room to find we had been given a room on the corner of the block with windows on two sides instead of just one, and with a view of the waterway outside - normally this would be classed as an upgraded room, and charged extra. The mouse must have been smiling on us, the Disney magic was at work already!

After tea we headed back onto the boat for Disney Downtown and spent a more leisurely time investigating everything (shopping heaven for the girls, credit card nightmare for me). Back on the subject of veterans - have you been paying attention? - we got chatting to one of the assistants in Gourmet Pantry and somehow the conversation got around to age. This lady was very obviously past UK retirement age and she told us that Disney encourages its employees to continue working for as long as they wish, and to reduce their hours if they feel appropriate. In this way the ‘elderly’ are able to continue to keep active, meet plenty of people and earn some money at the same time. Sounds good to me.

Jeremy left after a while (and who could blame him?) to do some fishing back at Dixies, and the girls and I arranged to meet him later back at the room. The boat trip back in the dark never fails to make me smile when I see all the neon lights in Downtown and Pleasure Island and then the total darkness through the Disney Institute grounds and past the golf course back to the resort. Our first night back on Disney territory and so far, so good!

 

[Hilary]

Day 8 - Friday, 22nd October

Back into the Disney way of things and an early start to the bus stop for our trip to EPCOT this morning. As the bus drew into the EPCOT parking lot the sun was only just beginning to shine, and in the semi-darkness we could see some strange shapes dotted about on top of the famous silver sphere. I could just about make them out to be human figures, and told the girls they must be workmen climbing on top of the sphere to carry out repairs (although I was surprised that Disney hadn’t arranged this when the parks were closed). As we got closer and the light became clearer we could see that they weren’t figures at all (I hoped not too many people had heard me telling the girls that this was what they were!) but were lots of stars set onto the sphere as part of the Millennium decorations. There was also an enormous Mickey white glove holding a wand with ‘2000’ coming from it, and these were all covered in sequins which caught the sun and shimmered like thousands of tiny lights.

The bus got us to Epcot in plenty of time to reach the barriers before they opened and while we were waiting we could see the new stone plinths just inside the entrance which were ready for the ‘Leave a Legacy’ photos. As the Millennium celebrations had only been in place for two weeks there were only a handful of photos already on the plinths but, judging by the queues we saw later in the day, we were sure there would be plenty more before too long. It wasn’t long before we were allowed through the barriers to the base of Spaceship Earth and the rope. By 7:30 am there were quite a few of us waiting for the ‘rope drop’ when we could hear some music and a flock of about two dozen white doves suddenly rushed from inside the park and flew right over our heads and out towards the parking lot. Another moment of pure Disney!

We headed straight for Test Track as we hadn’t ridden this before and had made it one of our ‘must do’ attractions for this trip. We went straight in to the queueing area which was deceptively short - until we turned one corner, and then another, and so on in true Disney style. We actually had a longer wait than we had anticipated (so what’s new?!), and by the time we got near to the ride itself there was some kind of delay. Frustrating so early in the day, but it wasn’t too long before we were in the pre-show area. Then we were in our test cars and we were off! The first part of the ride, inside the building, was fairly tame and I wondered whether we’d fallen for the theme park hype and expected too much, but as soon as we were out of the building and speeding around the outside track, the ride improved immeasurably, and this turned out to be Rhian’s favourite ride in all the parks. We resolved to return before the end of the holiday.

By now we needed breakfast, and headed for the Electric Umbrella - and the talking trash can. We knew the location of the trash can from the Disney internet boards, so we tracked it down (not as exciting as the talking water fountains, in our opinion) and then concentrated on getting something to eat and drink. Mission accomplished and we were on our way back into the park.

We crossed over to the Imagination pavilion to try the new ride here (average) and the excellent interactive area at the end of the ride. One of the highlights for us was the Kodak exhibit which enabled guests to send e-mail photos and messages. There were facilities for sending straightforward photos and also for ‘art’ photos, a couple of which we tried out after a short wait for a vacant Kodak station. We had Amy as a kitten (very scary!), Jeremy as an owl (bizarre) and Rhian in psychadelic pop-art style (curious) as well as the family group in ‘normal’ pose. We tried to send a couple to Jeremy’s colleagues, and also sent copies to our own e-mail address so that we could see them when we got home. After we had spent quite a while getting these sorted out we discovered that we were in the station designed for guests in wheelchairs, which didn’t matter in as much as there were no wheelchair guests waiting, but it did mean that we ended up with the top of Jeremy’s head missing because he was so much taller than a wheelchair guest would be! We didn’t feel we could occupy the station for any longer to get the height right, so we decided to move on.

We then joined the queue to have one of the ‘official’ Disney pictures taken which superimpose your photo onto a pre-prepared Disney background and tried to agree between us which background we wanted. As the Millennium celebrations were very topical we chose a WDW 2000 theme. When our turn arrived the Cast Member positioned us so that we would be transposed correctly into the background, and then instructed us to “say Mickey” when he took the shot. I was a bit too eager and had already got to a very smiley “...eeeeyyyy” before the others had started the “Mick.....” The resulting photo shows Jeremy and the girls smiling nicely and me looking as though I’m doing an impression of a letter box. We arranged for the photo to be delivered to our room so that we didn’t have to carry it carefully around with us - another Disney Resort Guest plus point.. (I should be on commission!)

By now World Showcase had opened, so we set off over the walkway towards ‘Canada’, determined to try to see as much as possible that had passed us by on previous visits. We were again visiting during the Food and Wine festival, so Jeremy kept getting sidetracked to look at the many stalls we passed. One of his regrets from last year was not making the most of the festival opportunities when he passed, and he had decided he would try anything as and when it took his fancy this time. I noticed the things that took his fancy tended to be of the alcoholic variety on most occasions!

We skipped the much hyped Millennium Village as there was such a long queue, saw ‘O Canada’ and then headed past the ‘UK’ (Rhian went into the Welsh shop and was pleased to see one of the assistants was also called Rhian) and towards ‘France’, hoping that there would be some of the living statues outside. We spent a long time here enjoying other people’s embarrassment as the ‘statues’ performed their routines, but ensured we stayed far enough away that we wouldn’t be picked on to join in! We strolled all the way around the lagoon, calling in to most of the ‘countries’ and then decided to bail out of EPCOT to go back to DxL for a quick lunch and a rest before hitting the Magic Kingdom this evening for the first visit this trip.

It was just as much a thrill as ever to be walking from the bus stop over the Walk Around the World bricks and through the turnstyles to be greeted by all the sights, sounds and smells that sum up the Magic Kingdom. Jeremy says that the music is the most evocative thing for him - he only has to hear someone humming the Main Street tunes and he thinks he’s there! It was quite busy and we made our way with the crowds up Main Street towards the attraction board to see where we should go for the shortest wait times. About half way up Main Street we stopped for the girls to pose on the flower stall photo-spot, then we went into Adventureland and rode the Pirates without any wait at all. A bit of shopping in the market area outside the Pirates and then into El Pirata y El Perico for tacos for tea (our favourite fast food place in MK).

After a wander around and a couple of quick rides on the Carousel, Peter Pan and Small World we decided to stake out a place for the Main Street Electrical Parade as this was our mission in MK tonight! We found a good place right at the end of the rope near Splash Mountain and chilled out for the 40 minutes we had to wait. We’d seen Spectromagic before and hoped MSEP would be just as good, but in the end decided we slightly preferred Spectro. Then we joined the crowds heading out of the park and stopped as we reached the hub to wait for the fireworks. Jeremy said we’d seen them before and shouldn’t bother (has he no soul?) but the girls and I stood our ground! Fireworks over and out to the bus stops to join the queues. As always, we were amazed at the efficiency of the Disney transport system and it was only a matter of minutes before we were back in DxL with just enough time to grab a beer sitting on the veranda at the pool bar before we hit the sack.

 

[Hilary]

Day 9 - Saturday, 23rd October

We arrived at the AK barriers before opening and watched some CMs in costume moving around behind the barriers. I’m sure it was impressive, but being a bit of a shortie I didn’t manage to see much of it! Lots of nice musical accompaniment anyway. And then we were off... and along with 99% of everyone else onto the Kilamanjaro Safari. Lots of animals out and about (I read somewhere, probably on the DIS boards, that the high rock outcrop in the lion enclosure is heated in the mornings to encourage them to sit up there!) and a good CM driver to make this a great ride. On the Pangani Forest Trail there was a lot of gorilla activity and we stayed for quite a while watching a couple of youngsters playing with their mother and then really acting the fool (the gorillas, not us) in such an uninhibited way it was quite special.

I couldn’t let a visit to AK pass without seeing the Lion King show, so we grabbed a coffee and a muffin and headed over to the entrance where we found we couldn’t take the refreshments in. Luckily there wasn’t a queue, so we didn’t miss our place, but we had to be quick to eat and drink up before the show started. I eat quickly when the need arises! In to the show and the girls had already decided they wanted to be warthogs this time, so into the warthog section we went. Embarrassing behaviour by mother with much singing, clapping and general joining-in and photo taking, but Rhian and Amy just slid further and further away from me until they thought there was no chance anyone would connect us. I love this show!

On our last visit Asia was still under construction, so we set off to discover this new section. Amy and Jeremy wanted to go on Kali River Rapids, but Rhian and I said we’d wait to hear what they thought of it first (wimps, or what?). Little did they know - well, neither did we at that stage, but we soon found out - about the ‘surprise’ at the end provided by the spectators (I won’t spoil this surprise for others who haven’t yet been!). Rhian and I waited about ten minutes and then we spotted Jeremy and Amy’s raft coming down and waited to see how wet they were. They were a bit damp around the edges, but pointed to the guests from their raft who had got the worst of it - they were drenched! Rhian thought she would like to do this after all, so we decided to return later, but wanted to get to Countdown to Extinction before the lines got too bad. Only about a five minute wait here, but I still don’t know what all the fuss is about. The others all love this, and I’ve tried to like it, but I just don’t rate it - sorry!

Jeremy and I tried to get the girls to go to It’s Tough to be a Bug, but after their first time there last trip they refused point blank. If there’d been no line I think Jeremy and I would have done it without them because we both think it’s brilliant, but the crowds were building now and we decided to skip it and go back to KRR for us all to ride.

The queue now was still only about 15 minutes, so we got in line despite my reservations about the whole thing! I just knew that if there was only one person on the raft who was going to get absolutely drenched, it was going to be me. Our turn at the front of the line came all too soon and we boarded. Mass fastening of seat belts, stashing of valuables in the water-resistant compartment, and off we went. Jeremy and Amy took great delight in telling Rhian and me when the drenching was coming up and emphasising that the raft could turn at the last minute and soak anyone. I was just beginning to enjoy myself because it looked as though Jeremy was going to be that poor soul, when the raft turned, I leant forward and someone poured a bucket of cold water down the back of my shorts (I’m sure they did!). We got off and I squelched out to the exit, with the rest of them weak with laughter behind me (was I laughing??). I wouldn’t have got that wet if I’d just jumped in the river and done with it! Lunch in the sunshine at the Flametree BBQ (okay for fast food) to dry off a little and then a very damp trip back on the bus to DxL to change before setting off for EPCOT for the evening.

We’d got a PS in the Biergarten in ‘Germany’, but arrived in time to do some other things first. First stop, a trip on Spaceship Earth, then round to World Showcase. The line for the Millennium Village was still quite long (about 25 minutes), but we stuck with it and wondered whether we should have bothered when we got inside. Generally we weren’t all that fussed, but the girls and I (Jeremy had gone in search of food and beer) really enjoyed the interactive football game at ‘Brazil’ and rated that as one of our holiday highlights. I still don’t know whether it really is interactive, or whether it’s just made to seem that way - does anyone know?

As we passed the American Adventure there was a performance called Cookin’ just starting, so we sat down to find out what it was. It turned out to be a group of four Japanese drummers using a stage kitchen as their drum kit. It was spectacular with shredded cabbage flying everywhere (!) and ending with a more conventional Japanese drum set-up but played in rock style. Another unexpected highlight. We continued around to ‘Germany’ and reported to the podium for our PS. We were given a bleeper and went back outside to wait for the call. While we were waiting Tapestry of Nations started and we managed to see about ten minutes of it before the bleeper bleeped us in. We wanted to stay to see it all, but knew we’d have other chances this trip. The music is really haunting.

The Biergarten meal is taken at long tables with other guests, but we hadn’t told the girls this in advance because we knew they’d say they didn’t want to go! The other guests with us were very pleasant and even Rhian and Amy managed to say a few words (not the most gregarious of children, it has to be said!). We’d been a bit concerned about the menu here, as although Jeremy will eat anything that doesn’t move (and even a few things that do) Rhian is vegetarian, I’m more or less vegetarian but will eat fish, and Amy is just plain fussy. We needn’t have worried though, as the buffet had such a good selection of everything we were all able to find something we liked - even Amy! The bill came to $86 plus tip, which wasn’t cheap for the four of us but not bad considering we could have all had gargantuan appetites and still paid the same, and the entertainment and atmosphere were excellent in making it more than just a meal.

We didn’t plan to stay for Illuminations tonight, so after the meal we returned to DxL and the pool bar for a beer (or two) and the girls tried something fairly disgusting which appeared to be a trough-full of liquidised cookies and cream. Not to be recommended straight before bedtime.

 

[Hilary]

Day 10 - Sunday 24th October

Early entry for MGM today, so we were off to get the bus not long after 7:00, but we didn’t manage to get to the barriers in time to see the MGM ‘opening ceremony’ like we had in the other parks. (I remember one year waiting for the ‘rope drop’ and being aware of something going on beyond the rope, and then witnessing a very funny routine put on by the Green Army Men from Toy Story who were checking the area for clearance, all done in commando-style.)

We were still early enough to make the most of quite a few rides before the lines built up, and Jeremy wanted to get the Rockin’ Rollercoaster out of his system early on (either before the lines built up or before he chickened out, not sure which). The rest of us very kindly offered to look after his baseball cap for him and waited at the end of the ride to catch him (in more ways than one) as he came out. He said he enjoyed it, but I wasn’t totally convinced, and this was one ride I had absolutely no intention of doing!

None of us felt up to riding the Tower of Terror this morning, so we backtracked over to Star Tours and walked straight on. We always seem to be able to walk straight on to this ride (because we always hit it on EE) and it’s the one queuing area I’d actually quite like to spend a bit of time in! There’s just no pleasing some people.

Next stop was breakfast at the ABC Commissary and then on to the Backlot Tour with Catastrophe Canyon. On the way we passed Buzz and Woody with long lines for autographs and a lonely looking Green Army Man with no-one waiting for him, so we had a photo taken with him but didn’t wait for Buzz or Woody this time. I also took advantage of the empty car outside the Sci-Fi Dine-In Movie Theatre and got Rhian and Amy to pose for a photo there - every other time we’ve tried this some other kid has managed to sneak in just at the last minute, but this time we got a picture of just the two of them.

We’d heard that George of the Jungle’s treehouse was on the Backlot Tour now, but we must have missed it if it was, as none of us saw it. They had already started to put up the Christmas lights in the residential street and we wondered what it would look like when it was all finished. It was amazing to see the trouble they went to do the decorations and the number of lights they used. We hadn’t done this tour on our last couple of trips, so enjoyed it all the more this time.

When we came out of the tour Rhian found a ‘must-have’ Kermit backpack in one of the shops which took up a large proportion of her spending money, but which she assured us was a fraction of the cost it would be at home - he’s gained many admiring comments since, so I’m sure he was worth it!

Because it was an EE day here things were getting busy, so after a bit more shopping we decided to leave and head off to our next venue, Blizzard Beach. We arrived at BB just before lunch time, so we found some loungers for our base camp and then had lunch in Lottawatta and gave that a little while to settle down before setting off for the family raft ride.

This is one ride I love to hate! The others all think it’s wonderful, I think it’s just bearable, but they all have such a great time I’m not prepared to miss out on it. I’m constantly worried that the laws of physics will choose this moment to disprove themselves and our raft will be the one to swoosh so far up the side of the channel that it will be sent hurtling through the air to land somewhere in the parking lot (if we’re lucky) or somewhere half way down Summit Plummet (if we’re not!). So far the laws of physics have held true, but you never know...The CM at the top of this ride was particularly enthusiastic and kept cracking jokes and splashing everyone in the queue and then sending a great wave of water into the rafts as they each set off. If it had been a boiling hot day I’m sure that would have been lovely, but today it wasn’t! Now I like a CM who enjoys his job, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing!

Jeremy was the only one of us up for the big slides today (who am I kidding? I’m never up for them!), so after a couple of goes on the family raft ride (I just keep my eyes closed and fingers crossed) and a few laps around Cross Country Creek, Jeremy went to ‘do his thing’ with the big kids whilst the girls and I went to sit in the sun for a while. We didn’t really warm up enough to be comfortable doing nothing and it seemed daft to stay just for the sake of it, so we checked out the shop (Rhian picked up two really nice surfy tee-shirts), retrieved Jeremy from the slides and then left quite early for the bus back to DxL to spend a quiet evening at the resort. This was the first time we’d been a bit too chilly at a water park, and something we hadn’t anticipated as on all our previous visits it had been too hot, if anything! Maybe we were getting used to the heat.

When we got back Jeremy went fishing and the girls and I went to the DxL shop to get some of the presents to take home for family and friends. We really like the shop here, as it has a good selection of all sorts of things from pencils, erasers and jelly beans to tea towels, watches and leather jackets (not that we’ve bought any of the latter), as well as a few grocery items like cookies, chips, beer, and minor pharmaceutical items. (I’m definitely looking for commission next time!) As we came out of the shop I noticed a poster outside the bar area advertising their Sunday Night Special which had a really good menu we hadn’t seen before.

When we’d met up with the fisherman again we all trooped off to the Cotton Co-Op Bar to investigate further and were very impressed with what we had - and there was so much of it!! It became obvious, once they arrived, that each of the menu items was designed for sharing (which was what we’d decided to do anyway) and each meal came with a pitcher of either beer or lemonade. We had a 20” pizza, an enormous plate of vegetables and dips with one pitcher of beer and one of lemonade and a side order mound of fries with cheese, - it was a good job we were all starving after braving the battle with the family raft ride! The bill was somewhere around the $20-25 mark. Great stuff - it was only a shame they didn’t do it more often (it seemed to be only once or twice a week) Tempting though it would have been to order another pitcher of beer, we had another Early Entry planned for the morning - these holidays are hard work, aren’t they? - and decided to call it day.

 

[Hilary]

Day 11 - Monday 25th October

Out at the bus stop by 10 past 7 and at MK before the barriers opened. There was some kind of ‘ceremony’ here like the other parks, but as far as I could tell it involved just one family who (I believe) are given the ‘Keys to the Kingdom’. I don’t really know how you get picked or what it involves, so if anyone knows, I’d love to find out! Anyway, on with the plot...

Jeremy and Amy wanted to do Splash Mountain, but Rhian didn’t, and I didn’t mind, so we all set off towards the rope for Frontierland and waited for the sprint to begin. It never ceases to amaze me how seriously some people take this ‘Mission To Be The Very First One In The Queue’. Yes, we all want to get to the rides before the lines build (no point in going for Early Entry otherwise), but does it make that much difference if there are 10 or 20 people in front of you? Well, anyway we got to Splash Mountain without running the 4 minute mile, and Rhian and I waited with the camera whilst Jeremy and Amy went on the ride. Not too many hours later - isn’t this a long ride? - they emerged just a bit damp and we set off back to catch Dumbo as we knew the lines here would build up very quickly.

Rhian and Amy rode whilst I took care of the camera again. Then over to the new Winnie-the-Pooh ride (slightly disappointed by this even though we all love WTP) and Jeremy and Amy went to Space Mountain whilst Rhian and I took one of our favourite rides on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (we’re easily pleased!). When Rhian and I reached the exit we found the others waiting with muffins, coffees and juices - there was a problem with Space Mountain and it was temporarily closed.

With refreshments quickly devoured we all went up to Astro Orbiter which Jeremy and I had never ridden before. Never again for me! I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t like it at all. I think it may have been the way the cars tilt as the ride gets going, but whatever it was, I didn’t want to do it again. The girls both love this one, though.

Off to Buzz Lightyear next, with Jeremy pretending his score doesn’t really matter but making sure he told us very loudly that he got more than us. How childish - I’ll beat him next time! Next stop, at the girls’ insistence, it was the Tomorrowland Speedway where Jeremy and Amy rode together behind Rhian and me. The agreement was that Rhian would steer and I would do the pedal. Well our car was a disaster! We ground to a halt half way around and had to call for a CM to come and start us up again (not popular with Jeremy and Amy who were stuck behind us), and then on the home straight when we hit the very slight incline it just couldn’t cope and we had to be pushed in to the pits! How embarrassing.

Space Mountain still hadn’t re-opened, so (mainly just to get my own back on Jeremy) we headed back to Fantasyland to ride the teacups. This is the only ride in WDW which Jeremy can’t take because he says it makes him feel sick! He’ll ride the rollercoasters all day, but turns into a quivering wreck at the mere mention of the teacups. The girls and I like it though, so we did a quick turn or two.

We’d booked a late morning PS for breakfast at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, so we wandered back down Main Street, calling in a couple of the shops along the way, and were glad to slump in Tony’s comfy sofas for five minutes whilst we waited for our table. We love the breakfasts here, and knew that if we ate late enough it would easily see us through to an early evening meal without needing lunch as well. By the time the meals arrived we were all so hungry we were ready to start gnawing at the table legs, but poor old Amy wasn’t to be allowed to start hers just yet - as the server went to put Amy’s plate infront of her the whole lot tipped up, plate and all, and crashed on to the tiled floor. There was a deathly hush and everyone turned to look and we felt quite sorry for the server, but she wasn’t at all phased by it and went off quite happily to get another meal for Amy. We shared out what we could until Amy’s fresh plate arrived and then all tucked in to Tony’s best.

This was to be the first time I’d put my Magic Kingdom card to the test for a restaurant discount, but I needn’t have worried as it all went through without a hitch and I felt more confident to ask next time. After we’d finished the girls and I went to the restroom whilst Jeremy waited for us in his favourite MK place - one of the rocking chairs on the front porch of Tony’s - where you can sit slightly removed from the hustle and bustle and just watch the world go by.

By now it seemed to be pretty much the whole world and his family going by, so we left MK for a couple of quiet hours back at DxL to catch up on some fishing (Jeremy), swimming (Rhian and Amy) and laundry (guess who?). The girls also took advantage of the breathing space to get their customary WDW hair wraps put in. Amy had brought with her the stars and stripes bead she’d had last trip as she liked it so much she wanted it put in again, but Rhian chose a new colour scheme of cottons and beads and I held my breath when it came time to add up the total cost. Not quite enough for a small family hatchback, but enough for a good few haircuts at home! Still, I know now that they’ll stay put for few months if well cared for, so although not cheap they do last (go on, convince me!).

The fisherman returned and after freshening up we set off to MGM as we’d booked a ‘Fantasmic Dinner Package’ with a meal at Mama Melrose’s for 4:30pm. We had a short wait for our table and there were other families in the foyer with us also waiting. Jeremy had wandered off to look for a menu and one of the servers came around and gave out a colouring sheet and crayons to Rhian and Amy and four other children standing near us, and then asked me if we’d all like to follow her to the table - me and the six kids! I hope I didn’t look too horrified when I explained they weren’t all with me!

After the meal the server gave us our Fantasmic ‘pass’ and explained where to take it before the show. Because the meal had been early we had time to fit in something else before Fantasmic, so we decided on the Hunchback Show. I rate this second only to the Festival of the Lion King for WDW shows and never cease to be amazed at the West End quality condensed into a 20 minute burst. Great!

After a wander round the shops we went to follow the ‘Fantasmic Pass’ trail as instructed. We’d been told to head for a gate near the Studios entrance where there would be a CM to direct us further. There were others heading in the same direction, so waving our pass (which they did check!) we went through the gate into a backstage area where there were storage bays for strollers and wheelchairs. The route wound around the back of the rides and shops and I found it quite interesting just to be somewhere out of the main park area. Eventually the path emerged at the far right-hand side of the Fantasmic auditorium and we took our seats.

As usual we found the pre-show entertainment corny but excellent. One of the highlights was the obligatory Mexican wave, but this time instead of the normal hands wave the CM organised a photo flash wave. All those with flash cameras were instructed to hold the camera up and starting at one side of the auditorium we let off the flashes in a wave around to the other side! Magical!

Fantasmic was brilliant and remains Rhian’s favourite WDW attraction. Unfortunately our Fantasmic passes didn’t give us a separate exit to the show, so we trudged out along with the other 10,000 and along to the bus stop. Amazingly we didn’t have long to wait and were soon back at DxL. Tomorrow we’re going to have a lie-in!

 

[Hilary]

Day 12 - Tuesday, 26th October

We got up at a much appreciated leisurely pace this morning and enjoyed an unhurried breakfast in the DxL food court. Then Jeremy had a morning’s fishing to attend to and the girl’s and I had an appointment with the shops at Downtown. We caught the boat to Downtown and spent a couple of hours here topping up on presents (got some Christmas shopping done, too) and souvenirs before meeting back with Jeremy at the resort.

Swimming things in the bag and off we went to Typhoon Lagoon, with first stop Typhoon Tilley’s for some lunch. Jeremy and the girls went straight off after lunch to the wave pool, but I took a more leisurely approach and watched them from paddling distance. Castaway Creek was calling, but we all found it a bit chilly to want to go round more than once. Jeremy went off to check out Shark Reef whilst I went to check out the pearl outlet.

On our last trip Amy had spent some of her pocket money on her own pearl here and we’d all enjoyed the ‘ceremony’ of choosing and then opening the oyster shell. The CM had also spent a long time chatting to Amy and telling her all about pearls and how the oysters make them inside the shell. We’d decided later that we should have got a pearl for my mum, but as it was too late that trip it became a ‘must do’ for this time. Rhian and Amy decided which oyster looked a ‘good’ one and the ‘ceremony’ began. When the CM opened the shell, there inside was the most beautiful large black pearl! I couldn’t resist it - although we’d chosen it for my mum we didn’t think she’d actually want a black one whereas I’ve always liked them, so we bought a second one! That was large as well, but creamy white and just right for mum, so we had it put onto a brooch for her, and I had the black one on a setting to put on a chain at home. An unexpectedly expensive afternoon!

We spent a couple more hours between the family raft ride, Castaway creek and the wave pool (no takers amongst us for Shark Reef today) and just enjoying a more relaxed pace than at the theme parks. We did find it a bit cool again for water activities today - must be getting soft in our old age. Then we made our way back to DxL to get ready for our PS in Boatwright’s Dining Hall.

This turned out to be one of the most expensive meals this trip at $87 for the four of us, and although it was quite enjoyable we felt this was a bit steep for a fairly ordinary meal. I suppose I’ve come to expect more of a themed ‘dining experience’ for my dollars than Boatwright’s had on offer! We managed to scrape together enough cash (out for the sympathy vote here) for a poolside beer or two to round off the evening, and then to bed.

A laid back kind of Disney day...

 

[Hilary]

Day 13 - Wednesday, 27th October

We’d decided on visiting MGM this morning and went straight onto the Great Movie Ride without a wait as soon as we got through the turnstiles. The CM was average (maybe a bit early in day for her) but it was still enjoyable, and then Jeremy decided to have another ride on the Rockin’ Rollercoaster if the lines weren’t too long. We set off to RR and found it was only a ten minute wait, so we arranged to meet Jeremy at the exit and had a look around the shop there whilst we waited.

A CM was chatting to us and asking if we’d ridden, so we told her we were just waiting for Jeremy and did NOT want to ride it ourselves! (none of us had ever been on an inverted coaster). The CM was telling us about her experience on the ride and the fact that she’d never been on an upside down one before either, but that the CMs were encouraged to try new rides before they opened to the guests. She said it was so smooth and you were so well strapped in that you weren’t even aware that you were going upside down, and she thought it would be a shame if we didn’t give it a try. At this moment Jeremy came out and (not having heard the conversation with the CM) said we just had to give it a go - we’d love it! We fell for it. We went straight out and back into the queue before we had time to think carefully about what we were doing!

We got into the pre-show area and my legs turned to jelly, but it was too late then. By the time we were strapped into the cars I’d decided I’d just keep my eyes closed and I knew it would be over really quickly. Jeremy had said the worst bit was the ‘take off’, but I had no idea of quite what that meant! Well, between the music and the fact that the ride was so smooth (oh alright, and maybe because I had my eyes closed) apart from the amazing first three seconds, the ride was a cinch! I would even go so far as to say I enjoyed it and would do it again. My first inversion coaster! The girls were both fine too, although Rhian said she was worried because she couldn’t breathe during the ‘take off’ and thought it might be like that for the whole ride! I’ve since found a clip of the music on an Internet site and just hearing it made my legs go wobbly all over again!

Everything after that was a bit of a blur for a while, but I think we did the Indiana Jones Stunt Show Spectacular for a quiet sit down afterwards (found the ‘surprise’ at the well afterwards, too), then took a leisurely stroll around the Animation Tour before an excellent lunch in the Sci-Fi Drive-In. We just love the corny film classics here!

We made our way slowly out of MGM after lunch, stopping to look in the shops on the way, as we knew we wouldn’t be back here this trip. Then it was off to Animal Kingdom.

When the bus stopped at the AK parking lot we wondered whether this was such a good idea as the heat was becoming pretty uncomfortable and we always found AK hotter than the other parks. However, we didn’t intend to stay very long here this afternoon, so decided to just get on with it as we had a few ‘must do’s to pack in to our short visit.

We were intending to go to Kali River Rapids first for Jeremy and the girls to ride - I was just going to watch today, after my drenching last time - so we joined the crowds making their way towards Asia. We were making our way through Harambi when we had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (I have spent a long time trying to decide whether or not I should include this in my report for fear of appearing voyeuristic, so please forgive me if I cause any offence.) Infront of us, making their way very slowly and apparently with considerable difficulty, were Siamese twins. They were men who looked to be about 40 or 50 and they were joined at the abdomen. I felt very privileged to have been enjoying somewhere as wonderful as WDW alongside them, and will remember it as a very humbling experience for us, but something that’s difficult to relate without sounding either condescending or sensationalist.

We carried on for Jeremy and the girls to join the line for KRR, which was a respectable 20 minutes. I stationed myself on the bridge to watch for their raft coming down and couldn’t help myself chuckling quietly (ok, having uncontrollable hysterics) when I saw that Jeremy - he of “I don’t know what you’re complaining about, it’s only a drop of water” when I’d got my soaking last time - was absolutely drenched! s******, s******!! Rhian had also had a soaking, but as she was wearing surf shorts they dried out in no time. Amy managed to escape the wet yet again.

Only a man could make the fuss Jeremy did - the big wuss! We were going to the next showing of Tarzan Rocks and he did nothing but complain about being wet and uncomfortable all the time we were in the line, but he was okay once the show was under way. We hadn’t managed to see the Tarzan movie before we left the UK, so some of the characters were a bit lost on us, but we still enjoyed the high energy performance. However, now we’ve seen the movie I think I’d enjoy the show all the more.

We hadn’t intended to stay in AK long this afternoon, so we started heading towards the exit, but took the time to enjoy the sights and sounds all around and to check out some of the shops on the way. Then it was back to DxL for a quick freshen-up before setting off to EPCOT for the evening.

We intended to return to EPCOT again tomorrow on our last full day, so we made the most of a pressure-free stroll around the World Showcase, with shopping and sightseeing our main objectives. We love the Mitsukoshi department store in ‘Japan’ and managed to spend quite a lot of time and money there (well, we were getting near the end of the trip and the credit card had had a pretty stress-free time so far).

We wanted to get something to eat at the Mexican water-side Cantina san Angel, but the whole area around this end of World Showcase was really packed. We practically fought our way to the food counter and ate most of our meal standing up, but did eventually get a seat to finish off. We didn’t want to see Illuminations today as we had it scheduled for our big finish tomorrow night, so we left the crowded WS and went to ride Test Track again, this time in the dark, figuring everyone else would be watching the fireworks and lasers, meaning no queue. Wrong! We were still in the queuing area when the park closed at 9:00pm and I wondered what would happen as we (and several hundred others) were still in the line. Well, things just kept going - I think they closed the doors to stop more guests joining the line, and eventually we got onto the ride. It was good in the dark, but not worth the long wait really.

After a busy day we fell in to bed knowing tomorrow would be even busier as it would be our last park day this trip.

 

[Hilary]

Day 14 - Thursday, 28th October

A big day ahead today as it was to be our final park day this trip, and we were up bright and early and ready to make the most of it. That’s probably not what we all said at the time the alarm went off, but with the rosy glow of hindsight...!

We left to get the bus just after 7:00 and were at the entrance to MK just as the barriers were opening. We wanted to pack in as much as we could early on and headed straight for Big Thunder Mountain which we rode without any wait at all. This is probably our family favourite ride as we all enjoy it just as much as each other and we were tempted to go straight back on again, but decided we shouldn’t spend any longer here.

Next stop was the Haunted Mansion where we were lucky enough to have an excellent CM. She was a tiny lady who must have been well into her 70s and really acted out her part and scared the living daylights out of a group of particularly cocky youngsters who had been acting the fool a bit! She was just brilliant and made the ride even better.

Then it was round to Fantasyland to do a final It’s a Small World and Peter Pan’s Flight. The lines for Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh were too long by now for us to bother waiting, so we decided to check out the lines for Space Mountain - surprisingly they were showing only 10 minutes, so in we went. Rhian wasn’t sure if she wanted to do this, but we told her it was too late to back out now and she’d be fine. Rhian’s biggest problem is worrying about things, but she’s usually alright if she just gets on and does them without too much thinking. We wanted to get Jeremy and the girls in one car with me in the next car, and as soon as we could be sure of this arrangement we got in and were off, with Amy looking very worried as she turned to see me just as her car disappeared around the corner and out of sight for a split second! Rhian survived and Amy wanted to go again, but we didn’t have time because we had a ‘Family Magic Tour’ booked for this morning.

Those of you who have been following from the first episode of these reports (get a life!) may remember that I’d subscribed to the Magic Kingdom Club Gold Card scheme. About two weeks before we left the UK I’d received the latest MKC magazine which included a couple of special offers for card holders. One of these was a choice between access to a special viewing area for the MK fireworks, or a Family Magic Tour. We had no idea what this involved, but on the basis that you could usually get a pretty decent view of the fireworks anyway, we’d opted for the tour. I’d tried to book it for earlier on in the week as I wasn’t sure I wanted to be tied to this during our final park day, but this was the only reservation we could get.

To be honest, we weren’t sure we wanted to do it all - mainly because we didn’t know what we were letting ourselves in for - and I’m ashamed to say we primed the girls that if things got really grim we would pretend one of them wasn’t feeling very well and excuse ourselves from the rest of the tour! Yes, we were prepared to make our children lie for the sake of a couple of hours extra in MK - well, wouldn’t you?

We had another breakfast booked at Tony’s to tie in with the tour time, so after we’d eaten we went over to City Hall and saw a CM sitting in the garden area with a table all laid out with orange juice, coffee, cookies and other goodies! And we were all stuffed with breakfast from Tony’s! Anyway, we reported in and were given huge stickers to wear with a big Peter Pan above our names. Jeremy wasn’t impressed. Then other family groups arrived and we sized up our fellow tourers. We were the only Brits and most of the children were much younger than our two, and we wondered just how big a mistake we’d made!

I won’t give too much detail of the tour in case any of you ever do it, but I will say that this turned out to be the absolute highlight of the whole trip, but that if we’d had any idea of what was involved we would never have signed up for it! I’d also add that the tour lasted a couple of hours and that even on our final day, when every minute is precious, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! I know I wouldn’t have even considered doing the tour if we hadn’t had it as a complimentary offer, as I found out it would have cost about $25 each on top of park entry, but even knowing that I think it’s worth the money. MKC membership was well worth it just for this.

I don’t think it will give too much away if I tell you that we had a surprise character greeting at the end with a photo session and then went on a very special ride with ‘our’ character - much to the astonishment of others waiting in line! The CM was an absolute star and couldn’t have done more to make the tour a success. Okay, have I given you the impression that we enjoyed this?!

Well, on a very high note, we left MK to go back to DxL for a quick lunch and many, many happy memories of our last morning in MK. When we got back to our room we found Amy and Rhian’s collection of Beanie Babies and other small toys (some brought from home, some bought here) in the best yet arrangement by our room maid, Eika. Every day she’d done something with them - either grouped around a book with one toy ‘reading’ to the others, or sitting watching TV with the remote control in the middle of them, but today they were all in the window in an amazing poolside scene! Eika had used towels and face cloths to construct a swimming pool with slide and put the toys in and around it with other props from the room making sandcastles and beach towels - it was hilarious! This just added another element to our brilliant day so far.

Refreshed, it was off to EPCOT for our final evening and our PS in the San Angel Inn in Mexico. We didn’t stay long in Future World, just long enough to watch the fountain (my particular magic moment) and then walk into the setting sun around World Showcase, taking in all the little details as we went. We’d started at the UK end of the lagoon and knew we had to get right around for our PS time, but didn’t think we needed to hurry. We hadn’t reckoned on getting caught up with Tapestry of Nations, however! We knew the pathway wasn’t closed off like it is for the parades at MK and MGM, but we didn’t realise it would be a bit tricky getting around whilst the parade was in progress. We’d imagined we could watch it as we made our way around the lagoon. Well, we managed, but only just got to Mexico in time and didn’t really get to see very much of TON because we were trying to weave through the crowds! I can still hear that wonderful music, though.

Once in Mexico we reported to the podium and were given a bleeper but told to stay within the pavilion. We had about ten minutes to look around the shops and then we were bleeped in and given a table right on the ‘river’. We were so lucky! We’ve had two meals there now, and both times we’ve had a riverside table without asking or waiting for one to become vacant. It does make such a difference. I had to have a Margarita in one of those huge glasses (when in Mexico...), so that was me wrecked for the evening!

At the end of the meal we made our way back around to Canada for Jeremy’s favourite viewing spot for Illuminations and we settled down for a 40 minute vigil before Illuminations 2000 started. Well, what can I say? It was just as enthralling as ever, with the added ‘oomph’ of it being the millennium version. This was in October 1999, don’t forget, so the ‘Millennium Fever’ hadn’t really hit us then, but it still felt special.

So it was with weary bodies but high spirits that we left EPCOT to get back to DxL for our final night.

 

[Hilary]

Day 15 - Friday, 29th October

And today we were going home!

There seemed to be a never-ending collection of bags and parcels which we had to pack into our cases, but once I got into the swing of it, it didn’t take too long. We went for an unhurried breakfast in the food court, and then finished the packing and checked our cases into the luggage room to wait until we were ready to leave for the airport this afternoon. We put a holdall with a change of clothes and washbags into the lockers by the pool and then spent the morning in the resort enjoying the surroundings without feeling we had to rush off to the next park! Oh, and there might well have been a bit of last minute fishing underway as well!

We hired a surrey bike and rode around the resort pathway (hot work) and stopped to admire the landscaping (and to catch our breath) as we passed the various garden areas. Lots of very attractive photo opportunites here. It was also very tempting to make the most of being able to look around the shop in an unhurried way, but we knew we didn’t have room in the luggage for anything too large, as even using the extra holdall which we brought with us folded flat in a case, we had everything packed fairly tightly! We did make a few last minute purchases which we managed to squeeze in, and after our final Dixie Landings lunch we sat for a quiet half hour on the veranda at the pool-side bar before deciding it was time to make a move.

We showered and changed in the pool locker rooms and then waited for our taxi out by the luggage room. Finally we had to say goodbye to DxL and we made our way to Orlando International. The flight was on time, the flight itself uneventful, and I don’t remember much about the drive back home - except that we were all cold!



Final thoughts

This had been a different kind of Florida trip for us, with only part of the time spent in theme parks or on Disney soil, and I’d wondered whether would regret the time elsewhere and wish we’d had the entire two weeks in WDW. I didn’t regret it, and would certainly be happy to do something similar next time (yes, of course there’ll be a next time!). I’m glad we decided to end our two weeks in Disney and finish with an adrenalin rush rather than choosing to ‘relax’ in the second week - I know I would have wanted to stay in the parks!

The Magic Kingdom Club subscription proved to be worthwhile as it entitled us to reductions on our park passes and several meals, and from a special promotion in the club magazine we were able to collect park stamps and then send away for a pair of commemorative pins, and were able to book a free Family Magic Tour. We could also have had a complimentary ‘Ice Cream Social’ but didn’t have time. Even without managing to get a reduction on the resort room we saved more than the cost of the 2 year membership, so it was certainly a good investment for us.


The highlights?

In Kissimmee - Damon’s Sports Bar and the Vintage Car Cruise at Old Town and Todd the Magician in the Holiday Inn kid’s club!!

In Crystal River - Spotting ‘our’ manatees in Crystal River and the boat trip in Homosassa Springs State Park

In WDW - the music from Tapestry of Nations, getting wet on the Kali River Rapids, finding the black pearl at Typhoon Lagoon, the photo-flash Mexican wave before Fantasmic, conquering the Rockin’ Rollercoaster and the FAMILY MAGIC TOUR!!!


And a final confession!

Apart from a diary of which parks we visited and where we ate each day, I didn’t actually make any trip notes. This report has been written by rummaging around in my notoriously feeble memory, aided by the photo album and scrap book, and then proof read by Rhian for glaring mistakes and omissions! We did see and do everything I’ve reported, but the sequence of events might not stand up in a Court of Law, and I know I’ve left out quite a few bits here and there! It’s accurate enough for me, so I hope it was for you, too. Next time I’ll make more notes!

Thanks for reading...

 

[wicket2005]

Thanks for putting your trip report back on, I enjoyed reading it. Rock 'n' Rollercoaster was my first upside ride too. I did it as a sort of a challenge because I have never been a fan of coasters. After discovering there was nothing to them, I did the Hulk and Duelling Dragons.

 

[Hilary]

I did the Hulk and Duelling Dragons.

You wouldn't catch me on either of those! Well done, you

 

[Miffy2003]

Hilary, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading all about your trip!

I don't know who "made" you post them, but thank you to them! And you, for writing them in the first place

 

[Cyrano]

Phew reading your entire holiday in a post
Who ever suggested this, thanks as I'd missed it first time around.

Reid