*Marty_Mouse_House*
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2004
- Messages
- 60
Vacationers:
Husband - early 40s
Self - early 40s (college sweethearts - married 20 years)
Son - 15
Beagle - 9
Active Cat - 3
Monday, June 7, 2004
Another wake up call at 7:15 a.m. Mickey told us, "I'm glad you're here," and I was really starting to believe him. We were very pleased with how friendly everyone was - from the hotel staff, to the cast members in the park, the ride attendants, the restaurant people, the security people who checked bags, and everyone else we came in contact with. Housekeeping service was wonderful too - the room was always ready when we returned to the room for the first time of the day - sometimes as early as 1:00 p.m. Also, the parks looked cleaner and neater than I had remembered seeing in a long time. When we were riding a ride from high up, you couldn't see trash on top of buildings, etc. as on previous trips. We had 3 more wonderful days at WDW and then would head on off to that mecca for boys - Universal.
We decided to return to MGM Studios this morning. Our son started on his cinnamon roll and left the other half for tomorrow - so no complaining there! We got into the car and made our way over - showed the AAA parking pass and parked in the first row, 3rd spot. The day couldn't begin without a fast pass to Tower of Terror. Then the fellas did the Rock n Roller Coaster. I've done this ride before and will do it again one day, but I just didn't feel like it today. Our teenager felt he needed a little snack and chose a big dill pickle from the stand outside of Tower. We walked through One Man's Dream and I especially liked the small models of how the rides were supposed to look. Also, you could imagine all of the decision making that took place at Walt's desk. We were walking past the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Show and a cast member was out front just giving out fast passes to whoever wanted them. We took 3, but did not use them. The next stop was the Backlot Tour. We were forced to watch the pre-show of the water cannons going off - as this was the first show of the day so we couldn't sneak past it. We got on the tram for the Backlot Tour. After Catastrophe Canyon, we noticed that a big part of the backlot had now given way to the new stunt car show being built which would be ready in Spring 2005. As a result, they got rid of all of the old "set" houses and facades which I thought was one of the more interesting parts of the ride. They also said that they were building new city skylines of San Francisco and Chicago, so much of the backlot tour was torn up. They managed to place a few of the vehicles on one side of the tram and the ride was over.
We were on our way to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (never before seen by DH) when I noticed a sign that you could meet Mickey. We ducked in the building not knowing what it was. As soon as we got in line a cast member was barking to all of the kids, "Be sure to have your autograph books out and your pens ready." I guess Mickey didn't want to be held up by having to open up an autograph book! Mickey was there and dressed in his fantasmic outfit. There were some statues of Fantasia broomsticks. At least it was inside and air-conditioned. A Disney photographer was there capturing each shot which could be purchased later on Hollywood Blvd. We had our own camera and noticed that other people were giving him their cameras so we did the same. He took our professional picture and then a cast member took our picture with our personal camera too. We ended up not purchasing the Disney picture ($12.95 for the cheapest one) because we knew our personal camera would be just as good.
We attended the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show, then Beauty and the Beast (another show DH had never seen). I thought Beauty and the Beast was terrific.
We were thinking about lunch and looked at the Commissary menu. We decided to eat at the Backlot Express instead. Here's what we paid: Double cheeseburger with fries - $6.69, hot dog with carrot sticks - $5.59, Turkey sandwich with carrot sticks and dip - $6.49, 2 regular drinks - $1.99/each, ice water - free, total: $24.23.
We were walking by the Indiana Jones Stunt Show and the next show was getting ready to start so we jumped in. It was funny when the cast member asked for newlywed couples and a couple of guys in red shirts stood up. The cast member said, "We believe you - really! Is there anybody else?" A husband and wife couple in front of us stood up and they were chosen.
It was getting hot by this time and we decided to take a little break and maybe do some shopping at the outlet center. They have a store there called Character Connections which is filled with Disney merchandise at much lower prices than anywhere in Disney. We do all of our souvenir shopping at the outlets. While we were in the car we also decided to head over to Downtown Disney. Our son used his own money to purchase some Lego items at the Lego store. We finished up with a big ice cream at McDonald's: Small caramel sundae - $1.89, small vanilla cone - $1.79, chocolate fudge sundae with brownie - $2.99. Back to the hotel we went to check e-mail.
We decided to try out the pool at the Contemporary. We also wanted to see the view from the observation decks. So after we put our bathing suits on, we carried our cameras and made our way to the elevators in the Tower building. We first wanted to be able to see the view from the 14th floor. We pushed the 14th floor elevator button. Nothing. We were required to insert an exclusive key otherwise we were not authorized to go to the 14th floor. (Also, I also noticed that this hotel did not have a 13th floor.) We pushed the button for the 12th floor. We weren't authorized to go to this floor either. We were, however, able to go to the 4th floor where we passed all of the shops and made our way out the door toward the observation deck. We got a wonderful view of the Magic Kingdom and the surrounding area. This was a great spot for pictures, especially with the monorail in the background, and backdrops of the Polynesian too. My husband remembered being on the 14th floor on previous trips and he really wanted to be able to show it to us. We made our way back to the elevator and pushed the button for the 11th floor. Apparently this was authorized and we got out. We walked toward the fire escape outside and took the outside stairs up to the 14th floor (on the Magic Kingdom side of the hotel). This was really lovely up here, and there was a big viewing area with binocular viewers and located outside of the California Grill. We took a lot of pictures and then walked down several flights of stairs until we found an outside door that would let us in. We made our way to the elevator past the guest rooms and saw a lovely spread of desserts and drinks right outside the elevator. It was being monitored by an attendant. I guess this was the 'light" concierge level. It sure did look good! But we behaved ourselves and didn't take anything. We made our way to the pool.
We found 2 chairs and moved them to the shade. Our son jumped in with his new snorkeling set in hand. The lifeguard said that he could use the face mask, but he wouldn't be allowed to use the snorkel. I asked the life guard if noodles were allowed. He said yes, but bigger floats were not because they couldn't see if anybody was under them or not. The slide was pretty nice to go down but the slide itself wasn't landscaped (like a volcano) like some of the other resort pools. It was just a big green slide sticking up out of the concrete. There was a hot tub area as part of the big pool and further down the sidewalk there was a smaller separate round pool. When we got back to our chairs after using the slide a couple of times there was a party of 4 adults parked right behind us. They were full of loudness, jokes and stories which ruined our quiet pleasant viewing spot so we decided to skeedaddle. It was now about 7:00 p.m. and after returning to the room we decided to take the monrail to the Magic Kingdom.
We had just gotten to the Hall of Presidents when a sprinkling started with lots of thunder and lightning. The show was bittersweet when there was a lot of applause for Ronald Reagan's name. (There was also applause for our current President.) When we got out it was really pouring so we broke out our ponchos which we had brought from home and had bought at the Dollar Tree. It sure beat paying $12.95 for a poncho! We viewed Philharmagic again (always fabulous) and then used a fast pass for Winnie The Pooh. Lots of rides had closed for the weather - the Motor Speedway, Astro Orbiter, and Dumbo. We took the walkway back to the hotel and ordered a light dinner at the Food and Fun Center. Here's what we had:
Milk - $1.29, refrigerated beef sandwich - $6.59, hot pepperoni pizza - $5.79, and hot vegetable quiche - $5.09, total - $18.76.
I made the suggestion that for the last 2 days of our Disney visit that we really were going to have to plan our meals better. Everyone was going to get cranky otherwise if we waited until 10:00 to eat dinner and lunch had been a long time ago. My husband took this to heart and started writing up a schedule for the next 2 days. We heard some booming and knew that the Magic Kingdom fireworks were scheduled to go off. We walked out to the patio and looked over the tennis courts and there they were. We walked further out into the grass but the bugs biting our ankles sent DS and DH inside. I stayed for the entire thing,
bugs, rain and all.
--------------------------------------
Previous Trips: 30 plus trips in 32 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
Husband - early 40s
Self - early 40s (college sweethearts - married 20 years)
Son - 15
Beagle - 9
Active Cat - 3
Monday, June 7, 2004
Another wake up call at 7:15 a.m. Mickey told us, "I'm glad you're here," and I was really starting to believe him. We were very pleased with how friendly everyone was - from the hotel staff, to the cast members in the park, the ride attendants, the restaurant people, the security people who checked bags, and everyone else we came in contact with. Housekeeping service was wonderful too - the room was always ready when we returned to the room for the first time of the day - sometimes as early as 1:00 p.m. Also, the parks looked cleaner and neater than I had remembered seeing in a long time. When we were riding a ride from high up, you couldn't see trash on top of buildings, etc. as on previous trips. We had 3 more wonderful days at WDW and then would head on off to that mecca for boys - Universal.
We decided to return to MGM Studios this morning. Our son started on his cinnamon roll and left the other half for tomorrow - so no complaining there! We got into the car and made our way over - showed the AAA parking pass and parked in the first row, 3rd spot. The day couldn't begin without a fast pass to Tower of Terror. Then the fellas did the Rock n Roller Coaster. I've done this ride before and will do it again one day, but I just didn't feel like it today. Our teenager felt he needed a little snack and chose a big dill pickle from the stand outside of Tower. We walked through One Man's Dream and I especially liked the small models of how the rides were supposed to look. Also, you could imagine all of the decision making that took place at Walt's desk. We were walking past the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Show and a cast member was out front just giving out fast passes to whoever wanted them. We took 3, but did not use them. The next stop was the Backlot Tour. We were forced to watch the pre-show of the water cannons going off - as this was the first show of the day so we couldn't sneak past it. We got on the tram for the Backlot Tour. After Catastrophe Canyon, we noticed that a big part of the backlot had now given way to the new stunt car show being built which would be ready in Spring 2005. As a result, they got rid of all of the old "set" houses and facades which I thought was one of the more interesting parts of the ride. They also said that they were building new city skylines of San Francisco and Chicago, so much of the backlot tour was torn up. They managed to place a few of the vehicles on one side of the tram and the ride was over.
We were on our way to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (never before seen by DH) when I noticed a sign that you could meet Mickey. We ducked in the building not knowing what it was. As soon as we got in line a cast member was barking to all of the kids, "Be sure to have your autograph books out and your pens ready." I guess Mickey didn't want to be held up by having to open up an autograph book! Mickey was there and dressed in his fantasmic outfit. There were some statues of Fantasia broomsticks. At least it was inside and air-conditioned. A Disney photographer was there capturing each shot which could be purchased later on Hollywood Blvd. We had our own camera and noticed that other people were giving him their cameras so we did the same. He took our professional picture and then a cast member took our picture with our personal camera too. We ended up not purchasing the Disney picture ($12.95 for the cheapest one) because we knew our personal camera would be just as good.
We attended the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show, then Beauty and the Beast (another show DH had never seen). I thought Beauty and the Beast was terrific.
We were thinking about lunch and looked at the Commissary menu. We decided to eat at the Backlot Express instead. Here's what we paid: Double cheeseburger with fries - $6.69, hot dog with carrot sticks - $5.59, Turkey sandwich with carrot sticks and dip - $6.49, 2 regular drinks - $1.99/each, ice water - free, total: $24.23.
We were walking by the Indiana Jones Stunt Show and the next show was getting ready to start so we jumped in. It was funny when the cast member asked for newlywed couples and a couple of guys in red shirts stood up. The cast member said, "We believe you - really! Is there anybody else?" A husband and wife couple in front of us stood up and they were chosen.
It was getting hot by this time and we decided to take a little break and maybe do some shopping at the outlet center. They have a store there called Character Connections which is filled with Disney merchandise at much lower prices than anywhere in Disney. We do all of our souvenir shopping at the outlets. While we were in the car we also decided to head over to Downtown Disney. Our son used his own money to purchase some Lego items at the Lego store. We finished up with a big ice cream at McDonald's: Small caramel sundae - $1.89, small vanilla cone - $1.79, chocolate fudge sundae with brownie - $2.99. Back to the hotel we went to check e-mail.
We decided to try out the pool at the Contemporary. We also wanted to see the view from the observation decks. So after we put our bathing suits on, we carried our cameras and made our way to the elevators in the Tower building. We first wanted to be able to see the view from the 14th floor. We pushed the 14th floor elevator button. Nothing. We were required to insert an exclusive key otherwise we were not authorized to go to the 14th floor. (Also, I also noticed that this hotel did not have a 13th floor.) We pushed the button for the 12th floor. We weren't authorized to go to this floor either. We were, however, able to go to the 4th floor where we passed all of the shops and made our way out the door toward the observation deck. We got a wonderful view of the Magic Kingdom and the surrounding area. This was a great spot for pictures, especially with the monorail in the background, and backdrops of the Polynesian too. My husband remembered being on the 14th floor on previous trips and he really wanted to be able to show it to us. We made our way back to the elevator and pushed the button for the 11th floor. Apparently this was authorized and we got out. We walked toward the fire escape outside and took the outside stairs up to the 14th floor (on the Magic Kingdom side of the hotel). This was really lovely up here, and there was a big viewing area with binocular viewers and located outside of the California Grill. We took a lot of pictures and then walked down several flights of stairs until we found an outside door that would let us in. We made our way to the elevator past the guest rooms and saw a lovely spread of desserts and drinks right outside the elevator. It was being monitored by an attendant. I guess this was the 'light" concierge level. It sure did look good! But we behaved ourselves and didn't take anything. We made our way to the pool.
We found 2 chairs and moved them to the shade. Our son jumped in with his new snorkeling set in hand. The lifeguard said that he could use the face mask, but he wouldn't be allowed to use the snorkel. I asked the life guard if noodles were allowed. He said yes, but bigger floats were not because they couldn't see if anybody was under them or not. The slide was pretty nice to go down but the slide itself wasn't landscaped (like a volcano) like some of the other resort pools. It was just a big green slide sticking up out of the concrete. There was a hot tub area as part of the big pool and further down the sidewalk there was a smaller separate round pool. When we got back to our chairs after using the slide a couple of times there was a party of 4 adults parked right behind us. They were full of loudness, jokes and stories which ruined our quiet pleasant viewing spot so we decided to skeedaddle. It was now about 7:00 p.m. and after returning to the room we decided to take the monrail to the Magic Kingdom.
We had just gotten to the Hall of Presidents when a sprinkling started with lots of thunder and lightning. The show was bittersweet when there was a lot of applause for Ronald Reagan's name. (There was also applause for our current President.) When we got out it was really pouring so we broke out our ponchos which we had brought from home and had bought at the Dollar Tree. It sure beat paying $12.95 for a poncho! We viewed Philharmagic again (always fabulous) and then used a fast pass for Winnie The Pooh. Lots of rides had closed for the weather - the Motor Speedway, Astro Orbiter, and Dumbo. We took the walkway back to the hotel and ordered a light dinner at the Food and Fun Center. Here's what we had:
Milk - $1.29, refrigerated beef sandwich - $6.59, hot pepperoni pizza - $5.79, and hot vegetable quiche - $5.09, total - $18.76.
I made the suggestion that for the last 2 days of our Disney visit that we really were going to have to plan our meals better. Everyone was going to get cranky otherwise if we waited until 10:00 to eat dinner and lunch had been a long time ago. My husband took this to heart and started writing up a schedule for the next 2 days. We heard some booming and knew that the Magic Kingdom fireworks were scheduled to go off. We walked out to the patio and looked over the tennis courts and there they were. We walked further out into the grass but the bugs biting our ankles sent DS and DH inside. I stayed for the entire thing,
bugs, rain and all.
--------------------------------------
Previous Trips: 30 plus trips in 32 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
