People in this TR
Joe--that's me; 44 years old, lawyer, dad, WDW fan and, of course, author of this report. This makes trip #9 and my 5th in the last year or so.
Helen--my wife; 57 years old, judge, and recent Disney convert. This is her 5th trip.
Keelie--my daughter; a 15 year old high school student, lifelong Disney fan, and on her 6th trip to the World.
Claire--Helen's daughter; 30 years old, a speech therapist, and also a recent convert. This trip is her 2nd. (She is joining us from the 25th-28th to scope out the possibility of holding her March wedding at WDW. Then she has to return home, since she could only get 2 days off from her job as it's so close to the Memorial Day weekend.)
Julia--Helen's other daughter; 23, grad student, has never been to WDW. (She will be with us on the 25th and 26th. She's visiting her boyfriend at school in Gainesville the week before and is driving down for those two days before returning to NYC for summer classes).
Day 1: We overslept a little, so getting ourselves to the airport in time for the 8 am flight was a little hectic. Fortunately, Claire spent the night, so at least we avoided having to go by her place to pick her up. We made it to the airport by 7:20, which was a little later than we'd have liked. The line at the USAir desk was about half a mile long, so the ladies checked in curbside while I went to park the car.
Not long after we got back to the terminal, they started boarding. I've always thought it was sort of stupid to board the front rows first. It seems like it would be more efficient to board back to front. I've noticed that it's not always done that way, but often. Since we were close to the front, we went ahead and boarded after the people with small children and those with handicaps. The plane had three seats, an aisle, and then three more seats.
After we got seated, the flight attendant asked Claire if she and Keelie would mind moving back a few rows so a woman would be able to sit with her two small children. They had no problem with that, and moved back to the seats right next to the emergency exit. They liked not having to climb over each other to go to the restroom. Either way, it was good to let the woman sit with her two kids, because I don't think even the older one was old enough to sit alone. She was maybe 5 or 6. In that situation, it might have behooved her to call ahead for seat assignments. Apparently, she had been rather upset at the idea of one of her kids having to sit by herself. It was nice to see the flight attendants did everything in their power to be helpful.
The flight was uneventful after that, and we arrived in Orlando right about 10:30. Keelie and I waited on the luggage while Helen and Claire went to pick up the car. I usually use Dollar, but they irritated me when I called to arrange things, so this time I went with Hertz. So, we got a Mazda 626. We (at least those of us in the party who are licensed drivers) liked this car a lot. I believe I prefer it over the Plymouth Breeze I usually get from Dollar. Helen has a Japanese car, and I'm considering ditching my Mercury for a Toyota. They seem to hold their value better.
We finally got to WDW sometime between 11:45 and 12. Staying at the GF was a new experience, since we've stayed only in Epcot resorts in the past. Helen wanted to try the GF anyway, though, so this was a good time. The room wasn't ready yet, which we expected. I requested Big Pine Key, and the room we were assigned was in that area. They did have one available elsewhere, but we chose to wait. The suitcases went to bell services, and they gave us our keys and a card with a number to call back later that afternoon.Down at the desk, Helen and I renewed our annual passes and got one for Keelie, since there is a good chance she will be coming down with my sister's family in the fall. Claire decided to wait and see what she wanted to do about her wedding before buying a pass. She and Helen went off to do that, and Keelie and I decided to go to the MK. It was strange to ride the monorail. I use it maybe once per trip (if that much) usually, but on this trip I expected to use it much more.
Keelie was hungry, so our first stop was to get her a Dole Whip (pineapple). It was extremely hot by our standards, and we were crazy enough to enter the MK at 1 in the afternoon, so we found a shady spot for her to eat (quickly, since it was melting). Figuring that most rides would have pretty long lines at this point, we walked over to Future World and rode TTA 3 times without getting off. The FastPass time for Space Mountain was over 2 hours away and the standby line was stretching as far as the eye could see. Next, Keelie rode the carousel while I took a picture. Keelie didn't care to ride anything in Fantasyland, but I wanted to ride Peter Pan's Flight, so she humored me and came along. IMO it's the best ride in Fantasyland.
Keelie suggested that we go to Hall of Presidents next to escape the heat. It's never too difficult to get into. We were curious to see how the GWB looked. So, we did that and I still hate the movie, but I suppose it's worth it, as I think the rest is interesting. Keelie fell asleep during the movie, probably because she woke up early today. I couldn't tell if Bush recorded his speech as Clinton did. It sounded like him, but, so does the guy on SNL. __Just a sidenote__by Sunday, HoP was different than it was on Friday. Anybody know what was going on?
After that, we were sick of the place and headed for the exit. As the Bake Shop was closed, I went into Casey's and bought myself a cookie I am proud that my daughter and I ate such nutritious lunches on our first day at WDW. Keelie looked in the Emporium while I was in Casey's, and found something she thought she might come back and get later. She knows that at WDW it is best to strike while the iron's hot, because if you wait, you may never see the item again, but she passed it up anyway.
While we waited for the monorail, I used my phone to call the GF and see if the room was ready. It was, so we went straight there when we got back. We had a standard room, but they must have upgraded us to lagoon view. I don't care all that much what I see when I look out my window at WDW, but it was very nice all the same.
I beeped Helen to let her know what was going on, and she and Claire came back not too much later. They really liked the GF room. Claire decided against a WDW wedding, but talked to her fiancee and decided that they would do a combination Disney cruise/WDW honeymoon. The two of them seemed happy with that plan, and I'm pretty sure that Helen was secretly relieved. Not that she didn't want Claire to have what she wanted, but I do think it will simplify the already hectic process of getting married to have the wedding back home. A WDW wedding would be neat (for lack of a better word), though.
Julia called Claire on her cell phone to tell us that she was about half an hour or so away and she'd call from the lobby when she got there. As Claire is 5'8 and Keelie is not far behind, but Julia is only 5'2, so we decided she could sleep on the daybed. While we waited, Keelie and Claire watched the WDW info channel and commented that, for some reason, they could watch the same info over and over and it never seemed boring to them.
Helen and I decided to go on down to the main building so we could discuss the Julia factor privately, also figuring we'd be there when Julia and her boyfriend Matt arrived. Without going into a whole lot of detail, Julia is generally a spoiled brat, who seems to make a huge effort to be a pain or make situations more difficult than necessary. Helen puts up with a lot out of her that I wouldn't, but it's not my daughter and there's a long, complicated history there, so I just do my best to tolerate her. Between ourselves, we agreed that, for less then 48 hours, we'd try not to do anything to ruffle her feathers, but if she pulled anything that would cause inconvenience or displeasure to the rest of us, we would simply walk away. There is no point in arguing or fighting with her, and this was supposed to be a vacation, so the less stress, the better.
Matt and Julia got to the main building at almost 5, and Matt gave his car to the valet, since he was driving back to Gainesville after dinner. We sent Julia's suitcase to the room via bell services. This was the first time I'd met Matt, and from what I observed, he was a very polite, friendly young man. He is starting law school in the fall, so he was interested to talk about my job.
We went back to the room to get Keelie and Claire, because our PS at California Grill was at 5:30. Julia said she wanted to wait for her suitcase so she could change and freshen up. Helen told her there was not time, and it could be a while before the bellman brought her suitcase. Claire told her what she had on was fine, and she could borrow her makeup. This is where I knew that Julia was not going to make things easy while she was with us. I handed Matt a map, told him how to get to where we were going and said we'd see them when they got there. Claire was furious, she is very easy to get along with, and has very little patience for her sister's antics. We didn't discuss it as we headed to the Contemporary.
We checked in about 5 minutes before our PS time, and were seated almost immediately. Helen told the server that the other 2 members of our party would be arriving shortly, but that the rest of us were going to go ahead and order. Since we weren't starving, we skipped the appetizer course. Claire and I both had the chicken/stir fry thing, which was excellent. Helen had salmon, which she also said was very good.Keelie was allowed to order off the children's menu and had macaroni and cheese (just when I was complimenting her during the last trip for staying away from the kiddie food). She was happy with it. I can't imagine how a little kid would eat that much M&C, since Keelie could not finish it. The adults drank water, Keelie drank Sprite.
After we'd been there 20 minutes or so (had already gotten drinks and placed food orders), Julia and Matt finally showed up. Matt apologized for the delay. That poor guy must be a glutton for punishment. They both got an iced tea. When handed the menu, Julia stated off that bat that nothing looked good to her. Then she said she did not eat anything that had a face (a new development). I have no problem with people deciding for moral or health reasons to be vegetarians, of course, but I think she was just trying to be difficult. Matt looked apologetically at us. Our terrific CM (Paul, I think) politely suggested the goat cheese ravioli appetizer and a lettuce salad. Surprisingly, she took his advice. Matt ordered the pork tenderloin. Claire stood up and pointedly asked Julia to accompany her to the ladies' room. I assume they had words, because they didn't even look at each other the rest of the evening. Matt and Julia said their food was good, and we managed to complete the rest of the meal in relative normalcy.
It was still too early for the fireworks when we were done. So, we went back to the resort to swim, instead, except for Julia, who wandered around somewhere. Matt headed back to Gainesville. We were able to see the fireworks pretty well from the resort, so, at 9:30 we went back to the room, showered and got to bed so we could be up early the next day.
Joe--that's me; 44 years old, lawyer, dad, WDW fan and, of course, author of this report. This makes trip #9 and my 5th in the last year or so.
Helen--my wife; 57 years old, judge, and recent Disney convert. This is her 5th trip.
Keelie--my daughter; a 15 year old high school student, lifelong Disney fan, and on her 6th trip to the World.
Claire--Helen's daughter; 30 years old, a speech therapist, and also a recent convert. This trip is her 2nd. (She is joining us from the 25th-28th to scope out the possibility of holding her March wedding at WDW. Then she has to return home, since she could only get 2 days off from her job as it's so close to the Memorial Day weekend.)
Julia--Helen's other daughter; 23, grad student, has never been to WDW. (She will be with us on the 25th and 26th. She's visiting her boyfriend at school in Gainesville the week before and is driving down for those two days before returning to NYC for summer classes).
Day 1: We overslept a little, so getting ourselves to the airport in time for the 8 am flight was a little hectic. Fortunately, Claire spent the night, so at least we avoided having to go by her place to pick her up. We made it to the airport by 7:20, which was a little later than we'd have liked. The line at the USAir desk was about half a mile long, so the ladies checked in curbside while I went to park the car.
Not long after we got back to the terminal, they started boarding. I've always thought it was sort of stupid to board the front rows first. It seems like it would be more efficient to board back to front. I've noticed that it's not always done that way, but often. Since we were close to the front, we went ahead and boarded after the people with small children and those with handicaps. The plane had three seats, an aisle, and then three more seats.
After we got seated, the flight attendant asked Claire if she and Keelie would mind moving back a few rows so a woman would be able to sit with her two small children. They had no problem with that, and moved back to the seats right next to the emergency exit. They liked not having to climb over each other to go to the restroom. Either way, it was good to let the woman sit with her two kids, because I don't think even the older one was old enough to sit alone. She was maybe 5 or 6. In that situation, it might have behooved her to call ahead for seat assignments. Apparently, she had been rather upset at the idea of one of her kids having to sit by herself. It was nice to see the flight attendants did everything in their power to be helpful.
The flight was uneventful after that, and we arrived in Orlando right about 10:30. Keelie and I waited on the luggage while Helen and Claire went to pick up the car. I usually use Dollar, but they irritated me when I called to arrange things, so this time I went with Hertz. So, we got a Mazda 626. We (at least those of us in the party who are licensed drivers) liked this car a lot. I believe I prefer it over the Plymouth Breeze I usually get from Dollar. Helen has a Japanese car, and I'm considering ditching my Mercury for a Toyota. They seem to hold their value better.
We finally got to WDW sometime between 11:45 and 12. Staying at the GF was a new experience, since we've stayed only in Epcot resorts in the past. Helen wanted to try the GF anyway, though, so this was a good time. The room wasn't ready yet, which we expected. I requested Big Pine Key, and the room we were assigned was in that area. They did have one available elsewhere, but we chose to wait. The suitcases went to bell services, and they gave us our keys and a card with a number to call back later that afternoon.Down at the desk, Helen and I renewed our annual passes and got one for Keelie, since there is a good chance she will be coming down with my sister's family in the fall. Claire decided to wait and see what she wanted to do about her wedding before buying a pass. She and Helen went off to do that, and Keelie and I decided to go to the MK. It was strange to ride the monorail. I use it maybe once per trip (if that much) usually, but on this trip I expected to use it much more.
Keelie was hungry, so our first stop was to get her a Dole Whip (pineapple). It was extremely hot by our standards, and we were crazy enough to enter the MK at 1 in the afternoon, so we found a shady spot for her to eat (quickly, since it was melting). Figuring that most rides would have pretty long lines at this point, we walked over to Future World and rode TTA 3 times without getting off. The FastPass time for Space Mountain was over 2 hours away and the standby line was stretching as far as the eye could see. Next, Keelie rode the carousel while I took a picture. Keelie didn't care to ride anything in Fantasyland, but I wanted to ride Peter Pan's Flight, so she humored me and came along. IMO it's the best ride in Fantasyland.
Keelie suggested that we go to Hall of Presidents next to escape the heat. It's never too difficult to get into. We were curious to see how the GWB looked. So, we did that and I still hate the movie, but I suppose it's worth it, as I think the rest is interesting. Keelie fell asleep during the movie, probably because she woke up early today. I couldn't tell if Bush recorded his speech as Clinton did. It sounded like him, but, so does the guy on SNL. __Just a sidenote__by Sunday, HoP was different than it was on Friday. Anybody know what was going on?
After that, we were sick of the place and headed for the exit. As the Bake Shop was closed, I went into Casey's and bought myself a cookie I am proud that my daughter and I ate such nutritious lunches on our first day at WDW. Keelie looked in the Emporium while I was in Casey's, and found something she thought she might come back and get later. She knows that at WDW it is best to strike while the iron's hot, because if you wait, you may never see the item again, but she passed it up anyway.
While we waited for the monorail, I used my phone to call the GF and see if the room was ready. It was, so we went straight there when we got back. We had a standard room, but they must have upgraded us to lagoon view. I don't care all that much what I see when I look out my window at WDW, but it was very nice all the same.
I beeped Helen to let her know what was going on, and she and Claire came back not too much later. They really liked the GF room. Claire decided against a WDW wedding, but talked to her fiancee and decided that they would do a combination Disney cruise/WDW honeymoon. The two of them seemed happy with that plan, and I'm pretty sure that Helen was secretly relieved. Not that she didn't want Claire to have what she wanted, but I do think it will simplify the already hectic process of getting married to have the wedding back home. A WDW wedding would be neat (for lack of a better word), though.
Julia called Claire on her cell phone to tell us that she was about half an hour or so away and she'd call from the lobby when she got there. As Claire is 5'8 and Keelie is not far behind, but Julia is only 5'2, so we decided she could sleep on the daybed. While we waited, Keelie and Claire watched the WDW info channel and commented that, for some reason, they could watch the same info over and over and it never seemed boring to them.
Helen and I decided to go on down to the main building so we could discuss the Julia factor privately, also figuring we'd be there when Julia and her boyfriend Matt arrived. Without going into a whole lot of detail, Julia is generally a spoiled brat, who seems to make a huge effort to be a pain or make situations more difficult than necessary. Helen puts up with a lot out of her that I wouldn't, but it's not my daughter and there's a long, complicated history there, so I just do my best to tolerate her. Between ourselves, we agreed that, for less then 48 hours, we'd try not to do anything to ruffle her feathers, but if she pulled anything that would cause inconvenience or displeasure to the rest of us, we would simply walk away. There is no point in arguing or fighting with her, and this was supposed to be a vacation, so the less stress, the better.
Matt and Julia got to the main building at almost 5, and Matt gave his car to the valet, since he was driving back to Gainesville after dinner. We sent Julia's suitcase to the room via bell services. This was the first time I'd met Matt, and from what I observed, he was a very polite, friendly young man. He is starting law school in the fall, so he was interested to talk about my job.
We went back to the room to get Keelie and Claire, because our PS at California Grill was at 5:30. Julia said she wanted to wait for her suitcase so she could change and freshen up. Helen told her there was not time, and it could be a while before the bellman brought her suitcase. Claire told her what she had on was fine, and she could borrow her makeup. This is where I knew that Julia was not going to make things easy while she was with us. I handed Matt a map, told him how to get to where we were going and said we'd see them when they got there. Claire was furious, she is very easy to get along with, and has very little patience for her sister's antics. We didn't discuss it as we headed to the Contemporary.
We checked in about 5 minutes before our PS time, and were seated almost immediately. Helen told the server that the other 2 members of our party would be arriving shortly, but that the rest of us were going to go ahead and order. Since we weren't starving, we skipped the appetizer course. Claire and I both had the chicken/stir fry thing, which was excellent. Helen had salmon, which she also said was very good.Keelie was allowed to order off the children's menu and had macaroni and cheese (just when I was complimenting her during the last trip for staying away from the kiddie food). She was happy with it. I can't imagine how a little kid would eat that much M&C, since Keelie could not finish it. The adults drank water, Keelie drank Sprite.
After we'd been there 20 minutes or so (had already gotten drinks and placed food orders), Julia and Matt finally showed up. Matt apologized for the delay. That poor guy must be a glutton for punishment. They both got an iced tea. When handed the menu, Julia stated off that bat that nothing looked good to her. Then she said she did not eat anything that had a face (a new development). I have no problem with people deciding for moral or health reasons to be vegetarians, of course, but I think she was just trying to be difficult. Matt looked apologetically at us. Our terrific CM (Paul, I think) politely suggested the goat cheese ravioli appetizer and a lettuce salad. Surprisingly, she took his advice. Matt ordered the pork tenderloin. Claire stood up and pointedly asked Julia to accompany her to the ladies' room. I assume they had words, because they didn't even look at each other the rest of the evening. Matt and Julia said their food was good, and we managed to complete the rest of the meal in relative normalcy.
It was still too early for the fireworks when we were done. So, we went back to the resort to swim, instead, except for Julia, who wandered around somewhere. Matt headed back to Gainesville. We were able to see the fireworks pretty well from the resort, so, at 9:30 we went back to the room, showered and got to bed so we could be up early the next day.
You guys definitely handled things better than I would have!
