Dates: Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - Sunday, December 29, 2002
Players: Kimble (Me), age 30
Cathy (my sister), age 27
My Dad (60) and his wife Johanna (50s)
My Uncle (70)
Thursday, December 26:
We woke up this morning around 7:30am and made our way to the free buffet breakfast that was included in the room rate. We weren't expecting much, but were really pleased. There were plain scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, french toast, fruit, yogurt, sausage, hash, bagels, english muffins, mini donuts, a selection of cereals, juice and milk (on other days they had ham or bacon instead of sausage, pancakes instead of french toast, biscuits and mini muffins... the variety was nice). We are all big breakfast eaters and usually fit a few buffets into our WDW trips (Cape May Cafe, etc)...so this breakfast saved the 5 of us quite a bit of money.
Cathy likes to begin every WDW trip in the Magic Kingdom, so that is where we decided to start. We parked at the TTC (my Dad and Johanna have season passes, so they have free parking) and we took the monorail to the MK. The park opened at 8am...but we didn't get there until 9 (no commando touring this trip...and it almost killed me!!)...however I was surprised it wasn't too crowded yet. No line for security or to enter the park. The first order of business for me was to go to a pin station and buy a 100 years of magic pin. They were out of Magic Kingdom and MGM pins, but had Epcot, Animal Kingdom and cloud pins. I chose the cloud pin because it was smaller than the others and really, I can't play favorites with the parks! It was $16 + tax (my family thought I was crazy, but after it lit up a few times, they thought it was fun). After gazing at the Castle, we made a bee-line for Pooh (get it?) and enjoyed the ride. I love it when we bounce like tigger! We then got a fast pass for Buzz Lightyear as Cathy and Johanna sat in the Enchanted Grove and had a cup of coffee (remind me we are not commando touring!!!) When they were done we went on Carosel of Progress (the CM told everyone to look under their seats for the special glasses for the ride...ha ha) and the took a calm ride on the peoplemover (oh, I mean Tomorrowland Transit Authority). By this time, we could go on Buzz (I won...but only got 50,000 points...my family is pretty sad! My Uncle said he didn't realize you had to press the trigger on his blaster gun!!! HELLO!)
Next we walked to Liberty Square and walked right onto the Haunted Mansion (the line moved so fast that my Dad almost couldn't finish his beloved MK popcorn...almost!). So far, so good with crowd control. I always love this ride...and looking at all the details outside, tombstones, etc. After this, my Uncle and I walked over to get a fastpass for everyone for Big Thunder, as the rest of the group sat down in Liberty Square. When we returned, they had decided it was time for lunch and we were right next to the Columbia Harbour House...so that was where we went. It was only about 11:30, so it wasn't too crowded, and we got a nice quiet table upstairs. 3 of us had the chowder in a bread bowl and Johanna had the Garden Galley Salad (Uncle had nothing..except the top of my bread bowl!). We all thought it was excellent and a great place for a break in the park. Note that the bread bowl was a whole grain bread, not sourdough. I like sourdough better, but this was still good.
We continued through Liberty Square to Frontierland (the crowds were picking up) and decided to do the Country Bear Holiday show. We stood in line for 8 minutes, and were then let into the show. The show was very fun and festive. (It was one of our objectives of this trip to take advantage of all the special holiday events..since we rarely visit at this time).
After the show, it was time for our fast pass at Big Thunder, and we walked right on. This ride is always fun. After exiting,we noted that it was about 1:15, so we should look for a spot to view the 2pm Holiday parade. We had a tight schedule this afternoon because we wanted to see the parade, but we needed to be in EPCOT soon for the 5pm Candlelight Processional. It was colder today than expected (the weather was sunny and beautiful, but very chilly!)...so my Dad needed to go back to the hotel to put long pants on instead of shorts. We found out that the parade started right next to Splash Mountain, so the plan was to watch the parade right where it started...then Dad and Johanna would race back to the hotel and meet us at 4:30 in France. Cathy, my Uncle and I could be a bit more leisurely and take the monorail to EPCOT. We got a great spot right at the rope across the "street" from Splash. We let some little kids sit in front of us which was no problem since we could still see and they were so cute! The parade was great...with one problem. About 10 minutes into the parade a woman carrying a 3 year old stampeded into the crowd pushing her way to the front and asked the man next to us if she could sit in front of him! He said no and she wouldn't let it go...she tried to push in front of me (and the kids sitting in front of me...saying she "just wanted to sit down in front"...umm...sorry. I told her she was crazy and to get out of there...those kids had been sitting there for an hour! She was making everyone uncomfortable saying it "was the holiday season and all..." and pushing. It really made me stressed, because it seems like there is always one person who ruins things for everyone else. Oh well. After the parade broke, we said goodbye to my Dad and Johanna then Cathy, Uncle and I went upcurrent to the Frontierland train station. We took a nice ride to Main Street (where Santa was just appearing in the parade), got our hand stamped and took the monorail to the TTC and then to EPCOT.
The first order of business was to check in for the Candlelight Processional, and I could have sworn the reservation person told me to go to Guest Services. When I got there, they told me I needed to go to an information booth in the American pavillion. Ok...good thing we had plenty of time. We enjoyed looking at the Christmas decorations and the big Christmas Tree in Future World and decided to take the boat to Germany, since it was parked right there. We got a nice seat on the back of the boat and were able to see the Tapastry parade going around World Showcase from the water... an interesting perspective since you only see the puppets...not the humans controling them.
We made our way through the crowd, catching glimpses of the parade (this is not my favorite parade, but I did enjoy catching some bits and pieces of it by chance during the trip). At the information tent in America the CM was very helpful since I had forgotton my confirmation numbers at the hotel and my last name is Smith (doh!). He did locate our correct reservations though, and gave us our badges (good for 15 % off any Epcot purchase that day). I then went to a pin kiosk to return the 100 years of magic I had purchased earlier...the backs of the pin were not sticking and kept falling off. They only had one Animal Kingdom pin at that station, so I just got my money back. We then strolled through the countries towards our meeting point in France and each picked up a glass of wine at one of the stands. We each got a different red wine and conducted a little wine tasting of our own as we sat on the benches in France and people-watched.
My Dad and Johanna showed up right on time at 4:15, we sat a while longer then went to the Candlelight Processional. They were letting us sit down, so we got a spot in the second row right near the cymbol guy (that guy was amazing...he played so many different bells and chimes, etc.). Before the show began, I left the theater to get a soda ...the line was very long at the outside stand so I ran into the fast food restaurant in America and got my soda. Of course, when I returned Tapestry was rolling past America, so it was more complicated to cross back to the theater than I anticipated, but I made it. Gary Sinese was the MC for the processional and it was excellent. Perfect....except that I wanted it to be longer! We were out of the theater at 6pm and our reservation for Morocco wasn't until 7pm...so, I checked in anyway and they took us immediately (even though it was quite crowded). Dinner was wonderful...even my picky Dad was impressed. I started out with the beef brewat rolls, then the chicken couscous and ended with apple crepe with ice cream. mmm. I also had a drink that I think was called Tangiers something or other...vodka, pineapple juice and midori...dangerously delicious. I could have had many of these, but only had one. We were all stuffed and we rolled towards the front of the park, stopping at a pin station to buy a replacement 100 years pin for me (this time with my 15% discount...cool!). We walked to the car and returned to the hotel.
Day 3 to come...
Players: Kimble (Me), age 30
Cathy (my sister), age 27
My Dad (60) and his wife Johanna (50s)
My Uncle (70)
Thursday, December 26:
We woke up this morning around 7:30am and made our way to the free buffet breakfast that was included in the room rate. We weren't expecting much, but were really pleased. There were plain scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, french toast, fruit, yogurt, sausage, hash, bagels, english muffins, mini donuts, a selection of cereals, juice and milk (on other days they had ham or bacon instead of sausage, pancakes instead of french toast, biscuits and mini muffins... the variety was nice). We are all big breakfast eaters and usually fit a few buffets into our WDW trips (Cape May Cafe, etc)...so this breakfast saved the 5 of us quite a bit of money.
Cathy likes to begin every WDW trip in the Magic Kingdom, so that is where we decided to start. We parked at the TTC (my Dad and Johanna have season passes, so they have free parking) and we took the monorail to the MK. The park opened at 8am...but we didn't get there until 9 (no commando touring this trip...and it almost killed me!!)...however I was surprised it wasn't too crowded yet. No line for security or to enter the park. The first order of business for me was to go to a pin station and buy a 100 years of magic pin. They were out of Magic Kingdom and MGM pins, but had Epcot, Animal Kingdom and cloud pins. I chose the cloud pin because it was smaller than the others and really, I can't play favorites with the parks! It was $16 + tax (my family thought I was crazy, but after it lit up a few times, they thought it was fun). After gazing at the Castle, we made a bee-line for Pooh (get it?) and enjoyed the ride. I love it when we bounce like tigger! We then got a fast pass for Buzz Lightyear as Cathy and Johanna sat in the Enchanted Grove and had a cup of coffee (remind me we are not commando touring!!!) When they were done we went on Carosel of Progress (the CM told everyone to look under their seats for the special glasses for the ride...ha ha) and the took a calm ride on the peoplemover (oh, I mean Tomorrowland Transit Authority). By this time, we could go on Buzz (I won...but only got 50,000 points...my family is pretty sad! My Uncle said he didn't realize you had to press the trigger on his blaster gun!!! HELLO!)
Next we walked to Liberty Square and walked right onto the Haunted Mansion (the line moved so fast that my Dad almost couldn't finish his beloved MK popcorn...almost!). So far, so good with crowd control. I always love this ride...and looking at all the details outside, tombstones, etc. After this, my Uncle and I walked over to get a fastpass for everyone for Big Thunder, as the rest of the group sat down in Liberty Square. When we returned, they had decided it was time for lunch and we were right next to the Columbia Harbour House...so that was where we went. It was only about 11:30, so it wasn't too crowded, and we got a nice quiet table upstairs. 3 of us had the chowder in a bread bowl and Johanna had the Garden Galley Salad (Uncle had nothing..except the top of my bread bowl!). We all thought it was excellent and a great place for a break in the park. Note that the bread bowl was a whole grain bread, not sourdough. I like sourdough better, but this was still good.
We continued through Liberty Square to Frontierland (the crowds were picking up) and decided to do the Country Bear Holiday show. We stood in line for 8 minutes, and were then let into the show. The show was very fun and festive. (It was one of our objectives of this trip to take advantage of all the special holiday events..since we rarely visit at this time).
After the show, it was time for our fast pass at Big Thunder, and we walked right on. This ride is always fun. After exiting,we noted that it was about 1:15, so we should look for a spot to view the 2pm Holiday parade. We had a tight schedule this afternoon because we wanted to see the parade, but we needed to be in EPCOT soon for the 5pm Candlelight Processional. It was colder today than expected (the weather was sunny and beautiful, but very chilly!)...so my Dad needed to go back to the hotel to put long pants on instead of shorts. We found out that the parade started right next to Splash Mountain, so the plan was to watch the parade right where it started...then Dad and Johanna would race back to the hotel and meet us at 4:30 in France. Cathy, my Uncle and I could be a bit more leisurely and take the monorail to EPCOT. We got a great spot right at the rope across the "street" from Splash. We let some little kids sit in front of us which was no problem since we could still see and they were so cute! The parade was great...with one problem. About 10 minutes into the parade a woman carrying a 3 year old stampeded into the crowd pushing her way to the front and asked the man next to us if she could sit in front of him! He said no and she wouldn't let it go...she tried to push in front of me (and the kids sitting in front of me...saying she "just wanted to sit down in front"...umm...sorry. I told her she was crazy and to get out of there...those kids had been sitting there for an hour! She was making everyone uncomfortable saying it "was the holiday season and all..." and pushing. It really made me stressed, because it seems like there is always one person who ruins things for everyone else. Oh well. After the parade broke, we said goodbye to my Dad and Johanna then Cathy, Uncle and I went upcurrent to the Frontierland train station. We took a nice ride to Main Street (where Santa was just appearing in the parade), got our hand stamped and took the monorail to the TTC and then to EPCOT.
The first order of business was to check in for the Candlelight Processional, and I could have sworn the reservation person told me to go to Guest Services. When I got there, they told me I needed to go to an information booth in the American pavillion. Ok...good thing we had plenty of time. We enjoyed looking at the Christmas decorations and the big Christmas Tree in Future World and decided to take the boat to Germany, since it was parked right there. We got a nice seat on the back of the boat and were able to see the Tapastry parade going around World Showcase from the water... an interesting perspective since you only see the puppets...not the humans controling them.
We made our way through the crowd, catching glimpses of the parade (this is not my favorite parade, but I did enjoy catching some bits and pieces of it by chance during the trip). At the information tent in America the CM was very helpful since I had forgotton my confirmation numbers at the hotel and my last name is Smith (doh!). He did locate our correct reservations though, and gave us our badges (good for 15 % off any Epcot purchase that day). I then went to a pin kiosk to return the 100 years of magic I had purchased earlier...the backs of the pin were not sticking and kept falling off. They only had one Animal Kingdom pin at that station, so I just got my money back. We then strolled through the countries towards our meeting point in France and each picked up a glass of wine at one of the stands. We each got a different red wine and conducted a little wine tasting of our own as we sat on the benches in France and people-watched.
My Dad and Johanna showed up right on time at 4:15, we sat a while longer then went to the Candlelight Processional. They were letting us sit down, so we got a spot in the second row right near the cymbol guy (that guy was amazing...he played so many different bells and chimes, etc.). Before the show began, I left the theater to get a soda ...the line was very long at the outside stand so I ran into the fast food restaurant in America and got my soda. Of course, when I returned Tapestry was rolling past America, so it was more complicated to cross back to the theater than I anticipated, but I made it. Gary Sinese was the MC for the processional and it was excellent. Perfect....except that I wanted it to be longer! We were out of the theater at 6pm and our reservation for Morocco wasn't until 7pm...so, I checked in anyway and they took us immediately (even though it was quite crowded). Dinner was wonderful...even my picky Dad was impressed. I started out with the beef brewat rolls, then the chicken couscous and ended with apple crepe with ice cream. mmm. I also had a drink that I think was called Tangiers something or other...vodka, pineapple juice and midori...dangerously delicious. I could have had many of these, but only had one. We were all stuffed and we rolled towards the front of the park, stopping at a pin station to buy a replacement 100 years pin for me (this time with my 15% discount...cool!). We walked to the car and returned to the hotel.
Day 3 to come...
