Mize Family Trip Report Monday April 22nd, 2002 #4 of 9
Cast: Bonnie and David, both 44, and granddaughter Erika, 9
Tickets: Disney CRO and WDW Travel Co.
Stage: All-Star Music (ASM), for the third time
Entrance: America West Airlines, assisted by National Car Rental
ShowTime: 4/19 - 4/27. This is our sixth trip since 1986.
Out-takes:
http://www.imagestation.com/member/index.html?name=dmize&c=201
======================================
I noticed that I haven't mentioned our maid service at all this trip-
it was exceptional. Our maid was very creative, using Erika's toys &
new Disney stuff that we purchased to make ever-changing scenes in our
room. Her specialty was making small animals out of washcloths, rubber
bands, and washable marker- Erika brought a few of these home. Aside
from creating scenes on our beds, the maid also put large displays in
our window, ones that could easily be seen from the ground below. She
got to know Erika by name, and got a couple of hugs from her during
the week. *This* is what is meant by "Disney magic".
We had a 7:30am wakeup call, but woke up on our own at 7:00am. We
called for a breakfast PS at Rainforest Cafe in the Animal Kingdom,
and were told to just come on in- no crowds. We got there by 8:15am
and breakfast started at 8:30am. We shopped the huge store for a bit,
then went to breakfast. I tried the Viper's Pie, a breakfast pizza-
wonderful! Spicy and very tasty, but too darn big to eat. I ate just
over half, and had to waste the rest. Bonnie tried the much acclaimed
Tonga Toast (w/o walnuts)- said it was very good French toast, nothing
more. Erika enjoyed toast and cereal. We ate at a leisurely pace,
enjoying R.C's unique atmosphere, then left for Animal Kingdom.
OOps! Left my room key / park pass on the table- shucks & other
comments.... Got back to the Cafe, and the pass had already been
turned in to management by the waitress. As it was getting busy by
then, it took me nearly 15mins to get me key back, along with a couple
of showings of my ID. We then entered AK with no problem and headed
straight for the Safari in the back. The park wasn't crowded this
time, while the FastPass time was 45mins, standby was only 35min, so
we just got into line. Three years ago, we waited 90mins for this,
immediately after opening! Our safari this time was much better than
before, with a lot more animals out, including lions.
We exited and went onto the train for Rafiki Station and Conservation
station, which we hadn't done before. This was Earth Day, and many
special events were going on throughout the area. Erika met several
characters (the Earth Muses, or daughters of Mother Earth, Jiminy
Cricket) and did a lot of craft projects. We saw an interesting bird
show (birds of prey), and watched veterinarians doing their jobs
inside Conservation Station. This was our favorite part of the Animal
Kingdom for this visit. We finally left and headed over to Dinoland-
much more crowded than the other parts of the park. I went to
Countdown to Extinction, and discovered that it was now called
Dinosaur... it was also broke down (sigh). It was broken down once on
my previous visit, and 2hrs+ wait two other times, so I never got on
it last time. I resolved to check again another day. Everything in
Dinoland was packed at that point, which is our usual signal to leave-
so we did. Back to the resort by 3:00pm to swim (very hot today).
I should mention my usual means of visiting MK and Epcot. I prefer to
park at the Poly for the MK, and Beach Club for Epcot. The problem is,
so does everyone else, and as a result of crowded lots, WDW
discourages folks from doing this. As a matter of fact, I saw that
Beach Club had a sign posted basically saying that you can't park
there to go to Epcot. The reality is, none of the guards that I've
ever dealt with over several visits seem to care (except one, whom
I'll get to). If a guard ever asked me my I was there, my standard
line of shopping and dining always worked- although the shopping and
dining weren't always at that resort. If asked point-blank, I would
tell the complete truth, and might well be denied parking, but it
hasn't yet.
After getting refreshed and changed, we headed to the Polynesian to
park and then to the Magic Kingdom by 5:00pm. This was the first time
I had ever hit a "by the book" guard. I had to show both my parking
pass, as well as a picture ID. I was also asked our plans in detail,
which I answered truthfully, none of which directly involved the Poly
tonight. He still let me in, which surprised me, but gave me a
limited-time pass. I never had another occurrence like that again
during our stay.
Tonight was the only showing of Spectromagic and fireworks for this
trip- we thought. Add to that the fact that it's Monday (historically
a bad day to be in MK), and it was packed! Every bit as bad as Easter
time, which we've been here several times for. We grabbed the Disney
railroad over to Frontier Land- Splash Mountain and Big Thunder were
mobbed, with FastPasses already sold out for the day. We walked into
the Country Bears show- Erika loved it. We then shopped our way over
to Fantasy Land- also mobbed. We got Erika onto the carousel that she
loves, then we all did Small World- that was it. 'Way too crowded for
our tastes. At 7:20, we staked out seats for Spectromagic back in
Frontier Land, right in front of the Hall of Presidents. While
waiting, we found out from a CM that another parade and fireworks show
had been added to Thursday of this week. We promptly decided to leave
after the parade and come back for fireworks on Thursday, hoping for
better crowds.
I went to a nearby pay phone, dialed *88 for reservations, and shopped
around for late dinner PS. I wanted Kona cafe in the Poly, since we'd
be walking right by there- no luck. Everything was very busy, but
finally nailed down 9:50pm PS at Spoodles, over in Boardwalk. It would
be a little tight, but I should make it. Spectromagic, starting at
8:30pm at the front gates, slowly crawled back to us. It was a great
show, as always, and I filmed the whole thing with my new low-light
camcorder (it came out wonderfully, by the way). Erika was entranced,
and this was a highlight of the trip. As the parade ended, we easily
walked to the front of the park, shopping languidly as we walked
near-empty streets- yeah, right. The place was packed, mobbed,
overrun- pick your adjective. Easter has nothing on these crowds, and
it took us until 9:10pm to get to the monorail. 40mins to our Spoodles
PS was cutting it darn close, but we were still in the running.
As we waited... and waited.... and waited, it became apparent that
there was a problem with the train. The long and short of it is that
we didn't hit the Poly lobby until 9:40pm- goodbye, Spoodles. Well,
guess what- the Kona Cafe was nearly empty! We trudge wearily up to
the podium and asked- Sure! Plenty of seats, come on in! I mentioned
that Disney Dining said heck no, we can't go.. the hostess didn't
understand, either. I asked her to please call & cancel our 9:50pm PS
at Spoodles, which she graciously did, and we plopped into our "not
available" seats. We relaxed for over an hour with drinks and
appetizers- heaven after the huge crowds we had just left. We then
collected our car and headed back to ASM by 11:00pm, and to bed by
midnight.
Cast: Bonnie and David, both 44, and granddaughter Erika, 9
Tickets: Disney CRO and WDW Travel Co.
Stage: All-Star Music (ASM), for the third time
Entrance: America West Airlines, assisted by National Car Rental
ShowTime: 4/19 - 4/27. This is our sixth trip since 1986.
Out-takes:
http://www.imagestation.com/member/index.html?name=dmize&c=201
======================================
I noticed that I haven't mentioned our maid service at all this trip-
it was exceptional. Our maid was very creative, using Erika's toys &
new Disney stuff that we purchased to make ever-changing scenes in our
room. Her specialty was making small animals out of washcloths, rubber
bands, and washable marker- Erika brought a few of these home. Aside
from creating scenes on our beds, the maid also put large displays in
our window, ones that could easily be seen from the ground below. She
got to know Erika by name, and got a couple of hugs from her during
the week. *This* is what is meant by "Disney magic".
We had a 7:30am wakeup call, but woke up on our own at 7:00am. We
called for a breakfast PS at Rainforest Cafe in the Animal Kingdom,
and were told to just come on in- no crowds. We got there by 8:15am
and breakfast started at 8:30am. We shopped the huge store for a bit,
then went to breakfast. I tried the Viper's Pie, a breakfast pizza-
wonderful! Spicy and very tasty, but too darn big to eat. I ate just
over half, and had to waste the rest. Bonnie tried the much acclaimed
Tonga Toast (w/o walnuts)- said it was very good French toast, nothing
more. Erika enjoyed toast and cereal. We ate at a leisurely pace,
enjoying R.C's unique atmosphere, then left for Animal Kingdom.
OOps! Left my room key / park pass on the table- shucks & other
comments.... Got back to the Cafe, and the pass had already been
turned in to management by the waitress. As it was getting busy by
then, it took me nearly 15mins to get me key back, along with a couple
of showings of my ID. We then entered AK with no problem and headed
straight for the Safari in the back. The park wasn't crowded this
time, while the FastPass time was 45mins, standby was only 35min, so
we just got into line. Three years ago, we waited 90mins for this,
immediately after opening! Our safari this time was much better than
before, with a lot more animals out, including lions.
We exited and went onto the train for Rafiki Station and Conservation
station, which we hadn't done before. This was Earth Day, and many
special events were going on throughout the area. Erika met several
characters (the Earth Muses, or daughters of Mother Earth, Jiminy
Cricket) and did a lot of craft projects. We saw an interesting bird
show (birds of prey), and watched veterinarians doing their jobs
inside Conservation Station. This was our favorite part of the Animal
Kingdom for this visit. We finally left and headed over to Dinoland-
much more crowded than the other parts of the park. I went to
Countdown to Extinction, and discovered that it was now called
Dinosaur... it was also broke down (sigh). It was broken down once on
my previous visit, and 2hrs+ wait two other times, so I never got on
it last time. I resolved to check again another day. Everything in
Dinoland was packed at that point, which is our usual signal to leave-
so we did. Back to the resort by 3:00pm to swim (very hot today).
I should mention my usual means of visiting MK and Epcot. I prefer to
park at the Poly for the MK, and Beach Club for Epcot. The problem is,
so does everyone else, and as a result of crowded lots, WDW
discourages folks from doing this. As a matter of fact, I saw that
Beach Club had a sign posted basically saying that you can't park
there to go to Epcot. The reality is, none of the guards that I've
ever dealt with over several visits seem to care (except one, whom
I'll get to). If a guard ever asked me my I was there, my standard
line of shopping and dining always worked- although the shopping and
dining weren't always at that resort. If asked point-blank, I would
tell the complete truth, and might well be denied parking, but it
hasn't yet.
After getting refreshed and changed, we headed to the Polynesian to
park and then to the Magic Kingdom by 5:00pm. This was the first time
I had ever hit a "by the book" guard. I had to show both my parking
pass, as well as a picture ID. I was also asked our plans in detail,
which I answered truthfully, none of which directly involved the Poly
tonight. He still let me in, which surprised me, but gave me a
limited-time pass. I never had another occurrence like that again
during our stay.
Tonight was the only showing of Spectromagic and fireworks for this
trip- we thought. Add to that the fact that it's Monday (historically
a bad day to be in MK), and it was packed! Every bit as bad as Easter
time, which we've been here several times for. We grabbed the Disney
railroad over to Frontier Land- Splash Mountain and Big Thunder were
mobbed, with FastPasses already sold out for the day. We walked into
the Country Bears show- Erika loved it. We then shopped our way over
to Fantasy Land- also mobbed. We got Erika onto the carousel that she
loves, then we all did Small World- that was it. 'Way too crowded for
our tastes. At 7:20, we staked out seats for Spectromagic back in
Frontier Land, right in front of the Hall of Presidents. While
waiting, we found out from a CM that another parade and fireworks show
had been added to Thursday of this week. We promptly decided to leave
after the parade and come back for fireworks on Thursday, hoping for
better crowds.
I went to a nearby pay phone, dialed *88 for reservations, and shopped
around for late dinner PS. I wanted Kona cafe in the Poly, since we'd
be walking right by there- no luck. Everything was very busy, but
finally nailed down 9:50pm PS at Spoodles, over in Boardwalk. It would
be a little tight, but I should make it. Spectromagic, starting at
8:30pm at the front gates, slowly crawled back to us. It was a great
show, as always, and I filmed the whole thing with my new low-light
camcorder (it came out wonderfully, by the way). Erika was entranced,
and this was a highlight of the trip. As the parade ended, we easily
walked to the front of the park, shopping languidly as we walked
near-empty streets- yeah, right. The place was packed, mobbed,
overrun- pick your adjective. Easter has nothing on these crowds, and
it took us until 9:10pm to get to the monorail. 40mins to our Spoodles
PS was cutting it darn close, but we were still in the running.
As we waited... and waited.... and waited, it became apparent that
there was a problem with the train. The long and short of it is that
we didn't hit the Poly lobby until 9:40pm- goodbye, Spoodles. Well,
guess what- the Kona Cafe was nearly empty! We trudge wearily up to
the podium and asked- Sure! Plenty of seats, come on in! I mentioned
that Disney Dining said heck no, we can't go.. the hostess didn't
understand, either. I asked her to please call & cancel our 9:50pm PS
at Spoodles, which she graciously did, and we plopped into our "not
available" seats. We relaxed for over an hour with drinks and
appetizers- heaven after the huge crowds we had just left. We then
collected our car and headed back to ASM by 11:00pm, and to bed by
midnight.
