Well, I got back yesterday morning from a trip to Disney World organized by the University of South Alabama. We went fo Florida on Saturday, March 10, spent two days at the parks, then went back home Tuesday night, March 12, and got back on Wednesday morning, March 13. Even though we had an ornery bus driver, I still managed to have a great time.
Not much happened Saturday. We spent most of the day on the bus, and after arriving at Howard Johnson: Fantasy Land (?), we got our room keys and took our luggage to our rooms. We were then left to do whatever we wanted. I stayed pretty close to the hotel. There was an Olive Garden restaurant nearby, but I didn't want to get anything really expensive for dinner, so I just got some fries and a Coke from Arby's.
We went to the Ticket and Transportation Center Saturday morning to get our tickets. We got a ticket that was good for two days, and we could only go to one park in one day. I decided to go to Epcot my first day. The first thing I did was get my picture taken for the Leave a Legacy sculptures. The price had gone down from the $35 Disney was originally charging to $25. I got another $5 off because my parents are AAA members. I started a Topic on another board here on this website asking people for their opnions on Leave a Legacy quite a while before I went on this trip. I'd pretty much made up my mind even then that I would do it, and am glad that I did.
After that, I went to The Land to go on the Behind the Seeds tour. I decided to go on the Living with the Land ride first, though, to kind of get into the mood for it. This turned out to be a good decision, because by the time I got off the ride and signed up for the tour, there was only a five minute wait before it started. It turned out to be a full hour instead of the 45 minutes I expected it to be, and it was very interesting. I took a lot more pictures than I expected I would. I had one disposable camera with me and ended up buying another one at France in the World Showcase before the day was over.
The Behind the Seeds tour I went on was at 10:30, so the World Showcase was open by the time the tour ended. My first stop was the Rose & Crown pub at the UK for the snack sized fish & chips and a Coke. This was the last Coke I drank during my stay at Disney. Everything else I drank was either Sprite, lemonade, or frosted lemonade. I have nothing against Coke, I just prefer "lighter" tasting drinks when I'm walking around a theme park.
I walked around the other countries, wandering around the shops and everything else until I arrived at the American pavilion. I decided to watch the American Adventure show while I was there. I still had about 22 minutes, so I went inside the resturant and got my first Sprite of the trip in a souvenir mug. I had a choice of either a Spring Break 2001 mug or a regular Epcot mug. I chose the Epcot mug, deciding to come back later for the Spring Break mug. I went back over to the entrance to the American Adventure building and was allowed inside with my mug as long as I kept the lid on. I caught the last few minutes of the Voices of Liberty, then went into the theater and saw the American Adventure.
After that, I started wandering around again, making my way over to Norway where I rode the Maelstrom ride and watched the film they show after the ride. I've read before, though I don't remember exactly where, from some people who think the film is boring, but I've always enjoyed it.
I checked the pastry shop at Norway before leaving. I had strawberries on my mind, but all I could get at the Norway place was a slice of strawberry cake, which I didn't want, so I went on my way towards Mexico. I went on the El Rio de Tiempo ride at Mexico. It's not the most impressive ride at Disney, but it was something to do, and it's not like there was a wait to get on.
Having completed my first trek around the World Showcase, I went back towards Innoventions. While I was there, I went on the Test Track for the first time. I got on the single riders line, so I didn't have to wait long, and the Test Track didn't have any of the technical difficulties that I heard were plaguing the ride for a while after it started. I got the picture they took of my car. This completes my collection of ride photos that are available at Disney World (Splash Mountain, the Rockin' Rollar Coaster, Test Track), at least that I am aware of.
I went back around the World Showcase a second time, and then a third time later on. I got the Spring Break 2001 mug at the American pavilion, saw the Entertainment Center of the Future and the Home of the Future things at Innoventions, and I also visited the Wonders of Life. I went to the Wonders of Life because it said I could find some golf ball markers there for my father. I'm not really into golf, so I thought ball markers were something you stuck in the ground rather than on the ball. I couldn't find anything quite like what I had in mind, so I ended up passing on what I saw rather than spending money on something I was unsure of.
This is basically it for what I did at Epcot. I did a lot of walking and looking around, and didn't go on all the rides or watch all the shows. I even missed the Illuminations show because I didn't want to miss the bus back to the hotel. The bus driver had already tried to drive off and leave someone at a gas station the day before, and I didn't want him to repeat that with me. I ended up getting to where he was supposed to park before he did, so I probably could have watched Illuminations after all. Oh well. At least I saw the Tapestry of Nations parade when I was at the American pavilion during my third walk around the World Showcase. I actually ended up being a little late for the bus because when he was triving us to the Ticket and Transportation Center that morning, the lady in charge of organizing the trip asked him if he knew how to get there, and he said that he knew how to get to the Magic Kingdom, suggesting that he didn't know how to get to the Trasportation and Ticket Center. She said that's okay, as long as she could get the tickets. I paniced a little when I got to the place the bus was supposed to be and didn't see the bus. I had forgotten that the Transportation and Ticket center was also the Magic Kingdom parking lot until I rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. I then went back on the monorail and got to the bus five minutes late. I thought I was even later than that because of the way the lady organizing the trip said "Patrick, you're *late*....", but my roomate, who was also responsible for organizing the trip, told me I was only five minutes late. The battery on my own wristwatch had died either the night before or earlier that day, so I didn't know how just late I was until then.
I decided to go to the Animal Kingdom the second day. I think I'll describe that and the bus ride back on a second post so that this one won't run on long, or at least any longer than it already has.
PMila
Not much happened Saturday. We spent most of the day on the bus, and after arriving at Howard Johnson: Fantasy Land (?), we got our room keys and took our luggage to our rooms. We were then left to do whatever we wanted. I stayed pretty close to the hotel. There was an Olive Garden restaurant nearby, but I didn't want to get anything really expensive for dinner, so I just got some fries and a Coke from Arby's.
We went to the Ticket and Transportation Center Saturday morning to get our tickets. We got a ticket that was good for two days, and we could only go to one park in one day. I decided to go to Epcot my first day. The first thing I did was get my picture taken for the Leave a Legacy sculptures. The price had gone down from the $35 Disney was originally charging to $25. I got another $5 off because my parents are AAA members. I started a Topic on another board here on this website asking people for their opnions on Leave a Legacy quite a while before I went on this trip. I'd pretty much made up my mind even then that I would do it, and am glad that I did.
After that, I went to The Land to go on the Behind the Seeds tour. I decided to go on the Living with the Land ride first, though, to kind of get into the mood for it. This turned out to be a good decision, because by the time I got off the ride and signed up for the tour, there was only a five minute wait before it started. It turned out to be a full hour instead of the 45 minutes I expected it to be, and it was very interesting. I took a lot more pictures than I expected I would. I had one disposable camera with me and ended up buying another one at France in the World Showcase before the day was over.
The Behind the Seeds tour I went on was at 10:30, so the World Showcase was open by the time the tour ended. My first stop was the Rose & Crown pub at the UK for the snack sized fish & chips and a Coke. This was the last Coke I drank during my stay at Disney. Everything else I drank was either Sprite, lemonade, or frosted lemonade. I have nothing against Coke, I just prefer "lighter" tasting drinks when I'm walking around a theme park.
I walked around the other countries, wandering around the shops and everything else until I arrived at the American pavilion. I decided to watch the American Adventure show while I was there. I still had about 22 minutes, so I went inside the resturant and got my first Sprite of the trip in a souvenir mug. I had a choice of either a Spring Break 2001 mug or a regular Epcot mug. I chose the Epcot mug, deciding to come back later for the Spring Break mug. I went back over to the entrance to the American Adventure building and was allowed inside with my mug as long as I kept the lid on. I caught the last few minutes of the Voices of Liberty, then went into the theater and saw the American Adventure.
After that, I started wandering around again, making my way over to Norway where I rode the Maelstrom ride and watched the film they show after the ride. I've read before, though I don't remember exactly where, from some people who think the film is boring, but I've always enjoyed it.
I checked the pastry shop at Norway before leaving. I had strawberries on my mind, but all I could get at the Norway place was a slice of strawberry cake, which I didn't want, so I went on my way towards Mexico. I went on the El Rio de Tiempo ride at Mexico. It's not the most impressive ride at Disney, but it was something to do, and it's not like there was a wait to get on.
Having completed my first trek around the World Showcase, I went back towards Innoventions. While I was there, I went on the Test Track for the first time. I got on the single riders line, so I didn't have to wait long, and the Test Track didn't have any of the technical difficulties that I heard were plaguing the ride for a while after it started. I got the picture they took of my car. This completes my collection of ride photos that are available at Disney World (Splash Mountain, the Rockin' Rollar Coaster, Test Track), at least that I am aware of.
I went back around the World Showcase a second time, and then a third time later on. I got the Spring Break 2001 mug at the American pavilion, saw the Entertainment Center of the Future and the Home of the Future things at Innoventions, and I also visited the Wonders of Life. I went to the Wonders of Life because it said I could find some golf ball markers there for my father. I'm not really into golf, so I thought ball markers were something you stuck in the ground rather than on the ball. I couldn't find anything quite like what I had in mind, so I ended up passing on what I saw rather than spending money on something I was unsure of.
This is basically it for what I did at Epcot. I did a lot of walking and looking around, and didn't go on all the rides or watch all the shows. I even missed the Illuminations show because I didn't want to miss the bus back to the hotel. The bus driver had already tried to drive off and leave someone at a gas station the day before, and I didn't want him to repeat that with me. I ended up getting to where he was supposed to park before he did, so I probably could have watched Illuminations after all. Oh well. At least I saw the Tapestry of Nations parade when I was at the American pavilion during my third walk around the World Showcase. I actually ended up being a little late for the bus because when he was triving us to the Ticket and Transportation Center that morning, the lady in charge of organizing the trip asked him if he knew how to get there, and he said that he knew how to get to the Magic Kingdom, suggesting that he didn't know how to get to the Trasportation and Ticket Center. She said that's okay, as long as she could get the tickets. I paniced a little when I got to the place the bus was supposed to be and didn't see the bus. I had forgotten that the Transportation and Ticket center was also the Magic Kingdom parking lot until I rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. I then went back on the monorail and got to the bus five minutes late. I thought I was even later than that because of the way the lady organizing the trip said "Patrick, you're *late*....", but my roomate, who was also responsible for organizing the trip, told me I was only five minutes late. The battery on my own wristwatch had died either the night before or earlier that day, so I didn't know how just late I was until then.
I decided to go to the Animal Kingdom the second day. I think I'll describe that and the bus ride back on a second post so that this one won't run on long, or at least any longer than it already has.
PMila
