The Heebie Jeebie Trip Report (that was five years in the making) - COMPLETE

[Disneyfriend]

This trip actually took place five years ago, in late August 2001. Just after we returned, I did the normal post-Disney chores (unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping . . . you know the drill) and got the kids started in school . . . and then September 11th happened. I had started my trip report, and even worked on it a bit after the attacks, but I soon lost my will to continue. It seemed quite trivial to type up every detail of our vacation in light of what had just happened.

So I postponed the completion of the trip report indefinitely. It wasn't until I started planning our next trip for this fall that I felt prepared to pick up where I had left off. Fortunately, I had taken extensive contemporaneous notes throughout the trip, so when I was finally ready to continue writing, I really just had to dig out my notes and type them up.

This is a looooooong and detailed trip report, the kind you really need to settle into with a nice cup of coffee and a comfortable chair. It is written from the perspective of an obsessive-compulsive planner (moi) who attempted to engineer a great first-time trip to Walt Disney World for our family.

I have shared with my family (both immediate and extended) the news that I have finally wrapped up my 2001 Walt Disney World trip report. Somehow, most of them greeted this news with a less than enthusiastic response. They are genuinely perplexed as to why a grown, otherwise rational, woman would spend hours documenting a Disney trip.

Ahhhh . . . but surely my fellow Dissers will understand! I know I have spent many a happy hour reading trip reports from my fellow WDW lovers, and enjoying their vacations vicariously. So to those of you who are of a similar vein . . . read on and enjoy! This is for you.

(I will now begin with the pre trip report as it was originally written in June 2001. It is an exhaustive – if not exhausting – account of exactly how I planned the trip without ever having actually been to WDW myself.)


Why a Trip Report?

I am writing a trip report primarily to document this vacation for our family. After a year of saving, months of planning, and ten days of touring, it would be a shame not to record as much of the trip as we possibly can! In addition, I am planning to share this trip report with our family members.

Finally, I am writing this as a thank you to all the people on the Disney boards who have written trip reports before me. Our trip would be very different if it weren’t for the many people who have graciously shared their advice, experiences, and suggestions on Walt Disney World.

Pre-Trip Planning

My dear husband has a theory that the best relationships involve complements, not opposites, and that seems to be the case for us. I plan our vacations like crazy, and he happily sits back and enjoys whatever itinerary I have designed. What a perfect fit!

We are Disneyland veterans (’91, ’92, ’95, and ’98 as a family, plus numerous trips for me as a child), but have never been to Walt Disney World. After relocating in 1999 for a three-year stay on the East Coast, we figured that this would probably be the perfect time for us to finally meet the Mouse in Orlando.

In the spring of 2000, we decided to commit to our first-ever trip to WDW in the following year, and I immediately read Birnbaum’s Official Guide to WDW, the Unofficial Guide to WDW, Passporter, and Rita Aero’s WDW Guide to get me started. The sheer magnitude of WDW (55 square miles, or twice the area of Manhattan!) is overwhelming. So much information to absorb, so many hotels to consider, and how on earth would I ever decide where to dine?

Well, through the kindness of other Disney fans who wrote trip reports and posted information on the Disney internet boards, I learned as much as one can humanly learn about WDW without actually going there. I slowly began narrowing down our choices.

Here’s how we planned the major components of our trip:

Timing: Our previous two Disneyland trips were in May, and the combination of low crowds and delightful weather made it the perfect time to go. We began planning our WDW trip for early May 2001. However, our daughters are now in the 2nd and 4th grades, and we began to feel increasingly guilty about taking them out of school. My husband’s work schedule also made the late spring and early summer months a difficult time to go.

We finally decided on a late August trip. This time will work well for my husband’s schedule, and will not require our girls to miss any school since our school year does not start until after Labor Day.

We are, however, extremely concerned about the August weather that awaits us in Orlando. We spent many years in New Orleans, and certainly know our way around high summer temperatures and humidity. But we are now temporarily living in the Northeast, and our bodies are no longer used to such a tropical climate. And our poor girls absolutely wilted when we took them to New Orleans last summer! The weather is probably our number one worry about this trip.

On the plus side, though, we have two very special family events to celebrate in August: our 13th wedding anniversary and our older daughter’s 10th birthday. These occasions helped to “tip the scales” regarding our decision to plan the WDW trip for late August.

Length of Stay: Reading about other people’s trips gave me a good feel for how much is do-able in a given morning, or a given day. I also learned one of the most critical WDW rules of all: to accept the fact that we will not do or see it all, and should not even try. After reading my WDW guidebooks and studying the Disney internet sites, I quickly realized that we would have to stay about 3-4 weeks, minimum, to really see everything.

My husband could not miss work for that long, though, and we could not afford a stay of that length. However, we decided to indulge in a 10-night (9 full day) stay. This will enable us to spend:

2 days at the Magic Kingdom;
2 days at Epcot;
1.5 days at MGM Studios;
1 day at Animal Kingdom;

Plus have:

1.5 break days; and
1 “greatest hits” day


We are not planning on a Disney water park, as my children are still learning how to swim and could easily become overwhelmed at a water park. Fooling around in the hotel swimming pool will provide plenty of water excitement for them.

Although we initially planned on squeezing in Sea World and Universal Studios as well, we reluctantly decided to trim these non-Disney activities from our itinerary. As it is, we will see only the highlights of what Disney has to offer.

Since we will be at WDW for 9 full days, plus the evening of our arrival day and the morning of our departure day, we will go ahead and purchase annual passes. Economically this makes the most sense, even though we’re planning on at least one full break day out of those 9 days. An 8-day park hopper equivalent costs about the same as an annual pass. Having the pass will allow us to spend an hour or two in the parks on our arrival and departure days, if we choose, without “wasting” an entire day of a park hopper pass. Plus, as you’ll see later, the best hotel discounts typically go to annual passholders . . . !

Lodging: At first, this was a no-brainer. My husband is active duty military, making us eligible to stay at Shades of Green at the incredibly low rate of $95/night. We have many friends and neighbors who have stayed at this resort, and all have been at least reasonably pleased with their experience there, enjoying the large rooms and small, manageable size of the property. Plus, Shades of Green guests are granted the same early entry and e-night privileges as Disney resort guests. I called last September to secure reservations for our 10-night stay in August.

We also seriously considered a stay at Holiday Inn Family Suites. Probably 98% of the feedback I received on this relatively new resort was extremely favorable. The rates were reasonable and included a full breakfast. And, wow, privacy! A separate room for the children, plus a small living room. Only a mile from the Epcot entrance to WDW. What’s not to like?

We tentatively decided to split our stay between Shades of Green and the Holiday Inn Family Suites. We planned to rent a car to maximize our transportation options and make the move off-site feasible.

Deep down, however, I really wanted to stay on Disney property in order to experience that indefinable, intangible immersion in Disney magic. We’ve almost always stayed at the Disneyland Hotel on our Disneyland vacations, and enjoyed staying on-site enormously. I started looking at the WDW hotel options. I quickly learned that each hotel has a different location, room layout, transportation options, price, theming, and atmosphere.

I considered them all. Wilderness Lodge? Awesome theming and a great reminder of the time we spent in the Pacific Northwest. Polynesian? Relaxing tropical atmosphere and incomparable transportation options. Contemporary? Whimsical theme and within walking distance to the Magic Kingdom. Grand Floridian? Elegant luxury, the “flagship” of Disney resorts. Beach Club? Awesome pool and fantastic proximity to Epcot. Swan or Dolphin? Great military rates and convenient location to Epcot and MGM. All Stars? How can you beat the price – and many people rave about the great service. Animal Kingdom Lodge? Incredible theming and a sparkling new resort, plus attractive introductory rates. No one hotel seemed to have everything; instead, it would be best to pick the particular hotel that matched the criteria most important to our individual family.

My husband cheerfully avoiding getting too involved in my decision-making, other than making a few general comments (yes, Shades of Green has a great reputation and an unbeatable price; yes, being on the monorail would be incredibly convenient; yes, having the privacy of separate bedrooms would be lovely. No, double beds would not be comfortable for us.) He assured me that he would be happy to go along with whichever hotel I chose, within the criteria that were important to him and within a reasonable budget. Careful, I jokingly told him, if you say that we just might end up staying in my dream resort – the Polynesian. And while I’m at it, make that Polynesian Concierge!

In February 2001 the infamous discount “codes” were released, suddenly making a stay at a Disney resort much more feasible. Wow, suddenly we’re quite happy about picking an August trip, since many discounts and specials are available for this time frame! I agonize about our choices. The internet boards seem to agree that the discount rates being offered are genuinely low (by Disney standards, anyway). Rumor has it that WDW occupancy rates are somewhat depressed this summer, due at least in part to the slowing stock market and economy.

I found super-tempting rates for the Contemporary ($139/night garden wing), Animal Kingdom Lodge ($179/night savannah view), Polynesian ($179/night garden view), and Grand Floridian ($199/night standard view). Hmmmm, maybe I’ll check into that Polynesian concierge rate after all. After all, my husband LOVED the extra attention and services we received during our two-night stay on the Disneyland Hotel concierge floor back in 1992. Wow, what a rate! $229/night versus $365/night regularly. Still much, much more than we would pay at Shades of Green – but we would be on the monorail and have access to the concierge planning services and concierge lounge (unlimited food and beverages from 7 am to 10 pm each day). Staying here would be a huge splurge for us, but at least some of the extra cost would be offset by the fact that our breakfasts and snacks would be provided. Plus, we would choose not to rent a car if staying here.

I made a reservation at the Polynesian, Garden view concierge, for our dates, thinking that I could hold onto the room for a few days while we decided. I used a discount code that had been posted on two of the Disney boards as being available for all to use.

I presented our options to my husband, along with an Excel spreadsheet showing the costs for each hotel combination. He was surprised that I had looked into the Polynesian concierge, but listened carefully to my explanation that I remembered how delighted he had been with the Disneyland Hotel concierge floor.

We talked about the pros and cons of each choice: Shades of Green, Holiday Inn Family Suites, the Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Polynesian. Slowly, we made the decision to treat ourselves to the Polynesian. I would have been thrilled with a regular Polynesian garden view room, but my dear husband insisted on concierge. “You busted me on how much I loved that Disneyland Hotel concierge stay,” he admitted to me with a grin. Or did he remember that I had previously referred to the Polynesian concierge as being my dream resort when I jokingly “threatened” him with a stay there? He’ll never say . . .

Decision now made, I check the internet boards again. Oh no, people are posting that the codes are NOT in fact available for everyone’s use. The code I innocently used was actually intended for residents of only certain states, and proof of residency would be required at check-in. No, just when we finally decided! I called Disney central reservations and explained the situation honestly. The cast member put me on hold to speak with a supervisor, then returned and assured me that they would honor my discounted rate since I had made the reservation in good faith. Thank you Disney!

In April the Animal Kingdom Lodge opened, and many digital pictures of this new resort were posted on the Disney boards. I became intrigued at the rich theming of this resort. The attention to detail appeared to be unparalleled, even by Disney standards. Where else can one view large game animals from one’s private hotel balcony? And, oh boy does the Sunrise Safari (offered exclusively to AKL concierge guests) sound delightful!

I wondered if we could split our stay between the Polynesian and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Although we are blessed to have the opportunity to stay at WDW for 10 nights, I began to ponder whether the charms of any resort – however wonderful – might begin to wear thin after a week or so. We would inevitably run into some duplication with the concierge offBeargs as well, since they’re on a 7-day rotation schedule. Several families who have switched WDW resorts posted that the move made their vacation seem like two trips in one, and gave them something different to look forward to at the end of their WDW vacation. Of course, the downside is that we would have to pack up our luggage twice, and would inevitably waste at least some time doing the second round of check-in and check-out procedures.

Once I shared the AKL pictures with our girls, they too became enthusiastic about the possibility of staying there. They were thrilled to see the pictures of the grazing animals roaming on the savannah. Ironically, however, their number one motivation centered on the fact that they might have bunk beds at the Animal Kingdom Lodge! They’ve never slept in bunk beds before. Isn’t it funny the priorities that children have?

I talked to my husband about splitting our stay, sharing some of the AKL pictures with him as well. Although he would have been perfectly content to remain at the Polynesian for our entire stay, he graciously agreed that we could spend a few nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge if that was what I wanted.

I decided that I would prefer to begin our stay at the Polynesian, and then switch to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our itinerary seemed to fit more naturally with that order of hotel stays. However, the annual passholder discount for AKL was available only through August 25th. I would have given up, but my time on the Disney boards taught me how important it was to call Disney reservations several times, since one seems to get a different answer (and rate) each time. Sure enough, my third inquiry resulted in a Disney Club discount on an AKL concierge room, at a rate of $299 plus tax. (Ouch! Quite a bit higher than Polynesian concierge! Still, a vast improvement over the $435 regular rate.) We decided to stay the last three nights of our stay, beginning on a Monday night, since the Sunrise Safaris are offered on Tuesday and Saturday mornings only.

Although the feedback from guests who have stayed at the AKL has been overwhelmingly positive, there have been conflicting reports about the bus transportation system there. Since the Lodge is in a very remote corner of WDW, and does not offer any monorail or boat transportation, the travel times to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and MGM Studios are potentially quite long. This is my one concern about staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. However, we are staying there just three days, and will be spending part of two of these three days at the nearby Animal Kingdom. At this stage in our vacation, we may appreciate taking things at a slower pace anyway. I’m hoping that the advantages of staying at this beautiful resort will outweigh the AKL transportation that, inevitably, cannot compare to that of the Polynesian.

It’s now early-June as I write this, and I believe that we are finally settled on our lodging decision! Wow, what a saga! This combination of 7 days at the Polynesian and 3 nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge “feels” right. No more changes, I promise! (Good thing I’m typing this on the computer rather than the typewriter, and can edit this paragraph if absolutely necessary, right?)

Update . . . mid-June. The Disney boards come through again! Someone posts that new annual passholder discounts have been released for the AKL in late August. Of course I immediately get on the phone. The castmember (CM) confirms that new rates are out, but that they don’t apply to concierge rates. Bummer. Oh yes, I remember . . . never take “no” for an answer. I call again, and the second CM finds us a rate of $239/night plus tax. For an Animal Kingdom Lodge concierge room! I do the happy dance; we’ll take it! Now I feel SO much better about the decision to split our stay between these two gorgeous resorts. The price is virtually identical. Woo hoo!

Airfare – The easy part, compared to our lodging choices! We live in New York’s Hudson Valley, but have had wonderful luck driving 2 hours to the Hartford, CT airport. It’s a well-run, medium-size airport that is infinitely easier to get to than any of the New York City or Newark airports. In January we bought non-stop flights from Hartford to Orlando, flying Delta, at the extremely reasonable rate of $168/person, roundtrip. The flight times are attractive, too. I’m looking forward to the non-stop flight that will whisk us to Orlando in less than 3 hours!

Update … late-June. Someone posts that they got a round-trip price from Hartford to Orlando on Delta of $111 for late summer. Oh, thank you, this seems tailor-made for our family! I call Delta and ask for the lower rate; they agree to send me vouchers for $57/person, good for future Delta flights within the next year. I am thrilled to be flying for such a cheap rate.

Transportation – When we were first planning to stay at Shades of Green, we had intended to rent a car. Once we switched to a Disney resort, and especially the one resort generally regarded to have the best transportation access, we decided to forego a car rental. A ten-day car rental, surprisingly, is proportionately much higher than a seven-day rental. So our savings will partially offset the increased cost of staying at the Disney resorts.

We always used a bus or shuttle transportation service when travelling from the Los Angeles or Orange County airports to Disneyland. Although we sometimes had to stop at other hotels, I was always supremely grateful to avoid having to drive on the unfamiliar California freeways! Although I’m sure we could manage the Orlando drive perfectly well, I am quite content to be leaving all our transportation to others during our vacation. I also read one post pointing out that Disney transportation was always air-conditioned, and thus much more appealing to use as opposed to climbing into one’s own locked rental car at the end of a long, hot day. I think this will especially apply to our August trip!

If it hadn’t been for the Disney boards, I’m sure we would have automatically booked a Mears shuttle for airport transportation. Luckily, though, I have heard the nearly unanimous praise from people who have used one of the towncar services for the roundtrip between the Orlando airport and WDW. What an easy decision to do this, since with four people we will be paying the same amount of money as we would have with an impersonal shuttle service that stops at other hotels, especially with the $8 coupon from Passporter (the wonderful combination WDW guide and organizer)!

Restaurants – This was my favorite part of the planning! Our family loves to eat, we love to cook, and we love to experience new restaurants.

When I was younger, my family and I had some truly scary experiences with Disneyland dining in the 70’s and 80’s. But my husband and I have noticed a general improvement in the food quality during our trips there throughout the 90’s, and have heard that WDW restaurants have undergone a similar metamorphosis. Overall, we are very much looking forward to our meals at WDW. Sure, we realize we may experience a few disappointments, but are optimistic that the overall eating experience will be very positive.

We are planning to do several character meals, since our girls especially enjoyed attending these on our last two Disneyland trips. Visiting the characters this way sure beats the alternative of jostling with the masses in the parks! At our girls’ ages, this may be the last trip for which they’re even especially interested in the characters, come to think of it. What will we do on our next trip to come up with an excuse as to why Mom and Dad want to schedule so many character meals? Hmmmm . . .

In April I began scheduling our priority seatings (PS’s), waiting for the 120-day window to open in order to make our Epcot, resort, and MGM (lunch) reservations. Boy, was it hard to narrow down our choices – especially among the Epcot restaurants!

We are planning to eat breakfast in the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge concierge lounges most days, and will make priority seatings for every dinner and several lunches. Yes, I know we could probably get by with fewer sit-down meals. But restaurants are one of the most enjoyable components of our vacations to us, and we want to squeeze in as many WDW restaurants as possible. We’re trying not to overdo it, however; and are also planning several counter service meals for lunch.

In late June I called and successfully obtained the ever-elusive character breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle for my daughter’s 10th birthday. Getting this priority seating was surprisingly easy; two phone lines certainly helped! And, again, I am grateful to the Disney boards for clueing me in as to how difficult this reservation is to obtain, so that I could improve my chances by using both phone lines to call at 6:58 am, hitting redial until I spoke to a live human.

Heebie Jeebies – In the past, I’ve completely surprised my family with the details of our Disneyland trips. This was easy to do, since our daughters were quite young, and my husband was perfectly content to await the details until we actually began the vacation.

This year, my older daughter is 9½ and passionately interested in planning the trip. She owns the WDW Guide for Kids by Kids and has read it cover to cover several times. She also loves to read the Disney boards and watch the WDW planning video with me, and our Disney planning has developed into a great bonding experience for the two of us.

My younger daughter is less interested in the details of the trip, but is also very excited about our WDW vacation.

It dawned on me that I might have inadvertently spoiled some of the magic for the rest of my family by involving them in the planning. So, luckily, I saved a few surprises for them all. I can’t wait, I can’t wait!!

When I first learned about the Villains’ Character Dinner, I planned to surprise my family about this, but then decided I’d better describe it to my girls to see if they would be interested in going to it. I didn’t want to make a reservation there if they would be scared of the villains, or just not be interested in the concept. Both girls happily agreed that it would be a kick to visit the Villains after I explained to them how funny the character interaction was likely to be.

They then decided to keep the Villains’ Dinner a secret from their dad. The younger one innocently decided to refer to this surprise as “The V.D.” and began taunting my good-natured husband about the “V.D.” surprise. This went on for several days, and pretty soon my daughter couldn’t remember which initials she had told him. “VD?” he asked. “BD? BVD?” Before long, my husband gave up trying to remember the exact letters and began referring to the surprise as the “Heebie Jeebie.”

Well, after a few days of this playful teasing about the surprise, our daughters folded like a house of cards. They disclosed to their father that the Heebie Jeebie was actually a character dinner that featured several Disney villains. Somehow the name stuck, and our family began referring to any upcoming Disney surprise as a Heebie Jeebie.

I quickly realized that the two girls are not destined to be master spies (my husband began to refer to them as “leaky sieves”, which just about sums it up), and should not be entrusted with any additional Heebie Jeebies. My older daughter knows a few of the more minor surprises, since she has been involved in some of the planning with me. For instance, she knows about the water launch that can take us from the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom, and she knows that there is a ride called Buzz Lightyear that, we predict, will quickly prove addictive to her competitive dad. Oh, and she knows that I was able to obtain a PS at Cinderella’s Royal Table for the morning of her birthday.

As I write this pre-trip report in early June, WDW has just announced that they will discontinue the Villains’ Dinner. What! Don’t they know that the Villains’ Dinner was Heebie Jeebie #1? How dare they?!  Well, this actually allows me to fit one more restaurant into our itinerary and makes my decision-making easy. I had to sadly share this news of the Villains’ Dinner demise with my family, as they had all been looking forward to this experience on our very first night at WDW.

I still have a few hidden heebie jeebies up my sleeve, however. Now, remember that my family has NEVER been to WDW, so all of the following should be completely new to them:

Heebie Jeebie #1 - I have made reservations with Tiffany Town Car to pick us up at the airport, though my family thinks we are using a generic shuttle service as we have always done at Disneyland. I think my family will get a kick out of going to baggage claim and seeing someone holding up a card with our name on it. I’m hoping the service is everything I’ve heard.

Heebie Jeebie #2 – I have been working with Cindy at Pixie Gifts (a new personal shopping service in Orlando) to have a small gift bag waiting for the girls when we arrive at our hotel room. It will include a character autograph book, an Epcot passport, a Guest of Honor personalized nametag, and a Disney character plush toy. I’ve also ordered a small gift bag for my husband with a couple golf-related items in it.

Heebie Jeebie #3 - After the Villains’ Dinner was cancelled, I made dinner reservations at ‘Ohana for our first night. I had been worried on how I was going to fit this into our schedule, and am pleased that we will now have an opportunity to eat here! ‘Ohana means cousin in Polynesian, and the set-up at this restaurant (which is, amazingly enough, located at the Polynesian Resort) is that everyone who walks in the restaurant is a cousin. I’m hoping that this dining experience will help set the mood for our stay at the beautiful Polynesian resort.

I also know that ‘Ohana features several children’s activities, including coconut racing and hula-hoops, that help to contribute to the light-hearted, “family” atmosphere. I’m hoping that my two girls have a ball here (or at least a coconut) on our very first night in WDW.

Heebie Jeebie #4 – My husband and I are celebrating our 13th anniversary during this trip, and quickly decided that we would love to go out to a special anniversary dinner while at WDW to celebrate it.

Because my husband appreciates fine dining and gourmet food, I had another easy decision on my hands: Victoria & Albert’s, the premier WDW dining experience! (It’s also the only restaurant in Central Florida to have received the prestigious 5-diamond rating!)

Since my husband loves cooking and happily watches Iron Chef and Emeril on the cooking channel, I became determined to secure the Chef’s Table for us – the exclusive table literally in the middle of the Victoria & Albert’s kitchen. We would get to interact with the chefs, have a meal specially tailored to our individual tastes, and be able to sample the variety of appetizers, entrees, and desserts being prepared that evening. As I told you, my husband loves fine service and the experience of being pampered. This should fit the bill perfectly!

I called the special dining number exactly 180 days before our anniversary, using two phones in order to increase my chances of procuring the reservation. Success! We now have our guaranteed reservation for Tuesday, August 21st. Of all our heebie jeebies, this is the one I’m most excited about.

Heebie Jeebie #5 – We are sending our daughters to the Neverland Club at the Polynesian Resort during our anniversary dinner. At first, the idea of sending our kids to a “day care” center while on vacation appalled me; we often go three to six months at home without using a babysitter. However, in the midst of ten days of round-the-clock togetherness, it does seem reasonable to have just a tiny bit of separation over the course of our vacation.

Most importantly, I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about the Neverland Club from other parents who have taken their children there. Frequently the kids describe their visit there as one of the highlights of their entire WDW vacation! Over and over again, I’ve heard stories from parents whose kids were actually upset when it was time to leave.

I love how the Neverland Club has been designed . . . like the Darling children’s bedroom in Peter Pan. So this is one minor surprise I’m keeping from the girls – the cool entrance to the Neverland Club, and how they will be sprinkled with pixie dust upon entering, and how much fun (I think, anyway) they will have deciding among the crafts, arcade games, large screen classic Disney movies, etc.

I have a hunch that the Neverland Club owes its popularity at least in part to the delicious sense of freedom it provides to its young guests . . . a small break from Mom and Dad, plus the opportunity to choose among several appealing activities. I’m hoping that my girls will find this freedom a refreshing change of pace from their ultra-planned vacation.

Heebie Jeebie #6 – I’ve made a priority seating reservation at Restaurant Marakkesh, the Moroccan restaurant, for our first Epcot meal. How often does one have the opportunity to eat Moroccan food, I ask you? This is one of the more minor heebie jeebies, but I’m hoping to surprise my family with the exotic atmosphere and unusual foods. The girls should get a kick out of the belly dancer, too! (I’m sure my husband will barely notice, however.) My goal here is to cajole our daughters into taking advantage of this opportunity to expand their restaurant horizons a tiny bit beyond hamburgers and chicken tenders. We’ll see how I succeed . . .

Heebie Jeebie #7 – We live in the New York City vicinity, and frequently get to watch TV commercials that promote various Broadway shows. The commercials for Blast! had caught our eye, so when I found out that this show was going to be at Epcot over the summer, I decided that we should definitely take advantage of the opportunity to see it.

I know WDW is expensive in many ways, but I’ve always thought that the prices of tickets are actually quite a bargain when one stops to think about all the entertainment offered for a flat rate admission: live bands, special shows, beautiful grounds, characters, thrill rides, etc. For instance, if we saw this show on Broadway, our family of four could easily pay $60-$80 per ticket – much more than the cost of a one-day park admission to WDW!

I decided to make a reservation for one of the Blast dining packages, whereby we would pre-purchase a dinner at one of the Epcot restaurants and then receive reserved seating at our choice of a Blast performance. The price includes a choice of appetizer or soup or salad; an entrée; a dessert; and a non-alcoholic beverage.

Since we were going to eat at several of the Epcot restaurants anyway, and since the price for the package was only a few dollars more per person than we would have spent a la carte at the restaurant, this will be a good decision for us. It might be unnecessary; for all I know, maybe we could have walked right into a Blast show at the last minute with no such reservation. But I will appreciate the peace of mind in knowing that we don’t have to arrive an hour early to stake out a seat.

I chose Alfredo’s, since my older daughter counts fettuccine alfredo as her very favorite meal in the whole world and begged us to eat at Alfredo’s once she read about it. She has made so few requests that I felt compelled to grant her this one.

This restaurant seems to receive very mixed reviews, especially about the quality of its service. Numerous visitors have also complained of mediocre food, comparing Alfredo’s supposedly authentic Italian food to what they typically find at their local Olive Garden. I am approaching this restaurant with some trepidation as a result of these reports. However, because it is extremely important to our daughter that we eat at Alfredo’s, I will be quite satisfied if we enjoy even a moderately decent meal here.

Heebie Jeebie #8 – I bought Off Kilter’s CD a few months ago, and my husband and I have been enjoying it ever since. For those of you who have not had the pleasure, Off Kilter is an innovative group that mixes traditional bagpipe music with a heavy dose of rock ‘n roll. My husband is completely unaware of the fact that Off Kilter frequently plays in Epcot’s Canadian pavillion. Although we won’t know their schedule until our trip gets much closer, I am hoping that they will play during our trip dates, so I can surprise my husband by being able to catch one of their live performances! They seem to get nothing but rave reviews, and I can’t wait to see them in person.

Heebie Jeebie #9 – I made reservations at the Prime Time Café in Disney’s MGM Studios. The idea behind this restaurant is that you’re stepping back into the 1950’s and having dinner in the kitchen of a family member . . . mother, cousin, older brother, etc. Like any other family, this “relation” will not hesitate to admonish his or her guests to sit properly, wash hands before eating, and finish vegetables before dessert! The descriptions of this restaurant sound completely unique and, potentially, a source of great fun for our family.

I’m hoping that my husband will appreciate the humor and uniqueness of this restaurant, and that our daughters will enjoy the atmosphere and revel in the opportunity to see their parents being scolded.

Heebie Jeebie #10 – We are planning to secure a Fantasmic dining package reservation as soon as we check into the Polynesian.

What a nice surprise it will be for my family to not have to stake out a Fantasmic viewing spot 1-2 hours ahead of time, as we’ve always had to do at Disneyland! This package is truly a no-brainer, since it costs nothing at all but simply requires each adult to order an entrée at a MGM Studios restaurant, something we would be doing that evening anyway.

For this package I chose the Hollywood Brown Derby, a replica of the famous restaurant in Hollywood. I think my husband will enjoy the high quality of their food. Since people have complained of feeling rushed at this restaurant since the Fantasmic package began, I have asked for an early dining reservation to avoid, hopefully, the mad rush to Fantasmic.

Heebie Jeebie #11 – I’ve made reservations at the Grand Floridian Spa for our break day. While my husband is happily hitting the links, we three girls will be getting pampered . . . a “tired legs and feet” treatment for me, and “My First Manicure” for each of the girls. Like many little girls, my two are fascinated with beauty treatments and painting their nails. They’ve never gotten a manicure, of course. They’re normally allowed to have their nails painted on very special holidays, just three times per year (birthday, Easter, and Christmas). But I think our first WDW trip qualifies as a very special holiday, don’t you? The Spa was able to schedule our treatments simultaneously.

The girls will be so surprised and thrilled at this heebie jeebie! My older daughter is busy worrying about how she will get her nails painted for her birthday this year, since we’ll be away from home. Won’t she be amazed!

Heebie Jeebie #12 – Unbeknownst to my family, I have made reservations at the Hoop de Do Revue on our break day. This dinner show involves a Western-themed vaudeville show, and features all-you-can-eat barbecue ribs, fried chicken, corn, and strawberry shortcake.

At first, this show did not interest me as I generally don’t especially enjoy corny humor. But family after family raved about this show, describing it as an experience that every member, regardless of age, truly loved! I think I read more than one person describe their child as laughing so hard that their milk/coke came flying out of the little one’s nose! (OK, maybe this is gross, but anything that could elicit such a whole-hearted response is worth looking into!) Plus, this show has apparently been a hit since the early 1970’s. Who am I to argue?

My younger daughter loves BBQ ribs so much that we have nicknamed her “Ribbie”. So unlimited ribs sounds like a great plan! And doing this on our break day will alleviate some of the problems I’ve read about regarding families not having enough time to navigate themselves to Ft. Wilderness, sit through the 1 hr., 45 min. show, and then reverse the process. I’m hoping to arrive to Ft. Wilderness early enough to explore the area.

Heebie Jeebie #13 - I’ve scheduled us to take the Family Magic tour at 11:30 on the morning of our daughter’s 10th birthday. I’ve let my husband in on this surprise – that the “tour” is actually a light-hearted scavenger hunt guaranteed to delight all participants who have even a little bit of pixie dust in their souls! The cast member I spoke to when making this reservation assured me that my girls should have fun on this tour. She said that little guys (2-5?) love the magic and enchantment of the “hunt”, and older kids (6-11?) enjoy the mystery and challenge of it. Apparently, only pre-teens and teens who consider themselves “too cool” to act silly do not enjoy this tour.

I can’t wait to see our daughters’ surprised faces when the “tour” is interrupted for a “Magic Kingdom crisis” that the tour group is being asked to solve. I’m hoping to make a very unique birthday memory for our family.

Heebie Jeebie #14 – We have priority seating reservations at Chef Mickey’s on the night my older daughter turns 10. Although she has heard about this restaurant, she does not know that we are going there on the night of her birthday.

She loves to peek at my WDW Excel itinerary when she thinks I’m not looking, so I’ve showed her! I have “Concourse Steakhouse” listed for her 5:00 pm birthday dinner. Ha!! She should get a giggle out of this one once we go to the Contemporary Resort, bypass the Concourse Steakhouse, and instead pop into Chef Mickey’s to meet Mickey and the gang.

To top it all off, I’m ordering a birthday cake for her from Chef Mickey’s. The cast member who made our reservation for the Family Magic Tour clued me into this possibility. If we’re very lucky, we may even have a character or two participate in the cake celebration!

Heebie Jeebie #15 – This heebie jeebie involves the surprises awaiting my family when we switch to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We will try to go on the tour of the Lodge, time and energy levels permitting. I will definitely take them to the nightly storytelling that takes place by the fire pit. This should be a truly unique experience for all of us!

I have also made reservations at Boma’s, the African buffet restaurant at the AKL, after hearing rave reviews about the place. I’m looking forward to trying some genuinely exotic foods there. The desserts are supposed to be fantastic (I can’t wait to try that “zebra dome” dessert I keep hearing about!), and they even serve more mundane offerings for those with a less adventurous palate. Although my girls will inevitably turn their noses up at some of Boma’s more unusual dishes, I’m hoping that they will enjoy their experience there overall. And I’m quite optimistic that my husband will be impressed at the uniqueness and quality of the food served at this restaurant!

Heebie Jeebie #16 – I’ve somehow managed to keep my inquisitive elder daughter from hearing even a peep about the Liberty Tree Tavern. I am planning for our family to eat there right before E-night begins, towards the end of our stay. I think they’ll get a kick out of the Revolutionary War theme, including Minnie dressed in her Colonial garb! Minnie is my older daughter’s favorite character, and I’m glad we’ll get to meet her here in case she is not at Chef Mickey’s the night we go. I’m hoping that we’ll all enjoy the “Thanksgiving” meal as well.

Heebie Jeebie #17 – I was able to secure a coveted 7:30 pm priority seating at the Rose & Crown in Epcot’s United Kingdom on our last night in Walt Disney World. This is the only sit-down restaurant from which one can have a perfect view of Illuminations, the spectacular laser and fireworks show performed nightly at Epcot. If we luck into a waterside table (I plan to ask nicely), we will be able to enjoy a delicious dinner and then have an unobstructed view of Illuminations from the comfort of our table! If this little plan of mine comes to fruition, it should be the perfect way to finish our magical vacation!

Planning Philosophy I planned our last three Disneyland trips meticulously, and can honestly say that most of my preparations paid enormous dividends. It was a pleasure, for instance, to walk up to Goofy’s Kitchen (a character restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel), wade through the sea of people enduring a one hour wait for a table, and be able to surprise my family with the fact that we had a reservation and could be seated immediately!

There is, of course, a flip side to all this planning. If left to my own devices, I tend to go into commando-mode quite easily. Heck, I haven’t spent all this time planning and researching our trip because I’m a Type “B”, laissez-faire kind of gal! But I’m determined that the very efforts I’ve made to plan and secure a “perfect trip” will not end up backfiring and actually dooming it to failure because of some sad determination on my part to adhere to “The Plan” at all costs. I’ve been to Disneyland, and am quite familiar with the inevitable foot pain, chronic fatigue, and sensory overload that set in all too quickly!

I can assure you that our previous Disneyland trips, however well-planned, did not resemble variations on the Battaan Death March! Our plans have included nap times for our girls (especially when they were younger) and ample opportunities to simply soak in that incomparable Disney magic! One of my favorite memories of our last trip was simply sitting on one of the front porches of Main Street, enjoying our ice cream cones and people watching.

I believe that there are two main antidotes to the danger of over-planning a Disney trip: rest periods and flexibility.

Fortunately, I’ve scheduled one full break day into our schedule. It will fall right in the middle of our trip, and should allow us to sleep in, clear our heads, rest our feet, and generally recover for the next round of exhilarating (but exhausting) WDW touring.

I will stay behind with our girls at the Polynesian to do laundry, as we simply don’t have enough summer clothes to make it through a 10-day stay, especially given the fact that we may be changing clothes throughout the day due to the heat, humidity, and water rides. After this mundane, but necessary, responsibility is fulfilled, the three of us will stay at the Polynesian for pool and/or nap time, and will stroll over to the Grand Floridian Spa for our girls’ day out. I would have loved to go to Downtown Disney for some shopping, but I think that adding this trip into our break day would be stretching the definition of a “rest” day.

My husband, meanwhile, is going to golf at Osprey Ridge. He is very much looking forward to the opportunity to play golf at such a beautiful course. It will be a nice treat for him, especially since he has generously given me carte blanche to plan every other moment of our vacation.

I’ve tried to make sure we’re reasonably well rested throughout the rest of our trip as well. Several late nights are unavoidable, due to Disney’s scheduling of the nighttime parade and fireworks at Magic Kingdom, the Fantasmic show at MGM, and Illuminations at Epcot. Our anniversary dinner at Victoria & Albert’s will also be quite lengthy, running until 10:30 or 11:00 that night. However, I have also planned several nights for getting to bed early. I am hoping (do you think I’m helplessly naïve?) that all four of us can be in bed and asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 on these nights. Or, at least our girls will be.

So, I can’t be sure, but I think I’ve planned a reasonable amount of rest breaks into our schedule! That’s the first antidote for avoiding Disney commando meltdown. Now, what’s the second one? That’s right, flexibility!

When I blissfully imagine our upcoming WDW trip, the weather is pleasantly warm but not hot; our energy is boundless; we savor all our meals; we enjoy each other’s company and are unfailingly considerate of one another; the lines are short; the crowds are non-existent; the other guests are all friendly and polite; and the cast members are magical.

Oops, methinks a reality check is called for.

One of the most valuable things that I have learned by reading numerous WDW trip reports is to expect the unexpected: the ear infection in the middle of the night, the delayed flight, the all-day rain deluge, the 24-hour stomach bug, the blisters. I don't intend to sound pessimistic, but to accept the reality that something less than ideal is likely to happen over the course of a multi-day WDW vacation. When/if one of these little events happens to our family, I will be much more prepared, mentally, to deal with the challenge and not let it ruin our vacation.

Accepting the fact that we will not see and do everything, scheduling in a day and a half of break time, and reminding myself that our carefully constructed plans are likely to be challenged by the unexpected (and sometimes, by the downright unpleasant), are important antidotes to my natural Disney-commando tendencies. Will we successfully balance the benefits of careful planning and research with the joys of flexibility, adaptability, and rest? Well, we’ll see . . .

The Cast – I suppose it’s high time I introduce my family before the actual trip report begins.

Daddy-O – my husband, father to our two daughters. Age 32. The dear man who tolerates and indulges the Disney obsession I’ve never grown out of. It is because of Daddy-O’s moonlighting this year that we are able to splurge on such a long, luxurious stay at WDW. Daddy-O has thoroughly enjoyed our Disneyland vacations in the past, although he probably would be equally content to spend this vacation camping, golfing, or visiting family. I’m hoping that this trip will exceed all his expectations!

Disneyfriend – writer of this trip report, Disney fan ever since my first Disneyland trip at age 4. Now age 33. If you’ve made it this far, you realize that I am a meticulous planner and researcher. (Did I hear a snicker and the words “obsessive” and “compulsive” from the peanut gallery?)

Bear – our older daughter, who will be turning 10 during our vacation. Bear is getting dangerously close to the pre-teen stage, but is still a generally sweet and compassionate child. She is slightly reserved, somewhat sensitive, and amazingly observant.

When Daddy-O and I see glimpses of her approaching adolescence, we gently tease her that she must be an alien who was switched with our “real” baby at birth. This family joke of ours has taken on a life of its own, as Bear has enthusiastically embraced the story and has even invented details of her alien home planet! We joke that we should probably go to Alien Encounter so that she can see her cousins, but warn that she should be careful lest her "birth family” try to beam her back to the mother planet.

Bear is blessed with a talent for dealing with younger children, and she seems to naturally gravitate towards them (and they to her). She also has clearly inherited her mother’s love of Disney. (Ha, I can see us 50 years from now as she’s pushing me around the Magic Kingdom in my wheelchair. “No, mom, remember, the doctor said you are NOT to go on Splash Mountain anymore!”)

Lu – our younger daughter, age 7½. Lu is a precocious child who frequently causes her dad and me to forget that she is, in fact, not even 8 years old. She has a sunny personality, except for the occasional dramatic sorrow or injustice that she confronts with her considerable force of will. Lu has a history of making extremely funny remarks. Now, I know the same can be said about most children. But she has been known to reduce many a grown man and woman to tears with her comments.

Lu is our “Nature Child”, who loves to skip around the woods, lift up rocks to see what treasures are hiding beneath, and stare dreamily into the water. Last year she lamented sadly to her uncle, “You know, I just don’t understand it, Uncle D. For some reason I’m the only member of my family who likes bugs!”

During our last trip to Disneyland, when Lu was 4½, she reacted, understandably, in inconsistent ways to some of the characters and more intense rides. We never forced her to do anything against her will, of course, and happily did the baby-swap for the Haunted Mansion and Snow White’s Scary Adventures. (She loved the thrill rides, however. She aced Space Mountain on her first try, grinned, and enthusiastically said “Let’s do it again!”) I’m optimistic that she will be able to more fully enjoy the theme park attractions and characters this time. No worries, however – I’m not letting her NEAR Alien Encounter, despite her assertions that she is not scared of this attraction and is planning to experience it with or without the consent of her parents.

As I update this trip report several days before we leave, Lu has gotten much more excited about our trip. Last night I urged her to settle down into her bed, and in response she mimicked the adorable boy on the WDW commercial: “But I’m too ex-CITED to sleep!”

Trip Itinerary

With the goal of not over-planning and over-tiring my family uppermost in my mind, I’ve reluctantly decided that we will not do the early entry parks. Doing so would put us dangerously close to the dreaded state known as “burning the candle at both ends”. Our girls typically need their 9-10 hours of sleep, and I simply don’t see how it will be possible to do the nighttime parades and fireworks most nights, return to the hotel around 9:30 or 10 pm, and then get up around 6:30 or so to be at the early entry park at 7:30.

I realize that many people visit the early entry park, retire to their hotel for a nap and break, and then return to another, non-early entry park feeling refreshed and rested. We religiously took a midday break on our Disneyland trips when the girls were very young. Now, however, I frankly doubt that my girls will nap at their ages, and I fear that the time spent on travelling back and forth to our hotel during the day will be largely wasted.

Instead, I am planning to get the girls up at the more reasonable hour of 7 or 7:30 each morning, on average. They’ll sleep in even longer on the mornings following a late night. We will typically spend all day immersed in just one park, and will try to use the air-conditioned attractions such as It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, American Adventure, Living Seas, etc. to take our mid-afternoon break for the day. We have a priority seating for every dinner, and most of the lunches, during our vacation. This will provide a guaranteed opportunity to sit down, get hydrated, and relax throughout the day. An ice cream bar or lemonade may prove to be quite helpful in this regard as well!

I am planning to have us park-hop a bit more towards the end of our stay, as we will be taking more of a “greatest hits” approach by that time. We may also try to squeeze in an Early Entry morning for the Magic Kingdom, as people seem to agree that the Magic Kingdom Early Entry is the most valuable of the early entry days.

Ok, enough of the background. On to the show . . .

 

[Disneyfriend]

(This section of the trip report was started shortly after we returned home in late August, 2001. I documented the first day and a half of our trip before stopping for almost five years.)

Our trip really began two nights before we left our house, when we had a family meeting to discuss our upcoming vacation. We went over some of the expectations of the trip, and reminded ourselves that our own attitudes would in large part determine the outcome and enjoyment of the vacation. I tried to anticipate a few of the potential obstacles or annoyances we were likely to encounter, such as people jumping in line ahead of us, and we discussed what the best reaction might be to situations such as this.

We also talked about the fact that nearly everybody at Walt Disney World was likely to consider their trip a very special event, and that we all had a responsibility to keep that in mind as we interacted with other guests throughout our trip. Many people there will have been saving money for their trip for a very long time . . . or enjoying their first-ever WDW vacation . . . or taking their first multi-generation family vacation . . . or celebrating a special family occasion . . . or even taking their very ill child to WDW, not knowing whether or not the child might ever be able to return.

As I reflect back on our vacation, I am especially grateful that we took the time to get ourselves in the right frame of mind before the trip. It really helped to keep things in perspective throughout the trip, and to prevent the minor annoyances and disappointments from receiving any more attention than they truly merited.

Oh, and by the way . . . we did have a few instances where people blatantly jumped ahead of us in line, or tried to squeeze us out of our carefully-procured fireworks viewing spot. Thanks to our little pre-vacation talk, we usually just smiled at one another and shrugged our shoulders . . . and continued to enjoy our most magical trip.

Monday, August 20th – Walt Disney World: Come and get it!!

No one expected to be able to go to sleep Sunday night, but we had worked hard to pack and clean the house, and were tired enough to fall asleep at a respectable hour. I woke up at 3:00 am, over an hour before I really needed to get up. Not too surprising; I do this on Christmas morning, too! I waited until 4:00 am to get up, and decided to check my e-mail one last time. I was so glad I did, too, as I had just received my first e-mail from my brother who had just moved overseas!

Lu had set her alarm for 5:15 am and leapt out of bed, excited. She crawled into our bed and snuggled with her dad while I got things ready. We had to wake Bear up a few minutes later. Shortly thereafter, Daddy-O heard the girls sharing their anticipation. Bear told her sister, “I’m sooooo excited. Not only have I been waiting for today since I heard we were going to Walt Disney World, but since I first heard that Walt Disney World EXISTED!”

We drove off at 6:20 am, just 5 minutes later than planned. Despite an unscheduled stop to gas our minivan, we made wonderful time to Hartford. I’m so thankful that we didn’t hit the heavy morning traffic that we did on our previous trip to the Hartford airport!

I dropped Daddy-O and Bear off with the bags, and Lu and I left for the nearby valet parking lot. We got breakfast at the airport: fruit cups for Daddy-O and me (in anticipation of the culinary temptations to come), pancakes and bacon for the girls.

We were all brimming with excitement at this point. Lu finally muttered, “If we don’t get on that plane soon, I am going to explode into smithereens!”

It was finally time to board the plane. I was surprised that our flight seemed to be full of individual business travelers, instead of families obviously headed to Walt Disney World.

The 2 hour, 50 minute flight passed quickly. We enjoyed our first glimpse of Florida from the air. Lu looked out the window and remarked that it might be nice to see a sign saying: “Orlando. Walt Disney World. Come and get it!!”

We were impressed at what a gorgeous, clean airport Orlando has. The girls loved the “monorail” ride to the main terminal.

(Here comes Heebie Jeebie #1. Or not.)

Unfortunately, however, Tiffany Town Car was not waiting for us as we rode the escalator down into the baggage claim area. Daddy-O and the girls went to the baggage carrousel, while I told my family that I would “try to find out where we needed to catch the shuttle”.

I eventually found A. from Tiffany, wandering around with a sign listing our last name . . . not “Bear and Lu”, as I had requested. I asked A. to re-locate next to my family in an attempt to salvage the surprise, and he did. Bear quickly noticed the sign and whispered to me, “Mom that man has our name on his sign!” Daddy-O noticed as well and laughed, telling me that he knew something was up when I left “to find the shuttle”.

We retrieved our luggage, and A. was very helpful in transporting it to his town car. Unfortunately, our 7 bags (4 suitcases, 2 tiny bags, and a garment bag) would not fit in the town car. I really didn’t think we had all THAT much luggage, considering we were four people embarking upon a 10-day vacation. Oh well. At first, it looked as if we were simply not going to fit in the car, but Daddy-O eventually figured out a way to configure the luggage in order to make the trip. My poor husband had to ride in the front seat with a suitcase across his lap, however! A. assured us that Tiffany would send a van for our return trip to the airport.

As we had requested, A. drove us directly to Shades of Green so that we could buy our discounted annual passes. How excited we were to get our first glimpse of the Polynesian Resort (located just across the street from Shades of Green), knowing that we would soon be checking in!

Shades of Green was originally built as Disney’s golf resort, and is accordingly surrounded by three gorgeous golf courses. The resort itself seemed very clean and pleasant. I would compare it to a typical Sheraton or Marriott. Daddy-O and I were aware that A. was waiting for us, and thus did not stop to see any rooms, though we regretting not doing so later on.

The way to the ticket office was clearly marked, just down the hall from the main lobby. I was surprised to find that the ticket office was not a separate area, but was combined with the Shades of Green gift shop. I was mentally prepared to wait to buy our tickets, but we just walked right up to the empty counter and purchased our annual pass vouchers. We were walking back to the towncar in just a few minutes, surprising even A. at how quickly the stop went.

We then drove to the Polynesian, and A. helped to unload the car. The gentleman at the Polynesian bell desk greeted us with our first “Aloha” and put our bags onto a luggage cart.

When I went to pay A., he told me that my $8 Passporter coupon was valid only for round trips, and we thus could not use it since we had a towncar on the way to WDW, and would require a van on the way back. WHAT! Surely the idea behind the coupon’s “round-trip” requirement was to take a round-trip with the company, right? Then, to add insult to injury, A. informed us that we would also not be eligible for the $80 round-trip towncar price, but would have to pay $45 for the town car to WDW and $55 for the van trip back to the airport.

Needless to say, I was pretty upset at this point but was determined not to let the situation get our vacation off to a bad start. I politely but firmly complained to A., who then called into the Tiffany office. He ended up telling me to just pay the $45 charge for a one-way trip in the town car and then call Debbie (Tiffany’s manager) to work things out for the return trip.

I tipped A. and then turned my attention to the pleasant task of checking into the Polynesian. The bell services cast member tried to tell us to go into the lobby to check in, even though I had told him that we were staying in the concierge building. He eventually called an “island guide”, who loaded our bags onto his electric cart and drove us over the Hawaii building. Our guide gave us a brief tour of the resort on the way. We were all thrilled by our first sight of the Polynesian’s newly-remodeled Volcano pool!

We entered the concierge building, and cast member Marilyn got up and gave us our lei’s, greeting us with another welcome “Aloha”. She told us to go directly to our room, relax, and return to the concierge office at our convenience to check in. Hey, we could get used to this kind of service! Our island guide walked us to the room and unloaded our luggage.

Our room, 1533, was located just a few doors away from the concierge office. We had gotten our first-floor request! When we walked into our room, there was a birthday cake, balloon, and streamers set up for us in honor of my daughter’s 10th birthday! The cake was set up under a silver dome on the small table located near the sliding glass window, and was even accompanied by cloth napkins and silverware. Although her actual birthday was not for another six days, we were so excited to receive such a warm welcome from the Polynesian concierge staff!

(Heebie Jeebie #2)

The gift bags that I had ordered from Pixie Gifts were also on the same table, making the room look quite festive. In fact, Bear asked me how I had obtained “the birthday room” in the Hawaii building.

Cindy from Pixie Gifts did a beautiful job with the gift bags. Everything was precisely as she had described it to me, and the gift cards were accurately written. Bear and Lu were so excited to get their first Disney stuffed creature: Minnie Mouse for Bear and Daisy Duck for Lu. They were also happy to be “all ready” for the parks, with their autograph books and Epcot passports. Neither one of them was sure of what to make of their “Guest of Honor” badges, however. (These badges are engraved with their names and look exactly like a cast member name badge, except for the background color. Throughout our trip cast members saw the badge and surprised the girls by calling them by their first names. Many other guests asked us where on earth we had gotten them, assuming we were some type of VIP.)

Daddy-O loved his golf cap, and was happy to have finally gotten a new golf towel. He smiled at the towel’s decoration of an embroidered Goofy, shown whistling and trying to drop his golf ball as unobtrusively as possible.

Well, what else could we do but light the birthday candle on Bear’s cake and sing her Happy Birthday? This would turn out to be only the first of many, many, happy birthdays sung to her throughout the trip. We enjoyed half of the 6” cake and placed the rest in the small refrigerator located next to the television in our armoire.

Our room was very pretty and clean, decorated with a tropical theme in shades of peach, seafoam green, and brown. Small bamboo tents were draped above the head of each queen bed.

Cast member Marilyn told us that the room had just been steam-cleaned, but the carpet was not damp. We had no problems throughout our stay with any odd smell or excessive humidity in the room.

The closet was huge, providing tons of room for hanging clothes and containing a wall safe. I thought the bathroom was especially pretty, with its dark green marble floor. The bathroom was quite roomy, though there is just one sink in the room, and it is not separate from the toilet and tub area.

We were close to the Polynesian office and lounge, and if we stood on our porch area we could see glimpses of both the quiet pool and the volcano pool. Our garden view was pretty and pleasant, though nothing spectacular. The walkway was separated by a good 12 feet or so of grass and vegetation, so we did not feel as though people were constantly walking right past our window.

After exploring our room, we went to check in with Marilyn in the concierge office. The girls enjoyed their first orange-guava juice, which was provided in the office. The check in process went smoothly; I purchased our Hoop Dee Doo tickets and confirmed our reservations at Victoria & Albert’s while Daddy-O took Bear and Lu one floor up to check out the concierge lounge.

We loved being so close to the concierge lounge. I found the lounge to be especially kid-friendly. I felt very safe allowing the girls to go to the lounge by themselves. It’s nice, also, that the whole Hawaii building is restricted via card access.

I also appreciated the fact that the lounge had both regular plates and utensils and paper/plastic plates and utensils. If you wanted to eat in the lounge, you were welcome to – but if you wanted to take a plate to your room, or to the pool, the disposable products made it easy to do so.

We returned to our room to unpack and relax. I called my parents to let them know we had arrived safely. The girls took their showers, as we knew we were facing a late night and wanted them to be able to go right to sleep when we returned.

We left the room around 5:00 and explored the resort a bit, walking out to the beach and enjoying the view of the lagoon, Grand Floridian, Contemporary Resort, and – best of all – Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom. We strolled to the Great Ceremonial House (AKA the lobby) and browsed through a few of the shops before heading upstairs to ‘Ohana.

(Heebie Jeebie #3)

As we were being seated, an ‘Ohana cast member welcomed us, taught us the “hang loose” sign, showed us the huge open-flame fire pit, and introduced us to the chefs. He also gave us a basket of yummy Hawaiian bread and asked Bear to balance it on her head as we walked to our table. We were seated in the middle of the room and had an excellent view of the Magic Kingdom. Daddy-O was so thrilled to finally be away from work and his pager that he celebrated by ordering a strawberry daiquiri, unusual for someone who hardly ever has fruit drinks. He enjoyed his daiquiri thoroughly and spent the next half-hour trying to get me to taste it; I successfully resisted, however.

Our server brought us a lazy susan full of appetizers – pot stickers, a salad, several sauces, and some delicious peanut-flavored rice. Then he began arriving with the skewers of marinated, smoked meats – chicken, pork, shrimp, and beef. All were very good, but our table agreed that the pork was the surprise winner.

Soon after we began our dinner one of our new cousins invited all the “kekeis” (pronounced kay-kees, meaning children) in the restaurant to join him in the middle of the restaurant for a coconut race. This cast member, being no dummy, caught Daddy-O’s eye and asked him why he wasn’t joining the festivities.

The old Tiki Room music started, and each child was given a small broom with which to push around a coconut. The results were hilarious, since each coconut seemed to take on a life of its own and roll everywhere but where the child was trying to push it. Competitive Lu had a look of resolve on her face, determined to win this race, but her coconut likewise rolled off the “race course” floor and under various tables. Lu mourned her loss, aggrieved at the injustice of being given a round coconut, and vowed to do better next time. Not that either one of the girls did any better next time, mind you, though they had fun repeating the coconut race once more before we left.

At the end of the meal, Daddy-O happily pushed back his plate and said, “Wow, this is hardly the typical Disney meal!” I thought this boded well for our gastronomical experiences to come. All four of us loved ‘Ohana and agreed that it was the perfect way to set the mood for our stay at the Polynesian.

I asked each family member to rate our meals throughout the trip and faithfully recorded the grades in my tiny notebook, tucked away in my fanny pack. Some of the evaluations were more detailed than others, but at least we have some record of the many meals we enjoyed on our trip. We tried to grade each restaurant based on similar categories of restaurants, so that a great hamburger stand might get an “A”, and a fancy sit-down restaurant a “C”, even though the fancier restaurant might have better food (along with the higher prices).

‘Ohana:

Daddy-O: A-
Disneyfriend: A-
Bear: A-
Lu: A-

Daddy-O initially gave ‘Ohana a solid “A”, but decided to change it to an “A-“ the next day after experiencing a true “A+” meal. But I’m getting ahead of myself . . .

We walked the short distance from ‘Ohana to the Polynesian monorail station, and were soon happily on our way to the Magic Kingdom. We got our first good look at the beautiful Grand Floridian and the Seven Seas Lagoon before arriving. Oh, is there any better feeling of anticipation than to be approaching the Magic Kingdom for the first time?

It felt somewhat odd to arrive near the entrance gate at the bottom of Main Street, since we were used to riding the monorail into Tomorrowland at Disneyland!

We walked to Guest Services, at the far right entrance gate, in order to exchange our annual pass vouchers for the actual annual pass. It was around 7 pm by this time, yet still amazingly sunny and warm. We waited a good ten minutes to get to a window, and the air conditioning that escaped from inside the Guest Services office felt heavenly! The actual exchange process took just a few minutes, and soon it was time to walk through the entrance turnstile, activating the biometric finger reader as we entered.

We strolled down beautiful Main Street, which was buzzing with moderate to heavy crowds. Our goal for this evening was to go on just one ride, if possible, before settling in for the parade and fireworks. The tip board at the end of Main Street showed waits of 45-60+ minutes for almost all of the attractions. Bear noticed that Pirates of the Caribbean showed only a 15-minute wait, and we all agreed that a trip to see the pirates would be an excellent introduction to the Magic Kingdom.

I loved walking through Adventureland and soaking up the Disney atmosphere and attention to detail. What a beautiful land this is! We walked through the new Agrabah Bazaar, which blends seamlessly into the nearby Pirates of the Caribbean courtyard.

After a short wait, we soon boarded a boat to the land where dead men tell no tales. Our ride was fun, but we couldn’t help noticing that the Magic Kingdom version of Pirates of the Caribbean was noticeably shorter and less detailed than its Disneyland counterpart. We especially missed the bayou scene at the beginning of the ride.

We were doing well on time, so decided to wait in line to try the brand new Aladdin ride. The skies suddenly darkened during our 15-minute wait, until a cast member announced that they might have to close the ride due to the approach of a severe thunderstorm. Sure enough, they shut things down just as we were ready to board our magic carpet. Several dramatic thunderclaps sounded nearby, and soon the clouds began to empty.

We quickly donned our Wal Mart ponchos, purchased and carried for just such an occasion. As we walked back to the central hub area in front of the castle, we noticed people leaving the park in droves. We huddled underneath one of the snack cart umbrellas along the hub and waited out the downpour, which lasted at least 30 minutes. When the rain finally slowed, Lu and I left to see if we could find a better viewing spot for the parade and fireworks, while Daddy-O and Bear kept their umbrella-protected bench.

During this time, Daddy-O met a family from New York who was also looking for a viewing spot. Daddy-O talked for a few minutes with the father, a fireman who worked in Manhattan’s financial district. Daddy-O ended up running into the family several more times throughout our stay. As this trip report is being written just one painful week after the World Trade Center attack, Daddy-O hopes that this friendly stranger with whom he briefly crossed paths is alive and safe. It really puts the memories of our trip into perspective, as we are profoundly grateful to have had such a wonderful time, but are at the same time deeply saddened that our country has irrevocably changed in the brief time since our vacation.

Lu and I found an empty bench right along the other side of the castle hub, directly on the parade route at about clock position “4” as you face the castle. Since we could see Tinkerbell’s wire from where we sat, we figured that this location would also give us an excellent view of Tinkerbell’s flight and the subsequent fireworks. Lu retrieved Daddy-O and Bear from the other side of the hub, and we settled in on our damp bench. We bought a “Spectromagic” bucket of popcorn from the stand located just a few feet from our bench and waited, hoping that the parade and fireworks would not be cancelled.

As the 9:00 hour approached, the rain stopped and it became apparent that the parade would take place as scheduled. Yay! The central hub became quite crowded again, and we were so thankful for the ponchos that allowed us to stake out such a premium spot for the evening festivities.

Spectromagic began, and we all stood on our bench to get a great view (there was a tree directly behind our bench, so we weren’t blocking anyone). Although Spectromagic’s music does not compare to the delightful Electric Main Street Parade score, I thought it was nonetheless quite catchy. I must admit, though, that I thought the rag doll-puppet creatures at the beginning of the parade reminded me of something out of a grade “B” horror film (Raggedy Ann Dolls Gone Bad, maybe?). The parade soon improved, however, with the arrival of the many classic Disney characters: Mickey and Minnie, Ariel, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Goofy, Captain Hook, etc.

After the parade was over, we sat down on our bench again to wait for the fireworks. At 10:00, Tinkerbell’s flight was preceded by a brief announcement about wishing on a star. The anticipation throughout the crowd was palpable; would Tink be able to fly? Sure enough, she did, and we had a great view of Tinkerbell, whose costume appeared blue rather than the traditional lime green. She left the castle and slowly glided her way onto one of the rooftops in Tomorrowland. (In Disneyland, she flies toward the castle.)

The Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks began next, with a medley of classic Disney tunes. We all had huge grins on our faces at this point; how can you not love a good fireworks show? When the music from Haunted Mansion came on, shadows shaped like ghosts floated across the castle. Love that Disney attention to detail!

I had read enough horror stories about the crowds following the Magic Kingdom fireworks to prepare the rest of the family for a long, leisurely exit. But the guests proceeded down Main Street without incident; maybe the rain from earlier in the night had reduced the normal size of a summer fireworks crowd. We went ahead and left the Magic Kingdom in just a few minutes, and decided to take the boat launch back to the Polynesian.

As we waited for the boat, we were surprised to see the Electric Water Pageant running on the Seven Seas lagoon right in front of us. I thought it ran at 9:00, not 10:20! Oh well, it turned out to be a pleasant way to spend the time waiting. We got on the first boat over to the Polynesian, and talked to several nice families during the short trip. Daddy-O talked to a Navy officer who works in his field, and her family.

I met a man who was staying at the Grand Floridian with his son. He loved the hotel, but I had to work hard at keeping a straight face when he told me that his 7-night stay there was costing him over $3,500! For a regular room, not a concierge room, and not including tickets, meals, or transportation costs! I didn’t have the heart to tell him about the Disney boards at that point, or the room discounts he could have learned about on them. Instead, I just agreed that the Grand Floridian looked absolutely gorgeous, and wished him a pleasant vacation.

We docked back at the beautiful Polynesian and meandered towards the Hawaii building, weary but exhilarated after a near-perfect first day which had begun in New York around 5 a.m. and ended in Orlando some18 hours later. Bear and Lu were in their beds before 11:00 and fell asleep nearly immediately. Daddy-O and I soon followed.

On each day of our vacation, we got into a family huddle of sorts and shared our “Best” and “Worst” from the day before. The highlights and lowlights from this first day were as follows:

Daddy-O - Bests: 1. ‘Ohana (which he described as a “Daddy-O” restaurant); 2. the fireworks
Worst: getting rained out of Aladdin, and the ensuing thunderstorm

Disneyfriend - Bests: 1. Entering our Polynesian room and seeing the Pixie gifts, balloons, and birthday cake 2. Finding the perfect spot for the parade, Tinkerbell, and the fireworks
Worst: The mess-ups with Tiffany Town Car

Bear - Best: Watching the Spectromagic parade
Worsts: 1. The plane ride taking so long
2. Waiting for Spectromagic to begin

Lu – Best: Watching Spectromagic and the fireworks
Worst: “the stinking plane ride”

 

[Disneyfriend]

Tuesday, August 21st, the day Daddy-O and I gorged ourselves on the best meal EVER!

Although we were all so tired from the day before, we still enjoyed Mickey’s wake up call. Since we had such a difficult time getting up, we decided against the back-up plan of visiting Epcot’s early entry, and decided to concentrate on getting to Magic Kingdom for rope drop, as we had originally planned.

We went up to the concierge lounge and had a quick breakfast, a routine which we would repeat for the next week. Most mornings, Bear had cereal; Lu and I had the fruit compote. We each took a plastic water bottle for our day in the park, and were actually urged by the concierge staff to take more if we needed them! We truly loved this aspect of staying at the Polynesian concierge.

Although I had packed our backpack and waist packs the day before, it still took us forever to actually get out the door. We had to slather ourselves in sunscreen; put on hats and sunglasses, fill up the kids’ water fan, soak our neck buddies, put a water bottle in each waist pack, etc.

Oh, and an important thing to mention is our careful blister-prevention program. When I was planning our trip, I read so many trip reports in which people had described serious problems with their feet. This especially seemed to be the case during hot weather. I was determined to prevent any foot problems if at all possible. So I had packed a bag full of moleskin, bandaids, adhesive blister pads, and foot powder. Every morning we did a “foot check” and carefully applied moleskin or a pad to any “hot spots” on our feet. All this effort sounds funny, but who wants to let an expensive, unique vacation get side-tracked because one or more family member can barely walk, you know?

Finally, finally, we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom monorail around 8:15, and were walking back down Main Street shortly after 8:30.

We instantly noticed that the Magic Kingdom was much less crowded than it had been the night before, even after the rainstorm. But, boy was it incredibly hot and humid for being well before 9 in the morning! We proceeded down to the castle hub and saw that the entrances to Adventureland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland were all roped off until the official 9:00 opening.

Goofy and Max were doing pictures and autographs in one area, and Minnie was available in another. Woo hoo – Minnie is Bear’s favorite character! Since the lines were extremely short, perhaps three of four families deep, the girls were able to get pictures with, and autographs from, all three characters. As Bear walked away, she grinned and announced, “Now I’ve already seen Minnie. Nobody can get me down now!”

We waited another ten or fifteen minutes at the rope to Liberty Square. Several cast members gathered on the other side of the rope and started to bicker good-naturedly with one another. At least, I hope they were doing so good-naturedly!

An older cast member from the Haunted Mansion, dressed in her “mourning” outfit, explained to the small crowd that she would WALK us to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at 9:00. She warned us that nobody had better walk in front of her or go faster than she did, as it would make her feel old. The funny thing is that when the park finally opened a few minutes after 9:00, this cast member walked at quite a healthy clip towards Frontierland. Hey, I hope I’m that spry at her age!

We had formulated a plan to obtain fast passes from Splash Mountain before proceeding directly to the nearby Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Daddy-O peeled off to get the fast passes, but this first time it took him a while to figure out which way he had to insert the annual passes. Soon we were walking onto the “wildest ride in the wilderness”, one of our all-time favorite rides. The Magic Kingdom version seems slightly better than Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. What a blast we had, giggling all the way! We had so much fun, in fact, that we decided to risk our lives on this run-away mine train once more, as the line was still non-existent. I think Bear and Lu could have ridden this ride for another hour or so, but we gently pulled them away, as we knew other fun awaited us.

We walked past Splash Mountain, intending to proceed to Adventureland, when Daddy-O noticed that the Splash Mountain line was extremely short. If we went now, we could still use our fast pass to get on Splash for a second time later on. So, about 5 minutes later, we were climbing into our log. We loved that the logs had actual seats for two people across, instead of having to sit astride one central seat as we were used to in Disneyland. This seating arrangement was much more comfortable, as our knees weren’t constantly bumping against the sides of the logs. However, these logs have a distinct mildew smell to them, obviously due to the ride’s constant moisture and Orlando humidity. Yuck, we didn’t like that at all!

Other than the mildew odor, though, we loved our ride on Splash Mountain. It’s such a pretty, colorful, detailed attraction. We loved the humor, too, with silly Brer Fox and Brer Bear constantly screwing things up and getting themselves into a pickle. What delightful music, too!

We walked over to Aladdin, hoping that no sudden thunderstorms would come up this time! What a beautiful new ride this is. It’s a very simple ride – basically Dumbo with a 4-person flying carpet substituted for the 2-person elephant – but extremely fun, since one seat controls the elevation of the carpet while the other seat controls the tilt.

We strolled over to Jungle Cruise, and were pleasantly surprised to be able to walk right onto a boat without waiting. We had a funny cast member, Brandon, who exhibited the perfect blend of sarcasm, goofiness, and sincerity throughout our excursion. This Magic Kingdom version, with its atmospheric Asian temple, has the definite edge on its Disneyland counterpart!

The four of us browsed through the Agrabah marketplace. I found an Indiana Jones-style hat for Daddy-O to try on. We agreed that it seemed to suit him quite well, and he purchased it. Maybe the large brim all the way around the hat will prevent the back of his neck from getting burned, for a change!

Since our Splash Mountain Fast Pass was now valid, we were entitled to get a second fast pass and the Haunted Mansion. The crowds were building considerably by now, and we loved being able to stroll past the now 20-minute Splash Mountain line to use our first Fast Pass!

As we came off our second visit with the now-reformed Brer Rabbit, we ran into Brer Bear and Liver Lips. The girls complained that Liver Lips did a very sloppy job of autographing their book, so Daddy-O explained to them that poor Liver Lips obviously didn’t have a whole lot going on in the brains department, and was probably unable to pass his handwriting course in school. They giggled at Daddy-O’s interpretation and agreed with him.

We took a bathroom break next, since there are restrooms right outside Splash Mountain. Now, you probably didn’t need to know that, but I thought I’d share it anyway since my notes for this auspicious occasion indicate that we took a “broom break.” Hmmm, maybe Liver Lips’ condition is contagious.

I lobbied hard for us to hop a raft to Tom Sawyer’s Island at this point. Unfortunately, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad proved irresistible to the rest of my family, who lobbied even harder for us to get a Fast Pass so that we could ride Big Thunder for the THIRD time that day. Guess who won? Hint: we never did visit Tom Sawyer’s Island on this trip. Now, I hope that you are have noticed how I, as chief planner and holder-of-the-itinerary for this vacation, have exhibited remarkable flexibility and adaptability so far. You did? Excellent, let’s continue.

We walked back over to the Haunted Mansion to use our Fast Pass. Lu had never gone on this ride before, as she is easily “spooked out”, as she puts it. She gripped my hand tightly throughout our imprisonment in the doorless room, and our ride on the Doom Mobile, but walked away from the Mansion quite proud of her new accomplishment. Go Lu!

We agreed that it was time to obtain our update silhouettes of the girls, as we treasure the silhouettes that we had done in Disneyland in 1995 and 1998. We found the umbrella in Liberty Square, and learned from the silhouette artist that Disney starts by hiring cast members with a general artistic background first, and then trains them to do the specific forms of art such as the silhouettes or the sketches.

The artist did a beautiful job with Lu’s silhouette, but really messed up on Bear’s. I don’t know how they turned out so differently, but they did! Unfortunately, we had already ordered both individual and group silhouettes before we saw his rendition of Bear, and ended up paying quite a bit of money for three silhouettes, two of which we considered to be completely useless. We felt like we couldn’t complain; the cast member was polite and had taken his time, and it was obvious from his portrait of Lu that he was genuinely talented. Not wanting to be rude, we just thanked him and left.

We strolled over to Pecos Bill’s for lunch. This is an indoor, counter-service restaurant that serves hot dogs and hamburgers. It might be a very ordinary restaurant, were it not for the magnificent fixin’s bar (that’s fixin’s, not fixings!) that features every sandwich topping known to man. There are cooks grilling onions at the large stoves right next to the bar. Yum, what a delicious smell! Daddy-O and I split a single hamburger, mindful of our anniversary dinner later that night, and were quite filled. Pecos Bill’s is a pretty restaurant, with two distinctive seating areas: one facing the Frontierland side of the park that is decorated in a western style, and one facing the Adventureland side of the park that is decorated in a Mexican style.

Pecos Bill’s:

Daddy-O: B
Disneyfriend: B+
Bear: A+
Lu: A

We exited Pecos Bill’s through the Adventureland door and made our way to the Tiki Room Under New Management. We laughed at the “pre-show” featuring the voice of the late Phil Hartman, and thoroughly enjoyed the revamped Tiki Room performance with Iago and Zazu.

We strolled through the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, where we stopped and asked an older couple to take our picture. We struck up a friendly conversation with them, and found that they are a retired military couple who has frequently visited the area in which we now live. I enjoyed talking with them so much, in fact, that I barely recall seeing the details of the Tree House!

By this point, it was around 1:15 and extremely hot. We agreed to return to the Polynesian and swim before our big anniversary celebration that evening. We stopped at the beautifully-renovated Ice Cream Shop on Main Street and got an ice cream on our way out of the park before catching the boat launch around 1:30.

The breeze off of the water felt delightful, helping to alleviate the sensation of having our skin cooked before our eyes by the unrelenting sun. Our new Neck Buddies (which are stuffed with gel crystals that absorb water and then cool your neck through evaporative cooling) really seemed to help us endure the heat today, as did our Misti Mates (which released a very fine mist of water from the attached bottle worn at our waist). But the hot and humid weather was still a force to be reckoned with today, no doubt about it!

(Heebie Jeebie #5)

Before returning to our room, we agreed to check out the Neverland Club and arcade. The cast member at the Neverland Club welcomed us and gave us a quick tour of the facilities. They were clean and quite varied; it was obvious that a wide variety of activities would be available to the girls that evening. The cast member invited us to stay as long as we wanted, and we lingered for a few minutes over the arcade games.

The fifteen minutes we spent looking at the Neverland Club turned out to be time very well spent; as we left, the girls expressed great enthusiasm at being able to return there that evening. In addition to easing their anticipation at going to an otherwise unfamiliar place, our “recon” of the Neverland Club assured Daddy-O and me that our girls would be safe and well-entertained during our anniversary night out.

On the way back to our room, we also popped into the arcade, which had three connecting rooms containing a wide variety of video games. Bear and Lu love arcades, and this was probably the largest one they had ever seen. They loved the fact that the video games at the Neverland Club were completely free, by the way, a totally foreign concept to them!

We got back to our rooms and relaxed for a few minutes.

Our whole family loved the volcano pool, and never even made it over to the quiet pool. There were always lots of people in the volcano pool, but it never felt overly crowded.

My girls also loved the arcade – three huge rooms full of games. They adored their night at the Neverland Club so much that they asked to go back a second time!

We loved the atmosphere at the Polynesian – the relaxing music, beautifully landscaped grounds, and peaceful feeling. We ate at both ‘Ohana and Kona Café and enjoyed them each immensely.

*****************************************************************************************************

(Note: This is where the original writing stopped in mid-September 2001. I will pick up from here with the help of my extensive contemporaneous notes.)

Earlier in the day, Lu had volunteered, “Tell anyone coming to Walt Disney World that if they want to come to a tropical paradise, they should come to the Polynesian!”

While in our room, I called Debbie at Tiffany Town Car to work out details on the return trip. She was extremely nice and wanted to comp our return trip via van. I protested, but she insisted, saying that she’d rather keep the customer. She was apologetic and realized that A. had messed up in a couple different ways.

We had problems with housekeeping this day. Our room was not clean when we came back from the Magic Kingdom, and then they arrived just as were getting changed. We asked if they could please come back in 45 minutes, but they never did. We complained to the concierge staff and asked for early housekeeping from now on.

(By the way: lest my gentle reader think that this lady doth complain too much, these were the only two occasions during our ten-day trip during during which I felt the need to voice a formal concern.)

The girls and I finished changing into our bathing suits and anticipated hitting the enticing Volcano pool. Unfortunately, a lightening and rain storm came up just as we were getting ready to leave. We sent the kids to the Polynesian arcade. Daddy-O followed them there while I explored the beautiful Grand Ceremonial House and its shops.

The cast member at the arcade felt bad about the storm and the pools being closed, so he opened up a machine and gave the kids handfuls of quarters. Needless to say, this was a HUGE hit for the kids! They really couldn’t believe their good fortune!

It was soon time for Daddy-O and I to get dressed up for our belated anniversary dinner. By now, the girls were quite excited about going to the Neverland Club that evening. Lu said, “I can’t wait to go to the Neverland Club and do whatever we want all night!”

(Heebie Jeebie #4)

Daddy-O still had no idea where we were going for dinner; he guessed the restaurant in France followed by a show . . . why else would we drop the kids from 6:30 to 11:30 pm? After checking Bear and Lu into the Neverland Club, Daddy-O and I boarded the resort monorail. Daddy-O surmised we were going to the Grand Floridian. Good guess! Lucky for me, he still knows nothing about even the existence of Victoria & Albert’s.

The lobby of the Grand Floridian was gorgeous. A small orchestra of about eight people was playing. We browsed around for about 15 minutes before going to the entrance between Citricos and Victoria & Albert’s. Daddy-O still didn’t know where we were headed, but the V&A greeter knew by the way we were dressed that we were going to Victoria & Albert’s. We were seated in the restaurant foyer for a few minutes and enjoyed the pleasant harp music. What a beautiful restaurant this is! Daddy-O grinned and asked if we had enough time to enjoy our dinner and not be rushed; he still thought we were going to a show afterwards! When I told him that we had nothing but our dinner scheduled, he was actually relieved, saying that he really wanted to enjoy the meal and not be rushed. Well, he definitely got his wish!

Daddy-O was quite surprised when we bypassed the main dining room and were escorted through the kitchen to the single table tucked at the rear of the kitchen. We met Albert (Rado) and Victoria (Ann). They explained how the evening would work and gave us small glasses of champagne to toast our anniversary. Ann told us that we had the option of ordering wine pairings for the evening, so that each course would be accompanied by a small glass of wine. I’m not much of a drinker, so declined, but Daddy-O happily signed up for the wine pairings.

We met Thomas, the sous-chef, and Jason, the senior prep chef, who had just gotten engaged the night before. We also spoke with two or three other chefs throughout the evening, including the pastry chef. Jason ended up finishing our meal as Thomas got called away.

Daddy-O enjoyed his wines, although he hesitated on one of the reds. Ann was surprised he didn’t enjoy it more, as it was one of her favorites. She opened up a fresh bottle, and he ended up liking it much better. (How’s that for service?)

Our meal took exactly four hours, from 7 to 11 pm! Victoria & Albert’s gave us beautiful customized menus as a souvenir that recorded our every bite. Here’s what we had:

Daddy-O:

Citrus-Cured Arctic Char with Hearts of Palm, Mango-Passionfruit Vinaigrette
(wine: Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Premier Cru, Epernay)

Maple Leaf Duck with Peaches and Chayote Squash
(wine: Ca’Bianca, Barbera d’Asti, Piedmont 1998)

Lobster Bisque

South Pacific Sea Bass with Vegetable Ebly, Carrot Ginger Jus
(wine: Louis Jadot, Saint-Veran “Chapelle aux Loups” 1999)

Trio of Sorbets

Prime Filet of Beef with Roasted Vegetable Potato Pie
Herb Crusted Veal with Mushroom Risotto and Tomato Fondue
Petit Poulet with Prosciutto, Sage over Polenta and Corn
(wine: Suso, Gran Reserva, Unica, Leon 1985)

Pont l’Eveque, Gruyere, and English Stilton with Burgundy, Poached Pear
(wine: Dow’s, Late Bottled Vintage Porto 1995)

Pyramid of Chocolate Mousse with Glazed Strawberries
Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee
Kona Chocolate Souffle

Coffee


Disneyfriend:

Smoked Pheasant with Beet and Buttermilk Blue, Sherry Vinaigrette

Diver Harvest Scallop with Bean Medley and Port Wine Syrup

Squab Consomme

South Pacific Sea Bass with Vegetable Ebly, Carrot Ginger Jus

Trio of Sorbets

Prime Filet of Beef with Roasted Vegetable Potato Pie
Herb Crusted Veal with Mushroom Risotto and Tomato Fondue
Petit Poulet with Prosciutto, Sage over Polenta and Corn

Pont l’Eveque, Gruyere, and English Stilton with Burgundy, Poached Pear

Pyramid of Chocolate Mousse with Glazed Strawberries
Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee
Kona Chocolate Souffle

Coffee

This was very simply the very best dining experience either of us has ever had. Daddy-O described it as pure “Epicurean Ecstasy”. His highlights were the lobster bisque, pheasant, duck, the three entrees, the wine pairings, and the elegance of the dinner.

My highlights were the Chilean sea bass, the dinner rolls that melted in my mouth, the potato side dish that was crisply carmelized, the lobster bisque, and the delicious pressed coffee. And the three desserts were simply the most amazing food creations I have ever seen. They were truly works of art (including a pyramid made of colorful spun sugar), and completely delicious besides.

I’m not sure if we’ll ever top this delicious and elegant meal. Of course, it was horrendously expensive, but Daddy-O especially felt that it was worth every penny. Needless to say, Daddy-O and I both rated both the food, atmosphere, and service a “A+++++++” at Victoria & Albert’s.

We headed back to the Neverland Club via monorail to pick up the girls. They had a marvelous time. and had eaten a ton – dinner plus a couple rounds of snacks! Bear loved not having a schedule and doing whatever she wanted to do. Lu enjoyed building Lincoln Log cabins, playing Jenga, and playing the video games at no charge. Neither one of them could have been more thrilled with their experience there, which made Daddy-O and I very happy that they were honestly enjoying themselves while we were gorging ourselves during our beautiful V&A Chef’s Table experience.

We were all exhausted by this point and did not reach our room until 11:45. Well, there’s no hope of getting up early tomorrow!

Daddy-O - Bests: Chef’s Table at Victoria & Albert’s
Worst: watching Disneyfriend deal with Tiffany Town Car

Disneyfriend - Bests: Chef’s Table at Victoria & Albert’s
Worst: 1. Getting dressed and ready for the pool, then getting rained out at the last minute
2. Dealing with Polynesian Mousekeeping

Bear - Best: Neverland Club
Worsts: Cancellation of swimming

Lu – Best: 1. Riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain
2. Neverland Club
Worst: Big Thunderstorm

 

[Disneyfriend]

Wednesday, August 22nd – Happy Birthday, Italian-style and the smartest $12 ever spent

I slept in until 7:00 today; Daddy-O was up at 8, and the kids at 8:45. We left for Epcot by taking the surprisingly short walk to the Ticket & Transportation Center (TTC). The long monorail ride to Epcot really brought home just how huge WDW really is!

The line for Spaceship Earth looked long, so we grabbed a fastpass for Living with the Land and then saw Food Rocks. Bear thought it would be a “baby show” but was pleasantly surprised. And it had great music besides! We saw Living with the Land, which was quite interesting. I loved the plans being grown vertically and/or hydroponically.

We walked to the World Showcase and took a friendship boat to Morocco. We browsed through Japan, which was not very interesting, and got the kids’ passports stamped by a nice cast member. Next we visited the Moroccan pavilion, which is just beautiful! Lu bought a woven teal-colored bowl and got their passports stamped.

(Heebie Jeebie #6)

We arrived for our priority seating at Restaurant Marakkesh in Morocco – a gorgeous restaurant! A man came out and played a sitar, and then a beautiful bellydancer entertained us. The kids enjoyed watching her. Daddy-O and I shared the sampler appetizer plate for two and the Sultan’s Feast

Restaurant Marakkesh ratings:

Daddy-O: B+
Disneyfriend: B (food); A (atmosphere)
Bear: A-
Lu: B+

Next we heard American Vibe sing 76 Trombones from the Music Man (a family favorite) and the Star Spangled Banner. Daddy-O especially loved this group and asked if we could return to see them again. We visited American Adventure and thought it was a fantastic show. It is similar to Hall of Presidents, but gives a broad overview of American history with lots of still photos and a few movie clips. This was an excellent, patriotic show.

It was time to browse through beautiful Italy and see the harlequin-like characters. Of course, we got the kids’ passports stamped, and then did the same in Germany. We also got a soft pretzel. In China we saw two performances of the children acrobats, who were truly amazing. We didn’t have time to see the Wonders of China movie, since Lu really wanted to see Mexico, so just got the passports stamped and moved on.

We got a fastpass for Maelstrom and commented to each other about how attractive the cast members are in Norway. We also found out how to pronounce Akershus, the Norway restaurant, and learned about trolls. We asked the cast member in Norway if trolls really lived in closets and under beds, and she said that children in Norway are frequently threatened with trolls (all in good fun, I’m sure). Time for a passport stamp and on to . . .

The courtyard/marketplace in Mexico, where we rode El Rio del Tiempo. This is a pleasant ride that is basically the Mexican version of It’s a Small World. We were disappointed in Mexico. We used our fastpass on Maelstrom, the Norway ride, and found it cute but also somewhat disappointing. We then caught a different group of Chinese acrobat performers on the way back to the American Garden theater, where it was time for our show.

(Heebie Jeebie # 7)

We took our reserved seating for Blast!. Thank goodness for the special seating; we got fourth row seats that were covered, and the shade seemed to drop the heat by about 20 degrees. The sun was brutally intense today.

Blast was simply an awesome, unique show. Very unique and hard-to-describe . . . lot of music, percussion, and dancing. The 30 minutes seemed to go by in half that time. What a wonderful treat!

Unfortunately, I realized after we left the theater that I had lost my precious trip notebook which already had many pages of carefully scribbled notes. Uggh! Daddy-O, bless his heart, went on a mission to find it, and triumphantly returned several minutes later with my rumpled but intact notebook. Ahh, relief!

We walked to Alfredo’s restaurant at 5:05 and they seated us almost immediately. This restaurant exceeded all my expectations. The service was wonderful. At one point, Lu broke a glass water goblet on the table, and two other waiters – not even ours – insisted on changing the entire tablecloth and all utensils. Our own server was also phenomenal.

Daddy-O had the Caesar salad with bacon (unbelievably good), the veal chop (which was so-so), and the profiteroles (yum!). I had the salad Caprese (the server added basil at my request – yum!), the delicious 3-pasta combo (fettucine alfredo, scrumptious rigatoni, and lasagna) and the best tiramisu I’ve ever had. Bear of course ordered the fettucine alfredo, as this is one of her favorites, and thought it was fantastic. Lu wanted to try something different, so got the veal lasagna and loved it. (Hey, not bad for a seven and a half year old! She’s very adventuresome with food, especially for her age.)

Daddy-O slipped away and asked our waiter to sing happy birthday to Bear since this was one of her birthday dinners. A group of about ten handsome waiters came to sing to her in Italian, bringing her a free profiterole. Bear was amazed and enjoyed the attention greatly! Lu ordered the chocolate mousse, which I had to taste, and it was the best I’d ever had!

Alfredos ratings:

Daddy-O: Food B; Service/Atmosphere A-
Disneyfriend: Food A-; Service A; Atmosphere A- (only because of the overly-close seating)
Bear: A++
Lu: A

Around 6:45 we staked out our Illuminations spot in the area that juts into the water opposite Italy, towards the American pavilion. We grabbed a bench and spoke with an English family, which helped pass the time. Daddy-O waited while the girls and I walked to Germany to catch the Tapestry of Nations parade. I had Bear and Lu stand by themselves, and stood about 15 feet away to videotape. I advised them to smile and wave to increase their chances of being pulled out into the parade. It worked; 21 puppets touched them, and three puppets pulled them out into the parade to dance. We *loved* this beautiful parade, with its lovely music, colors, and percussion!! I can’t imagine how tiring it must be for some of the men who were pounding the huge drums throughout the parade . . . talk about a serious upper-body workout!

It was now 8:15, and we got some mint ice cream cones from the African Outpost (cause we’d eaten so little all day, you know!). We joined Daddy-O, who had unselfishly waited to preserve our viewing spot. The Illumination show was magnificent and thrilling. This is definitely one of Disney’s best shows ever. How beautifully choreographed, the way it combines the music, lights, film clips, and fireworks!

We exited through the International Gateway and walked to the Beach Club Resort, where we asked a bell captain to please call us a cab. It arrived in five minutes, and we got to the Polynesian only 8-10 minutes later. The $12 fare (including tip) was well worth the time and shoe leather it saved!

We walked into our room by 9:50, and found that the Polynesian Concierge staff surprised us with a bottle of champagne in ice, a white chocolate Mickey and Minnie, four chocolate truffles, and an anniversary card. Wow, what a beautiful surprise! Although everyone was exhausted by this point, it had been a wonderful day. After quick showers, the kids were asleep by 10:45.


Daddy-O - Bests: Illuminations, including chatting with Tom from the UK, his new friend made while waiting
Worst: oppressiveness of the heat
Disneyfriend - Bests: 1. dinner at Alfredos
2. Daddy-O finding my notebook
Worst: 1. sun beating down while watching the China acrobats 2. losing my notebook and thinking it was gone forever
Bear - Best: all day – “totally awesome!”
Worsts: nothing!
Lu – Best: 1. Blast
2. Tapestry of Nations parade
Worst: heat

 

[Disneyfriend]

Thursday, August 23 – Daddy-O discovers an amazing coincidence regarding Off Kilter

It was very hard to get up again this morning. The three girls got breakfast in the concierge lounge. We had wanted to leave at 8:15 at the latest, but it was 8:30 when we finally departed. Luckily, we got a monorail immediately and still got to Epcot at 8:50.

Daddy-O left to get fastpasses for Test Track while the rest of us waited for him at Spaceship Earth. As soon as he returned, we rode Spaceship Earth. We loved the scene of the monk copying manuscripts by hand, Rome burning (complete with a smoky smell), and Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Next we went on Ellen’s Universe of Energy. This was fantastic – surprisingly entertaining. Bear especially loved this experience. Ellen de Generes did a great job hosting the ride. Our whole family loves her comedy; she manages to be super-clean and yet still super-funny.

We used our fastpasses for Test Track and all gave it an A+. The outside track portion is exhilarating! So, of course we decided to get another fastpass for the ride. We saw Cranium Command and thought it was adorable. We loved the guest appearances of Hans & Franz and also liked the military theme. Oh, and when we left Cranium Command, Lu pondered aloud, “You know, we really all *do* have a little man that lives in our head. It’s called our conscience.”

We arrived at Coral Reef a bit early and were seated at 11:30 when they opened. Yay – we got tables right by the massive aquarium! This restaurant was smaller and darker than I expected. Bear and Lu both had the kids’ pasta. Daddy-O ordered a strawberry daiquiri, lobster bisque, and a Caesar salad; I ordered the lobster bisque and the corn and shrimp gazpacho. The sourdough brought to the table was excellent, but the bisque was mediocre. Daddy-O thought his Caesar salad was “decent”, but my gazpacho was flavorful, spicy, and unique. For dessert, Lu ordered the “make your own sundae” and loved it. Bear got the “shipwreck”, chocolate-covered marshmallows arranged on graham crackers and graham cracker crumbs, with fruit roll-ups formed to look like a ship. This was an adorable presentation!

Coral Reef review:

Daddy-O: Food: C+ Atmosphere: B- Service: B
Disneyfriend: Food: C Atmosphere: A- Service B+
Lu: A
Bear: A+

After lunch we walked right into “Honey I Shrunk the Audience”, the cute 3-D movie. We all enjoyed the special effects (the mice were pretty creepy!). We used our second fastpass for Test Track – what a blast! Daddy-O and the kids could probably happily have riden it a few more times today, but it was time to move to World Showcase.

(Heebie Jeebie #8)

We caught a friendship boat to Morocco, and I could hear the distinct strains of Off Kilter playing from far away. I tried to distract Daddy-O from hearing them, so as to not spoil the surprise, but he exclaimed, “Hey - that sounds just like Off Kilter! Wouldn’t it be funny if Off Kilter came to Epcot?” I had to just about swallow my tongue to keep a straight face on that one!

The four of us strolled through France and saw the French comedian troupe do Cyrano de Bergerac. Next, we dragged the girls to see Impressions de France, the beautiful movie in the French pavilion. As a former French major, I was by far the most enthusiastic about this stop. Bear liked it somewhat, but Lu fell sound asleep, and Daddy-O started to nod off as well. We got our passports stamped and window shopped through the tempting goodies at the French pastry shop.

Next we went to the UK, where we caught the band “British Invasion” do excellent renditions of Beatles hits. They even did “When I’m Sixty-Four”, one of my favorites! I told Daddy-O about our Rose & Crown 7:30 PS for our last night, so that he could check out the restaurant and menu and see if that’s how he wanted to spend our last night in WDW.

We arrived in Canada, and I had to tell Daddy-O the entire story about how I knew all along that Off Kilter would be performing. No, it wasn’t just an incredible coincidence that they were in Epcot! We caught Off Kilter’s entire performance, which lasted maybe 20 minutes. It was excellent, but Daddy-O and I were dying to hear them perform “Scotland the Brave”. We browsed through the shops in Canada and made sure to buy a postcard featuring the Chateau Laurier for my parents, who had honeymooned in Ottawa.

The Victoria-styled gardens leading to Le Cellier are just beautiful! We arrived at Le Cellier for our dinner PS and found it to be smaller than expected. I didn’t like the dungeon-like light fixtures, but the restaurant wasn’t too dark. We had an excellent waitress from British Colombia who talked the chef into letting me get the maple glazed salmon plus a half order of the herb-crusted prime rib, since I couldn’t decide between the two. The prime rib sat in a red wine sauce and was especially delicious.

Daddy-O thought his 7-ounce filet and lobster tail were superlative. We both liked the cheese soup and all loved the sourdough and pretzel breadsticks. Bear happily ordered the prime rib and a chocolate milkshake, while Lu asked for the cheeseburger and a mango milkshake. Now, if you’re thinking that that’s a rather odd combination, you’re right . . . but she’s my adventuresome eater, remember? Oh, and she made sure she scored tastes of lobster and maple-glazed salmon as well that evening!

Le Cellier review:

Daddy-O: Service A Food A Atmosphere A
Disneyfriend: Service A+ Food A- Atmosphere C
Bear: A-
Lu: A-

The overall atmosphere and tone for the whole day were not as pleasant as our first few days. We were all getting tired and tempers were getting shorter. However, there were no significant problems. We had eaten very early (around 4:30) in the hopes of returning to the hotel early enough for swimming and an early bedtime. We got back to the TTC at 6:10 via monorail. The skies looked threatening but held off, and we were able to swim from 6:40 to 7:45. We loved the volcano pool and slide, which we all slid down. What a blast! Daddy-O was impressed to see both Bear’s and Lu’s swim progress; Lu even took off and swam underwater for the first time. (This was a huge step for her, as she grew up with serious ear problems that kept her out of the water for a long time, leaving her with a real fear of being underwater. Go Lu!!) We had lights out by 9 – finally, an early night!

Daddy-O - Bests: Test Track
Worst: Coral Reef
Disneyfriend - Bests: Dinner at Le Cellier
Worst: the family starting to get tired and grumpy
Bear - Best: swimming in the volcano pool
Worsts: nothing
Lu – Best: swimming in the volcano pool
Worst: nothing

 

[Disneyfriend]

Friday, September 24th – Daddy-O gets his name!

Even after a good night’s sleep, we all had trouble getting up today; Daddy-O had tossed and turned all night. We caught the MGM bus at 8:15, stopped briefly at the Grand Floridian, and arrived at MGM at 8:35. We immediately lined up at the rope drop to Rock-n-Roller Coaster (RnR) and Tower of Terror, but for some reason they didn’t drop the rope until 9:07. We procured a fastpass for RnR and then waited about 10 minutes to ride Tower of Terror. We all enjoyed this ride, and neither Bear nor Lu was scared. It was beautifully themed, and I was glad that we had seen the movie to get the “back story” behind the ride. Unfortunately, I hurt my back while riding though . . . something I always worry about because I have a very tricky back that is normally fine but gets injured easily.

Next we saw the Little Mermaid show at 9:40. It had some cute moments, but the story felt extremely rushed. Our family headed over to the Great Movie Ride, which was very well done. The girls thought it was cool when the gangster high-jacked the bus and then got fried when he went after the jewel.

It was soon time to use our fastpasses for RnR. Lu and I hated it. I mean, we loved the quick acceleration (60 mph in under 3 seconds, very cool), but hated the inversions. It hurt our backs, plus Lu was unable to keep her head back and got jerked around. Daddy-O and Bear, on the other hand, thought it was awesome. Daddy-O was surprised by how smooth of a ride it was, especially compared to a Six Flags Great Adventure roller coaster we had been on within the past year.

We saw the Sounds Dangerous show, which focused on movie sound effects. It was cute, and we were surprised by the “elephant sneeze” at the end.

(Heebie Jeebie #9)

Our priority seating at ‘50’s Prime Time Café was calling us, so we went to check in. The theming on this restaurant (a 1950’s kitchen complete with a small black and white TV running shows from that era) is truly unique and wonderful. This has got to be one of Disney’s best themed restaurants ever.

We got Chris as our server, and he was excellent. Chris quickly figured out that Daddy-O was the logical person in our party to “pick on”, and Daddy-O quickly figured out what to do to get picked on . . . after one reprimand from Chris about not putting his elbows on the table, Daddy-O made sure that they were parked conspicuously on the table every time Chris returned to our area. Finally, Chris had been provoked enough, and made Daddy-O stand up in full view of the entire room and sing “I’m a Little Teapot”, complete with hand motions!! Later, Chris fed me an uneaten French fry while making airplane noises!

Chris began addressing Daddy-O as “Daddy-O”, which absolutely delighted the rest of us. (You may be surprised to hear that this was not his given name. ) We liked this nickname so much that it has stuck with Daddy-O for years now. Bear and Lu, especially, still love to address their father as “Daddy-O” whenever possible.

Oh . . . the food . . . well, Daddy-O and I spit the BBQ chicken with fries and an order of shoestring onion rings. Daddy-O also indulged in a Barq’s ice cream float. Bear had the excellent chocolate shake and chicken fingers, while Lu ordered the pink lemonade and Mickey-shaped pasta. We all shared ‘smores for desserts.

‘50s Prime Time Café Review:

Daddy-O: Food B; Service and Atmosphere A-
Disneyfriend: Food B+; Service A-; Atmosphere A
Lu: A-
Bear: A+

After lunch, we got fastpasses for the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire show, then saw the Animation Tour. We loved the funny introductory film with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite, and it was nice to see the clips from classic Disney movies. We attended the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire show, which was great fun and adrenaline-producing. Daddy-O never missed an answer, but apparently doesn’t have fast enough fingers, because he never even made it into the Top 10. I missed one, so obviously didn’t make it in either!

We saw the Muppet Show, another 3-D movie, and then let the girls play in the HIST playground for about 10 minutes. I went to get faspasses for Star Tours. We got popcorn and frozen pink lemonade and settled in to get seats for the Hunchback of Notre Dame show. Boy was it extremely hot, though it was not too bad under the covered Hunchback seating. We watched the juggler provide some pre-show fun, and thought the main show was very high energy and entertaining. It was nice to hear real voices instead of lip-synching to a soundtrack.

We used our fastpasses to Star Tours. Daddy-O and I have been going to Endor for many years now, and I hate to admit that the film is wearing thin at this point. I was literally praying throughout the film that Lu wouldn’t get sick to her stomach. Because of her propensity towards motion sickness, we did not allow the poor girl to ride Star Tours when we last visited Disneyland. So this was her first time riding Star Tours, which is really not for the faint of stomach. Fortunately, she did not get sick and proclaimed the ride “cool”.

(Heebie Jeebie #10)

Our family grabbed a fastpass for the 7:00 Indian Jones stunt show before checking in for our 5:00 Fantasmic Dining ps at the Brown Derby restaurant. I’d purposefully made an early PS to avoid a delay in being seated, and to avoid being rushed through dinner. We ended up waiting 8 minutes to be seated, our longest wait so far. The restaurant was pretty but noisy and crowded. Before our trip, I had heard lots about how crowded together the tables were at Alfredos, but the Brown Derby was almost as bad – except for the nice booths.

Daddy-O ordered the excellent crab cake appetizer and veal chop entrée, plus a glass of reisling. I ordered the lobster-corn bisque, which was just so-so, and the spice-grilled filet mignon. We shared a piece of their famous grapefruit cake and thought it was only ok – nothing special. Bear had mac-n-cheese and Lu had a hot dog, then they shared a “hidden treasure” dessert.

Brown Derby review:

Daddy-O: Service B; Food A-; Atmosphere B
Disneyfriend: Service B; Food B- (for the price); Atmosphere B-
Lu: A
Bear: A- (she really gobbled down her mac-n-cheese!)

After dinner we procured our front-row seats for the Indiana Jones stunt show. I told Daddy-O to act very enthusiastic when they asked for volunteers, and – sure enough – he got picked as an extra. He played a bystander in Cairo and really enjoyed the experience, though he was backstage for much of the show. This was an excellent show and tons of fun; it doesn’t hurt that we are all big Indie fans!

We didn’t realize that the Fantasmic Dining entrance was near the front of the park. Sigh . . . so we made the long trek to the auditorium. (Can you tell we’re getting tired?) We arrived at 7:45 for the 9:00 show, and the auditorium was already 90% full! Since we hadn’t eaten in . . . oh, at least 2 hours (gosh!) . . . we got ice cream bars for the girls, frozen lemonade for Daddy-O, cotton candy for me. Sadly, Bear tried to eat the majority of my cotton candy . . . now, did I try to eat her ice cream bar – NO! Just want it listed for the record . . .

Fantasmic is a great show that we have enjoyed since its opening in the early 1990’s at Disneyland. I never get tired of it, though I have to admit that I’m not sure how the Pocohantas sequence fits into Mickey’s dream, but - whatever! This show is pure Disney joy, and the perfect way to end a day at Disney.

After the show we were thrilled to walk right onto a MK Resorts bus, though it was standing-room only. We got home to the Polynesian a little after 10 and had had another great day. However, we’re all quite happy that tomorrow is break day! Daddy-O’s bullet-proof feet are fine, but the girls and I are all getting blisters and hot spots despite our careful blister-prevention program.


Daddy-O - Bests: riding Rock-n-Roller Coaster – great music, smooth and fast
Worst: neck irritation from carrying the backpack and neck buddy
Disneyfriend - Bests: whole experience at Prime Time Cafe
Worst: riding Rock-n-Roller Coaster and having it hurt my back and give me a mild headache from the inversions
Bear - Best: Prime Time Café – seeing Mom get fed via airplane, watching Dad sing Little Teapot
Worst: that Mom and Lu didn’t like Rock-n-Roller Coaster
Lu – Best: Tower of Terror and the Muppets Show
Worst: hurting her back on RnR

 

[Disney_Lover71]

Dear Disneyfriend,

I am very new to the Disney boards, but I LOVE reading trip reports, and I came across yours. I hope you will continue to post, I love your trip report so far, and I love all the little details that you put in. Tommorow night my bf gets in from Seattle and I will read this to him (we're both Disney Lovers). Thanks for taking the time to type this up, (even if it is a little delayed)

Disney_Lover71

 

[Disneyfriend]

Dear Disneyfriend,

I am very new to the Disney boards, but I LOVE reading trip reports, and I came across yours. I hope you will continue to post, I love your trip report so far, and I love all the little details that you put in. Tommorow night my bf gets in from Seattle and I will read this to him (we're both Disney Lovers). Thanks for taking the time to type this up, (even if it is a little delayed)

Disney_Lover71

Hi Disney Lover 71! I just wanted to say hello. I'm honored that you made your first post in order to give me your positive feedback. It's been surprisingly nerve-wracking to post this out for public viewing . . . so thanks so much for the encouragement!

Disneyfriend

 

[Disneyfriend]

Saturday, August 25th – Hoopin’ it up on Break Day

Mickey woke us up at 6:20. Daddy-O had another hard time sleeping last night, so it was difficult for him to wake up. I immediately threw on some clothes and left with the laundry to face the dreaded – but necessary – chore of washing clothes on vacation. When I arrived at the Polynesian laundry room at 6:40, there was a lady already drying her clothes! I took up all six washers, thinking I was unlikely to see anybody else soon, and wanting to get things done as quickly as possible. Instead, I was mortified when a man came in a few minutes later and was upset not to have any washers available.

I headed back to the room at 7:15 to stash the laundry bags and ran into Daddy-O, who was leaving for his golf game. The girls just continued to sleep peacefully, and I left them alone. When I finally returned with the final laundry at 8:40, they had just woken up and were playing with their stuffed Daisy, Donald, Mickey, and Minnie. They savored the chance to just play in their pajamas for an hour or so!

(Heebie Jeebie #11)

I decided to ask them if they would be interested in going to the spa today. “What’s a spa?” they asked.

“A place where people get massages, manicures, and pedicures,” I answered.

“But Mom, that’s just for you. You’d never let us get a manicure!”

“No, I would – this one time.”

“Then, definitely, we want to go,” they agreed. “But can I get a pedicure instead,” asked Lu, and can I paint my toenails Dutch blue?”

We went to Kona Café for a late breakfast at 11:00, where I finally tried the famous Tonga toast there. This is a delightful recipe involving banana-stuffed French toast. If that sounds bad, just imagine combining the best aspects of French toast and bananas Foster, and you’ll get the idea. It was so good and rich that it needed no additional butter or sugar.

I also ordered a smoothie made of guava, passion fruit, and orange juice. It was delicious! Lu loved it, and so did Bear once I forced her to try it! Lu finally got the Mickey pancakes and bacon she’d been asking for all week, and Bear thought her scrambled eggs were heavenly.

This was a very pleasant, relaxing brunch that made for a nice change of pace from the offerings at the Polynesian concierge lounge.

We started walking to the Grand Floridian Spa and were three quarters of the way there when Polynesian cast member Anthony came by on a golf cart and insisted on giving us a ride the rest of the way there. I protested, but he persisted, pointing out that we could begin relaxing immediately that way. What a nice touch that made us all smile!

The spa was pleasant, but had a slightly formal air to it that made the three of us just the smallest bit uncomfortable. We were seated together in a single room with the three cast members who gave us our treatments – a manicure for Bear and a pedicure for both Lu and me. Bear picked mauve as her nail color and Lu chose fire-engine red. (What happened to Dutch blue, I wonder?)

My treatment involved 15 minutes of soaking my feet in the whirlpool foot bath, then 10 minutes of lotions and massage. It felt wonderful, but was over much too quickly!

We got back to our room around 1:25 and were surprised to find Daddy-O not back yet. The girls were anxious to go swimming so I went outside to watch them. Daddy-O finally returned at 1:40 with reports of an extremely pleasant day. Bear and Lu swam for 45 minutes, then everybody showered and changed for our next activity.

(Heebie Jeebie #12)

We left the room at 3:35 and took the boat launch to the Magic Kingdom. The whole family just assumed we were going to the Magic Kingdom for more park time at this point. Instead, we boarded the boat to Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness. When the boat driver announced that our next stop would be “Fort Wilderness, Home of Mickey’s Backyard BBQ and the Hoop de Doo Review”, Bear finally guessed correctly that we were headed to the Hoop de Doo Review.

Since we happened to walk up to both boats just as they were about to depart, we arrived at Ft. Wilderness way ahead of schedule. The four of us checked in and got our pictures taken. (This ended up being a great picture.) It was incredibly hot and humid at this point, and we had a good 50 minutes to kill. We walked over to the petting zoo to look for Minnie Moo (a cow that had markings shaped exactly like a set of Mickey ears), and found out that she had died just a couple weeks before. They told us she got sick and was taken to the Animal Kingdom for treatment but died a couple days later. Bummer!

Bear and Lu loved looking at the horses. We walked into the Trading Post to escape the oppressive heat when it started to downpour. Not that big of a surprise since the humidity level had felt like it was around 120% or so!

We were finally seated a bit after 5:00 and enjoyed a good salad, delicious bread with honey butter, tender ribs, and great fried chicken. (Daddy-O did feel the need to add, however, that the chicken was not quite as good as Popeye’s.) Bear got wished a happy birthday along with six other birthday celebrants, but Daddy-O and I were the only couple there celebrating a wedding or anniversary. We got to dance while the hall sang us “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”. Daddy-O tried to dip me at one point, and couldn’t understand why I was resisting him. You would think that after 13 years of marriage he would know that I’m just a very bad dancer!

The entertainment was very cute; it was impossible not to laugh at the corny humor. Bear seemed to especially enjoy it, as she loves to laugh even more than the rest of us.

Hoop de Doo Review Review (no, I’m not stuttering):

Daddy-O: Food A-; Show/Atmosphere A (he liked the camp and the puns)
Disneyfriend: Food A-; Show/Atmosphere A
Bear: A+
Lu: (and I quote) A+++ (she chowed down on 4 pieces of chicken and loved the baked beans!)

We caught the boat to the Contemporary Resort and once again walked up just as a boat was arriving, then boarded a monorail back to the Polynesian. What a nice break day we all had!

Daddy-O - Bests: golfing at Osprey Ridge
Worst: none
Disneyfriend - Bests: the Hoop de Doo Review, taking a break, and our brunch at the Kona Cafe
Worst: finding out that Minnie Moo died, and the humidity at Ft. Wilderness
Bear - Best: Hoop de Doo Review
Worst: none
Lu – Best: swimming and the smoothie at the Kona Cafe
Worst: none

 

[Disneyfriend]

Sunday, August 26th – How Are We Ever Going to Top This??!!

Our first-born turned ten years old this morning, and Daddy-O and I awoke her with a joint kiss and wished her a happy birthday. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 7:45 via monorail. We chatted with a few pleasant cast members at the entry, who noticed Bear’s birthday badge that we had previously picked up from Town Hall. They asked the crowd to sing happy birthday to her and one other birthday girl in the group. The day started with a bang!

The gatekeeper family officially opened the Magic Kingdom at 8:00, and how nice it was to enter the park and see no one else on Main Street! We were about 3/4ths of the way down Main Street when a photographer stopped us to take a picture. It turned out great, and looks like a fake picture backdrop because the background is people free!

We checked in for our long-awaited breakfast at Cinderella’s castle. The reservation obviously had Bear’s birthday information noted, because the cast member asked for “a birthday on Table 10” via phone. When we arrived upstairs, Mickey confetti and streamers covered the table. We were located by the windows overlooking Fantasyland and had a magnificent view.

The cast members here were especially wonderful, calling us “lord” and “lady” and the girls “princesses”. Our server was from Nicaragua and was fantastic. She brought us a plate of fresh fruit, croissants, and chocolate muffins. The kids got pancakes, while Daddy-O and I got scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, creamy breakfast potatoes, coffee, orange juice, and a fried cream cheese pastry (the breakfast of champions!). The scrambled eggs and cream cheese pastry were especially good. Lu asked for a side order of bacon, and Daddy-O asked for more bacon and eggs.

The princesses at the castle that morning were Belle (in her blue and white dress), Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Snow White. A very handsome Aladdin was also there. Aladdin was energetic and friendly, but Belle was by far our favorite – warm, down-to-earth, and genuine. The other princesses were polite but very reserved and almost remote.

At the very end of our meal, our server brought out a chocolate muffin with a candle, and we got to sing Bear a happy birthday once again. As we left the castle, a cast member handed Bear a big handful of Mickey confetti (which she called pixie dust) and told her to drop a piece on each ride she liked to ensure she’d come back one day. Very cute!

Cinderella’s Breakfast Review:

Daddy-O: Food A-; Atmosphere A+; Service A
Disneyfriend: Food A-; Atmosphere A- (I think most of the princesses could have been a lot friendlier)
Bear: A-
Lu: A+

We lined up for the rope drop into Fantasyland and got on the first Dumbo cycle. It’s funny that I hated this ride as a child, but love it now! Every time I ride it, I immediately think about taking our girls on it for the first time when they were very small, and the joy just floods right back.

Daddy-O videotaped the rest of us riding the carousel, grabbed a fast pass for Winnie the Pooh, and then it was on to the Tomorrowland Speedway. This ride is the opposite of Dumbo for me: I loved it as a child and absolutely hate it now! Yuck, there were gas fumes everywhere! Even this early in the day, there was a ten minute wait. Daddy-O and I barely tolerate this ride, but I do firmly remember how much I loved it when I was Bear and Lu’s ages, so we go anyway . . .

It was only 9:30 at this point, so we decided to go on to Space Mountain and brave the standby line. Horrors, a 20-minute wait! This trip has spoiled us; the wait seems to take forever! We rode Space Mountain, and it scared Lu for some reason, even though she loved it three years ago. She didn’t like the fact that we rode in single file, not sitting next to one another. The ride was fun, as always, though slightly jerky. I missed the wonderful music that accompanies the Disneyland version of Space Mountain, though.

We tried to use our Winnie the Pooh fastpass, but the ride was broken down! So onto Toontown, where we rode Barnstormer, the miniature roller coaster for children as young as 2-3. What a fun little ride this is!! We once got to ride the Disneyland version with Pluto and Goofy sitting next to us, and that’s what I always think of when I go on it. Plus, it’s just a delightful little ride!

We explored Mickey’s and Minnie’s houses and met Mickey. Then we went to Toontown Fair and met Goofy, Max, and Minnie. We used our fastpasses for the now-repaired Winnie the Pooh ride, which is a well-done, gentle Fantasyland ride. We stopped in Tinkerbell’s Treasures, where there are *lots* of princess outfits. Bear and Lu tried on Snow White costumes.

The four of us wandered down to Exposition Hall to view our Main Street picture taken early that morning, and were delighted to find out that it had turned out great. We saw Donald (a very rare character who is seldom seen in the parks) and Governor Radcliff from Pocahontas.

(Heebie Jeebie #13)

It was now time for our Family Magic Tour. I told Bear and Lu that we were taking a walking tour of the Magic Kingdom, and they honestly thought I’d gone completely insane! Bear was outraged that I would waste two hours of her birthday in such a manner! Daddy-O and I just ignored their complaints and checked in for the tour. We gathered at the appropriate spot near Town Hall, and were tickled to find that a cast member gave us each an ice-cold water bottle while we were waiting. A very classy touch!

Helen was our tour guide, and she was wonderful. She told us that we would be doing a comprehensive tour of the many trash cans around the Magic Kingdom, prompting a look of horror and incredulity on Bear and Lu’s part. Then Helen immediately got interrupted by a messenger who handed her a scroll and explained that the Magic Kingdom was in “danger” from Maleficient, and that our group would have to solve the mysteries on the scroll in order to “save” the Magic Kingdom. Basically, of course, the tour is a very cute scavenger hunt that goes all over the Magic Kingdom.

At one point we all had to invent a different way for our group to move forward. One person said “hop twice”, another said “take a baby step”, another said to “take a giant step”, etc. When it was my turn I said we had to do a “tiger pounce” complete with outstretched claws, a large jump, and a tiger roar. Of course, our group did all this in full view of other Magic Kingdom guests, who gave us more than a few strange looks!

Daddy-O laughed at me that I couldn’t stick with a boring step and had to be the one to come up with the tiger pounce. (My family still teases me about this one.) But as my dad always says: “If you’re going to make an ape out of yourself, you might as well make a striped-bottomed ape out of yourself.” (Ok, so he uses a shorter word for bottomed, but this is a Disney report, after all.)

The tour was delightfully fun, but we were all grateful for the 10 minute break in the middle; boy, was it hot and sticky! We enjoyed our first Mickey ice cream bar at this point, in fact.

At the conclusion of the tour, when we had solved the mysteries, we walked into the deserted glade behind the Liberty Tree Tavern and were joined by Belle . . . the same Belle whom we had met that morning in the castle! We were delighted to see her, as she had been far and away our favorite from breakfast. Belle took one look at the girls and exclaimed, “Hey, I know you!”

Belle offered to take the three children on the tour on a Fantasyland ride. Lu suggested Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Belle just laughed. I suggested to Lu that they might want to try Peter Pan instead, and that’s where they ended up going. So Belle grabbed Bear in one hand and Lu by the other and walked into Fantasyland that way. (What a thrill!) Belle walked to the front of the line of Peter Pan and then got into a ship with Bear, Lu, and the one other little girl from our tour. If there’s a more exciting way to do a Magic Kingdom ride than by sitting with a character, I sure don’t know what it is!

Belle waved us a fond farewell and asked if we were planning to attend the afternoon parade. She told us to sit on the corner by the Liberty Tree Tavern, where she would look for us.

I asked Bear if she had enjoyed her birthday tour, and she said yes, but then asked me why on earth I had thought they would enjoy a tour of Magic Kingdom trash cans! She still didn’t get the fact that the Magic Kingdom “crisis” was pre-planned, and that I knew all along about what would happen on the tour! Silly girl.

We grabbed a fastpass for Buzz, then went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which was surprisingly long. We saw Carousel of Progress next; I thought it was cute, while Daddy-O thought it was too dated. Buzz was the next item on our agenda. Daddy-O and the kids loved this ride. Not surprisingly, Daddy-O won. He had about 145,000 points to my meager 44,000.

Both Lu and I had managed to lose our sunglasses today, so we bought some new ones at the Merchants of Venus. We dragged our tired bodies over to Liberty Square to stake out our spot for the afternoon parade, grabbing the corner that Belle had suggested to us. It was a wonderful place from which to view the parade, but unfortunately it was in the blazing sun.

The parade finally started, and featured many wonderful characters from Cinderella, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Snow White. One of Cinderella’s groomsmen pulled Bear out into the parade to dance and wished her a happy birthday. A few minutes later, a crab and fish from Little Mermaid pulled both girls out for a dance. When the Beauty and the Beast float approached, we waved to Belle, who had now changed into her beautiful golden ball gown. She clearly recognized us and waved and blew kisses. She then pulled Beast down and whispered something to him, pointing to Bear and obviously telling Beast about Bear’s birthday. Beast then waved and bowed elegantly to Bear from atop their float.

This was a delightful parade, and the special attention from Beast and Belle just made it all the more magical. It was so hot, however, that many of the parade participants were covered in visible sweat. We honestly didn’t know how some of them in heavier and darker costumes (Jafar, Goofy, etc.) avoided passing out!

After the parade we worked our way over to Tomorrowland, passing lines that now posted 45-60 minute waits! We saw Timekeeper, which had been brought back from oblivion for a very limited time, and thought it was just ok.

We strolled back down Main Street and took a shot with a different silhouette artist, hoping for a better portrait of Bear. This one did a great job, and told us we could bring the bad one back for a refund. We went to Exposition Hall, saw Prince John and the Sheriff from Robin Hood, and bought our Main Street picture from earlier that morning. (I can’t remember why we didn’t buy it when we had seen it before the tour; I think the line was perhaps too long.)

As we exited the Magic Kingdom, the barbershop quartet strolled by and noticed Bear’s birthday badge. So they stopped what they were doing and sang to her. Poor girl’s gotten no attention today! This was a delight for all of us, but especially for Daddy-O, who loves barbershop quartets.

(Heebie Jeebie #14)

We headed to the Contemporary Resort and were a bit late because of a delay with the monorail. We were still teasing Bear that we were heading to her birthday dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse. She answered that she had hoped we were going to Chef Mickey’s. Daddy-O and I kept up the pretense until we marched up to the Chef Mickey’s podium to “ask if they could work us in”. When I showed the hostess our priority seating number on her list, Bear acted like she wasn’t surprised at all!

We saw Goofy (dressed in his chef outfit) and Donald in the lobby. Mickey, Minnie, Chip, and Dale were all circulating in the restaurant. Chef Mickey’s had a nice selection of food available on the buffet, including great prime rib and a fantastic dessert selection. We had a good server, but for some reason he brought out the birthday cake I had specially ordered when only Daddy-O was sitting at the table. I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t wait until we were all there – especially the birthday girl! At some point later, though, Mickey came by our table and led yet another version of “Happy Birthday” to Bear.

Chef Mickey’s Review:

Daddy-O: Food B+ Service B+ Atmosphere B
Disneyfriend: Food B+ Service C- (because of the anticlimactic delivery of my specially ordered birthday cake) Atmosphere A-
Bear: A-
Lu: A

We finished dinner at 6:35 and hopped on the monorail back to the beautiful Polynesian Resort. This has increasingly felt like home to me. I began to second guess my decision to move to the Animal Kingdom Lodge . . . what if it just wasn’t as nice? We entered our room to find the Mickey and Minnie dolls on one bed, holding hands, and Donald and Daisy on the other bed, doing the same. The concierge staff at the Animal Kingdom Lodge had left us a phone message wishing Bear a happy birthday and saying that they couldn’t wait to meet us the next day. Hey, that’s classy!

We tried to rent water mice around 6:40, but they were closed for the night. Bummer! Oh well. We didn’t want to swim because then we would have had to pack our wet suits for the resort move the next day. Instead, Daddy-O and I worked for 30 minutes or so planning the rest of the trip, and especially ironing out our itinerary for the next day. We began packing and had lights out by 9:30.

En route to Chef Mickey’s that day, Daddy-O joked that you can’t get everything you want. Bear replied quite seriously, “Yes, you can. I got everything I wanted today!” We told her – only half in jest – that it would be physically impossible to ever top that birthday, no matter what, for the rest of her life! But the day had been a magical one, and we could hardly have wished for better! I hope our girl remembers this special day forever.

Daddy-O - Bests: sharing in all of Bear’s birthday magic
Worst: the water mice closing at 5:00
Disneyfriend - Bests: breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle, and the special interaction we had all day with Belle
Worst: the waiter bringing Bear’s birthday cake out when she wasn’t even at the table
Bear - Best: making friends with Belle and riding Peter Pan with her; having Beast wave to her at the parade
Worst: none
Lu – Best: having Belle as a friend; the parade; the Princess breakfast; Buzz; Family Magic Tour
Worst: not going swimming

 

[Disneyfriend]

Monday, August 27th – Switching from the South Seas to deepest Africa

I woke up early this morning and felt compelled to total our vacation expenses to date. (A scary task under the best of circumstances.) Fortunately, we were just about on budget . . . we may go a little over today if we rent the water mice, but that’s not too bad.

We boarded the Polynesian bus for MGM and arrived around 8:25. We waited for the gates to open and shopped in several stores, looking in vain for a nice heavy sweatshirt as a souvenir. After rope drop, we got 4 fastpasses for Rock-n-Roller Coaster and then waited in the standby line for Tower of Terror. This time I braced myself during the ToT ride and lowered the lap bar tightly, and thus avoided hurting my back again. This is such a fun experience!

We shopped on Sunset Boulevard. I went into the Home Shop and bought the WDW cookbook, and Daddy-O got a divet tool for golf. By now it was 9:40 and Bear and Daddy-O wanted to use their double set of fastpasses for Rock-n-Roller Coaster. Lu and I shopped more, checking out the Villains’ store and connected candy store. I also killed time by listening to a gentleman at the Disney Vacation Club (Disney’s timeshare variation) give me a 15-minute sales pitch. Ohh, so tempting . . . but I know we just can’t go to WDW often enough to make it worthwhile.

By this point, Daddy-O and Lu had been gone around 40 minutes, and Lu and I were starting to get worried. We’d now missed the opportunity to do the Backlot Tour as we had planned, for we had agreed to leave MGM at 10:30 for the Polynesian and our 11:15 PS at Kona Café.

It was nice to just soak in the atmosphere in MGM and listen to the old-fashioned music (In the Mood was playing, along with Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy). As time went on, however, Lu was starting to get panic stricken about why Daddy-O and Bear had been gone so long. They finally caught up with us at 10:30, and it was time to go immediately. I’m afraid Lu and I acted quite upset with Daddy-O and Bear, half annoyed that they had kept us waiting for a full 50 minutes, and half afraid that something had happened to them. In retrospect, of course, we should have just gone off without them and done our own thing, but then again we had no idea that it would take them 50 minutes to use their two sets of fastpasses.

We waited almost 10 minutes for a bus back to the Polynesian, and arrived at the Kona Café at 11:05. I had a repeat of the delectable Tonga Toast and the orange-guava-passion fruit smoothie. The combination seemed not quite as good today; maybe it was because I was quite grumpy over the RnR fiasco, or maybe the novelty of the unusual breakfast had worn off.

Anyway . . . Daddy-O had his traditional vacation breakfast of steak and eggs (with potatoes and biscuits thrown in there for good measure). Lu repeated her pancake breakfast, and Bear did the same with her scrambled eggs.

Kona Café Review:

Daddy-O: B
Disneyfriend: B+

We returned to our room and finished packing, then called bell services and asked them to transfer our luggage over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. At this point, I don’t think any of us were terribly excited about leaving the Polynesian, and were second-guessing my decision to have us move there.

At 12:15 we finally got to rent a water mouse. Daddy-O and Bear rode in one, while Lu and I took another. These were tons of fun! Lu kept urging me to go faster, faster! I was seriously afraid that the boat could somehow tip over; we seemed to be going so fast! This activity ended up getting a huge thumbs-up from each of us!

We left the Polynesian with a sniffle, and then boarded the resort monorail to Magic Kingdom to make our transfer. From there we caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we arrived around 1:45.

Oh, this lobby is just magnificent!! We went to bell services, who greeted us, checked on our room, and told us that our room was ready! They then escorted us straight up to the open air concierge lounge on the 6th floor. Cast member Robert checked us in and was very pleasant. The girls got some juice and watched TV while we spent less than 15 minutes checking in.

We walked to our room, 5421, which was located on the Zebra Trail overlooking Arusha Rock. Yay – we got bunkbeds!! Our room was noticeably smaller than the one at the Polynesian, even though we got a “deluxe” room with a bit more square footage than the regular Animal Kingdom Lodge rooms. However, we loved the fact that there were dual sinks, which were located outside the toilet/tub area so that two people could be getting ready at one time. Much more efficient this way! The room seemed dark; even Daddy-O noticed this, and he likes darker rooms. However, it was a very pretty room and beautifully themed.

Daddy-O surprised me with a large Mickey basket that was sitting on the bed when we walked in! I’m still not clear how or when he arranged it, but he made sure it contained Asti Spumante, my favorite sparkling wine! In addition, the AKL concierge staff left Bear a “Safari Minnie” doll along with an autographed picture of Minnie Mouse that wished her a happy birthday.

We went outside on our balcony and overlooked the savannah to spot three Ankole Cattle. Daddy-O told the girls what they were, and Lu called them “Annie Oakley cattle” from then on. Zebras and gemsbok (a type of antelope) soon followed.

(Heebie Jeebie #15)

Although the plans called for us all to do the Animal Kingdom Lodge tour, the kids were dying to swim, so Daddy-O took them to the pool. They enjoyed the large pool, but Daddy-O thought the slide was a bit lame compared to the volcano slide at the Polynesian.

I took the AKL tour, given by a young lady from Kenya who spoke excellent English (it was her fourth language). The tour lasted 50 minutes and gave information about the architecture of the Lodge, the art contained therein, and some introduction to a few of the cultures of Africa.

We met back at the room, where the kids bathed. We visited the arcade and found out that Boma actually opens at 5:00 for dinner, so we showed up early for our PS. This was a *fantastic* meal – probably the single best buffet I’ve ever had in my life! There were numerous wonderful and unique offerings . . . 6 or 8 different soups (red bean, seafood gumbo over saffron rice, carrot ginger, etc.) . . . avocado papaya salad and a fabulous curry pasta salad . . . prime rib, roast leg of lamb, and nut-crusted mahi mahi . . . tabouli, breads . . . and FABULOUS desserts, including the famous Zebra Dome, chocolate mousse, and banana bread pudding with vanilla sauce.

Boma Review:

Daddy-O: A across the board
Disneyfriend: A across the board
(I didn’t write down what Bear and Lu thought of this meal)

We played in the arcade for a while. Lu and I enjoyed four fiercely-fought games of air hockey. Then it was on to the firepit outside. We had Njoki (prounced en-jokey), my tour guide from earlier, as our storyteller. She shared a fable about how Squirrel got his tail; he basically borrowed it from his good friend Rabbit and then refused to give it back. Then Njoki answered some questions about Africa, and especially the four languages she speaks: Kukuyu, Swahili, English, and another African language. She taught us a few words in both Kukuyu and Swahili; Swahili was the more melodious of the two and easier to learn. We truly enjoyed the cultural experiences of the day, and felt that we got a nice, though brief, introduction to African culture.

Bear and Lu went to sleep around 9, and Daddy-O and I sat on our balcony and enjoyed the Asti Spumante (yum!). Soon several zebra, Annie Oakley cattle, and an impala joined us in the artificial moonlight. Once the girls were sound asleep, Daddy-O and I strolled to the other savannah and saw the giraffe and emu.

It was a pleasure to stroll around the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The whole place was beautifully themed. We stayed there three nights and were still noticing new details when we left. It is a gorgeous resort!


Daddy-O - Bests: riding Rock-n-Roller Coaster twice with Bear
Worst: being late after RnR, and Disneyfriend being so grumpy about it
Disneyfriend - Bests: dinner at Boma and the Animal Kingdom Lodge cultural experiences
Worst: Daddy-O and Bear taking 50 minutes to use 2 fastpasses for RnR
Bear - Best: riding Rock-n-Roller Coaster twice with Dad
Worst: none
Lu – Best: going fast on the water mice
Worst: worrying about Dad and Bear when they were on RnR

 

[Disneyfriend]

Tuesday, August 28th – “It was hot. Africa hot.”

Mickey rang before 5:00 today. We got the girls up at 5:30 and met in the concierge lounge at 6:15, then waited for twenty minutes. Our guide for this morning’s Sunrise Safari, Donna, introduced herself and told us what to expect for the day. We walked down to the bus and actually left at 6:40.

Donna said that there are three separated 10-acre savannahs at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and also 15 full time animal keepers. She explained how they bring the animals in for about two hours every day in the middle of the day, when they figure most people are in the parks.

We entered into the backstage gate of the Animal Kingdom. The safari itself started around 7 and lasted a full hour! We made lots of stops and heard careful explanations about the animals and their care. We saw Tommy gazelles, a white rhino, giraffes, cheetahs, warthogs, lions (my favorite), and the scimitar-horned oryx. It was so nice to experience this safari early in the morning and to take our time!

Next our group proceeded to the Tusker House schoolroom for breakfast. What a feast!! The South African cast members were all extremely friendly and explained what foods were featured on the buffet. The French toast, which was very similar to Tonga toast, was especially good. There was an excellent variety – biscuits, three types of sausage (Daddy-O really appreciated this; he’s an enthusiastic carnivore and especially likes sausage), cheese omelettes, fresh fruits, pastries, bacon, pap cakes, crab and salmon cakes, and a puff pastry with fruit that was similar to bread pudding. Yummmmmm!

After breakfast and the conclusion of the delightful Sunrise Safari experience, our family left to procure seats at the Festival of the Lion King show. Daddy-O made a detour to get fastpases for It’s Tough to Be a Bug. We saw Lion King and thought it was very fun and extremely well done. The man who worked with fire was amazing.

We used our safari fastpass (I think they handed these out at the conclusion of the Sunrise Safari). Not surprisingly, the experience was much more rushed and less enjoyable than our Sunrise Safari, but at least we did get to see the hippos that we had missed that morning.

We walked the Pangani Trail, but it was extremely crowded. We saw only one male gorilla, and he was asleep.

Next it was on to see It’s Tough to Be a Bug. There was such a dramatic bottleneck of people waiting to enter the theater that people were blatantly pushing and shoving one another. Very unpleasant Disney experience! The show was cute, though.

We found the annual passholder lounge, which was just an outdoor covered porch. It did provide fans, a place to sit, and a cooler of ice water. It felt at least 10-15 degrees cooler under the shade than it did on the outside. The castmember who manned the lounge gave us a Dinosaur fastpass as we left.

So it was on to Dinosaur. This has a cute introduction film and was a surprisingly smooth ride. It is very similar to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, except that your jeep races around narrowly escaping attacks from T. rexes and other convincingly real dinosaur animatronics. Lu was scared to death. The picture shows her leaning all the way into Daddy-O, terrified. Poor baby! Just seven and a half years old, and trying so hard to keep up with the rest of us. The day before, I had told her that I was proud of her for being so brave, and she replied, hanging her head, that she hadn’t been brave at all, that she’d been “hiding her fears this whole trip”. I told her that being brave didn’t mean that you weren’t afraid of something; it meant that you were afraid of something but faced it anyway. Unfortunately I don’t think she quite believed me.

(Interestingly, Bear recently confessed that this was the only ride that terrified her during our last trip, and now refers to Dinosaur as her “nemesis”. She feels bad now, five years later, that she teased Lu about being scared of the ride when she was quite petrified herself.)

It was now about 12:15, and although Daddy-O and I were still full from our breakfast at Tusker House, Bear and Lu needed to eat something, so we went to the McDonald’s in Dinoland. Yuck, I hate McDonald’s, but it was the only place we had time for before the 1:00 Tarzan show. I ate French fries only (Mickey D’s *does* have good fries); the girls split a ten-piece chicken nugget meal, while Daddy-O had a hamburger.

When we told the girls that we intended to leave the Animal Kingdom right after Tarzan, Bear begged us to go onto Kali River Rapids. So Daddy-O, Bear, and Lu went to get seats at Tarzan, and I went to try to get a fastpass for Kali. All day our annual passes weren’t working because they had never gone through the turnstiles this morning, due to entering with the Sunrise Safari group. Fortunately, I was able to explain the situation to the cast member at the Kali fastpass distribution machine, and he just gave me the fastpasses.

The park was now incredibly congested and horrifically torrid. I raced back to the theater and arrived only minutes before 1:00. A cast member almost didn’t let me in! We saw Tarzan. Daddy-O was less than impressed, but the girls and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tarzan has such a great soundtrack, and the show had the energy and adrenaline to match it.

We walked back to the passholder lounge, got some more water, and rested for about 10 minutes while waiting for our 2:05 Kali fastpass window to open. I waited for the rest of the crew on the bridge. Even with the fastpass, Daddy-O and the kids had to wait for a long time. They finally finished around 2:30.

Each of us grabbed an ice cream for the walk to the front of the park; it seemed impossibly hot and humid, definitely the worst heat of the trip. I was truly wilting! We ran into a few characters as we were leaving the park, including King Louie (the monkey king from Jungle Book – how fun!).

Bear was upset that King Louie ran off before she could obtain his autograph. Daddy-O remedied the crisis by grabbing her book and pen and “forging” King Louie’s signature. He did a great job, too! The girls were appropriately anxious that he had done this . . . what if the character/autograph police found out? But now, five years later, Bear gets a big kick out of the fake signature and the story behind it.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge around 3 and enjoyed a Mousekeeping surprise: Mickey and Minnie were in the tub, taking a bath, while Donald, Daisy, and Safari Minnie has dragged a chair over to the window and were viewing the savannah! We each took a shower to cool down and refresh before heading out for E-night.

At 4:15 we got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop, and waited for a short time before a Magic Kingdom bus came along. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 4:40 and waited in line to the left of City Hall for our E-night wristbands. Bear, Lu, and Daddy-O walked to Exposition Hall to buy the wooden WDW frame for our Hoop de Doo picture, while I exchanged the two original silhouettes of Bear that were so unflattering.

(Heebie Jeebie #16)

We checked the info board at the end of Main Street, and Bear suggested (again) that we ride Pirates of the Caribbean. We rode, but the boats got significantly backed up toward the end of the ride, thus making us late for our priority seating at Liberty Tree Tavern. This meant we rushed over to the restaurant without a bathroom break, and were faced with the ridiculously small bathrooms at Liberty Tree. Rats, I remember reading about these! Oh well.

There was such a long line for the ladies’ restroom that the girls and I abandoned poor Daddy-O for probably the first 15 minutes of the meal. We finally joined him at the table and ate our meal, which was good but not great. We had a salad with strawberry vinaigrette, sliced turkey, ham with mustard glaze, flank steak, mac & cheese, baby carrots, mashed potatoes, and rolls with honey butter.

Ah . . . those rolls with honey butter! Lu had about five of them, and we couldn’t believe it when our waitress offered to send us off with more in case Lu got hungry later! Nearly five years after our trip, as I write this, my girls remember very little about this restaurant (or many others, for that matter), but they did request that we return to the “roll place” during our upcoming trip!

Oh, and for dessert we shared a delicious piece of pound cake that had been buttered and grilled, topped with vanilla bean ice cream and a butter pecan sauce. Yum! We also shared a serving of strawberry shortcake, which the girls requested.

We loved seeing the characters dressed in colonial garb. Chip was having lots of fun this evening, lying on the floor and tying our waitress’s apron to a chair. He didn’t do much with us, but that was our own fault because we didn’t initiate too much either. Colonial Minnie was the last character we saw, in her beautiful royal blue dress:

It was now 6:50 and almost time for E-night to begin. We went to the nearby Haunted Mansion, where the cast members were noticeably spookier than they had been when we visited the week before. Love that e-night atmosphere!

The hearse was missing due to refurbishment, but one of the Haunted Mansion cast members showed us the “wedding ring”, which is really just a very small ring imbedded (parallel) into the concrete. When I asked him to tell my family the story of how it got there, he said it happened when Mistress Gracy’s body and spirit left the mansion. The ring had to stay behind, and it was so hot when it came off her body that it imbedded itself into the ground, where it has remained ever since.

Now it was on to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which we rode twice in a row with no wait at all. What fun! (Have I mentioned yet that I consider this ride to be pure joy?) We ambled along to Splash Mountain next, where we got wetter than we had the previous two rides last week. Daddy-O teased me that he could see why I would be surprised to be getting wet on Splash Mountain. We sure didn’t like the mildewy water, though. We both agreed that once was enough tonight.

Aladdin was up next, open on this e-night only because Astro Orbiter was closed for refurbishment. Suited me just fine, since I don’t think I’ve ever in my life wanted to go on Astro Orbiter. Our family took up two “carpets”, so that we could each control one of the motion joysticks. Lots of fun! Just another version of Dumbo, yes, but still lots of fun.

We now walked over to Tomorrowland, and Daddy-O went on Alien Encounter while the girls and I rode Buzz, which had a 5-6 minute wait. Alien Encounter had a 10-12 minute wait. Daddy-O thought this was going to be a thrill ride, and was surprised that it wasn’t. He described it as an environment where they “try to mess with your head as much as possible”. He didn’t especially like it, and was very happy the girls didn’t go on it!

We all visited Buzz again. Bear’s zapper gun was apparently broken (that was her story, anyway), since she got just 1,000 points compared to her usual 40-60,000. After this we trooped over to Space Mountain, which had a 5 minute wait. We rode this twice, and I was convinced that I liked the ride on the left side much better.

It was getting late now, around 9:30, so Daddy-O suggested we go back over to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain one more time. (See, I married a man with excellent taste.) The walk across the park seemed long because all four sets of feet were starting to really hurt. Along the way, we saw Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy giving autographs and taking pictures around the castle hub. The castle lights were also changing colors – pink, purple, blue.

After riding Big Thunder Mountain one last time, we realized that, at 9:50, we didn’t really have time to see the Country Bear Jamboree show. So we headed back to the hub and took a seat in front of the castle for a while. We strolled through Main Street and browsed through the very crowded Emporium.

The four of us reached the bus area around 10:30 and waited just 3-4 minutes for an Animal Kingdom Lodge bus. Love the exclusivity of the AKL transportation! The girls were so tired that they started nodding off on the bus, so we joked with them to keep them awake.

When we got back to our rooms, we assessed the damage to our feet. Daddy-O’s sore spot on the little toe, which he got on the rough surface of the AKL pool, now sported a fluid-filled blister the size of a pea! I somehow tore the skin on the bottom of one of my feet, I think from removing the adhesive foot pads I’ve put on my feet each day since our arrival. It was a narrow but deep tear that was incredibly painful. Time for bed! Daddy-O suggested that it might be time to go at a slower pace for the remainder of our stay. Honestly, I think he would have been just fine not leaving the beautiful Animal Kingdom Lodge for the rest of our vacation. Lu asked if we could sleep in the next day, and I assured her that we could. “Yippee!” she exclaimed.

Holy cow, what was I thinking when I scheduled this day? We started the day with the Sunrise Safari, sweltered through the Animal Kingdom all day, paused only long enough for a quick shower, and then ended the day with the Magic Kingdom and e-night. Whew! No wonder we were tired that day! (Well, I do know what I was thinking . . . both Sunrise Safari and e-nights are extremely limited, and thus hard to schedule. But still . . . )

By the way – we got lucky twice today on losing things. Daddy-O had left his new Indiana Jones-style hat at the Tusker House breakfast, and Donna brought it back to the AKL concierge lounge for us. (Thanks Donna!) And Lu left her fanny pack on a table near Buzz during e-night. Somehow, after two Space Mountain rides, it was still there waiting for her!

Daddy-O - Bests: Sunrise Safari and E-night
Worst: The heat at Animal Kingdom. “It was hot. Africa hot.”
Disneyfriend - Bests: Sunrise Safari and E-night
Worst: The heat and crowds at Animal Kingdom; the cut on my foot
Bear - Best: Sunrise Safari and E-night
Worst: waiting for Dad while he was experiencing Alien Encounter
Lu – Best: Sunrise Safari and E-night
Worst: None

 

[TLane]

Hi - I've been reading the Trip Reports board for several months now. Just wanted to let you know that your description of your trip is one of the ones that I've enjoyed the most.

I've enjoyed hearing about the way you made the choices that you selected along the way. Your description puts me right into Disney World. I hope your family is enjoying this retrospective tour as much as we are. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[Disneyfriend]

Hi - I've been reading the Trip Reports board for several months now. Just wanted to let you know that your description of your trip is one of the ones that I've enjoyed the most.

I've enjoyed hearing about the way you made the choices that you selected along the way. Your description puts me right into Disney World. I hope your family is enjoying this retrospective tour as much as we are. Thanks for taking the time to post.

TLane, thanks so much for posting your kind words!! I'm glad somebody out there is enjoying my "vintage" report. I really appreciate your taking the time to give me nice feedback. And welcome to the DIS!

Disneyfriend

 

[HMHunters]

Great trip report! We were blessed to enjoy the AKL concierge lounge and just loved it. Did you try the smoothies? My daughter and I were addicted to them. I asked them for the recipe, but the only one they have serves 100!

 

[Disneyfriend]

Great trip report! We were blessed to enjoy the AKL concierge lounge and just loved it. Did you try the smoothies? My daughter and I were addicted to them. I asked them for the recipe, but the only one they have serves 100!

Thank you, HMHunters! Wow, I don't remember there being smoothies at the AKL concierge lounge. I wonder if that is something relatively new, or if I just somehow missed that? Mmmm, sounds delicious!

I know what you mean about the AKL recipes. When we first got back from our trip almost five years ago, the only Boma recipes they were giving out were scaled for the restaurant. The quantities were enormous . . . instead of saying "1/4 cup butter" like you might expect, it listed "6 pounds butter" as an ingredient. I'm sure it might have been possible to scale the recipes down for a family, but I ended up not even trying.

I've heard, though, that the new WDW cookbook includes some recipes from the AKL. And I'm definitely planning to pick up a copy during our next trip!

Thanks for posting; I'm glad you're enjoying my WDW version of War and Peace!

Disneyfriend

 

[Disneyfriend]

Wednesday, August 29th – . Blizzard Beach comes to the Animal Kingdom Lodge

Oh dear. Our last full day. Daddy-O and I woke up at 7:00, but Daddy-O promptly went back to sleep. He’d been sleeping better on the (newer) Animal Kingdom Lodge mattresses than he was at the Polynesian. Lu woke up around 8:30, just as I was finishing my shower, and went out to the balcony to animal watch and read her Oz book. Now, remember: this is nature girl. So sitting quietly on a balcony and being able to watch exotic animals while simultaneously reading one of her favorite books . . . pretty much heaven on earth.

Bear woke up at 9:00, and we three females headed up to the concierge lounge for breakfast. There was definitely a more formal atmosphere here than there had been at the Polynesian concierge lounge; even Bear and Lu noticed the difference. There were cloth napkins rolled and tied with a bit of raffia, for instance, as opposed to the more informal paper napkins at the Polynesian. I liked the breakfast here better. There was a variety of fresh fruit, instead of the never-ending supply of fruit compote at the Polynesian. There were yummy croissants and danishes, oatmeal with brown sugar, yogurt, cereals, and three types of juice (orange, guava, and pineapple).

My legs were completely covered in bug bites, presumably from our savannah watching on Monday night, and were extremely itchy all day. Daddy-O, in contrast, did not have one mosquito bite on him. I wish we had been prepared with bug spray for our room balcony; that’s the one thing the Disney internet boards had told me would be completely unnecessary! (In fairness, though, we never had a bug problem of any kind at Walt Disney World throughout our stay, other than the night we sat on our balcony and watched the animals. And I can certainly understand why there would naturally be mosquitoes in the savannah.)

At 10:00 the three of us went for a swim. We left Daddy-O in the room, asleep, hoping he would enjoy the extra rest and solitude. I was impressed with the fact that there were maybe 8 kids in the pool, and 3 vigilant lifeguards. I appreciated the large size of the AKL pool, as well as the generous number of chaise lounges set up around the pool; there had to be around 100 or so. However, the theming was much better at the Polynesian pool, and of course the pool slide at the AKL did not begin to compare to the volcano pool slide at the Polynesian.

Bear and Lu swam for about an hour, working on their back floats and going down the slide a few times. We went upstairs at 11:05 and woke up Daddy-O. The three of them showered, and we got ready for our last full day in the parks. This was to be our “Greatest Hits” day. We all agreed that a return trip to the ‘50’s Prime Time Café was a must. Daddy-O wanted to go back to see Voices of Liberty at Epcot. Daddy-O and I both hoped to see Off Kilter again. Bear and Lu were dying to return to see the Tapestry of Nations parade, and I really wanted to watch Illuminations as our final activity. Will our increasingly tired bodies allow us to accomplish all this? Let’s see . . .

We got to the AKL bus stop, and once again a MGM bus pulled up as soon as we sat down. After one stop at Blizzard Beach, we arrived at MGM around 12:50. A great cast member was standing at the entry booths, smiling broadly and shouting, “Step right up, folks! We’ve got a great day waiting for you at Disney’s MGM Studios!” There’s that great Disney cast member magic that keeps us all coming back to Disney!

After waiting 15 minutes to be seated at the ‘50’s Prime Time Café, we got Auntie Elaine as our server. She was pleasant but didn’t quite give us the fun “hard” time we were looking for. Daddy-O and I split the fried chicken. It was a bit greasy; I enjoyed the chicken at the Hoop de Doo Review more. All four of us shared an order of chili cheese fries, which Daddy-O just loved, and a repeat order of the delicious shoe string onion rings. The girls liked their meals from last week so much that they ordered them again; Lu had Mickey pasta with pink lemonade, while Bear had chicken tenders and a chocolate milkshake. I also indulged in a chocolate milkshake, and found it to be wonderful!

After lunch we went to the Backlot Tour, since we’d not had time to do this on either of our previous two MGM visits. We waited for about 15-20 minutes, and then we saw a mock scene from the Pearl Harbor movie that starred a few audience participants. Next they showed a video to demonstrate how the various scenes came together with the special effects. We then boarded a tram and saw the residential street and Catastrophe Canyon. The best part of the whole Backlot experience, however, was ending up in the display of famous costumes. We saw a plain rust-colored dress Elizabeth Taylor wore while nursing Pie in National Velvet; a yellow dress Judy Garland wore in Easter Parade; and a white dress trimmed in black that Vivien Leigh wore in Gone With the Wind. Very cool!

The kids begged to return to the Honey I Shrunk The . . . playground, so we gave them ten minutes there and sweltered while waiting for them. We walked to the front of the park and boarded the Epcot bus after another 3-4 minute wait.

We arrived at Epcot and dragged our weary bodies through Future World. We stopped at Station Cool to – you guessed it! – get cool. This is a wonderful cave-like exhibit sponsored by Coke that is super-cooled to freezing temperatures. Samples of various Cokes from around the world are offered. I warned Daddy-O about “Beverly”, the bitter drink from Italy (of course I’d been warned by the Disney boards). We both tasted it, and I didn’t think it was that awful, but only because I was so prepared.

We went to the Canadian pavilion and caught the 4:35 “traditional” bagpiper, a man from Scotland who said he was honoring Nova Scotia (New Scotland). He was good, but the crowd was dead despite his efforts to get it revved up. There just weren’t enough people, and it was so incredibly hot.

At 5:00 Off Kilter came out, and I asked Daddy-O to please request Scotland the Brave for me, which he did. The played one song, then Danny Boy by request. Definitely the most rockin’ version of Danny Boy I’ve ever heard! And then – bliss! – they did the Farewell to Nova Scotia/Scotland the Brave combination that is my favorite. At the end of this, they somehow transitioned into the Mickey Mouse theme. What a glorious song; I feel like my trip is complete and I can (almost) go home! We met Off Kilter afterwards and I gushed appropriately.

Now it was time to go to see the American Adventure for Voices of Liberty, the acapella group which sings American patriotic and traditional folk songs. Daddy-O had requested this for Greatest Hits day. When we walked in, one of the Voices of Liberty cast members with whom we had spoken a week ago was kind enough to remember us, and greeted us warmly. They sang slightly different songs today: I’m Proud to Be an American (gorgeous!), Shenandoah, and America for the finale. We found out that the group has released two CD’s.

In addition to Voices of Liberty, the American Adventure building had two guest artists who normally play in Colonial Williamsburg. One of them plays the crystal armonica, an instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin, believe it or not!

Next we found a spot across from the American Adventure building and prepared for the Tapestry of Nations parade, the girls’ request for Greatest Hits Day. Once again, Bear and Lu smiled and waved enthusiastically. They were touched by the puppets many times, and were pulled out to dance twice as well.

(Heebie Jeebie #17)

It was now around 6:45, so we meandered over to England and checked in at the podium of the Rose & Crown for our 7:30 priority seating. I told the young lady at the podium that we were hoping for a lagoon-side table, and she told me to check back in around 7:15.

We tried to see O Canada!, the 360-degree panoramic movie in the Canadian pavilion, but realized we wouldn’t have enough time. So we bought Off Kilter’s second CD. Daddy-O mentioned that he regretted not buying the American Vibe CD when he had the chance, but that his feet couldn’t make it all the way back to the American Adventure Building. We checked in at the Rose & Crown podium and received a pager.

I offered to go buy the CD for Daddy-O and set off towards the American pavilion. While crossing the bridge into France, I noticed a woman wearing a Passporter name badge – the first one I’d seen while at Walt Disney World. I decided to stop and introduce myself, and darn if it wasn’t Jennifer herself, co-author of Passporter! She was taking her daughter Allie over to the movie in France in order for her to rate it. I told her how much I enjoyed my Passporter. She said that she had just left Mark at the Rose & Crown, and I laughed and replied that the rest of my family was there as well.

I bought the American Vibe CD and the Christmas Glass Armonica CD as well. I ran half way back to England, but gave up the running idea in Morocco. (Doesn’t that sentence sound funny when taken out of context?) Around 7:40 I got to the Rose & Crown and found that my family had been seated on the lowest terrace, with a fantastic lagoon view!

Daddy-O told me that the hostess who seated them said that we were lucky to have Stuart as our server. He was so good, apparently, that Disney offered him a rare three-month extension on the typical one-year contract. The hostess also explained about Harry Rasmussen’s fish & chips, and the extensive stipulations that WDW had to agree to before they could use the “Harry Rasmussen” name; they had to buy special fryers, and send their core group of cooks to England to participate in the Harry Rasmussen training program. The hostess was from Liverpool, and said that there was no Harry Rasmussen shop there, but that the fish & chips at the Rose & Crown were among the best she’d ever tasted.

Stuart came and informed us that the Rose & Crown’s kitchen was undergoing some renovations and could not clean its dishes, so we would have disposable plates and utensils. The restaurant had also just introduced a brand new menu that Stuart was quite excited about; he had just tasted every offering the day before! The thing I noticed immediately was that there was no more prime rib! Oh no!

Daddy-O ordered the fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer and fish & chips as an entrée. I had the green salad with two different dressings (a mustard and a Stilton cheese) served on the side; both were excellent. I had the fisherman’s basket as my entrée, and both girls had fish & chips. We shared a toffee cream dessert that was good but not great.

Rose & Crown Review:

Daddy-O: Service: A Atmosphere: A- Food: B/B+
Disneyfriend: Service: A Atmosphere: B+ Food: B/B+
Bear: A-
Lu: C (she didn’t like the fish)

Our dinner was about finished when Illuminations started. What a treat it was to watch it from the comfort of our own table! This is simply a magnificent show, and I enjoyed it so much more than the first time, since I wasn’t viewing it through a video camera! Daddy-O thinks this is Disney’s best nighttime show, and I agree! What a magnificent way to spend our last evening at Walt Disney World!

We walked through the International Gateway to the Beach Club resort, where we again walked through the lobby and asked a cast member to call us a cab. Our feet were really hurting at this point! Amazingly, we were back at the Animal Kingdom Lodge at 9:40, and the fare was exactly the same as it was to the Polynesian. (By the way: the Beach Club looks beautiful, and I think I’d like to stay there someday.)

We returned to our room and found that Mousekeeping had saved their best surprise for last! They’ve set up a pool scene on our bed: a light blue bag for the water, with a towel covered a roll of toilet paper for the slide. Donald was sitting on the top of the slide, facing the pool. All the other beanies were sitting around the pool, with Minnie and Mickey sunbathing nearby. Minnie had on Bear’s sunglasses, and a bottle of sunscreen was lying nearby. The girls decided that Mousekeeping had re-created Blizzard Beach. We all burst out laughing because it was so cleverly done!

Oh, and best of all, we happened to bump into the lady who had created this wonderful surprise for us! She was near our room, probably turning down other rooms, and we verified that she had been the one to leave us our fantastic surprises over the last few days. We expressed our joy in her works of art, and she was genuinely pleased.

Daddy-O went into commando packing mode, and somehow squeezed everything into our suitcases, including the large anniversary basket he gave me. You rock, Daddy-O!

We contemplated going to Early Entry at Magic Kingdom tomorrow, or the Animal Kingdom, but the rest of the family just wanted to hang out at the hotel. (Yes, I was voted down on this one.) Daddy-O’s foot was quite painful, and all three of us girls had blisters as well. The girls went to sleep around 10:45, and I called my mom around 11 pm (I could do this because of the time zone difference).

Daddy-O - Bests: Illuminations
Worst: His extremely painful feet
Disneyfriend - Bests: Illuminations; hearing Off Kilter perform Farewell to Nova Scotia/Scotland the Brave
Worst: Disappointment that the Rose & Crown no longer served the prime rib I had anticipated
Bear - Best: Tapestry of Nations parade
Worst: None
Lu – Best: “Breaking the record” at Tapestry of Nations (getting touched by 23 puppets)
Worst: None

 

[Disneyfriend]

Thursday, August 30th – “But I don’t WANNA!”

Mickey called at 6:45 and jarred us all awake. Everyone else went right back to sleep and I got up to shower. Daddy-O had done so much packing the night before that there was very little left to do. We were all up and ready by around 8:15, and we explored a couple of the other savannahs before getting a croissant in the concierge lounge. We wandered around the beautiful Animal Kingdom Lodge a bit more, examining the striking enormous yellow ceremonial mask in the main lobby. We also enjoyed looking at the photography display in the peaceful Sunset Lounge of the two Americans on safari during the 1920’s/30’s. Everywhere we looked in this gorgeous hotel, we noticed new details.

We returned to the arcade and spent about 30 minutes playing around. Lu and I were disappointed that the air hockey machine was broken. At 10:00 we ventured to Boma for brunch. What friendly cast members this restaurant has!

It was a very nice brunch, but basically a traditional one with a few African offerings added. Daddy-O loved the apple-chicken sausage and even asked the chef to cut some up and add it to his made-to-order omelet. We all loved the “frunch”, a blend of lemonade and pineapple, orange, and guava juices. Daddy-O said it was “like drinking candy”. This was an extremely nice brunch, though nowhere near the magnificence of our Boma dinner from several nights ago.

We went to the Zawadi Marketplace nearby to shop. Lu decided to buy a wooden antelope from Kenya and a Safari Pluto. Bear bought a Safari Mickey. They now had a whopping twelve beanies from this trip! I got a khaki colored Animal Kingdom Lodge sweatshirt for myself, and a “Jambo!” (which means hello in Swahili) sweatshirt for the girls.

The same great cast member from bell services who checked us in, Anhel from Puerto Rico, came for our luggage. We told him we had seven bags, and he corrected us with a smile: “No, you have eight. The Animal Kingdom Lodge concierge is sending you home with this”. He handed us a straw basket that held four water bottles. (The AKL concierge staff has slipped a thank you note that included our hometown forecast under our door last night, too.) Anhel even gave us an updated forecast for today.

It always seems so bittersweet to leave Disney after a wonderful trip. Each time, I have to fight the urge not to throw myself down and have a full throttle temper tantrum protesting the fact that it’s time to go. (But I don’t WANNA!) We waited outside the beautiful Animal Kingdom Lodge, people watching and wishing wistfully that we weren’t getting ready to leave.

Although we were a bit nervous about Tiffany Town Car, Berkeley pulled up in his roomy van a few moments early. He was very friendly and polite, and we arrived at the airport in 35 minutes.

We knew we already had over an hour to kill before our flight, but we arrived all the way at our gate only to discover that our plane had been delayed an hour. Yuck! We could have happily used that time in one of the parks this morning! Oh well, at least we were late on the back end of the trip. It would have been really heartbreaking to be late on our arrival day!

We landed to gloomy weather, which pretty much matched our mood at this point. I jokingly leaned over to Daddy-O and asked him, “Tell me again why we’re coming back to the Northeast?”

“Because we’re out of money,” he replied with a grin.

“Oh yeah, I remember now,” I answered.


Final Thoughts

After 40+ pages of narrative, the reader probably knows much more than he/she ever wanted to about our first family vacation to Walt Disney World. So I will just say that it was truly a fantastic trip – probably the nicest vacation we have ever taken. And that’s saying a lot, because we have been very fortunate to enjoy some lovely trips in the past. Like Bear’s ridiculously perfect and magical tenth birthday, it will be rather hard to ever top this vacation in the future!

For the most part, my obsessive planning paid huge dividends. In the end, the Heebie Jeebies turned out rather nicely. I am very grateful that we live in the age of the Internet, as I was able to learn from the numerous families who had gone to WDW before we did. Our trip would simply not have been the same – not even close – without the information, advice, and encouragement those Walt Disney World vets shared.

So what’s next for our family? Well, I’m happy to tell you that we are planning our second trip to Walt Disney World in September 2006, five years after this trip took place. But oh, a lot has happened in these five years! We’ve moved cross country – twice – and had a significant, life-changing event happen to our family. But that’s for another day and another trip report. Writing this one has been so fun that I am determined not to wait as long to write the next one. So, in the immortal words of Mickey himself: “See ya real soon!”

 

[Disneyfriend]

Epilogue

Somebody was just kind enough to PM me to let me know they had been wondering about the changes that our family has gone through since the last trip.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it is truly stunning to reflect upon how much life changes in just five years! I guess that's true for all of us. But in our case, we left the East Coast, spent a year in the Midwest, and are now living in Hawaii.

Our really big life changing event, though, was a beautiful brand-new baby! We had our third daughter last year and will now be travelling to WDW with a 15 yo (Bear), a 12 yo (Lu), and a spunky little 11 month old who has us all wrapped around her precious little baby fingers. Should make for interesting trip dynamics compared to last trip!

Thanks for reading my trip report!

Disneyfriend