The Jones' go to WWDW(Wet Walt Disney World)Day 8 & 9 (Final)

[jimmiej]

Participants: Jimmie(me)-42 year old middle school band director, Rhonda(DW)-41 year old church financial secretary, Alisa(DD#1)-19 year old sophomore at Univ. of Texas at Austin, Amy(DD#2)-16 year old HS junior.


Day 8(MK & E-Ride night)- We had Krispy Kreme donuts from Tubbies for
breakfast(yummy!). Off to the MK for a behind the scenes tour-Keys to the Kingdom.
We were really looking forward to this. We had to been to the MK many times &
thought it would be nice to see how the magic really worked. I had been twice with High
School bands in the past(Magic Music Days), so I had been backstage before, but nothing
like this.

We met with the other participants in the garden area to the left of City Hall. The CMs
checked our IDs, gave us name tags, & took our lunch order(our choices were sandwiches,
chicken, & fish). There were about 15 of us in our tour group. Our tour guide was
Holly(she was great & very knowledgeable). At first, we all introduced ourselves, where
we were from, & our favorite Disney character. I thought it was interesting, Holly told us
if we asked a question “on stage”, we might get one answer, but if we asked that same
question “off stage”, we could get an entirely different answer. She said “on stage”,
everything must remain “magical”.

The tour was really interesting. However, there is alot of walking. We got to go behind
the scenes on 2 rides, Jungle Cruise & Haunted Mansion. About 2 hours into the tour, we
had lunch upstairs at the Columbia Harbor House. Lunch was really nice. Our lunch
order was already set out with each person having a name placecard. Holly & a couple
other CMs talked to us during lunch & answered questions. After lunch, we went “off
stage” & into the utilidors. This tour was expensive($232 for the four of us), but well
worth the money. Participants must be at least 16 & show proof of age.

We picked up a Mickey ice cream before leaving. Back to the Swan for rest/swim.

DW & I went out for a swim in the Grotto pool, but it was raining, so we sat outside
under an umbrella for awhile. We had a PS for the Concourse Steakhouse at the
Contemporary, so after some rest, we went back to the MK. Since I’m always
early(LOL!), we went in the MK & got our wristbands for E-Ride night. I’m glad we
went early; later on, the line for this was really long.

We rode the monorail over to the Contemporary for dinner. This turned out to be our
most expensive meal($100+), but it was very good. DW & I had prime rib, & kids had
pasta. Shopped a little in the Contemporary & then off to MK for E-night.

Since we had already seen Spectromagic, we picked up a few items we hadn’t gotten
earlier in the week. We stood in Fantasyland for the fireworks-it’s loud from there!

We had never done E-night before. Wow! It was awesome. DDs went off on their own
& DW & I enjoyed Splash, Thunder, HM, Buzz, Tommorowland Transit Authority(this
was really cool at night!), Space Mtn., & Astro Orbiter with hardly any wait. Country
Bear & Alien were also open. We will definitely do E-night again!

Back to the Swan, pooped!



Day 9(Boma & home) :+( Our flight didn’t leave until 4:10pm, so we had the morning
left to do one more thing. We rode the bus to AK Lodge via AK. Yes, it was raining!
After seeing AK Lodge in person, we were blown away! It’s beautiful! This resort in
definitely a possibility for our next trip. Breakfast at Boma was excellent. Typical
American items & several African choices. DW & I tried some of the African foods, but
DDs stuck with the basics. Couln’t resist buying a couple of things at the gift shop before
leaving.

Back to the Swan to pack up. I had requested a late check-out of 1:30pm. Our driver
from yourride was there about 1:20. Our flights home were uneventful & smooth. It was
raining in Orlando, but hot & dry at home. As I write this though, we’ve had over 6
inches of rain here in 2 days, so maybe we did bring home some of that Florida
rain(LOL!). Glad to be home, but looking forward to next trip, probably in 2004(Lord
willing!).

A few thoughts:

-The Swan was nice, but DW & I agreed we liked Coronado Springs better.

-The rain wasn't really a problem & it cooled off the temperature!

-Our Illuminations Cruise, Hoop-De-Doo, & Keys to the Kingdom were the
highlights of our trip.

-WDW is still an awesome place, but we did notice a slight slippage in park
cleanliness & CM attitude.

-On the flip side of the above statement, CMs are what makes WDW a special
place. Kudos to Holly at Keys to the Kingdom, Art at Garden Grille, Ajay at the
MK, & our server(can’t remember her name) at Le Cellier.

-Le Cellier is an excellent place to eat!

-There are still many, many things at WDW we haven’t done yet, so WE WILL
BE BACK!!!

Thanks for reading. I hope someone can benefit from our experience.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

I did the Key tour on my last trip - and really enjoyed it too - sounds like a great vacation for everyone - thanks for posting!

 

[pennyplanner]

Great trip report jimmiej! I am glad that you added just how tired you were after each day. That is a good reminder to us "up early and out the door!" planners. We will be at WDW in November for six nights/seven days. It just never seems like enough time!

Did you use any particular park plans or did you just go with what your family wanted to see, starting with the headliner attractions? It seemed as if you really saw lots.

Thanks for your informative and interesting reports.

--penny

 

[suevee]

Thanks for your reports! I really enjoyed them. I have never been to the parks when it has rained so. It is nice to know that the rain didn't stop you. However was there a lot of lightening? What did you do then? Thanks

 

[VickiVM]

Thanks, JimmieJ, I really have benefited from your reports. (And by the way, you didn't have to bring all that rain back from FL!!

We have ressies for HDDR and although me, my husband and my then 3 year old have seen it, I know my mom, 4, 6 and now 8 year old will get a big kick out of it when we're there this fall.

Stay dry in New Braunfels. It has finally subsided here in the Northeast of San Antonio...at least for now.

 

[swankybeth]

Great report! Sounds like you and your family had a wonderful trip. I enjoyed reading about it.

 

[susy]

Thanks! We will be at AKL in 54 days!!!!! I will be teaching again in the fall and thought of the Dolphin/Swan for future trips, but maybe I'll stick with the AS. They are just fine with me for WDW.

We will be eating at Boma for B and D, as well as Jiko for D.

We also love Le Cellier and Garden Grill (the dinner is sooo good).
I had the sweet potato ravioli at LC . It was delicious and more tasty than what the others at my table had (steaks and the duck).

 

[Poohshoney]

Hi jimiej! Thanks for the great trip reports - I really enjoyed them! I hope we can do the tour one day as you made it sound so good! We did the Boma breakfast on our last day as well - it was a great way to end the holiday. Take care, hope you get back soon!