The Long Awaited, Much Anticipated Trip To WDW: Part 6: MK All The Way

Annie&Hallie'sMom

<font color=deeppink>Things turn out best for peop
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Oct 26, 2001
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Starring:
Me: Most folks call me Beth, some call me Liz and when I’m in serious trouble I’m Elizabeth. Disney-holic. Been planning this trip for what seems like eons.

SDS: Dearest husband and best friend. Disney-holic.

Co-Starring:
M&A: Good friends from the other side of the pond. DVC owners at the OKW Resort. If they had not invited us to stay with them, this trip would not be happening

Special Guest Star:

Em: Friend from GA who is going to be there during the same time period. Haven’t seen her since our last trek to WDW. (Even though she’s been in WDW since we arrived, we haven’t “found” each other)

It’s almost the last day, December 9th and we will be heading home tomorrow afternoon. Where did the time go?

Went to bed “early” (before 11 pm) and got up “late” (nearly 7 am).

The plan is to head to MK for opening, take a lunch break at the Concourse Steakhouse with M&A, go back to the resort and rest and then meet M&A and Em around 5 for dinner at LTT and MVMCP.

I always have a plan, that doesn’t mean I stick to it (or it gets stuck to). M&A have other plans for the day and decide to skip out of our lunch. (No biggie). SDS & I head to MK in time for opening. Or so I hoped. As we walked from the bus area to the front of the park, I could see the characters on the bus. Security seemed to take a little longer (or maybe there were just more people), so we didn’t get “in” until the Mayor of Main Street had already announced the family of the day and the train had already come to the station and all the characters were out. What we did see was fun to watch and I think it’s quite clever the way they welcome you to MK, and then the characters “meet” you on Main Street (definitely slows down those joggers to Tomorrowland).

SDS had to go to City Hall to for some info, while I checked out the Barber Shop. It was scheduled to open at 9 AM and there was no one there other than this woman (who I thought was a cast member, but it turned out she was just getting a hair cut. Or maybe she was CM on a day off). Today SDS is definitely getting a hair cut. While I am still waiting for him, I meet up with 3 Country Bears (can’t remember which ones I got) and have a photo taken. There were plenty of other characters out (although Minnie immediately disappeared; I have the feeling she wasn’t feeling so well that morning).

By the time SDS appears, the Main Street Barber Shop is just opening. The woman who had told me it opened at 9 AM is waiting to get her hair cut and we stand around. Billie (one of the CMs cutting hair that day) was just setting up. SDS & got to observe some of the other customers who were “scheduled” on the blackboard (pretty “punny” list).

By 10 after 9 Billie is ready to take SDS. I have to say she did a really good job. And for $15, it’s not a bad price either (SDS usually pays about $12). While we were there, the other CM finished up the woman she was working on and started on another man, who was definitely a CM. And Rafiki kept peeking in, making motions that it was time to give his beard a trim. Really must have needed it because he came back a couple of times to clown around. A family came in with a little boy to get his hair cut, but they ended up passing (the little fellow really did not want to get his hair cut!). Meanwhile, I am enjoying watching SDS get a haircut. As I said Billie did a great job and didn’t mind me taking a few photos. She even made sure that when she was finished, she put another cover over SDS (this one stripped with Mickey on it) and got out the “big scissors” so that I could get a gag photo. She also pixie dusted SDS and then me! (SDS got rid of the dust, I had it in my hair for pretty much the rest of the day, but I sure DIDN’T mind). Billie also made sure the cleaned SDS’ glasses, which I thought was a nice extra touch. Since I was the cash holder, I paid her with a $20 and let her keep the change. She definitely made it a magical morning.

Now looking well groomed, SDS and I headed towards Tomorrowland, but not before stopping on Main Street to see the “Trolley Players” (for lack of a better word). They were performing “The Trolley Song” (From Meet Me In St. Louis for all you film buffs). I thought it was cute.

Onward to Tomorrowland where we do the TTA (I love this and made sure I put it on my list to do again that night so I could get a clearer view of Space Mountain that night), CoP (there’s always a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow. And I was pleased to hear a few people singing along!) and Buzz. No matter what I do, I cannot get a good score on Buzz. I know what I should hit to get major points, but I just can’t seem to hit ANY of the “Z”s. All I end up with is a sore thumb.

We decide to head over to Fantasyland for another go at Philarmagic, but before we do, we run into the talking trashcan! I had never seen him up close. Unfortunately, he was just “finishing” up (guess he needed to be emptied out! J LOL). Onward to Philmarmagic.

While waiting on line, a little girl admires my Tink bag. I was sorry to tell her father that I didn’t buy it at WDW or even in Florida!

After Philmarmagic, it’s time to head out to lunch at the Concourse Steakhouse. But before we do, I catch the Mayor on Main Street and get a quick photo. We also catch the tail end of the Trolley Song again.

We walk over to the Contemporary with plenty of time to spare. When we get to the Steakhouse, it was not yet open, but there were quite a few people waiting around (all of whom seemed to be from a convention). I took a few photos while we waited.

Eventually, the restaurant opened and we were seated (after some confusion. They couldn’t find our PS. Well, that’s because the woman at the podium was looking at that morning’s breakfast PS list and not the lunch one!). We ask our server (I can’t remember her name right now. I think it was Connie, but I do remember that she was originally from Easton and that her dad was driving down in his sports car that day to spend the holidays with her and her 2 boys!) to bring out the chef. Chef Paul came out and spoke with me. There was a lot on the menu that interested me! (A rarity for me). Since I’d just had a burger the other day, I wanted the steak sandwich. Chef Paul went back to check out the rolls and assured me that the fries were not fried in anything that would be touched by poultry (what a change from Jimmie the day before). Like many of the other excellent chefs that I dealt with, he came out with the product, so I could read the ingredients myself. This was very much appreciated! And lunch was delicious.

Over lunch SDS & I talked about what we would do for the rest of the day. One of the things I hadn’t done a lot of on this trip was ride the monorail (which is a pleasure unto itself). I thought it might be fun to ride the monorail to the TTC, then from the TTC to Epcot (hopefully getting a front seat) and then back. SDS wasn’t much into it, but I was starting to wear him down. Then I realized how little time we really had left. L Maybe it would be best to go back to MK. SDS has already said he didn’t need a rest that afternoon (why hadn’t he told me that earlier? I was just wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It was fine for now, but what about later in the day and the night?). After much discussion (and eating!), we decided to shop around at the Contemporary for a bit and then head back to MK for the rest of the day (and night).

While wandering around on the Concourse level, SDS decided it would be a good time to “dump” the photos from the digital camera onto a cd. There was a machine in BVG and even though he didn’t know how much it would cost, he went for it. Meanwhile, I checked out all the stores (and wished I had all the money in the world because there was plenty of stuff I would have loved to have purchased IF I had lots of extra cash to throw around). I also noticed that there was a balcony, which I had never observed before. The monorail literally runs right over it. So I went out and took some photos and once SDS was done (the cd took about 15 minutes to make, but it cost under $15 and now the digital was “fresh” with 100 photos. Seeing how I was running out of film and how well SDS had done thus far with the digital, I thought this was a pretty good deal) he came out and took some photos of the monorail as it came gliding into the hotel (right over our heads!)

Walked back to the Magic Kingdom and decided to head right for Liberty Square, as we had yet to see HoP and we hadn’t seen the show since President Bush had been in office (I think the last time we saw the show was in 1999!). We had just missed a show, so we wandered around a bit (and I finally gave in and bought a Tinkerbell ornament for the tree).

We enjoyed the show (who is the new narrator now?) and upon exiting it was just about time for the Share A Dream parade. We managed to get a pretty good spot right outside of the HoP. Unfortunately, it faced right into the sun, so photos didn’t come out too well. While I enjoyed the parade, I think the Jammin’ Jungle parade is more my speed and I wish I had seen the Stars In Motorcars instead.

Time to check out the Country Bears, which is always a favorite. I was pleased to see their Christmas show was filled to capacity (when we had seen it in 2000 we were the only ones in the theatre for the first 5 or so minutes, which meant I could take as many photos as I wanted whenever. Unfortunately, my camera conked out. :( And this time around I had to wait since there were so many people).

After holidaying with the Country Bears we headed to Adventureland and rode the Magic Carpets. The camel wasn’t spitting though! :(

Just after getting off the carpets, we happen to run into M&A. They already have their wristbands for MVMCP which they got when they entered the park. So we decide to head towards the front of the park to get ours. At City Hall, they tell us to go in front of the castle, but on our way there, I see a CM with them in her hand, so we go up to her and get them (and she did a great job of “punching” our tickets. Making sure that she didn’t do too much damage so that I could use them for scrap booking!).

It was getting close to dinnertime, but we thought we’d have enough time for a ride on PotC. Unfortunately, we got stuck! (Sigh. There are worse places to get stuck, but…).

We make it over to LTT where M&A and Em are waiting. They had already checked in. The CM had tried to seat them, but they said no since we weren’t there. So we had to wait a bit. Our fault!

The wait wasn’t too bad and once we were seated, we had our server Larry (who was a hoot) bring out the chef (can’t remember his name). The chef would make me my very own rolls (which, I have to say, were a little hard!) and my own plate of meat (the ham and flank steak). I also got carrots (since I couldn’t eat the mac n cheese). Since the chef didn’t say anything about the salad, I passed on that (although it looked so good). Characters made the rounds. That evening it was Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale. Our corner was a little dark, so we really didn’t get any good photos (which is a shame because I even put on my Minnie ears for my photo and I didn’t come out). The meal was good (although it didn’t rank in the top 3. Of course after the service and food I’d had over the past few days, it was a hard act to follow), but I was shut out of dessert (and this time I had room for it!). I did get the marinade for the flank steak, so some day I will have to make it (although I will have to cut down the recipe quite a bit since the one I got will make over a pound of marinade!).

When we finished dinner, the park was “closed” and our only recourse was to head over to Tomorrowland (which was open for MVMCP guests). We enjoyed the TTA (with it being dark out, I could really see the track inside Space Mountain. I loved that!) and saw an EXCELLENT drum and bugle corp. perform. We then headed over to Buzz where both SDS & I did terribly (I mean I really stunk! But it’s not the score, it’s the fun you have, right?). We also caught a bit of the Mickey’s Christmas Carol Stage Show (which was packed).

We intended on heading over to Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road since by now the park was opened. But we had a brief stop in Mickey’s Star Traders where I got an early Christmas gift in the guise of a MVMCP sweatshirt (which I had seen from the TTA). I didn’t need a bag, I put it right on. It was pretty warm and perfect for the night (although thankfully it was not that cold that evening).

Again, we headed off towards BTMRR, but got sidetracked by Cinderella’s Golden Carousel (for the first time SDS & I both rode) and Snow White’s Adventures (What is up with that evil stepmother/witch? She pops up way too much). And somewhere in between, we managed to catch some bell ringers outside of the castle (very good).

Now we are headed towards BTMRR. But wait! We are close to the HM. And there is no wait! And now I can check out the new Leota tombstone! (I still have trouble seeing her nod, although I do see her blink). Now I am ready to do some shopping, but the store that carried all the HM merchandise is closed. Bad for me, good for my pocketbook!

Finally, we end up at BTMRR! A fast and fun ride! As we get off, we can see the parade going by and there is a big sign on the bridge that leads to BTMRR that this is an excellent viewing spot for Wishes. So we decide to hang out for ½ an hour and get a good view (unlike Saturday night).

The wait was worth it. The show was excellent (and I have been told that there were additional fireworks just for that evening that are not usually included). I love the fireworks, but I still think the song is kind of lame. (Hey someone has to be the one!).

After Wishes, we head back to PotC (this time we DON”T get stuck) and then take a Jungle Cruise with Rachel (6 years of college + a bad economy = Jungle Cruise Captain). She was excellent. Again, this attraction really does depend on the CM who runs it and Rachel made it a fun night.

We thought about having our photo taken (I really wasn’t that into the photo, but did want to get the button for MVMCP which you get when you have your photo taken) but there was a big line! (And nowhere was hot cocoa and cookies to be found). We find a good viewing spot for the parade in the “circle” (right there by where the floats make their appearance after crossing the bridge). We sit down on the curb and wait. And wait. There are some CMs trying to get us (and the crowd) excited, but it is after 11 and we have been in the park since before 9 AM! I am starting to run out of steam.

And I am running out of film. Plus SDS’ digital camera is starting to run out of batteries. We manage to take as many photos as we can as the parade goes by. Personally, the Chip and Dale float is my favorite (But then I am just a sucker for Chip and Dale).

When the parade ends, the 5 of us, head back into Fantasyland. There is no longer a wait for photos outside of It’s A Small World. We sign up and get our pins and have our photo taken (and it came out pretty darn well which is hard when you have 5 tired people).

The evening is quickly coming to an end. We catch one more ride on Peter Pan’s Flight before heading out of the park.

I realize that I never got to see Santa Goofy which makes me sad. Em has to go too and I give her a big hug and am sorry that we weren’t able to spend more time together.

We get on the bus back to OKW and my eyes start to well up with tears. I don’t want to leave. The week has flown by and there’s only one more day (and not a full day at that) before I have to head back to cold, hard reality.

Back at OKW, we finish packing up our things, leaving out only what we will need for the next day. We all decide to get up early to do EMH at Epcot. SDS & I are still trying to decide if we should do breakfast at the Cape May Café, seeing how time is running out.

The last day is upon us. And I’m feeling like a child who doesn’t want to go. But at least I have several hours at Epcot tomorrow (of course by now it was today) before heading back to New Jersey.
 
Been waiting for your next post! :wave2:
Enjoying them very much. Glad to have someone figuring out all the allergy info before me.
::yes::
 
Dismom, if I can be of any other assistance with allergies, please let me know, as this part pretty much ends up my allergy experiences (only one more meal in WDW left! :( ).

I did write to WDW after this trip to tell them how pleased I was with the experience and got a call back (which I missed, but SDS was home) from Rochelle saying that they appreciated my email and that it would be passed on to management. Wish I had been home because I probably would have mentioned the 2 "negative" experiences I had vs the 7 or 8 positive ones I had (and there were a few that were just so-so).

If you would like I can tell you overall (from my visits from 2000 through 2003 -- 5 in all) which restaurants I have found to be most helpful, which have "changed" over the years and what I haven't tried yet. I would also love to hear about others experiences with allergies.
 
The restaurants we have PS for are Teppanyaki (should be ok, no breading, etc.), Donald's Breakfast (usually can feed him well off of buffets, but am hoping they will make him a special pancake), and Crystal Palace - lunch.
We are cooking at the cabin, usually breakfast and one other meal a day.
Counter service should be ok, I can usually find him meat without breading or bun. In a pinch, he seems to do ok with light breading (like no yeast, no egg - chicken fingers), but we try to keep that to a minimum because wheat was on his list.
Let him have donuts and pizza on Sunday (what was I thinking?) and his cough (from a cold) has gotten worse. Do not want to head back into inhaler country!
So back on the diet we go. Sigh.
-For the record he is off of peanuts (never has had a reaction, but tested positive in a blood test), strawberries/raspberries (hives!), cheese (eczema?), wheat (breathing?)-
I will probably stress about all this and then he probably will not eat at WDW due to the excitement. :rolleyes:
 

Would love to know about your experience at Teppanyaki. I am afraid to eat there since they do beef, poultry & shell fish all on the same grill.
 
Yeah, I am sooo glad meat is not an issue for us! :)
I don't see how they could avoid cross contamination. Bummer for you.
:(
 
Some places seem to handle cross contamination better than others. This is why seeing a chef and getting a special plate sent out is a must. Boma was an excellent example of caring staff.
 
While on the subject of food...does anyone know what's in the salad dressing at LTT? It did look so good, but I was cautious.

And I do have the flank steak rub if anyone is interested in the recipe!
 














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