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© Lisa Cubbon, 1997
Who:
- Lisa (Mom) New AARP eligible project manager in Telco
- Jenny (Daughter) Quarter century old, student at Kennesaw State Univ.
Works as a waitperson.
When: September 8-14
Where: Boardwalk Inn (with MKC discount)
Why: Because we like it! We live in Marietta Ga. Jenny in her own home and me with her Dad. Pretty old fashion family. Dad only goes to WDW when we are within magnetic distance (50 miles or closer). He will plainly state that he only goes for the food. Bless him! He doesn't much mind that I go with Jenny. He thinks I will get this out of my system. Ha! Last February, we visited with his father who lives northwest of Orlando in Tavares so hubby saw something of central Florida, other that the Beeline, and we did go see Celebration. So now he sorta kinda will consider a six month stay when we retire. Maybe then I will get it out of my system. I have every intention for working for the Mouse one day. Jenny is a very willing companion and she used to be a CM at TDS. I pay and we both have fun.(I did not keep detailed records. Oh, I went every intention of doing that and even toted a journal down there. Came back blank. Maybe for another trip.)
[Andy: As far as I can determine this is the first trip report Lisa did about her and our trips to Disney parks. In addition to the three previous trips with our daughter, Jenny, we had taken one or two trips back in the early 80s with both of our children. I only recall one and there is no photographic evidence of the second trip that Lisa insists we took. Lisa and I also WON a free trip to Disneyland in California in the late 80s at an Atlanta Braves baseball game!]
Monday September 8th. Flew down from Atlanta on Delta. Very nice flight. No surprises, on time and uneventful as all airplane trips should be. Found the Thrifty van, went to pick up the car. Pass their gruesome customer service people and vowed never again. I don't like being treated like I intend to damage their car. But they did have the best rates for a week ($119/week for a Neon). Got to BW around 1pm, checked in, room not ready, picked up the key cards and when to Epcot. Bought my very first Annual Pass! Yes, I do intend to back, again and again.... I had bought Jenny a 5 day World Hopper a few months ago. Had our ritual first lunch at the Rose and Crown. She gets Fish and Chips and I get a fruit plate and a Guinness half pint. It was hot and it stayed hot the entire vacation. I like heat but this did start to get to me.
Went back to BW, got room key cards and our vouchers for the E-Ticket event at the MK that night. Room was very lovely. We have stayed at the BW three times now. Once in a villa and twice in the inn. Can't say I have a real preference for either but it is my favorite resort. We have stayed twice at the GF and CBR but we spend most of our time in either D/MGM or Epcot so this is really more effective for our plans. This time we were way (down by ESPN) at the end of the 4th floor with a view of Epcot and SE. We could see Illuminations from the balcony. The view also included the satellite dish by ESPN but we didn't focus on that. The only problem besides the distance from the elevators was the traffic emerging from the tunnel under Crescent Lake. If we kept the balcony door closed, it was un-noticeable. When the door open, it was pretty constant. We changed and went back to Epcot to the monorail, with a stop at Spaceship Earth (no line. I can't pass it up). We get to the MK around 4pm and the E-ticket desk is open in front of City Hall and we are first in line and off we go. We wandered around. Went on Haunted Mansion, saw the Hearse, really cool looking but I am not sure what it means except something neat to look at. Saw the bride. Very cool. Saw a huge bunch of Brazilians. A school group of kids around 8-9. Well behaved with plenty of adult supervision. We weren't in any hurry to do the rides since we had E-Tickets!!! We did see The Lion King for the first time and enjoyed that. About 7:30pm the crowds began to gather in earnest for the Spectromagic Parade. We had seen it before so we just hung back around the walkway to Tomorrowland and crowd watched. I kept looking for people with the wristbands on and I searched for 15 minutes before I saw someone else. In about 30 minutes, I counted 12 people. Once the parade was over, we ambled over to the Plaza restaurant and sat at a nice table and watched Tinkebell's flight and the fireworks and headed to Space Mountain. Pretty empty. Very Cool. Went over to BTMRR. No line. Extra cool. We have not riden this one at night and I was very impressed with the effects. This is a not to be missed night experience. Next we trundled over to Splash Mountain. Right onto the ride. Sploosh! Back on BTMRR. and then over to Tomorrowland. Walked right by the infamous FF cart. It was closed so the only hint of anything was the name McDonald's. I actually had to double back to see it. As we passed Jungle Cruise two CMs approached us to talk. Seems like no one had been passed and they were just happy to see anyone. I really don't think there were 600 souls there that night. We went back on SM and then I convinced Jenny that AE would not be any fun with only six people on it. She bought it! I actually needed some time to prepare for it. I know lots of folks think this is a wuss attraction but I don't like monsters so it is an act of love to do it. We went to TimeKeeper next. The CM who was running the show was wonderful. He invited us in and told us that it was casual night, sit on the floor which we all did. By then, we were pooped. It was our first day and it was bed time. We picked up a couple goodies on Main St. and started out to the buses. There was no one, absolutely no one, on Main St. The castle was glowing and my camera........ was in the hotel room!! Rats!!! (I think they are having E-Ticket night Nov. 18th and I think hubby and I (and the camera) will be there. Yippee.)
Tuesday September 9th. Got up late-ish. Breakfast at Spoodles. I am not thrilled with buffets but it's good food and fun. Off to D/MGM for FUN! No lines. Boy do I love this time of year. All of our excellent adventures have been right after Labor Day and the crowds are very manageable. Once we made the mistake of go to D/MGM on a Sunday EE day. Never again. I like the idea of going to the park the day after EE. Hightailed it over to BATB and saw "4 for a $". WOW, they are great. The audience was with them through the act. I am tired of the Electric Slide. I guess it is nicer that having CMs shouting at us to shove over but I wonder if that wouldn't have worked as well? Of course, TOT was next. Yes, I love this one! Jenny would only go once so I went a second time solo. A woman in front of me was being convinced onto the ride. She said she was used to being in charge and didn't like this at all. Well, I can certainly sympathize with her. I popped into the conversation and offered my advice for going on scary rides at WDW: 1. They don't kill people here. Very bad for business; 2. No ambulances pulling away; 3. I can do anything for 2.5 minutes. Gets me through every time (except at Six Flags. I got talked onto the coasters this year. The shakes are mostly gone.). The heat almost got me at the Herc Parade. I really liked the Toy Story Parade and this didn't hold my interest. The Guests of Honor were two guys from New Orleans who were having the time of their life riding in the Parade. What a hoot! Got to see Matt the Magician and the wonderful HoND. I really will be sorry when that stage show is closed. Disney will really have to out-do themselves to top it. BATB is OK but the color and movement is so great with this one. When we went into Little Mermaid, the Brazilian kids were there and the behave yourself speech was in Portuguese. They did fine. Really never saw any inappropriate behaviors from them or anyone. It was too hot to misbehave. (Did I mention the heat?) Dinner are Brown Derby. One of the required restaurants. It was just as good as the last time. They had a wonderful potato/garlic soup which we ate all up. After dinner we wandered out of D/MGM and over to Epcot for a stroll. We got coffee and watched the wonderful fountain. Can't get enough of the fountain. Wish they did more. Left the park before Illuminations was finished.
Wednesday September 10th. A non-park day. Hubby's father, father's wife and a family friend are joining us for lunch at Spoodles. This is a treat. Father-in-law usually stays around Tavares. So to pass time in the morning, we took the car and went to Coronado Springs for a look-see. Big, Very BIG. We poked around the registration area, looked at the guest shop, peeked into the restaurant and trudged around the lake (have I mentioned the heat? wow) The pool area is gorgeous and reminded us of the Cancun Club Med. I won't be staying here if I can choose. It reminds me of CBR and I keep getting the vision of the long walk to coffee. We have stayed are CBR twice and I don't want to go back there either. We got back to the BW just as the in-laws arrived. Had a great lunch. The tapas menu allowed us to select lots of different things to try but the winner was the crème brulee trio, especially the chocolate one. I think we were about to come to blows over that smidgen that was left. It had a very cocoa flavor. After lunch, we rested. Jenny was doing the Dive Quest that evening and we were meeting friends from CompuServe for dinner at AP. Jenny had a ball doing the Dive Quest.. She was thrilled. I sat around forever in The Living Seas. I did wander out for a brief respite but I still had plenty of time to get a shelf seat along the edge in the alcove and wait. There were other dive family members waiting too. When the divers came into the water, the other guests were floored! I mean really surprised! There was a CM with us and she was trying to watch the divers and field questions. Those of us who were waiting were answering questions too; mostly how do you get to do that? Bring money, sign-up in advance and have SCUBA certification. One guy next to me was so upset. He was from Great Britain and had been there two weeks. He had actually thought about having his certification FedEx'd but they were leaving very soon and he promised he would do it next time. There was a couple who dived and their children were watching with the G'parents. Kids were kinda bewildered by the event. When Jenny got out she was glowing. We got the video, of course. The Dive Quest was part of her 25th birthday present. Then we went on to Artiste Point for dinner with the friends from CompuServe FF. Bob and Andreas were wonderful dinner companions but the star of the evening was Larry, the waitperson! He was on stage all night. He treated us like we were his only table and I know he had 4 others. He kept the courses coming at a lovely pace, offered his suggestions and generally kept us entertained. He had been with Disney for 11 years and loved this restaurant. You could tell. Jenny, who is an excellent waitperson too, was so impressed she went back and tipped him extra. We will go back, not only for the food but for Larry. Jenny had the signature Salmon and ate every bite. I got veggies which I really enjoyed and the other guys had beef which looked wonderful.
Thursday September 11th. r.a.d.p meet at 1900. This was interesting. First time I had ever done one of these events and it was very nice. I wish I could have spent more time talking with fellow r.a.d.p'ers. We sat with Ron and Philip and Kurt. I really thank gardenia and Michelle for organizing this event. Sorry we couldn't join all of you for the tour of CS. This was Epcot day for us. I can't get enough of this place. Innoventions does nothing for me so I sit outside while Jenny fools around with the games. We had an early dinner at Alfredo's. Jenny will have a minor in Italian in December and will be spending next summer in Italy so she was anxious to try out her speaking skills. She did well. The waiter was from Milan and spoke slowly enough that she could understand and respond. We then found a ground seat along the walkway in front of Norway. There was a family sitting with us from Detroit and they were staying at OKW. The kids were having a ball. They had all been stuck on Peter Pan's Flight that afternoon for about 30 minutes. They had to be taken out of the attractions on ladders. The kids thought that was the way that everyone got down. They did get Guest of Honor VIPs seats for the Remember the Magic Parade so that was nice but the kids liked the Mickey bars more! The view for Illuminations was excellent. Much better than standing over on the bridge side. The new version is OK. I think you really need to see the big ball to understand what the concept is being expressed. I finally figured out that the big ball is all about the future world attractions.
Friday September 12th. Backstage Magic Tour Day! This was our very special treat for this vacation. I have read everything I could find on the news group and in all the web sites I could find and I just had to do it myself. We booked two months in advanced and used the AMEX discount which really helped. Molly was our CM and she did a great job. Her husband is an imagineer so she did have some extra insight into what we were seeing. I just wished it all hadn't been so rushed. It is a very dense, jam packed day and I don' think I can really do it justice here. It was truly a special feeling to be able to see behind the stage. We started at Epcot Guest Relations and loaded up the mini-bus. There were 18 of us plus a woman in a wheelchair so we had the mini-bus with the lift. Four of our fellow travelers were French Canadians and spoke very little English. Molly didn't speak French so I am not sure how much value they got from the day. At Epcot we saw behind the American Adventures, The Living Seas and Wonders of Life. At D/MGM we met Tom, the animator, and Heather who taught us to paint cells. We had a great lunch at Mama Melrose's. It was the first time we had ever eaten there and I will go back again. Wanda joined us and entertained us during lunch. She was very funny. Later she joined us on the bus and told us her name, Rhonda Rhodes, and that she also does other characters for parties. She has been an entertainer for over 20 years and this offered her the opportunity to get off the road and she loves it. When we left D/MGM, we knew we were on the way to MK. First we saw the rehearsal halls and I loved meeting the carousel horse lady, Ilia. She cares so much for each horse and is in the process of assessing the horses from Euro-Disney. Each horse is carefully refurbished on a regular basis. We saw some of the birds from the Tiki Room being re-feathered and a variety of costumes in different stages of preparation. The utilitors in the MK were different. I don't really know what I expected to see but this was different. We watched the Remember the Magic Parade kick off and then went upstairs to see the parade. Jenny took an entire roll of pictures! I would love to do another tour, maybe one of the Epcot garden tours next. That evening we ate at Portobello Yacht Club. I think the heat finally caught up with us and so did the rain. It was the only time it rained all week and it didn't cool anything off. Dinner was wonderful. We always eat one meal here. This time the waiter was from Italy, so he and Jenny attempted a conversation. We split a huge steak which was melt in your mouth tender. I was pleasantly surprised at their willingness to do that. After dinner, we went to the World of Disney and shopped! Well, I didn't break the bank but I did make a tidy deposit. IT is really hard to find stuff in that joint. We did go back another day when it wasn't so crowded to look again but it's still boggling how big it is.
Saturday September 13th. (Only two days left). Where has the time gone?) Went to D/MGM and messed around doing stuff. I guess we have been so often that this was very relaxed and hot (did I mention the heat?) and we just did what we wanted to do. I had already gotten my HoND /Pocha/Herc bar and that's my limit per visit. I do show some restraint! So we had popcorn instead and more water! We wandered out to the boat dock and sat looking at the lovely green construction wall. I wish they would put in windows so we can see the construction, not just hear it. We had dinner at Beaches and Cream but just could not do ice cream too. Jenny got a Vanilla shake that was excellent. We will be back. Then over to Epcot to just finish up. Jenny bought an Italian newspaper to take back to school.
Sunday September 14th. LAST DAY! What can go wrong? See end of report. We got up, finished packing and went to breakfast at the GF cafe. It's nothing special but we are going to end the day at GF with tea so it's a logical starting point for us. I can't get the stupid card to work in the self park so I valet parked. Went into the MK for our last day. It seems that we do MK on the first and last day and I don't know why. It wasn't very crowded so we headed for the Carousel of Progress. I loved that attraction when I saw at the World's Fair in NY and every time I see it I hope I am contributing to the keep it open coalition. I don't want this closed since it's a little bit of Walt that's still left. TTA is also a must do so on we went. And then I could not avoid it anymore and we lined up for AE. OK, the dread gets to me. I keep breathing and it's over. I will never do this twice in a trip. Last February when my hubby was with me, I didn't even attempt to do it and I guess I will have too in next trip. Did IaSW; don't really know why. Jenny said she did it since I did AE but I don't think that's a fair trade. We left before the parade started and went to Tea at the GF. We have been ending each excellent adventure at Tea. It's lovely and very relaxing to sit and be treated like a fancy lady while looking like, well, bad. We left GF, got some of that special expensive gas they sell all over Florida (I used to think it was just a local phenomena, but we have been doing some other traveling in Florida the year and it's high all over. In Georgia, 89 octane unleaded is running around .99-1.07/gal.) We turned the car back into the Thrifty folks and amazingly, they don't frisk us or actually accuse us of driving their car dangerously. To the airport and the real adventure begins. This is where I stop being tourist and become an adventurer and just try to let it flow by since I can't control anything. The "Delta is ready when you are" plane is already 45 minutes late and we were 1h15 minutes early. Not a good sign. The flight that is scheduled to leave 15 minutes later than our scheduled flight is already booked. I wish I hadn't believed that. I should have put us on the standby list for that one. We sat, and sat, and sat. Finally, our plane arrives and the miraculously turn it around in less than 15 minutes. We arrive home, safe and sound at 11 PM. We were to have been home by 9PM. Delta did send out apology letters which surprised me but I resented waiting around which I interpret as lost minutes at the MK, D/MGM or Epcot. I wish they had offered us soft drinks, or provided a baby-sitter for the carryon stuff. That was really the worst of the trip so it still isn't so bad.
I have relived the trip again since AMEX bill arrived. Each entry is lovingly recalled. Yes, it was worth while and I'd do it again. Actually, I go through each trip report and through my friends when they go. Next year, Jenny's university goes to semesters from quarters so we will not be able to go for as long a time but I do have a promise that we will go.
Lisa Cubbon