Well, I’m back home in England after spending two great weeks pushing my Mother in her wheelchair around the parks. (Whilst she is not wheelchair bound, she has a limited range courtesy of arthritis in the knee joints and a kink in her spine.)
So, here we go with week one:
Thursday 22nd April – clock off work at 17:30, ride back home throw the luggage in my car and make the 115 mile drive to my folks (who live not too far from Gatwick airport)
Friday 23rd April
Up at 5:30 in the AM. Dad gave Mother & I a lift to the Airport, where we had the baggage checked in by a very cheerful attendant, grabbed a spot of breakfast in the duty free area, boarded the Britannia aeroplane and were off to… Glasgow. Where it was belting down with rain. Once the plane had filled up we were off on the serious leg of the flight, landing on time at 17:40
We had a bit of a delay getting off the plane due to a problem finding a loaner wheelchair to get us to luggage reclaim (some thoughtless git stole the loaner that was to be provided for us and we had to wait around for a replacement.). A bloke who appeared to move like an old animatronic figure processed us through immigration, he had only one speed of movement – slow and no expression crossed his face.
Rumbled over to Alamo to pick up the rental car. The salesman there was very tenacious, trying to upgrade me from an economy compact to an SUV! He also did a big push to get me to spend $8 a day extra to up it to a Cavalier. I declined, as I have never been given a compact when that is all I ordered. When we went to pick up the car – it turned out to be a Cavalier!
An hour or so on 417 had us at the hotel – Quality Inn Polynesian in Kissimmee, situated between markers 10 and 11. Nothing to shout about, but it was clean and comfy , non-smoking with disabled rails in the bathroom for Mother. Due to the delays we were too late to get to Epcot, not to mention a tad tired, so we turned in.
Saturday 24th April
Started the day as all were – picked up some complimentary pastries, juice and newspaper from Reception and brought them back to the room.
The first park visited was our favourite – Animal Kingdom. Did a circuit of the park, making sure to say hello to the gorillas and tigers and have the first of many lunches at Flame Tree Barbeque. The live shows were as great as ever.
When the park closed and we had seen the gorillas put to bed we headed to Epcot where I was able to jump onto Mission Space with little wait. Hit Spaceship Earth then went for a circuit of World Showcase, where we just missed the last Masquerade performance. However the cast and fans were fill lingering after the show had ended. Much applause, hugging and shedding of tears to be seen.
Epcot was packed. I have never seen it this crowded – how do you cope at peak times? We headed back to base at 20:00. I do not know if there was something special going on this day as the park was never that crowded again.
CM of the day – Ron at Tarzan Rocks front of house, big smiles and happy attitude from him all the way.
Sunday 25th April
First stop Magic Kingdom. Space Mountain had a fifty minute wait just after 9:00 with two hours until the first fast pass availability! Headed to Splash Mountain and got on with little wait. (Splash is one of Mother’s favourite rides) The hopping Brer Rabbit was not working. We never once saw it working on the last trip, but would keep an eye out again to see if it would be fixed this time around. Lunch was at Columbia Harbour, fish and chips – anything to bypass burgers and other bread stuff that you get everywhere in Magic Kingdom – bar Pirata, which was closed for the duration.
Used Fast Pass for Space and Philarmagic – the only time I did for Philarmagic, the other times we hit it early enough for there to be no queue. On the TTA / Peoplemover we got a good view of Space Mountain with the lights on during a breakdown. Had the camcorder out of the bag PDQ!
Over to Epcot for my first Schoolbread of the trip – NOOOOOO! As well as the Norway restaurant being closed for the duration of my trip, the bakery was too!
As the crowds were back to normal we stayed for Illuminations. The first several effects did not fire – the first shooting star, fire barge blasts and firework volleys. After that it all ran to schedule.
CM of the Day – Skipper Robin on Jungle cruise, worked hard and kept the interaction going with all the guests.
Monday 26th April
Animal Kingdom, first thing was to grab a Fast Pass for the Safari (this became the norm at Animal Kingdom). Caught two performances of Festival of the Lion King and saw two completely different casts. Spotted some of the cast members from last year. I will be taping all or parts of this show on several occasions. I had made an edit from the Giraffe and Elephant sections last year, this year I intend to flesh it out with angles from Lion and Warthog.
The park was packed – at least two deep at all the exhibits on the trails. Hit Tusker house for the first time this trip – love the corn chowder. You can order it separate from the turkey wrap – Yum!
We were not in time to see the gorillas put to bed as they were apparently getting cranky and were retired early.
Hit the Studios at 17:30. Walked straight into Rock n Roller Coaster. They only had one door into the recording studio in operation. I thought that the lower door must be broken. Then a member of Custodial arrived with rags, a spray and set to work. I guess someone must have got a little too nervous prior to riding!
Ate at the Commissary, where I see they serve proper fries, good solid chunks of spud, not the piddly excuse you get at McDonalds and elsewhere.
Went to Tower of Terror. There was a family queuing in front of me, the girl of which did not want to ride as the drop scared her. I had a few laughs with the family, including my telling them that the chicken door was at the back of the lift.
Fantasmic was full – standing room only. Fortunately they have an area for wheelchairs raised above where others will stand, this area was not full so I stood alongside Mother and enjoyed the show.
CM of the Day – Ken the safari driver. Good personality, not just reeling off the spiel. Also spotted him keeping this up on other days when handling the queues and boarding
Other CM of the Day – Sol, Custodial in the Studios. Had a chat with him near Star Tours, he used to be stationed at the US Air force base at Fairford in England. All round good bloke taking pride in his job. A job which he acknowledges is not the most mentally taxing of endeavours.
Tuesday 27th April
Animal Kingdom. Whilst having lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque, saw a mother and two teenage girls throwing their trash at the flap of the trashcan rather than pushing the flap first. Turns out they are scared of “catching something” from another persons food. It’s a new one on me.
Taped Lion King for the fist time this trip – one problem caused by an annoying brat who kept kicking and pushing me. All the parent did was say, “don’t do that”. She made no attempt to stop him. I had to physically take hold of him and place him back in his seat. Did not spoil the show. The flying bird lady was not present, so the red male bird performed a solo dance during “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”, using it to bring the two singers together, who also sang over the musical break where the flying normally took place. This happened in more than one performance during our stay where either one or the other of the birds was not present.
At Tarzan Rocks we discovered that there is room for two or three wheelchairs right at the very front. This has led me to taping the show again to get new angles for inclusion in my edit from last year.
Went over to Magic Kingdom to see Wishes. I had a pleasant surprise at how tasty the Steak Sub was at Cosmic Rays. Jumping rabbit in Splash Mountain is still broken. Waiting for Wishes to start we met a lady that I can best describe as a Big Mamma. I don’t know if that is a term that is frowned upon in these politically correct days, but she was a black lady of a large frame from Tennessee with a big smile two great grand children and was a joy to be around. Wishes was enjoyable, but this would be the only time we saw it. The log jam to get out of the park, plus how crowded it got in the lead up to it was a bit much – especially when you do not want to crack ankles with a wheelchair.
Wednesday 28th April
Animal Kingdom from start of day ‘till closing. Found out why the benches at the front of the Lion King Theatre wobble when an ECV driver slammed straight into the end of one lifting the seat up and wedging the ECV under it!
Epcot for dinner in the counter service at Epcot, had the chicken and lamb platter. Why eat burgers when there are delights like this to be had?
I rode Mission Space with a mother and her two kids. I am not sure what the mother was thinking because her little girl was terrified and I think had been forced onto it. It was not until the capsule was ready to go that the mother thought better of her actions, by then it was too late. The poor little girl sounded too scared to actually cry. The ride was not enjoyable as I really felt for the child.
Stopped off at Walmart to stock up on a few supplies. It must have been national employ pillocks day as none of the queues at the checkouts were moving. Gave up waiting and left empty handed.
CM of the day – Jeff in the bird section of Pangani Trail. He is involved in the husbandry of the birds in the park and can also be found on the Maharajah Jungle trek. He knows a lot about the birds, loves to talk to people about them and share his enthusiasm.
Thursday 29th April.
Magic Kingdom. Space Mountain was a straight walk on this morning. Splash Mountain rabbit is working! Will have to tape it next time. Noticed that a frog in the laughing place that was broken had been removed (It was back and singing a couple of days later).
Caught Tomorrowland Countdown for the first time this trip, great music as always. Tried another of the Steak Subs. Unfortunately this one tasted as bland as I originally expected and was not a patch on the one I last had.
Over to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon. The tigers were particularly active and I got some good shots.
Had dinner at the Animal Kindom Lodge in Boma. Gorgeous grub and filled myself to bursting. Methinks another visit here will be in order. Walked off that bloated feeling by looking at the savannah views and listening to the storyteller at the outside fire pit. He was amazing, getting the kids immersed in the tale by asking them questions and their opinions. Walked off more of the dinner at Downtown Disney.
CM of the day – Russell at Splash Mountain chatting to people as they passed him in the outside queue area, making sure they were ready to get wet.
Other CM of the day would be the Storyteller, but I did not catch his name – though I have a photo of him.
Hopefully I’ll get week two down shortly before it disappears under a pile of procrastination or stopped by cries of “Enough already”
So, here we go with week one:
Thursday 22nd April – clock off work at 17:30, ride back home throw the luggage in my car and make the 115 mile drive to my folks (who live not too far from Gatwick airport)
Friday 23rd April
Up at 5:30 in the AM. Dad gave Mother & I a lift to the Airport, where we had the baggage checked in by a very cheerful attendant, grabbed a spot of breakfast in the duty free area, boarded the Britannia aeroplane and were off to… Glasgow. Where it was belting down with rain. Once the plane had filled up we were off on the serious leg of the flight, landing on time at 17:40
We had a bit of a delay getting off the plane due to a problem finding a loaner wheelchair to get us to luggage reclaim (some thoughtless git stole the loaner that was to be provided for us and we had to wait around for a replacement.). A bloke who appeared to move like an old animatronic figure processed us through immigration, he had only one speed of movement – slow and no expression crossed his face.
Rumbled over to Alamo to pick up the rental car. The salesman there was very tenacious, trying to upgrade me from an economy compact to an SUV! He also did a big push to get me to spend $8 a day extra to up it to a Cavalier. I declined, as I have never been given a compact when that is all I ordered. When we went to pick up the car – it turned out to be a Cavalier!
An hour or so on 417 had us at the hotel – Quality Inn Polynesian in Kissimmee, situated between markers 10 and 11. Nothing to shout about, but it was clean and comfy , non-smoking with disabled rails in the bathroom for Mother. Due to the delays we were too late to get to Epcot, not to mention a tad tired, so we turned in.
Saturday 24th April
Started the day as all were – picked up some complimentary pastries, juice and newspaper from Reception and brought them back to the room.
The first park visited was our favourite – Animal Kingdom. Did a circuit of the park, making sure to say hello to the gorillas and tigers and have the first of many lunches at Flame Tree Barbeque. The live shows were as great as ever.
When the park closed and we had seen the gorillas put to bed we headed to Epcot where I was able to jump onto Mission Space with little wait. Hit Spaceship Earth then went for a circuit of World Showcase, where we just missed the last Masquerade performance. However the cast and fans were fill lingering after the show had ended. Much applause, hugging and shedding of tears to be seen.
Epcot was packed. I have never seen it this crowded – how do you cope at peak times? We headed back to base at 20:00. I do not know if there was something special going on this day as the park was never that crowded again.
CM of the day – Ron at Tarzan Rocks front of house, big smiles and happy attitude from him all the way.
Sunday 25th April
First stop Magic Kingdom. Space Mountain had a fifty minute wait just after 9:00 with two hours until the first fast pass availability! Headed to Splash Mountain and got on with little wait. (Splash is one of Mother’s favourite rides) The hopping Brer Rabbit was not working. We never once saw it working on the last trip, but would keep an eye out again to see if it would be fixed this time around. Lunch was at Columbia Harbour, fish and chips – anything to bypass burgers and other bread stuff that you get everywhere in Magic Kingdom – bar Pirata, which was closed for the duration.
Used Fast Pass for Space and Philarmagic – the only time I did for Philarmagic, the other times we hit it early enough for there to be no queue. On the TTA / Peoplemover we got a good view of Space Mountain with the lights on during a breakdown. Had the camcorder out of the bag PDQ!
Over to Epcot for my first Schoolbread of the trip – NOOOOOO! As well as the Norway restaurant being closed for the duration of my trip, the bakery was too!
As the crowds were back to normal we stayed for Illuminations. The first several effects did not fire – the first shooting star, fire barge blasts and firework volleys. After that it all ran to schedule.
CM of the Day – Skipper Robin on Jungle cruise, worked hard and kept the interaction going with all the guests.
Monday 26th April
Animal Kingdom, first thing was to grab a Fast Pass for the Safari (this became the norm at Animal Kingdom). Caught two performances of Festival of the Lion King and saw two completely different casts. Spotted some of the cast members from last year. I will be taping all or parts of this show on several occasions. I had made an edit from the Giraffe and Elephant sections last year, this year I intend to flesh it out with angles from Lion and Warthog.
The park was packed – at least two deep at all the exhibits on the trails. Hit Tusker house for the first time this trip – love the corn chowder. You can order it separate from the turkey wrap – Yum!
We were not in time to see the gorillas put to bed as they were apparently getting cranky and were retired early.
Hit the Studios at 17:30. Walked straight into Rock n Roller Coaster. They only had one door into the recording studio in operation. I thought that the lower door must be broken. Then a member of Custodial arrived with rags, a spray and set to work. I guess someone must have got a little too nervous prior to riding!
Ate at the Commissary, where I see they serve proper fries, good solid chunks of spud, not the piddly excuse you get at McDonalds and elsewhere.
Went to Tower of Terror. There was a family queuing in front of me, the girl of which did not want to ride as the drop scared her. I had a few laughs with the family, including my telling them that the chicken door was at the back of the lift.
Fantasmic was full – standing room only. Fortunately they have an area for wheelchairs raised above where others will stand, this area was not full so I stood alongside Mother and enjoyed the show.
CM of the Day – Ken the safari driver. Good personality, not just reeling off the spiel. Also spotted him keeping this up on other days when handling the queues and boarding
Other CM of the Day – Sol, Custodial in the Studios. Had a chat with him near Star Tours, he used to be stationed at the US Air force base at Fairford in England. All round good bloke taking pride in his job. A job which he acknowledges is not the most mentally taxing of endeavours.
Tuesday 27th April
Animal Kingdom. Whilst having lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque, saw a mother and two teenage girls throwing their trash at the flap of the trashcan rather than pushing the flap first. Turns out they are scared of “catching something” from another persons food. It’s a new one on me.
Taped Lion King for the fist time this trip – one problem caused by an annoying brat who kept kicking and pushing me. All the parent did was say, “don’t do that”. She made no attempt to stop him. I had to physically take hold of him and place him back in his seat. Did not spoil the show. The flying bird lady was not present, so the red male bird performed a solo dance during “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”, using it to bring the two singers together, who also sang over the musical break where the flying normally took place. This happened in more than one performance during our stay where either one or the other of the birds was not present.
At Tarzan Rocks we discovered that there is room for two or three wheelchairs right at the very front. This has led me to taping the show again to get new angles for inclusion in my edit from last year.
Went over to Magic Kingdom to see Wishes. I had a pleasant surprise at how tasty the Steak Sub was at Cosmic Rays. Jumping rabbit in Splash Mountain is still broken. Waiting for Wishes to start we met a lady that I can best describe as a Big Mamma. I don’t know if that is a term that is frowned upon in these politically correct days, but she was a black lady of a large frame from Tennessee with a big smile two great grand children and was a joy to be around. Wishes was enjoyable, but this would be the only time we saw it. The log jam to get out of the park, plus how crowded it got in the lead up to it was a bit much – especially when you do not want to crack ankles with a wheelchair.
Wednesday 28th April
Animal Kingdom from start of day ‘till closing. Found out why the benches at the front of the Lion King Theatre wobble when an ECV driver slammed straight into the end of one lifting the seat up and wedging the ECV under it!
Epcot for dinner in the counter service at Epcot, had the chicken and lamb platter. Why eat burgers when there are delights like this to be had?
I rode Mission Space with a mother and her two kids. I am not sure what the mother was thinking because her little girl was terrified and I think had been forced onto it. It was not until the capsule was ready to go that the mother thought better of her actions, by then it was too late. The poor little girl sounded too scared to actually cry. The ride was not enjoyable as I really felt for the child.
Stopped off at Walmart to stock up on a few supplies. It must have been national employ pillocks day as none of the queues at the checkouts were moving. Gave up waiting and left empty handed.
CM of the day – Jeff in the bird section of Pangani Trail. He is involved in the husbandry of the birds in the park and can also be found on the Maharajah Jungle trek. He knows a lot about the birds, loves to talk to people about them and share his enthusiasm.
Thursday 29th April.
Magic Kingdom. Space Mountain was a straight walk on this morning. Splash Mountain rabbit is working! Will have to tape it next time. Noticed that a frog in the laughing place that was broken had been removed (It was back and singing a couple of days later).
Caught Tomorrowland Countdown for the first time this trip, great music as always. Tried another of the Steak Subs. Unfortunately this one tasted as bland as I originally expected and was not a patch on the one I last had.
Over to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon. The tigers were particularly active and I got some good shots.
Had dinner at the Animal Kindom Lodge in Boma. Gorgeous grub and filled myself to bursting. Methinks another visit here will be in order. Walked off that bloated feeling by looking at the savannah views and listening to the storyteller at the outside fire pit. He was amazing, getting the kids immersed in the tale by asking them questions and their opinions. Walked off more of the dinner at Downtown Disney.
CM of the day – Russell at Splash Mountain chatting to people as they passed him in the outside queue area, making sure they were ready to get wet.
Other CM of the day would be the Storyteller, but I did not catch his name – though I have a photo of him.
Hopefully I’ll get week two down shortly before it disappears under a pile of procrastination or stopped by cries of “Enough already”
