Long Trip Report- 12/05/02-12/13/02

[orangefan15]

Well, here it is. Finally. I realize its been a while, but with the holidays and such, I'm just getting around to posting it.

12/5/02-Thursday-Day One

Got up at 4 a.m. after 3 hours of sleep. Yuck!! Got ready, did last minute packing and set off for the airport. It was only 2 degrees out, but I decided to hike it anyway (yes, I am crazy). One mile of walking in the cold saved me $80 of parking at airport. Anyway, flight to Dulles took off on time, but when we got there, there was snow all over the place and the runway hadn’t been plowed. We landed in 3” of snow. I realize this isn’t a good sign given that my flight to Orlando is supposed to be taking off in an hour. After sitting on the plane for 2 hours waiting to be deiced, we finally took off for Florida. Yeah!! Got to Orlando after a bumpy flight and had 1.5 hours to wait before my mom landed from Hartford. Just kinda hung around, impatient to get to Disney. Mom landed on time (luckily, it had started snowing in Hartford very heavily right before she took off) and Jerry from Tiffany Towncar was there to meet us. Unfortunately, he blew the surprise and told my mom where we were headed. Up until then, she had no clue we were staying at the Grand Floridian and absolutely had no reason to expect that I could afford it (thank you, mousesavers.com).

Got to the GF around 3 p.m. and checked in. They had received my faxed requests (non-smoking room with MK view…I had booked a lagoon view). We got room 8445 in Boca Chica. All I can say is WOW! It was dormer room with vaulted ceiling. Because of its location on the end of the hall in the corner, we actually had 2 private balconies. One overlooking Narcosee’s out towards MK…there was palm tree blocking some of this view…and one looking out over the lagoon. It was the perfect room location with a clear view of MK (castle, space mountain and train station), Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary. Completely perfect to make this a perfect trip for my mom.

We unpacked, then headed off to Contemporary for our 5:00 p.m. PS for dinner at Chef Mickey’s. The food was great and the characters were a blast. Donald was hanging out in the waiting area, and Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Mickey came by the table. Dale seemed to have a thing for me since he stopped by to see me 5 times and kept patting my head.

After dinner, headed back to the GF to go in the hot tub. Unfortunately, it started to POUR rain just after we got the room. So we hung out on the porch (so great that they’re covered) watching the world go by. Waited for the Electric Light Pageant to go by, but weren’t sure it would because of the rain. Around 9:00 we saw the floats come out and head toward the Polynesian. They lit up for a few minutes over there, than wound around the lake dark. Sat parked for a while then headed towards the GF. Eventually they lit up right in front of us. It was great. After that, they seemed to cut the whole thing short because of the weather, but I’m not sure exactly what happened. We also got a chance to see fireworks from MK…I think they were shown a bit late because of the weather. Totally awesome view from the porch…the perfect way to end the day. Decided to go to bed early as we had gotten up early and we were taking advantage of EE at Animal Kingdom on Friday.

 

[orangefan15]

12/6/02-Friday-Day Two

Got up at 6:30 a.m. with intentions of using EE at Animal Kingdom. Got to AK right around 8. Awesome Christmas tree right at the entrance to the park. It was raining a little with forecasts for more, so we stopped to get Mickey ponchos (figured we’d beat the rush) and I needed a hat (had forgotten mine in the room) to keep the water off my glasses. Found a great deal on a “safari” hat that had 5 pins on it. This started me on buying pins (which is very addicting), but I kept my purchases to a minimum (those suckers are expensive). Found a penny press machine in the store, which started me on collecting pressed pennies. (Side note: tons of fun, very addicting, not as expensive as pins, but costs can still add up).

Okay, so we headed straight back to Kiliminjaro Safaris. Grabbed an FP then rode stand-by, there was no line because it was early and the weather was bad. What a great ride and we saw a ton of animals: crocodiles, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, elephants, warthogs, hippos, rhinos, etc. We got off and rode again on our FPs. Saw most of the same animals, although some were no longer out (what a difference an hour can make on this ride!). After this, we headed back through the Harambi Marketplace to Discovery Island. Did It’s Tough to Be a Bug with no wait. Cute show, although it seems a bit shorter than the other 3D flicks at Disney. We then headed over to Dinorama. I’ve gotta agree with everyone that gripes about this area, I honestly thought they were all exaggerating until I saw it. Horrible, totally un-Disneyesque…I felt like I was at a really cheap carnival. Anyway, I rode Primeval Whirl by myself (mom can’t handle the spinning) stand-by; it was about a 15 minute wait (one of the longest of our trip). It’s a fun ride and makes you really dizzy, but it’s not really a Disney ride to me. There’s not really any theme aspect to it. Tarzan Rocks was about to start, so we decided to see it. All I can say is YUCK! It’s the only time that both my mom and I have ever wanted to leave a Disney attraction. If I wanted to see a really bad rock concert, I can do that at home. Everyone said the skaters and dancers were cool, but they weren’t doing anything all that impressive and they weren’t doing it for very long. After we escaped that horrible show (not until the end since we were stuck in the middle of a row), we headed to Dinosaur. What a fun ride! But I can see how it would scare little kids. After that, it was really cold out and not getting any warmer, so we went shopping for a sweatshirt for mom. Everyone was in the store doing the same thing. Headed towards Tusker House for lunch, but the Festival of the Lion King show was about to start, so we decided to check that out. It’s a good show, very colorful and upbeat, but I liked the Lion King show that used to be at Magic Kingdom better. Came out of the show and saw the character greeting area. There was absolutely no line, so we got pictures with Christmas Daisy and Mickey. Donald and Minnie were also there, but the lines had built up too much to wait. Decided on pizza for lunch, so we stopped at Pizzafari. Good food and colorful surroundings, but they really need more tables. Headed back across the park towards Kali River Rapids. Absolutely no line because it was cold out, so we had to go on. We tried the Mickey poncho trick, but still got soaked. We stayed on twice…we were already wet, so why not enjoy it again? After that mom was freezing, so we headed back to the hotel to change.

Got back to GF, changed and grabbed the bus to MGM to see Fantasmic. We were running early, so I rode RnR by myself. What an awesome roller coaster. I agree with everyone that says the ride is completely smooth, you don’t even realize you’re upside down. And the launch off is a complete rush. Met back up with mom and we decided to do something she could do, too. So we headed across the park to Muppets 3D. I had forgotten how funny the pre-show was and was glad we got to see the whole thing. Of course, the main show is also great. How I miss the Muppets show on TV. Walked back across park to Fantasmic (it was 5 p.m. at this point) to get seats. Grabbed a turkey leg, a foot long hot dog and a bucket of popcorn to split for dinner while we waited for the show. It was rather cool sitting there waiting, but once people filled in around us, it cut back on the breeze some, so we warmed up a bit. Fantasmic was a good show, but I like Illuminations better. I think it’s a bit intense for a Disney production, but the best part was when they lit the top of the water on fire (anyone know how they do that?).

Ran out after the show to beat the crowds and took the boat to the Boardwalk. Walked along the BW and checked out all the stores. It was a little boring and there wasn’t much activity; I think it was too early (only around 8 p.m.). Went into the ESPN Club arcade for a while, then needed the bathroom. How cool are the TVs in the bathrooms? I think they should have that everywhere. Anyway, it started getting really cold out, so we walked through Epcot to get the monorail to the TTC, then switched to the monorail to GF.

Decided to hit the hot tub, since we had missed it Thursday night. Jumped in the pool first, but it was too cool for that. Got into hot tub (it was packed, and many of the people in it were young kids…they need to stop that from happening) to warm up. Stayed in a little too long, but we were waiting to see if we could see the MK fireworks from there (other people said you could). Well, the fireworks didn’t seem to be coming, so we headed back up to the room. Went out on the porch and waited and waited and waited for the fireworks, but they didn’t seem to be happening. Mom went to bed and I watched resort TV for a while. I fell asleep around 11:20 only to hear loud booms at 11:30. They were finally doing the fireworks. So I dragged myself out of bed (I really love fireworks), went out on the porch and watched the fireworks show. Then back to bed to get ready for MK and Epcot tomorrow.

 

[orangefan15]

12/7/02-Saturday-Day Three

Up at 7:30 a.m. Got ready and was raring to go, but mom felt a cold coming on. I ran down to the store in the main building to get some Tylenol Cold for her, but to my shock they only had the kid’s version. So, off to the Contemporary to see if they had the adult stuff, but no, they didn’t either. So, we ended up with the kid’s stuff. I really don’t understand why they would have the kid’s version, but not the adult. Strange.

Anyway, headed off on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. They were filming the Christmas parade that airs on ABC on Christmas day so the there were walkways roped off and cameras all over the place. We weren’t interested in wasting our whole day watching them tape something for TV, so we headed off to Tomorrowland. Hit Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin…I really love this ride and it was my mom’s first time. She ended up loving it, too. It’s really an addicting ride. My gun sucked though, so my score was pretty bad. Headed off to Space Mountain which had a 20 min. standby wait, so we grabbed fast passes, and went on TTA, one of my favorites. I’ve got to say that its so sad to go by Carousel of Progress since its closed . Went shopping for a hat for mom; I was still wearing my safari hat, man I love that thing. Went back on Buzz (see, I said it was addicting) with a 10 minute wait, then used our FPs on Space Mtn.

We then decided to head over to Adventureland since the past 2 times I’d visited, Pirates of the Caribbean had been closed for rehab. On our walk across the park, we say Kelly Ripa setting up to film part of the parade commentary. Snapped a quick picture and moved on. Rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin since there was no line…once on this was more than enough. It was cute, but the ride is really short. Grabbed FPs for Jungle Cruise and headed for Pirates. Got on almost right away, and enjoyed it as always. I really do miss the old version before it got all pc. Why is it okay for a woman to chase a man with a broom, but not okay for a pirate to chase a woman? I’ll never understand this stupid stuff. Went shopping and off in search of pressed pennies (truly the most addicting thing I’ve ever done at Disney). Used Jungle Cruise FPs…those corny jokes will be funny forever! Decided that MK was too packed (a. it was the weekend and b. they were taping the parade), so we headed over to Epcot.

I realized I had forgotten our Candlelight Processional tickets, so we stopped at GF on the way. Headed off to Epcot. Our first stop was World Showcase for some lunch. We decided to try the San Angle Inn in Mexico. I’ve recently read some horrible reviews of this restaurant online, but both of us really enjoyed our meals. I’d certainly go back. After lunch, we did the boat ride in Mexico (it would be nice to see this get an update) and then headed back to Future World to shop using our CP 15% discount. Mousegear really has pretty much everything you could want. We did almost all of our Christmas shopping, plus got some souvenirs, and our discount worked out to be almost what I had paid for the CP dinner package. Truly one of the best deals I’ve ever gotten at Disney. Also have to mention here the resort package delivery service is so great. I wouldn’t have wanted to carry around our 4 bags of stuff all night! Decided to ride Spaceship Earth (one of our favs…and given recent rumors, it sounds like it may not be around much longer in its current incarnation). Then, ran across the park to line up for CP. Glad we didn’t waste too much time (got there around 4:20 for the 5:00 show) as there was plenty of available seating, even as the show started. This is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at Disney and I highly recommend it. Just a beautiful event with all the lights and singing and such. After the show, we just kinda wandered around, then headed over for our PS at Rose and Crown. It was absolutely packed…I really think they sold too many dinner packages for this restaurant. They ran out of pagers at the door, so we had to keep going back every 5 minutes to see if they had one available. So, we decided to just grab a bench by the restaurant and I got a yard of beer. Finally got seated for dinner after around a 45 minute wait. The food was out of this world. I had the chicken which was excellent. Anyway, we ate too fast, so we were done with dinner around 8:40, not nearly late enough for Illuminations. So we left R&C and grabbed a spot close by on the fence. Actually had a great time waiting…we spoke with a group of really nice older people. Illuminations finally started and it is so worth the wait. Its my favorite show at Disney! After the show, we rushed through the park trying to beat the bulk of the crowds. Surprisingly, there was no line for the monorail, so we got back to the GF fairly quickly. Ran down to fill up the mugs (these are a good deal, but its so annoying having to walk all the way to the food court to fill ‘em up after a long day in the parks) and then vegged out in front of the TV. Decided to hit MK on Sunday.

 

[orangefan15]

12/8/02-Sunday-Day Four

Got up at 7:45 a.m. It was sunny and somewhat warm for a change. Yeah!! Headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Went straight back to Fantasyland and grabbed FPs for Pooh, then rode Pooh stand-by. My mom had never been this ride and she’s a huge Pooh fan, so I was glad I got her on it first thing. She loved it. Wasn’t time for our FP yet, so we headed over and did Snow White (there’s never a line for this) and It’s a Small World. The start time of our Pooh FP had passed, so we grabbed FP for Peter Pan (this always seems to have such long lines!) and went to use our Pooh FPs. I could ride Pooh about a million times. I really miss Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, but Pooh rocks! There was a while before our Peter Pan FP, so we wandered down and did Haunted Mansion. Good as always…I love looking for Hidden Mickey’s on this ride. Headed back up to Fantasyland and rode Cinderella’s Golden Carousel (not very exciting, but a definite must do). Used our FPs on Peter Pan, I like this ride, but certainly not enough to wait in line for it. Headed back down to Liberty Square and decided to ride on the paddlewheel boat…the Liberty Belle. In all our trips to Disney, neither me, nor my mom had ever been on this ride. It offers some different views of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tom Sawyer’s Island, but it moved way too slow for our liking and it really needs some more seating. Anyway, finally made it off that and headed to do Hall of Presidents. I wish George W. Bush didn’t have a speech…I just really didn’t like it. Other than that, this is one of the best shows at Disney. Decided to have lunch, so we headed to Pecos Bill’s. There was absolutely no line even though it was exactly noon! I’ve decided I love visiting WDW in December! Headed over to Splash Mountain and grabbed an FP. Then rode stand-by. We got the first row and got absolutely, positively soaked. Had to wait a few minutes for our FPs and then went on again (hey, we were already wet!). Splash Mountain really is the best newer ride at Disney. It goes back to the whole idea of a themed ride that the whole family can enjoy. Anyway, decided to head back to the hotel.

Got back to the GF and I rented a watermouse to go out on the lagoon to get pictures of the hotel. I survived almost getting killed by a moron in another watermouse, and took about a whole roll of film. Decided to stay out for a whole hour so I could go over to Bay Lake and check out River Country. Snapped some photos over there, and then headed back. Decided I had to try out the slide at the pool. It wasn’t all that great, but still fun. Then it really started feeling cool, so I headed back to the room to change. We decided to head to Downtown Disney to finish up our Christmas shopping and have dinner at Rainforest Café (which had been highly recommended).

We checked out all the stores at DTD and bought a few things, but there was still 2 hours before our PS. So, we walked through Pleasure Island, both commenting on how much we really didn’t like the look of it. We’d been there a few times before, but for some reason, it now looks kinda small and closed in to me. I just hadn’t noticed it before I guess. Got to the Westside and decided we really didn’t like it over there. Its just like a big strip mall and it really felt too seedy to us. Headed back to DTD. Still had an hour before our PS, so we decided to just eat at the bar at Rainforest since there wasn’t any wait. The food was good, but both of us found Rainforest to be a little too loud and busy for our liking. Just not laid back enough.

Decided the night was still young, so we grabbed a bus to the Swan and walked over to Fantasia Gardens to play mini golf. It was fun. I won by a lot and actually managed to get 4 hole-in-ones. Our one complaint was the lack of bus service to mini golf. We really wanted to go play Winter/Summerland, but couldn’t get there at night because there weren’t any buses. And its not like Fantasia Gardens is at the Swan; we had to walk over on a fairly dark sidewalk to get there. I think if Disney did something to remedy this situation, they’d have more people playing. Anyway, grabbed a bus back to DTD…we were by ourselves on the bus, so we go the chance to have a nice conversation with the bus driver. When we got to DTD, the bus we were on became a GF bus, so we didn’t even have to transfer. (We did have an interesting thought while we were headed back to DTD on the bus to get the bus to GF. It takes forever to get from one resort to the other by going to DTD, so we were thinking that Disney should run buses from one “set” of resorts to the other (i.e. a bus from GF, Poly and Contemp to the 5 Boardwalk area hotels). It would be much faster to get around that way.) Got back to GF and wrote postcards, then went out and sat on the porch to watch MVMCP fireworks. Passed out shortly after that.

 

[orangefan15]

12/9/02-Monday-Day Five

Got up early and it was POURING rain out. We had decided to go to MGM, and that worked out well since most of the attractions there are inside. Took pictures by the big, giant 100 years hat (that’s pretty cool) and then hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Play It. The theater was only about ½ full…I think a lot of people stayed away from the park today because of the weather. Anyway, I was in second the whole game!! Darn!! Its fun, but I think the host talks to the contestants too much. I didn’t pay a bunch of money to go to Disney to learn about some random person’s life back home. Came out and did the Backstage Tour. For some reason I remembered the ride part being longer, but I really enjoyed the “new” special effects demo at the start. I didn’t realize it was no longer the old captain’s wheelhouse show. It was great to see the Osbourne lights during the day, too. It’s amazing how many of them there are. After we came off that, walked over to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It’s such a good show…a great mix of video, animatronics and live-action. By then, it was time for our lunch PS at 50s PrimeTime Café. What an absolute riot that place is! Our server was great (Cousin Anas). I didn’t eat the green beans that came with my meal, so my mom tried to eat them for me, but she couldn’t finish ‘em. So I had to get up and sing I’m a Little Teapot. It was rather amusing. My mom was sitting there laughing at me big time! But, uh oh!, she had her elbow on the table. So Cousin Anas made her get up and sing too!! Anyway, I highly recommend the S’mores dessert. It was excellent. After lunch, mom wanted to see the Beauty and the Beast show, but we had a few minutes, so I ran over to ride RnR again. I got the front row!! Its such a rush! Met mom at Beauty and the Beast. It’s a good show, but I still miss the Hunchback one. After the show, I rode Tower of Terror. The random drop sequence is a ton of fun…you have absolutely no clue what is going to happen next and when you’re going to drop. Rushed down to see the stars and motorcars parade, but it was cancelled because of the rain (this seemed to be a running theme through our week…no parades because of weather!). I grabbed an FP for Star Tours, then we to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I was chosen to be an extra! This really is fun. Unfortunately, it was the shortened version of the show because of the weather, but we still got to do some fun stuff. I was one of the people “shopping for rugs”. Then I had to run back to join the rest of the extras who were just milling about. Then we also got to run and yell “GET THE GIRL!” Overall, it was a cool experience. Unfortunately, my mom only took one picture because of a misunderstanding over how much film was left….luckily the one picture came out okay. Went and used my FP on Star Tours while my mom sat out in the rain getting soaked. Ran over and did Millionaire again. It was kinda cute…an 8 year old kid won the first fastest finger question and got on stage. After the show, we decided not to wait around for the Osbournes because it was pouring rain still, so we headed back to GF.

Finally dried off, we decided to head out in search of dinner around 6. There was pretty much no availability anywhere. I called to try and get a PS at a few places, but they were all booked. 1900 Park Fair told us we couldn’t even wait stand-by until after 8 p.m. So, we grabbed the monorail over to the Polynesian. Everything over there was the same in terms of wait, so we grabbed burgers down at the food court. Honestly, the CMs were outright rude, there wasn’t enough seating, and the food was terrible. A waste of a meal. Anyway, took some pics of the few Christmas decorations at Poly, rode the monorail over to Contemporary and got some pics over there. Decided we really wanted to see Animal Kingdom Lodge, so we hopped a bus to DTD. Waited and waited and waited and no bus came for AKL. After 45 minutes, one finally pulled up! It really was a ridiculous wait. But it was well worth it. AKL is absolutely beautiful and the Christmas tree is amazing. It really looks like a fun place to stay, but I’m not sure I would just because of the bus situation. Took some great pictures and then grabbed the bus back to DTD and transferred to the bus to GF. Finally made it back at 11 p.m.

 

[orangefan15]

12/10/02-Tuesday-Day Six

Yeah! Sun was out again today! Got up early and headed over to Epcot to do everything in FutureWorld. Rode Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment. Really cute! I like the original version the best, but this one is definitely better than the last. Headed over to the Land to see Food Rocks. This really is a funny show, with a ton of adult jokes buried in it. Then did Living Seas. Hadn’t done this in years…there’s some cool fish in there, but it’s not all that interesting to me. Headed across the park to Universe of Energy. I’m not a big Ellen fan, but it’s still a really good show and I love seeing the Dinosaurs. Went to the Wonders of Life pavilion. I went on Body Wars…it really is a lot jerkier than Star Tours, I had never noticed it before this trip. Anyway, my mom can’t ride Body Wars, so she was just hanging out waiting for me. There was really nobody in the pavilion, so the CM by the ride entrance went over and talked with her. The CM tried to convince my mom to move to Orlando and work at Disney! How amusing. Anyway, I got done with Body Wars and we went to see Cranium Command. My mom had never seen this before, but I really liked it, so I insisted. She ended up thinking it was cute. After that, mom headed back to GF for a nap since we had tickets for MVMCP for the evening, but I kept going.

Grabbed an FP for Test Track and decided to head over to World Showcase to see some of the circlevision360 movies since mom can’t do those (they make her sick). Went to Canada and waited 15 minutes for the show, but just as the previous show got over someone passed out or had a heart attack or something. At first, they told us it would be just a few minutes, but after a few minutes, they told us the movie was shut down for a while. As I left the pavilion, the EMTs were arriving. Anyway, then I walked “the world”, taking a ton of pictures. Got a chance to see the living statue in Italy which was pretty cool. Stopped to see the movie in China since I had lived there for 2 months. I’m glad they’re working on an update to this film, because it’s seriously outdated. But it was still fun to see all the sights I had seen during my time there. Time for my Test Track FP. Fun ride, but seriously overrated in my opinion. The only really good part is the loop, but it’s really too short. I ran to the monorail to get back to GF.

Picked up mom at the GF and headed off to MVMCP. Yahoo!!! As we entered the park around 4:30, they told us to use our MVMCP tickets instead of our park hoppers and put wristbands on us. Had dinner PS at Tony’s Town Square for 5:30 p.m., so we did some window shopping first. Went to dinner…really good food, but kinda expensive. Neither of us came even close to finishing what was on our plates, but that wasn’t for lack of food quality. After dinner, we were forced down to Tomorrowland since it was only 6 p.m. Hopped on TTA, then did Space Mountain with no wait at all. Got on IndySpeedway (don’t normally do this because of the line, but we only had to wait 5 minutes). Headed over to see the 7:15 showing of Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas show. Really, really cute. A must see IMHO. Headed back to Fantasyland, and did Snow White and It’s a Small World. I really wanted to ride Dumbo (haven’t been on in many years), but the line was too long. There was a really short line to have our picture taken (by IASW), so we got that done (I just received the picture today…it’s really cute and I’m glad they send two copies since my mom and I live in different states). Headed towards Frontierland, and stopped to do Haunted Mansion. Then went over to Adventureland and did Pirates of the Caribbean. Stopped to watch the fireworks (they’re not done over the castle anymore…I really thought that’s where they used to be in the past?). Then ran onto BTMRR with no wait. Headed towards Toontown Fair, and stopped at Mrs. Pott’s Cupboard to get sundaes. Holy cow!! They’re huge, but really, really good. Took some pictures in Toontown, then I decided I wanted to ride Goofy’s Barnstormer. My mom went up through the line with me, but then decided it was kiddie coaster, and she wasn’t going. So, I went by myself. That little thing really cruises! Anyway, we headed back over to Fantasyland and went on Pooh with a short wait. Then it was time for the second parade. We sat right by the bridge into Liberty Square. IMHO, the parade alone is worth the price of admission to MVMCP. It is absolutely spectacular. I couldn’t believe how long it was. After the parade, a lot of people cleared out. We decided to head back to Tomorrowland rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. We were going to hit Buzz one more time, but it was 12:01 and they had it closed. So we headed over to the castle to see the Celebrate the Season show there. Once again, an excellent show that I highly recommend. Headed back down Main St. through the “snow” (what a cool sight) and grabbed the monorail to GF. Fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

 

[orangefan15]

12/11/02-Wednesday-Day Seven

So depressing…only 2 days in the parks left. Got up at 7:30 and decided to hit Epcot again. First, we wanted to go check out the Christmas decorations over at Wilderness Lodge, so we grabbed the monorail to MK, then caught the boat to WL. The lobby at WL is quite impressive and tree was beautiful, but we both ended up liking the decorations at GF best out of all the resorts we checked out. Walked down to the WL bus stop to catch a bus to Epcot.

Headed straight back to ride Journey Into Imagination with Figment again. There was absolutely no line for this ride…I’m not sure people realized it was re-opened, but they did have a CM outside telling people to come in and ride. Headed over to Test Track since mom had missed it on Tuesday. Decided to do the singles line since stand-by was 45 minute wait. We ended up waiting only about 5 minutes, but of course, we were in different cars. When we got off my mom was all freaked out. Apparently, while they were in the ride, the seatbelt on the 5 year old kid sitting next to her just popped off and the kid’s mother went into serious panic mode. Thought that was a little freaky. Anyway, mom had the same opinion on the ride as I do: way overrated, although the loop is fun. After that, we headed back to make our way around World Showcase checking out all the stores and such. Started in Canada and made our way around to America around noon. Decided to check out American Adventure…such a moving show. Also grabbed lunch in America. After we finished the rest of WS, we rode Spaceship Earth one more time, then we hopped the monorail to TTC and transferred to the MK monorail. Did a whole bunch of shopping on Main St. (mostly stuff for ourselves this time ) and then grabbed seats up by Liberty Square to watch Spectromagic. This is one of my favorite all time parades, so I was so happy when I saw they were having a performance during the week (I had booked the Epcot CP dinner package for Saturday). After the parade, we had a 6:40 PS for Liberty Tree Tavern. Luckily, we ran over and just beat the rush of people pouring into LTT, so we only had to wait 5 minutes for a table. Great food and the characters were a ton of fun…especially Goofy. After dinner, we left LTT and were amazed by the “empty streets” of MK. Its really kinda cool to see things totally emptied out (since the park had closed). Got the chance to take some pictures without 8 billion random strangers in them, and then headed out of the park. Grabbed the monorail to TTC, then transferred to Epcot monorail (yes, we certainly did get around today).

Once at Epcot, we headed back towards WS to grab a spot to watch Illuminations for the second time this trip. Stopped to buy some pins (so addicting!!) and walked through Ice Station Cool. Tried a bunch of the sodas. Didn’t really like any of them…mom tried the one from Italy (I think its called Beverly) and nearly spit it back out all over the place! After that horrible experience, we walked to WS and managed to find front row seats in Norway. Grabbed some alcoholic beverages (at rip-off prices) and waited. Illuminations was great, as always. It’s just the ultimate fireworks show. It was great to be able to watch the whole thing this time, as last time I was taking pictures. After the show, we hurried through the crowds (wanting to kill all the morons with the double strollers who constantly run into your ankles) and grabbed the monorail with little wait. Got back to GF and spent the night packing (it’s always so hard to fit all the stuff you buy into the bags), and then went to bed early.

 

[orangefan15]

12/12/02-Thursday-Day Eight

Got up really early to finish packing. Spent a few minutes out on the porch enjoying the view one last time, then headed down to the lobby to check out luggage with bell services. Hopped the monorail to the Contemporary so I could get all the pressed pennies there (I saw them early in the week, but didn’t have any change on me). Hopped the monorail to MK and headed straight back to Frontierland. My mom’s favorite ride is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and we had only ridden it once up until then, so we rode it 3 times in a row with pretty much no wait. Got to sit in the back row twice, which was awesome. We still had our unused FPs for BTMRR, so we gave them to two older people who were headed back that way. They were so happy! Decided to wait to do Splash Mountain since it was cool, so we headed over to Adventureland. Saw the Enchanted Tiki Birds Under New Management. Funny, but not as good as the original was. Rode Pirates of the Caribbean with no wait. Headed back to Frontierland and did Country Bear Jamboree. The Christmas version is good, and it’s really a rather amusing show. Decided to grab an early lunch at Columbia Harbor House and then decided to pass on Haunted Mansion because there was a long line. Headed over to Fantasyland and grabbed FPs for Pooh. Then continued wandering down to Toontown Fair. Hopped on the WDW Railroad and did the entire loop. Back over to Fantasyland, but still not time for Pooh, so we did Snow White and IASW again. Now, time for Pooh! It’s just such a cute ride. Headed over to Tomorrowland and grabbed FP for Space Mountain. Then had our last Mickey Ice Cream Bars. YumYum!! Decided to buy Mickey ponchos (we had already packed ours since the weather wasn’t supposed to get bad until later in the day) again. Rode Buzz Lightyear and I got my highest score ever, 330,800, then did TTA. It was time for our Space Mountain FPs, so we did that one last time. Lucky we bought those ponchos since it started raining kinda hard. Headed back over to Frontierland to find a spot to watch the parade. The parade was delayed because of the weather. It’s rather annoying that they just announce that its delayed due to weather and give you no idea as to when (or even if) it will happen. We wasted around 20 minutes just mulling around when we could’ve been riding Splash Mountain. Anyway, the parade finally started, but it was a very shortened version. Only around 3 floats, but there was a ton of characters on foot. Hit Splash Mountain one last time after parade and the Mickey ponchos managed to keep us dry. Headed back over to Haunted Mansion and line was shorter, so we decided to do that one last time, also. That was all for MK . Stopped at the candy shop so mom could get one of those huge rice krispie treats shaped like a Mickey head.

Grabbed the monorail (our last ride ) to GF, then grabbed a bus to MGM. We couldn’t leave without seeing the infamous Osbourne lights. Luckily, the rain had completely stopped by then, so I was hoping to get some good pictures. Did a little shopping at MGM, then walked through the Osbournes. WOW! I can’t believe how many lights there are. Those little glasses they give you are kinda cool too. I’ve been using them to look at my Christmas tree at home just because they’re so much fun. Got some pictures of the lights, but there were way too many people around, so I got tons of pictures of lots of heads. LOL! Grabbed the bus back to GF, luckily we got out of there just as Fantasmic was ending, so we didn’t have to wait too long.

Had a 7:20 PS for 1900 Park Fair. What an amazing “last” meal! The strawberry soup is superb, as is the rest of the food. I ate way too much food…2 bowls of soup, 6 plates of dinner, and 3 full desserts. The characters were a ton of fun. Eeyore came by and started tickling my mom and he wouldn’t stop. It was totally hysterical. Then I got him to sign a postcard for my friend for her birthday (Eeyore’s her favorite character) and he wrote a cute little note on it. Tigger was fun to play with too. After dinner, we sat in the lobby taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the orchestra waiting for 9:30 p.m.

At 9:30, Jerry from Tiffany Towncar met us at the GF. He dropped us off at the Hyatt at the airport since we were staying there for the night. Got to the Hyatt, checked-in and faced the reality that we were no longer living in the lap of luxury. Nothing wrong with the room, but it was no GF!!! Spent some time repacking (again) to fit in the stuff we had bought at MGM, then passed out.

 

[orangefan15]

12/13/02-Friday-Day Nine

Got to sleep in relatively late today¡K9:00 a.m. Got everything set and checked out. Went down to check in for our respective flights, then spent some time just sitting in huge atrium looking at the Christmas tree. Mom went off around 10:30, since the security line to the Delta gates looked pretty long and her flight was at 12:30. I had longer to wait, so I just hung out for a while longer. Decided to surprise mom, so I went into the Disney store and grabbed a few photo albums (she had wanted to get one, but decided they were too expensive). (BTW, does anyone know if Disney sells refill pages for their photo albums???). Figure I¡¦ll put the pictures in and wrap it up for her for Christmas. Decided to head down to the gate. Got to the gate and still had over 2 hours to wait. Spent a short while trying to fit the photo albums into my carry-on to get down to the required number of carry-ons, then sat around being depressed about leaving Disney ƒ¼. We finally boarded and the flight was completely full. There were a ton of foreign people on the flight, and they were doing the gate security check on every single one of them. There was this huge line snaking all over the gate area of people waiting for security. It was crazy!! Needless to say, our flight departed late, but we did get to Dulles on time. Ran through the airport to make my connection. Got back to Vermont around 6:30 and decided to walk home, instead of grabbing a cab. It was relatively warm out (meaning it wasn¡¦t 2 degrees this time). Well, that decision was a big, huge, monstrous mistake. I got a ways down the sidewalk and nearly killed myself. The whole thing was sheet of ice. Needless to say, I wasn¡¦t happy, but I made it home without falling. How utterly depressing it was to be home, instead of at Disney.

 

[orangefan15]

Some final thoughts:

1) When can I go back?
2) Honestly, I’ve read a ton of people on the internet complaining how there’s no more Disney magic, but we felt a little of the magic every day of our trip.
3) People with strollers should be shot (sorry to all you responsible folks, but there’s way too many people running you over with ‘em and yelling at you to get out of their way like they’re special or something).
4) Grand Floridian is DEFINITELY now my favorite resort…its gonna be hard to stay elsewhere after this experience.
5) Its great to see the reemergence of there being characters all over the parks…it just makes the atmosphere so much fun and adds to the magic.
6) The bus system works, but can be very slow at times. They really need address the issue of resort-to-resort transportation and transportation to the mini golf courses (we never got to hit Winter/Summerland because of lack of transportation).
7) Early December is the perfect time to go…there’s almost no lines and seeing all the Christmas decorations rocks!
8) Avoid MK on the day that all the little Pop Warner kids are there if you go during the Pop Warner Superbowl time….they were rather obnoxious.
9) Mickey Bars are as good as I remember….someone could make a fortune selling those on Ebay.
10) Pin collecting is addicting and expensive! If you need to collect something and get addicted to it, try pressed pennies. They’re really fun and a little more affordable.
11) Did I mention how great the GF is?
12) Weather can be unpredictable in December…bring both warm-weather and cold-weather clothes. And carry your sweatshirt or coat to the park (my mom had to buy new sweatshirts twice because she didn’t have hers and was cold)
13) Fastpass rocks! Even at non-busy times of year. We would wait no minutes, instead of 5 minutes.
14) WDW has some great sit-down restaurants that serve awesome food!
15) Make sure you eat all your vegetables at 50s Primetime Café (unless you enjoy singing kiddie songs in front of complete strangers…in which case I suggest getting your head examined…lol).
16) Faxing your room request to the resort 4 days in advance can work (I think this is especially true if you’re celebrating a special occasion).
17) Mickey ponchos will be your best friend if it rains!
18) Make sure to get a sundae at Mrs. Pott’s at MK….they’re to die for.
19) DTD and Westside are pretty much a big strip mall…if you don’t like strip malls (like us), you probably won’t enjoying being there for very long.
20) Tiffany Towncar is a great way to get from the airport to your resort…no riding around on the Mears shuttle to 12 other resorts before you finally get to yours!
21) Candlelight processional dinner package gives you a 15% discount on merchandise at Epcot that day…a great deal if you plan on buying a ton of stuff (we ended up saving as much as I had paid for the package).
22) Bring tons of film…more than you think you’ll need (you’ll use it trust me…I ended up taking 375 pictures!).
23) Mickey ponchos will work okay to keep you dry on Splash Mountain (most likely), but they won’t necessarily do much for you on Kali River Rapids (we got soaked).
24) Tarzan Rocks is the worst show I’ve ever seen at Disney…if you’re short on time, this is the thing to skip.
25) GF rocks! Suppose they’d notice if I moved in?

 

[disneyqueen]

Great trip report. I like all the detail. I agree with you on the people with the strollers. They run right over you like they own the place. Glad you had a good time.:xmas:

 

[General Grizz]

I just came across this; wow! Very nice report!

Glad to hear you had fun! :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

Do it again sometime! :animwink:

 

[marypopmom]

Great trip report Thanks for sharing your magical trip with us. I agree with you about the Tarzan Rocks show. Our whole family thought it was a total waste of time. Our little DS kept lamenting, where is the real Tarzan etc. What ingredients are in the sundae? I have never had one from there and what is the price? Sorry you feel that way about the strollers. We just kind of grin and bear it and unfortunately due to one of our DS bad asthma we have no progressed to a wheel chair depending on the weather. Glad you had a great time.

 

[orangefan15]

Originally posted by marypopmom
What ingredients are in the sundae? I have never had one from there and what is the price?

I think it was like $3.49. We got the strawberry shortcake sundaes which were a mini "shortcake" (one of those dessert shells like you get at the grocery store) on the bottom, tons and tons of ice cream (either chocolate or vanilla), topped off with tons of strawberry sauce and whipped cream. Yummy!!:slurp:

They also had a brownie version with hot fudge, but we didn't try that one as we're both huge fans of strawberries.

 

[GalacticGobbler]

Stopped at the candy shop so mom could get one of those huge rice krispie treats shaped like a Mickey head.


We love those.

Thanks for sharing your trip

Great Report, one of the best

By the way, your mom is lucky to have you!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

You weren't kidding when you said it was a long report - I enjoyed reading it though - sounds like a brilliant time. Thanks

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

I loved your trip report. It sounds like it was a perfect trip. I am so ready to go back to Disney. We are planning a trip in February and then to go back the first week of Dec so we can see the Christmas decorations and not have a large crowd.

Thanks for sharing. It was really fun to read.

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by orangefan15
6) The bus system works, but can be very slow at times. They really need address the issue of resort-to-resort transportation and transportation to the mini golf courses (we never got to hit Winter/Summerland because of lack of transportation).

Just a small response in regards to the bus system...

Busses do service Winter/Summerland until 9:00pm daily. Even when Blizzard is closed for rehab.

In regards to resort to resort transportation... I really hate to say this, but it's a logistical nightmare. To provide a bus every 30 mins from one area to another area of property (ie: MK resorts to Epcot Resorts, or AK resorts) would require more busses than what is used to staff the entire Disney-MGM Studios daily operation. And to be honest, the demand really isnt there.

What I might suggest is better routing. For example, instead of going from the Contemporary to DTD to AKL... head over to the MK, and catch the AK Lodge bus from there.

 

[orangefan15]

Originally posted by Fantasia Boi
Just a small response in regards to the bus system...

Busses do service Winter/Summerland until 9:00pm daily. Even when Blizzard is closed for rehab.

In regards to resort to resort transportation... I really hate to say this, but it's a logistical nightmare. To provide a bus every 30 mins from one area to another area of property (ie: MK resorts to Epcot Resorts, or AK resorts) would require more busses than what is used to staff the entire Disney-MGM Studios daily operation. And to be honest, the demand really isnt there.

What I might suggest is better routing. For example, instead of going from the Contemporary to DTD to AKL... head over to the MK, and catch the AK Lodge bus from there.

I see your point about the number of buses, but it's just really frustrating that it takes 1.5 hours to go from resort to resort.

In terms of better routing, that doesn't really work in December when the parks close early and you're trying to get around later. Had MK still been open, I would've done that in a second.