October Trip Report...better late than never...

Cast Of Characters:

  • John (me, 35 years old) – frequent WDW visitor
  • Dianne (my wife, 35 years old) – frequent WDW visitor
  • Suzanne (my wife's sister) – first time in many years
  • Chris (Suzanne's husband) – first time in many years

Trip Dates: October 19-27, 2003
Travel: Drive
Resort: Animal Kingdom Lodge (Concierge Level)


Introduction:

OK, here goes another long and involved trip report.

This will be our third trip in the last three years. I'm secretly trying to get the wife into a routine so I don’t have to "talk" her into going to Disney every year. I think its working.

Once again, like last years trip, we are pampering ourselves with Animal Kingdom Lodge on the concierge level, along with the Fairytale Package with the Silver add-on. This should be fun!

We also invited my wife's sister and her husband. They haven't done a real vacation for ten year, and they keep hearing me going on and on and on about Disney, so they asked if they could join us this year. Now I'll finally get to ride the thrill rides with someone because the wife refuses to get on them. Tower of Terror here I come!

They have also decided to do just about everything we are doing like the tours and shows we do, so we'll be together for most of the vacation. They are arriving a day after us, and leaving a day before, so we’ll have a few days to ourselves.

We are also going to meet up with some friends of ours that live in Orlando for dinner on the last night, so I'm looking forward to seeing them as well.

So enough with the small talk, let's get to the report.


Day 1 – Sunday October 19

Planned Activities:
  • Travel to WDW
  • Check-In at Marriot Sawgrass in Jacksonville

What Really Happened

Well, we got on the road at 5:15 AM, 15 minuets later than I wanted, but that's OK, I can make that time up. Stopped for a quick breakfast bite at McD and gas, and we were rolling.

Made it through Baltimore, DC and Richmond without incident. At so early in the morning on a Sunday, I was hoping the traffic would be non existent, and it was.

Everything was going great until southern Virginia. We stopped for gas, and when I tried to start the car…click, click, click. Nothing, dead, non-starting pile of #$%#$!!! Not now, not on our vacation, not on the way to Disney! Thankfully a couple stopped to help us. He was a mechanic, and he quickly deduced it was the battery. There was an AutoZone nearby, and I had the battery replaced and we were on our way again, only losing 1 hour over the whole ordeal.

We never did get the name of the couple that helped us, but I want to thank them once again. They really saved our vacation. Thanks.

So after a few construction stops along the way, we ended up at the Sawgrass outside of Jacksonville at around 8:30 PM. We checked in, had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant (it was very good), and turned in for the night.

For those needing a place to stay around Jacksonville, and a willing to spend around $130 for a nice place to stay, the Sawgrass is an excellent choice.


High Points

The couple that helped out of our auto nightmare.

Low Points

The car deciding to die.


(to be continued...)
 

AkiraRaptor

Meega, nala kwishta!
Original Poster
Day 2 – Monday October 20

Planned Activities:
  • Finish travel to WDW
  • Check-In at Animal Kingdom Lodge (Concierge Level)
  • Dinner PS – Coral Reef at Epcot
  • See 'Wishes' for the first time

What Really Happened

We got up and had breakfast at the Sawgrass. I always liked Marriott for the buffet breakfasts they serve. And this one was no exception. Mmmmm.

We were on the road by 8:00 AM, taking route A1A down the coastline. We went through St. Augustine, then turned inland and made our way back to I-95 and I-4 and on to Disney.

We arrived at AKL at about 10:30 AM. The bellhop said our room wasn't ready yet, so they stored our luggage and took us up to the concierge desk. We got all our stuff, as was told the room should be ready at around 3:00 PM. So we had a quick snack in the concierge lobby, then we went over to Epcot.

First up, Mission:Space. It had a 35 minuet wait, which turned into a 15 minuet wait by the time we got to the ride. After the video spiel, they told us that we had to move to a different queue, so they walked us out of the entry doors strait into the ride on the other side. Kind of killed the "magic" a bit, but we were ready to ride.

OK, really big point here. DO NOT LOOK AWAY FROM THE SCREEN! If you think you'll get sick at all, do exactly what they tell you, and never look away from the screen during the ride, or you'll feel the spinning motion and it can overcome you very quickly. I was the engineer, and I slightly looked away to find my first button to push, and I started to feel queasy from that point on.

Over all this ride rocks. And the best times to ride are around lunch time, nobody wants to ride this after they had a meal, so the lines were really short at these times.

Another point about M:S, some people get a delayed effect from the ride, at about 30 min or so after the riding it. The CM told us a lot of people go over to Energy and get on the 45 min ride, and then are stuck on it as they start to feel sick.

After we did Space, we picked up FP for Test Track then walked over to World Showcase. Did Mexico ride, Norway ride, and then headed over to France. At this point it was about 30 minuets after M:S, and was feeling a bit "wrong", it must be the delayed effect from M:S. So I had a chocolate mouse from France, and it cleared that feeling right up.

We made our way to the Japan store, which last year was being renovated, to do a bit of shopping. I like the new, bigger, store. Then made our way back to Future World, and rode Test Track. Did they speed the ride up from last year? It felt faster than before.

By now it was about 2:30 PM, so we made our way back to AKL and got into our room. We got the room #5513, a nice room, but still a bit of a walk from the lobby.

Now, I moved our Coral Reef PS up to 4:50 PM so we could have time to get to MK for the Wishes firework show. In looking at the schedules the week before we went, I realized that we would never get the chance to see the new show because of all the other commitments, plus the fact that Wishes was only running a few days that week.

I'll now eat crow, because I've been panning Coral Reef for years now because of a bad experience 7 years ago. The place looks great after the remodel. The food is top notch, and the service was very good. We used our wishes for the meal, and save about $45 alone on this meal.

After dinner, we made our way to MK, and made it in plenty of time. So much so, that we checked in on Philharmagic, and found it to be a walk on. So we went in. Great show, some of the most convincing 3-D I've seen Disney do. We loved the show.

By this time it was getting close to 7:30 PM, and time for the Wishes show. We headed to the Tomorrow Land hub bridge. We spent our waiting time talking to a Disney security CM. Nice guy, told a few jokes, kept our wait for the show fun.

Wishes was great. We really loved it. Longer show than FITS, and better in my opinion.

After the show we went back to AKL. Found out that my wife's sister and brother-in-law had checked in and they were in the adjoining room. After a quick visit, we then turned in for the night.


High Points

The Wishes firework show and a much better experience at Coral Reef.

Low Points

None to speak of.


Day 3 – Tuesday October 21

Planned Activities:
  • Breakfast PS – Kona Cafe at Polynesian
  • Dinner PS – Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge

What Really Happened

Suzanne and Chris were going golfing, so we would meet up with them that night for dinner at Boma's, so we had and open day. First up though was a breakfast PS at Kona Cafe.

We drove over, it was just easier. Had a good breakfast at the Cafe, then returned to AKL, and took the bus to Epcot. We had decided to spend the rest of the day here.

We did Energy and The Land, and stopped into the Ice Station. Then began our trek around WS to experience the Food and Wine festival. Stopped at a few places, I got a cannoli in Italy, but after getting it (at $1.75) and seeing it was 1/4 the size of the real ones being sold next to the booth for $3.25, I decided I'd buy from the other place if I wanted the other.

As to the whole F&W festival itself. It was nice. It was good to be able to sample some of the foods from places you normally would never be able to in one place. But now that we've done it, we don't need to do it again, so on our next trips we will not need to schedule for F&W time specifically to do the festival.

So we continued around the WS and did a bit of everything. A little more shopping, a bit of eating, etc. We ended with Spaceship Earth on the way out, and visited our Leave A Legacy picture on the "tombstones".

Then back to AKL and meet up with the Suzanne and Chris for dinner at Boma's.

OK, the one thing that had to happen…Zebra Domes! I've never had one yet, so it was a must that night. Well suffice to say, I think I ate 6 or so that night. Mmmmm, they are as good as everyone has said.

I will say though that I liked Boma better for breakfast than for dinner. While dinner was good, I don’t think it will be a repeat choice over other dinner places. But I'm going to keep going back for breakfast as much as I dare.

We lounged for the rest of the evening, and turned in early, we had our first tour to attend the next morning.

High Points

Zebra Domes!

Low Points

Food & Wine festival was good, but I was hoping for more.


(to be continued...)
 

AkiraRaptor

Meega, nala kwishta!
Original Poster
Day 4 – Wednesday October 22

Planned Activities:
  • Backstage Safari Tour at Animal Kingdom
  • Dinner PS – Mama Melrose and Fantasmic at MGM

What Really Happened

First up was the Backstage Safari tour. We did this last year as well, but we really liked it, so we decided to do this again.

They changed the tour this year though, and in my opinion, not for the better. They start you off with a Kilimanjaro Safari ride this time. So, you get on the ride and ride it like a normal tourist, but they do stop every once in a while. It's slower that the normal ride, but faster than the Sunrise Safari that the AKL offers. This is the only problem I see about the "new" tour. This eats up time on the tour that I'd rather be seeing "behind the scenes" stuff instead.

The rest of the tour was what we did before for the most part. We went to the Elephant and Giraffe areas. Visited the food preparation area, and a keeper met us in the classroom and showed us a baby Alligator that we could pet. BTW, if you want to pet an Alligator, don't pet the pointy end.

This keeper was a riot. He’s like an American version of Australia's Steve Irwin. Funny guy.

After the tour, we spent the rest of the day at MGM. Got to see a bit of the construction for the car stunt show. Got pictures with Mike and Scully. Then I finally got to ride ToT for the very first time.

You see, my wife will not ride any thrill rides, and I feel bad about leaving her alone. So for the last few years we've gone, I never get on the bigger thrill rides. No Space, no Splash, no Rock n Roll, no ToT. Yes, I live a sad life.

Ahh, but this time we have friends with us. So Chris and myself headed off to ToT.

We had 1 hour till our dinner PS, and the line said 35 minuets. Plenty of time. Right…

Now this was the week that Disney was referbing ToT, so only one side was running. But every once in a while you'd see the second tower with people in it. So I thought, hmmm, must be done. Nope.

They were testing the newly referbed side. And when we got up to the ride, they opened up that side and we were put on the elevator.

So they talk the spiel, close the doors, elevator goes up, doors open Twilight Zone music starts, doors close and every thing goes dark. It goes dark and no sounds for 5 minuets. And to add the thrill, we had a small girl who was really starting to freak out.

Then the lights come on. And we sat for a few more minuets. Then finally someone came on and said "We have a slight problem and we'll be bringing you back down."

It took a few more minuets to get down, out and into another elevator. So it ended up taking 1 hour to ride the ride, which was fun BTW.

So after we get off the ride, we can't find our wives. And after 5 minuets of looking around, decided to just go to the restaurant, and hope they would do the same. They were waiting for us at the restaurant the whole time.

So we ate, and then saw Fantasmic! Good show. Then went over to Downtown Disney.

We picked up out tickets for Cirque on Saturday, and walked around a bit. We stopped into the Adventures Club for some fun. After leaving there, most of the stores were closing, so we returned to resort and turned in.

High Points

Finally getting to ride Tower of Terror.

Low Points

Getting stuck on Tower of Terror


Day 5 – Thursday October 23

Planned Activities:
  • Gardens of the World Tour at Epcot
  • Dinner PS – Flying Fish at Boardwalk
  • VIP Illumination at Epcot

What Really Happened

Ok, another tour day. This was another tour we've already done, but Sue and Chris haven't, and it is a good one, so we decided to do it again.

The tour was a bit different because the horticulturist specialized in trees (arborist), where the last guide on this tour was into turf and grasses. So even though we walked through the same areas and looked mostly at the same planting, the information was totally different because of the guides specialties.

The part I really like about this tour is that you get to spend about 2 hours in World Showcase before the general population is let in. So the place is empty and void of almost any normal traffic. Lots a pictures with NO PEOPLE in them. Something that is really hard to do during normal hours.

After the tour we had lunch at Chefs de France. Grilled cheese. It was ok, but not my favorite. I like Chefs, but I like the dinner far better than was is served during lunch.

We then toured around WS and FW, did the normal stuff. Everyone tried the horrible Coke product at Ice Station but me. I just can't bring myself to trying after reading the stuff said about it here.

We got on Test Track, and this was a first for Sue and Chris. They bought the picture afterwards because Chris had this dead pan look of fear right before the wall opens that was hilarious.

We then made our way to Flying Fish by way of the International Entrance on the boats. And got to Flying Fish before it was actually open, so we had to wait for our table.

This place is wonderful. The food and service were top notch, and I believe the only place that is on par with it that I’ve eaten at was Jiko and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was also well worth spending 2 wishes each on it because that bill was almost $400 with tax and tip between the four of us.

After dinner we had to make our way back to Epcot for the firework show. We had VIP viewing vouchers as part of our packages. What we really wanted for this night was to ride in Breathless, the speedboat firework cruise they offer. Unfortunately, it too was under referbs, so we opted for the VIP area.

This was the second year in a row we could do Breathless. But we'll keep trying.

The show was good as usual. The VIP area is the upper ramps at the Morocco boat dock area. By the time of the show there were only 20 people or so there, so it wasn't crowded at all, and it was a decent enough place to see the show.

Back to the resort for sleep.

High Points

Flying Fish. What a wonderful place to eat.

Low Points

Not doing the firework show (on Breathless) like we really wanted to.

(to be continued...)
 

AkiraRaptor

Meega, nala kwishta!
Original Poster
Day 6 – Friday October 24

Planned Activities:
  • Undiscovered Futureworld Tour at Epcot
  • Dinner PS – Liberty Tree Tavern at Magic Kingdom
  • Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

What Really Happened

First up is a tour I've never done before, Undiscovered Futureworld. It takes you all around FW, and behind the scenes. From talking to the "Behind The Seeds" CM at the Land, to the private lounges at The Sea, and talking to international CM off stage.

It was a nice tour, and I'd recommend this one at least once. I don't think I'd do it a second time, but it was worth the time to do once. We even got special passes for Test Track, kind of go to the head of the line thing, and a discount at the China restaurant for lunch.

We took advantage of the lunch discount and ate at China with a few of the other people in our tour. Nice meal. I always like lunch there.

We then spent more time with Sue and Chris tooling around World Showcase. Then returned to the AKL to refresh ourselves before heading over to MK for the night.

When we got over to MK, all the MNSSHP stuff was up. Spooky music playing, and the characters all had there "costumes" on. Along with a lot of the tourists too.

We made our way over to Liberty Tree Tavern and got seated. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the regular cast of characters was there (Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy) along with Meeko.

I read all over the place that they pulled the regular characters, but they were there, so I'm not complaining. We love to see the antics of Chip and Dale. And the wife and I secretly hope they add Stitch to the cast someday. Nothing like watching the characters mess with kids (little and big) during dinner.

After dinner we took in Philharmagic again with Sue and Chris, and saw the Halloween parade, then the special Halloween firework show. Over all, a great night, and we'd do it again. But next time we're going to dress up.

We never did get any candy. The candy stations lines were so long, it just wasn't worth the wait for us. But the night was still fun, and I shouldn't be eating candy anyways…need to keep those pounds off.

High Points

Seeing all the regular characters at Liberty Tree Tavern

Low Points

None to speak of.


Day 7 – Saturday October 25

Planned Activities:
  • Sunrise Safari Tour at Animal Kingdom (from the Lodge)
  • Dinner PS – Restaurant Marrakech at Epcot
  • Cirque Du Soleil at Downtown Disney

What Really Happened

Up real early today for the Sunrise Safari ride. We were taken over to the park by a special bus, and strait onto the morning ride through AK. We did this last year and had a great time of it, and this time was good too with two exceptions.

For those who do not know what this is, it's a ride through the AK safari, but they stop and talk about animals, the park, and other things. It is followed by a big breakfast buffet at the Tusker House.

The first issue was the ride was started a bit earlier and not all the animals were even out yet. No giraffe at all, which are some of my favorite animals. Other than that, I got some really nice photos, and the guides were great.

The second issue was the buffet. This time they seat you in assigned seats. This ended up breaking us up from Sue and Chris. And while they were at our table, there were other people between us. At first this did not sit well with either of us. But after talking to the two guys that were between us, we ending up have a great conversation with them and forgot all about the seating issues.

We ended up seeing them a few times in the lounge on Sunday and spent more time talking to them. So it all worked out for the better in the end.

We spent the rest of the day up until we had to leave for Epcot doing Animal Kingdom. I always love doing Dinosaur! Love that ride, so that was first up on the list. We also got to see the new Lion King building. And it was great to see the reaction of Sue and Chris in "It's tough to be a bug" knowing about all the theater tricks that are going to happen. They both yelled out with the "bee stinger" and the "bugs leaving the theater" gags.

Then off to Epcot for the dinner at Restaurant Marrakech. I had the bobs, and everyone else had one of the combo dinners, and we watched the belly dancing get all the kids up dancing during the meal.

We a little bit of time before the Cirque show, so we turned in our special entry passes for Test Track we got from the Undiscovered Furuteworld tour. When we were looking at the picture it took of us, Chris had that same fear of death look on his face. My wife and I did a "Home Alone" kind of scream that came out good. It was a funny picture.

Then on to Downtown Disney for the Cirque show which was great. I really love that show. My hands are always raw from clapping so much by the end of the night.

High Points

Cirque Du Soleil show.

Low Points

A less than great, but still good Sunrise Safari.

(to be continued...)
 

AkiraRaptor

Meega, nala kwishta!
Original Poster
Day 8 – Sunday October 26

Planned Activities:
  • Dinner PS – Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Boardwalk

What Really Happened

Sue and Chris were leaving this day. We all went over to the Marketplace at Downtown Disney to do some shopping in the morning. Picked up so new Stitch stuffed animals, some new shirts, some jewelry, and other knick-knacks.

Went back to the resort, and said our good-byes to Sue and Chris and walked them out of the resort. Sue's last request before she left was she wanted one of the Zebra carvings they sell at the AKL shop. We had bought the last one earlier in the week and she wanted one too.

So after they left we started our Zebra scavenger hunt. Off to AKL it was. And after checking every shop, we finally found one as we were giving up and leaving the park.

We then went to Epcot for lunch at the Rose and Crown. I had to get in a Fish and Chips on this trip. And did some more shopping and took in the Food and Wine one last time. Then returned back to AKL to drop off our purchases and get ready for dinner.

We drove over to the Boardwalk and had are car valet parked. I'd like to pause here and say never self park at this resort. We did that on our last trip, and let me tell you. It's a very long walk from self parking to that resort. Very long!

We walked around the resort since our friends hadn't arrived yet. It's a nice place, but like GF, it just to "upper scale" for our tastes. I always feel under dressed in places like GF or BW. Maybe that's one of the things that we like so much about AKL. It so relaxing and we never get the feeling that we need to look good to be there. It's the same with Poly and WL, you just feel relaxed at those places, were at GF and BW, we felt somewhat uncomfortable in the surroundings.

Our friends arrived and we proceeded to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner. It's a very nice place to eat. The food and service was great. One of the best steaks I've had in years.

After dinner, our friends followed us back to AKL, and we gave them a tour of the resort. The guides had the night vision glasses out, so we all watched the animals for a while, then we headed to the Victory Falls lounge for drinks and conversation. It was well into midnight before we parted.

We headed back to the room and turned in.


High Points

Dinner and seeing our friends again

Low Points

Last night in Disney World

Day 9 – Monday October 27

Planned Activities:
  • Check-Out
  • Travel Home

What Really Happened

Started the morning off right with breakfast at Boma's! I love that place for breakfast. Did some last minuet shopping in the resort shop, and picked up some gifts for co-workers. Packed up all our stuff, and called a bellhop.

Checked out and began our trip home.

High Points

Boma

Low Points

Leaving Disney of course!

Conclusion:

This was a pretty good vacation. It was different sharing the trip with other people. We defiantly had to change things around from our normal routines to compensate for it. And I missed a few rides that I always do like PotC and DisneyQuest. But the change was good.

No big issues to speak of. Everything went pretty smooth, and the concierge staff was excellent as usual.

I only wish it could have been longer.


And that's it...I hope there was some usefull things I had to say in all of that. :D
 

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