Trip Report (11/21 - 11/28)

[helliker]

Introduction

This was my second trip this year but my 3rd ever. This time I went with my mother (Lauren), sister (Michelle), and brother (Jeff). At 21, I am the youngest of the bunch, we are a bunch of old timers. It was my mom's first trip since 1984, which was my very first trip. I don't remember much about that trip. Quite a bit has changed since then, and she had a good time as did all of us. I will post the pictures I took with my digital camera on my website in a couple days. I'll post a link when they are up, so stay tuned.

 

[helliker]

Day One - Arrival, Check-In, Downtown Disney

Flew from Syracuse to Charlotte, then on to Orlando. I think the first flight left at around 7am. The flights were all on-time for a change and they were relatively smooth. Arrived at Orlando early afternoon and had to wait for our shuttle. We arrived at the All-Star Music resort and found no one in line. We were checked in within about 5 minutes and our rooms were ready early. However, we were dissappointed to learn that the e-ride night for the 26th was cancelled. It turned out that we didn't need it though. This was the first time I stayed in a Disney resort and although the resort is ugly, for the price it is very good. The transportation was almost always great, and the room itself was comfortable. After dropping off our luggage and changing into shorts (30 degrees in Syracuse to 70 in Orlando), we left for Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney was nearly deserted this day. My brother and I went to DisneyQuest, while my mom and sis went shopping. I've never been to DisneyQuest and I have mixed feelings about it. I love video games, and they have an impressive amount of games, but I was only there for 4 hours and I think it would have been cheaper paying $1 for each game at the local arcade. Now if we had stayed for 12 hours or so, that would have been a different story. The virtual reality games such as Pirates of the Carribean and Alien Encounter are ok, but could've been much better. To me the main draw was being able to play the arcade games as long as you wanted. Also got some of that wonderful cheesecake upstairs. We were lucky the first couple days of our trip. I never had to wait in line for anything at DisneyQuest. After that, we met outside of Planet Hollywood for dinner. There was no wait and actually we had about 4 waiters fighting over us when we got through the door. The service here unexpectedly was the best of any of the restaurants we ate at. Mainly because the waiter had no other tables to wait on! After a little bit of shopping, we went back to the hotel. I found that I really wasn't in the mood to shop on the first day.

 

[helliker]

Day Two - Magic Kingdom

This was by far the best day I had at any of the Disney parks ever! We had breakfast reservations at Tony's before the park opened and dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern after it closed. It was great being able to walk around a nearly deserted Main Street before and after closing. It was my first time eating at either of these places. Tony's had good food and there weren't many people there. This meant that all the characters spent quite a bit of time with us and also the service was pretty good. After getting filled up, it's natural to get on some rides, and we did quite a few of them. We were able to get in almost every ride (a couple of them multiple times) before the park closed at 6. The maximum wait time we encountered was 15 minutes. Started out in Tommorrowland (my favorite area) with Buzz Lightyear, then Alien Encounter, then Space Mountain (my favorite ride). Space Mountain was great because my brother and I (we're pretty big guys), were put on a train with 3 other fairly big guys. I swear we set a new speed record on that ride! After riding the TTA we did just about everything in Fantasyland, followed by Libery Square, Frontierland, and Adventureland. The highpoint of the trip was being able to ride Big Thunder 3 times in a row at closing time with no wait. We even got to see Fantasy In the Sky while on the ride! After all the excitement, we headed back for dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. We had to wait a couple minutes but the food was excellent. I loved the way the food was served family style. After dinner, another truly magical moment. Absolutely no one was on Main Street as we exited! We took the time to take pictures with no one around but a few cast members. The 2nd day was over and the trip could only go downhill already, and it did.

Ooops, almost forgot to mention The Country Bears Christmas Special! It was tottally unexpected, actually it was supposed to be closed on this day. I actually like the Christmas show better than the original since I like Christmas music and hate Country music. It was also fun to see the characters in their Christmas outfits. You'll see 'em when I post the pics.

 

[helliker]

Day Three - Epcot

Busier than our day at Magic Kingdom, but still not as busy as when I was there in June. It was a long day (9am-9pm) but we did almost everything Epcot has to offer. It was unseasonably cool on this day and went into the 40's at night with a high in the low 60's during the day. I got to do a couple of things I have never done before including Living With the Land, Food Rocks, and El Rio Del Tiempo. The first ride we went on was Test Track and although there was a 15 minute wait posted, it was more like 30 minutes because the ride broke down while we were waiting. A lot of people don't like this ride but it is definitely one of my faves at Epcot. The only thing wrong with it is its long waiting time. I realized that it's not the rides that I like at Epcot, it's the atmosphere. There is so much eye-candy while walking through the park, there's a sensory overload. As a matter of fact, the only rides I really like at Epcot are Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and Maelstrom. We ate at the Garden Grille and I think this was my favorite food out of all the places we ate during this trip. Served family-style like Liberty Tree Tavern, but with better food. However, I didn't think the atmosphere was that good. After finishing everything in Future World except Innoventions West, we went onto World Showcase and got through Mexico, China, and Norway. I didn't make it to Mexico or China last trip and China has become one of my favorite Pavillions, probably tied with Japan. I think the China 360 degree movie is the best of the bunch and we also got to see the acrobats after walking out of the movie. Maelstrom was broken down on our first attempt, but we went back about a half hour later and it was open again. Rode that and then had dinner at Restuarant Akershus. I didn't like the food here too much, and the service wasn't that good either. I think my brother was the only one who liked it. This is one of the two buffets we ate at. After dinner, my mom and sis sat down by a really nice spot alongside the lagoon and waited for Illuminations while my brother and I went to ride Test Track again. It had a longer wait time posted but it was actually shorter than the previous ride. My brother was chosen to be the card-bearer for Flick this time. It was incredibly cold when we got to the outside part. I had a thin jacket on but I was still wearing shorts. After the ride we headed back to the lagoon for Illuminations. The first time I saw the show (in June) I was behind a tree. This time I had an unobstructed view and got some nice pictures. I think this has become my favorite show at WDW over Fantasmic. My brother, sister, and mom went shopping in Mouse Gear while I sat and watched the fountain show twice out in the cold. They took forever! It was a very nice day though.

 

[General Grizz]

Sounds like you had fun!! I am also glad to hear you enjoyed the "Country Bear Christmas Special!" I can't wait to see pictures!

:sohappy:

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Mmmmmm - Garden Grill :slurp:

 

[helliker]

Day Four - Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hoop Dee Doo

This was the first day where we had to change our plans. We rearranged the 2nd half of our trip because of many factors like weather, transportation problems, and high attendance. We ended up missing half of our priority seating arrangements. This originally was planned to be a Blizzard Beach day, but we decided it was too cold and went to Animal Kingdom instead. This was my mom's favorite park and I love it as well. It is the most beatiful park if you ask me, it just needs a little more to do - we had done just about everything in 5 hours. It also was a beatifully sunny day. There was a lot of people there but the wait times were reasonable. We even decided to go on Dinosaur 2 times in a row. My brother wanted to go a third time (it's one of his favorite rides) but I didn't want to go though the briefing movie and everything again. We ate lunch at the Flame Tree Barbecue and the food was ok, but it was a wonderful setting. We got a seat right by the water that goes between Asia and Discovery Island. I still have not gotten to go on Kali River Rapids because it was broken when we were there. I don't think my family was too keen on getting wet anyways, it was a bit cool. We were done with Animal Kingdom ahead of schedule so we decided to go to Magic Kingdom to pass time before the Hoop Dee Doo Revue show at 9:30. What we found there wasn't good. It was probably the busiest I have ever seen the place. We went on a couple rides, I think Pirates, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, and Haunted Mansion. The Pirates line was the biggest I've ever seen it - with both sides of the queue open the line went outside. We took the ferry to Fort Wilderness about 2 hours before the show and we got to see most of Fantasy In the Sky while on the boat. It's kinda funny, I've never seen it normally, only on Big Thunder and on the ferry. We always skipped it completely the last trip. We had about an hour and a half to kill before the show and I was still wet from Splash Mountain (I sat in the front). It was also cold again, going into the 40's and I didn't have my jacket. Also, this was our longest day, and I wasn't feeling too good. The Hoop Dee Doo show is kinda a blur but the hot food sure did feel good. I didn't have much of an appetite though. The show itself was decent but the service left much to be desired. I had to fight to get my drink refilled. I definitely do not think it was worth the effort or the price though. Transportation back to the All Stars was a nightmare. We had to take a bus to another section of Fort Wilderness (had to wait for the 2nd bus because the first was full). And then when we got to the next stop we had to wait for a bus to Downtown Disney (again had to wait for the 2nd bus). There we had to transfer to the All Star bus and the driver of that bus was crazy. He must have been going about twice as fast as the other busses on the road, but at least he got us back quickly, we were exhausted and didn't get back till around 1am (we woke up at 7am or so).

 

[helliker]

Day Five - Blizzard Beach, Downtown Disney

We originally had planned to go to Blizzard Beach the day before but it was cool and they had broadcasted on the news for it to be around 80 on this day. I don't think it was that hot and the water in the wave pool was very cool. The water on the slides and in the creek was a bit warmer. The park was pretty crowded but the lines weren't bad. There was less people there than when I was there in June. I went on a couple of the water slides and took a couple trips around the creek. I think we were there about 5 hours and I had a good time. While waiting for Teamboat Springs I noticed that you can see just about every Disney Landmark on top of Mt. Gushmore (Tree of Life, Space Mountain, Contemporary, Earful Tower, Tower of Terror, Spaceship Earth). Blizzard Beach closes early, so we decided to go back to Downtown Disney again since we were in more of a buying mood now (a Disney vacation always does this to you). We ate at Rainforest Cafe which had an hour and a half wait. The place was absolutely mobbed! Someone in line told us that even at McDonalds the wait was really long too. I really like the Rainforest Cafe, they have excellent food and a good atmosphere, it's relatively cheap too. Most importantly they give you large portions . I had pizza and banana cheesecake (yum). Lots of cheesecake on this trip.

 

[helliker]

Day Six - Disney-MGM Studios

This was the worst day of the trip and it's a shame because it's my 2nd favorite park (Magic Kingdom being my fave). It was early entry day but that did not do much good for us. We saw Star Tours and Muppets 3D with little waiting but by 9am the place was packed! We overheard a castmember say that this was the busiest the park had been in months. We ate breakfast at Hollywood & Vine and it was delicious, the best breakfast we had on the trip. After the breakfast the day took a turn for the worst. It was extremely frustrating. First we went to see how the wait on the Great Movie Ride was. 45 minutes, we decided too long. We then decided to have my mom and sis go to Indiana Jones to wait as we got Little Mermaid fastpasses. When we got to Indy we found out that there was standing room only, 30 minutes before the show began! Then we decided to do Who Wants To Be A Millionaire because they were letting people in. We were the next in line when they announced that it was full and the next show was in an hour. I have yet to see that attraction. We decided to go on the Backlot Tour because with a 25 minute wait, it was the smallest in the park. After that bit of uglyness, the day improved. We saw the Beaty and the Beast show for the first time and got good seats because we went during the parade. They announced at the beginning of the show that there was going to be a 2nd Fantasmic showing at 7:30. We decided to skip our dinner arrangement at 50's Primetime Diner (I love that place!) so we could go on more rides before the later Fantasmic. We also got to see the Osbourne Family Lights which was up and running ahead of schedule. It was quite the amazing display. They even give you 3D glasses and you can see hidden angels in the displays when you put them on. After that we got in line for Fantasmic about 45 minutes early. They only began to let people into the theatre 15 minutes before the show, the previous audience must have left a mess. The theatre wasn't completely full surprisingly, I bet most didn't know about the 2nd showing. After Fantasmic went shopping and headed back to the hotel where we ate dinner.

 

[helliker]

Day Seven - Magic Kingdom, Epcot

We had priority seating arrangements for breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We were going to take the bus to Magic Kingdom and then the monorail to the Contemporary, but the bus for MK was late! While we waited, 3 busses for Epcot, and 2 for Animal Kingdom and Studios showed up, but no MK bus. I think they must have been filling up at the All-Star Sports resort. So, we decided to skip our breakfast because we would have been almost an hour late for our priority seating. Getting to MK early was good though because we got to see the opening ceremony for the first time. The rest of the day was good, despite fairly big crowds. Was able to beat most of the lines by using fastpasses. At MK, we basically went on all our favorites like Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Spaceranger Spin. Also went on the riverboat. Ate lunch at the Colombia Harbor House which is my favorite place for counter service. There was only like 10 other people in there too! The tuna sandwiches are amazing. We were happy with leaving MK around 4 so we went down Main Street to do some shopping and decided to take the monorail to Epcot to finish the World Showcase and do a couple rides in Future World. We went on Spaceship Earth and Figment and then headed to Canada where we were extremely lucky. We were able to walk right into Le Cellier Steakhouse with no wait! I think it might have been during the parade but in any case we were lucky, the inside was full, we must have gotten the last table. The food was delicious, but extremely expensive and also the serving sizes were a little small. But, I was in the mood for some little food things in World Showcase to fill me up anyways. Went to the Japanese store and bought a bunch of candy and soda. Also bought the kakigori ice which I love! Honeydew flavor is the best. Went onto Germany and bought pretzels (got the last 2), and then decided to find a spot for our 2nd showing of Illuminations. This time we weren't as lucky finding an open spot, but luckily I am pretty tall and can see over most people :animwink:. After illuminations, we did a little shopping to kill time so we could beat the bus rush. And reluctantly, we had to leave the park. It was the end of our last day of the trip . After packing it was time for :snore: because our shuttle for the next day arrived at 6:30am.

 

[helliker]

Day Eight - Check Out, Departure, Thanksgiving

The shuttle and flights were all on-time again despite snow in the northeast. This time flew from Orlando to Pittsburgh, and then to Syracuse. Arrived home in the afternoon after picking up frozen pizza for our Thanksgiving dinner :slurp:. We would have our real Thanksgiving dinner the day after Thanksgiving. I unpacked all the stuff I bought and ate some more of my candy and fell asleep at about 6pm. I woke up the next day around 8am. I was a little tired... Can't wait until the next trip, I'm already talking with my friends about going in a year! Stay tuned for pictures (probably tommorrow).

 

[bvolguards]

I'm glad you had a good time but, you definitly picked one of the busiest times of the year to go and although it stinks when there are a ton of people.....its good to see the crowds coming back (like you overheard the cm say at mgm)....here is a hint.....go anytime the week after thanksgiving to the week before xmas......very little crowds, nice weather and all the xmas decorations are up....im going 12/11 through 12/16 and cant wait

 

[Walt148]

Glad you had a great time. It looks like you were their the same time I was there, 11/23/02 - 11/28/02.

 

[helliker]

Next year I definitely want to go in early December but this year I couldn't because I'm a student and I have classes during December. The first half of the trip wasn't very busy, so I think maybe a week earlier would be good too. I put up the pics I took, you can access them at http://hellikerii.rh.rit.edu/pics/wdw2002/ . Some of the pictures didn't come out too well, particularly the ones at night. But I got some really good ones in there too. Also you can see that in the first couple of pictures there were very few people on Main Street. These were taken at the beginning of the trip. I also have pictures at the end of the album that were taken the last day. By then the Christmas decorations were up and the crowds were bigger. Now to pass the time until the next trip...