Disney World Middle School Trip - May 2010 - Day 1

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Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
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As this was a school trip there were a few sort of interesting restrictions on what we could and could not do. To begin with, we all had to be in the same general area as at least one of the official school reps (being Matt or Mike). What that meant was that we all had to go to the same place at the same time. If, say, someone wanted to leave the park we were visiting in the middle of the day to go to the pool, either Matt or Mike would have to go back to the hotel as well. Also, us chaperons were told in no uncertain terms that we needed to stay with our charges at all times

Charlotte, Michelle and Zoe

So, we all met up to catch the bus at the All Star bus stop. One thing to note - and I wish I had taken a picture, was that Matt's wife Jessica and their one year-old son Parker came along for the trip. They had dressed Parker in a Disney Animal Kingdom outfit (our destination for the morning) including a safari outfit and hate. Very cute. Matt's parents also came along - very nice folks. Anyway, my charges were my daughter Charlotte and her friends Michelle and Zoe.

I mentioned earlier that we were to go on a "scavenger hunt". Basically the idea was that Matt and Mike set up a bunch of activities - most of them music related - for the kids to participate in. You would get points for each activity with chances for extra points. As an example you might get a number of points for seeing a show and extra points for participating. The team with the most points would win an iTunes gift certificate for each member  as well as the chance to choose any song to sing or play in any song of their choosing at the year-end concert. It was the chance to perform any song of their choosing that motivated my group, They were determined to win. And they thought that I was their "ringer" - that my knowledge of the parks would make us a cinch to win. I was flattered, but I also tried to mange their expectations.

The first park on our agenda was Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK). Matt and Mike had arranged for a group breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe (RFC) to start our first day. It was quite fun with a large breakfast buffet and the food was actually pretty good. After leaving RFC we all went to Guest Services to get out park-hopper passes. After we got our passes I took my group to the entry gate and... our tickets were rejected. Looking at the passes the reason was clear - they were not valid until the next day. We all went back to Guest Services and the error was rectified in about 10 or 15 minutes (not bad considering we your talking about a party of about 40) and we were still in the park by about 8:45. This turned out to be the on and only organization glitch of the trip, which as I wrote earlier was very well organized.

Now, my experience going to WDW has lead to my developing some fairly loose touring plans for each park. In particular I have a plan I use when first arriving at any park. My approach is to get as many Fastpasses (FP) and experience as many of the most popular attractions as possible in the morning while the lines are shorter. At AK it's a bit different because one of the first attractions that should be experienced is Kilimanjaro Safari (KS) because the animals are most active in the morning, yet KS is not an attraction that usually justifies a FP. So, my usual approach is to go straight to Expedition Everest (EE) and get a FP for that, ride EE if lines are short then head straight to KS. This didn't quite work for us this morning.

Animal Kingdom parade

First, as I mentioned, we got into the park a bit late (45 minutes after opening). Second, as I mentioned, the girls really wanted to win the scavenger hunt (I'm going to use the abbreviation SH from now on) and one of the items on the SH was Mickey's Jammin' Jungle parade which was going on when we first got there. The requirements of the SH were such that you had to provide photos proving you participated so I took a (fairly lame) photo of the parade. Later I realized I forgot to make sure the girls were in the picture as well - I would not make that mistake again.


We got to EE at about 9:15. We got our FPs (9:55) and as the line was short we rode it right away. Zoe and Michelle had never ridden EE and they both loved it. After riding I tried to convince the girls to go straight to KS but they weren't all that interested - they wanted to ride EE again. Well, I could not argue with that logic so we rode a second time getting on at about 9:30.


We then went to KS but the line was 30 minutes which we thought was too long and we could not get another FP yet so instead we walked through the Pangani Exploration Trail (PET) instead. I really enjoy this as well as AKs other main walking trail the Maharajah Jungle Trek in the Asia section. Upon exiting PET we got FPs for KS.

Zoe, Michelle and Charlotte

Another item on the SH was the Nemo show in the "Theater in the Wild" in Dinoland. There was a 10:30 show the girls wanted to catch so we started toward Dinoland - sort of. I messed up and took us to Camp Minnie Mickey instead. Ooops. A bit embarrassing considering I'm supposed to be the expert. Well, we still made it to the theater in time for a show. The girls got credit for going to the theater and extra credit for seeing the show.


After the show we rode Dinosaur with a 10 minute wait. We then headed back to Asia in hopes of getting a FP for Kali River Rapids (KRR) but the FP machines were shut down. So instead we headed to KS and used our FPs. Even though the girls expressed limited interest in riding KS they ended up enjoying it quite a bit. We then headed to Kali River Rapids. The line was not too long so we rode. As usual, I got soaked. Good thing it was a hot day. So hot in fact that we headed to the Tree of Life so that we could enjoy the air-conditioning of "It's Tough to be a Bug".

Another SH item was "Festival of the Lion King. We saw the 2:30 show (I highly recommend this show, BTW) so the girls got credit for seeing it. Try as we may they did not get picked to join in the show which would have gotten them even more credit. We were supposed to be at the Magic Kingdom no later than 4:00 which meant we had no time to use our FPs for EE. A bummer but then we did get to ride it twice in the morning. On our way out we saw a steel drum band and the girls joined in with them. They were not on the official SH list but I knew that all of the SH activities (save one) were focused around music so I took a picture of the girls with the musicians hoping it could be an extra credit tie breaker. We left AK having done every item on the SH that we could have done (The World Drumming Experience was not happening that day so far as we could tell and). We left the park and hopped a bus to the Magic Kingdom (MK).




Admiring our "brick"



We arrived at MK at 3:50. First thing on the agenda was to visit the Thompson Family Brick in the entrance plaza to MK. Every time we make a trip to WDW I am afraid we'll find our brick is gone - and every time I am pleasantly surprised that it is still there. A bit warn and harder to read, but there in it's great spot a few feet over from one of the trees in the entrance plaza.

We immediately went to Adventureland for Dole Whips. I can tell you that Matt and Mike must also be Dole Whip fans - because having a Dole Whip was the only non-music task on the SH.  (Why do I keep hearing Stooie Griffin saying "Dole wHip") I should note here that the one of the absolutely required duties of the chaperons was to never leave their charges alone. Well, this was the one and only time I failed in that regard - and I felt awful about it. The Dole Whip line was pretty long and I wanted to get Splash Mountain (SplM) FPs, so I let the girls wait in line while I got the FPs. And of course when I was in the SplM FP who else was there but Matt. I didn't want to get busted so I sort of slunk away. I don't know if Matt saw me, he didn't say anything. Funny thing, talking to other chaperons later I learned that there were a few who pretty much abandoned their charges altogether. One guy, rumor has it, even left his kids to hang out in the pub in the England pavilion when we were in Epcot. So... I didn't feel so bad.

We headed over to Space Mountain (SpM). There we met up with Matt and his group. They all had FPs and we didn't, but the line was only 20 minutes so we all went for it. We then went to Fantasyland to do Mickey's Philharmagic (another SH attraction). I have to say, I really enjoy Philharmagic. By now our SplM FP time was up (4:50) so we stayed with Matt's group and headed there. On the way the girls harmonized to "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger - one of the songs they were going to do in the concert. I thought that was pretty cool.

From there we headed to to SplM but we were sidetracked by the fact that Haunted Mansion (HM) was a walk-on so we decided to do that. Good thing to - we had heard about the new queue area and that if you use the left side going in you will go through the new stuff. Very cool! We really enjoyed taking our time and enjoying all the new stuff .

After that we went over to SplM and... it was closed. Bummer. Instead we headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR) which had a 30 minute wait (not unusual when SplM is down). Once again we met up with Matt and his crew. The posted 30 minute wait ended up only being 14 minutes. After BTMRR we were all hungry so we went to Columbia Harbor House for a snack (one of the best counter service places in MK IMO). There we met up with a bunch of others included Matt's parents, wife and son.

After eating we decided to go on SpM again. We got there and... it was closed. Batting 1000 with those mountains! Anyway, by then a bunch of people had headed back to the hotel to go swimming and my crew thought that sounded awesome to we headed back to All Star Music. We still had a bunch of stuff on the SH, but we would be coming back to MK later. Back at the hotel the girls went swimming, we had supper in the food court and then the girls settled in for homework and bed (this was a school trip after all). After the girls were settled in a bunch of the chaperon went to the bar to hang out and relax for a bit. All in all a very fun day.

Disney World Middle School Trip - May 2010 - Day 2

Intro
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Home

Day 2 was to be all day at Epcot. Two things dominated this day - first, there was a bunch of stuff on the SH in Epcot an as that was our only day there, plus the girls were determined to win, we would have our work cut out for us. One thing we had found out after the first day was that our only real competition for the SH was a team that included the son of Nick, the guying I was rooming with (most of the chaperon's were doubled-up). Nick himself was not the chaperon for the team, but his son was on the team. Unlike us, apparently they were able to get picked to get onstage during "Festival of the Lion King".


We had breakfast at the All Stars food court and headed over to Epcot. A quick note about the All Stars. I know a lot of folks aren't crazy about the All Stars, the rooms are small and all (which is true), but I have stayed at the All Stars several times and enjoyed it. The decor is fun, there's a high energy vibe about them that I enjoy and they all have nice pools. Now we are DVC members and own at The Boardwalk and obviously I'd much rather stay there, but for the price I think the All Stars are great.

We left early so we were able to get to Epcot for rope drop. Our plan was to head straight to "The Land" and get a FP for Soarin' so we tried to position ourselves appropriately. We watched the rope drop ceremony and then walked with the Cast Member (CM) to the entrance to "The Land". They let everyone in a bit early so they held us at the entrance to "The Land" for a bit longer, but characters came out to entertain the crowd. Once we were let in we immediately headed for the FP distribution and we got FPs for 9:48. We then rode Soarin' using the standby line. Something that I pretty much always do when I ride Soarin' is to ask for row 1. It may take a bit longer but it's well worth it. So we decided to do that for our first ride.


One of the items on the SH was JAMitors. Most of the SH items were in the World Showcase (WS) so I was keeping my ears peeled for the JAMitors but I could not hear them. We got FPs for Test Track (TT) for 10:35 and then went on Mission Space. I think I've ridden Mission Space about 6 or 7 times and I enjoy it more each time - it's a very unique ride. And if you are wondering, yes we rode the "full" (Orange) version. After Mission Space we went to Innoventions. One of the girls had heard about a game (sorry - I don't recall the name) where you stand in front of a green screen and get photographed, and your images are used in a video game. It was silly beyond words but the girls had fun doing it.


After that it was our FP time for TT so we headed over, but when we got there we saw that we were early because the sign said 10:15. We walked away when I thought "wait a minute - no way it's 1015!" I checked my watch and sure enough it was 11:00. We headed back and, sure enough were were able to get in to ride. We then decided to use our FPs for Soarin', but once we got there the girls said they were hungry so we stopped at Season's (another of my favorite WDW counter service restaurants) for an early lunch. After lunch, at about 12:10, we rode Soarin' for the second time. When we left Soarin' it was extremely hot so we headed to Club Cool - and of course I had to make the girls try the Beverly. They were, of course, duly horrified. When we left Club Cool we finally saw them - the JAMitors! We caught them near the end of their act and yet the girls were still able to Jam with the JAMitors and even earned their honorary JAMMitor stickers. (Of course we heard later that one of the kids in the competing team actually drummed with the JAMitors... arggghh...)

It was tune to head over to the World Showcase (WS). There were a lot of SH items in WS and the girls were determined to do all of them. I looked at the performance schedule and figured out a plan of attack that I thought would allow the girls to get to most if not all of the tasks on the list. The items we were able to check off, in order, were:

• The traditional drummers in Japan (sorry, I don't recall the name)
• We missed the Voices of Liberty but they were able to get a picture with them
• Oktoberfest in Germany where they danced
• The fife and drum corps where they became enlistees - even though at first they were told they were too old
• The Voices of Liberty performed again - this time we saw them
• Off Kilter in Canada - where they danced
• The Mariachi band in Mexico
• We looked for "The British Invasion" in England but apparently they no longer perform there
• And the highlight - belly dancing with Mo' Rockin' in Morocco

Here are pictures:

Japanese drummers

Voices of Liberty

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

Fife & Drum enlistees

Listening to Voices of Liberty

Dancing with Off Kilter

Mariachi

Belly Dancing with Mo' Rockin'

Having successfully accomplished everything on the SH list that we could, we decided to go to Norway and ride one of the best attractions in WS - Maelstrom which had a 20 minute wait. After that it was time for the kids to have an early dinner and meet up with all the other kids for a studio session. As part of the package for performing at WDW they got a couple of hours in a professional quality studio for a recording session. We went to the America Pavilion for an early supper (I didn't eat) after which all the kids met up at a backstage entrance near Italy where they would be taken to the recording studio. I met up with a friend named Di who told me that she was meeting her daughter's boyfriend at La Hacienda de San Angel (HdSA) later for dinner. She said that they had an extra space in their reservation if I wanted to join them. I thought that sounded good so we arranged to meet later.

Now that we were rid of those pesky kids all us chaperons had some time to ourselves so a bunch of us headed to - where else? - the Rose & Crown Pub in the England pavilion. A bunch of folks were having a drink called a Pim. I tried a sip, and quickly decided to stick to my old stand-by Guinness. I struck up a conversation with another one of the Dads named Dave who I knew because our daughters used to be friends (they're still acquaintances, but not that close anymore). Anyway, Dave was also a DVC member and we talked about different DVC resorts. Interestingly, he had never used his points to stay at his home resort (Saratoga Springs) and we have never used our points at WDW to stay anywhere EXCEPT our home resort (Boardwalk). (We have exchanged points outside of Disney and have stayed in Hilton Head and Vero Beach, and on one trip we were moved to Saratoga Springs because our room at the Boardwalk was flooded). When I said this he said "Well, if MY home resort was the Boardwalk I'd stay there too." I have to say I agree...

Dave, his wife Holly, my room-mate Nick and I then left the Rose and Crown and walked around the WS for a while enjoying the sights and drinking beer. We all had dinner reservations so we separated to go to our various dinner venues. We were near the boat launch by Germany and I was headed for Mexico, so I boarded the boat and headed off.

I met Di and her family at HdSA and we waited for our Advanced dining reservation (ADR) to come up. And we waited. And waited. And waited. By the time we were seated we had waited well over 40 minutes. I have to say at this point that I have been to HdSA exactly twice - and both times I had the same experience. First, it took forever to get seated. Then, it took forever to get waited on. Then it took forever to get our food. The menu is interesting but i have to say it feels like they are trying too hard to be unique.It's not bad mind you, but I had a hard time finding anything that appealed to me. I actually ended up ordering from the appetizer menu - which I also did the one other time I was there. In fact, if I recall, I even ordered the same thing (a taco sampler). That said, the decor is absolutely stunning.This place is really beautiful. They just really have an issue with their service.

In fact, the service was so bad that Di and I had to leave before we got the bill. I left some cash and Di gave her credit card to her daughter and off we went. We headed back to Italy to the agreed upon meeting place to retrieve our kids after their recording session. Of course they were late and we ended up waiting for them anyway so we really didn't need to rush.

After getting out kids we all watched Illuminations. It was time to head back to the room after that, and this is a time I really dread - heading back to your resort via bus transportation after the park closes. Especially the All Stars. In this case, however, it wasn't bad and we were back in our rooms in no time. After such a long day the kids were wiped out so they went straight to bed. Again, some of us adults headed over to the pool bar for a drink. The end of another full Disney day.

Disney World Middle School Trip - May 2010 - Day 3

Intro
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Home

Day 3 of the trip - which was to be our last in the parks - was a big big day. 2 parks plus the big concert. WOOHOO this was going to be crazy but fun.


And speaking of crazy... in a rare instance of bad Disney planning, Matt & Mike decided that the first park of the day would be Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS). Why was this a bad choice? Our day at DHS just so happened to coincide with the grand re-opening of the new Star Tours (ST). The bad news - huge crowds expected. The good news - the predictions of huge crowds actually kept everyone who wasn't there for the big re-opening away, so it actually wasn't as bad as many thought it would be. I should say that the predicted crowds kept everyone else away except us.


Upon entering the park it was clear that Star Wars was the order of the day. As we entered we say Storm Troopers standing atop the entrance gate ordering the crowds around. Now I should say that Charlotte is a big Star Wars fan, and under other circumstances we definitely would have ridden ST (and undoubtedly will the next time we go back). For us though, the big ride we wanted to go on was Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM). So our first priority was to get FPs for TSMM. The problem was, with all the crowd control stuff in place for ST we had to take a very roundabout route. Along the way we checked out the FP times for ST - and they were at 3:45. No thanks. Actually it was moot as we would be gone  by then anyway.

Trying out hats at the RnRC gift shop

We got to TSMM, picked up our FPs and as the standby time said 10 minutes we decided to ride. In reality it was basically a walk-on. It's also nice to walk through the queue area and see all of the cool details. I also pointed out to the girls what the queue area was supposed to represent and pointed out how the ride was set up like a toy and you go into the box of the toy. I always say that one of the problems I have with FP is that you often bypass the queue areas, and some of the queue areas are nearly as good as the attractions themselves.


One attraction that held a double appeal for us was Rock 'N Roller Coaster (RnRC). First, everyone was excited to ride. Second, it was on the SH. So we headed over to Sunset Boulevard. The standby line said 30 minutes but we couldn't get a FP anyway so we got in the line.The girls wanted to ride in the front so we had to wait a bit longer but it was still only 23 minutes. @ of the girls sat in the front and I sat in the 2nd row with the other. As always, the super-stretch was rockin'!

Stars are born!

We left RnRC and decided to check out The American Idol Experience (AIE) - another item on the SH list. When we got to the end of Sunset Boulevard, however, we discovered that, due to a special parade for ST, we quite literally could not get to the area of the park where AIE resides. In fact, we couldn't get across the plaza at all. So, we headed back up Sunset Boulevard. We could now get another FP. I suggested Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (TZToT) but the girls said they'd rather to RnRC again so we got FPs for that. We then watched the 10:15 showing of Beauty and the Beast - another item on the SH - even though we were a bit late.

The decided to use out FP for TSMM, but when we got there we were a bit early so we walked through Walt Disney - One Man's Dream. You never have to ask me to walk through this exhibit - I've always been fascinated with Walt Disney and I love looking at all the memorabilia. Upon leaving we ran into Matt and his group so we stopped and visited for a while. After that we used our FPs for TSMM. I was actually disappointed because my score was quite a bit lower than from our earlier ride.

With the producer after the audition

We then headed over to AIE to knock another item off of the SH list. I had done AIE in a previous trip and has a blast, and I hoped the girls would enjoy it as much as I did. Even though the girls were too young for the show (the age limit is 14 and they were all 13), they were still allowed to audition. And they all did an awesome job!


From there we went to The Great Movie Ride (GMR) but the line was too long. The kids were getting hungry so we decided to stop for lunch. With the crowds I was worried about lines, but we went to Starring Roles Cafe and the wait wasn't too bad at all. And the food was pretty good, with a good vegetarian choice for Charlotte (I know, this is the first I've mentioned she is a vegetarian). We also ran into Matt and his crew. Matt told me that they went to GMR and how there were Storm Troopers there hassling all the people in line by telling them to line up straight. It sounded like it was hilarious - too bad we missed it.


After lunch we went back to RnRC to use our FPs. After that we strolled down Sunset Boulevard and did some shopping. We made our way out of the park. Text up...


THE BIG CONCERT!


After leaving DHS, the girls were to meet up on a special bus that would take them to Downtown Disney (DD) with the other students who would be performing that afternoon. The parents, however, had to fend for themselves. A couple of us met up and hopped a bus to Saratoga Springs (SS). We told the driver that where we really wanted to go was DD, and that we had been told that the only way to do that was to take a bus to a resort and then hop a bus to DD, but if we went to SS we could walk. The driver said he would tell us the best place to get off in SS to walk to DD. Actually, a young couple on the bus overheard us and said they were doing the same thing, but that they had done it before and we could follow them. When we got off the bus some of us followed them to DD while others went off on their own. A couple of other parents and I wanted to verify where the venue was, so we went to check it out first. We found the venue - The Waterside Stage - right on the water just outside of The World of Disney.


We had some time to kill before the show, so I walked around DD and did a little shopping - mostly at the World of Disney. As the time for the show approached I made my way to the stage as some of the other parents started trickling in. I should note here that Charlotte had been complaining of hoarseness all day. As the kids started  getting ready it was clear that Charlotte was upset about something. I asked her what was going on and she said that she had lost her voice and was afraid she wouldn't be able to sing. I told her to hang in there and do her best, and I was sure she'd be fine. As the start time got closer it looked like Charlotte was getting more and more upset, to the point where some of the other parent's were asking me what was wrong with her. Finally, Matt took her aside and said something to her and I saw Charlotte laugh. She wiped her eyes, got herself together, and the show started.


And the kids were awesome! Charlotte told me that the groups who do shows at Disney are given very strict guidelines around how long they can play, and that most groups limit the number of songs that they play to allow for time between songs. Matt and Mike, on the other hand, orchestrate everything so carefully that they are able to go right from one some to the next and were therefore able to do more songs. And all that work paid off - the show went off without a hitch. And Charlotte sounded great. There was actually a sizable audience - I'd say that the parents of the kids only made up about half of the audience - and I have no doubt any of them suspected that Charlotte had been having trouble with her voice.


After the show we made our way to MK. The kids all had a special bus but the grownups had to make our own way. A couple of us caught a bus to the Tick and Transportation Center where we caught a monorail to MK. We got to MK just before 6:00 and met up with our kid. Once I re-connected with the girls the first thing we did was to get FPs for Splash Mountain (Slim). The FP time was 9:45. We then road It's a Small World (IaSW) with a 5 minute wait (the sign said 10). After that we were hungry so we headed over to Pinocchio Village Haus for dinner. We met up with Matt and his party there. Our groups joined forces again and left Pinocchio Village Haus together heading to Peter Pan Flight (PP). The line said 35 minutes at PP so we decided to get a FP instead (10:25).

We then all road Haunted Mansion (HM) Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC) together, with no line to speak of for either. After that Matt wanted to leave to accommodate some of the folks that wanted to go back to the hotel and swim, so I took his group of girls in with mine. We were near to SplM and the line had died down so we did that with a 10 minute wait. Since Matt left he gave us the FPs he had for PP which gave us enough for the 6 girls so I sat it out while they road.

For our last ride of the trip we decided n Space Mountain. The girls from Matt's group had FPs but we didn't, so we just waited in the 20 minute line. After that we strolled down Main Street and went shopping at the Emporium. We left the Park at a bit after 11 and headed back to the hotel where the girls went swimming.

Well, that pretty much concluded our trip. It was a short trip but a lot of fun. The kids had a good time, as did I, and the concert was awesome.

A couple of thoughts. First, one thing I learned on this trip... do the shows. We did a lot of shows for the scavenger hunt - something we rarely do on do on Disney trips. And we really enjoyed the shows. We saw several that I've never seen before and enjoyed them all. And not just the shows - also the other performers. Because of the scavenger hunt we sought out street performers and parades as well, and again it was a lot of fun to enjoy these aspects of the parks that we usually ignore. And speaking of the scavenger hunt - I know you're dying to know... the girls won.

Adventures with Kirk - 2004

This is a re-print of an original post to the ThompsonFamilyWeb site about a trip I took with my friend Kirk to Walt Disney World in January 2004



Kirk Intro
2001 Part 1
2001 Part 2
2001 Part 3

2002 Part 1
2002 Part 2
2002 Part 3
2002 Part 4

2004

2005 Catch-up


January 16 - Intro & arrival

Our plans for this - our third excursion to WDW - were different in a couple of ways. First, technically we did not plan it as a WDW trip. We decided to make Universal Orlando the focus of the trip. Still, we did plan on going to WDW for one of our three days there. Since you can't get a one-day ParkHopper (PH) pass at WDW, we decided that Epcot would be our Park du jour. This decision was made for one reason - the opening of Mission Space (MS), the new headliner attraction in Future World (FW). A wrinkle was added to this plan when another new attraction - Mickey's PhilarMagic (MPM) opened in the Magic Kingdom (MK).
All was made much easier when Kirk told me that he had talked to his cousin Sharon, who works at WDW (at the Port Orleans hotel). As it turns out, not only would she be able to get us in for free, but the tickets she would get for would be - you guessed it - One Day PH passes. So, this meant we could hop between parks (something that Kirk and I are pros at), and we would be able to get to both of the new attractions.
My flight was delayed because of the intense cold weather in New York, and by the time I arrived in Orlando it was 11:00. Kirk picked me up and we drove to our hotel. He had driven down earlier that day and had already checked in. He even had had a chance to use the hotel pool. We had planned to get something to eat as soon as we got to the WDW area, but by the time we got there our choices were limited. We decided on Denny's - as it was one of the few places open. We both ended up having breakfast, Kirk had sausage & eggs, and I had country fried steak & eggs. After our late-night breakfast we went to the hotel - the Sharaton Safari. I left Kirk to pick where to stay and make reservations since he can get Florida residents discounts as well as AAA discounts. We were reserved for 2 nights at the Safari at $49 a night. The hotel was certainly no Grand Floridian, but it was a great bargain at that price. Since we arrived at night I couldn't really see much, but it seemed like a pretty decent place, and the location - about a mile from Downtown Disney (DD) was about as good as you can get unless you go "on property". We finally got to bed about 2:00 AM.
January 17 - WDW - One day, three parks
We had made plans to meet Sharon - Kirk's cousin - at 8:00 the next morning at McDonald's. I got a cup of coffee, but after about 15 minutes Sharon still wasn't there. We called her on my cell phone - it seems she had forgotten to ask her husband to get her up and she overslept. No big deal, we just went for a walk. Kirk showed me where the Reedy Creek Development District building is. We walked back to McDonald's and arrived just as Sharon did. We hopped into Sharon's truck and she drove us to Disney MGM. We arrived right after park opening. Sharon took us up to the gate and we got our passes. I looked at the back of the ticket and, sure enough, it read "1 Day Park Hopper Readmission Ticket". Not something you see every day (unless you work at WDW, I guess).
Kirk and I both were under the impression that Sharon was going to spend the morning with us in the park, but she insisted that we go off as she was going to look around in some of the shops. We couldn't even convince her to join us for breakfast. So we said our good-byes and went off to start our adventures.
Our agenda at MGM as simple - Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (TZToT), Rock 'n Roller Coaster (RnRC) and breakfast at the ABC Commissary. So, off we went down Sunset Blvd. First, we got a Fastpass (FP) for RnRC. Then we rode TZToT. The "drop sequence" for TZTot is programmable and they change it on occasion. On this trip, they actually had 4 different drop sequences programmed. On our first ride the sequence was very "bouncy" - going up and down in somewhat short hops several times. They also added an image of the ghosts beckoning to you. Another major change is that they took out the lap bars and replaced them with seatbelts. So now all seats are seatbelt seats. An improvement, IMO. Overall, an awesome ride as usual, but I have to admit that the "bouncy" ride sequence got me just a touch queasy.
After TZToT we had another 15 minutes or so before we could get a FP for RnRC, so we decided to wait before heading over to the commissary. Finally we were able to get the FP tickets, and then we headed over to the commissary. As we were about to order we were surprised to learn that we just made it before the cutoff time for breakfast - which was 10:30. Now, breakfast at ABC Commissary. It's become something of a tradition for me & Kirk, and we would have been pretty bummed had we missed it. Well, we didn't and we both had the bacon & eggs platter.
We headed back down Sunset and went on RnRC. We then did TZToT again. Now, I don't know if each elevator shaft has it's own program or if they are truly random, but I do know that we went on a different elevator and it had a different drop sequence. If you're interested, only 2 shafts were open and on the first ride we had the far right shaft while we had the far left shaft on the second ride. And that second ride was a deusie! Absolutely the best drop sequence we'd experienced on TZToT.
We then headed out of MGM and headed to Epcot. We both really like the walk from MGM to Epcot, and given the choice that's the way we always go between those two parks. The first thing on our agenda was to get FP for either Mission Space (MS) or Test Track (TT) - whichever had the earlier return time. We expected that to be TT, but the return time for MS was about 1:30 while TT was about 4:45. So, we got MS FP. Since we wanted to get TT FP as well, we figured we should go off and do something else. We ended up doing Imagination!, which I knew had changed but I didn't realize the extent of the changes. My opinion of the attraction is about the same - nothing much, but a fun diversion. Changing it so that Figment is prominently featured is an improvement. After Imagination! our MS FP time was up, so we got TT FP as well. We then left Epcot to return later in the evening.
We hopped the Monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), where we toyed with taking the ferry to the Magic Kingdom (MK), but we decided on the Monorail again as there was no ferry in sight. It was about 2:00 when we got there and we were both hungry. We thought about stopping at a resort for lunch, but we both like Columbia Harbor House, so we went there instead. We stopped on our way into the park to pay the obligatory homage to my brick at the MK entrance. Now, our FP return time for TT was 5:50, and we were thinking it was a mistake to get the FP because now we couldn't get another until then. While we were eating, however, it dawned on me that, actually, the maximum wait is 2 hours. We're so used to being able to get new FPs when the time is up on whatever FP we have that I forgot about the 2 hour limit. With that, we realized that we would be able to get a FP about the time we were done with lunch. There were 2 we wanted to get - Haunted Mansion (HM) and PhilarMagic (PM). Again, we would get whichever had the earlier time.
As we ate we watched the FP time at HM (which we could see from the window), and it was right around 4:45. After finishing lunch we decided to go check out the FP time at PhilarMagic. I should point out here that the crowds at MGM were moderately light and Epcot was all but empty. MK, however, was packed. As packed as I've ever seen it. We figured that the combination of the holiday weekend and the fact that it was Saturday and, therefore, MK was open late for fireworks made it busy. Anyway, we went around the corner and were faced with total gridlock. The entire walkway was covered with strollers and it was nearly impossible to move. What a mess! We finally made our way through (actually, I lost Kirk and had to wait - a madwoman with a stroller cut him off.) When we got to PhilarMagic we saw that the FP time was bout the same, so we got one there.
Going in the opposite direction of the deadly "stroller corner", we headed to Adventureland and Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC). The wait at PotC was about 15 minutes, and by the time the ride was over our FP time was up so we got Fps for HM as well. As I mentioned, the crowds were pretty intense, so we took a break from the crowds and rode Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA). We then headed over to PM. Obviously, neither of us had seen PM before. As we got in the theater we were heading toward a particular row when we were cut off by a group of, I'd say, about 40 who all had linked their arms together so we couldn't get in. As a result, we were more to the side and closer than I would have liked. Still, I was pleased and impressed with how well the 3D worked even from a sub-optimal position. At any rate, the show was an absolute blast. Disney has a real winner with this one. Funny and charming.
One funny thing, the 3D renderings of the cartoon characters looked totally fine to me, yet the more "human like" characters looked very odd in 3D to me. This was particularly true of Aladdin. On the other hand, there was The Little Mermaid, Arial. There was just something about seeing that character in 3D that, I don't know... just made her attire look more - ahem - impressive.
Well, OK then...
After PM we headed over to HM. Before we went on Kirk went into Columbia Harbor House to get some water. I'll mention something here. For health reasons Kirk has given up soda and has been drinking more water. We were both pleased to find that you can get ice water in a cup for free and any of the food stands. It's a good thing to know. Anyway, while he was getting water I went into a little shop that claimed to have kitchen items. Instead, it had all kinds of HM inspired stuff. That's when I noticed that the little cart that used to sell HM stuff at the exit to the ride was gone. So I guess that the HM items were a hit so they felt that they deserved their own store. Anyway, it was very cool with lots of fun stuff. After looking around a bit we rode HM.
The time had come to leave the crowds of MK behind. This time we took the ferry to get to TTC, then we hopped the Monorail to Epcot. First we headed to TT. We didn't want to do MS first as we had heard that it can give you motion sickness and we figured it would be prudent to make the last thing we did. So, we did TT first. I really love this ride, despite it's temperamental nature.
Finally, it came time for the Main Event - Mission Space. Using our FP, the wait was minimal while the standby line said 60 minutes. This attraction is impressive in every way - starting with the building. The preshow, with Gary Sinise, is also well done although I have to admit that all of the warnings did nothing to relieve my apprehension. Finally we boarded. You get into a pod of sorts with 3 other people and you are each assigned a set of simple tasks to perform during your flight. You are also told not to raise your head or look around as that increases the chance that you'll get disoriented. They also tell you not to close your eyes. I really think the ride designers were on to something here as I think that giving you something to focus on really helps decrease the chances of getting motion sickness.
As the ride started I was pretty anxious, but after about 30 seconds I settled in and really enjoyed the ride. And what a ride! MS is, in my opinion, one of the most impressive and convincing theme park experiences I've ever seen. It's not really "thrilling" like TZToT or RnRC, but it is very intense. It truly is like no other theme park attraction. If you are susceptible to motion sickness it probably is a bad idea, but otherwise I highly recommend it.
Kirk and I agreed on one thing - that calls for a drink!
Off we went to Norway for a Reigness (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) for Kirk and a glass of wine for me. We sat and had our drinks while the (very small) crowds gathered for the fireworks. After a second round, we were pretty much finishing up as the fireworks started. When we were done we made our way to the International Gateway via the south end of the World Showcase. We walked to The Boardwalk, where we sat on the porch and had another beer & wine. Kirk had talked about, as much as he likes all of WDW, it's MK where he really feels at "home". He figured it's because of our childhood going to Disneyland. I said that, for me, it's the Crescent Lake/Boardwalk/International Gateway/World Showcase area. In my case, I think it comes from being a DVC member and having stayed there. It feels like "my neighborhood".
After our drinks we headed down to the Boardwalk bus depot where we caught a bus to Downtown Disney (DD). We were pretty hungry again so we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner. Kirk had a spinach/mushroom dip with chips (very good) while I had chicken wings and a Caesar salad. We walked from DD to our hotel, which is located right at the entrance to WDW. We stopped at a grocery store near the hotel to pick up a few things, got to our room and hit the sack around 2:00.
January 18 - Universal Orlando Day One
The night was warm and we had left the hotel room window open. At about 8:00 I was awakened by the sound of rainfall. Well, let me tell you, it was very pleasant lying there listening to the rain falling and, as I didn't see any reason to rush anywhere on such a rainy day, I just rolled over and went right back to sleep. When we finally got going about an hour later, Kirk said he felt exactly the same. So, we took our time getting ready and had a nice, relaxing morning. After checking out we decided to go to IHOP for breakfast, but it looked like half of Lake Buena Vista had the same idea. Not having any desire to wait 45 minutes for breakfast, we decided to just head to our second hotel, The Royal Polynesian. Kirk had purchased an annual pass for Universal Orlando (UO) and was able to get the room at the discounted rate of $99 per night.
Once we checked in, I went and purchased a 2-day/2-park pass. Again, Kirk's annual pass came in handy and I was able to get the ticket at a discounted rate. Our room was available so we took our luggage to the room. We still hadn't had breakfast so we decided to have the breakfast buffet that the hotel offered. If you stay at this hotel and are contemplating the breakfast buffet - stop contemplating and eat! This was, hands down, one of the best buffets I have ever had. The selection was good (but not great), but each item offered was really good. In particular, they had applewood-smoked bacon that I simply couldn't get enough of.
The hotel offered. a shuttle bus and boat launch to the parks, but as the rain had cleared up we decided to walk. The walk from the hotel to the parks is pleasant - although not as nice as you'll find at WDW.
Neither Kirk nor I had ever been to Universal Studios Florida (USF), so we went there first. It was an interesting perspective to visit USF after having already been to Islands of Adventure (IOA), because, unlike WDW, I'd say the "premier" park at UO is not the original park (USF). There's nothing wrong with USF, it's a nice enough park (a bit smaller than the Hollywood counterpart) - I'd say it's about on par with Disney/MGM Studios.
We got to the park at about 1:00, and after consulting with a map it seemed to make sense to move toward the "back" of the park and make our way back. We walked a bit and decided to make Earthquake our first attraction. Earthquake is an attraction like several you'll see at Universal parks (and, with Catastrophe Canyon, at MGM as well) that culminate with some sort of disastrous event. Actually, it reminded me quite a bit of "Kongfrontation" at Universal Studios Hollywood (USH) - which I guess used to have a counterpart at USF but is gone now. Like most of these types of attractions, you are first treated to some sort of pre-show that explains some aspect of the film-making process. In this case, there was a brief presentation about special effects. You are then lead into another room that is meant to look like a BART station in San Francisco. There you board a train and are taken to another station (the effect used to make it appear as though you have traveled some distance is actually fairly convincing.) Once at the second station you are treated to a simulated earthquake. The floors crack, pipes burst, gas explodes and the train heaves back and forth. All the usual stuff. Then the ceiling collapses (which is actually supposed to be the road above) and - wouldn't you know it! - there is a gas tanker truck that comes barreling down toward your train! How unfortunate! Well, with that, the set magically puts itself back together as the train backs out and makes it's way back to the original station. Kirk and I agreed it was a fun diversion.
Well, after all that excitement we figured that a peaceful boat trip was in order and - how convenient - the next attraction on our list was JAWS. Ah yes, nothing like a nice peaceful boat ride. Unfortunately, our boat kept getting attacked by a very large, very rubbery looking shark. How rude! I'm not exactly sure what this gigantic latex fish was trying to prove, but he sure was persistent! Neither Kirk nor I were particularly impressed with this attraction.
Next on our tour was Men In Black (MIB). I should add here that, as guests of the hotel, we were able to use the "Universal Express" (UE) line. Basically, it's very similar to Fastpass at Disney parks. Unlike FP, however, we could basically get into any ride at any time with no time restrictions. However, it is not available to all guests - I think. There were "Express distribution centers", I'm not sure what that was about. Also, I thought I overheard someone talking about buying an express pass. Maybe all 3 are available - you get the pass if you stay in one of their hotels or if you pay an additional fee, and otherwise you get a ticket from one of the distribution centers ala FP. I don't really know. All I know is that, for us, we just went to the UE queue and showed them our hotel keys. One problem with UE - also a problem with FP - is that you often bypass the queue areas which are often an attraction in themselves. The queue area for MIB,as an example, replicates the MIB headquarters from the films and is very impressive.
The ride itself, however, was not. Basically, it's a variation of the "Buzz Lightyear" ride at WDW, but with more elaborate animatronics. I really have 2 issues with the ride. First, like Buzz Lightyear, you end up spending a lot of time trying to shoot at targets and therefore end up missing the sights. I suppose you could just not shoot, but that sort of goes against the idea of the ride. Second, why do ride designers feel it necessary to send you into a radical spin on rides like this? It's not as out of place as it is on, say, Cat in the Hat, but it's still annoying. Does anyone actually enjoy being spun around like that? I guess someone must... but not me. Kirk was more bothered than me - it made him overly dizzy while I just found it annoying. After that ride, both of our reactions were "well, we did that, so we never have to again".
Next came ET. After MIB, ET was a nice respite. I had gone on ET at USH and remembered it as being, well, lame. I have to say, riding it again, I realized that only parts of it are lame. The intro by Steven Speilberg is embarrassing. And the final setpiece is, well, strange. But everything else about the ride is actually very good. The queue area is very detailed and atmospheric. The ride itself - through the forest and culminating with a climactic flight over the city - is terrific. At least, until you get to that silly end setpiece on ET's "home planet". Kirk agreed that the end segment left something to be desired, but he felt that the ride's other charms more than made up for it.
Our final two attractions at USF were the two I was personally most looking forward to - T23D and Twister. T23D is a 3D movie that incorporates live action with the 3D images on the screen. Some 3D movies at theme parks make no bones about being movies - like Captain EO - while others try to make it seem as if they are a "live" show - like "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". T23D, interestingly, does both. The beginning and ending segments have live actors on stage interacting with the screen while the middle section is purely a "movie". All in all I found it to be a thrilling show and one of the highlights of the day. I especially liked the final segment. Kirk liked it but not as much as me.
Finally came Twister. This attraction falls into the same category as Earthquake - a show that reproduces some sort of natural disaster - a tornado in this case. The art direction in the preshow area is very impressive. I wish I could say the same for the introductory film hosted by Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. The film is so poorly written as to be laughable."You become convinced that this is no mere storm - but vicious beast bent on your destruction!" Uh... yeah. Anyway, after the preshow you are lead to an enclosure covered with a corrugated steel roof. A violent storm is raging. In the distance - behind a drive-in movie screen - you see a twister headed straight at you. The twister smashes through the movie screen - tearing it apart. A business sign collapses. Power lines fall, setting off sparks and lighting fires. Some sort of machinery flies by. So does a cow. And then, right in front of you, the tornado funnel forms as everything in front of you is blown apart. Finally, the steel roof of your enclosure flies off.
This one is a winner. Kirk and I both agreed that it was one of the day's highlights. If you're visiting USF, don't miss it.
On that high note, we decided to leave USF and head for Islands of Adventure (IoA). On the way we stopped at a dockside bar adjoining Margaritaville and had Tacos for a late lunch. Kirk had much praise for the tacos. Having spent more of my adult life in Southern California than Kirk I think I'm a bit pickier about Mexican food. I thought they were good, maybe even very good, but not great.
After lunch we walked to IoA. We made a brief stop near the park entrance for drinks, then we headed straight to the "back" of the park and toward "Dueling Dragons" (DD). One problem with UE as I mentioned is that you bypass some of the cool queue areas. DD has one of the coolest queue areas ever - right up there with TZToT and Indiana Jones in Disneyland - and by using UE you bypass most of it. If you're at IoA for the first time and the line for DD isn't too bad, I'd suggest bypassing the UE line. Of the two coasters - "Fire" and "Ice" - it is generally agreed that "Ice" is the better and smoother ride. So, we opted for "Ice". Kirk has never done "Fire" and I don't recall for sure, but as I've been on DD several times - including when the line was very small - I'm sure I must have at some point. This was a particularly good ride because we got in the second seat - nearly as good as the first seat IMO and about 1/10th the wait. I don't know whether it was the seat position, or the weather or what, but this was an amazing ride - even better than usual.
After DD we felt up for another coaster, so off we went to Hulk. We used UE again, which I noticed sent us up "the back stairs" - the same place I was sent to on previous trips for the "single rider" line. After Hulk, which was great as usual, we decided to top off our day with a ride on SpiderMan (SM). SM really is an amazing ride. Kirk enjoyed it, however all the spinning and dipping did make him a bit lightheaded. It's funny how different things bother different people. Spinning doesn't bother me - although I do find it annoying when overused. Twisting and looping rollercoasters? Bring 'em on! It's old woody-style coasters that get to me. It's the "bunny hops". All that up-and-down. Even a tame coaster like the Dragon at Rye Playland gets me a bit queasy. Well, it's OK because, in honesty, I've never been a big fan of wooden coasters.
Well, after all that action we decided it was time to relax. That and the fact that it was closing time. Kirk had found a bar near the entrance that had great "happy hour" prices, so we ordered a beer (for Kirk) and a glass of wine (for me), pulled up a table outside, and sat for a while. We actually ended up sitting for long enough to have a couple of drinks. Finally we decided to leave, and on the way out I joked to the CM at the exit that we had "closed the place". It really reminded me of the old days when we were kids - hanging out at Disneyland and staying until the last possible moment, among the last to leave.
So, there we were in the Citywalk. So what else could we do but eat (and drink)? After considering our options, we decided on Margaritaville. I would have loved to go to Emeril's but a) we hadn't made reservations 3 months earlier and b) we didn't much feel like spending $100 each. Margaritaville seemed a likely option. Kirk had corn chowder which he gave good reviews to, I had Jerk chicken which was good but not spicy enough. I don't think anyone outside of the Caribbean makes jerk chicken that's spicy enough. We washed it down with beer (Kirk) and a margarita (me).
After our meal we headed back to the hotel. The night was too young to call it quits, however, so we ordered drinks from the bar in the Chinese restaurant at the hotel and sat outside for a bit. Finally we decided to call it a night. Or at least I did, Kirk was less tired than me so he went out again for a bit while I went to our room and hit the sack. He later told me he wasn't gone long, but I was out cold when he got back
January 19 - USF Day Two, Farewell
The next morning was foggy. Kirk wanted to sleep in a bit more and take his time getting ready, so we agreed to meet later that morning at "Twister". So, I walked to USF by myself. The first thing I wanted to do was Shreck 4D. Kirk does not like "motion" rides, and one of my tasks was to sort of "check it out" for him. As he has an annual pass, he can come back any time to check it out. The day before we noticed how this was one of the most popular attractions, so I figured I'd get to it early. Interestingly, once again I had a problem getting a seat. Basically, I moved down the row until there were no seats left - as you are supposed to - and a little kid sat in the chair that would have been mine. I asked if he could scoot over, and so he got back up and I sat down. Next thing I knew, his dad is yelling at me at the top of his lungs. It took me a minute to realize he was talking to me. I looked at him and asked "what are you yelling about?" He started ranting and raving about how I took his kids seat. Then I realized that his kid stood up, but didn't sit back down. I said "I thought you moved down". He just went off like crazy yelling at me. I just looked at him sort of puzzled and kept asking "why are you yelling". Understand, I never refused to move and had every intention of moving. I just couldn't figure out why he was carrying on so - I guess I was sort of in a state of shock. It later occurred to me that he could have offered up his own seat, or had one of his kids sit on his lap or something, but at the time I was just sort of dumbfounded. There was another seat nearby which I took, and then I just said to him "Man, calm down. You're going to give yourself a heart attack". Very strange.
Anyway, the Shreck attraction is absolutely fantastic. This and PM have some of the best 3D effects I've ever seen (although I will admit to being more impressed with PM in that regard). The film, like the movie it's based on, is very cute and very funny. And the "motion ride" element is very tame - I told Kirk he'd have no problem with it.
After Shreck I did T23D again, then I walked to Twister where Kirk and I had agreed to meet. There is a theme store attached to Twister called "Aftermath" - pretty funny name. I waited for a while because Kirk had run into "commute" problems on his way, but once he showed up we went on Twister again. From there we walked to IoA where we rode Hulk again. We then went to DD again with the intention of riding both Fire and Ice. We wanted to see the queue area and the line was pretty short so we bypassed the UE line. When we reached the spot where you must choose your coaster, however, the line for Ice was much shorter so we did that - thinking we'd come back for Ice.
We had lunch at restaurant across from DD (some sore of mystical theme - can't recall the name) where we shared a BBQ chicken/rib platter. It was quite tasty and plenty for two. By this time a light rain was starting to fall and, after looking at the show schedule, we decided we'd rather do shows than any more coasters or thrill rides - so, no Fire this trip.
The first show on our agenda was "Poseidon's Fury" (PF). Ultimately, it's a pretty silly show, but also inventive in many places. As long as you don't take it seriously you'll enjoy it. Kirk and I were both particularly impressed with the "waterfall" hallway. Very cool. Next up we went to the "8th Voyage of Sinbad" show. This is essentially one of those "stunt spectacular" kind of shows. Fun, but nothing to write home about. If you like this sort of show and/or if you're looking to sit down for a while, then I'd recommend it.
Well, that was it for this trip. After Sinbad it was time for Kirk to take me to the airport so I could catch my plane. All in all, I'd have to say that this was the most fun of our trips to date. We just laughed more on this trip I think. It was just a lot of fun all around. I can't wait until next time.