Tonya - October 2001

Day 3: Monday Oct. 22, 2001- CRT & the Magic Kingdom

Today Mickey woke us up at 6:15, we have PS for CRT at 8:20 and are supposed to meet Deb and her family at 8:05 in front of CRT. We all rush around to get ready but still did not make it to the gate of the TTC until 8:05. Since EE had been canceled we had to show our PS number to get in to ride the monorail over to the MK. We where late but we made it. Luckily Deb was already there and had already checked us in. CRT was even greater than I had imagined it to be. We where so impressed with it Michael even took a picture of the food so he can show his dad. The characters this morning where Cinderella, Snow White, Mary Poppins in her Jolly Holiday dress, & the Fairy Godmother, Alice was in the lobby. Cheyenne loves Mary Poppins and after this day she is now obsessed with her. We had a wonderful breakfast and meet with Deb and her family and on the way out we ran into Michelle and her family again (they where having breakfast in the castle also).

After Breakfast we headed over to Adventure land, the jungle cruise had a very long line as did Aladdin so we skipped them since it was so hot out and went to the Enchanted Tiki Room, walked straight in. I confess we all like the new show with Zazu & Lago, We are weird I guess..lol. We then went straight over to Pirate of the Caribbean another walk on. It had cooled off by the time we exited the ride, thank goodness. We then went over to Fantasyland rode It's a Small World, grabbed a fast pass for Peter Pan, rode Snow White's Scary Adventure, and then went back to ride Peter Pan. I have made The Mouse For less T-shirts for all of us and we where all wearing them today, as I was boarding Peter Pan a CM stopped me to ask about the shirt. I explained to him as much as I could about our group before it was my turn to get on the ride. He stopped me again as I was exiting to ask more about The Mouse For less, he sounded like he might want to join but I don't know if he ever did or not. We then went to the front of the castle to watch Cinderella's Surprise Celebration, this was so cute! After the show we got autographs & pics from the White Rabbit, Tweddle Dee, Tweddle Dum, and one of the country bears. Then we went over to Donald's Pumpkin Patch for pictures and while we where there Mary Poppins showed up in her traveling outfit. She recognized my girls from breakfast which thrilled Cheyenne to death and took some more pictures with them. After this everyone was hungry so we headed over to the Columbia Harbor House for fish and mugs that said Walt Disney World Fall 2001 on them with a picture of Mickey playing in leaves . I have to say this was the best fish I have ever had, this place will be a must on all of our return trips.

After lunch we grabbed fast passes for Pooh and then went to ride Buzz lightyear but Buzz was closed due to technical problems so we went back and rode the carousel and then it was time for Pooh. After Pooh it was 2:30 so we went to grab a good seat for the Share a Dream Come True parade at 3. This parade is so beautiful, I love the snow globes. When the float with Mary Poppins came by she recognized Brittany & Cheyenne again and asked them to join the parade. Cheyenne was given a chimney sweep broom and they where asked to dance around. It took a few min. for Cheyenne to realize Mary Poppins was not going to come off the float to dance with her but when she did she started crying and didn't want to be in the parade anymore. I got some good pictures of them before the tears started though. After the parade we went to Toontown to play and get more autographs (the girls ended up with 31 autographs each). I don't think I have ever seen this many characters in WDW before. The park closed at 6 tonight so Toon Town was the end of the day in the MK.

We headed back to our resort and stopped at McDonalds for supper on the way. We decided to swim and get to bed early tonight.

Day 4: Tues October 23, 2001- Animal Kingdom & Epcot

Mickey woke us up at 6:45 this morning so that we could catch the characters in the lobby but we missed them 5 min. and didn't want to wait until 8:40 for them to come back so we ate breakfast in the room and then headed over to Animal Kingdom (which now opens at 9 instead of 8). When we got there we encountered the longest line at the security check point that we have had yet. They did have a little palm tree on wheels that was chasing people around and talking, it kind of broke the boredom of standing in line. After we got though the gate Mushu & Terk where there signing autographs so of course we had to get pics and more autographs. We then headed toward Camp Minnie-Mickey. We encountered our first Discovery station (kind of like kidcots) where the girls had to guess what was in a log and they gave them a passport with a stamp for them to get stamped at all the stations in the park, I didn't know they had these before this it was a nice surprise for the girls. After that we went to the character greeting area and got Goofy & Daisy's autograph and then headed for our 11:00 PS at the Rainforest Cafe, I have to say I was very disappointed in this Rainforest Cafe, the one in Nashville, TN is smaller but still puts this one to shame; Don't get me wrong the food was very good but the effects & lighting just don't look right in this Rainforest Cafe. We walked straight in, not even a 5 min. wait, our waiter sat us right by the waterfall in the middle of the restaurant and Michael & I got splashed by water the entire time. I had the Cyclone crab cake sandwich with Cajun sauce, it was very good, I don't remember what Michael had. After the Rainforest we headed over to the Pocahontas show. We where early for the time posted on the map so Michael ran over to grab fast passes for the safari while we waited. The CM at Pocahontas said that she was already on stage and that we could go in, confused we entered only to find out it was the animal training show and the birds where not doing what they where supposed to be doing so they canceled the show right when we sat down, I didn't even have enough time to get my camera out before the stage was cleared. Then they tell us that the maps times where wrong and that the next Pocahontas show didn't stat for another 2 hours. The girls where so upset, Cheyenne loves Pocahontas and really wanted to see it. Since we had alot of time before our fast pass time we went to Tough to be Bug. Michael & I Loved this show but it scared both of my girls. On the way out we found another Discovery Station, this one is really hidden, I had to ask 3 CMs where it was before I found it and the CMs even followed us to it so that would know where it was to..lol. We then went over to Asia to ride Kali River Rapids, then back to Africa for our fast pass on the safari. Then we explored the trails after the safari (I can't remember the name of the trail right now). We then stopped at the fruit stand in Africa for watermelon. We stopped at the smoking area in between Africa and Asia to eat our watermelon since it was very shaded and had covered tables. While we where eating we heard the Jammin Jungle parade starting. The smoking are we where at just so happened to be at the end of the parade route so we didn't even have to fight any crowds to see it. The entrance to the smoking area is the best spot to watch the parade, you get to see it twice, once when it starts in Africa by the Safari and then again when it passes you. Everyone crowds to the beginning so we had seats all by our self, it was kind of like a private viewing.

After the parade we decided to skip Dinoland and head over to Epcot for the rest of the night since the TOD parade was cancelled when we where there Sun. night.

When we got to Epcot we went straight to Innovations to send The Mouse For less & some of our family picture postcards. We then went over to the World Showcase and the Mexican Pavilion to hit the Kidcots that the girls missed Sunday night. We rode El Rio del Tiempo (the River of Time) and then over to Norway for the kidcot and to ride the Maelstrom again, tonight there was a line so we grabbed fast passes for it and went to China and hunted for a china lapel pin my father-in-law asked us to get him. After we found the pin and did the kidcot it was time for our fast pass time so we went back to Norway to ride. When we got out of the ride it 8:15 and the 8:30 tapestry of Dreams parade was getting ready to start so we found some very good seats in between China and Norway and watched the parade. After the parade we decided to head over to the United Kingdom pavilion for supper. We got stopped by the other TOD parade that had not ended yet by the American Pavilion and got to see the end of the parade a second time...lol. Then it was over to Yorkshire County Fish Shop for fish and chips (I still like the fish at the Columbia Harbor House in the MK better). We got our food and found a nice quiet out of the way spot on a curb to eat and watch Illuminations. After we finished eating we headed over to the garden to let the crowds die down after Illuminations. I think I forgot to mention in my other trip report that we had watched the British Invasion here Sunday night. WE sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the garden while the girls played in the maze for about 30min. and then we headed out. Stopping to play on the light up walkway on the way. Then back to the All Star Sports and bed.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4