Bob and Joanie Nowak - June 2004

Cast of Characters: Bob (DH-52) & Joanie (DW-42) Nowak - celebrating our 5th Anniversary

Day 1 Trip Report-June 3, 2004

Our actual anniversary is May 21st, but we pushed the trip ahead to June since there were several friends we will be meeting on this trip - but not for the first 2 days anyway - ours alone - to celebrate at the Polynesian - where we got married.

We were up early and left at 5:20 a.m. for the Avoca Airport for our 8:00 a.m. flight. Originally our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:15 a.m. but when the papers came in the mail 2 weeks before, the flight was both departing later on the way down and earlier on the way back. Oh well, no big deal, just go with the flow. I was concerned, since I booked a lunch ressie for 12:30 p.m at Liberty Tree Tavern, and since our flight wasn't scheduled to land until 10:30 a.m. at Sanford, I was aware of the fact that we may have to see if they could take us later or do something else since that only left 2 hours to retrieve luggage and get to the Poly, check in and make it to the MK for lunch. So, we arrived at the airport at 6:15 a.m. and went through security fairly quickly since the airport isn't really big. We boarded our flight and actually took off at 8:05 a.m. Not too shabby. We were flying Vacation Express - a new discount airline and although the plane was very, very old, I'm thinking it was an old corporate jet or one used for charter flights to Las Vegas. It consisted of all leather large seats - what would be considered first class - throughout the plane. The first 2 rows were facing each other with a leather table in between and there were some sections like this in the back. Great for families if you want to play a game, cards or color. There were no seat assignments and the seats and rows were not numbered. Although the flight was almost full - there weren't any problems with seating - plus the price was right - direct non-stop into Sanford - total round trip cost for 2 - $316.00. We received drink service and they came with a basket of all kinds of snacks and you could take 2.

We arrived about 10 minutes early into Sandford and set what would be the tone for this trip - timing! Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don't - this trip just always seemed to fall into place timing wise. We came down the escalator and our driver Max was waiting for us. We went over to baggage claim and DH and my bags were the first 2 on the conveyor belt - a first for us. We were in the car and on the way to the Polynesian by 10:35 a.m. We arrived at the Poly at 11:35 a.m - just like being home again for us - and were picked up by the little cart and driven back to concierge to check in. They told us our room was ready, but it was 1st floor and we had requested 3rd floor - they put us there because 3rd floor is smoking and didn't know if we knew that. We stayed on the 3rd floor when we got married and loved it so they were willing to change it for us - room 3510. There was a tree kind of blocking our view of the castle but if you stood at the corner of the porch, you could see it perfectly. We dropped our bags at the room, went down to concierge to retrieve our room cards (they take you to the room before they issue the cards) and took the boat to the MK. Oh how relaxing and peaceful. We are both starving and arrive at the LTT at exactly 12:25 p.m. They seated us within 5 minutes and we had a wonderful lunch. After lunch, we went to the Hall of Presidents, it's been a while since we were in this - Bill Clinton was still president, then walked through the shops on our way out and went back to the Poly. The plan for the afternoon was to go to the pool and relax. We have stayed twice at the Poly since they redid the pool and haven't yet gone swimming in it. It was very relaxing. Although it was quiet, we found 2 lifeguards with a water basketball hoop playing games with all of the kids. I haven't ever seen anything like this done at a disney resort. They have a built in ledge with a low powered jet at the one end where the water flows in and we just spent about an hour sitting there and watching the interaction with the lifeguards and the kids.

We went up to the room and showered, then grabbed a few snacks from the lounge. Ribs, grilled chicken strips (unbreaded), fruit, veggies, cheese & crackers - so why are we going to 'Ohana's. Because this was our "anniversary" dinner - this is where we had our reception. We were very happy with the food, but were kind of ignored most of the night by our server. I know Jessica at MFL travel informed them of it, because 5th anniversary was written on our slip. I wasn't really expecting anything for free, but a happy anniversary would have been nice. Instead, we were treated worse than any other table around us. However, the food was still wonderful and the atmosphere great. After dinner, we took the boat back to the MK and got a FP for Buzz. We rode the Carousel of Progress, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, and then Buzz. It is now 8:50 p.m. and we can see there is a storm brewing so we decided to head out. Our driver had told us Florida had no rain for 3 weeks - enter the Nowak's and voila - a rain storm. This happened 2 years ago - Florida was in a drought - we were there for 9 days and they had 13 inches of rain - June 2002. I think anytime Florida is short on water, Michael Eisner should bring us down for free and all of his lakes will be full!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wishes started while we were on the boat so it was like having our own cruise. We watched the rest of it from the boat dock and . We went to Captain's Cooks for an ice cream for DH and stopped at the lounge for a drink and dessert.

DH is wearing the pedometer for this trip and I am wearing the stepometer.
Mileage 2.5 Steps 5,476


Friday, June 4, 2004 - Day 2 - Still at Home aka Polynesian

We slept in a bit this morning and watched a beautiful sunrise over the Contemporary resort. Bob showered andwent down to the lounge for breakfast while I showered and then joined him. After a leisurely breakfast, we took a slow walk to the TTC to catch the monorail to EPCOT. Oh yes, one thing did I forget to mention in Day 1 report - it is HOT, HOT, HOT and very humid. Today is no different. As soon as we arrived, we went and got a FP for Test Track and also decided to ride it right away since Standby was only a 15 minute wait. When we got off, DH headed to the restrooms and I started taking pictures of the butterfly topiaries with the new digital camera I bought DH for our anniversary. We went back to use our FP on TT and our car broke down. We were already at the point when you start up the hill right out of the loading zone and they stop to check seatbelts. The tried rebooting the car's system and managed to get the car itself working, but without audio and video. Really makes for a different kind of ride. We headed to WS and stopped at the entrance to take a picture through one of the frames they set up for the Flower and Garden Festival. We now have filled up the memory stick that came with the camera and had to insert a new one. What a fiasco - I didn't read the directions because I didn't want to have DH say that I really bought the camera for me, so after a couple tries (finally realized that the actual card had to go in the case when you put it in the camera - we just had the case in without knowing it and the little message kept saying No Memory Stick), we were back in business. Took some more pictures, walked through the rose garden and the Dog Gone Maze and went over to Mexico. Yes - it truly is a small world - we're walking up the steps and someone is yelling DH's name. We go down the steps and look and here it is our neighbor's son and his family. We had no idea they would be there and vice versa. We went in and rode El Rio de Tempo together and then went over to Norway to ride Maelstrom. We split up after this since they were going to head back to their hotel and swim. we walked through China & Germany and then went back to China for our 1:30 p.m. PS at Nine Dragons. This lunch was "FANTASTIC" from service to food and everything else. Plus the air conditioning was working well too!

After lunch, the heat was really setting in so we headed out, riding Space Ship Earth on the way (no stopping at all), took some pics at the topiaries at the entrance since it was less crowded there now and took the monorial back to the TTC. Surprise, Surprise - the Nowak rain following kicks in yet again. So much for swimming. It stormed and rained for 3 hours. We got some snacks in the lounge and went back to the room and relaxed. We showered and took the monorail over to the MK to pick up our wrist bands for E-ride night and then walked through the shops. DH bought 2 license plates which brings us up to 3 so far for this trip. DH is, what I would call competing with a friend of ours in acquiring a license plate collection. It is sometimes exhausting. The boats were still not running from what we assume was the lightning, so we took the resort monorail over to the Grand Floridian for our 8:10 p.m. ressie at Narcoosee's. We had another excellent meal and were able to see Wishes from our table even though we didn't have a window seat. We caught the monorail after Wishes over to the MK for e-ride night. Incidentally, it is no longer raining. We rode the Haunted Mansion, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder and Splash Mountain. We took the monorail back and headed to bed for our last night at the Poly.

Miles - 9.56 Steps 17,235


Day 3 Trip Report-June 5, 2004

Meeting the Kolonsky's - Ed, Johanna, Maria (14) & EJ (5)

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise on our last morning at the Poly. We got showered, packed our bags, and after one more look at the castle from our balcony, we called for luggage pickup to have our bags sent to the French Quarter. We went down to the lounge for breakfast, said goodbye to Yvette - one of the CM who works in the lounge (her husband is a photographer on the side and took our pictures for our wedding free of charge 5 years ago - we only had to buy the film and then he gave the film back for us to have developed) - and walked out to Sunset Point. We were hoping we would find someone to take our picture since that is where we got married, but no one was around. DH took a picture of me and all of a sudden out of nowhere comes a maintenance CM from the Poly in a little cart and he offers to take a picture of us - and then picks up one little piece of trash there and drives off. Definite Pixie Dust - one more time - timing is everything this trip!

We walked over to the TTC to catch the monorail to EPCOT - we wanted to take some more pictures in world showcase before the Flower & Garden Festival ends. We stopped first in the Mission Space gift shop - no spinning rides for this disney fan and went towards the ride exit where I got interested in playing one of those computer games. We went back out into the heat - oh yeah - it's really, really hot again and went over to Ellen's Energy Adventure. I really love this ride. Now, world showcase is open so we take the long walk back. We walked through Canada, England and France - really liked the perfume topiaries. We took some pics and walked back to Canada for our 12:30 PS at Le Cellier. After a wonderful meal (of course all of our meals on this trip were wonderful - no disappointments) we headed out of EPCOT and caught the bus to the French Quarter to check in. We did check at the front desk, our friends the Kolonsky's were already checked in. We called, but they were already gone. We headed to our building - 4! We had paid for a king bed room and ended up in 4119. Although we had somewhat of a view of the parking lot and bus station, we found this to be a really great room. We were right next to the food court and the pool was right behind that. Our room was beautiful - done in blues - and the air conditioning worked fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The air in the Poly was on a digital thermostat which was on a motion sensor - not so in the French Quarter. Jessica at TMFL - you outdid yourself on this resort!

We called for our bags which weren't there yet and headed down to the boat dock for the boat to Downtown Disney. The plan was that we were to meet the Kolonsky's at the Rainforest at 4:00 p.m. for dinner. Of course, we had just eaten at LeCellier and weren't even hungry (this would turn out to be a blessing as the afternoon progressed). We arrived at the Rainforest at 3:30 p.m. and took turns going to the Christmas shop etc. At about 3:50 p.m. I'm looking in the gift shop at the Rainforest, and who is exiting the restaurant but the Kolonsky's. They had already eaten. Needless to say - I felt like the fire-breathing dragon. We went into the Christmas Shop to all do some shopping. I did pick out an anniversary ornament to have personalized and a few other things and since that was all I needed and the Kolonsky's were still filling their cart, we headed over to the Toy Store. Just kind of left them there, although that was as nice as I could be at that point - I knew I needed to get over myself. We went to look at the Mr. Potato head because I always say I'm going to get one for my desk at work, but when I get in there and see everyone pushing and shoving to get at the pieces, I always change my mind. I did fall in love with the Disney Bear and DH offered to buy it for me, but I decided to wait. Now-over to World of Disney! Here was my big find - a beautiful 14kt gold Tinkerbell necklace with 2 cubic zirconia's in it. Wow - just loved it - price tag - $190.00 less the 10% discount for DVC. I debated and debated - looked at other things - bought some things and ran into the Kolonsky's - everything seemed to be back to normal. I think they knew I was upset at the moment and kind of tried to smooth things over - anyway life is to short to sweat the little things. So, Johanna talked Bob into buying me the Tink and I talked Ed into buying her a necklace with a pearl shaped mickey on it. We were now shopped out and decided to head back to the French Quarter and all go swimming. We got back to our room, called for our bags and then stopped at the food court for our refillable mugs and for DH to get something to eat. When we came out - it was lightning and the pool closed by the time we got there. We no sooner got back to the room - and it was time for our daily dose of rain. I turned on the TV only to find out that President Reagan had died so I spent most of the rest of the night watching CNN.

Miles today - 5.5 Steps - 10,034


Day 4-June 6, 2004

We got up early this morning - 6:00 a.m. - planning to meet the Kolonsky's at the bus stop at 7:30 a.m. We showered and headed down to the food court for breakfast. We both got blueberry mickey waffles & bacon. We made it to the bust stop on time, the Kolonsky's showed up 15 minutes later and we were off to the MK for early opening. We went right into Tomorrowland and got a FP for Buzz. We headed over to Space Mountain but it wasn't open yet so we went back and got in the standby line for Buzz. I managed to be the winner with 298,000 (not very high but it was good enough to beat everyone else). We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and got in line for space Mountain. This is EJ's first time on the ride and he wants to go on it again. We all waited in the gift shop. I was trying to talk DH - who doesn't dance - to go on that machine where you have to stamp on the correct arrow direction that comes on the screen based to the tune of disney songs. He kept saying no and when he finally said yes - two people got on it right before we did. While we were waiting this guy - who appeared to be at least 40 yrs old comes up and puts a baseball hat full of coins on the machine to kind of show that he's next. While the two people that are on it are still going, he's standing on the floor behind them practicing and doing all these weird moves. This was without a doubt the strangest thing we saw the whole trip. Really weird - we never did get a chance to do this machine.

After Ed & EJ come off of Space Mtn. we walked over to do Mickey's Philharmagic since the Kolonsky's haven't seen it yet. What a relief to get out of the heat! We stopped at Citrus Swirl after this (dole whips are definitely better), over to Big Thunder, Splash Mtn. and then lunch at Pecos Bills. Then we rode Pirates, Tiki Birds & the Adventureland Cruise. Now it was Dole Whip time - I truly believe there is no such thing as too much Dole Whip. LOL We headed over to get in the standby line for Haunted Mansion. It is a 35 minute wait and the sun is just beating on me. I'm hot, EJ is hot. He is whining to go back to the room, but they usually spend the whole day in the park. Commando style!!!!!!!!!! We wait 10 more minutes and I knew I couldn't do it. I told DH I'd wait for him in the shop until they came out and then I was going back to the room for a swim. Needless to say, they all got out of line. We separated from them since the heat was really getting to me. Is is 2:40 p.m. and I knew we needed to make a quick hurry to the front to get out before the parade went through. We only had a 5 minute wait for the bus and we were headed back to the French Quarter. Off to the pool - how refresing - especially if you stay under the little bridge where there is shade. We stayed at the pool about an hour and then went back into our very "cool" room and showered. Back to the bus stop to head over to EPCOT. We took some pics of the topiaries of Beauty and the Beast behind Spaceship Earth and wandered over to World Showcase. We walked through Italy and the American Adventure taking some pics of the topiaries. We went in to see the show at Amer Adv. since this was something else we hadn't seen in quite a while. the skies were now darkening as we headed back to England for our ressie at the Rose & Crown. And what to our wondering eyes should appear, but another thunderstorm requiring us to get out our rain gear. Fortunately we ended up with a seat inside before it was raining too heavily and ended up having another good meal although a little chaotic with the storm. The rain let up just in time for Illuminations, so I went out to the private roped off area for the inside diners, but DH stayed to watch from inside. The wind was blowing a bit, so all of the smoke from the fireworks were coming straight in my face! After Illuminations, we made our way out slowly and caught a bus to the French Quarter. We picked up our mugs and went over to the food court to fill them. DH went to bed and I stayed up a bit watching CNN and their coverage of Ronald Reagan.

Miles today - 7.44 Steps 14,667

Day 5 - Monday - June 7, 2004

We got up early to catch the bus to the MK in order to get to our PS at 1900 Park Faire in the Grand Floridian. We got to the MK and it didn't look like the resort boats were running yet so we headed up the monorail ramp. We were seated in the monorail waiting a long time for the doors to close when we saw a boat pull into the dock. We got off of the monorail and headed down to the boat dock and made a very quick trip to the GF. We haven't done this breakfast since the morning after we got married in 1999 and I'm not sure why. This breakfast is wonderful and great character interaction. After breakfast, we hopped back on the boat for the trip to the MK via the Polynesian. We transferred to a boat for the Wilderness Lodge to drop off a Pirate license plate and Stitch pin for my girlfriend's son who would be checking in later that day. He is 3yrs old. While we were there, we decided to head down to the Wilderness Lodge Villas since we are DVC owners and haven't stayed there. There wasn't anyone arround so we headed down a hallway and found a CM cleaning a vacant room for later on that day, and she allowed us to go in and look around. The villas are really nice and we are now considering splitting our stay at Christmas and do 4 days the WL and the other 4 at BWV.

We went down to the bus depot and boarded a bus for MGM. It is very, very, very hot! We got a FP for Tower of Terror and then walked through the shops. We went to Star Tours and since the standby was only 20 minutes - we decided to ride. When we came through the Tatooine Traders on the way out, Bob liked this year's shirt for Star Wars Weekends and decided to purchase one. We walked back to TOT to get another FP since our window was now open and just as we finished getting them, a couple walked up and handed us two since they were exiting the park and didn't have time to use them. Once again the Pixie Dust timing! The FP's we just got were able to be used now - so up to TofT. The heat was getting to me so we left the park and got the bus back to the French Quarter. We changed into our swim suits, grabbed our mugs and went over to the Food Court for lunch. We went down to the pool for a swim, over to the hot tub, back to the pool and then relaxed on the lounge chairs in the shade. We went back to the room and I no sooner started soaking the bathing suits when the Kolonsky's called to let us know they were back from the parks and were headed to the pool. We struggle to put on those #&%^ wet suits and went back to the pool for 1/2 hour, then back to the room to get showered and go back to MGM. We had the Fantasmic Dinner package booked at Hollywood & Vine. We finished our dinner and literally walked directly to TofT and used both sets of fast passes. Amazing - I can do that, but on the carousel I get sick after the 1st turn. By the time we came off of TofT the second time, it was - yes you guessed it - raining. It was teeming by the time we walked from TofT to Oscar's. We started the long walk up the hill and the CM collecting the dinner package tickets 1/2 way up said we could go to Guest Relations and get a rain check if we didn't want to wait in the rain. I didn't think this sounded right so we headed up toward the stadium. Once we got up there, we had to put the umbrella down, but it was raining so hard it probably didn't matter. We both looked at each other and DH decided we should go down and get the raincheck. We trudge back down the hill, pick up a dinner package ticket from the CM that collected it on the way in and go to guest relations. We are now walking in ankle deep water. We get to guest relations, only to find out I was right - there aren't any rainchecks. So, we turn around and trudge back up the hill to the stadium and down towards the bottom. It is raining really hard and there is some pretty interesting streaky lightning. We sit in the stadium for 10 minutes and they come over the loudspeaker to say it is cancelled. I think we probably could have hawked a canoe and paddled down. We caught the bus back to the room, took our shoes off and literally poured water out of them, wrung out the socks and crawled into bed.

Miles 4.03 Steps 13,325


Day 6 - Tuesday, June 8, 2004

Meeting up with the Kolonsky's - Ed, Johanna, Marie (14) & EJ (5), & the Miller's - Todd, Cindy, Taryn (20), Lauren (18), Tyler (15) & Morgan(9)

We got up early, showered, and I headed to the food court to pick up breakfast. Love those blueberry mickey waffles. We were to meet the Kolonsky's at the bus stop at 8:30 a.m. We were about 5 minutes late, they came at 8:55 a.m. We hopped on the bus and headed right over to the MK. We rode Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Mickey's Philharmagic, Haunted Mansion, and used a FP for Splash Mtn. that Ed had picked up for all of us earlier. We went over to Pecos Bills for lunch and then onto Pirates. Of course, we had to stop for our Dole Whip fix. We decided it was too hot and exited the park and go back to the French Quarter to cool down. We took a little nap, showered and caught the bus to the MK so I could make my 6:00 p.m. meet up with Carol Garcia at the partners statue in front of the castle. The bus no sooner pulled out of the resort and it started to rain. Then it started to pour. Then it started to blow and lightnight and thunder. I felt like we were caught in a typhoon. The bus was hitting puddles that made me feel like we were in a boat rather than a moving vehicle. We got stuck in traffic at the entrance of the MK and he finally pulled up to drop us off. It is still storming like you wouldn't believe, so we just stood under the bus stop in our ponchos. Every so often it would slow down a bit and then start right back up. We stood under the bus station for 50 minutes. It finally slowed down and we decided to brave it and had to get across a puddle that was as big as 7 Seas Lagoon. We ended up sidestepping across the fence and headed into the MK. I figured Carol Garcia was no more there at this point but we went in anyway. It was 6:30 p.m. We waited maybe 10 minutes and then walked through some shops.

We left the park to head over to the Contemporary Resort where we were meeting the Millers for dinner at Chef Mickey's. Todd is on the school board at the district where I work and his daughter played girls basketball where I am the scorekeeper. We were always talking Disney and since I know they love it too, I kept telling them they should plan a trip for Lauren's graduation just like we did when my daughter graduated. He heeded our advice. We went to take the resort monorail, but the entrance to the ramp was closed as they were having technical difficulties from the storm. The Miller's showed up about 20 minutes early, so we checked in and then all the women took some time looking in the shops. We didn't have to wait too long before we were seated and Jessica the TMFL must have noted our anniversary again because DH and I each received special day placemat we could keep. We had a great meal, with wonderful conversation and lots of character interaction. When we were done eating, our CM surprised DH and I with a special dessert for our anniversary. Two cupcakes with a candle in each and whip cream in the shaped of a heart surrounding them. What a special meal!

After dinner, we decided to go back in the MK to see wishes. The Miller's younger daughter, Morgan, had never seen any of the disney fireworks. We gave the older 3 kids some fast passes for Space Mtn. and Big Thunder that we hadn't used early, so they took off. After Wishes, we went on Winnie the Pooh and Mickey's Philharmagic. As we started to leave Fantasyland and walk out through the castle, Spectro Magic was just starting. Morgan had never seen this either, so DH and I, Todd, Cindy & Morgan stood in front of the castle and had a fairly good view. We headed out of the park, bid our good bye's and caught our bus back to the French Quarter and called it a night.

Mileage 7.10 Steps 10,532

Day 7 - Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - Donald Duck's Birthday!

We were up early to get to the bus stop to head to the Animal Kingdom for our 8:00 a.m. PS at Donald's Breakfastasaurus. Since, DH's favorite character is Donald Duck - we can't pass up breakfast with Donald. This morning is where we thought timing would fail us, but in the end, it was great. Until the bus picked us up and made the 4 stops at Riverside we ended up being about 15 min. late for breakfast. When we got seated, it was in a room that the characters had already been through and the our server said it would be about 45 min to and hour until they came back. Oh well - that's what we get for not being earlier to the bus stop. We went to the buffet and started eating and about 10 minutes later, our server came to us and said if we went over near the doorway to the buffet we could take pictures and visit with the characters as they exited the next room. What Pixie Dust! What timing! We did get to see Donald, Mickey & Goofy. Pluto was going to be little bit, so we passed him up. DH wanted to see Donald and I really wanted to see Goofy, so we were both well satisfied. We did leaver our server a nice tip for being so wonderful. After breakfast we followed our usual tradition and went over and got right on Dinosaur. Then we picked a bench to relax on since the Kolonsky's would be meeting us shortly. Once they arrived, we rode Dinosaur again. Ed & EJ went to ride Triceratops Spin and then Ed, Maria & DH rode Primeval Whirl. I waited and took pictures and Johanna took EJ to the boneyard. EJ was too short and neither Johanna or I do spinning rides. Primeval Whirl spins for 20 seconds at the end and that is 19 seconds too long for me. We went over to the Lion King Show and then to Pizzafari for lunch. I went and picked a table because I wasn't even remotely hungry. Everyone else ate, except for EJ who had a small meltdown. I think sometimes little kids who are now able to experience some of the thrill rides for the first time become a little bored in the heat when they are used to doing nothing but ride, ride, ride. The Kolonsky's are definitely a ride family and if it was up to Ed, meals would be skipped. LOL (Don't misunderstand me, they are good friends and we love them dearly, but when we're at WDW - part of the fun is the restaurants, plus DH is diabetic and can't skip meals). After lunch, we rode Kali River Rapids, and I didn't get nearly as wet as I wanted to. In the heat, it wouldn't have taken too long to dry and although I got a little wet, there are times in the past when I've gotten drenched. After Kali, we walked through the Tiger area, my memory fails me I can't remember the name of this area and then we split up.

DH and I got in the standby line for the Safari, walked through some shops and headed out. It was really, really hot. When we got back to the room there was a message from my girlfriend Kristin. I really hadn't expected to hear from her. She and her son and sister came down Monday afternoon and were staying at the Wilderness Lodge. After her sister not wanting them to be with anyone but each other in the planning stages, she found out she was pregnant 2 days before they came down and on that day, suddenly developed morning sickness. (This is the way Kristin describes it - that she is kind of wanting her own pity party). So, I called her and we agreed to meet for dinner at the Whispering Canyon. This was the only time when timing was not in our favor. We showered and changed and decided to take the first park bus that came in order to transfer to one for the Wilderness Lodge. EPCOT. While we were on the bus - of course - rain. We walked in the rain at EPCOT from one section of bus stops to the next, where Wilderness Lodge was and proceded to wait 40 minutes for a bus. On to the Wilderness Lodge and called Kristin from the lobby and her and Jimmy would come right down. I love her son and when he saw me he came running across the lobby to hug me. We through some pennies at the bubbling water in the lobby, went to the gift shop and picked out a toy although Kristin said we had to wait until after dinner to purchase it and then checked in at the Whispering Canyon. I can't remember our server's name, but she is the loud one that was shown in the restuarant on the Travel channel this past week. Since Jimmy loves the Pirates of the Caribbean, DH and I both wore a pirates shirt, the server kept singing the whole time we were there, Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A pirate's life for me. Jimmy got chicken fingers & fries and when she asked him if he wanted ketchup, being 3 and not knowing, said yes. Allof a sudden we had a bout 20 bottles of ketchup. He took it in stride, and we had a good time taking the bottles to another table later that asked for ketchup.

After dinner, we went to the gift shop and I bought Jimmy a box of Peter Pan plastic toy figurines (which Krisin told me the next day that she talked him into not opening it that night, and he slept with the box clutched in his arms). We went down to Roaring Forks so DH and Jimmy could have a Mickey Bar and decided to get the bus to DTD and back to French Qtr since it was raining again with some pretty decent lightning. As we exited the bus at DTD, we walked to the French Qtr stop and a bus pulled right up. Timing!!!!! That has never happened. We usually find that bus service at DTD is slow. Anyway, back to the room and called it a night.

Miles - 4.39 Steps 9,853


Day 8 - Thursday, June 10, 2004

Today, for the first time in 10 years of trips to Disney (5 years before we got married and 5 years since), DH and I were going to do different things. He was meeting the Kolonsky's for part of the day and going to Typhoon Lagoon. I was headed to EPCOT to meet Kristin & Jimmy. We decided to meet outside the photo shop by Spaceship Earth. At 10:15 a.m., I found Kristin, her sister Alisa & Jimmy coming in with the droves of crowds. We headed to I can't remember where to get some breakfast for them since they hadn't eaten. We sat outside and I was videotaping Jimmy trying to catch birds - he couldn't understand why they would fly away when he got close. LOL After their breakfast, Alisa didn't want to be with us so she took off on her own and Kristin, Jimmy and I got a FP for Test Track (Jimmy is now tall enough) and rode Journey into your Imagination. We walked into World Showcase and rode the boat in Mexico and Norway. We walked through shops in a bunch of different countries and then high tailed it over to Morroco for lunch at Marrakesh. Alisa had made a ressie for the 3 of them, but since she wanted to be on her own, I went with them instead. We had a delicious meal and Jimmy was totally entranced with the belly dancer - I forsee having to lock him in his room before he's 12. After lunch we walked back to the entrance of World Showcase since Bob was going to meet us at 2:30 p.m. As we got there, the character caravan showed up. We got pictures of Jimmy and Kristin with Goofy & Mickey. Alisa had told Kristin not to take her camera since Alisa had a digital, but since Alisa kept wanting to just stay in the room and sleep and wouldn't let Kristin borrow the camera, she didn't have many pictures of Jimmy. Of course, Auntie Joan to the rescue. After the character caravan, we found Bob sitting on a bench. We decided to walk over to France to see the film and Jimmy fell asleep. (Do you see a pattern here - we did a lot of walking and cris-crossing at WS - definitely not wise in the heat, but oh well - as my saying always goes - anything for Jimmy Melnick). It was time for the fast pass for Test Track and since the sky was getting dark, we didn't want to take any chances so I stayed with the sleeping Jimmy on a bench outside of Mouse Gear in the shade and DH and Kristin rode it. Then we went to Spaceship Earth - Jimmy woke up but didn't want to ride, so DH stayed with him and Kristin and I rode it. We went to Guest Relations since Alisa had made a ressie for them at Spoodles that night and Kristin wanted to call back to the room to see if she was still going. No - didn't feel well - wanted to sleep, so we made a ressie for China instead at Nine Dragons. We went over to the American Adventure so Kristin and Jimmy could see the show, but it was having technical difficulties so we decided to head to Nine Dragons to check in early since it was starting to rain. Well - timing again was excellent. If the storm Tuesday night was a mini typhoon, this was a major typhoon. It rained, thundered, lightning, and blew that you couldn't even see anything out of the window. The power even went off for about 10-15 seconds. It pretty much stormed thoughout the whole meal, which I might add was excellent. After dinner, Bob was tired so he headed out and Kristin and I went to the American Adventure to see if the show was back up and working - it was. We watched the show, walked back over to the Int'l Gateway to look in the shops, and then to Mousegear to get a toy for Jimmy Melnick that I had promised him during dinner. It was still raining, but not heavy. After MouseGear, it was 10 minutes to Illuminations, so we booked it back to World Showcase to find a spot for Illuminations since Kristin hadn't seen it and it is my favorite fireworks show. After the show, we went out to the bus stop and went our separate ways.

Miles today 5.07 (this is only from 2:30 p.m. until after dinner when dh left)

Steps - 17,172


Day 9 - Friday, June 11, 2004

Meeting up with friends Jim & Cindy Dallas from Naples and Pam Forrester & family from our own Mouse For Less list!

DH and Jim have been friends for quite a few years. Both are musicians and met at a percussion convention many moons ago and have stayed friends ever since. They are DVC owners and since they live in Naples, frequent the DVC resorts quite often, but this is the first time in 5 years that our schedules match up. They are staying at Saratoga Springs and since they have a car, they offered to pick us up to expedite things for our breakfast ressie at Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club. We had a leisurely breakfast and really enjoyed having the opportunity to get together. They were very happy with Saratoga Springs but due to the newness and the fact that there is still construction going on, it doesn't have quite the feel yet that other DVC resorts have, but they have no doubts that this will be a wonderful resort when it is all finished.

After breakfast, we each went our own way - they were headed to Typhoon Lagoon and we were headed to MGM (stars wars weekends and DH just had to go). We walked through the shops at the Beach Club, the Yacht Club and then over to the Boardwalk (our home DVC resort). Due to the heat (did I mention its Hot again today! LOL), we hopped on a boat to MGM. We arrived in the park close to 11:30 a.m. and went to get a FP for Tower of Terror. Good thing too since the standby was 140 minutes! We went on the Great Movie Ride (only a 30 minute wait) and then went to the Backlot Express to eat. After lunch, we went over by Star Tours and I took DH's pictures with some of the costumed star wars characters that were in the area (I wouldn't know who they were to save my life), then went on the Backlot Tour, over to TofT to use our fast pass, walked through some shops and then headed back to the French Quarter to go swimming and cood down.

In my earlier trip reports, I had mentioned that DH had bought me a tinkerbell necklace for our anniversary but when I went to try it on Tuesday night, it barely fit around my neck. The chain was only 16" and I really could have used an 18". I had gone to several stores in the parks that carried the necklace, but they said they couldn't help me. The jewelry store at MGM suggested I try Uptown Jewelers in the Magic Kingdom. Perfect! After showering, we headed to the Magic Kingdom to pick up our wrist bands for E-ride night and stopped at Uptown Jewelers. What a nice group of people. The girls was very helpful. She pulled out a necklace exactly like mine from the case, and that one was on a 14" chain, which would probably only fit a child. She finally found a chain with a pendant on that was 18" and switched it for me. No charge! How wonderful. I figured if I didn't have any luck before we returned home, I would just pick up a 14kt chain at Walmart. Not necessary and I was able to finally wear my necklace. As we were walking down Main Street USA to exit the park, we ran into another family we are friends with - the Fries family from Pottsville, PA (note to Jess Johnson - your hubbie's former band director) who we have plans to have breakfast with the next morning.

Out we go and catch the monorail to the Contemporary to meet Pam Forrester and her husband Steve and daugher Hannah for dinner at the California Grill. We had a wonderful meal with good conversation. Hannah is truly a delightful little girl and kept my DH truly entertained with all of the Pal Mickey jokes. I'm so glad we finally got to meet!

After dinner, we walked back to the Magic Kingdom for E-ride night. The fireworks started as we were walking but we did get into Main Street in time for the end. We went to Tomorrowland first and rode Buzz Lightyear 3 times in a row, then Space Mountain, over to Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder and Splash Mountain.

DH wouldn't do the Winnie the Pooh ride. He said he'd already done it 3 times and that was enough for this trip!

Took the bus back to our resort to call it a night. It was 1:35 a.m. - DH went right to bed, but I turned CNN on as I had been doing all week - and ended up watching a replay from the Reagan Funeral. It was so sad watching Nancy break down and it made me cry - woke DH up and he's asking me what's wrong - I just said go back to sleep - I'm at a funeral!

Miles today 8.23
Steps - 19,839

Day 10 - Saturday, June 12, 2004

Meeting up with the Fries family - Rick, Michelle, Michael (14) & Gwen (10) and also the Kolonsky's - Ed, Johanna, Maria (14) & EJ(5)

We got up early for our last and final full day at WDW. My, the days have flown by. We headed out to the bus stop to catch a bus to the MK for our PS at Chef Mickey's with the Fries family at 7:50 a.m. The bus picked us up and we had a wonderful older driver. Since the bus wasn't full, he asked how many were going to character breakfasts and where - we had some at the Poly and Contemporary. He dropped those for the Poly off at that resort and then took us and a few others to the Contemporary and the rest to the Magic Kingdom. He said he's only allowed to do this when the bus isn't full. What Pixie Dust yet again. We still ended up being about 10 minutes late but the Fries family wasn't there yet either. They came 15 minutes later and we went to check in. The character breakfast was a first for them and Gwen was just smiling from ear to ear. They've been to Florida a few times - or at least Rick has. He takes his high school band down every 4 years but never has the opportunity to do a character meal or many things with his family there. We had a really great breakfast and then we were headed to the MK to meet the Kolonsky's and they were headed to EPCOT.

We were supposed to meet the Kolonsky's in Tomorrowland at 10:00 a.m. and we were a little late. That's OK - EJ was hungry and was having a hot dog for breakfast. We all got blueberry freezee's from the stand and then rode the TTA, Space Mountain and the Indy Cars. I've been waiting to ride them again since we haven't done this since 1995. It was very hot and I ended up getting a little sunburn while waiting to exit the car, which seemed to take forever. I think I waited longer to get out of the car then I did in line to get in the car. We headed over to Toontown to ride the Barnstormer and then went through Minnie's house. The Kolonsky's got in line so EJ could have his picture taken with Pluto and I went into the tent. Lot's of Mr. Potato head parts and very few people. Ahhhhh, now's my chance. I decided to not buy the potatoe itself (figured I could get one of those at Walmart) and just buy the accessories. Ed came in, the expert potatoe piece packer he is, and helped me to make sure I got as many pieces I could in the box.

Everyone was hungry so we went to Cosmic Ray's for lunch. After lunch we rode the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain and stopped for a dole whip. Once again, the heat has done me in, and we go back to the room to cool off. We just sat around in the air conditioning for a while and then decided to shower - great - we're showering inside - it's showering yet again outside. It just rained and rained and rained. Finally we donned our ponchos, grabbed the umbrella's and headed over to the bus station for our PS at the Castle for dinner.

We arrived and check in. The lobby of the castle was very crowded. There was a group of girls - approx. 18-20 yrs old - all dressed up and celebrating one of their birthdays. They all had "Hello kitty" birthday hats and the birthday girl had a "Hello Kitty birthday crown" on. They even gave a party hat to one of the CM that was calling people to let them know there table was ready. When it was time to call them, he put his hat on when he came out to ring the chimes. Everyone was loving this. When we had dinner, we also noticed that they gave their server a party hat too. It was pretty funny to see both of these CM's (both male) in Hello Kitty hats!

After dinner, we were going to go to MGM since we hadn't seen Fantasmic yet, but since it was still raining and we were rather tired, we decided to walk through some shops and call it a night. We got caught in traffic with Spectro Magic so we picked a spot to watch it, and then headed out to catch a bus back to the resort. We stopped at the food court for ice cream and called it a night.

Miles - 6.56

Steps 13,078

Day 11 - Sunday, June 13, 2004 - our final day!

We got early and decided the day before that we would all meet at the pool for one final harrah! Bob & I stopped at the food court for blueberry mickey waffles and headed to the pool to eat there. After we were done, we joined up in the pool with the Kolonsky's. It was very refreshing and the water was still very warm at 9:00 a.m. We only stayed about 45 minutes and then went back to the room to shower and call for luggage pickup since check out is 11:00 a.m. After our bags were picked up (we waited about 35 minutes) we went to catch the bus to to the MK. We went in to the store at the exit of the Pirates of the Caribbean for DH to get a shirt and then caught the monorail to the Contemporary for our lunch ressie at the Concourse Steak House. The food here is always excellent although it always appears to be a more upscale place. After lunch, we walked back to the MK and caught the bus to the French Quarter since Tiffany was picking us up at 2:45 pm. We arrived with about 5 minutes to spare, Max was right on time and tearfully bid our final good byes to WDW until December.

We arrived on time at the Sanford Airport without incident only to find out that our flight was now scheduled to depart at 7:45 p.m. instead of 5:45 p.m. Oh well, we at least had time to relax, but there was one couple who was really upset and gave the employees at the check in counter a really hard time. They were actually screaming at them. It wasn't their fault and the Vacation Express people really tried to smooth them over. Our flight finally took off at 8:00 p.m. and we had some pretty intense lightning and turbulence for a while, causing me to have a bit of white nuckel syndrome.

Arrived at my house at 12:40 a.m. - wow that 5:40 a.m. alarm for work really killed me.