Cast of Characters:
Jill, 31
Jeff, DB, 29
Laurie, DSIL, 30
Pretrip
My brother got married in May 2004 to Laurie who was a
Disney virgin. I had been telling my brother that it
would be cool if a group of us (including some college
friends) could all get together and go to Disney.
Finally last summer he convinced his wife that it
would be a good idea. The trip ended up being the
three of us for various reasons. DSIL has never
“quite” gelled with our family yet and I thought this
might be a good way to spend some time together. Deb
from TMFL made reservations at Pop Century for us for
the end of October. Disney then announced the free
dining promotion and I rearranged the dates to fall
between classes for me (I am working on my MBA) and
had Deb change the reservations. I found a DING fare
of Southwest for $83/each way. I snagged it and then
they put September on sale for $51. I grabbed that
fare and they finally put the October segment on sale
for $51 as well. Finally got the airfare down to
about $118/person RT. (And I used the credits to pay
for my next ticket and I have some leftover for next
year!)
I work for a major cell phone provider in Kansas City
and I had (quite dumbly) volunteered to cover a shift
on Saturday for a coworker. Well, Hurricane Rita
caused me to end up working 11 hours of OT (more $$
for the trip!) Unfortunately this caused me to be a
day behind in getting everything done that I needed to
get done before I was to leave on Wednesday. I ended
up getting two weeks of schoolwork done and all the
rest of my chores done by the time I went to class on
Tuesday night. I finished packing when I got home at
10 PM. DB and DSIL were picking me up at 4:30AM for
the drive to the airport.
Day 1 - September 28
DB and DSIL picked me up at about 4:45AM and we headed
off to the airport. If you’ve ever been to the KC
airport you know that they built it in Iowa (not
really, but it feels that way) and I live in extreme
south KC. Thank goodness for not much traffic that
early. Dropped the car off at the Thrifty lot and got
checked in at SW by the skycap. I always tip the
skycaps but this guy wouldn’t give me my boarding pass
until he received a tip. I would have withheld it if
it hadn’t meant losing the boarding pass…. I know
these guys depend on tips for a living but please
don’t force me to tip you…ARGH! Got some coffee and
settled down in the “A” line for SW. I popped
Aladdin into my laptop and gathered a crowd of kids
behind me watching the movie. It wasn’t long until
they started boarding and we were off. Had a smooth
flight into MCO and landed right on time. Found the
Magical Express greeter who directed us downstairs.
Maybe we landed at the wrong time but it took forever
to get a bus to PC. We landed at about 11 AM and
finally got to PC at about 1 PM. Got checked into PC
and was given connecting rooms (this is bad, wait
until Day 3) in the 80’s building. The rooms were
ready so we threw in our stuff and headed out to the
MK.
Hit MK and it was practically empty. Walked onto SM
twice, COP, Buzz, TTA, and Stitch. I have been
avoiding Stitch because I had always thought it was a
waste of time. Well, I was right. That chilidog
breath is disgusting. Our 5:25 ADR for dinner at the
castle was approaching so we headed over and checked
in. I am glad we had ressies because the CM’s were
turning everyone w/o ressies away. We waited about 20
minutes and were seated by this slightly scary CM who
I nicknamed Cinderella’s stepsister. Our waitress was
seriously scatterbrained but enjoyable. She explained
to us how to maximize the dining plan and the glutton
fest ensued. DB and I both had the Caesar salad and
DSIL ordered the shrimp cocktail—three shrimp in
total. She ended up spitting one out and put it on
her plate and covered it with some lettuce so we
wouldn’t get grossed out. That left a partial shrimp
on her plate. The waitress came over to clean up the
plates and started to pick hers up and pulled her hand
back like she got burned. She didn’t say anything but
we figured she thought DSIL hadn’t finished so DSIL
hit the partially eaten shrimp under more of the
lettuce. The server BUSTED DSIL out…I have never
laughed so hard. Guess you had to be there. We all
ordered the King’s cut Prime Rib with a side of
asparagus. It was delicious but we were stuffed so we
barely made a dent in it. Even though we were stuffed
we couldn’t let dessert go so I ordered the key lime
crème brulee, DSIL ordered the raspberry sorbet, and
DB ordered the molten chocolate cake. All were
fabulous. We rolled out of the restaurant after
chasing down the server who forgot to return one of
our room keys. Went out to watch Wishes but a storm
started to roll in so we headed back to the hotel to
crash.
Day 2 - September 29
My original plan was to go to MGM today but we didn’t
get a lot of MK done the day before so we hit MK
again. Got there a little bit after opening and
walked onto POC, and then waited until 10 to ride
Jungle Cruise and see the Tiki Birds. Walked onto
Splash and I got wetter than I have ever before. I
think that they have the water turned up because I got
soaked on the beginning of the ride and not on the big
drop. Walked onto BTMRR and then took the raft to Tom
Sawyer’s island. DSIL went to the restroom and then
we took the raft back (DB just really wanted to ride
the raft.) Ate lunch at Pecos Bill’s on the dining
plan. The cashier had to move to a new register so
the line moved with her. I was next in line both
places and this guy came up and insisted that he had
always been ahead of me and preceded to shove his way
in front of me and order. Well, I didn’t say anything
but managed to get my food well before he got his.
Karma. This sort of behavior from people would become
the norm for the week.
DSIL and I both got the chicken wraps and DB got the
pulled pork sandwich. We each got dessert. Food was
excellent as always. Headed over to the HM, which was
another walk on. After that we rode IASW, which is as
obnoxious as ever (but much prettier and shinier.)
Watched Mickey’s Philharmagic, which was as good as
ever. Decided that we had done all we needed to at MK
so we took the monorail over to the TTC and caught a
bus to MGM. Arrived at MGM and waited 10 minutes to
ride TOT and walked right onto RNRC. Loved both as
much as usual. Headed over and rode Star Tours and
then watched Indiana Jones---both great attractions.
We had a 4:20 ADR for Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic
package. Great meal, less than stellar service. I
loved being able to use the Dining plan to pay for the
package. Rode GMR which was slow as always and then
headed over to Oscar’s to get entrance to Fantasmic.
Sat behind the strangest/worst mother or grandmother I
had ever seen ****Disclaimer**** I do not have kids
or intend to have kids. The following is my opinion
only and please don’t flame me. **** The father had
bought the about six-year-old girl a light up toy.
She chose one of the collapsible swords. She was so
proud of it and was playing her heart out. The
mom/grandmother (we couldn’t figure it out) starting
b*&ching about how she should have gotten a magic wand
since the kid was a girl. She said that princesses
don’t have swords. The Dad was arguing with her and
I, not being able to keep my big mouth shut, said that
Princess Leia from Star Wars had a sword. The lady
“corrected” me on my pronunciation and that it was
Princess LEE-A. The dad said thanks for helping my
cause…The lady smarted off that she would be better
off if she moved places away from me. Well, I should
have kept my mouth shut but I hate seeing kids, girls
especially, being forced into narrow-minded gender
roles. I shut up and read my email. This lady would
not stop arguing with the Dad and insisted that the
Dad take the little girl to exchange for a wand. He
did and the little girl cried until Fantasmic started.
Oh well.
Fantasmic was terrific as always. A rainstorm came up
about 5 minutes from the end and people started
getting up. They wouldn’t leave but wanted to just
stand in front of all of us who were watching the
show. Finally the show was over and we shopped our
way out and grabbed a bus back to PC.
Day 3 - September 30
Today is AK day. We arrived at the park a little bit
before opening. Once they dropped the ropes we headed
right and walked onto ITTBAB. My DSIL had discovered
that she really liked the 3D/4D shows…she really liked
this one. Next up was Dinosaur. I really, really
don’t like this ride. Yes, I know the dinosaurs are
not real but they still scare the H&** out of me.
Well, DB and DSIL loved it and then proceeded to make
fun of the picture where I had my hand over my face
for the rest of the day. We decided to skip the rest
of DinoLand and headed over to Kali River Rapids.
This is also one of my least favorite rides….even
though it was extremely hot and sticky I did not
relish walking around in wet shorts the rest of the
day. I wisely kept my opinion to myself and off we
went. I decided to employ some strategy and sat
opposite a very fluffy man thinking he would tip the
raft his way…NOT! I got soaked! I spent the next few
minutes wringing out my shirt and shorts. We skipped
Flights of Wonder and walked through the Jungle Trek
where we saw the tigers just chilling out. We then
grabbed a FP for the Safari and took the train to
Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We just missed the vet
procedure so we went outside and petted the goats.
Headed back and used our FP’s to walk onto the Safari.
We saw two baby elephants and several other animals
although not as many as usual. Ate lunch at Tusker
House using the dining plan. Food was excellent as
usual. DB and DSIL had the turkey wrap with corn
chowder, which they said was very good. I had the
rotisserie chicken again, which is my perennial
favorite. After lunch we hit FOTLK. We all agreed
that the monkeys are our favorites. We rode Dinosaur
again and they made fun of me again. Ah, family.
We decided to head over to Epcot and ride a couple of
things before our 5:00 ADR at ‘Ohana. We walked onto
Spaceship Earth where I caught a nap. We hit Mission:
Space where I ended up freaking DSIL out with my
warnings. (She tends to get carsick driving through
the mountains…I didn’t want her mad at me if she got
sick) She decided that it was really cool and that we
had just freaked her out. Then we rode Test Track.
It stopped a couple of times but DB and SIL loved it
anyway. Make sure you check out the “driver” of the
semi-truck next time you ride.
By this time it was time to grab the monorail and go
to MK to transfer to the Poly for dinner. I ate at
‘Ohana last year and loved it. I was a little nervous
with the recent changes to the menu but we had an
enjoyable experience. We arrived early so we all
ordered Mai Tai’s from the lounge. We were called
right at 5 so we paid for the drinks and were seated
at the window overlooking the water. The server
brought out the chicken wings (really, really good)
peel and eat shrimp, salad, mini shrimp wontons and
wonton chips, and dipping sauce. All the appetizers
were good. Next, they brought out the Maui potatoes
(which my DB referred to as the Hawaiian scalloped
potatoes) and the stir-fried veggies. The potatoes
were good but seemed out of place with the Hawaiian
theme. The veggies were ok…I picked out the carrots
and pea pods and ate them. We ordered another round
of drinks. DSIL had another Mai Tai, I got the best
Pina Colada I have ever had, and I convinced my DB to
order the Backscratcher. Boy, was that strong! DB
really liked it and we had fun with the souvenir
backscratcher. The servers finally brought the
skewers. The steak and pork are very good even though
I got a piece of steak that was a little too rare for
my taste (I probably could have asked for more but I
was stuffed.) The sausage was good but I didn’t try
the turkey. After the dishes were cleared, the server
brought the banana bread pudding…very good! Overall,
I miss the old menu, which included the yummy coconut
bread, the rice, the regular wontons, and the
pineapple and caramel sauce. I still think this is a
great meal and would go again. On another note, DB
and DSIL visited Hawaii in May and they love the Poly
because it had the Hawaiian tiki kitch that was
missing in the real Hawaii.
At this point, we parted ways. I had tickets to
MNSSHP and DB and SIL had plans to go downtown. They
ended up just going back to PC and chilling. I headed
over to MK and picked my ticket up at Will-Call (This
was a AP night and I had to show my AP to get the
special rate.) Went through the turnstiles and got my
treat bag. The CM’s were directing people into
AdventureLand. I found a bench and watched the
various costumes. The best was a family of
Fastpasses. They had taken a Splash Mountain fastpass
and blown both sides up and mounted it to two pieces
of cardboard, which the whole family each wore as a
sandwich board. The CM”s were giving them a lot of
attention. I called my parents to check in (They are
OTR truck drivers and we try to keep in touch daily to
make sure everyone is OK and accounted for plus they
are “babysitting” my 9 month old dachshund puppy while
I was on vacation) Everything and everyone was fine so
I headed down to the store at the exit of POC. I
bought the MNSSHP shirt and a set of Mickey pirate
ears, as I had not brought a costume. I made the
mistake of telling the CM at the cash register that I
did not appreciate Stitch. She got really into
character and tried to make me walk the plank, as she
really likes Stitch. Really funny. Note: The party
merchandise was located at the back of the store near
the POC exit.
The candy stops were marked with big white balloons.
The lines were long so I skipped the candy and walked
onto BTMRR. Decided to skip Splash, as I didn’t want
to get wet. I worked my way around to the castle hub
and found a spot on the concrete bench behind the
Partners statue. I settled in and saw the Headless
Horseman ride about 10 minutes before the parade got
in front of the castle. The parade featured several
classic characters that aren’t seen very often. The
fireworks started at 9:15 and were brand new (as was
the parade) for 2005. The theme was the Grim Grinning
Ghosts coming out to play. The soundtrack included
several remixed songs from the various Disney
villains. The display was fantastic! Well worth it.
(For anyone interested, there should be a video of the
fireworks posted on mousetimes.com…. I was sitting
next to the guy filming them.)
After the fireworks I bought the Party pins at the
store near the entrance of the park. Caught a bus
back to PC and discovered that I had locked myself out
of the room. How did I accomplish this? Well, I left
the deadbolt and night latch shut and exited out the
connecting rooms that morning. The night manager and
security guard were very gracious about my stupidity.
The called the maintenance guy who had overheard the
call on the radio and had grabbed an extra night latch
in anticipation of being called. After getting the
key to the deadbolt and bolt cutters to cut the night
latch, I was in my room. The maintenance guy quickly
installed a new night latch and I was set to go….
guess what, I didn’t leave through the connecting door
anymore! Off to bed after some not to gentle razzing
from my DB. (Well that D didn’t stand for Disney or
Dear at that moment!))
Day 4 - October 1
Today was Epcot day. We got everyone up and headed
for the bus and were at Epcot before the rope drop. I
was attending Party for the Senses in the evening so I
brought a change of clothing. I rented a locker at
the camera center and stowed it. We stopped in at the
Festival welcome center so I could check in for the
Party but I was too early. We made a beeline for The
Land and walked onto Soarin’. I love this attraction
as I rode it at DCA in March. DB and SIL loved it
too. We grabbed a FP for another ride and then walked
onto Living with the Land. We had a few minutes to
kill so we grabbed some snacks at the new food court.
We rode Soarin’ again with our FP’s and the ride was a
good as the first time. We exited the Land and went
to visit Figment. This was my first time on Journey
to the Imagination and I was glad I rode it once but I
will be skipping in the future. It was just OK. By
this time the WS was open so we started walking
through the countries. We looked at the various
samples. We finally landed on eating a snack in
Germany (gotta love the German wine shop.) We
continued walking so DSIL could decide on a “real”
place for lunch. Would she pick anything indoors…of
course not! So we stopped at the Mexican CS place
where 2 minutes after sitting down to eat we got
caught in a torrential downpour. We got soaked! This
was the only part of the trip where I really almost
killed my DSIL. She went into psycho Pollyanna mode
about how great it is to get soaked…since this is my
least favorite thing in the world; she almost got
tossed in the lake. After the rain let up we decided
to head back to PC and get some dry clothes. We
decided to ride Test Track one more time but it was
broken down. We grabbed a PF for a couple of hours
later and then headed out to find a bus. All of us
chilled in the room for a while. I got dressed for
the Party for the Senses and grabbed DB and DSIL. We
rode Mission Space again and used our FP for Test
Track. At that point we split up; I went to check in
for the Party and left DB and DSIL to fend for
themselves. I checked into the Festival Welcome
Center and got my wristband and then headed over to
the World Showplace for the Party. Most people
skipped the reserved concert seating and hung out at
the gate. We received a coupon to exchange for you
glass/plate. They opened the gate a little after 6.
There were several lines (including very close to the
facility entrance that no one was using) where you get
your plate and wine glass and menu. You then go into
the front of the facility where there are performers
from Cirque. Those "in the know" all crowded up
around the curtains at the entrance to the main room.
This is a great time to look at your menu and decide
what you want to hit. The groupings are set up in a
color-coded method with the food/wine and sometimes
desserts. At exactly 6:30 they opened the curtains
and everyone went in. Seating is at a premium and if
you want a base you need to save a table and ALWAYS
have someone sit there. Some people insist that you
cannot save tables and others are downright rude about
their table "ownership." (This was the only downside
of the evening as I was alone and could not hold a
table.)
I tried everything once. The samples are usually 2-3
bites and some are a bit more. I had everything from
butternut squash risotto to wild boar to rare Wahoo.
The chefs are right there serving and seemed eager to
chat and/or answer questions. I didn't meet anyone
who was unfriendly (except some of the guests.) Each
area had a vintor or brewer set up who passed out
generous samples. There is also Evian water
available.
You can eat and/or drink as little or as much as you
want in the 2 1/2 hour period. The dress code is
resort casual with some people showing up in shorts
and some semi-formal but most of us in between.
I had a really good time and tried some 5 star dishes
that I would have been scared to order if "paying" for
them in a resteraunt. It is a great way to find out
what you like and what you don't. I had a great time
and would do this event again.
I ended up leaving at about 8:30 after yet another
rainstorm passed. I hit the Festival merchandise
store at the welcome center in Innovations West where
I bought a F&W polo shirt. I then went out to package
pickup to pickup my complimentary bottle of wine and
wine glasses that were part of the F&W festival
package add-on. The CM’s could not find the package
so I ended waiting 45 minutes while they made phone
calls trying to find it. Turns out that the special
events people forgot to bring all the packages to the
package pickup. A manager finally delivered it. By
this time people were leaving in droves and I did not
feel like waiting on a bus. I found a cab and took it
back to PC ($10 exactly.) Went back to the room and
hit they hay.
Day 5 - October 2
Today, we planned to go to Kennedy Space Center. We
had arranged to rent a car at the Car Care Center from
National. I called at 6:30 AM for a 7:30 AM shuttle
pickup. We were about 5 minutes early (7:25) and the
shuttle was not only there but was getting ready to
leave. We flagged it down and went to the car care
center. We met a very nice (but very chatty) lady
from Maine and her family who helped pass the time.
Once at the rental counter, we quickly got our keys
and found out we were given a new Pontiac G6 (the cars
Oprah gave away.) They are very nice…lots of legroom
in the back seat. We found our way out of town and
encountered toll road hell…. The second toll station
didn’t recognize that we had paid it so we had to
throw in more money. ARGH! Stopped in Titusville at
Denny’s for breakfast and then drove out to KSC. I
had prepurchased tickets from AAA and saved about
$5/per person by doing so. We went though security
that is tighter than the airport to get into the
visitor’s center. We decided to take the bus tour
first. The tour stops at the Shuttle launch pad
viewing area and then the Atlas 5 rocket center. The
rocket center was excellent. They recreated the first
moon shot from the launch control center, which was
very cool. They also have a real, restored Atlas
rocket suspended from the ceiling. We ended up eating
lunch at the food court there, which was good but
extremely expensive. We took the bus back to the
visitor’s center and toured the shuttle mockup and the
rocket park. We also watched the new IMAX movie from
Tom Hanks, “Magnifcent Desolation” in 3D. It was very
good. We hit the gift shop and then decided to head
out. We drove back to PC and changed clothes and then
drove over to Epcot for out 8:30 reservation at Le
Cellier. We were seated at about 8:45 and had
excellent service from a server from Quebec. DSIL and
I had the cheese soup (YUMMY!!!!) and DB had the
mussels (he really like them.) DB and I ordered the
regular filet and DSIL ordered the mushroom filet.
All were cooked to perfection and were incredibly
good. I had the maple crème brulee for dessert. DSIL
had the raspberry sorbet, and DB had the cheese plate.
All the desserts were very good. We finally left the
restraint at about 10 PM. The park was deserted which
made finding the car very easy. J DB and DSIL wanted
to go to PI but I was exhausted. I had them drop me
at PC and they caught a bus to PI. I finished
packing, writing postcards, and caught up on my email.
Went to bed at about midnight.
Day 6 - October 3
It’s our last day. BOO! DB and I got up early to
take the car back. We came back to PC where DSIL was
still sleeping. I went to the food court and used my
last CS credit for breakfast. DSIL finally got up and
we headed to MK to ride Space Mountain one last time.
There is a reason why I don’t go to MK on a Monday…it
was wall-to-wall people at 10 AM. We grabbed a FP for
SM and then walked to Toon Town to catch the train.
We rode the train around the park and then used our FP
to ride Space Mountain one last time. We headed out
and took the monorail to the TTC and grabbed a bus to
MGM. We just missed the next showing of the stunt
show so we rode TOT and RNRC. By this time we were
hungry and decided to see if we could get into Sci-Fi
early. (Our ADR was for 1:45) We were told we
probably wouldn’t get in early and in fact got seated
about 5 minutes late. DB and DSIL thoughly enjoyed
the theming. We got our appetizers and then entrees
and then the server disappeared. I was engrossed in
watching the movie clips when DB leaned back in the
car and told me it was already 2:45. This was not
good, as we needed to be at PC with luggage to get on
the 3:15 ME bus. ARGH! It took 10 minutes to get the
server to come back to the table then she finally
brought the desserts (we took shakes to go) and sign
our receipts. We headed to the bus stop where, of
course, there was not a bus to be found. Then it
started raining. What a day. We finally got back to
PC where the ME bus was still sitting at 3:20. We ran
through the torrential downpour where I went to see if
we could still get on and DB and DSIL went to claim
the luggage. I was told that they had given our seats
to a bunch of people who had seats on the 3:45 bus.
Basically the bus driver blew me off. I went back to
the luggage line and told DB and DSIL what had
happened. A manager overheard me and assured us that
we would have priority on the 3:45 bus. We waited on
the bus and took turns running in to use the restroom
and using our remaining snack credits at the food
court.
The 3:45 bus rolled up and the manager who was
supposed to give us priority was nowhere to be found.
There was a really annoying guy shoving himself and
his luggage in front of everyone. We all finally got
on the bus. The bus was filled to capacity and a
couple of guys were standing. The driver noticed this
before we got past the guard shack. Everyone one
except the annoying guy’s wife allowed people to sit
in the empty seats. She was the last holdout (she had
a diaper bag in the seat next to her) and she threw a
temper tantrum that she had to give up her extra seat
for this guy. We finally get on our way and head to
the airport. Don’t believe the signs that say there
is a SW check in counter on ground floor…you will walk
forever and it will be closed…just go upstairs. We
checked in with no problems and got into that horrible
security line. TSA really needs a less chaotic
security line. I got separated from DB and DSIL but
finally met up with them at the gate. We had an
uneventful flight back to Kansas City. Picked up the
car at the Thrifty lot and DB and DSIL dropped me off
at home. The cats were VERY glad to see me.
Closing Thoughts
I was concerned about traveling with my DSIL. We did
ok and I didn’t kill her. That always helps family
harmony. Crowds were VERY light—made the heat and
humidity worth it. The dining plan is great…. lots of
food but lots of choice. We got the plan for free but
I would pay for it in the future. MNSSHP is lots of
fun for adults and kids. F&W is great…. I have to go
back and spend more time. PFTTS was a great
opportunity and worth the cost IMHO. I have often
thought and my Disney newbie SIL said that the CM’s
were very nice but the guests were extremely rude.
Lots of kamikaze scooter drivers and stroller pushers.
Many people were very respectful but there were a few
people who definitely could learn some manners. I
cannot recommend TMFL enough. This trip was intended
to be a solo trip for my birthday and due to the free
dining and my school schedule it was rescheduled a
couple of times. Deb C from TMFL was and is a great
help and has the patience of a saint. We had a very
good time and I have another 50 days until I go back
for Mousefest and Christmas at Disney. Thanks for
reading!
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