Michelle Atkins - September 2001

Well, we are back from our short weekend at Disney!! It wasn't long enough for me but we are going back in October so that is ok!!

Firday night we got there late. It was about 11 p.m. We had about 3 people ahead of us. Thec check in itself was short and painless!! We atayed at the All Star Music. Are room was Country Fair 6501. It was on the 2nd floor. I think it was the furthest building from the buses. It was close to the piano pool. So that was a plus!!

We hit the sack almost immediately so that we could get up for early entry to the Magic Kingdom!!

Saturday 6:45 a.m. We arrive at the bus stop going to the Magic Kingdom. There is one other couple there!! A mom and her teenage daughter. Chris hit it off with them right away!! Talked to them the whole way there!!

We get off at the Magic Kingdom. Stand in line and the same to women are there!! Needless to say Chris is thrilled!! LOL!!

Anyway, they are doing searches of everyones bags. Purses included!! They had us open the knapssacks and my waist pouch. It was actually pretty short.

We grab a map from City Hall. Then we proceed to Buzz Lightyear. It was a complete walk on!! Not a single person waiting!! I have never done an early entry before so I am pretty much clueless as to whether this is the norm!! We did Buzz and the Speedway. Chris was a little too short to do Space Mountain.

The we walked over to Fantasy Land!! Chris wanted to go on Pooh!! Another virtual walk on!! We proceeded to do all of Fantasy land in about 1 hour!! Again I am not sure if this is normal; or not!!

We had a 9:30 priority seating at the Garden Grill in Epcot!! So we took the monorail over to Epcot. Were seated right away!! Because I mentioned we were celebrating my birthday when I called they had a chocolate chip cake and a card for me!! This was a wonderful cake!!

We spent time at Epcot since we were there and had seen quite a bit of the Magic Kingdom already!! After breakfast we went on the Land ride!! It was a 10 minute wait. Not bad considering when we were there in March the average wait was 45 minutes!!

We then walked over to Test Track!! It had a 30 minute wait posted!! This was unreal!! Again when we were there in March the average wait was about 90 minutes!! We were on the ride in about 20 minutes!!

After test Track we walked to SpaceShip Earth. Another virtual walk on.

We then made our way to Disney Studios. We were pretty tired so we went on Star Tours and the Great Movie ride. Then we went on to backstage pass!! They have changed the first part of this ride!! But it is still wonderful!! Although now they allow you to take strollers with you on the ride!! Even the rentals!!

After this we took a bus back to our hotel!! Went to the Food Court to eat!! Not alot of selection but good food!!

Day 2-We wake at 5:30 again. Dh is slow when it comes to getting ready in the morning!! I shower and blow dry my hair. We are checking out today so I decide to take Chris to get some milk and check out. My little socialite decides he is going to have a comversation with the girl that is checking us out!!

DH finally arrives at the bus stop. The bus to MGM is pulling up just as he comes near. We get on the bus and there is hardly anyone else on it!!

Well, we get to MGM. We had bought a few pins and a lanyard for Chris. We forgot it at the hotel yesterday. So I made sure to remember it today. Well, we were waiting at the gates for the park to open a man in front of us saw Chris wearing his. He asked him if he was trading. Chris looked at me because he didn't know what that meant!! I shook my head and the man asked Chris which one he wanted to trade one of his for!! He traded a Piglet pin for a Donald Duck in an airplane!! Lets just say he was hooked!! From that point on he asked anyone wearing pins if they wanted to trade!!

Rock-N-Roller coaster was closed for refurbishment. So we went to the commissary for breakfast. Chris did another pin trade. We had breakfast and then it was off to Star Tours. It was a complete walk on!!

Next it was off to Muppets 4D. There was about 20 other people there.

We were walking around the new Sourcer Mickey hat. The gate was still up yesterday. But one star was missing and you could see through to the inside!! Well, a CM that looked like a manager saw us. Well, he told us that the wall would be coming down today and that they would have a big celebration. He saw Chris's lanyard and Chris asked him if he wanted to trade well the man gave Chris one of his pins!! Takl about Disney Magic!! I have my CM Appreciation cards, but didn't have them this trip!! I had my TheMouseForLess pins. We had quite a few comments about them!!

Then we asked another CM when the Great Movie ride opened. She said it opened at 9 a.m. Then Chris saw her lanyard. Well, he asked to trade with her. Another sign of Disney Magic. She gave him a Animal Kingdom pin!! Needless to say I think he is hooked on trading at this point!! LOL!!

Well, after doing the Great Movie ride and The Voyage of the Little Mermaid we decided to head over to Animal Kingdom!!

We arrived at Animal Kingdom with a minmal wait for a bus. DH went to Guest Relations to renew our annual passes and I went to get a stroller for Chris!!

They have changed the way the passes look. For 2000 it was a millenium with a 2000 on it!! This year they have pictures of Disney characters. I have Mickey, Chris has Donald and DH has Goofy!! I find this funny because Chris is always telling him that he is goofy!! LOL!!

Anyway this was the most crowded park. We went on Kali River Rapid with about a 15 minute wait!! DH got soaked!! LOL!! So did Chris, but somehow Mommy managed to stay dry!! LOL!!

Then it was off to Kilamangiro (sp) Safari. The posted wait time was 30 minutes. We waited more like 40 minutes. Then right when we got to the stroller drop off area Chris decided that he had to go to the bathroom!! Ugh!! DH took Chris to the bathroom while I waited at the stroller area. After about another 10 minutes we were finally on the ride!! Everything is pretty much the same as I remembered it. However there is a suprise that wasn't there last time!! It was on the second bridge that you come to!! It really cught me off guard!!

Then we caught the Flight of Wonder show. We have seen this before so it was pretty cool!

We were pretty tired so we stopped to get lunch!! It was around 3. So we headed over to Pizza Safari. There Chris saw a cashier with a lanyard on. So naturally he wanted to trade! LOL!!

After lunch we head over to Dinosaur. A very minimal wait!! About 10 minutes and thenm we were on the ride!! I have been on this ride about 10 times and I still scream every time!! LOL!!

We get out of the ride and see the clouds fast approaching!! So we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel to pick up our car. Well, just as we are getting to the entrance it starts pouring!! Luckily we had our ponchos with us so we put them on!!

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday. DH told me that his managers sister is Belle in the new parade!! This is too cool!! I am going to see if we can get him to arrange a meeting with his sister for Chris!! That would be majorly cool!!

We waited about 20 minutes for our bus to come to the resort. DH and Chris went to get the car. I went into the gift shop. They had a cool model of a monorail!! This one has 4 cars and is a heavy metal!! It was $15. chris loves it!!