Binnie's "Total WDW Experience"
June 1999

Day 4: Thursday, June 10, 1999 --
Richard Petty Driving Experience, MGM, Flying Fish

We had to get up really early this morning as Joe and Jimmie had 8:00 AM reservations to take part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience. On the way out of the room, we grabbed our refillable mugs and loaded up on coffee for the trip over to the WDW Speedway. We were told that we needed to take a bus to the MK and then catch the monorail or ferry to TTC. From there we could catch one of the shuttles that ran every 15 minutes to the speedway. We were way too excited for all of that hassle, so we had Bell Services call us a cab. In less than 3 minutes we were on our way. After the guys registered, we were informed that since two of our party had paid the $328 each for the "Driving Experience," Mary and I would be eligible to do the "Riding Experience" for only $74 each. We both signed up immediately. Below you will find Joe's account of his Richard Petty Driving Experience:

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The thought of driving a 600-hp vehicle was both exciting and frightening at the same time. My first look at the track was awesome. It was a 1.1-mile, tri-oval design. After registering, we were given a jumpsuit and watched a video about racing. Next, the other drivers and I were driven around the track in a van to familiarize us with the driving procedures we would be required to follow. A single red cone to the top of the track meant, "slow down entering a turn," and two red cones to your left meant, "hit the gas." Shortly after being seated through the window entrance of the Winston Cup NASCAR stock car (sized to fit one's body measurements), I begin to sweat--partly from the helmet and jumpsuit or maybe from nerves. I was given a few final instructions, and then the engine came to life, rumbling underneath me. When I shifted into 1st gear, a light on the dash came on letting me know that "it was time to go." A quick release of my left foot and a sharp push with my right sent me catapulting down pit row. A pace car was to be followed at 3 car lengths no matter where it went--even to McDonald's. Watching the flagman, a circling green flag indicated to me that I should "pick up the pace." After a few laps, a cocky feeling took over when I discovered the car and tires "stuck" to the track and handled extremely well. Just about the time I was ready to push the pace car out of my way, my eight laps were over and I followed the lead car back into the pit. Exiting my car I was asked, "How was it"? My response was a resounding "Yessss." If only I had 4 more laps, I could have "been" Richard Petty.
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Well, I guess you can tell that Joe really enjoyed his Richard Petty Driving Experience. He was told that his top speed was about 120-mph. Now it was the women's turn to climb into the passenger seat of the very same vehicles our significant others had just finished driving. We were told that since professional drivers were behind the wheel, we would be traveling quite a bit faster. Mary was in the lead car and I was right behind her. As the cars exited pit row together, we were traveling at a 100-mph before we ever actually hit the track. The drivers decided that they would really give us women a thrill by playing their version of "NASCAR tag." First my driver drove right up on the bumper of Mary's car--I mean within inches at 145-mph--and then passed. Now Mary's driver did the same. The drivers continued on in this manner ultimately reaching speeds of 165 mph. At those speeds, 3 laps go by in what seems like a matter of seconds. As my vehicle came to a screeching halt, I sat there, white knuckled, gripping to the roll bar. "You can let go now," the driver laughed. I felt slightly embarrassed that he had to inform me that we were no longer moving.

Joe decided that he had enough excitement for one afternoon and went back to the resort to nap by the pool. Jimmie, Mary and I proceeded on to MGM (I know it's not called that anymore, but I'm stubborn). The first stop was the Tower of Terror--my personal favorite ride anywhere, any place. I liked the new ride format, but like others on RADP I missed the stucco wall at the end. After "Tower," it was time for a hot dog at Rosie's. These are really the best hot dogs in "the world." As we headed for the Great Movie Ride, I decided to treat myself to a piece of fudge since I hadn't eaten a piece of candy in well over 6 months. I bought one square and took my time eating it, savoring its sweetness. I must admit that by design, my diet really went out of the window on this trip. Next we rode Star Tours and went to see the Hunchback show. I had heard about "Matt the Juggler" on RADP, and his unique brand of humor left me holding my belly laughing. "That," followed by Ismarelda's lovely rendition of "God Bless the Outcast," which left me a little teary-eyed. I never cease to be amazed at how effectively the players are able to tell the whole Hunchback tale with so little time and space. Finally, no trip to MGM would be complete without a visit to Jimmie's "other girlfriend," the Little Mermaid. As usual, he swooned during the entire performance and insisted that Ariel looked deliberately at him and smiled.

Time "does" fly when you're having fun, and already it was approaching 5:00 PM. We needed to hurry in order to meet Joe at the boat dock of the Boardwalk for our 5:30 PM seating at Flying Fish. Half way through dinner, Mary broke it to us that she was not feeling very well. She has had a preexisting medical condition for quite a few years, and we had been a little concerned that she would not be able to handle the stress of this trip. We had intended to go back to MGM for the 9:30 PM viewing of Fantasmic, but we all agreed it would be better to call it a night and return to our resort so that Mary could rest.

We left Flying Fish and walked toward World Showcase in order to catch the bus back to Port Orleans outside of the entrance to Future World. I bought some cinnamon glazed pecans, and happily munched them while we spent 20 minutes listening to the music of the British Invasion before finally leaving the park. We were back at the resort by 8:30 PM. I wrote in my journal and Joe watched the hockey play off before drifting off to sleep.

Day 5: Friday, June 11, 1999 -- E-Ticket Express

We decided to sleep in late this morning since we would be up late for E-Ticket Express tonight. By 11:00 AM we were finally all awake, and Mary said that she still was not feeling very well. We had planned to spend the day at a water park, but decided we would have just as much fun lounging around the pool, and it would be a lot easier on Mary. Sadly, by 5:00 PM Mary had decided that she was feeling too ill to continue on with the trip and announced her decision to fly home the next morning. Jimmie and I walked down to the cruise desk and explained the situation. The cruise representative was very nice and called the airline to get Mary's return ticket changed. She managed to get Mary a direct flight home for 11:00 AM the next morning and even got the $75 fee the airline charges for itinerary changes waved. Mary insisted that Jimmie stay and go on the cruise. While he put up a fuss, we finally were able to convince him that it *was* the best solution since he probably wouldn't be able to recover much of his money.

Joe magnanimously volunteered to stay back at the resort with Mary (park fanatic that he is) while Jimmie and I went to E-Ticket Express. At about 6:45 PM Jimmie and I were stepping off the bus at the Magic Kingdom when the rain began to fall. After stopping by City Hall to exchange our E-Ticket cards for bracelets, we made our way to Casey's Corner via the Main Street shops and ate some fries while waiting for the rain to let up. First I wanted to ride the new Winnie the Pooh ride so we walked the short distance to Fantasyland. Both Jimmie and I liked the slick jumping and floating motions on this ride. Since it had been years since either Jimmie or I had been on some of the other Fantasyland rides, we also rode Snow White and Peter Pan and really enjoyed ourselves. Then we decided it was time to stake out a spot for the Main Street Electrical Parade. We chose a spot at the end of the parade route near Splash Mountain since that is where I would shortly be meeting up with some of my cyber friends. I spread my poncho on the ground, and Jimmie and I had front row seats for the parade. The MSEP was just as magical as the first time I saw it 14 years ago, and I didn't miss SpectroMagic nearly as much as I thought I would.

After the parade, I began to look for my friends, some of which I had never met in person. We spotted Don and Laurie immediately, and then Barbara and Carol wearing their red RADP pins, and I recognized Joe standing with them from his picture posted on his web site. I anxiously looked around for Danielle of RADP fame as we would be on the cruise together, and I had intended on making plans this night to meet up with her on the ship in a few days. Unfortunately, I learned later from Danielle's trip report that she had a problem locating us, and I never did get to meet her (more on an unusual twist to this story later). Our little group decided that Splash Mountain should definitely be our first ride of the night, so we headed to the entrance of the queue just as the CM started checking for E-Ticket bracelets. I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to bypass all of those lines. If you look around, you will notice that people smile a lot more during E-Ticket night than during the afternoons when the lines are long and the park is hot. I've even heard groups of people strolling through the Magic Kingdom in the cool of the evening singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah during E-ticket Express. All six of us managed to get into the same log on Splash Mountain, and I think that Joe who was seated up front and Laurie who was seated on the right might have gotten the wettest. The coolest part of the whole ride was watching the fireworks finale as we drifted around the top of the mountain. It just doesn't get any better than that. Since reading Danielle's trip report, I realize that she was somewhere on "The Mountain" during the fireworks too. Rats! Next we all rode Big Thunder Mountain and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in rapid succession. I don't think my laser gun was working properly during the "Buzz" ride since I only scored 5,000 points. Jimmie's gun was working dandy however since he got 180,000 points on his first ride ever. At this point we said good bye to Don and Laurie, and the rest of our group continued on to Space Mountain. I think this may have been the longest line we waited in all night. If I remember correctly, it took about 10 or 15 minutes to get on the ride. I always enjoy riding Space Mountain, and this time was no exception. After the ride, Jimmie and I parted from the group since we wanted to call the hotel and check on Mary. Joe answered the phone and said she was fast asleep. Jimmie and I decided that since we were on this side of the park, we would take one more spin on "Buzz" before heading to the Haunted Mansion. I did much better this time scoring 97,000 points and Jimmie only scored 125,000, which was still good enough to beat me as he was quick to point out when I commented on closing the gap. When we finally did arrive at the Haunted Mansion we were told that it wasn't opened tonight. Not fair! It's just a good thing I got to ride it during the Keys to the Kingdom tour, I thought to myself. This meant that the Pirates of the Caribbean "would" be opened so we headed over there. We had the whole place to ourselves--I mean there was not another person in sight. It was an eerie feeling to ride the "Pirates" when it was this quiet. You could hear so much more of the Audio-Animatronics' spiel, and Jimmie and I were both happy to have had the experience. It was getting pretty late, so we decided that after one more ride on Splash Mountain we would head back to our resort.

We arrived back at Port Orleans about 1:30 AM, and I drifted off to sleep with the "Laughing Place Song" running through my head.

.......to be continued......

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