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I'm not exactly a regular, more of a lurker really, but my family and I returned from WDW on the 11th, and I thought I'd go ahead and submit a
little "report." The vacationers were me, DH, DD (4), DS (9 mos.), BIL, MIL, FIL. My in-laws stayed in their RV at Fort Wilderness and my
family stayed at the DD Courtyard for a few nights and the new Courtyard Marriott Village across I-4 (much nicer property, btw). It was cheaper
for us since DH is a Courtyard GM in Texas. We purchased APs before the trip, and since we drove, our trip didn't cost nearly as much as it
could have. Anyway, ...
I won't go into details, but before we went (in fact, for about 6 months before we went), I made charts and PS ressies and lots of other planning
musts for the person who wants to do the "World" in a very organized fashion. It was a really big mistake for me, namely because DH HATES to
plan stuff like that. He's more of a "go with the flow" guy. And since his family was also going to be there (and they definitely do not like
to be told where to be, when to be there, and what kind of attitude to have - you get the picture), it just wasn't a good idea. We only kept
two of the PS ressies I made (and I made about 11). We ate at Chef Mickey's our first night there, and it was really fun. Our reservations
were for 8:45, so the restaurant wasn't really crowded, and DD saw Mickey and Minnie several times. The other PS we kept was for CRT (I
was very adamant that we not skip it since I got up so early 60 days before to make the darn thing), and I made it only for me, DH, DD and DS
(selfish, but we deserved to do a couple of things alone). DD absolutely loved meeting the princesses, and they all thought DS was the
cutest thing (he was pretty wowed by them, too). Only down thing about CRT was the food. I wasn't impressed, but then again, I wasn't paying
for the food, and I'm not really a breakfast person anyway. DS is in the early stages of asthma (that's what the doctors say), and while we
were there, he had a bit of an attack, and bless Belle. My husband couldn't get around the table to help me hold his head while I gave him
his inhaler, so Belle did it. All the characters were great (everywhere we went, not just CRT).
Moving on (didn't mean to get bogged down) .... We hurried through all the parks the first four days we were there, simply because BIL had to
get on a plane for home on Dec. 6 (right before MVMCP). After that, the pace slowed down a whole bunch and we rarely saw the in-laws, except at
their camper in the evenings. We caught the little campfire marshmallow roast one night. It was pretty cute, and DD had fun roasting
marshmallows for me to eat. Not a fan of them herself. Probably the most exciting thing we did had nothing to do with the parks at all. One
night after eating dinner at Fort Wilderness, my MIL suggested we go down to the stables. We all thought she was crazy, but we saw her ask a
CM who told us just to go in at the left side of the barn, so off we went. The door was shut but not locked when we got there, but did that
deter us? Nope. We just slid the door open and walked on in. After about five minutes of looking at the draft horses and ponies, a CM came
out from behind the "cast members only beyond this point" rope and asked what we were doing. DH explained that we were told we could come in and
that the door was unlocked. Turns out some CM forgot to lock it. Anyway, after a few minutes, my daughter must have won him over, because
he took her by the hand and told her he wanted to show her a very special pony. DD, DH and I went to the CM only side of the barn with
Joe (never got a last name but he's been there 10 years) and went up to a stall that had the names "Rosie" and "Peaches." Turns out Rosie is
the only surviving pony from the original Cinderella coach ponies. She's been retired for a few years, and is the ripe old age of 26. DD
couldn't believe she was actually getting to pet one of Cinderella's "magical" ponies. Joe even put her up on Rosie's back for a few
pictures. He was the nicest person we saw the whole trip (everyone was nice, he was just the nicest). After we left Rosie's stall, he held her
up so she could see and pet nearly all of the draft horses we passed on the way back to the door. Definitely the high point of my trip, simply
because a CM showed that much kindness to my daughter, and he really didn't have to.
Spent two days at Epcot, but didn't see Illuminations. DH isn't too fond of Epcot. I can't imagine why, but oh, well. He tolerates things
for my benefit sometimes. We made a PS for the Garden Grill one evening around 6:00, and it was by far the best meal we ate while we were there
(also ate at Prime Time Cafˇ at MGM, but weren't really impressed). We all love home-cooked stuff, and I truly believe Mickey would have taken
DS home if he could have. Mickey parked himself down at our table for about 10 minutes, no exaggeration, and apparently learned both kids'
names before he departed our table, because he asked me for the menu and signed it "To Jarod and Taylor, Your pal, Mickey." I was really
impressed.
Went to MGM on Saturday (also went during the day on the 6th before BIL left for airport), and watched a couple of shows, ate at the Pizza
Planet, went to WWTBAM (I actually finished 5th once, not very impressive, I know, but DH was impressed), DD rode TofT with DH and
loved it, then we went to the in-laws camper to barbeque and just did nothing. What a wonderful thing sometimes - doing nothing. Still
didn't catch Fantasmic, but maybe next time.
All in all, we had a wonderful time, both kids were on the best behavior, most of the time anyway, and I've learned that there is such a
thing as over-planning, for my family anyway. The only reservation I'm making before our next trip (which I hope will be in October 2002 for
DD's 5th birthday and the MNSVSHP, as her B-day is Halloween. I would also like to point out that even though we stayed mostly "off-site" this
trip, we have never utilized the early entry (even when we stayed on-site), simply because my kiddoes can sleep anywhere and we are late
risers anyway (with an infant, any time after 8:00 a.m. is considered "late" imho). We are also night owls, so the fact that most parks
closed early with the exception of Epcot and the MVMCP left us with extra time to explore other aspects of WDW or just relax. So to sum up,
for lack of a better term, we had a wonderful vacation at WDW, and will be going back to stay "on-site" again, even if the hours are shorter and
EE never returns. It's just not that important for us, and since we go at least once a year, what we don't see this time, we'll see the next.
We'll also never be going in the middle of the summer again since it was not crowded at all on our trip. Longest wait was about 10 minutes and
that was for TofT.
Sorry I'm not the trip report writer some are, but that's it in a nutshell. Hope everyone has a happy holiday and new year!!!
Tanya Durham
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