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Wednesday, May 7, 2003
The alarm is going off. It's 3:15 a.m. The only time I'd be awake at this hour is because I'm going to Disney World. THE day has arrived!
I arrived at Logan Airport (Boston) with my son's girlfriend, Jen at 6 a.m. Our flight left on time at 7:20. We'd be meeting my son, Chris,
at MCO. He had gone down to visit friends the Friday before.
After a flight filled with mild to moderate turbulence, we touched down in Orlando around 10:15. I met our driver from Tiffany and my son and we were off to the AKL, getting there at 11:15. I found the
Tiffany driver to be a bit pushy. He wanted me to call him if I wished to leave Disney. That wouldn't have been annoying except he said it at
least 5 times after I told him I was staying at WDW for the entire trip.
As we went to our rooms, it didn't take me too long to figure out I wasn't going to be looking out on the same area I had on my first
visit. My view was a very small area with a large chain link fence in the background. I was so disappointed. The kids fared much better with a room across the hall from me that faced the large savannah. I tried to get it changed but they could only give me a non smoking room so I passed. I'll call or fax a room request if I ever stay here again. To others who may go, be sure to ask for the large Arusha savannah view!
Despite the dreadful view, I had no problems seeing the wildlife. I had 5 giraffes, cattle and various other animals close by. After
throwing my luggage down (we were able to get into our rooms as soon as we arrived) I immediately left for EPCOT. The 8-minute bus ride was
over and before I knew it I was standing at the Guest Services window buying my PAP. In to EPCOT, by SE and behold… my fountain! I had lunch at the Electric Umbrella and then headed over to Innovations to send email. Next I checked out TT. The single rider line was wait free so on I went. As I entered, a CM gave me a lanyard with a plain white tag on it and asked me to give it to a CM where the cars were. Next, the pre show and then we were getting ready to fly. I handed over the tag and lanyard and got into a car. I think the tag, which gets scanned,
gives them some idea of how long the lines are. Sharing the front seat with me were 2 very nice young men who had never been on TT before. It was fun watching their reactions. Wonderful, problem free ride!
After that I went back to the fountain for a bit and then decided to check out the redone JIYI. Again, no line. The ride is 10 times better
than it was but still only 1/2 as good as the original. There are too many areas where nothing is going on. Next I sent some more email from the image works. I ended my visit at the pin station where I bought the first of my many new pins. On to the bus I went and back to the hotel. It was 3 p.m. and fatigue was catching up with me.
I called home and also called Randy's Mobility for my scooter delivery tomorrow. Then I passed out for an hour.
Mickey called to wake me up at 6 p.m. My first Mickey wake up call in all my trips. At 6:30 my son knocked on the door to tell me that he
and Jen were ready to go eat. We had PS at Bomas at 7 p.m.
I really liked this restaurant. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was comfortable. We spent nearly 2 hours sampling the
delicious offerings. The cost per person with tip was $29.
When we were done we went out to see the pool. The kids talked about going over to see the Boardwalk and I decided to go see the animals.
When I came back in to the lobby, they were still there debating which ticket they would buy. By the time they made up their minds, we all
decided we were too tired to do anything but sleep so we sat in the lobby talking and laughing for a while. They'll be joining me at TL
tomorrow morning.
Back to my room and lights out at 11 p.m.
High Points: Bomas. Seeing EPCOT. Seeing the Fountain. No wait at TT.
Low Points: The view from my room. The condition of the Electric Umbrella… dirty and the toppings bar was a mess. The turbulence on the plane ride.
Weird Points: Walking in the mist at the EPCOT fountain. Wearing summer clothes at night after a long and very cold New England winter.
Best Point: Sitting in the lobby of the AKL with my son and his girlfriend talking and laughing!
Thursday, May 8, 2003
Up and out of bed at 5:25 a.m. The news stations were telling me that the high temperature was expected to be 94. A perfect day to go to
Typhoon Lagoon.
I spent much of the early morning having coffee on the balcony and looking at the animals. I had purchased a refillable mug the night
before at The Mara, AKL's fast food restaurant. The best sight was seeing a pair of Ankole Cattle with their baby. After having breakfast
in my room, Randy's Mobility knocked on my door with the scooter delivery. I have worked with them several times before so I didn't
have many questions. The man who brought the scooter to me use to live where I live now. It really is a small world.
Around 9:30 Chris, Jen and I left for TL. We got there just as they opened the gate and then spent a few extra minutes waiting inside the
park. I was off to my favorite spot to leave my stuff and then to the river. As it's happened many times before, I was the only one in the
river. There were no tubes to be found so I swam/floated about 3/4's of the way around the park without seeing another guest. I even got to
clear a mini tube jam.
I got out near where our stuff was and almost immediately met up with the kids. We decided to go do the slides. It was nice having someone
with me so I could do the family raft ride. At the bottom of that ride there was a guy taking pictures. I bought it later and shook my head
over how pale we all looked. Still, it's a nice keepsake from a really fun day.
Around 1 we all decided we'd had enough and headed back to the hotel. The kids weren't sure what they were doing that night but I knew I wanted to be at EPCOT to see the F&G performers of the night… The Classic Rock All-Stars. I rested for an hour or so and then did some more animal watching.
Ever wonder why there are not mountains of animal poop on the savannah? Well maybe not but I know why. I saw the AKL pooper scooper! A man in a small truck came along while I was watching the animals and proceeded to pick up all the patties that were lying around. Now didn't you just want to know that??!
I headed off to EPCOT a short time later. First I checked out TT but the single rider line was 30 minutes and I didn't want to wait so I
headed down to WS. I got my F&G show pin and then went to the American Pavilion to see the 9-11 flag. Unfortunately the flag had already left EPCOT. The CM I talked to said it was suppose to be there until summer but they had moved it in April. I was really disappointed.
I had brought a few pins for trading so I went over to the kiosks to see what the CM's had on their lanyards. I am starting a Disney cat
section in my collection and I found one of the Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp. They had it on a green lanyard and I soon found out
that only children could trade for pins on a green lanyard. The CM said, well if you can find a child that will help you, we'll make the
trade. I spotted a boy of about 9 or 10 and said hey you with the baseball cap on. I need you. The kid looked amused and came over with his parents. I explained the situation to him and told him that I'd
give him a pin if he'd make the trade for me. Then I looked at his parents and said, I hope this is OK with you. The mother said, oh it's
fine with us. We know you! It turns out that they were on the flight down to Florida with me. Good grief. So I got my pin and their son got
a pin and everyone was happy.
The Classic Rock All-Stars were incredible. People in the band included ones who had sung with Alice Cooper and the Four Seasons. The lead singer was formally with Rare Earth. Holy Moly, some of their
material bordered on X-Rated. Let's just say it was a pretty adult show for WDW.
RoE was due to start shortly so I parked the scooter in front of Morocco and waited. Just after it began I felt like there was someone
watching me but I didn't want to take my eyes off the fireworks. Finally I looked over and there was my son grinning at my reactions to
the fireworks. He had been standing there for nearly 5 minutes. When the show ended we talked about the music from The Classic Rock All-Stars. Chris loves that type of music and he was thrilled that he got to see this group. Then we waited until the crowd had thinned out a bit and left to go back to the hotel arriving there around 9:50.
Lights out at 11:15.
High Points: The mini tube jam at TL. The Classic Rock All-Stars. RoE.
Low Points: The Heat! The 9/11 flag not being here.
Weird Points: Renting a kid for pin trading. The AKL pooper scooper guy. The x-rated songs at the Flower Power concert.
Best Point: Swimming the river alone at TL!
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