Bruce - September 2005 • WDW Trip Reports

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Bruce - September 2005

Bruce

When do you get excited about a trip to WDW?
When you decide to go? I didn't
When you book everything? I didn't
When the day arrives to leave? I didn't
When you arrive in Orlando? Getting there :)

Did I mention that this was my first vacation that I planned myself? Yep :) ran out of family members who wanted to vacation at WDW, so with the offer of the free meal plan, I decided to do this solo.

Transportation to Orlando from New York, booked Staying onsite at Disney's Pop Century, booked going from home to NY Penn station, subway This only left how to get from Amtrak train station in Orlando to Pop Century hotel.

I spoke to Jennifer on themouseforless yahoo group and she recommended Sunray. I looked at their website and it was geared for airport travel. I contacted Sunray and Bob responded back to me that yes they do pickup from Orlando train station, just enter the information and everything will be ok.

I filled out the online form and Bob responded back to me with all the information for my car reservation. Even when Amtrak adjusted their train schedule and I had to adjust my pickup and drop off times with Bob, there was no problems, but lets get back to day 1.

So here I am off the train, in Orlando and thinking... wow.. I made it here all by myself :)

Bob was waiting for me, and drove me to the Pop Century, a quick 20 minute or so ride from Orlando Train station. Being 9/11 and I being from New York, the 911 attacks were what we spoke about most.

Bob dropped me off in front of Pop Century, and I am still feel more overwhelmed then excited :)

I checked in and got the 70's buildings as I requested. I was going to ask about any chance of a preferred room upgrade, but didn't. I was asked if the first floor was ok. I thought about it, and really didn't know what to answer. I thought about it some more, figure no worries about elevator waits, so I was on my way to room 108, which is 1/2 way down the other wing past the big wheel. Not a big deal walk from the Classic Hall. Before I left, they checked up on all my adr's. He took out a map of Pop Century, and told me how to get to my hotel room.

Arrived in room 108 and looked it over. From what I can remember from my 2000 stay at the Contemporary Garden wings, the room itself looked the same. It didn't have the little balcony area like the Contemporary did, and you entered from outside, not a inner hallway, but didn't think the room itself made a difference.

For my trip, I bought myself new clothes, mainly lots of Coney Island and NY type t-shirts T-shirts, where I live, and a NY Yankee ball cap (more about that on another email :) )

I shaved (I suggest you don't shave on a moving train :) ) and showered to refresh myself. Placed my laptop and other valuables in the room's safe. Packed my backpack with items like my camcorder, Brita water bottle, and fan mister and headed off to DAK and Flaming Tree for ribs for lunch.

Let me say my thanks to all the members of the Travel-wdw yahoo group for putting up with a little fun I thought up. While most people write trip reports after they returned home, I was doing mine real time from my cell phone and a small little keyboard that attaches to it. Every move I made, I sent a email about it to the group. This also helped me keep track of my daily events. I wish I could have done this for all the Disney related groups I belong to, but would have been overwhelmed even if only a couple people would have responded to me and I would have felt bad if I didn't take the time to respond to.

Let me also answer now the person who asked me what room number I was in so she can crank phone call me in the middle of the night, you don't need the room number, but the persons name ;)

I took the bus to DAK. One reason I booked at the Pop was the fact that it only makes one stop, not multiple stops like the all-star resorts. Well, as I found out, this wasn't totally true. The bus that goes from Pop to Dak, also makes a stop at Blizzard Beach. Fortunately going there, the bus asked if anyone was heading to BB, which we didn't, and we skipped it.

Living in post 911 New York, going into such world wide known icons like the Empire State Bldg and knowing that they do bag checks now, I was prepared to make things as easy as possible for this process to go smoothly. Met a couple of ex- Brooklynintes and we chatted while they thoroughly inspected my back pack. Made it to the park entrance and told them before hand, I didn't have my finger scan yet, just arrived at WDW and this was my first park entrance. They had me insert my door card/park admission card into the card reader, make the peace sign with my finger and insert them, and that was it, I was in DAK :)

First stop was lunch on the dinning plan at Flaming Tree. Out of all the places I knew I was going to eat at, this place interested me the most. I had ribs, which came with a small piece of corn on the cob, and some beans. The meal included dessert which was a peace of chocolate cake. I ordered my food from the cashier, she scanned my card, I signed for it, and that's all there is to the dinning plan.

I got my food really quick, and then had to figure out a place to eat. The tables are sort of behind the counter service building, found a empty table, and tried to relax, still feeling overwhelmed by the adventure of the day.

While eating, I thought I heard a parade starting, but it turned out to be Tarzan Rocks.

Finished eating and decided to go on Dinosaur first. Took out the park map and tried to figure out how to go from here to there. To travel in the other theme parks seems simpler then DAK, maybe because you can see landmarks and know where you are. All you see are trees in DAK.

I went to the fast pass machines first, then noticed or was told there is no wait, so I skipped getting the fp and went on the ride. Now this isn't the first time I rode this, so I knew what to expect, but I tell you this, either this ride got more violent, or I was really exhausted from the little sleep I had the night before or I still a little sick, but I was shaking when I got off and had to sit, drink some water and recover for a bit.

My plan was to go to DAK, do a couple of things here, then spend the rest of the day at Dis-MGM where I have 6 pm adr's at Hollywood and Vine.

It was about 2:30 when I decided to try the safari ride next, but somehow got confused in ride names and headed to jungle trek instead. I walked through this very quickly thinking this is like a preshow for the jungle ride.

At 3 pm, I had enough here, decided to leave, go back to hotel and rest before going to Dis-MGM and my adr at h and v. Got lost for about 20 minutes before finding my way out of the park ;) Glad I wasn't going to be sleeping with the animals tonight.

Leaving DAK on the bus, we did stop off at BB and pick up passengers for Pop. Rested till about 5, left my backpack and just headed with my digital still camera. One of the reasons was what to do with things when I went to get food from the buffet.

About 5 pm, left for Dis-MGM from pop. Got there pretty quick, right before parade time, as they were about to shut down the main street for the parade. Made it to H and V before my adr and decided to walk around a little and take some photos. Off in the distance, I saw the parade and so little people watching it. The park must have been empty., but h and v was fully booked. They were suggesting to people to go to 50's prime time or return later in the night to eat there.

I returned about 5:45 and checked in. While waiting to be seated, person after person was turned away for lack of adr. After waiting a couple of minutes, I was called to be seated. This was my first sit down meal on the dinning plan. I had a couple of concerns. When I am getting food, how do they know whether I am done yet or not. I figured this out the last minute, told the waitress, that as long as I am still eating, I will leave my ball cap on the table. The other concern would be how I was going to be treated, considering the gratuity is already included and she knows what she is getting. I felt I was being treated great even though I am just one and eating on the dinning plan. I had new glasses of soda to drink before the old one was empty. A experience I had at all my sit down meals. One other thing worth mentioning. Even though the dinning plan doesn't say your beverage is refillable at sit down meals, it is.

While getting food. I noticed people carrying their backpacks with them, so that's what I will do when I am at the Crystal Palace later in the week.

For those that don't know, there is something called the Fantasmic Dinner Package where if you eat at certain Dis-MGM sit down restaurants, you get preferred... or should I say reserved seating for Fantasmic? When I was taking care of the bill, the server/cm presented me with the pass for the Fantasmic reserved seating area. I was surprised to get this as I didn't book the Fantasmic dinner package. I didn't plan to attend this, but figure I would now.

For those who don't know how the dinning plan works for sit down restaurants, it works like this. they present you with a real bill, minus gratitude, even though they know you are paying for it with the dinning plan. You give them your room key/park admission card, they take it, you get back another bill including gratuity and total price, which you sign off on. your copy of the bill shows no amount due and how many sit down meals you have left.

About a quarter to 7, headed over to Great Movie Ride. For those who don't know, there are two interactive parts, either you see the cm at the head of the tram deal with a gangster who takes over the tour or a cowboy. In my case was a Cowgirl. From what I understood later,, when its slow, they only have one show running, the gangster one, but tonight, they have both rooms running.

Its now about 7:20 and I headed over to Muppetvision which of course is a walk-on, or should I say, just a wait in the preshow area for the main show to begin. The water effects didn't work tonight, but the bubbles did.

At 7:40, headed over to the special entrance for the Fantasmic dinner package people. For those that don't know, you enter by a gate right by the gas station at the entrance to the park. After walking about 5 to 10 minutes, you enter the stage area, I sat all the way on the right hand side, third row from the front.

Weeks before I made up to meet with Rosie from the mouse for less yahoo group back at the pop century food court at 10. Like I said, I wasn't planning on doing Fantasmic, so I hope I don't miss the meet :)

I've seen the show, I have it on home video, and even have it on my website to view whenever I want to. So it was really no big thing for me.

When it was over, I left the theater hoping to walk all the way back to the gas station entrance so I am right by the park exit. The CM's had other plans, instead of going to the exit of the back stage area I hoped, they directed everyone back to Sunset Blvd, then you have to walk through that street to Hollywood Blvd to leave the park. At the critical turning point, half joking/ half serious, I did ask the CM if I can walk the way I entered the park, he looked at me and my t-shirt (wearing I heart (love) NY t-shirt) , and said only if I lived at New York, I turned and said laughably, but I do live in New York, Brooklyn to be exact, but I wasn't going to make a big thing about it. After all people don't wear shirts from where you live, just places you visit... right? :)

I made it back to Pop by about 9:30 or so. I bought my refillable mug. They have two types, a coffee type mug and one that looks like a tall glass with a handle. After inquiring from the register CM, they both hold the same amount and cost the same, so I bought the glass type. This is made out of plastic, but I can best describe it by calling it a tall glass with a handle.

Met Rosie (Mrs Potts), she called me by my chat name, Capt_Nemo and we chatted for a while. We exchanges some presents, she gave me a Bruce the shark pin from Finding Nemo fame (yea and my last name is Sherman, after the dentist too :) ) I gave here some pressed pennies from my Coney Island, NY Aquarium, and some pressed pennies I did from Disney already. Then walked back to her hotel room, spoke to her husband till about 1 or so?? Went back to my hotel room and checked email till about 1:30 am.

Woke up, got dressed and headed to Pop Century Food Court at 9 am. I just had the scramble egg platter and Orange Juice. I paid for this meal. Since the dinning plan includes a counter meal, I am still not sure how I want to work this, use it for breakfast, skip lunch, and have dinner? Or skip breakfast, use it for lunch and dinner, or purchase breakfast, and use it for lunch and dinner. today I decided to the last option. Even though the food is premade, this line moves so slow to get food. The registers work decently fast.

I am online for the bus heading to Magic Kingdom by 9:35 am. The line is semi crowded. I think it is most crowded preopening, then it lightens up as the more lazy crowd eats breakfast, then gets crowded again. But this is just my opinion. I bus pulled away from the Pop Century by 9:45, arriving 10.

I had a, atypical bus driver. She had everyone singing songs, showing everyone her 'light show' on the bus and did her best to help spread the magic.

The bag check was a little more thorough then yesterdays, which caught me off guard, but wasn't too terribly long. Went to gate and soon was walking under main street train station to enter Main Street.

I don't know why yet, but a large area in front of the train station was boarded off. I know they are doing some work to re-arrange things under the train station, but I don't think this was part of it.

I got a map, but really didn't need it, since I think everyone knows the layout even if you just spent one day there.

1- Mickey's Philharmagic, walk on, was cute, but not necessarily a need to repeat. Finished by 10:25
2- Its a Small World, another walk on, everyone knows IASW, what's there to say? :) done by 10:45
3- Peter Pan, waited 5 minutes. out by 10:50

really cooking here ;)

4- Winnie The Pooh, 5 minute wait, on by 11 out by 11:10 or so.

For those that know me, they hear me talk my about favorite ride at MK, those who chat with me in chat rooms, know me by my chat handle, know there was only one special ride that I truly miss.

I rode it for my first visit back just before Epcot opened, on my first real extended WDW visit in 89 and 92 with camcorder in hand. By my next visit, it was 'closed temporarily' for rehab in 96. A rehab that never happened. I've heard many stories of what happened, but will never really know the official story. Maybe there is no real official story,. but a group of events, mostly unplanned that turned the planned rehab into a ride shut down.

This is my Ode to 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. I enjoyed the live action Disney movie growing up. I know the title of the book, most people misinterpret (you cant travel 20,000 leagues deep under the oceans, the oceans are not that deep, the title means you travel under the ocean a length of 20,000 leagues in distance, not depth, understand? :) )

I know the 20k subs aren't real subs, ever hear of a diesel engine not needing air to run? :) these 'boats' never left the surface, and only had diesel engines. Real subs, when they go below the surface, switch over to electric engines for propulsion.

Now I hope some of you are saying.... hey wait a second.. I remember boarding this ride and the top surface of the sub was all wet.... your telling me they didn't submerge?

Yep, I have home video on my website showing the subs in motion on the surface. When the subs left the mountain to dock, it passed under a waterfall. They don't call them Imaginers for nothing ;)

Back to my trip report and why I brought this up. Now some people will think what I did was rude or obnoxious. They may be right, but I did this anyway, but in a nice way. :)

Across from Winnie the Pooh ride, where the 20k Lagoon stood since park opening, is now the Winnie the Pooh playground.

Looking slightly confused, and thinking I am semi lost, I approached the CM's in the playground area and inquired about the long gone sub ride. It went something like this:

"hi, I think I am lost, but I remember this ride was here, that ride is there, but where we are standing was a submarine ride, I thought, but I cant find it anywhere, am I crazy?"

One of the three CM's I was talking to, explained to me nicely that I am not crazy, that were we are standing, was indeed the former location of the sub ride which closed back in the mid 90's and was recently razed totally to make this play area. I thanked them and went on my way.

Now for those who think I did something bad, I got the idea from watching a old episode of Inside Out. They hired a actor to walk around the parks and ask CM's questions in a foreign tongue, but actually wasn't a real language, did I do any worst then fellow Disney employees did to each other ? :)

Back to my real trip report

Went on Haunted Mansion around 11:30. The signs above the entrance showed a 10 minute wait, but was a walk on. this is also the first time I video taped the stretch room.

By a quarter to 12, I was already sitting, eating lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus having chicken strips, fries, soda and for dessert, vanilla shake.

One comment about the dinning plan. all meals comes with dessert, which normally I wouldn't get :)

While I was sitting,eating, something strange was happening. A couple of CM's were putting a table cloth over the wooden table, placed a flower center piece and sprinkled some confetti on it. For the 50'th anniversary celebration of Disneyland, and I am guessing they did this in all eating establishments, the 50th guest gets treated specially, namely, the table is set up, they are given special treatment and such. Kind of nice, no one mentioned this before. Only seen this happen once.

Its just after 12 now, and heading to Pirates. I know, I am a fast eater. I wanted to try and slow down, but didn't :(

Walked by hall of presidents and decided to do this instead. The cm was going around to people and asked them where they are from, and would tell them a presidential linked fact to their hometown or state. A pretty smart cm to keep all those facts in his head. With the election of George W Bush, they have a different voice doing the preshow.

After HOP, decide to wait for the next Country Bear Jamboree show. As I just missed a show that just started, I sat down and waited about 10 minutes for the next show. I used this time to answer several emails about how the weather was (great all week, btw) crowds (hardly any) and such.

After CBJ, finally made it to Pirates and finished it by 1:45 pm. Now deciding to either resort hop a little or go on Tiki birds. I walked by Jungle Cruise and that was a 20 minute wait, so I decided to window shop on my way out of the park to resort hop a little.

My first resort hop is the Contemporary. In the past, I have walked from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom, but wasn't sure what path to use to go from MK to the Contemp, so I rode the monorail.

One thing I haven't said until now is that I took with me lots of quarters and pennies to make pressed coins.

I just counted 50 pressed pennies, and 5 pressed quarters. For those who want to do the math, that is only 1/2 the amount of quarters I took with me on this trip. Please keep the answer to yourself, I am trying not to think how much I spent on pressed coins. It costs 50 cents for the penny ones, and $1 for the quarters :)

On the monorail, they have a different voice doing the usual monorail spiel, but the same voice that says stand clear of the closing doors in english and spanish. Now everyone, say it in spanish :)

Arrived at the poly and its almost 3 pm. Two things to do here, scout out more pressed coins, found a Bruce the shark one, need that :) and locate "Ohanna which I have dinner reservations for 7. Took some photos, found more pressed coins to make and finally made some purchases, some theme park music cd's with Disney reward dollars.

Now I understand you can travel from any theme park to any theme park, from any hotel to any theme park, but you cant travel from any non monorail resort directly to another resort, but have to go via a theme park first. I understand some transfer at Downtown Disney also. For me, to travel from the Polynesian to Pop Century, I have to return to Magic Kingdom and catch the bus from there to the Pop Century.

I left my hotel room about 6 pm for a 7 pm adr. I wanted to leave a little earlier, but fell asleep. About 6:20 I was at the MK, heading to the resort monorail to go to Poly. The first stop after MK is Contemp, then TTC, and finally Poly. I got to Poly at 6:30. Sat outside 'Ohanna till about 6:45 to check in.

They called me about 7:10. As I was entering 'Ohanna and the waitress was introducing me the 'Ohanna, Mike from another Disney group I chat on, surprised me and said hi. He introduced me as Hi, I'm Mike from the Disney group. Made me think he was connected to the Disney company :) Finally made the connection and said hi.

I sat down at a isle table meant for 3 people. This was going to be a problem, but will mention about it a little later.

While taking me to my seat, they took a small loaf of banana/pineapple (?) bread, and showed me what the dessert will look like.

Once seated, the server introduced himself as his cousin so and so :) And he brought me my soda and starter items. Small vegetable/ shrimp (?) dumplings, chicken wings, stir fried vegetables, salad, and some dipping sauces. Now the amount they brought for just me was the same amount they bring to a table of 5 or 6. I am sure those people can get more, me, I put hardly a dent into what they gave me. They should realize for one person, that was just too much food. Oh, yea, also a potato dish simply called Ohanna potatoes ;) it looked like it was baked stir fried with onions. Again, I left 1/2 over.

The rest of the food is served 'family' style. They have Tiger shrimp, beef, turkey and pork, bbq's on a skew. They bring the skews around to the tables and pull off what you want. All these dishes are hot, including the shrimp.

Everything was good, but I wanted to mention about the shrimp. I never eat cold shrimp, which still has the shell on it. I only eat shrimp found on dishes like shrimp cocktail or shrimp in lobster sauce. I bit into the shrimp to find out, they still had the shell on these shrimp :)

Now about the problem I had with the isle table. If you didn't know, they have activities for children, and older children :). One thing they have are, kids with brooms push a coconut around the room. The second activity for kids and older kids was hula dancing. You see, one side of me, are kids trying to hula, on the other side are parents with cameras snapping photos. I even had one person who had their camera set for red eye reduction which has the flash go on for a couple of seconds before it really flashes. Kind of made me feel what celebrities have to put up with when out in public, constantly being disturbed by flashing lights.

This was annoying, but I feel its more of a 'Ohanna issue, for having people eat where these things are taking place. I know that parents want photos, and I said nothing, but it was really bothering me, but said nothing.

About 8:30, I was just too full. I decided to skip MK and Wishes tonight and just head back to Pop Century and rest in room rest of night. Of course, after having the new dessert of bread pudding and ice cream. I finished the ice cream, but left some of the bread pudding. Again, what they gave just me, the give the same amount for 2 or 3 people ;)

After getting a good nights sleep, I was up at 6 am, dressed and at the food court at 7:30. Had a cheddar cheese omelet with juice and was at the bus line at 8:10, first in line for the bus.

I was at the Epcot ticket entry waiting for official park opening. They had a problem this morning. The computers were down. They took everyone's ticket, passed it through the machine, didn't have anyone do the finger scan and just allowed everyone in.

First stop is Soarin in the Land Pavilion.

Let me say, that when it comes to walking, I am a above average walker. I could say that if everyone reading this would have a walking race together around the World Showcase Lagoon, I would be in the top 10, or maybe the 10 percent :) I walk fast.

A couple of things to mention about Soarin. When in the Land Pavilion, you see the entrance for Soarin. The sign above the entrance says the wait for this ride is 10 minutes from this point. Yep, takes 10 minutes to walk this queue till you get the ride entrance. How long is this maze? There is a Simpsons episode where they start off by showing they turned the wharf area of Springfield into a ritz dinning spot. Moe, from Moe's tavern decides to get into the action. He has a entrance on the wharf and a maze of enclosed passageways leading back to Moes Tavern. Everyone know what I am talking about? Well, Soarin is longer :)

As soon as they let people in, walked fast to the right of Spaceship Earth, made a right turn and headed straight up into The Land. Went downstairs, entered Soarin, walked the maze to the point to where you line you up to enter Soarin. With all my fast walking, I couldn't believe I was second in line. Someone walked faster then me. Oh well.

One of the first things they tell you is to place all items like cameras into the storage area under the seat. I didn't bother to ask about videotaping. I just sat back and enjoyed it. I sometimes felt a little motion sickness, but looking at the edge of the screen quickly made it go away.

Next up is Journey into your Imagination with Figment. This ride was so dead, that I felt I was the first one to ride this morning, that if I went to ride it again, I would be the second person to ride it this am.

Trying to think to rank the versions in order I liked them. Of course the original was the best. The other two are tied for second place. The second and present version are good, but lacked the imagination of the first.

Its now 10 am and trying to decide what to do next. Maybe Universe of Energy.

I am going to be a little bad again :) I went to mission space to ask where horizons was, poor cm at a refreshment stand in front of MS opened a park map before she realized what I asked her :) I Then went on test track, went on the single ride even though there was no wait on the regular line.. See, I am a little scared of using the regular line.

On my last trip, I closed Test Track, meaning I was the last person to ride that night. I got yelled at for walking too fast :) My nephew who heard the announcement over the pa, like everyone else did :) Yelled to me to duck under the poles to skip the maze. Well, that's what I though he said, actually said "don't" duck under the poles, :) as he saw someone else in front of him getting yelled for ducking under. "Will the person who is walking too fast and ducking under the poles please stop doing these things. please walk slowly." Yep, got in trouble for the second time. When I got to the boarding area, they told me they should escort me from the ride, and since the building is closed for the night, I would not ride it. But that was then ,and this is now. :)

This time I exited test track without being threatened out of the ride :) now uoe awaits

while still in test track, went on something new called dreamchasers. a six min vr tour of what not sure yet. I was last to go in, but there was one too many, so I had to go back to entrance and wait till the next session. Dreamchasers talk about how you build cars.

Heading to World Showcase. I skipped Mexico, heading to American Adventure.

AS I walked passed Norway, I decided to do Maelstrum, a decision that I didn't know would cost me, but getting ahead of myself. I rode it, and sat down to watch the movie. I just felt bad that no one seems to sit and watch the show, but exit after the water ride. Well, I sat down and waited, but then got up and left before the movie started. Heading to AA now.

I made it to American Adventure and just missed the last show by 6 minutes, I should have skipped Maelstrom but oh well.

Now being on the Disney Dinning plan, one thing no one heard me talk about was the snack portion of the plan. While waiting for the next show, I had my first Mickey bar, ever. Like I said, with the Dinning plan, there are things you would get that maybe normally you wouldn't, the ice cream bar was one of them. So on day 3, I am using my first snack option, which gives me a couple of days to have it more then once.

Finished my Ice Cream bar and walked around taking photos inside the pavilion of things to see while I had 10 minutes to wait till the 12pm showing. I asked the CM on duty about video taping it. I got this cryptic answer, while they do say, videotaping isn't allowed, she also added that they don't police the audience to prevent videotaping. While they say no to flash photography and video taping, how about non flash photography?? Got to ask that on my next vacation. :)

After AA, I went on more photo taking. I have a 2:10 pm adr for Le Cellier. While walking past it, the smell of roast meat is making me mighty hungry :) But I have more then an hour to wait.

I checked in around 2 and waited a minute before being seated. I did notice empty tables, but maybe they get more action for dinner, as I heard many people walking in to ask to make ressies, only to be turned away as fully booked.

Like at 'Ohanna, Le Cellier is themed and they explain it to you. Here they give you three bread sticks which signify something about Canada. I ordered my food paying attention to the cost as to what I was eating.

I was seated right next to the doors to the kitchen. I sat here thinking about a old Colombo episode where a winery owner murders his 1/2 brother. Near the end of the show, they have a dinner at a fancy restaurant, they seat Colombo near the kitchen, only to have the episodes guest star, Donald Pleasence, throw a fit to be seated near the kitchen :) At least I didn't have flash bulbs going off in my eyes here :)

Le Cellier, one word- disappointed. But it was my fault. For an entree, I ordered a tenderloin kabob, a very small kabob, but it was the most expensive thing on the menu, two pieces of cube meat. For the main entree I had the smallest filet mignon steak I ever saw. Part of the name was petit. should have known :) but ordered it cause of the price @ $22. Dessert was a maple crème brulee. it was good, but cheap :) total bill including gratitude was 48. Lesson here is not to order by price, but by what you think would enjoy the most.

Leaving World Showcase, heading to Spaceship Earth, thinking of my friend Sam (Samantha) whose this ride is her favorite. Sorry Sam, but se was a walk on, just not popular I guess.

Its about 3 pm now, and heading to Universe of Energy Shoot, UOE was closed due to technical difficulties, they said to check back in an hour. what to do now?

Decided to head back to my room and rest some. After I make a quick detour to The Living Seas for Rob on the travel-wdw group, wanted me to check on its status. It was all closed except for the Coral Reef Restaurant.

On the way out, I tried to find my friend Sam's legacy. I had the CM's look up her name, but they could not come up with a match. I either had her last name spelt wrong or it was under her married name, either way, I couldn't find it, oh well. There is always my second day at Epcot to do this.

Its 3:45 and I had my longest wait for a bus on the whole trip. It seems a bus between the Pop Century and Epcot runs only every 20 minutes.

I got back to my room, rested for about and hour or so, then headed to Downtown Disney. After reviewing my options for a counter svc meal there, decided on Earls of Sandwich.

At 7pm, eating the BBQ meat which was today's special and a cupcake for dessert.

I was browsing in Once Upon a Toy about 7:20 when all the lights went off. But just in the store. The registers still worked though, see these are really computers and all computers have batter back up. 10 minutes later, power was restored.

I walked the whole length, did any pressed coins I could find, browsed and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Today is my second day and potentially my last day at the Magic Kingdom. When I planned my vacation, I left my Friday without any adr's yet, and then I have my morning also free on Saturday.

Today I decide to skip breakfast and have a early lunch with the dinning plan. I am online at the bus stop. Its 9:20 and already feels hot, this is not going to be a nice day for running around.

Terrie from the Travel-wdw group reminded me it is supposed to hit 95 today when I posted my wow its so early and hot today. But I think its that old its not the temperature, but the humidity thing :)

A lady on the bus line kept wondering how when she was in front of me, kept winding up behind me. Her daughter answered that she is so busy with her cell phone that she didn't notice the line moved and she didn't, but I did :)

Got into the Magic Kingdom and took care of my obligations of hat buying, and had them shipped back to my hotel. Now a quick walk up main street to adventureland to either Tiki or Jungle cruise.

Tiki room was about to start to I went in there. Still haven't seen the new preshow when they changed from original show to under new management. Got out of Tiki room at 10:25, went to Jungle Cruise, saw the line was very long. However Fast pass showed a return time starting at 11, so I got my first, and as it turns out, my only fast pass of my trip.

Since I skipped breakfast, figure this was a good time to get a early lunch. One the list of things I wanted to try and eat at is pirate perico place. I knew this might be closed for it being off season, but went there anyway.

Well, guess what, it was closed, heading to Pecos Bill which I had in mind and the sign suggested to go to.

I am now a Pecos Bill fan for its fixing bar. I love cheese fries and enjoy onions on my burgers. While I am getting my food, I am looking around, trying to figure out a place to eat. I don't see any tables. I asked the person who served me and she pointed me to the other room. Well the tables and chairs are just out of view site when looking in that direction.

I also realize I am sucking down my diet coke more then eating my hamburger. Yep, definitely the hottest day so far of my trip. I also notice allot of small birds flying around the floor trying to eat any food on the floor. The place just opened, but I am sure by the end of the day, they will be eating well ;)

Someone else responds to my boy its so early and already feel so hot email message telling me its going to be so brutal today. Thanks Donna, I knew it was going to be hot in Florida, I guess I was just spoiled so far on this trip :)

I did have my fan mister, but hardly used it. I kept it in my back pack, so either the batteries died when the unit was somehow switched on inside. The water leaked out until I decided to place it in a sealed gallon size zip lock bag. Towards the end of the trip, I didn't even pack it anymore.

One of the things I carry with me everyday is my Brita water bottle. Even with this, the first time I filled it up at a park, the water still tasted funny. But on this hot day, just as long as its wet, its ok.

The line for Jungle Cruise grew longer in the 1/2 hour I was gone, but with my FP, I walked right on, after a CM carefully inspected the time on my FP. I guess I have been on this too many times, I knew all the bad jokes by heart :)

Its now 11:15, going to march across the park to Tomorrowland.

Taking a very slow walk going into all the shops on my pressed coin mission. I pass Mickey's Philharmagic a little past 12 and decide to do this again. I sit down in the theater. A lady sits down next to me with her baby on her lap, a crying, kicking baby, so I get up and move a couple seats away.

At 12:20, I walk pass Snow White. The sign says zero wait, but the line is into the street. Not sure what is going on here, maybe the ride is temporarily down, and they didn't open up the queue properly yet, so the line looks long, so I say later to this.

When I see the sign for Cosmic Rays, I know I finally made it to Tomorrowland. Its 12:30, so even stopping to go on Philharmagic, only took me an hour to go from Adventureland to Tomorrowland, that's slow for me. Didn't buy anything but press some coins whenever there was anything I liked and I must have hit every shop in-between the two points.

First ride was Buzz Lightyear, scored 30,900. Was a walk-on ride.

12:45, went on Carousel of Progress. I was surprised to hear when they said no videotaping, but wasn't concerned, since I have this already on videotape. As we go through each scene, I realize they added a new voice, a crying baby throughout the whole show. Wait, that's not in the show, its a audience member.

(climbing on soapbox)

I will admit, I don't have children, but my brother has three kids and we are a close family. When one of my brothers kids were in a public place like a restaurant and one of his kids (when they were babies) started to cry, they just didn't let them sit there and disturb everyone, they took themselves out with their crying baby to try and quiet them down. We were respectful of others enjoyment

When did parents stop being respectful of others? I admit Disneyworld is for children, and big children. But still letting your kid scream in shows, at restaurants, and not care about how you are disturbing others?? Sometimes I think some parents block out their childs screams and just worry about their enjoyment, not worrying about anyone else.

(getting off soap box now)

Went on stitch next. No wait and not worth repeating. I do admit how they have the stitch animated looks nice. Next up is either my 2nd Mickey bar (day 4, snack 2, I have allot of snacks to catch up on) of my trip or TTA. Not sure which order. Did I say today is a very hot day? Mickey bar was first.

Its 2 pm, rode TTA. Need I say this was empty.. or should it be assumed so. Rode TTA and its now 2:10. time to scope out a seat on Main Street for the 3 PM parade, or will have to wait for the 3:10 parade... whoops, that's another Simpson episode. :)

Its 2:20 and just a couple are sitting out a spot for the parade already. I find this nice little spot in front of Casey's. There is a tree to my left for blocking out the sun, but clear view overhead to see the floats. I sit and wait and watch other people taking up spots.

One of the Disney survey people decide to ask me some questions. But I asked him one first. Is this a good seat for the parade? He goes yes, but if I moved a store or two down to my right, I will get the air conditioning from the store. I decide to stay put and answer his questions.

While waiting, I use the fan mister. It feels good for a couple of seconds, but I am not feeling so bad without it, so I put it away.

This is my 5th major trip to Disneyworld with a camcorder. Holding a camcorder on short rides is no big deal. On parades and stuff, my arms tend to get tired from trying to hold my arms still for so long. For this trip I bought myself a monopod. Its just like a tripod, but as the word 'mono' means, its just one pole instead of three. The monopod handles the weight of the camcorder, but still allows you to move it around. I will use the camcorder with the monopod to record the parade from the seating position. I am right on the curb, so others call look over my head and see the parade.

The CM's in the street invited kids from the audience to play soccer with a large ball. This seemed ok as there was no serious accidents when the ball went into the audience, the people sitting on the curb waiting for the parade to start.

While waiting for the parade, only got kicked in my back 1/2 dozen times from the people behind me, but what worried me the most was a kid with a large lolly pop over my left shoulder. I kept worrying that he would drop it on me.

Here's a interesting question I was thinking to myself, from which direction does the parade start from? Do they start it from the location by the firehouse and walk throughout the park or do they end up there? I remember the light/float parades start down by Main street, by the entrance, but everyone's attention seems to be at the castle end of the street. The parade marches down Main street from the castle to the entrance.

Its now 3:30, parade is over. What to do now? I head back to Snow White to see the status of that is.

Line for Snow White is still too long to wait.

Like I mentioned before this is my 5th real trip, but I did do MK once before Epcot opened, on a day trip. So really this is my 6th trip to MK. Either because it was dark, or the island was closed, but for one reason or another, I never made it to Toms Sawyers Island..... till now :)

Before I left on this trip, I looked to see what was closed for rehab. One of the things was the Liberty Sq River boat. Now I remember from a past trip, this was also closed and they closed the island because they drained the water from around the island. But not this trip :)

I went on the raft and watched how he maneuvered it from the dock to the island. One thing I couldn't figure out, the steering paddle that the cm seemed to hap hazardly move in the water. Did that really steer the raft? or were we really on a submerged track and they did this just for show, including tieing it up when we docked. Who knows... who cares :)

I started to explore the island. Aunt Polly was closed. I explored my first tunnel. This was fun. It is so dark inside that you really need to place your hand in front of you to feel your way around. I walked around the fort, tried to shoot the guns, it just makes a sound. Walked over the barrel bridge and was just having fun here.

My camcorder has a feature called nightshot for low light scenes. And it has a infrared light to help light up a close scene under very dark conditions. I only had a minute or two left on a tap and decided to use it on one of the tunnels, to record it. While I am walking and viewing what my eyes cant see, but the camcorder does, from out of the darkness, a small child decides to go backwards from the exit to the entrance of the tunnel, so in my video, out of nowhere, you see a small girl appear out of nowhere.... too funny ;)

Its getting close to 5 and I have 6 pm ressies for Crystal Palace. I get on the Roy Disney pulled wdwrr at 5 and take it back to Main St.

I get up to the window to check in at CP, and I hear a familiar story like I heard over and over where ever I ate at. "Sorry, you don't have a adr? we are fully booked, but if you come back after 8, we might be able to fit in you in" That was for others, for I made my adr's over a month ago, well not all of them ,still my 6th unplanned day to deal with, but heck this is only day 4, no worries.

Got my seat quickly, and told them I am familiar with how this works and headed over for my first plate. Like I thought to do when I was at Hollywood and Vine, I left my baseball cap on the table, and took my backpack with my camcorder and accessories with me to get more food.

Another bad parent thing happened here. At a table near me, a baby maybe 2 years old ?? took the dish holding the bags of sugar and non-sugar substitutes, dumped them in front of her, and started moving them around in front of her, dropping most of them on the floor. I shook my head in disbelief. I wonder if they let her dirty their home like that just to keep her entertained. I just hope the family left a decent tip for the crew that will have to clean up after their ill behaved child. Well, at least she didn't tear the packets open.

The characters walked by me, some shook my hand, others just waved hi. Even another one walked behind me, tapped me on the back, trying to make me feel better, probably thinking I was eating alone and feeling bad about it. :)

Its 6:40 and I just finished eating at cp, had prime rib, roast turkey, garlic roasted potatoes, corn bread, chicken, etc.... you all know the food. Cinderellabration starting at the castle but I am across the street from Casey, too lazy to run up the street :) wishes is at 9 tonight, id leave the park, except I probably wouldn't come back, and the bag check was very through this am, and was very annoying. going to rest and walk off the food :)

Wind up back in Tomorrowland, no wait for Buzz Lightyear so I try and better my score, get 122,600 this time.

Terrie emails me and tells me to "Aim for the Z at the top of the volcano and the one in the room before the rocket at the bottom of the meter." AFTER I get off the ride a second time. :) After I tell her she told me after I exited the ride, she says go on again, but this time the line is out the door. Guess not this trip.

Walking through Tomorrowland, I walk but Indy speedway and decide to do that. I only did this once years ago. Now I remember why I don't bother with this in years, I was barely giving mine throttle and I was still catching up with the car in front of me:( And at one point a car 3 cars in front of me broke down and I stopped where I was with some distance between me and the car in front of me, and of course cars behind me were starting to back up too. Not that these cars go fast, but I never got to give mine full throttle cause I would catch up to the people in front of me.

Heading to Snow white to check out the line again. This time, the line isn't too long at all, maybe a couple of minutes. So I entered to wait to finally ride this.

Another bad parent story. A couple in front of me went to board with their 7(?) yo daughter, who right before she went to board the ride, got terrified out of her mind. She grabbed onto the gates entrance to hold onto for dear life because she was too scared to go on this 'scary' ride. The mother tried to console her, that the ride isn't scary at all. Yea, I am thinking to myself, then why do they call it Snow White's scary adventures.? :) Ok, I know its not scary, but this scene is playing out and no one else is able to get on or off the ride, they are holding up the line.. well the line is just me, but still ;) Finally the CM intercedes and tells the parents, that they must do something, they are holding up the line. The mother relents, she will be with the daughter while the father rides alone.

Its almost 8 pm and thinking about where to watch Wishes from.I head towards the castle. There is a path that run along the castle moat and there are some benches here. I see the castle clearly, and thinking if this is a good place to view Wishes from. I am soon answered when a cm pushes everyone down the path to a eatery called Sleepy Hollow.

I hear the parade, Spectromagic, starting and I realize I am very close and have a unobstructed view of the parade where it crosses a bridge. I didn't plan on recording Spectromagic, but place my camcorder on the monopod and video tape the parade.

After the parade was over, the seating area cleared out and sat down waiting for wishes. My view of the castle is good. So I sat and waited for Wishes to start.

Wishes started and I knew I was in trouble, for the fireworks are not shot off by the castle. Sure if you are in front of it, it seems like it, but from the sides, it is way back somewhere. I make a mad scramble to where the Liberty Bell is, where there is a break in the trees to view most of the fireworks un obstructed.

Wishes is over and I am heading back to Main Street to leave the park. But something strange is happening, more people are heading towards me then leaving with me. It turns out that tonight is EMH night for MK.

I think about staying another couple of hours, but I am tired, I spent the whole day here. Maybe if I remembered tonight was EMH night in MK, I would have left the park for a break in the middle of the day, but I am done. Not much else left to see or do, I head back to the hotel and inside for the night at 10.

One thing though... it did cool off :)

Today is my second and last day for visiting Epcot.

Since this is my last day, today is Illuminations, and everything I missed my first day. Today is also EMH for Epcot, so I plan on spending the whole night here, but also taking a midday break.

Besides taking my camcorder and digital camera, I was also carrying a combo binocular/digital camera, and rain shield for camcorder. The bino camera, just didn't need to carry it. The rain shield, no threat of rain, no need for it either. As it turns out, I haven't carried my rain poncho I bought for the trip, for it seems I forgot to pack it.

I am waiting for the Epcot bus at 9:30 am, no breakfast this am. Arrived at park at 9:50. Big thing to remember, they say busses only run every 20 minutes. Also the Pop Century bus is the furthest bus to walk to, space 18. Space 17 isn't used. I wonder if someone just thinks that the cheapest guests should walk the most :)

When my friend Sam found out I was looking for her legacy at epcot the other day, she gave me coordinates. Only when I tried to figure out her legacy, I found someone else's :) A not so subtle hint was when I said something about her friend in it and she said....what are you talking about?? ;) Of course this happened after I left the front of the park.

First stop is UOE which was closed temporarily for technical difficulties the other day.

Minor diversion, did I mention before that I had no breakfast at the Pop Century? Well, walking by the Electric Umbrella, the smell of food was too much a temptation to pass up. I stop for a egg, cheese, and sausage on a bagel with oj.

Its now 10:20, I make it into Universe of Energy with 4 minutes to spare before the preshow starts. I also inquire with a CM about videotaping, told no and didn't do so :)

I still like the original preshow, heat, pressure and time, then Jeopardy. I suffer through it to ride the dinosaur part.

Its now after 11, world showcase is open and I head to Mexico for the boat ride. I ride the boat ride and take my time window shopping till about 11:45 am when I leave.

The other night when I was at DTD, I stopped and asked if the snack portion of the dinning plan covered churros, it didn't and I didn't have one. I look at the menu for La Cantina De San Angel, and I see for dessert I can have a churro. I eat at Taco Bell often at home, which I enjoy. I usually get nachos and cheese with meat, refried beans and sour cream. So I order this, or their version of this.

Issue 1, when you order a coke or something to drink in a cup, they place a cover over it so you don't spill anything when you walk to a table, here they don't, the lids are on the table with napkins, straws and such. Not smart :( But I do make it to the table without spilling my soda, then find a seat to relax a little. I watch as some people feed the birds who walk all around you.

Now maybe it was the fact that I ate breakfast less then 2 hrs ago, but I really didn't enjoy the food, not saying it wasn't good, but it wasn't what I expected it was going to be. So I picked at the food before saying I had enough and left about 1/2 over.

Issue 2. How many people live in a large metropolitan city, raise your hands. How many eat lunch 'al fresco'? Al fresco means you eat from push cart vendors out doors. You usually get a hot dog, pretzel or knish like this. How do they serve the food to you? Wrapped in cellophane paper, right? :)

How many people know where I am going with this yet? :)

So I am the average New Yorker in a hurry, I buy a hot dog, and start eating it on the way to my next job, walking and eating. I take a bite and either the sound or something tells me I just bit off some of the cellophane paper, and I see the bite marks on the remaining paper in my hand. I know lots of people have done this, so admit it :)

Why bring this up?? Every time I took a bite from the churro, something told me I did the same thing, bit off a piece of the cellophane, but I didn't. I'm sorry people, I know people love churros, but I cant enjoy eating food that reminds me of eating cellophane paper. :) All in all, my worst meal here, but don't let me stop people from trying it.

I start working my way around World Showcase Lagoon. First stop is Norway, always looking in the shops for more pressed pennies. I already rode Maelstrom, so I skip it.

Next stop is China where they have artifacts from the just opened Disneyland Hong Kong on display, and try and take as many photos as I can, waiting for the circlevision show to start. I misjudge this, as they just close the doors, but let me in before the show actually starts. Different show, some new things, some old things too. I think they use the same narrator, but not sure. After the circlevision show, I reenter to finish taking photos of what I had missed so far.

When I go into Germany, there is a confirmed urban legend I want to confirm for myself. When they were designing and building Epcot, Germany was supposed to get a water ride. Even though the space is there, the ride was never built. People have said that you can see where the rides entrance and exit into the pavilion would be. I wanted to see this for myself. At the back of the Cul de Sac for Germany, there is a building with a column splitting the entrance in two. On the right hand side is a floor to ceiling wall that somehow doesn't fit in. This is my guess as to where the ride's entrance and exit is. It seems like a phony wall that could easily be removed. There is a mural on this wall, but still doesn't look like it would be missed. As far as I am concerned, urban myth confirmed. :)

This is one of my favorite places in Epcot, the garden railroad. I was watching a CM trying to rerail some trains. He mentioned that the tracks were under water this am, probably from a overnight rainstorm?? He is really getting frustrated and threatens to give the trains away as he volunteered to handle this assignment, and is not liking it today, so I stick real close just in case he carries through with his threat of making presents of these trains to guests. Sadly, but expectantly, he doesn't and disappears behind a cm entrance with the locomotive that gave him fits :(

I stop in to look at Alfredos menu as I have a adr for dinner. They still have the lunch menu so I continue my trek around to each country to window shop and press coin collect.

I stop and watch Impressions de France, same film as I remember.

When I hit International Gateway, I leave Epcot to do some exploring here. I never walked around this area of the park. I did take a boat launch from Int Gateway to the hotels, but never got off.

The foot paths around here are real empty. Most of the places are still closed when I hit the Boardwalk. There was even a grocery store for what I guess is Disney Vacation Club. I didn't look at what the prices were, but I am sure it wasn't cheap. :) I was guessing all the rooms above the places on the Boardwalk were DVC rooms. I continue to walk the path around the lagoon here. I walk just about to the Swan and Dolphin, then decide to finish my walk around the lagoon and head back into Epcot. I left Epcot about 2:30, made it this far by 3, and I feel the blisters on my feet, both feet :( Staying up to midnight now doesn't seem all that fun. I am trying to find a water fountain for my Brita. But would really love a Yoo Hoo now. Only when I got home was I reminded that I walked right pass a place called Beaches and Cream :(

I walk by a marina, and find a working water fountain where I try to re hydrate myself. Except for the Swan and Dolphin, I am not sure what hotels these are. I am thinking Yacht and Beach Club. There is what looks like a beached wooden sailing vessel, that has a slide that goes over head to a pool on the other side of the slide. This looks fun, but find out later that this is just for guests of this hotel only, cant pool hop.

I get back to Int Gateway at 3:15, so my little journey took me about 45 minutes, but I got blisters on both feet, and exhausted myself.

My first stop back is Journey to cool off and recuperate. The a/c here is always nice and empty. I walk into the entrance...and its packed.... maybe 5 other people then myself. :) I easily outwalk them in the queue and wind up in my usual first car, first row seat. Without giving anything away, it would be better in the middle of the set of cars then the first car, not much of a difference. Next stop, The Land.

Its now 3:45, and I am going to wait the 10 minutes till the next showing of The Circle of Life. I never saw this till now. I posted what I am doing and I start to get replies back don't bother, but I do. And yes, it wasn't that good. Too bad they sacrificed Food Rocks and not this for Soarin :( Its 4:20 and I figure to head back to Spaceship Earth for a relaxing ride. Before I leave The Land, I notice how empty Garden Grill is, I don't see anyone eating at all. The slow spinning restaurant does look interesting, but this is Dinner time, maybe early dinner, but at 4:30, I thought I would see someone eating??

I was in and out of Spaceship Earth by 5. Entering there was no line, but after I entered the queue, about 20 people entered after me. After the ride I sat by the exit to relax some more, chatting with the CM's a little.

I have 5:45 ressies at Alfredos, too early to just go there, not enough time really to do something else. After sitting for about 5 minutes I leave for Alfredos. I don't mind walking there, but the blisters hurt when I get started to walk, but after a couple of steps, the pain is bearable :) When I approach WS lagoon, I see one of the launches is there, so I decide to take that instead of walking.

Its 6:45 pm. I finished eating at Alfredos. they do take you early. I showed up at 5:20 for a adr of 5:45 resie and was seated at 5:25. I had ceaser salad, sampler entree of ziti, lasagna, fetti alfredo. For dessert I had tiramisu (sp?)

I am going to take a little monorail trip, first on epcot monorail to ttc, transfer to resort monorail, then back on epcot monorail.

I stop by Leave a legacy, figure out the secret code to find people and snap a photo of my friend Sam finally, albeit a bad photo, first time I moved the camera while snapping a non flash photo at night.

I got back to Epcot at 7:45,get my EMH wristband and going to find a spot for Illuminations at 9. At 8, I find a nice little spot between United Kingdom and Canada. I can see the barges and there are no trees in the way. I sit right at the fence and wait and relax. Others start sitting next to me.

Illuminations ended at 9:15. I really don't know what is open, what isn't. But I know I want a box of popcorn for a snack. I sit down at the benches by the stores around the lagoon, eating my popcorn and drinking water when Terri replies back with what is open when she reads my 'I don't know what I want to do now.' email. Thanks again Terri :) Two things on the list appeal to me, Honey I shrunk the Audience, and listen to the Land.

To finish up this day, I went into the 10 pm showing of honey I shrunk the audience, which let out about 10 :30. I felt real beat. What happened to my idea of taking a break, oh yea, I decided to do a 45 minute hike instead, not smart :) I decide to skip Listen to the Land and headed back towards the bus.

I got back to the hotel at 11. Picked up the hats from yesterday. Took a quick 5 minute swim at the pool and headed in for the night.

Tomorrow is my last full day, and my wild card, nothing planned. I know adr may become hard to get but here goes. :)

Head to DAK, ride Kali and jungle safari. Head to Dis-MGM for car stunt show.

As far as eating, maybe flame tree again, maybe not. As far as my last sit down, thinking Mama Melrose 1st choice, and sci fi 2nd. Then I need to get some more gifts here at hotel for friends and family.

I woke up this morning pondering if I really want to go to Disney Animal Kingdom first, then go to Disney-MGM Studios. The only rides that I would care to do at DAK is Kali River Rapids and the safari bus ride. I decide that it really wasn't that important to do these things, so I am going to the studios only.

Its 10 am and waiting to take the bus to the studios. Got to the studios at quarter after and made reservations for Mama Melrose for 5:30 as soon as I entered the park. I already ate at Hollywood and Vine on this trip and 50's prime time and sci fi on previous trips. So I decided to try this place.

First place I headed to was abc commissary for last call on breakfast, for they were going to change menus for lunch. I got a egg platter, which was enough for two people who can split this. It comes with 2 bacon strips and 2 sausage patties, and enough eggs for 2 too. I bought 2 juices though, 8 ounces isn't enough for me :)

Its 10:45 now and head over to Great Movie Ride. I already saw the western on my first day here, so I ask to make sure I see the gangster scenario. I asked the cm to make sure I see this room and was explained that 75% see this, only 25% see the western, not sure why, something about how many cars are running. This will be the longest wait for my trip as the room where they show you movies clips for a preshow is full. Before I enter the next room, I ask again to make sure I get the right room, they assign me a row, but when I get to that row, its full and I am not the only person who tries to board, not sure what happened, but I jump into the next free row. Its 11:30 now and finally boarded the ride. Did I mention this was a long line? :)

Its 11:50, doing the backlot tour. The water FX show is different, the models in the water are gone. Last time I was here was in 2000. But my eyes keep looking at the space where a cutup sub from 20k leagues ride was, for sadly its gone :(

I board the tram portion, first in line to board that row. They make the usually announcement about people on the right may get slightly wet, but don't worry, the people on the left WILL get wet. You board from the right side and move all the way over to the left. I did say I boarded first, didn't I ?:) You notice some changes due to Lights Motor Action. The former area beneath the Earful tower that used to be a employee parking lot, is now a area for the stunt drivers to practice. Other areas where you used to see the bone yard is also gone as you see the equipment placed other locations along the tram route. But Catastrophe Canyon is still here and the same.

I do the walking part of One mans dream, I get about 1/2 way through when they announce the theater portion will start in a couple of minutes, so I skip the rest go into the theater.

This empties out by Little Mermaid. The next show is at 1:25, its now 1:15, so I decide to wait the 10 minutes. Its amazing that how many times people are told to go down to the end of the row, but they still pop down in the middle. I sit back and enjoy as I have this show on home video already and seeing this on home video ruins the show, I wont go into why here :)

I finished up one mans dream, But my batteries on my digital camera died, I put in the spare set, and those were dead also. See, the other day when these batteries died, I forgot to recharge them that night. I then used my third spare set :)

My tour of Disney-MGM in search of a Mickey ice cream bar.

I went to where the car stunt show is being held. I wanted a Mickey bar, but the first cart I went to, his handheld device wasn't working, he only took cash. he told me to go to another cart by Star Tours, but she didn't even have a scanner :( She sent me to the BAH (Big A-- Hat), who had a working scanner. While waiting for my receipt to sign, she got asked on the radio if her scanner was working, I guess others were complaining to cm's about the non functioning scanners, and were calling ahead instead of making guests do the footwork themselves.

I head toward the Lights Motor Action bleacher seats for the 2:55 show. There is already a huge crowd waiting for the doors to open. I am not sure how they open this ride, but this is past the point where the CM's were turning people away earlier, so am I waiting at a second rope drop?

We start walking around the attraction to the rear where the bleachers are. I am out walking most, but this is my natural walk, not walking too fast for me. I got under the bleachers, and we stop moving again, another rope drop?? They open up another queue area for people to line up, some walk around the rope, others just duck under the rope. Remember I got yelled at Test Track for doing this? :) I guess there are too many for any CM's to yell at to restore order.

Final rope drop lets us climb into the bleachers. Well maybe bleachers doesn't do this justice, I think these stands can hold more people then Fantasmic can, and I thought Fantasmic had the largest audience sitting area anyplace on Disney property. I sit in the center about 3/4 the way up so I get to see everything and my camcorders zoom lens can get close ups, but since this is the first time I am recording this, I plan to keep the camcorder on wide lens.

The preshow consists of asking the audience on a large screen movies that featured major car/action scenes. If you know your Steve McQueen, and French Connection type movies, you will do ok. Of course they ask you this question, what number does Herbie wear? :) got to throw in a Disney question, esp since they just released another movie.

I wont go into what this show consists of, but if you like to watch the whole show, I have it on my website now. They do a stunt with Herbie, but if you see something (not going to say what) on the backlot tour, this may ruin what is going to happen.

As the show is starting, I still see more masses of people trying to get into the stands. Today there is only two shows, so I guess why this is so packed.

The show is over, its 3:43 and my ressie is for 5:30, what to do? :)

ahhhh muppetvision and blessed ac :)

After leaving muppetvision, I still had an hour to kill. finally couldn't take it anymore, checked in 45 min early and was seated right away. Food was ok, but after sampling Mama Melrose, I would prefer sci fi. I had mozzarella and tomatoes, cold dish, it was ok, just not the kind of food I like. I had chicken parm for main entree, and a coffee ice cream fancy dessert. I probably would have been more happy to get onion rings and baby back ribs at sci fi. its 5:40 and cant decide what to do now, nothing else I want to do here.

Mk closes at 8, no time to go there really. Epcot closes at 9, but spent last night there. I am ready to go home, home as in Brooklyn, not hotel room. :) I am going to window shop, take more photos, and leave park.

Heading back to pop at 6:40 just made the bus, and ran into some Boston fans, but already spoke about that elsewhere, wont mention it again here :)

I started packing last night and finished this am which just consisted of throwing everything in my suitcase. I packed up all my electronics into my backpack. I used my last counter svc meal for breakfast at PC. I went back to the room, made sure I didn't leave anything behind, and left the room to check out. I went to the same area I checked in a week earlier and just asked me if everything I had was out of the room, which I guess at that point they deactivate my room key.

It is now 9:30 am. car picks me up at 2:30 pm. 5 hours to kill.

When I booked my vacation originally, I only purchased 6 days worth of park admissions. My thinking was I wouldn't be there long enough to make it worth while to pay for a 7th day, or I thought it wasn't.

When I called to pay off the balance of my trip, I inquired how much a additional day would be. $1, with tax $1.07. Like they say, with the new Magic your Way park tickets, the more you go, the cheaper it is per day. So while adding a 7th day only costs $1 more, you have to avg how much it cost for all the days tickets, then divide by the number of days for a true cost per day.

I checked my luggage, which is just outside the main entrance, took my digital camera only and set out to the Magic Kingdom.

First stop was Tomorrowland and TTA.

Sat down to have my last Mickey bar with my last snack option.

Then walked over to Pirates of the Caribbean.

While riding Pirates, I noticed the boat in front of me using their Sony camcorder with the light on. And so did the CM's who monitor the inside of the ride, as they said over the rides sound system to please turn off the light, which they had to repeat a second time before she did shut it off.

I know the light on the camcorder did very little to take video of the ride, as the light was too weak to really light up the sets you are traveling through. The same can be said that strobe flash on cameras does not make any difference on objects further then 4 to 6 feet from you. If anyone looked at my photo of Spaceship Earth at night, it was taken with my digital camera, with the strobe light off and a very steady hand.

If you have been thinking.. .hey pirates is a very dark ride... how do cm's monitor the ride? They use allot of infrared light, night scope technology. If your camcorder has night vision capabilities, if you switch it on, you will see everything as bright as day. Another reason they don't allow flash photography or video camera lighting, besides ruining the experience, a flash or any type of light will overwhelm their night vision cameras, almost blinding them to events going on in the ride, so then it becomes a safety issue, which is why they are so strict about their no flash photography policy.

Went on Its a small world again. Wish I had my camcorder with me as the clock was doing its thing.

While yesterday I was ready to go home, today I didn't, but all things must come to a end. So does vacations. Its now 1 pm and I headed back to Pop Century for some lunch. Did something stupid here, I left my mug in my luggage which was still checked. So I bought a drink anyway,

I did some last minute exploring of Pop Century and photo taking. I retrieved my luggage, got my mug and used it for the last time. I waited just inside the main entrance for my car pickup for the ride back to the train station.

Roger from SunRay picked me up and had my back at the Orlando/Amtrak station by 3 pm. My train was running about 40 minutes late, so I sat down and waited. They made the announcement that the train will be here in a couple of minutes, so I went outside and waited to take a photo of the locomotive. Sure enough, I have it in ho scale, but never imagined it was so big in real life. For those like me, it was a Genesis locomotive.

Unlike my train trip down to Orlando, my trip back north was less stressful since I knew what to expect. To deal with eating in the dinning car, I placed all my valuables in my backpack and took it with me to the dinning car.

Just outside Orlando train station, we passed a old style preserved passenger train headed by a old style steam locomotive. Again too fast to get my camera to take photos.

I slept better on this trip, cause either I was used to it, and some of the adventure wasn't there anymore. For dinner, I had Prime Rib, for breakfast, just some eggs, and lunch was a hamburger with potato chips. I guess they cant have a deep fryer on a moving train :)

Even though we left Orlando late, we made up the time and got into Penn Station early.

I guess the trip is over, but one more train trip to take, the subway back home.

In conclusion, some thoughts.

Amtrak

I enjoy model trains, seeing a full size AC4400, Genesis, American, and so on made my trip by rails exciting. And I still chuckle to myself when I think about the Juice Train we passed on the way down. If you have no idea of what I am talking about, and getting there isn't 1/2 the fun for you, perhaps train travel isn't for you. But I would do this again if I have the choice.

One more thing about the Juice Train, not only train fans know about this, but a truck driver friend of the family who works for a grocery store chain, knows about the Juice Train :)

SunRay Transportation.

My previous trip in 2000, I used Mears for transport to and from the airport. Since I was traveling by rail, Disney's new Magical Express, which is basically the same as Mears, was not available to me. But if I had the choice, I would use SunRay again. Back in 2000, when I got off the airplane and went to Mears to check in, they took me on a tour of the airport to find me space on a minibus to take me to my hotel, The Contemporary. And I had to go by other hotels first. Using SunRay or other private car services, its nice to have a little less stress on a trip. I went directly to my hotel, and they were there waiting for me.

Pop Century

It was a nice hotel, and the rooms were nice. The only other time I stayed onsite was in the Contemporary Garden wing and these rooms looked the same to me. The only difference, besides the money of course, was the monorail for transport to and from the Magic Kingdom. To go to Epcot from any monorail resort, requires a transfer at the Ticket and Transportation Center. I think the bus from PC to Epcot is faster then taking the monorail from the Contemporary to Epcot cause of the transfer involved. But the monorail runs more frequent.

Bus Transportation in Disney

Since the Pop Century resort was the last to be brought online, it is the furthest to walk to from the park entrance. When they drop you off, they drop you off as close as they can to the entrance of the theme parks. But they only pick up from their designated pick up locations. This is the only negative thing I can say about staying at PC, the location of the bus pick up at the parks.

Dinning Plan

Even though it was free for my vacation, I feel it is one of the very few values about a Disney vacation, even if you paid for it. I always say, when it comes to things at Disney, they only have one Its a small world to ride, but plenty of choices of what to do for lunch. When making choices of where to eat, you either eat at places you ate at before, or try something new. On my trip, the only place I ate at before was the Crystal Palace, all other meals was at new places I never tried before. Some places were great, some weren't. But I wouldn't tell anyone to stay away from places I didn't enjoy. Everyone has different tastes and what I enjoyed, others might not and vice a versa.

One fear I had about the Disney Dinning Plan was how you are treated since they know in advance what their tip is, so there is no reward for good service. My service was great, they gave me a new glass of soda before the old one was empty.

Going solo

This was my first trip going solo. I was concerned about how one is treated from going on rides to eating alone. I was worried about nothing. I felt I was treated just as well eating alone as if I was a table of 5. Service was great.

As far as rides, the only slightly negative experience I had was on Winnie the Pooh when they stuck me in the back of another couple. All other rides I was sitting alone in the car. (Ok, some rides only have one row cars. :) ) I don't think the ride was that busy that they couldn't sit me alone, but I didn't complain.

Security/Bag Checks

Working in New York City in a job that takes me from the Federal Reserve Bank (Die Hard 3) in lower Manhattan to the Empire State Building in Midtown, security is something I am used to dealing with. Disney does 100% bag check before you get to the main ticket entry points. They examine everything, but don't have you turn out your pockets, well maybe not yet :) just kidding. Just be prepared. For how you and others deal with this will either make you wait longer or not. Some recognized me as a fellow New Yorker and were more pleasant in their jobs then others.

Since I have all my trip reports done, I hope to work on both my still photos and video. I hope to label my photos better, and add some more home video from this trip to what I currently have from previous trips.

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