What a long, strange trip it's been About This Page:

[PhilaDisney]

What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been

Who: Pam (30, 3rd time to Disney)
Charlie (34, husband, 1st time to Disney)

When: September 15 – 22

Where:All Star Movies, 101 Dalmatians

September 11 – Do We Stay Or Do We Go?

After the events of 9/11/01 we were asking ourselves the same question I’m sure a lot of people were asking “Should we stay or should we go?” The industry I work in has a lot of people working in Manhattan and I wasn’t sure who was ok and who was hurt, missing, etc. My best friend works two miles from the Pentagon and I was relieved to find out she was ok. After much consideration we decided to still go on our trip. We both needed a vacation very badly.

September 12 – What’s Going On With The Airports?

Next question, “Do we fly or do we drive?” With the airports still down we weren’t sure what to do. We decided to wait until Friday to see what the situation was with the airports.

September 13 – The Last Minute Run Around And Do Everything Marathon

After watching news reports nonstop we decided we would probably never get a flight out Saturday morning as planned. The decision was made to make the long drive to Orlando (1,060 miles). I checked US Air’s cancellation policy as well as Disney’s cancellation policy and figured I could get refunds for the airline tickets as well as the Mears transfers. I went home early to call Walt Disney World Travel and spoke to a very helpful CM who cancelled my air travel and Mears without any questions or problems. I will be getting a full refund for both.

Thursday night was full of doing last minute laundry, checking the road atlas and packing. It was quite a hectic night since this was a last minute change. I called my parents to let them know what our plans were and promised them a safe arrival call when we got there.

September 14 – Gas Up The Car, Let’s Go

We made arrangements to leave work at 11:00 so we could hit the road by early afternoon. I didn’t want to be stuck in the DC area in rush hour. I went to WaWa to get sandwiches for lunch. I got home five minutes after Charlie. We gobbled down our sandwiches, packed up the car and we were off by 12:15 p.m.

We were making great time, not running into much traffic. There were a few back ups getting into Delaware. Why is I-95 always backed up getting out of PA into DE? The tollbooths in DE were also backed up, but that is to be expected. The most notable thing about driving through MD is that I-95 is usually filled with police looking for speeders. We did not run into one single cop car on the highway until we were at the very southern end of VA. They must have all been busy with other things rather than giving people speeding tickets. During our drive we passed many signs for airports, but the only planes we saw on the drive down were military planes from Andrews Air Force Base in MD. This is a very odd and eerie feeling not seeing any planes taking off or landing as you’re driving by airports.

By the time we made it to South Carolina it was about 10 p.m. We had been seeing many billboards for South Of The Border. Now, when I say many billboards I mean there was a billboard every couple hundred feet. We were very anxious to see what all the hype was about. WOW! If you’ve ever seen South Of The Border at night when it’s all light up it will definitely capture your attention. Charlie and I agreed that it reminded us of a mini Las Vegas. We were very tired at that point and decided not to stop and check it out a little closer. We stopped for the night in Florence, SC at a Roadway Inn. $40 for the night. It was clean, quiet and roomy. We were pleased.

September 15 – Whatever You Do, Don’t light A Match

We were up at 5 a.m. There was a very cheesy continental breakfast available, but it satisfied us enough. We went across the street to get gas and got the first surprise of the day. Someone had left the lock thingy on the gas pump and I was too tired to notice. When I hit the button to select the grade of gas I wanted I didn’t have the nozzle in the gas tank yet and I got a soaking gasoline shower. After quite a bit of cursing I went inside to ask if they had a rest room I could clean up in. The woman was very apologetic and sent me next door to the travel place and had them give me a shower key. I never knew these places even existed. Basically it has everything the weary traveler needs: showers, laundry services, restaurant, grocery supplies. I went in and showered and changed my clothes. I tied my gasoline soaked clothes into the garbage bag I had brought for dirty laundry, but my sneakers still smelled like gas and they were the only shoes I had. We went back to the gas station to use the car wash. We thought it would be a good idea to wash the car before someone threw a cigarette out the window and our car blew up. (Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating there just a bit). The car wash was broken so I just used the squeegee thing that is supposed to be for your windshield to wash the part of the car that was soaked in gas.

Finally on the road and on our way at 7 am. One hour behind schedule, but that’s ok. We were driving into the last of tropical storm Gabrielle and had wind and rain for the remainder of the drive. We didn’t stop for lunch and just snacked on cheese and crackers we had brought with us (thank you to all the supermarkets to their back to school sales on snack items).

We arrived at Disney World property around 2:15. I must tell you all that Charlie is the worst when it comes to giving directions and reading road signs. I was counting on him to read the Disney road signs while I watched traffic. Well, to make a long story short, we first had the great debate of “does next right mean this right or the next right?” Apparently next right means this right. We ended up at the Magic Kingdom gates sheepishly asking for directions to the All Stars Resorts. The CM either gave us wrong directions or Charlie misread the signs again. We had another argument about what the CM said and what exit to take. We ended up at the MGM Studios gate, once again admitting what idiots we are, and asking for directions. The CM gave us great directions this time and we made it to the All Star Resorts by 2:30. Charlie and I agreed never to speak of the Disney World turnaround tour ever again.

There was only one car ahead of us at the security gate and off we went to All Star Movies. There was a short wait at check in (about 2-3 minutes). We both had to listen carefully to the CM due to the noise level in the lobby and the CM’s accent. We were put in the 101 Dalmatians #1 building with a “garden” view, room 1725. This is a great location. It’s very quiet and it’s a short walk to the main building if you take the short cut around the parking lot side. It’s not that long of a walk if you go through the walkways and past the main pool, but we found taking the parking lot walkway to be much quieter and a little quicker and less crowded. I went to get the car to move it from check in parking to the lot next to 101 Dalmatians. As I turned the corner I almost had a head on collision with someone driving on the wrong side of the road. I thought “Ok, buddy, in the good old USA we drive on the right.” This statement would have more meaning as the week went by as I noticed there were quite a few British people staying at the hotel. I’m not complaining about anything or mocking anyone, this is just an observation made as I heard many British accents. We unpacked and headed off to the bus stop for the Magic Kingdom.

On the bus we all sang happy Birthday to a little boy who was turning 5 that day. This got big grins from the birthday boy and his parents.

Security has definitely been increased. There are security guards at the gates checking all bags before they will let you in the parks. Security checked my boring fanny pack with all of a wallet and room safe key inside and I was in the Magic Kingdom at last. We decided on an early dinner at the Columbia Harbor House. We had skipped lunch so we were both pretty hungry. Charlie had the chicken strips and fish combo and I had the New England clam chowder in a bread bowl. Both were excellent. After dinner we went for a ride on the Liberty Belle River Boat. I had never been on this, so this was a treat for me as well as Charlie who is absolutely in love with paddle wheel boats for some reason. We went around the river and waved to other guests in the park. It felt like you were right there with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. This was very relaxing after a day of driving. Charlie wanted to snap a few pictures of the boat (about an entire roll of film) so I went in search of a rest room. I must have been gone for a long time because Charlie thought I had been abducted. He always thinks this when I’m gone for more than one minute. After Charlie finally decided he got every possible picture of the riverboat we headed over to the haunted mansion. I didn’t try the fast pass because I thought it was late in the day and they might be gone by now. It turns out we didn’t really need it because the line was only about 10 minutes. In the stretch room I told Charlie to look up when the lights went out. He didn’t seem too impressed. He was however, impressed with the entire ride and thought it was great. We went over to Peter Pan’s Flight and waited in line for about 10 minutes. This is when I got to see fast pass in action as pass holders went in line in front of us by what seemed like the dozens. I thought to myself “I need to use this fast pass system instead of waiting in line”. Oh well I was here for an entire week and had plenty of time to see everything. Peter Pan is still a neat ride as it feels like you are actually flying over London, but I think some things could use a little make over as they are looking very aged. We went to the Legend Of The Lion King. I have not seen this before and was looking forward to it. We had about a 5-minute wait before the next show. In the first room I had a great view until a tall gentleman stood in front of me. Now I am 5’3’’ and quite a few people are taller than me and they all seem to be drawn to stand in front of me in a crowd. This happens everywhere we go. To solve the problem, I stood behind Charlie who is 5’11’’ and wrapped my arms around his stomach, stood on my tiptoes and rested my chin on his shoulder. Kind of cozy, but at least I could see Rafiki again. I was kind of disappointed in this show, mainly because I could see the pole thingy they use to move the puppets around and it kind of ruined it for me. When I’m in fairy tale land I don’t need to see what makes the puppets move. We left Lion King singing to ourselves and headed for It’s A Small World. I would have skipped this altogether but since it was Charlie’s first time at Disney we had to go in. Charlie loved It’s A Small World (I still can’t figure him out sometimes). I think it had to do with some of the dancing girls and the one that winks at you. Charlie found it necessary to flirt with the plastic figure and wink back. We made our way back to main street for shopping. Charlie was on a hunt for a pair of Mickey ears that met his picky shopping criteria. He decided on a pair of Mickey ears on a headband that are furry instead of the plastic ones you can get with your name embroidered on them. We had some fun in the hat shop trying on different hats and just goofing around. My favorite silly hat of the whole trip was the one with the Grumpy face and the beard that went under your chin. The Mickey ear purchase worked up our appetites so we headed to the Main Street Bakery for an oatmeal raisin cookie for me (why do I think of Tikibird when I write this?) and some kind of chocolate cake thing for Charlie. Charlie also decided he need a frozen mocha coffee drink with his cake of which he only drank half of. He kindly offered me the rest and I declined. I personally think coffee should be hot and not in a frozen, iced or any kind of ice cream form.

We noticed people lining up for the Spectro Magic parade about an hour and a half before it started. I think this is a complete waste of time, especially since there were two parades that night. We went to Space Mountain but decided the wait was too long (about an hour) and decided we would come back to it another day. We went instead to Alien Encounter. This is where Charlie started with his 20 questions. “What happens?, What is this?, What is that?” etc. etc. I tried to tell him as little as possible about Alien Encounter without giving anything away. I didn’t want to ruin the experience for him. I had forgotten parts of this and got a little freaked out myself during it. After it was over Charlie said to me “I got wet and there was something breathing on my neck.” “Well, that happened to everyone” was my response.

We did a little shopping in Tomorrowland. Charlie bought one of those Mickey antenna toppers for his truck. The CM behind the counter looked at him with all seriousness and said “That will be $40.” Well, I must have been half asleep because it took me a few seconds to figure out that she was joking and I quickly reassured Charlie of this. We all had a good laugh about it. Charlie isn’t one to joke around with about the price of things. He is one of these people who will watch the register very closely to make sure the correct price shows up. Fortunately he was being a good sport about the joke and he didn’t say any more about it the rest of the night.

Charlie then wanted to stake out a good place for the fireworks so he could make an attempt at getting some pictures of them. He had tried getting pictures of fireworks on the fourth of July but they didn’t turn out so well. We wasted about an hour just standing around so no one would take our spot. This resulted in an argument about wasting precious park time just standing around. After the fireworks we rushed over to Buzz Lightyear. This is a great time to go on Buzz Lightyear. There was no wait at all. We are both really terrible at this. I am more terrible than Charlie with a pathetic score of 2,700 with Charlie at 7,000 points. I blame my terrible score on the fact that I don’t think my laser gun was working properly because I couldn’t see my laser aiming at anything. So I just blindly shot off my gun at anything and everything. Charlie had a terrible score just because his aim is bad.

Off we went to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority for a nice relaxing ride. Charlie got to see a little of what Space Mountain would be like and to my surprise he didn’t freak out. Charlie is not a big fan of roller coasters and it took a lot of convincing on my part to get him to agree to go on it. This would turn out to be the only roller coaster he went on the whole trip.

Next, we decided to stake out a place for the later Spectro Magic parade. We plopped ourselves down right in front of Cinderella’s castle on the sidewalk. While waiting for the parade to start I went for popcorn and bottled water. We had brought water bottles with us but didn’t bring them to the park that day because it was still cloudy and cool from Gabrielle and we didn’t think we would need them. This turned out to be a great location and we got some great pictures of the parade.

After the parade we made our way to the front of the park with the rest of the cattle herd. We stopped in the Emporium to pick up more nighttime film. We got the very last seat on the bus all the way in the back. Apparently this is where the engine is. These seats became very warm on the ride back and our buns were nicely toasted by the time we got off.

We did a little more shopping in Donald’s Double Feature and then headed back to the room to crash into bed at midnight.

[bfth]

Great report thus far. And I promise not to tell anyone about the direction mix up! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Las17]

Love your trip report so far! I especially liked the part about your nicely toasted buns! I've ridden in those back seats and you're right! Looking forward to the next installment.
Laura

[tikibird]

Philadisney,

Great trip report so far (and I'm not just saying that because I feel honored to have been mentioned in it! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] )!

Sounds like Charlie got right into the magic - I giggled about his flirting with the Small World doll! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Keep 'em coming, and BTW - EXCELLENT choice on that cookie! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[PhilaDisney]

What A Long Strange Trip It's Been - Day 2
Who: Pam (30, 3rd trip to Disney)
Charlie (husband, 34, 1st trip to Disney)
Where: All Star Movies, 101 Dalmations

Sunday, September 16 – Did you bring a baby and not tell me?

Did I say this room was quiet? You can forget that. The infant crying next door to us awakened us at 2:30 a.m. We had a room with an adjoining door, so I don’t know if that had something to do with the fact that we could hear everything that was going on next door. Picture if you will, two very tired childless adults sound asleep cozy in their bed. When all of sudden, “Waaaaaaaahhh” “Huh? What was that?” “I think there’s a baby next door.” “What time is it?” “2:30” “You have to be kidding me.” We both groaned and rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. 3:00 came “Waaaaahhhh” We weren’t finding this situation very amusing. We both like kids, but we don’t need to be woken up in the middle of the night by someone else’s baby crying. I was already awake by 6 a.m. Because of the disruptions in the middle of the night I never did get back completely to sleep. The baby started crying again around 6, but since I was already up it didn’t bother me quite as much.

Charlie got up around 7 thanks to a call from Mickey and we headed to the food court for breakfast. What’s this I see? Ya hoo! There is an express checkout slip on the door of the screaming infant. I thought about offering to help them pack and be on their way. So long, farewell, goodbye, don’t forget to take the baby with you.

We walked by the baggage handler who was making balloon animals. She said this is what they do when they’re not busy. There was one there that was supposed to be some kind of animal (I forget what exactly), but to us it looked like a cootie. Those of you a certain age might remember cooties from your childhood. They were the toys where you put together pieces of a bug to make it as big or as little as you wanted and gave it eyes and ears and a tongue and before you know it you had your very own cootie.

Breakfast was a breakfast platter for both of us which included eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes and a biscuit. The eggs and potatoes were cold and the biscuit could have been used for a hockey puck. The sausage and bacon were hot and delicious. Charlie decided to grab a couple of donuts and forced me to eat one. We also bought our refillable mugs, which would get a good deal of use throughout the week. Our mothers would be appalled that we were drinking soda for breakfast, but hey, I don’t see our mothers here and after all you can do what you want when you’re an adult and don’t have kids to set a good example for, right? We did try the coffee once and decided it was terrible.

There was a little mishap with the paperwork we got when we checked in. I had grabbed some and Charlie and taken some. Well, Charlie never gave me the paperwork he took and just shoved it into one of our bags. I found this out when we went to the gift shop to get our free pins that came with our package. The CM behind the counter asked me for the cards. I asked him what he was talking about. This is when I found out about the paperwork Charlie never gave me. I went back to the room to search out the cards and while searching I also found our parking pass. I guess it’s a good thing I had to look through everything. We got our pins, Donald Duck flying an airplane.

We then went to guest services to pick up our Hoop Dee Doo tickets for that night and to make our Fantasmic dinner priority seating. The CM was in training and I think I totally confused her when I wanted to charge the Hoop Dee Doo to the room. Everything was straightened out in a short amount of time and everyone was very pleasant.

Off to the Magic Kingdom we go. What a difference from Saturday to today. Where did all the people go? Saturday the Magic Kingdom was packed and today we walked on everything and practically had the walkways to ourselves. I could get used to this.

We got to Tomorrowland right before rope drop. I wanted to get Charlie on Space Mountain before he had a chance to chicken out. Charlie isn’t one for roller coasters and he only agreed to go on Space Mountain because he said it sounded neat being in the dark and flying through space. We only waited a few minutes at Space Mountain for them to get the ride ready and we were in. I asked Charlie if he wanted the front row seat and he said no (chicken). When it was all done he admitted it was a great ride.

I had a plan to hit the other popular rides before the park got crowded. Little did I know that the park would never get crowded that day. We headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We were halfway through the line cue when Charlie changes his mind and turns around to head out. So I go it alone. I raced through the rest of the cue and got to the loading area right before a train was about to leave. When they realized it was just me the CMs held the train for me and let me board. That was awfully nice of them. I always tend to duck a few times on this ride even though I know I will never hit my head on anything. Big Thunder always gets my adrenaline going. I got off and informed Charlie of what a wonderful time he missed.

Charlie assured me that he would go on Splash Mountain so we headed over there next. I decided to test the humor of the CMs on this ride and asked if we would get wet. The CM just rolled his eyes at me and said “Uh, no.” Up at the loading point there was a boat about to depart with the back seat empty and the CM told us to wait for the next one. Now, I didn’t just fall of the turnip truck and I knew perfectly well that if we got in the next boat in the front seat with just the two of us in the boat we would spend the rest of the day wringing out our clothes. I just gave the CM a big smile and told her we didn’t mind sitting in the back of the other boat. She told us it was ok and that they would get us wet one way or another. We had a great time singing along and looking at what I think are some of the best animatronics at Disney. We do realize that this is a log flume ride and you will get wet. However, if we can avoid being soaked we will. We walked away with just a few drips here and there. Mostly our hair was wet. It would soon dry.

We headed into the Country Bear Jamboree to cool off from the heat. It was only mid-morning and it was already extremely hot outside. I enjoy the Country Bears no matter how corny they may seem to be to others. I think I enjoy it so much because it reminds me of the music my parents and grandparents listened to while I was growing up.

After the bears were done strumming their banjos we headed over to the Jungle Cruise. Our boat driver was very funny. He was very into his roll and kept the jokes coming. Granted, they were lame jokes, but he seemed to know this, which made them humorous.

We got back from the jungle safe and sound and decided to try our luck with some pirates. Pirates of the Caribbean was another walk on. Charlie loves pirates as much as paddle boats so he was having a grand time. There I was minding my own business when all of a sudden, boom! We were in the middle dueling cannons. Oooh! They got me (wet that is). I don’t remember getting wet here before and it didn’t seem like anyone else around me got wet. Oh well. I had to drag Charlie out of the gift shop after the ride, but not before he emptied his wallet. Captain Hook was walking around and Mr. Smee was running around tickling people.

Aladdin’s Carpets were calling to us so we headed over there. This is a nice relaxing ride and you get a cool breeze in the process. We made the mistake of both sitting in the front, so we could only make the carpet go up and down. I tried reaching behind me for the control to make the carpet go sideways, but I was not successful in doing so. I once again got wet on this ride as a camel spit water at me. How this managed to hit me and not Charlie I’m not sure. Charlie was the one sitting on the right hand side of the carpet. The theme of the day is to get Pam wet no matter what you have to do (spit at her, blow cannon balls in her direction, try to get her to sit in the front of Splash Mountain). Actually, it was so hot I didn’t mind a little spritz here and there.

I insisted on going in the Enchanted Tiki Room because I had never seen it. What a wonderful show. It was very lively and I love the way the room makes you feel like you’re in a tropical paradise. I felt a little sad when the birds told us to stand up and leave. I probably could have spent all afternoon in there.

We decided to have lunch in the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. We got there just as the cowboy was beginning his gig. We both had the roast beef sandwich, which came with a pickle slice and chips. We found a table by the far wall and had a good view of everything. The cowboy decided to taunt a couple that had sat down with their food shortly after we did. He played the Twighlight Zone on his guitar and stared at them saying “Don’t turn around, keep chewing.” They soon realized everyone was staring at them and everyone had a good laugh. Next a magician came out and did some card tricks. This doesn’t sound very exciting, but I can’t explain his act without giving secrets away. He was very funny and highly entertaining. Then the moment Charlie was waiting for, the dancing girls. These were old time can-can girls who sang and danced and flirted with the men in the audience. At the end everyone came back out and the performers and everyone in the saloon joined in singing God Bless America. I was just starting to put the events of last week in the back of my mind for the vacation when this brought tears to my eyes again.

After lunch we left the Magic Kingdom to go to the Downtown Disney Marketplace for shopping. I have to say, I absolutely HATE shopping. My idea of shopping is knowing what you want ahead of time, going to the store, getting it and get out of there as fast as possible. Charlie loves shopping. You can imagine the dilemma I’m in here. I’m silently praying that he will not want to spend too much time here. I’m in luck. All Charlie was interested in was the World Of Disney and the Art of Disney. Woo Hoo! Let’s high tail it out of here before he changes his mind. We headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap.

We woke up nicely refreshed and ready to party at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. We hopped a bus to the Magic Kingdom and waited just a few short minutes for the Fort Wilderness ferry. This gave us the opportunity to see the Wilderness Lodge, at least the back side of it near the dock. From what I saw I wasn’t at all impressed. I made a mental note to try and see the rest of the lodge because of all the great reviews.

We checked in and had our picture taken behind the wagon wheel. It turned out good so we bought it. We didn’t feel it was necessary to buy two magnets, so we opted for just the picture.

We were seated at what we nicknamed “the romantic corner table for two”. This was the only table we saw with only two people at it and even though it was in the corner next to the kitchen door, we had a great view of the stage and got some great pictures.

The most wonderful thing happened that night. We got carded! I know that might not seem too exciting to some of you. I know I am getting old when getting carded is a compliment. It’s when getting carded graduates from an insult to a compliment that you thank your lucky stars for your youthful looks. Our waiter asked both of us for ID and I grinned at him, thanked him for the wonderful compliment and showed him my driver’s license.

The food here is barbequey good (barbequey is my made up word for the day). We feasted on fried chicken, ribs, baked beans, corn and some of the most wonderful bread we ever tasted (or maybe it was the butter). For desert, they served delicious strawberry shortcake. Unfortunately when they served it they said I had to share it with Charlie.

The entertainment is cornball comedy, which is quite all right because we are a couple of cornballs ourselves. That being said, we laughed ourselves silly through the entire show. At the end they handed out washboards for people to play and somehow Charlie ended up with one. Will someone please give this gentleman a lesson on how a washboard should be played? Instead of running his spoon up and down it, he insisted on banging on it like a drum. I was getting a bit of a headache and was wishing it would end soon.

We made our way out of Pioneer Hall without any trouble and waddled to the bus stop. For those of you attending the HDD and not staying anywhere nearby and the MK is closed, be prepared for a long ride back to your hotel. First, we got on a bus in Fort Wilderness headed for the TTC. This had a quick stop at the Wilderness Lodge. I tried desperately to see what the front of the lodge looked like, but it was so dark all I saw was the wonderful view of the sidewalk. Second, we got off at the TTC and had to get on a bus to Downtown Disney. By this time we noticed a group of about 20 of us all had the same destination. Thus was born the “Hoop Dee Doo All Star Bus Hopping Parade”. At last we boarded a bus at Downtown Disney to go to the All Star Resorts.

Finally got back to the room and went to sleep after watching the news.

[PS - I LUV WDW]

PhilaDisney -- love your reports!! You made me laugh more than once. When you started to describe the baby in the next room at ASMo, I really chuckled. My DH and I were there for one night last September. At 1 A.M. the little ones next door were running up and down the room (it sounded like a whole football team practicing). When I convinced myself that they would at least sleep late, it all started at 7 A.M. again. Needless to say we quickly went to Corando Springs and were able to get the rest of our trip switched to there [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I also had to laugh at your reason to go to the Tiki birds, my exact same reason for wanting to go in November. I think perhaps the reason I relate so well is because of our name [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Pam