April 30-May 7, 2005 – 4 "Grownups" at CSR & AKL About This Page:

[cindybelle]

Our Party: Cindy (me, having just turned 50, on my 7th WDW trip over the course of 30 years), Rick (51, long-suffering BF who claims to hate Disney but builds me beautiful cabinets for my Disney collectibles, on his 3rd and probably final trip), Paul & Robbie (both 51), our best friends (on their 2nd WDW vacation—their first was almost 20 years ago, with 3 children, so they were excited to see what had been added and also to see what WDW is like without kids along). This was our first joint vacation, and I knew it would be the perfect destination to see if we could travel together. (We had a blast!)

Our Journey: We flew from St. Louis to the Happiest Place on Earth, because Walt wisely built his first theme park the year I was born! I never thought I’d be this excited to turn 50!

Our Itinerary: Thanks to great advice from Passporter, Unofficial Guide, and so many of my “pen pals” on the Passporter boards, I super-planned the week—and everything went just great!

Day One, Saturday, April 30: Arrival at CSR, Epcot, Le Cellier, and Illuminations cruise.

Flew Southwest at 7:30 a.m., arriving Orlando at 10:40. Waited in a l-o-n-g line at Alamo for our full-sized car, but the price and convenience were worth it. (I’ve read many reports that you don’t need a car at WDW, but two of us tried the bus system once during the trip, and while it’s efficient, we arrived much later than we did with the car. Plus, Rick and I like being in control, and a car provides that freedom. (Although we did get temporarily lost a few times during the week.)

We drove to Coronado Springs Resort, arriving around 12:30 p.m. To our delight, our rooms were ready, so we could get a few things hung up before heading to Epcot. I had rented an ECV, which was waiting for us at the Bell Desk—and the bellman showed me how to use it, and then drove it to our room in the Ranchos for me. (I’ll add a separate thread about the ECV later.) We stayed 5 nights in the Ranchos, which were beautiful and QUIET.

Had breakfast at the Pepper Market the next five mornings, and thoroughly enjoyed the food and atmosphere. If you’re traveling without children, I highly recommend CSR. We found it just as magical as any other resort.

Epcot: First, we got to Le Cellier in time for our 2:00 PS—but we still waited almost 30 minutes. (Our longest wait for food all week.)

Le Cellier has wonderful food. We tried the cheddar cheese soup, steak salads, French Dip sandwich, and a crabmeat sandwich. I shared a chocolate raspberry shake. Everything was delicious. In fact, we feared the upcoming meals would suffer in comparison. (But we were wrong! I can report that the food at WDW has improved greatly in the six years since I was last there. Of course, it helps when you choose your restaurants wisely, and make priority seatings whenever possible.)

Then all we had time to do was visit Honey I Shrunk the Audience (Rick and I had experienced this before, but really enjoyed watching and listening to Paul and Robbie’s delighted reactions) and Spaceship Earth. Then it was time to head back to CSR. On the way, we stopped at the BoardWalk to determine where we’d meet up for the Illuminations cruise I’d booked.

After spending a bit more time unpacking, Rick and I took the Disney bus back to Epcot while Paul & Robbie took the car to Mass at a nearby church (which Passporter helped me find). Since I’d spied the Art of Disney store on our way out of the park the first time, Rick semi-patiently waited while I raced back through the store, choosing four items to ship home. I knew everyone in my office would be laughing when a big box arrived for me from WDW (and I was right).

Then Rick and I walked to BoardWalk for an ice cream cone. Paul & Robbie found us, and then the other members of our party arrived (which I found via the DIS Boards). Someone had tipped off the skipper, who surprised me with black balloons and a birthday cake to kick off my weeklong celebration. Illuminations was awe-inspiring, as always. It was nice having padded seats rather than standing up. A great beginning to our week.

[cindybelle]

Some people say to avoid Sundays at MK, but May 1 was a fairly slow day there, so we experienced a lot of attractions. Unfortunately, Paul took his Dramamine a bit late, so our first spin on Space Mountain did him in. He spent the next hour lying on a park bench, but luckily he perked up soon after. Rick and I rode Space Mountain three times in succession plus took a turn on Buzz Lightyear, which was new to all of us—we loved it. Robbie joined us one more time on Space Mountain. We all agreed Paul would love Buzz, so we resolved to return later in the day.

Stitch was cute (but not as good as Alien Encounter). Since I’m a Goofy fan, we had to do the Barnstormer, which was really fun—and a great place for photos. Then all four of us fell in love with Mickey’s PhilharMagic, which we repeated later in the day. Rick threatened to throw rocks on It’s a Small World, but he behaved himself. We also took Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White, and Pooh. The fun just kept coming!

Paul and Rick rode Splash Mountain while Robbie and I rode Big Thunder. (We didn’t feel like getting wet!) We all took a turn at the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade and Haunted Mansion, one of my very favorite rides since my first visit. We rode Pirates, sat through the Tiki Room (not as good as it used to be) and walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and that got us to about 8:00 p.m. We were tired and ready to call it a day.

But I can’t leave out our “lupper” at Crystal Palace (3:50 p.m. PS), which I booked because it seems to get rave reviews for the food. Well, all four of us agree, and Le Cellier was already becoming a distant memory. Of course, I enjoyed bouncing with Tigger and hugging Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore—apparently I had “forgotten” to tell Rick this was a character meal, but he was so busy stuffing himself with shrimp, tender rotisserie chicken and roast beef to hassle me too much.

Speaking of “lupper,” I know we saved a lot of money by stopping for a mid-morning snack and then having a big dinner every day. Plus, none of us could have eaten both a full lunch and a full dinner every day. I had budgeted $125/day per couple for food, and when we got home, I was happy to add it all up and realize we had spent slightly under $100/day per couple. (Of course, I spent it elsewhere at WDW!)

[cindybelle]

I was the only member of my party who had been to AK before. I wanted the others to experience a bit of it before our Wednesday Backstage Safari tour, so we spent a couple hours there on Monday. We did the safari ride and the bird show (I got to go on stage!), plus a bit of animal watching before heading to MGM for the bulk of the day. I was thrilled when we came upon Lady Devine, who totally amazed all of us. Then we walked past her to watch the faces of others as they came upon her. We got a couple of great photos of her before she disappeared into the jungle.

MGM was fairly empty, which made me very happy. (It’s my favorite park.) This was the first time Paul & Robbie got to experience it. We got Fast Passes for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, but didn’t need them—we rode it three times in a row. (Paul skipped it because of his motion sickness problem, but he just kept enjoying “people watching.”) I started buying the photos, and I’m so glad I did—we’ve got some fun pictures because of that. Rick and I put on sunglasses our second time through, and looked “cool.” I absolutely loved this ride, which was new to me.

Tower of Terror: Screamed bloody murder. Rode it a total of three times. Robbie managed to smile and wave at the camera on her second trip—not me, I just kept screaming (and going back for more)! Paul skipped it, but had a magical experience at TOT anyway: the first time we rode it, he walked up to the elevators with us. Then he informed the attendant that he wasn’t going to get on the ride. He was escorted to another elevator, with a little boy and a dad. When the door opened, the little boy looked up and said, “Are you sure this is the right elevator?” They all had a good laugh at that!

The Sound Effects attraction was pretty lame, but a good place to catch a quick nap, when they turn out the lights.

We all enjoyed the Backlot Tour and the Muppets, and especially Star Tours, which we rode 3 or 4 times over the next day. Paul had no problem on that attraction. Rick and I got a kick out of Paul & Robbie’s reactions to the Indiana Jones show, and Robbie later spotted the “Do not pull on rope” area, which was working just fine, to our mutual delight.

I had booked the Fantasmic Dinner package at the Hollywood Brown Derby (3:50 p.m.), which ended up being my favorite meal of the trip. (It’s a tough call, I’m happy to report.) The four of us shared orders of the Portabella Mushroom, Chevre Cheese Raviolo and the Crab Cake, which were absolute perfection. The Roasted Pork Tenderloin got high praise from Paul and Rick, Robbie loved her Filet of Beef, and I think my Grilled Atlantic Salmon with gorgonzola was the best entrée of all. The desserts were good and beautifully presented, but they couldn’t compete with the first two courses. I would definitely book the Brown Derby again.

Fantasmic absolutely amazed Paul and Robbie. I was able to park my ECV at the top of the bleachers, so getting out of the park later was no problem—although everyone had to exit out the same way rather than the special way we’d entered.

Rick, being an engineer, is impressed with how fast Disney manages to empty the parks and get people on their way. The buses are exiting immediately and new ones are in place, and we had gotten a good parking place, so we got out quickly.

[cindybelle]

The skies had been overcast the first couple days, but of course the sun shone for us on Tuesday. MGM had early entry, so we did Tower and Rock ‘n’ again and then headed to Blizzard Beach. We had a great day there and a pretty good and inexpensive lunch of hot dogs and fries.

Robbie and Paul kept saying how glad they were that I'd planned a day at the water park in the middle of our trip. But of course! Passporter helped me with that decision!


California Grill: We had a 7:30 reservation for dinner, which was delicious. It was also fun to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our table. That said, it is extremely noisy (deafening) everywhere in that restaurant, and at least half the patrons looked like they’d come straight from the parks—sloppy shorts and untucked tee shirts. I’m glad we went, but to me the noise was a real drag. Also, I was surprised when they “dimmed” the lights for the fireworks—they don’t dim them much, and I could barely hear the music over all the noisy chatter.

Also, when we arrived on the floor, we were told to stand in a certain place—and then we were ignored for at least 5 minutes. We felt like idiots, looking expectantly at every server who approached us, only to discover we were in their way. For such a nice restaurant, I was surprised at the slipshod handling of arriving patrons. Once we were taken to our table, everyone was gracious, and my dinner (especially the chocolate lava cake) was to die for. But once was enough for me—I won’t go back.

Still, it was nice to have a vodka tonic and be "above" the crowds" for the fireworks, especially after our delightul day at Blizzard Beach. Loved the "sneezing shack," the tube ride, and racing against each other on the toboggans.

[cindybelle]

We began the day with our Backstage Safari Tour. Rick’s favorite animal is the rhino, and I’d read reports on line that guests are sometimes treated to an up-close-and-personal view of a rhino, so I had my fingers crossed (although I said nothing to Rick). Not to worry, they called a rhino expert who came out and talked to us and introduced us to Spike, a white rhino. It was fascinating, and Rick was pretty pumped. When we got to pet Spike, he was very happy. I couldn’t resist saying, “Feeling better about Disney?”

Enjoyed a delicious lunch at Tusker House - We split two orders of salmon and rotisserie chicken so we'd have room for dinner later.


Favorite attractions: Tough to Be a Bug, the Tree of Life, Festival of the Lion King (Rick hated it, but the rest of us loved it), and the Forest Exploration Trail.

We didn’t like Dinosaur, which was fairly boring, WAY TOO LOUD, and way too jerky. We decided to stick to enjoying the animals, which we did.

Paul was developing a sore throat, so he headed to bed while the rest of us visited Downtown Disney. (He ordered a room-service pizza at CSR, which he said arrived hot and delicious.) Robbie, Rick, and I had dinner reservations at Fulton’s Crab House, which I thoroughly enjoyed (crab appetizer, salad, and a surprise signature birthday dessert which was yummy). Rick thought his halibut was too bland, and judged Fulton’s his least favorite meal of the trip. Robbie’s steak was OK but didn’t compare with what she had at other restaurants.

Then we spent money on scrapbooking supplies and took lots of pictures at Lego Land. Rick is a Lego fiend, so he really enjoyed himself there. Before we knew it, it was 9:00, and we were all t-i-r-e-d and ready to hit the hay.

[cindybelle]

I had planned to visit Typhoon Lagoon on Thursday, but this was a semi-rainy and somewhat cool day. Just as well—we didn’t have time to do all the attractions, even with skipping the water park. Paul sounded croaky, but claimed he felt a lot better.

Thursday was the official beginning of the Happiest Celebration on Earth, so we returned to MGM to catch the Lights! Motors! Action! Show, which didn’t begin until afternoon. No problem, we enjoyed attractions we’d skipped earlier in the week. We also took each others’ pictures at the Singin’ in the Rain umbrella.

We enjoyed Magic of Disney Animation (which made me cry), Great Movie Ride (not great, but a fairly enjoyable way to sit down for awhile), Honey I Shrunk movie set, where we got great pictures, and another spin on Star Tours. The new motor stunt show was fabulous. I love MGM so much, I started tearing up when I realized it was time to leave for the last time.

Then we took Paul to Lego Land, where he and Rick looked cute putting buildings together. (They’re both structural engineers, and little boys at heart.) We’d arranged for CSR to have our luggage delivered to AKL, so we checked in. Started seeing animals from our balconies immediately, and fell in love with the place. I just couldn’t believe I was finally THERE, after so many months of planning and hoping we could afford it. (I purchased an Annual Pass in March after determining we could save a lot of money at CSR and AKL, plus get the Disney Dining Card.)

Boma: This dinner was probably the favorite. (I know, I said Brown Derby was my favorite, but that it was a tough call.) We had a delightful server and loved just about everything we tried, which was a LOT. And thanks to everyone on the boards who recommended Zebra Domes—I am now officially addicted.

Only two nights at AKL—not enough! But so worth it!

[cindybelle]

Breakfasted at Boma, which had as fabulous a spread in the morning as it had for dinner the day before. Most people arrive around 8:00, and since we got there at 7:30, we had no problem getting to Epcot when it was opening. I highly recommend the Jungle Juice at Boma. Our server gave us the recipe: 1 part pineapple juice, 1 part mango juice, 2 parts orange juice, 2 parts lemonade. Refreshing!

Soarin’ had officially opened on Thursday, so we headed there first. Got Fast Passes for a second ride, then took our first trip over California. Grades from our group: A+, A+, A+, and A+. We had about 30 minutes until our FP time, so we headed to Universe of Energy (loved Ellen), Test Track, and Mission: Space. I was disappointed in Test Track, which was new to me—I thought it was extremely tame. However, we’re glad we rode the single passengers line, because we all had stories to tell about the children and pre-teens in our cars.

Rick was the only one in our group to ride Mission: Space, which he repeated later in the day and thoroughly enjoyed. He said he wasn’t sure if I’d like it or hate it, and that was good enough for me to definitely skip it.

Then another Soarin’ visit, then the Living Seas. The talk with Crush was a highlight of the trip for me—so fun and imaginative.

A quick, delicious, inexpensive lunch at Seasons in the Land, then we got another FP for Soarin’ to use much later in the afternoon. We then headed to World Showcase, seeing O Canada. The only other attraction we managed to “ride” that day was El Rio del Tiempo in Mexico, although we enjoyed strolling through most of the countries.

Restaurant Marrakesh: We had a 5:30 p.m. PS. We all thought the meat was too dry, but I enjoyed the sauce, the belly dancer, and the music (which was a bit loud for conversation, but fun). This was probably our least favorite dinner of the trip, but we’d had so many absolutely fabulous meals by then, we were bound to be disappointed. We all enjoyed the dessert, a crepe with honey, cinnamon, and vanilla ice cream. It was yummy!

You have to make choices at WDW, and we chose to ride Soarin’ one more time and then call it a day, so we could enjoy AKL for our last night.

[cindybelle]

Checked out of AKL, arranging for them to hold our luggage. Couldn’t resist breakfast at Boma, but then barely made it to MK for our 9:00 tour. (I was a hyper, nervous wreck, but of course everything worked out fine.)

Keys to the Kingdom was a lot of fun, although we had about 20 people in our group, which made it a bit difficult to negotiate through the crowds. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and our tour guide was delightful (Ann). I was able to use my ECV for just about everything we did.

Paul and Rick were impressed with the efficiency demonstrated and explained on the tour. For example, WDW recycles two-thirds of the trash every day—they separate it by hand! And if you’ve always dreamed of hiding away in the Magic Kingdom overnight, it’s not going to happen: there are 3,000 night workers who are bound to find you before daybreak. Ann pointed out Hidden Mickeys, and we rode Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion as a group.

This tour would be a good way to begin or end a vacation. Lunch at the Columbia House was delicious—I’ll definitely lunch there on future trips. We chose 4 different entrees, and all refused to share—it was that good. You can’t go wrong there, and it beats burgers and fries any day.

After the tour, we took pictures of the Walt & Mickey statue and the fabulous decorations on “my” castle. My eyes were welling up by this point, and I could hardly speak. Rick kept saying, “What are you crying about? It’s just a building,” and all I could do was shake my head. I thought I’d be ready to leave after a whole week, but I felt part of my heart was breaking. I know everyone reading this on the Passporter boards will understand. For us, it’s not just a theme park or a vacation or a castle—it’s a visit to our inner child, to a very special place in our hearts. Walt was such a huge part of my childhood, I tear up whenever I see his statue.

We headed back to AKL for a last walk through the grounds and lots more animal pictures. Then I turned in my ECV at the Bell Desk and we got our luggage. Our flight left Orlando at 7:20, getting us back to St. Louis a little before 9:00 Central Time.

Great trip, great times, great friends.

[cindybelle]

I was a bit nervous about using my Disney Dining Experience (DDE) emailed receipt, because I’d read so many messages about the cards arriving way too late and the restaurants not wanting to accept the emailed receipts. I inquired about it at Epcot the first afternoon when I activated my AP, and the Guest Relations cast member there told me the restaurants would probably refuse to honor my emailed receipt. I was really upset at that point, and felt like things were going downhill fast.

Well, she was wrongl. Our next stop was Le Cellier, where my receipt was accepted without question, and we had the same experience at every other restaurant. I always offered it at the beginning of the meal, and most servers took it and my driver’s license at that point—but a few took it at the end of the meal. All returned my license and the paper receipt along with the final bill, which read “modified” and indicated a 20% discount. The system works—with or without the actual card. Just make sure your emailed receipt is valid for the dates of your trip.

[cindybelle]

Since October, I’d slowly developed a painful swollen area at the base of my toes on my right foot—due to arthritis in my big toe, which I didn’t realize until it was diagnosed in February. Special shoe inserts have helped tremendously, but long walks or periods of standing aggravate the swollen area, which my doctor says will never go away. Bummer! But despite feeling self-conscious, I rented an ECV (electric scooter) from Walker, who had a scooter waiting for me at the Coronado Springs Bell Desk when we arrived 4/30. When we departed from Animal Kingdom Lodge on 5/7, I simply handed the scooter to that bellman.

The scooter could be quickly broken down into 5 parts, fitting easily into our full-sized trunk (we rented a car). While Rick and Paul were no doubt tired of assembling/disassembling it by the end of the week, that scooter saved the trip for me. It was incredibly easy to operate (and the bellman at CSR showed me how to use it). I highly recommend renting a scooter if anyone in your party has difficulty walking or standing for long periods of time. There are many ECV rental places, but I went with Walker – phone 1-888-SCOOTER, web site: www.walkermobility.com

ACE Knee Braces: Here’s another tip. Because I tend to put most of my weight onto my good foot, my left knee gets overstrained sometimes. I kept a knee bandage in my bag, and wore it for about 3 days of our trip. It gave my knee a little extra support, making it easier to climb stairs.

Go during a slow time of year! When the crowds get thick, it’s much more difficult to negotiate the ECV, to see anything but the butts in front of you, and it’s a little frightening. If you’re in a crowd, it helps if your friends walk close to you. Since I had 3 people, one would walk in front of me, one to the side, and one behind. They helped keep the crowd from surrounding me or cutting me off.

Brakes—my ECV worked great. No matter how fast I was going, the instant I released the forward or backward control with my thumb, the scooter would come to an immediate stop. Yes, children (and even thoughtless adults) will dart in front of you—but I managed to avoid hitting them.

Parking: I didn’t have a handicap sticker, but most of the parks accommodated us when we approached a parking attendant and told him/her that we had an ECV in the trunk. They made sure no one parked directly in back of us so we could get the scooter out of the trunk and assembled so I could “drive” it into the park. The only park that was weird about this was the Magic Kingdom, where we were directed to park FURTHER away from the entrance than if we simply parked with the rest of the crowd, so we moved the car away from the “special parking” area at MK. By the time Paul, Robbie, and Rick arrived at the ticket counter from their tram ride, I would be waiting for them.

The ECV provided freedom for me. I highly recommend it!

[lauren-roxy]

Great trip report Cindy!! Sounds like you had quite a good time and ate at some really fantastic places!! Thanks for sharing!!!!

[LSUtigerfan]

Thanks for the TR! I know what you mean by trying to choose a favorite place to eat, and your taste buds keep chanting, "Boma, Boma, Boma!" I loved all of our character meals & other "regular" meals, but Boma is in a class by itself! Zebra Domes Rule!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great trip you guys had Cindy Thanks for sharing it with us

[luvnwdwgal]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!