You Never Know What You'll See In The Shark Pool
Chris, My Son, Getting Married By The Robots
To A Total
Stranger.
Only At Disney World!
Trip #6...Day 7
Chris and Jen had booked the Keys to the Kingdom tour for the morning but, for me, it was to be my farewell to Typhoon Lagoon. Got there at 9:35 am and we were let in about 5 of 10. Found "my spot" and went off to the river. Rats! No tube jams today. Went down the tube slides X3 and snorkeled with the sharks. When I got back to my towel and stuff, a Spanish speaking family of about 20 had completely taken over the area. They had moved everything around to their liking. No one in the area was pleased and I decided to leave. I had wondered the whole trip if, with my ID that says DVC member, I could get into Stormalong Bay at the Y&BC? I had guest relations at TL call them for me. This is what I was told: If I was the owner and was staying there this week, I could go. There? OKW? Y&BC?? WDW in general??? I didn’t want to get over there and be refused entry, so I skipped it. Anyone out there who is not the owner of the DVC have any luck using that pool? Let me know.
Went back to OKW, changed and went off to explore the new Downtown Disney area. Saw the dreaded MacDonalds (not open yet) and bought MORE souvenirs. Ha Ha and this was the trip I wasn’t going to get much stuff. Right! Then it was back to OKW to drop everything off and go to the MK. From DTD to OKW took me 1 hour and 5 minutes but more on the bus problems in my summary.
I was suppose to meet the kids at 5 PM, but because I didn’t get there until 5:25 I gave up that idea. Went on BTMR and came back to the meeting spot at 6 and they were there. Neither one of them could stop talking about the Keys to the Kingdom tour they took. They’re both ready to move down here! Evidently, Disney is desperately looking for help. My son even decided to get his hair cut at the MK and when the barber asked how he wanted it, he said, like a cast member. We were all starving so we went back to Chef Mickeys for dinner and our waitress asked him if he worked at the park! Had to wave our napkins one last time.
Then back to the MK where forward motion was halted by the
Spectromagic parade. While we waited, we went into the anniversary
display, got our posters and checked out the model of the Animal
Kingdom. I even got a mug that says the Animal Kingdom coming in
1998. This park is going to be enormous. The parade was just
finishing up as we came out so we followed it down Main Street and
then cut across to get closer to Splash Mountain where we met up
with it again. All the time the kids are giving me my own little
Keys to the Kingdom tour pointing out various things they saw during
the day. As soon as it passed we went right to SM and walked on.
Got a great picture of the 3 of us coming down the big hill.
Chris and Jen wanted to go to the observation deck at the Contempory
and I headed back to OKW. Watched some of the Grammy Award
(Woo Hoo, Gillian Anderson won!) Then it was off to dreamland for
my last night of Disney dreams.
Trip #6..Day 8
Knowing this day is going to come and having it really
arrive are not the same thing. Well at least I wouldn’t be leaving
early as I’d always done on my other trips. Our flight didn’t
depart until 6:45 PM.
Got up around 6:30 am and finished packing. We were checked out by
9:30 with our luggage stored. For me it was off to the MK for the
"wash and dry" then over to MGM to see the guys sing at Beauty and
The Beast. Splash Mountain was a walk on and Jen and I got the
front seat in the first car. I couldn’t keep my eyes open going
down the hill sitting there…too intense! Then it was off to Thunder
Mountain. Does anyone else think that the left side train is faster
then the right side? I said goodbye to the kids and started off to
MGM but decided to ride the train around the park before I left.
I’d never done the full circle. Then I hopped on the ferry to the
TaTC and went to MGM by bus.
First major disappointment of the
trip, the group at BaTB doesn’t sing on Sunday or Monday. I was
totally bummed. One of the nice CM’s there said he sometimes comes
in on his days off just to hear them. I thought about going to
EPCOT but chose instead to have lunch at the Brown Derby. Had deep
fried eggplant with mozzarella cheese which was delicious and for
dessert, flourless chocolate cake, which was really a work of art.
By now the crowds were lining up for the Hercules parade. I’m not
much of a parade person, so I worked my way over to the sound
effects show and after that went on Star Wars one more time.
They’ve changed the sound effects movie to a cartoon. I liked the
movie better.
By now it was 2:30 and because of the poor bus service to OKW, I
decided to leave even though my pick up by Mears to the airport
wasn’t until 4:35. Once again I waited nearly 30 minutes for a
bus. I stored the rest of the souvenirs that I bought with my
luggage and took a walk down by the pool. Popped into the Gurgling
Suitcase and had another strawberry daiquiri. Even was shown how to
make it. Yummy! Met up with the kids around 4:15. The first van
from Mears was pretty full so I opted to wait for the next one which
was suppose to arrive about 4:50. The kids’ van came (they didn’t
use Mears) and they were off so I continued to wait. Finally about
5:05 the next Mears van came. This one was packed so the driver
called the company and they sent out a Lincoln Town Car for me!
Nice way to end the trip. We all met up at the airport for the long
ride home.
Got up around 6:30 am and finished packing. We were checked out by 9:30 with our luggage stored. For me it was off to the MK for the "wash and dry" then over to MGM to see the guys sing at Beauty and The Beast. Splash Mountain was a walk on and Jen and I got the front seat in the first car. I couldn’t keep my eyes open going down the hill sitting there…too intense! Then it was off to Thunder Mountain. Does anyone else think that the left side train is faster then the right side? I said goodbye to the kids and started off to MGM but decided to ride the train around the park before I left. I’d never done the full circle. Then I hopped on the ferry to the TaTC and went to MGM by bus.
First major disappointment of the trip, the group at BaTB doesn’t sing on Sunday or Monday. I was totally bummed. One of the nice CM’s there said he sometimes comes in on his days off just to hear them. I thought about going to EPCOT but chose instead to have lunch at the Brown Derby. Had deep fried eggplant with mozzarella cheese which was delicious and for dessert, flourless chocolate cake, which was really a work of art. By now the crowds were lining up for the Hercules parade. I’m not much of a parade person, so I worked my way over to the sound effects show and after that went on Star Wars one more time. They’ve changed the sound effects movie to a cartoon. I liked the movie better.
By now it was 2:30 and because of the poor bus service to OKW, I decided to leave even though my pick up by Mears to the airport wasn’t until 4:35. Once again I waited nearly 30 minutes for a bus. I stored the rest of the souvenirs that I bought with my luggage and took a walk down by the pool. Popped into the Gurgling Suitcase and had another strawberry daiquiri. Even was shown how to make it. Yummy! Met up with the kids around 4:15. The first van from Mears was pretty full so I opted to wait for the next one which was suppose to arrive about 4:50. The kids’ van came (they didn’t use Mears) and they were off so I continued to wait. Finally about 5:05 the next Mears van came. This one was packed so the driver called the company and they sent out a Lincoln Town Car for me! Nice way to end the trip. We all met up at the airport for the long ride home.
One Of The Many Reasons I'll Be Back At Walt Disney World In 1998
Trip #6..Summary
Vacation Club
Probably just like everyone else in RADP, I have considered joining the DVC. I’ve had a unique experience by being there without being a member. I very much doubt if I would join. Maybe the first sign of "what’s wrong with this picture" is the term Welcome Home. Yes, this sounds innocent enough, friendly and all that. But I go away to get away from home. No phone calls (Yikes! I found those daily phone calls from the Vacation Club staff annoying). Every time I came back to the room and saw the light blinking on the phone, I thought there was an emergency back home. If I want to know something, I’ll call them. The 2nd problem was room service or lack of it. In the 8 days I was there the bed was never changed. I used the same glasses the entire time and I only got clean towels once. I know I could have called - but should you have to? BTW - clean the rugs in the rooms guys. I had ants coming in the door to the patio. When I went to wipe them up with a towel it came out absolutely black.
Then of course there was the bus nightmare. I understand this is something the members voted on to keep the yearly dues down. Just a liitle FYI - if you plan on staying there as a guest, be prepared to wait and wait and wait. I was located at the Old Turtle Pond Road bus stop which was good for pick ups (next to the last stop) but bad for drop offs (ditto).
And now a little Twilight Zone music please. I had a conversation there with a CM who told me some not so pleasant facts about working for Disney. The CM said that you are watched constantly and that Disney promoted - for lack of a better work - tattling on other employees. The more you make, the more enemies you tend to acquire. Hmm, sounds like where you work now folks?? Guess it’s good to keep in mind that Disney is a corporation. This CM I talked to was not a peon, the CM was in charge of the area I was in. Still, the vast majority of the employees I saw seemed happy (like 99.9%) and the CM said that people tend to stay with Disney if only because the money is good.
Other Notables.
Thetesttrackcomingsoon…new name for that construction site next to Horizons.
I had bought a water bottle but figured I’d never use it. It was a life saver. Every night I’d put it in the freezer and I’d have not too chlorine tasting ice cold water that would last up to 6 hours at the park. I highly recommend this to everyone.
Happiest Group Activities
Riding down the family raft ride at BB…then riding down it again. They took a great picture of the 3 of us at the bottom of the ride. We all look as happy as you can get.
Anytime the 3 of us went on Splash Mountain.
Leaving the parks when they close and laughing over "you would have had to have been there" stuff.
The 2 dinners we had at Chef Mickeys and the napkin wave.
Being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Observing the claustrophobics during the Spectromagic parade.
Chef Mickeys when a girl about 7 or 8, bowed deeply at the waist in front of the buffet and promptly lost her entire dinner.
Trying to catch a bus that had anything to do with OKW.
Most memorable experiences.
Freeing up the rafts at Typhoon Lagoon.
The MK at 11:30 at night.
Taking pictures of the thunderstorm from the observation deck at the Contempory.
The E Ticket Express night. There were only 750 people in the park!
Future Plans.
Hopefully I’ll be back in 98. Yesterday I installed the shortcut to Disneytime and find it amusing and comforting to be greeted with my countdown each morning. These will be my goals:
1. I’ll stay at Port Orleans when I go and never complain about the bus service.
2. I’ll try to eat less but I will go back to the CS and have more of that strawberry whipped cream cake.
3. I’ll try to dispense more thunderstorms while I’m there.
4. I’ll attempt to get my husband to go to share the magic.
5. I won't be packed into a plane like a sardine.
6. I'll have at least one meal at the California Grill, preferably at night.
7. I’ll take the time to go see the WWoS.
8. Thetesttrackcomingsoon will just be called The Test Track.
9. I'll make sure I have a camera that's working right so I don't have half my pictures not come out.
10.Horizons will still be open.
11. There won't be any mutant mosquitoes there so that the pools and water parks will be open at night.
12. Illuminations will be back to the original format. (PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE!)
13. I’ll take the Keys to the Kingdom tour.
14. There won't be any devastating world events just prior to my trip.
15. I'll visit the Animal Kingdom.
16. I’ll meet up with some more RADPers cause they're such great people.
Virgo10 TDC Dispenser of the Florida thunderstorms, Clearer of the Castaway Creek Tube jams (who’s watching her Disney countdown…198 days 23 hour 10 minutes and 49 seconds as of February 21, 1998.)