By Tim Larison
(Before we even dreamed of having our own travel agency Anne and I
loved taking Andrew and Josh to Disney World every year. This
report is one I wrote back in 1998 - we still smile when we read of
the boys adventures on this first trip. I hope you enjoy it, too
- Tim)
Cast of Characters:
Tim (Dad)
Anne (Mom)
Phyllis (Aunt - Tim's sister)
Andrew and Josh - 4 year old twin boys
Dates of trip:
Monday, October 5, 1998 - ' 'Monday, October 12, 1998'
Summary:
This trip report details our first Disney World adventure
with our two four year old twin boys (Andrew and Josh).
Dad had been to Disney World seven times before, Mom three
times before, and Aunt Phyllis once before, but this was
our first chance to 
experience
Disney World through the eyes of a child.
Monday October 5th and Tuesday October 6th
We planned to leave early Monday to take the boys on their
first ever plane flight and first trip to Disney World.
The flight was to leave early ('8 am), so we left the house
at 5 am to allow plenty of time to get to the airport.
The boys were very curious about plane travel. "Will we
see God when we fly in the sky?" asked Josh. "Is Disney
World in the sky?" asked Andrew.
We arrived at the airport and got a shock when checking
in our bags - the flight was delayed from '8 am until 1:30
pm (or so we thought)! It was 6 am when we checked our bags,
so we had lots of time to kill at the airport. We decided
to have breakfast at the airport Burger King.
Half way through breakfast Josh asks, "When do we land?"
After informing Josh that we weren't in the air yet, but
grounded at Burger King, he was disappointed but still anxious
to get to Disney World. We decided to go through security
and watch the planes - getting comfortable for the long
6 1/2 hour wait until our plane was to leave.
Josh and Andrew watched several planes roll up to unload
passengers. "Where are the plane's shooters?" asked Andrew.
The only planes Andrew had seen were from Star Wars, so
I guess he expected each plane to be similarly equipped
to Luke's X Wing fighter. We informed Andrew that passenger
planes do not have laser cannons mounted on the front.
Around 11 am we got another disappointment - the plane was
rescheduled to leave at 3:45 PM and wouldn't get into Orlando
until 9 PM! So much for our planned character dinner at
Gulliver's Grille at 6 PM Orlando time.
We decided to head home. It was tough to explain to the
boys why we were going home again when we got them up so
early to catch the early flight to Disney World.
It was back to the airport later that afternoon, and our
plane finally left Denver 8 hours after originally scheduled
(around 4 PM). We arrived in Orlando around 10 PM Monday
evening. Our luck started to turn at the Alamo Rental Car
terminal - we had reserved a compact, but Phyllis had a
free Alamo upgrade coupon she had cut out of the Mobil Travel
Guide. The Alamo agent not only gave us an upgrade from
a compact, but a free upgrade to a minivan. This was great,
as with 5 people a compact would have been a tight squeeze.
The twins immediately liked our new vehicle for a week.
They heard us talking about the minivan, but something got
lost in the translation and they starting calling it our
"moving van". To Dad, used to driving a compact at home,
it was like driving a moving van. The extra space was worth
it.
We arrived at the motel after midnight, got a good night's
rest, and headed out to the n"= Magic around 10:30 am on
Tuesday morning. We took the train to Mickey's Toon Town.
After months of trip planning Dad was anxious to hear what
the twins first impression of Disney World would be. "What
do you think of Disney World, Josh?" Dad asked. "Can we
go back to the motel and take a nap?" Josh replied. This
coming from a kid who hates to take naps at home. The long
day of travel the day before must have worn him out. Andrew
had a more thoughtful reply. We told him that Disney World
was "really, really big". Andrew, our little theologian,
was impressed but said, "God is bigger than Disney World".
Soon Josh warmed up to Disney World as well as his brother
Andrew. Mickey's Toon Town was swamped with people, so we
didn't get to see Mickey or Minnie. Dad had set up a priority
seating at Cinderella's Table months early, and the advanced
planning started to pay off. We arrived at the Castle around
11:25 am, were escorted into the waiting area, and the twins
got almost a private audience with Cinderella, Prince Charming,
and the Fairy God Mother. Someone had mentioned on the boards
that this was a good place to meet characters in a more
private setting, and they were right. We must have been
touched by the magic wand of the Fairy God Mother, as the
rest of our day went very well after our visit to Cinderella's
table.
Lunch was very good. We had an excellent waiter who called
the boys "our handsome princes". He also called Dad "your
Majesty" (Dad didn't mind that). Dad asked Josh what he
had said to Cinderella a few minutes earlier. "I'm not telling
you," Josh replied.
After Lunch we went on "It's A Small World" - a perfect
ride to go on if the park is crowded as the lines move quickly.
The boys enjoyed the ride, and were anxious for more. Originally
Dad had planned that we would visit the Magic Kingdom early,
stay for lunch, and go back to the motel to avoid the park's
afternoon crowds. Our late arrival prevented that, so we
decided to stay at the park all afternoon. Surprisingly,
the crowds thinned out some after lunch. Many must have
had the same strategy planned as us and went back to their
hotel/motels, as the lines after lunch were much shorter
than before lunch.
Andrew was reluctant to go on "Peter Pan's Adventure". "Does
it go fast? Does it go in the sky?" he asked. After being
coaxed on the ride by Aunt Phyllis, Andrew loved it. "I
really really really liked that ride," he said afterward.
We visited other rides and attractions that afternoon. The
Lion King performance in Land was a favorite, as well as
the Speedway in TomorrowLand. We started to watch the parade
at 3 PM, but the crowds had again grown, so we skipped the
last half and went to theTiki Birds and Pirates of the Caribbean.
The Tiki Birds were a hit; Pirates were not. Andrew was
a little afraid to go on the Pirate ride to begin with.
As Dad held him in line, he said, "Dad, will the Pirates
get us? Will they shoot at us?" Dad reassured him that the
Pirates would not get him. The dark plunge at the beginning
of the ride scared our little guys, though. The next morning
Josh said, "I liked all the rides except the Pirates.
The skeleton lied. He said 'go straight ahead' but instead
we went down!"
We said goodbye to the Pirates and to the Magic Studios
for dinner and to visit a couple of more attractions. We
had pizza at the "Pizza Planet" - the boys enjoyed this
place as Toy Story is one of their favorite movies. The
pizza was surprisingly good, too, and a more economical
meal than some of the other choices at the park. After dinner
we enjoyed the Muppet 3 D attraction. "I tried to eat the
pie!", said Josh, as one scene had a pie hovering over the
audience.
The last ride of the day was Star Tours. The boys were close
to the minimum 40" height requirement, but Dad knew it was
going to be close. In the months preceding the trip, the
boys had talked about going on Star Tours a lot. We told
them at meal times they'd have to eat their food so they
would grow and be tall enough to go on Star Tours. The moment
of truth had arrived. As the cast member put the stick next
to Josh to see if he was tall enough to go on the ride,
Josh seemed to come up a hair or two short. "Close enough",
said the cast member. "I get to go on Star Tours!" Josh
shouted. Andrew had a similar experience, just getting by
the minimum height requirement.
The boys loved the Star Tours ride. "It was 'whoa whoa whoa-iee'",
said Andrew, describing the ride as only a four year old
could.
After spending several minutes in the Star Wars store (the
boys had never seen so many Star Wars toys at one place),
we headed back to the motel. We had ice cream bars for a
snack, and the boys went to bed at 8:30 PM They slept soundly
until 7:15 am the next morning, all rested for another day's
adventure.
Wednesday October 7th
We got an early start after a good night's rest - we ate
breakfast at the motel at 7:30 am. After a night's reflection,
Andrew wasn't as crazy about the Star Tours ride as yesterday.
He volunteered at breakfast, "If you go on Star Tours again,
I'll just wait outside."
After a filling breakfast at the motel, we headed off at
8:30 am, and we were able to go on a few rides in the morning.
The boys liked the Spaceship Earth, Journey Into Imagination
(surprisingly open after I had heard it might be closed),
Honey I Shrunk The Audience, and Ellen's Energy Adventure.
Andrew was a little nervous at the latter attraction. In
the preshow the announcer said the usual warnings (no smoking,
no yelling, etc). Andrew said, "the man said to be quiet
so the dinosaurs won't notice us."
At lunch we took the boat across the World Showcase Lagoon
to the Japan Pavillion, and the Teppanyaki Dining room.
This was one of Dad's favorite Epcot restaurants, and the
family was soon to agree with him. Mom had a wonderful sirloin
and chicken steak combination, while the boys had "Mickey's
Meal Deal" of chicken, vegetables, and ice cream for a bargain
price of $5. Dad had his usual shrimp. The boys got a kick
out of watching the food being prepared right at the table.
Dad had eaten dinner at Teppenyaki a couple of weeks ago
on a business trip. For lunch the food is just as good and
just as plentiful, at almost half the price! And even though
we had priority seating, the restaurant was barely 1/4th
full. Mom rated this the best meal she had on the whole
trip.
After lunch we saw Horizons and then Cranium Command at
the Wonders Of Life pavillion. Andrew was starting to get
suspicious of all that goes on at Disney rides. As we sat
down to watch Cranium Command he said, "do these seats move?"
Around 3 PM we headed for the Animal Kingdom. Dad had heard
many people raving about the Lion King Show there, so when
we arrived we immediately got on line for that attraction.
What a mistake! The park was still very crowded, and the
day was hot and humid. We waited on line for nearly 45 minutes
before they let us into the theater, and another 15 inside.
The show was good, but nothing was worth that wait in the
hot sun. The adults in the party (Mom, Dad, Aunt Phyllis)
enjoyed the show more than the boys - the boys preferred
the Lion King puppet show at Magic .
We were so exhausted after waiting for the Lion King show
that we decided to get an early bite to eat for dinner and
then head back to the motel. We went back to Epcot and ate
at the Land foodcourt (good food and economical). After
one more attraction (Food Rocks at the Land) we went back
to the motel after a long and fun day of visiting many attractions.
Thursday October 8th
Today we again got an early start - arriving at just a few
minutes before the park opening at 9 am. We parked and took
the parking shuttle to the entrance. Josh saw a picture
of a stroller with a slash through it on the shuttle - meaning
do not have open strollers on the shuttle. Josh thought
it meant, "No babies on the shuttle"and said, "Mom, I see
a baby on the shuttle and they aren't supposed to be here!"
We took the Animation Tour first - there were only about
10 people in our tour and the guide said with smaller groups
he is able to show more. I liked the question and answer
time better in a small group - Anne, myself, and Phyllis
all asked questions. As we sat in the theatre to view the
Disney classics at the end of the tour, Andrew again asked,
"Do these seats move?" Andrew had been on too many attractions
in recent days (Star Tours, Honey I Shrunk The Audience,
etc) not to be suspicious every time he has to sit in a
theatre.
The animation tour had changed since I last saw it - the
new version has a more personal touch as a Disney animator
talks to you and shows you how several characters are drawn.
Very well done.
Next we went on the Great Movie Ride. I have always given
this ride a "B" - a good ride but Disney has done better.
Andrew, who loves to watch movies with fights, especially
liked the gun fire scene. Josh, the realist, said, "Andrew,
there was water in those guns."
We ran to the Hunchback Of Notre Dame Show and got to our
seats just as the show started. This was another very good
show. The adults liked it, and Andrew, our little movie
lover, liked it alot. Josh, who isn't into movies as much
as Andrew, said "it was very noisy!"
We had a quick bite to eat at the MGM Backlot Express -
surprisingly good hamburgers were to be found there. Dad
ate his and half of Josh's.
We went back to the motel for a rest. The boys had an afternoon
swim with Mom while Dad rested back at the room. We were
all re-energized as we entered the Animal Kingdom at 3 PM
We raced to the Safari ride, only to be blocked by the 3
PM Animal Kingdom parade. We walked behind the parade for
a few minutes, but finally gave up and had some Mickey Ice
Cream bars for dessert on a nearby park bench. I talked
to the vendor and asked how she could avoid eating the Mickey
bars when it was hot and humid like today(in the 90's).
She said if they are caught eating a bar they get fired.
I wouldn't last long at that job.
Yesterday we had missed the Safari at the AK, so I was determined
to get the family on this ride this time. After dessert,
our path was clear to the Safari and we walked right on
at around 4:15 PM (no wait). The Safari was again superb.
I have been on this ride three times in the past two weeks
now, and I think it is one of the best rides in all of Disney
World. Very creative in how the Imagineers made a jungle
in Central Florida. Every time I have gone on the ride there
have been different animals to see.
After the Safari we took the Exploration Trail (also very
good). Then we went to the "It's Tough To Be A Bug" 3-D
show. We didn't think this 3-D attraction was as good as
Muppetvision or Honey I Shrunk the Audience. The boys handled
the bugs very well - they weren't scared after we coached
them that it "was just a movie".
We had dinner at the Animal Kingdom Rain Forest Cafe. The
food was excellent and the service was very good. I had
heard some bad reports about this restaurant, but my experiences
have been all positive. I had a meat loaf entree, Anne had
pot roast, and Phyllis had pasta. The restaurant gives you
big portions and the service was prompt. We did have a "priority
seating" time - I noticed some people who walked up did
have to wait longer.
During dinner, Anne wanted to take a picture of the boys
in the festive Rain Forest atmosphere. Just as she was ready
to snap the picture, Josh moved his head out of the picture
and said "Ha ha, I'm not in your picture!" I think Josh
is getting tired of all the picture taking on the trip -
4 year olds are just too cute not to photograph at every
opportunity.
As we left, Dad bought Andrew and Josh Animal Kingdom toys,
with the instructions not to open them until we got back
to the motel. This didn't stop Josh from working his magic
on Mom. "I'll give you a kiss and hug if you open this,
Mom" he said in the van. It didn't work - the package remained
unopened until we got to the motel.
Friday October 9th
We took a break from Disney today and went to a nearby beach
- New Smynra beach about an hour and a half drive from Disney
World. The beach was beautiful and we were able to park
right on the beach. Someone on the internet had recommended
this beach as the nicest one within easy driving distance
of Orlando. It wasn't as built up or as crowded as some
of the better known beaches (Daytona, Clearwater, Cocoa)
but just as beautiful.
In the evening it was back to Disney activities. We had
an excellent Character Dinner at Gulliver's in the Swan.
This one was thanks to Rita Aero's book. One thing I had
heard about this dinner was that the kids had more time
with the characters because it was never very crowded. We
found that to be the case. There were only 6 other families
dining at the restaurant while we were there, so the Lion
King characters of Tim on and Rafiki spent lots of time
with our boys during the meal (one character went table
to table about every half hour). The food was great, and
the financial burden was lessened considerably by Rita Aero's
$50 coupon found in her book (even with that, though, we
still ended up paying over $50 for the 5 of us).
Andrew and Josh just LOVED the character dinner - this was
our first one of the week and we had two more planned over
the weekend. Josh laughed as Tim on picked imaginary bugs
out of his hair. Andrew waved at Rafiki to come to the table.
We picked up a good tip from the Unofficial Guide to have
the kids sit on the outside (next to the aisle) at character
meals - they were more accessable to the characters that
way.
After dinner we went to a meeting of some people I had chatted
with on a Disney web site. I had arranged to share a boat
with another family (from
The cruise gave me a different view of Illuminations than
I had ever seen before. While you didn't have a good view
of the different countries in Epcot lighting up, you had
a great view of the effects in the middle of the lake (laser
pictures of fish, rhinos, babies, etc) and one of the best
firework views you could hope for. We also had a beautiful
night for the cruise - no rain and perfect 80 degree temperatures.
The adults in our party really enjoyed the cruise and Illuminations.
Andrew and Josh slept through most of it. We carried them
back to the room, sound asleep, as we got back to the motel
after 10 PM
Saturday October 10th
We had planned our trip so that we would see all of the
four Disney theme parks in our first three days, and then
leave the weekend to revisit the parks we liked best. Saturday
morning the family voted to once again go to the Disney/
MGM Studios, so off we went to the Studios at 8:30 am.
As we were driving to the park, I heard a voice in the back
of our minivan say, "My car seat is unbuckled. I'm not safe!!"
It was Josh. After we fixed his car seat, we soon arrived
at Studios. Surprisingly we were not let into the park until
9 am (most other Disney parks opened at 8:30 am - 1/2 hour
before the stated opening time).
Our goal in this morning visit was to catch some of the
shows we had missed earlier in the week. We first saw the
Little Mermaid Show (the boys loved it), and then we raced
to see the Hunchback Of Notre Dame Show - arriving just
before the first performance of the day. Andrew particularly
loved Hunchback (he often acts out scenes from the movie
at home), though we didn't have the best of seats as our
view was blocked somewhat by one of the poles in the theatre.
After Hunchback we walked across the park to see Beauty
And The Beast - the adults in our party seemed to like this
show more than the boys.
The day was a hot one, and the boys were tired from staying
up late the night before, so Mom, Dad, and the boys headed
back to the motel after having lunch at the Studios. Phyllis
stayed behind and spent the afternoon at MGM and Epcot.
The morning activities were only a precursor to what we
expected to be the highlight of the day - dinner at Chef
Mickey's in the Contemporary followed by another visit to
the Magic Kingdom.
We had reservations to Chef Mickey's at the restaurant's
5 PM opening time - this turned out to be a wise decision
as we got an excellent table (right by the kitchen where
the characters came out) and the food at the buffet was
very fresh. Chef Mickey's was totally opposite our character
meal at Gulliver's the night before - it was crowded, loud,
and had lots of characters (as opposed to Gulliver's quiet
atmosphere and two Lion King characters). The boys had a
great time. Though the restaurant was crowded, each character
spent some time at our table (Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale,
and others). The food was surprisingly good, too. Dad rated
the blueberry cheesecake as the best dessert he had on the
whole trip. The main entrees, especially the chicken, were
also well prepared.
After stuffing ourselves at Chef Mickey's and getting our
fill of the characters, we left our minivan at the Contemporary.
We planned to attend Spectromagic later and thought we could
get back to our motel quicker if we just walked from the
Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary rather than deal with
the crowds at the Magic parking lot.
But right after dinner the boys really wanted to ride the
monorail, so rather than walk from the Contemporary to the
, we took the monorail, and then a boat to the .
The was packed with people. We remembered a tip from the
Roskos (the family we went on the boat ride with the night
before) to grab a spot for the Spectromagic parade early
by the handicapped section in Liberty Square . Though the
parade route was packed with people all the way back to
Liberty Square, we were able to get a spot right in the
front in about 45 minutes before the parade started. Dad
and Phyllis held the spots as the boys and Mom went on a
couple of additional rides.
The parade was one of the highlights of our trip, and well
worth the time it took to battle the crowds to see it. The
boys were extremely close to all of the floats, and even
got a little scared when the evil Ursula almost came right
over to them. Dad recognized the Little Mermaid as the one
we had seen in the morning at the Little Mermaid MGM show
- she must get overtime pay for Spectromagic. The setting
for the parade was perfect - an ideal 80 degree night with
no wind. We felt fortunate to see the parade in such great
conditions as the Roskos had told us they waited an hour
the week before for the parade in the rain - only to be
disappointed when the parade was cancelled.
After the parade it took us nearly an hour to work our way
through the crowd to the exit - the Magic Kingdom was as
crowded as I had ever seen it. As we walked to the Contemporary
we watched the Majic Kingdom fireworks overhead. We beat
the crowds out of the Magic Kingdom area thanks to the nearby
parking space we had at the Contemporary.
The long night of excitement (Chef Mickey's, the parade,
and the crowds) had again tired our little guys out. They
slept almost 10 hours and awoke Sunday morning for their
last full day of Disney magic.
Sunday October 11th
After our active night at Chef Mickey's and Spectromagic,
we slept in a little later this morning. We had our usual
buffet breakfast at the motel. The boys were becoming veterans
of character meals, so at breakfast Dad pretended he was
a little boy asking the characters (Andrew and Josh) for
their autographs.
Josh took my napkin and started writing on it. Dad figured
he was writing his name (he had learned how to write his
name at preschool), but when Dad got the napkin back he
was surprised to read this: "Pooh." Josh took his character
acting role seriously - and played the role of Pooh! (even
signing Pooh's name).
We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom on our last full day
in Disney World. We arrived around 9:30 am and started in
Tomorrowland. Josh wanted to go on the Astro Orbiter ride
- Andrew would have no part of it. A full week of rides
were starting to get to Andrew - he seemed more reluctant
to go on the rides today. While Josh and Mom rode the Astro
Orbiter, Phyllis and Dad thought they'd take Andrew into
a relatively tame attraction - TheTimeKeeper. We had to
drag Andrew into the theatre! He was screaming that he didn't
want to go - but we told him it wasn't scary. Finally, he
agreed to give it a try. He sat attentively during the TimeKeeper
presentation and as we were walking out he said, "I really
liked that - let's do it again!".
Josh, in the mean time, was having a great time on the Astro
Orbiters. Mom reports that Josh immediately took the controls
and put his "spaceship" at its highest position. Mom says
Josh was laughing as the Astro Orbiter spun around high
over the Magic Kingdom with Mom in the rear. Who says twins
are alike? Andrew would have freaked out on that ride, but
Josh loved it.
We rode some other rides in Tomorrowland - including another
turn at the boys favorite ride (the Speedway, Transit Authority
(tame enough for Andrew), and Buzz LightYear's Space Ranger
ride. The family we had taken the boat ride with on Friday
night had tipped us off that the Buzz ride was open, so
we thought we'd give it a try. We found the Buzz ride enjoyable
but that it needed some work. It is a ride and "shoot-em"
type of attraction where you try to hit targets on the walls
with two laser guns mounted on your ride vehicle. Dad, Josh,
Andrew, and Phyllis manned the laser guns in two different
vehicles. Dad figured the game out - the others didn't.
Final score:
Dad 52,000, Andrew 0, Josh 0, Phyllis 0.
After a fun morning in Tomorrowland we rode the Skyway to
FantasyLand. Andrew had calmed down enough by now to go
on the sky ride - he was ok with the height as long as he
was near his Mom. As we entered the ride we saw signs that
said, "no strollers!", but we were able to fold up our umbrella
strollers and take them with us on the ride.
Upon arrival in Fantasyland, we had lunch at the Pinocchio
Village Haus. This was surprisingly good for a fast food
place, and a welcome place to cool off from the 90 degree
heat. Mom had a turkey wrap sandwich that she said was better
than one she had eaten at Wendys. The rest of us had yummy
hamburgers.
After lunch we took the boys on a few more rides in fantasy
land (Snow White, Small World, Peter Pan). The heat was
getting to the little guys, though, so around 3 PM we headed
off towards Epcot.
But first we promised each boy he could buy a toy before
we left Disney World. We looked all around Main Street and
Andrew finally settled on a Peter Pan toy figure set. Josh
couldn't find anything he liked. We told Josh we'd look
for his toy at Epcot.
As we drove to Epcot, Dad thought he would park in the Dolphin
parking lot - we had dinner reservations at Juan Onlys in
a few hours. We started walking through the Dolphin when
Dad was seduced by a sportsbar with NFL football games on!
The boys were tired, so we all relaxed at the sports bar
for about half an hour. Then Phyllis, Mom, and the boys
decided to go shopping for Josh's toy, while Dad stayed
behind and watched his beloved Broncos in the sportsbar.
The shopping expedition eventually hit paydirt at a gift
shop in the Swan - Josh happily selected a bucket full of
Toy Story soldiers for his going away toy.
We never did make it to Epcot that day, as we were all tired
from the Florida heat and the long week of activities. At
6 PM we ate at Juan Onlys in the Dolphin. This was another
restaurant where we used the Rita Aero coupon - it was a
great deal! For the 5 of us dinner came to $9 (before tip).
The entrees at Juans were cheaper than those at Gulliver's
so the $50 coupon almost paid for the whole meal.
We had a table near the kitchen. As Dad was chomping down
on a chip, he almost spit it out when a waiter surprised
him coming out of the kitchen yelling "FAJITAS!". Turns
out this is a tradition in this restaurant - whenever they
bring Fajitas out, they announce it to the whole restaurant
in booming voices. Dad decided on his next visit he'd quietly
order a burrito.
The food was good at Juans - we enjoyed it though were interrupted
by the FAJITAS!!! call several times. After dinner we headed
back to the motel to pack.
Monday October 12th
Going home today, but first we had a character breakfast
at Artist's Point in the Wilderness Lodge. We checked out
of the motel at 7:30 am and arrived at Wilderness Lodge
at '8 am. Josh and Andrew were anxious to get back to the
character meals after their experience at "Juan Onlys" in
the Dolphin the night before. "I didn't like that restaurant,"
Josh said, "Too much yelling." (no doubt in reference to
the waiter's FAJITAS calls out of the kitchen). Andrew added,
"they used outside voices when they should have used inside
voices!".
The Artist's Point character breakfast was better than expected
- a perfect send off meal to end our trip. It's kind of
like a buffet - but you don't go up and get your own food.
Instead they bring you a plate of food with different breakfast
specialties on it. Dad especially liked the breakfast potatoes
(different than any other breakfast potatoes he had eaten
previously). The scrambled eggs and muffins were all very
fresh and yummy. The boys enjoyed the "Winnie the Pooh"
characters, and even Dad was surprised when Tigger snuck
up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
We had been eating a buffet at our off site motel for breakfast
each morning - the Artist Pointe breakfast was definitely
an upgrade and one of the best meals we had on our trip.
After breakfast we walked around the Wilderness Lodge grounds
for around 45 minutes. It was a beautiful place and somewhere
we may try to stay on our next trip. We were looking in
one of the gift stores when Dad suddenly felt a little tug
on his pant leg. It was Josh. "Dad, I want to show you something,"
Josh said. Josh then led Dad to a sticker book with all
of the Disney characters. Though we had already bought the
boys their going away toys for the trip, Dad couldn't resist
and bought Andrew and Josh each a set of Disney stickers.
This decision would pay off later as the sticker books were
perfect baby sitters on the long plane ride home.
We left for the airport around 10:30 am. This time everything
went smoothly - rental car check in, flight check in, and
flight departure were all on time. We landed in Denver at
4 PM
, sad that the trip was over but with a week full of Disney memories.
Overall, while our trip had some disappointments, it was a great trip
and all that we had hoped for. We got a special "package" deal that
included air, motel, and rental car. The motel, the Ramada Main Gate,
proved to be less than desirable. It was close to the parks, but the
air conditioner in our room leaked all week and by weeks end the hotel
staff had completely shut the air conditioner off (failing to fix it
after we called mid week). The Ramada was an older motel, and its age
showed. Next time we'll spend some more and stay on site, or stay at
a better place off site.
We had some great meals on this trip - the best eating that I can remember
in my seven trips to Disney World. We rated our top meals as (1) Teppenyaki
in the Japan Pavillion (2) Gulliver's Grille at the Swan and (3) our
final meal, the Artist Pointe character breakfast. We had some other
very good meals, too (like at Rainforest Cafe in the Animal Kingdom).
We decided to tour the parks at a leisurely pace. We got away from that
strategy the first couple of days (due in part to our later than expected
arrival) and the boys tired quickly. On the other days, though, we took
a mid day break back at the motel and that seemed to help the boys energy
level tremendously (not to mention Mom and Dad's). We knew we weren't
going to see everything on this trip, and we didn't, but we saw the
attractions we thought the boys would like best. To see their faces
light up at the character meals when meeting their favorite characters
was worth the cost of the trip alone.
In the days after the trip Mom and Dad had a tough time readjusting
to the normal work routine, while the boys went back to preschool without
missing a beat. Our boys know now that Disney World is a very special
place, and when we plan our next trip in a couple of years or so, we
are sure they will be very excited to return after all the wonderful
experiences they had this trip.
Tim Larison
