…that kept getting longer!
Recently, someone told me that things are chaotic lately (until yesterday, actually) because Mercury was in retrograde.
Well, I’m not a believer in astrology (that’s so tyicasl of gemini’s), but this was the most interesting trip to Walt Disney World. I’ll add pictures (unless you already see them , then I obviously did already!).
Here was the plan - the kids had a couple of half days at school, and Disney had this new Pirate and Princess Party. We had done MNSSHP a couple of years ago (and I did it on my own while on a business trip last year), and we had Pirate outfits from our recent DCL voyage and Halloween.
So we left at about 4:30 AM on a Thursday morning to catch our 6:30 flight. No problems there. Had to drive around a bit for a parking spot at Midway (decided to park there, as it was a short trip!), but other than that, we were soon in Orlando.
The first odd thing happened to me getting off the Magical Express bus. I swayed a bit, and dragged my elbow down a hinge on the door. So as my wife checked in at SSR, I used the arm of a chair and soe paper towel to stop the bleeding! Luckily, I had some bandages in my toilertry kit.
Even though it was early, a room was ready in Congress Park - 2547 on the first floor, with a great view of DTD West Side. The room also came with a pair of mae ducks who would swarm anyone on the patio and quack at them mercilessly. Obviously looking for handouts!
We went to Epcot first. We had a dinner reservation at Canada, and I couldn’t remember if I put in in my PDA as Central or Eastern time. So I called 407-WDW-DINE and found out to my surprise that they had made the reservation for the next night, along with our reservation for ‘Ohana! I know I requested it properly, especially as I typed it right into my calendar. They could find no space at Canada nor any other Epcot restaurant. I asked if they could call the manager at Canada, was put on hold, and then told that there was still nothing that could be done.
So my wife and the girls went to Norway to get lunch (a great value on theDisney Dining Plan as we were), and I went to Canada.
The actual staff at Canada was very understanding and wrote me in with no trouble!
I joined the family in Norway and had a great lunch. Our oldest daughter practiced her videography (she got a neat little Canon DV camera for Christmas - much easier than our older Digital8 Sony) on the Viking exhibit. She especially liked the dragon ship, being devoted to all things draconian.
After I took the girls on the obligatory Innoventions trek (Where’s th Fire and the new Too Small To See were pretty neat actually), we wandered back into World Showcase. We went to see the Canada film (first time for the girls). After a great meal at Canada, we headed back to the room.
My youngest daughter (8) had never been to DisneyQuest,and my oldest (12) had only been to the one in Chicago, the last trip on closing day I believe (9/4/01). I took the girls there while my wife shopped at the Marketplace (not much shopping - the place was packed she reported!).
We ended up staying at DQ until almost closing. We really wanted to do it, since my oldest had fond memories and rumors are that its days are numbered.
My youngest (usually the more daring) was obviously tired, as she barely made it through Virtual Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Carribbean, and bailed out on Ride the Comix. She did like Animation Academy and Aladdin’s Carpet, though. AstroBlasters wasn’t too bad either (I was gunner, and she drove, being exactly the required 51″). It is sad though to see how the place has deteriorated. Only one Songmaker booth was working. The one attraction that wasn’t in Chicago (where you guided RC cars through a temple) is no more. The system of scanning your card (which then identified the thinjgs you made) is no more (we didn’t buy anything, but I assume you just review all the things made while you were there for yours. The store didn’t seem to have a single item unique to DQ.
Still, this place was way ahead of its time technologically, I think. You still don’t see things that work this well (and even without much upkeep, apparently). It’s a shame the third one (Philadelphia, I think) fell through. Good to see an “urban entertainment complex” in the Disney Annual Report though. Even looked like it might have been Chicago…
After that, definitely time for bed - a long day - if only we knew what was in store!
More to follow!