Note: Min's trip report is in Coral and Bill's comments are in Blue.

Click to Read:   Intro   -   Part One

Part Two's Prelude - June 10, 2003 - Tuesday

We went out to dinner for sushi to celebrate our third anniversary. Afterwards, Bill and I had a discussion about when to use the remaining  days on our Play-4 passes. His birthday is at the end of August, so we were considering Labor Day weekend when Bill came up with another great idea. Let’s go back to Disney this weekend, so we are… We will be staying at the Contemporary, our first time in one of the deluxe resorts.

Fate was not as kind to us this weekend as it was last weekend.  When Min called WD Travel Company, there was no availability in the moderates with the Florida Residents' rates. I decided that the rack rates were just too high for basically the same type of room that we had had last week and said no go on WDW for this weekend. So Min went to bed a little upset that our plan to return to WDW was not meant to be. Seeing how upset she was and the fact that it was our anniversary, I called back to book a room for the weekend. Damn the budget, you only live once and all that jazz. I got Susan with WD Travel Company on the phone and asked her to check for availability on Florida Residents' rates in the moderates. Who knows maybe someone had cancelled in the last fifteen minutes. No such luck, but she did have Florida Residents' rates on Contemporary garden wing rooms for the about the same price as the rack rates at the moderates. She asked if I wanted to book a room at the Contemporary. She didn't have to ask me twice, well actually she did because I did not hear her the first time (damn cordless phone's battery was low). As I was booking the room, I told Susan that we had started our anniversary week at WDW and now we were going to finish it there. Then I went to tell my darling wife the good news. Needless to say, she was very happy. So happy that she got up out of bed and made PS's for Biergarten, Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace. She told the WDW Dine agent that it was our anniversary.

June 13, 2003 - Friday

Well we are packed and ready to leave as soon as Bill puts on his shoes. Thanks to my new four day schedule and Bill getting the day off, we are leaving on Friday morning instead of having to wait until this evening after work to leave. We had to make a couple of stops on the way out of town. We finally hit the road about 9:00 am after getting a quick bite to eat at Hardee’s. We got to the Contemporary about noon. It was an uneventful drive down. After check-in we went to our room, 5120 First Floor, South Garden Wing. We rested for about an hour taking it easy after the drive and just taking in the place.

It was a nice sized room with two queen beds. I like the layout with the bathroom and closet area in the front rather than in the back like the Disney moderate and value resorts that we have stayed at on previous trips. However, the theming left much to be desired. The room just did not feel like Disney even with the various Mickey Mouse toiletries in the bathroom.

After we had rested, we went into the tower and caught the monorail over to the TTC. Then we transferred to the monorail headed for Epcot.

Now this felt a little more like Disney, catch a few escalators and the next thing you know you are boarding the monorail in the middle of your hotel.

The weather was warm with moderate humidity, nowhere near as bad as Florida could be. After passing through security, we headed for Spaceship Earth.

This is my favorite attraction at Epcot but I do miss the Walter Cronkite narration.

Next we went to the Living Seas. We got to watch them feed the manatees and also got to see one of the dolphin training exercises.

Yep, got to see them feed the manatees. Put in about two dozen heads of lettuce on each weighted bar. The manatees went to chomping away. We watched the dolphin show and checked back on the manatees. The lettuce was all gone. Min said "Holy Cow! They sure do eat fast." I said, "That would be Holy Sea Cow," and we both started laughing. One thing I did notice when checking out some of the small tanks on the second level near the reef exhibit was a preponderance of clown fish and blue tangs. Can you say "Finding Nemo?"

Next we headed over to The Land Pavilion. We got in line for Living with the Land. It was a posted thirty minute wait, but we decided to skip the FastPass because we didn't feel like watching Food Rocks or the The Circle of Life movie. 

The wait was actually about twenty five minutes, but what is Disney without a little waiting in line? Probably a little bit more fun, I think next time we get the FastPass then hit Food Rocks and the movie.

After The Land, we headed over to the Imagination! pavilion. Journey Into Imagination with Figment was a walk on as was Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Next was Ice Station Cool and a bit of refreshment.

Min tried to convince me that she could handle drinking Beverly without flinching. She managed to keep a neutral expression for all of about three seconds before grimacing and saying "yuck."

Then we made our way towards the World Showcase. The Characters on Holiday were in the Showcase Plaza. We got a few pictures with Captain Hook and Smee, Rafiki, Baloo, Gideon and Robin Hood before they all piled back on the bus and rode away. Bill wanted to see Off Kilter, so we went counter-clockwise around the lagoon. Unfortunately, they were not performing today.

Dagnabbit. I like eclectic music and have been trying to catch Off Kilter on our last couple of trips after hearing about them on RADP. Oh well, guess I'll try another day.

So we grabbed a show guide and hurried over to England to see the British Invasion perform. After their show, we checked the guide and saw that it was about half an hour until the performers at the USA pavilion started their next round, so we strolled over to the pavilion. While waiting for the start of the shows, we saw a lady with an All Ears/Passporter bottle strap. Bill asked her about the strap and she said she had gotten it from her daughter. I talked to her daughter who was from Nebraska about the All Ears website and she told me about the Passporter website. We exchanged email addresses and then watched the Drum and Fife Corps and American Vybe perform. Bill and I then went into the American Adventure. It was great as usual.

They must be doing some remodeling in the American Adventure entrance and waiting area because American Vybe performed out under the entrance foyer and we entered the theatre through the exit doors.

Then we were off to Germany as we had PS's for dinner at Biergarten. The food was very good. We really enjoyed the meal and talking to the ladies that were seated at the table with us. Oh, the desserts were good, too.

If you have never been to the Biergarten, I would recommend it. Not only is the food good, but it has what I would consider a rather unique seating arrangement. Each table seats eight so if you have a party of less than eight, you get seated at a table with other diners. The ladies that Mindy was referring to, was a mother and daughter from Pennsylvania. It was fun sharing our collective Disney experiences while enjoying a good meal. The polka band wasn't half bad either, actually they were quite good and lent a fun "Oktoberfest" feel to the meal.

After dinner we continued our walk around the world. We stopped at Norway and rode Maelstrom.

While waiting in line, we talked with the family in front of us; father, mother and  three kids. The kids were all around the age of ten or so. They asked about the ride as they had never been on it. We pointed to the murals and told them that the ride took you through the story on the murals. After boarding as we were headed up the incline, the youngest turned to me and asked if there was a big drop because we were going up a long ways. I just said that what goes up must come down. After the first little drop into the Viking village scene, I could see the dad grinning from ear to ear. After the two "big" drops, all the kids were asking their dad if they could do it again.

Next we were off to Mexico and El Rio del Tiempo. After the first go round, we decided to give it another go.

Yep, twice down the River of Time as we needed to kill a little time before IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.

We then found a seat next to boat dock between Mexico and Showcase Plaza for IllumiNations. I held us a spot while Bill went in search of snacks.

No gourmet strawberry ices this time. I got a Minnie's strawberry fruit bar and some cinnamon frosted pecans. I got Min one of those chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich thingies.

IllumiNations was great, as always.

After picking up the music for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth on our last trip, I kind of felt like a conductor keeping time with the music and cuing the different elements of the show.

We headed for the entrance and then onto the monorail platform. Bill talked to the CM working the station and told him it was our anniversary and arranged for us to ride up front with the pilot. I about freaked, the last thing I wanted to do was ride up front on a monorail. Bill pointed out that it would be dark and that I wouldn't be able to see much of anything outside. He was right, it did not bother me too much as it was very dark outside. Back at the TTC, we hopped a monorail and headed back to our room at the Contemporary.

The ride back to the hotel was the longest ride timewise that I have ever been on a monorail. We got on the monorail at the TTC a little before 10:00 pm. We sat there for a while until we pulled out and stopped right outside the station. Then it was on to the Polynesian. After sitting there for a while, we pulled out of the station and stopped right before the Grand Floridian. We pulled into the Grand Floridian and waited there for a while. Next it was on to the Magic Kingdom. Then onto to the Contemporary but not before a stop right outside of the MK station. I looked at my watch as we were getting off the monorail, it was a little after 10:30 pm. The ride had taken almost 40 minutes. Not really my idea of fun as I had stood most of the trip around the lagoon, allowing a couple of different ladies and their children to have a seat. It kind of reminded me of some of the WDW bus rides that I had been on during previous visits, except it was longer.

We got something to drink from the Food 'n Fun Center and then it was back to our room. We were in bed by about 11 p.m.

June 14, 2003 - Saturday

This morning, we got up and headed to Chef Mickey’s for breakfast. It was our first time there and it was neat. The food was pretty good and the characters were all dressed in aprons. Some of them also wore chef's hats. We got some pictures with Chip, Dale, Mickey, Pluto, Minnie and Goofy.

I liked the food here. It was also neat to watch the monorail pass through the hotel almost above our heads while we were eating. 

After breakfast, we caught the monorail to the TTC and then got a bus to Animal Kingdom. We arrived just before opening and took our places in line. It was already pretty hot and very humid. It made standing in line a bit trying. When the gates opened, people tried to cut in line and others tempers flared. It was not a very happy sight or experience.

Not very nice at all. What ever happened to good manners and waiting your turn? Nope, they weren't Brazilians either. Just good ol' rude American teenagers.

Once inside the park we headed towards Dinoland. On the way, we saw Pooh go strolling by and followed him. After all, he is my favorite character. He headed down to the old boat dock just before the bridge to Dinoland. Bill got pictures of me with Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger. Then we resumed our trek towards Dinoland. We headed for Dinosaur. Bill and I talked about it before boarding. He had read about in on RADP and assured me that it wasn't that bad of a ride. He was wrong. I knew things were not good when the CM tending the ride asked us to test our seatbelts by jerking on the yellow strap. The ride was not much fun for me. I do not care for loud noises or rides that are herky-jerky. After it was all over, I was shaking very badly and did not stop shaking for about fifteen minutes.

I had never been on Dinosaur before and after reading comments from RADPers, I did not think it would be that bad of a ride for Min. After strapping in, I realized that this may not have been a good decision. I grabbed the safety bar with one hand and put my other arm around Min. I kept my arm around her to entire ride. After the ride started, a single thought kept going through my mind. I had chosen a ride that was going to "break" my darling wife. The wind machines caused my eyes to water for most of the ride, so there were tears streaming down my face when we got off. We had both survived but decided not to get the t-shirt.

We walked through Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures. Bill got me a small beanie of Pooh dressed as a frog that I had seen earlier and had told him I wanted to get it before we left Animal Kingdom.

It was sort of an "I'm sorry," for the Dinosaur ride decision.

After that we made our way to Tarzan Rocks. While I was standing in line Bill went and got some refreshments for us. He got me a Powerade and got his favorite Minnie's strawberry fruit bar. It was really hot and after sitting down in the theatre, Bill saw a frozen lemonade vendor. The next thing I knew he was back with two frozen lemonades, a regular lemonade and a strawberry lemonade. Since he had already had a strawberry bar, he gave me the strawberry lemonade and he took the regular lemonade one. They were very refreshing. It was our first time seeing the show and it was awesome. After that we made our way to Camp Minnie-Mickey. We were able to get some pictures with Minnie and Mickey before heading over to Festival of the Lion King. We got in line for the show and were seated in about 10 minutes. The show was great as normal. After the show, I decided it was just too hot and I needed to rest. So we went back to the hotel.

Definitely too hot to stay at the park. Thanks to the advise of the RADP vets, we no longer forced ourselves to stay at the park touring in "commando mode." It is great to be able to go back to your Disney resort and take a midday break.

After we got back to the hotel, we both took naps and then watched some of the MLS game. We got dressed and headed for the Magic Kingdom at about 5:00 pm as we had a PS at Crystal Palace at 6:30. It had rained while we rested at the hotel so it had cooled down some but was still very humid. We strolled through the Emporium on Main Street looking for a hat with Minnie Mouse on it. They had all kinds of visors with Minnie on them but no adult sized hats. We arrived at Crystal Palace about thirty minutes before our PS time and were seated about five minutes after Bill checked in. Our table was decorated with a heart made of Mickey confetti and the hostess wished us Happy Anniversary when she seated us. It was our first time here and the food was delicious. The characters were great, too. We got some pictures with Pooh and Piglet. Unfortunately our picture with Tigger did not come out as it was too dark, the flash must not have worked. Bill also took some pictures of the "flower sculptures" in the entrance foyer of the restaurant. After dinner Bill was not feeling very well, so we decided to skip the parade and fireworks. On our way out of the park, we walked through the shops opposite the Emporium on Main Street. Then it was a short monorail ride back to the hotel. I think we were both asleep the moment our heads hit the pillows.

I had had a headache since leaving Animal Kingdom. As much as I had tried to avoid it, I think I was a little dehydrated. I usually try and over-hydrate in the morning at breakfast but I think I did not have enough water that morning. Please remember to drink plenty of water, even if you are not thirsty. Because by the time you are thirsty, it is too late. Thirst is your body's way of begging for water, don't make your body beg.

June 15, 2003 - Sunday

We packed our stuff and headed to the car. We had decided to visit Disney Studios before heading home. We were discussing the possibility of upgrading our trip in October to a deluxe as we headed out so we made a detour to check out Wilderness Lodge. It was beautiful.

After just a few minutes in the lobby, I had decided that we were staying there in October even if I had to work many extra hours to pay for the upgrade. It was just amazing. We toured the lobby area and checked out Whispering Canyon Cafe and Artist Point. Then we went out to the courtyard area and checked out the pool from the overlook above Silver Creek Falls. It made me not want to leave, but alas this was our last day for this trip.

After checking out the Wilderness Lodge, we headed over to Disney Studios. After a quick tram ride and security check, we were in the park. We headed for The Great Movie Ride. Not many changes from what I could see from the recently completed rehab.

I think I like the old narration rather than the new spiel but who knows maybe the new one will grow on me. Just give me a few more trips to decide.  :)

Then we headed over to see Beauty and the Beast in hopes of hearing Four For A Dollar, but no such luck. I guess they don't do pre-shows on Sundays. We watched the show. Then we decided to head to Downtown Disney and have lunch at the House of Blues. The food was good as always. Afterwards, we hit the road and were on our way back home by about 2:30.

Overall, a very nice trip. I was a little disappointed with the Contemporary. It just did not feel like a Disney Resort to me. Maybe it was what I perceived as a lack of theming. Maybe it was because we did not have a room in the tower. I don't know. Maybe if they renamed it, "Disney's That 70's Resort." Nope, sorry wrong network. Well that's just one man's opinion. You can take it or leave it.

Click to Read:   Intro   -   Part One