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

Prelude

On Monday, I found out for sure that I had Friday off from work. Since I was off, Bill decided to ask off also and got the okay to take the day off.

Since we have been married, I have either had a job where I worked very long hours or have worked two jobs. I usually request a day off every now and then to match my schedule up with Min's so that we get a three day weekend to help make up for all the time I spend working.

I asked what we were going to do, since we were both off. He said nothing, just spend some time together. I asked why couldn’t we go to Disney again. He said that we would be impacting our October trip's finances if we went again. So that was it, end of discussion.

So what do I turn around and do? The next day, I sit down with the household budget and my web design contracts workflow schedule and begin an in depth cost analysis of the October trip. Taking into account the advice of some of the RADPers on the costs of booking the individual pieces of a trip versus booking a package and the fact that we could use the money we had paid for our Play-4 passes as a credit towards the purchase of Florida Resident Annual Passes, I was able to shave a good deal off of the price of the October trip. I called Min into the office to explain the plan.

The next day, Bill called me into the office. He said he had looked at the budget and his upcoming contracts and had found a way we could go to Disney for the weekend. First, we would buy Florida Resident Premium Annual Passes using the credit from our Play-4 passes. This would give us passes to use both this weekend and for our October trip. Next, we would adjust the amount we were planning on for spending money each day in October to free up a little more money for this weekend. Finally, he said the last thing would be a waiting game. We would need to get a discount rate on the room to stay at the Wilderness Lodge in October. If we did not get a discount rate we would need to downgrade our room to one of the moderates. No real change in the October trip plans, still a week at WDW for my birthday. Just the possibility of staying at a moderate instead of Wilderness Lodge. He asked me if I wanted to go with this plan. I said that it sounded good and we could do it. We called WD Travel Company and to our surprise there was no availability for the upcoming weekend in any of the moderates or value resorts. The deluxe resorts were just too far out of our price range for this weekend. Well there went all of our planning. We really needed a break just to get away from it all that weekend. We started talking about maybe spending the weekend in Daytona, or Bradenton, or maybe St. Augustine, but I was sure that Bill could see that I was depressed that we could not go to WDW.

All I could say was wow. I could see WDTC not having any rooms with Florida Resident rates but no rooms whatsoever at the moderate and value resorts, I just could not believe it.

The rest of the week we went about working and our day-to-day tasks. We still talked about going out of town for the weekend. On Thursday night, we decided we were probably going to Bradenton for the weekend.

Probably, heck I had even sent out an email to our friends letting them know that we were taking off for the weekend and heading down to Bradenton. But the way that Min was acting about going out of town made me decide to try WDTC one more time. Who knows someone may have cancelled. I called WDTC asking about availability in any of the value or moderate resorts and wouldn't you know it they had some preferred rooms available at All-Star Sports. So I told Velma, the WDTC CM, to book us one for Friday and Saturday nights. Knowing that the All-Stars have two tiny beds, I also asked about a King Room and she said that there were no guarantees but she would see what she could do. I called Min into the office to tell her the good news.

I was getting ready to start packing when Bill called me into the office. He said that he had called and gotten us a room for the weekend at All-Star Sports. I went back to the bedroom and finished packing. I had trouble sleeping because I was so excited, not only were we going back to Disney but we were also about to become annual passholders.

July 11, 2003 - Friday

We got up and headed out around 8:30 a.m. We stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite and then filled the car with gas before hitting the road. We were on the road by about 9:30 a.m. and arrived at All-Star Sports a little before noon. There was a line at check-in. But once we got up to the registration desk, we had our room keys in less than five minutes. We were given a king room, number 6103 on the first floor in Surfs Up building 6. The room was right beside the pool and right next to Stadium Hall.

The line seemed to be because several groups of young boys and their parents were checking into the hotel. Judging by their attire, I would say that they were playing in some kind of youth baseball tournament. I would have to say that the cast member that checked us in gave us the best check-in experience we have ever had at a WDW resort. I asked her about the assignment of the king room and she said that it was put through by WDTC, thanks Velma. The room was indeed close to Stadium Hall, as a matter of fact it was farther to the room from the parking lot that it was from the room to Stadium Hall.

After check-in, we rested up a bit and then caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We turned in our Play-4 passes for credit and paid for our premium annual passes. It took a little while to get the new passes all sorted out.

It sure did. The cast member working at the Guest Relations window processed the annual passes with the date that we had activated our Play-4 passes as the expiration date instead of the start date. She was about to give us the newly printed but expired annual passes when she realized her mistake. She voided the first set of passes and processed a second set of passes with the correct start and expiration dates.

After getting our passes, we headed into the park.

It was with some trepidation that I inserted my new annual pass into the ticket reader. Insert fingers into the biometric reader, wait... pass ejects out the other side. Whew, it worked.

We stepped onto Main Street U.S.A., we're here. Bill took a picture down Main Street looking at the castle. There were characters in Town Hall Square and I got my picture with Timon.  Afterwards, we headed over to the Emporium and to search for an adult-sized hat with Minnie Mouse on it.

Once again, we failed. No adult-sized hats with Minnie Mouse. Only visors or toddler and infant sized hats.

After the walk through the Emporium, we decided to grab a bite to eat at the Main Street Bakery. We split a Tomato Buffalo Mozzarella Sandwich with Basil and a lemonade. I also had a cupcake.

A tip of the hat to RADPer Major Woody on the sandwich recommendation, it was delicious. Did you know that you could buy a blown glass replica of Cinderella's Castle from the crystal shop on Main Street? We saw it while we were eating. It stands about two and a half feet tall and is beautiful. If you want to take it home, it can be yours for the amazing low price of $25,000.

After we finished eating, we strolled down to the hub. Bill took a few more pictures before we headed off to Adventureland. Bill got a Dole Whip.

The mixed swirl with pineapple and vanilla, my favorite Dole Whip.

We headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean. It was the first time that I can remember seeing both lines and loading zones open. There was only about a five minute wait in line before we boarded a boat. Afterwards, we looked at the Jungle Cruise. The wait time was about 30 minutes and the "Share a Dream Come True" parade was also 30 minutes away, so we opted for the parade. We found a nice place to sit right in front of the Liberty Tree Tavern. I had to use the restroom, so I walked down to the one in the breezeway between Adventureland and Frontierland. When I came back to where Bill was waiting, I saw a little girl with Down's Syndrome sitting in front of us. She was wearing a "Today is My Birthday" button so I wished her a happy birthday, she replied with a sweet thank you. When the parade began, she was very excited and seemed to be having a grand time enjoying all the characters passing right in front of her. When the float with Mary Poppins came by, Mary noticed the little girl's button and wished her happy birthday. The little girl was so happy. Later, Cinderella and Belle did the same. I cried. Bill smiled and then laughed a little at his overly sentimental wife. We both agreed it was a truly magical moment.

After we got back home and I was looking through the pictures we took during the parade, I noticed something or in this case someone interesting. Everyone on RADP has been talking lately about famous people they have seen at WDW, well I think Min and Bill have you all beat on this one. Click Here and have a look for yourself. We always knew he took a summer vacation, now we know where.

After the parade, we walked over to the Haunted Mansion. It was a walk-on. Then we got something to drink at Columbia Harbor House and Bill refilled our new water bottles.

The Brita Fill and Go water filtration water bottles. Love 'em. Cannot remember if we read about them first on RADP or All Ears, but a gracious thank you to all who recommended them.

Next it was the Hall of Presidents. Then we headed for the hub, the crowds were started to gather and a quick check of the schedule shows that Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was about to start so we found a place and watched the show. After the show we headed over to Tomorrowland. We checked on the Timekeeper, but it was not open. As we were passing Buzz Lightyear's, we saw that Carousel of Progress was open and headed on over.

I love Carousel of Progress and am glad we got a chance to see it this time. Wish the Timekeeper was open, but one out of two is better that none out of two.

Next, we hopped on the TTA for a quick ride around Tomorrowland. When we got back to the boarding platform, we gave the CM a one-more time sign. She closed the door and around we went again. Next, it was off to Toontown. We walked through Minnie's house and then it was over to the County Bounty to look for me a hat with Minnie Mouse on it.

Ah yes, another chance to continue what was beginning to seem like the never ending quest for an adult-sized hat with Minnie Mouse on it. Again, we failed.

Then we boarded the WDW Railroad. Toontown, to Main Street, to Frontierland, back to Toontown, back to Main Street, and then off at Frontierland.

We tried to find Zazu. We even asked for him by his real name, Bruce. One of the CM's thought that he was at Main Street station. I saw someone that might have been him as we were pulling in, but he was headed down the exit ramp and I did not feel a chase was warranted.

We headed over to the Liberty Tree Tavern. We arrived about 20 minutes ahead of our PS time and seeing that the waiting room was packed thought that it might be a long wait. We waited a whole five minutes before we were seated.

If that, I gave the hostess our name and before Min got seated good on one of the benches, they were announcing the Beanes of Florida.

The food was great. The characters were great. We both got solo pictures with Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck and Pluto. Bill got one with Meeko, too.

It was great to see Donald and Daisy at a character meal.

After we finished eating, we walked outside and sat down in the rocking chairs on the Liberty Tree Tavern front porch to wait for SpectroMagic. We started talking about getting closer to the castle for the fireworks and decided to go to our favorite spot on the path between Main Street and Tomorrowland.

We knew we were going to an area with a limited view of SpectroMagic but a great view of the fireworks.

SpectroMagic was an awesome parade. The music, the lights on the floats, it was all very neat.

Remember that limited view thing I was talking about before, well it turned out to be a lot less limited than we thought. We had two very clear lines of sight to see the parade, one just as it was entering the hub and the other right after it turned onto the hub. It was like standing behind a couple of rows of people without all of the crowding since we were out of the way on the path.

After the parade, we grabbed a bench and waited for the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. We spent the time talking to a nice family from Virginia. The fireworks were good.

Yep, Min seemed to enjoy the fireworks much more this time than in times past. Maybe it was the earplugs she was wearing. She doesn't like the booms but she loves the sparklies.  :)

After the fireworks, we headed for the exit. Making one last sweep through the Emporium, no Minnie Mouse hat. It was a short wait for the bus, but we had to stand on the way back to the hotel.

The standing would not have been so bad if we had not been packing in like sardines. I had this teenage boy's elbow poking me in the ribs off and on throughout the trip. Min and a couple of ladies having to stand while several guys around them had seats just reinforced my previous observations that gentlemen are few and far between these days. 

At the hotel, we walked through Sport Goofy Gifts and Sundries, the gift shop, to get something cold drink before heading back to our room.

Overall, it was a great day. Good food, good fun, good entertainment and some Disney magic. I love being at Walt Disney World.

July 12, 2003 - Saturday

We got up early as we had a PS at Cape May Cafe for breakfast. Well there were no character breakfast buses, so we got to test the WDW Transportation system. First, it was catch the bus to Disney Studios and then a boat to Beach Club. All in all, it went pretty well. We left All-Star Sports about an hour before our PS and got to Cape May Cafe about 30 minutes later. We waited about 15 minutes before we were seated for breakfast. They sat us at the same table that we sat at on our trip last month. I got pictures of Bill with Minnie and Goofy. The food was wonderful.

The early morning trip was pretty nice. We were the only ones headed from the studios towards the hotels. We talked with the crew about the boat and what kind of training they got in piloting them. The food was good, as always. I did not realize until we got our pictures developed that Min did not get her pic taken with any of the characters at breakfast. One more reason to get the digital camcorder with photo capability that I have been wanting to pick up, so that we can see the pics when we take them. Yeah, we can call it the 'Ohana cam, no one gets forgotten. Need to run that one by Min, maybe we can get it in the budget prior to the October trip.

After finishing breakfast, we took a walk through Atlantic Wear and Wardrobe, the Beach Club gift shop. Then, we headed to the lighthouse to catch the boat back to Disney Studios.

We just missed the boat and had a bit of a wait. Maybe we should not have gone shopping after breakfast.  :)

One boat ride, a security check and a quick survey later, we were at the Crossroads of the World. We picked up a schedule to see when Beauty and the Beast shows started, we were hoping to see Four For a Dollar. We had about an hour to kill, so we took a stroll through The Darkroom, Celebrity 5 & 10 and L.A. Prop Cinema Storage before turning on to Sunset Boulevard. Then we strolled through Legends of Hollywood, Planet Hollywood Super Store and the Sunset Blvd Shops. We asked one of the cast members in the watch shop if Four for a Dollar was doing pre-show for Beauty and the Beast today. She said that they were and then proceeded to show us their CD. We thanked her and then headed out. It was still about 15 minutes before they started letting people into the show, so we headed over to the Beverly Sunset. After looking through the villain stuff, I got a blue raspberry frozen drink from the candy counter in the shop. While I was waiting for my drink, Bill went to get a strawberry bar. He came back with this weird strawberry bar. It had a strawberry coating on it. Bill let me have a bite. Yuck! I like the strawberry bar without the coating better.

I like the Minnie's strawberry bar without the coating, too. The strawberry coating tasted fine, but the texture was just weird, kind of waxy. I hope that this type of strawberry bar does not become the standard. It would definitely spoil one of my favorite Disney snacks, if it did.

Next it was on to the Beauty and the Beast show. Four For a Dollar did their normal sound check routine and then did a few songs.

First, it was the Impressions' "It's All Right," their normal show starter or at least it has been every time that I have seen them. Next it was Dobie Gray's "Drift Away," great song, great rendition. Last but certainly not least was Min's favorite "Love Potion #9." A great set, it had me contemplating staying around for the next Beauty and the Beast show to catch them again.

After the Beauty and the Beast show, we headed over to the Sunset Blvd Shops and picked up Four For a Dollar's CD from the nice lady cast member that we had talked to earlier.

Did not stick around for another show, but got the CD which is the next best thing. Just a note on the CD, the group that performs as Four For a Dollar are also known as Return 2 Zero. That is the name that the CD is released under. According to the cast member we bought the CD from, the guys had to pick another name to record under as Disney owns the Four For a Dollar name.

Then it was on to the Great Movie Ride where we had about a 30 minute wait. Afterwards, we checked on Voyage of the Little Mermaid but the line was too long and FastPass was also too far out. I decided it was time to rest. We stopped at Min and Bill's Dockside Diner for some pictures and a quick snack, a cream cheese stuffed pretzel. It was not very good.

After getting the pictures developed, I found that once again I had done a masterful job of capturing one of my fingers in a pic of the other Min and Bill's place. It and the castle, I always get a shot of my finger when taking pics of those two places. Sounds like another call for the 'Ohana cam.

We walked through Keystone Clothiers and Mickey's of Hollywood on our way towards the exit. Then we had about a 20 minute wait for the bus back to All-Star Sports. Back at the room, I decided to take a nap while Bill decided to watch the MLS Game of the Week. While I was napping, it began to storm.

Boy did it. Not just one of those afternoon thunderstorms either, this was a front moving through. It rained off and on the rest of the day.

After our rest, we caught the bus to Epcot. We had a PS at the Garden Grill for dinner. It was sprinkling when we got on the bus but by the time we got to Epcot it was raining really hard again. So we had a rainy walk to The Land Pavilion.

Well we did after we had one of those, do we really want to stick around in the rain or do we go back to the hotel discussions.

We walked at a good pace and were there in about ten minutes. We checked in they told us it was about a 30 minute wait.

Not too bad, seeing as how we were 30 minutes early for our PS.

Dinner was very good as usual. The characters were great. Dale had a cape made of paper towels and an "SD" on a paper towel he wore like a bib. After a bit of questioning, we figured out that he was not Dale but "Super Dale." A couple of the wait staff and the kids from the family sitting next to us got a real kick out of "Super Dale" and his antics. Bill got some pictures of me with "Super Dale" as well as Chip and Mickey. I took some of Bill with "Super Dale" and Chip.

I don't know if it was from sitting on the upper deck for the first time or if it was from having a moving wall right next to us for the whole meal or a combination of both, but I was very aware of the motion of the restaurant and felt a wee bit dizzy after dinner. Something that had never happened in any of our previous meals at the Garden Grill.

After dinner it was still raining, so we went over to Mouse Gear to kill some time before the start of IllumiNations. We found a bunch of shirts that we are planning on buying when we return in October.

Yep, on the quick trips we have a budget but in October that is the "vacation" for this year and all spending restrictions on the "little things" are off. One day I hope all restrictions are off then we can drop about $20,000 while on "vacation" and join the DVC, but that is a bit beyond our financial means at this time.

Afterwards, we walked over to the World Showcase to watch IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. It was sprinkling still but we were already wet so it did not matter too much. I had frozen strawberry lemonade and Bill had a Minnie's strawberry bar.

One of them naked ones, without the coating, yay!

After the show, which was wonderful as usual, we headed out to catch the bus back to the hotel. We got to the bus stop just as a bus was pulling up, everyone got a seat so no one had to stand. We got back to the hotel grabbed some cold drinks at Sport Goofy Gifts and Sundries. We also looked at some pins and hats before heading back to the room.

Great day, even with all the rain.

July 13, 2003 - Sunday

We slept in and headed over to Downtown Disney. Our standard going home day routine. We parked next to Planet Hollywood because we were planning on eating at House of Blues after a quick check of the shops in the Marketplace area. We walked through World of Disney. We bought some pins and postcards and got to use our AP discount for the first time. Next, we went over to Pin Traders. We were looking at getting the 2003 pin set when we saw that they had a special deal for annual passholders who pre-ordered the Lion King DVD. We wanted the Lion King, so we got that instead. We also got a baby Simba plush, a special pin with the grown up Simba and Nala as well as free shipping on the DVD. Next, we headed over to Pooh Corner where I brought a Safari Pooh to add to my growing  collection. Next we walked through Days of Christmas, Wonderful World of Memories and the Art of Disney. We were getting hungry so we decided to have lunch at Rainforest Cafe instead of walking all the way to the other end of Downtown Disney to eat at the House of Blues.

Maybe we should have taken the boat over to Downtown Disney West Side, that hindsight being 20/20 and all thing.

After lunch, we walked through Once Upon a Toy. We picked up another CD, Magical Moments - The Parades, or something like that. It turned out to be the wrong one, Bill mistook it for one he had been looking at earlier at the World of Disney. We headed out and were on the road home by about 2:00 p.m.

What marketing genius at Disney decided to name a group of CDs, Magical Moments? Oh well, maybe next time I will read the label before plunking my money down on a CD.   :)