Note: Min's trip report is in Coral and Bill's comments are in Blue. In the Gallery links, pictures without a border link to the specific picture and those with a border link to a gallery of related pictures.

Prelude

Well this week was a booger, if you ask me. I do not miss the daycare one bit, and I worked 3 days as a substitute teacher in Orange Park. Bill had earned some time off so he took it this week.

I am doing less tech support and more staff reporting at work these days... I basically watch all four call centers' activities and report issues to the operations team and client team. It is one of those kind of jobs where every problem is my problem, making it kind of stressful at times. I needed a break and Wednesday was my birthday, so I decided to take a day off for my birthday. Well that was my plan last Friday... I wasn't feeling that great on Monday... so I took it off... then, I took off Tuesday... then Wednesday... then Thursday... then Friday... by the end of the week I was in a really blah mood... I needed something to snap me out of it...

On Friday, I had a subbing assignment and as I sat watching a video about Bill Nye the Science Guy with my class, all I could think about was Ellen's Energy Adventure at Epcot. As I was driving home in the hot car from Orange Park, I was wondering if going to Disney would make Bill feel any better?

On Friday, I was at home wallowing in the doldrums... need to find a happy place... to brighten up my mood... Disney, perhaps...

Once home, I sat down at my computer and turned to Bill who was standing in the office doorway. He was looking... how should I put it, like he knew what I was going to say before I said it. It seems we had gotten each other thinking about Disney while we had been apart during the day.

My crazy telepathic mind tricks... work every time...

I asked what is keeping us from going to Disney? Bill said "reservations." I told him, "I will wash some clothes, you make the reservations," and that is how a spur of the moment trip happens...

Well something like that, anyway...  :)

Trip Report

August 27, 2004 - Friday

Laundry got done, we packed and were on the road by about 4:30 pm. The trip down was uneventful. We saw some trees and billboards that were down along I-4 from Hurricane Charlie but nothing big. We talked about what we were going to do and where we were going to eat on the way. We had a pretty good idea of what we would be doing by the time we arrived in Orlando.

Should I share what we planned... nah, let's keep it a surprise... read on dear friends of Min and Bill...  :)

Since we had hit the road without having any dinner, I was getting rather hungry by the time we were approaching the land of the mouse. Bill asked me what I wanted for dinner...

Can you guess what she said???

I said Chevy's, of course. We headed for the Crossroads and our old favorite but missing from Jacksonville restaurant. We really enjoyed the food but got way too much. I think we will only be getting apps the next time.

As long as one of them was the shrimp ceviche... I would go for that...  :)

After dinner, we headed over to Pop Century.

Good thing too, because that was where I got the reservations...  :)

There was a short line of folks waiting to check in, so Bill checked his watch to see how long it would take until we were at the counter. While in line, Bill began singing along with the song that was playing then the lady in front of us started singing along, too.

Don't remember what song it was... the music in the main building covers all the years that the Pop Century Classic Years Resort does, so it was something from the 50s, or the 60s, or the 70s, or the 80, or the 90s...  :)

After the song was over, we struck up a conversation with her and her daughter. They were from Canada and were staying for a week. Bill did most of the talking as I just looked around shocked to be at Walt Disney World. I noticed that the conversation had come to a lull and Bill looked kind of weird-ed out. He was watching the little girl in front of us sing and dance around.

The little girl was dancing around and singing "Everybody Wants to be a Cat..." What "weird-ed" me out as Min puts it is that that was the song that had been playing on the CD in our car right before we had parked to check-in and it was humming around inside my head just before the little girl started singing it... A strange case of Disney synchronicity...

About that time, two spaces at the check-in desk opened and we said our goodbyes to the folks from Canada. We were helped by Carla from Puerto Rico. She got us checked in and tried to find us a King Room but all the ones available were smoking rooms.

Twenty minutes wait... Negative on the smoking room... Min is extremely allergic to cigarette smoke... Something that we avoid at all costs when it comes to sleeping accommodations...

We were assigned room 4472, a fourth floor room in the 60s buildings that  overlooked the kids pool. We grabbed our stuff from the car and headed to the room. On the way to the room, we ran into our Canadian friends again. They had been assigned a room in the same building as us. The room had two beds, yuck... But Bill assured me we would survive sleeping apart.

I love my wife dearly but we have slept in a double bed together on a previous trip... It is something I wish to avoid ever doing again... we spend all night beating each other up as we toss and turn...  :)

After settling in and unpacking a few things, we went down to the food court and picked up some refreshments. We walked around the Hippy Dippy pool on the way back to the room. Bill headed for the Generation Gap bridge but the humidity was oppressive so I went back to the room.

The bridge area was a rather nice and restful place compared to the mayhem around the pool...

Back at the room, I called for a PS for breakfast and dinner on Saturday. When Bill got back, we watched some TV before calling it a night.

Min was out like a light... I listened to the children at the kiddie pool screaming until about 1:00 am, then managed to go to sleep...

August 28, 2004 - Saturday

We were up and at it the next morning. We drove over to the Beach Club for our breakfast PS at the Cape May Cafe.

Another chance, maybe they would have an omelet bar and a "real" potato dish on the breakfast bar this time...

We were the first ones in the place. Bill took pictures of the decor. We got our food, sat down and waited for characters. Goofy and Minnie came by as did Chip. The food was good. I enjoy this breakfast but Bill really doesn't.

I like the characters, even if we did get shorted a chipmunk this trip, and the intimacy of the setting, not as open and noisy as some of the other character breakfasts... I just wished there was a better selection of food, maybe something along the lines of Chef Mickey's or Donald's Breakfastosaurus...

I have almost decided to cut out breakfast at Disney. I always feel like I am stuffed walking around in the parks after a breakfast buffet. We might need to come up with a new plan for meals, but I am not sure.

I think the issue is that we usually have a big dinner at night then turn around and have a big breakfast the next morning...  :)

After breakfast, we drove over to MGM. We parked so close that we were able to walk into the park. We got inside and made our way toward Muppet*Vision 3D, at my request.

Request? More like demand...  :)

We got a couple of pictures of the back of Min and Bill's Dockside Diner on the way over. Bill also got some photos of the area around the Muppets' Theatre and the queue area for the show.

I know New York City is a big place and all... Some even think that it is the center of the universe... But did you know that you can see New York City from the forest moon of Endor???  I've got the pictures to prove it...  :)

After Muppet*Vision 3D, we walked through the city streets area. It is still under construction but you can see San Francisco starting to take shape in the distance as well as the New York skyline. You can also see that the arena for the new stunt show is nearing completion. We swung by the Backlot Tours area but it was not open, so we continued to stroll down Mickey Avenue taking a few photos as we went.

Got one of the fountain from the movie Splash... the mermaid that use to be on top of it was broken off when a tree fell on it during one of the hurricanes...

While walking, we decided to go on The Great Movie Ride. We were waiting in line when the two girls in front of us asked if we would take their picture. They said it was their first trip to Walt Disney World. We said sure and one of the girls handed Bill her camera.

Well what do you know, a Kodak Easyshare CX6330, just like ours...  :)

After our ride through the movies, we headed back to the Backlot Tours area. It was now open and we were part of the second group of the day. It was neat and now that most of the construction on the stunt show arena is finished you don't go behind Catastrophe Canyon until after going through it.

The new roads on the tour take the tour tram right up beside the stunt show arena as well as reestablishing the view down New York street for a look at the forced perspective skyline...

The ride in the tram was a little sticky as the humidity was pretty high again today. After the tour, we had a photo op with Sorcerer Mickey. Then we picked up fastpasses for Voyage of the Little Mermaid before taking a walk through Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. Since it was only about thirty minutes until our fastpass window opened, we skipped the movie and spent our time walking around the exhibit area.

The movie let out while we were walking around and it got a bit chaotic... There was construction going on on the exit side of the theatre, so everyone who had  watched the movie had to funnel back through the exhibit area and exit through the front door...

After some time enjoying the exhibits, we headed over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This is a really neat little show that we like to catch every few trips. We talked with a family while waiting in the queue. Bill assured the son, an older teen, that it wasn't just a kiddie show.

All I did was point out that the mermaid in the show was a live person, not an animated character or puppet... I think I saw him racing for a front row seat when the doors opened to the theatre...  :)

Next it was time for our "each trip to the Studios ritual," getting a picture with Lilo and Stitch. We noticed that the beach scene backdrop had been replaced by a bunch of potted palms. We asked the cast member who took our picture what had happened to the backdrop and she said the hurricane.

Don't know if it was damaged, destroyed or just stored... the cast member was just a little too busy taking photos for us to take up more of her time...  didn't want to deny any of those waiting in line their time with Lilo and Stitch... :)

After that we made our way towards the Beauty and the Beast theatre, but not without making a few stops along the way. I stopped at the Beverly Sunset to get an icee and Bill hit one of the ice cream carts for a Minnie's strawberry bar. Then, we walked through Legends of Hollywood, the Winnie the Pooh shop. Nothing caught my fancy, I pretty much have everything that had on display. Hopefully, they will have something new for My Birthday/Halloween or holiday trips. A stroll through the shops on Sunset Boulevard got us to the theatre but a short shower sent us back into the shops. The rain stopped right before the rope drop on the first show and we headed into the theatre. We went down to the front and Bill asked the cast member watching the stairs going backstage if we could talk with the Four For a Dollar guys. Unfortunately, they we already setting up their show and were unable to visit with us. Instead of going back up to where we normally sit, we sat right next to the stage. It was the closest we had ever been to the performers. It was pretty neat to be able to sit up close and be right in front of the guys during their set.

Great set... the guys did songs from their Return to Zero CD... it was also "pretty neat" as Min would say to see the Beauty and the Beast show from the front row... especially Belle...  :)

After the show, we decided it was time for a break so we headed for the car. On the way out of the park, Bill got a picture of me with Belle and we got a picture together with Hercules and Meg. We were lazy and took the tram to the car from there it was a short drive back to Pop Century. We got back to the hotel and stopped at the food court for a quick snack. Then we went to our room and rested for a couple of hours.

Rested, nah... slept is more like it... then we watched a little soccer...  :)

After our rest, we caught the bus over to Epcot. Once there we walked right on to Spaceship Earth. Afterwards, we took a look at the pins at Pin Central. Then we headed over to Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Next we headed over to The Land pavilion and rode Living with the Land. Then we checked in for our dinner PS at the Garden Grill.

Yep, back again... nothing fancy just good food and good fun... that why this place is one of our favorites...

No Steve, our favorite server, or Allison, our favorite sous chef, but we stayed anyway.

Hey... that sounds like one of my lines...  :)

The food was very good as usual. Our server, Meagan was also very good and the strawberry shortcake was awesome.

Agreed on the strawberry shortcake... The characters were really great, too... especially when Pluto and Chip pawed at each other trying to get their picture taken with Min...  :)

Illuminations was still a hour or so away when we finished dinner, so we had some time to kill. It was then that Bill remembered that Kickman, a frequent poster to RADP, worked at Epcot. So we went in search of Kickman.

The Kickman Challenge... not as hard as the Paragon Challenge but a worthy quest none the less...  :)

We found him near Canada and we introduced ourselves.

It went something like this... hello Kickman, I'm Bill... puzzled look on Kickman's face... and this is my wife, Min... puzzled look replaced by a smile and an "oh you guys" look... yes, folks... once again I realize that there can be no Bill without Min...  :)

He was very busy, so we talked about meeting up again at Mousefest and said our goodbyes. Then we went to find seats in our favorite area, the boat dock near Mexico, for Illuminations. I found an empty bench and was joined a short while later by a lady from Alaska. We talked while we waited for the show to begin. Bill went in search of treats. Then after he returned, he started prowling around the area, then he would come and sit for a little while before prowling some more.

Someone was sitting in my favorite spot... I kept going back to check and see if they had moved... they did, right after the show started... the spot was mine...  :)

After the show, we headed for the bus.

But wound up at Mouse Gear... but only after many attempts at taking a picture of Spaceship Earth at night... it kept coming out blurry... I finally got a couple of good shots... you can check them out by clicking on one of the thumbnails pics in the blue margin on the left...  :)

After Mouse Gear, we headed for the bus, again.

We stopped once again for a few more pics... this is when I got the one in the trip header above...  :)

Then we headed for the bus, yet again. I was worried that the bus would be full and I would have to stand. Well guess what, the bus was empty.

Well it was empty for a short while... until us and a few other folks got on...  :)

We met a family from Jacksonville. Bill spent the trip back to Pop Century talking with the father.

Okay time for small world stuff, Min and Bill style... nope, meeting a family from Jacksonville at WDW is not small world enough for Min and Bill... got to be something a little closer to home... well in this case, work... seems this gentlemen we met three hours from our home works in the same office park that I do... his building is about half a mile away from my building... oh... one other thing... the gentleman had spent the week out of town on business... when he got home on Friday night he decided to surprise his family with a spur of the moment trip to Walt Disney World... is that small world enough for you...  :)

At the resort, we did our nightly run through the food court and got a diet coke and apple juice before heading up to our room. The day was good.

Agreed... except for the kids at the kiddie pool screaming until about 1:00 am for the second night in a row... it made getting to sleep a bit rough... well for me anyway... Min was out like a light again...  :) 

August 29, 2004 - Sunday

The next morning we packed up our stuff and loaded up the car before heading over to Animal Kingdom.

Needed to take some more Expedition Everest construction pics... well that and see a couple of shows...  :)

Bill started taking pictures of the construction from the parking lot.

Once it is finished, I think folks are going to start associating Animal Kingdom with the mountain more than the tree... it is certainly going to be easier to pick out the mountain when approaching the park...  :)

Once inside the park we picked up a schedule to see when the shows started. We decided to see Tarzan Rocks then the Festival of the Lion King.

Convenient timing to say the least... the show times allowed us to get the Expedition Everest construction pics taken care of right off the bat...  :)

We headed for the Tarzan show theatre, stopping on the way at the Flame Tree Barbeque seating area to get some pics. When we got the the theatre, I went and found us seats while Bill went and got some close up shots of the construction. The show was wonderful as usual.

Wonderfully loud... I love the show but it is just too loud... I think I am going to borrow Min's earplugs next time...  :)

Then we headed for Festival of the Lion King. We stopped by the Asian otter enclosure to see if he was out and about. We also wanted to see if he liked his new companion. The cast member we had spoken with in July had told us the reason the otter was not out then was that he was backstage getting acclimated to a new companion. We looked and looked but unfortunately there was not much activity in the otter camp. 

We finally did find him hiding under a bush... no sign of a companion and no one around to ask about it... well maybe next trip we will find out what happens in the next episode of as the otter world turns...  :)

Onward to the Festival, we got seats in the warthog section and prior to the show had an entertaining talk with a young girl from England. She was on holidays just prior to the start of her second year at primary school and was telling us all about her trip.

Her dad kept trying to correct her... seems her version of her school life and her current trip differed a wee bit from reality... finally he just sat back defeated, smiled and let her finish HER story...  :)

After the show, we were getting hungry for some real food. We talked about going over to Downtown Disney and having lunch at the House of Blues, but as we were walking out the gate we decided on the Rainforest Cafe here at Animal Kingdom.

It called to us... beckoning us to enter... besides... the clouds in the sky looked pretty ominous...  :)

While we were inside eating lunch, the skies opened up and the rains came down. By the time we had finished our meal the rain had pretty much stopped. We rode a wet tram back to our car then hit the road headed for home.

Oh well... just like always... all good things have to come to an end... the trip was good anyway... don't know about this trip report...  :)