Mickey vs. Debby: Doing Disney in a Tropical Storm About This Page:

[Bman]

You never think of rain when you think of Florida, at least I don't. Or didn't. One tends to think of "sunny Florida". After all, it is the sunshine state. So it was with some trepidation that we watched the weather forcast as our trip arrived. Debby just hung there like Nemesis and we knew for sure that we were in for rain when we approached Orlando airport. We landed in rain and there wasn't a break in the clouds. This weather was going to stick around a while.

Sunday: Things went smoothly at the airport as they always do: we went right down to the DME counter, found the empty line for the CBR and were lead right to our bus. Just like that we were on our way to WDW.

For those of you who haven't been to the Caribbean Beach Resort, the building in which you check in is seperated from the rest of the resort. The resort is huge - a bunch of buildings divided into sections named after Caribbean islands. We were in Martinique. Not close to the main building, but not far. My one complaint about the resort is that the buildings are maze-like. The good things are that the place is beautiful - very tropical with gorgeous landscaping - and that the dining area is large and offers lots of choices.

We found our room, got the lay of the land, bought some panchos and umbrellas and then headed back out for our favorite park: THe Magic Kingdom! We were determined not to let the rain get us down. You can't be sad in TMK, right? As it turns out, we were right! Any fears about our trip being ruined were quickly dispelled when we saw that the park was largely empty. Empty! (By TMK standards) We strolled down Main Street. We ambled over the bridge to Adventure Land and we just walked right onto any open ride that we wanted. It was great!

We had dinner reservations for Liberty Tree Tavern which is a great place for the hungry traveler. If you haven't been there, LTT is great. They serve comfort food family style and it's all you can eat which is great because we were starving.
We didn't do *too* much that evening because we were tired but we had fun riding PoTC, HM, Space Mountain and watching Mickey's Philharmagic & the Tiki Room. We also got some good pictures of the castle and other favorite spots in the park. It was just good to be back and did I mention that there were no crowds?

Monday: Monday was Epcot day. We intended to get there in time for the opening but took too long in the room & at breakfast. (Again, the food court at CBR is good - so much better than POR.)

It didn't matter that we weren't there for the opening because it was raining and Epcot wasn't very busy when we got there at 9:30. I ran and got FP's for Soarin' while my wife and son waited at Mission:Space. You know how much walking you do at the parks, right? Well it seems to double in the rain but with the pancho and the outrageously priced umbrella, I stayed dry. (Tip: bring your own umbrella & rain gear if you expect rain on your trip.)

Mission Space is awesome. Check that: the non-intense side of Mission Space is awesome. We love it. We rode it, it was fun. Then my son wanted to do the intense side. We'd done it before and I guess forgot the unpleasantness. My wife (the smart one) opted out and said "you boys have fun". We went right back in (no line) and rode the intense side. I'm feeling motion sick just thinking about it. We made it through the ride but my son nearly lost it in the hallway outside the ride. Never again for that one.

After that, we did some shopping at Mouse Gears. I'm a guy and therefore not into shopping. So why is it that I like to shop for Disney stuff at WDW? Disney magic, I guess. Anyway, we strolled about looking for a shirt for me (my Disney tradition) and hats for my wife and son. He got an awesome Perry the Platypus hat and my wife got a Mickey through the ages baseball cap. No shirt for me. I just couldn't find the right one, so off we went to Soarin'.

We soared, 'nuff said. It was awesome as it always is. It's just such a wonderful ride! And thank goodness for Fast Passes!

Unfortunately the Garden Grill doesn't do lunch anymore. We like it there and used to have lunch but sometime in the last four years they switched to dinner only. So we wandered over to the UK pavilion and had fish n chips which was nice. After that, our son started up on the Phineas & Ferb game that they have going at Epcot. That was a fun little game and it kept our son (11 years old) entertained for quite a while. We were in the UK and the game stayed in that pavilion except for one annoying time that they sent us to the giant golf ball. That was a pain. I mean, do they think that you don't do enough walking at Epcot??? Anyway, I recommend the game for you or your kids.

After that, we just wandered around the park. We spent more time in the WS than we usually do and we rode Mailstrom. That's a fun ride but too short (I guess due to space constraints). We usually leave the park during the day and rest/swim at the resort but we stayed in the park all day that day just poking around and discovering things we hadn't seen or done.

Finally it was dinner time at Marrekesh in the Morccan pavilian. What a great restaurant! I've written about it in "Feasting & Snacking" so I won't go into detail but I do recommend it. Awesome food, atmosphere and service.

After that we pretty much headed home with a stop in the Canada pavilion on the way out. We'd never stopped there before but we enjoyed the movie with Martin Short and it's a pretty pavilion. We skipped Illuminations (yes, sacrilige) but we were exhausted and we're not huge fans of that show.

Here's something that I love/hate about Epcot: the cast members from other countries. You see, I love accents and dialects and other cultures. So it's so very cool to talk to people from other countries (especially the UK - I *love* the UK). The downside is that these people are working and don't have time for long conversations with large inquisitive goofballs from Texas who want to listen to their accents and ask them about their countries. Oh well, you do your best.

Ok, I'm getting very sleepy (still coming down from the trip) so I'm going to end this here and finish it in a part two tomorrow.

[mcc0313]

So sorry that Debby joined you on your trip but I love how you did not let that stop you at all in having a great time. I second that rain...even bad rain can also lead to the best fun while at Disney (must be the magic). I think one of our best memories was an EMH at the MK, we had it all planned to get so much done. They came these torrential downpours, wind....the park cleared out very quickly but we stayed, we got so much done, we just had a ball.

Looking forward to hearing more.

[chezp]

Despite the appearance of Debby, it sounds like you're making the most of it so far and being rewarded by pretty empty parks, which is great!

[lauriep]

Too bad you had an uninvited guest on your trip, but it sounds like a great vacation despite the rain.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start so far! We've been at WDW thru TS Faye, so I can relate to all the rain! More please!

[dutchdisneyfamily]

It sounds like you certainly made the best of it!

[mfirst]

Great start so far - love the description of the Phineas and Ferb game. My husband is looking forward to doing that with our boys (well the older two anyway). Sorry about the unwelcome guest, but it sounds like you still got a lot done the first two days!

[JKnott17]

Sorry that Debby so rudely invited herself along on your vacation! It sounds like you did make the best of it, though. Glad to hear your son enjoyed the new Phineas and Ferb adventure, my girls are looking forward to trying it out in November. I wonder if they changed it a little, I thought it was only done strictly in the WS, I'm surprised they sent you all the way over to the front of the park to the "golfball". What did you have to do once you got there?

[lazanya]

Great start! Sorry that you had an unwelcome visitor, Debby.
It sounds like you were still able to have some fun.

[sunshinetaradise]

the start of your trip sounds identical to ours!! Sounds like we were also neighbors in Martinique! We were in building 23. I thought it was the best location! We did not have a good experience with Magical Express though!

[jimmymac]

That's the only way to deal with bad weather on a Disney trip. Nicely done. Looking forward to he next chapter

[DMA]

Glad you didn't let the weather get you down.
Looking forward to the next installment!

[Cam22]

You all were troopers managing lots of fun while Debby tried to dampen everything.

[bsblady01]

great start more please

[Stitch316]

Hey, I saw Debby at WDW too. I arrived Sunday too but was required to go to Magic Kingdom on Monday since the kids had to be absolutely sure to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride before it closed for the week on Wednesday. I didn't think the rain was too bad at the parks I was in but it seems it can pour in one park and be nice at others since the place is huge.