Helton Holiday-Day 3 About This Page:

[Las17]

Sunday,7/1/01
We got up around 7:00, ready for our first real day at Disney! We had pancakes at IHOP(not Mickey cakes, but that's for later) and then set out for CBR. When we walked into the Customs House, we knew we were finally there! We went ahead and got our passes, so we could start our day. We also bought E-ride tickets for Tuesday night. We'd never done an E-ticket night, so we were excited about it.
They couldn't tell us yet which room we'd have, but they were able to tell us we'd be in Martinique-Building 25, so we parked there for the week. We were glad to hear that our request of Martinique had been honored.
We left everything in the car and walked to the bus stop to wait for the MGM bus. As soon as we entered the park, we went straight for a ToT Fastpass. The first ride we did was The Great Movie Ride. At first, we thought it may not be open, because of the blue fence around it but we found it. I love this ride! The Audio-Animatronics alone are worth it. I think they're so realistic.
We rode ToT soon after that. My favorite ride now, I think. Last year, riding it for the first time, I was petrified to get on. I pictured it to be a freefall ride, but it's really not scary at all. BTW-the wait in line was practically nothing with Fastpass. I always feel a little guilty passing by all the people in the standby line, but then I think, they could have done Fastpass too.
We couldn't wait to try Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Play It! We're big fans of the show at home. We got a FP for this one too. (Whatever you do-use FP! We were here at the busiest time of year and had hardly any waits at all.)Anyway, we had a 10 minute wait in the heat. The only part I didn't like was that the waiting is all outside, so the Fla. heat is awful. Once inside, we loved the atmosphere-just like the show. It was really a fun show. I did okay, but Matthew got to second place! They showed the standings and since he was in second place, they took the guy in first place for the hot seat. Soon after he got started, it was time to end the show. Who knows-if we could have stayed long enough for the other guy to miss, Matthew could have won something.
We had a 2:00 PS for Sci-Fi, so we got there around 1:45 to check in. We were told they'd start seating between 2:00 and 2:20, so we waited there. I wanted to make sure we weren't called early. No chance of that! We were finally seated at 2:20, after a family we met from CA who were seated 10 minutes before us and didn't have a PS. We were trying Sci-Fi for the first time, not knowing how we'd like it. We liked it pretty well. We thought the movie trailers were funny and the food was good. The kids got a hamburger and chicken strips. Matthew got a burger and I got the apple-walnut chicken salad in a pita. All yummy! We also tried milkshakes, after reading in Passporter how good they are. Let me say that these were the best shakes we've ever had! If you like milkshakes at all, you really have to have one from here! The bill came to $46. Not bad-it was our one splurge for the week!
By now, we were getting anxious to see our room at CBR, so we went back to unpack and rest a little. We had room 2517, which I think must be the best room there. Last year, we had 2417 and I thought that was the best one. When you walk out of Room 2517, you can see Old Port Royale from the "porch". It was very convenient. Of course, it took us a few days to realize we were actually closer to the Calypso bus stop than the Martinique one!
The kids had to see the video arcade and I headed straight for the gift shop(it has been a whole 13 months since we were here!)
We went back to MGM to do the things we hadn't done earlier. We saw Fantasmic and rode ToT again. We didn't want to sit out in the hot sun to get a good seat for Fantasmic, so we waited until about 8:30 to go over to the gate. BIG MISTAKE! Get the dinner package, if you can. By the time we got there, it was SRO and we had to stand all the way in the back. I'm sure it's a great show, but we'll never know from our experience. I literally stood in a bush to allow my DD to see.
On the way out of the park, we stopped at our favorite fruit stand, Anaheim Produce, to get a snack, before going back to our resort.
After our long day, we were ready to hit the sack, so it was lights out until tomorrow.
Tomorrow-Chef Mickey's!
Laura

[Las17]

Adventurers:
Matthew(38)
Laura(38)
Josh(11)
Kaci(8)

Monday,7-2-01
We slept in until 8:30, since we figured we'd have plenty of time to play after our 10:30 PS at Chef Mickeys. We got ready and quickly walked to the bus stop. Of course, every bus except the one we needed showed up!After reading some reports of bad bus service, we were a little worried, but no problems. The kids yelled, "Magic Kingdom bus!" and we were on our way. We rode the bus to MK, then the monorail to the Contemporary. We got there fairly early, so we shopped around. We had stayed here for our honeymoon in 1985, but hadn't been back to look around since then.
It was time for our check-in, so we headed to Chef Mickeys. We were sent straight to the photographer. We didn't remember having this 4 years ago, when we last ate here. It was a very nice souvenir-we bought the entire package! It really is a nice family photo. It's rare to get everyone to look decent in one shot, but somehow we did!
Anyone who's eaten at Chef Mickey's before knows the food is good and there are lots of choices. I think it's our favorite character breakfast. Our server(I can't recall her name now)has worked at WDW for 20 years and said she wouldn't have any other job. Her daughter is the one who sold us the souvenir photos!
After a very filling meal, we took the monorail back over to MK. We had been talking up all of the mountains of Disney since we first planned this trip. Our kids aren't much for thrill rides, but we thought we'd try again. Josh said he'd go if Kaci would. Kaci said she'd go as long as the rides didn't go upside down. We were on our way to Space Mountain! Of course, she was nervous and then, like all children, wanted to ride again as soon as we got off!
We rode Splash Mt. and BTMRR too and we all loved them. This was my 7th trip to Disneyworld and I don't think I had ever ridden any of these! We ended up in the front seat of Splash Mt. and got soaked! Matthew had just bought a new baseball cap to cover his easily burned head(not much coverage up there!)and was told to hold onto it. Of course, he didn't and as we went down the big splash, I saw the cap go flying over our heads! I forgot to mention yesterday that he lost his sunglasses on ToT for the same reason(not listening to directions).
We rode one of our favorites then-HM. My daughter has loved this ride since she was 4 years old.
We weren't hungry after our big breakfast, but we had hot dogs later in the day at a cart in or near Tomorrowland. Kaci went to throw away her trash and had her sunglasses in her mouth. The trash can said,"Thank you for throwing away your trash, while you chew on your glasses." You should have seen the look on her face! We had heard about this talking trash can, so we just said, "Come on, Kaci". The can said,"Goodbye, Kaci!" She couldn't understand how he knew her name. It was probably the funniest time of our whole trip. The kids chased after it, but it had gotten away.
We went back to CBR after a little longer. It really wears you out in the Fla. heat in July! One of my biggest tips to visitors to WDW is to take breaks. You can't possibly do everything anyway, so remember to rest.
We had snacks at the food court and went to bed early.


Tomorrow-Epcot and E-ride night!
Laura

[JoanneC]

Great report! Love the talking trash can story!!