5/29 - 6/8/02 Comfort Inn LBV Master Matt's Disney Adventure (and his mom went too!) About This Page:

[Ursunique2001]

Wednesday, May 29, 2002 ------- Day 1, Part 1

Today is the day! Today is the day! or "It's time for all the chickens to fly!"

Woke up very early in the morning. Okay who am I kidding, I never really got to sleep that evening. Matthew took a bath before he went to bed and I laid on the bed. When I woke up (about 1 ½ hours later) Matthew was in bed already. Okay it is 11:30 pm and now I cannot sleep. I try and try and try and try. I try watching TV because sometimes that helps, but I just cannot get to sleep. My sweetie comes over and he is surprised that I am still awake. He knows that I am not a night owl. So he lays down and goes to sleep (the nerve of him!) Well finally at 3 am my clock goes off and it's off to the races. I get myself washed and partially dressed and then proceed to wake Matthew up. Matthew is knocked out. I call, I shake, I try everything and nothing. So I say "Matthew I'm leaving and if you don't get up your going to get left." He jumps out of the bed (He did physically jump up) and says "It's time for all the chickens to fly!" I am like "what"????? He says to me, "mom that's what you just said." I told him that he was probably dreaming and then I had to tell him play by play what I actually said to him because he did not believe me. Okay so we are packed and ready to go and Wick is like what the heck do you have in these bags? He loads our luggage and we are off to the airport. Arrived at the airport at about 4:15 am with no problems and checked-in in no time. We were actually through security and on our way to our gate by no later than 4:45 am. Stopped at the newsstand to buy two sodas and a bag of dorritos and then went and relaxed while we waited for our flight time, which was 6:10 am.

Okay now it is time to board and our flight looks pretty empty. I don't even think they had 40 people on this flight. Okay maybe 50 but that includes the flight crew too. From what the crew was saying they were expecting more people but I think some people may have missed the flight. Matthew and I sat on the same row, but we had a whole lot of empty seats around us. One good thing was we were able to spread out and relax. No leg cramps! Yippee! Flight was otherwise uneventful and we landed safely on time.

Check in at National was also uneventful. We rented a compact Pontiac Sunfire. It was grey and 4-door. The car handled nicely and we were on our way. Left airport with trusty directions to Lake Buena Vista area that we got from National. Now someone really should tell National that they changed the exit numbers on I-4. We were riding down I-4 and looking for exit 24 or something in the 20's and I notice that we are only at exit 60-something. We pass an exit that says Lake Buena Vista and I am like this does not seem right, so I pull over on the side of the rode. Called hotel and was told that I needed to get off at exit number 68 (I think). So we get off of I-4 and get back on going the opposite way. We get to hotel in less than 10 minutes and check-in. From what I see so far the hotel is nicely kept. The lobby is clean and inviting and they have a snack shop called Lite Bites which is open for 20 hours each day (6 am - 2 am)



Checked in to the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista at around 10:15 am. We check in, but our room is not ready yet. It seems that they are putting in new mattresses so it is taking longer for the maid service to clean the rooms. Check in is not actually until 3 pm so we are a little early. We decide to do some of our shopping and ride over to the local Walmart on 192. Let's see we got: 2 gallon bottles of spring water, a 12 pack of Pepsi (gotta have my Pepsi), a big bag of dorritos, 2 4–packs of wine coolers (hard lemonade and fuzzy navel), 2-pack of pringles chips, large bag of sunflower seeds, and 3 6-pack of juices for Matthew. Spent $24, not bad if I do say so myself (and I do). Matthew brought a toy that was 10 dollars. His explanation being that he did not bring any men to play with so he had to get something.

It's about 11:30 am and we are back at the hotel. Our room is still not ready yet so we decide to go to IHOP for breakfast/lunch. Matthew has the chicken fingers appetizer and I have the breakfast sampler. The food was very good and the service was excellent. Had time to just sit and relax. The IHOP was just down the road so we could have walked there if we wanted to. We didn't, but we could have. It's now about 1 pm and we are back at the hotel. Room is still not ready so we opt to sit in lobby until it is done. The lobby is really nice. It is not large, but we are able to sit and relax for a while. Decided to get our welcome package while we were waiting. They explained the transportation, which was free to mostly all of the parks, and some other places like the water parks required a small fee. We did not need this since we planned to use our car for our entire trip. The also were doing a promotion for the Sheraton and offered us a chance to have a small continental breakfast and $50 in Disney $$ in exchange for a 90 - 120 minute presentation. Decided to take advantage of this and made an appointment for Friday (5/31/02) which is our Universal Studios day. They also gave us a coupon for a free appetizer and drink at their restaurant and a book with some other coupons to off site restaurants and shopping establishments. We check back at the desk at 3 pm and are given room 3526 which is in building three on the 5th floor and pool side. Our first impression of the room was: home at last. Room was clean and spacious. We actually had two refrigerators. One regular one and one that was probably a wet bar which worked out good since we had two big bottles of water. I unpacked some of our clothing and sent Matthew for some ice so I could have a cold Pepsi. Decide to just relax for an hour or two. On tap tonight: Reservations for the Hoop De Doo Revue.

Coming next: Day 1, Part 2 and "It's a time to have a Hooting Tooting Good time"

[ 06-15-2002, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: Ursunique2001 ]

[tikibird]

Welcome back, and glad to hear you had such a magical time!

I enjoyed your first installment, and am looking forward to hearing all about your adventures!

[Ursunique2001]

Wednesday, May 29, 2002 ------- Day 1, Part 2

"It's a time to have a Hooting Tooting Good time"

Left hotel about 5 pm on route to Fort Wilderness Lodge for the Hoop De Doo Revue. My son and I loved this show so much last year that we felt we had to do it again. I actually booked our ressie for it back in July of 2001. Drive from hotel to Lodge was easy, just followed the signs and presto chango we're there. Another great thing about our hotel was its location. We were within 2 long blocks of Disney's property and once on the property we just followed the signs. This made traveling very easy. Thanks to whoever took the time to post those signs. Okay back to the show. We arrived around 5:30 pm and took the bus from the parking lot to the Pioneer Hall. I am very impressed with the surroundings. I love the idea of the log cabin in the wide open space and being able to spend quality time with your family. And although I would not ever try this type of vacation myself, I commend those who do. It is very quiet and peaceful and I guess that what I like most about the Fort Wilderness property, but I am a hustle and bustle kind of girl. You know the saying it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Well it's a nice place to visit but you could not pay me enough to sleep there. Okay so we are in total awe of our surroundings and do a little shopping where Matthew picks up this cool Mickey Mouse flashlight. We go back and I check us in. Matthew wanted to be seated in the balcony again. He seemed to like the idea of being able to look down on everything. When I inquired about our seats I was told that we were going to be seated on the first floor. I was told that she could change this for me but I opted to keep our first floor accommodations. I figured this time we could see the show from a different angle.

While waiting for the show we met a couple who was celebrating their wedding anniversary. I can't remember where they were from but they were very nice and we had a very long and interesting conversation with them. She was a collector of Disney pins and had really splurged a lot on this trip. The very first time they saw the show he was one of the participants and actually wore the ballet outfit. I tried to picture this big burly guy in a ballet dress. It wasn't a pretty picture. Well okay now it's time for the show and we begin our seating process and low and behold guess where we sat. FRONT ROW CENTER TABLE!!! Right in front of the stage. You talk about good seats. All I could say was "Thank you God." The show was great and just as enjoyable as last year. There were a lot of wedding anniversaries and wedding parties at this show, at least 12 - 15 couples. The food was excellent and we really enjoyed the show. We both loved the ribs and fried chicken and I loved the corn. Neither of us tried the baked beans. But I was very surprised that Matthew actually tried the strawberry shortcake this time. He said it was okay. I loved it, of course. Because we were in the front the characters seemed to take a extra liking to me, but it was all in good humor. I must give a special thanks to the CM who waited on us. She was absolutely the best of the best. It was very cold in there and towards the end of dinner I asked for coffee for myself and hot tea for Matthew. She brought this out and also brought out nicely pressed table clothes to drape around us so that we could warm up. At the end of the show Matthew presented her with a customer appreciation card that I printed up before we left. (thank you to the breakfast club for sharing the idea) The CM asked Matthew to sign it for her, which he did and she gave him a hug. This was a very memorable night, we had a great time and in turn we were able to show our appreciation.

After the show we made our way back via the bus to our car and then drove back to the Comfort Inn. Decided to just relax for the rest of the night and watch some TV.

Coming up next........ Day 2, Part 1 "The mad rush for CRT!"

[Ursunique2001]

Thursday, May 30, 2002 ------- Day 2, Part 1

“The mad rush for CRT!”

Today we woke up at 7 a.m. (well I did, anyway)Matthew actually got up around 7:20 am after I took my shower and started dressing. Today was our first day at the parks and also our scheduled
breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table. Now our PS was for 8:55 am so at 8 am we were running out the hotel room because I knew we had to make a few connections before we would arrive at the castle. We drove to Magic Kingdom following Disney’s handy signs. Parked the car, caught the tram and then the monorail and arrived at Magic Kingdom by 8:37 am. Took a few minutes
to get through the security check point and was walking down Main Street by 8:47 am. Stopped
to take a picture of Matthew with Minnie and Mickey in front of the castle (sure hope the picture turned out nice) and checked into CRT at 8:51 am. Now this was one of the funny things that happened on this day. Mostly everyone knows that I received my PS through the of someone on
the breakfast club site. When I checked in I gave them the name that the PS was under and I also told them what my name was. I explained that it was made by someone else and given to me.
Well the person registering me thanked me for the info and proceeded to fill out the slip with the
name that was not my name. (I hope you followed that). Well for the rest of the seating they
called us “The Johnson’s.” After a while I got tired of correcting each person I encountered and just answered to Ms. Johnson. Matthew thought it was funny. Okay now about the breakfast. It was definitely all that I could have hoped it could be and more. Matthew had a great time. He loved the idea of eating in the castle and being able to look out over Disney World. We were served a bowl of fresh fruit and an assortment of chocolate muffins and croissants. Matthew loved the muffin and I definitely enjoyed the croissants. Matthew’s breakfast consisted of pancakes and bacon. I can’t tell you everything that was on my plate but I can tell you everything
thing that I ate. I had bacon, sausage links, eggs, and a delicious cream cheese filled apple pastry. I could have eaten at least two or three of them but I was stuffed after just the first plate. Matthew actually ate one of my sausages and ordered another plate of bacon. We were greeted by various Disney characters during our breakfast. Matthew loved them all. He took pictures and received autographs from Mary Poppins, Princess Aurora, Snow White, and Cinderella. We did not get an autograph from the Fairy Godmother because Matthew did not want to wait in line, but we did get her picture. I must say that Matthew said he really enjoyed this breakfast and would love to do it again.

After leaving the Castle we decided to do some rides. Our goal this year was to try to experience some things that we did not get to see during our last years trip and to do some rides that we had already done before too. First it was off the It’s a Small world. This ride is a nice way to relax. I like to see the detail that Disney puts into its attractions. Matthew likes it but it’s not one of his favorites. We then made our way to Peter Pan’s flight, which is a ride that we missed last time. Matthew loved it. He said it really felt like he was flying. Looked for and found the Haunted Mansion and after a short wait, maybe 5 minutes, we were on our way to a scary adventure. Again Matthew loved this ride. He said it was better than it was last year. Went to Splash Mountain and got fast passes since the line was quite long. Decided to do the Thunder Mountain railroad while we waited for our fast pass time. I really love this ride and Matthew does too. We were screaming and hollering through the whole ride. We had front row seats which really made the ride awesome. Went back to splash mountain and walked right on with our fast passes. I love the animation of this ride. Matthew just loves the fact that you can get wet. We did not get nearly as wet as we would have liked but we had a good time anyway. Decided that we would take a rest and go back to the hotel, but stopped to see the Hall of Presidents before we left. I really enjoyed the show and was surprised that Matthew liked it too. I asked him how it was and he said “Mom we learned that stuff in history already.” It’s nice to know that he actually pays attention in class. Before we left the park I brought postcards for the children that I had on my list and also a magnetic clip with Disney 2002 on it. Matthew brought a pair of black sunglasses that sort of remind you of the ones that Will Smith wore in the movie “Men in Black.” As we left Magic Kingdom we decided that we would ask attendant whether we could ride in front of monorail and to our surprise we were told “yes.” This was yet another magical moment for both
of us. The view was magnificent and well worth the wait.

Coming up next: “Upside down!!, you didn’t tell me we’d go upside down!”

[ 06-10-2002, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: Ursunique2001 ]

[September]

Great report...can't wait to see the rest!

By the way, how is Wick your "soon to be husband" but he doesn't know it yet?? (don't want to be nosy, but you did put it in [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] ) Could it be that you're going to ask him?!?!

[Ursunique2001]

September, He is actually talking about marriage now. A few years ago I could not even get him to think on it subject let alone talk about it. He doesn't know it yet, but I'm wearing him down, I'm wearing him down.

Okay I am kidding about the wearing him down part, but I do believe that he is starting to realize that i am the one. I can tell by his actions, and by his conversation that it's on his mind. I am trying to be patient and let him make the move. But who knows, if he takes too long I may have to get down on one knee and .......... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[tikibird]

Loved your revue of the Hoopty Doo! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Glad you enjoyed Cindy's Ms. Johnson [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] , and I'm with you on the croissants - even better than the chocolate muffins!

Looking forward to more.....

[Ursunique2001]

Thursday, May 30, 2002 ------- Day 2, Part 2

"Upside down!!, you didn't tell me we'd go upside down!"

For some reason I didn't make a note of lunch for today. I know we ate somewhere I just don't have any idea of where. Matthew wanted to try out the pool so we changed into our swimsuits and had some quality rest and relaxation. Actually Matthew played in the pool while I updated our trip report and filled out some postcards. I had about 16 children on my list of postcard requests and I managed to fill out about 10 or 11 before I got tired. While I was matching names to postcards, a fellow traveler admired one of the postcards I had purchased. It was a picture of Cinderella with a little girl sitting in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom. She asked me where I had found it, because she had been looking one like that for her childrens scrapbook. I decided to spread some magic and gave her one. I still ended up having a few extra after I mailed the last postcard so it worked out good. It's a nice feeling to do something special for someone, especially when that person really seems to appreciate the gesture. It is funny to watch the children at the pools and some of the things that they do. One little boy kept throwing his mothers sun block in the water. Another little boy started hollering and his mother thought that he had stepped on something or been bitten by a bug. Come to find out that his little feet where hot because the sun had made the area around the pool very hot. Thank God for the invention of pool shoes.

We stayed at the pool for about 2 hours and then went back to the room to change. I only needed to take a quick shower and then throw some clothes on since I had not gotten into the water. Matthew on the other hand needed his hair washed and had to take a good shower to make sure that we got all the chlorine off of him. He is letting his hair grow so that he can get braids so it is a real ordeal when it comes to washing his hair. I packed the hair dryer with the comb attachment specifically with him in mind.

After getting dressed I laid down for a while and let Matthew watch TV. We left for a quick dinner and then we were going back to the parks. Decided to eat at Shoneys on 192. The food was very good and the all you can eat salad bar was quite filling. I had liver and onions with mash potatoes and Matthew had chicken fingers with french fries. (Did you think he would order something else?). After we left Shoneys we went to MGM for the evening. It was about 7 pm now and I knew we would not be able to do a lot tonight. My main goal was to try to see Fantasmic. So we made our way to the Rock N Roller coaster ride. We did not get to do this ride on our last trip so I really wanted to try it this time. We decided to get fast passes for this ride and then went to Tower of Terror and stood in the stand-by line. It was really not a long wait. Maybe 15 - 20 minutes, although I think the time posted was actually longer. We both really love Tower of Terror. We sat in row 1 this time and had a blast. Matthew's facial expression on the picture was priceless. I did not purchase a picture, but I love to look to see how they came out. After Tower of Terror we made our way back to Rock N Roller Coaster. We still had about 15 minutes before our fast pass time so we just sat on the wall and did some people watching. I checked my messages at work, returned some calls and called Wick to pick with him to help pass the time. Finally it was time for our fast passes, and we were not disappointed at all. I am so glad that I finally got to experience this ride. Matthew and I screamed and hollered through the whole ride. He was like mom I didn't know that ride went upside down. I usually don't do upside down roller coasters but since this one was inside, I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. Another good thing was that I did not have to hold my glasses on thanks to a handy strap I had purchased from Walmart to hold my glasses in place. It was very handy and effective. As we were leaving this ride Matthew spotted some drum sticks that he wanted and he also saw a little drum. I told him that I did not have enough money with this time, but we could get it when we came back to this park during our trip.

Matthew and I made our way over to see Fantasmic and got some great seats. On the way it looked a little cloudy so I decided to get to rain ponchos, just in case. We were seated around 8:15 pm and just listened to the music and did some more people watching. The crowd starting doing the wave, which was fun up until about the 10th time they did it. As we were sitting there it started getting darker and darker, and windier and windier. We started feeling a drop here and a drop there and then came the announcement that the show would be delayed. I was like well Matthew we might as well just sit tight and see if the bad weather will pass. Well at around 9:15pm the skies opened up and it started pouring down raining. Thank God we got the ponchos, huh! Then they made the announcement that it would be canceled because of the weather. (I think I figured that out when it started lightening) So we made our way out of MGM and back to our car.

Decided to get some ice cream from the store at the hotel and turned in for the evening.

Coming next: "Oh, if I had the money!" Or "Lord, I need a little raise!"

[ 06-12-2002, 06:55 AM: Message edited by: Ursunique2001 ]

[tikibird]

Don't feel bad about Matthew just eating chicken strips - that's all Gonzo eats and he's 21! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Sorry to hear that Fantasmic got canceled, but kudos to you and Matt for braving R-n-R.

I'm enjoying your report and looking forward to the next installment.

[Ursunique2001]

Friday, May 31, 2002 ------- Day 3,

"Oh, if I had the money!" Or "Lord, I need a little raise!"

Today I was awaken by some loud awful music on the radio. Who set that alarm for 6:30 am? Oh that would be me. Well making a 7:30 ressie to tour the Sheraton sounded like a good idea two days ago. Okay so I drag myself out of the bed to the shower. And take a long, long, long shower to try to wake myself up. Then was the hardship of getting Matthew out of the bed. Now it was difficult at first until I reminded him that we would get $50 in Disney money just for going. His greed took over him and before I could say Disney he was out of the bed and in the bathroom. Got ourselves together and jumped in the car on our way to the Sheraton Vista Resorts. (Okay so I may have gotten the name wrong, but I know it was the Sheraton) After getting lost and having to make a few u-turns because I made the wrong turn we finally arrived at the Sheraton. The property is absolutely beautiful. Breakfast was nothing to write home about but it was filling. Matthew had cereal and orange juice. I had a donut and coffee. We were then greeted by one of the many sales representatives that were working that day. Matthew was able to go to the game room, which was well staffed, while I took a tour of the property. I must say that I was very impressed. We walked past the pool which had a man made waterfall in the middle. It was simply breathtaking and very relaxing even just to watch. I was then shown their three types of rooms which were a one bedroom, a two bedroom and a two bedroom lockoff. The resort rooms were fully furnished with washer, dryer, fridge, full stove, full bathrooms, etc. In the two bedrooms there was a Jacuzzi in the master bedroom. Every room had its own sun porch and included all the amenities from home. They almost looked like apartments. The colors schemes and decorations were magnificent. By the time he finished showing me around I was actually trying to figure out how I could possibly afford this. It is on the premise of a timeshare but they do offer you much much more. One thing that I liked was the fact that your ownership is fully transferable and can be given to someone else as a gift or sold to them. I started thinking “Lord I need a little raise.” After fighting the urge I calmly declined the offer. I knew that I could not afford it at this time and I did not want to get in over my head. I was given a voucher to claim my $50 in Disney money from the cashier and after collecting it I retrieved my son from the game room. He said he had a great time and the staff was very nice.

Now it was off the Universal Studios. It is about 11 am now and it is already quite hot. We park at Universal’s parking lot. Okay I have a complaint here. Why do you have to pay $8 for parking, which is $2 more than Disney, and then you have to walk forever just to get to the
entrance. They do have those electronic walkways, but we still had to walk a long way just to get to one of them. That said, after we walked for what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the park. Before entering Universal Studios, we decided to grab a meal at NASCAR. I did not notice this place the last time we were here, probably because I was so tired. I loved the set up of the restaurant and the food was quite good, too. We ordered the wings as an appetizer. Thank goodness we did not order the spicy wings, because the mild were quite spicy. Matthew had chicken fingers and french fries. (Are you seeing a pattern here) and I had a hamburger and fries. I had to practically force myself to eat the whole hamburger. It was good, but I just did not have a huge appetite. This would be the way it was for our whole trip, I would eat very little and Matthew would eat like I had never fed him before. While we were there the monitors came on and one of the little boys from another table was able to say live on the TV “gentlemen start your engines.” I could not figure out whether it was just being broadcasted there or whether it was actually on TV but it was fun. The cars that were overhead started up and ran at full throttle for about 5 minutes, maybe longer. It was really fun and Matthew said he would like to go back there again.

After we finished eating it was on to Universal Studios. Our last trip we were so exhausted that
we did not get to do much of anything, so this trip we decided to do this park earlier in our trip. We took some pictures in front of the big ball and then entered the park. We decided we would come back to Nickelodeon since it was so close to the entrance. We got an express pass of
Hanna Barbera which would not be good for a few hours so it was on to Twister. We did this
ride last year and it was just as thrilling as the first time. I made sure I took a picture on the way in of the station wagon. Matthew’s father has a station wagon like it and I pick with him that they used his car as one of the props. This time we were standing right up front so we were able to see and feel everything this time. Then it was on to Kongfrontation, which was scarey but fun. Matthew screamed and hollered, it was hilarious to see his facial expressions. We then made our way to Earthquake. I have never experienced a real earthquake and personally this is as close to
one as I would like to get. The ride was fun and well worth the wait. We decided to track over
to Jaws and as we were standing in line the storm clouds started moving in. I was a little scared
that they would have to stop this ride, since it is an outside attraction, but everything went okay. Our tour guide was very convincing in her role and did a great job of scaring us. We decided to get express passes for Men in Black and then stood in the line for Back to the future. Back to the Future is a fun ride, but I must warn you if you have back problems this is not the ride for you. This ride is very bumpy and you get thrown around a whole lot. It is not time for our express passes so we decide to get a snack while we wait. Matthew buys a pretzel that is enough for about 3 people to eat and a soda. I saw a funnel cake stand near the Jaws ride so we track back to there and I get funnel cake and a soda. We sit and do some people watching while we enjoy our snacks. Matthew tries out my funnel cake and for a change he actually likes it. After we finish we make our way over to Men in Black. We both give this ride a thumbs up. Matthew ended up with like 267,000 points and I had about 130,000. He was so glad that he got more points than me. As we exited this ride into the MIB store, we noticed that the skies had opened up and it was now pouring down raining. Guess where our ponchos are??? In the car! So we run to the
lockers to get our stuff out and then after waiting for about 15 - 20 minutes we decided we might as well start walking. As we started our track back to the entrance it began to rain harder and harder. By the time we got to the parking lot it had slacked up to a light drizzle, but we were already soaked. We did not realize that we missed Nickelodeon until after we had left. Oh well, another reason to return to Florida. It was now about 4 p.m. and we decided that we would go back to the hotel and dry off. Matthew wanted to get into the pool, but the weather did not look good so he watched TV and played with his toys while I took a nap.

I had made a 8 p.m. PS for Chef Mickey’s for tonight and we decided to drive over for that. Finding the Contemporary resort was very easy, again we just followed the signs. We took some pictures of the lobby and then caught the elevator up. Matthew was caught off guard when the elevator starting talking in the voice of Mickey. He started laughing and could not stop. We were a little early for our PS, so we browsed the gift shops before making our way over the Chef
Mickey’s. Matthew loved the dinner menu and the character interaction. I noticed that Minnie Mouse was not here. I know she was here last year, but I guess she is no longer featured for this meal. Even without Minnie, we had a great time. Matthew loved the chicken fingers, of course and had fun fooling around with Goofy. After dinner we made our way back to the hotel and
watch TV before falling off to sleep.

Coming next: “Catch the wave, Dude!”

[ 06-13-2002, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: Ursunique2001 ]

[tikibird]

Enjoyed hearing about Universal, now I am more excited about going there! I, too, think MIB is a great ride.

The Vistana sounds very nice. Since it is Sheraton, do you just buy into that site, or can you use others, as well?

Sounds like a water park coming up - looking forward to hearing about it!

[Ursunique2001]

Tikibird, the Sheraton was absolutely breathtaking. They have another property that is about 2 - 3 miles away that they are showing off too. Okay from what I remember this is how the plan works. You purchase whichever type of bedroom you want for either peak or off peak season. You are not locked into a specific week every year so it makes your vacation a little more flexible. If you purchased a 2-bedroom and for your vacation you only require a one bedroom you probably could get up to two weeks for the price of just one by downgrading your ressie to a one bedroom. They have these resorts in 9 other places around the world, including either the Bahamas or Jamaica (I can't remember which one). You could choose to vacation there instead. They also own various chains including, Sheraton, and Westin Hotels. There are 3 other that I can't remember but you are able to use your week at one of these hotels also. Depending on where you want to stay, you could end up getting up to 14 days for your vacation. Because Florida (Disney) is a hot destination, you are almost guaranteed that if you wanted to go somewhere different you could. They are in the first phase of development there and have completed the first section. They are now beginning development on the second section.

[Ursunique2001]

Saturday, June 1, 2002 ------- Day 4

"Catch the wave, Dude!"

Today was our first water park day so we decided to sleep a little late. I woke up around 8:45 am and got myself geared up into my swim wear and then woke Matthew up. We arrived at Typhoon Lagoon at 9:40 am and parked. I was happily surprised that the parking was free at the water parks. We went and got a small locker and I purchased a waterproof case to carry our money and locker key in. We found a good space for our stuff (his shirt and my cover up) and then made our way into the Surf Pool.


This was so much fun. Let me first say that I hate the beach. I love water but I hate the sand and having to fight to get it off of me at the end of the day, but I actually loved this pool. The waves were very strong and even if you did not venture out you could get a nice push from them.

We were in the surf pool for about an hour. Okay Matthew was in it for about an hour, I stayed in about 20 minutes before I decided to go sit and relax. I finally coaxed Matthew out of the Surf Pool and we decided to try a few other rides there. Our next stop was the Gang Plank Falls. I loved this ride, Matthew was not as enthused. I think it is because he likes to do the rides by himself. It was fun and we definitely got a good soaking. After this we decided to try out the Storm Slides. Now I am very apprehensive about slides, especially body slides, because I have a lot of body. But this was a great ride. Matthew loved it so much that he did it twice.



The only thing was that I was not ready for the dump off. Be prepared at the end and hold your nose so you won't take in excess water. After Matthew did it for the second time we decided to try Humunga Kowabunga, which from the bottom looked like a great ride. I got to the top and was promptly told that I could not wear my water shoes or my glasses. I had worn both on the other slide and I had a strap on the glasses to make sure that they would not come off. I asked the girl could I keep them on since I had this strap on and she told me NO. So I told Matthew to go down and I would follow in the tube after him. Well I stepped up to the tube and looked down and that was it. I was like there is no way in the world I am going down in that thing. It looked like I would be jumping straight down, and I just could not do it. I turned around and started back down the steps when the CM told another rider to be sure they held on to their sunglasses. I wonder now if she told me I had to take them off because they were prescription glasses and therefore were a necessity. Okay so Matthew is waiting for me down the bottom and he spots me on the steps. When I get to the bottom he says you couldn't do it could you mom. I was truthful and told him no.

Our next stop was Shark Reef. Matthew absolutely hated this and I doubt if he will do it again in the near future. When we got into the water he started taking in salt water and he was struggling to keep his head out of the water. I must say that looking back on this situation, it probably would have helped if the CM had of come over to him and tried to help him get his equipment to work rather than hollering over him to stop kicking his feet and stop trying to talk. He was trying to talk because he was taking in salt water and was panicking. Okay so the first time I saw a few fish but I was so worried about him making it across that I did not get to see much. So after we made it across, I did it again. This time I took my time and actually saw a lot of different types of fish. It was a very peaceful and calming environment. After I got out the second time, I tried to reassure Matthew that it was okay and that if he not want to try it again it would still be okay. One thing I do recommend is for you to get the life vest. Even if you are a strong swimmer, it is much more relaxing if you do not have to worry about holding yourself up on top of the water. Our next stop was the Castaway Creek where we floated and relaxed and got dowsed by some water falls. We decided that we were hungry now and went to the Leaning Palms for our breakfast/lunch. On our way there we happened to bump into Pluto.


Matthew had the chicken sandwich and fries (not chicken fingers, but close) and I had the chili dog and fries. The only complaint I had was with all the birds in this area. I realize that they have to eat to, but it is quite unnerving to try to eat while you are wondering whether you are going to be attacked by some aggressive birds. I guess they were mad that we were not dropping anything down for them because midway through my meal one decided to give me a gift. I was like how gross. Matthew as usual thought it was funny. Well after the meal we made it back to the Surf Pool.


I first sat in one of the chairs just watching and then scoped out a nice seat on one of the rocks. This seat allowed me to get nice and wet but to also relax at the same time.



We stayed at Typhoon Lagoon til about 2 pm and then made our way back to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel, Matthew actually wanted to know could he get into the pool. I was like Matthew you've been in water all day. He still could not understand why he could not get in. We changed and I laid down and relaxed for about an hour before starting out to Magic Kingdom.

We had a 7:20 pm PS for Crystal Palace so around 5 pm we made our way back to Magic Kingdom. We decided to do a few rides in Tomorrowland since we had the time. We got a fast pass for Buzz Lightyear and then made our way to Alien Encounter. The wait was about 10 minutes and then we were loaded into the ship for our fantastic adventure. We both really enjoy this ride and no matter how many times we go on we still cringe when the alien shows up. We decided to try the tomorrowland transit authority. We did not get to ride it last time but it was a nice ride and a nice way to just sit and relax a little. It was now time for our Buzz Lightyear fast passes. Matthew thinks this ride is so much fun and loves to try to shoot all the bad guys. Matthew did not want to do the speedway. He said he did not like how the cars handled and did not want to wait in the long line for such a short ride. All the fast passes were gone for Space Mountain so we decided we would try to do it some other time. It was now about 6:30 and we decided to make our way over to Crystal Palace when we noticed the characters all assembled at the Castle. We happened to walk up midway through Cinderella's surprise celebration. We stopped to watch and Matthew really enjoyed it. He especially loved when Captain Hook and Peter Pan came out.

After watching the celebration we made it over to Crystal Palace and was seated in less than 10 minutes. Let me back up and say that some strange things had happened this day that I thought was quite funny. The reason we went to a water park earlier in the day was to avoid the crowd in magic kingdom. Now, as most people know, today was Gay Day 2002 and just about everyone who was participating in the event wore red tee-shirts. Well guess what I had on and Matthew had on when we got dressed for the park that evening. If you guessed red tee-shirts then you win the no dollar prize. As we were riding the monorail, it dawned on me then okay I goofed, but at this point I really did not care



Okay now back to Crystal Palace...as we were waiting to be seated there were two guys sitting across from us with Minnie hats that had the little flower sticking out. Matthew is so funny because he was like mom they really must like Minnie a lot. Okay I thought it was funny and I told him that he should not ever be scared to be himself. Then I quickly diverted him to another subject. After we were seated we had a great time greeting Pooh, Tiger, Eeyore, and Piglet. Each character came over and they were really great with Matthew.



Our server was also just a great. We stayed and mingled with the characters, and ate some very good food. They did not have chicken fingers but had chicken nuggets and that was just as good to Matthew. After we left Crystal Palace we decided to do some more rides. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean again and was able to walk right on. We were going to do the Tiki Room again but it had closed for the evening. Made a mental note that this ride has set hours, so that we would not miss it again. After getting off the Pirates of the Caribbean we happened to walk up on a great spot for the parade that was right at the end of the parade. We waited about 20 minutes for the parade to reach us and oohed and ahhed through the whole thing. Matthew and I enjoyed it last year and enjoyed it just as much this year.



After the parade we decided to leave before the fireworks started since I knew that afterwards it would be a madhouse. We did get to see some of the fireworks while on the monorail so we didn't totally miss them. Got back to the hotel, got some ice cream from the lite bite store and turned in for some TV and relaxation.

Coming up next, "Greetings and Salutations"

[ 06-16-2002, 08:54 PM: Message edited by: Ursunique2001 ]

[Irenaroo]

Ursula, great report so far. I laughed when you wrote that Matt was on notice that he may not make it to Disney if he didn't shape up. DH uses this line on my kids all the time, the equivalant to "Santa's watching" in December. The kids just look at me as if " Duh, Dad knows that you are more excited for this than we are! He wouldn't dare cancel!" So glad Matthew made it to Disney!! Congrats on your graduation. Keep writing!

[Mel & Richard]

Originally posted by tikibird:
Don't feel bad about Matthew just eating chicken strips - that's all Gonzo eats and he's 21! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] That just cracked me up! I have to remember to mention that to my Mom who when I was about 10 and tried to order my usual cheeseburger meal at a pretty nice Mexican restaurant decided she'd had enough... I became much more adventurous after that!

I am really enjoying this trip report!

Mel