Spring Break '05 Family Vacation - Updated - The Voyage Home About This Page:

[TheGoof]

The Spring Break ’05 Family Vacation

Dates: Friday April 22, 2005 – Monday May 2, 2005

Participants:
Disneyphile’s Wife (Trip # 13 )
TheGoof (15)
MaxGoof (13)

Hotels:
Hampton Inn Stony Creek Virginia (4/22)
Animal Kingdom Lodge (4/23 – 4/30)
Hampton Inn Florence South Carolina (4/30)
Hampton Inn White March Maryland (5/1)

I had been planning this trip for some time, and had continued to try to find airfare, right up until the end, that was reasonable, but never did. So we opted to drive down for our 3rd straight Spring Break trip.

In preparation for the trip, I had purchased 7 day MYM hopper passes for Disneyphile's Wife and MaxGoof, and an Annual Pass for myself. We had originally booked at Port Orleans French Quarter, but had upgraded to AKL, when AP rates became available. We had tried, to no avail, to get a good rate for a room at Wilderness Lodge, which is our favorite resort. POFQ would have been fine, but being Pooh sized people we prefer to have a queen size bed, to a double bed.

Since we had the AP for me, we also purchased a Disney Dining Experience membership.

Originally Disneyphile’s Wife and I had planned on both taking Friday 4/22 off and the plan had been to head back the following Friday / Saturday. However upon further analysis, we changed the plan, we both took Monday 5/2 off, and I took the Friday as well. This gave us an extra park day, and the plan was now to come home on Saturday / Sunday.

So Friday 4/22 came along, and I spent the day getting the car (a Saturn L200 sedan) ready for the trip. Oil Change, and Car wash, etc. Then finish packing and loading the car. I spent a lot of time working out the best way to have access to the various entertainment options for the car, as well as our new electric cooler for drinks.

We have a DVD player in the car, and I also installed the PS2.

Had hoped to get some work done on cleaning the house, but didn’t get very far with that. MaxGoof got home and was soon followed by Disneyphile’s Wife. After she got cleaned up, changed etc., we hit the road from home in NJ around 7pm.

As the driver, I usurped the entertainment option for the start of the trip, and listened to the Mets game, until we got out of range.

The first night’s trip was mostly uneventful, although late; we pulled into the Hampton Inn in Virginia about 3:30am.

We got up and got out about 9am in the morning. Had a quick bite at the hotel's morning breakfast, which was decent. They had eggs and Sausage gravy, so Disneyphile’s Wife was happy. MaxGoof ate some cereal. I had some breakfast bars that we had brought with us, while I re-arranged some things in the car.

The trip was again uneventful. Disneyphile’s Wife rode in the back with MaxGoof. They had some fun using some Crayola Window Markers, and we watched Singing in the Rain, Oklahoma and The King and I, and Short Circuit on the DVD player. We have found that musicals help to keep me awake on long drives, better then action movies do. This is because in a musical the story is mostly conveyed by the music, but an action movie is very visual, and you can’t watch and drive.

We made it to Downtown Disney by 10pm, went straight to Guest Services to activate my Annual pass, before heading over to Animal Kingdom Lodge to check in. Since the car was loaded with gadgets, and obviously so, we did not stay at DD very long.

When we got to AKL, we pulled up, and Bell Services helped me unload the car and all of the various paraphernalia went onto a luggage cart. I went ahead and parked, then went in to check in.

I waited a short time for an available CM to assist with checkin. I handed her my confirmation slip, as well as my activated pass, credit information etc. I asked about our request for a bunk bed room, and was told that there were none available. Oh well, it wasn’t a necessity, and I understand that they are not guaranteed, MaxGoof was disappointed though, since he loves sleeping on a bunk bed, top bunk.

I wasn’t surprised though, since I knew it was a long shot, with arriving so late. We then had to deal with a whole list of problems with getting our keys right. The CM was new, and this was her first night soloing.

She started to create the keys, excused herself and went into a back room, for several minutes. When she came back she explained that it only showed that we had purchased 2 MYM passes, and since there were 3 of us we needed a third, but that she had taken care of that. I explained that since I had an AP, we did not purchase park tickets for me, and that we don’t need to buy an extra pass.

So she went into the back room for a time, then came back, out saying, ok, I have that straightened out. While she was in the room I noticed that she had on the paperwork just automatically set them up as allowing for charging to the room. Although I thought that should have been a question, not a basic assumption, I did want that on my wife and my keys, but not on my 10yo son’s key. So I asked if she had put charging privileges on his, to which she replied that they don’t on children’s. Well, since he is 10, and the key says adult, I asked if she was sure, and so back she went into the back room.

Several minutes go by, and she comes back out and says, she will generate a new key for DS. So now, concerned, I ask are you sure that the MYM passes are on my wife and son’s keys? So back she goes into the back room, and another few minutes goes by, and she comes out and then has to produce 3 more keys.

Now she was a very pleasant lady, who was clearly not yet ready to be soloing. Admittedly, this may have been a bit of an unusual situation. I felt bad for her; she told me that in the back room she was phoning support. It seems to me that there should be a manager on duty there at the hotel to assist with this sort of problem. It was quite late, and frankly we wasted about 45 minutes checking in, after driving all day, and during that time our dining options dwindled. We went to our room, number 5364 for those that know the AKL layout. The room was comfortable enough, and clean.

We called down to bell services and had our luggage brought to our room, and then started to try and figure out what to do for a late dinner. It was just after 11, so the restaurants were all closed. That left us with the option of room service or going out for dinner. DS was exhausted and did not want to go out, so we wanted to order room service. Except that we did not have a room service menu.

So we called the front desk and asked about that. They sent up a menu and several other standard documents that were not in the room.

So we ordered from room service, a couple of hamburgers, and a Caesar Salad. A short while later it was delivered, we ate quickly, and off to bed.

[Joy J]

Sorry that your trip got off to a bit of a rough start with your check-in at AKL. We too had problems with the front desk CM when we checked into AKL in Aug/03. I hope the rest of your stay there went a lot more smoothly.

Joy

[Tara O'Hara]

Gosh, so do I! That is my absolute favorite place and I sure hope you enjoy it!!

[Cinderbrella]

Great start to your report!! I'm glad that your drive down was uneventful. Sorry about the lengthy check-in!! It sounds like you guys were very understanding with her. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

[MAria R]

Great start, it was good that you asked so many questions checking in, at least you walked away with hopefully everything correct.

[TheGoof]

Day 1 – Lights, Motor, Action!

I woke up relatively early on Sunday morning around 8:30am. The first thing I did was peek out the window to see what our balcony looked liked. I wasn’t expecting to be able to see much, since we had paid for a “Standard View” room, and if we were upgraded our newbie CM failed to mention it.

I was surprised to see 5 giraffes walking by. While we did not have a view of a Savannah, what we were looking at was a roadway and what I guess was a walkway for the animals between two areas. The giraffes in question were walking off to our right. Disneyphile’s Wife got out of bed in time to see, MaxGoof was harder to get moving and missed them.

Over the course of the week, we saw more giraffes and a few Ostriches as well as other birds.

Now I have to admit, this was fairly cool. So for those of you out there that are really into animals, I can see why AKL delights. For us though, after the initial novelty of it that first morning, it really held no interest. For us, we will never pay for a Savannah room, as for the most part we spent little time in the room, except to sleep. And when we were in the room the curtains were closed.

Both Disneyphile’s Wife and MaxGoof went right back to bed, and I went and performed my morning routine. As we had been up pretty late, I let both of them sleep, so when I was all dressed, I took a book out on the balcony and read.

A while later MaxGoof woke up and came out and joined me, playing his Gameboy. I think he did get to see a few animals at that point. Not too long after, Disneyphile’s Wife got up.

While Disneyphile’s Wife was in the shower, I confirmed that we did not have any form of Internet Access for her. (We don’t have a dial up account, so that doesn’t count.) She went through severe withdrawal over the course of the week, as she could not do her daily surf.

Once she was ready, we went down and checked out the hotel.

What I am about to say will be considered to be sacrilege to some of the Passporters. We found that AKL is certainly nice, it is comfortable, and we had no complaints about the resort itself at all. We enjoyed our stay here. But the themeing, while very well done, did not resonate with our family. We found ourselves pretty much agreeing that while AKL is a very nice resort, given an option, we would have preferred to be at Wilderness Lodge. Something about WL, simply put, speaks directly to my soul. Walking around WL, I can literally feel the stress falling off of me, in a way that AKL simply does not do.

In no way do I mean to impugn AKL, I can see why so many Passporters have fallen in love with it, it is very well done.

Anyway, we decided that we needed to have a quick bite before we headed over to MGM for the day. After a couple of false starts, we found our way to Mara, the food court option at AKL. MaxGoof was happy with a PopTart, sugar free Jello, and some chips. He called it heaven. Disneyphile’s Wife had another Caesar Salad, and I had a pre-made roast beef sandwich on some multi-grain bread.

I should probably mention that my wife and I have been on a low carb diet for several months now, which has been working quite well for us. We still have a long way to go though, and we were trying to be good, although not fanatic about it during the whole week. Towards that end though, we tried to avoid the counter service restaurants as much as possible, although not entirely, through the week.

I think the hardest thing was watching MaxGoof eat an ice cream…

Once we got done eating, MaxGoof asked if he could check out the playground. We said yes, but that he could not stay there, because we needed to get over to MGM. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually found it on the other side of the pool, which he checked out as well. We let him play on it for a few minutes and then we went off to find the bus stop.

When we got to MGM, we found out that they were doing a preview performance of Lights, Motor, Action! at 3pm this afternoon. I was very pleased as I had really wanted the opportunity to see this new show. We had some time before that, so we headed over to Star Tours. Star Tours is one of my all-time favorite attractions, and both Disneyphile’s Wife and MaxGoof enjoy it as well. On our way over, we made a cell phone call to FanofMickey, whom I knew was planning on being at MGM that day with her niece and nephew. I got her voice mail, and left a message. A short time later, she called me back, and we decided to meet in front of Lights, Motor, Action, around 2:30.

We got into Star Tours with relatively little wait, and then it was time to head over to the Lights, Motor, Action entrance. A bit later, FanofMickey and her family showed up and we went on in to enjoy the preview showing.

Disney has definitely hit a homerun with this show. I don’t really know how to describe it, and I wish I had my video camera with me that day, but I hadn’t taken it to the park. The show is supposed to be the filming of auto stunts for a movie. It features souped up cars, and motorcycles. The hero in the movie drives a red car, and the villains all drive black cars. They film several chase scenes, including one they dub the auto ballet. In this chase scene, the hero car is chased by around 5 villain cars, and they are constantly doing 360’s in synchronized motion. There was often very little margin for error, and it was very cool.

In addition, there are car and motorcycle jumps. Needless to say, this is going to be a major hit.

MaxGoof and Fan’s nephew seemed to hit it off, despite a 4 year difference in their ages.

After the show, MaxGoof wanted to hit the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Since both FanofMickey’s nephew and niece are a little old for playgrounds, we parted ways, knowing we would see them again Wed at Tony Town Square if not sooner.

After MaxGoof got tired of the playground, we went over and enjoyed The Muppet Vision 3D.

We stopped at the little stationary, coffee shop near the Sci Fi restaurant. I was looking for a small binder, to use to be the Bank Ledger for MaxGoofs souvenir money. We basically gave him $50 as a starting amount. He could earn additional money, with good behavior, $5 for getting up, dressed and out the door without arguments. $2.50 if he did not lose money before 2pm, $2.50 if he did not lose money the rest of the day.

He could lose money for various things, most notably being snotty, and also wandering off.

This plan actually worked out quite well for us.

I did find a pack of notepads, so I picked them up.

We had a Priority Seating Ressie for the Fantasmic! dinner package for 6pm at Hollywood and Vine. So we headed on over there. There was a pretty good line for people with Priority Seatings, but we decided to sit and wait.

Soon it was our turn, and we were taken in to our seat.

Hollywood and Vine is a buffet meal. Although it used to have characters, they have not been there for a while now. It is a fairly standard buffet, so if you like buffets it’s fine. We like them, and more importantly we also like the Fantasmic! dinner package, because we like not having to wait far in advance of the show. Although the seats are not the best seats in the house, we don’t feel that any seat is a bad seat at Fantasmic!.

At the buffet, I had a couple of servings of peel and eat shrimp. We tried a chicken dish which was tasty. In addition they had a very good salmon dish, and a carving station with some kind of steak.

After dinner we had some time so we went and listened to the show “Sounds Dangerous”. I always get a kick out of this show. The premise is that it is a new reality show for TV. The hostess introduces us to a real life Private Investigator (played by Drew Carey) and the show is to follow him around on a real case. Unfortunately the PI is inept and he damages the micro camera right away, and much of the rest of the show is in the dark. You actually wear headsets during this, and the rest of the show is an example of how stereo sound can be used to effectively tell a story.

After this we headed over to the Fantasmic! dinner party entrance at the front of the park and got our seats for the show. Fantasmic is the nighttime show at MGM. It is a combination of live action, cut with video projected on a water screen, and lights, music and fireworks. We think it’s the best of the 3 night shows for the various parks.

After the show, since this was an Extra Magic Hours night for MGM, we went to do a few more things. First we went over and did The Great Movie Ride. MaxGoof enjoyed the Gene Kelley scene, since he had just been introduced to Singing in the Rain on the trip down. He also recognized several other scenes this time around, that he had not in the past.

After this, we went to do The Little Mermaid. We had a bit of a wait for the next show, so we went into the animation studio’s store to drool over cells. I had a nice chat with one of the CM’s, after making it clear I was not buying today, as the animation art was all outside of my budget.

When it was time, we headed over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and watched this show. It is the story of Ariel, told through the key songs. Ariel is a live performer, and Eric and his dog make an appearance as well. The rest of the characters are puppets that are manipulated by people wearing all black, the stage is lit in black light, and the characters are fluorescent so they are in vivid color.

From here, Disneyphile’s Wife decided she was done, so she headed on out. MaxGoof an I on the other hand, headed straight back over to Star Tours, and rode that a couple of times.

By this time, Extra Magic Hours were coming to an end, so MaxGoof an I went off and found a bus back to AKL.

We got back to the room uneventfully, and got ready for bed, and off to sleep.

[lauren-roxy]

Grat update! Sounds like you had a good time at MGM! Can't wait to read more!!

[Nala]

Great start! Sounds like other than check in you are all having a good time! Can't wait for more.

[DrDolphin]

Sounds like you had a great day at MGM

[Caldercup]

I'm sorry that AKL didn't delight (I will refrain from throwing rotten fruit since I feel the same way about the Polynesian and was worried about taking heat for that in my last trip report!)

You've made a terrific start to your trip report and I can't wait to read more...
Eileen

[Cinderbrella]

Great update!! Looking forward to more!!

[TheGoof]

Day 2 – An Illuminating Cruise


We had set a wake up call for 8am and I got up, showered. Disneyphile’s Wife got up shortly after, and I managed to get MaxGoof moving. We decided to see if we could get in to Boma’s for breakfast.

We headed down, and checked at the podium, and were able to get a table fairly quickly.

Boma’s breakfast is a buffet. They have standard breakfast buffet fare, as well as some more exotic items. Between us we tried a number of things, but none of the exotic things. The bacon was good, and there was both crispy and chewy, although it was all combined together, so you had to pick through for which you like. (I like crispy, Disneyphile’s Wife likes chewy.)

We did not care for the sausage. The waffles were pretty much waffles. The French Toast was a little different, it had raisons, and I’m not quite sure what else, but it was tasty.

Disneyphile’s wife tells me that the omelet made to order was quite good, and I can say that the Scrambled Eggs were fine.

We also had some fresh fruit, and whipped cream which was nice. MaxGoof was not interested, and ate a single bowl of cereal, thank goodness he is still considered a child here! It was an expensive bowl of cereal either way, at buffet prices.

I used my Disney Dining Experience email, and saved about $8 for this meal. A good start.

When we finished up, we headed over to the bus station and waited for the next bus. Originally our plan had been to go to Animal Kingdom and then Epcot, we were running a little late though, so we decided we would go on whichever one came first. As it turned out, Animal Kingdom showed up first.

So off to AK we went.

Now Animal Kingdom is not our favorite park (sorry Nala!) but there are a few things we do like here. Most notable is Festival of the Lion King. Except maybe for Cirque Du Soliel this is the best show on Disney property. So we headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey and waded through the crowds to get there.

After Timon kicked everyone out of the theatre, we then headed over to Dinoland. MaxGoof loves The Boneyard. When we got there, MaxGoof asked the first CM he came across if Nora was there. When MaxGoof and I were there in December, he had a wonderfully magical moment when after helping Nora dry the slides off after a rain storm, she gave him a fastpass for Primeval Whirl. Unfortunately it was Nora’s day off, so we did not get to see her.

When MaxGoof had had enough, we started over towards Primeval Whirl. On our way, though we saw that Lucky the dinosaur was on his way out, and decided to wait for the show. A few minutes later, we could see him walking down the street. Chester and Hester, the “owners” of Dinoland introduced him as there baby. While not a “major” attraction, Lucky was amusing.

Afterward, MaxGoof and I went and rode Primeval Whirl, meanwhile, Disneyphile’s Wife went to watch Tarzan Rocks. After our ride, DS decided he wanted to try to win a stuffed animal. I tried to talk him out of it, but to no avail.

So $20 later, he did finally win a small dragon like critter.

MaxGoof and I went over to the exit of Tarzan Rocks and sat and waited for the show to end and Disneyphile’s Wife to come out. Soon enough she did and we decided that it was time to head on out.

Tonight was the night that we had arranged to meet Mom2my4dwarfs and her family. She had set up an Illuminations Cruise, and we were to meet her at the Boardwalk dock. It was still early, but we decided to head on over, and check out the boardwalk and try to find something to eat there.

We hopped on a bus, and discovered that the busses for Boardwalk stop at the Swan, Dolphin, Yacht and Beach clubs before they get to Boardwalk. We were amazed; I can’t imagine spending the dollars that these resorts charge and having to stop at 5 stops wherever you go to. That was one major plus to AKL, it has its own bus.

Anyway we eventually go to the Boardwalk. We stopped and asked the woman at the bicycle rental booth were the dock was for the Illuminations Cruise, so we knew where to meet Mom2my4dwarfs. Then we took a walk and checked out the restaurants along the way.

After checking the various menus we decided on Big River Grille and Brewery. It seemed to have the best options for MaxGoof, and frankly non of the other places were jumping at us, in addition the wait times were long. Big River Grille we were able to be seated immediately. Although we did not try any of the beer, we did enjoy our meal here. I had a NY strip, which was cooked nicely, along with a decent side salad. Disneyphile’s Wife had the Atlantic Salmon, and the Beer and Cheese Soup, and a glass of Cabernet. She enjoyed her meal, but she did indicate that the Cheese Soup while good, did not compare with the cheese soup at Le Cellier.

Big River Grille is not part of the Disney Dining Experience, so we were not able to use it here.

When we finished eating, we walked back to the other side of the boardwalk, to the ESPN Arcade. We still had about 1.5 hours to kill before we were to meet with Mom2my4dwarfs and we thought MaxGoof would enjoy some arcade time.

When we got there we realized that there were no tables or anyplace for Disneyphile’s wife to relax while our son played, so after a few minutes, she took her leave and went back to the center of the boardwalk and found a nice shady place to comfortably relax and read her book. I gave MaxGoof some coins and let him have at it. There really are not a lot of games in here, and quite a few of them are 1$ a pop, so we got tired of it fairly quickly.

We headed back and found Disneyphile’s Wife. MaxGoof found a map, and discovered that there was actually a second arcade. (I had noticed it myself when using the restrooms, and was not planning on going there.) Anyway he had to check it out, so off he and I went, and it was even smaller then the ESPN one, and he played one game and then we went back to my wife.

Soon it was time, so we headed over to the dock, and a little while later, I saw a Mother and Father with 2 girls and 2 boys, and so I asked “Mom2my4dwarfs?” and she responded “The Goof?” and we had found each other. Introductions all around, and then we went on down to check out the boat we thought was for our cruise. Turns out that there was some miscommunication, and that our boat was docked over at the Yacht Club dock. They radioed over however, and in a few minutes our boat had crossed the lake and was docked at the Boardwalk.

We climbed on board, and had to go back over to the Yacht club, to get life jackets for the kids.

The 4 adults sat in the back by the driver, and the 5 kids sat up front. The 2 girls and MaxGoof are similar in ages, and the spent the entire time chatting.

That accomplished, we were given a tour, the boat headed off toward MGM. The driver pointed out the sites as we went on our slow trip down the river toward MGM. Then we headed back up the river, and more sites to see as we now headed toward Epcot for Illuminations.

When we got there we parked under the bridge between the UK and France. This provided a perfect view of the Word Showcase Lagoon. The show soon began, and we all very much enjoyed it, with a perfect, unobstructed view, it was sensational.

When it was over, we lingered for a few minutes, and then headed back over to the Boardwalk dock.

We really enjoyed this time. Mom2my4dwarfs, THANK YOU!

We said our goodbyes, and headed back to the bus depot. Since there are no busses directly from the Boardwalk to Animal Kingdom Lodge we had to either go to MK or Downtown Disney and transfer. We decide to head over to MK, which was still open.

Again we had to go through 5 stops before we got there, and Wishes was on as we were pulling up.

Security was a little different then usual, they did not have them at the tables, they had them standing at the entry gate lines, instead. As we got into line, Disneyphile’s wife proclaims that her bags zipper broke! This is not a good thing, since you have to open the bag for security! She gave it to me, and I was able to break the zipper open so that the security guard would able to see in it.

We headed straight back to Splash Mountain, and MaxGoof an I rode it two times. The 2nd time, we did not even have to get out, since no one was waiting, they just let us stay on. We could have actually done so a 3rd time, but since my wife was waiting we decided not to.

The park was now closing, and MaxGoof was finally hungry. Casey’s Corner was open, so I picked up a hotdog for him.

We went back to the bus depot, which was very crowded. A bus for AKL came by, and we got on, at the end of a long line. We did get on the bus but had to stand the entire way. AKL is a long way from the Magic Kingdom, and we vowed that from now on if it seems to be that kind of crowded, we will wait for the next bus.

Exhausted as we were we made it back to AKL and off to bed.

[lauren-roxy]

Sounds like a wonderful time, especially the Illuminations Cruise!!! Can't wait to read more!!!

[amanda31599]

The Illuminations Cruise sounds like such fun! I am enjoying catching up on your TR.

[Colexis Mom]

Just catching up with your report Glad you had a great time, especially on the cruise More please