From: ktk@capybara.nas.nasa.gov (Katy T. Kislitzin)
Subject: WDW Honeymoon Travelogue (Longish)
Organization: NAS Program, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 00:36:51 GMT

Hello Disneyphiles,

We recently returned from our honeymoon, which included a week at Walt
Disney World.  Here is a synopsis of our trip, for your reading
pleasure.  Opinions and comments are buried within the itinerary.
Enjoy!

--kt

Wednesday -- arrived around 10 pm from the west coast;
Checked in to find wrong room reservation; after some
complaining, found out we could get lagoon view beginning the next day
for rest of trip (6 nights); turns out they gave us this excellent
room with concierge service for $129/night!  We were in samoa with a
beautiful lagoon view of the Grand Floridian and the castle.  Very
private and quiet.

Thursday -- got a really late start, due to the time difference etc.
found out how great King Kahamenia service is.  Went to EPCOT and had
dinner at Germany and watched Illuminations.

Friday --- another late morning (hey, it IS our honeymoon!).  Lunch at
the Contemporary (fantastic milkshakes!) followed by a boat to
Discovery Island.  Took boat && monorail back to the Poly as it
started to rain.  I spent the only rainy afternoon of our trip getting
my hair done while my husband played in the pool (great slide and
waterfall, and plenty heated).  Got dressed to the MAX for Victoria
and Albert's -- top hat cape tails and cane (we had a period wedding)
for my husband, black velvet dress w/white gloves for me.  Had a
bottle of our wedding champagne.  Got lots of attention before and
after dinner, including riding up front on the monorail for an entire
circuit.  Felt great to be dressed suitably for the GF.  Loads of fun.
Great dinner with just the right amount of service from our personal
Victoria and Albert.

Saturday -- a very long day.  Missed the Magic Kingdom early opening
for WDW property guests but still arrived at park before opening.  Did
Jungle Cruise before Splash Mountain so we had a 20-30 min wait for
Splash Mtn, but it was worth it.  My favorite ride at Magic Kingdom,
and very long (10 min).  Really good characters and sets, just the
right amount of excitement and great tunes.  We did this one three
times in all, and I would do it again.  BTW, Space Mountain was closed
;-( more or less followed Unofficial Guide for ride order, but did NOT
go back to the hotel in the afternoon.  As this was the only day Magic
Kingdom was open till midnight, we stayed the whole time and rode the
railroad instead of a nap.  Really liked the show at Mickey's
Starland, but didn't try to get backstage.  The concept and execution
was fresh and non-sexist, unlike many other shows.  Dinner at King
Stephen's.  The kid's equivalent to V & A, sort of.  Great for adults
too.  Our concierge service got us the reservation before we ever woke
up Sat. morning.  Stood on the bridge to Tomorrowland for fireworks.
Unfortunately, due to the wind, the smoke didn't dissipate and
obscured the latter part of the show.  There were many signs around
suggesting fireworks viewing behind the castle which we should have
believed.  Still, a new fireworks experience.  Saw the 11 pm parade --
it was great.  Loved the Little Mermaid and Fantasia floats.  After
the 11 pm parade, took an express boat home to the Poly after a last
ride on Splash Mountain.

Sunday -- gee, we just didn't do too well at early rising!  A beautiful
morning, with incredible light making the GF luminescent.  Great view
from the room, but impossible (for us) to catch the effect on film.
One of those days that cries out for water sports -- the best weather
so far of our trip.  Planned to do Typhoon Lagoon after Minnie's
brunch (at the Poly).  Minnie was a lot of fun, the waffles were
outstanding but the rest of the buffet was just O.K.  Nice way to
spend a Sunday morning, though.  Checked out Unofficial Guide before
heading to Typhoon Lagoon and realized we had picked the worst
possible day to go, weather notwithstanding.  Made sudden change of
plans and headed to MGM studios.  Glad we did, since there was no
waiting once we were there.  MGM was definitely my favorite park.
Loved Indiana Jones and 3-D Muppetvision.  The anime tour featuring
Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams is a must-see, even if you don't
care about how anime is done at Disney.  Only a couple of people
working on Sunday aft.  Everything else we saw there was great too.
Best shopping, although not much time for it because of our very late
start.  Unlike other parks, MGM starts the last showing of their shows
at closing time, which is a great policy.  Headed over to EPCOT after
MGM and planted me at the Rose and Crown while my husband went to
check out dinner possibilities.  I was pretty tired and cranky at this
point.  Rose and Crown had the best beer at WDW and we definitely took
advantage of it.  As an aside, there were a TON of British guests at
WDW, and they all seemed to stop by the R & C for a pint while I was
queuing up for mine.  No problem getting into Morocco for dinner,
especially as we were willing to forgo fireworks.  Took the boat there
since my feet were sore from our long day at the Magic Kingdom on
Saturday.  As a ride, the boat is quite pleasant, but you could
probably walk faster if there is any wait at all.  After dinner, took
the monorail to the Transport and Ticket Center (TTC) and walked back
to the Poly.  This is a big advantage the Poly has, IMHO.  The
monorail efficiency is pretty lousy, and you can wait forever at each
stop for no apparent reason.  Moorea has lagoon views, a beach and is
close to the TTC.  I would recommend this longhouse for those reasons,
but note that if you ask for non-smoking, you won't get it as your
first choice.

Monday -- lots of fog on the lagoon when we woke up, but the free Orlando
Sentinel we got each morning said the day would be beautiful and even
hotter than the day before.  Had "breakfast" at King Kahamenia and
arranged EPCOT reservations for Tuesday.  With me being very doubtful,
caught the bus to Typhoon Lagoon.  Had a really great day there --
probably the most relaxing of all the parks.  Lines were short to
non-existent, although the beach was fairly crowded.  I liked the
twisty waterslides and blue raft rides the best.  The mellow river
floating was fun too.  Don't try and change there at closing time --
it is a real zoo!  Went back to the Poly and I got a chance to check
out the pool.  We had about the right amount of time for the pool and
showering before heading to Fort Wilderness for the 9:30 Hoop-de-doo
revue.  For a northern Californian, this show was the biggest
disappointment of the entire trip.  The songs and jokes were stale and
sexist.  The dancing was mediocre.  The bears at Bear Country Jamboree
told better jokes and had better songs than this show.  The fried
chicken was dry, the ribs undercooked and the strawberry shortcake had
cool whip (!) on it.  I was really unhappy here, although I think
little kids who are into jokes as old as the hills might love it.

Tuesday -- this was the day that we turned into zombies.  Had breakfast
in our room so we'd be sure to get up on time ;-) Headed over for the
early opening of Magic Kingdom.  It was a bit disappointing since only
two lands and only selected rides in each were open.  Tomorrowland is
dead without Space Mountain -- it really needs some new attractions.
Went to Fantasyland and rode Mr. Toad again -- didn't realize each
side was different.  Then waited in line for 20,000 Leagues, which is
as silly as ever.  By then the park had officially opened, so we
caught Splash Mountain one last time.  Fairly short wait -- around 15
mintues.  I would have turned around and done it again, but we had
places to be and things to do ;-( After picking up the places we
missed on sat and revisiting our favorites, headed over to EPCOT
around 12:30.  Enjoyed Tom Sawyer's island -- check out the cave with
you sunglasses on!  Had a really terrible lunch in a really beautiful
setting at the Mexico pavilion.  For a California palate, their red
sauce tasted like tomato sauce.  This was disappointing because Mexico
was reputably excellent and we had enjoyed the food at Germany and
Morocco.  Spent a fairly exhausting afternoon checking out the EPCOT
futuristic pavilions we missed on our first day.  Although some were
high in kitch value, I was essentially very disappointed.  The
dinosaurs were silly and fun, but the basic message throughout the
pavillions that big corporate engineering ventures would make the
future an exciting place to be nauseated me.  EPCOT needs to change
with the times!  Also, the idea that genuine scientific research is
being done in the pavilions is not terribly credible (Am I wrong on
this one?).  The fountain of jumping water was probably my favorite
"exhibit" of this part of the day.  Reasonably exhausted, we headed
for Norway and had their quite tasty buffet.  The Norway ride is
pretty fun too.  Finished eating with about enough time to get
situated for Illuminations.  We watched from Mexico the first time,
and this time watched across the water from America, basically at the
entrance of the nations section of EPCOT.  A measure of the lack of
crowds was my ability to wander freely throughout that area after
doing a little gift shopping.  There were big pockets of empty space
throughout the crowd.  Illuminations is really well done.  While they
use many inexpensive fireworks and relatively few big round bursty
ones, the timing and angles of the fireworks are so carefully done
that it is really beautiful.  Unfortunately, we were somewhat plagued
by the non-dispersing smoke problem again, but it is not as much of a
problem with Illuminations due to the design of the fireworks display
(happens at many different heights).

Wednesday -- our final bill was slipped under the door.  As we didn't
charge our last breakfast to our room, it turned out that we didn't
have to do ANY checkout, which was great.  Had a character breakfast
with Minnie, Chip, Dale and Goofy.  The food wasn't as good as Sunday
(no waffles but great grits) but not as expensive either.  The morning
was really beautiful.  When we woke up, the lagoon was very still and
the Grand Floridian was reflected beautifully in the water.

All in all, we had a wonderful trip.  The weather was in the low 80s
the whole time and only one afternoon of rain, which was great.  I am
told the humidity was low, but it was still noticeable and enervating
to this Californian.  I think I would in the summertime!  However, I
really think our long days were too much.  Too bad we are so lousy at
getting up early.  The crowds really weren't bad, except on Saturday
afternoon at the Magic Kingdom, when many lines had 40 minutes or more
of waiting.  Oh, and it was pretty densely packed around Main Street
from about 7:30 on in anticipation of 9 pm the parade.


Keywords: 


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Katy Kislitzin, ktk@nas.nasa.gov, ...!{ames, uunet}!nas.nasa.gov!ktk        ||
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Systems Programmer, Networks                                                |
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