The alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. I was already awake and very excited. I got out of bed and frantically finished packing. I showered and dressed (in jeans because it was only 60 degrees out), then fed the cats and fish and made a list for Joe’s mom, who would be taking care of them for the next 10 days. Joe got out of bed, showered, and took the luggage (2 suitcases, the camera bag, and a backpack) out to the porch. Joe’s dad picked us up a little before 6 and we were off to the airport. The ride in was really quick. We were lucky to be going so early and beat most of the Friday morning traffic into Boston. We got out at the US Air terminal, said goodbye to Joe’s dad and headed to check our luggage and get our boarding passes. The line wasn’t too bad and we had plenty of time before our flight at 8 am.

We grabbed breakfast at Burger King and then headed through the metal detectors. I asked them to hand check my film and they had no problem doing so. I put it all in a ziplock bag as someone on the boards recommended. We began boarding early and the flight took off right on time. It was only half full and Joe and I were the only 2 in our row. It was really comfortable. I hate flying, but this trip was really smooth and the weather was great. We only got a snack pack and drinks on the flight, so I was glad we stopped at BK.

We got off the plane in Orlando and headed for the tram to the main terminal to pick up our luggage. At the bottom of the escalator was the Tiffany driver holding the sign with our name on it. I was so excited! The driver took us right to the luggage carousel and our two bags were the first ones out! Wow, Disney Magic already! We walked out to the town car and the driver open the door for us and put our luggage into the trunk. Everything was beautiful. We both had jeans on and were so hot, but the a/c quickly cooled us down. We asked the driver a few questions about the weather, traffic, and some stuff we saw along the way. He was very informative and had us at the Yacht Club in less than 25 minutes (sorry, I don’t remember his name).

As we drove up to the front entrance, the resort seemed much smaller than I had imagined. The bellmen took our luggage out of the trunk and gave us claim tickets. We paid and thanked our driver and then were on our way to check in. The lobby was beautiful, but it was also smaller than I had imagined. To the right of the door was the check in. There was no line so we went right up to the desk. The CM there was really friendly. She called up to the concierge floor for someone to come down and show us to our room and then she gave us some general information and answered a few questions while we waited.

CONCIERGE

The CM arrived with two gift wrapped packages and a folder of information. She gave me one package to open right away. It was a pin that said Disney’s Beach Club - Disney’s Yacht Club - Happy Honeymoon and had Mickey and Minnie in wedding attire on it. It was perfect! She brought us into the elevator and showed us how to use our cards to get to the fifth floor. When we got out of the elevator we were introduced to the two concierges that we currently on duty. The two desks were staffed from 6:30 am to 10:00 pm daily. Next we passed the coffee and tea station. This was available 24 hours a day. There were also Jolly Ranchers, raisins, and Hershey’s Kisses here. Then we went into the lounge. There was a television with a coffee table and couches around it, sliding glass doors leading out to a balcony overlooking the front of the resort, end tables and other chairs, and last, but not least, the food!! It was set up with snacks, pretzels, popcorn, nachos and salsa, fruit, chocolate chip cookies, other deserts, and beverages (lemonade, iced tea, Perrier, water). The CRO told us that she had received our room requests, but she didn’t have a room that met all of them (king bed, water view, nonsmoking, and close to the elevators). They only had one room with a king bed available and it was the furthest room from the elevators and the lounge. She said she would show it to us and if we didn’t like it we could have our choice of rooms with 2 queen beds. We made our way down the halls to the room.

THE ROOM

It was perfect (#5241)! The room was over Stormalong Bay, but we had a great view of the lake, lighthouse, the Boardwalk, and the Swan and Dolphin. Also, since it was a corner room (kindof round) we had windows/sliders on two walls giving us a 180 degree view. Out the side windows we could see Spaceship Earth and parts of FW at Epcot, the Beach Club, and the parking lot. All the windows let in lots of light making the room really bright and making it feel huge. The CM also told us we would have a view of the fireworks there, and we did!!! Since it was the last room on the hall it was also kind of secluded and very quiet.

The room was smaller than the other rooms we saw, but with just the one king bed it had more than enough room for just the two of us. As you entered the room, the first thing you came to was the closet on the left. It was huge and perfect to store our suitcases. It also had the safe, shelves, hangers, and the iron and ironing board in it. Next on the left was the sink and bathroom area. There was a tall white dresser with 5 drawers (plenty of room to hold all our clothes), two sinks, a hair dryer attached to the wall, a make-up mirror, glasses, and a tray of toiletries (shampoo, mouthwash, facial soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, body lotion, bath soap, and shower cap).  There was also a volume control for the television speaker in this area. The toilet and shower/tub area had a door to separate it from the sink area. There was a phone next to the toilet and a clothesline that could be stretched over the tub. It was very useful to dry our wet bathing suits. Finally in the bedroom area, there was a huge king bed (we only have a full bed at home), a small table with a checkerboard design and two white wooden chairs, a stuffed chair and ottoman, a standing lamp, and an armoire that held the tv, mini-bar, and more drawers and shelves (where we stored all the gifts we bought!).

The CM went over the information in the folder (guides to all the parks, a Yacht and Beach Club newsletter, our honeymoon package options, concierge hours, and the mini-bar key). Our luggage arrived just as the CM was leaving and the bellman went over a few of the room details with us. We thanked and tipped him. The a/c in the room felt great, but we still had jeans on, so we changed into our bathing suits to cool off and then decided to open up our second gift. It was a beautiful clock with a TON and 2000 design and said Honeymoon 2000 on it. It was really unique and I didn’t see anything like it in any of the shops. Joe decided to check out the mini-bar and I looked over the prices. They actually weren’t too bad. I didn’t like that they had the tray of snacks on top of the armoire in constant view so I put them inside the cabinet. We had the concierge snacks, so we wouldn’t need them. We unpacked all our stuff and made the place feel like our home away from home.  

STORMALONG BAY

After resting a while, we decided to head to the pool for some drinks and lunch. We found the stairs that weren’t to far from our room and walked down them and right out the door to the pool area. There was a CM checking hotel id’s and handing out towels. We picked out a couple of lounge chairs, dropped our stuff off, and into the pool we went. I loved the sandy bottom. It felt really nice on the feet! We swam past the small waterfall and into the lazy river area. I could have used a tube, but they were $10/day or $5/hour and it wasn’t worth it for a couple times around. We got out and went to get drinks and lunch at Hurricane Hanna’s. I had a strawberry daquari, garden salad, and cheese fries and Joe had a frozen rum runner, cheeseburger, and fries. We sat at a table near the pool and ate. I didn’t like the cheese sauce on the fries (the ducks didn’t like it either!), but everything else was good. Next, we went down the water slide. I hadn’t seen where it came out so I asked the lifeguard what it was like. After you climb up the winding stairs on the boat you go down a straight enclosed part for a while, then it opens up and winds around a bit, and ends in the pool at the beach club end. It was a pretty good ride. On this end of the pool there was a sinking sands area where every so often you step into quicksand and sink. There is also a whirlpool that spins you around and around and an area with lots of bubbles (like in a hot tub). There were two other waterfall areas, three hot tubs in this area, and a big area with lots of sand for little kids to play in. I really loved this pool. There were lots of little nooks for privacy and lots more to do than in a regular pool. This was also our first run in with the luvbugs. There weren’t swarms of them, but you definitely noticed them.

EPCOT

We went back up to the room, showered and got ready for Epcot. I wanted to see a couple of countries before we ate dinner and I knew I had a surprise for Joe that I had to get him to later in the night. We got the camera bag set (video camera, still camera, film, sunglasses, lip balm, resort ids, our ids, Disney dollars, etc.) We carried this bag almost everywhere we went. It was the perfect size and weight and had just the right pockets for everything. We were out the door and on our way to our first park!! The walk took about 5 minutes and we were at the International Gateway. The CM showed us how to put our passes through the machine and we were inside. We walked through England and decided to start in Canada. It was really hot so we started with the O Canada show. The scenery was gorgeous and I loved the 360 degree view movie. We explored a few of the shops and I tried to find the beavertails, but no luck. On to the Rose and Crown for a drink. I was surprised and happy that Epcot wasn’t crowded at all. We got drinks right away and decided to stay inside and drink them and absorb the atmosphere. There were lots of international visitors with passports. Next we wandered through the shops here and then into France. We saw our first characters here! It was Belle and the Beast. I love the look on Joe’s face when he saw them (we took over 8 hours of video and it’s been fun watching it all and reflecting on our trip!!) I didn’t have my autograph book yet so we just watched from a distance. Our PS at Chefs de France was for 6:00 and it was about 5:45 so we decided to check in. We were seated almost immediately at a window table. The view was great for our first meal at Disney. Our waiter was from the Loire Valley in France (I’m so sorry, but I’m horrible remembering names!). He went over the menu and wine list with us and then gave us some time to decide. We started with a bottle of wine, French onion soup, and cheese pastry appetizer. He also brought us some delicious French bread. I ordered the vegetarian dish with zucchini, eggplant and tomato and Joe ordered the ribs of beef with red burgundy wine sauce and pasta. Everything was delicious!! 

Right outside the window I saw a CM putting tape down on the sidewalk. I didn’t realize that the TON parade was held twice a night and it would be going right by our table!! Our waiter confirmed that the parade would be coming though and we would have a great view. You couldn’t really hear the music from inside the restaurant, but the ability to eat, drink, and have a great view made this my most favorite meal. We finished our meal mid-parade and decided to order desert. I had the Millennium dessert and Joe ordered the caramelized apple tart with vanilla ice cream.  They were both wonderful. I loved the little spaceship earth that mine came in! We were both stuffed so we headed for the International Gateway when we heard a great band playing. It was the Brittish Invasion. Joe loves live music and they sounded great so we walked over for a closer look. They were really good and had the audience dancing and singing along. After their last song, we went back to our room to freshen up before heading over to the Boardwalk.

ILLUMINATIONS CRUISE

I finally had to tell Joe that I had a surprise for him over there at 8:15 or we wouldn’t have made it in time. He had no idea what it was (he didn’t even know what illuminations was!) The walk to the Boardwalk marina was about 5 minutes. We were running late so we walked fast. I recognized Brian right away. We all introduced one another and Joe was really surprised, but still didn’t know what we were going to see. I met Brian through the Illuminations Cruise Central posts on the DIS. He had made the reservations for he and Erin (his fiancé) and then very graciously added Joe and I and Cheryl and Tony (also from DIS) to the guest list.  Before we took off we had a little problem with the cost of the cruise being different than what was originally quoted. A manager came down and gave us 10%, but it still didn’t seem right. We split the new price and were on our way. (After Brian got home from Disney he called and was refunded the overpayment). We cruised under the bridge in England and a little into the lagoon to watch the TON parade. It was even more spectactular with the music. The parade ended and we cruised back around the Boardwalk and Yacht and Beach Club. There was a dj outside Atlantic dance and our captain (another name I can’t remember) got all the kids to wave to us and sing happy Birthday to Erin. Our captain also kept us occupied with Disney trivia. We cruised back under the bridge for Illuminations. We had champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and the perfect seats for the show. It was amazing. I bought a copy of the cd with the music for us and for my mom. Definitely a night I’ll never forget.

We docked back at the Boardwalk Marina and took a few pictures of the group. Joe and I decided to head back to our room to get some sleep to be up early for Animal Kingdom the next morning. The walk back to the Yacht Club was really nice. It was beautiful right along the lake with all the lights. We took the elevator up to the 5^th floor and stopped by the concierge lounge to get drinks to bring back to the room. We made the long trek down the hallway to our room (I didn’t realize it was quite so long the first time!). The floor was so quiet I almost didn’t believe we were at Disney. Inside our room we found the bed had been turned down, chocolates and a nice note were on the pillows, the tv was on, curtains drawn, and our wet towels had been replaced with fresh dry ones!! I loved this place!!

We were asleep in record time having lots of sweet dreams!

Restaurant Report

Lunch – Hurricane Hannah’s (1:00) [A] $19.20 good food, great service (got a few free drinks when they made too much), convenient location

Dinner – Le Chefs de France (6:00) [A+] $99.72 great food, service and atmosphere – got to see Tapestry parade from our window seats!!

I woke up a little before 7 and couldn’t believe I slept so late. Even on the weekends back home we are usually up around 6. I really wanted to be at AK by 8, so we decided we’d do MGM today and AK tomorrow. We both had slept really well and couldn’t wait to start the day. We walked down to the concierge lounge to see what they had for breakfast foods. WOW! First, there was the newspaper outside our front door. I had no idea we’d be receiving one every day! Then, the food, we both started with juice and coffee. I had a bowl of cereal (frosted flakes), a croissant, a couple mini muffins, a banana, and some strawberries.  Joe had a bagel, chocolate frosted donut, donut holes, and some mini muffins. I wish they had trays because it was a long walk back trying to balance all that food. (The next morning we used the tray under the ice bucket in our room to carry everything! Thanks to the concierge’s advice!) We ate out on our balcony and read the paper (the weather report, mainly). It was such a peaceful way to have breakfast with a great view and privacy. It was already hot out, but it looked like it was going to be a nice day. After a very good and filling breakfast, we both took showers and got ready to go. We weren’t rushing and didn’t make it our to the boat dock until about 9:15. The boat showed up about 5 minutes later and we were at the gate by 9:30. The boat ride was nice and quick, even though it stopped at the Swan and Dolphin. I hope they eventually finish the walkway from the Boardwalk to MGM, as it wouldn’t be a bad walk from any of the Epcot resorts.

Since we weren’t planning on MGM today we hadn’t really talked about what attractions we wanted to see there. We wandered around and looked over the map and decided to go to the first showing of Indiana Jones. It was a really great show (Joe is a big fan and we have a poster of IJ in our back bedroom). Neither of us had seen it before either. MGM wasn’t crowded at all, but we decided to hold off on the bigger rides until our big breakfast had settled. Next we did the Backlot Tour and the Great Movie Ride. We did some more walking around and window-shopping. The layout at MGM was more confusing than the other parks. I was constantly looking at the map trying to figure out where we were.

We actually started getting hungry again and decided to see if we could get in at the Sci-Fi Dine-In. There was a 15-minute wait, so we took a beeper and looked around the gift shop there. The hostess seated us and I knew I was going to like this place with or without the food. I loved the atmosphere. The movie clips kept kids (and Joe) quiet and I loved the darkness and the little cars. I really felt like I was at a drive-in. Joe and I went to our first drive in just 2 years ago and it reminded us of that night. I didn’t see anything vegetarian on the menu, so I ask our waitress if I could have a grilled cheese. She said sure, but also mentioned that they had vegiburgers. Great! I had one of those with fries, Joe had a burger and fries, and we split an onion ring. We also got free soda refills before we even finished our first glasses. The service was great and so was the food. I wish I had gotten a milkshake though! As we were leaving the restaurant I saw Pooh down the street. He was all alone standing with a CM at a small stand. We went over and said hello and got our pictures taken. I still didn’t have my autograph book, but I knew I’d see him again at the Crystal Palace. We went on Star Tours and then did more shopping. I had to get some personalized ears for my 2 nephews and I found a great photo album. It was so nice to be able to send all our purchases back to our room.

Then we found them…. the bride and groom ears! Joe knew I was looking for them and hoped they were sold out! We tried them on and one of the CM asked if it was our honeymoon and if we would like our photo taken. Of course I said yes! I had a couple of problems with the ears (besides that Joe hated them). In order to attach the ears to my head, I would need about 100 bobby pins or clips and I’d have to wear my hair down. In that heat I needed my hair in a ponytail! And what do you do on the fast rides? The ears must blow right off and if you have to keep taking them off and putting them pack on I’d be spending all day in the bathroom! So, much to Joe’s delight we didn’t purchase the ears.  We left the shop and headed for the exit. All of a sudden they started playing music (some top 40 boy band song) and it looked like they were getting ready for some kind of parade. We stopped and pulled out our map to check it out. Then a convertible with a group of guys and Mickey Mouse pulls out from an Alley and dries right past us. The guys happen to be the group B.B. Mack. Who? I had never heard of them, but figured I’d follow the convertible and see if they were going to perform or something. Streamers shot out of the tops of the buildings like a ticker tape parade. It was pretty cool. Joe said he knew who they were so after the convertible we went. It stopped outside the Chinese Theatre and the guys got out and signed some autographs and took some pictures. Then out of nowhere came the rain. It started to sprinkle and the guys got back in the car and headed back down the main street. Then it started raining really hard. Oh well, lets shop some more!! The rain let up a little and we ran down to the boat launch and cruised back to the Yacht Club. I took a look at the MGM guide and realized that we really hadn’t seen much for all the time we spent there that day. I guess we were just warming up for the rest of the week.

It was only sprinkling by the time we got back to our room. We rested for a while and then went to the pool for a swim and drinks. We had PS at Ohana’s at 7:00 and I really wanted to see the electrical water pageant from the beach. I couldn’t figure out how we were going to get back to the Yacht Club though since Epcot would be closed at 9:00. I went to talk to the concierge to get their opinion. They gave me a bunch of alternatives, but they all would have taken a long time to get home and we wanted to get up early for AK the next day, so we decided to do the EWP another night. I also asked the concierge if he could try to get us PS for breakfast at Cindy’s, a couple more pillows, and bathrobes for the room.  While I was talking to the concierge I overheard that Christina Aguilera was staying at the Grand Floridian. Her I knew, and I thought that it would be cool to hear her sing. I grabbed another drink and a couple chocolate chip cookies from the concierge lounge and took the long walk back to our room. These cookies are the best I have ever had in my life (and I’m a big cookie fan and I will eat over 30 cookies throughout the duration of our stay!) The lounge was set up with the snacks again, so nothing new. The pillows and robes were delivered to the room in less than 15 minutes. Great service! We showered and packed up the camera bag and were on our way out.

There were a number of ways to get to the Poly, but we decided to walk through Epcot and take monorail. It was a long walk, but it gave us a chance to look around and figure out what else we wanted to see at Epcot and a glimpse at the other monorail resorts. We hopped on the monorail and were on our way. I love the monorail! I think more areas with lots of public transportation should incorporate them. We got off at the TTC and switched to the resort line. I guess we could have walked, but the monorail was more fun. We got to the Poly at 6:30 and had a half hour until our PS. I wanted to look around. After all the great comments I hear on the DIS, I was dying to see this place. We walked through the lobby, downstairs by the gift shop, outside around the pool, down to the beach, and finally sat at the pool bar and had a drink. The bartender, drinks, and view were great, but I wasn’t thrilled with the Poly. It seemed very dark, kind of run down (pool slide needs repair), and crowded. We didn’t see much of the place though, so maybe if we had looked around more we would have liked it more.  I was still happy we were at the Yacht Club!

We finished our drinks and went up to Ohana’s. The place was packed and we were given a beeper. We sat at the bar and ordered two more drinks. Joe had finished his by the time the beeper went off. We were taken to our table right next a bunch of kids trying to sweep coconuts along the floor to win a candy prize. It was cute, but very loud and a little scary (one kid crawled under our table to retrieve their coconut!) I didn’t want to ask to move because we were starving and the place was very crowded. I informed the waiter that I was a vegetarian and he put in a request for a special meal for me. He also told me what appetizers I could eat. He was friendly, but very busy with many other tables. Joe and I both enjoyed the food here. It was different than anything we had tried back at home.  I liked that Joe could eat as much as he wanted and got a full selection of all the different meats/fish. The entertainment was also fun when it wasn’t so loud and right next to our table. I would definitely bring my kids (when I have some that is) here. It was a really good family restaurant.    

After we finished the meal we headed back onto the monorail. We were the only 2 people in our car back to Epcot. That part of the evening was romantic. We walked through a deserted FW and made our way to WS. We got to see illuminations for the second night in a row. Not the same view as before, but I loved the music, globe, and fireworks! We made our way back to the Yacht Club, grabbed drinks in the concierge lounge, and headed for the room. Turndown service again. This was the best vacation (honeymoon) ever!

I set the alarm for 6am and we both drifted off to sleep.

Restaurant Report

Breakfast – concierge (7:30) ate on our balcony and read the paper that surprised us at the front door every morning.

Lunch – Sci-Fi Dine In (1:00) [A] $39.83 good food, very unique atmosphere, movies kept kids occupied and quiet, good service, loved the car seats even though not much table space. 

Dinner – Ohana’s (7:00) [B+] $56.50 good food, good service, very loud with the coconut game running by us twice in an hour’s time.

I woke up nearly a half hour before the alarm was scheduled to go off. I was so excited to see the Animal Kingdom and today was the day! I tip toed to the front door to see if yesterday’s newspaper delivery was a onetime thing or not. It wasn’t! I took the paper and headed out to the balcony. It was so peaceful to be out there that early in the morning. The Boardwalk, beach and pool were completely deserted. The sun was just coming up and it looked like another beautiful Florida day. The weather report was the same as the day before, 92 partly cloudy with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. I finished reading a couple stories and flipped through the sales flyers to see what stores there were in Florida. I heard the alarm go off and went inside and shut it off. Joe was already in the shower so I started picking out my clothes for the day and packing up the camera bag.

We headed down to the concierge lounge a few minutes before 7:00. The doors weren’t open yet, so we grabbed our coffee and waited. It was nice that they had disposable hot cups for your drinks. We always got a cup of coffee for the road before hitting the bus in the morning. The doors opened up and we both grabbed bagels and some fruit. We ate quickly in the lounge and then went right out to catch the bus. The bus stop area at the Yacht Club was nice. It had a few benches and a sign letting you know where the buses went and how often to expect them. The area was covered so it offered shade and protection from rain. The bus came after about a five-minute wait. All the busses have digital signs that indicate where they are going so it was always easy to catch the right one. I don’t remember the bus driver because I was too excited about getting there and reviewing the AK map. I did catch a glimpse of Blizzard Beach and there was NO WAY I was going on that water slide! Finally, well after a stop at the Beach Club and about a 15-minute ride, we are at Animal Kingdom. Here I do pay attention to the bus driver because I have no idea how we find the bus when we have to come back. It is really easy. They have tons of signs and the buses all have the digital signs, so I wasn’t worried.

It was 7:30, still a half-hour until the park would open. There hadn’t been many people on our bus and I was surprised to see no lines to get in yet. We looked at the entrance to Rainforest Café and I went to check out the bathrooms. We wound up being the second in line to get in. It was a long wait, but it gave us time to plan our day. First up was to stay to the left and make it to the Safari Ride. At about 7:50 one of the CM let the family in front of us in for a special welcoming ceremony. They were the only family selected. The kids got to go with the CM and the parents went and rented a stroller. The kids came back holding a clear plastic box with a large spider inside. They had to remain there while everyone else was let in to let everyone see it. It was 8:00 and they still weren’t opening the gates. All of a sudden music and then out comes Rafiki! He welcomes everyone and gives us some tips for the day. Then out come Mickey and Minnie in Safari outfits, Chip and Dale, Baloo, Goofy, etc. It was a cute introduction, but let us in already!! It was also a good distraction for some people so they didn’t have a stampede for the popular attractions. By the time they opened the gates the lines were all really long. 

We got through the gates and there were only about 6 people in front of us all headed to Africa. We walked quickly (no running allowed). There were lots of distractions along the way and even CM trying to get you to see what they were doing, but we made it to Africa and onto the first Safari of the day. We were seated on the right hand side of the vehicle. I had the video camera and Joe had the regular camera all ready to go.  This was a great ride. I wish it had gone a little slower past some of the areas. It really felt like you were right there with the animals (sometimes you were). I could have reached out and touched a giraffe. I didn’t really like the end where you go after the poachers. They should split that into another ride, one just an animal viewing and one a poacher’s adventure. We saw tons of animals. It looked like they had just fed many of them as they were all eating. The advice to go in the morning was very good, but I would also say to sit on the left hand side! There are many more animals and better view over there! Also a note about the cameras, going in and out of the air conditioning the lenses fogged up just like eyeglasses would. We had to check the lenses often to make sure they were fog free. The first part of our video and some pictures turned out very blurry due to the fog effects.

Our next plan was to do the Jungle Trek in Asia. We spent some time looking around at the buildings and shops in Africa and then headed onward. We checked out the bats and birds and other various animals. We were really looking for the Tigers. There were four Tigers. Three were sleeping and one was pacing back and forth. They are beautiful animals. I was happy with the way you could view them close up through the glass or choose to see them in a more natural setting while standing on the bridge (the gorillas were like this also).  We exited the trek and stopped to watch the Kali River Rapids Ride and figured now would be a good time to try it. I packed all the camera equipment away and we headed through the queue. There were only two people in line in front of us and no one in line behind us. I had hoped for our own boat, but we got put on with the other couple. We put our stuff in the center bin. I thought this was a great idea, but was a little worried because it didn’t seem that secure. We got belted in and were off. I’ve been on rides like this at parks at home and there wasn’t much of a difference. It wasn’t as fast as I thought it would be and there weren’t any significant drops. I did however get soaked from head to toe! I was drenched. It felt good because it was so hot out, but it would be hours before I would finally dry out. Our camera bag came out perfectly dry. It was a fun ride, I had just expected a little more.

I knew there were gorillas at AK, so I asked one of the CM where I might find them. They were back in Africa. Duh! I found all the CM’s at AK to be especially friendly and helpful. So we wandered back to Africa to do the Gorilla trail. There was a mother and her baby and the silverback. They were great. These trails were steamy. It really felt like I was in an African jungle. It was even hard to breath at times because of the misting and the humidity. We made it to the gorilla habitat. We saw most of the family troupe, but they weren’t very active.  We’d have to try this earlier next time. I was really thirsty so I stopped to get a Poweraide and Joe spotted the beer in plastic bottles. I really liked the fact that all the parks let you walk around with beer/wine. It was nice for adults and it didn’t appear to be abused by anyone.

We wandered around the tree of life looking at all the carving and the wildlife there. The waterfalls were beautiful. I was really trying to find “It’s Tough to be a Bug”. I knew it was inside the tree, but I couldn’t find the way in. We asked another CM and he directed us to the queue. Joe was doing the video taping and he said, “Now we’re going to see It’s Hard to be a Bug”. I started cracking up because he really had no clue about any of the Disney attractions! We were both having a great time. We got inside the tree and it was really crowded. We waited about 15 minutes for the doors to open. It was nice because it was air conditioned, but it was a full theatre. We put our 3D glasses on and the show started. We both loved it. I remember seeing Captain EO about 10 years ago, but this was 100 times better. I shot out of my chair when I got pricked with something and I know I closed my eyes a couple of times. This show is a must do!

We decided to head to Dinoland for the Dinosaur ride (formerly Countdown to Extinction). Since the park was getting more crowded I thought we might need a fast pass. I didn’t know much about this ride so I had no expectations. To my surprise, there was no line so we went right into the preshow and then into the carts. This ride really shocked me. I was frightened over and over again. Not scared, but shocked. I really thought I was going to be a meal for that last T-Rex. My head came “this” close to his mouth. It was a really fun ride.  We finished looking around in Dinoland and were now starving. We had walked by the Flame Tree b-b-q and the food looked quite good. They had this great looking salad in a bread bowl. I ordered that and a soda and Joe got a b-b-q sandwich and some fries. The fries and my salad were fantastic (well, I was starving), but Joe said his sandwich was only okay. After lunch we were both getting hot and tired and the crowds seemed to be picking up a little, so we decided to head back to the Yacht Club. We would come back to do the left side of the Safari and Camp Mickey Minnie. I loved this place! Do you think they could use an onsite accountant? I’m going to have to find out more about the AK lodge for our next trip.

We did a little shopping and then out to the catch the bus. We waited about 5 minutes (surrounded by luvbugs) and then onto the nice air-conditioned bus. The bus waited here for about 10 minutes before taking off. It stopped at Blizzard Beach (and now I was even more sure I would not be going on many slides there!), then the Swan, Dolphin, and finally our stop. It took about a half an hour from when we got on the bus to when we got back to the hotel. It wasn’t bad and we didn’t have to worry about driving, parking, and walking!

We took the elevator up, stopped to say hi to the concierge (Trever was my favorite concierge, very friendly and from our home state), then into the lounge for some drinks and the cookies. I know I’ve said it before, but these are the best cookies ever. My count is now up to 4 cookies eaten. Joe has two and also loves them. I ate the one that was supposed to go to him before I made it back to the room yesterday! J I immediately noticed the bunnies that had been left on our sinks. The boy had blue eyes and the girl had pink. They were so cute! (I hope they don’t mind, but I took one home with me!) Our housekeeper was really fantastic. She left lots of towels and always fixed the room up really nice. Our packages had been delivered from yesterday’s MGM shopping. The mouse ears for our nephews were perfect. There was also a slip of paper with, no, could it be true, reservations for breakfast with Cindy!! I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Here I was at Disney, on my Honeymoon, and I was getting everything I wanted. It was perfect. Well, I thought so. Joe wasn’t as excited about having breakfast with the princesses, but he was happy that I was happy. Little did he know we were also having a character dinner that same night! J

We changed and walked down stairs and out to the pool. There was no one checking ID today so we grabbed towels, picked out some chairs, and hopped in the pool. The water was a little too warm to be totally refreshing. Joe went to get us some drinks. The bartender made too much of one of the frozen concoctions, so we got a free drink!! I really liked Hurricane Hannah’s, but I wished you could sit at the bar and have your drink there. There were too many luvbugs around our lounge chairs so we opted for a table in the sun. We finished the drinks, went for another swim, and then back to the room to shower.

We didn’t have plans for the evening, so we figured why not head back to Epcot (it’s not like we had been there EVERY night so far). Our plan was to do test track, check out the living seas, and grab some dinner. We walked through the International Gateway and made our way into FW and to The Living Seas. Joe loved it here. I think we have a half hour of videotape of fish swimming around. It was nice. They didn’t have enough big sharks though! I liked where you can “try on” a diving suit and try to operate the controls of a sub. It was pretty difficult. I would have loved to do the Dolphin Experience, but I think we will try Discovery Cove on our next trip.

We left the Living Seas and made our way to test track, via Mouse Gears and then the Ice Cool Station. This was the biggest Disney shop I had ever been in (yet). We were here for a while trying to figure out what to buy for gifts and just being amazed at all the stuff. Then we found the Ice Cool Station. It was freezing making our way to the testing room. I thought it was great that you could test all the stuff for free and they didn’t really limit how much you drank. We made it to Test Track and there was about a half an hour wait. We decided we might as well get a fast pass and just come back. I hadn’t used a Fast Pass yet and wanted to try it. The fast pass machine was broken, but they had CMs writing out fast pass slips. It was almost 7:00 and our return time was from 7:50 to 8:50. We decided we would go and grab a bite to eat in WS. We didn’t have PS and I wasn’t really sure what would be available. We headed that way and bumped into the TON parade. The streets/sidewalks were jammed with people and we couldn’t really get around very well. We stopped to watch it for a while then made our way to Italy.

Joe wanted to try Alfredo’s. I said sure. We both love Italian food. We put our names in and waited for about 10 minutes to be seated. With the parade still going on, the restaurant wasn’t that crowded.  We were seated at a table that fit exactly two people. There was a group of musicians serenading a couple seated two tables down from ours (only about 4 feet away). It was really nice and very romantic. Our waiter arrived shortly and asked if we knew what we would like to drink or if we were ready to order. We were still looking at the menu and our surroundings (and yes I was listening to the couple who had been serenaded trying to figure out what their special event was).  I could clearly hear every single word that they said. Another couple was now seated at the table directly to the left of ours as well. So now I could listen in to two conversations. Our waiter came back and we placed our order. A bottle of wine to share, I had the fettuccini alfredo and a garden salad, and Joe had a veal dish with a Caesar salad. The wine came very quickly and we also received a bottle of Italian mineral water to share and a basket of French bread. I was learning way too much about all the people seated around me. The TON parade must have ended because the restaurant was now really loud and really packed. The group of men continued to play and sing for various tables and they also played outside in the waiting area. A couple was now seated directly to our right. They already had their food and drinks and all of this was brought over to this new table. I guess their waiter had been horrible and so they asked if they could move. Our food finally arrived (it took almost a half and hour). It was wonderful. Joe finished all of his, but I wanted to save room for dessert! We ordered the millennium dessert (a chocolate spaceship earth filled with tiramisu). It was very very good!! By the time we left I had talked with all three couples seated next to us. Not that I wanted to, but we were so close that there was no way to avoid hearing what we were all saying. And avoiding eye contact was also not possible. Another problem was too many screaming children. If nothing else killed the romantic atmosphere they sure did!   We both left with headaches. So the food was delicious, our service was okay, and the atmosphere was too loud, and too crowded, but the strolling musicians were very good. (If you are interested to know the life stories of those seated around us please let me know).  

We were both so stuffed that we figured we should just head home. There was no way we were going to make it back to test track that night. After walking a bit we got our second wind and decided to take the bridge to the Boardwalk. The place was dead. It was still early (8:30) and Sunday and September. I didn’t know, but it wasn’t as fun as it had been Friday night. We found the Wyland Galleries and checked out the expensive artwork there. I love his stuff. Then we checked out some of the menus for the restaurants, in case we wanted to come back later. We went into the Screen Door Gift Shop. This place was great. It was like a mini convenience store and sold bottled water, sodas, juice, beer, wine, snacks, and of course Disney merchandise! Finally we made our way to Jellyrolls. I peeked in and there were only a handful of people inside. We have a great dueling piano bar in Boston and visit one in Myrtle Beach also, but you need lots of people singing along and making requests to make it fun. We decided to pass. The fireworks from Illuminations were starting and so we sat on a bench and watched them until they were over. Then we walked back to our room. Turn down service again. I actually ate a couple of the chocolates tonight and they were pretty good. This Disney information channel was on and we watched it for a while and decided that we would go to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow. It was going to be another hot day and we already needed a break from the parks and walking. I was also looking forward to swimming with the sharks! I turned off the alarm clock and we went to bed.

Restaurant Report

Breakfast – concierge (7:00) ate at the bus stop on the way to AK

Lunch – Flame Tree Barbeque (1:00) [B] $22.83 good food

Dinner – Alfredo’s (7:30) [A-] $92.11 great food, slow service, strolling musicians, romantic except for the screaming children and the tables being too close together.

Day Four – Typhoon Lagoon, ESPN, and Downtown Disney (Monday, September 11, 2000)

We woke up a little after 7. Joe decided to shower and I went down to the concierge lounge to get breakfast for us. Nothing new, the variety of mini muffins and fruit changed daily and there were some danish every so often. I filled the tray with coffee, juice, cereal, fruit, and other goodies and returned to the room. We ate out on the balcony, read the paper, and chatted about our trip so far. We were both having the best time. We still had six days left and it seemed like all the time in the world. I showered and packed us up with suntan lotion, towels from the room, and a change of clothes in a backpack and the camera bag. We used Coppertone Sport Spray Suntan Lotion SPF15 for the entire trip. It worked really well, was quick to apply, and was not greasy. Even my Irish skin didn’t get red once!

I had to do a little schedule rearranging since I had arranged tours and other stuff before we arrived, and now that we had been there for a few days I could tell that some things just weren’t going to work out as I had planned. I made a few phone calls and changed our Keys to the Kingdom tour and honeymoon photo session at the MK.

It was still early and Typhoon Lagoon didn’t open until 10. I still hadn’t checked out the gift shop at the Yacht Club and I wanted to pick up some postcards to send so we headed down there with all our stuff. I got some postcards, an autograph book, and a fat pen and put it all into the backpack. Then out to the bus stop. We waited for about 15 minutes and a bus finally showed up. This bus stopped at the beach club, Boardwalk, then 3 Downtown Disney stops and finally Typhoon Lagoon. It was now 10:15. We were at the bus stop a little after 9:00, so including waiting it had taken an hour to get there. I was a little upset (anxious to get there!), but now we knew that we had to allow for more time on the busses.

TL was already crowded! We found two lounge chairs near the entrance to the wave pool and then went to get a locker. The line for the lockers looked long, but it only took about 5 minutes to get through. The small locker was $5/day plus a $2 deposit. Towels were $1/day, but we had taken ours from our room! We stashed our camera equipment and backpack leaving only our towels and shoes with the lounge chairs. We picked up a map and decided just to walk around and check the place out. The wave pool looked inviting and it was HOT so we jumped in there for a while. The surf waves are huge and strong! I love the bobbing wave, but they don’t allow tubes in the wave pool so it gets tiring jumping up and down. Next we hit the lazy river to get a 360 degree view of the park. It was too slow so we hopped out and took the mountain trail up to the taller slides. I had broken a rib on a water slide before, so I’m very cautious of them now. We went on the family raft ride first. Here you have to carry the raft up the stairs. It weighed a ton. We made it up and then down. It was fun, but really short. We got our picture taken at the bottom of the ride and were given a bracelet with a number on it to view it later. We went on a couple of other smaller slides and then made our way to the shark reef.

I had been waiting to do this all day! I’ve never gone snorkeling so it was exciting and I had to pay attention to figure out how to do it. The CM gives you a mask, snorkel, and vest at the counter. Next you have to rinse the chlorinated water off yourself. Then you wait at the edge of the reef while another CM gives you the instructions. There is no kicking or diving. You can kneel on the reef but can’t stand. I didn’t think I could make it across without kicking, but the vest makes you float (a little) so you just drift across. The water was really cold, but it was refreshing on such a hot day. There were tons of fish, stingrays, and sharks! They were all pretty small and they stayed down at the bottom of the reef. It was great, but too short. We would have to get the waterproof camera and come back later to do it again. I checked out the 30-minute encounter, but you still have to stay at the top and can’t kick, so it doesn’t let you get closer to any of the fish. You just stay in longer. You can go across the free reef as many times as you’d like, so there was no real extras in paying.

We stopped at the outdoor bar for a few drinks and then I grabbed our camera equipment and did some filming around the place. We put the camcorder back and kept the waterproof camera with us. Joe wanted to do some of the taller slides, so I watched and took pictures. Then we headed over to shark reef again. This time we got right in (no instructions needed now!) It was trickier trying to take pictures and stay afloat. I took the long way around and was in for about ten minutes. I only wound up with one shark picture, but got some good ones of the rays, fish, and reef. The mask made it hard to tell what you were catching in the picture. We got out, rinsed off our stuff and returned it to the counter. I felt really waterlogged and we were getting hungry and decided to go back and try Beaches and Cream for lunch. We got the stuff from our locker and returned the key. We had the option of getting our $2 deposit back or picking out a mug. We both really enjoyed our day at Typhoon Lagoon. It was more crowded than we had expected (for a Monday), but the lines for the slides were less than 10 minutes and there was no wait for the shark reef, wave pool, or lazy river.

We waited for the bus for only about 5 minutes and were back at our hotel, after stops at the Swan and Dolphin, in about 15 minutes. We went up to our room, dropped off our stuff, changed, and walked down to Beaches and Cream. It was closed for renovations!! I couldn’t believe it. It was open just the other day when we walked by. They had a grill going outside and tables by the pool, but we were both waterlogged and decided to walk to the Boardwalk instead. Joe wanted to try the ESPN club to catch up on some sports action. There were lots of tables available, but we sat at the bar. I realized we only had our room cards, so I asked if we could use them there, and we could. I had a vegiburger and fries and Joe had a regular burger and fries. The food and atmosphere were both good.

Walking back to the Yacht Club we stopped at the Pearl Shop by Stormalong Bay. Joe asked if I wanted to pick out an oyster. I picked it out and he cracked it open. I got a beautiful black pearl! I picked out a ring setting and they mounted it right there. I couldn’t wear it for 24 hours, but they gave me a case to keep it in. This wasn’t a “Disney” souvenir, but I will always remember my trip when I wear it. I grabbed a drink and some more chocolate chip cookies from the concierge lounge and we made our way back to the room.

We decided we should nap, but neither of us could fall asleep so we would up watching the Disney attractions channel and trying to figure out what else we wanted to do during our stay. I wrote out some postcards and worked on my trip report notes. Then we both showered and got ready for Downtown Disney. We waited about 10 minutes for the bus to and made it to the Marketplace in about 20 minutes. We got off the bus and started wandering around. Neither of us had ever been here so everything was new. Joe was excited about the big McDonalds, but I told him we weren’t eating there. We looked around in some of the shops, but we didn’t buy anything, yet. We wanted to see everything there first.

We showed our IDs and got bracelets for Pleasure Island. This place was great. I loved all the open bars outside and the colors and building shapes, and stages, and screens. I wanted to check out Disneyquest and I knew Joe wanted to go the Virgin Record store, so we headed for the West Side. Disneyquest wasn’t what I had imagined. It was better, but the setup was confusing. We looked around and tried a couple of things, but we decided to come back later in the trip. We checked out the concert schedule at the House of Blues and then shopped at Virgin.

It was after 8 and we hadn’t had dinner. We weren’t that hungry, but decided to stop at Wolfgang Pucks. I’m glad we did! We were given a beeper with a 15 minute wait time. I stayed in the lobby and Joe ran over to the guitar shop. He made it back just in time for us to get seated. We were seated out on the lake with a great view and a nice private table. We ordered sodas and were brought a basket of bread. We both decided on pizza and shared two different vegetarian kinds. We only ate a few pieces and so I had the guy box up the rest. We were totally exhausted. How do families with small kids stay out so late and get up so early? I guess we needed to take longer naps! There was no way we were going to make it a late party night on Pleasure Island, so we got back on the bus and back to the Yacht Club.

Turndown service again and the Disney information channel was on. We got ready for bed and I set the alarm because I didn’t want to miss my big breakfast with Cindy tomorrow!!

Restaurant Report
Breakfast – concierge (8:00) ate on our balcony
Lunch – ESPN (3:00) [A-] $31.75 good food, typical sports bar atmosphere.
Dinner – Wolfgang Puck’s (8:00) [A] $33.79 great pizzas and view of the lake, good service