Horizons1 Trip Report 1/23 - 1/29/08

[horizons1]

My wife and I just returned from a magical six night stay at the Beach Club, our fourth visit to this great resort. Over several entries I will give you the play by play of our adventure which included a few surprises.

Day 1: Wednesday January 23

Being an airline employee, you learn to go where the seats are. So since my flight from Phoenix to Orlando looked a little grim, we opted for Plan B and flew into Tampa. It actually worked out quite well as the Dollar car rental was about $20 cheaper for a week with a return in Orlando than if I had rented and returned at MCO. Go figure - obviously they soak the Orlando tourists a bit right off the plane. In any case, I only paid $112 TOTAL for the car for a week - that's a regular web rate, not a fancy discount. Not a bad price to have the flexibility we knew we'd need during our trip.

We took off on time in PHX Wednesday morning around 10am and landed at TPA a little after 4pm. Strolled leisurely down to the Dollar counter and had one of the most pleasant rental guys ever. He upgraded my subcompact (which was unavailable of course) to a Dodge Grand Caravan which was more than enough for two people. Off we went. We made the drive in about 90 minutes - not bad considering it was rush hour.

Arriving at the Beach Club, we got our first warm fuzzy at the guard shack where the attendant said "welcome home" as he let us through. Of course, I am sure that's the spiel at all the resorts with a vacation club in them but we liked it nevertheless.

This is our fourth stay at the Beach Club. We love the hotel. We love the location, the pool, the variety of restaurants at the neighboring resorts and the boardwalk, and the fact that we can walk into Epcot and take a boat to DHS. My wife Deborah and I have a strict "no bus" policy at WDW that we adhere to whenever we can.

Check-in was pleasant. There seemed to be quite a few newbies "earning their ears" all over WDW and our front desk cm was no exception. We mentioned that we were celebrating our anniversary on this trip and had no idea what wheels we'd set in motion with that statement (more on this later). Since we were staying six nights we hoped they would be able to get us some sort of upgrade. Alas, concierge was full and all the water view rooms were only partially available over the course of our six nights. No problema. We checked into room 2554 and decided to head over to one of our favorite Boardwalk restaurants, Big River Grille, for dinner.

Deborah likes the hazelnut crusted chicken. We decided to take some of the advice I had been reading on these boards and so we split our meal. This was one of the better choices we'd make a couple of times during this trip. We shared an appetizer and split the chicken, which arrived on separate plates and looked like two complete meals. The entire meal was around $24. A good start considering Disney prices.

We took a short walk around Crescent lake back to our room then decided to make a supermarket run. We ran over to Kissimmee on 192 and visited the local Publix to stock up on bottled water and other essentials. Thankfully, the Beach Club has phased out the mini bar in favor of a small fridge. I believe all of the other deluxe resorts are doing the same. Then we turned in for the night.

Coming up: Our first full day, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, CM night at Pleasure Island, and a minor celebrity sighting.

[YZFDonor]

Arriving at the Beach Club, we got our first warm fuzzy at the guard shack where the attendant said "welcome home" as he let us through.

Are you DVC, doesn't sound like it from the rest of your story. I thoguht they looked at your ressies and responded appropriately based on that. Oh well...

I am envious!! So far, the Beach Club Villas have been our favorite place to sleep!

[horizons1]

Are you DVC, doesn't sound like it from the rest of your story. I thoguht they looked at your ressies and responded appropriately based on that. Oh well...

No, I'm just a regular guest

Day 2: Thursday January 29

We began our first full day by strolling over to the international gateway entrance to Epcot around 11am (we're not morning folk.) After entering, we turned left and headed toward our first priority: finding out if Spaceship Earth was open or not.

Well, we had time for a little detour to pick up a fast pass for Test Track. Then we headed over to SE. Hooray! It was open and looked spectacular. I have to say Judy Dench does a fine job with the narration and the new storyline is obviously oriented toward a generation familiar with the Internet. Also, the interactive element for the end of the ride was fun.

After SE, we headed over to see what Nemo and his friends had done to The Living Seas. The ride is cute but unmemorable. The rest of the pavilion is only mildly interesting.

We had lunch at the Electric Umbrella. This used to be one of my favorite burger spots as the toppings bar was really great. Imagine my disappointment to see that the toppings bar had been reduced to the standard condiment pump stations. Where did my cheese sauce and pickles go?!



After lunch, we hit Test Track with our FP. Then Mission: Space, the green team. I had done the intense version a few times on previous trips and I was curious to see what I'd be missing by giving up the spinning. Honestly, it wasn't a bad ride, although some of the motion without the accompanying feeling of weightlessness made parts of the show a little dull.

It was around 3pm and we decided to hop the monorail for a few hours at the Magic Kingdom, which closed at 7pm. We connected at the TTC to another monorail as we just missed the ferry. Arriving at the MK, we grabbed a Buzz fast pass and headed over for the Laugh Floor. Cute. Then rode Buzz (you can tell it wasn't busy as our FP time was so close). Then Carousel of Progress, which had some sort of malfunction that made us watch Act 1 twice before moving on. Funny. As we left CoP the rain rain rain came down down down, but fortunately we brought ponchos (you can sing that.) So we headed over to the other side of the park and rode the Liberty Belle around the river. So nice.





We checked out the Haunted Mansion and liked all the new special effects, especially the ones in the attic. Finally, we took a ride on It's A Small World, just for the heck of it. As it was nearing 7pm and the rain was still falling, we decided to call it a day at the parks and took the monorails back to Epcot and walked back to our room.

Dinner was at Chevy's Mexican Restaurant at Crossroads. Sitting at a table across from us was Samantha Brown, whom some of you might recognize as the woman who does all those tours and cruises for the Travel Channel. She was with some friends and we know (having grown up in L.A.) not to bug people on TV when you see them in public.

After dinner, we headed over to Pleasure Island. We like going to the Comedy Warehouse on CM nights because they usually make a lot of "in" jokes at the expense of Disney. Tonight was pretty tame though. The strange thing was, although I had bought the "waterparks and more" fun day options on my park hopper tickets, nobody scanned our tix. So we basically saw the show for free. Well, that's relative as my drink was $7.25. They just handed out wristbands at the door and we were good to go.

We only did that one show, as we had a big day and did a lot of walking. When we got back to the hotel, we were treated to a couple of special things. First, we had a picture of our dog on our dresser in the hotel room. Our "mousekeeper" Sandy left us a little washcloth dog (see pic below). Cute! Then shortly after we got into the room, room service delivered complimentary chocolate covered strawberries as an anniversary bedtime treat. How fun! What a nice end to a great day.





Deborah wore her pedometer to see how far we had walked that day. The final tally? 7.63 miles. Whew!

[Dr. Ravenscroft]

First, we had a picture of our dog on our dresser in the hotel room. Our "mousekeeper" Sandy left us a little washcloth dog (see pic below). Cute! Then shortly after we got into the room, room service delivered complimentary chocolate covered strawberries as an anniversary bedtime treat. How fun! What a nice end to a great day.


Deborah wore her pedomiter to see how far we had walked that day. The final tally? 7.63 miles. Whew!

That was a dog? but that was nice though.

Man I need to get a new pedomiter, my last one broke when it fell off my belt. That is good that you two got that much exercise......see this could be a new type advertisement for Disney......"Need To Loose Weight, Take A Trip To Disney And Watch The Pounds Melt Away" Especially since they seem to be adding more and more healthy meals.

[mageloff]

Question, what kind of dog do you have?

[horizons1]

That was a dog? but that was nice though.

Lol. Yeah, the picture doesn't do it justice. What you can do with a wash cloth and four rubber bands!

Question, what kind of dog do you have?

A yorkie. Of course, it could've been a coincidence that the little figure they left was a dog, but we suspect it was because we had the pic of our dog on the dresser.

Day 3: Friday January 25

Ah, the sun is shining today. A good thing too as we planned to do Animal Kingdom.

Following our strict "no bus" policy we took our rental car over to AK. Once inside the park, we made a beeline for Expedition Everest. Having not been on this, we got in line. At 50 minutes, this was one of the longest wait of our entire trip (not too shabby.) Fun ride, although I could not tell if the monster was in A or B mode. Would I be able to tell? He was animated but there were no other special effects. Upon exiting, we got fast passes for a 4:15pm return.





Next stop: Nemo, The Musical. I hoped this show would've been better than it was. It was cute but not spectacular, and certainly not as magical as, say, Beauty & The Beast.

After the show, it was off to Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. The ducks there are quite aggressive and were walking up to all the tables looking for handouts.

What better after lunch than an E ticket, so we headed over to Dinosaur. A woman on her way out had a couple of extra FPs that she didn't need and she asked if we wanted them. Maybe it was the power of our magical anniversary buttons. Cool! We walked on. I personally like Dinosaur better than the other ride with the same ride system, Indiana Jones at Disneyland. I think the story is more cohesive and fast paced.

It was now midafternoon and we waited in THE longest wait for the Kilimanjaro Safari. We hadn't been on this in several years and it was really better than I remembered. Lots of animals. Tons. Flocks. Herds. Animals galore. On the way out, my wife's watch had come loose and fallen off and a nice woman behind us saw it and gave it back. Magic.

We rode EE on our fastpasses and headed back to the hotel to find this new wash cloth creature. What the heck is that supposed to be?! Looks like little red riding hood to me.



Friday night we headed back into Epcot. We had a goal of dining at Le Cellier in Canada, but we had not made reservations and it was booked solid. The whole weekend we could not get in. However, we ate at the new/interim Italian restaurant which I'll get to in a sec.

While in Canada we saw the revised Circlevision show with Martin Short. I now want to live in Canada.

Next we took the new Three Caballeros boat ride in Mexico. I now do not want to live in Mexico. It is sad comparing these two pavilion shows back to back. If the point is to put a positive spin on the host country, Canada succeeded while Mexico failed. The Three Caballero overlay is lame and actually detracts from promoting Mexico.

On our way around World Showcase, we watched the Chinese Acrobats and then saw the China Circlevision show, which we hadn't seen.

Next, dinner in Italy. Tip: While there is a general wait inside, the patio is first-come, first served. We sat down immediately. This was another good-value sharing adventure. We split the pork shank dinner. It was huge. Perfect for splitting. Oh, and it was delicious. Fell off the bone. Mmmm. While we ate, Illuminations began, so we got a dinner show. The meal cost us about $48, including a glass of wine and the tip. This while the couple at the adjacent table paid $124 for their two dinners and a bottle of wine.

So although Illuminations had just played and it was now 930pm, we had more time thanks to Extra Magic Hours (EMH)!!! My favorite. More time in the parks in the dark.

American Adventure was closed for refurbishment, but the CM in there said to my wife "excuse me, what's your name?" and she gave it and he said "ah, yes, there is someone looking for you. Go to the phone over there and dial 1442 (or something like that)". She did, and it was the recorded anniversary greeting from Mickey and Minnie. This stuff doesn't cost them anything, but what a way to make guests feel special. He also gave us a special "anniversary snack" of a bag of disney pretzels.

After stopping at an ODV cart for a hot chocolate (and a free cup of hot water for my wife's tea) we completed our circuit of World Showcase and rode Imagination. Then back to Spaceship Earth (open) and finally one more circuit around the lagoon to ride Maelstrom before heading out the International Gateway and back to the Beach Club. EMH is great. No lines, nighttime magic.

Pedometer reading: 7.88 miles.

[horizons1]

Day 4: Saturday January 26

Saturday is Universal day. Before heading out, I went downstairs to grab a few pics of Crescent Lake from the Beach Club side.







The forecast called for more rain, so we set out with out ponchos and Mickey umbrella. As it turned out we only needed the umbrella a couple of short times. The rest of the day ended up being spotty sun and a little chilly.

First stop: Islands of Adventure to ride Dueling Dragons. This is one of Deborah's favorite roller coasters. The wait time was very short. In fact, it probably took longer to walk the queue than to actually stand in line. We rode "ice" once then immediately got in line again for a ride in the front of "fire". Note: On slow days they open a "re-ride" shortcut inside the castle allowing you to bypass much of the queue.

Here's me in front of Dueling Dragons


A comment on how Universal deals with people's belongings. While Disney provides handy little netted bags in the cars of their more wild rides, Universal opts instead to make you use their lockers. While they do grant you a limited period of free usage (about 45 minutes but I think it varies) the hassles of having to wait to access a locker through the electronic kiosk outweigh any benefits of not having to lug your stuff on board. In short, it sucks. Not to mention the fact that you have to to it twice for each attraction as you, of course, must claim your stuff.

After Dueling Dragons, we checked out Poseidon's Fury. I like this show. A little campy but that spinning water tunnel is awesome.

Can you find me in this picture?


On our way toward the front of the park we hit a couple of rides in Seuss Landing. The High In The Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, which Universal actually bothered to trademark, was very short. However the Cat In The Hat ride is a classic dark ride.

We had been to IOA before, but not USF so we wanted to spend the bulk of our day there. We had the 1 day 2 park ticket so off to USF we went.

First attempt to ride Men In Black: Alien Attack (MIB) didn't happen because the wait was too long and they had one bank of lockers broken so just waiting to get the locker would add to the wait time. We decided to grab some fried chicken over in Amity first.



Since I mentioned the missing toppings bar at Epcot I should point out that USF has a build-a-burger restaurant. Here's their toppings bar for comparison:



After lunch we rode Jaws then tried to do MIB, but now it was broken. Off to ET. Almost an hour wait but it was worth it to see the cool forest queue once more (we miss the one in California). Back to MIB, still broken. Then The Mummy. Very fun! Next, Twister. For you west coasters, this is a tornado version of Backdraft.

After Twister we rode Mummy in the single rider line. This turned out to be great because we both got in the same car with zero wait.

Next, back to MIB. It was open this time. The wait was about 50 minutes. Fun ride, but not as great as I had hoped. They don't really explain the "don't push the red button" thing but basically it makes your car spin, fouling up any targeting other riders are doing and making you lose points.





We saw the Animal Actors show just to see some dogs. Barely any dogs - mostly birds and monkeys. Stupid monkeys!

On the way out (the park closed at 7pm) we saw Shrek 4D. Then, with about an hour left, we ran back over to IOA for a final spin on Dueling Dragons and a ride on the Pteradactyl Flyers in Jurassic Park. The 60 second ride is not worth doing if there's any kind of line, but at the end of a long day, why not?!

We kept it simple that night for dinner by eating over at the Dolphin in Picabu, their cafeteria (formerly "Tubby's").

Pedometer reading: 10.89 miles. WOW!

[YZFDonor]

Following our strict "no bus" policy

May I ask why???

[mageloff]

Following our strict "no bus" policy

May I ask why???

The buses are like any other public transportation system... slow! They come every 20 minutes, in that amount of time you can get your car and travel to another location.

[Cheshire Cat]

I never really took the time to appreciate the MIB show building. That's some pretty neat arctitecture. It's much better than the big, plain, Kongfrontation (Mummy ) building that sits behind the NY street in the other park.

These pictures also reminded me of one of my age old questions I've never asked: At Duesling Dragons, why does the queue start off to the right instead of starting between the dragons as it looks like it's supposed to? Does anyone know why Universal does this? It bothers me every single time and I have no idea why. I want to say it's bad show, but I can't really pinpoint what's bad about it, other than it looks like you should be able to walk there. I always feel like taking down those ropes and walking through. Must... ...walk... ...between the dragons!

grrr...

[Captain Schnemo]

They don't really explain the "don't push the red button" thing [in MIB] but basically it makes your car spin, fouling up any targeting other riders are doing and making you lose points.

Does that work at any time? The red button is supposed to be necessary to get the massive points bonus on the big guy at the end. I don't know if it is or isn't, but I don't want to lose my bonus, so I always press it. Plus big red buttons need to be pressed. They're askin' for it.

Usually the spinning is caused by the guys in the car across from you blasting the "exhaust" thingy on your car, which increases their chances of winning. I wish there were more interaction like this. Splashing people on Popeye is just about the most fun thing in the known universe, and more of this kind of thing could only lead to more interest, hilarity, and re-ride value.

By the way, while I think MIB could be much better as a ride, I have to give them props for making a really fun game and for choosing a truly excellent time to take your picture.

Also the queue for MIB is really good, when they use it as intended...which seems to be almost never. They rush you from one boring waiting area to another, without allowing you to dwell in the most interesting part, and usually blowing the theming of the lobby, which has a function similar to the one at the Haunted Mansion.

If I'd spent the time designing those features, that would drive me batty.

The 60 second ride [at Pteradon Flyers] is not worth doing if there's any kind of line, but at the end of a long day, why not?!

You're lucky you got to ride it. For years, that one was the one IOA attraction that most of my friends had never gotten to ride. If it's even slightly busy, they usually won't let you on without younguns.

I happen to love the ride. It's so quiet and pleasant, the view is great, I love the playground beneath it, and it's just a lot of fun. That said, it is extremely short and, as you said, not worth a long wait.

As for the buses, I live in a crappy town with terrible mass transportation, so I actually enjoy the buses. Sometimes you get a really good driver who will play trivia games with the kids, and recently I had a driver point out a large alligator sunning itself down by a canal. I hate driving (mostly because the experience is so unpleasant where I live), so I am happy to forfeit a few minutes. That said, I don't travel around WDW at peak times, and wouldn't try to using the buses.

I am happy just to look out the window and not have to pay attention to traffic. As many times as I've been to WDW, I'm still trying to get the map in my head to match the actual landscape, so looking out the window is almost as fun to me as a real ride...like the monorail.

At Duesling Dragons, why does the queue start off to the right instead of starting between the dragons as it looks like it's supposed to?

I'm not entirely sure, but I think they used to allow you to walk through the dragon heads. Maybe they block it off now to make sure everyone can get a decent photo there.

[horizons1]

Following our strict "no bus" policy

May I ask why???

My first few trips to WDW were almost 100% bus. We used to stay in the Disney Village hotels (e.g. Royal Plaza). I never liked the un-Disney feel or the wait times. For me, it is more fun to challenge myself to find a way around using boats and monorails. I have it down to only using a car for AK and PI. And yes, I have taken busses to those before but prefer the flexibility of the car.

At Duesling Dragons, why does the queue start off to the right instead of starting between the dragons as it looks like it's supposed to?

The entrance between the two dragons is a staircase. My thought is maybe it's for accessibility that they make you go around to the right.

Does that work at any time? The red button is supposed to be necessary to get the massive points bonus on the big guy at the end. I don't know if it is or isn't, but I don't want to lose my bonus, so I always press it. Plus big red buttons need to be pressed. They're askin' for it.

I confess my knowledge of the red button is anecdotal. You may be right, but someone there said that pressing the button at the wrong time will make you spin. I noticed this happening when nobody in the opposing car was aiming our way. The people behind us confessed to pressing the button repeatedly. You're right though, it needs to be pushed!

You're lucky you got to ride it. For years, that one was the one IOA attraction that most of my friends had never gotten to ride. If it's even slightly busy, they usually won't let you on without younguns.

Yes! That was our experience the first time we visited IOA. They said we couldn't ride without kids. But 1/2 hour before closing the rules seem to be a bit lax.

[horizons1]

Day 5: Sunday January 27

After a rainy Thursday and Saturday and a very chilly Friday, we decided we would not see any better "pool weather" on this trip so Sunday morning we took advantage of one of the best reasons to stay at the Yacht or Beach Club: the pool! We spent the morning floating around the lazy river and swirling in the whirlpool, occasionally warming up in the spa and then sliding down the waterslide. Fun!

Sunday was cool but perfectly clear and sunny. A gorgeous Florida day. It was also EMH night at the Magic Kingdom, so we knew where we'd end up at the end of the day. But first, off to Epcot to do some "cleanup" rides that we missed on the earlier visits.

Lunch at Sunshine Seasons in The Land. I miss the old food stands they used to have - the bbq stand, the baked potato stand, etc. The cafeteria is just not as special. However, the guy at the salad station saw our anniversary buttons and said "be sure to go over to the bakery counter for your anniversary cookies!" Anniversary cookies? Cool. Two big chocolate chip cookies. Again, it's the little things.

After lunch, a nice ride around Living With The Land. Then off to Ellen's Energy Adventure. Here they made repeated announcements that "if you cannot sit for the full 45 minute show please leave now". I wonder if they were having trouble with people wanting to get off during the ride. And no, the announcements weren't much friendlier than that - the quote is almost verbatim.

Finally, one more ride on Spaceship Earth. Thank God this was open. I cannot imagine visiting Epcot and not getting to ride SE. I was really worried that it'd be closed for last minute tweaks.



Now, this is where the bus becomes a serious option. We wanted to go to MK for extra magic hours but knew that when we got out we could not take the monorails back to Epcot at 11pm. Well, we could get to the Epcot entrance but that wouldn't help us get to our hotel. So we debated: bus or car? Thinking about the crowds at the bus station at park closing, we chose the car.

At MK, we rode the Jungle Cruise, and then stood outside the Hall of Presidents and watched the beginning of SpectroMagic while we waited for the next HoP show to begin. The CM at the front door was very friendly and told us to enjoy the parade and not worry about missing the show. He came out and got us when it was time to be seated.

After Hall of Presidents it was time for the normal park close (8pm) so we got a spot in front of the castle to watch the fireworks. We were a bit too close to see all the low level ones but still got to enjoy the show.

Then we decided to let the crowds dissapate and bought ourselves some time by eating dinner at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. Hooray! They still have their toppings bar, complete with grilled onions and mushrooms and, yes, cheese sauce.





Maybe I sound like I am overly excited about the toppings bar, but it really makes a difference. I mean, you pay $6.04 for a cheeseburger (or more for a double) at every location. Why not get the most bang for your buck?

After dinner, we hit the following: TTA, grabbed an fp for Buzz, Big Thunder, Philharmagic, Buzz fastpass, Space Mountain, and Pooh. We got on Pooh minutes before the EMH closing time of 11pm. We took our time leaving the park, sitting in the rose garden and watching the castle change colors.

The resort monorail was the only one working, so we had to make 1 stop at Contemporary before going back to the TTC and our car.

Pedometer reading: 8.01 miles.




By the way, mageloff, here's a pic of my dog:

[mageloff]

That is the cutest dog!! My wife and I love dogs and I can see how the maid was inspired. Thanks for sharing.

[Captain Schnemo]

It looks like your dog got his paws on whatever was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.