July 2002

Mark L. Fendrick - July 2002
Caribbean Beach Resort

Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: CBR
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran

Comments: Mark and Sandy enjoyed a ten day trip (including drive time) in early July, a time of year that the Fendrick's usually avoid like the plague. Here's Mark's concluding remarks, "We did manage to do some new things, with no lack of new things available for our future trips. Not bad for a place that I have been coming to regularly since December, 1971 - often multiple times a year!"

Prologue

This would be interesting to see if we could pull this one off. After our last trip in February, we had no plans for our next trip down. A change in the vacation policy at my company meant that I needed to use a lot of vacation time this year, so at the end of March, I booked a week at the Caribbean Beach Resort. However, I decided to see if we could surprise my daughter who works there. Coming down at this time of the year would be unusual for us as I despise the summer in Florida, but decided that since we are frequent visitors, we did not have to be in the park all day, I could survive whatever weather we encountered. There would be a few hurdles in this surprise that needed to be overcome as well as a few which couldn't and we would have to live with those. (Many of you might remember the Halloween "trick" (See below) I set up for my son when he worked in the Haunted Mansion.)

The first consideration would be that since I booked the room with Iris's Cast Member discount, she would need to either be with us when we checked in, or validate it a day or two before we arrived. I would have to make sure I knew her schedule, and if she were not working the day we arrived, would have to either tell her, or fabricate some other story to get her there. I could have booked it using my son's discount, since he would still be a WDW CM until the end of August, but we did not know if he would be able to come down with us, or if he would be working. (He graduated in May, 2002 and at the time he did not know his plans, which still included the possibility of continuing to work for WDW in its animal programs.) As it turned out, he got a job on staff of a NYC University in a research lab, and started working a month before we were to leave. However, because of the uncertainty, we decided that this would be a drive down rather than a flight.

Also there was the chance that Iris would see our reservation within the week of our arrival, when they are downloaded by the resort itself. She does like to look for folks from home, and often scans for arrivals from Staten Island. That would throw cold water on the surprise immediately.

Finally there was Sandy and Bobby themselves - neither one known for being able to keep a secret. So with all those wrinkles, the stage was set.

Day 0

On July 3, I had to go to work, although Sandy was already off for the summer. The car was packed, and as soon as I got home we would leave. Although I had asked for and received permission from my boss to leave early, the company itself closed early so I got out a few minutes earlier than I had even planned on. By 3:37 PM we were in the car and heading south.

The original plans called for making it to Manassas, Va. The first evening, but a lack of traffic and the early start made it possible to get as far as North Carolina the first night. The planned second night stop, St. Augustine, arrived way too early to stop, so we decided to continue on to WDW, and get a room on 192 for the night. This would solve many problems. We could spring our surprise on Iris the night before, and even get to see the Fourth of July fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. She could validate our discount and assign us a room, meet us for lunch before she had to work, and pack a bag for the week, since she stays with us - how many of you vacation at your workplace?

We arrive at the security booth at 7:30 PM and after explaining to the security guard what I was planning, we headed towards Custom's House. I spot and park next to Iris's car - so now I know she didn't trade shifts or anything since I spoke to her that morning. We go into the Custom's House and head for Guest Services where I see a few CM's without any guests. I explain that I am Iris's dad and that she has (hopefully) no idea that we are here. I had expected that one of them would go back and tell Iris that there was a guest who needed to talk with her. Instead, Terry decided that he wanted in on the surprise. He told us to sit by the TV and face away from the office. He then went back and told Iris that it was very important that she come with him. She protested that she was eating dinner and could it wait until she was finished. He told her no and guided her out, shielding us with his body as he moved her directly in front of us. She shrieked "Omigod!" when she saw us, and was thrilled to see us. (She was actually hoping that someone would come soon as she had a lot of things she wanted to do with someone.) She had indeed scanned the day's reservations, but the day was the Fourth of July, and our reservation was for the next day. She validated her discount, and assigned us to a room in Jamaica, right across Parrot Cay from Old Port Royale and Centertowne. We made up to meet there at 10:00 AM the next day so we could check in, and then head for Boardwalk where we would eventually have lunch. (CBR was booked solid so there was no place for us to stay there that night.)

We decided to take the bus to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks. It was in a level 3 shut-down and only resort guests were being admitted. When we got there, however, since the only way to get to the MK was by resort bus - nobody was being admitted to the parking lot - it seems that they were not checking ID's. (We had old ones to flash just in case.)

The place was more crowded than I had ever seen it, and we are always there at holiday times so crowds are nothing new to us. However we had never seen it as bad as this. For only the second time in 30 years, we were ushered directly into Tomorrowland via a backstage parking lot. (The first time was years ago when they first started televising the Christmas Parade live.) We took a spin on the TTA (people mover) and then headed for the Haunted Mansion. By this time, all available walking space was taken up by guests, sitting down to watch the fireworks. We continued to laboriously make our way to the Haunted Mansion, where we found no one on line or anywhere within the attraction, since the fireworks were about to start. However, my son had shown me a great spot to watch the fireworks from the HM forecourt, where he would watch them when he worked there. So while there was not a single square inch available anywhere in the MK, we had this whole area almost entirely to ourselves. We shared it with one other family and a few CM's. From here we could see the fireworks which were being set off all around the park for this special night. Great view and no crowds! We then went through the HM - still my favorite! - and ironically, Bobby called me on my cell phone as we neared the end of the graveyard scene. (When not on SILENT my phone ring is Grim Grinning Ghosts.) It was almost as if he knew we were in his old haunting grounds.

Finally, we headed out of the park, and of course the bus line was terribly crowded, but the Disney Transit CM working the line literally hijacked a few Specials by throwing her body in front of them, and within 10 minutes, 3 busses had been loaded and we were on our way back to our car. On the way, we saw the fireworks display from Epcot. Iris was just leaving as well, and going to the movies with a colleague. We were too exhausted to accompany her so we got a motel room for the night, and prepared for tomorrow.

Day 1

This was the day we were supposed to arrive and at 10:00 we have checked in (although the room won't be ready until later in the day. We are supposed to call, but of course, we already know what room it will be. Iris is room assigner that day and will call us if there is any need to change.). Iris meets us and we head off to the Boardwalk. We will eat lunch at Big River - Sandy and I have eaten there before but Iris had not. We get there early and just walk around in the peaceful ambiance of the morning. Sandy stops for a coffee at the bakery and we sit and relax until it is time for lunch. For those who have never been there, Big River has a number of its own micro-brews which are brewed onsite and sold with your meal. We will have to make many more trips until we get to taste them all, and they always have a brew or two specific to the time of year.

After lunch, Iris drives back to CBR to relax a bit before work, and Sandy and I take the boat to Epcot. Arriving at the International Gateway, we make our way to The American Adventure. Surprisingly, Voices of Liberty are off for the Fourth of July weekend, as is American Vybe. The preshow today is provided by both a Native American dance troupe and then a 4 piece country and western band. Sandy and I enjoyed the Indian dancers, but the country western band left us cold. Not that they were poor, but we do not enjoy that type of music.

From there, we continued our walk around World Showcase, and eventually found our way into Future World where we were anxious to see the new Imagination attraction, Journey into Imagination Featuring Figment. After the fiasco of a show that replaced the original, it was nice to see Figment back, as well as the theme song, One Little Spark. It was once again an enjoyable ride through, although it was too bad that they eliminated the turntable with the original rehab, and the ride today is too short. The ride lets you off at the Imagination Workshop where I sent this morphed postcard of me to some friends. We then ride a second time.

Next we stop into The Land, and since Sandy is hungry, we eat at the food court there. Although the selection and variety is no longer what it once was, we do have a pleasant meal and then decide to head back to CBR, pick up our car and unpack our luggage. We get the car back at Custom's House and drive to our room in Jamaica. When we get into the room we see that Iris has already moved in and we do the same.

We had originally planned on going to Pleasure Island this evening, but once we get into the room, we realize that we are a bit tired, and decide that we will go later in the week when Iris can come with us as well. That would mean Monday which is CM night. (Although we do manage to get there on Sunday night as well.) When she is finished with her shift, Iris shows up in the room and we decide that the next day we will have lunch at Beaches and Cream and then when Iris goes to work, Sandy and I will head for the Disney/MGM Studios.

Day 2

This morning, like most this week, we roll out of bed at about 10:30 AM and get ready for lunch. Since Iris goes to work most days at 2:00 PM, we visit the parks after lunch, which we share with her. Today we will have lunch at Beaches and Cream. Since we have been going to Disney since December, 1971, and multiple times each year since my son first worked there in 1999, we try to do new things each time. This will be one of those new experiences for this trip. I have to admit that the ambiance here was amazing. It reminded me of those snack bar/luncheonettes that we always had by the pool at the bungalow colonies that I went to Day Camp at growing up in the 1950's and 1960's. Sandy had a very fresh cheeseburger with a (diet) Cherry Coke. Not the bottled stuff, but a fountain soda with a pump of cherry syrup! I had a chili dog with a Vanilla Coke (again ... as REAL vanilla coke as opposed to the new bottled variety) and Iris had a chicken sandwich with a vanilla Coke. A very enjoyable lunch.

After lunch, Iris went back to the room, and we took the boat to The Disney/MGM Studios. Here I checked at the Pin Station under the hat, but found that they were out of the third AP pin - the one featuring Animal Kingdom! (I already had the first two.) From there we rode the Great Movie Ride. The line was into the lobby, so we had to wait about 10 minutes. From there we wandered over to the former Superstar TV/Doug Live! Theater, where ABC was previewing the new fall lineup. It was hot and humid outside, and the theater was air conditioned and comfortable so I didn't complain - much. Inside they gave away a few T-shirts and foam footballs, but we didn't get any. However, I did enjoy the coolness. (Although I will admit that it was cooler here for a few days than the 100° temps they were having back in NY.) Then we went next door for Sounds Dangerous (the Drew Carey 3-D sound show). Again, it was comfortable and air conditioned so I went along with the idea.

Then it was time to get Fastpasses for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Play It! I was still determined to avenge my previous loss at the 32000 point level. Instead of getting Fastpasses, however, we saw that the stand-by line was just entering the theater, so we got on it and right in. Well I did make the top 10, but no trip to the hot seat this time. As we were leaving the theater, the next stand-by line was entering, so we got on and did it all again. Once again I make the top 10 (even the top 3) but no hot seat. Once more we repeat our timing with the stand-by line and enter for a third straight show. However, the results were no better, and we decided that three in a row was quite enough! Time for Muppets 3-D!

Once we finish there, we decide it is time to head back to the room and freshen up before we head out to Pleasure Island. When we get to PI, we head into the Adventurer's Club to catch a library show, before we catch our first Comedy Warehouse show of the evening. We were surprised at how many young children were there. I don't have any problems bring teens into the Adventurer's Club or the Comedy Warehouse, but this time there was a young girl about 2 or 3 years old along with a few pre-teen boys. However, the characters played off of them quite well, and even the young lady was played to by the zany's of the AC! This library show was the Balderdash Cup Competition, and the kids enjoyed it and it didn't distract from other's enjoyment.

From there we caught a CW show, and the young girl was there as well, and right up front. Mary spotted her and actually used some of her improve suggestions - which I am sure were prompted by Mom and/or Dad. Again, no discomfort on anyone's part due to her presence. I will admit that I had never been to PI (and I have been there quite often) and seen so many pre-teens.

We caught 2 shows at the CW and then headed back to the room for the night.

Day 3

We decide that today we will go to breakfast instead of lunch, and decide on Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge, where we get the skillet breakfast. Once again we are out of the room later in the morning and get to WL about 10:30 - still a half hour left to breakfast. While we eat we enjoy watching the unsuspecting families who ask for ketchup.

From there, once again, Iris went back to the room and Sandy and I headed out for Animal Kingdom. For some reason, the way this park is built, it is always the hottest of the four parks, and today was no exception. This was the first day that we actually felt uncomfortable. We headed straight back for the Safari, and since the wait was less than 5 minutes, we went straight on. It was so hot that finding many of the animals was difficult. Of course, those who live in the water were visible, and the lion on Pride Rock was sleeping on his back. (Pride Rock is actually air conditioned for the lions - and their food comes frozen to cool them down.) While we usually have a driver/guide from South Africa, this time our guide was from exotic Miami!

From there we took the train back to Conservation Station - where Iris worked when she first came down to Disney, but since then most of the CM's she knew have moved on, so we didn't see anyone we recognized on this trip. However, inside CS it was nice and air conditioned so we stayed there a while and watched a few animal presentations and saw all of the current displays.

We decided that we would leave the park when we left Rafiki's Planet Watch, and head to Downtown Disney to see Men in Black II. By the time the movie was over, it was much cooler so we looked around on the West Side for a while before heading back to the room. We called Iris when we got back and told her we would wait for her to have dinner, and when she was finished for the day we all headed over to OPR for dinner. We hung around the pool for a while and then headed back to the room as we would be getting up a bit earlier the next day. Iris had originally been scheduled for one day off while we were down there - and usually she picks up a shift on her day off. This time, however, she kept her day off. In fact, remembering the days after 9/11 when she, as a part timer, would beg for hours from the full time CM's, she decided to let a current part timer take a shift this week so that she could spend another day with us. Tomorrow would be that day.

Day 4

We slept particularly late today - about 11:30 PM (this is vacation isn't it?) - since this is Iris's day off now. We get out of the room and take the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Today, the security lines are rather long, and I have to wait about 10 minutes while Iris and Sandy wait to have their bags checked before we can get into the park.

We start the day with Sandy getting her AM coffee at the bakery on Main Street before we head into Adventureland to get our Fastpasses for the Jungle cruise. In most cases, the waiting times are overstated - although the Jungle Cruise may be the lone exception. It is also the trickiest queue - many times you think you are coming to the end only to find you are in another part of the queue in another room! We get our Fastpasses and go towards the Pirates of the Caribbean. We decide to wait when we see that the queue here is almost all the way to the entrance doors. We are hungry so we decide to come back later and get some lunch at this time.

Keeping with the theme of doing new things, we decide to eat at El Pirata y Perico across from PotC. We always see this counter service restaurant, but have never actually eaten there. We do so now. Sandy and I get Tacos and Iris gets some sort of a Salad platter. The food was surprisingly good and we decide that it was a good choice.

It was now time to return for our Jungle Cruise trip. There is a decent size standby-by line, but the fastpass line is a walk-on.

Upon leaving the Jungle Cruise, the afternoon rain starts. As is usually the case when thins happens, we find ourselves close to the Tiki Room, so we head in. It is raining very heavily at this point so we head over to the crossover between Adventureland and Frontierland to wait it out. While waiting we decide that since the Country Bear Jamboree is right there, we would go in there and see the show rather than standing in the crossover path.

We leave the CBJ and decide to head over to the Haunted Mansion, but when we get there the line is quite long, so we head into Fantasyland and towards Tomorrowland. One of the things I wanted to make sure we saw was my favorite Disney attraction from the 1964 NY World's Fair. While it is not open all the time these days, it was indeed open today so we go in and enjoy the show.

The next stop is one of my wife's favorite's the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which will forever be known to us as The Wedway Peoplemover.

Another attraction that is now only open seasonally - and is open this trip - is The Timekeeper. Especially since we have been getting to the parks later on this trip, and our feet have not been hurting at all, this would have been a good time to see it since it is a standing attraction. Unfortunately, although it was operating, it was in fact having problems so we didn't get to go in. Instead we went on Alien Encounter - always fun and a bit scary.

Now it is time for our usual MK treat - across the hub we go - past the Partners statue to Adventureland again for our Dole Whips! Done with those we try the PotC again and this time we go in. The queue is about halfway filled, so it takes us about 10 minutes to reach Lafitte's Landing and our boat.

Speaking of boats, the next thing we head to is another attraction that we very rarely do - the Liberty Bell Paddle Wheeler.

From the boat we saw that the queue at the Haunted Mansion was not too long, so we headed there next.

At this point, Sandy and Iris wanted to ride Space Mountain, and although I would usually accompany them, my back had been giving me problems for a while so I grab a seat and people watch while they use the Fastpasses they got earlier. When they return it is time to head out and to the Beach Club where we have Priority Seating at Cape May Café. It is a great meal as usual.

Being Monday, it is CM night at PI and Iris can get in on her ID this night. We have our Annual PI Passes so we are off. We catch a Treasure Room show and then into the Library for the Radio Broadcast. Next, we catch a show at The Comedy Warehouse, and when that show is over we head over to the Jazz Co. and see a set by Interplay. We catch a final CW show and then head back to the room.

Day 5

Iris is working today, but she goes in at 3:00, and wants to have lunch at The 50's Prime Time Café in Disney/MGM. Once again we sleep late and get to the park just a bit before our PS time. We check in and within about 5 minutes we "kids" are called. As usual, the CM's here are very into their roles as "cousins" and we fall right in line with it all. (This was our first restaurant to eat in on our first trip to Disney/MGM when it first opened.) I got the chicken pot pie (the best I have ever tasted and was looking forward to it since I knew we were coming here to eat) while Iris got the pot roast and Sandy got a soup and sandwich. We ordered one "s'mores" for desert (the menu is a ViewMaster) and the three of us just barely finished it.

After we finish, Iris once again heads back to the room while Sandy and I head over to the theater to see The Hunchback of Notre Dame show. Of course, it would not be the same without Matt, the preshow juggler.

And then the show. I pay particular attention to the current Clopin and discover that he does manage to sing his own high note!

The show is excellent as always, and when it is done we head over to the "Getting Happy" show - which is a commercial for the ABC Fall lineup. The reason we head over there is twofold. First, it is now getting very hot and the theater is nicely air-conditioned. Second, is that during the show they give out about a half dozen ABC tee shirts, and Sandy wants to try to get one. So this time we sit up front - in the second row, hoping to get a tee shirt. We don't, but I do get to catch the foam football that is thrown during the Monday Night Football segment.

The Backstage Tour is next after which we decide to finish the day in the park. Sandy wants to spend some time looking through Sid Cahuenga's shop, while I stop to watch some streetmosphere

followed by the Stars and Motorcars parade.

We head back to CBR to have dinner at OPR and then return to the room to watch the Baseball All-Star Game.

Day 6

It was raining this morning, so we slept in even later than usual ... didn't get up until after 11:00 AM. This was Iris's day off so she would be with us and I let her plan what she wanted to do for the day. Two things helped make the decision. She wanted to see Shockwave - the newest version of Blast. In addition, every time she had hoped to catch American Vybe at The American Adventure, they weren't performing that day. According to the schedules, they were today. So Epcot it was.

Again, since we would not need the car, we used the Disney Transport to get around. It would work out well for out plans for the evening which included Ohana at the Polynesian.

We arrive at Epcot and head straight towards World Showcase, as there was a lot we wanted to do over there, including eat as we were hungry, not having had breakfast that morning. Once again, keeping with the doing new things theme of this trip, we decide to have lunch at the Tangerine Café at Morocco. This is the counter service restaurant, and we all enjoyed the meals we had there. (I had the special of the day, the Saffron Chicken with Rice.) The day was hot, but eating in the front eating area it was open enough to have a nice breeze go through and was comfortable. Throughout the day it rained and that helped keep the heat manageable, and actually felt good to walk in. We escape the heat once again in Japan as we check out the store, and eventually arrive at The American Adventure. There would be an American Vybe performance following a set by The Voices of Liberty shortly and we get good seats while Iris finally gets to see the group perform.

When done we saw the show in the main theater, and then back to the lobby to catch another American Vybe set.

Time is working out very nicely for us as we can now find our seats for the performance of Shockwave. Since Iris and I are both musicians, and since she was in Marching Band in HS, it was all that more enjoyable - although you don't need either in your background to enjoy it. The show was very high energy and I wished that we had the time to see it again.

After the show we had decided to head back towards Future World so Iris could get a chance to see the new Journey Into Imagination Show. However, the Tapestry of Dreams parade was about to start so we decided to stop to watch rather than fight our way around the crowds.

After the parade we get around to Kodak and go through to see Figment once again, followed by a trip through Innoventions.

By now it is starting to get a bit late so we head out of the park and to the Monorail to the Travel and Ticketing Center where we transfer to the Resort Monorail to The Polynesian and our PS at Ohana. Even with our PS's we have to wait about 40 minutes before we are called. But it is all worth it. The appetizers alone would have been plenty for me, but the beef, pork, turkey and shrimp from the skewers were simply wonderful. Why hadn't we eaten here before?

We get a good view of the Electric Water Show, the precursor to the Main Street Electric Parade, from the window. It reminds us of the time many years ago that we stayed at the Polynesian and saw both the Water Show and the MK fireworks from our balcony.

Filled and tired, we head back to the room and prepare for tomorrow, our last full day in WDW.

Day 7

This is our last full day here in WDW, and we start it with breakfast at OPR with Iris. Today we will go to Animal Kingdom and see some of the shows we missed the last time. It is extremely hot and humid this morning and I am wondering if going to DAK is the best thing since it is much hotter naturally than the other parks. We start out and by the time we get to The Theater in the Wild for the Tarzan Rocks Show, both Sandy and I are really feeling the heat and are quite uncomfortable. However, during the show, it storms and cools things off immensely, though we do not feel anything at all in the theater. To gather our strength and get some water into ourselves, from Tarzan Rocks, we head over to Pizzafari, and find the AP Lounge. We had visited the old AP Lounge that used to be behind The Flame Tree Barbeque, which was outdoors, although covered and containing a few fans, which was now closed. The new one wasn't much different - quite unlike the nice one in The Land in Epcot - although you have to go inside Pizzafari to get to it, it is outside and not air-conditioned. However, it does have some comfortable chairs at tables with some games and even a few video games. The CM attendant can get you priority seating at The Festival of the Lion King Show or a priority spot for the parade. There is also a book for pin trading, and Sandy and I do swap a few pins before we get a PS for the Lion King show. While here we reload on water - don't want to dehydrate - and then go to see It's Tough to be a Bug. After the show, it is raining again, but it is one of those rains that we get often this week in which it is actually pleasant to walk in. We head back towards Camp Minnie Mickey, but as it is too early to get into the show, we sit and do some people watching. We get to see some of the characters arrive and interact with the children who are very excited to see them. We also get a chance to see some of the wildlife who inhabit the parks as natural parts rather than in exhibits - including a few small skinks and cotton-tail rabbits.

Eventually we can use our pass to get into the theater. The CM who lets us in shows us the area in the back of the warthog section set aside for our PS's, but then tells us that we can actually sit anywhere we want, so Sandy picks a spot in the front row. It certainly gives us a whole new perspective on the show which we have seen a few times already.

By the time the show is over, it is almost time for the park to close, so after seeing that Pizzafari has already closed, we decide to head back to CBR and another dinner at OPR. We manage to time it so that Iris can have dinner with us and we can have a chance to shower before dinner - remember it was a very hot day today.

As we are leaving I decide to ask if they had any of the new Animal Kingdom AP pins which they were out of at Disney/MGM earlier in the week. They did, so I bought a few.

After dinner we leave from OPR to go to PI once again. We want to spend some more time at the Jazz Company. The group playing there this night was more than we had expected - a group called Toxic Audio.

http://www.toxicaudio.com/

We recognize a few of the singers as being from The Voices of Liberty and American Vybe. Two who we already knew were very talented. This is also an acapella group, but you are not quite sure at the beginning, as you are sure you hear instruments playing behind them. However, what you are hearing is all vocally produced. They also include some improve in their act, so unexpectedly, we stay for 3 of their 4 sets that evening. We would have stayed for the fourth, but the day was catching up with us and tomorrow was getaway day, so after the third set, around midnight, we headed out.

Days 8 and 9

Getaway Day. Since we drove down here, we have no real schedule to follow, and as long as we get on the road by about 4 or 5 PM, we will be right on schedule. We need to get out of the room by 11 - checkout time - so by that time we are packed and have the car loaded. No checkout is necessary, of course, with Express Checkout, so we decide to once more have breakfast at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge.

The original plans were to take a canopy boat out for an hour from the Disney Marketplace, but as we come out of the Wilderness Lodge, it is raining heavily, so we decide to wait a bit as we know it will stop in a short amount of time. It does, and we get into the car and head over to the Marketplace. Since the skies remain very threatening with rolling thunder in the distance, we decide to eliminate the boat ride for this trip, and just spend some time in the stores and make a visit to Ghiradelli's - something Iris was looking forward to since we arrived. Sandy and Iris share a Domingo Sundae (named after Ghiradelli's founder) and I have a frozen, chocolate dipped banana.

We then go into the 2 R's bookstore - a favorite of Sandy's - and finish off at The World of Disney. Iris buys her brother a shirt for his recently passed birthday, which we will take home and give to him. Then it is time to leave, and we drive back to CBR where Iris's car is, and where she will need to go to work shortly. When we say goodbye, I realize just how much I miss her, but am happy that she is doing well now, and is so very happy herself. She really does love her job, and that is worth a lot.

We finish our goodbye's and head out - knowing we will be back soon, just not knowing when.

Traffic on I-4 is terrible - in fact we have very bad traffic due to construction, weather, and accidents, all the way into Georgia. But we still manage to get 400 miles under our belts before we stop in Manning, SC - and get a room with a Jacuzzi which feels real nice after a long week and a long drive. I only wish I had this in my room at CBR!

The next day's drive is rather uneventful - traffic only due to construction around the Washington, DC area, and by about 9 PM that night we were home, our latest trip top WDW simply a memory.

Final Thoughts

This was the trip that we always said we would do, but somehow never really did - very relaxed. No commando touring, as we could miss any number of attractions without feeling that we had really missed anything. Having an Annual Pass is definitely an important part of that. We don't feel that we have cheated ourselves if we only spend a few hours in a park. Without our Annual Passes, we never would have gone to see the Fourth of July Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.

Coming to WDW so often has indeed affected the feeling of excitement you get when you come to the park for the first time, or for the first time in many years. The magic is still definitely there, but that surge of excitement as you walk onto Main Street for the first time has been replaced by a feeling of coming home to something familiar and comfortable. Often, I will try to conjure up that excitement, and for a brief instant can do it - but it is not the same.

I missed having my son with us, we haven't been together here since December, 2000 when both of them were working in WDW, but Bobby has taken his first vacation days and will be visiting with his girlfriend just a few weeks after we did, so Iris and Bobby will have some time to spend together. This will be his last trip as a CM (he was Campus rep for the college program, but since he has just graduated and no longer lives in the area in which he went to college, those days are over, and his ID expires at the end of August.) He still has some passes left so this will be a relatively inexpensive trip for him - although he still won't be eligible for the hot seat at Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Play it! Next time, however, he will.

We did manage to do some new things, with no lack of new things available for our future trips. Not bad for a place that I have been coming to regularly since December, 1971 - often multiple times a year!

* Halloween Trick

It was Halloween and Bobby was working at the Haunted Mansion in WDW. So what do you do for Halloween for someone who works in a Haunted mansion?

At first, I simply planned on buying about a half dozen Halloween cards, having them signed as if they were from the well known ghosts in the Haunted Mansion . I bought about 8 cards, and had my colleagues in the office sign them so he wouldn’t recognize my handwriting. I had them add little personal messages which I wrote as if the ghosts in the mansion had written them.

I remembered that I had a friend who lives in Orlando , and she helped out with this as well. I sent all of the cards to her and then she mailed them from The Magic Kingdom itself – so he now had nothing to connect it to me, other than knowing my warped sense of humor.

It was then that I got the idea of possibly getting people to send him cards from other Disneyland Haunted Mansions, and started trying to find those folk online. I found someone who would send from Disneyland Paris, and contacted someone who worked in Tokyo Disneyland. In fact, the TDL CM not only participated, but when word of the surprise reached his GSM, it was posted on a bulletin board there, and quite a few took part in the surprise.

In fact, it even spread further and he received cards from other, non-Disney, haunted venues in Holland and Vienna .

It would be almost a year until I admitted to him my part in all of this!

February 2002

Mark L. Fendrick - February 2002
All Star Music

Time of Year: Winter 

Travel Method: Plane, Personal Car 

 Resort: ASMuR Accommodations: Standard Room 

Ages Represented in Group: Adult 

WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran

Comments: Mark and his wife flew down to WDW to visit their CM daughter once again. As usual, Mark provides a great narrative on the happenings during the trip. As usual, the Fendrick clan maximized their in-park touring time. If you enjoy the parks and lots of details, you'll enjoy a Mark Fendrick trip report.

February 17-23, 2002

 

Prologue

This trip turned out to represent many emotions, both positive and negative. Since September 11, my daughter, Iris, who was working at Caribbean Beach Resort, was unsure from week to week if she would be working and if so, how many hours. She had been a part-timer, although it was her only means of support, waiting for her full time status. Since the events of September 11, when that would happen was now an unknown. Just weeks before our trip, she had found out that there would be openings at CBR and her manager checked to make sure she still wanted one of the full time positions. A week later, she received a call from casting that she would be receiving her full time status - and being transferred to All Star Sports. Although a bit disappointed about leaving CBR, she was nonetheless happy about the months of uncertainty being over. She was approached by her manager at CBR and asked if she was transferring to All Star Sports simply for full time or if she wanted to go. Naturally Iris informed her that she would prefer to stay at CBR, but had to have the full time status. Well, to make a long story short, her manager arranged a deal with a number of people and although Iris would indeed move to All Star Sports, it would be a deployment rather than a transfer, and Iris would stay statused at CBR. She would stay there for three weeks while the 27 new All Star Cast Members are trained. This will work out well, since this time we had decided to stay at All Star Music. Although we totally loved staying at DAK Lodge out last trip down, for us this was a waste since all we use the room for is sleeping. When I couldn't decide whether to book at CBR or All Star for this trip, Iris put it very well; "Stay at All Star," she said, "so you have more money to spend on me!"

On the other hand, my son, Bobby, who had worked at the Haunted Mansion during his stint on the WDW College Program and then continued with the company as a WDWCP campus rep, found out that he did not get the advanced internship that he had applied for to start when he graduates this May. However, as we all have at one point or another in our lives, he has now come to grips with his disappointment and is moving on.

Day 1

Sunday, February 17, 2002

We left the house at 5:15 AM to make our 8:05 flight from Newark International. Although the airport is only about 15 minutes from our house, the new security calls for arriving 2 hours before your flight, so we took no chances.

After leaving the car in long term parking, we got on the airport monorail, and discovered it was traveling very slowly and at one point made a long stop between stations. A trip which usually takes us about 5 minutes took us almost 20 this morning. Arriving at the Continental terminal, which we found had been rearranged into three check-in areas on three different levels. A bit confusing, but with many more check-in positions, very welcome. When we checked in (we had e-tickets) we found that we then had to have our checked luggage x-rayed before we would receive our boarding passes. While the Continental personnel were pleasant and efficient, the Argenbright security people were anything but! The agent who was supposed to transport out luggage to the machine got pissed when the Continental agent would not let me move my luggage onto her cart. This is a federal mandate that I am not allowed to touch my luggage until I pick it up at my destination and Continental could get a fine if I were allowed. Finally my luggage was transported and x-rayed and we received our boarding passes and headed back to the next security checkpoint. There was a short line here and I passed through fine, without even so much as the usual random search that I am selected for. However, my wife's carry-on caused some interest and she was asked to step out for a full search. He carry-on was opened, and the nail scissors that she had inadvertently packed was confiscated. She was searched and a check of her sneakers for explosives was conducted. Finally we head back to our flight which pushes from the gate right on time. However we wait 20 minutes when it is discovered that luggage with no corresponding passenger was loaded and had to be removed. All of the luggage is removed and the offending luggage is found. Our luggage was reloaded, and we were off. With all of that we arrived on time in Orlando where Iris was meeting us at the airport.

We meet her in the lobby after our monorail trip from the terminal, and were shocked by what we saw. The entire lobby was one huge queue to pass through the metal detectors. In fact, the line was too long for the queue that was set up, and continued down a hallway and out of sight. We then decided to add 2 more hours to our arrival time at the airport on our return trip.

Finally we get to Iris's car and head to All Star Music to check in. Since we were arriving so early and Iris was working later that evening, she did not pre-check us in and would validate her discount when we checked in. Although it was early, we were happily surprised to find that our room was ready, so we unpacked, and then headed off to Downtown Disney for lunch at Wolfgang Puck's.

After lunch, Iris headed back to the room and took a nap before she had to work, while Sandy and I headed to the Disney-MGM Studios for a while.

When we got there, Sandy turned in the voucher for her renewed AP and in we went. She made her stop at Sid Cahuenga's while I went to the pin stand at the hat and purchased both of the AP pins. The original was out when I was last there, so I was happy to find both the first and the second pin available this trip.

We went through our favorite attraction, the Great Movie Ride, and checked out a few of the shops before the long day caught up with us and we headed back to the hotel. We stopped in the food court and had a light dinner and then headed toward our room. By 9:30 we were both sound asleep! Iris arrived back in the room after her shift at about 1:45 AM, and we would do Epcot the next day.

Day 2

Monday, February 18, 2002

Today is our first full day here, and President's Day. We expect the Magic Kingdom to be very crowded so we decide to pick what we hope is the least popular of the parks for today, Animal Kingdom. A quick breakfast at the All Star Music food court, Iris drives us to DAK, so that she can have her car when she leaves and has to get to work. Later in the week, we will use the busses as much as is feasible.

Although Iris worked her first six months at WDW in Rafiki's Planet Watch, her priorities are seeing as many shows in the park as possible during her time with us. She grabs the time schedule and starts making the split second show plans for us.

First up is It's Tough to be a Bug. The Fast Passes don't work out time wise for us, so we decide to do the 25 minutes on the stand-by line, although it takes a bit less. As usual I love picking out the first timers and watching their reaction. This time was not a disappointment.

When they canceled the first Tarzan Rocks (and I find out that the President's Day pins have already sold out) we head back to Asia for lunch. We like eating at the counter/fast food Chicken House (?) restaurant by the River Rapids ride. I personally like the pot stickers and a couple of fresh corn on the cobs. Sometimes they have different Asian treats, so check back there to see what they have if you are there.

From there we catch the Flights of Wonder show. We get there just moments before it begins. I had seen it the first time I visited Iris at Conservation Station, but neither Sandy nor Iris had done so, therefore it was something new for them. Some overhead birds were causing some of the show's performers to lose concentration, but the show was terrific and the handlers did a good job with the birds.

From there we head to Tarzan Rocks, and our timing continues to be perfect. Although we have seen it many times, we still enjoy it each time. When the show was over, Iris decided it was time to head back to the room, take a short nap, change into her costume and go to work.

We head back to Dinosaur, and all the Fast Passes were taken, so we once again waited on the stand-by line. The park was crowded, but the lines were not that bad at all.

By this time we were ready to start to head out of the park, but would catch the parade for the first time. As we got to Discovery Island, the parade was about to arrive, so we watched it from there. It is a nice parade with plenty of characters for the kids. Not a classic, but far from the worst Disney Parade I have ever seen.

Once the parade is over we leave the park and decide to head for Boardwalk for dinner. I had Big River in mind as we had never eaten there before. This is a restaurant which brews it's own microbrews right in the restaurant to have with your meal. Sandy and I tried a dark ale. I enjoyed it more than Sandy, but it was only one of many that were available. The food was very good and we intend to go back to sample some of the other brews as well as some of the other meals. The menu was quite varied and the choice was wide.

Both well fed and tired, we head back to the hotel to relax - and fall asleep early once again - to prepare for the next day.

Day 3

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

An unusual thing happens today. After working 6 and 7 days in the last weeks, Iris actually has today and tomorrow off. She could have picked up a shift on one of these days, but since we were down she decided not to and hang with us for some good meals. Today we would go to Epcot.

No wake up calls for us this week, but we rolled out of bed starting about 9:30 AM each day - except for the day that I woke up and it was already after 11:00 AM. But hey, this is a vacation, right?

Our first stop this morning was at Test Track where we picked up our Fastpasses. They were for about 5:00 PM which was good as we had dinner P.S.'s at The Coral Reef and would be heading back to Future World after taking the spin around World Showcase.

Fastpasses in hand we head over to Mexico, where we ride El Rio del Tiempo. Sandy looks around the shops and then we head for Norway. It has been years since we rode Maelstrom, so we decide to wait the 10 minutes and do it. It was fun watching the first timers, especially when they thought we would be going backwards over the falls. Naturally, we pass right through the theater and by-pass the movie.

The three of us are hungry now, and since we are having a large dinner and want to be hungry, we decide to have lunch now, and decide for the first time to eat at the buffet at Norway. I have to say that our reluctance over the years to try it proved baseless and we all had a wonderful meal. It still is not nearly my favorite in World Showcase, but it is another option that we can consider on future trips. However, the deserts were fabulous! I had the rice pudding with the strawberries - wow! I would go back just for that! Or at least buy it often in the bakery across from the restaurant.

We then continue around World Showcase until we got to The American Adventure. As usual, Voices of Liberty put on a magnificent show. However, the special patriotic feeling that was there shortly after September 11 was no longer there. Then you could see American flags everywhere and on everything. This trip things were back to what you might have expected before the terrorist attacks.

Continuing around we eventually made our way back to Future World. There was still some time before our Fastpasses would be valid, so we went to Innoventions for a while. Among the things we did was send picture postcards to friends and relatives.

When our time came to use our Fastpasses we headed over, and rode the ride. As we exited, I remembered that my newly purchased Saturn was a GM product. My daughter, of course, had not seen my new car, so when I looked around the display floor, I was happy to find a display Saturn SL2 that I could show her. Except for the color and the sun roof (mine is black and didn't have a sun roof), here was my car.

After a quick trip through The Living Seas, we headed for The Coral Reef for dinner. This meal would be 50% off as Iris still had her holiday coupon to use this night. While we were eating, the divers who had been in the tank since we started eating, came down with a sign saying "Happy Birthday". A guest at one of the tables up against the glass was having a birthday and had arranged this prior. After a while they showed up in the dining room and spent some time visiting with the birthday girl. Before they left, they spent some time with many of the restaurant's guests.

Stuffed and sleepy, we headed back to the hotel.

Day 4

Wednesday, February 20, 2002

Iris's second day off in a row and today we will visit her apartment for the first time. She moved into it in January, but still has been lacking a few amenities - such as furniture. Her bedroom had a computer desk with the computer equipment set up and working, but she was still sleeping on an old box spring and mattress which colleagues from her days at Conservation Station found for her when she first moved to Orlando. I had been promising her a bed for a while, and we notice a Rooms to Go delivery truck as we approach her apartment. Once inside, I log on to their website and within a few minutes had ordered her a new bed. I think she was more excited over the bed that I was over the new car I purchased just before we came down to Florida. She had picked up her next week's schedule the day before and knew that she had Wednesday off, and that was the first delivery date they offered so it worked out perfectly. (By 7:15 AM the next Wednesday she had a new bed!)

From her apartment we headed back to The Disney/MGM studios for the day. It was about lunch time when we got there so we decided to see how long it would be at 50's Prime Time Café without PS's. 

We were informed that it would be about 20 minutes which was fine for us, so we sat down to wait. In reality it wasn't as much as 10 minutes, and we were brought in for our lunch. This restaurant is always one of the more fun places to eat, and the food is always excellent. I got the chicken pot pie, which they make so well that I anticipate it before we even get to the restaurant. I was not disappointed. With a little self-control, we manage to pass on dessert, not wanting to eat too much during the day as we were going to the Yachtsman Steak House for dinner that evening.

Once more we go through the Great Movie Ride, only this day there was absolutely no line at all. A single ride vehicle was dispatched at a time, and even that was far from being filled.

Next we went to see the Muppets 3-D show, and enjoyed it as much as always. We followed that up with a trip with Star Tours and then it was time to head over to the Hunchback Theater for our favorite show. We wanted to make sure we got there early enough to not only get a good seat on the runway, but to see Matt, the juggler. He was as funny as ever, and even had a few new pieces in his act. While this show is always our favorite, Iris also wants to see if a friend of hers is playing the role of Claupin this show. (He wasn't.) While the show was as enjoyable as ever, the actor who played Quasimodo was not as strong as those I have seen before. (At first I thought it might have only been my background as a musical director being critical, but Iris mentioned the same thing as well.)

A final pass through the shops on the way out, and we head to the Yacht Club and our dinner. This was another first for us as we had never eaten at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, but we were not disappointed. I had the NY Strip cooked in Jack Daniels - one of the best steaks I have ever had. Iris had the plain NY Strip and Sandy had the Prime Rib. No one was unhappy with their selections.

We decide to end the day at Pleasure Island, and catch a few shows at the Comedy Club and at the Adventurer's Club. When we eventually got very sleepy, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the next day.

Day 5

Thursday, February 21, 2002

Today is the day that Iris actually has to get up and out of the room before we wake up. She is scheduled for a class at Disney University. Although she knows what they will teach her, since during her PT days at CBR she learned what they will cover, but was never sent to the class, when she came over to All Star for the few weeks she will be here, they noticed that she had never taken this class and scheduled it for her. As it turns out, since the facilitator quickly realizes that Iris not only knows what they are teaching, but has real life experience with it, she spends most of the rest of the day answering questions and almost acting as a second facilitator. Iris is comfortable with this since as a Teaching Assistant in college, she has experience in teaching a course or two herself. She has already been asked by her GSM at CBR if she is interested in being certified as a trainer when she returns in March. Naturally, Iris accepted. We will meet her back at the room in the evening, before we head to the Beach Club for out dinner at Cape May Café.

For Sandy and myself, we will be meeting my parents in Epcot this morning. In the Spring and Summer months, they live here on Staten Island not far from us. In the Fall and Winter months, they live south of Tampa, and hold AP's for the park so they spend quite a bit of time here as well. We arrange to meet them at the AP lounge in The Land, so that is where we head.

We had seen the AP Lounge in Animal Kingdom when it was opened, and while it was nice, this is much better. I understand it was the Nestles VIP lounge before being taken over by the VIP Guest Services. You check in at the podium for the Garden Grille and they tell you the "secret" of getting to the Lounge. The elevator lets you off at the end of a corridor with a desk at the end under a sign welcoming you the AP Lounge. Three VIP Guest Services CM's were there when we arrived, and couldn't do enough for us. One took us on a tour of the lounge, which included a kids play area, with TV, and many small areas with plush chairs, and TV's - very comfortable. We are shown the soda machine along with the coffee and tea stations. The final room is for business, supplying free faxing capabilities, free local phone calls and data ports. Back at the desk you have what amounts to your own concierge service and while I realized it wasn't actually necessary, I made a PS for us at Germany for lunch. In the lounge at Animal Kingdom, they were able to provide you with Fastpasses, so I inquired here, but they had not been set up for that. The CM explained that they were new and experimental and were still trying to figure out what to offer. She wrote my request down as one of the things to consider. I returned to my parents and Sandy to find them having a nice conversation with one of the CM's. I hope that this becomes a permanent addition, as I can see really enjoying a stop here after a long day at the park.

We start to head over to World Showcase, stopping first at Test Track to pick up Fastpasses. They were timed so that they would be the last thing we would do before we leave the park. My parents would stay until about 6:00 PM so that they might possibly avoid the traffic on I-4 on the way home. We get to the entrance to World Showcase moments before it opens, and at rope drop we head towards China, since my parents now need a smoking break. During this break, Sandy does a little shopping in the China store and picks up some gifts for people back home. From there we head to Germany and our lunch at the Biergarten buffet.

After lunch we continue our walk around, stopping at The American Adventure. In a way I feel guilty about this, as Iris has been trying to see a performance of American Vybe since they have started performing at The American Adventure, but her schedule has always prevented this. Today, American Vybe - whom we had seen two trips back - were performing, and we caught their show. While they are not Voices of Liberty, they do put on an interesting show and I enjoyed this performance as I did the first time we saw them. And of course, as always, the show in the theater upstairs was enjoyable.

Returning to Future World, as we pass Ice Station Cool I ask my parents if they have ever been inside. My father says that he had always wondered what it was, so Sandy and I took them in. I told my father he absolutely HAD to taste the soda named Beverly. I wish I had a camera to take a picture of his face when he tastes it, but I didn't bring it with me today. For those of you who have never tasted it, it is an Italian drink used as a non-alcoholic aperitif. It is anything but sweet as you would expect of a soda. At this time, my parents need another smoking break. They find the nearest spot, in front of the "under construction" Mission:Space. Sandy and I go to Wonders of Life for the next 45 minutes, until it is time to use our Test Track Fastpasses.

But, as was frequently the case in years past, it was closed with mechanical problems, and no clue as to when it would re-open. We decide to ride Ellen's Energy Adventure and then drive to our hotel room until my parents need to leave towards home.

We get to the room and Iris has already returned from her class. We hang out for a bit, and when my parents leave, we have to start getting ready to leave for dinner ourselves. Our dinner at Cape May Café was as wonderful as ever (I just love steamers!) and once again we head to Pleasure Island for the evening to catch the shows at the Comedy Club and the Adventurer's Club before heading back to the hotel.

Day 6

Friday, February 22, 2002

Our last full day here. For the first time, our usual wake-up time comes and goes with none of us realizing it. At one point I check the clock and realize that it is almost 11:00 AM, so I wake everyone else up. We take our showers and then head to the Magic Kingdom, the one park which we have not yet done on this trip. Although they have been predicting rain for the last few days, today we finally got it. It is a mild drizzle and is still warm, so we decide to go the MK. If it starts getting too heavy or too cold we will make alternate plans. We drive to the MK since Iris will spend some time with us.

Since it is lunch time as we get to the MK, we decide to start with some lunch. Sandy wants to go to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café so she can watch Sonny Eclipse do a set. The place is very crowded but we manage to find a table on the lounge floor - perfect to watch Sonny. Both Sandy and I notice that the sound is not very good today and is somewhat hard to hear.

After lunch we head to get Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and find that they are for a time not very long from when we get them, so we take a trip around on the TTA (people-mover for us old-timers), and look through Mickey's Star Traders until it is time to use our Fastpasses. This trip through Iris hits something right away and finishes with a unusually high score - making her a Space Ace. Sandy and I finish with our usual pathetic numbers.

Unfortunately, both the Carousel of Progress and Timekeeper are once again closed so we could not enjoy either of those shows. We get fast passes for Space Mountain, which would make it the last thing that Iris can do before she heads back to go to work. Iris and I now decide that we need Dole Whips, so we head to Adventureland and get them. The rain still hasn't stopped at all during the day, but has never gotten to the point of being more than a mild, warm drizzle so we continue our day at the MK. Iris, however, decides not to trek back to Space Mountain, and heads back to the hotel to relax before work. Sandy and I decide to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean. When we reach the set with the pirate and the pigs, the ride stops. Through repeated taped announcements, and one or two live announcements stating that the repair crew is working and that they hope to have us going again shortly, we listen to the theme song over and over. Oh well, it could be worse - we could be in It's a Small World. Finally after about 15 minutes we are once again on our way with no evacuation necessary.

We continue around through Frontierland and take in a showing of the Country Bears Jamboree. From there we head to my favorite attraction of all - The Haunted Mansion. We notice that a new tombstone has been added for Madame Leota. Next our travels take us to the Hall of Presidents. Once done, we head into Fantasyland.

Sandy really wants to do some of the dark rides, so we get a Fastpass for Peter Pan, and then ride It's a Small World, hoping not to have a repeat of what occurred in the Pirates of the Caribbean. Happily, it went without incident. We waited on the stand-by line for Snow White and then returned to Peter Pan's Flight.

We pass the Legend of the Lion King theater, knowing that the next day will be its last, but decide not to go in, as we are wet, a bit tired and it is getting late. I have brought my pin collection with me and want to stop by the pin meet at the Contemporary this evening. We decide to head out, and make a stop at the rest rooms by the City Hall. While I am sitting and waiting for Sandy I sit on a bench protected from the rain by the bathroom, and realize that we have a perfect seat for SpectroMagic which is about to begin. We watch the parade as it comes onstage directly in front of us. Then we head to the monorail and the Contemporary Resort.

There are many pin collectors there, and we stay for about an hour, meeting people and making a few swaps. Hunger, wetness and tiredness win out and we head to Epcot for one more swing around on the monorail and then get a bus back to the hotel. We stop at All Star Sports first to see if Iris is near a break. It seems we had just missed her break, but she didn't eat and would do so on her second break. I tol;d her I would meet here and sit with her while she had dinner. I had to bring something she could cover her costume with so she could go to the food court with me for dinner. I borrow her car keys to drive back to our room in All Star Music where we get into dry clothes and head to the food court for dinner. I decide to wait until I meet Iris and eat with her, but Sandy is so tired that she eats and I drive her back to the room so she can pack and go to sleep. Packing will take me very little time so I am not worried about that. I head back to All Star Sports just as the line gets a little longer and Iris has to finish with a few guests before meeting me. After dinner I did not feel like making the walk back in the rain, so I once again use her car, telling her that I will meet her at 1:15 AM when she finishes for the night and drive her back with me.

Day 7

Saturday, February 23, 2002

This is the final day, and after seeing the line in the Orlando Airport, we have decided to leave WDW about 12:30 or 1:00 PM. This actually makes it practical for Iris to drive us to the airport, which she could not have done if we left two hours later as originally planned. The original plans would have had us probably at a park for part of the day before returning to the hotel where we would have Tiffany Town Car pick us up.

To make the decision even easier, the rain from yesterday has increased, and the temperature has dropped quite a bit and it would have been too uncomfortable for us to go to a park anyway. We have breakfast at the All Star Music food court and then drive to the Downtown Disney Marketplace. We spend some time at the World of Disney, picking up last minute gifts and then decide to head to the airport.

We did a curbside check-in and then head back towards the gate, knowing that the security check-point just before the monorail was still in front of us. As we get there, the line looks identical to the way it was when we arrived a week ago. A loooong walk to find the end of the line and we take our place. Surprisingly it moves continuously. Airport personnel are very visible and helpful. If you find yourself on the line while your flight time approaches, you will find airport personnel constantly checking for folks in your situation, and they move you to the head of the line. We head past the 30 minute mark, the 20 minute mark, the 10 minute, and we are finally at the metal detector. Even here, security personnel are helping you arrange your stuff on the belt so things go smoothly. How long did it take us to go the entire length of the line? Would you believe only 15 minutes from start to finish? Much less than the posted times. Congratulations MCO!

Of course we now had a long wait at the gate, so we picked up some reading material and sat back for a wait. No problem at all.

The flights from MCO to CLE and the CLE to EWR went rather smoothly and on-time. In fact, unlike the usual connections we make, not only was our connection in the same terminal, not only was it at the same gate, it turned out that the flight would be on the same aircraft! When boarding for our last leg, Sandy and I were pulled aside for a random search, and then we head for Newark.

When we landed, one of those things that is only funny because of when and where it happened. As we touched down in Newark, the window directly across from me (I was in seat "A" and this happened at seat "F") fell out onto the lap of the woman sitting there. Since we were safely on the ground we got a  laugh out of it - had it happened in the air - well I am not sure it would have been as funny.

So now we are home again, but I still have one chore to take care of. When we came down, Iris had asked us to bring some good NY Deli down with us since she can't get a good pastrami on rye in Florida. Of course, we forget to do this. On the plane, looking through the magazine in the seat pocket, I see a picture of Katz's Deli on Houston (pronounced HOUSE-ton for you non-NYer's) Street in the lower East Side of Manhattan. I hadn't eaten there since I was a young boy whose dentist was in the neighborhood. Of course, Katz's is not only famous for being the deli where they filmed to orgasmic scene in When Harry Met Sally, but going back even further to WWII when they were known for "Send a salami to your boy in the Army." I check them on the web when I get home and they do indeed ship, so I order about $100.00 of deli and stuff to send to Iris. She comes home from work hungry on Tuesday to find the shipment waiting for her! And the next morning at 7:15 AM, her new bed arrives. Now THAT is a good week!

November 2001

Mark L. Fendrick - November 2001 -
Animal Kingdom Lodge

Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: AKL
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Mark and Sandy flew to Orlando to spend some time with their CM daughter Iris in early November. Traveling for the first time since the September 11th events, Mark covers some of the security changes. He also gives a classic play-by-play of the entire trip in his usual fashion.

Mark L. Fendrick -- November 2001 -- Walt Disney World (AKL)

November 9 - November 12, 2001

Who: Mark & Sandy
Guest Cast (member): Iris

 

Prologue

Upon arriving home from our last trip, the day after Labor Day, we decided to take a long weekend at the beginning of the school term if we could work it out and get a good airfare. Originally we thought we might be able to fly down on the weekend leading into the Jewish Holiday since it started Monday night, September 17, but since the schools would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, and since Sandy had just transferred to a new school and couldn't consider taking the extra day off, we decided to try for Veteran's Day weekend. On September 9th I booked the airfare. As it turns out, this was a good thing, as on the morning of September 11, my home (NYC), along with the rest of the country was turned upside down. Ironically, as I was home from work that morning, it was Iris calling me from Orlando who first informed me of what was happening. Unfortunately, this affected her more personally as a Disney Cast Member who lost many hours on the job, and is still unsure from week to week if she will have enough hours to cover her living expenses. If nothing else, this trip would provide her with a few days of having her meals bought for her - and she certainly took advantage to the opportunity.

 

Day 1 - Friday, November 9, 2001

All packed and ready to go. I will pick Sandy up from school, with the car packed and head straight for Newark Airport. We are still being told that 2 hours prior to flight time is when we should arrive, and our best efforts should come very close to accomplishing that. We have a 4:30 flight, and I pick Sandy up at 2:00. It takes us about a half hour to get to the airport, park in long term parking and another 15 minutes to take the monorail (our first attraction?) to the terminal. The check-in process at the desk takes no longer than usual, and we head back to the gate with plenty of time to spare. Of course, the national guardsman with their weapons at hand remind us that this is no longer the usual situation. At the metal detector, I am pulled aside for a random check. I am asked to remove the money and credit cards from my money clip (which has a magnetic clip), and the foil packaging of the new contact lenses that I plan on opening the next day set off the wand. But, I clear security and we arrive at the gate eager to get started. Unlike the last trip, we leave on time, both in Newark and Charlotte, where we make connections. We arrive in Orlando on time and meet Iris who will drive us to the hotel.

In my last trip report I mentioned that I would like someday to stay at DAK Lodge, and this turned out to be the trip. When I originally called for my reservation, there were no rooms at CBR, and the only room available with a CM discount was a Deluxe Pool View at DAK Lodge. Being a short trip, I booked it, as it was only slightly higher than I would have paid at any of the moderates without Iris's discount. The resort was everything that is said of it, and I wish I had really had some time to take advantage of the facilities, which I didn't on this short trip. The view from my window each morning was magnificent.

As she did the last time, we were all checked in by the time we arrived and were able to go directly to our room, where we unpacked and after a bit of relaxing, left our wake-up call and went to sleep.

 

Day 2 - Saturday, November 10, 2001

Since we have been there many times over the years, Sandy and I went down with no agenda other than 2 PS's for dinner on Saturday and Sunday, so we let Iris decide what we would do this weekend. It turns out that she hadn't been in the parks "playing guest" for a while, so she decided that to maximize the weekend we would do something we hadn't done in years ... get to the parks when they opened! Our wakeup call came at 7 AM and by 8:00 we were out and headed to Boma for breakfast. When we saw the long line we decided to try Mara which was also extremely crowded, so we unanimously agreed that since the Disney Studios was our first stop today, that Starring Rolls would be fine for breakfast, so we headed to the busses and went directly to the park where we arrived just as the park was opening. I took this opportunity to renew my annual pass which would expire at the end of the day, and met Iris and Sandy inside. First stop would be the pin station at the Sorcerer's Hat where I would buy my Magic Moments pins (all 5 of them) and hopefully receive my 4 free internet pins, which had been out of stock for weeks until now. They were back in stock, but we were told that the Passholder pin which Sandy and I wanted to buy was out of stock at all of the parks and would not be back in stock until Thanksgiving. I bought the pins I wanted, and a few more for my collection, and then we went to get our Fast Passes for Millionaire. Finally we went to Starring Rolls and had some breakfast.

Following breakfast we visited the Walt Disney "One Man's Dream" exhibit and could have spent much longer in that exhibit than we did, as there is so much in the way of history to see there. So many items from the Disney history were assembled that you could almost feel Walt, Roy, and (completely ignored) Ub Iwerks standing and looking over your shoulder. Topped off by a movie hosted by Michael Eisner, this is a must visit for anyone who has ever experienced the Disney Magic. I can't wait until our next trip down which will be longer so we can spend much more time in this exhibition.

We arrived at the Millionaire attraction for the first show if the day, and I was intent on getting back to the hotseat to avenge my embarrassing mistake at the 32,000 point level on a question which I really did know the answer to during my last visit. Failing that I was hoping that Sandy would make it to the hotseat so I could tease her about whatever question she was defeated by until our next visit. Neither of us did. In fact, some of the low point questions were quite hard to make a snap judgement on and we never even made the top 10. Iris, of course, is ineligible so she didn't push herself too hard.

We went on to visit the Great Movie Ride and Star Tours, and then, according to Iris's plan - we headed over to the Magic Kingdom, where we would have dinner that evening at Cinderella's Royal Table. We also wanted to get there early enough to see the Share a Dream Come True Parade for the first time.

Of course, no trip to the Magic Kingdom is complete without a trip to my favorite Disney attraction, the Haunted Mansion. The line was listed as 40 minutes, but even though it was into the queue in the forecourt, I knew it would only be more like 15 - 20 minutes, so we waited. This was the longest we have waited for the mansion in almost 20 years or more. Hopefully this bodes well for WDW pulling through these dark days in our country.

We next headed through fantasyland where we rode It's a Small World, which was rehabbing last time we were there, and then Buzz Lightyear (we had a FastPass), and the TTA (peoplemover to us old-timers).

Finally the time comes for our PS at Cinderella'a Royal Table. We were called (along with the Eisner family ... naaaah no relation ) and sat ready for a wonderful meal.

We weren't disappointed and the food was wonderful. At 8:00, the lights dimmed and the fireworks music came up and we watched the show from the restaurant. A wonderful end to the day. Iris had wanted to go on Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, but she was (as were Sandy and I) too full and too tired so we headed back to DAK Lodge and finished our day ... ready for tomorrow.

 

Day 3 - Sunday, November 11, 2001

Up and out early again, as we passed over the DAK Lodge lobby, the Character Caravan was there with Goofy, Pinocchio, Gepetto, Fowlfellow, Gideon and Timon. It was obviously an enormous success judging by the lines to see them and have pictures taken.

Today our plans had called for Animal Kingdom in the AM and then going over to Epcot to spend the day eating and drinking our way around World Showcase (International Food and Wine Festival) and then over to the Beach Club for dinner at Cape May Café. We would try to park at Beach Club, take the bus to Animal Kingdom, then bus to Epcot and finally boat to Beach Club. However, the security guard at Beach Club, seeing Iris's CM ID sticker in her window told her that although we were with her she would still have to park in CM parking ... well out of the way. (They have 3 areas of the parking lot closed and the guard tells us that sometimes guests are parking at the Magic Kingdom parking and being shuttled back.) So, being the flexible folks we are, we decide to park in Epcot, and then continuing as planned. Oooops, forgot that Epcot now opens at 10:00 AM and it is just after 8:30. Unfortunately we realize this as we approach the Epcot parking lot and there are cars now behind us. Of course we could have left, but, once again being flexible, we decide to spend the day at Epcot and so we just wait for the lot and the park to open.

Once the lot opened, we got a parking spot (not far from the #1 resort bus position, so no shuttle needed) and headed to the entrance. A few weeks earlier, I had a problem with one of my feet, and it started again the previous day in the Studios and Magic Kingdom. Iris volunteered to get me a wheelchair and push me for the day, but I didn't want to stick her with doing that all day, so I rented an ECV for the day. Happily, that was all I needed and the next day my foot was fine and I had no problem. It had been years since we were at rope drop in Epcot, but here we were! The new plan called for breakfast at the food court in The Land. It would have been the breakfast in the Garden Grill, but with that no longer an option, we had a quick breakfast down below. (No hot breakfast there any more unfortunately.)

A quick stop at the Pin Station, where the line was quite long with people getting the Veterans Day Pin, and I picked up a couple.

Next we spent some time at Wonders of Life, although all we did was Cranium Command, and then it was time to head over to World Showcase and start our culinary adventure. From 12:30 until a self imposed deadline of 5:00 PM (we wanted to be able to eat our dinner) we worked our way around clockwise starting with watermelon water at Mexico, chicken satay, dim sum and plum wine in Southeast Asia, pepperoni pizza at Italy, perogie and kielbasa in Poland, sushi, shrimp tempura and sake in Japan, escargot in France, beef stroganoff in Russia, cheddar cheese soup and icewine in Canada and finally bananas dipped in chocolate. Don't expect the Food and Wine Festival to be a cheap lunch though. For the three of us, with the food, beers and wines it cost between $70 and $80. (Later the three of us would only pay $48 with tip at Cape May Café thanks to Iris's holiday discount coupon for 50% off!)

Halfway through World Showcase we stopped to take in a show at The American Adventure.

With heightened patriotism evident everywhere I couldn't wait to hear The Voices of Liberty and then, see the show. The Voices of Liberty, as expected, put on a magnificent show, starting with Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA and ending with a signed rendition of Let There be Peace on Earth. The response from the audience was fitting with the feeling of the country now. All through the parks everyone was wearing American Flags of some sort as pins or silk screened on their clothing.

Up in the theater, everything was as it always was until the scene of the depression - Brother Can You Spare a Dime. Something was wrong ... the set was missing! No store porch with the gas tank. With that, the lights came on and we were told that due to technical difficulties we must leave. Dissapointing, as I knew we would not get back there this trip.

When we reached Canada, we had to catch a performance of Off Kilter. Each time we are there we notice how their following has increased and that people are there to see them, rather than simply going to see whatever entertainment just happens to be performing.

Just before we had to head out to make our PS at Cape May Café, we viewed Tapestry of Dreams. As much as I loved the Tapestry of Nations Parade, they kept what was good about it and made it even more fun. While it is still basically the same parade, it is higher energy and very enjoyable.

Then we were off to The Beach Club for dinner. As we were called and the seater came over to bring us to our table, I heard Iris yell, "Tsuyoshi!" It turns out that the seater, an International Program CM, was her trainee at Caribbean Beach Resort front desk. Then one day he just disappeared. Now she knows that he was moved to Cape May Café, although he hopes to be back at CBR soon. The meal was as expected, and once again, I didn't even make it to a whole side of the buffet!

Once again, full and tired, we headed back to DAK Lodge to relax, pack and prepare for what would be our last day at WDW for this trip. However, more than we had bargained for was still ahead!

 

Day 4 - Monday, November 12, 2001

Our last day in WDW before heading home to NYC. All packed and with our bags in Iris's car, we head to Animal Kingdom, Iris's old "home" in WDW. We have a 4:20 flight to Charlotte and then a 7:20 flight back to Newark. (More about this in a while.) Originally we were to leave Orlando at just before 8:00 PM, but one of our flights was cancelled and this was the next best combination.

Somewhat surprisingly, due to time restrictions and what she wants to see, we never make it back to Conservation Station where she used to work before she moved to Caribbean Beach Resort, and where her apartment mate still works. We start at Tusker House where the breakfast we had planned for a day earlier was finally had. After getting FastPasses for the Safari, we had some time to kill, and took the walk down the Pangani Trail. Since all four of us (Sandy, Iris, my son Bobby and I) are big "animal people", this park and its in habitants are very enjoyable for us. (In fact, Bobby, a former CP at the Haunted Mansion and current WDWCP Campus Rep, has just applied for an advanced internship at DAK in animal behavior to start right after he graduates this May.) Along the way, Iris meets up with a CM that she knows (from South Africa) who works on the trail at the Gorilla area. She visits for a few minutes before we continue along our way. Finishing our tour of the trail, it is time for our Safari, and off we go!

According to Iris's plans we head over to Camp Minnie Mickey to see the Festival of the Lion King. Iris's apartment mate's boyfriend is one of the tumble monkeys, but he is not in the show this performance. However, she does know one of the tumble monkeys in the show. Having not seen the show since our first visit right after the park first opened, we had an enjoyable plan.

From there we headed over to Dinosaur to get FastPasses, and then over to Tarzan Rocks, which is a favorite of all of ours. This time it is much more comfortable than the last time we were there in August ... not nearly as hot! This has been almost a perfect weather weekend.

The last attraction for this trip is Dinosaur and then it is time to leave and head for the airport. Since our flight is at 4:30 PM, we plan on leaving the park at 2:00 and get to the airport the suggested 2 hours ahead of time. That is when the real world starts to intrude.

Checking my cell phone messages, I find that my son and my father have left messages for us. An American Airlines flight has crashed upon takeoff at Kennedy Airport, and all of the NYC airports are closed. (Note: Newark (NJ) Airport is a NYC airport.) I know that my first flight to Charlotte is still on time and should be unaffected by this, let's face it - if I have to be stranded, I would rather it be at DAK Lodge than the airport in Charlotte, NC! I call my son and my father who do not know for sure the current status of the airports, or the bridges, since they too were closed and I would have to use one of them to return home to Staten Island from Newark Airport. I have Iris continue to drive towards the airport as I continue to get the facts. A call to US Airways confirms that while JFK is still only accepting incoming flights, Newark and LaGuardia are back at full arrivals and departures, and my flights are still on time.

Arriving at MCO, the line at the US Airways counter is quite long, but we are able to check our bag (we only needed one for this short trip) at curbside and head back to the gate to check in for the flight. Passing through security is relatively normal ... no random checks for me this time, although once again the put Sandy's pocketbook through a few times. But everyone understands the need for security (and those National Guardsmen) and no one is complaining.

Everything does indeed go smoothly and we get back home at the time we expected, and now it is time to think about our next trip.

 

Final Thoughts

This was our first flight since the WTC tragedy. Aside from the WDW aspect, it was good to see and spend time with (and feed) Iris who we hadn't seen since before 9/11, and who has been having trouble paying her bills with reduced (and sometimes no) hours - not knowing from week to week what is going to happen. This trip was indeed more about family than Disney. (Next weekend we will be traveling north to visit Bobby who is performing in Chicago - The Musical - in school.)

Ironically it was Iris calling from Orlando who told me about the 9/11 attack taking place within sight of my house, and Bobby calling me in Orlando to tell me about the airplane crash in Sandy's old neighborhood.

As for WDW, despite all the cutbacks, I wasn't put off at all. The only thing that I really felt was the fact that they no longer serve breakfast at the Garden Grill. Other than that I would not have been put off at all.

The Character Caravan seems to be a big hit judging by the crowds at DAK Lodge.

I saw more Character Greetings throughout all the parks than I have EVER seen before.

While I knew that street entertainment had been cut back, I certainly noticed no lack of street entertainment.

Yes, I know that it was a holiday weekend and the NJ schools were off, but it was nice to see the parks crowded, as they were this weekend.

Bottom line - the magic was still there as much as ever before.