August/November 2000

All Star Sports, Offsite

 

August

First let me tell you that this was not a trip whose purpose was a WDW vacation. That would never occur in the summertime if I have any say about it. The purpose of this trip was to bring my daughter down to participate in the WDW College Program for the Fall 2000 semester.

Although she has already graduated (Binghamton University with a BS in Psychobiology), she is hoping to find a place to live and stay on at WDW to finance her masters.

We left Staten Island, NY on Saturday morning, 8/26 and ran into terrible traffic in NJ and Delaware, but the rest of the trip went well and was a very pleasant drive. (We stopped in Raleigh, NC for the night)

We checked in to the AS Music resort at about 6 PM Sunday night. (Note: I was asked to show my MKC card at check-in.) After getting settled we had dinner at Chef Mickey's. We had planned on going swimming after that, but Iris and I decided we had enough energy left to spend the evening at PI, so we headed over there. Caught 2 shows at the Comedy Warehouse - for you Leyden fans, he was in both shows. Caught a library show at The Adventurers Club, and had a nice conversation with Fletcher Hodges. My daughter was disappointed that Frankie and the West End Boys were not playing that evening, but was happy to find out a few days later that one of her roommates knows Frankie personally and she would have a chance to meet him.

The next day (Monday) we decided to spend the day at EPCOT. We found our Leave a Legacy photos (first row - easy to find) ... and then did Test Track. (The parks were relatively empty and except for a 4 minute wait for Living with the Land ... all were walk-ons.) Did Ice Station Cool and enjoyed watching Iris's face as she tasted Beverly. Her favorite was the watermelon soda ... mine was the apple soda.

We did Ellen's Energy Adventure, Wonders of Life, Test Track, and The Land. Purposely skipped JIYI (once was MORE than enough) and never took the time for Spaceship Earth or Living Seas.

Grabbed a quick lunch at the fast food stand at China, and then had dinner at the Teppanyaki restaurant at Japan, caught the ToN parade (which I missed last time I was there in November) and then had to go to the Orlando Airport to pick up my wife. She had not come down with us so we could use the entire back seat for Iris's luggage and "stuff".

The next day I drove Iris to Vista Way to check in - the day was dreary and rainy. At one point, I was talking with a gentleman from Arizona whose daughter was also moving in and filling out here paperwork. I discovered that she was in Hospitality and was an excellent chef. A day later I also found out that his daughter was one of my daughter's roommates. So I now know that at least one girl in the apartment can cook. It was when Iris finished here that we discovered her assignment was to be in Conservation Station. After months of speculation, she had found out that she would be at the one place that would actually make her brother jealous! (Remember he was at the Haunted Mansion during the Fall 1999 College Program, and is now Disney's Campus Rep for the program.) The reason for this is that Bobby (a bio major) is planning on working in Animal Kingdom when he graduates, (as does Iris) and Conservation Station is a great place to start. Any other assignment and she would be listening to how cool the Mansion was in comparison to where she is.

The next day, Iris was getting herself settled so my wife and I went to DAK to check out Conservation Station ... looking at it in a different way than the last times we were there. (We also did the Safari, ITTBAB and Dinosaur before we left to the Studios where we ate at Sci-Fi Drive In (for the atmosphere, certainly not the food). We got Fastpasses for RnR while we walked on to ToT. Finally after my wife's mandatory stop at Sid Cahuenga's, we headed off to EPCOT where my wife wanted to taste the soda's at Ice Station Cool. We also did Test Track - although there was a small line and we decided to do the Single Rider thing. A family behind us decided to do the same thing, but got perturbed when then couldn't ride together. We stayed to see Illuminations 2000 (another thing I had always skipped when I was there last November.)

The next day we met Iris - who could now get into the parks on her ID - and went to MK. Of course we had to do my favorite attraction - it has been my favorite since I first rode it in DL in 1969 - the HM! (It had nothing to do with the fact that my son worked there. That was only a bonus last year.) Of course we had to take a picture for my son! (There is a LOT of rehab work going on there.) We were disappointed that JC is rehabbing and we couldn't ride it.

Midday we decided to run over to DAK with Iris so she could see where she would be working. She also found out that the black shoes she brought weren't what she needed, nor where the white sneakers. We went that night to get a pair of work boots which she needed for her costume. So if you are in Animal Kingdom - take the train to Conservation Station and look for Iris (from Staten Island).

 

November

Short TR on a short - almost solo - visit

Well it wasn't your average visit because this time my purpose was not to visit the parks - although I certainly managed to do that, but to help my daughter buy a car so she could start looking for an apartment.

Starring

Me ... Mark L. Fendrick
Cast (member) - Iris Fendrick

I left my office early on Friday, November 10th because I had a 5:30 flight from Newark Airport to Raleigh-Durham where I was to make my connection to the Orlando portion of the flight. With so much construction going on I wouldn't up in the furthest long-term parking and it took almost a half hour for the bus to get me to the terminal. I checked in with Midway Airlines and still found myself to be more than 2 hours early, so I headed to the gate to simply chill out. I arrived as they were boarding the Raleigh bound flight prior to mine, and since I was meeting friends in the Raleigh airport and had no checked luggage, I asked if they had an empty seat and if so could I take the earlier flight. They did so I did. I managed to meet my friends early in Raleigh and spend some time with them before my flight to Orlando boarded. We arrived in Orlando on time and I breezed through the Dollar Rent-a-car desk and was on my way down 417. Since this was Super Soap Weekend, the on property rooms were all filled so I had booked myself into the Days Inn in Old Town. At least I saved $$$ as it was $36.00/night. Got to my room and basically collapsed and fell asleep.

 

Saturday, November 11, 2000

Got an early start since this was to be a park day since my daughter was working and we wouldn't have time to do any car searching. The plan was that we would end the day at the Magic Kingdom since it was the last one to close that night, so I drove to the MK parking lot. I explained that I was going to buy an AP so I was allowed to park without paying. I proceeded to the ticket booths and bought my first ever AP. My wife and I figured that we would be coming down enough to make this the best way to go. We planned on buying her an AP when we come back in a few weeks, but as it turned out, between the passes my daughter has and the passes my son (he is a Disney Campus Representative) has (and my AP) we won't need to buy her AP until the next visit. I bought my AP and then headed to the bus to DAK.

I knew my daughter wasn't due to work until 9:45, so I got my Fastpass for the safari and then went to Tusker House for breakfast. The food lines practically came to a standstill while they waited for a new batch of hash brown potatoes to be ready, but as I had plenty of time, I was not upset. This was the first time I was in the parks by myself, even though I would not be spending the whole day that way. I finished my breakfast and then took a walk to take a few pictures for my daughter's website while waiting for my appointed Fastpass time.

The safari was good in the fact that since it was early, many animals were out and easily seen. Even the bongo which tends to hide in the background were on the road itself. Safari over, I headed to the train station to make my way to (newly renamed) Rafiki's Planet Watch. Passing under the new sign, I got on the train and headed back. Not knowing where Iris would start working that morning, I kept looking from the time we arrived at the station. Not on the platform, not at preshow, not at CTT, not at greeter, not at EcoWeb, nor at any of the windows, however, on exiting the other side of Conservation Station I spotted her at the Elephant Wash section of Affection Section. She spotted me and I joined her there. Shortly she was bumped to the inside section with the goats and sheep. I said that I would stay with her until her lunch/break at about noon. Since her job is all about talking to guests, this did not cause her any problems. Her next stop in the rotation was EcoWeb and it was while she was here that she pointed out to me the smallest Hidden Mickey in the entire resort. (You can see it on her website listed above.) When she rotated to lunch/break I headed back to the train and to lunch for myself as well.

I headed over to Asia thinking that perhaps I would ride Kali River Rapids, but I decided that I wasn't in the mood to get wet, so I stopped at Chicken House (not sure if this is the exact name) and got lunch. From there I headed over to Flights of Wonder to see the show.  Then it got close to the time she was getting off for the day (3:45), so I headed back towards Conservation Station from where we would leave for the rest of our day. As I was talking to another CM to whom Iris had introduced me, Iris passed on the way to the station. He final position that day would be preshow and then she would change out of her costume and we would head for Epcot to eat and drink our way around World Showcase since the International Food and Wine Festival was in full swing.

We leave DAK for Epcot at about 4:00 with appetites still ready for the IFAWF. We decide to do Spaceship Earth as we arrive (we missed it last time, but since we do get there often missing something on each trip is a way of life and does not matter) followed by a short wait on the Single Riders line at Test Track. Then on to World Showcase. Highlights? Plum wine both at Japan and China ... Coq au Vin at France ... Chicken Satay in Peanut Sauce ... Strawberries with 3 kinds of chocolate to dip them in ... IceWine and Cheddar Cheese soup at Canada ... Pepperoni Pizza at Italy ... Funnel Cake ... and so much more that I can't begin to remember! We watch the ToN parade again  and then head for the Magic Kingdom (we have seen Illuminations 2000 and want to get to the MK to see the MSEP so I can take pix with my new digital camera).

We take the monorail to MK and arrive just before the fireworks so Main Street is a mass of humanity. We make our way down to the Ice Cream parlor since Iris wants to get some Ice Cream, and I stay outside and take a picture or two of the fireworks. Fireworks over and we try to head for Liberty Square where I want to ride my favorite Disney ride, the Haunted Mansion. Just to set the record straight, this has always been my favorite Disney attraction since I first rode the DL HM in 1969 shortly after it opened. It has always been the first thing I head for when I get to the MK, and has nothing at all to do with the fact that my son was a butler in Master Gracey's employ. Yes, we rode it innumerable times during his tenure there, but it is still my favorite! However it looks as if they are expecting the largest crowds in the Mansions history with what they have done adding Fastpass and all that extra (permanent) queue area! Who are they kidding? When we finish and bid farewell to our Ghost Host, we camp out by the stocks in Liberty Square where the parade route turns into Frontier Land ... my favorite spot to watch a parade, and usually a lot less crowded than Main Street. Although we "saw" the MSEP last time we were there (in August) this time I actually made sure to get a spot from where I could see all the float (and not just the tops as we waited for the parade to be over so we could head out) and was able to get some nice pictures.

Tomorrow, Sunday, Iris usually works, but due to a quirk in her schedule she is off this Sunday so we see if we can do any car shopping (very little indeed as most lots are closed), so she stays with me in my motel so we can get an early start.

 

Sunday, November 12, 2000

We had planned on getting up and having breakfast at the Land Grill in Epcot (she is in a period where she gets 50% of meals at certain restaurants at certain times), but she had a rough night ... a combination of my snoring (she forgot to bring earplugs ... we remedied that for the next night) and a budding cold (for which we had medicine for her the next night as well). So I decided not to wake her up and we slept a few hours later. We got on the road about 11:00 AM and did see a few cars, and have lunch at a Pizza Hut in Kissimmee, but then we decided that we weren't going to accomplish anything more and headed back to Epcot. I finally had a chance to catch an entire show with Off-Kilter and we hit a few more food stands in World Showcase. We had to leave before the park closed as Iris had made reservations that night for the Hoop-de-doo Revue. (She fell in love with the bread an salad when she was there a few weeks earlier.) Nice to get 50% off here too!

Exhausted, we headed back to the motel for what would be a long, exhausting day the next day.

 

Monday, November 13, 2000

This would be the day we would have to get our mission accomplished. Iris was scheduled to work on Tuesday ... usually her day off. We started the day with breakfast at the Land Grill as we had planned the morning before but never did. Saw Mickey, Chip and Dale and left for our day of car hunting with full bellies and wishes of good luck from Mickey, Chip and Dale. I had a list of places to check out - garnered from some homework on Auto Trader.com when I was still in NY. We also saw many more used car lots, and by early afternoon had found a car, did our haggling and bought it. A quick sidetrip to get her insurance, and the job was done, and she drove back to the motel following me in her new car ... the first in her name and not mine! We did stop for an oil change and discovered that we should replace the battery which we did the next morning.

At first we were planning on eating dinner at Downtown Disney, and actually parked and walked around a bit, but in the end drove to Crossroads and ate at TGI Fridays. Then we went back to the hotel and actually had a relaxing evening. Iris stayed that night as well since we knew that her car would probably need a boost in the morning and it did. I jumpstarted it and we went to buy her a new battery.

 

Tuesday, November 14, 2000

My last day there, but we knew that the job had been done and now we could relax ... once we got her the battery. She returned her clothes to the trunk of HER CAR and we drove to her apartment complex where she left the car, after having a few of her friends come see it. Originally we planned on having lunch at MGM (now that Super Soap weekend was over) and then returning to MK from where I would leave for the airport, so I parked in the MK parking lot. We had lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe ... where I had not eaten for many years ... and made sure to order something that I knew i could finish ... vegetables and all ! I now have my Clean Plate Club sticker in my wallet! I had the Chicken Pot Pie (delicious!) and Iris had the pot roast (my favorite!). We then did the backstage tour and rode TGMR. But I realized that time was passing quicker than I had anticipated, and as much as I would have loved to have missed my flight and had to stay another day (Iris was performing in a show in Conservation Station for the first time ... I would have loved to see it!), I needed to head back. We got to the MK parking lot and got my car and I dropped Iris off at her apartment and headed for the airport.

My first flight was a half hour delayed, so the extra time I spent with my friends in Raleigh going, was given back by the short time I had with them on the return trip. I was home in my own bed by midnight. Mission accomplished and we had even spent some time in the parks as well.