DISNEY WORLD
June 13 - 24, 2003

June 13, Friday the 13th
Well, I guess that people are superstitious about flying on Friday the 13th because the plane was almost empty with only 50 people on board. Miranda and Steffi-Lou had an entire row to themselves. The flight attendant was very nice and joked with Miranda about her doll having the seat belt on. We had great luck with everything from beginning to end which was a really nice way to start a vacation. Boy is it HOT though...must be Florida.

Saturday, June 14
And what day in Florida would be complete without starting at Waffle House? Not too bad, but certainly not cheap...and worth the trip down memory lane. Got all set at the Wilderness Lodge in the morning and spent the rest of the day at Animal Kingdom. The Tree of Life was amazing and the 3-D bug show was really cool. We all braved both the Kali River rafting ride (used the FastPass system which worked great!) and then a miniature roller coaster in Dinoland. Lunch at the Rain Forest Café was tasty and we were back at the hotel by 4 to lounge around the pool for a while...that is until they closed it because of a lightning storm. Imagine! Dinner was in the hotel at the Whispering Canyon and it was fantastic although the service stunk. The kids had a ball as there is lots of joking around on the part of the wait staff. Fun all around and great BBQ food. Mmmmmm.

Sunday, June 15, Father's Day
This morning we woke up early because it was early opening day at Magic Kingdom. Since only certain attractions were open, we went on Peter Pan, It's A Small World, and Snow White before the rest of the park opened and then at 9am we hightailed it over to Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. This afternoon we relaxed in the room for a bit before heading to the hotel pool...the sun had really drained us this morning. Tonight Miranda went to the Cub's Den to play and eat supper while we went for dinner at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was an African food buffet and very good...so aromatic and pleasing to the eye as well.

Monday, June 16
Monday was another hot one...what better type of day to spend at Blizzard Beach. Hadn't been there before (we had gone to Typhoon Lagoon 6 years ago) and it was really neat. But of course all the fake snow still didn't make it any cooler. Luckily we went down slide after slide to keep the heat at bay and it sure did work. The family raft ride was really fun although I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite between that one and another where Stuart and I went down together on a double tube. Wow do two adults sure pick up speed...what a ball we had! The thunder and lightning started just as we were leaving...what timing. Dinner at Chef Mickey's during an unbelievable rainstorm. Of course this being Florida, the rain was gone and the sky was clear by 9pm and we walked over to Magic Kingdom just in time to catch the evening electric parade down Main Street. We lucked out with some good seats sitting on a railing up on the verandah outside of a section of stores which surrounded lower main street.

Tuesday, June 17
Slept in a little and then Miranda and I ate at the Roaring Forks snack bar for breakfast. Not much to write home about. Got over to MGM about 11 which gave us just enough time for the Muppet 3D show, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, walking around some of the 'fake' street sets, and getting our fast pass for Little Mermaid show. We got the fast pass tickets around 11:45 and they weren't good until the 3:25 show. Talk about popular! Some people were standing in line for over an hour for the show, but we couldn't figure out why so many of them just didn't use the Fast Pass system because there really weren't any other good kids things to use them on. Hey...better them than us. We were quite surprised at how busy this park was all day; and this was supposed to be one of the days when the weren't quite so mobbed. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch at the Brown Derby and Stuart and I both had their signature Cobb Salads (although while I had their original, Stuart had the Filet Mignon Cobb). The afternoon gave us time to take in The Great Movie Ride, the Disney Animation tour, and of course the Little Mermaid. We had to leave by 4pm though to have time to check out the jogging path back at the Wilderness Lodge and of course get ready for our big night out at Victoria and Albert's. What can I possibly say about that? It was an incredibly amazing dinner and we loved splurging on just the two of us this once. I think that this is about the only thing at Disney that doesn't include kids. Miranda meanwhile had a great time with the kids at the Cub's Den and had to be pried away at 9:30. We all went to the pool at that time...I read while she and Stuart swam for a good hour. We saved the tour of the back-lot for later this week.

Wednesday, June 18
Another mild morning...only about 85. he he he. Slept in before heading to Epcot...our first time there this trip. Coupled with a little cloud cover...the lower temps today spelled relief! Spent the late morning and afternoon seeing all of the World Showcase except Canada. An early dinner at the Biergarten in Germany complete with entertainment from an Oom Pah Pah band. Afterwards we made the quick trip over to Downtown Disney and saw the much anticipated La Nouba...the Cirque du Soleil's latest show. It was amazing, awesome, incredible...we all loved it! Afterwards we spent an hour or so at Disney Quest, an indoor play place for kids (and adults) with mostly virtual reality stuff. We 'rode' magic carpets and did some white water rafting before calling it a night. We are saving the rest of EPCOT for another day.

Thursday, June 19
This morning we tried not to sleep in too late and made it to the Animal Kingdom for opening. Started on the Safari right away and we didn't really have to wait. It was one of the best things we have seen at Disney this trip. Coming in at almost a tie for first place was the Pangine Trail that we did after eating breakfast in Dinoland at the Restaurant-osaurus (not our best meal). Anyway, this trail was really fantastic and while on the Safari ride you couldn't stop, on the trail you could take your time looking at all the animals and sights. No giraffes or elephants, but lots of cool gorillas and hippos and other animals. Stuart and Miranda FINALLY got to have a smoked turkey leg (Stuart has wanted one of those since our last trip to Disney 6 years ago when he missed his opportunity) in the afternoon before we came back to the room for a quick recoup before heading over to MGM for the remainder of the day. Aside from the very beginning of the day, it rained from start to finish. It is very hard to follow members of your family through the park when every last person is wearing the exact same colored poncho. The rain finally let up just before dinner for our quick walk down the jogging path to Fort Wilderness and Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We weren't anticipating a good time for parents, but we all danced (Miranda and I also did some line dancing) and were having a grand old time by the end. The all you can eat BBQ was very tasty as well and the corn bread was outta this world!

Friday, June 20
Ok...if you leave your ponchos in the car...no matter how fine the weather seems first thing...it WILL rain! Went to EPCOT and spent some time in Future World having fun before heading to Japan for lunch. Things were cloudy, but quite dry when we went in. About half way through our meal of very tasty tempura, the skies opened up and there was an amazing downpour. I became suspicious that things had gone bad then I saw people coming in for lunch wearing ponchos and carrying umbrellas. Oh well, we took our time at lunch hoping to drag out the inevitable, but finally bit the bullet and ventured out back to Future World. We had also wanted to stop in Canada on the way back...and get a dessert crépe for Miranda in France...smothered in chocolate syrup...of course.

Saturday, June 21
Today was a real surprise for Miranda. Two years ago her friend Katie moved to FL. Today her mom and I planned a surprise play date for Miranda. We got up early, drove to Denny's for breakfast and then proceeded to Lakeland which was a little less than halfway between Disney and Katie's home in Largo, FL on the west coast. Miranda was still clueless about the plan when we got off the highway and pulled into a parking lot where they were waiting in their van. It wasn't until Katie stepped out into the parking lot that Miranda realized what my surprise was. I just told her we were going to do something fun and she later said she assumed it was some sort of show. Anyway, the three of us drove back to the Wilderness Lodge where the girls played in the pool for a couple of hours until the thunder and lightning started. It was time for a late lunch anyway and so we ate in Whispering Canyon, that raucous restaurant down in the lobby of our hotel where we had eaten dinner last Saturday. After that the girls spent about an hour fooling around doing friend stuff while exploring the Wilderness Lodge...something that Miranda is old enough to do on her own, but is no fun without a friend to giggle with! We left around 3:30 to head back to meet Katie's parents. Hopefully Katie will come up north for a visit soon since her grandmother lives not too far away. Tonight we went to EPCOT for dinner at the Living Seas restaurant called The Coral Reef. The dining area is one huge aquarium observation with three large windows through which we could see cool fish, coral, sharks and a giant turtle. Miranda loved the illumination show that closed the park at 9.

Sunday, June 22
Today is early opening at Magic Kingdom so we went to wrap up there and see all that we didn't get to last time. We had fun on the Indy car ride and also rode the train that loops all the way around the park. We also couldn't leave without at least one more ride on the Merry-Go-Round and we also went into the Haunted House again. We enjoyed Boma so much the first time that we decided to go back, this time with Miranda. How often do we get a chance for African food at home.

Monday, June 23
Our last day. Miranda and I started with a late breakfast buffet at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Hotel. This was the best breakfast buffet out of the three that we had been too and one of my favorites of all time. Just the food I love...very well prepared...and very fresh to the buffet table. They had all the favorites and some nice treats too. This buffet included the characters Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Pooh & Tigger. It was great and probably a good thing that I found out about it too close to the end of the trip to do it again. I might have been over there every morning! By the time we got to Typhoon Lagoon, it was about 12:30, but we had a great afternoon there, staying until a little after 5. There were lines on a couple of the tube rides that we went on at first, but those were only so-so anyway; a better option for the younger crowd. We had the greatest time going on the Storm Slides over and over again because there was almost no wait for those. There were three to choose from and they were just right in length and speed. Stuart and I also braved the Humunga Cowabunga slide one time just to say we had done it. It wasn't actually all that bad going down, but the stopping was rough down at the bottom. I ended up with water way up my nose which drove me crazy for a while and Stuart ended up slamming his elbow. We decided not to torture ourselves again. Miranda wouldn't go on with us. Oh, spent some time in the tide pool too. So cool...the tidal wave came about once every three minutes and was so huge that no matter how hard you tried, you could NOT stay in one place. Everyone was sent careening twenty or thirty feet with the push of the water. It was great. Typhoon Lagoon is smaller, but I had more fun there and would pick that one again now that I have been to both.

Tuesday, June 24
Up and at 'em. Our flight left at 11:40 so we had to pack everything and head out. It is hard to imagine because we live in RI where things are so close that it took about a half-hour to get to the airport from Disney and we were in Orlando almost the entire way. When we drive a half hour to Green Airport at home, we've traveled halfway through the state. Miranda can't wait to pick up Wolfy and Gracie at the kennel. The plane is a little more than half full, but Miranda, Steffi-Lou and now Eeyore each have their own seats. The three of them are all sitting behind us each reading their own thing. Tonight we'll miss watching fireworks from the balcony of our room which is what we were able to do most night's this vacation. You could see them just above the treetops and it was always a fun way to end a day.