DAY 3
THURS 30th DEC 1999
Who we all
are:
Kevin (me): 41. Now look, if you don't know who we are by
now you have not been paying attention, have you? I am
still an intelligent, articulate, handsome, virile liar.
Tammy (wife): 35. Bright, interesting and attractive, she
is my life partner. We blend together very well, when
decisions are to be made we discuss the subject
thoroughly and then I do what I'm told.
India (daughter): 9. Growing up too fast. It wont be long
until she is teaching her father instead of the other way
round. She has far more self confidence than I ever did
at her age.
Georgia (daughter): 6. When in the right mood she will
giggle away for ages. Tammy says she has a dirty laugh.
When in the wrong mood she can sulk along with the best
of 'em.
Dorothy (my mother): 74. Hereafter referred to as
Grandma. Under 5 foot tall but always taught me that the
best things come in small packages. Boundless energy and
enthusiasm, never seems to get flustered.
You join us in the All Star Movie Resort.
Tammy and I both sleep badly and are awake by 5:30. It is
the old time difference thing. We lay around until 6:30
then sneak out leaving the girls asleep to have a look
around the resort. We walk past the Fantasia pool just as
the sun is rising. Steam is floating up from the warm
water as Sorcerer Mickey looms in the background. It
almost looks as if he is conducting the mist himself.
The Toy Story section is really well done as you enter
Andy's bedroom through a huge door to find Buzz and Woody
as the giant figureheads. This is the most visually
appealing of all the buildings and would be a firm
favourite with children. The Fantasia and 101 Dalmatian
sections are also very good but the Mighty Ducks and Love
Bug areas don't really do a lot for me, they are also the
farthest from the food court and bus stop. We visit the
food court next to pick up the refillable mugs and
partake of coffee and a Danish before returning to the
rooms where Grandma and the girls are up and about.
We shower and unpack and head back to the food court for
a proper breakfast. I shan't regale you with the details
of every meal we have as many of them tend to be the same
sort of thing, you will of course get the full
description of any proper restaurant meals.
The bus stop is next and we are off to the Magic Kingdom
after just a few minutes. The first thing we notice on
entry are the Christmas decorations and the Christmas
music playing everywhere. The tree is a very impressive
sight and Main Street looks very pretty, if a little
cluttered. I am so used to looking straight along to the
castle that I'm not entirely sure if I like it.
There are some characters in the Photo Centre so we go in
and the girls get autographs and photos. It is at this
point that Grandma spots Dopey. He has always been her
favourite and she runs over and plants a big kiss on him.
They then spend the next few minutes dancing around
together. I'm starting to worry about Grandma.
While all
this has been going on I have been trying to take a photo
with Grandma's camera but it will not work. It turns out
to be the batteries but they do not have any of the
correct size and direct us across the road to the
Emporium. It is here that we come across the first bit of
Disney magic of the trip. A lady called Rhonda serves us
but does not seem to have any batteries either. She asks
where we are going today and we tell her that we want to
see the afternoon parade and then head over to Epcot.
'Oh, you can't possibly miss all the photo opportunities
at the Magic Kingdom' she says and runs over to a
counter, picks up a 39 shot disposable camera and gives
it to Grandma. When we ask how much it is she just says
'That's OK, have a lovely day'. It is gestures like this
that make WDW such a wonderful place full of wonderful
people.
We catch the train round to Mickey's Toontown Fair and
all go on Goofy's Barnstormer. Grandma is a bit reluctant
as she has been on Big Thunder Mountain before and it
makes her feel sick, but Georgia insists and she
survives. Georgia loves this ride and we are hoping that
this will bode well for the rougher attractions later in
the week. The girls want to run about in Donald's boat
for a while so we let them have a play. After a few
minutes Grandma thinks that this looks like fun and is
off in to run around with the girls and get wet.
We walk down to Tomorrowland and have a quick ride on the
TTA before returning to Main Street to find a place to
watch the Christmas parade. As we are waiting for it to
start Georgia is sucking on a lolly and her first tooth
comes out. Tammy wraps it up in tissue paper so that it
can go under the pillow tonight for the tooth fairy. The
parade itself is surprisingly long, my favourite part
being the marching toy soldiers. It does seem slightly
strange watching a Christmas parade in the heat. By the
way, it has been a gloriously warm, balmy day with
temperatures in the 70's and practically no breeze.
We leave after the parade and get the monorail to Epcot
where we get our first proper view of the 2000 logo over
Spaceship Earth. I really like it as it sparkles and
glimmers in the afternoon sun. It is not until you stand
underneath it that you realise how absolutely huge this
structure is.
We are trying to pick up our tickets for the Candlelight
Processional and a CM sends us to Guest Relations. Wrong
place. You have to pick them up outside the park
entrance. We have booked Le Cellier for the dining
package and our seating is supposed to be at 4:30. It is
now 4:00 so we should have plenty of time. Hah! The video
battery has also chosen this time to run out so we decide
that Tammy will go and get the tickets while the rest of
us go to the Camera Centre to get the battery charged and
we will meet there. Nice theory. Well, the minutes tick
by and Tammy has still not returned. I keep walking up to
the entrance to see if there is any sign of her. It is
now 4:25 when I finally spot her waiting in the queue to
get back in. To cut a long story short, she went to get
the tickets only to be told that there was no record on
the computer. Further investigation revealed that we had
been booked in for the 13th not the 30th! As every
restaurant in Epcot is fully booked for the next two days
things do not look good. Tammy said that the tears sprang
to her eyes as she had really been looking forward to
this but the lady that she was dealing with was
wonderful. She tried several times to ring Le Cellier in
vain and finally managed to get through on a mobile. They
said that they could fit us in if we were there within 10
minutes.
So here we are with Tammy in a large queue waiting to get
in and the clock ticking. Tammy gets out of the queue and
asks the CM on the gate to hand me the dining reservation
and says she will meet me there. Back to Grandma and the
girls at the Camera Centre and we are off! Marching at
double speed with the girls nearly running and Grandma's
legs going like the clappers, we scuttle round the bottom
of World Showcase as fast as we can, with me bellowing
commands as we go. 'Come on you 'orrible little children,
move yourselves. Where do you think you are,
Disneyworld?'
Let me tell you, that is quite a trip to make in 5
minutes but we arrive with seconds to spare. Not the best
way to start a nice relaxing meal but we all take deep
breaths and try and calm down. The first beer helps
greatly.
We start with Cheddar Cheese Soup and the Steakhouse
Caesar Salad. Tammy and I have half of each, something we
continue to do for most meals. you get to try two things
on the menu instead of one that way. Tammy really likes
the soup although I prefer the salad.
Our entrees are Buffalo Rib Eye and the Mushroom Stuffed
Fillet. The meat is very tender but maybe a little highly
seasoned for our taste. For dessert we have the creme
brulee with a glaze of maple syrup which is very good.
Overall I would say that Le Cellier is very good if you
like steak, the surroundings are relaxing and the service
was very friendly. A look at the watch tells us that we
are now cutting it fine for the 6:45 Candlelight
Processional, so it's time to get the walking shoes on
again.
We set off fighting our way through as Tapestry of
Nations has just started. Even though we are walking we
watch as we go and it really is a glorious sight. As
Tammy says it makes the hairs on the back of your neck
stand up. We will see it properly later on in the trip.
We are seated on the left hand side of the theatre
towards the front with 5 minutes to spare. We have a
slightly restricted view from there but boy, what a show.
The lights are twinkling in the trees the choir is going
full blast then it starts snowing. All right, so it's
pretend Disney snow but it still makes a marvellous
sight. I am by no means a religious man but it still
highly impressive and moving.
We are going to leave the park now as there will be
plenty of opportunities to watch Reflections of Earth
later on. The girls really should get as much sleep as
possible as tomorrow is New Year's Eve and they will need
all the energy that they have to last all day.
As we walk out I reflect that you can see that Disney
have made an effort at Epcot for the Millennium
Celebrations, I don't think that I have ever seen it look
better.
Back to the All Star Movies and we pick up our Millennium
gift from the shop. Anyone staying on the Millennium
Package is entitled to a free gift from Disney. Now I am
expecting something a little bit cheap and tacky but what
we are given is really beautiful. The box is wooden,
inlaid with a hardened steel plate with Spaceship Earth
depicted in 24 carat gold. Inside is a crystal block
about 3 inches long with a picture of Mickey astride a
globe picked out in tiny bubbles created by a laser. It
almost looks holographic. There are only 4500 of these
made and when I see a similar one in the crystal shop in
Main Street later in the holiday it has a price tag of
$295. The good thing is that, because she has her own
room, Grandma gets one as well.
By this time we are all pretty tired, I have only had
about 8 hours sleep in two days, so off to bed to prepare
for tomorrow.
By the way, the tooth fairy did come and paid five Disney
dollars. Flipping generous these American tooth fairy's,
aren't they?