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Disney and other Theme ParksDisney Stuff (Tours, Rides, Restaurants, Lodging)Thanksgiving 2000 Trip Report
updated May 2, 2001
Thursday Nov 23, 2000
Our plane landed at 10:20am. We used Priceline and got a $26/day rate at Budget rental car. We were supposed to get an Ultima but it was on hold so we got a Mustang instead. Hard to get three people and their bags in a Mustang.
We stopped at Goodings Grocery across from Disney for supplies. We arrived at the Polynesian around 12:30pm. Our rooms weren't ready yet so we left our stuff in the car and took the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom. A Quick lunch at Casey's Corner on Main Street for hot dogs.
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Back to the Polynesian at 4pm to get ready for dinner at Ohana's and to check into our rooms. Our Rooms were in the Tahiti building. All of the building names have been changed since we stayed here a few years ago. Here is the new map of the grounds.
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The great thing about Tahiti is the very short walk to the TTC (Ticket and Transportation Center). From here you can take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT or the ferry to the Magic Kingdom.
One thing they didn't tell us about parking was that there is another section of the parking lot that is NOT obvious. It is very near Tahiti. When you get inside the guard gate go straight a bit and then to the right to park there.
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We bought some pins from the pin cart in the lobby of the Polynesian. Lots of new pins! They also had the small pin notebooks. They said that the full-size notebooks have not been available for some time. I saw them at Disneyland in June.
Our dinner was at 6:30. The greeter announced that since today is Thanksgiving they will not be serving the normal Ohana menu. Instead they will be serving a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, dressing and green beans. It was served all together in a large wok. The six of us went through two of these woks. It was all-you-can-eat. It was good, but not exactly what we were looking forward to.
After dinner we took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom to meet up with the kids. We had 3-channel family radios to help us get together. We quickly discovered the usefulness of the 3-channel radio at Disney World on the most crowded day. It seems like everybody has these radios. It was next to impossible to talk to anyone on any channel because all channels were filled with people screaming for someone else.
Anyway, we met at 9pm and watched Tinkerbell kick off the fireworks. We tried the Haunted Mansion again, this time with a 15 minute line. From there we went to Big Thunder Mountain and the Jungle Cruise. BTM is great at night, but I prefer the Jungle Cruise during the day. We watched the MSEP (Main Street Electrical Parade) and took the monorail back to the hotel.
Friday Nov 24, 2000
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We left for the boat at 11am. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom docks about 8 minutes later. The first sight is the Train Station.
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We had an early lunch at King Stephan's in Cinderella's Castle. Here is a shot of the mosaic inside the castle.
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We made reservations for all of our meals on the first day that they allow reservations to be made. If you are staying at a Disney hotel you can make the reservations 60 days in advance. It is best to call in for each day of the trip as the 60 days point hits. The priority seating slots fill up fast. Here is the dining room as seen from Fantasyland (the row of windows on the second floor) and also the interior of the dining hall.
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We tried to go to the Mad Hatter shop behind the castle but it is gone! I think it is now called Tinkerbell's Treasures.
We decided to head for EPCOT where the crowds are smaller. We boarded the train in Toon Town and rode to the main gate. We took the monorail to the TTC (ticket and transportation center) and transferred to the EPCOT monorail.
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The first thing we did at EPCOT was run for the Fast Pass dispensers at GM Test Track.
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It was about 1:30pm and all of the Fast Passes for the day had already been given out! Even though there were eight of us we The thing we couldn't figure out was that the stand-by line (which was reported as been many times longer than the single line) seemed to breeze right past us. decided to try the single rider line. It was about a 30 minute wait. Another strange thing is that the only people that seem to be allowed into the indoor queue area are FastPass holders. And very few of them are in there at one time. This means that the indoor queue is almost empty. This is odd since they put so many interesting things in that queue to look at. I don't think anyone sees that stuff now, they just walk right by it to get to the ride.
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I was surprised that we were paired off in four cars instead of singled out in eight cars. The ride was great. The acceleration on the outdoor loop is worth the wait. Above is a picture of an aerial shot of the Test Track that is hanging in the staging area of the ride.
After Test Track we walked around the lake looking at the countries. We stopped in Norway to ride the Maelstrom.
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This had about a 30 minute line. The ride is good, but the line is too long. We opted to skip the movie after the ride. They have closed ALL of the shop doors except the last ones. This makes you walk through all of their stores to get out. This is a long task given the large crowds. We bought a box of the chocolate mint wafer cookies at the last shop. They were very good, but turned soggy by that night. So if you get them, eat them all or seal them up!
Most of our group went to Honey I Shrank The Audience. I went to the Pin Trading area and picked up a couple of the special Star Wars Weekend pins by trading a convention dangle pin and a Lady and the Tramp dangle pin. Here is one of the pins and a couple of night shots taken around Imagination.
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We took the monorail back to the Polynesian. We had an 8pm Luau. We called the front desk to send a golf cart type vehicle to drive us over. Our rooms were in the eastern most part of the eastern most building right next to the TTC. The Luau is at the western most part of the Polynesian.
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The Luau went from about 8 to 10pm. They told us to get there at 7:30. We had to wait in the garden area until 8pm. The food is served in long leaf shaped plates. We had two plates on our table for 9 people. The first course was fruit and cold noodles. The main course was chicken and ribs. I think the Desert was pineapple upsidedown cake.
The food was ok but not especially good and the show was ok but not especially good. The guy that juggles the fire sticks was pretty good.
Anyway, the Luau is not bad, but it is not something I would do again.
The Magic Kingdom was open until 11pm that night so after the luau we went straight to the monorail and headed to Frontierland to ride the Big Thunder Mountain twice. First in the front and then in the back. The front is NOT a good place. You end up hanging while the rear of the train is still being pulled slowly up to the top of each hill. When the back of the train is released the front is already half of the was down the hill. The difference between riding in the front and in the back is DRAMATIC. We now let others pass so we can get closer to the back.
We stopped at the Main Street Bake Shop for Rice Krispy Treats and then on to the boat back to the hotel.
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Saturday Nov 25, 2000
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We left the Polynesian by Monorail at 8:30am to get to our 9am character breakfast at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Hotel. This is a great breakfast buffet. The characters are Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale. They now take each family's picture in front of a huge dinner plate. By the end of the meal they offer a package for about $25 of 2 8X10s in Chef Mickey paper folders and 2 refrigerator magnets. Our pictures were good and we bought the package.
We bought more pins at the pin cart by the hotel shops. We also pressed some pennies and quarters. They have special 2000 quarter presses. They now have two new additions to the toy monorail, Spaceship Earth and the Contemporary Hotel.
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We rode the monorail to the Polynesian and drove our cars over to MGM. We decided that cars would be quickest both getting to MGM and then getting to Downtown Disney for the Cirque Du Soliel show at 6pm.
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The first thing to do at MGM was to get Fast Passes for the Tower Of Terror. Our time slot was about 2 1/2 hours away. We went to a new attraction, Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carey. It replaced the Sound Studio where the audience members acted as Foley Artists.
This new show is almost completely in the dark. It has theater seats with headphones for everyone. The show is like a radio detective drama. You are supposed to imagine what is happening from the stereo sound effects. It was ok, not great. It is a nice place to rest for a few minutes.
Next was Muppet 3D. This is always a great show. The 3D effects are mostly great.
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Then it was 2:30 and time for our Tower of Terror ride. Look at the crowds in the picture above! The Fast Passes got us right in. They have really changed this ride. I think we went up and down about 4 or 5 times. Only 2 or 3 full drops with a couple of short ones thrown in. The best part is the ghost scene and starfield that turns into the door and then the drop in total darkness. You have no idea when the bottom is finally going to drop out!
We rode on Star Tours and the Great Movie Ride and rested during the Mulan Parade. It seems like the Mulan parade has been there for many years. They have re-done the exterior of the Star Traders, now called Tatooine Traders.
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We drove to Disney Westside at 4pm and walked around the shops for a
while before the show. Of course they have pin carts here, too! So many pins, so little time.
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We went into the HUGE Cirque Du Soliel theater at 5:15pm for La Nouba. We got cokes, popcorn and giant pretzels. I was surprised that they allow messy food in that nice theater, but glad since we were hungry.
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La Nouba starts out with a surrealistic scene followed by two performers rolling around in large metal rings. The stage opened up to make various levels and the performers rode bikes all over while doing lots of tricks. There was a high wire act and a trapeze act. A troupe of young girls juggled spools on sticks and strings. They threw the spools back and forth between them as they did all sorts of gymnastics. This was a VERY popular act. The strength act was a performer and two long red curtains hanging from the ceiling. He would grab the fabric and fly around the theater. There was a chair balancing act. The trampoline act was amazing (actually all of the acts were amazing). The stage opened up to reveal huge trampolines. Other portions rose up to let buildings rise up. The performers were able to be anywhere on the buildings by controlling their bounce. I can't really describe this but it was amazing.
Everyone in the show was great. The music is great. This is a must see show. It is expensive but worth it. The little Chinese girls with the spools were amazing. The trampoline segment was fantastic. They have this show on video, but it wouldn't translate to TV well.
On the way back to the Polynesian we stopped at the Wilderness Lodge to look around. This is a really neat hotel. I wish it were on the monorail. We ate in the Roaring Fork (?) snack bar. Get a load of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich!
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Sunday Nov 26, 2000
It rained all day and night!
We had reserved for the Keys To The Kingdom Tour at 9am. The tours start in the tour garden by the Town Hall. They had juice and coffee there for us. They also took our lunch order so it would be ready when we arrived. I think the choices were chicken or fish. We each got a tour badge with our name on it.
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The tour started at the new statue of Roy Disney. Here is a picture of the statue and the plaques.
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We walked up Main Street while our guide described the architecture and background stories. We learned about "TEAM". It stands for Together We Achieve Magic. We also learned about the Four Keys. Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. She showed us the names on the windows above Main Street. These are the names of people that worked on the park. We stopped at the Tomorrowland Terrace for shelter from the POURING rain.
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We took an elevator down to the Utilidors.
Our guide showed us the Cast Member locker rooms and the costume department. There are 55,000 cast member and they all need costumes. Each costume has a UPC tag, Cast Member ID cards are used to check out costumes like library books. The costumes are returned to mailbox-type bins at the end of each day. All costumes are cleaned and returned to the costume dept to be checked out again.
Then we went through the Wig department. There were three women working on wigs. It takes about 3 hours to restyle a wig. Each wig has to be done each day. We went outdoors through large doors on the north side of the park. We could look up an see the Magic Kingdom. We could really see how the Utilidors are the first floor of the building and the park is on the second floor.
This area is where the busses take cast members to and from the employee parking lot.
We backtracked though the Utilidors to Snow White and up to the park.
You probably figured out that they don't allow any pictures to be taken in these areas. Oh well...
The tour went to the Haunted Mansion for a detailed description of the story. She showed us the wedding ring embedded in the pavement when the bride threw herself out the window. We entered the ride through the service hall. We had never been in this way before. It is not the wheelchair entrance, we had been in that way before. Here are two pictures of the wedding ring. One is to show the location and the other is a close-up of the ring. I hope I put the red circle around the right place. If not, it is close.
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We stopped for lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We had a private section roped off upstairs. The food was all ready for us when we arrived. We also each got a gold tour pin!
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The tour went to Frontierland and exited where the parades exit the park. This leads to the parade storage buildings. On the way to them we passed the second show building for Pirates of the Caribbean. This is after the waterfall where the ship battle scene is. The parade storage buildings are just past Pirates by the river. You can see part of these buildings from the monorail. The Electrical Water Parade floats are here also.
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Then we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean. Our guide said that there are only four different figures in the whole ride. By dressing them in different costumes and make-up it is not obvious at all that there are only four.
Our guide was so good we tried to tip her but she could not accept it. She said we could leave a good comment for her at Guest Services, so we did.
We drove to MGM for an early dinner at The Brown Derby. It is STILL raining.
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Dinner is over. Still raining.
We waited in gift shops hoping the rain would slow down, but it kept raining harder. We finally gave up and headed for the Osborne Family Lights in the pouring rain. They have added 3 million lights this year bringing the total to 5 million.
We found the AFI Store at the end of the street of lights. We found some good James Bond pins there.
Back to the Poly. We were asleep by 9pm.
Monday Nov 27, 2000
Doughnuts at Captain Cook's. Monorail to Magic Kingdom.
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We got Fast Passes to Buzz Lightyear and headed for other attractions while we waited.
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We went to the Carousel of Progress. This has to be seen early in the day since it always closes early.
We rode on the Astro Orbitor. This ride always has a long wait since the orbitor doesn't hold many people at one time. Also, everyone has to use small elevators to get to and from the loading area.
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We enjoyed our lunch at Starlight Cafe. Here is a shot of our view during lunch. If you stick your head into the cafe to check out the menu and don't like what you see, don't give up. Each of the three food counters inside have different menu items. You have to walk all around the cafe to see what is offered.
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After lunch we went on one of our favorite rides, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (still the WEDway People Mover to me). It is a nice relaxing ride around Tomorrowland. At Disneyland they turned this ride into the fast moving Rocket Rods. We also visited the Tomorrowland Arcade to play some air hockey. I read in a recent issue of "Mouse Tips" that the arcade will be turning into, guess what, a STORE! They are already starting to sell some things in there.
By the way, I highly recommend Mouse Tips. I think it comes out four times a year. You can subscribe by writing to:
Mouse Tips
Don and Amy Sullivan
P.O. Box 383
Columbus, OH 43216
Tell them you heard about Mouse Tips on Hague's Entertainment Page! I don't get anything for that, but it would be nice to tell them.
I also recommend The E-Ticket and Persistence of Vision. You can write to me for details.
I will try to post a page for all of these magazines soon.
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We went back to the Haunted Mansion. We had to show our son the wedding ring. He is too young for the tour.
We took our first Keel boat ride and then back for another run on Big Thunder Mountain, in the back of course.
Rice Krispy Treats for everyone! We rode the Monorail back to Polynesian, picked up the car and drove to MGM. We got a car at the Sci Fi Drive In at 6:30 without a reservation. We were lucky!
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After dinner we drove to EPCOT to go through Innoventions. We sent some email postcards. Pretty cool.
We went to Spaceship Earth and the Living Seas. Then it was time for the Illuminations fireworks and laser show.
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We drove back to the Polynesian. There was a message in the room informing us that we had a package to pickup in the hotel store. This store is of course very far from the room. It turned out to be a package that we bought in the park and had sent to our room. They used to send the packages directly to the rooms, now they send them to your hotel's gift shop!!! That is not progress.
Tuesday Nov 28, 2000
Our last day. At 9am we checked out of the Polynesian. There were a couple of errors on our bill. Make sure you always check the bill! I keep track of all charges as we make them. Then I can compare them to the itemized bill they slip under the door on the last night.
We drove to Animal Kingdom. The weather was great. I have been to Animal Kingdom in August. I don't recommend it.
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We got FastPasses for the Kilimanjaro Safari as quickly as we could.
While we waited I made two CDs at the Disney Forever kiosk.
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We rode Dinosaur twice! No line! The sign said there was a 20 minute wait.
This ride used to be called Countdown to Extinction. They have now tied it to the Disney movie. Imagine that!
Dinosaur is a very rough ride in the dark. We enjoyed it.
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We went back to the Kilimanjaro Safari with the Fast Pass tickets. It was about a 10 minute wait in line.
There was no bridge collapse. I thought I remembered the car passing over a bridge that was starting to collapse. Maybe I am thinking of Universal. Here is a Cast Member at the Safari ride. You can see his Pin Trading lanyard. The Safari is a good ride. There are LOTS of animals to be seen.
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We bought more pins at a Pin Station, had lunch at PizzaFari and walked through the Bats and Tigers area.
We left Animal Kingdom at 2:30pm, refilled the rental car and got to the airport by 3:20pm to catch our plane home. Perfect timing. (I don't recommend leaving this late unless you really know your way around. You could miss a flight pretty easily.)
We watched the clouds as we flew back home to the real world...
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