Walt Disney World - Day 1 - February 5, 2005

Walt Disney World ' 05

Day 1

February 5, 2005

Getting There

The alarm clock rang at 4:30, and as you may have guessed I was up and at em before the clock knew what hit it. As I mentioned my cousin was taking care of airport transportation so after getting dressed, an final preparations it was off to the airport. I did remember to clear the fridge of all perishables, and move all trash to the back porch. I made that mistake once.

We like to get places early, especially f we are on a rigid time schedule, so accordingly we left home for the airport at 6:00 for our 8:45 flight. We arrived at the airport around 6:30, where my cousin dropped us off and we went inside.

I had printed our boarding passes out at home, but we still had bags to check. We proceeded to the ticketing counter to ask about how to check our bags after using web check in, and were directed to the kiosk, where we could just scan the barcode off of one of our boarding passes. To be honest the process at the kiosk took just about the same time as if I had waited to get to the kiosk to check in anyhow. I now don't see the value of web check in unless you are not checking bags.

The security checkpoint was a breeze with no one in line ahead of us, and soon we were off on the underground train to the concourse. We arrived at the concourse with plenty of time to watch the sun rise while we enjoyed a McDonald's breakfast (again with nobody in front of me at the McDonald's line) things are going great.

About an hour ahead of the flight time, we made our way to the gate area, found some seats and anxiously awaited our turn to be called to board. Boarded the plane with no trouble, stowed the carry on bags and were prepared to start the adventure.

As the plane was being loaded, we noted the sweltering hot temperature inside the cabin. The flight crew made an announcement that they had to warm the aircraft because of the cold temperatures this morning, and that this would be that particular aircraft's first flight of the day. A bit later the captain came on and announced that we would have to go through de-icing before the flight. De-icing is an interesting process, first you taxi out to a spot near the hangars then guys on cherry pickers with hoses spray down the aircraft with the deicing chemicals. It's not a long process, but it was interesting for me as that was the first time I had seen it.

We then made our way to the runway, and soon we were aloft for our nice smooth flight to Orlando. After a smooth landing in Orlando we arrived at the terminal, and after making some phone calls proceeded to baggage claim.

Make sure the bags you take are the bags you checked

As I was grabbing our bags off the carousel, I could see my mom's bag (it's a fairly distinctive pattern) come out of the baggage room and start its journey along the carousel, the bag never made it to where I was standing with open arms ready to grab it. After a bit of confusion, we looked around and saw what appeared to be a similar bag on a skycaps luggage cart. After we confronted the Skycap, we were able to retrieve our bag, the skycap claiming that his client told him the bag was theirs. I know may bags look alike, and folks are at high excitement levels when they arrive for Disney vacations, I wonder if MCO needs to do like they do in Vegas and have guards at the exits to the bag claim area checking claim checks against suitcases. If we hadn't spotted that bag on that Skycap's cart, who knows what would have happened. It was now time to go to Mear's. I have read a lot about Mear's and none of it good. I had used Mear's myself in the past and found no faults with the service, so thought nothing of booking them to provide the airport transfers this year.

So with the correct bags in hand, we made our way down the elevator to level 1, and out to the Mear's podium. Upon presenting my Disney vouchers to the person at the podium, I was told that I would have to take the vouchers inside to the Mear's desk inside the airport to have them exchanged for the actual tickets. It was a minor inconvenience, but nothing major. Yellow tickets in hand I returned to the podium and was given a pager and told to wait until the pager signals that our bus has arrived. I'd say 10-15 minutes later the bus arrived and soon we had our luggage loaded onto the bus and had taken our seats.

We had a friendly driver, and after stopping at all 4 airport pickup points he distributed Times Guides and the brochure with all 4 park maps and more in it. We made a zippy ride out to WDW, using the EZ pay lanes to breeze through the toll plazas. He advertised that they would provide service to other Orlando non-Disney parks for only $14 a person, and advised us that we wanted to leave our resort 3 hours before flight time. All well and good, and we only had to stop at one other resort (Port Orleans French Quarter) before continuing on to Port Orleans Riverside. Overall I was satisfied with the Mear's service to get to our resort.

We have arrived!!!!!!!!!

The transition from Mear's to Disney was wonderful. Disney has luggage services people out ready to meet the bus, and take your luggage into storage. A few moments later and I had a claim check for the bags and was headed inside to check-in to Port Orleans Riverside.

We stood in a short line, in fact we merely had to wait in the "on-deck circle" for the next available agent to check us into the resort.

Upon presenting my photo ID and hotel voucher, we were quickly setup. They hand you a big fat portfolio full of information about the parks and the resort, you sign the registration card, they explain about express check out and room charging, then since we were staying on a dream maker, we got an additional envelope with a brochure that explained the Dream Maker package, and vouchers for our free pins and lanyards, and our free Choice Feature. We were then also handed our Keys to The World, which would act as room keys, charge cards (up to $1,000 credit line), admission media, and ID throughout our stay. We were asked to sign them in his presence. We then gave us a map of the resort, and drew on the map both directions from the lobby to our room, as well as from our room to the nearest Disney Transportation pick up point. He also pointed out where key features of the resort were. Late in our brief orientation I noticed he was being observed, and I noted his nametag had a red "Earning My Ears" tag, hmm just like my tag on DIS boards. From what I observed, he will make a fine Disney CM. The best part about the whole business of checking in is that I inquired if our room was ready to occupy, and he told us that yes our room was ready for us, and when we got to the room, just to call the belldesk to have our luggage brought to us. I noted he wrote and circled 9046 on the resort map.

Before heading to our room, I wanted to get all the tedious homework out of the way first, so I went over to Guest Services and picked up our Spirit of Aloha show tickets. (After being advised not to mark on, fold, or detach the tickets) We then headed to the room.

examining our Quarters

We headed out the back door of the main building and walking along past the marina, then the bike rental, then the arcade, we came to a nice wooden bridge (that looks to be recently re-surfaced with new wood) that took us across the river to the Magnolia Bend section of the resort. I had not made any room requests, so I didn't know quite what I'd get. We followed the signs to Oak Manor, and after taking what must have been the longest route to walk around the resort to get to our room, we found our room tucked into a corner of the mansion, the room faced a courtyard with a nice fountain in the middle, and was on the riverfront half of Oak Manor instead of the parking lot half, and it was on ground level. In short it would be a perfect place for our room. Not bad for "Standard".

We then entered the room and after getting freshened up, took a look around. We had two beds, a nightstand with a clock radio and a phone, a table and two chairs, a big armoire that housed both a dresser as well as the television set. It was a nice sized television with frontside A/V jacks. A cabinet next to the armoire housed a refrigerator, then there was a luggage bench. In an alcove off the bedroom was the dressing area with a privacy curtain, two pedestal sinks, a shelf, some coasters and glasses, a coffee maker and Styrofoam cups, iron, ironing board, wall safe, loads of towels and washcloths, soap and shampoo (Mickey's private label of course) Next to that was the bathroom, where I noted a nice marble ledge shelf at one end of the bathtub to hold your stuff, and the shower faucet looked antique even on a modern fixture. Oh, and he most powerful toilet you have seen.

Great accommodations, and a call to bell services brought an ultra speedy bellhop with our luggage. We agreed that it was nice to have everything in our room before we left for the park, so that we would not have to deal with all this late at night.

Start off with a good meal

We decided to grab some lunch before heading out to the parks, so continuing on our tour of the resort, we took a look at Ole' Man Island, the resorts feature swimming facility, noticed the popularity of the four person surrey bikes, and headed to Riverside Mill. Riverside Mill is the resorts food court, and is charming inside with its faux straw covered floor (carpet), working cotton press and waterwheel, and causal atmosphere. We perused our food options and decided to get burger baskets, and get our refillable drink mugs. As we were standing in the checkout line, we wondered what the yellow tabs on the handles of the drink mugs could be for, then we got our answer when they were cut off when we purchased the mugs. That's how they tell if that mug has been paid for yet. So lets see, burger, fries, and a Coke for two people - $40. If that doesn't send sticker shock through your system. I mean sure we are now covered for soft drinks at the food court for the balance of our stay, but that $40 lunch tab is hard to swallow at first.

The food court's burgers are flame grilled, cooked to order, and are therefore great. Not your average fast food hamburgers. The drink selection for our mugs was great with hot and cold tea, coffee, cocoa, and a wide variety of Coca Cola products. They even furnish a sink to wash out your mug.

We grabbed a table by the window and enjoyed lunch while watching the waterwheel go around.

The first gift shop run of the trip

After lunching, we returned to the lobby of the resort to stop by Fulton's General Store to purchase Pal Mickey. I had read a lot about Pal Mickey, and had decided that this was something we wanted to buy. After a nice demonstration of Pal Mickey by the friendly gift shop clerk, and $60 later, we had a huge box containing one Pal Mickey. We returned to our room, where we stored our mugs, and I started to take Pal Mickey out of his box. I don't know if they help the people that buy Pal Mickey in the parks, but be advised that you have to cut off or peel off several pieces of tape in order to access the numerous twist ties that secure Mickey inside his box, as well as to open the box. This was especially fun as I did not pack my Swiss Army Knife. Be sure after your remove Pal Mickey and his instruction book, that you look at the very bottom of the box, where the belt clip is secured. You have to attach the belt clip to pal Mickey yourself through a slot that looks impossibly small, then you have to pull out a "Remove to start" tab, as well as unzip Mickey's back and move the switch to the ON position. Lot of work to get the little guy setup.

We head to a park!

At about 2PM we take off for Epcot. All in all, less than three hours after having landed, and we had claimed our luggage, gotten from the airport, checked in, bought Pal Mickey, inspected our room and had lunch, and headed for a park. I'd say we are doing fine timewise. We followed our resort map to the East Depot, and it could not have been 5 minutes later an Epcot bus arrived, almost as if it knew it were wanted...

As it would turn out Mom and I would be the only two people on that trip to Epcot Center, and after a quick ride we were being dropped off at the Epcot bus facility, and told to go to Stop #8 when we wished to return to the resort. Happily we walked from the bus drop off, past the monorail station, to the front gate. Being late in the afternoon they only had a few lanes open to enter the park. Unfortunately the useless Disney bag check occurs right at the turnstiles at Epcot, which backed the lines for admission up back past the ticket plaza.

After a bit of a wait we entered Epcot Center, and learned that we would NOT have to use the biometric scanner. We made our way around Leave a Legacy. I won't call it ugly, but I won't call it attractive either. The idea here is that suckers pay to have a digital image of them etched onto a metal tablet, which is then attached to a stone base. The images in actuality are smaller than a postage stamp and the resolution on them is so awful you really can't make out who the people are supposed to be. Some of them even appear to be faded or washed out.

Spaceship Earth

As we approached Spaceship Earth we got our first trivia tidbit from Pal Mickey. I do have to agree that he is hard to hear and we had to cuddle in close so that we could both hear him. There was absolutely no line for Spaceship Earth, so we walked right in and took our seats. Spaceship Earth is at its heart a dark ride. In this case the dark ride is located inside a geodesic sphere with a spiral layout. The ride itself is educational and tells the history of communication from the first cavemen up and into the future. Lots of famous scenes in between like the first printing press, the scribes, Greek theater, the painting of the Sistine Chapel, the introduction of cinema, radio and TV. Telephones, and the Internet. Its a delightful classic educational ride that embodies the original premise of Epcot center. At the top of the sphere you get a planetarium like effect before turning around to face backwards for the much steeper return to earth. Overall I still like the ride, but the ride system has not aged well and seems rougher and noisier than I remember it. You exit this ride into what used to be Guest Relations, and then was AT&T's interactive exhibit area, you now walk between plain construction walls until you reach a building exit.

Having exited Spaceship Earth we walked between the two halves on Innoventions, and then turned east to head to the Epcot Thrill Zone.

Mission: Space

I walked around they very futuristic and modern Mission Space building and found the entrance in the side of the red planet. After exploring my options, I decided that Single Rider for 10 minutes did not sound bad, what with Fastpass being an hour or so away, and standby being just shy of an hour. I knew mom would not go on Mission Space so she found a nice bench while I entered the attraction. The single rider line curls around the perimeter of the waiting room at this supposed space training facility. I think they measure the ten minutes as the wait to the inside hosts podium (turnstile). After you go through the counter you go into another waiting area by Mission Control. A nicely detailed mission control type area sits to the right hand side as you wait in line. As you wait, even though your are through the counter, the three lanes are still very much kept separate with the two outer lanes being taken directly to one of the two pods on that side, while the center lane crawls with those waiting to be matched up to fill in odd seats.

After what I know took longer than 10 minutes, I was finally shown to a pod. You enter a pre-show room where you watch a video that warns you about the dangers of the ride (Spinning, Simulators, Enclosed Spaces, and Motion Sickness), you get reminded of these numerous times while you wait in line. Then the video talks about introducing you to your spacecraft, how its a 3 month flight but it will seem like seconds to you, how each rider has a responsibility for the success of their team, and that those who have decided the ride is not for them can sign up for "Advanced mission control training" (nice way of saying chicken-chute).

You find out the number you are standing on tells you what team you are on, and when the automatic doors open, you are called by team into the next room. The next room is a round room that runs the perimeter of the ride. You again stand on numbered spaces in front of an automatic door. You hear yet again the ride safety warnings, and then they commander hands out assignments. Note as the assignments are being handed out, spotlights above each person come on while that person is being briefed. Basically each persons station has a myriad of buttons, switches, and knobs. Almost all of these do nothing functional, but the buttons do blink and some gauges may react if you touch them. Each person has two functional buttons. Each button needs to be pressed once during the ride. Don't worry the narration will tell you when to press it, and the button will light up when it need to be pressed., In reality the only difference seems to be that if the rider reacts correctly a green "Enabled" light comes on, an errant move causes a read "Overide" light to come on. Each person also has a control stick in case manual control should be necesary. Bearing in mind that in simulator rides, the worst case scenario will prevail, you can bet they will become necessary.

After this video the automatic door in front of you opens, and two teams enter through each door and are shown to the open doors of their spacecraft. it's a cramped cabin, each person has their station, plus a storage bin that they can open by pulling forward on the top of it. Between each pair of riders is a pouch containing two air sickness bags (barf bags) Each rider is secured with a shoulder bar restraint, the front of it has been padded and themed to look like seatbelts. Then the cabin doors are closed, and the front of the cabin is lowered so that the monitor for your station seems to be just inches from your face. Warning to those claustrophobic people, this is seriously NOT the ride for you.

When the cabin is fully closed you can hardly see the control panel or the people riding next to you. As the warning says do not close you eyes, do not turn to the side, do not look around, these actions will only make the sensation worse. The ride opens with your craft on the launch tower, and when that rocket launches you are pulled back into your seat with so much force you can't move a muscle, then when you start to orbit, you can swear you are being flipped over. Its a very odd sensation, and at first I was questioning if the ride is for me. It seems to take a few moments to get used to the sensation, then you just watch the movie on the projection and things almost seem tranquil as you listen to the narration, and each person presses their buttons on cue. Each person gets one button press right after take off, but before the long flight to Mars, and another button after you get to Mars, and of course things don't go as planned. As you might expect the landing takes place under manual control, and you are instructed to move the control stick as instructed. The control stick will try to resist your movements and will shake and vibrate. You then safely land (well safely land may not be the best description), you land on Mars, congratulated on a flight well done, the cabin then opens up, the shoulder bars release, and you exit the cabin through a hatch in the other side wall.

What you see next is a very odd sight for Disney. You get to see the ride vehicles as you exit to the center hub of the ride. Mind you can't gleam how the ride works, but you do get to see the ride structure. You then take what could be depending on what pod you got assigned to, a very long walk through a hallway to the advanced space training lab. This area consists of interactive games and activities. You further exit from the training lab to the rides extensive gift shop. Don't act surprised.

Universe of Energy

I exited the building, noted that 40 minutes had elapsed since I entered the building. (According to the countdown clock in the one waiting area, the time in the actual ride chamber is 6 minutes (includes load, unload, ride), then you spent 6 minutes out in the round hall receiving crew member briefings, then 6 minutes in the preshow room, so even if you enter the building and walk right into a preshow room, that's an 18 minute experience, plus the wait time, plus any time spent in the activity lab gift shop after the ride. Disney used this trick to disguise true wait times a lot.

Anyway, after a thrill ride we walked past a noted that Wonders of Life is closed today (Gee, what a uhm, surprise), and head into Universe of Energy. I note the digital clock right past the entrance doors reported that the next show would begin in 1:05. Great timing, as this show takes 45 minutes. We walked past the person counter and into the first chamber. The first chamber is the lobby like area where you stand. Gone are the moving panel 'screen' was here when I last rode this, to be replaced by a plain movie screen. The new theme is Ellen's Energy Adventure with Bill Nye the science guy. You meet Ellen in pre-show, find out her favorite TV show is Jeopardy, and that she doesn't know much about science, and can't stand her know it all schoolmate, who is on Jeopardy that night. So she enters a dream sequence, and finds herself playing Jeopardy, in a game where all the questions are about science, forms of energy to be exact. She gets the first question wrong by not really answering, and the preshow ends at the end of the first have with know it all Judy with 17,800, Ellen at -100, and Einstein at 0. You are then ushered into the main chamber where you take your seats in this moving theater. The seats turn to face the rear as Bill Nye offers to give Ellen a trip back in time to learn all about science. There is a film where Ellen is not all into it and is exploring the jungle when dinosaurs are found, you then move into the next chamber, still as an audience that takes you the brink of the dinosaur dioramas, there is a little small talk between Bill and Ellen, then the moving theater breaks up for the dark ride tour through the dinosaur scene. You may get a little wet coming through the scene, but it has been wonderfully rehabbed. At the end of the dino ride through you stop by a radio transmission tower that gives the great news headlines in prehistoric history while you wait for all the cars to reform into the theater layout. The cars then turn away from the radio tower to face a screen that introduces all the modern forms of energy, then shows the second round of the Jeopardy game where Ellen comes in and answers all the questions right, and at the end of the second round, Ellen and Judy are tied at 17,800, Einstein still at 0. The final jeopardy question is asked "What kind of power will never run out", both contestants are shown acting goofy with their light pens, and the cars advance back to the original room while the final Jeopardy music plays, and then the big reveal. Judy bets the farm on an answer "No source of power will never run out" and is wrong, Ellen wins with Brainpower. Judy has the "I've been had" reaction you may expect, and as the Jeopardy show ends, so does your ride. You then exit through the automatic doors back out onto the midway.

I must insert a word of thanks to the stranger who grabbed and returned my camera case that had come loose from my belt was we exited the attraction.

Test Track - Take 1

We next headed to Test Track. Mom took one look of the cars zooming overhead on the track and decided to sit this one out. The FP return time was really late in the day, standby was about an hour or so, and singles line posted 15 minutes.

I entered the singles line, which was backed all the way up to the building entrance doors, I would later learn that is not a good thing. I was not in the building over 5 minutes when Test Track broke down. I gave it 15 minutes, then decided to bail. So no success in obtaining a ride on attempt 1.

Entering World Showcase

We glanced at our watched and noted that our priority seating time in Italy was approaching. So we crossed over into World Showcase via the Odyssey Center. This was a big fast food place last time I was here, now it seems to be disused.

Anyway we start our walk around World Showcase and notice a FriendShip Launch at the boat dock, Having to get to the rear of World Showcase, we board and take a nice relaxing boat ride to Germany. We were to have dinner in Italy that night, and for a pavilion themed to Venice, arriving by boat seems so appropriate.

Germany

Having landed in Germany, we looked at the beer steins in the shop window, and the glass blower shops, before heading around towards Italy, pausing to look at the miniature train exhibit.

Italy

We wound up getting to Italy just in time to see the statue act. Very nice, though a look at the canals would reveal that all the gondolas must be out sailing,as none were moored in either the canal or by the famous gondola poles. (I wanted to compare details, since I have had the good fortune to ride in a gondola in Venice)

We also noted the weather was turning briskly cold. We toured the gift shops of the Italy pavilion while waiting for our seating time, and wound up buying a miniature ceramic carnival mask. The Italian pavilion is modeled heavily after Venice, with one gift shop looking like the Dodge's palace, the bell tower, the canals and bridges on the lagoon side and all. As with most of the pavilions they try to meld various architectural styles and landmarks of the host nation to come up with a shopping bazaar with stores and eateries.

Alfredo's

We registered at the podium in Alfredo's crowded waiting room, and then watched the show kitchen for awhile. It didn't seem that long maybe 10-15 minutes and we were seated.

For dinner, my Mom got the Fetucine Alfredo, and I got the pasta sampler, which has the fetuccini alfredo, beef lasagna, and gnochi pomodoro, we also split a field green salad, as well as the desert sampler (Tiramisu, Canoli, cheesecake, and much much more)
, in addition mom had a nice glass of wine, and I had a Bellini Cocktail. The service was formal and impeccable, the food was outstanding. Again I have been to Italy and I found the subtle flavors in the sauces and cheeses, even the meat in the lasagna to be pretty much what I remembered. Those that compare this place to going to an Olive Garden ought to bear in mind that Olive Garden is Americanized. Alfredo's even allows you, if you wish to be served in authentic Italian manner, (Pasta first followed by main (non pasta). The olive oil bottles here are a little unweildy but the olive oil itself adds a nice flavor to the Italian bread. I had a nice cup of cappuchino with my desert (that came with a couple biscoti). It was a wonderful meal, and with the added entertainment of a roving accordionist, and a little napkin twirling and singing along (Feniculi Fenicula), it made an outstanding dinner. The dining room is elegant with several 3D murals and yes as I had read they do seem to have crammed the maximum number of tables they could in here. (Tab after tax and tip for two - $95) I also realized I spent about 1/5 of the room charge limit on day 1 of an 8 day trip. Hmm, did I budget enough for the trip)

We exited the restaurant, and headed to the American Adventure


The American Adventure

As we approached The American Adventure, I noted all the front doors were closed, yet It seemed like show time was still about 10 minutes away. At the entrance doors we learned there was a special event in the rotunda, and that we should enter through the exit doors. The friendly person monitoring the entrance then directed us to the alternate entrance. This would mean we would not see the Rotunda or the Hall of Flags.

What they had done was to run a rope down the middle of the exit ramp, so that half of the ramp became the waiting area for the next show. A rope at the top of the exit ramp blocked access to the theater, We waited in line, the doors opened, the show before exited, the doors closed, the doors reopened, then a CM dropped the rope and admitted us to the theater.

The American Adventure takes place in a very colonial, stately looking building, and the main theater is just as elegant and stately. Busts of famous Americans line the side walls. Without too much delay the show started. The show is a 30 minute whirlwind romp through American history. Its a multimedia presentation with film clips, audio animatronic skits, and music. The animatronics here are some of the most amazing, they appear to go up steps, smoke cigars, move around and all. The presentation is very entertaining and patriotic. The show ends with a new patriotic song created by Disney just for this attraction, its a very memorable song, and if you like it they will sell it to you on a CD. Don't act surprised.

IllumiNations

We exited The American Adventure around 8:45, and considered ourselves quite lucky to get a front row view of the lagoon between Italy and America. It was so uncrowded that I even felt able to walk over to the coffee bar in Italy and enjoy a nice Cafe Mocha ($4) while I watched IllumiNations.

Illuminations has location going for it, being set above a giant lagoon, with fireworks, lasers, fire effects, and a huge globe in the middle that acts like the worlds first spherical television. Set to music of course, I can't say enough about Illuminations. There is even a time when the host nations themselves become part of the show and light up. And don't miss the torches that ring the lagoon. It truly is a fireworks extravaganza worthy of Disney. Oh, and when they tell you to stay behind the fence, please do. We learned that there are rocket mortars for the fireworks hidden amongst the shoreline of the lagoon. We were especially surprised when one went off right in front of us a couple times.

Leaving the Park

Well IllumiNations had ended, and we realized that we had made a class A bad move. It seems that our destination was the resort bus facility by the main gate, which means that in our location we were about as far as you could possibly get from it. While leaving the park, I was surprised that the vast majority of the gift shops actually close at park closing.

During the day we felt that Pal Mickey was not pulling his weight and had been rather quiet today. That was not the story upon leaving the park, I guess we found the right position to hold Pal Mickey but he would spout off trivia facts at least once or twice as we passed by each nation. Good to have you with us Mickey!

It was a LONG walk to the exit, and we paused to sit down on a bench every now and then, and eventually made it to the front exit. I may have mentioned that it was cold out, and at the exit turnstiles were some CM's waving to you as you left. The CMs were wearing oversized Mickey Mitts, and I commented about how those would be great right about now. The CM pointed out that the gift shop just on the other side of the turnstile happened to sell them. No I did not wind up buying them, but I did price them - Oversize Mickey Mitts - $16.

The ride back to the Resort

We had a jam packed full bus ride to the resort, but the ride did not seem bad at all as we were entertained watching somebody figure out how to work one of the night novelties he had purchased. It is one of those gizmos that you spin around, and through the magic of persistence of vision it makes words.

Still feeling unfamiliar with our resort, we got off the bus at the main stop by the front desk, where we walked through the lobby and back around to our room. I then made a special run to fill our mugs with soft drinks (no ice). The mugs are kinda small really, but by not getting ice, and instead using the glasses, ice bucket and getting ice from the machine by our room, they seemed to last longer.

Whee, that was a full day considering that it included a 756 mile plane ride, getting to and getting settled into our resort, and a few hours at Epcot.

we were satisfied with our day, so we settled in to watch the "7 Don't Miss Attractions at WDW" on our room TV, then the Disney information channel before getting settled in for the night. Oh, I did remember to set the wake-up call.

Good Night, see you sometime later in the next post for Day 2