DonnaS
Ratsrule & CathyCanada-- 2 who are greatly missed
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
<font color=blue>Cast Members:
DonnaS, late 30's, a Disney Connoisseur
RogerS, Donna's DH, early 30's, a Disney Connoisseur but not to extent that Donna is.
Guest Appearances by:
Teri and her family (Teri on the DIS)
Matt (Eeyore'stail on the DIS)
Nancy (NancyIL on the DIS)
Dan Murphy
Ted and his wife Von (Tednvon on the DIS)
Mindy (Donna's former co-worker who now lives in Florida)
Last trip to WDW was last December when we came for two weeks and bought APs for that trip. This trip was added in when we found airfares too good to pass up, especially since our APs were still good.</font>
Sunday, November 26, 2000
We slept in a bit today and skipped breakfast. It was still raining today. We were to meet my friend Mindy at noon at AK so we got there around 11am and went on in and checked out our photos that were taken Friday. We decided not to buy them and headed out to where we had agreed to meet. Around 1130am Mindy phoned us (we had agreed to leave our cell phones on) and asked if we still planned to go to AK because of the rain. We said yes that it was a great park in the rain and that many many people were leaving the park at this time. It really was raining pretty hard. She also said she was running about an hour late. She had already eaten so we said we'd go get lunch and she would call us when she was parking at the AK.
We decided to try the Rainforest Cafe. We have eaten at the one at Downtown Disney and were pleased with the atmosphere at the AK giftshop. It was much more elaborate than the one at Downtown Disney. We had about a 30-minute wait. I had the chicken club and Roger had a turkey pita. We both upgraded to waffle fries (from chips) and had a fantastic smoothie with OreoâÂÂs and coffee. Our bill before tip was about $32.
It turned out that our cell phone didn't receive the signal within the RFC but we hooked up with Mindy relatively easily anyway and headed straight for the safari. The animals were all about in the rain including the lioness. Afterwards we walked the Pangani Trail and did It's Tough to Be A Bug. Mindy loved everything and was quite surprised during ITTBAB. We also rode Dinosaur, did the Jungle Trek, and rode the safari a second time after seeing Festival of the Lion King.
This was Mindy's first exposure to Disney in over 20 years and she was favorably impressed. She kept saying "Wow!"
Roger and I had dinner PS at Palio's for 6pm so we split up. Mindy returned to her off-site hotel and we caught the bus to the Swan. It was the first stop so it left us a lot of time to look around the Swan and the Dolphin. The Christmas tree at the Dolphin was gorgeous. We did notice however that the Swan and Dolphin do not have the same smoking restrictions that Disney Resorts do and the lobby areas smelled of cigarettes to us.
Since Palio's doesn't open until 6pm and they were running a bit late we were seated a little after 6pm. We decided to order our own entrees tonight. This restaurant is probably the most romantic that we went to this trip. The lighting is low and the place is fairly quiet with strolling musicians. Even the 10-month old at the table next to us kept with the mood and played quietly while his parents ate. The meal began with a traditional taste of wine. Roger had the fettuccine alfredo while I had mushroom pasta. They were both delicious. We shared the harlequin cake for dessert. This is a huge piece of cake which has layers of chocolate and vanilla mousse. Everything was wonderful including our 2 glasses of Jekel Riesling. The total bill before tip was under $65.
Tonight we had the highlight of our trip scheduled... an Illuminations Cruise. Tednvon from the DIS had booked it and offered it to share. There were to be ten of us but three didn't show up. It might have been a bit crowded if they had. We met up early for it and chatted with Tednvon and their two friends from home. NancyIL was also on this cruise. Our captain was Kenny who was very nice and informative. He said that the change in the Illuminations Cruises was only an Internet rumor (I hope he is right) and that they will leave Mickey's hand up next to Spaceship Earth but change the 2000 to read Epcot. Reflections of Earth will continue for at least another year but they are working on something new behind the scenes... We cruised down to MGM and then back to Epcot for Illuminations. The view was incredible and everyone enjoyed the fireworks. Roger and I snuggled under the provided blankets and it was very romantic. Thanks you Tednvon for sharing!
Afterwards we walked over to Boardwalk and the first bus was ours. We returned to the room and turned in early.
                  
<font color=darkblue>Donna S.
California
WDW 1990,1992,1994,1995,1997,1999, 2000
Disneyland Paris 1998
Disneyland California--too many times to count
</font color>
DonnaS, late 30's, a Disney Connoisseur
RogerS, Donna's DH, early 30's, a Disney Connoisseur but not to extent that Donna is.
Guest Appearances by:
Teri and her family (Teri on the DIS)
Matt (Eeyore'stail on the DIS)
Nancy (NancyIL on the DIS)
Dan Murphy
Ted and his wife Von (Tednvon on the DIS)
Mindy (Donna's former co-worker who now lives in Florida)
Last trip to WDW was last December when we came for two weeks and bought APs for that trip. This trip was added in when we found airfares too good to pass up, especially since our APs were still good.</font>
Sunday, November 26, 2000
We slept in a bit today and skipped breakfast. It was still raining today. We were to meet my friend Mindy at noon at AK so we got there around 11am and went on in and checked out our photos that were taken Friday. We decided not to buy them and headed out to where we had agreed to meet. Around 1130am Mindy phoned us (we had agreed to leave our cell phones on) and asked if we still planned to go to AK because of the rain. We said yes that it was a great park in the rain and that many many people were leaving the park at this time. It really was raining pretty hard. She also said she was running about an hour late. She had already eaten so we said we'd go get lunch and she would call us when she was parking at the AK.
We decided to try the Rainforest Cafe. We have eaten at the one at Downtown Disney and were pleased with the atmosphere at the AK giftshop. It was much more elaborate than the one at Downtown Disney. We had about a 30-minute wait. I had the chicken club and Roger had a turkey pita. We both upgraded to waffle fries (from chips) and had a fantastic smoothie with OreoâÂÂs and coffee. Our bill before tip was about $32.
It turned out that our cell phone didn't receive the signal within the RFC but we hooked up with Mindy relatively easily anyway and headed straight for the safari. The animals were all about in the rain including the lioness. Afterwards we walked the Pangani Trail and did It's Tough to Be A Bug. Mindy loved everything and was quite surprised during ITTBAB. We also rode Dinosaur, did the Jungle Trek, and rode the safari a second time after seeing Festival of the Lion King.
This was Mindy's first exposure to Disney in over 20 years and she was favorably impressed. She kept saying "Wow!"
Roger and I had dinner PS at Palio's for 6pm so we split up. Mindy returned to her off-site hotel and we caught the bus to the Swan. It was the first stop so it left us a lot of time to look around the Swan and the Dolphin. The Christmas tree at the Dolphin was gorgeous. We did notice however that the Swan and Dolphin do not have the same smoking restrictions that Disney Resorts do and the lobby areas smelled of cigarettes to us.
Since Palio's doesn't open until 6pm and they were running a bit late we were seated a little after 6pm. We decided to order our own entrees tonight. This restaurant is probably the most romantic that we went to this trip. The lighting is low and the place is fairly quiet with strolling musicians. Even the 10-month old at the table next to us kept with the mood and played quietly while his parents ate. The meal began with a traditional taste of wine. Roger had the fettuccine alfredo while I had mushroom pasta. They were both delicious. We shared the harlequin cake for dessert. This is a huge piece of cake which has layers of chocolate and vanilla mousse. Everything was wonderful including our 2 glasses of Jekel Riesling. The total bill before tip was under $65.
Tonight we had the highlight of our trip scheduled... an Illuminations Cruise. Tednvon from the DIS had booked it and offered it to share. There were to be ten of us but three didn't show up. It might have been a bit crowded if they had. We met up early for it and chatted with Tednvon and their two friends from home. NancyIL was also on this cruise. Our captain was Kenny who was very nice and informative. He said that the change in the Illuminations Cruises was only an Internet rumor (I hope he is right) and that they will leave Mickey's hand up next to Spaceship Earth but change the 2000 to read Epcot. Reflections of Earth will continue for at least another year but they are working on something new behind the scenes... We cruised down to MGM and then back to Epcot for Illuminations. The view was incredible and everyone enjoyed the fireworks. Roger and I snuggled under the provided blankets and it was very romantic. Thanks you Tednvon for sharing!
Afterwards we walked over to Boardwalk and the first bus was ours. We returned to the room and turned in early.
<font color=darkblue>Donna S.
California
WDW 1990,1992,1994,1995,1997,1999, 2000
Disneyland Paris 1998
Disneyland California--too many times to count
</font color>
(After all, I guess they wouldn't be able to call them Illuminations cruises anymore if you weren't guaranteed of actually seeing Illuminations!) 
