Walt Disney World: Day One -- A Disney Appetizer

Day One


It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re eight years old. Remember that feeling? The anticipation of what was just hours away. The anxious, nervous, fidgety tingling that coursed through your body as you waited for ole St. Nick and his bag of toys. That desire to fall asleep early, to make tomorrow come more quickly, coupled with the complete inability to keep your eyes shut for more than a minute or two, because you’re just too excited. That’s what traveling does for me.

The night before a trip, I’m practically giddy with the anticipation of going somewhere. This trip, I had that same feeling, but with the volume turned way up. I was so excited about going back to Disney World that I could barely stand myself. I was so looking forward to sharing the World with my wife and youngest son!

I’d packed in a fog, trying to anticipate what I’d need – shorts and long pants; sweat shirts and t-shirts; three pairs of shoes; two bathing suits, just in case. I helped Jake pack that same kind of assortment, hoping to have something for every contingency. Then, I tumbled into bed and, after waiting for Mr. Sandman to whack me in the head with his bag-o-sand, I finally fell asleep.

We dropped off the car at AviStar and were shuttled to Terminal A at Newark, from which JetBlue flies. Check in at JetBlue was quick, painless, and efficient. We could have simply scanned the bar code we received in our confirmation email on any of the JetBlue kiosks in the terminal. However, with our three big suitcases, we elected to check in at the counter. This process couldn’t have been more simple. In and out, with plenty of time for a big airport cafeteria breakfast before our 11:30 flight.

Actually, it took us more time to clear security than it did to check in, but in this day and age, that’s really no surprise. The surprise we did encounter was the new “sniffer” machine they’ve installed at Newark. You step into this booth that looks like a standard metal detector that’s pumped up on steroids. A little arm pops up in front of you, and then your surrounded by a loud popping, bursting sound as you blasted with puffs of air, much like that glaucoma test the eye doctor runs on you. Somehow or other, the machine sniffs the puffs of air for hints of any explosive devices. Hey, if it works, I’m all for it.

We finally cleared security and worked our way toward the gates. As we did, my wife and I saw the bar near the entrance to the jetways. Naturally, we had to stop in but, unfortunately, the bartender wasn’t in for pre-noon, pre-flight drinks. So, we toasted the beginning of our trip with water and diet soda as we took up seats near the gate.

Flying JetBlue was absolutely wonderful. Smooth, efficient, and timely boarding, in standard back-to-front style. The plane was full, but everyone was on-board and seated early, and we pushed away from the gate about 10 minutes early.

The plane itself was very nice, too. There’s no first class on JetBlue; all the seats are the same – leather seats, with a video monitor in the headrest in front of you, and plenty of leg room. The planes are nice and clean; the flight attendants are actually attentive, and the flight was completely uneventful. You can’t ask for more, now, can you?

JetBlue is actually a fine way to travel. It reminds me of the days of PeopleExpress, back in the 80s, when you could travel almost anywhere in the country for about $100 roundtrip. JetBlue, though, is a bit more luxurious, with beverage service, but no meals, and video in the back of each headrest. That’s enough to keep everyone entertained on the flight. In addition, the folks traveling JetBlue seem to have an awareness of the fact that getting on the plane = getting off the ground. The plane was boarded and everyone in their seats early, so we got to leave early.
That was a nice little bonus.

JetBlue also does something that not too many airlines still do – they use both the front and the back doors of the plane to get folks off. That’s another nice little treat. We arrived early and got off the plane quickly. That made for a very nice trip down.

Our arrival in Florida couldn’t have been better. We arrived early, to sunny skies. Baggage claim went smoothly, transport by courtesy van to the Thrifty location off site was easy (despite the lady with the seventeen suitcases who insisted that she and her luggage absolutely had to be off the shuttle before anyone else).

The Thrifty folks were very nice, too. Our car was ready for us, but when Jake mentioned the possibility of upgrading to a “cooler” car, they found a nice, new Dodge Charger on the lot, and gave us a discount on the upgrade price. (By the way, the Dodge Charger – looks okay, but not particularly impressive to drive. But that’s just me.)

Anyway, we touched down at about 2:15, had our car by 2:45, and were on the road towards Disney by 3:00.

As we drove down the Bee Line towards I-4, I basked in the glow of the Florida sun. Sue and Jake looked at all of the Billboards to various attractions on the way, and we headed towards the Best Western.

The hotel was pretty easy to find, thanks to the directions I pulled from the website. Parking was okay, though hardly convenient, and there was no one to help us with our bags, but we’re all accomplished travelers, with wheels on our suitcases, so that was not a particularly big deal. However, if you’re looking for that kind of assistance, I suspect that the Best Western Lake Buena Vista is not the best choice.

We arrived at about 3:30, and with check-in time at 3:00, our room was ready and waiting for us. As suggested in my Frommer’s guide, when I reserved the room, I had requested a room above the 8th floor, and with a Disney view. The hotel gave us a 14th floor room, but put us on the opposite side of the hotel from Disney. When I asked if we had a Disney view, the clerk told me that Disney views are $10 extra.

Now, I’m naturally a haggler, so I was tempted to negotiate a Disney-view room with the guy. I mean, in mid-January, in a half-empty hotel, they’re going to give me a hard time about an extra $10? I probably could have prevailed on the guy to give us the proverbial room with a view, but I wasn’t too terribly concerned about it. I figured we’d see enough Disney during the day, without the additional view. Plus, in the back of my head, I wanted Jake’s first views of Disney to be those he saw as we first drove up. So, I didn’t sweat the view too much. Here's Jake, not sweating the view either:



I don’t believe that it would have taken too much effort to get the clerk (or the manager) to throw in the view for nothing. But, as it turns out, our view of the front of the hotel allowed us to peep in on the local police as they set their speed trap along Hotel Plaza Boulevard. We saw them pull a number of folks into the hotel parking lot during the evening hours. It was like our own personal version of Cops.

Anyway, we finally got settled at around 4:00 and decided to head to Downtown Disney. For those who don’t know, Downtown Disney is an area on Disney property that is separate and apart from the theme parks and the water parks. There are a number of shops, restaurants, stores, and attractions down there, including Cirque du Soleil, Disney Quest, and Pleasure Island. Cirque runs regular shows (at about $90 per ticket). Disney Quest is an immense, five-story arcade/virtual entertainment center (more on that later). Pleasure Island is, essentially, the “club area” for the young adults doing Disney. They have themed clubs there for disco-era songs, 80s-sounds, and various other themes. But I’m jumping ahead.

We decided to drive to Downtown. I figured that this would be a great way to start our visit to Disney World and, because we only had five-day passes, we didn’t want to waste a pass on a half-day at a park. I also knew, from all that I’d read, that there was going to be plenty of Disney stuff at Downtown, including Disney Quest, which I knew Jake really wanted to do. I figured that the first night would be the best time to try to squeeze that in and, as it turns out, doing Downtown Disney is a great way to whet your appetite for Disney if you don’t want to try to get to the parks on the first day. In Downtown, we didn't feel as if we missed out on something and actually had a great time doing Disney stuff. Visiting Downtown Disney on the first afternoon and evening is a great way to get the vacation started.

As it turns out, Downtown was only about a half-mile from the hotel, so we could have walked. However, by the end of the evening, we were glad to have our own car to get back to the hotel.

I’d never done Downtown Disney before, and it was really amazing to me to see the wide variety of Disney-themed shops and other businesses, including a Ghirardelli chocolate store and a Lego store. My favorite shop was the Team Mickey shop, where Disney meets ESPN. All things Disney are united in sports-themed merchandise, so you can buy, for instance, a hockey jersey with fictional team names on the front, and character names on the back. (My favorite was the Grumpy football jersey, with the number 7 on it. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend the $50.00 on a jersey that I might wear once or twice a year. I wound up with a hooded Grumpy sweatshirt instead.)

We decided to try to find something interesting to eat in Downtown, which we knew was going to be no problem. However, as we wandered past the Rainforest Café (which we decided to skip because we already had lunch reservations for Wednesday at the Rainforest Café in the Animal Kingdom), we noticed a boat launch area were they appeared to be renting various types of boats – from two-person peddle-boats to 18 foot “speed” boats (speed being a relative term, given the size of the Disney lake upon which the boat launch area was located). Hungry as we were, we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity of cruising through Disney World.

We got to the rental window at about 4:35. Although they were set to close at 5:00, they agreed to rent us a boat for 30 minutes. (This time was extended by the guy on the dock, who told us we didn’t have to be back until 5:20, which, by the time we left, gave us an extra 10 minutes on the water. Hey, I’m happy to take those little bonuses any time I can get them.) However, as we rented the boat, we learned of one of the little inconsistencies at Disney World that could drive you a little crazy, if you let it.

As I mentioned above, when selling you admission tickets for the park, Disney considers 10 year olds to be adults. However, when renting a boat to you to cruise the waters off Disney World, 12 year olds are considered to be adults. We were, of course, honest about Jake’s age when they asked us – and were advised that he was too young to operate a boat. Figures.

We settled on an 18 foot fishing/speed-type boat and, after a quick course in manuervering (which amounted to “Push the lever forward to accelerate, pull it back to slow down, and steer it just like a car,"), we set sail, with Captain Dave at the helm:



It was actually a very enjoyable experience. We got to cruise past Downtown Disney, saw all of the restaurants and shops from the water, sailed past one of the golf courses, cruised along the water behind some of the Disney Vacation Clubs homes, and got to watch the sun set behind the Old Key West resort. It was a really fun time, and one I’d highly recommend. Plus, at about $30 for the half-hour, it’s not a bad value (considering Disney prices and all).

After forty minutes on the “high seas,” we were starving. As it turns out, our little cruise showed us a couple of places that looked really appealing for a meal. We considered going to Bongos, the Cuban restaurant in which Gloria Estefan has a piece of the action. But we had also seen the House of Blues, a place that both Sue and I had always considered going. We decided on the House of Blues for many reasons, the most important of which was that it was the closest one to the boat dock on the West Side of Downtown. (We took the ferry to the West Side after returning our boat.)

The HoB was a lot of fun. We were there too early to see any of the live entertainment they have there, but the atmosphere was still festive and light, our drinks were delightfully cool and refreshing, and we found the food to be delicious, and a great value. I ordered “The Elwood,” which is a tangy, spicy chicken sandwich that I found particularly satisfying. I definitely recommend the HoB as a nearby alternative to all of the Disney fare. (At this writing, they also offer a Sunday Brunch at the HoB, with live entertainment. I’m going to make it a point to check that out the next time we’re in Orlando on a Sunday morning.)

As we left the restaurant after dinner, we saw Disney Quest right across the way. Aside from the giant neon lights and the modernistic mouse ears logo on the outside of the building, the structure in which Disney Quest is located is fairly nondescript. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s located in Downtown Disney, you wouldn’t give the building a second look. (Contrast this to the highly stylized architecture of the Planet Hollywood building, or the giant pineapple outside the Bongos restaurant.)

I knew before hand that Disney Quest was not going to be cheap. After we first heard about the area where you can design your own roller coaster, and then ride it in a simulator, I knew that it would cost a couple of bucks just to get in the door. As it turns out, at the just-increased 2006 prices, it was $35 each (including our 10-year-old adult who was too young to pilot a motor boat). However, having spent many a night on various boardwalks along the Jersey shore, $105 for a nights’ entertainment was not without precedent. So, we bought our admission tickets and headed in.

Trying to describe a five-story building full of a variety of arcade, virtual reality, and simulator games, combined with amusement park rides, is not easy. Suffice it to say that, if you’re into games of almost any kind, you’ll find it in Disney Quest. They have almost every arcade game from the 70s and 80s someplace in the building. They have a coaster design area, where you can design a roller coaster on a computer, and then they strap you into a simulator, which then takes you on a virtual reality depiction of your design. The wait here on a busy Saturday night in the off season was about 20 minutes, but it was well worth it.

In addition, there is a rafting simulator, a space-rescue simulator, and a set of odd bumper-cars with a Buzz Lightyear theme. As to this latter ride, Jake and I found it to be highly frustrating. It’s a two-person ride. You’re in a capsule-like vehicle, and you drive over large, rubber balls that roll into the capsule and that the co-pilot is supposed to load into the cannon and then aim at other vehicles. As near as we could figure (and there is virtually no explanation about this ride before you get on), if you hit another vehicle, you render that vehicle useless to the operator for a brief period of time because, once hit, the vehicle spins out of control and the co-pilot cannot use the cannon until the spinning stops. In addition to this little quirk, the vehicles are incredibly difficult to steer, difficult to load and fire, and the crazy spinning seems to go on forever. I don’t mind spinning as a general rule; however, the whole ride makes no sense and is impossible to enjoy. Even with no line, I’m not sure it’s worth doing this ride.

Contrast that with the Mighty Ducks pinball simulator. The best way to describe this “ride” is to have you try to picture yourself as one of the metal balls in an old-fashioned pinball machine. You take your place on a “stand” on the playing floor and you look up at a giant screen above you, which shows the pinball “field” and your “ball,” along with the balls of the other players in the game (up to a dozen or so). When you’re told to start, you twist, swivel, lean, and jump on your stand in an effort to roll your ball around the screen above so that you can collide with the point-scoring targets on the screen above. After what feels like a full-scale cardio workout at the gym, the Disney Cast Member calls “Time!” and the player with the highest total (based on the number and variety of targets hit) is the winner. It was actually a lot of fun.

We spent about three hours at Disney Quest and had a wonderful time. At about 9:30, we were eventually able to drag Jake out so that we could make our way back to the hotel. Before doing so, we did order what we thought would be a quick dessert at the Cheesecake Factory annex that serves up the sweets and coffees in Disney quest. Of course, if you know anything about the Cheesecake Factory, you know that they do not practice portion control. As a result, the brownie sundae we received would have been enough dessert for 6, not three. We muddled through as best we could, but the three of us couldn’t finish this overstuffed sweet-treat. It was good, but way to much food.

We walked it off strolling through Downtown Disney after we left. It is actually quite an impressive site, all decked out in lights, with a variety of people, and things to see and do around every corner. Jake got to sit on a Harley outside one shop:


We also limbo-ed under a balloon rope as we cut through Pleasure Island, and we strolled through the Lego store on the way back to the car. All in all, Downtown Disney was a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend the first afternoon and evening in Orlando.

When we got back to the hotel, we headed upstairs to get ready for The Big Day – our first full day in Disney World. We knew the Magic Kingdom opened at 9:00 a.m. and we wanted to be there relatively close to opening time. I figured I’d wake up about 7:00 am anyway, but set the alarm on my phone just to be safe. We then drifted off to sleep, with visions of Mickey dancing in our heads.

Walt Disney World -- Prologue and Planning

The Prologue

I love Disney. Disney movies. Disney characters. And, of course, Disney World.

Now, I never went to Disney World as a kid. We were a “two-weeks-at-the-beach” kind of family when I was growing up (which was fine, because I happen to love the beach). But we never went to Disney World.

For me, Disney World was a distant fantasy place. Oh, I’d heard about it on TV when it first opened, and, when I was younger, I’d heard tales of a different kind of amusement park called “EPCOT.” But, as a child, I never actually got to go to Disney World.

I first made it to Disney World in 1985, when I was in my twenties. Even as a young adult, I was captivated. What a wonderful place! In ‘85, there was only the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, but they were both amazing places to visit. They were everything I ever imagined the World to be, from seeing characters I grew up with, to riding rides I’d always heard about (like the then-amazing “Space Mountain”), to walking among palm trees on a sunny Florida day in February (an experience that a kid from the northeast had never had before). Even “It’s a Small World” was thrilling for me because I actually had hazy memories of riding on the earliest version of it at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. The World Showcase at Epcot was equally amazing to me. Never having traveled before, the tastes of the world I experienced there gave me a Disney-fied glimpse of what the Rest of the World looked like.

One of the things I remember most about that first trip is the music. There was always music playing – soft, subtle, unobtrusive, and happy. Visiting Disney World let me live life with a soundtrack, which I found to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. My first trip to Disney World left me with the desire to return as often as I could.

It took almost seven years, but in late 1991, I finally made it back. There were three parks by then, with the opening of the Disney-MGM Studios. The Magic Kingdom and Epcot were still fun and fresh, but the movie aficionado in me absolutely loved MGM. From the Indiana Jones stunt show, to Star Tours, to the backlot tour, I was totally enthralled. I knew that I’d been away from Disney World too long, and I planned then and there to make Disney World a regular part of my life.

Well, as John Lennon so aptly put it, life is what happens when you’re making other plans. My other plans – thankfully – gave way to my life (which worked out just fine, thank you very much). In the 14+ years since my 1991 trip to Disney, we traveled as a family to a variety of places, from South America to the Caribbean, to Europe. But I always wanted to get back to Disney World, and I wanted to share it with my wife and my youngest (our oldest now believing himself to be past Disney – I’m still working on helping him understand that you’re NEVER too old for Disney, but that’s another story).

My wife had done Disney before we were married, but she’d done it during Christmas week – time of the 90-minute-wait (on a good day) for Space Mountain. Me, I’m a guide book hound, and I’ve only ever done Disney during the low season. I always figured that if I was going to go, I really wanted to enjoy it, and based on my experiences, you really do enjoy Disney World during the low season.

My wife was not looking forward to the prospect of returning to Disney World only to face hours of lines for minimal return. It took some effort, but I finally was able to convince the missus that it would be a totally different experience in the off season. She finally acquiesced, and I gleefully began the planning process.

The Planning

I started planning the trip in May 2005. I wanted to involve our 10 year old, Jake, both because I knew he’d enjoy being involved, and because I wanted us to be able to enjoy Disney World together, before he thought himself too cool to do it. So, after we received the vacation planning kit that I ordered from Disney World, we sat and watched the DVD together. We both started getting almost giddy with excitement just watching the places to stay, the things to do, and the foods to eat. Every place looked great. Jake loved the All Star resorts, of course, but we also really liked the look of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Port Orleans (which had added appeal after the Katrina disaster).

We ultimately decided on going in the fourth week of January. My plan was to avoid any holiday breaks, including Martin Luther King Day (which is actually blacked out at some hotels in the area, and, at others, hotel room prices are marked up significantly for that weekend.)

I figured a seven-day, six-night stay would be long enough. I thought that five days would be enough to do all four parks that Disney now operates in Orlando (with the Animal Kingdom being brand new to me), and using the fifth day to hop around and re-do things we’d enjoyed, or catch things we’d missed.

To make our week-long trip work, we planned on taking Jake out of school for that week. About two weeks before our trip, we advised his teacher of the plan, volunteered Jake to do a report on Epcot for the class and to keep a journal for English class. We also asked for his homework ahead of time so that we could get a jump on it. The teacher was very cooperative (although Jake was not at all thrilled about the idea of actually “working” while on vacation. It took some convincing for him to understand the benefit of the trade-off we’d negotiated.) By the way, if you’re considering going, I would heartily recommend this plan. You get to avoid the crowds and enjoy the parks with a minimum of hassles. But if you take the kids out of school, make sure to put yourself in the teacher’s good graces before hand.

As you might expect, the details of my research regarding the plans for our trip could stretch on for many pages more, but I won’t do that to you. Suffice it to say that I’m very, very thorough when it comes to weighing options and evaluating choices, and I was no less so with this trip. I wanted it to be as close to perfect as I could make it, so I compared travel packages, looked at on-site hotels versus off-site hotels, and priced rental cars, airfares, and meal packages. I’ll try to summarize as best I can, so that you may be able to benefit from my experiences.

The Disney packages are very nice, but they do get pricey. However, if money is no object (or you have your heart set on staying in a Disney hotel), I’d recommend the Disney packages without reservation, because Disney does things exceedingly well. (Of course, this is coming from someone who has not yet stayed at an official Disney hotel. I’m just going by what I’ve read and seen.) Disney’s facilities are nice, and bonuses like character breakfasts are a definite plus. In addition, there is the added benefit of the Magic Hours plan they have for Disney resort guests. During the low season, Disney keeps at least one park open for an extra couple of hours after the official “closing” time, but only for guests of official Disney resorts (during the high season, they may keep all parks open for extra hours. You’ll want to check that if you’re traveling then.) For the extra hours, you pick up wrist bands at various locations in the park during the day so that they don’t toss you out on your proverbial ear at closing time. So, if you want to maximize your time in the park, the extra hours are a nice way to do so. For us, though, we found that if we started early (at park opening), we were pretty much done by closing time and didn’t really need – or want – extra hours.

If you’re going to stay in a Disney hotel, I’d consider the Moderate resorts, like Port Orleans, over the Inexpensive resorts. Now, I haven’t stayed in either, but everything I’ve read suggests that you’ll be more comfortable, have more room, and have more dining options, staying in the moderate resorts. Of course, if your kids have their hearts set on staying in one of the All Star resorts, you won’t have a horrible time. With three cool pools, a food court, and neat looking things (like giant TVs and gargantuan foosball players), you’ll be just fine. It’s a matter of personal choice.

By the way, no matter which Disney resort you stay in, don’t make the mistake of believing that you’re going to be “right next door” to the parks. To be sure, some of the hotels (the Animal Kingdom Resort and The Contemporary, for instance) are right next to one park. But no matter where you stay, you’re going to need some kind of transportation – Disney’s or your own – to get from one park to the next, because it is literally miles between them. In fact, some non-Disney hotels are actually geographically closer to some of the parks than the Disney resorts are – but they are in another world as far as ambiance is concerned.

For us, after pricing things out, I finally booked us into the Best Western Lake Buena Vista, which is a Disney Good Neighbor hotel, on Disney property, but not a Disney owned resort. It’s “official,” in that you get some – but not all – of the benefits of staying at a Disney resort.

Based on information in my Frommer’s guide (which I swear by), I visited the Best Western website and booked directly through it. With the AAA discount, we saved $20 a night and got a room on the fourteenth floor for $90 a night. (When we got to the hotel, they wanted to charge us $10 more for a view of Disney World itself. I probably could have haggled for the room-with-the-view for free, but decided against it. But I’m jumping ahead.)

As for airfare, I love Expedia and Travelocity, but the discount airlines like JetBlue and Southwest don’t list their fares with them. Because I knew that JetBlue flies direct from Newark (which is nearest to us) to Orlando, I priced it out. Depending on what time we left, we could get a fare for as low as $69 each way for each of us. Because we were supposed to be on vacation, I didn’t want to drag us out of bed for the $69 fare on the 8:00 a.m. flight. It was worth an extra sixty bucks to take the 11:30 flight, which cost us $89 each outbound. We did get $69 fares on the way back, so all in all, our air fare, with taxes and fees, came in at about $500.

As I mentioned, I knew we would need transportation, and the question of a rental car was really a non-issue for us. We didn’t want to rely on buses or vans. If we are ready to go, we want to go. We don’t like to be at the mercy of a bus or van that might break down, or be delayed, or be too full, if we don’t have to be. Plus, if we wanted to leave the hotel and head out for a non-Disney meal, we wanted to have that option. So, just as I did for the hotel, I searched the travel sites for general ideas of the price range I was looking at, but then booked directly through the website of the agency I settled on, which was Thrifty. Thrifty is one of the cheaper sites, and one with which I was familiar. We reserved a nice, mid-size car for about $170 bucks for the week. (Once we arrived, we actually upgraded to a new Charger, which Dodge just put on the road. They had some available, it stood out from the standard Taurus-type car they were going to give us – and it looked cool!)

If you’re going to rent a car, your best prices will be with the Thrifty/Alamo/Budget companies. Hertz and Avis are good, but why pay about $100 or more per week for the same car? Unless you’ve got some special deal with Hertz or Avis, go with the less expensive guys.

So, air fare – check. Rental car – check. Hotel – check. Oh, yeah. Admission tickets. Almost forgot.

Disney World isn’t cheap. Parking in January 2006 was $9.00 per day, and that was about the best bargain of the day. (Of course, having paid $15.00 to park at Giants Stadium to watch the Jets try to play football, the $9.00 is fairly reasonable given the entertainment you actually receive.)

As for admission to the parks themselves, Disney has a seemingly endless variety of tickets, combos, options, and plans. There are “hopper” options, and “Plus Passes.” You can buy annual passes, and Florida residents get additional discounts. There are meal plans, and length of stay options and lifetime options and . . . well, you get the idea. One day tickets (at 2005 prices) were about $55 each for adults and about $44 each for kids. By the way, just so you know, in Disney World, ten year olds are considered adults. (Disney’s nice and all, but they’ve got a theme park to run, you know.) As an example, a five-day hopper ticket was $269 for adults and $216 for kids. (More on the hopper option below.)

We ordered our admission tickets on-line, at the official Disney Ticket page. Yes, I know; you can get additional discounts from other sites, but I know that Disney is a stickler for the security of its tickets, so for me, it wasn’t worth risking having my tickets rejected. (Disney employs what appears to be a finger-print-type technology to match your pass to you, which prevents you from re-selling unused days left on your ticket to other people. When you enter the park, you slide your ticket in the machine, then put your fingers into a slot in the machine. If they match, the machine kicks your ticket out to you, and you’re admitted. If not, it’s a trip to Customer Relations. But I’m jumping ahead again.)

Anyway, I did get a discount (about 5%) ordering on-line from Disney. In addition, I received hard-plastic, credit-card like passes with magnetic strips, not just little cardboard tickets like those you get at the ticket windows. Those are nice little keepsakes to have at the end of the trip, by the way.

We decided on five-day hopper passes. The hopper option allows you to “hop” from one park to another (and to another, if you’d like) in the same day. Without the hopper option, you’re limited to one park per day. I knew that we’d likely want to hop once or twice during the stay, so I just went with the hopper option.

I also elected not to worry about working any of the water parks into this trip. Disney World has two incredible water parks, in addition to the theme parks. Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach both have amazing looking water-park rides, including the tallest water slide in the world at Blizzard Beach. However, with so much to see and do at the four main parks, and given the vagaries of the weather in Florida in January, I decided to save the water parks for another visit.

Anyway, we bought five-day hoppers, but decided not to extend them. (Without the extension, the tickets expire fourteen days after the first use – meaning that you have two weeks to use your five days. If you purchase the extension option, you can use three days now, and two days in five years. It all depends on how soon you expect to use your days – and if you want to spend the extra money. (See, I told you it was complicated!))

Another tip – monitor the AllEars Net website for deals and discounts, and subscribe to the AllEars Net newsletter. They are invaluable for information and details. Through my various sources on the web, including AllEars Net, I learned on December 29, 2005 that ticket prices for the World were due to increase on January 1, 2006. Needless to say, that news ended my procrastination immediately. We got our tickets for use in 2006 at the 2005 on-line prices. It was a nice little deal.

With admission tickets purchased, that was about all we needed to go – except for one more little detail: getting to the airport. As you might have guessed, I’ve got one more tip for your trip regarding getting to the airport. Do a Google search of off-site parking near your airport. I know that AviStar has facilities near a number of major airports. Rather than park in the long term lot at Newark, I parked at an AviStar facility nearby. It’s a valet facility, with a secure lot and a free shuttle to the terminal. You simply drive up to the facility, get your ticket, leave your car, and they take you to the terminal. On your return, you call them from the terminal, they come and get you and, by the time you get to the facility and pay for your parking your car is started, warming up, and ready to go. You just pay your bill and leave. For $80, we parked for a week in a secure lot in Newark and spent far less than we would have for a taxi or car service. Not a bad deal at all.

Well, enough prologue. On to the trip.

Walt Disney World -- The Preview

My wife, youngest son, and I recently came back from an often-postponed, week-long trip to Disney World, one of my favorite places to vacation in the world. As you can see elsewhere on this blog (and for those who know me), we do enjoy travel, and we've done a lot, both as a family, and with my wife and me as a couple.

As I've gotten older, I've wanted to see more and more places, and I enjoy doing so immensely. We've traveled to South America, to the Caribbean, to Europe, and to the Southern U.S. However, I've always loved Disney and have wanted to go back since my last trip in the early '90s.

We finally did so last month, and we had a blast. But I discovered something as I was planning our trip. There are a lot of folks out there who love all things Disney, and especially Disney World. I took some comfort in that discovery, because I thought I was the only crazy one. But there are web-sites, newsletters, travel agencies, groups and clubs all devoted to Disney, and I discovered that there is an abiding interest in both Disney World itself, and peoples' experiences there. For instance, Deb's Unoffficial Disney World Information Guide (aka AllEars Net) is an invaluable resource, and fun place to visit. Dis is another great resource, with discussion boards, reviews, and so on. From my visits there, I found some helpful, informative, and interesting blogs and other sites, like this one and this one.

Anyway, I thought that I'd throw my two-cents worth into the mix and write up our trip, from the planning to the doing. I figured what I learned might help other folks plan and enjoy and, for those like me, there's no such thing as too much information.

Of course, as anyone who's read this blog already knows, I'm the kind of guy who you ask what time it is and I tell you how to make a watch. As a result, my trip journal has grown and grown into a multi-page dissertation about planning and taking a trip to Disney World. Because I tend to go on (and on, and on) about things, I've decided to break the journal up into pieces, and post them separately. That way, you can pick and choose what you'd like to read and review. So, I'll start posting pieces, and you get cracking on that reading. Just like Disney World itself, there's a lot of ground to cover here!

Internet reviews

I had to laugh as I was surfing for a restaurant review for a particular place near Times Square in New York. I happened upon a place called Tuscan Square, which is right near where we're going to be. Naturally, I wanted to see what previous patrons had to say.

In one review, we see:

Stay away from Tuscan Square

"Very bad time at Tuscan Square:
1. Restaurant lost our reservations
2. Kitchen did not offer same dishes listed on the internet
3. Kitchen did not even offer special that we were told about 10 minutes prior
4. We were told that we should order soon because the kitchen was closing, it was 8:30pm!!!"


In the very next review, we find:


Delicious!


"We love going to tuscan Square for dinner regularly. The food is to die for! You can tell that everything is very fresh and homemade. The restaurant is beautiful, right down to the plates! I especially love the front room, with the ceiling painted like the sky and the huge chandelier. Service is very professional."


I suppose that I'm easily amused, but I love this kind of thing. Two different people; same restaurant; and two totally different takes on the place. Further proof that one man's meat....

To be fair, the reviews are posted roughly two years apart, so there may be a basis for the difference (new chef; change of ownership). Thankfully for my purposes, the majority of reviewers found Tuscan Square to be a nice place to eat, regardless of when they ate there, so it may be worth giving the place a try. Still, those nasty reviews do give one pause, don't they?