Disney World, February 2000

Allie’s first visit to Disney World. We did it up right with a six night package, February 6-12, visiting all the (then-extant) parks.

We felt it appropriate that Allie’s first big trip, now that she was a full four-and-a-half years old, should be to Disney World. After all, we had spent her entire lifetime inundating her with Disney-branded entertainment and merchandise. It’s fair to say that Barb was at least as excited as Allie. I had become a vice president at Hekimian and was making substantially more than before. I was happy to indulge my girls with a top-notch trip and get in a little golf.

We aimed for February because we’d heard that was when traffic was lowest and it would be nice to get a winter break. We thoroughly researched many options over several months and decided to go all-in with a Disney Travel Company six-night package, staying at the Contemporary Resort. This gave us unlimited access to all the parks and attractions, early access to one park per day, plus put us near the monorail line for easy transport and the chance to get back to the room for rests if needed. The package also gave us a number of all-inclusive “points” we could use for various attractions and meals throughout the resort.

We spent several more weeks plotting our exact itinerary and calculating what points to spend where.

As the time for the trip approached, everyone was getting pretty excited. In the weeks ahead, we finalized our plans and made reservations at each of our preferred dining spots. Barb was at her assiduous best getting all the goodies together that we might need for the week. One of the things she got was a special Pooh notebook and pen so Allie could take notes on her trip. Anticipation built by the day. Here’s a picture of Allie in our kitchen shortly before we left.

Sunday, February 6, 2000

We flew to Orlando, rented a car and drove to Disney World. I remember arriving at the Contemporary Resort and being efficiently whisked into the world of Disney. They had every step down to a science, and we felt welcome. We checked in at a special Disney Travel Company desk and got our fill of material about the parks and our package, including guidemaps that detailed activities at each park for the coming week.

Barb and I had stayed at the Contemporary Resort the previous time we stayed at Disney in 1991. I enjoyed the main building’s modernistic atrium with the monorail running through it, my vision of the future when I was a kid. This time we were assigned to an outer building which was more like a regular Florida condo, but we had more space for a roll-away bed and I think there was a small kitchen as well. Practical realities of adulthood had their place.

At that point in 2000, there were four Disney World parks: the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and the newest one, the Animal Kingdom.

For our first meal, we drove to the Disney Boardwalk area and had dinner at the Flying Fish Cafe. This was reputed to be one of the best new Disney World restaurants and as I recall we weren’t disappointed…and pleased it was included in our package so we were able to order whatever we wanted. We like that.

Monday, February 7

Our strategies for attacking the parks were dictated by which days early entry, packaged as Extra Magic Hours, was available. Each day, one park opened an hour early for guests staying in Disney World resorts. We learned from our previous trip that this was one of the most valuable perks of staying in a Disney property. That extra time before regular crowds showed up meant we could zip around multiple rides before the lines got too long.

That said, we knew we wanted to do at least one of the special character breakfasts for Allie and it turned out this was the day. We took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian where we met Mary Poppins and other characters at the 1900 Park Fare restaurant. Allie was generally scared of the big characters with head coverings like Pooh and Tigger, but the more human ones like Mary Poppins were acceptable to her.

It’s worth noting that Barb tried very hard to make reservations for Cinderella’s Royal Table in the castle for breakfast or any other meal. The reservation system at that point was very cumbersome and involved calling months ahead (and not even a toll-free number so I think she did it from work). Even with Barb’s skills and determination, we couldn’t crack the code and never did get into the castle.

After breakfast, we headed directly to the Animal Kingdom which was a new park to us, having opened in 1998.

We scooted straight through the park to catch the Kilimanjaro Safari, an open-sided truck ride through the wild game area of the park. The Disney folks actually did an excellent job of arranging areas where different animals congregated. We saw a good selection of elephants, rhinos, hippos, lions and more. It was a lot more authentic than the animatronic Jungle Cruise in the Magic Kingdom.

We went next to the Asia section where we rode the Kali River Rapids, which famously advises “You WILL get wet. YOU MAY GET SOAKED.” As I recall, I managed to only get a little bit wet but Allie got soaked and loved it, though by the end of the ride her teeth were chattering from the chilly air. Fortunately, Barb had brought along a change of clothes for just this occasion. Good planning, Mom! After the rapids, we walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek which was OK, as best I can recall.

From there, we headed over to the central island for the Bug’s Life show which Allie enjoyed.

In the afternoon, I split off for golf at Osprey Ridge while the girls took in more of the Animal Kingdom. According to marks on the map, they rode the Wildlife Express train to Conservation Station, the Festival of the Lion King show, wandered the Tree of Life and played in the Boneyard.

That evening, we dropped Allie at the Mouse Club at the hotel, which was a combination kids activity center, dining hall and babysitting service, a very fine idea. Barb and I then headed upstairs to the top of the Contemporary Resort for dinner at the California Grill. This was our most expensive dinner (it would have cost $135 but was covered by points, yay!) and was the best meal we had on the trip, steaks for the both of us. Our dessert was timed to coincide with a great view of the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom, though they were further away than I would have thought.

Tuesday, February 8

Today’s early entrance destination was Epcot. Barb and I had been here twice before, in 1991 and in 1984, but we had never dedicated the time to really go through all the pavilions and rides. We were determined this time to do it more thoroughly.

From 1999 through 2000, Disney ran a Millenium Celebration theme throughout the parks. Part of the promotion was the Leave a Legacy program. For a small fee ($30), you could commemorate your visit to Epcot with a photo to be etched on monoliths permanently displayed at the entrance of Epcot. We decided to get one for Allie so she could see it whenever she returned, which we fully expected she would. Her spot is located at East-4-C-14-11-35. Check it out next time you go.

Allie is in there somewhere…East-4-C-14-11-35

We spent the morning in Future World which has never really been about the Future so much as a corporate showcase of different technologies. It reminded me of events like the 1964 World’s Fair which featured a big, bright, beautiful tomorrow. I was always a sucker for that pitch, even if it was brought to you by yesterday’s and today’s most predatious corporations, including Exxon!

We popped Allie in a stroller and hustled over to Test Track (presented by GM), which opened the year before and was the ride with the longest line. I enjoyed the various displays of a concept car “evaluation lab” but the 60 mph ride in the “car” was a little anticlimactic, even if it was the fastest ride at Disney World.

We backtracked our way through the Wonders of Life (presented by MetLife) which included three pretty good exhibits: Body Wars, Cranium Command and The Making of Me. Then we went next door to the Universe of Energy (presented by Exxon!) and rode through the 45-minute Ellen’s Energy Adventure (yawn). We took time to visit Spaceship Earth (sponsored by AT&T), which was mostly cool for being in the geodesic dome centerpiece of Epcot; the displays inside, however, were pretty lame which was a disappointment for me, being in the telecommunications field.

We had an 11:40 lunch reservation at Akershus in the Norway pavilion where we enjoyed the smorgasbord buffet. After lunch, we did the Maelstrom log flume ride in the Norway pavilion and then El Rio del Tiempo, the boat ride in the Mexico pavilion.

We then plunged back into Future World, stopping next at Imagination! (presented by Kodak), with its spitting fountains outside. Inside, we took in Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and Journey Into Your Imagination. Next we tackled The Land (presented by Nestle) with its three attractions: Living With the Land, The Circle of Life, and Food Rocks (especially lame).

Did I mention we had a stroller for Allie? You could rent them at the entrance and they proved to be very useful to let little ones like Allie nap when she needed and were also useful for carrying odds and ends like Allie’s Pooh notebook. Allie spent a great deal of time making meticulous notes and drawings of her trip. Here are a couple of examples. Too bad she didn’t actually know how to spell yet.

Despite having gotten through most of the day with the stroller, I have a feeling (but no direct evidence) that we returned to our room for a short afternoon nap and change of clothes before returning for dinner and the Illuminations show.

We came back for one last pavilion, The Living Seas (no corporate sponsor since United Technologies pulled out in 1998…how did Disney miss out?), which featured what was then the world’s largest saltwater aquarium. We had 6pm dinner reservations at the Coral Reef restaurant with its cool windows on the aquarium.

After dinner, we surfaced and headed over to the World Showcase Lagoon for the Illuminations 2000: Reflections of Earth parade and laser light show with fireworks which I always thought was pretty impressive. Disney did a great job of coordinating stirring music with the lights and fireworks. They were one of the first I’d seen do it really well, though such shows have become more common (thinking of the Bellagio fountains, for example).

Wednesday, February 9

This was our day for early entry to Disney-MGM Studios.

I believe we scooted through the park to get to the Star Tours ride which was the one we wanted to see the most. Barb was not interested in the Tower of Terror, the Rockin’ Roller Coaster (I did that one on my own, a couple of times) or the Hunchback of Notre Dame show. The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show was closed, which was too bad but may have been more than Allie could have handled at that point.

Other attractions we visited included Muppet Vision 3D, the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, the Doug Live show, the Studio Backlot Tour, the Backstage Pass tour which looked at the sets and production area for the TV show Home Improvement, the Magic of Disney Animation tour, the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show, the Great Movie Ride, and the Beauty and the Beast show.

Somewhere in the vicinity of the Beauty and the Beast show, we met Belle and Allie got her autograph. Getting autographs of the characters was a relatively new phenomenon, and not a good one as far as I was concerned. I will say at least there was not a line and Belle was very nice with Allie. Later, I came to learn that kids lined up for scheduled appearances of characters for autograph sessions. I’m very glad that didn’t become a thing for us.

We had lunch at the Primetime Cafe which was set up like a 1950’s diner and had goofball waiters and waitresses that were actually kind of fun. I’m pretty sure I had fried chicken for which they were noted.

I think this was another day where we retreated to our room for a quick afternoon nap before heading back to MGM. We had a good dinner at the Brown Derby and made our way to get seats for the Fantasmic show. Fantasmic was a nighttime light and sound show with live performers that tried mighty hard to be spectacular but was mostly just ostentatious while it worked through greatest hits from many Disney productions. Despite some similarities to the Illuminations show, Fantasmic just seemed a little too much of an exercise in Disney cross-branding.

Thursday, February 10

This was our early entry day at the Magic Kingdom and the first of two days we planned in that park. Riding the monorail on the way, the anticipation was almost more than Allie could bear.

Map of the Magic Kingdom and attractions.

Once we got through the gates and grabbed a stroller, we made a beeline to Frontierland. Allie was just barely tall enough to meet the 40-inch height requirement for the Big Thunder Mountain and Railroad roller coaster and Splash Mountain flume ride (the guy at Splash Mountain told Allie to stand up really tall to make sure she passed). We went on those two rides many, many times.

Splash Mountain was built around somewhat problematic Uncle Remus themes from Song of the South, and includes the endlessly recurring song, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah. I was troubled that Disney deep-sixed the movie but let the characters and songs survive in this ride; it seemed uncharacteristically inconsistent and politically incorrect. That said, I took goofy glee in the song, partly because Barb always thought the lyric was “Plenty of sunshine, plenty of hay.” We never could disabuse her of this notion.

Allie especially loved the Splash Mountain ride. After awhile, I accompanied her alone because Barb got tired of the song and getting splashed. At least we didn’t get soaked like on the Kali River Rapids.

After finally getting our fill and seeing the lines build up at Splash Mountain, we caught the Disney World Railroad all the way back to the Main Street station. We used one of our resort points to get an official photo of Allie as one of the Disney Princesses. We made our way up Main Street and took the obligatory tourist photos. Only now do I wish we took more.

Making our way to Tomorrowland, Barb and I went on Space Mountain, taking turns watching Allie because she was too small for the ride. We then headed over to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin which we did multiple times. Barb was dismayed to find that Allie was a better shot than her.

We worked our way together through The Timekeeper, Carousel of Progress and Astro Orbiter. Barb and I traded off at the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway and ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter because of Allie’s lack of height (though it’s possible Allie was allowed to ride with one of us on the Indy Speedway…I’m not sure).

I had an afternoon tee time at Eagle Pines, so I headed over there. Both Eagle Pines and Osprey Point were very nice resort courses, but evidently they were plowed under in 2008 to make way for a Four Seasons resort and the Tranquilo golf club.

The girls stayed at the Magic Kingdom and focused on Fantasyland. The worked their way through Barb’s favorite spinning ride, The Mad Tea Party, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Dumbo The Flying Elephant, Cinderella’s Golden Carousel and Peter Pan’s Flight. The only problem was they didn’t take any pictures.

In evening, we deposited Allie at the Mouse Club again while Barb and I headed back to Epcot for dinner at Chefs de France. This was also reputed to be one of the best restaurants in the resort. I recall it being good but not as nice as the California Grill. We stayed at Epcot for part of the Illuminations show once more, but left before the end to beat the crowd.

Friday, February 11

On our final full day, we had scheduled the girls for one more character breakfast at Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary Resort. I was scheduled to play golf at the Palm course, but I backed out and did breakfast with the girls. What a good Dad.

Having spent the week at Disney World, Allie got better with the big characters. She was still scared of Mickey but Minnie became a favorite. She even tolerated Goofy.

We spent the rest of the morning at the Magic Kingdom, heading first to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. There we explored Mickey and Minnie’s Country Houses, Donald’s Boat with the splashing water fountains, and The Barnstormer roller coaster.

Barb and Allie saved It’s a Small World for me because I’ve hated the ride and its incessant song ever since the 1964 World’s Fair. I think the girls made us do it twice. The map says we did the Haunted Mansion which I’m a little surprised at because Barb generally finds it too scary and I didn’t think we subjected Allie to it…but maybe we did. We skipped the rest of the Liberty Square attractions, including the Hall of Presidents (I can’t imagine ever going back in there and having to see Trump’s animatron).

We finished our morning in Adventureland, going through the Swiss Family Treehouse, the Tiki Room with it’s array of real and fake birds (and another insane song though this one I kind of like; Allie became a fan of the Hilary Duff version), the venerable Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean (a largely forgotten ride before the movie series breathed life into the franchise starting in 2003).

We finally had our fill of the Magic Kingdom and made our way out with some final shopping stops on Main Street. We spent the afternoon at Pleasure Island spending the last of our remaining points.

We had lunch at Wildhorse Saloon at Pleasure Island, which I wouldn’t have remembered at all except for these photos with the creepy statues.

Barb used points to buy an Animal Kingdom t-shirt, which she still has in near mint condition and recently proudly modeled with Manny. We also used up points at Planet Hollywood (maybe for the t-shirt?) and Virgin Megastore (maybe CD/DVDs for Allie?). We made a couple of actual purchases at Avigator’s Supply and Suspended Animation, though I’m not sure what. Barb did come away with a collection of seven dwarfs that still reside in her office at work. Hi-ho!

We had one more item on the itinerary which was the Ohana luau dinner and show at the Polynesian Resort. I have few memories of it other than the show being tacky.

Saturday, February 12

It was finally time to check out and return home. I think we may have headed back to the Disney Marketplace near Pleasure Island for breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe (it’s checked off on the map, and I remember eating there at some point) but it was not with points.

Allie commemorated the trip with a couple of postcards. We sent others to friends and family. She also worked on a magnum opus in her notebook which I believe may be portraits of Barb and me. We are honored.

Allie was thus even further entwined in Disney’s marketing clutches, and has her picture on permanent display at Epcot to prove it. I left, as always, feeling that I had been industrially entertained. The trip was expensive at the time, but we wrung everything out of it we wanted and I still see a definite value staying in the park and getting early access to the rides. I was happy for the chance to spoil my girls. It would be a few years before we felt the call to return to Disney World.

The final receipts from the trip…

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