 | |
| Walt Disney World 2001: |
May 17th |
| Main Index | < | Travels | < | Walt Disney World 2001 | < | Thursday May 17th 2001 |
Trip Reports
| |
| Walt Disney World 2001: |
May 17th |
| Main Index | < | Travels | < | Walt Disney World 2001 | < | Thursday May 17th 2001 |
|
|
Got up at 3:00am. We had already packed so all we had to do was dress, feed the cats and wait for the shuttle which was scheduled to pick us up at 3:50. (3:30 originally, 3:40 at 1st confirmation then 3:50 when they called us at 7:00pm). It arrived early at 3:30 and we were on the road by 3:40. No traffic and we were the last pick-up so we got to SFO by 4:45. Check-in desk opened at 5:00 and we checked our bags in, then hung out at the gate till boarding at 6:05. Plane took off on time and was uneventful, landing in Denver about 10:00 Denver time. To have a smoke Kel and I had to take a train to another concourse then go up 3 flights of escalators, only to find they imposed a 1 drink minimum on the place! What extortion!. Got back to our gate to find the connecting flight to Orlando was delayed due to our plane being late in from Omaha. Once boarded (30 minutes late) they wanted to finish up some maintenance which made us even later. Got in to Orlando an hour late, at 6:00.
Tiffany Town Car was there to meet us and help with the
luggage. That was a great deal, $80 round trip for 3 in a nice comfy car! On the way to the hotel we
noticed a lot of smoke. Apparently there was a big swamp fire going on
near WDW and it was smoking up the place. Got to the Port Orleans by
6:30. Check-in was a breeze. Cast member (Erin) was very helpful and had
checked in everyone else earlier. Gave us the message from Pat to call
them. Got up to room 6321 on the 3rd floor of building 6, which overlooks
the
"Bunny Garden". Nice room! I call it the bunny garden cuz there are a
bunch of "wild" rabbits who live down on this expanse of lawn and who put
up with children chasing them all over the place :) We met up with
everyone else and decided to blow off dinner at Kimonos and just eat at
the hotel's
Sassagoula Float Works and Food Factory (food court) before going to Fantasia Gardens. The food was ok,
I had jambalaya and kel had ribs. The jambalaya was put to shame once we ate the next night at House Of Blues. After
dinner hit the Guest Services desk in the main building and bought
Ultimate Park Hoppers for $314 each with the Disney Club discount (thanks
Pat!). Got 7-day 6 night passes. Unlike what we'd been told, they were
NOT strict about actual length of stay, it would not have been a good deal if we'd have had
to have gottne 8-day passes, as our last day was abbreviated. This way they were really only about
$7 more that 7-day Park-Hopper Pluss passes AND got us into Disney Quest (a $21 value). The other nice
thing about them was they were linked to our room keycards. From them on we could
go everywhere and buy anything using just that one card. That took about 30 minutes.
The plan then
was to catch a bus to Epcot and from there a bus to the Swan Hotel which
is next to the mini-golf. Well we ran into our first of very very few snafus on this trip: a bus
driver at Epcot informed us that there are NO busses that go to the Swan or
Fantasia Gardens from Epcot because you are able to walk there from the World Showcase entrance to the park.
D'Oh! Should have taken a bus to Downtown Disney. Took a cab for 8 bux. Played a round of golf
as ash from the swamp fire wafted down around us. Nice golf course but
the holes are very easy once you get anywhere near them. The smoke got pretty thick and we crossed our fingers that
the fire would be put out soon. We had to split up into groups of 3 and 4. I won in our group with
a 10 under par score! Got a cab home for 6.75 + tip, and crawled into bed
(after having a pow-wow about the next day's plans in Pat's room) at about 1:00am.
Magic Kingdom |
Magic Kingdom |
Dinner at the Sassagoula Float Works |
Bunny! |
Tower Of Terror in the distance |
Len and Kel putting around Fantasia Gardens |
Fantasia Gardens |
Fantasia Gardens |
Another Hole in 1! |
| Main Index | < | Travels | < | Walt Disney World 2001 | < | Thursday May 17th 2001 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|