We got up at 4:30 am - not an easy thing around here. I finished packing our last minute items, the kids made sure we weren't forgetting anything. No one is hungry so we don't bother eating breakfast this early. We get all our luggage set out for the limo. (I arranged for a limo instead of the shuttle van to pick us up and take us to the airport. It really wasn't much more than the van, and so much more fun!)

Limo arrives 6 am. Boy was everyone surprised. My son already knew I had arranged for the limo instead of a shuttle van. He was bubbling over with excitement. We had a great ride to the airport. Grandma  was also thrilled to have a limo ride, she didn't think the limo was there to get her, as she was expecting the van. We got to the airport at about 7:20. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:00. We checked our luggage and went to the gate. They were already loading the plane. The kids panicked, thinking they were going to leave without us. We got on and found our seats. We had 2 seats in row 35 and 3 in row 34. The kids each got a window seat. The plane was not full, and I had 3 empty seats beside me, so I spread out a bit. It was a long flight, but not too bad. Considering we flew over a hurricane in Texas, it was a relatively smooth flight.

We arrived at Orlando Airport at 3:35pm (12:35 California time). It was a long walk to the baggage area, but we found it. We got a skycap to help us carry all our luggage. We had some big heavy ones. Good thing because it quite a journey to the car rental counter. We tipped him $20. Worth every penny! We had to wait about 20 minutes in line to get our van. We hadn’t really felt how hot and humid it was until we went outside the airport over to the parking garage to get the van. Boy, was it warm and sticky out! The clouds were threatening rain, but it was not raining yet. We got the van packed with all our luggage and headed out. DQ had given me directions to WDW from the airport so we knew which way to go. The 417 Greenway was empty. We didn’t hit any traffic, and the only time we had to stop was to pay our tolls. Stu accidentally went into the Fast Pay lane, or whatever its called, for people who pay ahead of time. Well, we stopped and he was going to back up but the lady just waved us through. I am sure we were not the first to do it. There was a total of $2.25 of tolls.

We found our resort, and boy was it neat. We pulled into the Beach Club area and it was a gorgeous site. I knew it was going to be pretty, and since I had seen photos before & I knew what it looked like. It was prettier than I had imagined. We valet parked the van, which is the way to go. We had a smooth check in, only took about 10 minutes. We got a perfect room. Room number 2641, overlooking the bay, Boardwalk area and the volleyball courts. Very close to the elevator, too. We got a full balcony which was great. We spent a lot of time out there. Very impressed with this hotel. They gave each of us a American Express Fanny Pack, which was very nice. American Express was going to be very happy with the amount of money we were going to spend during our vacation!

While my husband was calling the office to check on things, and grandma was relaxing a bit, the kids and I went and walked around the resort and took some pictures. Boy is it beautiful. The kids cant wait to swim in Stormalong bay. It is very well laid out and looks like tons of fun. We will swim tomorrow. Not enough time today, and the clouds were threatening looking! We had dinner reservations at Chef Mickeys for 8pm but we ended up getting there early so we ate at 7:40. The food was good, not great. There wasn't really much of selection. The salad bar was lacking! My son had to wait quite a while for pizza, and in general everything looked picked over. The characters were not much fun, they hurridly let you take a picture and ran off to the next table. We were a little disappointed with Minnie Mouse and her ‘escort’. The kids wanted to get their photo taken with her, and the ‘escort’ told the kids that they would have to wait until Minnie came to our table. We told her that we were finished eating and about ready to go and that we hadn’t seen Minnie. She rudely said that she was sure Minnie had been over there and just this one time she would allow us to have a photo with Minnie, out of turn! So the kids got in there real quick and took the picture. Then Minnie kind of shoved them away to get to the next table. I really didn’t feel this was necessary, and it really bothered me. From here on out, we called that Minnie, the MEAN Minnie. But that’s ok, its our vacation and we have many other fun things planned. We saw Chip and Dale, Goofy, Donald Duck and Mickey!

After dinner we took a monorail ride around the MK resorts. It was a neat ride. It took us about 15 minutes. We stopped at the different resorts, but didn’t get off because we wanted to get to the observation deck back at the Contemporary before 9 to watch the fireworks.. We thought they would start at 9 but they didn’t start until 10. So we were out on the deck for an hour enjoying the scenery. We got to see the water pageant, which was cute. We enjoyed watching the castle change colors, and we could see the Main Street Electrical Parade as it worked its way through the park. It was interesting to see that this castle was different than the Disneyland castle. This one is much prettier. It had rained earlier and there were puddles up here on the deck. My kids a ball seeing who could make the biggest splashes!

We decided to eat after this. We headed down to the world showcase to eat. We wanted to eat at Rose and Crown but they were renovating so we chose Japan instead, Teppanyaki. This place was great, we have a very similar restaurant here in our hometown. We felt like the chef at Teppanyaki did a great job at cooking all our meals. He asked us each individually how we wanted things. We got so much food - it was only lunch, too. I can imagine dinner is really great! My husband really wanted sushi, but they didn’t have a sushi bar. In fact we couldn’t find any sushi except at a cocktail lounge. He decided he would get sushi when we go back to Epcot another day. My daughter bought a japanese fan at this little store, its very pretty. She used some of her Disney dollars. It was $4.25.

We took the little boat back to our hotel. It was a longer trip than we though, the walkway is definitely the way to go! We got back to our hotel and then got ready for the pool. The kids were very excited to swim. We found the very last 2 chairs at the pool area. The kids jumped in and swam away! We stayed here until almost 4:30 and we got to the pool about 1:30. DQ had called and talked to my husband while we were at the pool, saying they were eating at Beaches and Cream. He went in and met her, then came and found me at the pool so that I could go in and talk to her. She was very nice and her kids were too. It is so nice to finally meet in person, after chatting on the boards. We planned to meet later possibly for the Electrical Parade at MK. After this we went back to our room to shower and get ready for the evening at MK. No nap for us. Hope we can all stay awake through E-ticket night.

We had reservations for Liberty Tree at 7:30. We wanted to leave about 6, so we had plenty of time to get over to MK, get our bracelets for E-ticket night and find the restaurant. We had not used Disney transportation yet, so we were unsure how long our wait would be for the bus, how far from the park it drops you off, etc. We were pleasantly surprised to find the bus there when we walked out.  It didn't take as long as we thought to get there, so we had some extra time and I wanted to get us all some name tags. I had heard they were easy to find – wrong! One place in the entire park carried them and they had hardly any names – 3 out of the 5 names we needed were not available. So we decided to wait until we got to MGM to buy them, they supposedly have a machine that can engrave the names you need.

We headed over to Liberty Tree to eat. We gave them our name and sat outside watching everyone walk by. We got seated within 10 min. I think I am going to like this Priority Seating thing! They bring you a printed menu – the bill of fare I think it was called. It was like a thanksgiving feast. This meal was great, we all loved it. The food was delicious, the service was great, and the characters really spent time with us and came around several times. We sat in the Betsy Ross Section, it was decorated with period furniture, many flags - very neat. We took many photos. After this we headed outside to get a spot for the Electrical Parade. Right in front of the restaurant there were some great spots. We just stood there. There was even an open rocking chair for grandma! Perfect! So she sat there and we stood in our spots. DQ and the kids found us. They came and stood with us. We had a girls choir standing in front of us, and they sang, and messed with the floats as they went by. It was funny. From here we ran over to the cars, my son really wanted to drive. We got there about 10 till 10, and stood in line for about 20 minutes but got to drive. We watched the fireworks from the line. The trees obstructed our view, but we had seen them the night before so it was not too upsetting! 

After that it was E-ticket night…. We rode Space Mtn, Buzz Lightyear, Alien Encounter, Splash Mtn, Big Thunder, Splash Mtn again and then the Haunted Mansion. We had a great time, little or no lines, it was really fun and worthwhile! We were glad to have DQ and the kids as tour guides, because we had no idea where we were going and would have wasted precious time examining maps! They were fun to be with, too. My kids really enjoyed hanging out with the 'Big Kids'. Poor Grandma was wiped out - we need to convince her to rent a wheelchair! The only negative thing about E-ticket night is that it is very dark there after the regular hours. Most things were closed and they actually turn off the lights! It would have been great to have some little flashlights to read the maps (if we didn't have our trusty tourguides).

Today was relax a little day! OK, so we didn’t really relax, but we did sleep in. Even my son did, he normally wakes at the crack of dawn. We got up about 11 or so, which was great! Ok, so it was like 8am to use, but still.. We all needed the rest. When we finally did get up, we got our swimsuits on and headed down for the pool. The kids and I went down first, got some great beach chairs and headed for the pool. It wasn’t very crowded yet. The weather was a little warmer and more humid than yesterday, but still not unbearable. There is a new hurricane in the Atlantic, that hopefully wont affect us at all. But they say it will bring higher humidity levels (can it actually get any more humid???). The kids went on the slide over and over. My son enjoyed this whirlpool area of the pool and spent much time there. My daughter liked the quicksand - they move it around the pool. She spent much of her time trying to get sunk in the quicksand! I swam a bit and relaxed a bit. My husband and Grandma came down to the pool about 1 or so. They sat under an umbrella in the shade, and seemed to enjoy it. My husband did go on the slide with the kids, they got a kick out of that. It was a pretty fun slide, actually. I did go on it a few times myself. This pool was really fun, something for everyone. Plus it is big enough that even when there are many people, it doesn't seem too crowded. The rent tubes and pool toys, which was fun for the kids. 

We ate lunch at Beaches and Cream, right next to the pool area. Wonderful hamburgers! We were not extremely hungry, but we enjoyed this meal. The waitress Tanya, was very nice and patient with my indecisive kids. She talked us into having rootbeer floats, which were very refreshing. The prices were not bad here, and I think we were lucky to get a seat as quickly as we did. We decided to go to Disney Quest today, so when we were done eating we ran up to the room to change. Got to Disney Quest by about 4, by bus. It was a very long walk to Disney Quest from the resort buses! Next time we will drive, if we come again. Disney Quest wasn’t crowded at all when we first got there, we got to do a lot of the popular things pretty easily. We liked the Buzz Lightyear ride, its kind of like bumper cars, with weapons! Not violent at all, actually. You are in this big plastic car, you have a driver and a shooter. The drivers job is to drive over these big plastic balls. As you drive over them they get sucked up in the car where the shooter grabs them and loads the cannon. Then he pushes a button and shoots the ball at the other cars. If you hit them they spin slowly out of control. It was pretty fun. We also made our own roller coasters and rode them, which was really fun! You get to pick the speed, the components (loops, jumps, hills, curves, etc.) and then you get to ride the ride! They rate the ride, on a scale of 1-5 based on how many people they think would get sick on your ride. We stuck with rides ranked 3 - just to be safe! I think this was everyone's favorite. Grandma made one, and rode it. She is a brave lady. But it jarred her neck or something and she was quite sore afterwards. Daddy took Grandma home to the hotel, so she could rest and then he came back for us. He brought the van back with him, so we didn't have to make the long walk back to the bus stop. We did the river rafting (very hard to keep the entire family rowing in unison - or even knowing how to turn), human pinball machine (you are actually playing as a ball - you must move back and forth on this platform to get your ball rolling in a particular direction - it is harder than it seems), alien chase (you sit in this little room and one person is your pilot and he tries to land on these planet looking things and free people - while the other 3 people in the room try to shoot the aliens) , ride the comix (virtual reality - you were these uncomfortable headset things and try to light saber sword these aliens), and so much more. We stayed until 10:00, it was just getting too crowded and there were lines for everything. We were glad that Grandma went back to the hotel about early, she was exhausted. She really has kept up with us, and I know its very tiring for her. I hope she is having fun.

Disney Quest was getting crowded so we left.  We ran over to Downtown Disney Marketplace to hit the huge Disney Store. Boy, is that an understatement. This place was huge. Every single possible Disney item is in this store. We only had a half hour so we had to rush through, but it was awesome. I was really enjoying just wandering around. The kids each spent their disney dollars, and we got a few things. I got a bunch of the antenna balls, and we got some license plates that have the milennium stuff on them, the kids got big stuffed animals (Tigger and Pluto -they are going to be sitting on the airplane with us I think). We got to walk around DDMarketplace a little afterwards, even though most of it was closed. We didn't get to go into the Lego Store - My son loves Legos! We hope to  make it back here when everything is open. The volcano at Rainforest Cafe looked pretty cool all lit up night.

Another great day. We got up early, 7 am. Had to pack and get ready to check out of the Beach Club to go to Dixie Landings. We were meeting Wendee at 9 am, and we didn’t know how long it would take to get to MGM on the boat, so we wanted to leave by 8:15. I woke up when the alarm went off and started packing. I woke the rest of the gang up about 7:30. It was kind of sad leaving that perfect room we had. We really enjoyed the Beach Club. There were so many positive things about this resort. The valet parking was one thing that we miss now that we are at Dixie Landings. We also miss Art, the greeter, the pool (of course), the proximity of our room to the main area/lobby. Our view was spectacular and we miss that. We regret that we never made it to the Boardwalk while we were there, but we still have a few days.

Ok, so on with our day. We got all packed and dressed, called the bellhop to come get our luggage. We just had them hold the luggage for us. We wanted to take the boat to MGM so we left the van there. Figured we could take the boat back and pick up the luggage and the van. We walked over to the boat launch area, it was gorgeous this morning. Blue skies, slight breeze. Great day to be out and about. My daughter got her wish to sit at the very back of the boat, my son thought it was too hot out there. The ride to MGM was quite enjoyable. We passed the Swan and Dolphin, the Boardwalk areas, and then into MGM! We got over there about 8:45. I talked Grandma into agreeing to get a wheelchair. Boy was that a great thing. She really felt better today not having to run all over the park. She got to sit and relax. I think once she got use to the idea she was fine with it. We got the wheelchair and walked up the main street. I finally found the name tags I had been trying to find. The very last place with an engraving machine in the entire WDW property I think is in MGM. Got the name tags, which made me very happy! and then proceeded up to the Chinese theater which was where we had planned to meet Wendee. Daddy, Grandma and kids went on the Great Movie ride while I waited outside for Wendee. They enjoyed that ride. Wendee got there and we chatted while we waited for them to get off the ride. She looked great, very tan and happy! For those of you who don't know, Wendee works on the Disney Wonder, as an entertainer. She is having a great time! She is like a sister to me, and we have missed her since she has been working for Disney (so far away from us).

We ran over to Tower of Terror and rode that. It was awesome. We all loved it. My son wasn’t feeling well today. He did ride that ride, but then it seemed to bother his stomach, or shake it up a little. We headed over to Hollywood and Vine for our brunch at 10:30. This place was really fun. The waitresses all sang and danced, the characters were very attentive and fun. The food was good, too. They had a nice selection. My poor son was feeling horrible. He wanted to go back to the hotel and rest, but unfortunately we had no room to go to. We couldn't check into Dixie Landings until 3. He just struggled through the day. He was a trooper! It was sad to know he felt so bad. We made him drink lots of water and just relax a bit. I think as the day went on he felt better. We rode Rockin Roller Coaster (except for my son and Grandma). This ride was so COOOOOOL. I have never ridden such a great ride! We will definitely go back and ride it again. The Aerosmith theme, along with the LA freeway theming was great. The poor people who have never been to Los Angeles cannot appreciate what all those road signs mean - and the "Car Pool Lane Open" sign significance. It was a great ride. Well, after that we did this sound affect thing with Drew Carey – very good, and the Muppet 3D movie, and also Star Tours. Grandma's wheelchair got us up to the front of the line for this ride! Wendee had to leave at 2, so we did too. Daddy and my daughter went back to the Beach Club on the boat to pick up the van and our luggage.  Rest of us headed over to Dixie Landings to hopefully get a room, we had a long wait for the bus. We really have had bad luck with the buses, we must get there right after one leaves because we have had to wait 15-20 minutes for every bus so far.  Well, we sat there for over 90 minutes before we got our room. They had rooms available but we wanted connecting rooms. So we waited. My son felt a little better, but we were all really tired. We bought our refillable mugs and filled them up and just relaxed. Daddy made it to Dixie shortly after we got there. He was a little upset that our room wasn’t ready and he was also upset that we were ‘downgrading’. But at Dixie we have 2 rooms, and that is really nice! We finally got our room at 4:30. We had dinner reservations at 5, so we had to hurry to our room and change! We got a bellhop to help us get our luggage into the room. This guy was great, Jeff C. He was very nice and very helpful. Our room was number 8901and 8902. Third floor in the middle of the Magnolia Terrace bldg. Good location. Bus stop right by our bldg, pool and laundry right there, too. About a 5 minute walk to the Food Court, lobby area. Ol' Man Island is about 3 minutes away. Good location, and the rooms are nice. We all keep banging our legs on the beds, though. We will be all bruised up tomorrow I think.

We changed and headed over to Boatwrights for our dinner resssie with DQ, Genii and gang. We got seated right away and had a nice waiter. We all chatted and ate, and the kids had a great time together. It was neat meeting Genii, she is so sweet. Her girls are, too. We enjoyed dinner. It was nice seeing DQ and her kids again, too. DQ brought a friend with her, a very nice man who is just as crazy about Disney as we are! Genii had her friend Michelle and her son with her, which was great. Everyone got along well! We ate and talked and just had a fun time.

We were all suppose to go see Fantasmic together, but we flaked out. We felt like we had so much to do still and didn’t really feel like standing in line for Fantasmic. So we just went back up to our room. We were originally just going to walk Grandma up, she was exhausted. But then my son said he didn’t feel too hot still and would rather just stay home in the hotel and rest (he never volunteers to rest, so he must really have felt bad). My daughter wanted to go swimming. So we just hung out at the hotel. I did laundry, Grandma relaxed, and Daddy took the kids over to check out the pool area. They got to swim for about an hour and then lightning and thunder came! They immediately closed the pool and they went back to the room. I was still doing laundry. Amazing how many clothes 5 people can wear in 3 days! My son decided to sleep in Grandma’s room, and my daughter is in with us.

Everyone else got to bed pretty early. It is close to midnight now as I am typing this. Uploading the photos from the digital camera to the laptop is quite a time consuming thing - I am so tired, but I must wait until that is done! It is worthwhile, though, these pictures are coming out great!

Tomorrow we are going to the water park, and then to Hoop De Doo.

August 27, 1999

Small beds here at Dixie Landings. 2 adults in a double bed just isn't comfortable! Didn’t sleep too much last night. But we all still managed to get up at 7:45 to get ready to go to Typhoon Lagoon. The kids were excited to try snorkeling and go on all the slides. We were all ready about 8:30. Grandma decided to stay at the hotel today and relax. She is very friendly and met many new friends while we were gone. We walked over to the bus stop, which is quite close to our room. Magnolia Terrace is a very well located building. We are on the third floor right near the elevator (but not close enough that we can hear it). The bus ride to the water park was pretty nice, not too far. We got there right before it opened. Daddy and my daughter lined up to get a locker and towels, while my son and I went to find a place to sit. I had heard that the shady spots go quickly. We managed to find a perfect spot. We were right near a snack shop, a drink stand, restrooms, the wave pool and a shade tree, and some very tall bushes. So we had shade the whole time. We rode the stream, which went pretty slow compared to Hurricane Harbors (the water park near our house) river, so it was pretty boring to us. After this my daughter was complaining that she had stinging in her eyes. We ended up taking her over to First Aid. They said that many people complain of similar symptoms, its usually a small grain of sand or sunscreen that causes it. They used some eye flush and cleaned her eye. She felt fine shortly afterwards. We went on EVERY slide, some of them a few times. The kids and I got all suited up to do the snorkeling, but my son wouldn’t get in, and my daughter got all freaked out when a small shark swam under her, so we didn’t last long. At least they had the opportunity to try. They just hand your your equipment, and you watch a short little movie while walking in line then you are getting in! I think if we had someone to actually instruct us on what to do we would have fared better, but that's ok. We ate some funnel cakes (YUM), pretzels, and relaxed. The kids got to do some body surfing in the wave pool. We stayed until close to 1:00. This was a nice water park. The kids could do everything there, which was nice. My kids are use to the real ocean and they commented that these waves in the wave pool are not like real waves. They said that these waves were easier to body surf on, so that was good.

It took a while for the bus to come to take us back to the hotel. We were getting hot sitting there, good thing we were still a little wet from the water park, that saved us. We came back to the hotel and showered and got ready for Hoop De Doo. We had a couple hours to relax before we had to go. My daughter and I walked down to the main bldg/lobby area so she could get her hairwrap. She loves them. Her hair is pretty short so it was hard for the girl to do it. She chose blue, yellow and white – school colors. It looks nice. We filled up our mugs, again! These mugs are a great investment. We got icees for everyone, which are very refreshing. We took showers and got ready for Hoop De Doo.

We drove to Fort Wilderness for Hoop De Doo. Only a 5 minute drive max – but then we had to wait for the internal bus to Pioneer Hall. They have many busses that come to the bus stop, but we had to wait for the CHIP bus. We waited there about 20 minutes before it came, but we did get on it. Many people had to stand on the bus, glad we were not one of them. We got up to Pioneer Hall about 15 before 5. We had to wait in line and pay for our tickets. We had made reservations and had a confirmation number, but had not paid for them. I thought they were already charged to my credit card, but I was wrong. There was a very long line to buy the tickets, but we finally did get up there. They take your picture out front, ours came out good and we ended up buying them. We got table 12, which was a very good table. Better than very good – awesome!!! We were right up in front, center, right next to the stage. Boy was it great. We were right in the show! Well, first they bring you a bucket of salad, and a tray with bread and butter. They take your drink order and you start on your salad as they sing a couple introductory songs. Then they did part 1 of the show. It was slapstick western humor and songs. Really cute. As they go thru the show they did bring out the rest of our food, buckets of ribs, fried chicken, corn, baked beans. We ate a lot! During one song they split the audience in half, right vs. left. To see who could sing louder. Well, at one part our side had to go ‘Toot, toot, toot, toot toot – TOOT TOOT. Ok, well this girl Dolly who was the leader of the other side, heard my husband TOOT and decided she liked it. He has a very deep voice and I guess it stood out. She came over and made him toot again so everyone could hear him. She said Stu had a cute TOOT! Then she kept coming down and making little cute remarks. I did take a picture or two or three, but sure wish I had the video camera – would have been great black mail! He was a good sport and played right along with it. She kept mentioning his name over and over during the show. At the end when all the actors were leaving and saying goodbye, Dolly went down by our table and said bye to him personally. It was cute. The entire show was adorable and we all had a great time. The kids got a kick out of it all, too. It was fun! We definitely felt it was worthwhile.

After the show we came back to the hotel to get cleaned up a little and get the kids and Grandma ready for bed. My husband and I had the night out! Grandma and the kids were all in bed and watching TV when we left. We were off to Pleasure Island. But first we ran over to the grocery store to get some more water and stuff. Not much. We got over to Pleasure Island, valet parked the van, and walked on in. Valet parking is the way to go! We went in and out of many of the clubs, most not to our liking. We went in some shops, watched some of the musical acts, and then finally went and lined up for the comedy show. It was nice because they had live music playing on the stage right next to the comedy club. We were in line about 20 minutes before they let us in. We got good seats, about 4 rows up. This place is an improv comedy act. The main act was about this lady in the audience’s family. Doris, was her name. Her husband Joe worked at a bread company making crumbs, but he was stuck outside because he went to get a beer and didn’t make it in before the place was full. They made a whole song about it. Very funny. We only stayed out until about midnight. We had to try the McDonalds - heard they had different items here. They had pizza - weird! So we tried it. It wasn't the best, but was ok. I was glad we valet parked the car, we were pretty tired by this point.  Got home and went right to bed! We are getting more and more tired as the days go on.

August 28, 1999