Gina
Remembers the Great DIS Board Crash of '99
- Joined
- Aug 16, 1999
December 1-4, 2000 â Dixie Landings
Cast of characters:
Gina (Me), 34, second trip to the World this year, going for Single Mom of the Year title.
Tyler Dean (DS), 4 ý, train fanatic, nominated me for above-mentioned title.
My dad, 58, love for WDW from way back when, also a train fanatic.
Debbie (DadâÂÂs sister), 46, more like my sister than my aunt, both of us prone to giggling fits.
Day 1 â Friday, December 1st
The alarm went off at 4am. Pretty early when youâÂÂve been up stressing about your little boy getting sick right before your vacation! But the coffee maker started at the same time, so soon the haze was lifted. We were out the door at 5:15, and at the shuttle lot at the airport about 5 minutes later. (ItâÂÂs nice living so close to the airport sometimes!) Our Delta flight left Houston-Hobby at 6. We changed planes in Atlanta, and landed at MCO at 11:33am. Debbie had been there since about 7:30 (she flies free on Delta, but has to fly stand-by) and Dad got there at 11. Jaime from TTC was waiting for us at baggage claim, and off we went!
We got to DxL a little after noon, and our room was ready. Yay!! We got everything I requested by phone and fax â AB, building 14, 2nd floor, corner room. We were in room 1437.
DxL is even more beautiful than I imagined, and I had really high expectations. It was so peaceful there... I was just totally wowed.
We quickly unpacked, then went down to the food court. We were starving! We all got our mugs, and some lunch. I fell in love with the chicken strips at ASMu, and was hoping they were the same at DxL. They were. But man that pizza smelled good! Maybe next time.
After we had recharged with lunch, we were rarinâ to go! It was about 2pm. We took the bus to MK, and then the monorail to the Grand Floridian. The two train fanatics were thrilled to be on the monorail. The decorations at the GF were just beautiful, and the giant gingerbread house smelled wonderful. Sure looked like a lot of renovations going on on the outside, though. Scaffolding everywhere. After we had looked around there, we jumped back on the monorail. We were able to ride up front, and TD finally got his co-pilot license. He was thrilled! Actually, we all got one, and we were all pretty thrilled, truth be told. We rode back to the TTC, and then hopped the monorail to Epcot. Spaceship Earth, here we come!!
SE is mine and my DSâÂÂs favorite thing at WDW. We would both be happy, I think, if the plane landed right there in the Epcot parking lot. We got to Epcot at about 4:30, and there was no line at all for SE. Dad and Debbie both really liked this, too. They both remembered riding it many years ago, but didnâÂÂt remember anything about it. After that, we headed back towards World Showcase since ToN was at 6:15. On the way, I finally got to catch the Jammitors in the act, and they were awesome!! We all got a big kick out of them. We made our way back to WS, and of course had to stand there and watch the trains in Germany go âÂÂround and âÂÂround for what seemed like forever. We made our way over from Germany to Morocco. The bench right there in front of this country is a primo place for watching ToN. YouâÂÂre front row, youâÂÂre sitting, itâÂÂs perfect. That parade moves me to tears when I even think about it, and there are just no words to describe the feelings when those magnificent puppets are right in front of you, and the drums go by, or when the Sage of Time just smiles his wise smile and nods to you. This is just my editorial opinion, but I feel that people who donâÂÂt like ToN should really take their pulse. I find it hard to believe anyone breathing could not be in awe of this parade.
After ToN, we made our way around the WS. I didnâÂÂt get to ride the Maelstrom last trip, so we went to check that out. There was hardly any line at all, and we got right on. I donâÂÂt think DS liked it very much; he had his head buried in me. Although afterwards he proclaimed, âÂÂI was not lying down because I was scared â I was just taking a little rest.â After the ride ended, we docked in what seemed like a cute little Norwegian seaside village. We saw people standing around, and we wondered what was going on. We then realized that we saw no exit. We saw doors, but they were closed. Then a CM announced that we would be going to watch a 5 minute film on Norway shortly. We stood around like a bunch of idiots, wondering if we were going to be getting a pitch on Norwegian time shares or something. Finally they let us in, and I drag the rest of the crew across the room and out the doors before weâÂÂre trapped forever. We breathed a sigh of relief â then realized that we werenâÂÂt free just yet. We still had to make our way out of the Norwegian gift shop! The whole mess became the running joke the rest of the trip.
I didnâÂÂt want to get caught in the after-Illuminations crush, so we made our way back towards the junction between WS and FW to watch from there. We sat on the ground right there, with a ton of other people, and the view was just fine. We all loved the fireworks, and found the whole thing very moving.
Phew, weâÂÂre tired! And weâÂÂre all starting to cough and be a bit congested.
Time to head back âÂÂhome.â I quickly put up the 18â fiber-optic Christmas tree I brought along, and it looked really pretty in the darkened room. We were all asleep fast enough, but didnâÂÂt sleep very well. It was starting to sound like a tuberculosis ward in there. Oh well! Being sick at WDW is still better than being well at home. 
Thanks for reading this far!
Next up: Day Two â Future World, visit to WL, Osborne Lights, omigosh, SNOW!!
-gina-
Cast of characters:
Gina (Me), 34, second trip to the World this year, going for Single Mom of the Year title.
Tyler Dean (DS), 4 ý, train fanatic, nominated me for above-mentioned title.
My dad, 58, love for WDW from way back when, also a train fanatic.
Debbie (DadâÂÂs sister), 46, more like my sister than my aunt, both of us prone to giggling fits.
Day 1 â Friday, December 1st
The alarm went off at 4am. Pretty early when youâÂÂve been up stressing about your little boy getting sick right before your vacation! But the coffee maker started at the same time, so soon the haze was lifted. We were out the door at 5:15, and at the shuttle lot at the airport about 5 minutes later. (ItâÂÂs nice living so close to the airport sometimes!) Our Delta flight left Houston-Hobby at 6. We changed planes in Atlanta, and landed at MCO at 11:33am. Debbie had been there since about 7:30 (she flies free on Delta, but has to fly stand-by) and Dad got there at 11. Jaime from TTC was waiting for us at baggage claim, and off we went!
We got to DxL a little after noon, and our room was ready. Yay!! We got everything I requested by phone and fax â AB, building 14, 2nd floor, corner room. We were in room 1437.
DxL is even more beautiful than I imagined, and I had really high expectations. It was so peaceful there... I was just totally wowed.
We quickly unpacked, then went down to the food court. We were starving! We all got our mugs, and some lunch. I fell in love with the chicken strips at ASMu, and was hoping they were the same at DxL. They were.
But man that pizza smelled good! Maybe next time. After we had recharged with lunch, we were rarinâ to go! It was about 2pm. We took the bus to MK, and then the monorail to the Grand Floridian. The two train fanatics were thrilled to be on the monorail. The decorations at the GF were just beautiful, and the giant gingerbread house smelled wonderful. Sure looked like a lot of renovations going on on the outside, though. Scaffolding everywhere. After we had looked around there, we jumped back on the monorail. We were able to ride up front, and TD finally got his co-pilot license. He was thrilled! Actually, we all got one, and we were all pretty thrilled, truth be told.
We rode back to the TTC, and then hopped the monorail to Epcot. Spaceship Earth, here we come!!SE is mine and my DSâÂÂs favorite thing at WDW. We would both be happy, I think, if the plane landed right there in the Epcot parking lot.
We got to Epcot at about 4:30, and there was no line at all for SE. Dad and Debbie both really liked this, too. They both remembered riding it many years ago, but didnâÂÂt remember anything about it. After that, we headed back towards World Showcase since ToN was at 6:15. On the way, I finally got to catch the Jammitors in the act, and they were awesome!! We all got a big kick out of them. We made our way back to WS, and of course had to stand there and watch the trains in Germany go âÂÂround and âÂÂround for what seemed like forever. We made our way over from Germany to Morocco. The bench right there in front of this country is a primo place for watching ToN. YouâÂÂre front row, youâÂÂre sitting, itâÂÂs perfect. That parade moves me to tears when I even think about it, and there are just no words to describe the feelings when those magnificent puppets are right in front of you, and the drums go by, or when the Sage of Time just smiles his wise smile and nods to you. This is just my editorial opinion, but I feel that people who donâÂÂt like ToN should really take their pulse. I find it hard to believe anyone breathing could not be in awe of this parade. After ToN, we made our way around the WS. I didnâÂÂt get to ride the Maelstrom last trip, so we went to check that out. There was hardly any line at all, and we got right on. I donâÂÂt think DS liked it very much; he had his head buried in me. Although afterwards he proclaimed, âÂÂI was not lying down because I was scared â I was just taking a little rest.âÂÂ
After the ride ended, we docked in what seemed like a cute little Norwegian seaside village. We saw people standing around, and we wondered what was going on. We then realized that we saw no exit. We saw doors, but they were closed. Then a CM announced that we would be going to watch a 5 minute film on Norway shortly. We stood around like a bunch of idiots, wondering if we were going to be getting a pitch on Norwegian time shares or something. Finally they let us in, and I drag the rest of the crew across the room and out the doors before weâÂÂre trapped forever. We breathed a sigh of relief â then realized that we werenâÂÂt free just yet. We still had to make our way out of the Norwegian gift shop! The whole mess became the running joke the rest of the trip. I didnâÂÂt want to get caught in the after-Illuminations crush, so we made our way back towards the junction between WS and FW to watch from there. We sat on the ground right there, with a ton of other people, and the view was just fine. We all loved the fireworks, and found the whole thing very moving.
Phew, weâÂÂre tired! And weâÂÂre all starting to cough and be a bit congested.
Time to head back âÂÂhome.â I quickly put up the 18â fiber-optic Christmas tree I brought along, and it looked really pretty in the darkened room. We were all asleep fast enough, but didnâÂÂt sleep very well. It was starting to sound like a tuberculosis ward in there. Oh well! Being sick at WDW is still better than being well at home. Thanks for reading this far!
Next up: Day Two â Future World, visit to WL, Osborne Lights, omigosh, SNOW!!
-gina-
