Holiday 1999 - Disney

Build Up
This was to be our first ever holiday abroad. None of us had flown before and Andrew, Kathryn and James had never ever been abroad before.We booked the holiday early on in January with Thomas Cook.Liz's dad witnessed our passport applications and completed them in the wrong colour blue ink, so Andrew had to meticulously go over them in black. We sent off and received our passports early. This turned out to be very lucky as the passport office introduced a new computer system in the summer and people had big problems obtaining passports.Nearer the time of the holiday Andrew started to get a bit nervous about having never been abroad and the process of getting through the airport. Deb was a bit nervous about flying. We spent a lot of money on new clothes and suitcases etc. Dad agreed to take us to the airport and Graham agreed to pick us up. Kathryn and James got very excited about the holiday. Andrew insisted that Kathryn and James kept a diary of the holiday, which started with what they were looking forward to on the Holiday. The diary was a bit of a chore during the holiday but on reflection was well worth doing.

Day 1 (Tuesday 28th) - Getting There
The plane was scheduled for 11:30 with check in at 9:30 at Gatwick. We got up at 5 O'clock and Dad picked us up at 6:30. The trip down took a long time with delays on the M25. We heard on the traffic reports that there was big problems on the M23, one lane closed with traffic queues back to the M23, so we cut across minor roads. We got to the airport at 9:30 and went straight to check in. We checked in OK but, although our 2 cases only weighted 50kg (we were allowed 80kg) our hand luggage was well over the 5kg allowed each. We then had a bit of a panic whereby we tried to even up redistribute the weight between the 2 rucksacks, the sports bag and the travel bag, with the help of another airlines scales, to no great effect. A check in clerk at the other airlines desk told us that we would get away with carrying some things in a carrier bag so we obtained one from W H Smiths only to find that this had only a small benefit. We then found out that the biggest problem was that the travel bag itself weighed over 3kg empty. We then decided to put this through as normal luggage and the helpful clerk gave us some sealable tags, so we rushed bag to the check in desk to see if we still had time, it was now 10:15, and were told that the latest we could was 11:00. We then rushed to the shops to find a new bag, eventually finding a small rucksack, which Deb really liked and was used extensively throughout the holiday as our carry bag., and quickly rearranged all the bags again putting all none essentially, and none valuables, in the travel bag. This was then sealed and entered as luggage at 10:50. We then had to rush to boarding, missing all the duty free shops, but got to boarding in plenty of time. Kathryns bag was searched, I think she had a suspicious looking face. Deb was getting nervous about flying. We had 2 window seats near the front of the plane. We took off on time. Deb got upset when we first took off, but after a little while was OK. We all thought that flying was all right. We watched 3 movies, Notting Hill, Doug's Fist Movie and Never Been Kissed. The food was not very good. The main meal was not bad, but the tortilla sandwich for tea was awful. We had to fill out some American Visa forms and found that Kathryn's name was spelt wrong on her passport. So to save any bother we spelt it the same on her Visa. She is now known internationally as Kathryn. The trip took just under 8 hours and we arrived on time at 2:30 (with the 5 hours time difference). Stanford airport was very small with very few people about, we were the only flight in or out at the time. We got through Customs OK but we had big problems with the coach to Disney. It was very hot and humid. We found the Airtours desk but were told that nothing had been arranged and we could either have a rental car, costing $500 insurance, or could get a coach for $160 (which we thought was included). We had no choice so we paid the coach money, but had to sort out the coach ourselves. The coach company was very disorganised and we had no idea what was going on. We had to hang about outside in the heat, trying to find out what was happening. We eventually get on a coach at 4:30.

All Star Movies
We were pleased that we had got the All Star Movies hotel. The trip to Disney took about 45 minutes, on the way we got our first glimpses of the Tower of Terror at MGM and of Blizzard Beach. We checked into the hotel OK with the door key being a smart card which was also our Unlimited Pass.

We found our room easily, we were in the Toy Story area. We were amazed by the giant Buzz and Woody just outside the rooms. The room was great. It was fairly small with 2 double beds, a table, some storage units, a sink and a bathroom but it was all decorated in Toy Story decor (quilt covers, borders and pictures) and Movie decor (star lights, pop corn lights, vanity mirror, star bathroom).
The food hall was very nice, with video price lists. The food was mainly fast food. We brought some movie resort mugs which we were able to use and refill throughout the whole holiday. We did not do anything else on the first day but went to bed quite tired.

Day 2 (Wednesday 29th) - MGM
Today it is very hot and humid. The first day we decided to go to MGM. We did not get off to the best of starts. There was no bus to MGM so Deb went to Guest services to request some extra towels. As soon as she went a bus arrived, but after Deb had got back it had gone and Andrew was a bit annoyed. Deb went into the store and when she was gone another bus arrived and went. Andrew was not very happy and everyone had a sulk.. The transport system at Disney World is brilliant. Outside the hotel each theme park are coach stops, one for each of the possible destinations. Coaches go continuously between the destinations so you only have to wait a few minutes to catch a bus. There is also a monorail between some destinations and boats between others, as an alternative to the coaches. When we arrived at MGM, before we had even go in, we saw Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore. We thought that we would see characters all over the place so we did not stop to see them, this was a bit of a mistake as the characters are quite hard to find. We picked up the latest MGM map and schedule, which changes at least once a week and can change every day. The first thing we did in

MGM was go to the Tower of Terror. When we got there, there was hardly any queue so we went on it straight away, the biggest ride of all. Andrew and James were a bit nervous as they both do not like thrill rides. We immediately saw, like everything else at Disney, the attention to detail. There are things to look at whilst queuing, the grounds of the hotel, the detail of the outside of the hotel, the hotel reception (all old and dusty with lots of detailed decor), the attendants all in costume and acting in character (as horror hotel porters) and the pre-ride introductions (a library with a video Twilight Zone episode explaining how the lift entered the twilight zone). We had only a vague idea of what to expect of the ride and were constantly in suspense during all the introductions. From the library we then went down into an authentic boiler room where we were strapped into the lift. This lift then was then moved through some very clever introduction scenes and then, in total darkness, you suddenly drop 13 floors very fast. The lift is then lifted and dropped a number of times very erratically with the doors opening to flash views out over MGM. You the finish the ride very shakily. When you leave the ride you find that a picture has been taken of you at the moment of the first drop, this happens on a few of the big thrill rides, and you can buy this picture to record your displeasure. The exit from the ride, like all the big attractions, is through a shop area where you can buy relevant items (T-shirts etc.). The Tower of terror is an excellent thrill ride and, as it turned out, the best thrill ride at Disney. Andy and James were very shaky afterwards. We then made our way across the park to the Star Wars ride. We went into various Disney shops along the way, there are lots of these all over Disney selling nearly all the same things. Outside the Star Wars ride are some vehicles, a speeder and a large walker, which were very impressive and we took some photos. We then found that there was no queue so we went straight onto the ride. Because there was no queue we rushed past some of the queue sites, which were very good. The ride was a moving seat, video ride, whereby we got caught up with Luke destroying the Death Star. It was very good. On the way out we had to drag James out of the Star Wars shop. We then went to the Indiana Jones show, but went in the out entrance and had to go back out and queue at the entrance. The show had some pre-show entertainment, whereby a 'cleaner' took a fancy to an audience member and she sent his wife out of the show to see a fictitious monkey. Before the show started they picked some volunteers from the audience and we got our first view of the 'loudness' of Americans. The show was very good demonstrating how stunts are done by performing some of the Indiana Jones scenes. It was very impressive. We then had some lunch, giant turkey legs, which tasted OK but looked repulsive. We also got some water bottles which became a constant part of out backpack, we constantly re-filled them from the water fountains dotted all over the parks. After lunch we went to another show The Little Mermaid. This was more of a theatre show performing the Disney story with a mixture of live action, film and effects. This show was also very good with some very impressive water effects, water curtains and raining on the audience.  Following this we

watched  the Mulan Parade which went through the park. We had to get our place early and it was very hot. The parade was quite good with lots of Chinese dragons and things. After the parade Deb was starting to get tired, but we went on to the Honey I Shrank the Kids playground. This was again impressive but not very large. The kids had a great time tiring themselves out whilst we had a rest, underneath a giant fly. On leaving the Honey I Shrank the Kids we saw Eeyore and he was all alone so we got his autograph and picture. This was the first character we saw. We then decided to go on the Backlot Tour. On the way we saw a full size Flick model. The Backlot Tour was all about film making and was in 2 parts. The first part was a demonstration of film making with water effects, wave making, rain, gun fire etc. The second part was a shuttle bus ride around the MGM studios with a commentary of each part and showing a lot a movie items, houses, vehicles etc. This culminated in a movie lot canyon where an earthquake happened, shaking the bus, with a tanker truck exploded into flames and a flood came pouring down the canyon towards the bus. At the end of the tour we saw some movie memorabilia, the terminator robot etc. This was the last thing we did at MGM, we got the coach back to the resort and had tea their, fast foods. After tea we went swimming in the resort pool before going to bed.

Day 3 (Thursday 30th) - Epcot and Blizzard Beach
Today it is very hot and humid again. Deb was a bit under the weather. We hear that Epcot will close early today, for 2000 changes, and think that there will be no one there so we decide to go. There is hardly anybody there. The big Epcot ball has a giant hand with a 2000 logo. We go on the

Spaceship Earth ride, inside the ball. It is all about communication throughout history and is very impressive. We ride on continuous train in the dark up to the top of the ball being shown lots of scenes throughout history, at the top we are turned backwards to continue the journey. Then we go and see the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show. This is a 3D film, whereby you where special glasses. The film is excellent with lots of 3D effects that jump out of the screen at you. There are also some other effects such as mice which  run against your legs and a giant dog which sneezes on the audience. After this we went to the Image Works centre. This had lots of

computer things to play on. A sound generator which created sounds as you moved your body, Cameras which distorted your face and body and digital cameras with Pc's which allowed you to take you own picture and distort it (we could then e-mail the picture, which we did to Weatherbys). Deb was fading so we then had some lunch. We needed to use a travellers cheque, but Deb had gone to get a seat so Andy had to abandon the order, after queuing. Then Deb needed to sign it, but signed it in the wrong place. We then went to the Living Seas area, which was took down under the sea. It was very good but we had been to a lot of fish places before

and this was nothing new. We then went to the Test Track ride. This is one of the newest rides at Epcot and is an educational thrill ride. James got a bit scarred when we saw cars whiz past and he cried and mound all the time whilst queuing. The queue was very long, about 30 minutes, but there was a lot of displays to look at, all about car building and safety checking. The ride put you in the place of a test dummy though various tests, skid tests, cornering, braking and cashing with a final speed test (it is one of the fastest rides in the world). Andy and Deb thought that the ride was a little bit disappointing but James and Kathryn loved it. After this we went to the Wonders of Life area which was deserted. Here saw Goofy and Pluto and got their autographs without any queues. We then went on the Body Wars ride which was very similar to the Star Wars ride but not quite as good.

Blizzard Beach
We then left Epcot and, because it was still quite early, went to Blizzard Beach. Blizzard Beach is a water park quite close to the All Stars resort. The park has a winter theme, with lots of pretend ice and snow. In the centre of the park in Gush mountain, from the top of which all the flumes, rides and slides descend. Deb was a bit tired but when she got onto the tires she quickly recovered. We bought a small locker, which only, just held our stuff. After a quick dip in the main 'lagoon', which was a

very good wave pool, we then went on the continuous tires. This was excellent, with a continuous road of water which went all around the whole park with big rubber tires to sit in, taking 20 minutes to do the full circle, and going through a tunnel under Gush mountain. We really enjoyed this, going a full circle. After this we went on the chair lift up to the top of Gush mountain. Andy did not like this at all, he had forgotten his hate of chair lifts. From the top we went on the Team Boat Springs family raft ride, the worlds longest. This was very good. After this Andy and Kathryn went on the Slush Gusher which was a speed slide from the top of Gush mountain with some bumps on the way. This was a bit scary and hurt our back. We were going to go on Summit Plummet, the tallest slide in America, but the queue was a bit long. All of us then had a few goes on the Toboggan Racers and the Snow Stormers which were both mat slides. After this we had a last splash in the lagoon and another quick go on the tires before the park closed and we went back to the hotel. Back at the hotel we had our usual fast food dinner before getting a fairly early night. This was a very good day.

Day 4 (Friday 1st) - Magic Kingdom
It is very hot and humid. Deb did not feel very well today. We found out that we could buy some bread from the resort store, so each morning we got some bread and some honey and jam from the food hall and ate breakfast in our room, we even toasted the bread on the free food hall toasters. This was a lot cheaper than buying cooked breakfasts every morning. Today we went to the Magic Kingdom. We decided to make the trip there a bit more interesting so we took a bus the Epcot and then caught the Monorail to the Ticket Centre. From the Ticket Centre we get on a ferry to the Magic Kingdom. When we first got into the Magic Kingdom we wondered up Main Street

 and saw the Every Days A Holiday show in front of Cinderella Castle. This was some Disney characters, Mickey, Goofy e.t.c., and some dancers, singing and dancing about annual holidays. We then went to Adventure Land. We first went up the Swiss Family Tree House which was a bit boring. Then we went on the Jungle Cruise. This was a cruise through various world Jungles with various Animal and People scenes to look at. The boat driver gave a commentary throughout which was very funny. Deb was struggling with the heat, and had forgotten her hat, so we went back to the Main Street shops where she bought a Winnie the Pooh cap. We then went to Splash Mountain. When we got into the log boat the ride was stopped and the man blamed Kathryn who was wearing her Spice Girls T-shirt. The ride tells the story of Brair Rabbit as you go along the logg ride, it was very good and we got a bit wet. When we got off we saw the Brair Fox and Brair Bear characters and got their autographs. We then decided to go to Tom Sawyers Island for some lunch. You have to go on a raft to get to the Island and James forgot to take the bag onto the raft. Andrew realised as we were getting off the raft on the Island and Deb jumped straight back on the raft to go back and look for it. She found it O.K. and caught the raft back again. This took some time. On the Island we found the café but it was rubbish. Deb was fading a bit so we did not spend any time on the Island but went straight back on the raft to find some lunch. We had lunch, the usual burgers, in Frontier Land. It was then time for the Magic Moments Parade so we got a place early in the front row. The parade was excellent, with lots of different character floats. We then went to the Haunted Mansion which was a very good haunted house ride. James did not like this a tall. After this we went to Fantasy Land and went on "Its A Small World" ride. This is a very famous Disney kiddies boat ride through

scenes from all different countries. There is a very annoying song which plays all the time. The Simpsons did a very good lampoon of this ride which made it very funny. We then went to the Lion King show. This was a live/puppet theatre show of the Lion King story. It was similar to the Little Mermaid show and was very good. After this we were starting to get a bit tired so we decided to go back to the resort to get some dinner. We went through Cinderellas Castle and back down Main Street . At the entrance we saw Donald Duck and got his autograph. We then decided to go on the Magic Kingdom train. This is an old steam train which goes all the way around the Magic Kingdom. When it stopped at Mickeys Toon Town Fair we got off and had a look around Mickey and Minnies houses. We then went to see Mickey Mouse in his tent but the queue did not move at all so we went back on the train. When we dot back to the main station we had a bit of an argument. Deb wanted to go back to the resort, but Andrew wanted to stay until the evening parade. Deb agreed and we went back to Adventure Land to get some dinner, some Tacos. The waiter was very grumpy, it was near closing time, and Andrew kept going back up again for more food. This was funny and put everybody in a better mood. We then wondered back to Cinderellas Castle to get a place for the evening parade, but it was already very crowded. We got a bench in garden in front of the castle and waited for the parade, about half an hour. It gradually got darker. The evening Main Street Electrical parade came a different way than the day parade, up Main Street, and we were not in the best of place to see it. There were lots of floats all lit up with Christmas lights. These floats were of some of the more obscure Disney films, Petes Dragon, Alice in Wonderland etc. After the parade we waited a bit longer for the final fireworks. Andrew and James had to rush to Tomorrow Land to find some toilets. We had a good view of the Fantasy In the Sky fireworks, which were very good, as good as the Hall park bonfire night fireworks, started with a spectacular flight of Tinkerbell from the top of Cinderellas Castle. We then made our way back down Magic Kingdom, with massive crowds as the park was closing. The queue for the bus back to the resort was huge, we had to wait a while. It was a bit annoying being held up by wheel chairs, who also jump the queue, and was particularly bad when a busses lift was broken so the wheel chair occupant walked onto the bus. Whilst queuing there were some more illuminated floats on the lake. Andrew went under the rope to get a photo but fell on his bum in front of the whole crowd. We eventually got back to the resort, very tired.

Day 5 (Saturday 2nd) - Downtown Disney and Disney Quest
Duller, Hot. In the morning Andrew had a bit of a sulk as he wanted to go to a water park but no body else did. Instead we all went swimming in resort pool. It was not overly sunny but still hot and Andrew and James got a little bit sunburnt. In the afternoon we went to Downtown Disney. We first went to the Market Place shopping area. Deb found lots of great Eeyore stuff. First at the Disney at Home shop, were there was a very nice baby quilt, and then at Pooh corner. Then we went to the biggest Disney shop in the world, where there was loads of good stuff. We then walked through Please Island, which is a night club area, to the West Side. When we first got here there the Star Wars shop had just been shut and evacuated, we never did find out what was going on. Straight after this we were then pounced on by a survey woman who asked us lots of questions about our holiday. We then went into a very big Virgin store where we bought some books. Kathryn a twins book, Deb a holocaust book and Andrew a Tolkein book. We then decided to go into Disney Quest, which turned out to be free on our unlimited pass, and were not sure what to expect. It started off in a lift with an introduction by the gene from Aladdin. It turned out to be a video Disney theme park. There was a maze of floors, stairs and rooms with all sorts of video games, all free. It was very easy to get lost. We first went on a virtual dingy ride through a dinosaur river, where we all had to really paddle. Then we went on the Hercules video game where the whole family wears 3 D helmets and turn into the Hercules characters. After this we saw the Bazz Lightyear bumper cars but it was a bit crowed to go on these. With them were some old video games, space invaders, asteroids e.t.c, all free. After playing these for a while we wondered round the corner and found more video games and more and more, with all the latest, all free. It was brilliant. We then went up some stairs and there were even more video games of all sorts, sit on bikes, cars, pinball machines, all sorts. After this we had a pizza it a very good café. We then went on a 3D helmet Alladin magic carpet game, which was very good, and lastly we went on the lightsaber 3D helmet game, whereby you had a virtual light sabre. There was more things which we left for another day. Disney Quest was unexpected and very good.

Day 6 (Sunday 3rd) - Animal Kingdom
Dull, Hot, Rain in the afternoon. We went to the remaining theme parkwe hadn't been to yet, Animal Kingdom. When we first went in there was some Animals at the start, especially an ant eater which we saw on every visit to the Animal Kingdom. The centre of the Animal Kingdom is on an Island from which all the areas branch off. In the middle of this Island is the massive Tree of Life. This is a huge old tree, high up on the Island with loads of animals carved into the bark and roots of the tree. We went first to the Asia area, to go on the River Rapids. This was a raft ride whereby you got very

wet, particularly Andrew, it was good but a bit short. After this we went to the African area and got our fast pass tickets to the African Safari.We then walked around the Pangani Exploration Trail and lots of African animals including hippos and gorillas. Following this we went on the Wildlife Express, a steam train ride to the Conservation Station. This was a building all about world Conservation and was a bit boring. There was also some domestic animals to pat and feed. When we got back from the Conservation centre it was time for our African Safari. This was a guided tour, on an truck, of the African free range zoo area. We saw lots of free ranging animals including lions, giraffe, crocodile and elephants. We also got caught up chasing some poachers. Just as we started are safari it started to rain. It was raining quite hard when we finished the safari, and we were also hungry, so we rushed to a café and got our lunch. It continued to rain so we decided to go to the Countdown to Extinction ride in the Dinoland area. This is a roller coaster type thrill ride in a jeep. You are sent back in time minutes before the meteor, which wipes out the dinosaurs, hits the Earth, to the bring a specific dinosaur back to the future. It is very dark with lots of frights as dinosaurs leap out at you and the ride gets more frantic. It was a very exciting ride which Deb didn't like much. On leaving the ride the rain had stopped and we went into the Dinosaur Pavilion where their was an exhibition of dinosaur skeletons. After this we went to the Tarzon Rocks show, we had to queue quite a long while because the previous show had only just finished, but we were in the front of the queue and got good seats. The show was very good with lots of roller skaters and trapeze artists. We then went back to the resort for the traditional dinner and then back to our room for an early night. We did watch a bit of American TV though, Andrew watched a lot of American football and some Baseball (it was the Baseball play offs).

Day 7 (Monday 4th) - MGM and Typhoon Lagoon
Dull, Hot, and Rainy. It was wet again today but we went back to MGM. We first went to the new

Rockin Roller Coaster ride. This is a traditional roller coaster but it is indoors. The theme is based on the rock group Aerosmioth whereby you are late for their concert so travel on the roller coaster to get their as fast as possible. The ride features various upside down loops, but we did not think it was as thrilling as an outdoor roller coaster, as it had no open spaces to fall into. The Tower of Terror had big
queues so we went to the Beauty and the Beat show. This was a normal song and dance show telling the Beauty and the Beast story. On the way to the Toy Story pizza planet restaurant we passed by the Star Wars ride and we met Chewbacca. James was really impressed and we got our photo's taken with him. One lady tried to get an autograph and chewy roared at her, very realistic. At Pizza Planet we had to wait ages for our food. After out Lunch we went to see the Muppet 4D show, this was similar to Honey I Sharnk the kids, and was very funny. We then saw a whole load of characters

all together Quasimodo, Mushu, Rafiki and Timon, Meeko, Roger Rabbit and loads more. We got a lot of autographs but didn't have time to get some of them Pinnocio, White Rabbit. We then went to Great Movie ride. On the way we saw Cruella and she was really mean telling off all the men and buys, we did get her autograph. In front of the Great Movie ride we saw even more characters. These were some of the main human characters, Mary Poppins and the Chimney Sweep, Aladin, Pocahontis and some others, but there were big queues for these and we only managed to get Meg's autograph. The preview of the Great Movie ride was a giant cinema showing clips from some of great films. The actual ride acted out scenes from some of the greatest every films and actors, it was very good.

Typhoon Lagoon
We then decided to go swimming, at Typhoon Lagoon, so we went back to the resort to get our costumes. It was ages before the bus arrived, about half an hour, and when it did the bus took ages to get to Typhoon Lagoon. On the way it went right passed Typhoon Lagoon to go to Downtown Disney first, where it changed driver. In the end it took us nearly an hour to get to Typhoon Lagoon and we were swimming for just three quarters of an hour because in actually closed at 6pm so you had to be out by 5:30. Typhoon Lagoon had the most fantastic wave pool with massive waves. Everyone would wait in the pool until there was a massive bang and the wave would lift up and rush towards you and knock you off your feet. It was brilliant. We also went on the float rings around the park, but this was about all we had time to do. We then went back to the resort where we had the usual dinner and then went back to our room where we watched Hercules on the Disney channel and another movie telling the story of The Tower of Terror.

Day 8 (Tuesday 5th) - Florida Mall
Dull, Hot, and Rainy. Today was another dull and rainy day so we decided to go to an American Shopping Mall to see what the shopping was like. This trip turned out to be a bit of an ordeal. We found out from our tour rep that we could catch a local bus from the Ticket Centre, so we first took the bus to Epcot and then got the monorail to the ticket centre. At the ticket centre we said we wanted to go to a shopping centre and were told where we could get a bus and given a schedule. This is where our problems started because we were told the wrong bus (we were told to catch a 50 bus, but we should have taken a 56). The bus driver told us we would need to transfer to another bus so we were dropped off near Sea World where we caught another bus. This second bus went down International Drive which was at a stand still and took us over an hour to get to the destination. This destination was not a shopping mall but was a large retailer outlet selling cloths, not what we wanted. By this time we had figured out how the bus system worked and had got details of other bus routes so we decided to catch another bus to the Florida Mall. We caught this bus o.k. and eventually got to the shopping mall. The total journey must have been about 3 hours. One thing we did notice on the buses is that the Americans talk all the while to complete strangers, about anything at all. The Florida Shopping Mall was a bit of a disappointment, it was not nearly as big as we were expecting being smaller than Milton Keynes. We got some lunch at the food hall which was not bad, but the queues were big. We wondered around the shops and Andrew and Deb had the usual falling out about spending money. James bought an American football top in the Sears store. We ended up in the Disney store, can you believe it, but they had quite a lot of different stuff especially Eeyore things. Deb had a hard task deciding what to buy but eventually bought a large Eeyore, some knickers and some stationary. Before we left we bought some snack foods, including a box of frosties for breakfast, which were a lot cheaper than at the resort. We had to wait a while before the return bus arrived and the people in the front of the queue got a bit excited when it arrived and didn't stop at the right place, the queue was a bit long and everybody rushed to get on. As the bus did not go directly to Disney we had to transfer. The bus driver dropped us off in the middle of nowhere next to a dual carriageway, with just a bench and a bus stop sign. We were not even sure which side of the road we should be on. We started to get a bit nervous when no bus came and it started to get dark. At one point two older women appeared from nowhere and joined us at the bus stop, they turned out to be English and were also trying to get back to Disney. Eventually, much to everyone's relief, the bus eventually arrived. We were very pleased when we eventually arrived back at the Disney Ticket Centre quite late and very tired. It had been a bit of on ordeal. When we got back to the resort we had a late dinner and bought some things from the resort shop, Deb bought a watch, for christmas, and Kathryn bought an Elephant from Tarzan.

Day 9 (Wednesday 6th) - Magic Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon
Hot, and Sunny. Today we went back to the Magic Kingdom. We first went to the Tickie Birds show. This was a performance by loads of automated birds including the bird from Aladdin and from the Lion King. Then we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride which was a slow boat ride, although the first drop was a bit steep, through a whole load of pirate scenes, it was quite impressive. We then went to Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. This was all right but a little bit disappointing as it was not very fast or too thrilling, it was quite long though which was good. After Thunder Mountain we went over, on the raft, to Tom Sawyers Island. This was really a large childrens playground with underground caverns, rope bridges and a Fort. The Fort was very good, with a blacksmiths, shooting areas (with canons and sound rifles) and even an underground escape tunnel. We then went to the future world area, which we hadn't yet visited. We first got a fastpass ticket to Space Mountain and then went on Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin. This had a great animated Buzz Lightyear in the pre-ride introduction. The ride itself involved shooting at lots of alien targets with your own laser gun. It was a really a kids ride but good fun. After this we went on the Extraterrestrial Alien Ecounter. We did not know what to expect from this ride and it was very scary. The pre-ride introduction had a animated alien robot give a demonstration of a teleportation system. We then went into an enclosed area and were strapped into our chairs with overhead straps so that we could not get out. On monitors the alien technicians then instigated the teleportation system to beam the alien leader into the room. The teleport went wrong and they lost the leader, but beamed into the room a hostile alien. In the middle of the room in a giant tube a large alien creature, just like the ones from the film Alien, appeared writhing about. The whole system then went wrong and the room went pitch black, the technicians told us that the alien had escaped and we heard it moving about the room eating people and drooling over everybody. It was really scary and loads of people were screaming. Kathryn and James did not like it at all and when it had finished we all left shaking. We then went to the Timekeeper show. This was in a massive dome with huge video screens all around it. An automated robot, with the voice of Robin Williams, then sent a probe back in time and we had a 360 degree film of various time periods. After this we went back to go on Space Mountain but found it had been closed due to a problem, so we decided to leave the Magic Kingdom and go swimming instead.

Typhoon Lagoon
We went to Typhoon Lagoon, it was quite crowded. We spent a lot of time in the wave pool and then on the tube floats. We went on the water slides, which were a unexpectedly steep, and then on the family raft ride and the single hoop rides. We finished off back in the wave pool until the park closed. After dinner we watched Flubber and Cops and Robbersons on TV.

Day 10 (Thursday 7th) - Downtown Disney and Disney Quest
Dull, Hot, and Rainy. Today Andrew and Deb had the obligatory falling out, with the usual arguments over spending money and doing too much. We eventually went to the Animal Kingdom, but as the bus pulled into the park it started to rain, it always did at the Animal Kingdom, so we decided instead to go to Downtown Disney. After a big bust up between Andrew and Deb, we did a bit of shopping, mainly in the big Disney Shop. Deb, Kathryn and James got souvenir t-shirts. Deb also got some very nice knobs from the Winnie the Pooh shop. We also went in the collectable's store which had a lot of really interesting items from famous people, autographs and signed things such as baseball balls and guitars, very expensive.

Disney Quest

We then spent the rest of the day in Disney Quest. As well as going on all the attractions we went onbefore, Jungle Cruise, Aladdin etc. this time we went on Buzz Lightyears Astro Balster, which was a type of bumper car, and we went on the Alien Invasion family arcade game. We also had a go at some of the quieter attractions such as the Magic Mirrors which took a photo of your face and allowed you to manipulate it. Mummy and Kathryn particularly liked this. We also played with the Toy Story Make a Toy and the Disney Picture Maker. For dinner we had roast chicken at Disney Quest which was very nice. When we left Disney Quest we wondered around Downtown Disney for a while looking at the lights, particularly Planet Hollywood, before we went back to the resort.

Day 11 (Friday 8th) - Animal Kingdom and MGM
Dull, Hot, and Rainy. We had another go at Animal kingdom and yes it rained again. We firstly saw 3 Frogs, and got their autographs and then we saw the Bugs Life show, which was 3D like Honey I

shrunk the Kids and Muppets. This show was underneath the Tree of Life and the queue went around the tree so that you could see all the carvings, which were also in lots of exposed roots. It the entrance to the show were lots of movie posters for movies with a funny bugs titles. The show was very good, Kathryn liked it when the cockroaches ran about next to your feet. Andrew however had a pair of 3D glasses with a big mark across them and couldn't see it very well. Because of the rain we went on Countdown to Extinction again and then River Rapids again, with James and Deb getting very wet. The rain stopped for a while and we made it around the Asia Wildlife Trek. We saw some very large bats, some monkeys and some tigers. Then we went on the African Safari again. The rain got rather bad again, James and Kathryn's cagoules proving no good in bad rain, so we gave up on Animal Kingdom and went back to the resort to dry out and get some lunch.

MGM
It cleared up a bit then so we decided to go to MGM to try to catch the Fantasmic show in the evening, which we had been advised to get their very early as it was very popular. At MGM we got the autograph of the baddie from pocahontis at the entrance and then went on the Tower of Terror, there was no queue at all, and it was just as scary. Then we saw the Mulan Parade again, but some of the floats had been left out, the large dragon, we supposed because it could rain. We then went to see the Hunchback show. Whilst we were waiting for the show there was a Jazz band and Kathryn danced with a steward, he was a bit of a character. The show was a traditional telling of the Disney story and

very good. After this we went on the Star Wars ride again, still no queues, and the Backlot tour again. On the way there we took a photo of Kathryn and James next to a giant Coke bottle, we did not notice until we had got the film developed that we had missed a Toy Story soldier character just behind them. It was then time to go to wait for the Fantasmic show. The show area was a large semicircle of open air seating, in sliced sections, looking out over a round river onto a large mountain stage. We got there an hour and a 45 minutes early but it was starting to fill up already. After we had been there for a quarter of an hour it started to pour with rain, there was no cover at all and we just sat there and got soaked. The problem was that, if it was bad weather, the show would be cancelled. After about 20 minutes the rain stopped and there was a big cheer. After about another 20 minutes the rain came back again, and then cleared up again. We just sat and watched the clouds hoping for a gap. As the time for the show drew near there was still a slight drizzle and there was an announcement that the show would be delayed to see if the rain would get better. It did not get much better but, after a 30 minute delay, they put the show on anyway. The Fantasmic show was spectacular. It was all about Mickey Mouse's imagination, with a battle between good and evil. There were fountains of water with animated scenes projected onto them. There were illuminated boats and rafts which floated around the river, particularly a paddle steamer with lots of the Disney characters on. There were songs and dances. There were scenes acted out all over the mountain stage, especially with a giant dragon. There were lots of fireworks and at one point the whole of the river was set on fire, you could feel the heat from it. When the show had finished we may have been absolutely soaked but we thought it was well worth it. On the way back we accidentally jumped the queue for the bus and felt very guilty when we got the last place on the bus.

Day 12 (Saturday 9th) - Blizzard Beach and Epcot
Hot and Sunny. Today got off to a bit of a fractious start with Deb accusing Andrew of trying to do to much. We eventually decided to start of with a relaxing time at Blizzard Beach. We went on the continuous tires for a while and then in the wave pool. Kathryn cut her leg and we had to go to the first aid to get a plaster. Andrew then threw Deb into the water but it was too shallow and she hurt her elbow. We then went on the rubber ring flumes, singles and doubles. Kathryn and James went on Slush Gusher but there were big queues for everything so we spent a bit more time in the wave pool and the continuous tires before going back to the resort.

Epcot
In the afternoon we went back to Epcot to go to the Worlds. Epcot had now been made over for the Millennium celebrations and was a bit different from the first time we went. We first went to a new Coke area which had different Coke products from around the world. Andrew thought they were all horrible but everybody else liked some of them. We then bought some souvenirs from the Disney shop. We then started round the Epcot Worlds. Mexico was first and we went on a Mexico Boat ride which was a bit boring. Then we came to Norway and queued for a long while, half hour, to go on the Viking Boat ride which was a bit disappointing. After this we went quickly through China,

Germany and Italy where we sat and watched the Tapestry of Nations parade. This was also a bit boring with not much variation in the floats, being only drum floats and tall walkers. At each Country we tried to take at least one photo with at least one of us in it. It gradually got darker and darker with Kathryn being forced into each one. We rushed quickly through America, Japan, Morocco and France, until we got to the United Kingdom where we had some English fish and chips at Harry Ramsdens. It was then quite dark so we had a look around the English shops. Then we went in the new millennium village. This started off with an introduction into which Kathryn and James got pulled up onto a stand. The village was really just a large pavilion with stands from a lot of other countries. It was almost time for the evening Illuminations 2000, so we had a quick look at Canada and then found a seat to wait. There was a wall behind us onto which people kept climbing onto and getting told to get down by the officials. The fireworks were very good, but some parts of the show went on a bit long and you couldn't see much detail. It was after the fireworks we realised that Kathryn had lost the bag of souvenirs, not that much thankfully. There was a massive crowd as we headed out of Epcot, but did not have much trouble catching a bus back to the resort. When we got back we went for a walk over to have a look at the all star music resort. It was not as good as our resort with the food hall looking quite a bit older. On the way back we saw a frog.

Day 13 (Sunday 10th) - Downtown Disney and Animal kingdom
Hot and Sunny. It was starting to get near the end of holiday so we decided to go to Downtown Disney to get some presents. We got some free Rainforest café t-shirts with 2 of our are free options. Then we went to the photo shop and Kathryn and James had their picture taken with Mickey Mouse with another of the free options. The photo was taken a produced while we waited, using a digital camera and printer, it was still very good. After he had done the photo, Mickey Mouse, also gave us his autograph. After this we spent a lot of time in the Disney shop looking for presents and souvenirs, eventually getting picture frames, with Mickey Mouse pictures, for both grand parents, bean bag Mickey Mouses for Thomas and Alex and a polo shirt for uncle Grahams birthday present.

Animal Kingdom
Andrew decided that he wanted a Countdown to Extinction t-shirt from the Animal Kingdom, as his souvenir, so we decided to rush to Animal Kingdom before it closed. I think that by rushing we surprised the weather and actual went to the Animal Kingdom without it raining. When we got there Andrew was a bit sneaky and rushed, not to the Countdown to Extinction ride, but to the Festival of the Lion King show, which we hadn't seen yet. We just got there in time. The show was very good with lots of singing and dancing, and also some very good floats which were very big with some large animated animals. We then went to the Countdown to Extinction ride were there was no queue at all so we had our third go, still very good, and afterwards Andrew got his t-shirt. Because there had been no queue we still had a little bit of time left so we rushed over to have another go on the River Rapids, again no queue. We also still had time to go and see the Bugs Life show again and Andrew had a good pair on glasses this time. When we got back to the resort we went to get something with out last free option and found that they had some of the old Animal Kingdom boxes left, which Deb really wanted but had been told that they had been stopped with only some poor millennium items available. After this we had some dinner and then did some laundry which took a while and made it a late night. Andrew, Kathryn and James has a walk round the resort and took some video. We saw some more frogs and some very large cockroaches.

Day 14 (Monday 11th) - Magic Kingdom and Epcot
Very Hot and Sunny. This was the last day of our holiday and we had left some things in the Magic Kingdom to do. The Magic Kingdom was hot and very crowded. When we first got there we went straight to Space Mountain, which we had not yet been on, and got a fastpass. We then wondered up to Fantasy Land where there were some more attractions we hadn't seen yet. We went to the Winnie the Pooh ride but the queues were very big and Deb decided she didn't want to wait in the queue so we split up for a while. When we finally got on the ride it was a bit boring as it was really a little kids ride. This had taken a long time, three quarters of an hour, and we met back up with Deb in Future Land. Deb had been walking about looking in shops. We then found out that Space Mountain was broken again so we went back to Fantasy Land and went on some more kiddies rides, Snow White Scary Adventure and Peter Pan's flight. Snow White was a ride around scenes from the film with particular emphasis on the wicked witch. It was not really that scary as it was only a kids ride. Peter Pan was a bit better being in a flying ship going over scenes from the film. After this we went back to Space Mountain which had now been re-opened. It was a good job we had fast passes because the queue was very long. The ride was another indoors roller coaster, like rockin rollercoaster, but was completely in the dark. The start was a quick launch which got you off to a fast speed straight away and you could see this happening whilst in the queue, we were a bit apprehensive. The ride itself was disappointing, we kept expecting the big drop but it never came, and, because it was inside and in
the dark, it did not seem very thrilling. We then went on the Buzz Lightyears ride again and James got a bit upset when he didn't get any score. Then we went and had some lunch and, because James was a bit disappointed, went and had another go on Buzz Lightyear with Andrew helping James. This time James got a score and even hit the big baddie at the end. After this we decided to have a last go on Splash Mountain, so we took the train around the Magic Kingdom to the Splash Mountain stop. The queue for Splash Mountain was huge and we had to wait about 45 minutes, it was also very hot. The ride was very good and after we got off we saw that the photo was very good so we bought a copy. We had then had enough of Magic Kingdom, but it was still fairly early , so we decided to go back to Epcot. But first we bought a souvenir glass Mickey Mouse. As we were leaving the Magic Kingdom we saw some character inside the entrance, so we rushed back in and got Tiggers autograph, borrowing a pen from some other people. We caught the monorail, first to the Ticket Centre, to see if our lost presents from the previous trip to Epcot had been handed in to lost and found (no luck), and then to Epcot.

Epcot
At Epcot we went back to the Coke stand to try the drinks again, and Kathryn got another souvenir miniature coke cup (the other had been lost with the souvenirs). Kathryn really liked the Mexico drink which had an apple tast. Then we saw Mickey Mouse, in his Fantasia costume, with a huge queue waiting for autographs. After this we went on the Imagination Ride which was an educational ride to 'stimulate the senses', it was a bit boring but the kids liked it. We then decided to call it a day and went back to the resort. When we got their Kathryn had her hair braided. Before we went to bed we did some packing ready for going home.

Day's 15 and 16 (Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th) - Journey Home
Hot and Sunny. Today we concluded our holiday and travelled home. We had previously extended our checkout time until 1pm, usually 10:30am, because the coach was picking us up 1:30. In the morning we got up late, well Deb, Kathryn and James did, Andrew went to look around the All Stars Sports resort. We had a full breakfast, just about as we were a bit late, and then had a last look around the resort. After this we went back to our room and completed backing. At 1pm we checked out and waited for the coach. After it was 20 minutes late Andrew was getting a bit anxious and we were just about to start phoning up people when the coach arrived. The trip across Orlando took a while, about three quarters of an hour. We arrived at the airport early for our flight, it was due to take off at 5pm, but there was nothing we could do but check in and wait in the departure lounge, which was not very big. Our flight was delayed 2 hours, which made for a long stay in the departure lounge. Deb bought some perfume from Duty Free. The flight home was during the night and we were given blankets, socks and blind folds to help us sleep, only James did some sleeping though. There were only 2 films on the journey because they had to restart the first film after 30 minutes because some of the plane had not been able to receive it. The films were Entrapment (with Sean Connery) and Disneys Aladdin. The return flight seemed to go really quickly and we got back to Gatwick at 8am (8 hours

flight plus 5 hours time difference). Uncle Graham picked us up from the airport. He had found out that the plane had been delayed from teletext so did not have to wait to long. We noticed the difference in the weather as soon as we got of the plane. Although it was nice it was still a lot colder than Florida. The journey from the airport was really quick, only an hour and half. Kathryn and James fell asleep in the back of the car. We finally got home at lunch time. In the afternoon we picked up the Ellie from Debs mums, it had clawed the wall paper and the curtains, and fought with the other cat. We then picked up Ben who was very pleased to see us. Deb, Kathryn and James had another sleep in the afternoon whilst Andrew did the unpacking and some shopping. In the evening James decided that he was not very tiered. He was due to join his school field trip to Yardley Hastings the following morning but as he was not tired we phoned them up and took him over in the evening. We all got an early night as we all had work or school the following day. We were all very tired for the next few days.

Epilogue
We complained to Thomas Cook about the problems of no transport when we arrived at the airport and having to pay. They were very helpful and, despite the brochure saying different, still said that they thought we should not have paid. They told us to detail the complaint in writing to them along with the receipt, which we did the next day. A few days later they phoned us back to say that they had taken up the complaint with Airtours and then a few days after this they phoned again to say that they would refund the costs. About 2 weeks after we got back we received a cheque for £125 covering the transport costs and £25 for inconvenience. We were impressed with how Thomas Cook handled the complaint. We had a look at the video we had taken, as soon we got back, and it was a bit disappointing. We had not done very much and what we had done was mainly around the resort. We sent off the photos, 6 films, and got them back after about 2 weeks (a film one day at a time). The photos were very good and Andrew put them in the souvenir album we had bought from Disney World. This took 3 evenings to cut out the tripleprint photos and arrange them. The final thing we did was to write this diary which took ages and was not finished until the end of November. Our final thoughts of the holiday are that it was the best holiday ever and we look back on it longingly.

Addenda
In May 2001, after purchasing a new computer, we turned the diary into the Internet Diary you are looking at now, which also includes multimedia features such as scanned in photo's, source and video.