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View Full Version : Saved by the CM, Robs-a-plenty, and Touring the World



Timbo
05-08-2002, 01:09 PM
Cast of characters: Me, (Timbo) and Julie, dear Disney Wife

Disclaimer: I tried taking notes during the trip so that I could write a decent trip report. After the first 5 hours, note taking got slack. By the 4th day, notepad was purposely left in hotel room. You will likely find my TR reads like an investigative report rather than a feel-good, magical time…that’s because I’m writing it almost 2 weeks after Disney and ‘I’ve lost that lovin feelin, whoa-oh, that lovin feelin.’ What follows is the entire trip in one post...hope you can handle it!

Monday, April 22nd
Arrived at Old Key West around 11:30 p.m., which was not good because we had to get up kinda early the next day for a tour. But, check-in was a breeze, and it felt good to know that we were back at home.

Tuesday, April 23
Overslept a little, so we grabbed bacon, egg & cheese croissants from Good’s Food to Go. Man, were these sandwiches excellent! Couldn’t take any chances with transportation, so we drove over to Epcot. Arrived at Guest Relations at 9:30 a.m. and there were about 10 people in line! We had to exchange our vouchers for passes. I saw the CMs with clipboards gathering the tours together, but we had time. Get to the window at 9:45 and the CM asks us for ID only to find that DW forgot hers in the room! I really did pretty well considering I felt like I was gonna blow up (this is a bad habit of hers). She says, “well, I guess I have to go back to the room and get my ID.” I said, “If we cancel our tour now, we won’t get a refund!” I was pretty upset, and the CM was flustered. One of the tour guide CMs comes over to ask everyone in line if anyone was waiting for a tour and I told her we were, but we had a problem. Well, this seemed to confirm to the GR CM that we really were there for the tour, etc., and she issued us our Florida Resident Passes without my wife’s ID. SAVED BY THE BELL! Or rather, the tour guide CM in this case.

So, we were rounded up and introduced to Rob (this was the beginning of a trip where we would meet about 10 CMs named Rob, not to mention the Intercot Robs we already know), a Disney horticulturist who works primarily at AK. He explained in detail how topiaries are made, various plants, the whys and hows of Epcot and WDW gardening (the budget for landscaping is $27 million/year). We got into World Showcase a half hour before opening, which was nice. He made sure we spent as much time in the shade as possible, and really pointed out a lot of things that we surely missed just walking around the parks. This was an excellent tour and we highly recommend it. At the end of the tour we received vouchers to exchange for a free official Flower & Garden Festival poster. DW and I got one each, signed by the artist (a $12 value).

We lunched outside at the Electric Umbrella, so we could watch the Fountain. Took a leisurely stroll through the festival shopping area and ended up buying a couple of very cool things from the vendors there. Then we attended a lecture by Tanya Peak Smith, another Disney horticulturist, about container gardening…it was very informative. Had some dessert and coffee at Fountain View Espresso (outside again so we could watch the Fountain), then we headed over to WS. We hit El Rio De Tiempo, Maelstrom, Wonders of China, then watched Survivor in concert, which really took us back to the 80’s! After this we wanted to see The American Adventure, the show had just ended and we decided to come back later (don’t ever say that, we never made it back). We watched a drum beating presentation in Japan (talk about a workout!). Strolled through the shops of Morocco, France and the UK. It was now about 6:30 pm so we decided to try to eat dinner at R&C. We walked up (without PS) and were seated in 5 minutes. We shared the Mushroom Medley (very good) as a starter. DW had the English Pie Sampler (also very good) and a ½ pint of Guinness (perfect), I had the Fish & Chips (very good), original huh?, and a pint of Guinness. For dessert we split the Trifle (light, delicious). After dinner we headed over to Norway per Main Street Jim’s suggestion to stake out a spot for ToD. It was very crowded at almost 8:00. We found a decent spot. It was very windy and I mentioned to DW that the parade would likely be cancelled. The family sitting next to me gave me the look of death. About 30 seconds later the announcement came that ToD was cancelled due to the high winds. We leisurely strolled through FW, hit the Mousegear store where I bought a very cool, sleeveless shirt, and made our way out and back home. It was a great first day.

Wednesday, April 24
We decided to sleep in today and really just take it easy…do whatever we feel like doing. We walked to the HH and had lunch @ Olivia’s (YUM!). I had the roast beef sandwich, DW had the buttermilk fried chicken (we have never eaten anything we didn’t like here). We decided to rent a canopy boat from Hank’s. Explored the waterways from OKW to DD, rode around the big lake there at PI, got up close to the restaurants, rode over to PO resort (saw the treehouses of DI) where we saw a lot of work going on at POFQ. The entire trip took about 1 hour…it was one of the most fun things we’ve done at WDW. Afterwards we walked to the village pool on OTP just to check it out. Went back home to take a little nap. Refreshed, we decided to go over to DMGMS. Here we rode TGMR and RRC first, then headed to the Backlot Tour since we haven’t done that in like 10 years. It was still pretty good despite the changes. Entering the tour, we were asked if we would like to be a part of the special effects demonstration. I volunteered DW to which she gave me “the look.” So, I volunteered myself. I was chosen to be the “mechanic” in the demonstration. Anyone familiar with this is probably already ROFL. No, I didn’t look left, but there were obviously holes in my rain gear and boots. I was fairly wet by the time all that water washed over me. DW got it all on film…she said the video was very funny. The other folks in the show were a CM (former CP) named Jeremy, and two of his friends (both former CP). There was a “Rob” here backstage…and funny enough, there was another Jeremy backstage, and the director of the show was also named Jeremy, so he decided that for the day his stage name would be “Eddie Spaghetti.” We were constantly LOL during this show. The rest of the tour had not changed much other than a few new things in the boneyard. I was sitting on the left side of the tram and just as CC went full-blast, the wind shifted and whatever had dried was now wet again. On the way out we strolled through the Star Tours shop and headed back towards the exit. We headed home for dinner at Olivia’s and by the time we were finished, it was bedtime.

Thursday, April 25
Another early day today! Had to be at MK by 9:15 am for the Keys to the Kingdom tour, which began at 9:30. We grabbed some breakfast at Good’s, ate outside (it was a beautiful morning), and caught the bus to MK. We got through security and were waiting outside the turnstiles at 8:50. The pre-opening show started (it was very hard to hear what the CM was saying) with the characters. One thing here…I was just amazed at how people let their kids wander around…just because you’re in WDW doesn’t mean they’re 100% safe. Anyway, we get in rather quickly and report to the garden next to City Hall, where the tour CMs are checking us in and Cruella is giving us a hard time. We were given name tags and our backpacks were taken, and at 9:30 we were introduced to one of the best CMs in WDW, Robin. Robin was amazingly knowledgeable and had the talent of being able to walk around the entire park backwards while addressing her group. The only time she needed help was if someone were behind her, otherwise you would think she had eyes in the back of her head. We were taught that the WDW creed is: Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency, in that order of importance. An example of Show: Did you ever notice that when outside the turnstiles, you cannot see the castle? This is because Walt designed it that way. Like the curtain that opens on a movie screen, the train station is the curtain for the castle (the main attraction). The train station is like the movie previews (with all the attraction posters), and Main Street (with the names on the windows) is like the opening credits of the film. Robin took us first around Main Street talking about Roy, Walt and the various designers, sculptors, imaginers, etc. (very interesting!). She pointed out the windows and every once in a while we would discuss examples of Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency as we observed them in the park. We headed to Adventureland all the while learning all kinds of fascinating stuff. We went straight on to our own boat on JC while Robin continued to let us in on all kinds of secrets. From the JC we headed to Frontierland where she poked some fun at the McD’s fry wagon. Come to find out that WDW had asked McD to run all their restaurants and after spending time investigating this, McD found out that they were not equipped to run them. A typical WDW restaurant does 3 times more business than the typical McD, so they just sponsored Dinosaur! at AK and sell some McD products here and there. From here we entered behind the bar, crossed the railroad tracks and headed backstage, where we learned the significance of the yellow line and the colored pavement for the parade CMs. We got an up-close and personal display of the parade floats and learned all kinds of cool things about them, technical and non-technical. I gained a great respect for parade CMs as well as imagineering. We met an imagineer while backstage who was installing (finally) a button into the SaDCT parade floats that a CM could press if he/she was in trouble (it’s extremely hot inside those globes). Of course, not a whole lot could be done for them if they’re in the middle of the parade, and it would be impossible to remove the person until they get backstage anyway. Learned that part of parade training is proper nutrition and hydration (makes sense). We spent about one hour backstage, then headed to Columbia Harbour House for lunch. We had a private area upstairs reserved for us with our chosen lunch already set. I had the salad with grilled chicken, which was quite good. DW had the chicken strips. We sat with a very nice mother and daughter from Pittsburgh. Inside our nametag placeholder was a pin: the Key to the Kingdom! That’s one I’ll NEVER trade or sell. After lunch we headed to the HM. After pointing out some of the exterior details and some of the story behind the HM, as well as things to look for inside including hidden Mickeys, we were led in through the “back door” for front of the line privileges. Rather than just enjoy the silliness of it all, we were busy looking for all those hidden things…and it was still lots of fun! From here we headed back to Main Street and entered the new addition to the Emporium (which is quite nice), right through the back door, and backstage again. On our way upstairs we ran into some CMs on break including another Rob. We viewed exhibits about costuming, cosmetology, and technology while Robin went into great and interesting details on each topic. From here we headed downstairs straight to the Utilidor. We walked by a number of offices, breakrooms, a cafeteria and ended up in front of a map of the corridors (we had unknowingly crossed MS), where we stood for about 45 minutes while Robin talked about all kinds of things WDW and answered our questions. We went up the stairs and exited backstage between Plaza Pavilion and the hat shop on MS, where we could see and hear about Tinkerbell’s landing spot (more on this below). After answering some more questions, Robin led us through a hallway and we were once again on Main Street where she so graciously thanked us and we thanked her.

We learned so much on this 5-hour tour, I will touch on a few things (hopefully I got all this info right), but we were asked to not let out too much of the magic, so I won’t. BUT IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE ANY MAGIC, PLEASE DON’T READ THIS PARAGRAPH. WDW employs over 55,000 people; 8,000 are at MK; 6,000 are costumed, the rest are “suits.” There are generally 3 costumes per CM, so about 30,000 total costumes, which translates to 3.5 million costume pieces laundered per day. Did you know that about 50 CMs can portray Mickey and 5 of them are male? Also, at least 1 person per week is thrown out of MK for groping CMs in costume, while dozens of others are never caught (teenagers are the worst for this, some have thrown characters into the moat), and some have been arrested and prosecuted. Did you know that Tinkerbell may be Tinkerbill? If the right size and willing to throw themselves off the castle, Tink may be female or male. With a good tailwind, the pixie will be moving so fast that she/he will knock down 3 or 4 big men poised to help at the landing spot and still hit the cushioned wall hard enough to get the wind knocked out of them. If they have a headwind and don’t push off hard enough, they can get stuck halfway and have to pull themselves the rest of the way, but they turn off their costume lights and the fireworks started, so no one ever notices. The CM gets hazard pay for doing this, but is usually a minimum wage employee. Robin mentioned 30 tons of recycling, but I forget if this is per day, month, year, but it was impressive. They do recycle a LOT of stuff…even paycheck stubs. WDW owns about 30,000 acres of land, Walt originally purchased about 27,000, and 1/3 is reserved to be in its natural state, per Walt. The Utilidor covers 9.5 acres of the MK, and is much more boring than everyone thinks. Once you get past the fact that you’re under the MK, it’s like being in a factory or warehouse or office building. As far as the 20K attraction, there is another attraction “on the books” for this location, which doesn’t mean much. All attractions going here must be water based. The reason it was closed was due to the water filtration system required by the EPA, which costs 3 times more than the attraction originally cost. The EPA standards had changed since the attraction was originally built and were stricter in regards to guests being “underwater.” You see, the 20K lagoon gets its water from Reedy Creek, just outside the park, where it is filtered for the lagoon (so technically it is swamp water), then it is distributed via an internal canal system (pipes run through the Utilidors) to fill the castle moat, then to the Treehouse, then to the Jungle Cruise system (where it is dyed at the falls 2 to 3 times a week), then to the Rivers of America. Then it is filtered again and sent out to the Seven Seas Lagoon, which is attached to Bay Lake, which is part of the water source for the Florida Everglades. Once again, there was so much on this tour it is impossible to cover it all…I highly recommend it and plan to do it annually.

After the tour, we grabbed our backpack from City Hall, grabbed a couple bottles of water, and staked out a spot on the very hot curb for the parade. We had never seen this parade before and after getting up close to the floats backstage, we were very curious as to how it looks in production. Well, it was wonderful! We were seated next to a family from Michigan with two very cute kids and we all had a lot of fun. This is where my record keeping gets pretty shoddy. We decided to do BTMRR and Splash. We got a FP for Splash and went to BTMRR standby line, which had a posted 45-minute wait and was more like 10-minutes. After that, we said well the line for Splash doesn’t look bad, it had a 60-minute wait, so let’s go there…it was actually about a 30-minute wait. After that we headed to Pooh, since we hadn’t ridden that for a while (every time we went the lines were SO long). A detour through Adventure land for my Dole Whip fix and then on to Fantasyland via the walkway around the back of the castle (one of my favorite routes). Pooh had a posted 30-minute wait and it was very accurate, but a cool, fun ride. I was a bit disappointed in how some of the effects are so amateurish, but I figured that the kiddies never notice. My fave Pooh ride quote: “First the wind, now this.” DW wanted to check out Tink’s shop, and since it was too late for HoP’s last show, we just decided to go eat some supper and stake out our spot for Spectro and FiTS. We hit the Plaza Pavillion (I got the Italian sandwich, which was quite good), and ate outside facing the castle. Sitting there as the sun set, resting our feet, we watched the castle changing colors and the bunny rabbits feeding on the grassy knoll below, and I was reminded that although Disney does have its problems, it is moments like this that make us come back. In retrospect, I did not get to see many of the attractions I wanted to catch at MK, and yet, I was very content to sit there and simply absorb the magic of a place so different from anyplace on earth. Just as the announcements for Spectro began, I got a hankering for Toll-House cookies and walked to the bakery. Oddly enough, I was the only one in there at that moment…I had never seen the bakery like that before (BTW, I like the redesign much better). I bought cookies and milk, made my way back to PP and Spectro started. I enjoyed Spectro even more from this distance and decided that THAT is the difference between it and MSEP. Spectro is best enjoyed from a distance, while MSEP is best enjoyed from up close. At 9:30, Tink made her flight, spreading pixie dust on us, and the fireworks began. We sat there for about 30 minutes after they ended and eventually made our way out (I walked backwards down Main Street to enjoy my last looks at the castle) of the happiest place on earth. Another wonderful day came to an end.

Friday, April 26
This was another sleep in and take it easy day…well, it was supposed to be. We did sleep in a little, and decided to head to Epcot again. On the way there, we decided to do the Behind the Seeds tour, so we went straight to The Land and made our reservation. Ate some lunch in the food court, tooled around Innoventions, headed to TT, but there was a delay there (it ended up being down the entire day), so we decided to do SE. This classic was improved by the increased narration volume, but I was disappointed in the fact that there was so much dust inside the attraction, in the various scenes…it was just dirty! We headed back to the Land for our tour. This one-hour walking tour was hosted by a college intern who is studying horticulture…she was very knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor. There were about 8 of us on the tour and after getting details about Integrated Pest Management and the USDA partnered research they are doing in this area, we headed for the greenhouses. This was very cool! Getting a walking tour through the greenhouses with detailed explanations of the various gardens including hydroponics (my favorite concept), while the folks on the boats were passing by looking at us, made us feel like we were Disney insiders. There was also a display of a home hydroponics system that got me very excited (I think I’m gonna try it), and they even gave us a handout about it. We got up close and personal with the fish farming efforts, and finally the tropical greenhouse (imagine a boat ride tour that starts from the end to the beginning, that’s how this was). Well, the standby line for The Land ride was now up to 60-minutes, so we decided to skip it this time and head to WS. We meandered through the shops and countries, I bought some pins, and we ended up at France. So, we watched the movie that we haven’t seen in years (it hasn’t changed, much to the dismay of the French CMs), I still love that theme music, and I still have a hard time understanding the narrator. We come out to find that a thunderstorm has started up, so we decided to try to make it to Canada and see if we can get a seat at Le Cellier. Trying to dodge raindrops, we get to Canada, almost totally soaked (we forgot our ponchos) to find that Le Cellier was totally booked for the entire night. We ran to the entrance for the movie, where we found shelter from the storm and a very jolly Canadian CM. After 30 minutes of waiting, it didn’t look like the storm would end, and it was getting darker by the minute, so I broke down and ran up the stairs to the gift shop to buy some ponchos. They were about $6/each (I remember them being $10/each at one time), so I got two and headed back to DW still under the “mountain.” We got our ponchos on and headed out, undecided about dinner. By the time we exited the park, the rain had stopped (it figures). DW tells me on the way that she wanted to buy the Flower & Garden Festival canvas bag. The official festival store was closed (it was after 8 now), so we checked all the stores on the way out of Epcot, and none of them had it. I promised her we could get it tomorrow before leaving. We ended up back at Olivia’s for dinner and were very happy with that decision.

Saturday, April 27
Check-out day and we’re sad about that. We slept in a bit and grabbed a bite to eat at Olivia’s. We drove over to the Boardwalk, assuming that we could buy that bag at the International Gateway gift shop. Wrong…they didn’t have it. Entered the park and headed to the Festival Store. Ahh…finally…triumphant with happy DW and her bag, we head to Le Cellier for lunch. We had never eaten here before, so looked forward to it. Everything was very good…especially those pretzel breadsticks. I had the prime rib sandwich, DW had the trout salad. She had crème brulee for dessert (excellent); I had Walt’s chocolate cake (very good). Sadly, we knew that we had to depart WDW…we were already supposed to be at my parent’s house in St. Augustine by now…so we made our way out and hit the road. Can’t wait until October!!

[ May 08, 2002, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: Timbo ]

ElenitaB
05-08-2002, 01:39 PM
Thanks for the report... it really makes me want to go back now! I loved the details about the Tours. When DS is old enough, I'll be sure to do them. In December we'll probably do the Behind the Seeds tour... I hope it will give us sufficient "fodder" for his annual science project.

Only 49 more days and it will be our turn to check into OKW! graemlins/clappy.gif

TwoTinyWings
05-08-2002, 05:34 PM
Thanks for the report, Timbo! The KTTK tour details are great -- I'd sort of dismissed the idea a while back, but after reading your report, I'm now thinking we should give it a try! :D

ChipnDaleGal
05-08-2002, 07:26 PM
Thank you so much for your wonderfully detailed diary. What a great trip you had. You made me feel like I was there too. I can not wait until my daughter is old enough to do some of those tours. They sound like so much fun and so informative. We leave in 24 days for WDW. It is agony waiting, but reading about your fun helped quench my disney thirst a little. Thanks for taking the time to type all of that out. It was a real treat to read. smile.gif smile.gif

harlowandthemermaid
05-08-2002, 11:22 PM
Thanks for the great details on the tours! I really want to do KTTK and almost did on my trip! Your report sold me, I need to do the tour next time! Sounds like a very nice trip!

Disneypro
05-09-2002, 01:25 AM
Great report!! graemlins/thumbsup.gif Thanks for sharing. I've always wanted to do the "Behind the Seeds" tour and I think that I definately will now.
It sounds like you guys had a blast ;)

imported_PolyGirl40
05-09-2002, 08:36 AM
Thank you for the excellent details, Timbo.

Your tours sounded fantastic. I laughed at your "Backstage" participation. It is really funny watching the monitors. I cannot imagine escaping being drenched. That's a lot of water. :eek: I like the changes they made.

I'm glad you enjoyed LeCellier. It was our favorite dinner during our recent trip. Walt's cake is sinful. Yum!

Great report! smile.gif

Timbo
05-09-2002, 01:58 PM
I just wanted to say THANKS to those of you who read my report. It's kinda weird writing it (I'm not one to talk a whole lot about myself), and it takes a bit of time, but the comments tell me that it is totally worth it.

Since there's not a good "thanks" graemlin, here's the closest I can get for you all:

graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif graemlins/notworthy.gif

SteveO
05-09-2002, 02:21 PM
Excellent report. Thanks for all the "inside info" from your tours; I;ve never done one but they certainly do sound well worth the extra fee.

Timbo
05-09-2002, 03:34 PM
I totally forgot to mention that on Friday we popped into the Passholder Lounge while @ Epcot. It was pretty cool. :cool: There were a number of different "areas" where you could sit and relax, sit and read the paper, sit and watch TV, let the kids play, get something free to drink...and it was air conditioned...and quiet...and no lines. :D I believe there was also a free resort phone there (like in the hotel rooms). DW didn't know about it and thought it was very nice to know that we have a place to go and chill out when visiting.

Dawn,DeniseandDiane
05-09-2002, 10:48 PM
smile.gif We really enjoyed your reports! We are definately going on The Keys To graemlins/thumbsup.gif The Kingdom tour in Oct. now! I was wondering... are the name tags keepsake ones or are they sticker? You made it so interesting that we can't pass it up! Thanks for giving us an excuse to stay an extra day! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Timbo
05-10-2002, 11:01 AM
Originally posted by Dawn,Denise&Diane:
smile.gif We really enjoyed your reports! We are definately going on The Keys To graemlins/thumbsup.gif The Kingdom tour in Oct. now! I was wondering... are the name tags keepsake ones or are they sticker? You made it so interesting that we can't pass it up! Thanks for giving us an excuse to stay an extra day! graemlins/thumbsup.gif Thanks for the comment. As far as the nametags: we received one when we checked in that was a keepsake type, large, hard plastic four-color "Keys to the Kingdom" nametag with our name on a clear label stuck to the front. We were required to wear this during the tour as identification. When we went to lunch, there was a paper replica of this nametag identifying our seat at the restaurant...pinned into this card was our very own Key to the Kingdom. graemlins/mickey.gif I wore this pin on my lanyard the rest of the visit and besides the looks I would get from other guests, many of the CMs made reference to it. Very fun! graemlins/party.gif

ChipDale
05-14-2002, 08:09 AM
Great report, Timbo! graemlins/thumbsup.gif Thanks for the details on the various tours - sounds like they were extremely informative! smile.gif