ChipDale
10-07-2002, 10:32 PM
Cast of Characters:
Jane (aka ChipDale)
Ron (my husband)
Trip Dates:
Wednesday, September 18 – Monday, September 30
Day Two, Thursday, September 19
graemlins/sleepin.gif Yawn…up at 6:00am. I was really feeling the lack of sleep over the past two nights! After showering, I ran over to Captain Cook’s for coffee and a toasted bagel and brought them back to the room so we could wake up a little before hopping the monorail to the Magic Kingdom at 7:20am. As required, we met our Behind the Steam Trains Tour group right outside of the turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom. We were very lucky to have Jack as our Tour Guide (he’s one of the creators of the tour). We had 22 people in our group. He gave us a little overview of what we would be doing and gave us each our personalized nametag. First we walked up to the Main Street train station and boarded the Roy O. Disney. We rode around the park with Jack telling us about different hidden Mickeys and facts about the four WDW engines along the way. We stopped in Toontown where we got off the train so that Jack and the engineers could show us how they switch the track so the train could go backstage. After demonstrating this, we backed up in the train to go backstage and into the train barn. We got off the train in the barn and Jack told us all about how they found the four engines down in the Yukatan in Mexico and brought them up here to WDW. We got to get into the cab of the Lilly Belle where he showed us how everything runs. graemlins/smokin.gif After that we boarded the Walter E. Disney and rode that back down to Main Street USA, where the engineer performed the required safety checks for the day. Once back at Main Street we stopped in at the Tour Garden for bottled water and/or coffee and a restroom break. The remainder of the tour was spent in the Train Station downstairs and upstairs learning about the Walt’s passion for trains and his private railway, the Carolwood Pacific. The tour lasted 3 hours and was extremely informative. If you’re even slightly a train fan or even if you’re just interest in learning more about Walt Disney I would highly recommend it. graemlins/thumbsup.gif
After the tour, Ron and I walked up Main Street and got a snack in the bakery to cool off. This revived us a little (we had been up for almost 24 hours the day before and had only 4 hours of sleep last night). We rode the TTA, then left the Magic Kingdom. We had a PS at the Sci-Fi Dine-In for lunch but cancelled it and opted for the Brown Derby instead. We drove over to the Studios and went straight to the Derby. We both had the Original Cobb Salad and I had the Grapefruit Cake for dessert. I love this restaurant – it’s by far my favorite at the Studios. After lunch we went back to the Polynesian to get some rest. We took a nice long nap and while we napped it stormed which made it even more restful. graemlins/sleepin.gif Feeling much better after a few hours’ sleep, I ironed and showered while Ron slept some more, then he got up, showered, and we got ready for our Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue PS at 9:30pm. We drove over to Fort Wilderness about 8:15pm and parked in the main lot where a bus was already waiting to take us to Pioneer Hall. We were there early enough so we browsed through the carts and the Settlement Trading Post scouting for Chip & Dale merchandise. We didn’t find anything new, so we stopped in at Crockett’s Tavern for a couple of cold beers before the show started. Our bartender Jason was very nice. We chatted with him for a bit, had another beer and a slice of pizza (I know, we’re going to eat in a little while but we were starving and their pizza is really good graemlins/tasty.gif ). When it was 9:30 we went next door to Pioneer Hall to check in.
We were seated immediately (it was not even near a full house). Barb was our server and she was great. She brought us a couple of beers and a whole pitcher right away. We enjoyed the food as usual and the show as always was really funny. The guy that played Six Bits Slocum was absolutely hilarious! :D We were chosen for the special occasion portion and they announced that it was our 20th wedding anniversary. graemlins/party.gif There’s something about the Hoop-Dee-Doo that makes you realize that you’re really in WDW! After the show we caught a bus (there were several waiting) for the parking lot immediately and headed back to the Polynesian where I think we fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow. graemlins/sleepin.gif
Jane (aka ChipDale)
Ron (my husband)
Trip Dates:
Wednesday, September 18 – Monday, September 30
Day Two, Thursday, September 19
graemlins/sleepin.gif Yawn…up at 6:00am. I was really feeling the lack of sleep over the past two nights! After showering, I ran over to Captain Cook’s for coffee and a toasted bagel and brought them back to the room so we could wake up a little before hopping the monorail to the Magic Kingdom at 7:20am. As required, we met our Behind the Steam Trains Tour group right outside of the turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom. We were very lucky to have Jack as our Tour Guide (he’s one of the creators of the tour). We had 22 people in our group. He gave us a little overview of what we would be doing and gave us each our personalized nametag. First we walked up to the Main Street train station and boarded the Roy O. Disney. We rode around the park with Jack telling us about different hidden Mickeys and facts about the four WDW engines along the way. We stopped in Toontown where we got off the train so that Jack and the engineers could show us how they switch the track so the train could go backstage. After demonstrating this, we backed up in the train to go backstage and into the train barn. We got off the train in the barn and Jack told us all about how they found the four engines down in the Yukatan in Mexico and brought them up here to WDW. We got to get into the cab of the Lilly Belle where he showed us how everything runs. graemlins/smokin.gif After that we boarded the Walter E. Disney and rode that back down to Main Street USA, where the engineer performed the required safety checks for the day. Once back at Main Street we stopped in at the Tour Garden for bottled water and/or coffee and a restroom break. The remainder of the tour was spent in the Train Station downstairs and upstairs learning about the Walt’s passion for trains and his private railway, the Carolwood Pacific. The tour lasted 3 hours and was extremely informative. If you’re even slightly a train fan or even if you’re just interest in learning more about Walt Disney I would highly recommend it. graemlins/thumbsup.gif
After the tour, Ron and I walked up Main Street and got a snack in the bakery to cool off. This revived us a little (we had been up for almost 24 hours the day before and had only 4 hours of sleep last night). We rode the TTA, then left the Magic Kingdom. We had a PS at the Sci-Fi Dine-In for lunch but cancelled it and opted for the Brown Derby instead. We drove over to the Studios and went straight to the Derby. We both had the Original Cobb Salad and I had the Grapefruit Cake for dessert. I love this restaurant – it’s by far my favorite at the Studios. After lunch we went back to the Polynesian to get some rest. We took a nice long nap and while we napped it stormed which made it even more restful. graemlins/sleepin.gif Feeling much better after a few hours’ sleep, I ironed and showered while Ron slept some more, then he got up, showered, and we got ready for our Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue PS at 9:30pm. We drove over to Fort Wilderness about 8:15pm and parked in the main lot where a bus was already waiting to take us to Pioneer Hall. We were there early enough so we browsed through the carts and the Settlement Trading Post scouting for Chip & Dale merchandise. We didn’t find anything new, so we stopped in at Crockett’s Tavern for a couple of cold beers before the show started. Our bartender Jason was very nice. We chatted with him for a bit, had another beer and a slice of pizza (I know, we’re going to eat in a little while but we were starving and their pizza is really good graemlins/tasty.gif ). When it was 9:30 we went next door to Pioneer Hall to check in.
We were seated immediately (it was not even near a full house). Barb was our server and she was great. She brought us a couple of beers and a whole pitcher right away. We enjoyed the food as usual and the show as always was really funny. The guy that played Six Bits Slocum was absolutely hilarious! :D We were chosen for the special occasion portion and they announced that it was our 20th wedding anniversary. graemlins/party.gif There’s something about the Hoop-Dee-Doo that makes you realize that you’re really in WDW! After the show we caught a bus (there were several waiting) for the parking lot immediately and headed back to the Polynesian where I think we fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow. graemlins/sleepin.gif