Orlando January 2002

Tue. 15 Jan. 2002

• met at Padre Trails Inn motel, caravaned to
• Park & Ride, took shuttle to
• San Diego International Airport (SAN), checked bags at curb, checked in, McDonalds, security, gate, flew to
• Detroit (Wayne County) Metropolitan Airport (DTW), flew to
• Orlando International Airport (MCO), got bags, rented Ford Expedition, got vehicle, Dixie drove on Beeline Expressway to
• Fairfield Inn - Orlando South, 1850 Landstreet Road,
  
  checked in, unpacked, changed, Dixie drove Beeline to I-4 West, though Lake Buena Vista Village to
• Pleasure Island - Adventurer's Club, Dixie drove back to
• Fairfield, Alan & Wayne & Belle to Waffle House,
  
  all to bed

Wed. 16 Jan. 2002

• breakfast at Fairfield, Charlotte and Belle swam, Dixie drove on Grand Tour:
  • Big K, shopped,
  • Lake Eola Park, swan boats,
  • past Church Street Station, then West on I-4 to
  • International Drive:
    
    Wet 'N' Wild, Skull Kingdom,
    
    WonderWorks upside-down house,
    
    Orange County Convention Center,
    
    crossed Beeline Expwy., Sea World, crossed I-4, through Disney World entrance, to
  • Downtown Disney West Side - House of Blues for lunch,
  • walked around Downtown Disney,
  • Alan brought the car around to Planet Hollywood, drove
  • past Swan and Dolphin,
  • up to Typhoon Lagoon, Wayne checked hours,
  • past Wilderness Lodge,
  • past Contemporary Resort,
  • around Magic Kingdom,
  • to Grand Floridian, parked, wandered lobby, rode monorail around Seven Seas Lagoon with 4 of us in front (Alan & Dixie took turns), back to Grand Floridian, the girls played on the beach while Wayne hatched a plan to use Disney pools instead of a water park,
    
    
  • Dixie drove us out of WDW, East on SR-192 Bronson Highway past attractions, Shell World, Xanadu,
    
    pirate theme miniature golf and ferris wheels,
  • then North on Orange Blossom Trail past Tupperware HQ and Gatorland,
    
    back to the Fairfield Inn.
• At the motel the pool was closed, so we relaxed a while (Charlotte did homework) and cleaned up,
• and then Dixie drove us pool-hopping:
  • Port Orleans Riverside (formerly Dixie Landings), had dinner at cotton mill food park, looked at Ol' Man River pool -- pump broken,
    
    
  • Caribbean Beach Club, Spanish pirate theme pool
  • Coronado Springs Resort, Mayan theme pool
    
    
• then on to Disney Marketplace - Rain Forest Cafe for desert,
  
  
• walked through marketplace, Disney Store (alan got an American flag pattern Mickey antenna ball), to
• Pleasure Island - Adventurer's Club
• carried sleeping gitls to Expedition,
• Dixie drove us to Fairfield Inn, all to bed.

Thu. 17 Jan. 2002

• Alan & Dixie & Chgarlotte hads breakfast at Fairfield (Wayne & Belle slept late),
• Dixie drove us to Disney-MGM Studios:
  
  
  • saw Green Army Men as we entered the parking lot,
  • rode the tram to the ticket booths,
  • bought tickets for today and tomorrow and went through turnstiles and security,
    
    
  • walked past Gertie the Dinosaur,
  • got walk-away foood (smoothies and funnel cake),
  • lined up for, then saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular,
  • shopped for Indiana Jones schmutz,
  • walked, reserved Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for lunch and got iced coffee at the Writer's Store,
  • walked on, past fake snow on Christmas shop,
  • to meet Buzz & Woodie,
  • then to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground,
    
    light rain,
  • to Mickey Street where we met Mickey,
  • had Coke and popcorn,
  • saw Walt Disney 100 Years of Magic,
    
    
  • checked out the Little Mermaid show but the line was too long, shopped in the store (Alan got a polo shirt),
  • back to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground,
  • to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for lunch,
    
    
  • walked past the Giant Mickey's Sorcerer Hat, back to the Little Mermaid show but the line was still too long,
  • walked through Sunset Farmer's Market, got girls ice cream (Alan called WDW Resorts to reserve a room at Coronado Springs for Fri. night),
  • saw Beauty and the Beast show (Alan rode Rock 'N' Roller Coaster and got a T-shirt)
  • Wayne and Alan rode the Tower of Terror (Wayne lost his cell phone!)
    
    while Dixie, Belle and Charlotte saw The Little Mermaid,
  • Wayne and Alan went to see the Catwalk Bar but it was closed, so Wayne made a call from a pay phone at the Brown Derby,
  • we all went to The Bear In the Big Blue House, which had dancing, stories and bubbles,
  • we took the Animation Tour and learned how to draw Stitch from Lilo and Stitch
    
    and learned about the upcoming Treasure Planet,
  • we walked to the exit, and Wayne got his cell phone back at the Lost & Found,
  • we rode a tram back to "Mickey Stage" and boarded the Expedition.
• Dixie drove us to Fairfield Inn, where Alan checked email, Dixie and Charlotte swam, and Wayne and Belle watched TV.
• Dixie drove us to Universal Citywalk:
  • we parked and rode moving sideawalks,
  • Charlotte bought a snake at the Endangered Species store, <>I>Wayne shopped for wathbands at Fossil while Charlotte and Belle pretend-surfed on a plastic wave in front of Ron-Jon's Surf Shop,
  • we walked around looking at restaurants,
  • we ate dinner at Pastamore,
    
    
  • we walked around the lake past Islands of Adventure, the Hard Rock arena, the Universal Studios globe, and the NASCAR cafe,
  • looked at the motorized launch map and schedule,
  • and wlaked and took a moving sidewalk back to the Expedition.
• Dixie drove us to the Fairfield Inn, where we all went to bed.

Fri. 18 Jan. 2002

• breakfast at the Fairlield Inn,
• Dixie drove us to the Magic Kingdom:
  • parked and rode a tram to the
  • Ticket and Transportation Center, boarded a
  • Ferry across the Seven Seas Lagoon, to the
  • Magic Kingdom Entrance, arranged to meet Dixie at the Town Square flag pole after her bag was searched, and went through security and tunrstiles,
  • walked towards the Pirates of the Caribbean,
  • stopped to watch the Cinderella's Surprise Celebration show at the castle,
    
    
  • rode the Pirates of the Caribbean (Charlotte for the first time!),
  • shopped at the Pirate store, and Belle was lost and found,
  • got iced coffee and other stuff at the Sunshine Terrace,
  • saw the new Enchanted Tiki Room show,
  • walked to the boarding of the Tom Sawyer Island Rafts:
    
    
    • rode a raft to the island,
    • played on the new "tree" house,
    • Wayne and Belle explored Injun Joe's Cave,
    • we ate lunch at Aunt Polly's Landing,
    • explored Fort Sam Clemens and took the secret escape tunnel out,
    • rode the rafts back to the mainland.
  • we walked over to the Frontierland Train Station,
  • the girls played in the Laughing Place until the train came,
  • and we rode the train to Mickey's Toontown Faire:
    • we all saw Mickey's house,
    • Wayne and Belle met Mickey,
    • Alan bought an apple, and
    • the girls played in the Toontown playground.
  • we wandered over to the new Winnie the Pooh ride and rode it,
  • shopped in the Pooh store,
  • shopped in the Beanstalk store, and got the girls some clip-on buddies,
    
    
  • went over to the Fairytale Gardens (Alan got some Cokes while we waited) to see Belle's telling of the story of Beauty and the Beast -- and Charlotte got to be in the show!
  • entered Tomorrowland:
    • the Carousel of Progress was closed, so we
    • rode the Tomorrowland Transportation System and saw Walt's old EPCOT model,
    • decided the Buzz Lightyear line was too long,
    • left the future for Adventureland again.
  • We walked through Liberty Square to get to Adventureland,
  • went through the Swiss Family Treehouse,
  • Wayne and Belle and Charlotte rode the Magic Carpet while Alan and Dixie walked around and shopped,
  • we met at the Sunshine Terrace again for more iced coffee, and
  • returned to the Frontierland Train Station to
  • take the train all the way around to Main Street,
  • where Wayne picked up his merchandise and we saw kiosks, cartoons and photo oppoutunities,
  • then we exited the park and rode the monorail to the T&TC,
  • and walked to the Expedition, which Dixie drove us in.
• She drove us to the Coronado Springs Resort:
  • we parked at the main building,
  • Alan checked us in, and joined the others at
  • the Pepper Market food park for dinner, then
  • Dixie drove us to the room, #7159 in 7a, and we went in and changed for swimming, and
  • walked over to the pool area
  • everybody swam except Alan, who reads his Imagineering book,
    
    
  • and then we went back to the room and watched Disney previews and, after everybody got sick of them, Toon Disney.
• Next Dixie drove us to Downtown Disney - Pleasure Island:
  • we parked near Disney Market, and walked into Pleasure Island and into the Adventurer's Club, and
  • when the girls crashed we carried them out to the Expedition,
• Dixie drove us to the Coronado Springs to drop off Wayne, Belle and Charlotte, and she tucked Charlotte in,
• and drove with Alan back to the Fairfield Inn.

Sat. 19 Jan. 2002

• Alan snagged breakfast for the girls, and
• Dixie drove them both back to the Coroado Springs:
  • they found Wayne trying to "coast" while the girls watched Disney cartoons,
  • we served the girls Cocao Puffs for breakfast,
  • We wlaked over to the "Dig" pool area and enjoyed the pools Jaguar slide and jacuzzi, and
    
    
  • had snacks and told stories, and finally
  • went back to the Excpedition.
• Alan drove us past the Swan and Dolphin to the Beach and Yacht Clubs and parked:
  • we walked through the Yacht Club to the launch pier, and took alaunch to the Dolphin and Swan,
  • we walked around the Dolphin and Swan looking for restaurants,
    
    
  • we took a lunch back to the Beach Club,
  • fetched our pool toys,
  • ate lunch at Hurricane Hanna's and
  • swam at the Beach and Yacht Clubs pool area, with sand, tubes, whirlpools, bubbles, and big and little pirate slides,
    
    
  • and we packed up our stuff and headed back through the hotel,
  • Alan brought the Expedition around and picked everybody up.
• Alan drove us past EPCOT and out of Disney World, back to the Fairfield Inn,
• we all got cleaned up,
• Dixie drove us through traffic, dthrough Lake Buena Vista village for the last time,
  
  to Downtown Disney:
  • we entered Pleasure Island and got our wrist bands
  • we went to DisneyQuest and got tickets while Dixie got us in line for dinner at the House of Blues,
  • we went in to DisneyQuest and enjoyed the Magic Carpets and then everybody rode the Pirates while Alan went up to the Cheesecake Cafe for coffe and web surfing,
  • it was time for dinner so went back to the HOB to eat,
  • we went back to DisneyQuest where Alan rode CyberSapce Mountain and everybody else did something or other, but Alan said "Adventure keeps calling my name" and headed over to the Club again,
    
    
  • everbody soon joined him there, and our friend Anne Hering was playing Pamelia Perkins,
  • we saw the Smantha Sterling show again,
  • when the girls crashed we carried them out to the street and the guys waited while Dixie got the Expedition,
• Dixie drove us back to the Fairfield Inn and we all went to bed.

Sun. 20 Jan. 2002

• We all packed,
• we met up at the Waffle House for breakfast,
• we loaded the Expedition with our luggage and checked out,
• Dixie drove us to Lake Buena Vista, where
• we stopped to look at the Venturi-designed fire station, which Alan had recognized as a Robert Venturi because of its similarity to another Ventury-desigend fire station,
  
  
• we got gas at the deconstructivist Exxon station,
• we played Fantasia Miniature Golf,
  
  
• we drove through Celebration,
• we took the SR 417 tollway to the airport,
• tuened in the Expediditon, loaded up a luggage cart,
• entered the airport and checked luggae,
• went through security,
• ate lunhc at a food court,
• rented a DVD player with The Aristocats and The Emperor's New Groove for the girls (thanks Wayne!), boarded the plane and flew to
• Detroit (Wayne County) Metropolitan Airport (DTW), flew to
• San Diego International Airport (SAN), got bags, took the shuttle back to Park & Ride, and said goodbye.

To do next time:

• Sonny's BBQ
  
  
• air boat rentals
• WonderWorks upside down house
• Lego store playground
• Casting Center murals
• Gatorland
• Tupperware Museum
• Pirate theme miniature golf
• Universal Islands of Adventure
• EPCOT
• all 3 Disney water parks
• Krispy Kreme donuts

Last update 21-Jan-2002 by ABS.