PRELUDE:
Date: 10-11-95, Thursday, Trip Day 1.
Hotel: Disney's All Star Music
Car: None
Weather: Warm, Dark, & Muggy (Well it was night time...)
My flight from LA arrived in Orlando at 8:30pm, and my Luggage showed up at around 9:05 and 9:15, despite the fact that both bags were checked simultaneously... Oh well, at least they both made it here... I firmly believe that this was because Airport Security in LA informed the Luggage Handlers that I had a complete change of clothes in my Carry-On, so it would not be a total disaster if my bags were lost...
Clutching my Computer, Camera, and 2 bags, I then wandered out and sought the MEERS station, so I could grab a ride to my hotel... I was hoping to arrive before 10:00pm, so I could go to Chris's going-away party at the Big Bamboo Bar in Buena Vista... If I had gotten a direct ride from the Airport to the Music, I could have made it. Unfortunately, a MEERS van had JUST LEFT for the All Star Sports (Which would have been next to perfect for me, since the Music, where I was to stay, is right next door to the Sports.)... It literally pulled away as I approached the Dispatch Dude, identifiable by the fact he was wearing a black and white Referee Shirt... He pointed at the departing van, told me of its destination, but consoled me with the knowledge that another van would be "along in about a minute"... The Bible says the world was created in 7 days, Modern Science figures it took millions of years, some people think that the discrepancy is due to the fact that while it took 7 days in God Time, this works out to Millions of Years in People time (Kind of like 7 Dog Years to 1 People Year), well I figure that the Dispatch Dude must have been using God Time, since the next van didn't come along until about 9:40, according to my watch.
Hey, at least I made it to the right hotel, even if I was having about the same luck as my luggage... If it took anywhere as round-about a trip from the plane's cargo hold to the Luggage Pick Up Point as Meers did from the Airport to the Music Hotel, I can understand how the two bags came to be separated by at least 10 minutes worth of other luggage. We stopped at 2 Airport Terminals to Pick Up other Passengers, then we stopped at 5 different hotels, in order to drop them off, which got me to the All Star at about 10:20pm... I was given a choice of rooms, but the closest (which I took) was in the Jazz Building #9, Clear past the Pool, 2 buildings away from the Lobby Building... At this point I decided that it wasn't worth it to try and grab a bus to Pleasure Island/Village Marketplace, and then try to catch a cab to the Big Bamboo, as I calculated I would have approximately an 11:45pm arrival time, at best, and I was pretty tired any how, as well as enjoying a nice painful Sinus Headache that I had gotten as the plane began its descent into Orlando. Also I was kind of hungry. I headed off to the Food Court, back in the Lobby Building, where I enjoyed a late supper of Chewy Pizza washed down with Lemonade, which I had in the All Star Music Mug I bought for $6.00, since I didn't feel Soda would be a good idea, if I wanted to get any sleep. Funny thing, when I came out here last year, my first night, I had the same Pizza over at Dixie Landings... It was the only food available both times... I guess a Tradition has now been born.
After eating, I stumbled back to my room, where I set my alarm for 6:30am, and went to sleep...
VACATION DAY 1:
Date: 10-12-95, Thursday, Trip Day 2.
Hotel: Disney's All Star Music
Car: None
Weather: Hot & Muggy
I rose at ~6:30, grabbed a shower and stumbled to the Food Court, where I partook of an Early Morning Coke, to get my Caffeine and Sugar levels up, so as to fortify myself for the day to follow... First stop was Guest Services, where I purchased my Passport. After many days of calculation I had decided that based on the length of my stay, and my probable use of the Disney Parks, a Premium Annual Passport was the ticket for me, at $316, and giving me unlimited access to all parks, busses, along with free parking at any of Disney's parking lots (Parking runs $5.00 a day, if you are not staying at a Disney Hotel, and do not have an Annual Passport.) My other options would have been a 5 day Park Hopper and a 4 day Value Ticket, which would have run ~$298, and would have only given me 7 days when I could have gone to Pleasure Island, the Water Parks, or Discovery Island, I would still have had to pay $5.00 a day for parking, or try and hide my car at one of the resorts, and hope no one noticed. Or I could have bought a regular Annual Passport for ~$220, added ~$30 for Pleasure Island, and ~$30 for 1 day at a water park, and ~$15 for a day at Discovery Island... That total would have been ~$295, and I would have had less flexibility, if I wanted to maybe do something I hadn't planed on, like hitting a second Water Park, or visiting Discovery Island again. $16 isn't that much for the piece of mind it would buy me, even if I didn't go to any Water Parks or Discovery Island, I had them in my plans, and with the Premium Annual Passport, I could do them at any time without worry...
With my Pass in hand, I was off to the Magic Kingdom, in order to take advantage of the Magic Mornings Early Entry Program, which allows Disney World Resort guests entry into one of their 3 parks an hour early every morning... I stepped foot in the park at 7:35, and made a beeline to Tomorrowland, where I wandered right into the first batch of visitors to Alien Encounter... It really does show its ancestry from Mission To Moon/Mars... The Queuing/Preshow areas are virtually unchanged, aside from the replacement of Mission Control with a Robot who demonstrates a Matter Transporter, with the unwilling aid of a Cute & Fuzzy Alien named Skippy (Skippy dolls available at Star Trader, $25.00 to start. Disney Knows Marketing!)... Next came the familiar Round Theater, with the Wall Mounted Projection Screens (Which used to show shots of the Lunar Explorers, and later Close-ups of Mars), the major changes here were the replacement of the Floor/Ceiling Screens, with an enormous cylindrical contraption, and the ceiling is now lower, and is made up of pipes and catwalks, also the seats have these restraining bars which descend vertically onto your shoulders... The show is great! I really could feel the Alien behind me, and it seemed as though he ate the person sitting next to me, then licked the top of MY HEAD!
Next stop was Space Mountain... My only thought there was "Wow is this SLOW". I attempted to videotape the ride... It sure looked bright enough inside there... Big difference from Space Mountain back home at Disneyland... The exit of Space Mountain is now a commercial for Federal Express's upcoming Matter Transporter... I think they need to talk to X-S Tech, over at Alien Encounter... They may wish to change to theme of the exit...
After Space Mountain, I hit the Carousel Of Progress, which I taped, although I think I need to do it again, as the lighting was pretty bad at first. I finally figured out how to toggle the camera so as to get the main character, as well as the people on the sides, without seriously over/under exposing anything.
Next I climbed aboard Delta's Dream Flight, a ride so similar to Monsanto's Adventure Through Inner Space (Yanked from Disneyland to make room for Star Tours), that I was half way looking for the Giant Eyeball to be peering at me about halfway through the ride... (Actually the ride itself is closer to one of the Fantasyland rides, crossed with the Peoplemover, but the building's layout was so close to Monsanto's, that it was kind of like deja vu...) Of course, I taped it, although since the dioramas were so close, I couldn't zoom my camera out as much as I would have liked, and probably failed to catch some of the feeling of the ride as a result.
Finally I hit the Transportarium, in which I attempted a "blind taping", as they would not condone the use of a Video Camera inside... I think it came out ok, but I haven't looked at the whole tape yet. This attraction is an updating of the CircleVision 360 theater, where they added a platform in the front, housing 2 Animatronic Robots, who's voices are done by Robin Williams and Rhea Perlman. The theme is a Time Travel Experiment, and it guest stars Jules Verne, who gets into some odd but visually interesting situations in the modern world, after hitching a ride back to the present by mistake.
It was then 10:00, and the park was getting crowded... I did not feel like waiting in any lines, so I headed back to the Hotel, where I grabbed a Roast Beef Sandwich from the Food Court, and my 2nd Soda with my Music Mug.
After eating, I took a nap for about an hour, then I was off to the MGM Studios, where I had a 3:30pm reservation at the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater... First, I just wandered around, then, I hopped on Tower Of Terror, with literally no wait (I just wandered right into the Library, the doors closed, lightning flashed, I grabbed my camera and recorded Rod Serling, followed by a "Blind Recording" of the walk to the elevators, where I requested, and was awarded the "jump seat" (This is the seat in the middle of the back row. It has no safety bar, but rather has a simple seat belt, which is kind of loose... Many believe this to be the best seat in the ride. If you want to Video Tape the ride, I have to agree... It is pretty much like the rest, otherwise.) Of course I taped it all, and I am sure the tape will be better than the one I sneaked last year, which I can not currently locate...
Next I stopped by the Dine-In since I had reservations, where I grabbed a Chocolate Malt and a Hot Fudge Sundae, both of which go under odd names which must have been thought of by demented (or really bored) Imagineers... Originally this was to be my Lunch, but I had not planned on eating at the hotel earlier in the morning.
After my snack/desert I decided to stop by a camera shop and grab a replacement for the Polarized Filter, which I left at home (You know the rules, every trip you've got to leave something you planned to take). This turned into a greater quest than I ever would have dreamed. If I had known what it would entail, I would probably said "Forget it". I started at the MGM Studio's Camera Store, but they referred me to a shop in the Village Marketplace, as where to go to get one. No problem... I didn't have anything planed `till 7:00pm, at which time I wanted to grab dinner at the Casa San Angel over at EPCOT, and try to score a Water Side Table, from which I could watch Illuminations at 9:00pm. It was only 4:30pm, so I figured what the heck...
I hopped a bus to the TTC (Transportation & Ticket Center), where I caught another bus to the Village Marketplace, arriving at around 5:30... I then walked the length of the Marketplace, to get to the Camera Store, only to find that they don't handle Video Camera stuff, only simple Film Camera items. "No problem", they said, "there is a Video Camera store over at the Buena Vista Palace, which is right across the street and down a block." Yeah right... They forgot to mention just how long that block was. It was twice the length of the entire Marketplace, and no sidewalks went in quite the right direction... It took me almost 30 min. just to walk there. Upon my arrival, I found that they also did not have the filter, but knew just who did. As I was quite skeptical at this point, they called, and confirmed that yes, the filter was available, and was $16. Great! Where were they? "Go to Buena Vista Drive, make a Left. At the First Light, make a 2nd Left. When you get to another light, make a third left, and we are about 1 block down, on the right hand side." Uh huh, I said, thinking of how far "across the street and down a block" had been, and asked just how far was it? "Only 5 miles or so". "Great." I said, and thanked them for their time, informing them that I had no car, and was pretty much walked out for the day. Just as I was leaving the Video Shop, the phone rang, it was the other Camera Store, and the manager said if I wanted, that they would come over and pick me up, and then drop me back when I was done. Finally! A good break! True to their word, the salesperson drove over, picked me up, and after selling me the filter (along with some Lens Cleaning Cloths, and a Wide Angle Adapter, and giving me a free Lens Cap to fit my camera.), dropped me back off at the Marketplace. The guy was so cool, I gave him $5.00 for gas, and the trouble he went through on my behalf.
I finally made it to EPCOT at 7:45, too late to score a Water Side Table, so I just wandered the Lagoon, and chose a spot close to Future World from which to watch the show... This allowed me to catch the first bus back to the Music hotel, at which I arrived at 9:45, just enough time to run to my room, drop off my Camera, grab my Music Mug, and zoom over to the Food Court for the All You Can Eat BBQ Dinner (Avail 5:00 - 10:00), where I got about 1 whole plate of Beef, a 1/2 a plate of Macaroni & Cheese, a 1/4 plate of Baked Beans, 3 half-ears of corn, a roll, and a dollop of Potatoes & gravy, along with 2 glasses of Soda... So far I had used the Music Mug three times, it would pay for itself if I used it 5 times or more, so I should have had no problem getting my money's worth before checking out on Saturday.
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