Hartwell goes to Disney World (by himself)
Last Friday night I came to a personal revelation. I've been in a funk for the last month or so and needed to get out of town for the weekend. What to do? Where to go? How about Walt Disney World? The last time I was there was with my daughter about a year ago (in fact, our trip then was Sunday October 31, 2010 and I made this trip on Saturday October 29, 2011.)
So I called up my Disney connection, my old friend, Bill (who reminded me that next summer marks the 30th anniversary of our friendship.) When we were college room mates, we both worked there. Bill still does. He hooked me up with a pass to get into the park. Thanks Bill. I called my sister who lives in central Florida and she agreed to let me sleep on her couch, even though I told her I planned to close the part at 11:00 pm and not be to their house until 1:30 or 2:00 am Sunday morning. Thanks Kathy. I packed my bags and set the alarm for 5:00 am. My plan was to be out the door by 6:00, drive to the Fort Wilderness Outpost, take a bus to the Settlement and eat at the Trail's End Buffet. (About twenty dollars plus a tip. MOST of the time, when you tell the parking lot people that you're heading for breakfast at Fort Wilderness, they let you in without paying the $14.00 a day fee to park at the Magic Kingdom parking lot. So, for my way of thinking, this is a good way to have an "all you can eat" breakfast on Disney property for less than ten dollars. It's inconvenient as hell, as it requires a bus from the Outpost to the Settlement, then breakfast, then a boat ride to the Magic Kingdom. Then, when your day is over, the opposite trip, Motor Launch to Fort Wilderness, bus to the Outpost and then drive home. It's slightly less convenient than the Ferry Boat or Monorail to the TTC, then tram to the parking lot. I LOVE breakfast buffets and was willing to put up with the extra transportation. Unfortunately, I wasn't willing to actually get up at 5:00 am. I slept in until about 8:30 and hit the road about 9:05. The drive from Fort Myers is a long one, I usually take Florida Highways 31 N then 70 W then 17 N then 27 N then I-4, but this trip I took the 42 miles longer but MUCH easier to navigate, I-75 to I-4 route. I stopped along the way for breakfast, eating about six dollar's worth of fast food. Later, I stopped at the Target where Circus World used to be and bought nine dollars worth of bottled water, fruit snacks and trail mix bars. I drank two waters on the way to the Disney parking lot. I paid my $14 to park, then took a water with me for the trip to the TTC. My pockets loaded down with cameras and snack foods, I headed for the tram. First major change I notice is that Disney has separated the parking lots into two, labeled the "Heroes" and the "Villains" lots. The nice thing about this is, on the way home, the guests who correctly remember which lot they were in spend less time on a tram that makes only two stops. That's an improvement on the old 4-5 stops that the tram made at night, trekking through the entire parking lot. The next thing I notice is that the trams have DOORS now. Who decided this? I suppose it's safer, but doors on a tram ... that's just wrong. I get off the tram at TTC and briefly consider riding the Monorail, but instead took the Ferryboat to the Magic Kingdom. Unless there's NO line at all, and you can get on the first Monorail out of thestation, the ferryboat is always faster. Another good reason to take the Monorail is if you are with people who've never ridden in a Monorail. Did I mention that I was by myself this trip? So I walk up Main Street and my first stop is to visit the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. This was my first job at Disney World. I worked there the summer of 1979. Back then, a single scoop ice cream cone was 35 cents. YES, every day, at least one guest would complain about how expensive the ice cream was, or that the size of the ice cream scoop wasn't worth thirty five cents. October 30, 2011 I paid 2.89 for a single scoop cone. (725% more than the price from 32 years ago.) An on-line inflation calculator http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ says that an item that cost 35 cents in 1979 should cost $1.04 in 2010. I guess "Disney inflation" is different from "regular inflation." I then walked to Tomorrowland and noticed along the way that my planned dinner restaurant, the Tomorrowland Terrace was closed. Last time I ate there, the menu featured a variety of noodles and soups. I was really looking forward to it. (Back before they messed up the names, this restaurant was called the "Plaza Pavilion.") I DID see a sign that there was some sort of dessert party there, to coincide with the fireworks show. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/tomorrowland-terrace-fireworks-dessert-party/ The sign advised me to call 407-WDW-DINE or go to any restaurant that requires reservations and I could make a reservation for that evening. Wonderful, I'll look into that later. I walked around Tomorrowland a bit only riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover and was surprised to see that Space Mountain was broken. The work lights were all on, and we could see the tracks. I then walked to the Haunted Mansion the long way through Fantasyland. Speaking of Fantasyland, that area is under construction for a MAJOR improvement. The new Fantasyland is supposed to open some time in 2012 and ought to be worth a trip, just to see the new attractions.
After the Haunted Mansion, I went on the Riverboat, a rare treat for me and only possible because I left my family at home. I then walked over to Adventureland and picked up a Fastpass for the Jungle Cruise. While I waited for the time to roll around, I considered riding the Pirates of the Caribbean, but instead opted to visit Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Café and got a refreshing 32 ounce "Light Lemonade." I walked around Frontierland a bit, then wandered into the Liberty Tree Tavern. Here's my chance to ask about the fireworks dessert special over at the Tomorrowland Terrace. Of the five cast members behind the counter, three had direct knowledge of the party. Yes, reservations could be made there, however they required payment in full of twenty five(ish) dollars and the menu was desserts only. It may or may not have been "all you can eat." (The cast members couldn't agree.) Regardless, that was more than I wanted to spend for dessert, and my endocrinologist would probably not approve. See, having diabetes can save you money! I still had some time to kill before my Fastpass was good, so I found a nice table in the shade at the (closed) Tortuga Tavern and did some people watching while I finished my giant 32 ounce lemonade.
The Jungle Cruise was fun. Our guide hit all the high notes and the other guests really enjoyed the cruise. I walked over to the train station in Frontierland and rode over to Main Street. Along that trip, I came up with a plan to go to EPCOT and see The American Adventure. (Another show that I have trouble talking my family into sitting through.) I fought the parade crowds and went to City Hall. I asked there what time was the last show and could I make it there in time? The answer was 9:00 pm and "probably not." It was then 8:10 pm and getting to the EPCOT front gate and then going all the way to the back of the park probably wasn't going to happen in 50 minutes. So I watched the end of the electrical light parade. That was nice. Then I walked against the traffic to Adventureland where I rode the Pirates of the Caribbean. (Wait time: 10 minutes.) Then I walked to Frontierland and watched the end of the parade again. I cut back over to the Tiki Room and enjoyed that show. By the way, the Tiki Room is no longer "Under New Management." Disney restored the show to its original 1971 glory. It was about time for the fireworks, so I grabbed an egg-roll at the egg-roll wagon and headed to Liberty Square to watch them from the area between the Hall of Presidents and the Riverboat platform. Despite the very light rain, they were beautiful. I had dinner at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café. This used to be the Tomorrowland Terrace. Back when I worked there, they had a fantastic guy named Michael Iceberg who played "The Iceberg Machine," a collection of synthesizers. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Iceberg They have a robot in his place "playing" a keyboard and singing songs about the cosmos. Not everything in 2011 is better. The veggie sandwich was delicious. At some point or another, I had a three dollar box of popcorn. (In the 1980's, I sold popcorn for 50 cents, 75 cents, 95 cents, a dollar and later $1.25 and probably more.) I finished out the evening by riding the Mad Tea Party.After that was the Speedway. From there, I walked onto Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and finally, with 5 minutes until closing time, I got on the 20 minute line for Space Mountain.
All in all, it was a great trip. I was sad to be there by myself, but it gave me time to experience the park at my own pace, stopping whenever I wanted to enjoy some "I used to work here" nostalgia. The trip only cost me $103. My biggest expense ($45.00) was gas money. Thanks to my old friend Bill, I saved $120.00 on a one day park hopper ticket. (To be fair, one can buy a one day single park admission ticket for "only" $90.53 and I didn't do any "Park Hopping.")
