Jennifer and Dave's Disney Adventure Report

Dates: 10/18 - 10/27, 1999 (10 day trip)

Adventurers:

• Jennifer Watson (author): 31 year old, writer and co-author of PassPorter Walt Disney World, on her umpteenth trip to Disney (from Ann Arbor, MI)
• Dave Marx: 44 year old, writer and co-author of PassPorter Walt Disney World, on his 10th (or is it 11th?) trip to Disney (from Hackensack, NJ and Ann Arbor, MI)
• Evans: online friend who we used to work with on AOL; Disney vacation veteran (joining us for the first three days)
• Liz: friend of Evans; never been to Disney before (also joining us for the first three days)
• Kim Larner: 28 year old, Jennifer's younger sister, pregnant (in her fourth month). On her third trip to Walt Disney World but brand new to the Disney Cruise (from Okemos, Michigan). She is joining us for the cruise aboard the Disney Wonder.
• Chad Larner, 28 year old, Jennifer's brother-in-law. Also on his third trip to Walt Disney World. (from Okemos, Michigan) He is also joining us on the cruise.

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PassPorter Travel Press, an imprint of MediaMarx, Inc.
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Today brought more research, much like yesterday's. We started the day at Disney-MGM Studios, again visiting attractions and food venues. We then did the character lunch buffet at Hollywood & Vine. While we'd eaten here before, it wasn't a character meal at that time and we needed to evaluate it closely for the book. We really enjoyed the meal. The food was good and plentiful, service was truly excellent, and the characters were fun to watch. Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale were there (no Mickey though). And every half hour the music would blare ("Sing! Sing! Sing!"), the characters would dance, and kids would join them. We recommend it!

After lunch, Dave stayed at the Studios while Jennifer took the bus to Epcot. We worked seperately until 7:30, when we met at the United Kingdom pavilion. The crowds were thick at this point and it was often difficult to walk. Nonetheless, we walked around the lagoon, sampling many treats and wines from the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival booths. At 8:45 we stopped in front of Germany to find a place to view Reflections of Earth. This was our third viewing and our third location. The view was just ok — we couldn't see the globe very well and the globe is really important to the show. One thing we did discover is how well you can see things if you take a few steps back from the crowds thronging the railings. You don't lose much relative proximity and you get a much clearer view. The performance was as good as the first two times and we enjoyed it!

After Reflections of Earth, we walked to the Yacht Club where we met our friend Dave Taylor at the Yacht Club Galley. Dave Taylor generously lets us use his wonderful message board system for our Web site, is a fellow book author himself (computer books), as well as a Walt Disney World fan. This was the first time we met face-to-face and we had a great time... he's a funny guy!

We then hopped on a bus to Downtown Disney, intending to transfer from there to a bus bound for Wilderness Lodge. But our driver took us directly to Wilderness Lodge! We love it when they do this. A few years back we had a driver (who called herself the "Goddess of Transporation") who did this for us, and we haven't forgotten her. As we were getting off the bus, Dave turned and asked our driver if knew this Goddess, and would you believe she did? In fact, it was the Goddess (whose name is Diane) who trained our current driver. What a small world!

We took another dip in the hot tub (great hot tub at Wilderness Lodge). Back at the room, Jennifer fell asleep while Dave stayed up to do some more work.

To learn more, continue on to our Tenth Day.