Since my first trip to Walt Disney World in May of 1994, I have been hooked. Sure, I knew I would have a great time, after all it was my first vacation with my best friend, Adrienne, but I had no idea how much I would love it. We have been there for three trips already, and on August 7, 1998 we had our 4th and most amazing vacation ever. We planned something extra special. But I am getting ahead of myself... so please read on!


As I said, our first trip to Orlando was for nearly a week at the end of May, 1994. We had planned this trip for 14 months - and it was worth every minute of it. We were so excited that we counted down for months... I even made Adrienne a huge chain of 100 paper clips when we were only 100 days away from the trip. I read the Birnbaum's guide and we talked about the places we would eat, the shops we would go to, the pictures we would take and rides we would try.

Finally, the vacation arrived!! We stayed at the hotel which looks like a New Orleans town. The resort is very big, but it doesn't feel like it at all. The buildings are only 3 stories high (of course there are about 8 of them!) It is moderately priced and was perfect for our needs (I highly recommend it). We weren't planning on spending a lot of time in the room anyway! We checked in at 8:30 in the morning and, on Adrienne's recommendation, headed right over to the Magic Kingdom ! We parked the car at the Contemporary Hotel, and hopped on the monorail. We even got to sit up front with the driver for that first trip. I now understood what everyone meant when they said that Disney brings out the child in you. I could hardly believe we were actually here - we couldn't stop smiling and giggling!!

The monorail let us off at the entrance to the park and we began our first stroll up . Shops and food galore!! So many colors, sounds -- and people! And there in the distance was Cinderella's castle.

Now, the Magic Kingdom may not be the most spectacular of the Disney parks, but it is the essence of Disney, and, therefore, the perfect way to start our vacation. Part of us wanted to run to everything and the other part just wanted to take it slow and soak it all in. We do have a few favorite rides in the Magic Kingdom, the first being , where not only do you get wet on the final drop (wonderful on a hot day!), but they take your picture on the way down! Look at Cinderella's castle and keep smiling as long as you can and your picture will turn out great. Sure, it's another way Disney gets you to spend money (they are very good at this), but it is a great souvenir.
Adrienne's favorite in the Magic Kingdom is the . It is not terribly scary, but it is a lot of fun. And we learned later in our trip that it video tapes pretty well - even in the dark.

We have a rule when we travel through Disney - do not wait in lines unless it is really something you want to go on right then. There is always another ride near by and you can always go back later. We have managed to try all the rides we want and we rarely wait more than 30 minutes. Okay - once we did wait over an hour for Splash Mountain, but we had fun video taping our time in line!


The first time we went to we took the monorail from the Magic Kingdom. It is really quite a spectacular way to ender that park, giving you a feeling for how large Space Ship Earth really is! (That's the golf ball you have all seen). Although Epcot is probably my least favorite of the parks (not to say that I don't really enjoy it - I do!), it is the most interactive, in many ways, especially in Future World. We love Body Wars, a flight simulator ride, and Cranium Command ("You just bucking to pilot this chicken!!!") Some of the best places to eat are in World Showcase, and we never miss Alfredo's in Italy (Adrienne got to sing there on our first trip! She was fabulous!!). We have also tried the restaurants in Japan, Morocco (with a belly dancing performance), Mexico, and (ugh!) France. But beware--- there is no place to go to the bathroom in China!

My favorite of all the theme parks is . I don't know why - I just like this one. I love the Muppet Movie, the Superstar Television, the Monster Sound Studio, Star Tours (another flight simulator) and the Indiana Stunt Spectacular. I especially like the tour of the Animation Studio. By our second visit in March of 1996 they had opened the best thrill ride in all of Disney. the Tower of Terror. Two 13 story drops. Very fast. Very scary. I scream so much on this ride that I usually end up losing my voice and sounding like Minnie Mouse when I talk. Appropriate, but funny none the less. This is another ride that takes your picture so you can have it as a souvenir. It is hard not to look petrified in these pictures!!!

We did everything on that first trip. Water parks, the Hoopdy Doo Musical Revue (Dinner Theater at Fort Wilderness. Sounds corny - but it's lots of fun and the food is great), even , although we never managed to stay up until midnight for their New Year's Celebration, which happens every night. We shopped like crazy (with us it is practically a sport), took advantage of the early morning openings for people staying in Disney Resorts (a great bonus!), ate at character breakfasts (and got autographs), and took lots of great pictures -- and one particularly memorable one with both of us and ! The most important of the pictures, however, happened late in our trip and was one of Adrienne and her favorite Disney heroine . Her smile in that picture could not be bigger! She had waited for years to get this one. It seemed fitting that on our first trip there together, we got it! We also have one with my and my favorite .
For our last two days there we rented a video camera and gots lots of great footage. On the last day, I took a nap to get rid of a headache. Adrienne took the camera to video tape the hotel --- and came back with a lot of footage of a baby bunny. To this day we laugh about that bunny!!

It was the perfect vacation and one we will never forget.


But wait - there's more!
Join us on our 1996 trips
and find out about our 30th birthday celebration
and Adrienne's surprise ending!


Oh no, Adrienne... look

Not again!!!


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