The Bottom Line at Disney

The Disney Yacht and Beach Club
Pros: Best pool and beach at Disney. Nightly campfires, sing-a-longs, and watching movies on the beach. Has it's own childcare clubhouse. Restaurant has a character breakfast in the morning and clam bake at night. Ice Cream shop serves a gi-normous sundae called the Kitchen Sink. Walk to Epcot and Disney Studios.

Cons: Very expensive. Restaurants are very crowded. Mousekeeping was sub-par while we were there (clogged toilets, forgot to leave shampoo or soap, erratic cleaning times).

Bottom Line: The Swan and Dolphin resort is right next door and is a lot cheaper.


Character Meals

Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club: good buffet with yogurt bar. Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale appear in beach attire.
Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom: Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet lead the kids on a parade through the restaurant. Great natural lighting. Fantastic buffet.
Chef Mickeys: Good food including roast beef station, but you are there for the atmosphere. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Puto host an high energy celebration. Best Mickey experience.
Garden Grill: Rotating restaurant in The Land pavillion at Epcot. Overlooks the Living With the Land attraction. Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale appear, but it's not a great photo op as the lighting in the restaurant is poor. Fantastic food including a lot of vegetables, all of which are grown in the Land pavillion.
Akershus Princess Breakfast: Great way to meet the Princesses. Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty and Mulan. Eggs, bacon, and sausage are brought to the table, with other items available on the buffet. A few nods to Norweigan food are present such as smoked salmon and gooseberry jam.

Bottom Line: Character meals are the BEST way to meet characters and get their photos and autographs. The food is overpriced and average. You are paying for the character experience.

Disney World

This is our second trip in the past year (used an annual pass in Feb then again the following Jan for maximum value). Over and over my duaghter kept saying "I just love Disney World!" And who can blame her? What's more, they cateer to my Gluten-Free needs so I don't have to spend all my time looking for safe food to eat.

Pros: Happiest Place on Earth
Cons: Heartstoppingly Expensive

Bottom Line: We'll go back again as soon as we can save up the money!

Excuses, excuses

To: Smith Elementary School

Please excuse the absences of Caroline and Colin Morris on 1/7/08 as they were ill. True, they were at 30000 feet on the way home from Disney World, so they wouldn't have been able to attend even if they had not been ill. However, riding Mission Space twice followed by airplane turbulance would make anyone sick. In fact, if I were a better parent I probably would not have sent them to school on the 8th either. After all, two weeks of travel, eating nothing but chicken nuggets, left them not only air sick, but also exhauted and constipated. But I had things to do and I needed them out of my hair, so I sent them to school anyway. Now they are your problem.

Thank you for your understanding.

Grand Canyon Re-View

Another year goes by and once again I found myself staring into the abyss. Ok, it was actually the Grand Canyon.

Last year we went with the Ingraham branch of the family to Arizona to visit the famous national park and one year later, to the day, we found ourselves back there again, this time with the Morris family.

Initially I was reluctant to do the return trip. We had just been to the canyon, and a the very least I felt we ought to do it during a different season. But to accomodate everyone's schedules, the week after Christmas was the only time that worked.

I was so wrong. First of all, the canyon is just so incredibly gorgeous that you can't get tired of looking at it. Plus it is a constantly changing landscape. Even sitting and watching one spot, your eyes focus in from one thing to another as the light moves and the shadows come and go.

Also, last year we had a lot of fog. On my previous trip, 15 years ago, the canyon was foggy. This year was the first time I have ever had a really clear view all the way down into the canyon.

The other thing that made this trip so great is that we took a different path. With the Ingrahams, we journeyed west to Hermit's Rest using a road that is only open to private vehicles during the months of December and January. This year we went in the other direction to the Desert View Watchtower, at the far eastern end of the canyon. The view from the top of the watchtower was breathtaking.

It was a great family vacation and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. There was a distinct lack of quarreling, which is the best gague of any family vacation. I'd even be willing to go back again next year, but I want to go to the far western end near Kingman and see the new glass skywalk. Hint, hint, Dad!