DAY 13

SUN 9th JAN 2000

Up around 8:00. Tammy goes to the food court to get the coffee and chocolate croissants. What a kind person you are probably thinking, but I see through this cunning plan for the devilish work that it is. She is loose in the food court with no one to control her, lock up your pastries!

Over to the Studios by 10:00. Today is the WDW Marathon and they have been running for 4 hours as they pass through the Studios at the 23 mile point. If I had to do a marathon anywhere in the world it would be here. They start and finish in Epcot and run through all 4 parks. There are lots of people clapping and cheering and encouraging them, including the CM's who are very enthusiastic.
The actual park crowds are again minimal and we walk on to the Tower of Terror. When I say 'we' I mean me, India and Grandma. Tammy chickens out and stays with Georgia. The new multi-drop sequence is good fun but does turn my stomach over a bit. Maybe it's just because I have a weak stomach, I am slightly prone to motion sickness.

Across to the Great Movie Ride which is again a walk on. As we pass through the movie theatre India is reading the film titles. When Fantasia comes up India reads about the 'Nutcracker Suet'. A real pudding that one. The Great Movie Ride is still nice but could probably do with updating now.
On to Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous. While we are waiting to get in India is telling Georgia about Star Tours (one of her favourites.) Apparently it is a 'stimulator' ride. Now I had heard that it was going to have a rehab but this may be going a bit too far! I enjoy the sound show, but then again I have always enjoyed the sound booths and this is just an extension of them.

Rock 'n Roller Coaster is next with fastpasses we got earlier. This time India rides for the first time with Tam. She says she has a headache when she gets off. I don't think she was leaning her head back fully into the restraint.
While we are waiting for them to come off the ride Georgia has been looking at the Tower of Terror and has decided she knows how it works. She tells me that it goes up and down because it has got string on it. So there you go all you technical people, now you know.
As we entered the area in front of Rock 'n Roller Coaster we see someone drop a bucket of popcorn on the floor by a bench. I comment to Tam that I wonder if it will still be there when we come out. Sure enough, as we leave it has all been cleared away.

It's lunch next at the Backlot Express. I have the chicken in a bun and Tammy has a hot dog. We are both amazed when the girls decide to have something reasonably healthy, a tuna sub.

The Muppets are next and we arrive perfectly to see the whole pre-show. I like the construction guys putting up the signs best. You have got to love the Muppets.

Next is Star Tours. Even at 2:30 this is still only a 10 minute wait. As we head off to Endor, Georgia asks if this is real. A little later she asks in a slightly worried voice if this is really happening. I tell her that it is not but she doesn't look too convinced.

At 3:00 we leave the park with the temperature touching 80 and beautiful blue skies. We set the girls and Grandma up by the pool and Tammy and I set out to pick up our Interamerican hire car. Well, we are supposed to be picked up at 4:00. At 4:15 they have not arrived so we call again. They say that they have had a problem and that the man is on his way. He finally arrives at 4:50 and off we go to get the car. He takes us to a place called E-Z Car who then proceed to charge us $250 for 4 days rental (including insurance and taxes) which is not bad but is certainly more than the $180 we were quoted. Anyway, the guy does not seem interested in doing anything about it only in repeatedly telling us that it is a good rate. As we are stuck out in the middle of nowhere we just take the car and make the best of it. I suppose that it shows that sometimes it is better to stick to the well known reputable names.

Back at the room we shower and change before going to the lounge to enjoy a pitcher of beer and a plate of very spicy chicken wings. These things must put the sales of beer up no end.
We take a walk along the Sassagoula River to Port Orleans. This is a very pretty walk, especially at night. We sit in Scat Cat's Lounge and have more beer (at least I do, the ladies have a coffee liqueur thing) and share a huge plate of nachos with cheese and chilli and tomatoes and peppers and onion and roasted iguana. OK, so I made that last one up, but it seemed to have just about everything else. We all attack it but it still defeats us.

A slow walk back to Dixie Landings sees us all in bed just after 10:00 as we are going to venture off site for the first time tomorrow.

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