My May 1997 Walt Disney World Vacation
**All the pictures shown on this page can be viewed on the pages of the attractions they show, also you can see a large version of each picture by clicking on it**
Day 1
On Tuesday, May 20th, we arrived at the beautiful Caribbean Beach Resort, a little after 3pm. During check-in there was a slight problem with our credit card, but the Disney folks handled it well. Then we quickly found our room and unpacked. First,
we decided to look around
Walt Disney World, and, after alot of bus riding and walking found ourselves at the Boardwalk. We watched some jugglers, did a little shopping, and then decided to find The Fantasia Gardens Mini-Golf. We were glad we went on that particular day because it was their one year anniversary, and we got a commemorative button. The golf was hard, but extremely fun! Finally after, after alot more walking and bus riding we got back to The Caribbean Beach Resort to sample the food court, and discovered that it is quite good!
Day 2
We woke up early and caught a bus for the MGM early entry. At MGM, I convinced my parents to go on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
It was thrilling. My dad and I were amazed by the detail in the hotel. Next, we went on The Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, Muppet Vision 3-D, and had a nice breakfast. Then it was off to the Magic Kingdom to ride The Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and some Tomorrowland attractions. Next, it was time for
"Remember The Magic", which was okay. Then we decided to try one of the smoked turkey legs from Frontierland; it tasted like ham. Then it was off to The Country Bear Jamboree, followed by a relaxing exploration of Tom Sawyer Island. I love that place.
Then we had a few more rides on The Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion until SpectroMagic began. It was very impressive. Then we had a wild ride with Mr. Toad and finished with a ride on The Skyway just as the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks were set off. It was a wonderful view and a great way to end the day!
Day 3
In the morning we headed to Blizzard Beach. It was amazing. The tube slides and the lazy river were fun, except for the ice cold water falls in the latter. We were too chicken to go on Summit Plummet (Splash Mountain without a log). At closing time we headed to Gooding's supermarket at the Crossroads of Lake Buena Vista and then back to the Caribbean Beach Resort.
Day 4
We woke up early and headed over to Epcot for it's early entry. We experienced Spaceship Earth, Journey into Imagination, and the Alladin virtual reality game at 
Innoventions. Then we hopped over to MGM, where we saw the spectacular Indiana Jones stunt show, then the backlot tour, followed by the backstage pass. On the latter
we got to see the sets from the live action movie "From the Earth to the Moon" that was currently in production. It is being directed by Tom Hanks; unfortunately he wasn't there that day. Next we saw the, now retired, Toy Story parade. A good tip for travelers is to bring your own Tylenol, because it is really expensive to buy from the park. Then we walked around the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground before a fun dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In restaurant. This is one of the best restaurants at Walt Disney World. Then we took the Magic of Disney Animation tour and saw the show Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Then we jumped over to The Magic Kingdom for a ride on The Walt Disney World Railroad, Goofy's roller coaster, and It's a Small World. Then a great view of Tinker Bell's flight before the fireworks wrapped up the day.
Day 5
Today, we woke up early again and went to the early entry at the Magic Kingdom. We rode Peter Pan's Flight, the creepy Alien Encounter, Snow White's Adventure
and then decided to try something we've never done before-The Keel Boat. Next we did The Adventureland Challenge, but didn't get very far. The Jungle Cruise was next, followed by lunch at Tony's Town Square restaurant. This is a restaurant that "Lady and the Tramp" lovers will simply adore. After lunch, we went back to The Caribbean Beach Resort for a swim and a rest.
We also locked ourselves out of our room by accident, but in a matter of minutes we were back in our room courtesy of the wonderful Disney folks. Then we headed back to The Magic Kingdom for the late showing of SpectroMagic, but we didn't get to see much of it because Splash Mountain beckoned with a very short line. We rode it once before closing time.
Day 6
In the morning we headed over to Typhoon Lagoon and had our pick of
chairs in the shade unlike Blizzard Beach. The lazy river at Typhoon Lagoon is better than the one at Blizzard Beach, mainly because there isn't ice cold water poured on you. We loved the wave pool, the shark reef, and the tube slides. we also found that there is more shade everywhere at Typhoon Lagoon than Blizzard Beach and it made the heat much more manageable. After closing time we drove to the Disney Village Marketplace. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very pleasant shopping experience because it was so busy and it was raining!
Day 7
At 9am we made our way to Epcot and zoomed through Wonders of Life and Horizons. At 
11am we started World Showcase at Mexico and went clockwise around to the American Adventure where we hopped over to the United Kingdom for fish and chips. After dinner we walked over to Canada where we did it's attractions and talked to some of the Cast Members about my home country "Canada". The most surprising thing
was that one of the Cast Members went to highschool with my sister! After Canada we went on Universe of Energy, looked through Innoventions, and browsed through France and Morroco. Then it was time for Illuminations. It was stunning and is probably one of the best shows at Walt Disney World. After Illuminations we walked around World Showcase and enjoyed the lights on the pavillions and the music lingering from Illuminations.
Day 8
For our last day at the parks we decided to do as much as possible. We started at Epcot's early entry, with The living Seas and The Land. Next, we went to MGM and saw The 
Hunchback of Notre Dame and Beauty and the Beast shows. The acapela group called "Four for a Dollar" filling time before the latter was as good as anything we had heard. Just another example of Disney surprises. Just before we left, I managed to get my parents on The Tower of Terror one last time. Surprisingly, they 
liked it better than the first time! Then we headed over to River Country where the slides were the best part. It scared me though, to know that it seems that anything that could get into Bay Lake could get into River Country. From River Country we took a boat to the Magic Kingdom to do The Haunted Mansion, Legend of the Lion King, and Peter Pan's Flight. Then right before SpectroMagic, my dad and I finally convinced my mom to go on Splash Mountain because there was no line. It didn't matter that we were 
going to miss SpectroMagic because we got 
some good views of it from the ride. After the ride and its horrifying drop were over, we managed to convince my mom to go on it again, with very little prodding. Instead of having a good view of SpectroMagic, this time we had a great view of the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks! As we walked out of the park I realized how spooky it is when it's dark and empty. Think about it...
Day 9
Today we sadly woke up, packed, and left The Caribbean Beach Resort. But that wasn't
the end of our Disney experiences, because when we exited Walt Disney World we headed straight to the town of Celebration-the town that Disney built. This town is so pretty, so perfect, so ideal. It has a wonderful bookstore, ice cream parlour, grocery store, bread store, movie theater and much, much more. We saw a movie at the theatre, bought some groceries, had a nice dinner at Max's Cafe, which is also wonderful; and then left the town of which I hope to be a future resident. That was my Walt Disney World vacation.
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All photos are copyright 1997 by Josh Schacht