| DOING DISNEY WITH TEENAGERS cont. Alese & Morton Pechter BLIZZARD BEACH ....
Blizzard Beach was THE fabulous water park. The problem was that the day was very, very hot... and the rest of the world also knew this was THE park. It was jammed with people. We must say they were all having fun and enjoying this wet area, but it was crowded. It is built to resemble a ski resort and all the slides are made to look like snow-capped mountains. There is the Summit Plummet ... a ski-jump that offers a breathtaking plunge down the world's tallest free-fall speed slide .. Slush Gusher ... where you speed slide through a snow-banked gully ...Downhill Double Dipper ... where you try to make your best time against competition as you go down twin tube runs. There is Teamboat Springs; Toboggan Racers; Snow Stormers; Run-off Rapids; Melt-Away Bay; Cross Country Creek; Ski Patrol Training Camp; and the Tike's Place. It is a huge area loaded with people and lifeguards and other always helpful Disney cast members. Tubes are provided at some attractions; there are locker and towel rentals and life vests for children are available free of charge when you leave a form of ID at Snowless Joe's. Though food and beverages are available in several locations, you may bring your own coolers into the park, but no alcohol or glass containers. Once again, we found a spot to sit ... attempted to find some shade ... and let the rest go off on their own. This time Mom & Dad were along and they were ready to tackle those slides also. We could see the excitement and fun in the eyes of all three of our teens as they were about to share these thrill rides with their parents. We sat, tried to keep cool, and waited. We were sure Joseph & William would leave the pack as soon as they could but .. no way .. Mom broke off and returned to us after a few downhills. Dad was busy with his brood covering every toboggan run, ski lift and bobsled run. After a few hours, they had done it all .. had a simply fabulous time, even though this time, they did have long lines and waits for the tallest and fastest slides, and the walkways were very hot underfoot. They thoroughly enjoyed this adventure. We have to think it was even more fun with Mom & Dad sharing the experiences with them. PLEASURE ISLAND .... After a quick bite of supper, we ventured over to Pleasure Island, to show off what the "adult" entertainment consisted of. Joseph, William and Patricia did not know what to expect and were a little surprised at the look of the whole area. It is a street scene with lots of shops on either side and clubs with a variety of formats for dancing and listening pleasure. We followed the music to the West End Stage ... watched and listened as Frankie & The West End Boys entertained. We had timed it perfectly for the Comedy Warehouse and were able to walk right in to their first show of the evening. This was terrific. In all the times we have been in this area, we never stopped to see this show. We watched as several very gifted performers put on an improv type of show ... calling for skit suggestions from the audience and then putting it all together right on the spot. It proved to be great fun and a great place to show off Pleasure Island to teenagers. We did a walk through of several of the other nightspots .. the Adventurers Club where the guests interact with some zany characters supposedly in a 1930's explorer's club; several clubs where guests were dancing ... each with a different theme or time period. There was jazz, rock-n-roll,western ... you name it, it was there. One of the clubs had some ping-pong tables and air-hockey. Joseph & William tried these with their Dad and then we were back on the "street" to watch the dancers on the Hub Video Stage. They were excellent and exciting to watch. We had suggested staying till the clock struck midnight and Pleasure Island brings in the New Year each evening but our group was tired from the day's activities and decided it was time to call it a night. DISNEYQUEST .... You have to see DisneyQuest to believe it. It is the newest and latest in entertainment centers ...a family regional entertainment concept that combines the magic of Disney with the most engaging interactive technologies that creates ... bottom line ... fun for all!
First, of course, you have to purchase your "value card". For $15.00 you receive an admission and 60 units to use for the various activities ... for $20 you can purchase a card programmed for 90 units. There are other family, group and specials available also. Once inside the building ...and this building is 100,000 square feet ... 5 stories high ... you swipe the card at the entrance to each activity you wish to play. The number of units charged for that particular one is deducted from your card. When you have used up all the units .. you may "recharge" them for an additional cost. We had 90 units on our cards and found it more than ample to satisfy the cravings of our teens, Mom & Dad for these adventures. On with the games. We entered the Replay Zone first ... carded in for Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlaster ... and climbed into a bubble-top bumper car, decided who was to be driver or gunner and had the chance to shoot it out with playground-sized balls being hurled at the other cars. When hit, the other car loses control for a few seconds and spins in a circle. You could see the gleam in Joseph & William's eyes as they blasted those guns at Mom & Patricia's car. Dad got his chance also and they all had their share of hits and spinning. Though there were several other activities in the Replay Zone, our group was picking their activities and next was to be the roller coaster of your dreams. In the Create Zone, you can use the computers to design the ride you have always wanted to take and then buckle up and ride your creation on CyberSpace Mountain, a 360-degree, pitch-and-roll simulator. Interesting, just writing about it now makes me a little whoozy but Joseph and William designed their ride with Mom, Dad and Patricia looking on and giving advice. In they went ... into the simulator. We could watch them on a TV screen outside and could see this simulator turning and rolling over and back. It was quite a ride. The boys loved it and did not think it overwhelming. Next was the Explore Zone where they went to fly through the streets of Agrabah on a hunt to release the Genie in Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride. You sit on motorcycle type seats, each in a separate booth, don virtual reality headpieces and you are off riding this magic carpet. Though this is an exciting activity at DisneyQuest, our group found it a little too much for their stomachs after the other adventures. They are not that happy when they have to put on those virtual reality headpieces ... seems to disorient them even more. Mom & Dad ventured to the Virtual Jungle-Cruise, in which you "paddle" down an on-screen river aboard a life-size rubber raft that responds to the motion sensors in your paddle. This was rather rough white-water rafting but they enjoyed the sensation. Then we were all off to the Score Zone to try the human pin-ball game .. Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam. You jump onto a life-size joystick motion base and try to hip-check the others playing. This one had lots of action, noises of a pin-ball machine and numbered cartoon characters bouncing around on a 25-foot-tall pinball screen in front of the players. The trick was to keep your eye on your own ball and move it where you wanted. There is a score kept for each game ... and this time Dad was the winner with #2 ball! After these we were ready for some quieter adventures. Going back to the Create Zone, we found the Animation Academy where you could learn some of the secrets of Disney Animation; Create-a-Toy, where, with a computer, you can create your own toy from a vast menu of parts and then are able to purchase the parts for it to take home and assemble. Sticker Shots is a new twist on the old photo-booths we remembered. You go into a curtained area ... select a background ... snap your own photo ... and a few minutes later out pops a sheet of a dozen stickers with your photo that you can take home, use on letters or whatever. The usual video, arcade and redemption games are also present ... and we spent some time watching each challenge Dad to a air-hockey championship match. With all the skills that Joseph & William could muster, Dad still came out on top in this one. They rode the motorcycles, skied the slopes, drove the cars, threw the basketballs, clawed for prizes ... the boys are experts at this one and managed to hold onto a little elephant. They showed us their juggling skills and then gathered up all their tickets to cash in for a surprise present for their younger sister, Diana who was back home. In all, we spent close to three hours and had a great time. There were many other rides and adventures in the various zones ... we have only mentioned a few ... and there is something for everyone. Two to three hours is ample time to be there. We went in the morning and there were no crowds or long waits for anything we wanted to do. There are also two food areas to sit, relax and break up the stream of activities. DisneyQuest at Downtown Disney is the first of several of these regional entertainment centers. Plans have been announced for future sites in 20-30 other major domestic and international destination markets. There should be one in Chicago some time in 1999. We ventured forth onto the streets of Downtown Disney ... looked in several shops ... and decided on Wolfgang Puck's for lunch. The food was excellent, though we had to wait a longtime for it to be served. Back at the hotel, it was time for a swim. No one wanted a water park today so off they all went to the hotel pool to swim, relax and cool down. Mom & Dad left us around 6pm as they had to return home. It had been a full, fun-filled day. The rest of us had some supper and went back to Downtown Disney to take in a movie at theAMC Theatres. It was nice to be out for the evening, see a good film and not have to walk too much. It was an early night ... all were in bed by 10:30pm and probably asleep by 10:35pm! Tomorrow was to be our last full day here. THE DISNEY INSTITUTE ....
Having visited here previously, we were aware of the facilities and had sampled some of the classes. However, our teens were very dubious. They were on vacation and had no desire to be sitting in a classroom. We had our breakfast and got to the Institute around 9:30am to register for the programs. Patricia signed on for a Baking class and the boys selected the Animation Sampler. While we took Patricia to the North Studios that housed the cooking classes ... the boys remained in the lounge area. We could read in their eyes that they had determined this was not going to be a fun activity but were good sports enough to suffer through the two hour confinement to a classroom. Patricia, on the other hand, was looking forward to her experience. When we entered the "classroom" those eyes were shining even brighter. Gary Jones, the chef for this class greeted Patricia with a big, broad smile ... shaking her hand warmly ... and announcing that he had been looking forward to her joining with them. They chatted for a few moments while we took in the surroundings. The kitchen arrangement was like one you would find in a magnificent House & Gardens pictorial. Several individual cooking stations grouped around the one central one for the instructor. We saw some of the ingredients they would be working with .. and our mouths watered. We left Patricia in the lounge area, where she met several of the others who would be taking this class along with her. There were 7 for this group. Patricia's class was called Studio Bakery (and we could see, involved some sort of chocolate recipe.) Next door was another story book kitchen where Chef Mark was holding court with a class on the Art of Healthy Cooking. Knowing Patricia was in good hands we went back to see that our boys got to the right classroom. They were in South Studios. We walked into that one as it was just getting started. Jim Karkis, the instructor was introducing himself to the group. There was a U-shaped table with chairs for each. In front of each place was a plastic container with paints, and some other materials they would be using for this Animation Sampler. Jim stood in the middle of the "U"with a large easel size sketch pad next to him. We left our brood to discover for themselves and then bounced in and out of several of the other classes to gather some photos and get an idea of what else was being offered. When we returned to Patricia's baking class and Gary Jones ... they were in the midst of learning how to make cookie designs with an icing tube (using a plastic bag to make this tube) ......... and melting chocolate for something that smelled very good. In Chef Mark's class they were learning how to make those delicious, wafer thin, fluted bread crusts that can be used to hold salads. In the Animation Sampler they were discovering how the animation process works from start to finish .. painting a cel, touring the other studios to see how clay animation and computer animation work and making a bouncing ball flip-book as well as learning how to draw some "characters." While waiting, we made discoveries of our own. The Institute offers programs of all descriptions and for all ages from 7 on up. There is a personal enrichment program schedule by the week with classes presented in time slots throughout the day. There are 5 animation courses, 6 cooking courses, Behind the Scenes tours; courses for gardening and the great outdoors; television and film; sports and fitness; golf lessons; tennis lessons; a Camp Disney for 7-10 year-olds and a Camp Disney for ages 11-15. A magnificent Spa offers a variety of treatments that will pamper you with natural spa therapies from around the world ... including massage and hydro-therapy, body wraps, facials, aromatherapy and complete hand and foot care. The Institute is situated on 57 acres that includes paths for biking and canals for canoeing; lighted outdoor clay tennis courts; an 18-hole championship golf course and a multi-purpose sports field .... and six outdoor swimming pools. On special occasions they have visiting artists and speakers representing the music, film, theater and dance world ... as well as a Cinema where you can view classic animated features or contemporary independent cinema. What a hidden gem this turned out to be. As for our teens ... we went back to gather them up when the classes were supposed to be over. Patricia knew we were gathering up her brothers first ... and it took some time to do that. They did not want to leave!! They just wanted to "hang out" with Jim Karkis and chat some more.
They showed off proudly the cel they had hand painted, the flip-book they had made. Their eyes were bright and glistening with excitement as they told us about Jim Karkis. He was exciting, animated, knowledgeable, talented, warm, friendly .... an artist, an actor .... well, absolutely everything you could possibly imagine. He could mimic the voices of many of the Disney characters and poured forth some fun facts ....
The boys learned the "secret" tricks to making flip-books and Jim took special care to teach them how to sketch several of the characters. They were so excited and keyed up they just kept talking and overlapping each other's conversation, afraid they would not be able to tell us absolutely everything! Well, this one was one huge success! We all went back to pick up Patricia. There she was, still in the kitchen in the delightful apron that Disney provided .... just putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece ... and it was a masterpiece. A plate of chocolate delicacies, looking as if the finest pastry chef at the finest restaurant had just brought them to our table. The plate was hand-decorated around the edges and along the sides ... there were chocolate truffles with a chocolate cup filled with a softer concoction of white chocolate ... a standing "z" shaped cookie and a lacy bit of chocolate to dress it up. As soon as Joseph and William spotted it ... they were ready to tear it apart and eat it but we managed to get them to hold off till later. Along with this magnificent dessert plate, Patricia also had a bag filled with additional chocolate truffles that were hers to take along with her. Most of Patricia's group and the Healthy Cooking contingent joined each other at the comfortable tables in the outer lounge area ... to share some coffee, their creations and chat about their experience. It was interesting to see that the groups were widely mixed. Several men and boys and girls were also in the cooking sessions and the boys animation class had a mixture of ages and sexes also. Driving back to the hotel, the conversation continued ... or should we say the animated descriptions of each classroom were detailed to us. This was one of THE best experiences they had had all week we were told! If we were staying longer, they would love to take more of the sessions! Joseph & William went home from this one with paints, the cel they had hand painted, brushes, some character drawings and a flip-book. Patricia went home with her plateful of a gourmet designed dessert and a box full of her homemade chocolates. She even had an email address for Chef Gary in case she had any culinary questions she might want to ask him. But more important than the physical things they went home with was some new and exciting knowledge that will be with them for the rest of their lives. They are all excellent students and do love school but here they found that some schooling, even during vacation time, can be fun and exciting. They all voted to return to the Institute for more classes during a future visit to Disney. Were we delighted! The one activity we were most concerned about turned out to be their favorite. One class at The Disney Institute costs $69.00 ... you can take two classes in one day for a cost of $99.00. There are many other pricing combinations so check it out before you go. Special programs are available for youth ages 7 and older. If you want any further information you may phone 407-827-4800. MGM STUDIOS ....
They were anxious to take off on their own and explore the rest of MGM ... so off they went. We had arranged a time to meet back at the hotel so we could all have a nice dinner together. Patricia elected to roam the park with us. Patricia's interests were different from Joseph & William so it was nice to be with her alone. We were able to select some stops we knew she would love. Our first was to see the live show, Beauty & The Beast. The theater is very close to the Tower of Terror ... the next show was just about to start so we walked quickly to get in before they closed the ropes. It was a delight and Patricia loved it. We began to walk, arrived at The Great Movie Ride and saw there was absolutely no line so in we went. This is always a pleasant ride ... comfortable seats, air-conditioned, no wait and a fun tour of the history of the movies taking us back to stars, scenes and music from the classic films we remember. From there we moved on. Patricia had been studying the map intensely and selected as our next stop ... Superstar Television. We were not sure why until we got there. There were crowds waiting in the covered rotunda and as we arrived a man came to a platform with a microphone. He was there to select some of the guests to be on stage and take part in the show. This is what Patricia wanted. She wanted to be one of those selected. It was obvious that there were lots of boys, girls and adults who also had the same idea. They were yelling and screaming trying to get the MC's attention so he would pick them. Patricia is not of the "yelling and screaming" type, but perhaps that is what he was looking for as she was selected. Off she went backstage to be "in the show." We had no idea what she would be doing but proceeded in with the crowds, took our seats and waited. The show was great fun. They had video clips of many old famous TV shows ... Johnny Carson, Gilligan's Island, News, etc. The Disney guests took the parts of the actual players or were guest artists on the show. Our Patricia ended up on The Ed Sullivan Show ... as one of the three singers in The Bonzells!! The gals were terrific .. all dressed in Disney supplied costumes while they lip-sychned the words ... with lots of gestures ... to one of the songs the Bonzells had made famous. The man sitting next to us must have had several of his brood in the show as he was very forceful with his cheering and applauding. The whole audience was into this one and it was great fun. Patricia had picked a good stop. We knew that the Indiana Jones show was a "must see" when at MGM so off we went to catch that one. Luck was with us again ... or the time of day ... and we walked right into that performance also. This is always a spectacular show. They select people from the audience here as well, but Patricia was not interested in performing here. On to the next attraction. We were anxious to have Patricia see the Studios Backlot Tour. We must have arrived just as the previous show had filled as we found ourselves first in the line. The Disney cast member at the entrance spotted Patricia and asked her something. Off she went with him behind one of the "cast only" doors. We waited for the line to move forward for the next presentation. We all filed in, found places along the walkway and looked out at a small lake with a tugboat tied to the dock .. and miniature battleships in the water and some other boat-type props. Out walked the performers ... and there was our Patricia in a bright yellow slicker. Once again, she was part of the "cast" for this performance ... this time she had gallons of water dumped on her tugboat as she captained it for the "shoot". The purpose was to show how the movies can make things happen on a backlot, in miniature ... and we then see it in the movies as the real thing. Patricia did get a little wet with this one, but enjoyed every minute. By the time she had dried off backstage and returned to us, there was not time to go through the rest of this tour. We had a dinner reservation and had to return to the hotel. For Patricia the visit to MGM was a huge success. We regrouped at the hotel. Joseph and William had been back for some time and were just relaxing. They had gotten to see the Indiana Jones show, walked around the whole area and then returned to the hotel. They had not seen half of what Patricia took in .... but ... they had had their freedom and independence and loved it. Dinner that evening was to be special. We had made a reservation at Chefs de France Restaurant in the France Showcase at EPCOT. We walked to the World Showcase ... to the restaurant .. our reservation was honored right away ... were given a lovely table ... and then sat, relaxed and content while we dined with traditional French elegance. William got very courageous and ordered the frog legs. We were told they did not taste like chicken but were okay. There was a continual stream of chatter as we talked about everything. Dinner over, we went straight back to the hotel to relax and pack. This was our last adventure for this trip ... next morning the destination was home! HOME AGAIN .....
We sat back and just listened. What a delightful sound this was to us. We knew, for sure, that this trip with our teenagers had been a success. We had many doubts before we left home. Were they too old for Disney? Was there anything there they might enjoy? Are teenagers too jaded to appreciate some of the Disney activities? Would they become bored? The animated conversations and story telling was enough for us. We took our leave and left them to recount the day by day adventures ... detail by detail. Absolutely fantastic!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.... Although our "teens" originally wanted only the water parks .... once there they elected to visit just 2 parks and did not want to return for second visits. There were just too many other, new adventures to fill their time. Disney Tickets ...
Select some of the special attractions in each park or venue that you know you or your children might enjoy and head for those. It is exhausting trying to do a whole park in one day. Pick the times to ... be at Disney ... and be in the parks. Late afternoon usually avoids some of the crowds and the sun. If you are early risers and are going during the summer .. and staying at a Disney resort .. you may enter the selected park early ... before the rest of the crowds pour in. There are other things to do at Disney besides the parks ...
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After lunch we regrouped at the hotel, Mom joined with us, and we were off to another waterpark ... Blizzard Beach. Incidentally, Mom liked her massage but was disappointed with the ambiance of the facility. The massage area was strictly a room with a table off the fitness center at the hotel. We understand there are plush spa arrangements at The Grand Floridian Hotel and at The Disney Institute. We shall have to check those out on a future visit.
We knew this one would be special for Joseph & William and lots of fun for Patricia. There are four different types of entertainment environments ... Explore Zone; Score Zone; Replay Zone and Create Zone ... each with unique activities.
Our adventure today had us a little worried as we were not quite sure how it would be received by 3 active teens. We had scheduled them for classes at The Disney Institute. The Institute provides an extraordinary vacation experience. Although a world class resort in itself with beautiful accommodations in a pastoral type setting; tennis courts, golf course, swimming pools, large gymnasium, dining rooms, lounges and a terrace bar .... this Disney complex offers so much more.
We returned to our hotel, put away our treasures, washed up and went for lunch at the ESPN Club before taking off for the MGM Studios. We took the Disney Boat transportation to the gate, went with Joseph & William to their main attraction, The Tower of Terror! We thought they might have a long wait for this one and just wanted to keep them company on the line. To our surprise, there was no wait ... they walked right in and onto the "elevator". We met them at the exit and though they did enjoy the experience .. did not find it too terrifying .. the fact that there was no line did not seem to encourage them to "do" this again. We know many others who have been on this one 4 and 5 times and we were surprised they had no desire for a second ride. 
In the car driving home, all three of our young-adult passengers were excited. They could not wait to tell Mom & Dad of the adventures they had missed ... and to hug their little sister, Diana. Once at the house, it was bedlam. Even while they carried their luggage up to their rooms the chatter was progressing. All three were talking at once .. each wanting to tell his story first, or at least, the loudest.