Wow, you guys are great! Thank you.

Our plans continue to be refined:

Day 1: Epcot
We may leave to have lunch at Wolfgang Puck cafe
Dinner at Chef de France in the property
Finish in time to see the light/fireworks show

Day 2: Animal Kingdom
Lunch at Yak & Yati
Dinner at Citricos at Grand Floridian in order to see the fireworks. Does anyone know when the fireworks start? Got to balance the dinner time with the show time.

Day 3: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: don't know
Dinner: will grab something just before the flight home, I guess. I so love the look of hungry fliers when I break out a wonderful meal on a meal-less flight.

Thanks for all your advice!

Doug

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/calendar/

Click on a day you will be there and it will show you the schedule of special events.

Debbie

Debbie: Thank you. That helped so much!!!!

So, we have changed our plans a wee bit.
Given that the MK fireworks start at 10pm (thanks, Debbie), a 9:25 at Citricos won't work. I was told by Disney that you can't see the fireworks from the restaurant.
Now, we will be at Tchoup Chop..Emeril's place. An early dinner & back to the water for the fireworks. The menu looks good. As long as the traffic behaves, we will have a wonderful night.

As always, all comments/suggestions are welcomed.

Doug

Hyatt Grand Cypress has free shuttles to the parks but they only operate 2x a day - so you may want to check that out if you don't want to drive over. Rooms were recently renovated - to mixed reviews.

RE: Costco / Hyatt check (gift) certificates - apparently its an item that is being discontinued - so go and buy some soon if you want them - also, there are reports that some properties are being very picky in terms of the rates that you can use these on - YMMV.

Thanks, Peter.

I will let you know how things work with the Costco/Hyatt certificates.
The printed conditions look pretty clear, and we are Plat with Hyatt. BUT, if we have a problem, we'll get a refund from Costco & write some letters to Hyatt. I'm guessing we will be better off in the end if some jerk gives us a hard time. But it *should* work easily.

Doug and Andi, Guess what??? Our son Steve and his lady friend will be at Old Key West on Friday and Sat, African Villas on Sunday and Sarasoto on the 5th and 6th. He's the one with a camera (mine)....his HD TV camera is a bit large to carry around,LOL.
Have a very Happy Anniversary :b: Pat

Our wonderful trip is over! (big sob)
BUT we had a wonderful time...much because of all your input!

Many Many thanks!

Doug

Doug, so glad you and Andi had a great trip and anniversary!

I'd like to share our experiences with all of you since you were so helpful. The Hyatt had its plusses and minuses. I really understand Peter's comments. It wasn't a total 4 or 5 star total experience, but it was still very nice--especially for the money. The food at breakfast was very good, the place--inside and out--was nicely appointed and very pretty. The service levels were very friendly and good and the grounds and activities were great. The food at the Regency Club was very nice. Views were beautiful. It is quite well located. There was a very large safe in the room and a refrigerator. The bed was comfortable. All in all, for the price, the value was there. On the negative side, while attractive, the rooms were poorly designed to almost being dysfunctional. The storage space was almost non-existant. There was only a half a closet and the bar was at about 3 feet, so there was no place to hang a dress. All hangers were the clip hangers and clothes dragged on the floor and got wrinkled. The modern tub/shower had a nice seat, but needed an instruction manual to figure it out. I never got it straight in three days. The bathroom was large, but there was no counter or storage space. Housekeeping service was poor and there were mistakes on our bill. The Regency Club was very small. Rates, including full breakfast, Regency Club with continental breakfast, afternoon snacks, pre-dinner drinks and appetizers, climbing walls, a large and wonderful pool, non motorized boating, pitch and putt, newspapers and free internet and parking came to under 200 per day. Now, Disney wasn't walking distance and we had to pay $14 per day for parking. But, we've stayed at the Disney properties... Grand Floridian, the Yacht and Beach Club and the Carribean Beach and they are ever so much more expensive an experience, while a tad more convenient. The weather was great in a way...only in the 80's, though it rained off and on...which cooled it down even more. Food at Epcot was fantastic and the park wasn't crowded at all. The fireworks were amazing. All in all, it was an anniversary to remember. Of course, the guy I was with made it ever so special!!!

Glad you 2 had a great time!

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice. We had a wonderful time.

Here's a short piece I did on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride. One of the best ever at Walt Disney World, I think.

Doug

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5563020/disney_hollywood_studios_twilight_zone.html

Excellent review Doug....Keep them coming....

The thing that I find interesting about the TOT ride is that the experience in Orlando and Anaheim is different. In Orlando, the car actually leaves the elevator shaft and wanders through a few rooms before it re-enters the shaft and does the whole drop thing. In Anaheim, the car never leaves the shaft. From that standpoint, I think the Orlando one is superior. :)

Great review Doug. I had to go to the Hollywood Studio on business once and I used the employee entrance. The guard house is right behind the Tower of Terror where you can clearly hear the constant screaming of the riders. I couldn’t imagine having a job where you would have to hear horrific screaming and yelling every 15 seconds. Tom.

Tom:
I can only imagine that is like living near the train tracks. After a certain amount of time, you just don't hear those sounds as much.

Masaki: I did not know about that difference. I do agree with you. The extra movement added an nice extra touch to the ride.

Doug

Ok, here is another piece I wrote after our trip. This one focuses in Epcot and China in the World Showcase. Think Terra Cotta Warriors.

www.associatedcontent.com/article/5570582/china_at_epcot_in_walt_disney_world.html

Doug