DAY FIVE -F.O.P. & MAGIC KINGDOM
MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 1997
This is the first day of our Fraternal Order of Police National Conference. Bob and I had to be over on International Drive by 7:00 a.m. We had to meet the rest of the Texas Delegation at an Embassy Suites and have a meeting before the actual conference started. I don’t know if Debbie was asleep when Bob left, but I know I left my two girls sleeping. It was hard not to want to just crawl back in bed. I guess in truth, I should say I was excited about the conference. It was my first time to be a delegate and I knew that I would learn a lot. Bob and I left in the rental car. This was another reason that we were not staying on International Drive with the rest of the conference delegates. We knew that while we were gone, the rest of our group would have free shuttles to get to the big parks, the water parks, or Disney Village. If you stay on International Drive at most of the hotels, Embassy Suites included, it costs $12.00 per trip to go to WDW on a shuttle.
Debbie and the girls had said that they would go to Epcot and then meet us at 2:00 p.m. at Disney Village.
I will not describe the conference itself. For a non-cop, it would be strictly boring. But I must say that the Orange County Convention Center is one of the most impressive buildings that I have ever seen. I lived in Washington, D.C., twenty-five years ago and worked for the Federal Government while I was in college. There are federal buildings that are not as large as this Convention Center. The building is equivalent of three city blocks long and curves across the front. Our conference had approx. 4,000 registered delegates, maybe 1,000 axillary members (who had their own convention upstairs from ours), and a smaller (couple of hundred) meeting of Associate Members. There was a large area devoted to venders of police supplies and quite a few booths with conference information and assistance. And we took up one small end of the building, first and second floor. That convention center could have held four or five conventions as large as ours and had room left over. The main conference meeting each day was scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to about 1-1:30 p.m. This left the later afternoons for Executive Board meeting and state caucuses. Neither Bob nor I had any elected position nationally and we were lucky that Texas delegates had decided to meet early each morning. So our afternoons were going to be ours to play.
Naturally, the first day’s general meeting ran a little long. We did not get to the Disney Village to meet the others until about 3:00 p.m. We met three hot, tired, and mad women. I will not try to describe their morning since we were not there. But they had gone to Epcot and they claimed that it was too hot and crowded to do anything. They spent some time in Innovations and some time in the shops. Then they left early to meet us at Disney Village. They were starving and had waited to eat with us. We decided to walk over and try the Rain Forest Cafe’ , even though we did not have reservations. We figured mid-afternoon would be the best time for that. We were told that there would be a 45 minute wait, so we put our name in and walked around the shops and water area. I will say that Rain Forest is everything that I had heard and read about it. Christi and I did not try it last November. But I will never make a trip back to WDW without at least one trip to the Rain Forest. The service was average, not bad not great. Every table was occupied and the waiter seemed to be trying hard. The food was great. We all got different meals and did some tasting of each other’s. I had the Coconut Bread Pudding for dessert and have never had a dessert that good anywhere.
After eating, the girls wanted to go to Magic Kingdom. I took off on the shuttle with them and Bob and Debbie went their own way. We rode the MK railroad around to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Christi and I enjoy the sights and watching the little kids. Amanda had never seen anything like it. We didn’t try the Barnstormer, the line was just too long. After walking around there for a bit, we moved over to Fantasyland. Christi and Amanda got in line for Dumbo and I got out two 35mm cameras and the camcorder. We had to have pictures of the two of them on the most famous Disney ride. Later, we did Toad’s Wild Ride, the Carousel, the Lion King Show, and Small World. We just leisurely enjoyed Fantasyland and all its traditional attractions. We left the park close to midnight to go back to the hotel.
I know the guide books say to circle Magic Kingdom and do all the most important rides in all the lands and then go back later for "smaller attractions." But I like to savor each separate area. If it takes me two of three days to do the entire park, fine. When it is crowded like this week, I may not see or do everything. But I do what we like at a pace that’s not hurried.