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The 4F Trip Report
Day 08 - 04-Jul-2009 - Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Fantasmic
It might be worth having a quick review of the dramatis personae
Okay, on with the report. The 4th of July. Independence Day. Busy parks. Late night last night. This was carefully planned to be a relaxed day, just to be spent in and around the pool. But things never quite work to plan, and it turned out that today was the only day that I could fit Fantasmic into the mix. I was wanting to go for the Fantasmic dining plan, where you eat in a nominated restaurant and get a ticekt to let you into a special area of the Fantasmic arena for the show, but with it being the 4th of July, the only restaurant I could book was the Brown Derby - the most expensive restaurant in the park!
Never mind. Did I say a day for everyone to splash around the pool? Well, almost. I decided that I wanted to hit the Magic Kingdom to take some better photographs of the show I had seen on the first day, and also I wanted to go and collect the car for tomorrow's trip to the Kennedy Space Center. So I left the others at the pool and got the bus to Magic Kingdom.
I arrived about 10am, and was able to get in easily. The place was buzzing with excitement, and was very busy. There was a cast member at the entrance handing out little "Stars and Stripes" plastic pins - I collected one for each of the children and suppressed a smile when I noticed that they were Made In China.
There were characters I didn't recognise:
And then I noticed the barber shop quartet. I followed them through the crowd and managed to catch up with them. They were singing "Nellie Dean" to an old lady who was obviously knocked out by it. They sang beautifully!
After a couple of songs I left and walked to the castle. Since there was still half an hour or so until the show, I tried a few photos of the local flora and statuary
And then there there was nothing to do but wait.
About ten minutes before the show, Mr Pyro Man came along and placed all the pyros into their holders. Note the good technique here, making sure that the pyro is pointed away from his face as he inserts it into the holder. Get that wrong, and any residual charge in the firing circuit could really ruin your day...
A few minutes after he had gone, another stage crew member walked round checking all that had been done - very impressive examples of best practice here!
At last the show started - Donald, Minnie, and (oh heck, I can never remember whether it's Pluto or Goofy!) a dog, along with a beautiful chorus.
The dancers seem intent on doing as many pirouettes as possible, to show off their previously alluded to recession-busting legs (don't worry, I'll only put one such picture in here - there's no recession at the Dibb!)
Now the dancers I know say it's not fair - boys can get away with much more than women can. Looking at the high kicks of the dancers on the left of this picture, the girls may have a point!
Then we get the Princesses and their Consorts:
But Donald gets fed up with this, looking for some boyish excitement and adventure, and none of this wussy girly stuff. So in comes a boy in tights. Everyone dresses up as Pirates, and we get a bit of yo-ho-hoing
(Drat! Another flash of leg there. Sorry. Won't happen again)
The 4F Trip Report
Day 08 - 04-Jul-2009 - Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Fantasmic
It might be worth having a quick review of the dramatis personae
- Alan - Daddy, main organiser who spends much of his time behind the camera
- Marie - Mummy
- Jenni - DD9
- Cameron - DS7
- Uncle John - my brother-in-law
- Granny and Granda - Marie's parents
Okay, on with the report. The 4th of July. Independence Day. Busy parks. Late night last night. This was carefully planned to be a relaxed day, just to be spent in and around the pool. But things never quite work to plan, and it turned out that today was the only day that I could fit Fantasmic into the mix. I was wanting to go for the Fantasmic dining plan, where you eat in a nominated restaurant and get a ticekt to let you into a special area of the Fantasmic arena for the show, but with it being the 4th of July, the only restaurant I could book was the Brown Derby - the most expensive restaurant in the park!
Never mind. Did I say a day for everyone to splash around the pool? Well, almost. I decided that I wanted to hit the Magic Kingdom to take some better photographs of the show I had seen on the first day, and also I wanted to go and collect the car for tomorrow's trip to the Kennedy Space Center. So I left the others at the pool and got the bus to Magic Kingdom.
I arrived about 10am, and was able to get in easily. The place was buzzing with excitement, and was very busy. There was a cast member at the entrance handing out little "Stars and Stripes" plastic pins - I collected one for each of the children and suppressed a smile when I noticed that they were Made In China.
There were characters I didn't recognise:
And then I noticed the barber shop quartet. I followed them through the crowd and managed to catch up with them. They were singing "Nellie Dean" to an old lady who was obviously knocked out by it. They sang beautifully!
After a couple of songs I left and walked to the castle. Since there was still half an hour or so until the show, I tried a few photos of the local flora and statuary
And then there there was nothing to do but wait.
About ten minutes before the show, Mr Pyro Man came along and placed all the pyros into their holders. Note the good technique here, making sure that the pyro is pointed away from his face as he inserts it into the holder. Get that wrong, and any residual charge in the firing circuit could really ruin your day...
A few minutes after he had gone, another stage crew member walked round checking all that had been done - very impressive examples of best practice here!
At last the show started - Donald, Minnie, and (oh heck, I can never remember whether it's Pluto or Goofy!) a dog, along with a beautiful chorus.
The dancers seem intent on doing as many pirouettes as possible, to show off their previously alluded to recession-busting legs (don't worry, I'll only put one such picture in here - there's no recession at the Dibb!)
Now the dancers I know say it's not fair - boys can get away with much more than women can. Looking at the high kicks of the dancers on the left of this picture, the girls may have a point!
Then we get the Princesses and their Consorts:
But Donald gets fed up with this, looking for some boyish excitement and adventure, and none of this wussy girly stuff. So in comes a boy in tights. Everyone dresses up as Pirates, and we get a bit of yo-ho-hoing
(Drat! Another flash of leg there. Sorry. Won't happen again)
your photo's are once again amazing - total respect 
).
