By the time I got to the rope at Toontown, there was already a full row of people waiting. I wondered how many of them were Disers. They all seemed pretty savvy on their Disney planning. I didnt see any lime green (do Disers still wear lime green?) and didnt ask anybody, but there must have been some in there somewhere.
To pass the time before rope drop, I took some photos from my spot in line.
A view of Cinderella Castle rising beyond the trees in Fantasyland.
There wasnt a whole lot directly in front of me, so I ended up just taking a bunch of pictures of the Welcome to Mickeys Toontown Fair sign. Im sure this will be a thing of the past in the next few years too.
Since this waiting isnt the most interesting thing to write or read about, lets jump to Tomorrowland where Buzz was going to ride another of his (and my) favorites in the Magic Kingdom, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. We were planning on doing it together later on, but Buzz figured that this was a ride he wouldnt mind doing multiple times in one day. The line was pretty much a walk-on so Buzz rode twice. On his second time through he managed to find some secret target fairly early on into the ride worth a ton of points, causing him to reach the max score of 999,999 and the rank of Galactic Hero before even leaving the first room!
None of us have ever managed to get the max score here before (I usually have a hard time ever making it past Space Scout). Needless to say, Buzz was thrilled with this. After lingering in Tomorrowland a little, Buzz headed off to Toontown, hoping to get in a ride on the Barnstormer next.
About the time that Buzz was getting the high score, it was just about time for the big rope drop. A few CMs came out with some announcements on how were all supposed to walk to our destination with no running, pushing, darting in front of people, etc. Once the rope was dropped, everyone was walked to either the Hall of Fame or Mickeys House (the Barnstormer was down on technical difficulties this morning, unbeknownst to Buzz). As Im walking to the Hall of Fame, I notice Mickey hanging out on his front porch. I knew that would have been a fantastic picture, but I had to keep moving. Breaking from the crowd at this point would have ensured a much longer wait at Pixie Hollow, and this morning, that was my main goal. All in all, the rope drop hoopla wasnt as bad as Id heard people say with people pushing children out of the way and strollers being used as weapons and such, but it was still pretty hectic, and a few parents were getting awfully close to breaking that no running rule. Can't imagine what it's like on a busier day!
Once inside everyone separated out into two lines- the fast-moving Princess line and the slower-moving Fairies one, much to the annoyance of most parents standing around me in the Fairies line. From the moment I got in line to the point where I was brought into the shrinking hallway, I wanted a little less than 20 minutes, which isnt bad at all from what Ive heard, and then another 10 by the time I got to the first fairy. Counting the 15 minutes before rope drop, it was a 45 minute wait exactly.
The shrinking hallway turned out to be the only somewhat disappointing thing about the Pixie Hollow experience. I had heard how the CMs walk the groups down the hallway, explaining how were shrinking and such. Well, as soon as the rope droped, the family in front of me started running down to the next rope with the family behind me about to do the same before the CM could even get all the parties into the hallway, causing me to have to run between them. Not very "magical". The CM did come back and explain what just happened and why we were fairy-sized now and also handed out free gifts to everyone- little red coin purses with Tinker Bell and Terences picture on them promoting the new Tinker Bell DVD. A cute little souvenir, but I couldnt help thinking What am I going to do with this? Its sitting in a drawer somewhere. If anyone really wants to see a photo of it, I can pull it out and post one of it.
The theming was pretty cute in the waiting area, complete with giant bugs and snails.
When it was my turn to enter Pixie Hollow, they first had me stop and wait with a CM until the first fairy was ready for me. She asked if I was familiar with the fairies, to which I responded that I had seen the films. I guess they figure that not everyone has seen the movies and make sure that the CMs can fill in everybody on who the characters are. I'm glad I did go ahead and see it before the trip or I would have been extremly lost. In a couple of minutes, it was my turn to meet the Fairies.
The first one I met was Terence, the pixie dust keeper. The CM I was waiting with told me that Terence had just started taking breaks from his dust duties to visit Pixie Hollow a few days earlier and everybody seemed excited about it. He came over and invited me to fly, which I guess actually means run, back to his spot. Terence spotted my birthday button and wished me a Happy Arrival Day (of course, in Pixie Hollow, fairies arent born, but come into existence after the first laugh of a baby and then arrive in Neverland) and asked if I had found out what my talent is yet. I hadnt, but he seemed to think I could be a dust keeper too.
I think having Terence around really was a nice addition and kept the whole Pixie Hollow experience from being too girly. The Princesses should follow suit and add a Prince or two to their rotation to add some variety in.
Terences autograph, complete with his bag of Pixie Dust hanging from C.
Next was Tinker Bell herself.
Tink was a little surprised that I knew her name and what a great tinker fairy she was before she introduced herself and asked how I knew who she was. I decided that Ive seen your movie wasnt really a fun explanation, so I played along and said that Terence had told me about her. She seemed to like that. Tink was very chatty (its so weird to say that after so many years of never hearing her speak other than the bell noises from
Peter Pan) and telling me about life in Pixie Hollow and wishing me a happy Arrival Day.
Somehow I never imagined that Tink would ever be a character that would come out for meet-and-greets after so many years of her only appearing in the Magic Kingdom fireworks and the occasional parade, so it was a somewhat strange, but also neat, experience to get to meet her.
The Fairies really had an assembly line going when it came to the autograph books. While I was still getting pictures with Terence, Tink came over and got the signing out of the way before I even got to her.
The last fairy was Fawn. Honestly, out of all the Fairies in the movie, I thought Fawn was the least interesting so I was a little disappointed that she was the there, but she turned out to be pretty cool. She wanted to know if I had pumpkin muffins and acorn tea for my arrival day yet and had to tell her I hadnt (though pumpkin muffins do sound delicious; I wonder where one finds them). She said that she would offer me some, but the squirrels already came and ate all hers. She chatted for a while about her animal talents. Did you know the animal talent fairies paint all the stripes on zebras differently so they can tell each other apart and then fly them to the mainland?
Fawns autograph.
Once Fawn and I had said our goodbyes, she told me to follow the first star on the right to be able to get back to the mainland. I have to admit, Pixie Hollow was really cool. It was a lot more immersive and interactive than almost any other character meet-and-greet I can think of, and the Fairies were seemed really into it and good at improvising. It really makes the Princess location pale in comparison. Hopefully, the Princess locations in the new Fantasyland will be more of this caliber. Plus, it was great to be able to meet some new characters since I hadnt on my last few trips. All in all, a lot of fun. Oh, and just as an aside, when I got out around 10:20am, the Fairies line was already over an hour! Glad I got there early.
I debated getting in line for the Princesses next since the sign above the queue listed the characters for today as Mystery Guests, but I ended up passing on it since I wasnt interested in jumping right back into the Hall of Fame line again and was feeling like exploring other parts of the park. I tried to get a hold of Buzz, but he wasnt answering his phone, so I decided to head to Fantasyland to see if I could find a certain White Rabbit.
Next chapter: Exploring Fantasyland
Disney is worth it though.
I know you already have tickets but is there any chance you could add a park hopper even to just your ticket so you can pop into MK?
There was a moment or two when I was so relaxed that I forgot to pay attention and missed a little tableau or two in Neverland as we passed, but it was still fantastic. What a wonderful way to start the morning! 
I love SITR! I didn't realise you hadn't been to WDW at Halloween, it's lovely with all the decorations.
