DisneyVillain
<font color=green>On a quest for lime green duct t
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2003
- Messages
- 574
Disney Day 5: Wednesday, 4-Jun-2003
Wow! For the first time in our lives, we entered the Magic Kingdom at opening, and we were not in a hurry to get anywhere! Between FastPass and the E-ride night, we didnt expect to wait in a long line for anything! (And we didnt!) Im a true believer in these new features!
After reviewing which attractions have FastPass, which are open for E-ride night, and which are likely to develop lines, we decide to head for Fantasyland to ride Snow White. After riding Snow White, we decided to save PotC for later, and tour the rest of Fantasyland. We rode the teacups, (except for mom, who doesnt do round-and-round), and the Grand Prix Raceway. Then we rode Peter Pan and Its a Small World. We werent interested in riding the carousel or Dumbo, and Mr. Toads Wild Ride was closed for renovations. (Something about a collision with a bear.)
After we finished Fantasyland, we went to ride Goofys Barnstormer. Our primary reason for riding this ride was to enjoy the little kids riding and in line. As a ride, its just a kiddie ride, but as entertainment its great! There isnt much to interest teenaged boys in Toontown, so we were ready to head for Frontierland. Once again, I am thankful that my kids have never been interested in standing in line to meet characters.
After the Barnstormer, we took the train from Toontown, around to Frontierland, with a stop at the Main Street Station. Those old steam trains are fascinating. I love that they restored old trains, rather than building repros. Trains like those are an important part of our history, and its great that they can be both preserved and exhibited.
Upon arrival in Frontierland, we picked up FastPasses for Splash Mountain, and then went to check the line at Big Thunder Mountain, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The idea of this was to ride attractions that either close in storms, or are not open on E-Ride nights. The stand-by line at Big Thunder was 55 minutes, so we went on to Adventureland. Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise both had 45 minute lines. All of these waits were well over our arbitrarily chosen 30 min. limit, so we proceeded to the Enchanted Tiki Birds. The next show of the Tiki Birds was in about 8 minutes, so we entered the queue.
I understand completely why Disney felt the need to update this show. Many people found it boring, and adding some Disney characters seems like a great way to re-energize a classic attraction. That said, we were very disappointed in the new version of this family favorite. The new parts were boring and predictable, and not nearly as fun and upbeat. A good idea perhaps, but poorly implemented. We will probably still see this attraction each trip, but it would no longer bother us too much if we missed it.
After the Tiki Birds, we headed toward the castle for lunch. On the way, the boys and I stopped to walk through the Swiss Family Treehouse. As they are growing up, I am hearing a lot less Wow!, and a lot more That would work better if and They should . Still, it is a lot of fun to imagine a tree house like this in your own back yard.
At Cinderellas Royal Table, we waited a few minutes to check-in outside the door. While waiting in line to check-in, I overheard a walk-in being told that they had no walk-in slots available, and to try again in 2-3 hours. After checking in, we were taken straight up to our table. On the way through the lobby, we saw that Princess Jasmine was sitting in the princess chair signing autographs and posing for pictures. Our table was near enough to the windows to see Fantasyland, but close enough to the middle of the room to enjoy the elaborate high ceiling and the royal décor. The food was very good, and our server was friendly and attentive. She was one of the few servers we had on our trip who never left my older son waiting for more water. Overall, this was a very pleasant and relaxing meal, and we will definitely continue this family tradition on our next trip.
After lunch, we headed for Splash Mountain via Adventureland to pull FastPasses at the Jungle Cruise. Splash Mountain is an awesome ride. At one point, my wife leaned over to me and pointed out how Disney doesnt let their attractions get run down like Six Flags does. At Disney needs a rehab means that it is starting to look worn, while at Six Flags it seems to mean that the ride wont run at all. My only complaint about Splash Mountain is the splash. If I want to be wet, I will go to a water park. On our E-Ride night, we didnt ride Splash Mountain again because none of the four of us wanted to be wet. (If any of us had wanted to ride, then we all would have.)
After Splash Mountain, we went to check the line at Pirates of the Caribbean. This time the line was only 25 minutes. It looked longer, because the line was backed up almost to the street, but I guess they werent using the entire queue. We went in and noticed that while the right side was backed up beyond the entrance, no one was going in the left side. The queue on that side was at least 3/4 empty, and we waited only 7 minutes! People can be such sheep! At the gift shop at the exit, the boys both bought 15 glow-in-the-dark skeletons. They carried them to the register at the front of the store because there was a long line at the register in the middle of the store, and none at the front. (Same herd of sheep in the shop as in the ride queue.) Pirates is a great ride, and we are looking forward to the movie.
After Pirates, we went to the Jungle Cruise FastPass queue and were told that there was a separate entrance for wheelchairs. There is also a separate boat even if the disabled person is transferring, so if you have a FastPass then disabled access is slower, and if you dont have a FastPass then disabled access is faster. As usual, we really enjoyed this ride, and our guide was very good. He didnt seem to mind at all that we harassed him the entire trip, and we all came out of the ride laughing. Since we hadnt used our FastPasses, we handed them to a family just entering the 55 minute stand-by queue.
We went back to Big Thunder Mountain to pick up FastPasses, and then decided to go to Liberty Square. I asked the boys whether they would rather ride the Liberty Belle before or after the Hall of Presidents, and their answer was not really. This was OK with me, since I also find the Liberty Belle boring, and not worth the wait even if there is no line. We headed toward the Hall of Presidents, but it was difficult to get there because they were already blocking the road for the afternoon parade, which was in 30 minutes. After a few minutes, we managed to get ahead of where they were blocking, so we could walk in the road. As we were approaching the Hall of Presidents, a Cast Member called to us and asked if we were looking for a spot from which to view the parade. There is a handicapped viewing area just across the road from the Hall of Presidents. We hadnt planned to watch the afternoon parade, but decided that we would. The Cast Member watching this area has a very difficult job. Behind part of the area is a 2 wall, which people assume wont be used by the wheelchair guests. The CM has to repeatedly explain that the wall is reserved for the rest of the wheelchair parties. The biggest problem, however, is that part of the area is accessible via walkway from behind. The Handicapped Parade Viewing Only signs are only visible from the front, so every 37 seconds someone comes from the back and tries to occupy the reserved space. Of course, no one likes to be told that they cant stay in the great spot they just found, so the result is a lot of grumbling. In the 15 minutes prior to the parade, there were two high school bands marching through, and a Finding Nemo promotional float. When I was in high school, we marched in the afternoon parade, so I really enjoyed seeing those kids march. The parade was cute, and the CMs in the parade interacted very well with the audience.
Even after 30 years, the animatronic technology in The Hall of Presidents is still fascinating. We felt, however, that the story and message were too similar to that of the American Adventure in Epcot, and we would like to see Disney write a new script for this attraction.
When we came out of the Hall of Presidents, it was raining, and we waited in the Liberty Belle loading area through a huge thunderstorm. When the thunder quit and the rain let up after about 30 minutes, we did some shopping on the way out of the park. In the stores on Main Street, we heard the Barber Shop Quartet, and my sons discovered an old 10-cent arcade baseball game which they played and watched for about 20 minutes.
We had a very early PS for Ohana (6:00PM), in order to be sure that we would get back to the MK in time to get a good location for Spectromagic and the Fireworks. The rain had finally stopped, so we took the boat over to the Polynesian Resort. After we were underway, one of the families on board asked Where is this boat going, anyway? They were just taking a round trip because the little ones like boats. I remember taking similar boat rides when my kids were little. It was raining again by the time we arrived at the Poly. We were able to get inside without getting very wet, but we were concerned that they would cancel Spectromagic.
We checked in at Ohana, and then went to wait in the bar chairs out in the lobby. I walked around the second floor of the lobby, and found a pressed penny machine. It had the first Villains Series penny that we had seen, so I went and fetched the kids. After they pressed their pennies, we returned to the bar chairs where mom was waiting. As my older son went to sit down, his leg was scratched by a nail or staple sticking 1/4" out of the chair. The waitress immediately summoned the manager, and he offered first aid. We accepted some Neosporin, and he promised to bring it to our table. Then he carried the chair to the back, and we went to our table. When the manager came to our table with the Neosporin, he also brought the nail that he had pulled out of the chair, so my son could see it. He was very apologetic, and bought both boys a non-alcoholic frozen drink.
We enjoyed watching the coconut race and hula-hoop contest, and when the second coconut race was announced, both of my boys, (13 and 17,) decided to participate. Of course, they were the only teenagers in the race, but they werent trying to win. They just wanted to get out and play with the little kids.
After dinner, it was still raining, so we took the monorail back to the MK, instead of the boat. We decided that since the wheelchair areas dont fill as fast as other areas, we didnt need to stake out our spot yet, so we went to check the line a Space Mountain. For wheelchair access at Space Mountain, you can ride with a FastPass, or they will give you a card allowing you to come back after you have waited the estimated time of the standby queue. Our card allowed us to come back at 8:30PM, so we decided that we could ride SM at 8:30, and then rush to the hub to get a place for the parade. In the meantime, we had 45 minutes until our Space Mountain ride, so we went to ride the People Mover and try Buzz Lightyear for the first time. We all enjoyed Buzz attraction, and went several more times on our E-ride night. Space mountain was as good as ever, and we commented that it would be difficult for Disney to ever top it.
We rushed back to the hub, and got the next-to-last space in the handicapped viewing area, about 15 minutes before the parade. This is our favorite parade at Disney, and we really enjoyed it again. The handicapped viewing areas are good, but not the best. You can see the parade floats when they are right in front of you, but the views as they approach and depart are not that great. During the parade, Peter Pan grabbed my sons Figment hat and wore it for a while. While it wasnt the perfect location for parade watching, it was the perfect location for fairy and fireworks watching. This was the first time we had seen Tinkerbells flight. We seem to always be at the MK on rainy days, and it has always been too wet. We didnt really expect her to fly that night, but she did. It was a great end to an excellent day in the Magic Kingdom.
Our biggest disappointment in the Magic Kingdom was expected. We like Timekeeper, and would like to have seen it, but we REALLY missed the Carousel of Progress. Lots of memories there for us older kids.
Between FastPass, rainy weather, and generally smaller crowds; we saw everything we wanted to, except for visiting Tom Sawyer Island. We agreed that if everything was open that was supposed to be on Friday night at E-ride night, that Tom Sawyer Island wouldnt be worth a trip back during regular hours.
We were all tired, but we were sleeping late on Thursday.
Day 6: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=402791
Wow! For the first time in our lives, we entered the Magic Kingdom at opening, and we were not in a hurry to get anywhere! Between FastPass and the E-ride night, we didnt expect to wait in a long line for anything! (And we didnt!) Im a true believer in these new features!
After reviewing which attractions have FastPass, which are open for E-ride night, and which are likely to develop lines, we decide to head for Fantasyland to ride Snow White. After riding Snow White, we decided to save PotC for later, and tour the rest of Fantasyland. We rode the teacups, (except for mom, who doesnt do round-and-round), and the Grand Prix Raceway. Then we rode Peter Pan and Its a Small World. We werent interested in riding the carousel or Dumbo, and Mr. Toads Wild Ride was closed for renovations. (Something about a collision with a bear.)
After we finished Fantasyland, we went to ride Goofys Barnstormer. Our primary reason for riding this ride was to enjoy the little kids riding and in line. As a ride, its just a kiddie ride, but as entertainment its great! There isnt much to interest teenaged boys in Toontown, so we were ready to head for Frontierland. Once again, I am thankful that my kids have never been interested in standing in line to meet characters.
After the Barnstormer, we took the train from Toontown, around to Frontierland, with a stop at the Main Street Station. Those old steam trains are fascinating. I love that they restored old trains, rather than building repros. Trains like those are an important part of our history, and its great that they can be both preserved and exhibited.
Upon arrival in Frontierland, we picked up FastPasses for Splash Mountain, and then went to check the line at Big Thunder Mountain, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The idea of this was to ride attractions that either close in storms, or are not open on E-Ride nights. The stand-by line at Big Thunder was 55 minutes, so we went on to Adventureland. Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise both had 45 minute lines. All of these waits were well over our arbitrarily chosen 30 min. limit, so we proceeded to the Enchanted Tiki Birds. The next show of the Tiki Birds was in about 8 minutes, so we entered the queue.
I understand completely why Disney felt the need to update this show. Many people found it boring, and adding some Disney characters seems like a great way to re-energize a classic attraction. That said, we were very disappointed in the new version of this family favorite. The new parts were boring and predictable, and not nearly as fun and upbeat. A good idea perhaps, but poorly implemented. We will probably still see this attraction each trip, but it would no longer bother us too much if we missed it.
After the Tiki Birds, we headed toward the castle for lunch. On the way, the boys and I stopped to walk through the Swiss Family Treehouse. As they are growing up, I am hearing a lot less Wow!, and a lot more That would work better if and They should . Still, it is a lot of fun to imagine a tree house like this in your own back yard.
At Cinderellas Royal Table, we waited a few minutes to check-in outside the door. While waiting in line to check-in, I overheard a walk-in being told that they had no walk-in slots available, and to try again in 2-3 hours. After checking in, we were taken straight up to our table. On the way through the lobby, we saw that Princess Jasmine was sitting in the princess chair signing autographs and posing for pictures. Our table was near enough to the windows to see Fantasyland, but close enough to the middle of the room to enjoy the elaborate high ceiling and the royal décor. The food was very good, and our server was friendly and attentive. She was one of the few servers we had on our trip who never left my older son waiting for more water. Overall, this was a very pleasant and relaxing meal, and we will definitely continue this family tradition on our next trip.
After lunch, we headed for Splash Mountain via Adventureland to pull FastPasses at the Jungle Cruise. Splash Mountain is an awesome ride. At one point, my wife leaned over to me and pointed out how Disney doesnt let their attractions get run down like Six Flags does. At Disney needs a rehab means that it is starting to look worn, while at Six Flags it seems to mean that the ride wont run at all. My only complaint about Splash Mountain is the splash. If I want to be wet, I will go to a water park. On our E-Ride night, we didnt ride Splash Mountain again because none of the four of us wanted to be wet. (If any of us had wanted to ride, then we all would have.)
After Splash Mountain, we went to check the line at Pirates of the Caribbean. This time the line was only 25 minutes. It looked longer, because the line was backed up almost to the street, but I guess they werent using the entire queue. We went in and noticed that while the right side was backed up beyond the entrance, no one was going in the left side. The queue on that side was at least 3/4 empty, and we waited only 7 minutes! People can be such sheep! At the gift shop at the exit, the boys both bought 15 glow-in-the-dark skeletons. They carried them to the register at the front of the store because there was a long line at the register in the middle of the store, and none at the front. (Same herd of sheep in the shop as in the ride queue.) Pirates is a great ride, and we are looking forward to the movie.
After Pirates, we went to the Jungle Cruise FastPass queue and were told that there was a separate entrance for wheelchairs. There is also a separate boat even if the disabled person is transferring, so if you have a FastPass then disabled access is slower, and if you dont have a FastPass then disabled access is faster. As usual, we really enjoyed this ride, and our guide was very good. He didnt seem to mind at all that we harassed him the entire trip, and we all came out of the ride laughing. Since we hadnt used our FastPasses, we handed them to a family just entering the 55 minute stand-by queue.
We went back to Big Thunder Mountain to pick up FastPasses, and then decided to go to Liberty Square. I asked the boys whether they would rather ride the Liberty Belle before or after the Hall of Presidents, and their answer was not really. This was OK with me, since I also find the Liberty Belle boring, and not worth the wait even if there is no line. We headed toward the Hall of Presidents, but it was difficult to get there because they were already blocking the road for the afternoon parade, which was in 30 minutes. After a few minutes, we managed to get ahead of where they were blocking, so we could walk in the road. As we were approaching the Hall of Presidents, a Cast Member called to us and asked if we were looking for a spot from which to view the parade. There is a handicapped viewing area just across the road from the Hall of Presidents. We hadnt planned to watch the afternoon parade, but decided that we would. The Cast Member watching this area has a very difficult job. Behind part of the area is a 2 wall, which people assume wont be used by the wheelchair guests. The CM has to repeatedly explain that the wall is reserved for the rest of the wheelchair parties. The biggest problem, however, is that part of the area is accessible via walkway from behind. The Handicapped Parade Viewing Only signs are only visible from the front, so every 37 seconds someone comes from the back and tries to occupy the reserved space. Of course, no one likes to be told that they cant stay in the great spot they just found, so the result is a lot of grumbling. In the 15 minutes prior to the parade, there were two high school bands marching through, and a Finding Nemo promotional float. When I was in high school, we marched in the afternoon parade, so I really enjoyed seeing those kids march. The parade was cute, and the CMs in the parade interacted very well with the audience.
Even after 30 years, the animatronic technology in The Hall of Presidents is still fascinating. We felt, however, that the story and message were too similar to that of the American Adventure in Epcot, and we would like to see Disney write a new script for this attraction.
When we came out of the Hall of Presidents, it was raining, and we waited in the Liberty Belle loading area through a huge thunderstorm. When the thunder quit and the rain let up after about 30 minutes, we did some shopping on the way out of the park. In the stores on Main Street, we heard the Barber Shop Quartet, and my sons discovered an old 10-cent arcade baseball game which they played and watched for about 20 minutes.
We had a very early PS for Ohana (6:00PM), in order to be sure that we would get back to the MK in time to get a good location for Spectromagic and the Fireworks. The rain had finally stopped, so we took the boat over to the Polynesian Resort. After we were underway, one of the families on board asked Where is this boat going, anyway? They were just taking a round trip because the little ones like boats. I remember taking similar boat rides when my kids were little. It was raining again by the time we arrived at the Poly. We were able to get inside without getting very wet, but we were concerned that they would cancel Spectromagic.
We checked in at Ohana, and then went to wait in the bar chairs out in the lobby. I walked around the second floor of the lobby, and found a pressed penny machine. It had the first Villains Series penny that we had seen, so I went and fetched the kids. After they pressed their pennies, we returned to the bar chairs where mom was waiting. As my older son went to sit down, his leg was scratched by a nail or staple sticking 1/4" out of the chair. The waitress immediately summoned the manager, and he offered first aid. We accepted some Neosporin, and he promised to bring it to our table. Then he carried the chair to the back, and we went to our table. When the manager came to our table with the Neosporin, he also brought the nail that he had pulled out of the chair, so my son could see it. He was very apologetic, and bought both boys a non-alcoholic frozen drink.
We enjoyed watching the coconut race and hula-hoop contest, and when the second coconut race was announced, both of my boys, (13 and 17,) decided to participate. Of course, they were the only teenagers in the race, but they werent trying to win. They just wanted to get out and play with the little kids.
After dinner, it was still raining, so we took the monorail back to the MK, instead of the boat. We decided that since the wheelchair areas dont fill as fast as other areas, we didnt need to stake out our spot yet, so we went to check the line a Space Mountain. For wheelchair access at Space Mountain, you can ride with a FastPass, or they will give you a card allowing you to come back after you have waited the estimated time of the standby queue. Our card allowed us to come back at 8:30PM, so we decided that we could ride SM at 8:30, and then rush to the hub to get a place for the parade. In the meantime, we had 45 minutes until our Space Mountain ride, so we went to ride the People Mover and try Buzz Lightyear for the first time. We all enjoyed Buzz attraction, and went several more times on our E-ride night. Space mountain was as good as ever, and we commented that it would be difficult for Disney to ever top it.
We rushed back to the hub, and got the next-to-last space in the handicapped viewing area, about 15 minutes before the parade. This is our favorite parade at Disney, and we really enjoyed it again. The handicapped viewing areas are good, but not the best. You can see the parade floats when they are right in front of you, but the views as they approach and depart are not that great. During the parade, Peter Pan grabbed my sons Figment hat and wore it for a while. While it wasnt the perfect location for parade watching, it was the perfect location for fairy and fireworks watching. This was the first time we had seen Tinkerbells flight. We seem to always be at the MK on rainy days, and it has always been too wet. We didnt really expect her to fly that night, but she did. It was a great end to an excellent day in the Magic Kingdom.
Our biggest disappointment in the Magic Kingdom was expected. We like Timekeeper, and would like to have seen it, but we REALLY missed the Carousel of Progress. Lots of memories there for us older kids.
Between FastPass, rainy weather, and generally smaller crowds; we saw everything we wanted to, except for visiting Tom Sawyer Island. We agreed that if everything was open that was supposed to be on Friday night at E-ride night, that Tom Sawyer Island wouldnt be worth a trip back during regular hours.
We were all tired, but we were sleeping late on Thursday.
Day 6: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=402791
