All Aboard! The Happiest TR That Ever Sailed ~May 1-9~ Ice cream for dinner! 6/20

[autumnpalm]

This TR rocks! Can't wait to read more!

Whoopsie, I missed you while I was posting! bhwiz, and thanks for posting! It's so nice to know I have people reading along with me.

 

[tinkgurl]

I'm so bummed that our June trips don't overlap. We could've ridden BTMRR and pondered the universe together LOL!

LOL! I know!

 

[TeaForTulips]

Great update! Pecos Bill looks very good! The seating area looks friendly too!

Your pictures are again so wonderful!

I think its fabulous to ride almost any of the rides at night... I think there's just something magical to the parks at night.

 

[autumnpalm]

LOL! I know!

I have to say though... extending my trip by a week wouldn't be the worst thing in the world LOL. If only I actually had the money!

Great update! Pecos Bill looks very good! The seating area looks friendly too!

Your pictures are again so wonderful!

I think its fabulous to ride almost any of the rides at night... I think there's just something magical to the parks at night.

I agree, I think I like every park better at night. And the seating areas at PB's were really pretty! They had the ceiling painted like a sky, which I thought was really cute and there was sooo much seating!

 

[autumnpalm]

Day One, Part 5. Wishes!

By the time Wishes started, there was only one other family on the walkway with us. We had a bench with a wonderful view so we just settled back and enjoyed the fireworks. This was the first time we’d seen Wishes from behind the castle and it’s so interesting to see how far back they are set off from! When you are watching them from Main Street you don’t really get a sense of perspective of where which fireworks are coming from. While the “picture” wasn’t as pretty, it was really, really neat to see how the whole display is orchestrated. Plus, I have to say it was kind of nice not to be battling the crazy crowds in front of the castle. Breathing room is good! The pictures I got weren’t great because I didn’t have my tripod but here are some of them anyways:

I had my sunglasses on my head because it wasn’t sunny anymore and while I was leaning back to take pictures I realized there was a high probability of them falling off behind the railing. I decided to just take them off and set them beside me. Well of course, once Wishes was over, I turned around to get them and they were gone! There were a few groups walking over the pathway while we were sitting there and I wasn’t paying attention at all so I have no idea how it happened. I was kind of bummed since they were brand new, but I decided I wasn’t going to let anything ruin the magic for me on the first night. I could grumble about it once I was back home LOL.

Once Wishes was over we headed to the Haunted Mansion and there was no wait at all.

It was great! We walked right through the turnstiles and into the stretching room. Is this room stretching or is it just your imagination? (and don't worry, I didn't actually use my flash on these! I edited them on iPhoto)

HM is such a great classic Disney ride. It’s another one that’s so much fun at night time because it adds a little spookiness to the atmosphere. It was hilarious because there was an adult woman in the stretching room with us and I think she thought HM was actually like a haunted house where things jump out because when the CM ushered everyone into the center of the room she was like “no way, I’m not doing that!” and the only way he could get her to was to hold her hand! It was really quite cute. She was right behind us in her “doom buggy” and the whole time we could hear her saying “Oh my gosh. Okay. It’s okay.” I felt like reassuring her the whole time that there’s nothing scary to the Haunted Mansion, but I hope she had a good time once she realized how much fun it is!

We wandered through Fantasyland after and the waits for Peter Pan and Dumbo were only around 20 minutes but we didn’t feel like waiting for anything. There was a show of PhilharMagic starting right away and we LOVE PhilharMagic so we donned our “opera glasses” and hurried inside to the theater.

I did manage to get a few photos of the posters in line for the attraction which I think are too cute!

The theater was almost empty! The park really was quiet that night.

Because the theater was so empty there was nobody really around us so I totally sang along to every song. Not too loudly, but I was in such a good mood and really in the Disney spirit and I couldn’t help myself! What an amazing show this is. I just love all the music.

After PhilharMagic we saw there was absolutely nobody in line for Snow White’s Scary Adventures so we hurried over quickly. It was starting to near 10:00, park closing time, so people were really starting to empty out.

I think Snow White is cute, but it isn’t really a “must do” for us. It was really nice to be able to ride it with no line because it’s something I probably wouldn’t wait in line more than 5 or 10 minutes for. In fact, I don’t think we got around to riding it in December. I’m glad we got to squeeze it in though! Snow White is one of my mom’s favourite Disney movies so she really enjoys it.

By the time we got off of Snow White, it was 10:00. We walked out of Fantasyland the long way, past The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Since it was a few minutes after closing we planned on just walking by, but there was a CM standing at the entrance waving us on!

It was so sweet of them and we really appreciated it. We ran right on and it was cool because a lot of the CMs were riding the last ride of the night in the Hunny Pots behind us. It was so nice of them to offer to let us ride. I know TMAOWTP (wow, I think there’s a reason that isn’t a commonly used acronym here on the DIS LOL) isn’t popular with some, but I really like this ride! It always makes me smile. I am a huge Pooh fan, and I just love "bouncing" along with Tigger!

After Pooh, the park really was closed so we headed toward the castle. It was absolutely gorgeous and of course, I stopped for a few pictures. I really like how these came out!

Now, even though the park was closed, it turned out we still had one last stop to make before heading back to the resort… any guesses?

 

[tinkgurl]

Oh my gosh. Your pictures turned out great! I love all the ride ones. Especially the HM stretching room!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

My guess is shopping.

New sunglasses maybe?

Or a photopass picture.

 

[hjd0411]

Wow - and you are still at Day 1...!!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing your vacation - loving your photos too - those last ones of the castle are great!
Looking forward to reading more - you write with so much enthusiasm - makes me feel like I am right there with you!!

 

[meanmom121]

Here's my guess - the pool?

 

[Lady Lallie]

What wonderful pictures of the castle. I love reading about nights in Magic Kingdom, they just seem so nice and...well...magical.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Love the pictures. In August, 2008, we watched Wishes from Fantasyland and we thought it was really neat to see the fireworks from that perspective too.

 

[stacikristine]

Your castle pictures are absolutely gorgeous! Honestly, they're some of the best I've seen. So pretty. That's so neat that you got to ride Pooh after the official closing time! Very sweet of the CMs. You know...I bet they love the part of their job that encourages them to do little special things for people. I think that would be my favorite part of being a CM. Sorry about your sunglasses! Um...I think you might go grab a late night snack somewhere? Can't wait to find out!!

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Wow, those pictures of the castle turned out great! I think you're camera is wooing me.

Hmm...I'm thinking you stopped by the pool or maybe the Emporium?

 

[jsrj21]

WOW!!! What a wonderful review; as thorough as I have ever read. Can't wait for your future trips!

May I ask what camera you took these pictures with? They came out really nice.

Glad you had a good time. Your excitement and enthusiasm radiated through your words. I can empathize as this is how I feel when visiting the world.

Great job.

 

[jewels1916]

Great updates! (I was behind, and missed the last two). I think your Wishes pics turned out very nice. And wow, great wait times for the rides, especially BTMRR! PhilharMagic is one of my all-time favorites, and it's great to kind of, start the trip off with that. Can't wait to read more!

 

[Belle_373]

Enjoying your TR so far! I was also at MK that night. The crowds were definitely nice and low. It's so nice to see a fellow diser who is from Toronto. I actually graduated from U of T a couples of years ago.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Disney127]

Now, even though the park was closed, it turned out we still had one last stop to make before heading back to the resort… any guesses?

Cinnamon bun? Love your photos of the castle and rides!

 

[JenAusty]

wow! No wait for HH! Thats great! I would lovve that because HH is one of my favorite rides of all time.. that would be magical in itself! hehe

I love when the park is empty. Some people don't care for it.. but I like it that way. I like feeling like I have the whole park to myself.

See I love Snow White and don't really care for Winne the Pooh ride.. we just thought it was weird.. and I like pooh and friends. So idk maybe we will give it a try again, if were lucky like you were.

Your pics of the castle turned out awesome!!!

 

[PrincessJasmine14]

i'm loving your trip report! post more soon

 

[autumnpalm]

Oh my gosh. Your pictures turned out great! I love all the ride ones. Especially the HM stretching room!

I really like the HM ones too. I was bummed when I took them because on my little camera screen they looked pretty dark but once I uploaded them onto the computer they were so much better!

My guess is shopping.

New sunglasses maybe?

Or a photopass picture.

We DID fit in some PP photos but I don't have those to post yet...

Wow - and you are still at Day 1...!!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing your vacation - loving your photos too - those last ones of the castle are great!
Looking forward to reading more - you write with so much enthusiasm - makes me feel like I am right there with you!!

Thanks so much for your compliments! I was really happy with how the castle pics turned out. I've never really had a camera that takes decent nighttime shots yet. Thank you for posting and WELCOME!

Here's my guess - the pool?

Nope... you know, we never actually got around to swimming at the ASMu pool! It has such a cute pool area but we never found time to fit it in. Another trip! LOL

What wonderful pictures of the castle. I love reading about nights in Magic Kingdom, they just seem so nice and...well...magical.

They really are! I love nighttime in the parks more than any other time. Especially with the cooler temperatures!

Love the pictures. In August, 2008, we watched Wishes from Fantasyland and we thought it was really neat to see the fireworks from that perspective too.

I had no idea they came from that far back! We took the KTTK tour and learned that they even shoot some of the fireworks from outside of the MK. I was really impressed!

Your castle pictures are absolutely gorgeous! Honestly, they're some of the best I've seen. So pretty. That's so neat that you got to ride Pooh after the official closing time! Very sweet of the CMs. You know...I bet they love the part of their job that encourages them to do little special things for people. I think that would be my favorite part of being a CM. Sorry about your sunglasses! Um...I think you might go grab a late night snack somewhere? Can't wait to find out!!

I know, the CMs are so great. I would love that part of being a CM too! They were so happy to do it too. And you're right! We did end up going for food....

Thank you for your compliments on the castle pictures! I have one of them as my computer background right now and it makes me happy every time I look at it!

Wow, those pictures of the castle turned out great! I think you're camera is wooing me.

Hmm...I'm thinking you stopped by the pool or maybe the Emporium?

Get it! Get it! Get it! I really am very happy with it so far.

No, not the pool or the Emporium. Can you believe we didn't make it to the Emporium until the last day at MK? Shame on us! LOL

WOW!!! What a wonderful review; as thorough as I have ever read. Can't wait for your future trips!

May I ask what camera you took these pictures with? They came out really nice.

Glad you had a good time. Your excitement and enthusiasm radiated through your words. I can empathize as this is how I feel when visiting the world.

Great job.

I took all the pictures with a Canon Elph. It's the SD790 Powershot. Pretty inexpensive (around $200) and it's held up under a lot. I've only had it about 6 months but I really like it.

I'm so glad you're enjoying the TR! I'm hoping to get the next installment posted tonight!

Great updates! (I was behind, and missed the last two). I think your Wishes pics turned out very nice. And wow, great wait times for the rides, especially BTMRR! PhilharMagic is one of my all-time favorites, and it's great to kind of, start the trip off with that. Can't wait to read more!

I know, I really worried about the crowds for nothing! I don't think I'll ever really worry about using touringplans again. I'm sure they're spot on sometimes but it's not worth stressing over!

Enjoying your TR so far! I was also at MK that night. The crowds were definitely nice and low. It's so nice to see a fellow diser who is from Toronto. I actually graduated from U of T a couples of years ago.

Looking forward to reading more!

Hi there, welcome!! That's so cool that you were at the MK at the same time as us... and you're from Toronto! It's nice to see a local DISer. What did you take at U of T? I have a bunch of friends there right now.

Cinnamon bun? Love your photos of the castle and rides!

DING DING DING!!! We have a winner!!!!!

You're right, we got ourselves a cinnamon bun from the Bakery!

wow! No wait for HH! Thats great! I would lovve that because HH is one of my favorite rides of all time.. that would be magical in itself! hehe

I love when the park is empty. Some people don't care for it.. but I like it that way. I like feeling like I have the whole park to myself.

See I love Snow White and don't really care for Winne the Pooh ride.. we just thought it was weird.. and I like pooh and friends. So idk maybe we will give it a try again, if were lucky like you were.

Your pics of the castle turned out awesome!!!

Yeah, I've read about people who prefer the parks to be busy... nope, not us! LOL We were there in December this year and the parks were CRAZY on our last day as all the crowds were coming in. I'll leave that experience to someone else!

That's so funny you love Snow White and not Winnie the Pooh. I would say it's worth giving another shot for sure. Does this mean I should line up for Snow White in June? Fair's fair I guess! LOL

i'm loving your trip report! post more soon

Thank you so much, PrincessJasmine! Welcome and I think I'll have the next update done by tonight!!