And me, with no ointment...

[Sorsha]

Hi all!
Well, I figured it was time to get this show on the road. I have been home a little over a week, and I just haven't had the drive to get 'er done. I think I have been suffering the Post-WDW Crash and Burn. We had a great trip, really enjoyed ourselves, and had lots of new experiences; some wonderful, some not so hot. We learned a lot.

By way of introduction, you can click the link in my siggie, and check out my pre-trip report. It introduces the cast of characters, and gives you a little background on the planning of our trip.

I will be posting an entry for each day of our trip. Each post will contain details on the activities and experiences of the day, lots of photos, a report on the food we enjoyed that day (sorry, not many food pics... I tried to take them, but it just didn't work out), and a Pooh-Sized report (anything that might have been particularily accomodating or NOT for the Pooh-Sized traveler).

Finally... my title. Anyone remember Perfect Strangers? It was a goofy, wonderful 80's sitcom about a hard-working, type-A fellow named Larry Appleton and his immigrant cousin, Balki Bartokamous. Larry always come up with these wonderful, detailed Plans, and they always turned out disastrously. In one episode, Balki tells Larry that he has been keeping track of his Plans, and how they have turned out. Several of Larry's plans have cost Balki money, most of them have cost him his dignity, and a number of them "eventually required an ointment." Later in the episode, Larry triumphantly pronounces "I have A Plan!" and Balki laments 'And me, with no ointment." Sometimes, on this vacation, I felt I was living one of Larry's Plans, and dang it, I forgot to pack my ointment.

Anyhow, onwards and upwards... let the show begin!

 

[Sorsha]

Wednesday, September 19 dawned bright and sunny, and we were all so excited we could barely contain ourselves! I felt like giggles were welling up inside of me every time I thought of how close I was to being back in The World after 7 long years. The kids were bouncing off the walls, but I finally got them settled down and off to school

We were incredibly well prepared and organized. Everything was packed and ready to go, we had been over our lists a thousand times, and we were confidant that we had thought of everything. James headed off to work, and I got busy finishing up my last few chores. I stripped the beds and put clean bedding on, and washed the last few bits of dirty laundry. I started a yummy beef stew in the crockpot, and headed off to town to run a few errands. Later that evening, when we all got home, we ate dinner, loaded up the van, and we were on our way.

LIttle bit of backstory here. We live in Northwest Montana, just outside of Glacier National Park. It is a beautiful place to live, and we love it here, but it does have its downsides. One of those is AWFUL airline service and prices. No matter how hard I tried, I could never find airfares for us for under about $550 each. OUCH. So we elected to fly out of Spokane, about 250 miles away, for only $240 each. Rather a large difference when you are flying *5* people. Our flight left Spokane at 6 AM on the 20th. Now, how to get there. We didn't really want to drive to Spokane the evening of the 19th, stay in a hotel, try to find the airport at 4 AM, and have to pay for airport parking for 10 days. In retrospect, that would have been SO much easier. SIGH.
Instead we elected to hop on an Amtrak train about 15 miles from our house the evening of the 19th, arrive in Spokane about 2 AM, take a taxi over to the airport, and catch our flight. Sounds easy, right?? Foolish mortals.

Anyhow, after dinner off we go to the historic train station in Whitefish, MT.

We checked our luggage and then hung out at the station till our train arrived at 9 PM.

We boarded the train, and this is where we started to feel a little dismayed. I don't think this train had been refurbished/repaired in 30 years. Everything was dingy, dirty, and in general disrepair. The seats were broken; most of the little footrest thingies wouldn't pop out, and several of the seats wouldn't recline. Then we found one seat that DID recline, just not on command. You would be sitting there, minding your own business, when suddenely the seat would decide that it was time to recline and WHAM you would be flat on your back staring at the ceiling thinking "What the heck just happened?!?" Worst of all was that the doors that were supposed to close between the cars of the train were broken, and wouldn't close. They wouldn't stay fully open either, and everytime the train went around a corner, they would slide allllmoooossstt closed and then when the train went back the other way they would slide baaaaaccccckk open again. It was REALLY loud with the doors not closed, and as the night wore on, REALLY cold.
Well, we finally found a grouping of functional seats, and settled in for the ride. We got the kids comfortable with snacks, pillows, blankets, and their backpacks full of entertainments. The kids managed to grab a few hours of sleep, but James and I didn't rest at all.

We arrived in Spokane right on time at 2 AM. We claimed our baggage, and headed outside to meet up with the taxi shuttle I had arranged for. Oh dear. We were met up by a large, hairy, and unfortunatly smelly fellow. He was driving a van, circa 1994, that looked as though it had been repainted and rebuilt more than a couple of times. He had all the proper ID though, and was the only taxi available at the train station at 2 AM, and so we allowed him to load up our bags and we hopped in. All I have to say is that I am REALLY glad it was 2 AM and the roads were empty, cause otherwise, the way this fellow drove, we might not have made it to the airport. SHEESH!!

Well, $25, half an hour, and a whole lot of new grey hairs later, we finally arrived at the Spokane airport. We settled ourselves and our bags in front of the Delta counter, which, incidentally, didn't open till 4 AM and very. very tiredly, waited.

Up next: departure part 2!

 

[Sorsha]

Finally, at 4 AM, things started to open up in the airport, and we checked our bags and headed off to security. This went very smoothly, and we progressed with no difficulties. We headed off to find our departure gate, when what to our wondering eyes should appear? A Starbucks!! COFFEE!!! Heaven!
We procured coffees, cocoa for the kids, apple juices, and muffins and donuts. We ate this bounty of delight while waiting at the departure gate for our plane. Our plane boarded at 5:30 AM, and after getting everyone settled in, we were off!

Our flights went very smoothly, and we arrived in Orlando at about 5 PM eastern time. We headed off to Magical Express, and we were SO pleasantly surprised at how easy and smooth this went. We loaded onto our happy little bus and off we went. Arrived at Port Orleans about 45 minutes later, and proceeded through checkin. We did get all of our room requests (ground floor, corner room, trundle bed) but in a building that was quite a trek away from the main buildings. One very nice thing about it was that the north depot bus stop was literally right out our back door.

We hiked to our room, got changed (had packed a change of clothes in our carry-ons). and considered our plans for the evening. Months ago, when we made our ADRs, we made a late evening dinner reservation at Coral Reef for our arrival day. We knew we would be tired, but also knew that after airline food (peanuts, nasty graham cookie?) we would be starving, and that we would really want to go be *in* a park. So, we headed off to catch an Epcot bus. After a 20 minute wait (tempers were getting a little testy here), a bus finally arrived and we were on our way.

We made the park in good time, and strolled leisurely through Future World. The kids were in awe of Spaceship Earth at night, and totally bummed that it was closed. We checked in for our ADR, and were seated pretty quickly. We enjoyed our meal, but wished we could have been closed to the tanks. It was hard to see much from way in the back where we were.

After dinner, as we headed out of the Seas, the thunder began to roll and suddenly the skies opened up and it POURED. We had entertained thoughts of finding a spot to watch Illuminations before heading back to the hotel, that idea was quickly discarded as we RAN for the exit, getting totally soaked. We were really glad to get back to the hotel and shower and fall into bed.

FOOD REPORT
A note before we begin on my family and onions. We don't like them. Can't abide them. Don't ever cook with them. James is the worst of all, even finding an onion hiding in a dish will completely turn his stomach. This will have bearing on our meals to come.
For appetizers, we ordered soups; James had the mushroom soup and Ariana and I had the lobster soup. James enjoyed his, but neither Ari nor I much cared for the lobster soup. It just seemed to be missing... something.
For our entrees, James had the steak with au gratin potatoes and broccolini. Ariana had the grilled mahi mahi over couscous, and I had the crab legs. James pronounced his steak good, not overwhelmingly good, but good. He didn't like the potatoes (onions) and declared the broccolini "not done enough". Ariana said her fish was awesome, but she didn't much care for the couscous. My crab legs were very good (can you go wrong with crab legs?) but the corn relish thing accompanying them was nasty. I mean really! A southwestern corn/veggie salad-type-thing, cold, served with crab legs?? Have we never heard of a baked potato?!? I didn't like it at all.
The two little girls had the kid's fish meal, grilled fish served with carrot and celery sticks and french fries. They seemed to enjoy this fine, but at this point were nearing the "too tired to eat" stage. For desserts the little girls had make-your-own-sundaes, Ariana had the Chocolate Wave (and did NOT eat the cherries LOL), and James and I had the Key Lime Tarts. Our desserts were all very good, I thought the Key Lime tart was divine!
Also we were allowed specialty non-alcoholic drinks here, James and I each had a non-alcoholic Pina Colada - very yummy.
Final thoughts on the Coral Reef: the food was good, nothing spectacular, but OK. The aquarium was cool. However, after seeing what it would have cost had we NOT been on the dining plan ($$!!), I don't think we would go out of our way to eat here again.

THE POOH SIZED REPORT
The only thing that really stands out to me from this day was airline seats and seatbelts. I sat next to my youngest DD the whole way, so did not have to worry about seat size. We just put the armrest between us up and we were very comfy. Seatbelts were another issue (no way in HECK I could have gotten that fastened) but I just asked a stewardess on each flight for a seatbelt extender and they were very nice and prompt with it and that worked out just fine.

THE CROCS REPORT (those of you from my pre-trippie, you will remember this..)
I wore my Crocs to travel and they were very comfy. I did wear them with socks under them, knowing I would have to take shoes off to go through security, and was very glad for the socks when we had to spend 5 hours in that icebox of an Amtrak car... I might have lost toes to frostbite had it not been for my socks! Thursday evening, leaving Epcot in the downpour, I learned another important lesson: Crocs + rain + pavement = SLIPPERY! I nearly fell on my bum several times.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY
Our little Amtrak/plane idea was just a BAD PLAN. Copious ointment required. From now on we will fly our of our home airport and eat the extra cost. Going over to dinner at Epcot was a bit much. We would have been better off to eat at Boatwright's and go for a swim or watch some TV and just chill. Live and learn.

Coming up in a day or two: Spetember 21, Animal Kingdom!

 

[OhMari]

Enjoying your trains, planes, and automobile report. Glad you made it to WDW.

 

[LISAMWDW]

Great trip report! I'm so in! I can't wait for more!

 

[pamrob]

Great start! Waiting to read more.

 

[happybratpack]

PHEW, I'm tired just reading about your travel!! Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[Sorsha]

Yay! I actually have people to talk to!
OhMari, LISAMWDW, pamrob, and happybratpack welcome to my TR ! Glad to have you all along for the ride.
Anyone else who is lurking along, feel free to jump in and say howdy!

Allrighty then, I have been playing with PhotoBucket all morning, and I think my pics for the next installment are all ready to go... and i have a fresh pot of coffee ... so on with the show!

 

[Sorsha]

Before we begin, I forgot to mention in my last installment that when we arrived at POR, we already had towel "animals" waiting for us! The kids were so excited! We had a birdie, and a basket! Both were very cute, and decorated with stickers. Before we left the room on Friday morning, we took a picture of our new friends.

The alarm went off bright and early this morning, we had an 8:30 breakfast ADR for Donald's Breakfastosaurus, and our goal was to be on the first AK bus of the morning. We were all REALLY tired, since we had had such a long day the day before, and also since waking up at 6:30 WDW time is like getting up at 4:30 AM Montana time. YAWN. Everyone was super-excited though, so off we went. We started a tradition of taking a picture each morning as we were leaving our room.

We made it to Animal Kingdom with plenty of time to stroll through the park and check in for our breakfast.

We were seated promptly and enjoyed our first character meal of the trip. Well, most of us enjoyed it.
When we went to Disneyland for the 50th anniversary in 2005, Caitlyn was 2. She was, like many little ones, scared to death of the furry characters. In preparation for this trip, we had talked about the characters many times with her. "Mickey loves you!" "Minnie will be so glad to see you!" "Pooh would never hurt you!" Caitie had, in return, assured us that she would be so happy to see Mickey and all of his friends, and she would hug them, and she couldn't wait to see them! We looked at pictures, watched videos, and thought it would be all good.
Uh-huh, right. It was all good till the moment the characters stepped into the room. One minute Caitie couldn't wait for Mickey to get there, the next she was hiding in the corner behind the table, making signs for protection from evil. SIGH. It never got any better; all through the trip she would explain to us that she liked Mickey a lot, she just didn't like him to talk to her or look at her. Ummmm, OK.

After breakfast, we stopped by Guest Services to get Ariana a Happy Birthday button. Since this trip was partly to celebrate our birthdays (hers is at the beginning of September, mine's the 24th), we let her choose a day to have a button and celebrate her "WDW birthday". Nothing special ever happened as a result of the button, just lots of "Happy Birthday"s from cast members, but she enjoyed wearing it, and it makes a nice keepsake.

Next we went directly to Kilimanjaro Safaris, hoping to see lots of animals since it was still pretty early in the morning. We didn't. SIGH. Next we headed to Asia. We went directly to Everest and got 4 fastpasses, then headed back to Kali River Rapids. Caitlyn measured 39 inches, not big enough for most of the rides with height requirements (and boy did this annoy her... she is old enough that she got REALLY tired of being told she was too short for all the "fun" rides) but big enough for Kali! She got a special wristband that, when shown to the CMs at the loading area, let them know that she needed the special seat with the lap bar. This is a new thing since the last time I rode Kali, and I really like it. It allows smaller children to ride in safety, without altering the ride for others. Anyhow, there was NO wait time for Kali, we walked right on, got off, and turned around and walked right in and did it a second time. This turned out to be one of Caitlyn and Alyssa's favorite rides the whole trip, they just LOVED it. And we got SOAKED - just plain old dripping, wring-me-out WET to the skin. I spent the entire rest of the day in various stages of Drying Off and was still dampish when I undressed for bed that night. It was OK though, cause it was VERY hot, and it actually felt pretty good. After Kali, we decided to head over to Everest and use our fastpasses, stopping for a snack along the way. James and I had frozen lemonades, Ariana had a frozen banana, and the little girls got Mickey Bars.
Here they are, starting to enjoy their treats:

Here's how things looked about 5 minutes later...

Copious applications of Wet Wipes required!

James and Ariana used two of the fastpasses to go ride Everest, while I waited with Caitie and Alyssa, neither of whom met the height requirement. Disney really needs to build a playground right in this area, I noticed lots of bored, hot and crabby little kids, waiting for party members to get done with Everest. Mine were crabby about it as well. After Dad and Ari got done on Everest, Daddy got stuck with the bored little ones while I rode, and Ari got to go again with me. I have to admit, this is a gorgeous ride, the theming is wonderful, the landscping is beautiful. As coasters go, it is really well done, and the yeti is a great AA effect. I am glad I experienced it once, but I feel absolutely NO need to ever do it again. I am just not a thrill ride person.

After Everest, we did a little walking around, and went down the trails in Asia (Pangani??). The little girls loved the bats, and everyone was excited to get some great views of the tigers.

Next it was off to DinoLand. James and Ari rode Dinosaur, while I took the little girls to play in the Boneyard. They had a fantastic time, and I enjoyed just sitting and people-watching in a shady spot. By this time it was VERY hot. We headed out of DinoLand in time to catch a showing of the musical Nemo show. I still really resent the removal of the Tarzan show (which I loved) and I am CONSTANTLY annoyed by the incessant Pixar-ize-ing of everything in WDW.. but I have to admit, this show is beautiful, and very well done. AND it was dark and air-conditioned!

Next, we boarded the Rafiki's Planet Watch train, and rode it out to the conservation station. The girls had fun playing here, and enjoyed the petting zoo, and all the other exhibits and activities. We all especially love the dark little rooms where you put on headphones and immerse yourself in the sounds of the rainforest.

By now, it was about 4 PM, and we all had to admit that we were DONE. It was hot, we were still jet-lagged, and everyone was seriously dragging. We headed back to POR, where we bought refillable mugs, and refreshed ourselves in our nice cool room for a bit. Then we decided to go in search of dinner, so we hopped onto one of the boats that travels the Sassagoula river for a leisurely ride to Downtown Disney. We used these boats a couple of times during our stay, and found them to be one of the nicest perks of a stay at POR. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express, wandered in the shops for a little while, then headed back to POR and were in bed by 9:30 PM. We were exhausted, I tell ya.

FOOD REPORT
Donald's Breakfastosaurus - Apart from the advantage of being in Animal Kingdom early in the AM and being able to hop right into your park activities after breakfast, this place has, IMHO, nothing else to recommend it. The food isn't all that great, and you can find the same characters at many other meals. But it was breakfast, and we were there, and it served its purpose.
Wolfgang Puck Express - We thought this was one of the better CS meals we had during our entire stay. I had a Chicken Caesar Salad, which was yummy and HUGE with wonderful dressing. Ariana had the BBQ chicken sandwich, which she said was very good. James enjoyed the Rosemary Rotisserie Chicken meal, and the little girls each enjoyed the kids' chicken fingers meals. For desserts, we had a brownie, 2 cookies, and 2 creme brulees. Everything was very good! Only complaint we had here was that inside seating is VERY limited, and it was WAY too hot to sit outside.

POOH SIZED REPORT
I had very few complaints at Animal Kingdom. Disney is very very good at making sure things are friendly to people of all shapes and sizes. The only time I was uncomfortable was at the Nemo the Musical show, and that was because we were sitting in the upper back section, and let me just tell you that tiny hard little bleacher seats with no backs make the bum and the back VERY sore and tired after a long show. I also found that, during the entire trip, that if I had to go through a turnstile things might get a little bit squeezed and squoozed. Must remember to go through sideways.
After I returned to POR, and spent a little time in my room, I discovered one more issue for those of Pooh-sized dimensions. The chairs in the rooms at POR are very tight and small! They are chairs with arms on them, and if I sat down in them suddenly without remembering to be careful and ease my way into them... OW! Disney might want to consider providing at least one chair without arms.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY
Animal Kingdom is a hot park with a LOT of walking. We ended up walking back and forth across the darn thing a couple of times, fetching fastpasses, and trying to see different attractions. This contributed a lot to our tiredness. It is important, I think, to make a touring plan so that you can minimize the number of times you trek across the park. The difficulty comes in having two things that are important to do first thing in the day (the Safaris, and fastpasses for Everest) on totally opposite ends of the park.
We also learned that Mickey bars melt VERY quickly in 90° heat.

Up in a day or two - Magic Kingdom on a Saturday... were we nuts?!?

 

[wirki]

I am enjoying your report. Can't wait to hear about MK

Debbie

 

[LISAMWDW]

Great update! Yeah, I'm thinking you are nuts.....MK on a Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dismom9761]

Just found your report and really enjoying it.

the kids are adorable and all the pics are great!

MK on a Saturday! Been there,done that,won't do it again...

 

[Sorsha]

Sorry for the delay in entries, folks.. it has been a LONG weekend.
Wirki and DisMom9761, welcom to my TR! Would anyone like a cup of coffee while they read? Its fresh... and I have Butter Pecan creamer in the fridge too.

Ok, let's get on with the Magic Kingdom day... *shudders remembering it*

 

[Sorsha]

Before we start, a bit of explanation... WHY were we attempting MK on a Saturday!?!? First of all, because we were visiting in slow season and because of certain dinner commitments, this was the ONLY night that we could see both Spectro and Wishes. All the other nights of our trip, either Wishes was not being shown, or if it was we had a dinner ADR we were not willing to give up. We were further encouraged by the UG, which suggested that MK was one of the "best parks to visit" on this particular day, with an estimated crowd level of "5". Bear that in mind...

I woke up before everyone else this morning... as I would continue to do for the rest of the trip, I am just not a late sleeper. Since our breakfast ADRs weren't till 9:10, no one else really needed to be up yet, so I decided to let them sleep. Quietly I showered and got dressed (love that privacy curtain at POR, its really quite convenient), grabbed my refillable mug, and slipped out the door. It was about 6:30 in the morning as I began my stroll over to Riverside Mill. I followed the path from building 37 past building 38 to the Sassagoula river, where I took a right and followed the river all the way around, past buildings 27, 18, and 14, and the path eventually led me right to the back door of the food court building. This was such a beautiful, peaceful way to begin the day, still dark with the sun just beginning to rise, warm and sweet-smelling.. but REALLY humid.. I considered the possibility that I might need to re-shower when I got back to the room. On the way down I took time to reflect and marvel on Disney's commitment to "atmosphere". Here I was, in the middle of central Florida, and everything about my walk suggested that I was meandering through the Delta Region of Louisiana. The lush landscaping, the bunnies frolicking by the water's edge, and the ducks swimming peacefully. The chirping of the frogs, the low, lazy lighting, the jazz music that is the background to everywhere you go at Port Orleans, and most of all the delicious cinnamon-y smells of beignets cooking somewhere off in the distance... what a fantastic job they do creating and maintaining their atmosphere. Mind you, its a completely Disney-fied version of New Orleans, as I sincerely doubt the real one looks or smells quite so nice, but still, that's what we pay for!

I filled my mug (iced tea with LOTS of ice - my morning staple - no NesCrappe for me!) and retraced my steps back to my room. Woke up the crew and got everyone showered and dressed and ready to go. An unscheduled potty break just before we walked out of our door made us a bit later than I would have liked in getting to the bus stop, but we got there at about 8:20... and waited. And waited. It was in the neighborhood of 8:45 before a MK bus finally arrived, and I was starting to stress. We were dropped off at MK just after 9, and joined the crowds heading into the park. I gave small amount of thought to what seemed like an abnormally large amount of people, but chalked it up to "rope drop" crowds. As always, I was struck nearly speechless by that first view of Main Street and the castle. It is SO gorgeous! AND the Train Station and Main Street were all decorated up for autumn and Halloween - and I just LOVE these decorations! no time for pictures now though, we are at a dead run, trying to get to the end of Main Street and Crystal palace for our ADR and WHY are all these bloody people in my way?!? Well, we made it, only about 10 minutes late (SIGH) and get checked in. We waited about 20 minutes to be seated. Breakfast is good (although many of the food items bear a great resemblance to the same things we had for breakfast at Animal Kingdom yesterday), Puffed French Toast is, as always, HEAVENLY. The restaurant was VERY crowded (why are all these people here?) and we didn't get to see all the characters, only Tigger and Piglet.

I was VERY sad, as I booked this breakfast because I am a HUGE Eeyore fan, and I knew this would be my best opportunity to snag a visit with him... but no.. all I saw was his backsaide... waaaaaayyy over in the other room. We could have waited for him, but by the time we gave up and left, we had been there for over an hour, and we had rides to do. We headed directly back into Fantasyland, to fulfill Caitlyn's greatest desire. She wanted a ride on the carousel. The previous evening, in Downtown Disney, she had been begging for a ride on THAT carousel. Evil parents that we are, we distracted her, and promised her a ride on the bigger, better, prettier carousel at Magic Kingdom.. the one that we DID NOT have to pay extra for. Considering the number pf people that had been on Main Street and in the Crystal palace, I was amazed at how quiet Fantasyland was.

It didn't last.
By the time we finished our ride on the carousel, wait lines for Peter Pan and Pooh were already in the 1/2 hour range, Dumbo was 45 minutes. GASP. So we tried a new plan of action. Splitting up, James took Ariana and Alyssa over to Space Mountain to get FastPasses, while Caitlyn and I hopped on Small World. Caitie LOVES this ride, when we were in CA in 2005, I think i rode it 17 times. James HATES this ride. After Small World, Caitie and I went to Tomorrowland, where we met up with the rest of the gang. While we waited for the Fast Passes to mature, we took a spin on the TTA (LOVE it) and visited the Carousle of Progress. I love this one, its so nostalgically wonderful, and it's so full of the spirit of Walt. By this time our FastPasses were good, so James took Ariana and Alyssa on Space Mtn while Caitlyn and I browsed in the shops. When they got off, Ariana took her little sisters to ride Buzz Lightyear, while I took a turn on Space Mountain and James went with me. WOW. I do NOT remember being this one being quite so... jerky. It is so rough! I got off of it feeling like I had been through the spin cycle! Ow. Once is enough, thanks. We met up with the girls, and by now Tomorrowland is also terribly crowded. Wait times are creeping upwards towards an hour, and people are shoulder-to-shoulder. Ok folks, its Dole Whip time.

I am going to post this before I lose it, as my puter is being odd. I will be right back, and we will continue our day at MK.

 

[Sorsha]

As we strolled across the bridge from Fantasyland to the hub, we paused in the rose garden area for some pictures. There was a PhotoPass fellow out, and we got some shots taken. At this point, Caitlyn decided that PhotoPass people dwell in the same Nether Regions as furry characters, and she was having none of it. We didn't get very many PhotoPass pictures taken this trip because she would cry, crawl around our legs, and hide her face. All of our PhotoPass pictures are of the back of her head. I did get one good shot with my camera, before she weirded out.

We continued into Adventureland, where we purchased cups of pineapple-y goodness. 2 Dole Whips, 2 Dole Whip swirls.

We shared these as we wandered through Adventureland, and into Frontierland to get FastPasses for Splash Mtn. It was soooo crowded. We are off season travelers. All of our WDW trips have been in October or February, or other times when I used to be able to count on low crowds, and I had counted on late September being the same way. You have to understand, there are less than a million people in the entire state of Montana. We are not used to crowds. We like our wide open country; and most of all, Montanans value Personal Space. We would never think of standing right up close to someone in a line at the grocery store or the bank, and we never crowd eachother. You will almost always find at least 12 inches of Personal Space between people here at home. I get SO claustrophobic when surrounded on all sides by pushing, shoving people. Remember the movie Princess Bride, when they are in a huge crowd and can't get through and Fezzic the Giant bellows EVERYBODY MOVE! and suddenly the crown clears out before him? I needed Fezzic the Giant with me this day. Anyhow, personal digression aside...

We got our FastPasses, and were dismayed to find that they didn't mature till 5 PM. We took one look at Big Thunder (over an hour wait time) and headed back over to Adventureland. The kids took a spin on the Magic Carpets, and then we walked right onto Pirates of the Caribbean - don't know where everyone was, but this ride was empty. I was SO torn about this ride. On one hand, I ADORE the Pirates movies, all 3 of them. Love, love, LOVE them. On the other hand - they messed with my Pirates ride! This was the first time I had been on the ride since they changed it to incorporate the movie effects. After much reflection, I think I like it. The Davy Jones effect at the beginning is WAY cool, and the movie tie-ins were very respectfully done, I think. The changes make both the movie and the ride make more sense together. I will always be nostalgic for the original way (really and truely I almost always prefer the originals) but this way is good too, I think.
When we got done with Pirates, we meandered back over to Frontierland. The kiddos were starting to be hungry, so we stopped off at Pecos Bills. It was about 4 in the afternoon, and not too crowded in here yet. After our meal, our FastPasses were ready - YAY! I got to go first this time, with Alyssa and Ariana; then Alyssa and I took Caitlyn to play in the playground area near the FastPass machines while Ariana rode again with Daddy.
Next we decided to brave the line and ride Haunted Mansion (about a 30 minute wait), which is looking fantastic after the recent refurb. It has some really cool new effects, and everything just looks refreshed, but even dustier and cob-webbier than usual, if that makes sense.
After Mansion, we wandered back into Fantasyland to see if the crowds in there had thinned out any, since it seemed like everyone in the whole darn park was in Frontierland. Nope. We ducked in for a showing of PhilharMagic, which Ariana and Alyssa and I loved. James was a little bored with it - he is a thrill ride sort of guy, and Caitlyn decided that 3D glasses belonged in the same category with PhotoPass guys and furry characters.

At this point, it was getting late, and we knew we better go get a spot for SpectroMagic. I had grave reservations about this. Caitlyn was DONE being at the park for the day. She had been a little pill for most of the day, and as it got later, she was getting worse. I don't necessarily blame her, she was tired and hot, and it was crowded. But DANG it Spectro and Wishes were why I had braved this crowd all day and we were NOT leaving now. bad selfish mommy, I know, but thats the way it was.

We found a decent spot and settled in. I spent a little while enjoying the decorations on Main Street.

Then I spent the rest of the time dealing with a kicking, pestering, annoying, crying, tantruming 4 year old. She was in full-out beast mode and wanted nothing more than to annoy, pester, and harry her sisters, and got highly ticked off when I wouldn't let her. It was a relief when SpectroMagic began so there was something to distract her.

Isn't it interesting that they still use this lettering on the introductory Spectro float? I don't think this logo can be found anywhere in the parks anymore... I think it went away in the early 90's! Guess it would be too difficult to re-work the lighting on the float. Another great nostalgic thing though.

After Spectro, we moved down Main a little to be closer to the castle. We settled in to our new spot, then James went off to brave the crowds (by now literally shoulder-to-shoulder) to get popcorn and drinks for the kids. I can't believe how hard it was to get snacks. You would think that with this many people all in one spot waiting for the fireworks, Disney would realize what a selling opportunity they have here - bored people WILL buy snack food! - and have more snack carts scattered about. But no, everyone in the area was lined up at ONE popcorn wagon. Caitlyn was settled down a bit by now, and when Daddy returned with popcorn, it was ALL good. That kid loves popcorn, and was quite pleased with it... only really paid about half attention to Wishes, more more happy about popcorn.
A few pictures from Wishes:

After Wishes, we joined the sea of humanity heading towards the exits. Daddy carried Caitlyn, who was asleep by the time we reached the Emporium, and I held tight to Ariana and Alyssa, trying to not lose anyone. We didn't wait too long for a bus, they were arriving one right after another, but it was REALLY crowded. Someone gave James a spot to sit, since he was holding the sleeping child, but the girls and I had to stand. Poor Alyssa was almost asleep on her feet.
We arrived back at POR, and tucked the little ones into bed. James, Ariana and I each had a turn in the showers, then we crashed too. What a day!

THE FOOD REPORT
Crystal Palace = Food here was OK. Better than Breakfastosaurus, but only marginally. They had a few unique and really YUMMY dishes, like Puffed French Toast, and Pooh's Breakfast Lasagna (LOVED that stuff) but an awful lot of the food just seemed to be basic, cafeteria-style, bland breakfast staples. I had expected something a little fancier out of the Crystal Palace, I guess. I was really hoping for a few more brunch-ish options.
Character interaction was good, when the character got to you, but it took too long for them to get there. No Eeyore.
Pecos Bills = James, Ariana, and I all had Bacon Double Cheeseburger baskets with fries, and the kids had chicken nugget meals with fries and grapes. This was pretty standard fast-food type food, but the toppings bar was very nice. Great thing about Pecos Bills is that it has LOTS of indoor seating.
Dole Whips = How can you go wrong? Actually, sometimes I find that the Dole Whips and Dole Whip floats are too pineapple-y for me... they taste WONDERFUL but I have acid reflux issues, and they hurt me later on. The Dole Whip swirl was a wonderful find on this trip, the addition of the vanilla soft serve cuts the acid for me. YUM!

THE POOH SIZED REPORT
Again, I would issue a warning about turnstiles. Most of the Magic Kingdom rides and attractions still have them, and some of them are original 1972-issue tiny little TIGHT ones. Remember to go through sideways, or ask the CM to open the wheelchair gate for you. They will be glad to do this. I had bruises for a week from the Small World turnstiles... I think they were made to fit the dolls!! Other than that, not too many problems. As has been reported many times, Space Mountain seats are hard to climb out of. Also, sitting on the street for an hour for Spectro is NOT comfortable. It would be so wonderful if WDW had some sort of roll-out, fold-away bleacher-type seating that could be brought out along Main for Spectro and Wishes. Ah well, wishful thinking...

WHAT WE LEARNED
Avoid the Magic Kingdom on a Saturday. Avoid it like the plague. In fact, I would imagine that you would want to avoid any of the major parks on a Saturday. My guess is that we were seeing a lot of locals. Families out for the day, school groups, etc. Next time, I think we would plan to do something else on Saturday - probably an off-property trip out to the coast, or a relax day at our hotel - and then hop over the MK just for Spectro and Wishes, if we absolutely had to.

See you in a few days, for MGM on Sunday... Singin' in the rain!

 

[LISAMWDW]

Avoid the Magic Kingdom on a Saturday. Avoid it like the plague.


It's always been my rule! The other parks are actually quite doable on a Saturday. It's just MK that is a nightmare!

Great update!

 

[winkers]

I'm really enjoying your report! And I loved perfect strangers!!

 

[reyasmommy]

I love your trip report! The post about the seat on the train cracked me up.

Keep up the great work.

 

[dismom9761]

Great update!

love the pictures of the castle with Wishes fireworks behind it.

Poor caitlyn(and mommy)-hope she gets some sleep and ready to tackle another park...

Looking forward to more...

 

[Sorsha]

Avoid the Magic Kingdom on a Saturday. Avoid it like the plague.


It's always been my rule! The other parks are actually quite doable on a Saturday. It's just MK that is a nightmare!

Great update!

I am glad to hear that the other parks are more do-able on Saturday... MK was just horrifying! It was so amazing the difference between MK on Saturday, and Epcot on Monday (that part of the TR coming up in a few days)... it was like someone turned off a people-faucet somewhere!!

Thanks for reading and posting!