yorkshiregirl
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2002
- Messages
- 147
Day 2 Magic Kingdom
I forgot to mention on first report who we are. There was myself, husband Tony, Victoria 16 and Andrew 14.
I was up bright and early and got the family up, breakfasted and showered and ready to go by 8 which is no mean achievement. We ate breakfast in the cabin all week and found that we could stagger the demand for the shower by doing this and the maid did the loading or unloading of the dishwasher when she came in to clean.
Packed lots of drinks including some frozen ones which meant that everything stayed cool longer. We had bought a mister fan whilst we waited for the groceries the day before and the deodrant body wipes came in very handy. I had a small bright orange backpack and Tony had a larger black one which carried all our goods but were not too cumbersome on the rides.
We discovered that EPCOT was closed that day due to a generator fire which meant that our p.s. at Alfredo's was cancelled.
I wanted to show the family the Magic Kingdom as I think it's the heart of WDW. I have been previously to Walt Disney in Anaheim and wanted to see the castle here first before anything else.
We walked across the road and a bus which took us to the Settlement Hall came in minutes. We walked down the the Marina and there was a boat in ready to take us to the Magic Kingdom. In all our week we never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus to one of the parks and the campground buses were very efficient.
The ride across on the boat was lovely, we could pick out some of the hotels and to see River Island which is sadly closed.
The bag search took some time but by the end of the week we had learnt to have all zips etc open so the process was quick.
Then came the moment we had all been waiting for:-
The colours, noises, happy smiling faces, smells of suntan cream, bright, glaring sun bouncing back the reflections of all the candy-striped awnings, shops full of tempting goods but, no I cried we must go on right up to the rope, time to shop later. Looking at everything but not really taking in more than a third of it at first, we arrived at a bridge with a rope across. Towering over us like a child's birthday cake made of rainbows was the castle.
3 ladies came over the bridge and cautioned the waiting hordes to be patient and not overrun them as they led the way in. No-one appeared to be likely to do this every-one was calm and eagerly anticipating the moment and we certainly would not be rushing as we were starting to feel the heat and know we would have to pace ourselves this first day.
As we walked into the Magic Kingdom and headed for the fast passes for Splash Mountain and the railway all that I had planned to do went out of my head but it didn't matter we were here, actually here at last.
I must confess here that I do not actually enjoy rides which are fast, high, dark or any combination of same. I do enjoy the theming of rides like splash mountain although I do think those cute, cuddly singing rabbits lull you into a false sense of security just right before the ride goes up that ramp. No point buying the photos as at the crucial moment my head is usually braced against the bar until we have come down to a more tolerable level. The family of 4 mysteriously becomes 3 at that point. I wasn't always like this but went on Nemesis at Alton Towers 3 years ago and couldn't co-ordinate myself for about 3 hours after.
By 11.30 a.m. we were ready to head back to the cabin, even with the drinks we were feeling the heat. We had also booked a golf cart to use in the campgrounds so we needed to pick that up at 1pm.
The golfcarts were great fun. We enjoyed whizzing around the campground with them and although the buses were very efficient it saved some time for us in that before or after the travel in a disney park bus we could just unhook and ride along to the cabin. We hadn't really taken in just how big Fort Wilderness is.
As EPCOT was closed we went to the Trails End buffet for our dinner. I enjoyed the meal (I had the chicken)but husband was not too keen. It was a little too plain for him. The children liked some aspects of it but said the pizza was a little bit bland. We also found that our appetites had decreased with the effect the heat was on having on us. Cost of meal was $69
After the meal we caught the bus to Downtown Disney which was very busy. We all had a good time looking in the shops. I especially enjoyed the Christmas shop and got some decorations to hang on the tree which will be reminders of this trip for many years to come I hope.
One disappointment was that Disneyquest was closed for a private function.
Highlights of day the smells, noises and sounds of the Magic Kingdom. Seeing Mickey and co and all the princesses at the welcome celebrations in front of the castle at 10.30 in the morning. Enjoying the sheer enjoyment of the people around us of all ages, nations etc. As a childcare worker I was especially entranced by the uninhibited way that small children ran to the characters. My two were a bit blase about the characters and I did think that if we had visited in 96 as we were planning to they would have enjoyed this aspect more. I got a bit teary when Mickey first appeared, that ripple of applause is so infectious.
I forgot to mention on first report who we are. There was myself, husband Tony, Victoria 16 and Andrew 14.
I was up bright and early and got the family up, breakfasted and showered and ready to go by 8 which is no mean achievement. We ate breakfast in the cabin all week and found that we could stagger the demand for the shower by doing this and the maid did the loading or unloading of the dishwasher when she came in to clean.
Packed lots of drinks including some frozen ones which meant that everything stayed cool longer. We had bought a mister fan whilst we waited for the groceries the day before and the deodrant body wipes came in very handy. I had a small bright orange backpack and Tony had a larger black one which carried all our goods but were not too cumbersome on the rides.
We discovered that EPCOT was closed that day due to a generator fire which meant that our p.s. at Alfredo's was cancelled.
I wanted to show the family the Magic Kingdom as I think it's the heart of WDW. I have been previously to Walt Disney in Anaheim and wanted to see the castle here first before anything else.
We walked across the road and a bus which took us to the Settlement Hall came in minutes. We walked down the the Marina and there was a boat in ready to take us to the Magic Kingdom. In all our week we never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus to one of the parks and the campground buses were very efficient.
The ride across on the boat was lovely, we could pick out some of the hotels and to see River Island which is sadly closed.
The bag search took some time but by the end of the week we had learnt to have all zips etc open so the process was quick.
Then came the moment we had all been waiting for:-
The colours, noises, happy smiling faces, smells of suntan cream, bright, glaring sun bouncing back the reflections of all the candy-striped awnings, shops full of tempting goods but, no I cried we must go on right up to the rope, time to shop later. Looking at everything but not really taking in more than a third of it at first, we arrived at a bridge with a rope across. Towering over us like a child's birthday cake made of rainbows was the castle.
3 ladies came over the bridge and cautioned the waiting hordes to be patient and not overrun them as they led the way in. No-one appeared to be likely to do this every-one was calm and eagerly anticipating the moment and we certainly would not be rushing as we were starting to feel the heat and know we would have to pace ourselves this first day.
As we walked into the Magic Kingdom and headed for the fast passes for Splash Mountain and the railway all that I had planned to do went out of my head but it didn't matter we were here, actually here at last.
I must confess here that I do not actually enjoy rides which are fast, high, dark or any combination of same. I do enjoy the theming of rides like splash mountain although I do think those cute, cuddly singing rabbits lull you into a false sense of security just right before the ride goes up that ramp. No point buying the photos as at the crucial moment my head is usually braced against the bar until we have come down to a more tolerable level. The family of 4 mysteriously becomes 3 at that point. I wasn't always like this but went on Nemesis at Alton Towers 3 years ago and couldn't co-ordinate myself for about 3 hours after.
By 11.30 a.m. we were ready to head back to the cabin, even with the drinks we were feeling the heat. We had also booked a golf cart to use in the campgrounds so we needed to pick that up at 1pm.
The golfcarts were great fun. We enjoyed whizzing around the campground with them and although the buses were very efficient it saved some time for us in that before or after the travel in a disney park bus we could just unhook and ride along to the cabin. We hadn't really taken in just how big Fort Wilderness is.
As EPCOT was closed we went to the Trails End buffet for our dinner. I enjoyed the meal (I had the chicken)but husband was not too keen. It was a little too plain for him. The children liked some aspects of it but said the pizza was a little bit bland. We also found that our appetites had decreased with the effect the heat was on having on us. Cost of meal was $69
After the meal we caught the bus to Downtown Disney which was very busy. We all had a good time looking in the shops. I especially enjoyed the Christmas shop and got some decorations to hang on the tree which will be reminders of this trip for many years to come I hope.
One disappointment was that Disneyquest was closed for a private function.
Highlights of day the smells, noises and sounds of the Magic Kingdom. Seeing Mickey and co and all the princesses at the welcome celebrations in front of the castle at 10.30 in the morning. Enjoying the sheer enjoyment of the people around us of all ages, nations etc. As a childcare worker I was especially entranced by the uninhibited way that small children ran to the characters. My two were a bit blase about the characters and I did think that if we had visited in 96 as we were planning to they would have enjoyed this aspect more. I got a bit teary when Mickey first appeared, that ripple of applause is so infectious.
