Kirby
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2000
- Messages
- 13,282
We woke up a little earlier today, for what reason, I don't know. Again we followed the gray brick road to the food court for Joe and James to heat up their pastries and Carol and I to get a shot of something hot to drink with our breakfast in our room.
Today we were going to the Magic Kingdom first and wouldn't you know, we must have just missed our bus again! Oh well, we have our jackets with us this morning to help keep us warm because we weren't coming back to our room until that night.
Bag check went smoothly. There were lots of characters to take your picture with on the square. We bypassed them and went into Tomorrowland. The wait for Buzz Lightyear was not long so we rode that first. Its always a fun ride! I can't remember my score probably because it wasn't very high.
Joe and James wanted to experience Alien Encounter again. The last time, James was 8 years old and it didn't sit well with him then. Carol was 5 and it terrified her, so she had no desire to go in now. She and I headed over to the Indy Speedway for a spin. The crowds were still fairly light so we didn't have long to wait.
After meeting up with the boys, we went to go get a fast pass for Splash Mountain. We would have got one for Space Mountain but James' stomach was not feeling up to par. Splash Mountain was a walk on. I couldn't believe our luck. It's a cute ride. We discovered that those in the first row get wet the most. Luckily we were in the third and fourth rows. It was a little cool to be very wet.
The Haunted Mansion was next on the agenda. On the way, Carol got her first character picture for the trip. We had decided that we were not going to wait in line for pictures like our last trip. It was with a Brer Bear, I don't know which one. He was standing all alone, no one to take a picture with.
Once again, our luck held and the Haunted Mansion was also a walk on. Carol is still a little afraid of this ride so she rode with her dad.
Before our trip, I asked each child what ride they wanted to ride the most and Carol answered, "Its A Small World!". James had said that there was no way he was ever riding it again but when we got to the ride he decided to go ahead anyway. Have they refurbished this ride? It seemed different somehow. Thankfully the music was muted and not as loud as I remembered. It was more tolerable.
Peter Pan is one of my favorite rides but with a 45 minute standby and fast pass a couple of hours away, we passed on this one. Snow White had a very short wait. We were in the Grumpy car. Winnie the Pooh also had a long wait, both standby and fast pass, so we had to pass it up too.
Keeping an eye on the time, since we had a 1:30 reservation at the Whispering Canyon Cafe, we decided to ride one more ride. Carol was slowly going into meltdown because she was hungry. We had stopped to get a lemon slush but she didn't want one. Oh where is a popcorn booth when you need one? We found one over in Tomorrowland and sat for a moment enjoying our slushes and some popcorn. We decided that our last ride in the Magic Kingdom would be the TTA. This is such a relaxing ride.
It was time to head over to the Wilderness Lodge. Since we were wanting to do things that we hadn't done before, we took the boat over instead of the bus. It was a little cool on the water but it was an enjoyable ride. I wonder if they will ever do anything with Discovery Island. We liked going over there in 1996.
After getting a beachside view of Fort Wilderness, we pulled up to the docks at the Wilderness Lodge. The path took us by the pool which is pretty neat to look at. Walking into the lobby is breathtaking. You just look up and up and up.
We found the Whispering Canyon Cafe with no problem. More than half the place was empty. James had been looking forward to eating here and riding in a pony race. We were assigned an older woman whose name I thought was Gwen but the rest of the family said was Grandma. She didn't do any hi-jinks but did kid around with us. Just the right speed for us. We did see some of the other waiters/waitresses in action. During a quiet moment, James told us that he was glad we got the waitress we did and not one of the others.
When our meal was over, I just had to sit in the lobby and find out why my foot was paining me so. Oh no, a huge blister on the bottom of my little toe. Off to the store to get bandaids. I had some in our room but did I bring any with me?
Sitting at the bus stop waiting for a MGM bus we decided that we liked our resort better. The Wilderness Lodge is really cool and neat looking but still too much like a hotel. We were glad that we hadn't paid the extra $20 a night to stay there.
We arrived at MGM just as the parade was winding down. Listen to that voice! It was awlful! Whoever the emcee was for the parade had the most high pitched, screeching voice. I am so glad that we got to listen to the policeman emcee the day before.
Fantasmic was our goal for the evening but we still had some time to kill. The Muppet Show is our favorite 3-D movie at Disney World so we went to see that. Leaving the exit sort of had us turned around for a moment but we found our way around. There was such a crowd of people back there. I think that they were waiting for some characters to show up if I had our location spotted correctly on the map. We wandered around for awhile, down past where the Osbourne Lights were, through New York Street and down Commissary Lane. We had never been through here before.
Well, what to do next. Still two hours before Fantasmic. Do we want to go ahead and wait? Might as well, and I'm glad we did. We got in line and exactly at 4:00, they let us into the ampitheater. We were directed to the center section and could sit anywhere we wanted. We chose the left end of row Q, which was perfect seats. The two hours passed quickly enough. Upbeat music played the whole time and we people watched, asked the person in front of us to take our picture, and enjoyed sitting for awhile.
About 5:15, Carol and I did a potty break. The place was filling up fast. When we got back to our section there were CM's standing guard at the top of each set of stairs only letting people by that already had seats in that section. The CM standing at the top of our stairs told me that I had a lovely grandaughter. Do I really look that old? I let it pass but made the mistake of telling the boys about it. It got a cackle out of them and I am still being called Grandma. The thing was, that CM, who was a woman, was older than me!
As I watched the stands fill up, I kept an eye over on the reserved section. The people slowly trickled in over there. I am so glad that I didn't pay big bucks for a meal just to get a reserved seat.
Joe was hungry for some popcorn. The cheese crackers, skittles and M&M's that we had brought with us wasn't good enough. Carol and I had picked up something to drink when we had been up before but had not been able to locate the popcorn seller. Joe got up to look and as soon as he did, here came one. We were finally able to get his attention and he happily headed back to buy some.
Fantasmic is a great show. We really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I only had one picture left in my camera but I was able to get a picture of the boat at the end of the show.
We waited around for the stands to clear out. People sure do leave a lot of trash laying around. The CM's were scurrying about cleaning up because another show was added that night.
Walking back to the buses was not bad because we had delayed our exit. At least, it was okay until we got to the bus lines. Oh no, that can't be our line! Whew! That belongs to All Stars. It was almost all the way back the entrance. Our line was hidden by the All Star line.
Our wait wasn't long. We were able to get on the 3rd bus. At the room, we were tired but we didn't want a sandwich, so off to the food court we went. Carol and I walked the gray brick road but Joe and James were determined to find a shortcut, which they did. Through the parking lot. Ours was more scenic though.
After dinner, James and Carol thought a swim was in order. The quiet pools are supposed to be heated but ours was barely tepid. A short swim and two hot showers later, we were all in bed by 10:00.
No lime green ribbons today.
Today we were going to the Magic Kingdom first and wouldn't you know, we must have just missed our bus again! Oh well, we have our jackets with us this morning to help keep us warm because we weren't coming back to our room until that night.
Bag check went smoothly. There were lots of characters to take your picture with on the square. We bypassed them and went into Tomorrowland. The wait for Buzz Lightyear was not long so we rode that first. Its always a fun ride! I can't remember my score probably because it wasn't very high.
Joe and James wanted to experience Alien Encounter again. The last time, James was 8 years old and it didn't sit well with him then. Carol was 5 and it terrified her, so she had no desire to go in now. She and I headed over to the Indy Speedway for a spin. The crowds were still fairly light so we didn't have long to wait.
After meeting up with the boys, we went to go get a fast pass for Splash Mountain. We would have got one for Space Mountain but James' stomach was not feeling up to par. Splash Mountain was a walk on. I couldn't believe our luck. It's a cute ride. We discovered that those in the first row get wet the most. Luckily we were in the third and fourth rows. It was a little cool to be very wet.
The Haunted Mansion was next on the agenda. On the way, Carol got her first character picture for the trip. We had decided that we were not going to wait in line for pictures like our last trip. It was with a Brer Bear, I don't know which one. He was standing all alone, no one to take a picture with.
Once again, our luck held and the Haunted Mansion was also a walk on. Carol is still a little afraid of this ride so she rode with her dad.
Before our trip, I asked each child what ride they wanted to ride the most and Carol answered, "Its A Small World!". James had said that there was no way he was ever riding it again but when we got to the ride he decided to go ahead anyway. Have they refurbished this ride? It seemed different somehow. Thankfully the music was muted and not as loud as I remembered. It was more tolerable.
Peter Pan is one of my favorite rides but with a 45 minute standby and fast pass a couple of hours away, we passed on this one. Snow White had a very short wait. We were in the Grumpy car. Winnie the Pooh also had a long wait, both standby and fast pass, so we had to pass it up too.
Keeping an eye on the time, since we had a 1:30 reservation at the Whispering Canyon Cafe, we decided to ride one more ride. Carol was slowly going into meltdown because she was hungry. We had stopped to get a lemon slush but she didn't want one. Oh where is a popcorn booth when you need one? We found one over in Tomorrowland and sat for a moment enjoying our slushes and some popcorn. We decided that our last ride in the Magic Kingdom would be the TTA. This is such a relaxing ride.
It was time to head over to the Wilderness Lodge. Since we were wanting to do things that we hadn't done before, we took the boat over instead of the bus. It was a little cool on the water but it was an enjoyable ride. I wonder if they will ever do anything with Discovery Island. We liked going over there in 1996.
After getting a beachside view of Fort Wilderness, we pulled up to the docks at the Wilderness Lodge. The path took us by the pool which is pretty neat to look at. Walking into the lobby is breathtaking. You just look up and up and up.
We found the Whispering Canyon Cafe with no problem. More than half the place was empty. James had been looking forward to eating here and riding in a pony race. We were assigned an older woman whose name I thought was Gwen but the rest of the family said was Grandma. She didn't do any hi-jinks but did kid around with us. Just the right speed for us. We did see some of the other waiters/waitresses in action. During a quiet moment, James told us that he was glad we got the waitress we did and not one of the others.
When our meal was over, I just had to sit in the lobby and find out why my foot was paining me so. Oh no, a huge blister on the bottom of my little toe. Off to the store to get bandaids. I had some in our room but did I bring any with me?
Sitting at the bus stop waiting for a MGM bus we decided that we liked our resort better. The Wilderness Lodge is really cool and neat looking but still too much like a hotel. We were glad that we hadn't paid the extra $20 a night to stay there.
We arrived at MGM just as the parade was winding down. Listen to that voice! It was awlful! Whoever the emcee was for the parade had the most high pitched, screeching voice. I am so glad that we got to listen to the policeman emcee the day before.
Fantasmic was our goal for the evening but we still had some time to kill. The Muppet Show is our favorite 3-D movie at Disney World so we went to see that. Leaving the exit sort of had us turned around for a moment but we found our way around. There was such a crowd of people back there. I think that they were waiting for some characters to show up if I had our location spotted correctly on the map. We wandered around for awhile, down past where the Osbourne Lights were, through New York Street and down Commissary Lane. We had never been through here before.
Well, what to do next. Still two hours before Fantasmic. Do we want to go ahead and wait? Might as well, and I'm glad we did. We got in line and exactly at 4:00, they let us into the ampitheater. We were directed to the center section and could sit anywhere we wanted. We chose the left end of row Q, which was perfect seats. The two hours passed quickly enough. Upbeat music played the whole time and we people watched, asked the person in front of us to take our picture, and enjoyed sitting for awhile.
About 5:15, Carol and I did a potty break. The place was filling up fast. When we got back to our section there were CM's standing guard at the top of each set of stairs only letting people by that already had seats in that section. The CM standing at the top of our stairs told me that I had a lovely grandaughter. Do I really look that old? I let it pass but made the mistake of telling the boys about it. It got a cackle out of them and I am still being called Grandma. The thing was, that CM, who was a woman, was older than me!
As I watched the stands fill up, I kept an eye over on the reserved section. The people slowly trickled in over there. I am so glad that I didn't pay big bucks for a meal just to get a reserved seat.
Joe was hungry for some popcorn. The cheese crackers, skittles and M&M's that we had brought with us wasn't good enough. Carol and I had picked up something to drink when we had been up before but had not been able to locate the popcorn seller. Joe got up to look and as soon as he did, here came one. We were finally able to get his attention and he happily headed back to buy some.
Fantasmic is a great show. We really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I only had one picture left in my camera but I was able to get a picture of the boat at the end of the show.
We waited around for the stands to clear out. People sure do leave a lot of trash laying around. The CM's were scurrying about cleaning up because another show was added that night.
Walking back to the buses was not bad because we had delayed our exit. At least, it was okay until we got to the bus lines. Oh no, that can't be our line! Whew! That belongs to All Stars. It was almost all the way back the entrance. Our line was hidden by the All Star line.
Our wait wasn't long. We were able to get on the 3rd bus. At the room, we were tired but we didn't want a sandwich, so off to the food court we went. Carol and I walked the gray brick road but Joe and James were determined to find a shortcut, which they did. Through the parking lot. Ours was more scenic though.
After dinner, James and Carol thought a swim was in order. The quiet pools are supposed to be heated but ours was barely tepid. A short swim and two hot showers later, we were all in bed by 10:00.
No lime green ribbons today.
