crazyj4488
DIS Veteran
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- Mar 24, 2005
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WDW Trip Report April 24-30, 2005
Day 3 Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Link back to day 1 and day 2:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=811849
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=812682
Soggy Mickeys at the Magic Kingdom
Cast:
Me Jeff - 29 yr old male 9th time to WDW
My GF Sally 27 yr old Female 1st time to WDW
The alarm clock started buzzing at its usual time. It was 6:45 AM. I, for one, was probably feeling the most fatigue on this morning since I had such a late night dodging strollers and the hoards of humans at the MK the night before (hint dont goto the MK on a Monday unless you really know what you are doing). I caved and slapped that snooze button like a bad dog. Sally wasnt complaining even though she had gotten more sleep than I did. The second time the alarm rang was a different story. I mustered all the motivation I had inside of me and rolled my tired bones out of bed. I wasnt feeling at my best but knew a little bit of food, caffeine, and cleaning up would make me feel better. I, once again, started by opening just the curtains in the room in order to help both Sally and I rise.
My habit of showering the night before was still in effect. I knew doing this would save me some time each morning. My body was growing increasingly more fatigued as the vacation wore on so even 10 more minutes of sleep each day could add up to an hour of extra sleep. WDW is a whole lot of fun but it requires more energy than the typical vacation. I think most people have to make the choice between relaxing during their vacation versus enjoying activities while away from home. Ive always preferred the later. Lifes too short not to experience as much as possible.
While I brushed my teeth, Sally showered. When she was out, I started asking how her feet were doing and she claimed that they were very well healed. This was good news since it was Magic Kingdom day. Her plan for this trip into the parks was to wear the pair of sandals I bought her the night before. She had already tried them out and was happy with her feet not rubbing against the material in her Nike sneakers.
We watched some morning news while nibbling on muffins and granola bars for breakfast. The weather report said that rain was expected to roll through beginning in the late afternoon. I didnt think it would be anything serious. Every spell of rain I had experienced while in Florida was short lived and only turned out to make the humidity worse. Not that a little rain was going to stop me, but it is good to know these things so you can be prepared.
We headed to the parking lot, got into our rental, and I made our way to the Transportation and Ticket Center parking lot. It is a bit of a challenge getting into the Magic Kingdom if you arent taking their buses. The Disney owned buses are the only motor vehicles allowed to enter directly at the front gates of the Magic Kingdom. The Transportation and Ticket Center serves as the Magic Kingdom parking lot among other things. It is interesting to note that Disneyland in California can fit into The Magic Kingdoms parking lot. With that in mind, we quickly made our way through the parking lot gate as they simply wave you through since resort guests and annual passholders dont have to worry about a fee. We parked at the very front of the lot, walked to the TTC instead of waiting for a tram, and hoofed it up to the Monorail loading platform. This is when I discovered that the Express Monorail which, normally, runs strictly between the Magic Kingdom and TTC looked to be under refurbishment. This meant that we would have to make stops at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian resort before getting to the park. This annoyed me slightly and I had a plan B prepared in order to avoid repeating this process in the future. I was still excited about riding the monorail for the first time during our vacation. It had always been one of my top rated rides at the world.
Before disembarking the monorail, we had to endure the annoying Disney character, Stitch, snickering at us over the P.A. Before I left for Florida, I read that Stitch had invaded all of Disneys resort wide marketing efforts. Why Disney had to spend money advertising on their own property for their own crappy attraction was beyond me. I really didnt like the Stitch character and his intrusion upon the, usually pleasant, monorail announcement worked my nerves. Throughout all my years visiting the parks, the monorail spiels were always the same. I had even read online that the announcements have used the same male voice since the 70s. I really felt that Stitch was an unnecessary addition to our first impression of the park that morning.
The front gate area of the Magic Kingdom contained a rather modest crowd of people. I quickly found out that many of these people were entering the park for their reserved character breakfast experience. We waited about 15 minutes before they started scanning tickets and allowed us to pass through the turnstiles. Once again, Sally had a dispute with the biometric scanners responsible for linking each individual to their own ticket. What she did to piss those things off was beyond me. Perhaps she is an alien species of sorts and her out-of-this-world fingerprints just werent cutting it. She was still the first non character breakfast person to get through the gates that morning. She turned around, once on the other side of the turnstiles, and loudly celebrated this fact while everyone else chuckled at her. It was like having a little kid along with me but I didnt mind. I just wanted her to have fun on this trip.
To our surprise, the cast members did not allow us onto Main Street. We were being corralled between the train station entrance and the turnstiles until the 9 AM rope drop. MOO MOO in typical Disney crowd control style. We seated ourselves with a decent view of the train loading platform and struck up a conversation with a small family from New Jersey only to find out that their little girls name was Sally too! I took pictures of the two Sallys shortly before the Mayor of Main Street appeared atop the train station to announce the opening of the park. I had never seen an opening ceremony like this at the parks. The last time I was at the Magic Kingdom early for the rope drop, they let us enter Main Street and the rope was blocking the central hub area of the park.
The opening ceremony was pretty neat. An honorary family was picked to help open the park, the train pulled into the station with Mickey and all his friends on it, and then the whole crew threw pixie dust over the crowd as the countdown began. They really got your heart going. We were both quite excited to get into the park.
We quickly traversed the fallen rope and headed down Main Street towards Tomorrowland. Sally was hustling and keeping up with me but started complaining about the sandals rubbing the top of her foot. She hung in there while I grabbed Fastpasses for Space Mountain. Riding Space Mountain several times was tradition for me and I wanted to make sure I secured a second ride for us without having to stand in a 45 minute line. After the passes, we got in the standby line to board the ride itself. We were seated in our rockets 5 minutes later and quickly began our wild ride into space. As usual, it made us laugh out loud as we were surprised with each turn and drop in the dark.
Upon exiting Space Mountain, we immediately headed towards Fantasyland as I didnt feel the Buzz Lightyear ride could even hold a candle to the, similar, MIB ride we rode at Universal Studios the day before. I rode the Buzz ride before and was not impressed.
Sally really enjoyed walking alongside Cinderellas Castle and entering Fantasyland. She was somewhat upset over her feet failing her once again but kept on going as best as she could. I told her that we could head to the first aid station or just head back to the hotel as soon as we experienced a couple more rides. She, reluctantly, agreed that some sort of alternate plan to save her feet was in order but felt bad that she might be disturbing my plans for the day. I reassured her that I had no problem leaving the Magic Kingdom if we had to as it wouldnt be any fun while she was in pain. I was more than capable of adjusting our itinerary and didnt even give it a second thought.
Next, we headed over to Peter Pans Flight since this attraction continually has a long line even in the off-season. I knew that riding it during the morning hours would be the only time to get on it without a 45 minute wait or Fastpass. When we arrived at the ride queue there was only a 5 minute wait before we boarded our pirate ships headeding off to Neverland. I couldnt help noticing that two of my favorite aspects of this show were missing after going through it. First, Tinker Bell wasnt seen randomly fluttering around the loading area and Peter Pans shadow was not seen flying out the window with the ride vehicle during the very first scene of the ride. Other than that, it was still pleasant floating over London at night in our pirate ships and returning safely home.
Afterwards, Sally and I slowly but surely made our way over to Frontierland in order to get on Splash Mountain. I could see Sally grimacing over the pain in her feet and this was not making me happy. I made the executive decision to immediately leave the park upon completing Splash and The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We just had to remedy the situation at hand. Again, Sally was on the verge of tears thinking she was, somehow, ruining my vacation. I told her that it was no big deal and that we could still see and do everything on our list. I would simply plan around the situation.
After a less than enthusiastic ride through Trash Mountain and The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which was in excellent shape and a blast), Sally went for a smoke while I took a restroom break. I snapped a couple of pictures of the Splash Mountain queue area as I have always thought this was one of the most well themed areas of the park. After briefly stopping to smell the roses, I returned to Sally. I lead her into the Briar Patch gift shop and saw her cooing over a stuffed Eeyore. If Eeyore couldnt cheer Sally up, I dont know what would. He has always been her favorite Disney character so I bought her the medium sized stuffed donkey and away we went to catch the Frontierland train that would take us to the front of the park. This, obviously, was a good idea since Sally didnt need to be on her feet any more than required.
We arrived at the Main Street Station and headed towards the Monorail loading area. I eyed the obnoxious crowds waiting to get into the park for the day. These late risers must have been into punishing themselves. I wasnt. Having to take the resort monorail was, again, a bit of a disappointment but there was no other choice and I didnt feel like waiting for the ferry boat to cross The Seven Seas Lagoon.
The ride back to the TTC from the Magic Kingdom had only one stop versus the two stops required on the way to the park. The walk from the TTC to the car was a slow and steady one. I assured Sally that everything was alright with us leaving and as we got into our rental car for the ride back to Port Orleans. It was just after 11 AM.
The morning had been a hot and humid one. I jumped into the shower as soon as I arrived back at the room while Sally applied some moleskin bandages to her feet. She put her tennis shoes on to test things out and it seemed to do the trick. We had finally found something to protect her fragile little feet. After that, we both settled in for a nap. I was badly in need of one and it felt great getting off my feet. Both of us were passed out by 12:30.
I woke up around 3:00 PM and was pretty restless. Sally was still out so I quietly threw some clothes on and took a walk across the Port Orleans property towards the main lobby. It was quite the haul over to the lobby from Magnolia Terrace. I had to walk through our building to a rose garden. After walking through the rose garden and around a gazebo, I crossed a bridge which was, undoubtedly, traversing part of the Sassagoula River. Everything around me was beautiful, it was perfectly quiet, and I clearly felt like I was walking through a slice of time not entirely my own. Every small detail Disney picked to include in their theming told a story as well as any Hans Christian Anderson book. The cement sidewalks were colored a mild brown to look like a dirt path and there were prints of ferns and shells embedded within the stone as if the walkway had fossilized objects of the past. The lampposts were made of wood with lanterns hanging from them and the island I was walking across was made to look like a classic watering hole complete with an old sawmill. Therefore, it was only fitting to cross another bridge after passing the area appropriately named, Ole Man Island.
I arrived at the main lobby building of the Port Orleans Riverside resort and headed straight through the building just to take a peek. I came straight back out of the building and strolled over to the marina to look at what they had to offer. Surrey bikes, mini speedboats, self-powered paddle boats, pontoon boats, and horse drawn carriage rides were available according to the sign posted near the riverfront. I couldnt help but smile at what a unique experience Disney resorts had to offer. The extra cost of staying on-property at the world is definitely worth it. Instead of a hotel room, you end up with a full-fledged transport to another place. Escaping from the mundane nuances of city life is what passing through the front gates of Disney World is all about to me. You dont hear planes flying overhead thanks to restricted airspace. The noises of the roadways surrounding the property are subdued by groves of trees and properly landscaped grounds while the normal sights of urban decay and suburban sprawl are nonexistent. Whats not to like about all of that?
The walk back to my room was just as pleasant as the walk to the main lobby. Sally started stirring as soon as I walked back into the room. I told her that we needed to start getting ready for our 5:40 PM dinner reservation at the California Grill. I was quite excited finally getting to enjoy a respectable meal while seated on top of The Contemporary Resort. I had always heard about the restaurant that overlooked the Seven Seas Lagoon and the Magic Kingdom but have never taken the time or had the resources to dine there. This was, indeed, going to be a special evening.
There was a hidden agenda within my plan to have dinner at The California Grill. I would valet the car at The Contemporary Resort for $7 and, afterwards, take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom in order to check out a couple attractions and view, both, the Spectromagic parade and the Wishes fireworks show above the castle. Exiting in midst of the exodus at closing time would be effortless as we could return to the Contemporary on foot versus waiting in endless lines for the monorails to return to the TTC or the buses returning to the hotels.
I threw on a button down shirt while Sally dressed in some khaki Capri pants. If there is one thing Ive learned about Disney World is that people just dont dress up too much no matter where they are headed. The California Grill is definitely an upscale place but I felt just fine wearing jeans and my new sneakers. I did, however, iron Sallys pants for her as neither of us are accustomed to dressing casual while going out for the evening.
After getting spiffed up, we noticed that the weather outside was not holding up too well. We headed towards the rental car for our ride over to the Contemporary Resort but stopped at the main lobby to hit up the gift shop. I bought us both Mickey Ponchos since it was obvious that we were going to need them. We left the main lobby parking lot and instead of following the road signs to where I was headed, I took the bus route towards the front of the Magic Kingdom. I had memorized the route while riding to the park by myself on the bus the night before. This made things a bit easier. We were at the security booth for the Contemporary Resort in no time. The security guard pointed me towards the valet area and we passed off the car to the attendant.
It was only around 5:00 PM so we took the extra time to walk around the Contemporary a bit. The rain had not started and we went outside towards the waterfront to take some cute pictures near a large metal Mickey sculpture. Thats when it started to rain so we returned to the hotel.
Moments later, we were escorted to the California Grill via elevator. This was done to keep people without dinner reservations from trying to check out the wonderful views of the surrounding area.
After exiting onto the 15th floor, our first impression of The California Grill was a good one. The room was very open in design, there were floor to ceiling windows wrapped around the entire restaurant, and you could clearly see the kitchen and the cooks doing their thing. We were quickly seated across the dining room from the windows but could still catch some breathtaking views of the world below. Both Lake Buena Vista and The Seven Seas Lagoon were visible below. I could also see the Animal Kingdoms Tree of Life looming in the distance along with most of The Magic Kingdom. It was getting pretty nasty out by that time and I could see the rain crawling down the large windows. None of this bothered me as I had been to the parks plenty of times before while it was raining. Most of the attractions at Disney World are indoors and I knew we would only benefit from lighter crowds.
Our waiter turned out to be exceptional. He was helpful with the menu and had many suggestions for us. To start, I ordered two glasses of Pinot Noir and some salad appetizers. Sally and I were sitting next to each other and I could tell something was not right with her. She said her body felt really warm. I told her to go to the restroom in order to splash some cool water on her face and neck. She left the table while I sat there sipping my wine, enjoying my salad, and taking in the views. I felt bad for Sally as she had seen better days than this one. She didnt return for a good 15 to 20 minutes but looked better to me once she did. She told me that she had gotten sick while in the restroom but felt better after doing so. We could only deduct that some over the counter medicine she took before leaving the hotel had caused a nasty reaction.
Our superior service continued and we were, soon, enjoying the main course. We both ordered the pork tenderloin served with polenta and vegetables. It was to die for and I wasnt used to eating a quality meal while at Disney World. Most meals are mediocre given the large number of guest they have to serve each day. I paid for our dinner and left a generous tip. Sally and I both agreed that our waiter was the best waiter we had ever had. This was saying a lot given the amount of fine dining establishments we visit each year.
It was a quick walk to the Monorail station which was conveniently located on the 4th floor of The Contemporary Resort. We had to stop at all the other Monorail resorts before getting to hear the annoying sound of Stitch yapping in our ears. Luckily, the rain had stopped and we quickly made our way over to Tomorrowland after admiring the views of Main Street and Cinderellas castle at dusk.
I presented my Fastpasses for Space Mountain as soon as we arrived so we could ride for the second time that day. The pass had a return time of 10:15 AM stamped on it but I knew that wouldnt matter. As expected, the cast member tending to the front gate of the attraction let us through. We passed well over a hundred people waiting in the 50 minute standby line and were seated in our rockets after only 5 minutes. We were on the left side of the ride this time and I have always found that side a bit crazier than the rockets loading on the right.
Space Mountain was a great laugh but we had other experiences awaiting us. We made our way into Fantasyland and, surprisingly enough, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh had a short standby wait. The rain had driven people away from the parks and that was fine by me. We were seated in our hunny pot ride vehicle in about 10 minutes. The journey through The Hundred Acre Wood was pretty impressive and overly cute. Sally loved the entire ride and especially the scenes featuring Eeyore.
Next up was the new 3D theater attraction in Fantasyland called Philharmagic. We walked right into the theater and grabbed a pair of opera glasses. I choose some seats in the back of the theater so our brains wouldnt have to work as hard to pull the images on the screen together while peering through the glasses. I had learned that sitting towards the back of a 3D theater allows your mind more time to process the images on the screen thus allowing for a more pleasant experience.
Philharmagic just about blew both Sally and I off our seats. It was an incredible show from start to finish. I got goose bumps while we rode through the clouds with Donald Duck. The music and imagery on the screen were perfectly orchestrated together to create a touching experience. Sally and I held hands and huge smiles on our faces as we exited the theater and headed towards Liberty Square.
It was time to experience The Haunted Mansion. The time was just before 9:00 PM and the Spectromagic parade was set to roll through on the hour. The sky was looking pretty awful and I didnt have much faith in getting to see the show. I knew my mind would be scrambling in order to re-work our itinerary. Sally just had to see the night time fanfare which was the Spectromagic parade before leaving Florida. I would make that happen. I just had a strong feeling it wouldnt be happening on that night.
After we riding through the Haunted Mansion, Sally didnt seem too impressed. Again, this ride was in a bit of disrepair and I dont think she was fully grasping the comedy of it all. They work you up into thinking it is going to be a scary experience when it simply turns out to be tongue in cheek humor.
We exited the attraction only to hit a wall of rain. It was very dark out and we, awkwardly, shuffled around in order to get our ponchos on. I needed to get us to another indoor attraction as the wind and rain were becoming quite serious. It was crazy but we kept walking through the wet weather while hearing the cancellation announcement for Spectromagic booming over the P.A. system. It wasnt long before I led us into the Pirates of the Caribbean. The park was rapidly emptying at this rate and we had the ride to ourselves.
Sally really seemed to enjoy Pirates but we had a lot on our minds at this point. The park looked deserted and the rain was pouring down. This was an odd experience to say the least. We walked through Adventureland to arrive at The Tiki Room. Again, there was no one in sight but the cast members let us into the theater. We seated ourselves and the doors shut with no one else following behind. Now things were getting really weird. There we were seated in the Tiki Room completely alone when the birds, flowers, and other creatures came to life to serenade us. I got up and walked around the theater because it just didnt matter at this point. Sally and I were laughing pretty hard but not because of the show we were watching. The show itself was awful. I much preferred the old version to the updated one we were viewing. It didnt really bother me as I was just happy to have a roof over my head at that point.
The rain had not let up and we exited the show with the full expectation of getting quite soggy. Sally followed me towards the hub of the park without complaining. I think she was enjoying this odd excursion.
When we entered one of the most central points in the Magic Kingdom, not a soul was to be seen. It was 9:45 PM while I stood in front of Cinderellas Castle and the statue of Walt and Mickey in awe. The Magic Kingdom is the most visited theme park on the planet and there I was standing right in the middle of it with not one human around me. I couldnt even hear another person in the distance. I could hardly think of what to do next since I was so shocked and I really didnt care.
I aimlessly wandered towards Tomorrowland while Sally sloshed her way in the same direction. I decided this would be the best time to see the new, supposedly miserable, Stitch attraction since hardly anyone was around. We finally found some other people milling around the area and got into the queue for Stitchs Great Escape. After hearing nothing but awful things in regards to this show, I had to see it for myself. Nothing was going to bother me at this point. Everything was out of sorts with the rain relentlessly pouring down on us.
The cast member attending to Stitch told us that we would miss the fireworks if we entered the theater. I was reluctant to listen to him outright because I doubted they would be trying to fill the skies with fire while a deluge of water pounded the area. I walked up to the cast member and asked him if he was serious. He said they, typically, dont cancel the fireworks show even in bad weather. I wasnt thinking too clearly, decided to listen to this guy, and exited the queue area. Sally followed me to a bench that was covered by the Tomorrowland Noodle Station Entryway. We stared at the castle while it changed colors to see if they would be dumb enough to dump tens of thousands of dollars up into the watery sky. Of course, the cancellation announcement came shortly after we had sat down. Now I was annoyed with the cast member that had given us the inaccurate information. At this point, there was nothing left to do but make our way down Main Street in order to exit the park.
I took a couple more pictures of the wet castle while we made our way to the front of the park. We stopped into the chapeau shop so we could purchase some cheesy Mickey hats with our names stitched into them. We had some laughs with the cast member working the counter, put our whacky mouse ear hats on, and exited the park. We must have looked like freaks wearing a trash bags and plastic mouse ear hats, but we just didnt care. We were having a good time despite the circumstances. It was just after 10:00 PM and time to get ourselves back to our cozy hotel room.
We jumped onto the monorail, exited at The Contemporary Resort, and retrieved our car from the valet. This was much smarter than trying to get to our car parked in the middle of a huge lot somewhere.
It was still pouring down rain as we drove back to the hotel. I made a wrong turn trying to get back to the resort and we ended up driving through some backstage area of the park system. It was kind of creepy but I made my way back to Port Orleans in one piece.
Both of us took a warm shower, poured some drinks, and sat there watching Jay Leno and Conan O Brian before drifting off to sleep. Overall, it was a pretty goofy day but we had still managed to ride all the headliners at the Magic Kingdom with no wait. Missing the parade and fireworks was a disappointment but The California Grill experience and wandering around the park completely alone made up for it all. Our unique day at Disney World had ended and we were only going to wake up 7 hours later for, yet another, adventure.
-J
Sally and I at Future World
Day 3 Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Link back to day 1 and day 2:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=811849
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=812682
Soggy Mickeys at the Magic Kingdom
Cast:
Me Jeff - 29 yr old male 9th time to WDW
My GF Sally 27 yr old Female 1st time to WDW
The alarm clock started buzzing at its usual time. It was 6:45 AM. I, for one, was probably feeling the most fatigue on this morning since I had such a late night dodging strollers and the hoards of humans at the MK the night before (hint dont goto the MK on a Monday unless you really know what you are doing). I caved and slapped that snooze button like a bad dog. Sally wasnt complaining even though she had gotten more sleep than I did. The second time the alarm rang was a different story. I mustered all the motivation I had inside of me and rolled my tired bones out of bed. I wasnt feeling at my best but knew a little bit of food, caffeine, and cleaning up would make me feel better. I, once again, started by opening just the curtains in the room in order to help both Sally and I rise.
My habit of showering the night before was still in effect. I knew doing this would save me some time each morning. My body was growing increasingly more fatigued as the vacation wore on so even 10 more minutes of sleep each day could add up to an hour of extra sleep. WDW is a whole lot of fun but it requires more energy than the typical vacation. I think most people have to make the choice between relaxing during their vacation versus enjoying activities while away from home. Ive always preferred the later. Lifes too short not to experience as much as possible.
While I brushed my teeth, Sally showered. When she was out, I started asking how her feet were doing and she claimed that they were very well healed. This was good news since it was Magic Kingdom day. Her plan for this trip into the parks was to wear the pair of sandals I bought her the night before. She had already tried them out and was happy with her feet not rubbing against the material in her Nike sneakers.
We watched some morning news while nibbling on muffins and granola bars for breakfast. The weather report said that rain was expected to roll through beginning in the late afternoon. I didnt think it would be anything serious. Every spell of rain I had experienced while in Florida was short lived and only turned out to make the humidity worse. Not that a little rain was going to stop me, but it is good to know these things so you can be prepared.
We headed to the parking lot, got into our rental, and I made our way to the Transportation and Ticket Center parking lot. It is a bit of a challenge getting into the Magic Kingdom if you arent taking their buses. The Disney owned buses are the only motor vehicles allowed to enter directly at the front gates of the Magic Kingdom. The Transportation and Ticket Center serves as the Magic Kingdom parking lot among other things. It is interesting to note that Disneyland in California can fit into The Magic Kingdoms parking lot. With that in mind, we quickly made our way through the parking lot gate as they simply wave you through since resort guests and annual passholders dont have to worry about a fee. We parked at the very front of the lot, walked to the TTC instead of waiting for a tram, and hoofed it up to the Monorail loading platform. This is when I discovered that the Express Monorail which, normally, runs strictly between the Magic Kingdom and TTC looked to be under refurbishment. This meant that we would have to make stops at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian resort before getting to the park. This annoyed me slightly and I had a plan B prepared in order to avoid repeating this process in the future. I was still excited about riding the monorail for the first time during our vacation. It had always been one of my top rated rides at the world.
Before disembarking the monorail, we had to endure the annoying Disney character, Stitch, snickering at us over the P.A. Before I left for Florida, I read that Stitch had invaded all of Disneys resort wide marketing efforts. Why Disney had to spend money advertising on their own property for their own crappy attraction was beyond me. I really didnt like the Stitch character and his intrusion upon the, usually pleasant, monorail announcement worked my nerves. Throughout all my years visiting the parks, the monorail spiels were always the same. I had even read online that the announcements have used the same male voice since the 70s. I really felt that Stitch was an unnecessary addition to our first impression of the park that morning.
The front gate area of the Magic Kingdom contained a rather modest crowd of people. I quickly found out that many of these people were entering the park for their reserved character breakfast experience. We waited about 15 minutes before they started scanning tickets and allowed us to pass through the turnstiles. Once again, Sally had a dispute with the biometric scanners responsible for linking each individual to their own ticket. What she did to piss those things off was beyond me. Perhaps she is an alien species of sorts and her out-of-this-world fingerprints just werent cutting it. She was still the first non character breakfast person to get through the gates that morning. She turned around, once on the other side of the turnstiles, and loudly celebrated this fact while everyone else chuckled at her. It was like having a little kid along with me but I didnt mind. I just wanted her to have fun on this trip.
To our surprise, the cast members did not allow us onto Main Street. We were being corralled between the train station entrance and the turnstiles until the 9 AM rope drop. MOO MOO in typical Disney crowd control style. We seated ourselves with a decent view of the train loading platform and struck up a conversation with a small family from New Jersey only to find out that their little girls name was Sally too! I took pictures of the two Sallys shortly before the Mayor of Main Street appeared atop the train station to announce the opening of the park. I had never seen an opening ceremony like this at the parks. The last time I was at the Magic Kingdom early for the rope drop, they let us enter Main Street and the rope was blocking the central hub area of the park.
The opening ceremony was pretty neat. An honorary family was picked to help open the park, the train pulled into the station with Mickey and all his friends on it, and then the whole crew threw pixie dust over the crowd as the countdown began. They really got your heart going. We were both quite excited to get into the park.
We quickly traversed the fallen rope and headed down Main Street towards Tomorrowland. Sally was hustling and keeping up with me but started complaining about the sandals rubbing the top of her foot. She hung in there while I grabbed Fastpasses for Space Mountain. Riding Space Mountain several times was tradition for me and I wanted to make sure I secured a second ride for us without having to stand in a 45 minute line. After the passes, we got in the standby line to board the ride itself. We were seated in our rockets 5 minutes later and quickly began our wild ride into space. As usual, it made us laugh out loud as we were surprised with each turn and drop in the dark.
Upon exiting Space Mountain, we immediately headed towards Fantasyland as I didnt feel the Buzz Lightyear ride could even hold a candle to the, similar, MIB ride we rode at Universal Studios the day before. I rode the Buzz ride before and was not impressed.
Sally really enjoyed walking alongside Cinderellas Castle and entering Fantasyland. She was somewhat upset over her feet failing her once again but kept on going as best as she could. I told her that we could head to the first aid station or just head back to the hotel as soon as we experienced a couple more rides. She, reluctantly, agreed that some sort of alternate plan to save her feet was in order but felt bad that she might be disturbing my plans for the day. I reassured her that I had no problem leaving the Magic Kingdom if we had to as it wouldnt be any fun while she was in pain. I was more than capable of adjusting our itinerary and didnt even give it a second thought.
Next, we headed over to Peter Pans Flight since this attraction continually has a long line even in the off-season. I knew that riding it during the morning hours would be the only time to get on it without a 45 minute wait or Fastpass. When we arrived at the ride queue there was only a 5 minute wait before we boarded our pirate ships headeding off to Neverland. I couldnt help noticing that two of my favorite aspects of this show were missing after going through it. First, Tinker Bell wasnt seen randomly fluttering around the loading area and Peter Pans shadow was not seen flying out the window with the ride vehicle during the very first scene of the ride. Other than that, it was still pleasant floating over London at night in our pirate ships and returning safely home.
Afterwards, Sally and I slowly but surely made our way over to Frontierland in order to get on Splash Mountain. I could see Sally grimacing over the pain in her feet and this was not making me happy. I made the executive decision to immediately leave the park upon completing Splash and The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We just had to remedy the situation at hand. Again, Sally was on the verge of tears thinking she was, somehow, ruining my vacation. I told her that it was no big deal and that we could still see and do everything on our list. I would simply plan around the situation.
After a less than enthusiastic ride through Trash Mountain and The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which was in excellent shape and a blast), Sally went for a smoke while I took a restroom break. I snapped a couple of pictures of the Splash Mountain queue area as I have always thought this was one of the most well themed areas of the park. After briefly stopping to smell the roses, I returned to Sally. I lead her into the Briar Patch gift shop and saw her cooing over a stuffed Eeyore. If Eeyore couldnt cheer Sally up, I dont know what would. He has always been her favorite Disney character so I bought her the medium sized stuffed donkey and away we went to catch the Frontierland train that would take us to the front of the park. This, obviously, was a good idea since Sally didnt need to be on her feet any more than required.
We arrived at the Main Street Station and headed towards the Monorail loading area. I eyed the obnoxious crowds waiting to get into the park for the day. These late risers must have been into punishing themselves. I wasnt. Having to take the resort monorail was, again, a bit of a disappointment but there was no other choice and I didnt feel like waiting for the ferry boat to cross The Seven Seas Lagoon.
The ride back to the TTC from the Magic Kingdom had only one stop versus the two stops required on the way to the park. The walk from the TTC to the car was a slow and steady one. I assured Sally that everything was alright with us leaving and as we got into our rental car for the ride back to Port Orleans. It was just after 11 AM.
The morning had been a hot and humid one. I jumped into the shower as soon as I arrived back at the room while Sally applied some moleskin bandages to her feet. She put her tennis shoes on to test things out and it seemed to do the trick. We had finally found something to protect her fragile little feet. After that, we both settled in for a nap. I was badly in need of one and it felt great getting off my feet. Both of us were passed out by 12:30.
I woke up around 3:00 PM and was pretty restless. Sally was still out so I quietly threw some clothes on and took a walk across the Port Orleans property towards the main lobby. It was quite the haul over to the lobby from Magnolia Terrace. I had to walk through our building to a rose garden. After walking through the rose garden and around a gazebo, I crossed a bridge which was, undoubtedly, traversing part of the Sassagoula River. Everything around me was beautiful, it was perfectly quiet, and I clearly felt like I was walking through a slice of time not entirely my own. Every small detail Disney picked to include in their theming told a story as well as any Hans Christian Anderson book. The cement sidewalks were colored a mild brown to look like a dirt path and there were prints of ferns and shells embedded within the stone as if the walkway had fossilized objects of the past. The lampposts were made of wood with lanterns hanging from them and the island I was walking across was made to look like a classic watering hole complete with an old sawmill. Therefore, it was only fitting to cross another bridge after passing the area appropriately named, Ole Man Island.
I arrived at the main lobby building of the Port Orleans Riverside resort and headed straight through the building just to take a peek. I came straight back out of the building and strolled over to the marina to look at what they had to offer. Surrey bikes, mini speedboats, self-powered paddle boats, pontoon boats, and horse drawn carriage rides were available according to the sign posted near the riverfront. I couldnt help but smile at what a unique experience Disney resorts had to offer. The extra cost of staying on-property at the world is definitely worth it. Instead of a hotel room, you end up with a full-fledged transport to another place. Escaping from the mundane nuances of city life is what passing through the front gates of Disney World is all about to me. You dont hear planes flying overhead thanks to restricted airspace. The noises of the roadways surrounding the property are subdued by groves of trees and properly landscaped grounds while the normal sights of urban decay and suburban sprawl are nonexistent. Whats not to like about all of that?
The walk back to my room was just as pleasant as the walk to the main lobby. Sally started stirring as soon as I walked back into the room. I told her that we needed to start getting ready for our 5:40 PM dinner reservation at the California Grill. I was quite excited finally getting to enjoy a respectable meal while seated on top of The Contemporary Resort. I had always heard about the restaurant that overlooked the Seven Seas Lagoon and the Magic Kingdom but have never taken the time or had the resources to dine there. This was, indeed, going to be a special evening.
There was a hidden agenda within my plan to have dinner at The California Grill. I would valet the car at The Contemporary Resort for $7 and, afterwards, take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom in order to check out a couple attractions and view, both, the Spectromagic parade and the Wishes fireworks show above the castle. Exiting in midst of the exodus at closing time would be effortless as we could return to the Contemporary on foot versus waiting in endless lines for the monorails to return to the TTC or the buses returning to the hotels.
I threw on a button down shirt while Sally dressed in some khaki Capri pants. If there is one thing Ive learned about Disney World is that people just dont dress up too much no matter where they are headed. The California Grill is definitely an upscale place but I felt just fine wearing jeans and my new sneakers. I did, however, iron Sallys pants for her as neither of us are accustomed to dressing casual while going out for the evening.
After getting spiffed up, we noticed that the weather outside was not holding up too well. We headed towards the rental car for our ride over to the Contemporary Resort but stopped at the main lobby to hit up the gift shop. I bought us both Mickey Ponchos since it was obvious that we were going to need them. We left the main lobby parking lot and instead of following the road signs to where I was headed, I took the bus route towards the front of the Magic Kingdom. I had memorized the route while riding to the park by myself on the bus the night before. This made things a bit easier. We were at the security booth for the Contemporary Resort in no time. The security guard pointed me towards the valet area and we passed off the car to the attendant.
It was only around 5:00 PM so we took the extra time to walk around the Contemporary a bit. The rain had not started and we went outside towards the waterfront to take some cute pictures near a large metal Mickey sculpture. Thats when it started to rain so we returned to the hotel.
Moments later, we were escorted to the California Grill via elevator. This was done to keep people without dinner reservations from trying to check out the wonderful views of the surrounding area.
After exiting onto the 15th floor, our first impression of The California Grill was a good one. The room was very open in design, there were floor to ceiling windows wrapped around the entire restaurant, and you could clearly see the kitchen and the cooks doing their thing. We were quickly seated across the dining room from the windows but could still catch some breathtaking views of the world below. Both Lake Buena Vista and The Seven Seas Lagoon were visible below. I could also see the Animal Kingdoms Tree of Life looming in the distance along with most of The Magic Kingdom. It was getting pretty nasty out by that time and I could see the rain crawling down the large windows. None of this bothered me as I had been to the parks plenty of times before while it was raining. Most of the attractions at Disney World are indoors and I knew we would only benefit from lighter crowds.
Our waiter turned out to be exceptional. He was helpful with the menu and had many suggestions for us. To start, I ordered two glasses of Pinot Noir and some salad appetizers. Sally and I were sitting next to each other and I could tell something was not right with her. She said her body felt really warm. I told her to go to the restroom in order to splash some cool water on her face and neck. She left the table while I sat there sipping my wine, enjoying my salad, and taking in the views. I felt bad for Sally as she had seen better days than this one. She didnt return for a good 15 to 20 minutes but looked better to me once she did. She told me that she had gotten sick while in the restroom but felt better after doing so. We could only deduct that some over the counter medicine she took before leaving the hotel had caused a nasty reaction.
Our superior service continued and we were, soon, enjoying the main course. We both ordered the pork tenderloin served with polenta and vegetables. It was to die for and I wasnt used to eating a quality meal while at Disney World. Most meals are mediocre given the large number of guest they have to serve each day. I paid for our dinner and left a generous tip. Sally and I both agreed that our waiter was the best waiter we had ever had. This was saying a lot given the amount of fine dining establishments we visit each year.
It was a quick walk to the Monorail station which was conveniently located on the 4th floor of The Contemporary Resort. We had to stop at all the other Monorail resorts before getting to hear the annoying sound of Stitch yapping in our ears. Luckily, the rain had stopped and we quickly made our way over to Tomorrowland after admiring the views of Main Street and Cinderellas castle at dusk.
I presented my Fastpasses for Space Mountain as soon as we arrived so we could ride for the second time that day. The pass had a return time of 10:15 AM stamped on it but I knew that wouldnt matter. As expected, the cast member tending to the front gate of the attraction let us through. We passed well over a hundred people waiting in the 50 minute standby line and were seated in our rockets after only 5 minutes. We were on the left side of the ride this time and I have always found that side a bit crazier than the rockets loading on the right.
Space Mountain was a great laugh but we had other experiences awaiting us. We made our way into Fantasyland and, surprisingly enough, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh had a short standby wait. The rain had driven people away from the parks and that was fine by me. We were seated in our hunny pot ride vehicle in about 10 minutes. The journey through The Hundred Acre Wood was pretty impressive and overly cute. Sally loved the entire ride and especially the scenes featuring Eeyore.
Next up was the new 3D theater attraction in Fantasyland called Philharmagic. We walked right into the theater and grabbed a pair of opera glasses. I choose some seats in the back of the theater so our brains wouldnt have to work as hard to pull the images on the screen together while peering through the glasses. I had learned that sitting towards the back of a 3D theater allows your mind more time to process the images on the screen thus allowing for a more pleasant experience.
Philharmagic just about blew both Sally and I off our seats. It was an incredible show from start to finish. I got goose bumps while we rode through the clouds with Donald Duck. The music and imagery on the screen were perfectly orchestrated together to create a touching experience. Sally and I held hands and huge smiles on our faces as we exited the theater and headed towards Liberty Square.
It was time to experience The Haunted Mansion. The time was just before 9:00 PM and the Spectromagic parade was set to roll through on the hour. The sky was looking pretty awful and I didnt have much faith in getting to see the show. I knew my mind would be scrambling in order to re-work our itinerary. Sally just had to see the night time fanfare which was the Spectromagic parade before leaving Florida. I would make that happen. I just had a strong feeling it wouldnt be happening on that night.
After we riding through the Haunted Mansion, Sally didnt seem too impressed. Again, this ride was in a bit of disrepair and I dont think she was fully grasping the comedy of it all. They work you up into thinking it is going to be a scary experience when it simply turns out to be tongue in cheek humor.
We exited the attraction only to hit a wall of rain. It was very dark out and we, awkwardly, shuffled around in order to get our ponchos on. I needed to get us to another indoor attraction as the wind and rain were becoming quite serious. It was crazy but we kept walking through the wet weather while hearing the cancellation announcement for Spectromagic booming over the P.A. system. It wasnt long before I led us into the Pirates of the Caribbean. The park was rapidly emptying at this rate and we had the ride to ourselves.
Sally really seemed to enjoy Pirates but we had a lot on our minds at this point. The park looked deserted and the rain was pouring down. This was an odd experience to say the least. We walked through Adventureland to arrive at The Tiki Room. Again, there was no one in sight but the cast members let us into the theater. We seated ourselves and the doors shut with no one else following behind. Now things were getting really weird. There we were seated in the Tiki Room completely alone when the birds, flowers, and other creatures came to life to serenade us. I got up and walked around the theater because it just didnt matter at this point. Sally and I were laughing pretty hard but not because of the show we were watching. The show itself was awful. I much preferred the old version to the updated one we were viewing. It didnt really bother me as I was just happy to have a roof over my head at that point.
The rain had not let up and we exited the show with the full expectation of getting quite soggy. Sally followed me towards the hub of the park without complaining. I think she was enjoying this odd excursion.
When we entered one of the most central points in the Magic Kingdom, not a soul was to be seen. It was 9:45 PM while I stood in front of Cinderellas Castle and the statue of Walt and Mickey in awe. The Magic Kingdom is the most visited theme park on the planet and there I was standing right in the middle of it with not one human around me. I couldnt even hear another person in the distance. I could hardly think of what to do next since I was so shocked and I really didnt care.
I aimlessly wandered towards Tomorrowland while Sally sloshed her way in the same direction. I decided this would be the best time to see the new, supposedly miserable, Stitch attraction since hardly anyone was around. We finally found some other people milling around the area and got into the queue for Stitchs Great Escape. After hearing nothing but awful things in regards to this show, I had to see it for myself. Nothing was going to bother me at this point. Everything was out of sorts with the rain relentlessly pouring down on us.
The cast member attending to Stitch told us that we would miss the fireworks if we entered the theater. I was reluctant to listen to him outright because I doubted they would be trying to fill the skies with fire while a deluge of water pounded the area. I walked up to the cast member and asked him if he was serious. He said they, typically, dont cancel the fireworks show even in bad weather. I wasnt thinking too clearly, decided to listen to this guy, and exited the queue area. Sally followed me to a bench that was covered by the Tomorrowland Noodle Station Entryway. We stared at the castle while it changed colors to see if they would be dumb enough to dump tens of thousands of dollars up into the watery sky. Of course, the cancellation announcement came shortly after we had sat down. Now I was annoyed with the cast member that had given us the inaccurate information. At this point, there was nothing left to do but make our way down Main Street in order to exit the park.
I took a couple more pictures of the wet castle while we made our way to the front of the park. We stopped into the chapeau shop so we could purchase some cheesy Mickey hats with our names stitched into them. We had some laughs with the cast member working the counter, put our whacky mouse ear hats on, and exited the park. We must have looked like freaks wearing a trash bags and plastic mouse ear hats, but we just didnt care. We were having a good time despite the circumstances. It was just after 10:00 PM and time to get ourselves back to our cozy hotel room.
We jumped onto the monorail, exited at The Contemporary Resort, and retrieved our car from the valet. This was much smarter than trying to get to our car parked in the middle of a huge lot somewhere.
It was still pouring down rain as we drove back to the hotel. I made a wrong turn trying to get back to the resort and we ended up driving through some backstage area of the park system. It was kind of creepy but I made my way back to Port Orleans in one piece.
Both of us took a warm shower, poured some drinks, and sat there watching Jay Leno and Conan O Brian before drifting off to sleep. Overall, it was a pretty goofy day but we had still managed to ride all the headliners at the Magic Kingdom with no wait. Missing the parade and fireworks was a disappointment but The California Grill experience and wandering around the park completely alone made up for it all. Our unique day at Disney World had ended and we were only going to wake up 7 hours later for, yet another, adventure.
-J
Sally and I at Future World
