Since we didn't get in till after midnight, we decided we'd sleep in a bit as it was a late EMH night at MK and we'd be there till midnight. I tend to be an early riser, so at about 7:30 I get up and go outside with a Diet Coke. I run into Pluto. He says Mickey's about halfway up and that they want to go swimming. Great! Until last year, I'd never gotten in a pool in Florida. Always took trunks, just never swam .Pluto and I went back in our rooms and changed and hit the piano pool. It is the quiet pool. There were about 6 people there, mostly in lounge chairs. Mickey joined us and said Goofy was sorta up. Pluto and I met Goofy on the way back to the room, and a few minutes later he and Mickey showed up at the rooms. We cleaned up, snacked, and headed to the bus. At the guitar pool, there's a hundred people and cm's are giving line dance lessons. Not what I want at a pool. We were in the park by 10.
Getting ready for
MNSSHP
My first thought was the Bakery, but there was a line out the door and up the sidewalk.
So we walked up Main Street and took pictures by the statue of Walt and Mickey. It's a right of passage.
I didn't really expect 3 guys around 50 to be that agog at the castle, but they were.
Pluto wanted to go in, but we dicided to head for Space Mountain instead. Last year, the (ex)dgf would only ride this once, complaining it was too rough. Well, we rode it twice in about 20 minutes, once on each side. Got fast passes for later as the line was suddenly quite long. We looked at the Speedway and they decided that looked too much like Beech Bend, the Bowling Green amusement park, so we skipped it..
Bonus question that no one will get; What advertising icon had his first job promoting Beech bend.(hint at the end)
We went over to Carousel of Progress, and omgolly there was line long enought o fill 2 theaters. Yea for CoP, but we decided to wait till Thursday, when we'd be back. Now about this time Goofy starts asking where the Hall of Presidents is. Not Tomorrowland, Goof. He wanted to see Mr. Lincoln's speech that his mom had told him about. She'd been to
Disneyland,not WDW. I told him it was a little different here, and that that was something we'd do in the afternoon to get in the air conditioning and take a little nap. Goofy was not amused by that.
Next was one of the sad sights I knew I'd have to contend with on this trip: Astro Orbiter was down for Rehab. Now this ride should scarfe the Be Jeebers outa me, what with the elevator and then swinging me out over concrete and up pretty high. But it reminds me of the Rockets at Fontaine Ferry Park in Louisville when I was a kid, and that was the best ride ever. Well, just means I have to come back(again).
Let's ride Stitch. I won't say who said this, but it didn't make my day. There was a line, and I said let's wait, the line will be gone later. And danged if it wasn't, I had to ride. Or sit. And smell. Blecchhh! But first, we went to Infinity! and Beyond!!Twice. Would have been three times, but( a sign of things to come) we were in line and it stopped. There were cm's running everywhere signalling and looking grim. Finally, well, 5 minutes later, they passed out fast passes to everyone in line and said come back in a few hours. BTW, we will NOT talk about scores.
Each time we came out of Buzz, we could see that line for CoP and it was not getting any shorter. The line for Stitch was gone, so, well, we covered that. Then we crossed over to Monsters Inc and there was a 30 minute wait. I'd never been to the Laugh Floor and thought it sounded weak, so we decided to wait. My bad.
Look! There's Cosmic Ray's, the best counter service deal on the dining plan. So, in spite of the chicken and ribs from the night before, Pluto and I got the combo plate and Mickey got the Turkey Bacon Wrap and Goofy got the grilled chicken sandwich. We all got the triple chocolate cake and we ate and ate and ate, this is a lot of food, folks. And all goog. The carrots were wonderful and the mashed taters goog.. The ribs were a little dry, but we declared the chicken excellent. Mickey and Goofy said theirs were great too. But the highlight was we got to sit where we could see Sonny Eclipse. It's usually so crowded I sit on the other side, but this time we got lucky. Oko, I thought we were lucky. Pluto, not so much. Said he was glad there was no cover charge. There is no accounting for taste.
We headed to ToonTown where another sad site awaited, Donald's Boat(The Miss Daisy) was in rehab with the big fence. On the way, we went through the edge of Fantasyland. No one wanted to ride Mad Hatter's Tea Cups with me, so I dragged them on Pooh. Chickens. So on to Goofy's Barnstormer, where we can see the carving of Miss Daisy on the front of the boat.. They hide the line for this pretty well, and we ended up waiting for about 15 minutes. Then the ride took about 20 seconds.
From there, we hopped aboard the train to Frontierland. Just being lazy. We get off and grab a fast pass for Splash and get in line for BTMRR. The line looked short, because no one was in the outside line, but every chain was up and it was a 35 minute wait. And it was getting hot. You know how little boys whine. Big boys, when the ladies aren't around to keep 'em in line, are worse. And they learn of non-fast pass holder irratation. Tons of folks go by. However, all pronounced it worth the wait. Then on to Splash, which Mickey had misgivings about. He's not a fan of wet. So of course, he's the one that got it. But the theming is so goog that he agreed to ride again. Ohoh. This time, we get on, go around to past Petunia Pig's house and on to the small drop that's a little hidden. And stop. We sit there at least 10 minutes and watch the exit lights come on and go off and change colors. We can hear cm's nearby. They make an announcement every 2 minutes to remain in your seat and the ride will begin momentarily. Finally, the moment comes. Then we stop again just before the BIG drop, but this only lasts about 2 minutes with no announcements.WWHHHEEEE!!!! This is the best ride in Magic Kingdom. And in spite of the delay, we agreed to come back.
After stopping for soft drinks we made our way to Country Bear Jamboree, a must for the karioke crowd(Mickey and Goofy). And I can't miss Blood on the Saddle, as sung by Tex Ritter the way it should be sung. I check the time and think, maybe we can walk out of this right into the parade. We're all tall, so we can see over folks. Didn't quite work out, we missed the first five minutes and they all want to know if we'll get the chance to see the whole thing. So much for testosterone.
We follow the parade right up to The Hall of Presidents. Goofy had asked 3-4 times earlier, but apparently had forgotten all about it, but when we wandered in(Ididn't say what the building was, acted like I wanted some water) Goofy came to life. He was in the army and is a very proud veteran. He ate the whole thing up. The displays, the shows, and especially the Presidents. They were all impressed with the movements and atmosphere of the show. And no one napped. In fact, we left energized and ready to shop. HUH?
Pluto had mentioned that he wanted to get something for his wife for their Christmas tree. So we went to the Christmas shop and spent about 15 minutes, an eternity for guys to shop. Pluto found a Mickey ornament to his liking and we got out. We still had better than an hour to dinner, so we headed back to Tomorrowland.
A detour for Goofy to (not) prove his worthiness
But there was no line for Snow White's Scary Adventures, so we hopped on. No one complained, but they were ready for Buzz. But I had one more detour for them. The TTA. I know a lot of folks still want to call it the WEDWAY People Mover, but I like Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Reminds me of the group Chicalo and their original name. And it feels more future retro. The trip through Space Mountain is cool and of course, Mr. Morrow sailed over their heads. Had to repeat it after I stopped laughing.
We used our bonus fastpass to Buzz, and amazingly, we shortcutted to exactly where we'd been in line when it was shut down, at the last bend before the ride. We were the only ones in the fastpass line. I finally scored 40000 and felt proud until all the others reported over 100000 with Mickey over 300000. I WILL get my revenge. It's not time to eat yet, but we head that way.
Walking through Fantasyland again, I keep us tight to the right as we approach Liberty Square. No one is paying much attention as I veer all the way over and pop in line at IASW. By the time they realize they're in a ride line, we're at the boats. Mickey(the water chicken) wants to know if he'll get wet. No, it's not your physical side that's about to be assaulted. Goofy got a big grin on his face, he knew where we were. When we got around the bend to the first room, I think I nearly got wet. Real wet. They said they wanted to experience all of Disney, so they had to ride. But in the end, they all said it was a pretty goog ride to do ONCE. And their reward? It's now time to eat.
during the daylight, kool
It's the best.
. Thanx for joining in.
. Enjoy the Hoop; all the kids will have as much fun as you and your Donald.
