Hedonists on Holiday - Days 4, 5, & 6

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Tuesday, October 18 Magic Kingdom UG crowd level "5"

Ahh! Our first full day at MK! Beautiful weather! It's going to be a great day!

After breakfast at Pop we head to MK. We get there around 9 AM - like I mentioned before, we aren't good at the rope drop thing! It isn't very crowded. We get lots of great pics in front of the castle, then we hit Fantasyland. We ride Peter Pan, IASW (first time for us!), and Snow White. I have never been on Dumbo and the line isn't TOO long, so DS and I decide to ride. DH waits for us on a bench with his camera. This time I don't care about the camera because I am not standing on a bridge like an idiot holding up the flow of traffic.

After Dumbo we decide to see Ariel. The line is short, so I walk straight across. BIG mistake. Water shoots up out of the ground. If I had been paying attention I would have noticed that there is a way to walk AROUND the water jets. But I noticed that LATER. The water shoots me right in the crotch. Lovely. The rest of my morning is a bit soggy. After Ariel we ride Pooh (which very well may be my favorite ride in all of WDW) and the tea cups. DS gets his own cup because I refuse to let him spin me silly. After the tea cups we see PhilharMagic, then RACE over to see Merlin. DS really wants to be chosen to pull the sword from the stone, but we are a bit late to the show. Merlin chooses a little boy who appears to be the sibling of a girl on a Wish trip. DS is REALLY disappointed. Far too disappointed in proportion to the issue. I decide we won't be coming back to see Merlin again because I refuse to deal with DS pouting over something that is he is so unlikely to be chosen for. It is just after 11 AM and we have done everything in Fantasyland except the carousel. DS rode that in January and doesn't really want to do it again. We move on to Tomorrowland.

DS is finally tall enough to drive the cars on the Indy track. This is more of a curse than a blessing, because he wants to drive them over and over. I can feel my life expectancy dropping every time we stand in that line, breathing in those fumes. But we humor him and stand in the line anyway. We have lunch at Cosmic Ray's and ride Buzz. I think this was the day we did COP, too. I can't remember if I went on it when I was a teenager. Maybe. DH decides this is the worst attraction ever. Well, at least we can say we've seen it!

Now that I think of it we must have gone to Toon Town between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. We rode the Barnstormer and saw Mickey & Minnie's houses. That must be what we did from 11:30 to 12:30, because it was around 12:30 when we drove the Indy cars and had lunch.

From there we go to Adventureland and see the Swiss Family Treehouse, something else we missed in January. Something else we can now say we have seen, no need to go back. We ride POTC and Jungle Cruise. While DS is pressing pennies with DH I slip over to Jungle Cruise and inquire about Margo. She was our skipper in January and DS LOVED her. Turns out she was an intern and no longer works there. I break the news to DS. We ride with a different skipper who isn't nearly as much fun as Margo. We catch the end of the parade and ride BTMRR. I stop for an ice cream sandwich after that. DH has not bothered to learn ANYTHING about the Dining Plan and proceeds to quibble with me about WHY the frozen lemonade isn't counted as a snack. WHO CARES? I tell him to just go pay for it. He gets mad and goes off in a huge huff. He says I made him feel like a fool in front of the other people in line. First of all, the other people in line don't care. Second, it is not my sworn duty to teach him about the Dining Plan! Read the stupid brochure! If I say something isn't included then just PAY FOR IT and move on! But no. He would rather pout. We go ride HM and call it a day. MK was closing at 7 PM for a special event. We were having dinner at Boma at 7 PM and I didn't want to get stuck in the crowds at closing time. As we were leaving King Louie was on Main Street playing with a giant soccer ball. DS and I play ball with King Louie for a bit. There are also lots of hula hoops, so DS hulas for a bit. We board the bus for AKL and head off to Boma.

Our ADR is actually for 7:30, but I was thinking it was for 7 PM. We check in about 6:50 and are seated within a few minutes. I really enjoy Boma. After dinner we take a cab back to Pop. Cost $11.50 + tip. DS gets to play in the arcade at Pop for awhile before we head back to the room. Beware of the arcade. Once DS got his first taste of it that was ALL he wanted to do for the rest of the trip. I did NOT pay $3000 for a vacation so he could stand in the arcade the whole time.

DS has a one track mind. He will fixate on something and he will go on and on and ON about it until I am ready to SCREAM. He did this with rides, the arcade, you name it. He was relentless! Combined with DH pouting every time I didn't answer his questions with the cheery attitude of Little Mary Sunshine started to wear very thin. But the trip is only halfway over...

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We have an ADR at CP at 8:05. This means everybody has to get up and MOVE so we can make the bus to MK. We do this without much drama. We line up with all the other folks at the turnstiles. DH meets a very nice gentleman and they compare notes on being dragged hither and yon by the females in their respective groups. We get through the turnstiles and proceed to CP. We are seated almost immediately and we are one of the first families in the restaurant. The buffet was still untouched - perfectly pristine. I highly recommend being the first one to the buffet!

Food, service, and characters were great. We finished about 9 AM and headed off to Main St. for some browsing. We had Family Magic Tour at 10 AM and I didn't want to venture too far into the park. We checked in for the tour about 9:45 and got started promptly at 10 AM. The tour was fun, but I think DS might be just a bit too old. He enjoyed it, but we wouldn't do it again. After the tour wrapped up about 12:00 I thought we would have another day at MK. Wrong! DH was complaining that he was tired of "wandering aimlessly" and he wanted to go where he could sit down. DS was complaining that he wanted to go play in that STUPID arcade at Pop. The situation is complicated by the enormous throngs of people in MK. Where on earth did all these people come from? It is PACKED. Fine. Fine! I tell them we will go back to the hotel and STAY THERE. And that is exactly what we did. We wasted the better part of Wednesday sitting in the hotel. When we got back to Pop none of us were really hungry, but we walked through the food court anyway. I got a bag of snack mix and we all got something to drink. The ever-so-helpful lady at the register informed me that I was NOT allowed to use a snack credit for the snack mix. Fine, since that wasn't my intention! We get back to the room about 2:00. DH watches TV, DS draws. I seethe. Everyone has a nap.

We have ressies at Concourse at 6 PM. Since nobody had lunch we are all starving. We decide to head over to the Contemporary a little early. Bus to MK, monorail to Contemporary. Dinner is very nice, but DH is upset that it isn't a buffet! Let's see...we have been here since Saturday and had 4 buffet meals so far. No, Concourse is NOT a buffet but there is a MENU so DH can order whatever he wants! Grrr.

After dinner we head back to MK for our first ever Spectro. My first mistake is getting BACK on the monorail. Stupid, stupid. It would have been much faster to walk to MK. Once we arrive at MK the crowds are unbelieveable. This is only our second trip to WDW so we have little experience with truly staggering crowds. The CM's route us BEHIND the buildings on Main Street down this back alley. We come out at Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station and are directed to Frontierland. People are nose to tail the entire way. The lines to get EMH bracelets are way too long to stand in before the parade so we keep moving. I see some open space on the porch of the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon, but we are on the other side of the street. DH stomps across the street, right in front of a guy pushing a stroller (SORRY!) and makes his way up to the porch. The parade is about to start but more and more and more people keep coming. We are packed on that porch like sardines. The kid next to me keeps poking me with one of those light up roses. I fight back the urge to snatch it out of her hand and whack her with it. She is old enough to hold it without poking anyone. In fact, I estimate that she is older than DS, which would make her about 12. At some point early in our trip I smacked DH with my park map. I was shocked when he actually said "Ow! That hurt!" Thus the birth of my new Disney discipline method, the "map whap". Whenever DS or DH got out of line I would threaten to whap them with my map. Unfortunately I found myself increasingly tempted to whap other people who were not in my party.

We enjoy the parade, but the scene afterwards? YIKES! No wonder people lose their children in that mob! It truly borders on being dangerous. We start moving towards EMH bracelets at the river boat dock. The CM's are SCANNING each room key with a little machine, then directing people to another CM for the bracelets. Much tighter monitoring than in January! We get scanned and tagged and head for HM. The CM asks DS to remove his glow stick before he goes on the ride. Not a big deal, just thought it was interesting.

We decide to head for Fantasyland after HM. By now Wishes is going. They must mount the fieworks on the roofs in Fantasyland because A) it is extremely LOUD and B) they hose down all the buildings. This means there are lots of lovely water puddles for little darlings to jump in and splash other people. Grrr. We get in line for Peter Pan. The kid in front of us keeps jumping out of line to go watch the fireworks. If you want to see the fireworks please watch them from somewhere OTHER than a ride queue! We ride Peter Pan and attempt to cross over to Tomorrowland. There is an enormous crowd. We think it is for Pooh, but come to find out it is another EMH bracelet line. We ride the tea cups again. DH rides with DS. I have my own cup. We go to Tomorrowland and grab FP's for Space Mountain. DS likes roller coasters but we typically don't ride Space Mountain more than once. It isn't that rough but it tends to make my back sore. We stop to get drinks from the cart near SM. DH stands in the line for TWELVE minutes! I sit on a bench with DS and time him. We ride Buzz, we ride TTA, we come back and use our FP's for SM. The huge sweaty man in front of me apparently is trying to wave to the rest of his party on the TTA. He keeps raising his arms up and waving. I try to stand back. We ride SM and decide to call it a night. We head back to Pop about 11 PM.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I figured we would be at MK late on Wednesday, so breakfast at 1900 Park Fare was scheduled at 9:40. Bus to MK, then boat to GF at DS's request. The boat ride was very nice. GF is just beautiful. DH took some nice pics with his mammoth camera.

We had just enough time for DS to visit with Mary Poppins before they seated us for breakfast. The food was very good, and it was a BUFFET so DH couldn't complain. Alice and Mad Hatter were lots of fun. After breakfast I make another of my famous transportation errors. We are going from GF to MGM. I KNOW ther must be a better way to do this, or the guests at the GF need to lead a major rebellion. We took the monorail to the T&TC, then boarded a bus for MGM. First of all, the bus took DAYS to get there. Second, there are no ropes for the bus queue. When we walked up there were already people waiting. The crowds grew and grew while we waited for a bus to come. When the bus pulled up everybody crushed to the front with absolutely no regard to who was there first! An enterprising toddler from the very back of the line jumped on the bus and of course his family, instead of taking him BACK to the back of the line, boarded right along with him! We did get on the bus, and we even got seats, but the process was ridiculous! How hard could it be to put ropes in for the queue?

We get to MGM around 11 AM or so. We ride GMR. We go to Magic of Disney Animation. At the end of the animation segment there is a meet & greet with Chicken Little and Abby Mallard, then we go to the little class where we learn to draw Goofy. The drawing lesson is DS's favorite part of the entire trip, hands down. We take a picture of the poster that tells how to become an animator so DS can refer back to it when we get home. I seriously considered doing lunch with an Imagineer but it didn't work into the schedule this time. I will seriously consider it for the next trip. We buy a book with instructions on how to draw the various characters in the shop at the end. After we put our drawings in our locker we decide to go see Beauty and the Beast. I do not realize until it is too late that the theater is not air conditioned. It is sweltering. We sit there and melt anyway. The show is good, but it would have been much better if the theater was dark and cool, like Little Mermaid. After B&TB DS says he wants to ride ToT. Fine. He rode it in January and hated it, but he claims he wants to "face his fear" and ride it again. Hmm.

We have a short wait, but it's not exactly walk-on. We enjoy the details around the lobby. We get down into the boiler room and DS starts to have second thoughts. We get to the part where you stand on the number in the load area and DS starts to FREAK OUT. He deosn't want to ride, he wants to chicken exit, he has to go to the bathroom, etc. Now I become one of THOSE parents. I tell him he has done it before, he will be fine, it will be over in 5 minutes. He actually has tears in his eyes. But now the elevator is open and we are loading. There are TWO different families with 5 year olds getting on the ride with us. DS is the only one freaking out. The CM says the ride is broken - we will have to get off. DS nearly flies out of his seat. CM is joking. We strap DS back in. We ride ToT. DS hates it. We remind him not to ask to ride it again.

We go for our 4:00 ADR at 50's Prime Time. No, it is NOT a buffet. This buffet thing is starting to get on my nerves. Our server, Elizabeth, is very nice and we have a terrific meal. After lunch we decide to go over to Epcot for EMH.

We decide (for whatever reason) to take the boat from MGM to Epcot. We board the boat and sit in the VERY back. The un-airconditioned part of the back. Where the noise and fumes from the engine are unbearable. The captain says it will be 25 minutes to get to Epcot. Another stellar transportation call from Mommy! As soon as we get to the Swan we move inside the cabin of the boat. Much better.

We get to Epcot and wander aimlessly through WS. We visit Sleeping Beauty. We ride the Maelstrom since we have never done that before. I get some rice cream although I am still stuffed from lunch. This trip IS supposed to be about excess, you know!

We debate about sticking around for IllumiNations since we have only seen it from the boat. DS is already tired, and we figure the crowds after IllumiNations will make getting a bus impossible. We head to FW. The tip boards show Universe of Energy is open. I really want to see this. We walk all the way over there and discover it is most certainly NOT open! They need to change the tip board. Grrr.

Now DS and DH are both grouchy. The Pop bus stop is MILES from the entrance to Epcot, so we start the hike. We are closing in on the bus stop. The bus is getting ready to pull away. DS makes a run for it and manages to flag down the bus! Yay! We get back to Pop by about 9 PM. I grab some chicken strips, fries, and fruit to snack on in the room. We all share but still don't manage to eat everything.

We call my mother to check on the cats. She picked up the one from the vet on Wednesday and we want to see how she is doing. So far, so good. This makes DS very happy. Off to bed because Friday is EE at MK!!

 

[hazeyc]

I found your description of the crowds at MK on Oct 19th very interesting. You have a guide book that puts the crowds at a "6" (though not sure of the scale). I subscribed to Tour Guide Mike (TGM), www.tourguidemike.com, and he puts that day as a "red" day. Meaning don't go to that park the crowds will be horrible. So, we did not.
I was at Disney the week of Oct 15th thru Oct 22nd and did not go to MK Oct 19th, but the previous day like you did. The crowds were reasonable like you stated in your review. TGM had it as a green day, meaning good day to go.
I went to Epcot on Oct 19th instead of MK and did the noshing around the world thing, and the crowds were very reasonable that day. Another TGM green day for Epcot.
I recommend TGM's advice for your next Disney trip. Follow his advice and understand why and there may be less "grrring" next trip.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Most of my "grrr"ing was because of DH, and as of this point he is planning to come on the next trip.

The problem with 10/19 at MK was that it was an EMH night AND a Spectro night. The only other night we could have gone to Spectro was Saturday, and the hurricane was coming. So EVERYBODY went to MK that day.

What I have decided is that evening EMH's don't work that well for us because DS and DH are cranky that late at night, even if they have had naps. Next trip I won't plan to be at the EMH park - we'll go to the early entry days because that works pretty well, but we'll leave the late nights to the other folks.

We might have to give TGM a look and see how that info differs from the other guides. Thanks!

 

[MazdaUK]

Loving your reports! Whenever my DH gets a "grrr" moment I point out that I did all the planning (ALL the planning) - once we'd chosed the hotel and flights that was it for him til we got there. Apparently if you plan too much you're "wishing it away" . He did admit my plan was excellent as we generally avoided the big crowds but of course NO holiday can be totally perfect.

really wants to be chosen to pull the sword from the stone

I think I remember that in DLP they have a stone with a sword (chained) to it which you can pull out - just queue up with all the other little would-be King Arthur's.

If its not there its Legoland Windsor, but I'm pretty sure its DLP