I Knew You Would Eventually Get Tired of Disney World - April '12 TR - Completed 2/9

[nilla]

 

[nilla]

Yesterday was a long day, so Kristin suggests sleeping in a bit today. If you'd ask me, I'd say we should hit rope drop and stay to park close every day, so it's a good thing there's someone with sense in this family. We sleep until 9:00, which is late for me down here. As usual, I get ready before anyone else is out of bed. Shortly after they wake, I head down to El Centro to get Dylan his daily dose of chocolate chip muffin.

I look over at the benches...

No Dan. No Jeanette. They're gone. They're on their way home

While their trip came to a close, ours was just beginning. By their accounts, they had a great time...and that's just getting me anxious. I have a job to do, though.

El Centro is MOBBED this morning, thanks to "those conventioners". Grrrr...

But honestly, I don't mind the conventioners. I just don't understand what keeps them from running out the door into the nearest open park bus. I know I'd have a hard time attending a conference here.

Once ready, it was off to Bus Stop 4 for our trip to the Magic Kingdom. But not before we stop for some pictures!

Hmm, I'm curious. If the sharks don't swim, how do they get around? Segway? Or maybe they run. Everyone here runs. Except for me. I've tried to run, but it bores me to tears. I just can't get into it. Maybe if I ran with someone else, it would be different, but not even music seems to help. Dylan prefers to swim.

One more pic before we're out. Here's our building...

...and we're off to Stop 4. No complaints about this station from us so far. Hopefully, that keeps up!

 

[nilla]

We arrive at the Magic Kingdom, and it's significantly more crowded than DHS was yesterday.

We managed to escape yesterday without having to adhere to the new FastPass policy, but we probably won't have such luck today. Commando touring, begin!

First stop - the Firehouse, to kick off this Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom thing. We've been playing the Pokemon trading card gave with Dylan since he was 3, and we started getting into Magic: The Gathering last Summer. I know, we're a bit late to the game, but we're in all the same. Anyway, we are intrigued by this "Sorcerers" thing, which sounds like a cross between Magic and the Kim Possible thing at Epcot. We arrive at the door to the Firehouse, and find out that it's more serious than we think.

Whoa. This is not just a game anymore. Hades needs to be stopped! But first, we need to wait in line.

I can honestly say this is one place in WDW I've never been. We get one pack of cards, figuring that will be easier than getting a pack for each of us to start.

Pretty cool! Oh, and you get a map, too.

After a quick tutorial, we are off to save the Magic Kingdom!

 

[nilla]

...but first, it's a parade! Who doesn't love a parade? I love a parade. Do you love a parade? The guys in the parade seem to be enjoying themselves.

As you can tell, I was at an odd place for picture taking - right on the corner in front of the Emporium. Oh, and a special note on that last picture. As you read this TR, you may notice a trend. Lots of gorillas. Lots of monkeys. I still think I missed my calling in primatology, but that won't stop me from grabbing a pic of every non-human primate I see.

By the way, you may notice that my icon photo for this park in today's header post is a refurb sign. This is no accident. Can you think of a better representation of Magic Kingdom than a refurb sign?

I didn't think so. We decide next to head up for Splash Mountain passes, by way of Adventureland. It's there that Kristin meets up with an old friend.

The orange bird is back! Kristin is sooooo happy about this, and the kids seem to dig it, too.

Ok, one more shot, and then it's back on to Splash Mountain.

Ok, a few more pics.

Ok, NOW we can head up to Splash Mountain...

 

[nilla]

...unless, that is, we want to do our first "Sorcerers" mission. Ok, why not. Actually, how about Kristin and the kids do that, while I go get the FPs?

I wanted to see the game, but there will be plenty of opportunities for that. I get the passes, and note that with Big Thunder down, this really is tucked away into a corner of the park I'd otherwise not be coming to. I return in time for the action.

Nice! Maybe I'll get a shot later.

Pirates is next.

As we approach the queue, we notice a chaperone for a school group calling her gang over - there is only a 10 minute standby, and if they get there quick, they'll get to ride! All 573 of them!

Ok, kids - step on it! We need to beat them. Or just go to the right, since no one EVER goes to the right. I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining.

We make it through the queue unscathed, and we're at the boat already. Kristin asks if we can wait for the front, which becomes a them in the boat rides this year. Well worth it, especially with the relatively light crowds.

Afterwards, it's through the gift shop we go. But first, a rant.

You may have heard this on the DISboards. I know I did. Apparently, in an effort to put less emphasis on violence, Disney has pulled all toy guns out of Walt Disney World. It's ridiculous. It's not like they looked real. Way to go, Disney, for bowing to those paranoid liberals. Now, all there is in the gift shop are Duffy pirate costumes, Black Pearl bath toys, and these things:

And these:

And whatever this is:

And Dylan had his heart set on a toy gun. Thank you, WDW, for taking the guns off the shelves and replacing them with this crap. And thank you DISboards for tipping me off to this alarming act of political correctness.

We check out the Tiki Room next, which is now under new old management. Very different beginning, shot in "Jon forgot to take the camera off the low lighting setting" mode:

Inside, things are back to normal.

I haven't seen this version of the show since I was a kid, though I've heard the song 5000 times. I'll have to admit, I'm not sure if the show itself is better than that Zazu/Iago version, but I sure like the nostalgia.

We grab FPs for the Jungle Cruise, and our Splash Mountain FPs have come due. Off to Frontierland again!

 

[nilla]

Through the magic portal we go, and we're back in the Old West. I should be excited for our impending ride on one of my all-time favorites, but I'll admit, I'm still seething about Disney's decision to pull guns from their theme parks.

Ok, ok...I'll try to put it out of my mind and enjoy the ride. Kids in front, as usual, which ensures maximum Splash for the whole family. It also allows us to get this pic once again:

The theming on this ride is over-the-top good. That's a big reason why I love this ride so much.

This cannon's not firing today, but I assume we'll get wet enough that it won't matter.

And now, for one of my personal favorites - when the water runs up the walkway, then bounces back down after the Slippin' Falls.

Even if you look hard, you won't see it happening in that picture, because it hadn't happened yet. Sorry

The new FP rule was sort of a non-factor again, so I'll reserve judgement on it for now.

Meanwhile, we're all wet. And now that we're all wet, it'll feel nice being out here in the sun. So what's our logical next destination?

Lunch, of course!


[POST=44918214](next update)[/POST]

 

[shan23877]

I'm late! But, I'm joining in! I really enjoyed your last TR!

All caught up and so many things to comment on that I can't remember any of them. Need to go back to page 1 and see if our dates over-lapped.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[MEK]

Awesome! Nothing like an update that includes a political correctedness rant! All I can say is the lack of a proper gun will get all my nephews out of the dump shop in 5 minutes versus 25 minutes!

Great splash pictures. I felt like I was almost there. Can't wait for June. I may even ride without my poncho.

 

[teekathepony]

A great morning at MK so far, love those Splash pictures!
I love the orange bird. I'm too young to remember him, but I think he's absolutely adorable anyway.

 

[rndmr2]

I was behind a couple updates but I am caught up now. We really enjoyed Mama Melrose when we went there in 2010.

Seems like Dylan is doing fairly well with the dining plan so far.

Great pics on Splash Mountain!

 

[MEK]

I forgot to mention this morning that I am totally going to look for a bottle of swedish fish vodka. I LOVE swedish fish and, well, any alcohol that tastes like Swedish fish is alright in my book.

 

[mike the canuck]

Nice pics. Following along

 

[sarahcor]

Yay! I've read your other reports and really enjoyed your writing style, excited to follow along on this one.

 

[nfggirl5454]

I subscribed - this is actually the first TR I've read. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

 

[nilla]

All caught up and so many things to comment on that I can't remember any of them. Need to go back to page 1 and see if our dates over-lapped.

I still need to read your TR, since I never finished the first. It happened right about the same time as my "Jon disappears from the DISboards" phase last year, but I was enjoying it!

All I can say is the lack of a proper gun will get all my nephews out of the dump shop in 5 minutes versus 25 minutes!

I love the DISboards, but from time to time you get those "sky is falling" posts about WDW as we know it being gone forever. I dunno, I still like this place...even if there's nary a gun to be found in it

Great splash pictures. I felt like I was almost there. Can't wait for June. I may even ride without my poncho.

I don't even want to know if you don't.

I love the orange bird. I'm too young to remember him, but I think he's absolutely adorable anyway.

I vaguely remember him. I do like him, though

Seems like Dylan is doing fairly well with the dining plan so far.

I bolded the key phrase.

I forgot to mention this morning that I am totally going to look for a bottle of swedish fish vodka. I LOVE swedish fish and, well, any alcohol that tastes like Swedish fish is alright in my book.

It is good, and I don't usually drink fruity drinks. I prefer the whipped cream or cookie dough varieties

Nice pics. Following along

Thanks! I would really like a nicer camera, but this one is good for a handheld and I don't want to carry any more than I already do.

Yay! I've read your other reports and really enjoyed your writing style, excited to follow along on this one.

Hope you like it as much as the others. I do tend to forget and use the same "jokes" every year.

I subscribed - this is actually the first TR I've read.

Please don't form your opinion on DISboards Trip Reports based on the nonsense contained in this one! Thanks for joining

Updates up next...

 

[nilla]

Lunch is at Kristin's favorite, Columbia Harbor House. I like it, too, and the kids like sitting up above the walkway between Liberty Square and Fantasyland. We're expecting a line, so Kristin runs out to do I can't remember what, while the kids and I line up for the register. Oh, look - we're first! No one's here yet, including Kristin, so we can't quite order just yet. She returns shortly after, we get our meals, and take a seat upstairs.

Dylan and Emily are at a two-person table at the window facing Liberty Square, and Kristin and I are at a table in the middle. There's another table occupied, but it's largely vacant. Not too many people know to come up here, but it's our favorite stop in the restaurant. The shades are down on the Fantasyland side for some reason, but the kids can watch the people coming the opposite direction just as well. As for the food, I got a delicious lobster roll and apple crisp...

Kristin went fried shrimp...

Emily got mac & cheese...

...and Dylan got the chicken fingers and fries.

While he doesn't really like chicken fingers, it's the best option for him at this place. Mayo seems to encourage him to eat, too, though it's really only helping with the fries right now.

Kristin and I are making post-lunch plans - I'll run out for Space Mountain FPs once I'm done eating, then we'll use our Jungle Cruise FPs. Oh yeah, that's right - we got Jungle Cruise FPs at some point. I'm not exactly sure when, but it was probably around the time we rode Pirates.

Meanwhile, Dylan and Emily are fighting over who knows what. Not only doesn't Dylan eat well, and not only does he insist on sitting sideways with his head resting on his hand, but he also tends to get into it with his sister fairly frequently. It's usually a grey area as to who instigates it, but this time, he bears the brunt of the blame. I want a clean cup, so I suggest we all move 'round one space. Kristin has a better idea - she'll sit with Emily, and Dyl can come over and sit with me. He's not happy, since he's no longer by a window, but that's what you get for misbehaving. Window privilege REVOKED!

He's also taking forever to eat his chicken fingers, and we're growing impatient. Fortunately, I've just finished my meal, so I'm off to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain FPs.

While I find the FP runs fun - it's like playing Frogger with strollers, ECVs, and pedestrians, none of which are walking anywhere near the speed I want to walk, many of them stopping at the most inopportune times. I make it through the masses, and notice that I'm starting to get slightly wet. What's that? Is that...

...rain?

 

[nilla]

Yep, it's raining. More like drizzling, but this is the first precipitation of the trip. The forecast shows our time should be relatively dry, but there were chances of some isolated or scattered thunderstorms somewhere in there.

I get our FPs, and it looks to be Large School Group Day here in the Magic Kingdom. The good thing about Large School Group Day is that the chaperones are usually not very Disney-savvy and someone apathetic to the whole situation, which translates into 500 kids with lime-green t-shirts in the standby line while I grab FastPasses. Their loss!

I return to the Harbor House, and our next stop is the Jungle Cruise. As I said before, I like the FP runs. This is mostly because I get to see a whole lot of the park in a short span of time. The downside is I don't get to ride any of it, though I always consider it. Not this time, though - our boat is leaving!

But first, Kristin and Dylan have a Kingdom to save.

This seems really fun, though I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet. The girl behind us in line is well versed in it, though, and gives a great overview of what we need to do next. After we ride the Jungle Cruise, of course.

 

[nilla]

Wait, is that beer? In the Magic Kingdom? Oh, wait - it's ginger beer. Ok. Menu looks good, but we just ate.

All aboard, and I grab a pic of some actual people.

It's time to head out now. Though I prefer this ride at night (the crowd seems to get nuttier at night), it's great during the day, too. The humor is brilliant, even if largely scripted. Animatronic animals don't hurt, either. This is one of those "take 3000 pictures in 5 minutes" rides. Here are a few of them.

As I said, if there's a monkey or gorilla, I WILL photograph it. Part of the fun of the Jungle Cruise is trying to get pictures you don't already have. 3000 pictures per year x 7 years of WDW trips = 21,000 pictures of this ride, so I'll be hard pressed to get something new. I'll try, though.

We probably have those already, but there they are all the same. We pass these two next...

The captain says we should be careful around them because of Fig Newtons or something, which I don't understand at all. If she has cookies, I'm going to try to grab them. Nothing can stop me. Not even an ancient temple filled with monkeys.

Ok, maybe that can. No monkey pics from in here, though, due to lighting issues. I will describe them for you, however, in a word:

AWESOME.

As all monkeys are. I like these guys, too.

Great, Little Red is safe! Her Dad doesn't look like he's forgiven anyone yet, though.

The ride wraps up, and the primate nonsense just won't stop.

And the camels...the camels, I tell ya...they're no bargain either! This one has no respect whatsoever for my daughter's crazy hair.

I love when people get hit with that unsuspectingly. They just don't seem to notice that big puddle in the middle of the dry pavement

By the way, the rain has stopped. Actually, it stopped almost as soon as it started - the sun was out by the time we re-entered Adventureland.

Kristin got herself an Orange Bird shirt, we filled up the kids' misters, and decided to head back to the Firehouse to get more Sorcerer cards.

 

[nilla]

As we head down Main Street, I consider trying to open one of the "doors" on the skrimmed buildings. It's like playing a late-90s video game with the blocky scenery. Weren't they refurbing Main Street last year?

We head into Uptown Jewelers, where Kristin reaffirms that she indeed has more than enough Dooney and Burke Disney bags, the kids trade Vinylmations, and Emily gets a charm bracelet.

We check out the art store, where another Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom battle is waiting. While in line, we talk to an older guy who is totally into the game. He explains the common-uncommon-rare icons on the cards and gives us some pointers. We're really enjoying this...maybe I'll even get a turn sometime!

The parade is getting ready to kick off, and Kristin keeps the kids under an awning, out of the sun. I'm hoping to get some pictures though, and what better way to get up-close character pics than to stand behind someone else's kid? It really is a sound strategy. Now pardon me as I reach for the sky...

Mickey!

Every time I see the Big Cheese, I say his name in the same voice as Randy does when he sees him in the parade in Christmas Story. The next guy suggests a song reference, though I can't remember the band name. It was in the 90s, and they were fronted by that one girl from Throwing Muses. Started with a B...Belly. That was it. Anyway, it's Gepetto.

As I was saying...

Now off with their 'eads!

We've become hooked on the Jan Svankmajer movie "Alice", which is a completely bizarre rendition of the story. It's on Netflix streaming. The Mad Tea Party scene is a classic. But back to the parade!

My favorite characters!

 

[nilla]

Ok, enough parade. We make it to the Firehouse to get our remaining three packs of Sorcerers cards, which are available since we only took one the first go-around.

Now that we have more cards, why not play another game? There's a line for this one, so I take a random pic of something most people never see.

And here's the portal.

It's Dylan's turn to play, but he can't get it to work. He starts getting frustrated, so Kristin takes the cards from him. He snatches them back.

Oh, no.

Bad move, Dylan.

BANNED from Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Your game is OVER.

He's a bit upset over losing it, but as usual, he dug his own grave on this one. He received plenty of warnings. The game's not working right for Kristin, either, so there's a surplus of malcontent in this family right now. We better remedy that quick. The antidote may be in Tomorrowland.

On the way, we grab a shot of the area where we will be watching the fireworks on our final night.

Looks great!

Our Space Mountain FPs are ready, so we can grab another set now as well. Buzz is the obvious choice, since nothing else requires (or offers) FPs in Tomorrowland. With FPs for Space Mountain and Buzz, we have a few minutes to take a spin on the People Mover. Kid shots!

While I like that it's called the People Mover again, I do miss the ease of saying "TTA". I get a shot of where we'll be heading next.

Only taking one rotation this time, we exit the ride and head over to Space Mountain. Random "There's No One in Tomorrowland" shot in 3...2...1...

Ok, enough pictures! Let's get on Space Mountain before Emily changes her mind!

[POST=44953109](next update)[/POST]