After a very long drive (Nebraska to Florida, via Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama with overnight stops in Marion, Illinois and Tallahassee, FL.) we arrived at Pop Century around 11:45 on 8/31/08 and checked in. What luck, our room was ready. So after doing a quick un-pack in a nice clean room, we returned to the main building to have lunch at Everything Pop (restaurant reviews here:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1949596 Post #1!) Then we headed over to the bus area to catch a bus for Magic Kingdom. (We had our car, but usually have had better luck using bus service for the MK since there’s the hassle of parking at the TTC, then taking ferry or monorail over. Easier-usually-to just take bus from resort. More on the bussing later.)
Sunday, August 31 was the day before Labor Day. Now ordinarily, I'm the crazy-park-commando type, with an over the top plan scheduled to the minute to squeeze maximum enjoyment out of every second...the sort of plan that would win the Obsessive-Compulsive Outstanding Plan of the Year award (if there was such a thing.) But we just did that in May, so this time I somehow submerged most of those OC impulses (perhaps the new meds were helping? Just Kidding!) Anyway, our plan for Sunday was to head to Magic Kingdom, and see if we could get into anything. We really expected very large crowds, since this was Sunday of Labor Day Weekend…we figured this would be the prime-park-day for everyone doing a “last hurrah of Summer” on the 3-day weekend. We thought we might just end up wandering around, people-watching and just enjoying “being there” if lines were too long. We had ADR’s at Liberty Tree Tavern, so we knew we were good to go on food, anyway. So we headed out to see if we could get into any attraction.
Had great luck with the bus…’bout a 5 minute wait. Arrived at the MK around 1:45 on Sunday afternoon. We were amazed to see the Halloween décor on Main Street – I had read that they’d started to decorate, but hadn’t realized just how nice it would look (although it was kind of a disconnect to see Fall harvest stuff like pumpkins and orange/yellow/red leaves spread around in the Florida summer heat! Cognitive dissonance for sure.)
and here's Dh with more of the decor on Main Street.
Almost made me wish we were going to the
MNSSHP on Friday. And the crowds that afternoon were not bad at all, as you can see from all the empty pavement in this picture...this was a shocker to us, we've never seen so much pavement all at once at Magic Kingdom.
We saw the Barbershop Quartet singers on Main Street…very fun. Haven’t seen them for years (we’re usually out of the parks in the afternoons, so have missed them most visits.)
Well, first we had our “aw, gee, it’s the castle” moment, this time complete with Halloween decor on Main Street. Oh, it just takes my breath away, every time…sappy, but a mandatory pause to take it in is required. Teary eyes are optional.
We then headed first to Jungle Cruise to get a FP. We didn’t get to ride JC in May 2007, and in May 2008 we missed it again because the re-furb wasn’t done, so it’s been quite a long time since we’ve been on Jungle Cruise. Our FP return time was 3:25 so we decided to head out and try a few things we haven’t done for awhile. So with Jungle Cruise FP tucked in safe pocket, we wandered over to the Tiki room (I know…silly animatronic birds, etc. But we hadn’t done this in years & years – I think last time our baby was 4 years old…she’s a sophomore in college now! And the theme of this trip was to do some of the golden oldies (kind of fitting, since we’re golden oldies ourselves.) So we lucked out here, they were just seating people as we arrived, no wait. Now, I have to say either my recollection of the Tiki Room is WAY off, or they have seriously degraded this attraction. First, I thought this was a much shorter show than it used to be. Second, I remember it being much scarier (and more fun)…the part where the “gods” get angry used to get the little kids going pretty good, in my memory. No rise this time, even from the youngest in the crowd…it was very tame (and lame!) And I swear a spooky-looking and very noisy god used to come out of that thing in the middle (not the vaguely Barbie-shaped Tiki babe they have now.) Anyway, we decided we'll probably skip this again for another 10-15 years.
After the Tiki Room, we heard sounds of the parade, so slipped through the walkway to Frontierland and watched a little bit of the 3 o’clock parade…another first for us in many, many years. Normally, we do early-EMH-park-commando-mode, and then spend the afternoons at our hotel resting or swimming so we haven’t seen the afternoon parade at MK in probably 20 years. It was fun to see some of it. But I discovered I’m not really that into parades. Maybe if I had a kid in the parade (or maybe that’s it…I have spent so many years watching my kids in marching band that I’m paraded out…)
We still had a little time before our FastPasses were good, so next, we went to Swiss Family Treehouse. In May 2007, it was closed due to rain. We were in a hurry in May 2008, and it was crowded, so we skipped it. This time there was literally no one in the area, so we went. Was great fun seeing this all again in an uncrowded, unhurried way - and without little ones - so we could actually stop & look things over. We actually saw the original movie when it was new way back in 1960 or so (lordy, that was a long time ago!)…it’s one of the earliest movies I can remember seeing, and of course then we saw re-runs of it on the Wonderful World of Disney several times as kids. So we really enjoyed all the detail in the treehouse. Do today’s kids have any idea what the basis for the Disneyworld treehouse is-either the movie or the classic book it came from? Just wondering…anyway, we enjoyed it a lot. Well worth the walk-through, especially if it’s not crowded and you can look at everything. Here's me in the Treehouse
By now, we were ready for a Cruise…so off we went to use our FP at around 3:30 or so. We really enjoyed the cruise. The CM was Kim, and she was very good at delivering the tour…excellent comedic timing. Now I must admit I married into a family whose unofficial motto is they have never met a joke they didn’t like, no matter how stupid (well, actually I add the part "no matter how stupid." They will not admit there is such a thing as a stupid joke.) In fact, my DH is firmly convinced that the Pun is the highest possible art form in the world of comedy, so naturally he thought the speech in the Jungle Cruise tour were knee-slapping hilarious. I think Kim the CM was more than a bit surprised that someone was actually laughing at her patter (or maybe she just thought the old gray-haired guy had some rare form of heat prostration which caused him to laugh at virtually everything she said.) Whatever, we did enjoy the ride. Didn’t see anything new on the re-furb, just looked like everything was spruced up & working. I know at one time they were talking about making a movie series based on the JC (like they did with POTC) Have to say I’m in favor. I think they could start a whole new adventure series, similar to Indiana Jones but even funnier. Hope they do.
So, after JC, we got a FastPass for BTMRR (stand-by wait time was 60 min at the time) FP return time was for 7:30. Then continuing our do-the-things-we-skipped-before theme, we went to do the Hall Of Presidents for the first time in many years. We enjoyed it, but can also see why it’s a popular napping spot. Certainly wouldn’t put that on the list of must-do’s every time we’re there. While the animatronics are good, it’s just a little bit too educational for my idea of fun. And there were a lot of people in there trying to get the most “educational” value out of it as possible…just about gagged me! Let your kids have fun, for gosh sakes. You didn’t really bring your kids to WDW for educational purposes, did you? Think these parents were feeling guilty about pulling the kids out of school for a Free Dining vacation, so they felt they had to squeeze as much educational value out of the trip as possible. Course it would help if the parents knew some history, too. Overheard some interesting “facts” about American history while getting settled before the show started. Like I learned that Benjamin Franklin was the 2nd president…anyway, glad we did the Hall of Presidents this time. Nice & cool place to hang out for awhile on a very hot day.
We wandered over to Fantasyland to check wait-times on rides. Crowds were still fairly light. Mickey’s Philharmagic had a 20 min. wait, the TeaCups were 15 min., Winnie the Pooh and Snow White were both 20 min., Peter Pan was at 30 min. Not bad at all for a Sunday afternoon on a holiday weekend.
Anywho, was now time for our dinner reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern. We thoroughly enjoyed that meal. (review is post #4 on
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1949596) Our server - Mo, from Morocco, was friendly, smiling and very attentive. Now here’s an interesting note for those wondering: right on Main Street, they had a sign saying there was no availability for dinner at the following restaurants…and Liberty Tree was listed as one of the “no availability.” But this restaurant was not busy at all around 5:15. Don’t know if they had a lot of no-shows, or what. But there was nobody waiting when we checked in, and while we were eating, there were plenty of empty tables – I would guess as much as 1/3 of the table were empty. Even at 6:00 p.m. there were still a few empty tables. The characters were great (even though it was just 2 old fogies at the table, all the characters stopped & visited, posed for pictures.) However, by 6:25 when we left, the waiting area was full. So I guess the lesson here was check the restaurant yourself for availability, even if they have signs saying no availability. Especially if you’re willing to eat early, you may be able to get in. Here's DH & Minnie getting chummy at LTT...
And me & Mickey's best friend, Pluto...the characters are very fun at LTT!
After dinner, we wandered over to Tomorrowland to do the Carousel of Progress. Again, an attraction we haven’t been to in a long, long, time. Oh, lordy, we forgot just how hokie that ride is! Omigosh…I know that’s one of Walt’s own masterpieces, but he sure had a funny idea about what made a great ride. I realize that part of it is a difference between what was “awesome” in 1960 is way different than what would impress now, but still, COP is really dated (even the updated part is dated!) That’s another one that we were glad we did this time, but probably won’t go on for many years again.
Was almost time for our return FP on BTMRR, so we wandered back to Frontierland via Fantasyland. Crowds were starting to build, the wait times posted in Fantasyland were all at about 60 minutes now. Except at Small World, of course. That was still posted as 5 minutes. So we rode IASW. Love that ride. Yes it’s syrupy-sweet, but we’re just a couple of old fogies who like losing it in a sappy sweet fantasy universe,LOL. It’s relaxing to suspend reality for a few minutes and just try to absorb all the details in IASW. (We don’t even mind the song, actually. Incredible, I know. But oh well. Just a couple of cute old dorks, easily amused.)
Then we were off to Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road. Loved it. This is one of my favorite rides…just enough roller coaster so I can pretend I do thrill rides, without being too intense, and I love the themeing. Stand-by wait time was now 70 minutes on BTMRR, 90 min. on Splash. We had no interest in doing Splash this trip (did it in May 2008, and we were 100% soaked…we got it coming & going that time. In the interest of no-chafing from wandering around in wet pants, we decided not to do it this time.)
After BTMRR, we meandered over to do POTC. Walk-on as usual. This is definitely another must-do for us. We lucked out with no flash-photogs this ride…just hate it when some fool flash-flash-flashes through the whole ride. I always wonder what’s the point of looking at this ride through a 2 x 2 viewfinder screen when you can see the whole great big thing just by looking. A real Duh! Who looks at all those pictures later, anyway…and it’s not like they’re good pictures, anyway? I always wonder if these people ever feel like they saw anything…or do they have to constantly refer to their pictures to “see” what was on the ride? Just enjoy the ride, for gosh sakes…that’s what you paid for…to be entertained. O.K., ‘nuff preaching. After POTC, we headed over to Aloha Isle to get our traditional Dole Whip float…very, very good on a hot, humid night. (Was 85 at noon when we checked into hotel, and didn’t cool off during the afternoon! Actually, didn’t cool off much all week.)
After our break, at around 8:00 or so we decided to head over to Space Mountain to check out waits. By this time park was getting very busy…this was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and the Magic Kingdom had EMH until 3:00 A.M. that night, so a steady stream of people had been coming into the park all evening. When we got to Space at around 8:15, the return time on the Fast Pass machine was…1:30-2:30 A.M.! The stand-by was 75 minutes. Now there were long lines for everything over there - even the TTA was thronged. Buzz had 60 min. wait, even Stitch had a 45 min wait. We wandered over to Fantasyland to check out wait times…boy, had they changed. Everything over there was now at least 40 minutes, several attractions over 60 minutes.
The crowds now seemed to be getting crazy-large. To the point you had to carefully choose your route through (what is it about crowds at WDW that always makes you feel like you’re going the wrong way? No matter which way we go, it always seems to be against the grain. Odd.) We decided to leave since we were pretty tired anyway, and had actually gotten quite a lot more done than we thought would be possible…even if it was to mostly be reminded why we skipped several attractions for years & years and didn’t miss them much.
We worked our way through the crowds…people were already staking out Parade spots all the way around the hub and down Main. Crossed Main Street just in time to pop into Main Street Bakery to get pastries for Monday breakfast. There was a short line in the bakery, but service was fast, friendly & efficient. We came back out onto Main Street just in time to see the beginning of the SpectroMagic parade, but after watching the first two floats, we decided not to stay because we’d just seen the whole thing in May 2008 and we wanted to beat the crowds in the bus lines. It’d been a long day, starting when we left Tallahassee at 7:45 for the final leg of our road trip to Orlando.
People were absolutely pouring into the park as we left. At 9:15, every security guard checking bags had at least 20 people in line, they had probably 10 entry turnstyles going and fully loaded busses were arriving-standing room only. The busses were lined up as far as you could see—well around the corner, all the way down the street to in front of the Contemporary. I guess people were bound and determined to get their money’s worth out of the 3 A.M. EMH! Don’t see how much fun that would be…the lines were already getting crazy long, before these people even arrived.
We headed to the Pop Century bus stop (why is it always the farthest from the exit?) And waited 30 minutes for a bus…while we watched bus after bus pull up at every other resort stop. How could all these busses be pouring into the park and none of them be routed to Pop? Finally, our bus came & we returned to the resort to crash.
Summary & Weather Report for 8/31/08: Partly cloudy/sunny; Very hot & humid. Hi's around 90 in late afternoon. Still in Mid-80's @ 9:55 p.m. Light crowds in the afternoon, but very crowded from about 7p.m. on at MK on a late EMH night. Average wait time at 8:00 P.M. for very popular rides in Fantasyland was 60 minutes, for headliners like Space Mountain, 75 minutes.
Next up: Maniacs for Toy Story Mania
Thanks for sharing from one old foggie to another
To get you in the DHS mood, here's the kids in May 2008, posing with the High School Musical props, near the entrance. The guy way over to the right in the pic is DH (he didn't really mean to be in the picture
)
and we're the clever ones
Looking forward to more of your trip report!
) Had fun anyway.
