Itchin' For Some Fun...12/10/09 - 12/14/09...Finished 3/17

[praisehisname]

That's not good. What did you do for all that time?

It went out at 1:15pm, so I took a nap until 2:15pm. Then I worked on my Bible study until the kids got home from school. Thankfully they had enough daylight left to get their homework done. We got 5 Guys carryout for dinner and were all in bed by 8:00pm! It was just too dark to do anything. The power came back on at 2:15am, so we could at least get showers this morning.

We're supposedly going to have snow and ice on Friday and get back to 8 degrees. I need spring!

You and me both! The kids have off school Friday and are supposed to go snowtubing with their youth group. But we are also supposed to get the snow and ice, so I don't know if that will get cancelled.

Hope you're having a great day!

 

[praisehisname]

When I left off, we had just entered Magic Kingdom. We saw this.



And this.



And this.



And this.



What a beautiful horse!



Going for a ride down Main Street!



We loved these toy soldiers.



Close ups of the tree.





And finally, my favorite princess’ castle!







I loved these light pole decorations!



Now that I had admired the decorations for a little bit, it was time to get some rides on! We did something unspeakable…WE SKIPPED FANTASYLAND!!! Can you believe it? Instead, we headed straight to TomorrowLand.





We wanted to experience the newly refurbished Space Mountain.



I was hoping and praying that it would be up and running, and it was! With only a 10 minute wait! Woo Hoo! The wait was so short, we didn’t even have time to play the new games that were installed along the queue. I did get some shots of them, though.



Next thing I knew were boarding our rocket (with padded seats, is that new?).



What a great ride! It felt much smoother and even a little longer, although I don’t know if it actually is. I think I laugh/giggled the whole way!



I took some time to get these shots on the way out.







...continued in next post...

 

[praisehisname]

We immediately got back in line, and this time asked if we could go to the left side to experience the other track. Tom decided to make a funny face for the picture.



After our second ride, we grabbed fastpasses for later and then headed to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.



It only had a 5 minute wait, so we jumped in line.







This was fun, but Tom got control of the joystick that spins the car and made it impossible for me to score many points!



We had no interest in Stitch’s Great Escape, so we decided to cut through the hub and head to Liberty Square. As were passing the rose garden, we saw a bunch of people gathered and walked over to the side of the bridge to see what was going on.

Penn (from Penn & Teller) was there with Stitch doing meet & greets!



We continued on, and headed to The Haunted Mansion.



It says a 10 minute wait, but we walked straight in to the stretching room without stopping.



Well, I did pause to get these photos.

















That was the first time Tom and I got to ride together (usually we split up with the kids), so that was especially nice. As we left, I got these shots.







Next stop…Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!



The posted wait time said 20 minutes, but it only took us about 11 minutes to make it to the loading zone. We asked if we could be in the back seat, and it wasn’t a problem. Yay!

However…as the people ahead of us were loading into the train…the ride broke down. The CMs had them sit in the train and had everyone in the “holding lanes” stay put while they evacuated the rest of the line. Once everyone was gone, they had the people in the train get out and exit the usual way, and we walked through the train to exit (if that makes sense).

In addition, we were given special fastpasses that were good for ANY ride in Magic Kingdom, and it didn’t expire until December 31!!!



This actually worked out really well, because our fastpass window had just opened up, and we had been trying to decide whether to get one for Big Thunder or Splash. Basically we could have both now!

So our next stop was Splash Mountain.



And get this…even though Big Thunder had broken down, the wait for Splash was only 5 minutes!!!



We were loving life right about now. It was only 10:46am and we had done so much! As we made our way to the loading area of Splash, we pulled out our ponchos and put them on. I wasn’t taking any chances of getting wet! We had an awesome ride and barely got splashed. Again, I put my hands up and enjoyed the ride even more! Check out the guy in front of me.



...continued in next post...

 

[praisehisname]

We were about ready to head out and get some lunch now, but not before I accomplished one more important thing…get a Dole Whip Float!!!



They turned the ice cream green! It was so strange to see the green color but still taste the pineapple. Oh my, that hit the spot perfectly! Mmmm…They would have been $8.50, but we used 2 snack credits.
We took our time strolling out and stopped in the Emporium to do some shopping. We were able to get a lot, since the store was virtually empty! Here’s what we got:

For Presleigh:



For Lee:



For Sarah:



For my van:



For Maggie:



For Sarah:



For Maggie:



And the best part! They were having the same special here, where you buy $40 or more and you get the blanket for $15.95. However…the blanket here was different! This time, it was a polar fleece of the castle with the twinkly icicle lights. So soft and pretty! We got two!



One more picture on the way out…



Up next…lunch, a nap, and then party time!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update!

Main Street looks very crowded, but you had such short wait times!

Did you notice any difference in Space Mtn? Is it any less rough now?

Great pictures! Glad you enjoyed your Dole Whip floats.

 

[dawnbu40]

Great update Isn't the park gorgeous at Christmas?! I just love it decorated for Christmas! Glad you enjoyed the "new" Space Mountain!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Wow you guys really made use of those "spend 40 get something" deals!!! Nice job

Random about Penn being in the park...wonder what that was about??

So excited for you that you barely needed to wait for the rides

 

[Charleston Princess]

Another wonderful Magic Kingdom update! The decorations are just gorgeous, and you had such great luck with all of the wait times! Mmmmm, I would love to have a Dole Whip right now while wrapped up in the fleece Castle blanket!

 

[mickeystoontown]

My goodness! You guys were able to see and do a whole lot in a short period of time! The Christmas decorations are beautiful!

 

[jenbear123]

You definitely had the MK mojo going on that day! How many rides did you get in before 11am?! 5?! That's great You even got a Dole Whip Float in there to boot. It's a bit weird how they made it green but whatever. As long as it still tasted good. Love all the decorations. It's such a nice treat seeing the place at that time of year.

 

[exwdwcm]

loving all the pics!

I am the same way with rice krispy treats- i want them fresh!

how cool to see penn and teller! We did see Kelly Ripa on our 2005 trip (she was in epcot after filming parade footage in dec), but never have seen anyone else.

great luck on all the short lines too- love that splash was only 5 minutes!

and i noticed hte dole whips were green too- it was very strange looking, but still delicious!

 

[MeMom]

I had every intention of bringing home some Kooky pens, but I was on a tight, tight, tight budget this trip, so I ended up getting none. They were half price even, but if I had gotten one for somebody back home, I would have ended up getting a bunch so I wouldn't leave anybody out, so I just didn't get any at all.

Early mornings = walk-on rides or short waits.

 

[praisehisname]

Main Street looks very crowded, but you had such short wait times!

It does look very crowded in the pics, but it really didn't "feel" crowded. I think most of the people went to Fantasy Land.

Isn't the park gorgeous at Christmas?! I just love it decorated for Christmas!

It is sooo beautiful! However, I think I prefer the Fall decorations. Don't know why, just do.

Wow you guys really made use of those "spend 40 get something" deals!!! Nice job

Yep! We ended up giving one of the fleeces to my cousin for staying with the kids.

 

[praisehisname]

Mmmmm, I would love to have a Dole Whip right now while wrapped up in the fleece Castle blanket!

Wouldn't that be great?!?

My goodness! You guys were able to see and do a whole lot in a short period of time!

It probably wouldn't have been that way if we had gone straight to Fantasy Land. But since we were without kids, it worked out great!

You even got a Dole Whip Float in there to boot. It's a bit weird how they made it green but whatever. As long as it still tasted good.

It was definitely "mind over matter" getting that green stuff past my mouth! But it tasted as delicious as usual!

 

[praisehisname]

I am the same way with rice krispy treats- i want them fresh!

Nothing worse than biting into an old crunchy one...

I had every intention of bringing home some Kooky pens

There were so many to choose from! Thankfully, I had asked the girls to tell me which ones they wanted. Otherwise I never would have been able to choose!

 

[MHTeacher]

Sounds like you had a wonderful morning at MK.

While it was too bad about BTMR breaking down, YAY for those great special FPs!

 

[All7OfUs]

Wonderful, updates, Denise! You guys had some great non-crowded touring time with really short lines. Always a nice thing.

Glad you could see the bright side of BTMRR breaking down, and I hope you got to go on it before your trip is over! You had quite a shopping spree! WOW!

GREEN Dole Whip Floats??!! That's interesting!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I'm so excited that you got to see the vehicles on Main st. I can't remember the last time I've seen anything go down while I'm there. How cool!

 

[twob4him]

I can't believe how much you accomplished!! The waits were so reasonable too! Yaaa on scoring FP from BTMR!!! Love that space mountain looks soooo much better! OH and that dole whip is looking yummy right now....!
Can't wait to hear about the party!!!

 

[KathyRN137]

We were loving life right about now. It was only 10:46am and we had done so much! ..

You sure did, and on a weekend, too! That's great!

We were about ready to head out and get some lunch now, but not before I accomplished one more important thing…get a Dole Whip Float!!!



They turned the ice cream green! It was so strange to see the green color but still taste the pineapple.

Aha! You took a chance on the DW Float.... I chickened out! There's just something about pineapple mixed with dairy... I know so many rave about it, but the green color would have put me off completely!

The fleece throws are so pretty; wish they had those when we were there!

Lovely morning, Denise! So excited to hear about the party!


Kathy