meeko_33785
<font color=teal>Surrounded by characters<br><font
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2000
- Messages
- 5,491
So far, its been a foggy but wonderful morning at the Magic Kingdom, but the fun has really just barely begun for the day. Next up was a trip to Grizzly Hall in Frontierland for the Country Bear Christmas Special.
The show was, of course, festive as always. The theater was pretty full too, if not completely filled. Hadnt seen that big of a crowd there on my last couple of trips there. By this time, the morning was practically over and with less than 40 minutes before my lunch reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern, I wasnt sure what I had time to do. I looked briefly around the pin shop in Frontierland, but then decided to see how long the wait for Haunted Mansion was. It was just 20 minutes, so I figured I would be able to get through it before my reservation time came up.
Even though the standby line was supposedly 20 minutes, I dont think that the wait ended up being any longer than 5-10 minutes. I was a little worried about how the ride would be since I had heard that upkeep on it has been pretty dismal lately. I did notice a few technical things wrong, especially soundtrack and sync problems in the graveyard, but nothing too bad. I did see something I hadnt before in the Pet Cemetery at the exit of the ride. I couldnt get a photo of it because it was too dark, but next time youre there, be sure to look at the statue far in the back left corner. Youll see a tribute to a certain resident of Toad Hall and one Magic Kingdoms wildest rides. After leaving the Mansion, it was time to head to Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch. Before going in, I did a quick bit of pin trading with a Cast Member outside the restaurant. The trade went off perfectly- one Pluto pin for a Meeko pin (who, if you couldnt guess from my screen name, is one of my favorite characters). Happy with my first successful Disney pin trade, I headed in for lunch. I had the colony salad which was delicious. I though it was comparable to what you might find at a restaurant like Bennigans. The atmosphere tops Bennigans any day though. After lunch, it was off to Tomorrowland. Grabbed a FastPass for Buzz Lightyear, and decided to look around the land a little.
First stop was the old Timekeeper Lobby where The Incredibles characters were doing a meet-and-greet. The way the room was set up, there is one big line that runs through two character stations- one with Stitch and one with the Incredibles. At Stitchs location, I took his picture, said good bye and was about to head off to see the Incredibles. Stitch was having none of that, and motioned for me to come back and give him a hug. As much as I like the characters, for some reason I find hugging them awkward. Stitch wasnt taking no for an answer, and gave me a hug. Somewhere in the process of getting a hug, my arm moves up and almost knocks Stitchs head clean off!
Next thing I know, hes wildly clutching his head and to keep it on his shoulders. I apologize and leave. Now instead of just feeling awkward about hugging them, I know that its totally possible for me to accidentally decapitate a Disney character in front of a large crowd. Great. Thankfully, my interaction with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible was less eventful. They stamped my book, took some photos, and showed me some superhero poses. Good times. Next, it was off to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. It had been kind of misty and foggy all day, but while on this ride, it finally started to actually rain. Not too hard, but defiantly rain. After the ride, my FastPass time came up for Buzz Lightyear. By the time I finished that, it was raining hard enough to break out the ponchos. By now, it was less than an hour before the Share A Dream Come True Parade was about to start. The plan was always to head back to Frontierland before 2:30 and then watch the parade from their. Now, I wasnt sure if there was even going to be a parade since it was raining. Nevertheless, I still headed over to Frontierland, got a seat on one of the walls in front of Pecos Bill Cafe, and waited in the rain.
By 3:00, the rain had pretty much let off, and the parade began. Because of the weather, a few parts of the parade were noticeably missing, most notably the entire Princess unit. It was a little disappointing, but after wondering if the parade was even going to happen that day, it was nice to at least see most of it. Got as many pictures as I could, but since because of the weather, the parade floats went by at a rapid pace that made it hard to photograph them. After the parade, I decided to head over to Toontown via the Walt Disney World Railroad. The train was just arriving at the Frontierland station when I got there, so the timing couldnt have been better. The first thing I did in Toontown was check out the Hall of Fame. The lines were pretty long, and I wasnt really in the mood to wait that long. Instead, I headed over to Mickeys House. Unbelievably, Mickeys line was unbelievably short, so I decided to pay the Mouse a visit.
If you can believe this, the last time I had met Mickey was 10 years earlier. I always enjoy meeting the characters at Disney World, but for some reason, I have seemed to overlook Mickey for a number of years. After all, Mickeys everywhere- including every parade and tons of shows. It was easy for me to think, Ive got plenty of photos of Mickey. I dont need to bother meeting him. Well, no ignoring the Mouse it all started with on this trip. At the Judges Tent, he gladly posed for a photo, even moving some of the props around until he thought everything looked just right. I thought it turned out great. We shook hands (no hugs!), and headed on to Fantasyland. Sort of continuing with the Mickey theme, I headed over to Mickeys Philharmagic. The wait was advertised at 20 minutes, but Im sure it was only half that at most. The movie was cute, but I did feel sorry for all the young kids in the audience who were in tears by the end of it because of the darkness and loud noises. The probably should have a little warning at the entrance about those things like they have at some of the others like it. Still, I thought it was even better than I remembered. Defiantly a nice addition to the Magic Kingdom. Well, that does it for Part 2 of this report. The story continues in Part 3
Other Parts in this Report:
Meeko's December 2005 Photo Trip Report- Part One
The show was, of course, festive as always. The theater was pretty full too, if not completely filled. Hadnt seen that big of a crowd there on my last couple of trips there. By this time, the morning was practically over and with less than 40 minutes before my lunch reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern, I wasnt sure what I had time to do. I looked briefly around the pin shop in Frontierland, but then decided to see how long the wait for Haunted Mansion was. It was just 20 minutes, so I figured I would be able to get through it before my reservation time came up.
Even though the standby line was supposedly 20 minutes, I dont think that the wait ended up being any longer than 5-10 minutes. I was a little worried about how the ride would be since I had heard that upkeep on it has been pretty dismal lately. I did notice a few technical things wrong, especially soundtrack and sync problems in the graveyard, but nothing too bad. I did see something I hadnt before in the Pet Cemetery at the exit of the ride. I couldnt get a photo of it because it was too dark, but next time youre there, be sure to look at the statue far in the back left corner. Youll see a tribute to a certain resident of Toad Hall and one Magic Kingdoms wildest rides. After leaving the Mansion, it was time to head to Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch. Before going in, I did a quick bit of pin trading with a Cast Member outside the restaurant. The trade went off perfectly- one Pluto pin for a Meeko pin (who, if you couldnt guess from my screen name, is one of my favorite characters). Happy with my first successful Disney pin trade, I headed in for lunch. I had the colony salad which was delicious. I though it was comparable to what you might find at a restaurant like Bennigans. The atmosphere tops Bennigans any day though. After lunch, it was off to Tomorrowland. Grabbed a FastPass for Buzz Lightyear, and decided to look around the land a little.
First stop was the old Timekeeper Lobby where The Incredibles characters were doing a meet-and-greet. The way the room was set up, there is one big line that runs through two character stations- one with Stitch and one with the Incredibles. At Stitchs location, I took his picture, said good bye and was about to head off to see the Incredibles. Stitch was having none of that, and motioned for me to come back and give him a hug. As much as I like the characters, for some reason I find hugging them awkward. Stitch wasnt taking no for an answer, and gave me a hug. Somewhere in the process of getting a hug, my arm moves up and almost knocks Stitchs head clean off!
Next thing I know, hes wildly clutching his head and to keep it on his shoulders. I apologize and leave. Now instead of just feeling awkward about hugging them, I know that its totally possible for me to accidentally decapitate a Disney character in front of a large crowd. Great. Thankfully, my interaction with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible was less eventful. They stamped my book, took some photos, and showed me some superhero poses. Good times. Next, it was off to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. It had been kind of misty and foggy all day, but while on this ride, it finally started to actually rain. Not too hard, but defiantly rain. After the ride, my FastPass time came up for Buzz Lightyear. By the time I finished that, it was raining hard enough to break out the ponchos. By now, it was less than an hour before the Share A Dream Come True Parade was about to start. The plan was always to head back to Frontierland before 2:30 and then watch the parade from their. Now, I wasnt sure if there was even going to be a parade since it was raining. Nevertheless, I still headed over to Frontierland, got a seat on one of the walls in front of Pecos Bill Cafe, and waited in the rain.
By 3:00, the rain had pretty much let off, and the parade began. Because of the weather, a few parts of the parade were noticeably missing, most notably the entire Princess unit. It was a little disappointing, but after wondering if the parade was even going to happen that day, it was nice to at least see most of it. Got as many pictures as I could, but since because of the weather, the parade floats went by at a rapid pace that made it hard to photograph them. After the parade, I decided to head over to Toontown via the Walt Disney World Railroad. The train was just arriving at the Frontierland station when I got there, so the timing couldnt have been better. The first thing I did in Toontown was check out the Hall of Fame. The lines were pretty long, and I wasnt really in the mood to wait that long. Instead, I headed over to Mickeys House. Unbelievably, Mickeys line was unbelievably short, so I decided to pay the Mouse a visit.
If you can believe this, the last time I had met Mickey was 10 years earlier. I always enjoy meeting the characters at Disney World, but for some reason, I have seemed to overlook Mickey for a number of years. After all, Mickeys everywhere- including every parade and tons of shows. It was easy for me to think, Ive got plenty of photos of Mickey. I dont need to bother meeting him. Well, no ignoring the Mouse it all started with on this trip. At the Judges Tent, he gladly posed for a photo, even moving some of the props around until he thought everything looked just right. I thought it turned out great. We shook hands (no hugs!), and headed on to Fantasyland. Sort of continuing with the Mickey theme, I headed over to Mickeys Philharmagic. The wait was advertised at 20 minutes, but Im sure it was only half that at most. The movie was cute, but I did feel sorry for all the young kids in the audience who were in tears by the end of it because of the darkness and loud noises. The probably should have a little warning at the entrance about those things like they have at some of the others like it. Still, I thought it was even better than I remembered. Defiantly a nice addition to the Magic Kingdom. Well, that does it for Part 2 of this report. The story continues in Part 3
Other Parts in this Report:
Meeko's December 2005 Photo Trip Report- Part One
