Meeko's Walt Disney World Christmas 2002
I've started posting my trip report for my time at WDW this month. Like the other trip reports I've posted before, I will be including pictures with this one as well. Theyre not the best pictures, but I hope you enjoy them.
Thursday
The trip started at 7:30 in the morning when I arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I had enjoyed my summer visit here so much that it was nice to be back, especially to see the Christmas decorations (which I will talk more about in my Day 2 report). After taking a look around and checking in, it was off to the Mara for quick breakfast and off to my room to drop my bags off. No savannah view this time, but considering how little time I spent in the room, it didn't matter too much. After that it was off to the bus stop and the Magic Kingdom.
I arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 8:45 am just in time to see the new Opening Ceremonies show. It was really cute with the dancers and Mayor on the Railroad platform and the characters arriving on the train. It sets a great tone before entering the Magic Kingdom.
After walking through the Train Station and down Main Street, it was over to Frontierland and Big Thunder Mountain with no wait. This has got to be my favorite Disney roller coaster. The ride is so great and I love how well themed it is. Noting else in Frontierland was open besides Splash Mountain and since it was going to be a big day so I didn't want to start out by getting soaked. Instead it was over to Fantasyland and Peter Pan's Flight. Unfortunately, there appeared to be a problem that had the ride closed. According to the cast member the Lost Boys were lost and Peter had to find them (those Cast Members always seem to stay in character). Since there was no way of knowing how long the ride would be closed, I changed the schedule and headed for the Mad Tea Party.
Along the way while passing Dumbo, a door opened up and out came a couple of Villains including The Queen from Snow White and Maleficent. Got some quick pictures and it was off to the Tea Party. After dizzily staggering off the ride it was over to Tomorrowland for more spinning on Buzz Lightyear. On the way I spotted PUSH the talking trashcan near Mickey's Star Traders. I had never seen him before so it was interesting to finally see after hearing about it on the boards for so long. The wait for Buzz wasn't too long and the ride was great. I think I'm improving on my score after four years of riding it, although it's still not very high.
Went back to Fantasyland to see if Peter Pan was open again. Along the way I spotted two familiar face riding the teacups: Alice and the Mad Hatter. Never seen any characters actually riding the rides so it was fun to see. As they got off they were joined by the White Rabbit and one of the Tweeldes.
Peter Pan was still closed so it was over to Frontierland to see the next showing of the Country Bear Christmas Special. The show was great and a wonderful way to get into the holiday spirit. I think I enjoy it better than the show they have the rest of the year. After that, I decided to give one last try to see if Peter Pan was open, deciding if it wasn't I'd do the Haunted Mansion instead.
Peter Pan was open and was worth missing it earlier in the day to make my favorite dark ride the finale for this visit to the Magic Kingdom. After the ride, I took a quiet path from Fantasyland to the Hub and headed back up Main Street, passing about a dozen characters around the Hub and a horse drawn trolley with the Dapper Dans singing Christmas carols on board going up Main Street. Hadn't seen the Dapper Dans in quite a while so it was nice to see them again. Next it was over to the Expo Hall at Town Square to see if I could find any Princesses there like I did over the Summer. Sure enough I found both Snow White and Mary Poppins in the back with no crowds around them.
Even more characters were outside including some I had never seen doing greets before like the Country Bears and Little John. I also saw Belle and got her picture. Afterwards, Belle's assistant came up to me offered to take my picture with Belle. I told him I would appreciate it if it wasn't too much trouble and followed him back to her. At that Belle said how nice it was to see me again and asked if I could take her arm. Her assistant replied to be sure to give it back. All the characters at the park were so great and having so many in the park at one time made the waits to meet them shorter than I've seen at MK in years. After that it was onto the monorail to the TTC and on to the Animal Kingdom.
Great report!!!
