Day 8 - Part 8
When we left Pioneer Hall we discovered that it had absolutely poured
while we were in the show, so that was very fortunate timing on our part, to have missed it. As we left, it was still kind of drizzling, which isn’t fun, but when you realize that you missed a downpour, it’s not so bad. We walked to the boat dock to catch our transportation back to the Magic Kingdom, and standing there getting a little bit wetter every minute, the boat couldn’t arrive soon enough. Although we only had to wait a few minutes, as we saw our boat approach we all kind of fidgeted in anticipation of getting under cover. It was hard to repress that “c’mon, c’mon” hand motion, (where you move your hand in a circular motion in front of you as if you're fanning your tummy), while we watched them dock and unload their passengers. But soon we were inside, out of the light rain and heading back across the lake to the Magic Kingdom.
(<-- except our boat had a roof on it.
)
We didn’t really have any plans, but it was our last night in the parks, and we thought we’d like to see the fireworks and maybe get one more ride on Space Mountain. Because it was rainy, there weren’t a lot of people on Main Street staking-out viewing spots, so we decided it was safe to stay inside as well, until it got closer to 10 o’clock, when the fireworks were scheduled. We went into the Emporium, on the left side of the street as you walk up Main Street. Okay, can I confess that in my several trips to Disney...I had never been in the shops on this side of the street?
I’m not sure why that is, or was, but this was a first. And I thought that they were smaller than they turned out to be, perhaps just façade’s even, so I was a bit amazed at how big the Emporium was. Yet, it didn’t take long before that wore off and I was tired of following Judy around (you ladies sure can shop) and just started leaning on a rack of shirts instead. Then I said that I was going to go check on the fireworks-viewing situation outside. After a little while James joined me, followed shortly thereafter by Marlene and Lauren. I was surprised that Judy was still shopping, and I’ll admit, that maybe I was even a little miffed that she didn’t join us on Main Street until right at 10 o’clock.
I shouldn’t have been irritated because as it turned out, she was just in time to hear this announcement:
“Tonight’s showing of Wishes…is temporarily………delayed.”
We were all very disappointed at this turn of events. We looked at each other and said, “Well, what should we do now?”
We decided to go see how long the wait was for Space Mountain, and hoped that the whole rest of the park didn’t have the same idea.
I don’t remember how long the wait-time was, but apparently it wasn’t too outrageous since we decided to go ahead. One nice thing about this particular visit to Space Mountain is that we didn’t have to convince James to ride, or attempt reverse-psychology or anything like that, since he had finally summoned the courage to ride it (and loved it) a couple of days before.
Again, we had fun playing the videogames while in line and we actually got through the line pretty quickly. Soon, our ride pictures were being taken.
The kids.
Judy and I.
Don’t you think it would be better if they put the cameras at a more exciting point of the ride? The ride hasn’t even really begun at the point where the picture is taken now.
The way these pictures look, they could name it “Spaced Mountain”.
And of course I tried to take some pictures of ourselves appearing on the monitors as we exited the ride. Here, I’m trying to look over that glare from the lights.
Yes, Marlene is still rocking that beret!
Oh yeah! I kind of like this one.
Even though I look a little hunched over. (But you know what that means -- I get to use my favorite smiley!)
We came out of Space Mountain and wondered what to do next. It was still kind of rainy and the “Wishes is temporarily delayed” message was still being trumpeted over the loudspeakers every few minutes. We looked around and noticed that there was no line for the People Mover.
Okay, confession time again…I’m pretty sure that this was my first-ever ride on the People Mover, or Tomorrowland Transit Authority, or whatever name it’s going by today. If I was ever on it before, it must have been looong ago, and I don’t remember it.
Anyway, while riding, I was thinking what a great “first-ride-in-Tomorrowland” this would be, since it takes you through and past all of the other rides and describes them to you.
(I can literally hear all of you out there, smacking your foreheads.
Sorry! I didn’t know!)
But I’ve always been more interested in actually getting
on those other rides, and didn’t want to spend time on a ride that just takes me past them and shows them to me. I thought that the best part of the ride was when we went through Space Mountain.
When we finished our ride on the People Mover, we decided to make our way toward the exit. The park closed at 11, and it was nearing that time.
As we got to the hub, I took one last (fuzzy) shot of the castle.
When we walked down Main Street it was already a couple of minutes after 11.
Lauren asked if we could wait a little longer to see the fireworks, but I explained that they’ve been playing this “Delayed” message for over an hour and they’re just not going to have the fireworks after closing. “If they haven’t happened by now, they aren’t happening tonight.”
A little dejected, we slowly walked out of the park. At the exit, the cast members waving goodbye to us with those big, oversized, Mickey-glove-hands helped lift our spirits a little. How can you not smile at that?
We got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop and almost immediately a bus pulled up for us. Well, now we’re talkin’. At least we still had our bus mojo!
But wait, this is
my luck we’re talking about here.
I kid you not, as soon as the driver opened the bus door, and my kids were about to step up onto the bus, we heard a "boom" and saw a flash of light from fireworks in the park. (No, wait, light travels faster than sound…let me try that again.) We 1) saw a flash of light and 2) heard a "boom" from fireworks in the park. (That’s better. Or, at least more accurate.)
My kids and wife looked at me and asked, “What should we do?” I thought for a second and said, “We could walk back, but it’s now after 11, so we can’t get back into the park. And watching from outside, I doubt that we could really see anything over the train station.” “And who knows how long it'll be until another Animal Kingdom Lodge bus arrives?”
“As much as I hate to, I think we should just go.”
So, for us, “The next showing of Wishes is temporarily delayed…” until…
our next trip.
And of course, just to rub salt in the wound, we could see those fireworks through our bus windows as we departed. The tinting on the windows made them hard to see, as did the occasional tree or building that we passed. But we could see them going off through the windows on one side of the bus and then the other, as we made various turns.
And they slowly got smaller and fainter as we drove further away from the most Magical of Kingdoms.
For those of you keeping score, this marks two years in a row when I should have listened to my kids regarding the fireworks. (The year before, James had advised that we’d be better off watching the 4th of July fireworks (on the 3rd of July actually) from the beach at the Polynesian. I knew better
, and instead we encountered a mob scene at the Magic Kingdom and had a terrible time finding a spot from which to watch.)
I think this might be as good a time as any to list some of the major things that I wanted to do, but that we never got to, on this particular trip. I think the list is rather amazing:
- Walk through Fantasyland to see the construction (I was curious to see it.)
- Dole Whips (Missing these is a sin!)
- Main St. Electrical Parade (Will it be there for our next trip? Doubtful.)
- Magic Kingdom fireworks (You have to work pretty hard to miss these, don't you?)
There are probably others, but these are what quickly came to mind. How can you be there 8 days and miss these things? Well, you went along with me, people, through this trip report. Was there a point when I zigged that I should have zagged? I don’t think so…sometimes things just don’t work out. You can’t do everything in one trip, and that’s why we Disney freaks are always planning another trip.
But don’t let me leave you on a downer. Even though it didn’t end the way that I’d have liked, this was one of my best days at Disney…ever! This was a day filled with fun, such as:
- My wonderful Spaceship Earth photo.
- Quotes, like “Here James…smell beaver butt!”
- A Grey Goose slushie.
- The “more rockin’” phone call.
- Pick a pearl.
- Hoop de Doo Revue.
- The most intriguing cowboy picture I’ve ever seen.
- Yet another ride on Space Mountain.
- And, my first ride on the People Mover.
Up next: Just relapsing by the pool
Link to next chapter
. But I can totally commiserate on the last minute packing and rushing. Our Feb. trip was like that too, lots of last minute stuff to do which is not how I usually roll!
That would just make our game so much easier! Come on Judy, it's for the DIS!
to you!
And I agree, the place they snap your picture on the ride is ridiculous. Nobody looks excited yet, the ride has barely begun! Here is exhibit A:
(poor Marlene).
Ok, ok. You HAD to expect that. I'm glad to hear you finally got to experience it. What, no thumbs up, energetic Space Mountain photos? You look like your ready to fall asleep! 
But I think you're attitude is right on...you can't do everything, every time and that's the great part about knowing these trips aren't just a once in a lifetime kind of thing. Makes it a lot easier to roll with things as they come and enjoy each and every moment for what it is.
Really?! You mean all that stalking of your TR actually paid off???
. It looks like three to me now too. The image I was questioning was this one which I now see isn't Judy (her tank top is different
I think so!
