robinb
DIS veteran
- Joined
- Aug 29, 1999
- Messages
- 44,707
December 31, 2003
The Cast:
Robin -- Me
David -- DH
Celia -- my 4 year old DD
John -- College buddy and fellow Disney freak
Michelle -- John's wife. Friend and fellow Disney freak
Kristen -- J&M's 15 year old DD
Erika -- J&M's 10 year old DD
We woke up at the crack of dawn in our cramped quarters in our 3 bedroom Grand Villa at Old Key West. Both families are Disney Vacation Club members and this is our 3rd trip together for New Year's Eve.
We hopped on the first Magic Kingdom bus and arrived about 7:30 am. The place was blissfully empty. We dawdled up Main Street and took many pictures knowing that the place would not remain empty for long.
Early Morning Castle Views:
We started back in Fantasyland. I think we rode Dumbo, Pan , got a Fast Pass for Pooh.
Small World 8:00 am. 0 Minute Wait.
We then bolted over to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz. I was a Galactic Hero with 999,999 points. Part of our party rode Space Mountain and Michelle, Celia and I went to get a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain. We rode the Magic Carpets on the way back toward the Castle for our breakfast with the princesses. We stopped at Small World to get a picture and one of the CMs asked to have her picture taken with us. She then said since we were now family, she's like to give us a Fantasyland Fast Pass for all 7 of us. What a great present! What a bit of Disney magic.
Small World 10:00 am. 25 minute Wait.
We used our Fast Pass for Pooh right before breakfast and the ride crashed! Twice. We were stuck in front of Tigger in mid-bounce for 10 minutes and we were afraid that we would miss our Princess PS. We were lucky. The other part of our party was in Owl's House which moves in and out like it's breathing. The ride finally re-booted and we were able to run to the castle.
We had a great breakfast with the precesses. David was bummed that Jasmine wasn't there. We had the last seating and the characters were very rushed. Breakfast itself was not rushed and we had the restaurant to ourselves between seatings when we took some cool pictures.
Fantasyland from CRT. 11:00 am
We left the castle and walked into chaos. People were everywhere! We stood in line for 30 minutes too see Ariel. Everything is Ariel for Celia and she had her Ariel costume on, complete with tail.
Celia and Ariel.
We stopped by Small World for a picture. There was a 40 minute wait! Who would wait for 40 minutes for Small World?!? Not me!
Small World 11:00 am. 40 minute wait.
After visiting Ariel in her Grotto we thought we would exit Fantasyland past Small World and the Haunted Mansion. Yeah, right. Can you say "wall to wall people"?
Fantasyland noon. Packed. Wall to wall. Yikes!
Time for us to go. We grabbed a caramel corn refill at Sleepy Hollow (yeah!) and exited the Kingdom. Although we all have annual passes, we had our hands stamped "just in case". We went back to the resort, ate, napped, swam and relaxed. It was good.
We bravely returned to the fray hours later. We were afraid that we would not be able to reenter, but as in previous years at Epcot we had no problems. We had a PS at Tony's for 7:15pm and we were seated at about 7:45. Dinner was very good. I had the veal chop which was excellent. A lot of people complain about Tony's but I have not had a bad meal there yet. The only drawback is that I can't have a glass of wine with dinner.
We exited Tony's around 9:30 and tried to get over to Frontierland to ride Splash Mountain before the fireworks at midnight. We took the back stage by-pass to Tomorrowland. I was shocked by the Stand-by wait time at Space Mountain!
Space Mountain 10:00pm. 175 minute wait.
We thought we would be smart and take the train from Toon Town over to Frontierland to avoid the crowds. We took the sneaky Tomorrowland to Toon Town bypass and arrived at the train station just as the train was leaving. We got on the next train which was the last train of the night. We were dumped back at the top of Main Street. Grrrr.
We though we would cut us losses and pick out a spot for the fireworks which were in about an hour. We went to our new favorite spot near the hub and waited. Things began to get a little crazy, but fun crazy, not drunk crazy like at Epcot.
Main Street 11:00 pm.
Castle 11:45 pm.
The fireworks were great. I cannot say enough about the MK NYE Fireworks. It was the Fantasy in the sky FW (a welcome change from Wishes) and the same fireworks were set off over the castle and in the 7 Seas Lagoon. We turned and turned watching the same display over the castle and the Main Street Train Station. Then, at the end they added FW on the sides past Adventureland and Tomorrowland. Fabulous.
When the FW were done and everyone shouted "Happy New Year!" we were Salmon swimming upstream to get in that last ride or two. We eventually broke through to the path up to the Tea Cups.
Castle after midnight. Happy New Year!
Celia, Kristen and I stayed in Fantasyland while the rest of our group went to Splash Mountain. We rode Dumbo at night with only a 10 minute wait. I love Dumbo at night! We then did a little line dancing at the dance floor set up near Ariel's Grotto and then rushed over to Small World for a final ride.
Small World 12:30 am. 5 minute wait.
We got stuck in Small World. In the White Room. With the clowns going and up and down and up and down. It was inhumane. After about an eternity even 4 year old Celia was ready to jump out of the boat. We were finally able to exit and I murmured "cruel and unusual punishment" to the CM as we exited. She laughed.
We met up with the rest of our party and made it back to the busses. Most of the crowds were gone and we all had seats on the bus.
Exiting Main Street, 1:30 am.
I really enjoyed our NYE at the Magic Kingdom much better than the previous ones at Epcot. The fireworks are really awesome and being in front of the castle at midnight is great. I think we will be back in front of the castle next year. We hope to see you there!
The Cast:
Robin -- Me
David -- DH
Celia -- my 4 year old DD
John -- College buddy and fellow Disney freak
Michelle -- John's wife. Friend and fellow Disney freak
Kristen -- J&M's 15 year old DD
Erika -- J&M's 10 year old DD
We woke up at the crack of dawn in our cramped quarters in our 3 bedroom Grand Villa at Old Key West. Both families are Disney Vacation Club members and this is our 3rd trip together for New Year's Eve.
We hopped on the first Magic Kingdom bus and arrived about 7:30 am. The place was blissfully empty. We dawdled up Main Street and took many pictures knowing that the place would not remain empty for long.
Early Morning Castle Views:
We started back in Fantasyland. I think we rode Dumbo, Pan , got a Fast Pass for Pooh.
Small World 8:00 am. 0 Minute Wait.
We then bolted over to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz. I was a Galactic Hero with 999,999 points. Part of our party rode Space Mountain and Michelle, Celia and I went to get a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain. We rode the Magic Carpets on the way back toward the Castle for our breakfast with the princesses. We stopped at Small World to get a picture and one of the CMs asked to have her picture taken with us. She then said since we were now family, she's like to give us a Fantasyland Fast Pass for all 7 of us. What a great present! What a bit of Disney magic.
Small World 10:00 am. 25 minute Wait.
We used our Fast Pass for Pooh right before breakfast and the ride crashed! Twice. We were stuck in front of Tigger in mid-bounce for 10 minutes and we were afraid that we would miss our Princess PS. We were lucky. The other part of our party was in Owl's House which moves in and out like it's breathing. The ride finally re-booted and we were able to run to the castle.
We had a great breakfast with the precesses. David was bummed that Jasmine wasn't there. We had the last seating and the characters were very rushed. Breakfast itself was not rushed and we had the restaurant to ourselves between seatings when we took some cool pictures.
Fantasyland from CRT. 11:00 am
We left the castle and walked into chaos. People were everywhere! We stood in line for 30 minutes too see Ariel. Everything is Ariel for Celia and she had her Ariel costume on, complete with tail.
Celia and Ariel.
We stopped by Small World for a picture. There was a 40 minute wait! Who would wait for 40 minutes for Small World?!? Not me!
Small World 11:00 am. 40 minute wait.
After visiting Ariel in her Grotto we thought we would exit Fantasyland past Small World and the Haunted Mansion. Yeah, right. Can you say "wall to wall people"?
Fantasyland noon. Packed. Wall to wall. Yikes!
Time for us to go. We grabbed a caramel corn refill at Sleepy Hollow (yeah!) and exited the Kingdom. Although we all have annual passes, we had our hands stamped "just in case". We went back to the resort, ate, napped, swam and relaxed. It was good.
We bravely returned to the fray hours later. We were afraid that we would not be able to reenter, but as in previous years at Epcot we had no problems. We had a PS at Tony's for 7:15pm and we were seated at about 7:45. Dinner was very good. I had the veal chop which was excellent. A lot of people complain about Tony's but I have not had a bad meal there yet. The only drawback is that I can't have a glass of wine with dinner.
We exited Tony's around 9:30 and tried to get over to Frontierland to ride Splash Mountain before the fireworks at midnight. We took the back stage by-pass to Tomorrowland. I was shocked by the Stand-by wait time at Space Mountain!
Space Mountain 10:00pm. 175 minute wait.
We thought we would be smart and take the train from Toon Town over to Frontierland to avoid the crowds. We took the sneaky Tomorrowland to Toon Town bypass and arrived at the train station just as the train was leaving. We got on the next train which was the last train of the night. We were dumped back at the top of Main Street. Grrrr.
We though we would cut us losses and pick out a spot for the fireworks which were in about an hour. We went to our new favorite spot near the hub and waited. Things began to get a little crazy, but fun crazy, not drunk crazy like at Epcot.
Main Street 11:00 pm.
Castle 11:45 pm.
The fireworks were great. I cannot say enough about the MK NYE Fireworks. It was the Fantasy in the sky FW (a welcome change from Wishes) and the same fireworks were set off over the castle and in the 7 Seas Lagoon. We turned and turned watching the same display over the castle and the Main Street Train Station. Then, at the end they added FW on the sides past Adventureland and Tomorrowland. Fabulous.
When the FW were done and everyone shouted "Happy New Year!" we were Salmon swimming upstream to get in that last ride or two. We eventually broke through to the path up to the Tea Cups.
Castle after midnight. Happy New Year!
Celia, Kristen and I stayed in Fantasyland while the rest of our group went to Splash Mountain. We rode Dumbo at night with only a 10 minute wait. I love Dumbo at night! We then did a little line dancing at the dance floor set up near Ariel's Grotto and then rushed over to Small World for a final ride.
Small World 12:30 am. 5 minute wait.
We got stuck in Small World. In the White Room. With the clowns going and up and down and up and down. It was inhumane. After about an eternity even 4 year old Celia was ready to jump out of the boat. We were finally able to exit and I murmured "cruel and unusual punishment" to the CM as we exited. She laughed.
We met up with the rest of our party and made it back to the busses. Most of the crowds were gone and we all had seats on the bus.
Exiting Main Street, 1:30 am.
I really enjoyed our NYE at the Magic Kingdom much better than the previous ones at Epcot. The fireworks are really awesome and being in front of the castle at midnight is great. I think we will be back in front of the castle next year. We hope to see you there!
.
