WDW Poly Princess
Needs a Disney Fix
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2000
- Messages
- 4,873
Day 2 Part 1
Around 8:30 on Tuesday morning, the phone in our room rang, and who else but Mickey was on the other end!?
Up and at em! Theres big doings going on, and were so excited... something after that.... You would think that i would remember what he said after hearing it for 8 days in a row, but due to the fact that I was still half asleep every time, I cant remember! It was around 70* outside at the time, so I decided to wear wind pants and a tank top, mostly because that was the first thing at the top of my suitcase We had express checkout, meaning we didn't have to go to the front desk, but we did call Bell Services to have them transfer our luggage over to the Wilderness Lodge. Our plan was to spend the whole day at Magic Kingdom, but we werent in a huge hurry to get there early, so we decided to walk around the resort and video tape a little bit, and then have breakfast.
After a slow, narrated-for-video-purposes walk to Colonels Cotton Mill, we decided to explore the breakfast options. Breakfast pizzas looked really good, so mom and I each ordered one, but when I got mine, I noticed there were eggs in it
(duh, it was early) and I hate eggs, so I decided to get biscuits and gravy instead. They werent all that impressive, but not bad either, and very filling. The problem, however, was that because mom and I had gone separate ways before paying for our food, we couldnt find each other!
I walked around the large room, searching the tables for her.. I went outside to see if she was there.. back inside to search the food area... tables again, and FINALLY found her after about 10 minutes! We learned to pick a meeting place or a table *before* splitting up from then on! We found a nice table and settled down, starving by now! Breakfast was average, but decently cheap and fun!
A quick bus ride later, we were at those magical front gates of the Magic Kingdom, and this time, I really got to go in!
Since I had an AP, I had to stick my fingers in the scanner thingy. Im still not sure exactly WHAT it does, but after it scanned my fingers, the CM there noticed I was wearing a ring, on my middle finger (one of the two being scanned) and said that I would need to be wearing it every time I use my AP. This isnt a problem, since I always wear it, but they really should warn people of that beforehand, just in case! I wonder what would happen if I lost my ring? Set on taking our time, we browsed Main Street, stopping in a few shops and checking the steps of City Hall for corn-eaters 
. We saw Belle and Mary Poppins inside Town Square Expo Hall (Is it just me, or didnt it used to be Main Street Expo Hall?) The smell as we passed Main Street Confectionary was just too alluring to pass by, so we stopped in there for a while too. We didnt buy anything, as we had just eaten a huge breakfast and werent hungry, but I sure wish they could somehow bottle that wonderful scent! What a wonderful thing that would be to have sitting at home when you really needed a Disney fix! Mmm, my mouth waters just thinking about it!
Splash Mountain is the absolute favorite of both mom and I, and since she still wasnt feeling Disney-ish, I decided I might as well throw her right into the magic first thing, we went to pick up fast passes. We then set off to visit those rowdy pirates and their little Caribbean town. I couldnt help but notice that we were already following last years schedule exactly! Last year the first thing we did was get a FP for Splash, and then ride P of C! We ventured through the dark, cool line, and I remembered liking this line last year because it was always so cool (um, temperature-wise, not... coolness? wise), but seeing that it was already the same temperature outside, that kind of lost its fun. I tried to videotape the ride, but it was too dark and my camera refused to work- darn! So I gave up and just Yo Hod along. The ride was exactly as I remembered it, and afterwards, I made a big, big mistake: I bought a P of C pin. Now, this was a mistake because this was the first pin I have bought, and you know how it is after you start something? Before I always passed them by just because I didnt have any yet, so the temptation was easy to resist, but Oh, after that first one...!
Looking ever-so-cool
with a P of C pin on my backpack, we went back to Splash and saw that the line was only 10 minutes, so we decided to save our fast passes and ride twice in a row. Have I mentioned that Splash is my favorite ride in the whole entire world?? The first time through, I decided that I really wanted to video tape the ride, so I could have that little WDW fix at home. I was so happy to be back in my favorite place on my favorite ride, I must have had a stupid grin on my face the whole ride. We (well, okay, I) sang along with all the songs, and I managed to spot the FSU gopher (the one that pops out from the ceiling and says FSU!, put there by a former Florida State student who helped build the ride). After getting deliciously drenched the first time, we hopped back into the Fast Pass line to ride again. I planned to start filming when we actually went into the building, since its kind of wet before that part, and stop when we hit the vultures. That worked out great, and I even managed to spot a hidden Mickey without even trying!!! (unfortunately, the finding-finding did NOT go as well the rest of the trip!) Want to know where it is? Oh, you know you do! In the part where they are all fishing, right past the No Fishing sign, one of the birds has fishing equipment off to his side, and 3 of those little red and white bobber thingeys.. (What ARE those called?) form a Mickey. I was so excited! Mom decided to be brave and agreed to put up one hand when we went down the big drop- I was so proud that I HAD to buy the photo! :-D
By now, I was just dying to go see those grim grinning ghosts (ha ha, I just kill myself!
), so we decided to get fast passes (even thought the wait was posted as 13 minutes, as always!). I put my AP in the fast pass machine, and waited...and waited..and waited! The thing would not give it back! I didnt want to leave the machine, since my precious AP was inside, but the nearest CM was over at the entrance, so I sent mom to go get her. When I told her what happened, she said Oh, not THAT machine again! Weve been discussing blowing it up! I joked that the machine could be their 1000th ghost, and she replied Oh, we already have one, thats Athena (Safari Steve says Athena is one of their..um.. more mature co-workers ;-) ) Thankfully, she opened up the machine and got my precious AP back, and told us to just use a different machine.
Fast-passes in hand and happily reunited with my precious Annual Pass, we had a quick what now? discussion, and decided we were both starving, and decided to grab a bite to eat over at Pinocchio's Village Haus in Fantasyland. I remember reading about the balcony in Nates NASTEE trip report, and I was determined to find it! We both decided we werent all THAT hungry, and both decided to order the Figaro Fries (They are supposed to be french fries with bacon, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes on them, but I got mine with just bacon and cheese). These turned out to be more than enough for us (we really dont eat much!) We went back through the restaurant to a staircase I had seen on our way in, climbed it, and found that there was NOBODY upstairs! We almost sat down when I saw the door leading outside, and decided to eat outside, on.. Ta Da! Our own private balcony! There were about 5 tables out there, NONE of which were occupied! It was so much fun to feel like we had our own little restaurant to ourselves in such a crowded park! We took our time eating, really enjoying our surroundings. I think I had as much fun sitting up there overlooking Fantasyland feeling like the Princess of the Private Balcony as I did actually playing in the parks
Sometimes the most simple things make the most magical moments. Really, really thankful for knowing about this place, I pulled out an index card from my backpack and wrote THANKS NATE! in big letters and had mom take a picture so I could email it to Nate when I got home.
While we were eating, the usual Hey you have food and I don't! kind of bird stopped by, so we decided to be naughty and feed them little pieces of our fries. After a while, he flew off, and we just assumed he was full, but oh no! He returned a few seconds later with about 5 other birds!!! Kind of overwhelmed, we decided not to feed them anymore! They eventually gave up on us and left, except for one black bird and one sparrow. I tossed down one last little piece, and the competition began.. Sparrow Vs. Crow... the Prize: Piece of French Fry! I think the crow (is that what they are?) won, but its all kind of fuzzy in my memory now!
Back to the Haunted Mansion, we hopped right in the fast pass line, and were at the front gates before we knew it. Right as we got to the entrance, it started raining cats and dogs! We were so thankful to be under cover, and about to go inside! HM is my 2nd favorite ride.. not so much because of the ride itself, but because of all the stories and myths that go along with it! I just love it! In the stretching room, I couldnt remember if the ceiling raised or the floor dropped.. I knew it was once way at WDW and the other at Disneyland (I looked it up when we got home, but im not telling ;-) ) I pointed out the bat whos face has been rubbed off from all the hands touching it through the years (Its on top of the very last pole before you turn the corner) to mom, and was surprised to see that it was METAL (I had been thinking it was wooden for some reason... metal must have taken much longer to rub down!). Can you imagine how many hands have to have swung around the bats head over the years to flatten it out? Before we knew it, we were on the dreaded moving sidewalk (Mom and I are both HORRIBLE at getting on and off those things with any grace at all.. its like all our coordination goes out the door the minute we step on! Add moving ride vehicle to get in to, and were hopeless!) and finally into our Doom Buggies!
In the room where the guy is stuck in the coffin, our doom buggy stopped. We got the usual Playful spooks have interrupted our tour... announcement, but we ended up sitting there for several minutes hearing Let me out! Let me out! over and over and over and
Eventually the ride started up again, and everything went smoothly after that. I managed to spot the hidden Mickey on the table this time, that made two so far! Go me! At the exit, Little Leota reminded us to Hurry baaack! and I promised her I would. I think they need a Little Leota at the exit of WDW so she can always remind us to hurry baaaack! (When I got home, I downloaded her little spiel off Napster, and I cant stop listening to it!). On our way out of the park, we decided to cut through the castle, and I saw the Cinderella fountain I had read about on the DIS boards. The statue on the fountain is of Cinderella before she meets her Godmother, but if you squat down to the height of a child, it looks like the crown on the wall over her is on her head! I found just the right angle, and snapped a picture.
It was now almost two, and we decided that if our room wasnt ready yet, we could at least explore the WL, so we hopped on the boat over there. The captain told us that some of the seats up front were still wet, so we should grab a child and slide them over the seat first to dry them off ;-) Our boat was called the Castaways So I obviously couldnt help but break out into song.. Now sit right back and youll hear a tale.. the tale of a fateful trip... After that, I couldnt help but wonder just how deep that water was... I still had just the slightest urge to hop up on the front of the boat and say Im the king of the world! but of course, I resisted ;-) We stopped at Fort Wilderness first, and then on to the Wilderness Lodge!
Up Next! Day 2 Part 2- In which the Adventure continues to the WL and E-Night!
Around 8:30 on Tuesday morning, the phone in our room rang, and who else but Mickey was on the other end!?
Up and at em! Theres big doings going on, and were so excited... something after that.... You would think that i would remember what he said after hearing it for 8 days in a row, but due to the fact that I was still half asleep every time, I cant remember! It was around 70* outside at the time, so I decided to wear wind pants and a tank top, mostly because that was the first thing at the top of my suitcase We had express checkout, meaning we didn't have to go to the front desk, but we did call Bell Services to have them transfer our luggage over to the Wilderness Lodge. Our plan was to spend the whole day at Magic Kingdom, but we werent in a huge hurry to get there early, so we decided to walk around the resort and video tape a little bit, and then have breakfast. After a slow, narrated-for-video-purposes walk to Colonels Cotton Mill, we decided to explore the breakfast options. Breakfast pizzas looked really good, so mom and I each ordered one, but when I got mine, I noticed there were eggs in it
A quick bus ride later, we were at those magical front gates of the Magic Kingdom, and this time, I really got to go in!
. We saw Belle and Mary Poppins inside Town Square Expo Hall (Is it just me, or didnt it used to be Main Street Expo Hall?) The smell as we passed Main Street Confectionary was just too alluring to pass by, so we stopped in there for a while too. We didnt buy anything, as we had just eaten a huge breakfast and werent hungry, but I sure wish they could somehow bottle that wonderful scent! What a wonderful thing that would be to have sitting at home when you really needed a Disney fix! Mmm, my mouth waters just thinking about it!
Splash Mountain is the absolute favorite of both mom and I, and since she still wasnt feeling Disney-ish, I decided I might as well throw her right into the magic first thing, we went to pick up fast passes. We then set off to visit those rowdy pirates and their little Caribbean town. I couldnt help but notice that we were already following last years schedule exactly! Last year the first thing we did was get a FP for Splash, and then ride P of C! We ventured through the dark, cool line, and I remembered liking this line last year because it was always so cool (um, temperature-wise, not... coolness? wise), but seeing that it was already the same temperature outside, that kind of lost its fun. I tried to videotape the ride, but it was too dark and my camera refused to work- darn! So I gave up and just Yo Hod along. The ride was exactly as I remembered it, and afterwards, I made a big, big mistake: I bought a P of C pin. Now, this was a mistake because this was the first pin I have bought, and you know how it is after you start something? Before I always passed them by just because I didnt have any yet, so the temptation was easy to resist, but Oh, after that first one...!
Looking ever-so-cool
By now, I was just dying to go see those grim grinning ghosts (ha ha, I just kill myself!
Fast-passes in hand and happily reunited with my precious Annual Pass, we had a quick what now? discussion, and decided we were both starving, and decided to grab a bite to eat over at Pinocchio's Village Haus in Fantasyland. I remember reading about the balcony in Nates NASTEE trip report, and I was determined to find it! We both decided we werent all THAT hungry, and both decided to order the Figaro Fries (They are supposed to be french fries with bacon, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes on them, but I got mine with just bacon and cheese). These turned out to be more than enough for us (we really dont eat much!) We went back through the restaurant to a staircase I had seen on our way in, climbed it, and found that there was NOBODY upstairs! We almost sat down when I saw the door leading outside, and decided to eat outside, on.. Ta Da! Our own private balcony! There were about 5 tables out there, NONE of which were occupied! It was so much fun to feel like we had our own little restaurant to ourselves in such a crowded park! We took our time eating, really enjoying our surroundings. I think I had as much fun sitting up there overlooking Fantasyland feeling like the Princess of the Private Balcony as I did actually playing in the parks
Sometimes the most simple things make the most magical moments. Really, really thankful for knowing about this place, I pulled out an index card from my backpack and wrote THANKS NATE! in big letters and had mom take a picture so I could email it to Nate when I got home. While we were eating, the usual Hey you have food and I don't! kind of bird stopped by, so we decided to be naughty and feed them little pieces of our fries. After a while, he flew off, and we just assumed he was full, but oh no! He returned a few seconds later with about 5 other birds!!! Kind of overwhelmed, we decided not to feed them anymore! They eventually gave up on us and left, except for one black bird and one sparrow. I tossed down one last little piece, and the competition began.. Sparrow Vs. Crow... the Prize: Piece of French Fry! I think the crow (is that what they are?) won, but its all kind of fuzzy in my memory now!
Back to the Haunted Mansion, we hopped right in the fast pass line, and were at the front gates before we knew it. Right as we got to the entrance, it started raining cats and dogs! We were so thankful to be under cover, and about to go inside! HM is my 2nd favorite ride.. not so much because of the ride itself, but because of all the stories and myths that go along with it! I just love it! In the stretching room, I couldnt remember if the ceiling raised or the floor dropped.. I knew it was once way at WDW and the other at Disneyland (I looked it up when we got home, but im not telling ;-) ) I pointed out the bat whos face has been rubbed off from all the hands touching it through the years (Its on top of the very last pole before you turn the corner) to mom, and was surprised to see that it was METAL (I had been thinking it was wooden for some reason... metal must have taken much longer to rub down!). Can you imagine how many hands have to have swung around the bats head over the years to flatten it out? Before we knew it, we were on the dreaded moving sidewalk (Mom and I are both HORRIBLE at getting on and off those things with any grace at all.. its like all our coordination goes out the door the minute we step on! Add moving ride vehicle to get in to, and were hopeless!) and finally into our Doom Buggies!
In the room where the guy is stuck in the coffin, our doom buggy stopped. We got the usual Playful spooks have interrupted our tour... announcement, but we ended up sitting there for several minutes hearing Let me out! Let me out! over and over and over and
Eventually the ride started up again, and everything went smoothly after that. I managed to spot the hidden Mickey on the table this time, that made two so far! Go me! At the exit, Little Leota reminded us to Hurry baaack! and I promised her I would. I think they need a Little Leota at the exit of WDW so she can always remind us to hurry baaaack! (When I got home, I downloaded her little spiel off Napster, and I cant stop listening to it!). On our way out of the park, we decided to cut through the castle, and I saw the Cinderella fountain I had read about on the DIS boards. The statue on the fountain is of Cinderella before she meets her Godmother, but if you squat down to the height of a child, it looks like the crown on the wall over her is on her head! I found just the right angle, and snapped a picture.It was now almost two, and we decided that if our room wasnt ready yet, we could at least explore the WL, so we hopped on the boat over there. The captain told us that some of the seats up front were still wet, so we should grab a child and slide them over the seat first to dry them off ;-) Our boat was called the Castaways So I obviously couldnt help but break out into song.. Now sit right back and youll hear a tale.. the tale of a fateful trip... After that, I couldnt help but wonder just how deep that water was...
I still had just the slightest urge to hop up on the front of the boat and say Im the king of the world! but of course, I resisted ;-) We stopped at Fort Wilderness first, and then on to the Wilderness Lodge! Up Next! Day 2 Part 2- In which the Adventure continues to the WL and E-Night!
