Queenie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2005
- Messages
- 3,144
Finally my first day in a Disney theme park had arrived. The usual morning routine of showers and suntan lotion was followed by a trip to Dunkin Donuts. I had never dreamed of such variety and bought myself a chocolate donut and a croissant with some Tropicana juice. It was gorgeous!
Wed all piled into the biggest car today to save on parking costs so I was treated to narration by Scotts dad Graham who is a Disney fanatic. He told me the exact moment that we entered Disney property as we pulled onto the off ramp and said to bear the moment in mind as it would be a while before we finally reached the Magic Kingdom car park. As we drove under the big archway he leant forward over the dashboard. First into Disney again! he laughed as we drove under it prompting much eye rolling from the others.
As we drove towards the Magic Kingdom I watched all the signs with interest, my favourite easily being the moving Tower of Terror sign near where the road splits off heading to EPCOT. I caught a glimpse of Spaceship Earth through some trees and looked around at all the hotels, particularly the enormous Swan and Dolphin resorts which were shockingly huge. After paying we arrived in what was easily the biggest car park I had ever seen. We boarded one of the little trams and took off at rather alarming speed towards the ticket and transportation centre, Scott said this was my first Disney ride! As we had already bought our tickets over the internet, we walked straight through. The others debated the merits of monorail vs. ferry and decided the ferry was better for a first trip so we headed on board, running the last few feet so we could be the last people on board. We went up to the top deck and I walked straight to the front to watch the horizon for that first glimpse of Cinderellas castle (it was like looking for Blackpool tower on the train only 100, 000 times better!) When it finally sailed into view from behind a curtain of trees I actually got tears in my eyes as Id been waiting to see that view from being a small child watching Disney videos with adverts for WDW at the start. It was a moment Ill never forget.
The ferry trip passed quickly and it only took a few minutes for us to get through the ticket barriers and bag searches into the park. I remember very little of Main St as I was entirely focused upon the castle, having not realised quite how big it actually is! As we reached the hub there was yet another debate, clockwise or anti clockwise around the park? The former was decided upon and we headed off into Adventureland. I was astounded by the scenery the scale of the rides; Blackpool would never hold the same attraction again! We planned to go on POTC first but due to my overwhelming fear of water rides we skipped it and had a look around first. Big Thunder was much too much for me as a coaster hater so we headed into Liberty Square and up to the Haunted Mansion which became my first ever Disney ride, I thought it was fantastic and its now amongst my favourites.
I have no idea what order we did the rides in so Ill just list some of them: WDW Railroad, The Hall of Presidents, Peter Pan, Philharmagic, Cindys Carrousel, Dumbo, Snow White, Mad Tea Party, Mickey and Minnies Houses, Indy Speedway, TTA, Carrousel of Progress and Buzz Lightyear (my spellchecker hates me right now). As we walked through Toontown I spotted the Barnstormer and thought it looked OK for a first coaster so we took a ride. It was great and gave me the confidence I needed for BTMR later in the day. Both are now on my favourites list. I also gained the confidence for POTC which wasnt as bad as Id imagined. Everyone was really disappointed that IASW wasnt running while we were there as theyd planned on taking me on and driving me crazy with the song. Luckily I got to go on the ride at DLP later on in the year.
The others wanted to do Space Mountain but after I heard it was bigger than BTMR and the seats were individual so I couldnt hide in Scotts sleeve if necessary I passed and waited in the Tomorrow land Arcade with a pile of quarters the others gave me. It was highly enjoyable and I managed to complete the Jurassic Park game with less than $2! Later on when they wanted to go on Splash Mountain I passed again (water rides eurgh!) They felt guilty leaving me wandering round the shops until I explained that there was more things for me to see and do there than in the whole of Blackpool, there was no way Id get bored. I was right, in the 30 mins they were gone I only got through about 3 shops!
Lunch was had at Cosmic Rays Café and a Mickey shaped ice creamed purchased in Frontierland. Both were very tasty but I was starting to react to the rich American food so at this point I almost totally cut out fizzy drinks where possible and stuck to orange juice as well as rarely having dessert. Not totally in the spirit of a Florida trip I know but it kept me well enough to have fun. We debated having dinner in MK but decided we didnt really fancy eating anywhere inside so we decided to eat after wed finished.
Linda and Graham are both massive Spectromagic fans and insisted I watch the parade. Once again I found myself totally astounded by Disney, the best thing Id seen before was a local carnival parade. After the parade we split off into groups as Linda and Graham wanted to have a walk around alone together. Me, Scott and Roger headed back to Toontown for another trip (or 3) on the Barnstormer and another go at helping Buzz Lightyear save the universe in Tomorrowland.
By now it was getting late so we made our way quickly to Liberty Square and sat by the bell to watch Wishes. Although some might say its not a great spot, and you cant see Tink fly, we thought it was a great place to watch the show, especially as it was so quiet (maybe 100 people in the whole square.) None of us had ever seen Wishes before as the others had their last trip in 2002 so it took our breath away. I could see why Scott always disliked Bonfire Night displays put on by the council after visiting Disney so many times!
After Wishes we headed back to one of the shops where we met up with Linda and Graham who had been equally impressed with Wishes from their spot in the hub. We looked around the shops while waiting for the crowds to die down and eventually left, waving to Mickey and his friends who were up by the Main St station waving goodbye to the crowds. Wed planned on catching the monorail back to the ticket centre but after seeing the queues, we opted for the ferry again. The queue was short and we were on board within about 10 minutes and found our car easily.
Another trip to Golden Corral was in order as it was on our way home and a large meal was consumed by all. On returning to the apartment the plans for the next day were debated. Graham was going to meet up with some friends from home at another resort nearby as they arranged to play some golf. As a result we decided that wed have a non park day and spend the morning lazing by the pool.
Wed all piled into the biggest car today to save on parking costs so I was treated to narration by Scotts dad Graham who is a Disney fanatic. He told me the exact moment that we entered Disney property as we pulled onto the off ramp and said to bear the moment in mind as it would be a while before we finally reached the Magic Kingdom car park. As we drove under the big archway he leant forward over the dashboard. First into Disney again! he laughed as we drove under it prompting much eye rolling from the others.
As we drove towards the Magic Kingdom I watched all the signs with interest, my favourite easily being the moving Tower of Terror sign near where the road splits off heading to EPCOT. I caught a glimpse of Spaceship Earth through some trees and looked around at all the hotels, particularly the enormous Swan and Dolphin resorts which were shockingly huge. After paying we arrived in what was easily the biggest car park I had ever seen. We boarded one of the little trams and took off at rather alarming speed towards the ticket and transportation centre, Scott said this was my first Disney ride! As we had already bought our tickets over the internet, we walked straight through. The others debated the merits of monorail vs. ferry and decided the ferry was better for a first trip so we headed on board, running the last few feet so we could be the last people on board. We went up to the top deck and I walked straight to the front to watch the horizon for that first glimpse of Cinderellas castle (it was like looking for Blackpool tower on the train only 100, 000 times better!) When it finally sailed into view from behind a curtain of trees I actually got tears in my eyes as Id been waiting to see that view from being a small child watching Disney videos with adverts for WDW at the start. It was a moment Ill never forget.
The ferry trip passed quickly and it only took a few minutes for us to get through the ticket barriers and bag searches into the park. I remember very little of Main St as I was entirely focused upon the castle, having not realised quite how big it actually is! As we reached the hub there was yet another debate, clockwise or anti clockwise around the park? The former was decided upon and we headed off into Adventureland. I was astounded by the scenery the scale of the rides; Blackpool would never hold the same attraction again! We planned to go on POTC first but due to my overwhelming fear of water rides we skipped it and had a look around first. Big Thunder was much too much for me as a coaster hater so we headed into Liberty Square and up to the Haunted Mansion which became my first ever Disney ride, I thought it was fantastic and its now amongst my favourites.
I have no idea what order we did the rides in so Ill just list some of them: WDW Railroad, The Hall of Presidents, Peter Pan, Philharmagic, Cindys Carrousel, Dumbo, Snow White, Mad Tea Party, Mickey and Minnies Houses, Indy Speedway, TTA, Carrousel of Progress and Buzz Lightyear (my spellchecker hates me right now). As we walked through Toontown I spotted the Barnstormer and thought it looked OK for a first coaster so we took a ride. It was great and gave me the confidence I needed for BTMR later in the day. Both are now on my favourites list. I also gained the confidence for POTC which wasnt as bad as Id imagined. Everyone was really disappointed that IASW wasnt running while we were there as theyd planned on taking me on and driving me crazy with the song. Luckily I got to go on the ride at DLP later on in the year.
The others wanted to do Space Mountain but after I heard it was bigger than BTMR and the seats were individual so I couldnt hide in Scotts sleeve if necessary I passed and waited in the Tomorrow land Arcade with a pile of quarters the others gave me. It was highly enjoyable and I managed to complete the Jurassic Park game with less than $2! Later on when they wanted to go on Splash Mountain I passed again (water rides eurgh!) They felt guilty leaving me wandering round the shops until I explained that there was more things for me to see and do there than in the whole of Blackpool, there was no way Id get bored. I was right, in the 30 mins they were gone I only got through about 3 shops!
Lunch was had at Cosmic Rays Café and a Mickey shaped ice creamed purchased in Frontierland. Both were very tasty but I was starting to react to the rich American food so at this point I almost totally cut out fizzy drinks where possible and stuck to orange juice as well as rarely having dessert. Not totally in the spirit of a Florida trip I know but it kept me well enough to have fun. We debated having dinner in MK but decided we didnt really fancy eating anywhere inside so we decided to eat after wed finished.
Linda and Graham are both massive Spectromagic fans and insisted I watch the parade. Once again I found myself totally astounded by Disney, the best thing Id seen before was a local carnival parade. After the parade we split off into groups as Linda and Graham wanted to have a walk around alone together. Me, Scott and Roger headed back to Toontown for another trip (or 3) on the Barnstormer and another go at helping Buzz Lightyear save the universe in Tomorrowland.
By now it was getting late so we made our way quickly to Liberty Square and sat by the bell to watch Wishes. Although some might say its not a great spot, and you cant see Tink fly, we thought it was a great place to watch the show, especially as it was so quiet (maybe 100 people in the whole square.) None of us had ever seen Wishes before as the others had their last trip in 2002 so it took our breath away. I could see why Scott always disliked Bonfire Night displays put on by the council after visiting Disney so many times!
After Wishes we headed back to one of the shops where we met up with Linda and Graham who had been equally impressed with Wishes from their spot in the hub. We looked around the shops while waiting for the crowds to die down and eventually left, waving to Mickey and his friends who were up by the Main St station waving goodbye to the crowds. Wed planned on catching the monorail back to the ticket centre but after seeing the queues, we opted for the ferry again. The queue was short and we were on board within about 10 minutes and found our car easily.
Another trip to Golden Corral was in order as it was on our way home and a large meal was consumed by all. On returning to the apartment the plans for the next day were debated. Graham was going to meet up with some friends from home at another resort nearby as they arranged to play some golf. As a result we decided that wed have a non park day and spend the morning lazing by the pool.
