I will apologize in advance for the lack of pictures in this post. I'm in the process of ordering my pre-paid Photopass CD. I plan on ordering it today. When it arrives, rest assured, I will be sharing the pics. Not that there are too many from this particular evening.
I will also warn you that this is a very chatty little review. I had the darnedest time finding info on Disney Quest, so I seek to fill in that blank here on the boards. A more technical review, if you will. This is SO not needed for MK attractions. Herein I take the liberty as the author of this TR to chat away to my heart's content about one of my favorite places. I know, since you are reading TRs, that it must also be one of your favorites. I hope to entertain you as I mix a bit of history with the tour.
So much has happened. Let's review!
It's Sunday, June 21, Father's Day and our first day to wake up in WDW...We woke up this morning and after leisurely greeting the day, we sped our way over to AKL for a super duper, tasty, special Father's Day breakfast at Boma.
We then were off to DTD, where we browsed and played our way through air conditioned shopping bliss, purchasing a custom build lightsaber, much to the joy of DS. We ate a light lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express where we enjoyed a nice sit and relative solitude with the best brewed iced tea on property and the company of some highly entertaining little birds. A boat taxi saved our gams big time as we made our way to the opposite side of DTD for a few hours in gaming heaven. Rushing a bit, due to a longer-than-we-probably-should-have-waited wait for the best virtual reality game EVER, we hurried back to our WDW home to change for our first signature restaurant.
We eventually found ourselves window side at the California Grill savoring a leisurely gourmet meal. It was at this meal that we decided that we were ready to hit a park, and as fate would have it, the Magic Kingdom was really the only option available given what time it was and what park hours were. MK would be open with PM EMH until 3:00 AM.
It had already been quite a day!
With a precious dessert leftover that must be saved because we certainly wouldn't have enough food choices available with our deluxe dining plan, we had taken the boat from CR to WL. We got ready for our first park excursion.
The evening hours meant that we wouldn't have to bother with more sunscreen. With a red head (though not as red as it used to be) and our anglo-saxon glowing WHITE selves, we are serious about sun care. It was a relief to think that wouldn't be an issue. My sundress was cooler than the shorts I had been wearing, so I didn't feel like changing. We were good to go. And we did.
It was twilight when we headed back out to the boat dock. The boat dock is a quality feature here at WL. The deck pathway through the trees...
It's the kind of path that makes you happy just to walk along it. It's more special that plain old concrete. High on anticipation, we arrived to see the larger of the two MK boats finish boarding. We joined the masses that were heading to MK waiting for the next ride. Obviously, we weren't the only ones that had the brilliant idea of going to MK this evening.
We found the crowd to be exceedingly pleasant. Seriously. It's not like waiting in line at the grocery store. Or the dentist. Or worse, in the ladies room right after the movie let out. It's different to wait in line on a dock at a gorgeous resort, admiring the lake and the trees, feeling the breeze, heading to the place where dreams come true.
Happy, excited conversations were all around. We struck one up with the family behind us in line. I learned that the island in the middle of the lake was called Discovery Island. You used to be able to go there to see the animals that called the island home. Mostly birds. Most of the animals from the island had been moved to Animal Kingdom when it opened. Ahhhh. That explained a lot.
I love random conversations with random people. I don't even remember what else we talked about, but it sure helped the time pass quickly. The next thing we knew, the smaller boat was coming around the bend.
Given the length of the line before us, I doubted that we would make it onto the boat. I was right. But keep your ears open, people, especially if you are a smaller party. The pilot started yelling that he still had room for a party of 3! I responded immediately! We're a 3! And we were on the next boat to the MK!
I learned to keep my ears open when DH and I went to Universal on our honeymoon in 1997. This was our first encounter with foreign tour groups. Oh my! There were SEVERAL different groups, easily identified by their matching t-shirts and unique flag carrying leader EVERYWHERE. DH and I learned to love them. Because we learned that a party of 2 was a highly sought after commodity in and amongst these groups. As soon as we could get within earshot of a CM (what do they call them at Universal?), we knew we were as good as on the ride. Any second now, s/he would be announcing that they had room for a party of 2!! Party of 2? DH and I would find ourselves on a fast track to the front of the line to fill in the gap.
We filled in the gaps on the boat with DS sitting with me and DH finding a single somewhere else. No problem. No complaints here. Approximately 7 minutes later, I watched as the Magic Kingdom grew in size at our approach. I've never arrived via boat. Never took the ferry from the TTC. What a way to build anticipation!
I was so excited for that first view of the castle. Oh sure. I had seen it in the distance from the CR. But I'm talking about that view down Main Street. The one where the castle dominates its surroundings. The one where the lights shine on it, blue, purple, pink, yellow...The lights on Main Street all lit and the whole place shining like you were transported into a hot, summery Christmas village display.
I was thrilled that our first visit to the Magic Kingdom was at night. It's a fun place to be any time of the day, but it just seems especially magical to me at night. I couldn't wait to get inside. And luckily I didn't have to.
The bag check line was NO PROBLEM. Especially when you know that there are TWO sides to the tables in front of each bag checker. There's always SOMEONE that doesn't realize that, or a party that thinks they should travel together on the same side. Find that short side or EMPTY side and get 'er done!
We arrived at MK right before the Spectromagic parade was starting. So it must have been a little before 9:00 PM. The ropes made a nice pathway down the sidewalk on Main St. The CMs were really on top of people, making sure they kept the walkway clear. This was very helpful for those of us that wanted to WALK. A part of me was wishing that we could pause and watch the parade. Just a part...I was happy to be cruising along. I was in a happy place.
Everyone has their own reasons for WHY WDW, or any specific place in WDW, is a happy place. Like many, my own reasons are a hodge podge of good memories. You know I grew up in California. My first visit to
Disneyland was with my Great Grandma. She was a young Great Grandma. She lived to 93, passing away two years ago. I visited her every summer in my elementary years. We generally did one big thing during my visit. One year, we went to Disneyland.
I don't have any physical pictures of our trip, but I do have a few memories imprinted in my mind. Memories of watching black and white Mickey cartoons in a theater on Main Street. Memories of waiting in line, yes, a LINE, to ride It's a Small World. I have a memory of some sort of submarine ride, or glass bottomed boat, which I'm not even sure is of Disneyland. They are few specific memories, but an overall feeling of just being happy, with my Grandma.
This childhood visit laid the foundation for a love of Disney. In highschool, I was a tall flag girl with the marching band. The coolest thing the band did was to go on "Tour" in the fall. We were excused from school to travel to Southern California. Among the many different activities that were included in the three different years that I participated, the consistent event was to march down Main Street in Disneyland as a part of their Magic Musical Days. From the backstage area, we would enter through the parade route, marching our way to the castle where we would stop and perform 3 songs. We would march back out the way we came. I do have those pictures if anyone is interested. Not digital though, so I have to figure that out.
As if that weren't cool enough, we were also given a free day to just play in the park. During the school year. On a week day. In November. Can you say NO LINES? So I have great memories of touring Disneyland in my teenage years. To quote myself, "OMG!!! It was LIKE, TOTALLY rad."
Can you imagine? Did you get this experience? Going to Disneyland with just about ALL of your closest friends, girls and boys? Sans immediate and constant adult supervision? Oh sure, we had to check in at the check points at regular intervals. I have memories stored in my heart associated with BTMRR, HM, Space Mtn, and PoC. Revisiting these places keeps alive that child within. I love it.
DH was able to go to Disneyland at least once during his own childhood. His memories are more vague. He remembers LIKING things more than the actual things themselves.
Our first stop was a favorite of both DH and me, Pirates of the Caribbean. It's been too long since I have ridden it, I can't say with conviction, but I THINK that the ride is different in CA. I'm almost positive that the end is VERY different. I remember always being faked out because you raise back to street level while you are in the boat and it feels like you are outside. But you aren't. I'm hoping to get back to CA so I can make comparisons now that I have been to WDW.
Pirates was a walk on. A posted 20 minute wait. There wasn't any time to admire the theming in the caves. We were walking forward at a steady pace. It was blessedly cool in the caves. You wouldn't believe how hot it still was outside. As we were reminiscing about bygone days and our LOVE for PoC, we discovered that at age 8, DS's memories of PoC are rather vague. In two years time, it's interesting to see what made an impact, what memories have been formed, and what hasn't.
It was like DS rode it for the first time all over again. Sigh. The ride behind us, we hightailed it through the gift shop. We knew that parade time was precious. You don't spend it in a gift shop. There would plenty of time for that later in this trip. Onward!
We headed over to Splash Mountain. We were in the last group allowed to cross the parade route! Whew. Just in time! The wait was short so we hopped into the standby line to ride. Line. What line? We started RUNNING through the queue, up the stairs, careful on the incline!
I think that I could write, we LOVE this ride for just about every one! But seriously. SM typifies what separates a Disney ride from rides in other parks. The staging of the scene in the line. The journey through the story. The attention to detail all over the place. It's not just a water ride. It's an experience. So much fun. I love riding this one at night.
SM is HIGH on the memory meter for DS. It ranked tied for first after our first trip to WDW. His smile was so precious on that first ride. I had to buy the photo. I posted in on my PTR and I'll post it here too. We're in the back row.
Sometimes, it's troublesome to be a party of 3. There are times when someone has to ride alone. During that first time on SM, DS was a much smaller 6-year old. All three of us fit rather easily into one row. DS had wanted us to ride together like we did two years ago. So we tried it. It wasn't too comfortable. He was much bigger now. It was also a hot way to ride, all squished in together.
As we were heading around that first bend, we were HOPING that we would get sprayed. The one that gets you before you even head up? We watched. We calculated. Maybe? Nope. We were a little disappointed.
Before getting into the boat, I had unpacked the gallon sized ziploc bag that I had folded and brought with me. My bag fit easily in that bag. A little extra insurance incase we DID get wet. I was glad that I did because I caught a wave over the side on one of the little dips. Ahhh. That felt SO GOOD.
Check out the photo. Use the conveniently located bathroom at the exit. Head over to BTMRR. The wait was too long for us. And the FPs were gone. We figured we would ride it a bit later after the fireworks, when we figured a lot of park goers might leave.
This is a ride DS was really looking forward to. DS developed a love for BTMRR during P&PP. DS's favorite coaster WAS Goofy's. He liked it better than Space Mountain because he liked being able to see the track. It wasn't as herky and jerky too. A little short. But he loved it. On our second visit in 2007, DS couldn't WAIT to ride Goofy's. We headed over there all awash in excitement. Only. To find. The ride. Closed. !?!?!?! It hadn't been listed as down for maintenance! They were PAINTING the cars! This caused a MAJOR meltdown. Deservedly. We told DS it was OK to be disappointed. We understood.
Thank God I had spent HOURS on the DIS, I knew just what to do to run intervention. We hightailed it outta MK and DS was introduced to what has now become one of his favorite places, Disney Quest.
It took much conjoling on our part, but DH and I were able to convince DS that BTMRR was more like Goofy's than SM. He would like it. We were sure he would. Finally, he decided to give it a try. The three of us piled into one car and off we went with DS bouncing like ball between DH and myself as we rounded turns on the wildest ride in the wilderness! DS LOVED it. Like ride it 9 more times LOVED it. BTMRR replaced Goofy's in DS's heart.
He was disappointed that we couldn't ride BTMRR right away, but he went with the flow. I was proud of him. I'm so thankful that we have reached an age of greater understanding. Yay.
The parade was still going on. We were able to see bits and pieces of it as we walked the boardwalk path toward the Haunted Mansion. We paused here and there as a favorite character went by. Ahhh. I catch it while I can.
I was looking forward to seeing the refurb of the Haunted Mansion. DH was too. It was closed the last time we were here. We grabbed some free ice water from Columbia Harbor House before we hopped into the 10 minute line.
DS was a little nervous about HM. The 10 minute wait consisted of us walking down the ropes and straight into HM. There was no time to read the tombstones. DS got a good laugh because some guests had followed the HM CM's instructions to a T. She said go all the way into the room. Do NOT stop unless you hit a wall. These guest literally banged into the wall and announced that it must be time to stop. Slapstick always gets a good chuckle out of DS. He relaxed.
Again. I LOVE HM!!! I noticed a few of the obvious changes. I like them. Not sure that I remember the ride well enough to pick out every one. I only rode the WDW version once.
DS wanted to do it AGAIN!! The line was now a 30 minute wait! Yikes! What a difference a parade makes! The crowd had dispersed and obviously, everyone in the vicinity of HM had decided to ride it afterward. Take note.
Potty break! We headed over to the one there between Frontierland and Adventureland.
Where to?
Jungle Cruise! We walked straight onto a boat. We were the first passengers. About 5 others came on board. The pilot decided we were full enough. Off we went. This is the CHEESIEST ride. We had a GREAT pilot. She was hilarious. The cruise at night is a whole lot better than during the day. And as we were winding through the jungle, the fireworks went off. Flashing high above the trees. What fun!
The line was pretty long for the Magic Carpets. I asked DS if he wanted to wait in this line. He would rather wait for BTMRR.
We headed back over to BTMRR to see what the wait was like now. If anything, it was worse. But for the first time ever, I got to watch the fireworks. We had a clear view of the ones that are set off behind the castle. I had no idea that they were set off so FAR behind the castle. It was kind of weird. There wasn't any music. But I still enjoyed it. Fireworks over, we got some more water, from Pecos Bill, and headed on over to Tomorrowland. Again, we just managed to cross the parade route in front of the castle this time before the CMs stopped pedestrian traffic.
Seeing that no one was waiting in line for the Photopass photographer here, we stopped here to memorialize the evening. I noticed that the photographer had some fun with the currently posing couple. Multiple poses. Telling them to do this and that. The gentleman was not too game, but the lady obviously was and the photographer was helping her out. He wasn't too creative with us. DS doesn't always cooperate when you are trying to take his picture. I think he has a hard time figuring out how to smile on demand. We just took a few and went on our merry way.
We made use of the facilities by the Plaza and noodle station.
We were about to get into the Buzz line when DS saw that we had passed the Laughing Floor. DS was super excited to go to the Laughing Floor. He had been seeing the commercials for it on the TV in the room. He would rather do that. A super short wait? OK. We headed into the air conditioned queue.
Ahhh. As we were listening to the announcement and reading the screens about submitting your joke that could get used in the show, DH and I discovered that neither one of us had brought our phones. That never happens. We don't have a landline at home. We really rely on our cells. We MUST be on vacation. We proceeded to talk about what joke we would submit if we could.
DS decided on, "Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?"
"He didn't have the guts!"
When you are standing in the briefing room, it takes much longer than you think it should to get into the SITTING position. Finally, we were making our way into the theater, sitting toward the front left. I was secretely hoping that DH would be picked for THAT GUY. When we first sat down, DS, with DH and myself on either side of him, was featured as "Sitting between two monsters." How fun! DS heard his joke in the show too! Not that he was credited with it. He wondered if someone heard him in line and used his joke. Funny boy. Other people have heard that joke before...
We laughed so hard during this show. It really hits our funny bone. We had a good audience too, which I think helps.
DS liked it so much, he wanted to turn around and do it again, but DH and I weren't too keen on the idea. Instead, we headed to Buzz.
We just about walked onto Buzz. This used to be the sharer of tied for first place on DS's short list. This was one of those lines where there is a line, but it is constantly moving. DS was picked to be a time keeper for this one.
DH was our personal time keeper. In every line he was checking his watch. Making notes, comparing our actual wait time with what was posted. So far we were under the posted time for every one. I heard, "There's no WAY that was 20 minutes. 10 TOPS." over and over again.
DS likes to drive during Buzz with DH and I using the guns on either side of him. DH hit something big multiple times. His score put mine to shame!
It was so sad to see the closed Space Mountain. But I totally understand. My memories of the Disneyland ride were not ANYthing like the herky jerky ride I had experienced here two years ago. It needed a refurb BIG time. I'll be happy to ride it when we go back next year. Meanwhile, we made good use of the facilities near by.
We were hot. And feeling kind of munchy. There, an ice cream place! Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies. Oh yummy. Too many choices. What to do? What to do? DS got a soft serve. DH got a sundae. And I got a tropical flavored smoothie. Oh! They all hit the spot! And we got a sprinkling of pixie dust. Happy anniversary! AND Happy Father's day!
I saw it happening as we were placing our order. We were the only guests here. They wished us a Happy Anniversary. How many years? (Everyone has to ask.) 12! WOW. The one cashier shook her head at the other cashier. They called our ordered to the back, but didn't ring them up. Free desserts for us! I almost wanted to turn it down. I mean, it's not like we have a shortage of snack credits on the deluxe plan.
Enjoying our ice cream, we walked and ate, meandering through the remainder of Tomorrowland and into Fantasyland. I saw that Peter Pan had a 90 minute wait! And people were in LINE! Oh my! I couldn't believe it. All of Fantasyland was busy. Nothing was a short wait. We continued eating our desserts and walking right on through Fantasyland. We don't wait. Move along. Nothing to see here.
We decided to head back over to BTMRR to check out the wait. EMH was in full swing. Hopefully, the wait would be much, much shorter.
Yeah. Right. The posted wait was 40 minutes. There were FP's available. They had started a fresh round of FP's with the start of EMH. The return time was way too late. DH didn't think we needed to be in the park that late. We took a look at the wait for SM. 10 minutes.
We opted to ride SM again and see what BTMRR was like afterward.
We squeezed into one row again. Oh please. Oh please. Water. Water. Water. We were calculating whether or not we thought we'd get it as we came around the bend. Nope. Struck out again!
We headed over to a see that BTMRR was still a 40 minute wait. Normally, we wouldn't wait. But DH had a point, saying, are we ever going to ride it or not?
We came here to ride BTMRR. We hopped into line. And kept walking. And walking. And walking. All the switchbacks were still open. Everyone just weaved their way around and around and around. We didn't stop until we were at the very bottom. On the ramp! "No way that was 40 minutes. 10 TOPS. Maybe 5. And we didn't even really wait. We walked." DH said.
The three of us squeezed in together. Like we did two years ago. BTMRR was more roomy than SM. Not too bad. DS likes us to ride all together. BTMRR was just as great as DS remembered.
"Let's do it again!!!!" DS exclaimed before we had even pulled back into the loading area.
As we pulled up, we noticed that the line was barely stopped on the ramp. OK!!!
"Let's do it again!!!"
OK!!!
Let's go do SM again!
OK! Don't you love vacation?
This time we decided to split up. It's just time. DS rode with DH in the front row. I rode behind them. And did we get splashed coming around the bend? NO!!! The whole boat was hopeful. It was still really warm.
This time, I decided to try a riding technique that I read about here on the Dis. A CM had recommended that when you ride, you look straight ahead and not down at the drop. Looking straight ahead, you will be looking at the castle. You will be looking straight at the camera too in your ride pic. AND it's a LOT of fun!! Woo hoo! Lift your hands up and look straight ahead!!
"Let's do it again!!!"
One more time. And then we should be going. We were already here longer than the return time for the BTMRR FP that had been posted.
We ran around. I advised DH and DS to do as I had done. Look straight ahead! And THIS time, we got SOAKED coming around the bend! At the end of this, the second time in a row, the fourth time of the night, the CM's looked at the empty line and said, want to ride again? SURE!
Oh my. I tell you what. I was DONE with that song for the night! Five times on SM!
And the night was done with us. Wow. It's 3:00 AM!! We closed down MK! Frontierland was EMPTY. Like WOW empty. And we were HUNGRY. Like we had eaten dinner 7 hours ago HUNGRY. The popcorn stand in Frontierland was closing for the night. And yes, they were just going to throw all that extra popcorn away. Try the cart in front of the castle.
Yay! That cart was still open! We got a bucket and a bottled water for 2 snack credits. Munching and drinking, we worked our way down Main Street. There were many more people here. I can't remember what it was now, but we got to see the goodnight event for the castle. An announcement and a twinkle at the castle? It was just a simple little thing. I was happy to see it though.
I headed into Guest Services near the park entrance. I HAD to see if there was any way to change our breakfast ADR. "Can I help you?"
"Maybe. You see. It's 3:00 AM. I have an 8:10 AM ADR at Donald's Safari breakfast for later this morning. Not sure that I should keep that. Can I change it?"
Nope. And nothing was available all week. OK. I guess we'll keep it then. We couldn't miss this one. It was the ONLY one that DS had requested when I was planning the trip.
It was heaven to walk the short distance to the boat launch and have a minimal if any wait for the boat. I asked the one other couple onboard to take our pic to memorialize the moment.
A short walk back to the room.
The popcorn didn't quite do it for us. We ate some anniversary cake! DH and I had a beer. And then we took a nap. As we were eating, drinking, and getting ready for sleep we were joking about our Elijah experience. We think it's a funny story about when Elijah was having a pity party and complaining to God. God said, Here, have some cake and take a nap. Here we were doing the same thing. Sometimes, cake and a nap is just what you need!
And that was ALL we were going to get too. DS made sure that I wrote down the time when he got into bed. 3:47 AM. He had definitely beaten his friend's late night record.
Have a nice nap son. We are eating breakfast with Donald in about 4 hours!
Seriously though. Is that a kitten? You need to find a contest to enter that pic in!
You are so sweet. An ego boost right there, I tell ya!
We WERE happy campers.
He went to a Dynamo sponsored soccer camp, and this was the night for the campers to get a free ticket and do the field thing. Pretty cool.
I haven't been since fall 1990. The CA Adventure park wasn't there. And now that I have been to WDW, I totally want to see how things are different. I admit that the first time I rode PoTC in WDW, I was SOOOO disappointed. It wasn't like what I remembered AT ALL! I got over that, but still. I'm so curious. I suppose I could look on you tube, but I want to EXPERIENCE the difference!
