Rajah
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
- Messages
- 9,633
Cast:
Rajah/Tammi -- As usual, trip report writer and trip planner
VonDrake/Michael -- Rajah's DH, whose conference is our excuse for the trip this time
Guest Cast:
Art -- our CM friend, pin-fanatic, and all around cool guy
Marsha and Tom -- aka Mackey Mouse and her DH from the DIS
Carol, Jen, and Kristin -- aka CarolAnnK and her daughters from the DIS
"Aaron" -- another solo IOA guest
Dates: Feb 28 through Mar 4, 2001
Destination: WDW, and for Rajah, USF and IOA as well
Name: "Swimsuit edition" -- keep reading to find out why, though one tip: always take your swimsuit, even if you don't think you'll want it
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This morning, we had the alarm set for 8:30 again since we had planned for breakfast at Donald's Breakfastosaurus at 9...we knew we wouldn't make it this morning either, though. I woke up first at 7:30 and briefly considered going to Magic Kingdom for early entry. I knew Michael wouldn't be up for it, but I could get up, go to early entry, and be back before he was ready to get moving for the day.
However, the guy from the ticket provider still hadn't called to arrange when to drop off the tickets, and something told me I shouldn't go anywhere. So I sunk back into sleep.
It was a restless sleep, though, because I kept dreaming that I was arguing with the ticket delivery guy, and then for some reason housekeeping kept wanting to take some of the furniture from the room to use in another room but they were doing so even with our stuff in the drawers. Even though I rarely put anything in the drawers, I was tracking down every manager I could think of and arguing with them about how I wasn't mad they needed to take the furniture, but I was mad that they hadn't given us time to get our clothes out before they took it. Then more arguing with the ticket guy until I woke back up again at 8. Some of this dreaming was through the night as well, and I'm still trying to figure out where the housekeeping part came in. I was mad at the ticket guy, but not at housekeeping. Strange dreams.
When I woke up at 8 and the ticket guy still hadn't called (remember, he said the night before that he would call between 7 and 8), I grumbled and set the alarm for 10. I knew Michael wasn't feeling well and really needed to sleep some more, and the more I thought about it the more I decided it wouldn't hurt for me to sleep as well. Especially after the restless night fighting with housekeeping and the ticket guy
And since the room still had a faint smoke smell that was affecting my asthma slightly. So back to sleep I went yet again.
Finally, the phone rang at 9:50. It was the ticket guy, who apologized for being late. His excuse was "family trouble", which I can understand, but I was still a bit miffed at him. He said he was there and asked if he could bring the ticket up now. I muttered something about leaving it at the front desk and he said you have to sign for it and show an ID. So I grumbled yes, bring it up, and gave him our room number. Then sat back expecting him to be there any minute. I think I fell asleep again because next thing I remember it's about 10:20 (it takes 30 minutes to come upstairs? Obviously, he wasn't "there", he was elsewhere) and someone's knocking on the door.
I grabbed my ID and threw on the nice complimentary robe then answered the door. It's the ticket guy with my ticket and a whole handful of brochures and maps and stuff for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I showed him my ID then signed a little credit card receipt and was given the packet, then returned to bed grumbling. If you can't accept a credit card over the computer without having to have someone sign for it, don't take credit card orders in the first place. I wasn't happy with the entire mess, and it wasn't until I got home that I found out you were supposed to be present to pick up the ticket all along. Like I said, crossed wires of communication from the very beginning.
Since I was finally up and could move around now without having to wait for someone to come, I got ready to go while Michael waited for the sudafed to kick in again. Then, while he finished getting ready and rested until he could feel well enough to eat, I went downstairs to do some shopping and photo-hopping.
I explored some more of the Dolphin and grabbed a Dolphin pin, then walked across the way to the Swan where I took some pictures and did some more shopping. Here, I got a Swan pin, little cute Mickey keychain flashlight, and a couple of other minor things. I was hoping to find a nice Swan and/or Dolphin t-shirt, but I didn't find one I was willing to pay $60+ for. If the nice polo shirts had been $30 instead of $50-60, I would have gotten one.
While I was over at the Swan, I looked around for where Kimonos was, and to check out other breakfast options. I found the Garden place -- Garden Grove I think -- which had a character meal. I could see Goofy teasing some guests, and thought it looked like fun. So I called Michael on the cell phone and told him what other option I found. When I didn't press that I REALLYREALLY wanted a character meal this morning (which I didn't feel that strongly about -- would've been nice, but was fine to not), he admitted that he really wasn't up to character interaction this morning. So I returned to the room and then we went back down to the Coral Cafe again just after 11am. This time, I brought the camera.
We had the same server again and got a fun reaction out of him. This morning, I'd put on my Guest of Honor badge, and Dave did a double take and said he didn't know I worked for Disney. I grinned and explained the badge to him. That's one of the few times I've gotten a reaction out of the badge, actually. Apparently it's invisible on me or something, because it always surprises me when someone actually makes note of it.
Breakfast was as good as yesterday, and I really liked the pancakes. They weren't normal buttermilk, but were something else that I thought tasted pretty good. Dave was more rushed this morning, though. It seems that weekend mornings are much busier even without the characters than weekday mornings. We still didn't have a wait, but there was definitely more of a line around the buffet. It was very nice, though, to have somewhere to get breakfast after 11.
After breakfast we returned to the room to figure out what to do next. Michael wasn't quite up to a park yet, so we went out on the balcony for a few minutes. There, we saw a man and little girl, presumably father and daughter, paddling around in the lake in one of the Swan paddle boats. That was the first time we'd seen the Swan boats in action, and it looked like fun.
So down we went to check out the thing. We went past the pools and found our way to the dock, then stood there considering. On one hand, it looked like fun. On the other, it was hot, we'd be fighting wind to go anywhere, it would be a lot of exercise, and neither of us really felt that Michael was up to it with his cold. So, we decided to save that and maybe a watermouse for another time.
So instead we went to look at the pool -- we were right there, after all. I don't think water ever looked so inviting, and I *really* wanted to try the grotto pool. So back we started for the room while we again discussed the option of hunting for Walmart where presumably we could hopefully get a couple of suits for less than $80 each. But, by the time we reached the room, we decided it was probably best to not do so. With Michael sick, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to get wet and wear himself out in the pool. And I didn't really want to go to all that trouble for just myself. So, we decided to go over to Animal Kingdom instead.
This time, we opted to drive, and it was quite nice. We ended up with a spot on either the very last row or next to the last row fairly close to the trams. I don't think even a third of the parking lot was open -- only about 4 lanes were open to get into the parking lot in the first place. Since we knew we weren't going to be completely dead worn out like we have been coming out of parks on other visits, it was much nicer to have the car than to fight for a bus.
I had hoped to find Devine this trip, but had no luck. At least none where I was able to identify her. It was a bit windy, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't out at all today.
Our first stop this afternoon was by It's Tough to be a Bug. Michael was quite curious about it and we'd skipped it all other trips. I *really* don't like this attraction, but that's really only because I've got a phobia with some bugs (especially spiders -- and as you know, spiders play a fairly prominent roll in the show). But, I could remove myself from the show by concentrating on trying to take pictures. 3-D show, very dark, no flash...made for a good challenge to keep me busy.
So down we went, pausing around frequent corners for me to take a few more pictures. This time I was going for some more creative views than just the "here's the tiger, here's the lion, here's the eagle", so it took us a little longer than usual to get down past the tree. I do love that tree Actually, longer than *average* would be a more accurate term -- it always takes me that long to get past the Tree of Life
When we finished It's Tough to be a Bug, we circled around the Tree of Life for a bit, looking at the wildlife and scenery. I purchased a fairly neat folding hat that was like a cloth fan you could fold out and use to make a great breeze, or continue folding out to make a hat. Much cooler than my Tigger safari hat, but not as charming We paused to sit down in the nice cooler shaded area of the river otter pool, and apparently we really looked in bad shape because when we sat down, the CM of that area came over to make sure we were okay 
We assured her we were and just needed to sit down for a moment.
After resting for a few minutes, we continued around to Camp Minnie Mickey where we arrived just in time to catch the Pocahontas show. This is one we've missed all other times and we'd heard it wasn't all that good for people without kids, so we'd never made an effort to catch it. But this trip, we for some reason didn't feel compelled to watch either of our two favorites (Festival of the Lion King and Tarzan Rocks) so decided to see those things we usually overlook instead. Pocahontas was one of those, and we agreed with what we'd heard: not a bad show, but not very good either. Not compared to Lion King and Tarzan.
After Pocahontas, we spent a few minutes looking around Camp Minnie Mickey before heading back through Africa for a ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch and Conservation Station. This was another thing we'd skipped in the past but put on our list this time. As we walked through Africa, I again spent some time looking for DeVine since this is one of the rumored places you can frequently find her. Still no luck, though. So we looked in a store briefly where we saw a bunch of really cute Tigger, Mickey, Pluto, and Pooh shirts. Michael already had the one with Pooh looking at a tiger saying "Tigger, is that you?". But the rest we didn't have. Unfortunately, they only seemed to have them in kids' sizes there.
So we visited with one of the CMs for a few minutes -- she was one of the few to notice the Guest of Honor badge as I was walking by and say "Hi Tammi!" Really sweet CM, though I don't remember her name now. We mostly talked about the weather and how it was already so hot and humid and it wasn't even officially *spring* yet. The humidity was the worst.
After our visit, we finished making our way to the train to Conservation Station. The train ride was nice, and it was fun watching a mother point out all the animal cages and the few animals in them to young child. We did have to pause on the track at one point, apparently to let the train at the station pull out, and when we started up again the CM announcer (for some reason I want to say Julie but I don't think that was her name) let a young boy in the front row give the all clear.
The hike from the train station to Conservation Station wasn't really memorable, other than noticing all the cutout Rafikis pointing the right way. But when we stepped into Conservation Station itself, the fun began I'd heard that Conservation Station was chock full of hidden Mickeys, and I wanted to find some. So we spent several minutes in the front room looking at the animal mural. I think we only found one we can definitely say was a hidden Mickey in there -- I won't say where it is so I don't ruin it for others
Then we spent a few minutes exploring the area. Or, rather, Michael did. I spent the time taking pictures and hunting for Mickeys, then watching the trainer with his 13+ year old red-backed hawk. She was a beautiful bird, and very well behaved. I hooked back up with Michael about the time the trainer finished his talk about his bird (maybe 2 minutes after we entered -- we came in at the end) and we looked through the nurseries. No one was in any of them, but we did find another hidden Mickey or two.
Then we decided to sit down for a few minutes, and that's when I noticed the CM at an information booth. So I left the stuff with Michael while I went up and asked her about the hidden Mickeys. Turns out there are something like 25 in that front room with all the animals on the mural alone, and over 100 in the building as a whole. She told us how many were in some of the nearby rooms (nursery area), so I started walking around some more to find more. I think when we finally said it was time to go, we'd found only about 10. If that.
We did have fun watching the characters wander in and out, though. Rafiki and Goofy were both there decked out in their safari finery, and I *think* Pluto was there as well but I don't remember for certain.
We didn't spend more than maybe 30-45 minutes at Conservation Station before we were ready to go. So out we went, into a little outdoor shop. And there, so obvious we almost walked past them, were the shirts we'd seen back in Africa. Only they're the adult size! They had the Pooh and tiger one, one that said Lions and Tiggers and Bears, oh my!, and another with Pluto holding onto a paintbrush dipping black paint. Next to him were a tiger and a cheetah, and Pluto was covered in Mickey-shaped spots, with the words underneath: "If you can't beat them, join them". And finally a picture of Mickey running from a cheetah and saying "Nice kitty!!" We...okay, *I* came home with several new shirts I just couldn't make up my mind
We took one brief look at Affection Section and decided we could pet goats back home, so returned to the train station and from there made our way to Flaming Tree BarBQ. Even though we were going to have dinner in just a couple of hours, I needed something to eat that wasn't sweet and to sit down for a few minutes. Michael just needed to rest. And neither of us wanted to go straight back to the room just yet because we hadn't made it by the tigers. Besides, by waiting for about 30 minutes, we'd be closer to the tigers' feeding time and thus greater activity.
I lead Michael back to that area on the water were we rested way back during our honeymoon, left him with the stuff, then went to the counter for some food. I got the sampler platter, which was good last time, and returned to the table with it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good this time. All the meat was fairly dry and rather tasteless, but it got me the boost I needed. I think part of the reason the food wasn't so good was because we were there between major feeding-times or something. Whatever the case, it wasn't as good as usual.
Once I finished eating and we finished listening to Tarzan Rocks (you can hear it echoing over the lake/river from the theater across the way), we were ready to move again. So we headed for Asia, first stopping by the Flights of Wonder stage. I'd forgotten when we walked in that this was something I wanted to see, and by the time we got there the last show of the day was letting out. Oh well, we'll catch that another time. I have seen bird shows before, after all, I just think they're beautiful
On to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, where we paused at the black and white thing (tapir?) that was actually moving around for once. There was also one of those tiny deer in there -- don't know if it was supposed to be there or not, but it was. Then we overheard a lady whimpering that she didn't *want* to see the bats, she hates bats! I explained to her that the bats required making a turn and you could walk straight through without seeing the bats at all. A very relieved lady said thanks and started in, all the while her husband teasing her about "we really should see the bats while we're here, they're just bats."
I then mentioned to Michael that they are actually very cute for bats, and he shuddered and disagreed. I still say they're cute -- they've got absolutely darling faces. Almost like little foxes I thought. But Michael disagrees
On to the tigers, where we stood for a while watching them attacking the door to their inner chamber. It was dinnertime and they were hungry, so they kept digging at it like big dogs trying to get the door to open, then would leave and pace, only to return and paw at it again. Finally, two of the tigers (I think they're technically tigresses) were allowed inside. This left the other two there even more agitated. They left the door area for a few minutes to wander some more and join a third tiger over by the underground crossway (that is, the passage that links the two tiger pens so they can go between them).
We watched them for a few minutes, but they weren't too playful. They just wanted IN, they didn't want to play with each other or the water or the bushes or stalk or anything, they just wanted to pace by the door. So around we went to the third viewing area, where you're on the bridge looking down to the second fountain. There was the last of the six tigresses, and she was not only pacing along the wall there, but mrwoaring to try to call the other tigresses to her -- apparently she was lonely since she was the only one there. She called several times before giving up and running away to join the others by the food door. At that point, we left the Jungle Trek, and from there returned back to the car.
We were surprised at how little time we spent at Animal Kingdom, but at the same time at how much longer we could have stayed if it hadn't been so hot and Michael hadn't been sick. In about 4 hours time, we saw It's Tough to be a Bug, Pocahontas, Conservation Station, and the tigers of Maharajah Jungle Trek, plus took time to rest and eat at Flaming Tree BBQ. This trip, we didn't touch any of our usual must-dos at Animal Kingdom: Festival of the Lion King, Tarzan Rocks, or Countdown to Extinction, and I don't think we set foot in Dinoland at all for that matter. Plenty to do at Animal Kingdom
When we left Animal Kingdom it was around 4pm or 4:30pm, and I decided I *really* wanted to go spend an hour in the pool before we had to leave for dinner. So we stopped by Blizzard Beach, the idea being that maybe there was a shop just outside the entrance where we could purchase a less expensive bathing suit. Only when we arrived, we discovered the flaw in the plan: Blizzard Beach was closed So still no suit.
I toyed with going to Downtown Disney, but knew if we did then it would take the full hour and there wouldn't be any time to use the suit in the first place, so I decided I'd take another look at the swimsuits at the Dolphin. If I found one I liked and was willing to pay for, then I'd get yet *another* suit. If not, then I would just take a nap instead of swimming. Next trip -- I'm taking my swimsuit even if I know for a "fact" I'm not going to use it <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz">
When we arrived at the Dolphin, I did my quick shopping, and left empty handed. I didn't really *like* any of the suits that were "only" $80, and the ones I sorta liked were in the $120-130 price range. Way too much, especially since I *had* one I *do* like back at home!
So we went back up to the room and Michael retired to the balcony for several minutes while I crashed on the bed. I set the alarm for about an hour just in case, and then was out like a light. I guess I really needed the nap much more than I needed to swim after all
When the alarm went off almost an hour later, I had a hard time getting up. I wanted to sleep some more, but I was also hungry and this was the notice to go eat. So I got up and we both got ready, discussing what to do after dinner as we walked down to the Boardwalk. We were trying to decide between returning to the Magic Kingdom for MSEP and Fantasy in the Sky again, or go back to Epcot for Illuminations and Tapestry of Nations again.
When we got to Flying Fish, we were seated right away by a very friendly CM named Vince (I actually caught his name). He took us back to our table and commented that this was his favorite seat in the entire restaurant -- where he seated us was in the same place we sat back during our honeymoon with our first visit here! It's at the very back of the restaurant right next to the door that leads outside. I started to sit facing the wall like I did on our honeymoon, but he quickly stopped me and told me to sit on the booth side where I could look out over the whole restaurant -- that's why it was his favorite table. Then, Michael could sit across from me where he could see me, which is what he'd want to see anyway. Vince had his guests' wants down pat
A few minutes after he walked away, I pulled out the camera with the intention of taking a picture of the view from that table. Vince came up about then to seat another family at a table nearby and saw me getting the camera out, so came back over and volunteered to get our picture. How sweet!! And unexpected, but very appreciated After he got that, *then* I took the picture of the restaurant itself.
About that time, our very friendly sever Alex (Alexandra) stopped by to take our orders. She got us our drinks (a wine for Michael, the Coney Island Coaster -- a kind of blue shirley temple sorta drink -- for me) and our appetizers. I don't remember what Michael got for his appetizer (I do have a picture of it, though, whatever it was), but I had the mushroom soup. First few bites were really good, but by the time I got half-way through, it was a little overpowering.
For dinner, I had my usual pork (I thought) and Michael had the *right* Tuna this time. He'd ended up with the wrong Tuna back in December. He was *very* happy with his meal, but I was *very* disappointed in mine. It turns out they'd completely changed the pork item. It used to be really good with mashed potatoes and a good sauce, lightly grilled over oak and cooked to perfection. Now it was a different cut of meat, didn't have as much flavor, and what flavor it did have was apple. I don't know what it was underneath, but it wasn't mashed potatoes -- something more like an apple bread pudding. I didn't like it at all, but I carved out what meat I could get that didn't have the apple flavoring and finished less than half. I was very disappointed because the pork used to be one of my favorite meals in all of WDW.
I wasn't going to say anything until we got home, but when we were finished and Alex was taking away the food, she noticed how little I'd eaten and asked if I liked it. I commented that it wasn't anywhere as good as it used to be, and she mentioned that yes they had changed it since my last visit a few months ago. I was disappointed and ready to go and get to the fireworks, but Michael really really wanted some dessert, and between him and Alex they talked me into it.
For dessert, I tried what turned out to be a creme brule with some really really good and interesting less-than-paper-thin sheets of sugar, caramel, and banana slices. I almost didn't get it since I am allergic to bananas, but I asked if the bananas were on top or inside the creme brule (which I love). Alex assured me the bananas were on top and they could just leave them off entirely, so I asked for the banana slices to be on the side. Michael had a sour-cream cheesecake which I didn't like at all but he really enjoyed. The creme brule was absolutely DELICIOUS, and very much worth waiting for
Over dessert, we revisited the decision of what to do next. Do we go over to Epcot, the closest place, and watch Tapestry and Illuminations again? Or do we rush up to the Magic Kingdom in hopes of making it in time for Fantasy in the Sky, and definitely catch Main Street Electrical Parade for the last time (definitely this time) before it disappears? Though our original plan had been to go back to Epcot, we both felt the Magic Kingdom calling us, so once Alex brought and took care of our check (took forever since we were in a hurry to make it to Fantasy in the Sky), we rushed outside and down to the Boardwalk bus stop. This time, we figured it would be faster and easier on both of us to just take the bus from the Boardwalk to the Magic Kingdom then back home again.
We didn't have to wait very long for a Magic Kingdom bus to arrive, but every minute we waited was agonizingly slow for me. Dinner hadn't worked out for me, and I wasn't satisfied with Fantasy in the Sky without the castle. I *really* wanted to catch it again in time. The bus ride was also very slow since I was in a hurry, and as we approached the Magic Kingdom, I expected to see fireworks going off through the crackled glass (plexiglass?) of the bus windows.
However, we made it to the bus stop and off the bus and were almost to the turnstiles before we heard the opening music. I took one look at the wind and figured they wouldn't be having Tink slide tonight -- it was too windy. Sure enough, as we passed through the turnstiles we heard the phrases of "If you wish hard enough, your imagination will light the night sky"... or something along those lines. Whatever the back-up opening is for when Tinkerbell doesn't fly.
We hurried through to Main Street and up to the end of Town Square, where we were able to slip into the crowd to get a pretty good view about the time the first firework exploded behind the castle. There is *nothing* like watching the fireworks from somewhere between the Hub and Town Square! And even though it was packed, I really enjoyed being among so many people who were all enjoying the same performance. The ooohhhh's and ahhhh's were definitely missing from our view of the last night, and I was surprised how much more exciting the crowd experience made the fireworks. I even (naturally) got off a couple of pictures
Fireworks over, I was much happier and exclaimed to Michael that I was glad we'd decided on Magic Kingdom instead of Epcot tonight. Even if we did have to swim our way up the packed Main Street fighting past people who were either staking out a place for the parade or leaving the park. We finally found ourselves in Tomorrowland, where we looked around the crowds.
"TTA?" I asked Michael.
TTA. Tomorrowland Transit Authority is one of our favorites, and was just about the only ride in Tomorrowland to not have too much of a wait -- after all, it was an early entry day at Magic Kingdom. As we were about to head up the escalator, I overheard a father and son trying to find Space Mountain. I asked if we could help them and they said "Where's Space Mountain?" As the crowds moved us toward the escalator, I pointed to it (getting even more into the roll of the CM I'm not by pointing with two fingers) and said "Head for the big white thing -- you can't miss it!" Then we were swept up the escalator and heard the father's call of "Thanks!" as we ascended to the TTA.
To us, TTA is one of if not the most relaxing ride in Magic Kingdom, and as always we really enjoyed our journey around Tomorrowland. As we passed over each shop, I glanced down to see if Angie (AngieBelle from the DIS) was working. The guy at Gieger's Counter was definitely not Angie, and neither was anyone working in Star Traders. At the time, I forgot that she also frequently worked in the Arcade and another booth, so if she was working that night we just missed her
When we finished our tour of Tomorrowland, we decided to vacate the crowded land and thus went to Fantasyland. Figuring it to be a no-chance option, we checked on the wait at Pooh. I wanted to go on Pooh this time, but 60 minutes was waaaayyy beyond our tolerance for any lines any more. Especially since we wanted to catch the Parade, too. Though, at the time, we considered skipping the parade in favor of some attractions.
So we passed right by Pooh and Michael commented that if Pooh had a 60 minute wait, Peter Pan would have at least 40 minute wait and Snow White would be in the 30-minute range. I shook my head and said, "No...Snow White will be about 15-20 minutes maximum, Peter Pan will be about 30. It'd be pushing it to be a 40 minute wait." So, rather than actually riding many attractions in Fantasyland, we walked around to check out our guesses.
First stop was Snow White -- sure enough, it had a posted wait of 15 minutes, but the wait was really only 5. We rode that while we were there and decided the Disneyland version overall is better -- there's much more attention to the finer details. Then we checked on Peter Pan's Flight -- sure enough, 30 minute posted time. Michael looked at me in disbelief and I just grinned and said "You have to learn your park dynamics."
Since the wait for Peter Pan was longer than we really wanted to wait tonight as well, we went across the path to Small World, which had almost no wait at all. As we went by, I looked up in the windows of Pinocchio's Village Haus and suddenly got hungry. Those Figaro Fries were calling to me. So after we got off of Small World, we returned to Pinocchio's Village Haus. Only, when we went inside, we discovered they were closed by about 30 minutes. No Figaro Fries for me -- this just wasn't a good night for me for non-dessert food.
A little discouraged once more, we discussed what to do now. Do we go find a place for the parade we've already seen half a dozen times, or do we try to do some more rides. Michael opted for the parade and at the time I didn't really care. So, off we went to Frontierland. Along the way, Michael was searching for some place to get a drink. He was dying of thirst from his Sudafed and cold, but every store or booth we passed was closed. I kept walking past our usual stopping place and ended up walking right into the candy store in Frontierland. Michael was surprised because it appeared I'd known exactly where I was going. I corrected him in that I knew *somewhere* along the parade route would be *someone* selling drinks, but I didn't know *exactly* where to go My plan had been to just keep walking until we hit Pecos Bill's, and then give up
Drinks obtained (Coke for Michael, water for me), we went back outside and found a place nearby on the rope. This time I purposely put the camera away -- I *knew* I had more than enough pictures of this parade, and I really wanted to just *watch* it this time. When the parade started, I was immensely glad that Michael had opted for the parade instead of more rides. As always, we really enjoyed the whimsical "festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electrosynthomagnetic musical sound"! A couple of times I provided identities to the group of teens sitting behind us -- the Blue Fairy that opens the show was the biggest confusion as usual.
By the time the parade was finished, it was about 10:15. The park officially closed at 10:00, so we'd missed any chance of hitting any other rides. I really wanted to try to catch the Kiss Goodnight this time, but couldn't remember if it was 30 or 45 minutes after official closing. So we went to the hub where we sat down facing the castle for a few minutes to let the Main Street crowds die down. I left Michael there with the stuff while I returned to a point from which I'd taken one of my favorite daytime castle shots, and played around there for a good 10 minutes or so trying to get a shot that was the nighttime equivalent. The trick was figuring out how to get both the castle and the flowers to show up with color. I could get the castle without using the flash, but the flowers were too dark. Or I could use the flash on normal strength and get the flowers just fine, but then the castle disappeared in the background. I finally did it, though, with a combination of flash timing, strength, and longer shutter speed.
Once I finally got the photo, I returned to Michael with dead batteries in the camera. As we started walking out, me changing the batteries in the camera, I discovered I'd taken the picture on the wrong setting! This was one I wanted at a better than "basic" quality, so I begged Michael to let me go back and take it again since *now* I knew how to do it. It wouldn't take very long, really!
He grudgingly humored me and back we went to our relative positions. It really did only take me a moment or two to get the picture at the higher quality, then back we went toward Main Street. Just as we left the hub proper, we heard chimes filling the air. I glanced behind us at the Castle, and it had gone dark! So we turned around to watch. It was the Kiss Goodnight, where the announcer's voice fills the air telling people thank you for coming and so on, but in a much more poetic way. Then Mickey joined in to say goodnight, and the castle danced with sparkling Pixie Dust and light, before the chimes once more signaled the end of the show and the castle returned to its normal night-time spectacle.
I was so excited -- we finally got to see the Kiss Goodnight And it was worth staying for, to me. Michael, sick as he was, may not have agreed, but I was glad we'd caught it
After that, I realized there was *just one more* picture I wanted to get -- no one was in the hub by the Walt and Mickey statue, so I again pleaded with Michael and again was humored (he humors my photography bug a lot, sweet thing that he is) and so backtracked to get a couple of shots. *Then* we finally left the Magic Kingdom, walking down a Main Street that was almost deserted.
As we walked, we discussed the differences between Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. Michael likes to point out that to him, everything at Disneyland is in the wrong place. To me, everything is in the right place for the respective park since I've spent enough time in both and studying the maps of both. But mostly, I think Disneyland (with a few exceptions) has everything in the "right place". Michael commented that *this* was right -- leaving the park to see the lagoon outside instead of some parking lot or the letters that spell out CALIFORNIA for Disney's California Adventure. I just grinned. Magic Kingdom was the first for him, so will always be the "right" one. Disneyland was the first for me, so to me it's backwards.
When we got to the bus stop, we saw no bus at the Swan and Dolphin stop, but there was one pulled up at the Yacht and Beach. Michael at first thought I was crazy when I slowed down only part-way through the line for the Swan and Dolphin and kept looking at the Yacht and Beach bus driver, but when that driver motioned in big motions for us to come join his bus, he was even more confused.
I confirmed with the bus driver that he'd be stopping at the Swan and Dolphin as well, and he said yep! Michael just looked at me, stunned, and asked how I knew. Research, dear, research
This time, we got off at the Swan instead of the Dolphin so I could get a much-wanted picture of the Swan fountain outdoors at night. Also, Michael wanted to try Kimono's, which was in the Swan. I'd hunted down the location of Kimono's this morning, so after I snapped a few shots, we went right there. But we could tell as we walked up that it wasn't going to be a place we wanted to spend any time. They were doing Karaoke, and the patrons were very obviously loud and drunk and getting louder. Someone who couldn't sing had control of the microphone. When we could hear things clearly from the bathrooms across the hall, we decided to skip it this time.
Michael was quite disappointed because he really had wanted to try Kimono's. What he *hadn't* emphasized earlier was that he wanted to do so around 6pm, when he could eat the sushi in a quiet setting before people started getting rowdy. He'd mentioned repeatedly that they did Karaoke after 8 or 8:30, but he never mentioned specifically "Let's go to Kimonos somewhere around 6pm", and certainly didn't do so early enough for me to have moved our dinner PS to fit it in. We'll have to do that next trip, now that I know specifically what he wanted. We'll make a special trip to the Swan just for Kimonos next time
After that, we returned to the rooms and started packing. Tomorrow, we'd have to be up earlier than we'd been getting up all trip, and it was easier to do most of the packing tonight while we were still awake than it would be to get up early in the morning to pack.
On to Day 4
-Rajah
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cdrtrisal@aol.com
(Links will return when I find a new place to host the sites)
Rajah/Tammi -- As usual, trip report writer and trip planner
VonDrake/Michael -- Rajah's DH, whose conference is our excuse for the trip this time
Guest Cast:
Art -- our CM friend, pin-fanatic, and all around cool guy
Marsha and Tom -- aka Mackey Mouse and her DH from the DIS
Carol, Jen, and Kristin -- aka CarolAnnK and her daughters from the DIS
"Aaron" -- another solo IOA guest
Dates: Feb 28 through Mar 4, 2001
Destination: WDW, and for Rajah, USF and IOA as well
Name: "Swimsuit edition" -- keep reading to find out why, though one tip: always take your swimsuit, even if you don't think you'll want it
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This morning, we had the alarm set for 8:30 again since we had planned for breakfast at Donald's Breakfastosaurus at 9...we knew we wouldn't make it this morning either, though. I woke up first at 7:30 and briefly considered going to Magic Kingdom for early entry. I knew Michael wouldn't be up for it, but I could get up, go to early entry, and be back before he was ready to get moving for the day.
However, the guy from the ticket provider still hadn't called to arrange when to drop off the tickets, and something told me I shouldn't go anywhere. So I sunk back into sleep.
It was a restless sleep, though, because I kept dreaming that I was arguing with the ticket delivery guy, and then for some reason housekeeping kept wanting to take some of the furniture from the room to use in another room but they were doing so even with our stuff in the drawers. Even though I rarely put anything in the drawers, I was tracking down every manager I could think of and arguing with them about how I wasn't mad they needed to take the furniture, but I was mad that they hadn't given us time to get our clothes out before they took it. Then more arguing with the ticket guy until I woke back up again at 8. Some of this dreaming was through the night as well, and I'm still trying to figure out where the housekeeping part came in. I was mad at the ticket guy, but not at housekeeping. Strange dreams.
When I woke up at 8 and the ticket guy still hadn't called (remember, he said the night before that he would call between 7 and 8), I grumbled and set the alarm for 10. I knew Michael wasn't feeling well and really needed to sleep some more, and the more I thought about it the more I decided it wouldn't hurt for me to sleep as well. Especially after the restless night fighting with housekeeping and the ticket guy
And since the room still had a faint smoke smell that was affecting my asthma slightly. So back to sleep I went yet again.Finally, the phone rang at 9:50. It was the ticket guy, who apologized for being late. His excuse was "family trouble", which I can understand, but I was still a bit miffed at him. He said he was there and asked if he could bring the ticket up now. I muttered something about leaving it at the front desk and he said you have to sign for it and show an ID. So I grumbled yes, bring it up, and gave him our room number. Then sat back expecting him to be there any minute. I think I fell asleep again because next thing I remember it's about 10:20 (it takes 30 minutes to come upstairs? Obviously, he wasn't "there", he was elsewhere) and someone's knocking on the door.
I grabbed my ID and threw on the nice complimentary robe then answered the door. It's the ticket guy with my ticket and a whole handful of brochures and maps and stuff for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I showed him my ID then signed a little credit card receipt and was given the packet, then returned to bed grumbling. If you can't accept a credit card over the computer without having to have someone sign for it, don't take credit card orders in the first place. I wasn't happy with the entire mess, and it wasn't until I got home that I found out you were supposed to be present to pick up the ticket all along. Like I said, crossed wires of communication from the very beginning.
Since I was finally up and could move around now without having to wait for someone to come, I got ready to go while Michael waited for the sudafed to kick in again. Then, while he finished getting ready and rested until he could feel well enough to eat, I went downstairs to do some shopping and photo-hopping.
I explored some more of the Dolphin and grabbed a Dolphin pin, then walked across the way to the Swan where I took some pictures and did some more shopping. Here, I got a Swan pin, little cute Mickey keychain flashlight, and a couple of other minor things. I was hoping to find a nice Swan and/or Dolphin t-shirt, but I didn't find one I was willing to pay $60+ for. If the nice polo shirts had been $30 instead of $50-60, I would have gotten one.
While I was over at the Swan, I looked around for where Kimonos was, and to check out other breakfast options. I found the Garden place -- Garden Grove I think -- which had a character meal. I could see Goofy teasing some guests, and thought it looked like fun. So I called Michael on the cell phone and told him what other option I found. When I didn't press that I REALLYREALLY wanted a character meal this morning (which I didn't feel that strongly about -- would've been nice, but was fine to not), he admitted that he really wasn't up to character interaction this morning. So I returned to the room and then we went back down to the Coral Cafe again just after 11am. This time, I brought the camera.
We had the same server again and got a fun reaction out of him. This morning, I'd put on my Guest of Honor badge, and Dave did a double take and said he didn't know I worked for Disney. I grinned and explained the badge to him. That's one of the few times I've gotten a reaction out of the badge, actually. Apparently it's invisible on me or something, because it always surprises me when someone actually makes note of it.
Breakfast was as good as yesterday, and I really liked the pancakes. They weren't normal buttermilk, but were something else that I thought tasted pretty good. Dave was more rushed this morning, though. It seems that weekend mornings are much busier even without the characters than weekday mornings. We still didn't have a wait, but there was definitely more of a line around the buffet. It was very nice, though, to have somewhere to get breakfast after 11.
After breakfast we returned to the room to figure out what to do next. Michael wasn't quite up to a park yet, so we went out on the balcony for a few minutes. There, we saw a man and little girl, presumably father and daughter, paddling around in the lake in one of the Swan paddle boats. That was the first time we'd seen the Swan boats in action, and it looked like fun.
So down we went to check out the thing. We went past the pools and found our way to the dock, then stood there considering. On one hand, it looked like fun. On the other, it was hot, we'd be fighting wind to go anywhere, it would be a lot of exercise, and neither of us really felt that Michael was up to it with his cold. So, we decided to save that and maybe a watermouse for another time.
So instead we went to look at the pool -- we were right there, after all. I don't think water ever looked so inviting, and I *really* wanted to try the grotto pool. So back we started for the room while we again discussed the option of hunting for Walmart where presumably we could hopefully get a couple of suits for less than $80 each. But, by the time we reached the room, we decided it was probably best to not do so. With Michael sick, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to get wet and wear himself out in the pool. And I didn't really want to go to all that trouble for just myself. So, we decided to go over to Animal Kingdom instead.
This time, we opted to drive, and it was quite nice. We ended up with a spot on either the very last row or next to the last row fairly close to the trams. I don't think even a third of the parking lot was open -- only about 4 lanes were open to get into the parking lot in the first place. Since we knew we weren't going to be completely dead worn out like we have been coming out of parks on other visits, it was much nicer to have the car than to fight for a bus.
I had hoped to find Devine this trip, but had no luck. At least none where I was able to identify her. It was a bit windy, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't out at all today.
Our first stop this afternoon was by It's Tough to be a Bug. Michael was quite curious about it and we'd skipped it all other trips. I *really* don't like this attraction, but that's really only because I've got a phobia with some bugs (especially spiders -- and as you know, spiders play a fairly prominent roll in the show). But, I could remove myself from the show by concentrating on trying to take pictures. 3-D show, very dark, no flash...made for a good challenge to keep me busy.
So down we went, pausing around frequent corners for me to take a few more pictures. This time I was going for some more creative views than just the "here's the tiger, here's the lion, here's the eagle", so it took us a little longer than usual to get down past the tree. I do love that tree
Actually, longer than *average* would be a more accurate term -- it always takes me that long to get past the Tree of Life When we finished It's Tough to be a Bug, we circled around the Tree of Life for a bit, looking at the wildlife and scenery. I purchased a fairly neat folding hat that was like a cloth fan you could fold out and use to make a great breeze, or continue folding out to make a hat. Much cooler than my Tigger safari hat, but not as charming
We paused to sit down in the nice cooler shaded area of the river otter pool, and apparently we really looked in bad shape because when we sat down, the CM of that area came over to make sure we were okay We assured her we were and just needed to sit down for a moment.After resting for a few minutes, we continued around to Camp Minnie Mickey where we arrived just in time to catch the Pocahontas show. This is one we've missed all other times and we'd heard it wasn't all that good for people without kids, so we'd never made an effort to catch it. But this trip, we for some reason didn't feel compelled to watch either of our two favorites (Festival of the Lion King and Tarzan Rocks) so decided to see those things we usually overlook instead. Pocahontas was one of those, and we agreed with what we'd heard: not a bad show, but not very good either. Not compared to Lion King and Tarzan.
After Pocahontas, we spent a few minutes looking around Camp Minnie Mickey before heading back through Africa for a ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch and Conservation Station. This was another thing we'd skipped in the past but put on our list this time. As we walked through Africa, I again spent some time looking for DeVine since this is one of the rumored places you can frequently find her. Still no luck, though. So we looked in a store briefly where we saw a bunch of really cute Tigger, Mickey, Pluto, and Pooh shirts. Michael already had the one with Pooh looking at a tiger saying "Tigger, is that you?". But the rest we didn't have. Unfortunately, they only seemed to have them in kids' sizes there.
So we visited with one of the CMs for a few minutes -- she was one of the few to notice the Guest of Honor badge as I was walking by and say "Hi Tammi!" Really sweet CM, though I don't remember her name now. We mostly talked about the weather and how it was already so hot and humid and it wasn't even officially *spring* yet. The humidity was the worst.After our visit, we finished making our way to the train to Conservation Station. The train ride was nice, and it was fun watching a mother point out all the animal cages and the few animals in them to young child. We did have to pause on the track at one point, apparently to let the train at the station pull out, and when we started up again the CM announcer (for some reason I want to say Julie but I don't think that was her name) let a young boy in the front row give the all clear.
The hike from the train station to Conservation Station wasn't really memorable, other than noticing all the cutout Rafikis pointing the right way. But when we stepped into Conservation Station itself, the fun began
I'd heard that Conservation Station was chock full of hidden Mickeys, and I wanted to find some. So we spent several minutes in the front room looking at the animal mural. I think we only found one we can definitely say was a hidden Mickey in there -- I won't say where it is so I don't ruin it for others Then we spent a few minutes exploring the area. Or, rather, Michael did. I spent the time taking pictures and hunting for Mickeys, then watching the trainer with his 13+ year old red-backed hawk. She was a beautiful bird, and very well behaved. I hooked back up with Michael about the time the trainer finished his talk about his bird (maybe 2 minutes after we entered -- we came in at the end) and we looked through the nurseries. No one was in any of them, but we did find another hidden Mickey or two.
Then we decided to sit down for a few minutes, and that's when I noticed the CM at an information booth. So I left the stuff with Michael while I went up and asked her about the hidden Mickeys. Turns out there are something like 25 in that front room with all the animals on the mural alone, and over 100 in the building as a whole. She told us how many were in some of the nearby rooms (nursery area), so I started walking around some more to find more. I think when we finally said it was time to go, we'd found only about 10. If that.
We did have fun watching the characters wander in and out, though. Rafiki and Goofy were both there decked out in their safari finery, and I *think* Pluto was there as well but I don't remember for certain.
We didn't spend more than maybe 30-45 minutes at Conservation Station before we were ready to go. So out we went, into a little outdoor shop. And there, so obvious we almost walked past them, were the shirts we'd seen back in Africa. Only they're the adult size! They had the Pooh and tiger one, one that said Lions and Tiggers and Bears, oh my!, and another with Pluto holding onto a paintbrush dipping black paint. Next to him were a tiger and a cheetah, and Pluto was covered in Mickey-shaped spots, with the words underneath: "If you can't beat them, join them". And finally a picture of Mickey running from a cheetah and saying "Nice kitty!!" We...okay, *I* came home with several new shirts
I just couldn't make up my mind We took one brief look at Affection Section and decided we could pet goats back home, so returned to the train station and from there made our way to Flaming Tree BarBQ. Even though we were going to have dinner in just a couple of hours, I needed something to eat that wasn't sweet and to sit down for a few minutes. Michael just needed to rest. And neither of us wanted to go straight back to the room just yet because we hadn't made it by the tigers. Besides, by waiting for about 30 minutes, we'd be closer to the tigers' feeding time and thus greater activity.
I lead Michael back to that area on the water were we rested way back during our honeymoon, left him with the stuff, then went to the counter for some food. I got the sampler platter, which was good last time, and returned to the table with it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good this time. All the meat was fairly dry and rather tasteless, but it got me the boost I needed. I think part of the reason the food wasn't so good was because we were there between major feeding-times or something. Whatever the case, it wasn't as good as usual.
Once I finished eating and we finished listening to Tarzan Rocks (you can hear it echoing over the lake/river from the theater across the way), we were ready to move again. So we headed for Asia, first stopping by the Flights of Wonder stage. I'd forgotten when we walked in that this was something I wanted to see, and by the time we got there the last show of the day was letting out. Oh well, we'll catch that another time. I have seen bird shows before, after all, I just think they're beautiful
On to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, where we paused at the black and white thing (tapir?) that was actually moving around for once. There was also one of those tiny deer in there -- don't know if it was supposed to be there or not, but it was. Then we overheard a lady whimpering that she didn't *want* to see the bats, she hates bats! I explained to her that the bats required making a turn and you could walk straight through without seeing the bats at all. A very relieved lady said thanks and started in, all the while her husband teasing her about "we really should see the bats while we're here, they're just bats."
I then mentioned to Michael that they are actually very cute for bats, and he shuddered and disagreed. I still say they're cute -- they've got absolutely darling faces. Almost like little foxes I thought. But Michael disagrees
On to the tigers, where we stood for a while watching them attacking the door to their inner chamber. It was dinnertime and they were hungry, so they kept digging at it like big dogs trying to get the door to open, then would leave and pace, only to return and paw at it again. Finally, two of the tigers (I think they're technically tigresses) were allowed inside. This left the other two there even more agitated. They left the door area for a few minutes to wander some more and join a third tiger over by the underground crossway (that is, the passage that links the two tiger pens so they can go between them).
We watched them for a few minutes, but they weren't too playful. They just wanted IN, they didn't want to play with each other or the water or the bushes or stalk or anything, they just wanted to pace by the door. So around we went to the third viewing area, where you're on the bridge looking down to the second fountain. There was the last of the six tigresses, and she was not only pacing along the wall there, but mrwoaring to try to call the other tigresses to her -- apparently she was lonely since she was the only one there. She called several times before giving up and running away to join the others by the food door. At that point, we left the Jungle Trek, and from there returned back to the car.
We were surprised at how little time we spent at Animal Kingdom, but at the same time at how much longer we could have stayed if it hadn't been so hot and Michael hadn't been sick. In about 4 hours time, we saw It's Tough to be a Bug, Pocahontas, Conservation Station, and the tigers of Maharajah Jungle Trek, plus took time to rest and eat at Flaming Tree BBQ. This trip, we didn't touch any of our usual must-dos at Animal Kingdom: Festival of the Lion King, Tarzan Rocks, or Countdown to Extinction, and I don't think we set foot in Dinoland at all for that matter. Plenty to do at Animal Kingdom
When we left Animal Kingdom it was around 4pm or 4:30pm, and I decided I *really* wanted to go spend an hour in the pool before we had to leave for dinner. So we stopped by Blizzard Beach, the idea being that maybe there was a shop just outside the entrance where we could purchase a less expensive bathing suit. Only when we arrived, we discovered the flaw in the plan: Blizzard Beach was closed
So still no suit.I toyed with going to Downtown Disney, but knew if we did then it would take the full hour and there wouldn't be any time to use the suit in the first place, so I decided I'd take another look at the swimsuits at the Dolphin. If I found one I liked and was willing to pay for, then I'd get yet *another* suit. If not, then I would just take a nap instead of swimming. Next trip -- I'm taking my swimsuit even if I know for a "fact" I'm not going to use it <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz">
When we arrived at the Dolphin, I did my quick shopping, and left empty handed. I didn't really *like* any of the suits that were "only" $80, and the ones I sorta liked were in the $120-130 price range. Way too much, especially since I *had* one I *do* like back at home!
So we went back up to the room and Michael retired to the balcony for several minutes while I crashed on the bed. I set the alarm for about an hour just in case, and then was out like a light. I guess I really needed the nap much more than I needed to swim after all
When the alarm went off almost an hour later, I had a hard time getting up. I wanted to sleep some more, but I was also hungry and this was the notice to go eat. So I got up and we both got ready, discussing what to do after dinner as we walked down to the Boardwalk. We were trying to decide between returning to the Magic Kingdom for MSEP and Fantasy in the Sky again, or go back to Epcot for Illuminations and Tapestry of Nations again.
When we got to Flying Fish, we were seated right away by a very friendly CM named Vince (I actually caught his name). He took us back to our table and commented that this was his favorite seat in the entire restaurant -- where he seated us was in the same place we sat back during our honeymoon with our first visit here!
It's at the very back of the restaurant right next to the door that leads outside. I started to sit facing the wall like I did on our honeymoon, but he quickly stopped me and told me to sit on the booth side where I could look out over the whole restaurant -- that's why it was his favorite table. Then, Michael could sit across from me where he could see me, which is what he'd want to see anyway. Vince had his guests' wants down pat A few minutes after he walked away, I pulled out the camera with the intention of taking a picture of the view from that table. Vince came up about then to seat another family at a table nearby and saw me getting the camera out, so came back over and volunteered to get our picture. How sweet!! And unexpected, but very appreciated
After he got that, *then* I took the picture of the restaurant itself.About that time, our very friendly sever Alex (Alexandra) stopped by to take our orders. She got us our drinks (a wine for Michael, the Coney Island Coaster -- a kind of blue shirley temple sorta drink -- for me) and our appetizers. I don't remember what Michael got for his appetizer (I do have a picture of it, though, whatever it was), but I had the mushroom soup. First few bites were really good, but by the time I got half-way through, it was a little overpowering.
For dinner, I had my usual pork (I thought) and Michael had the *right* Tuna this time. He'd ended up with the wrong Tuna back in December. He was *very* happy with his meal, but I was *very* disappointed in mine. It turns out they'd completely changed the pork item. It used to be really good with mashed potatoes and a good sauce, lightly grilled over oak and cooked to perfection. Now it was a different cut of meat, didn't have as much flavor, and what flavor it did have was apple. I don't know what it was underneath, but it wasn't mashed potatoes -- something more like an apple bread pudding. I didn't like it at all, but I carved out what meat I could get that didn't have the apple flavoring and finished less than half. I was very disappointed because the pork used to be one of my favorite meals in all of WDW.
I wasn't going to say anything until we got home, but when we were finished and Alex was taking away the food, she noticed how little I'd eaten and asked if I liked it. I commented that it wasn't anywhere as good as it used to be, and she mentioned that yes they had changed it since my last visit a few months ago. I was disappointed and ready to go and get to the fireworks, but Michael really really wanted some dessert, and between him and Alex they talked me into it.
For dessert, I tried what turned out to be a creme brule with some really really good and interesting less-than-paper-thin sheets of sugar, caramel, and banana slices. I almost didn't get it since I am allergic to bananas, but I asked if the bananas were on top or inside the creme brule (which I love). Alex assured me the bananas were on top and they could just leave them off entirely, so I asked for the banana slices to be on the side. Michael had a sour-cream cheesecake which I didn't like at all but he really enjoyed. The creme brule was absolutely DELICIOUS, and very much worth waiting for
Over dessert, we revisited the decision of what to do next. Do we go over to Epcot, the closest place, and watch Tapestry and Illuminations again? Or do we rush up to the Magic Kingdom in hopes of making it in time for Fantasy in the Sky, and definitely catch Main Street Electrical Parade for the last time (definitely this time) before it disappears? Though our original plan had been to go back to Epcot, we both felt the Magic Kingdom calling us, so once Alex brought and took care of our check (took forever since we were in a hurry to make it to Fantasy in the Sky), we rushed outside and down to the Boardwalk bus stop. This time, we figured it would be faster and easier on both of us to just take the bus from the Boardwalk to the Magic Kingdom then back home again.
We didn't have to wait very long for a Magic Kingdom bus to arrive, but every minute we waited was agonizingly slow for me. Dinner hadn't worked out for me, and I wasn't satisfied with Fantasy in the Sky without the castle. I *really* wanted to catch it again in time. The bus ride was also very slow since I was in a hurry, and as we approached the Magic Kingdom, I expected to see fireworks going off through the crackled glass (plexiglass?) of the bus windows.
However, we made it to the bus stop and off the bus and were almost to the turnstiles before we heard the opening music. I took one look at the wind and figured they wouldn't be having Tink slide tonight -- it was too windy. Sure enough, as we passed through the turnstiles we heard the phrases of "If you wish hard enough, your imagination will light the night sky"... or something along those lines. Whatever the back-up opening is for when Tinkerbell doesn't fly.
We hurried through to Main Street and up to the end of Town Square, where we were able to slip into the crowd to get a pretty good view about the time the first firework exploded behind the castle. There is *nothing* like watching the fireworks from somewhere between the Hub and Town Square! And even though it was packed, I really enjoyed being among so many people who were all enjoying the same performance. The ooohhhh's and ahhhh's were definitely missing from our view of the last night, and I was surprised how much more exciting the crowd experience made the fireworks. I even (naturally) got off a couple of pictures
Fireworks over, I was much happier and exclaimed to Michael that I was glad we'd decided on Magic Kingdom instead of Epcot tonight. Even if we did have to swim our way up the packed Main Street fighting past people who were either staking out a place for the parade or leaving the park. We finally found ourselves in Tomorrowland, where we looked around the crowds.
"TTA?" I asked Michael.
TTA. Tomorrowland Transit Authority is one of our favorites, and was just about the only ride in Tomorrowland to not have too much of a wait -- after all, it was an early entry day at Magic Kingdom. As we were about to head up the escalator, I overheard a father and son trying to find Space Mountain. I asked if we could help them and they said "Where's Space Mountain?" As the crowds moved us toward the escalator, I pointed to it (getting even more into the roll of the CM I'm not by pointing with two fingers) and said "Head for the big white thing -- you can't miss it!" Then we were swept up the escalator and heard the father's call of "Thanks!" as we ascended to the TTA.
To us, TTA is one of if not the most relaxing ride in Magic Kingdom, and as always we really enjoyed our journey around Tomorrowland. As we passed over each shop, I glanced down to see if Angie (AngieBelle from the DIS) was working. The guy at Gieger's Counter was definitely not Angie, and neither was anyone working in Star Traders. At the time, I forgot that she also frequently worked in the Arcade and another booth, so if she was working that night we just missed her
When we finished our tour of Tomorrowland, we decided to vacate the crowded land and thus went to Fantasyland. Figuring it to be a no-chance option, we checked on the wait at Pooh. I wanted to go on Pooh this time, but 60 minutes was waaaayyy beyond our tolerance for any lines any more. Especially since we wanted to catch the Parade, too. Though, at the time, we considered skipping the parade in favor of some attractions.
So we passed right by Pooh and Michael commented that if Pooh had a 60 minute wait, Peter Pan would have at least 40 minute wait and Snow White would be in the 30-minute range. I shook my head and said, "No...Snow White will be about 15-20 minutes maximum, Peter Pan will be about 30. It'd be pushing it to be a 40 minute wait." So, rather than actually riding many attractions in Fantasyland, we walked around to check out our guesses.
First stop was Snow White -- sure enough, it had a posted wait of 15 minutes, but the wait was really only 5. We rode that while we were there and decided the Disneyland version overall is better -- there's much more attention to the finer details. Then we checked on Peter Pan's Flight -- sure enough, 30 minute posted time. Michael looked at me in disbelief and I just grinned and said "You have to learn your park dynamics."
Since the wait for Peter Pan was longer than we really wanted to wait tonight as well, we went across the path to Small World, which had almost no wait at all. As we went by, I looked up in the windows of Pinocchio's Village Haus and suddenly got hungry. Those Figaro Fries were calling to me. So after we got off of Small World, we returned to Pinocchio's Village Haus. Only, when we went inside, we discovered they were closed by about 30 minutes.
No Figaro Fries for me -- this just wasn't a good night for me for non-dessert food.A little discouraged once more, we discussed what to do now. Do we go find a place for the parade we've already seen half a dozen times, or do we try to do some more rides. Michael opted for the parade and at the time I didn't really care. So, off we went to Frontierland. Along the way, Michael was searching for some place to get a drink. He was dying of thirst from his Sudafed and cold, but every store or booth we passed was closed. I kept walking past our usual stopping place and ended up walking right into the candy store in Frontierland. Michael was surprised because it appeared I'd known exactly where I was going. I corrected him in that I knew *somewhere* along the parade route would be *someone* selling drinks, but I didn't know *exactly* where to go
My plan had been to just keep walking until we hit Pecos Bill's, and then give up Drinks obtained (Coke for Michael, water for me), we went back outside and found a place nearby on the rope. This time I purposely put the camera away -- I *knew* I had more than enough pictures of this parade, and I really wanted to just *watch* it this time. When the parade started, I was immensely glad that Michael had opted for the parade instead of more rides. As always, we really enjoyed the whimsical "festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electrosynthomagnetic musical sound"! A couple of times I provided identities to the group of teens sitting behind us -- the Blue Fairy that opens the show was the biggest confusion as usual.
By the time the parade was finished, it was about 10:15. The park officially closed at 10:00, so we'd missed any chance of hitting any other rides. I really wanted to try to catch the Kiss Goodnight this time, but couldn't remember if it was 30 or 45 minutes after official closing. So we went to the hub where we sat down facing the castle for a few minutes to let the Main Street crowds die down. I left Michael there with the stuff while I returned to a point from which I'd taken one of my favorite daytime castle shots, and played around there for a good 10 minutes or so trying to get a shot that was the nighttime equivalent. The trick was figuring out how to get both the castle and the flowers to show up with color. I could get the castle without using the flash, but the flowers were too dark. Or I could use the flash on normal strength and get the flowers just fine, but then the castle disappeared in the background. I finally did it, though, with a combination of flash timing, strength, and longer shutter speed.
Once I finally got the photo, I returned to Michael with dead batteries in the camera. As we started walking out, me changing the batteries in the camera, I discovered I'd taken the picture on the wrong setting! This was one I wanted at a better than "basic" quality, so I begged Michael to let me go back and take it again since *now* I knew how to do it. It wouldn't take very long, really!
He grudgingly humored me and back we went to our relative positions. It really did only take me a moment or two to get the picture at the higher quality, then back we went toward Main Street. Just as we left the hub proper, we heard chimes filling the air. I glanced behind us at the Castle, and it had gone dark! So we turned around to watch. It was the Kiss Goodnight, where the announcer's voice fills the air telling people thank you for coming and so on, but in a much more poetic way. Then Mickey joined in to say goodnight, and the castle danced with sparkling Pixie Dust and light, before the chimes once more signaled the end of the show and the castle returned to its normal night-time spectacle.
I was so excited -- we finally got to see the Kiss Goodnight
And it was worth staying for, to me. Michael, sick as he was, may not have agreed, but I was glad we'd caught it After that, I realized there was *just one more* picture I wanted to get -- no one was in the hub by the Walt and Mickey statue, so I again pleaded with Michael and again was humored (he humors my photography bug a lot, sweet thing that he is) and so backtracked to get a couple of shots. *Then* we finally left the Magic Kingdom, walking down a Main Street that was almost deserted.
As we walked, we discussed the differences between Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. Michael likes to point out that to him, everything at Disneyland is in the wrong place. To me, everything is in the right place for the respective park since I've spent enough time in both and studying the maps of both. But mostly, I think Disneyland (with a few exceptions) has everything in the "right place". Michael commented that *this* was right -- leaving the park to see the lagoon outside instead of some parking lot or the letters that spell out CALIFORNIA for Disney's California Adventure. I just grinned. Magic Kingdom was the first for him, so will always be the "right" one. Disneyland was the first for me, so to me it's backwards.
When we got to the bus stop, we saw no bus at the Swan and Dolphin stop, but there was one pulled up at the Yacht and Beach. Michael at first thought I was crazy when I slowed down only part-way through the line for the Swan and Dolphin and kept looking at the Yacht and Beach bus driver, but when that driver motioned in big motions for us to come join his bus, he was even more confused.
I confirmed with the bus driver that he'd be stopping at the Swan and Dolphin as well, and he said yep! Michael just looked at me, stunned, and asked how I knew. Research, dear, research
This time, we got off at the Swan instead of the Dolphin so I could get a much-wanted picture of the Swan fountain outdoors at night. Also, Michael wanted to try Kimono's, which was in the Swan. I'd hunted down the location of Kimono's this morning, so after I snapped a few shots, we went right there. But we could tell as we walked up that it wasn't going to be a place we wanted to spend any time. They were doing Karaoke, and the patrons were very obviously loud and drunk and getting louder. Someone who couldn't sing had control of the microphone. When we could hear things clearly from the bathrooms across the hall, we decided to skip it this time.
Michael was quite disappointed because he really had wanted to try Kimono's. What he *hadn't* emphasized earlier was that he wanted to do so around 6pm, when he could eat the sushi in a quiet setting before people started getting rowdy. He'd mentioned repeatedly that they did Karaoke after 8 or 8:30, but he never mentioned specifically "Let's go to Kimonos somewhere around 6pm", and certainly didn't do so early enough for me to have moved our dinner PS to fit it in. We'll have to do that next trip, now that I know specifically what he wanted. We'll make a special trip to the Swan just for Kimonos next time
After that, we returned to the rooms and started packing. Tomorrow, we'd have to be up earlier than we'd been getting up all trip, and it was easier to do most of the packing tonight while we were still awake than it would be to get up early in the morning to pack.
On to Day 4
-Rajah
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