DebIreland
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PART 8: Day 4 - Magic Kingdom at last(!!); to do or not to do Fantasmic and bonding time at the resort
Friday 27th October, 2006
Today was going to be special.
On our first trip, I didn't understand the appeal of character breakfasts. I loved character lunches and dinners but I felt that character breakfasts meant getting up too early and spending too much money on a meal I wasn't awake enough to get the most out of (famine mentality, remember??). I was wrong. This year we scheduled Crystal Palace for 8.05 on our first MK day. You see, I was struggling to fit it in, knowing that it was on our must do list. But as Garth adores Columbia Harbour House (we all like it actually) I wanted that to be our first MK lunch venue. For our second MK day, I really wanted to try The Plaza so I reluctantly booked Crystal Palace for breakfast rather than lunch or dinner. And I'm glad we did!
We got up at 6am - an ungodly hour if I were at home. I can stay awake until 6am, and regularly do, but getting up at that hour hurts. Just goes to show what a draw that Disney magic is - all 5 of us got up easily, showers were had etc and off we went at 7ish to catch a bus. It was still dark.
As was always the case, a bus arrived within mere minutes and we were whisked off to the Magic Kingdom.
The feeling I had when we arrived at the entrance to MK is the exact feeling I yearned for when we returned from our first trip. And here I was experiencing it all over again. Oh joy! The magic is real! The atmosphere is one of sheer enchantment. Best of all, second-time round it was in no way diluted. In fact, it was enhanced. You learn so much on the first trip - I now think of that as mere preparation for the 'proper' trip. Because here we are, 7.30am, the sun has come up, it's set to be a beautiful day, there's just a handful of people at the entrance, everyone is smiling, the security guys are cheerfully welcoming everyone, a lady is handing out Mickey stickers, the Disney music is playing subtly (not too loud, not too soft) and we're here! We've done it. All the months of planning, saving, dreaming, debating, imagining...... we're truly here and we're so excited....
Even though we were at in AK yesterday and we've been in Disney World 3 days, this feeling at MK that morning just brought it all home. All five of us felt it. We didn't have to acknowledge it. The big smiles on all our faces and the chemistry between us said it all. Before we knew it, we were told we could go in and I knew that we we'd have a clear view of everything on Main Street. As much as I love the castle, when we enter MK, it's not so much the castle that I yearn to see, it's the entire view of Main Street and the more specific views of each shop, each pillar, every picture and the combined sights, sounds and atmosphere that Main Street offers us.
We stop for some photos and a kind lady offers to take one of the 5 of us. Then we stroll slowly down Main Street, savouring all the details that we missed last year and adoring the unobstructed views. Whatever about getting to headliner attractions early (and yes, you know by now I think that's a good idea, lol), to me, if you vowed to get up early just once during your trip, it should be to enter Magic Kingdom before the hoards of people, before the mania and mayhem and just bask in the luxury of the Main Street atmosphere. It's the best of Disney Magic wrapped up into one beautiful package.
Off we go to check into Crystal Palace. While I was in line, the boys were looking over the railings across from Crystal Palace, enjoying the castle view and all the beautiful sights; DH was smiling, totally happy to be back here and Alice stood fascinated, with a smile ear to ear, staring at the family of ducks passing by. Then it's my turn, yay! So I check in, get the bleeper and join the others. I think just seconds went by when the bleeper went off. We were shown to our table by a terrific server, full of Disney cheer.
The smells from that restaurant are worth the price alone.
We sit down, almost too excited to eat, we get our bearings and then take it in turns to go to the buffet line. What a wonderful choice of food they have and everything is so fresh and beautiful! The french toast is like nothing I've tasted before. It's so gorgeous with just the right texture. I can't get enough of it.
We eat up, chatting happily all the while, almost forgetting that we'll get to meet characters too because, even without the characters, this is one of the best restaurants in Disney World. But the characters!! Oh wow! Such magic. I know I'm over-using that word 'magic', but really and truly, it abounds here.
First up is Piglet and Alice's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw him. There were still quite a few empty tables so in no time at all, he was in front of us. We got photos and autographs and loved every second of it.
Then it was Tigger's turn and, much to Alice's delight, he bounced up to us! Wayne and Garth forgot all worries about being "too big", "too old", "too embarrassed" to be at a Pooh & Gang meal and big hugs for Tigger followed, with more photos and more autographs...
Next up was Eeyore...
Then last, but not least, the main man, er bear, Pooh himself. I love that Alice loves Pooh so much. I vividly recall reading the Pooh books when I was younger and seeing a Pooh movie in the cinema with my Dad. He loved the wit in those stories and took great pride in buying me those books and taking me to that movie. It's so nice to see traditions passed on.
Time flew by. It flew by a bit too quickly actually and this is the part I wasn't prepared for. We were so happy and had such a magical time with our Hundred Acre friends, the gorgeous decor and all that wonderful food and then, suddenly, my mood changed again and I don't know why. Well, I know why but I don't understand why it would get to me so much.
Let me explain..... we were chatting, smiling, having a great time when suddenly Wayne said "oh look, wow, that's a lot of people". I had my back to the window so I turned around too see what he meant and I saw what seemed like thousands of people pouring into the park. Not hundreds. Thousands. And all of them (or so it seemed) were on a mission with looks of steely determination on their faces.
Of course, I know that this influx of people shouldn't have bothered me (and what did I expect anyway, that the park would be ours alone??) and I know that the wise thing to do was to continue to enjoy our meal, take our time and leave our smiles still firmly planted on our faces but, loathe though I am to admit it, it would seem that it bothered me greatly! (This is one of those times when I feel like I'm outside myself looking in and not understanding myself one little bit and, in fact, rolling my eyes and muttering "women, tsk!"). So something inside me made me believe (and, er, *say*) that we need to hurry. I was irked that we hadn't left before all those people got ahead of us when we had the opportunity to be at rope drop first.
Stupid irked feeling. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Go away irked feeling. Come back smile and happy, magic chemistry.
So there I was, panicked and stressed; my head suddenly filled with thoughts of long lines and packed sidewalks. I think this is where we see the downside to the months of planning. I wonder if, sub-consciously, we need to see a return on the time and effort we put into planning so, sometimes, us obsessive planners forget to enjoy the now and, instead, get taken over by the plan. I should only speak for myself really and not for all neurotic obsessive planners, lol!
If I had my time back, I would most definitely have given myself a sharp slap and told myself to stop ruining things. As it stands, I don't have the luxury of rewinding to do it differently. It seems all I could think was that our plan to ride Dumbo first was threatened and, therefore, there would be a domino fall-out effect. Again, it must have been (and I'm just guessing) that, on some level, I became starkly aware of all the pre-planning effort and I went into panic mode that that effort was in vain.
The stress that I (stupidly) felt rubbed off on DH and, in turn, on the kids. It's bound to. We had a tense rushed walk to Fantasyland during which time I convinced myself that Dumbo would now have a wait time of approx 3 days, the Pooh ride would be achievable for Dream Fastpass recipients only and Splash Mountain was a ride we could only relive in our dreams. Bye bye dear Splash, bye bye sweet Pooh. Exaggeration? Uh, yes, I think so.
The sad thing is that it took me eons to actually realise that the lines were minuscule. Even whilst walking straight onto ride after ride after ride I was still shaking my head, cursing our late exit from Crystal Palace and bemoaning the fact that we got to Fantasyland too late to ride anything - all this, I repeat, WHILST walking onto everything, queue-less, line-less, crowd-less. I guess when a notion takes hold in my brain, it really hangs on for dear life. Want to shoot me yet? I know I do.
So, in about 45 minutes (before it even reached 10am), we actually got to do Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh twice, Peter Pan and Show White and, yes, all whilst regretting our late start which apparently prevented us from riding anything.
Can we say P.M.S.? Is that wise? Or do I, as a novice, amateur, trip report writer, really want to alienate the entire male reader demographic in the already dog-eat-dog world of trip reporting? I won't say it again, I promise. Come back hubby, come back.
At this point, having done, and without realising it, apparently thoroughly enjoyed Pooh, Dumbo, Snow White and Peter Pain I began to breathe deeply and I tried to regain some perspective. Not before I squabbled briefly with DH, mostly with my eyes (a skill acquired from 13 years of marriage) about his lack of input into the holiday and his total lack of knowledge (as I perceived it) about all things Disney-related - and if there are any psychiatrists out there, full marks if you correctly diagnosed this annoyance with DH's lack of help (with this trip) as the root of my mania - well that and my P.M.S. of course. Oh dear, I said it again, those 3 letters, P --- M --- S. Yep, PRE-MENSTRUAL SYNDROME... pre-period dementia, mid-month breakdown, PRIOR-TO THAT TIME OF THE MONTH MADNESS. Dearie dearie me. Run away, run far far away.
But I don't want to leave you with images of us fighting like white thrash in the middle of Fantasyland. It wasn't that bad, mostly it was looks and vibes, not actual white-thrash screaming in the middle of Fantasyland. And, like I said, I was now taking deep breaths and starting to regain some perspective on the situation. We're in Disney World, we're together, it's wonderful, snap out of it you, er, me, chill, relax, enjoy. And we do, honestly. Lots more to come later.
It would seem that it takes me about a thousand words to describe just one hour of our trip. That's about 16 words for every minute. Weird. Very weird. So anyway..... coming up: we down tools entirely and forget the race to Frontierland and instead take a trip to the First Aid centre (uh, no, not for a frontal labotamy for me, smart-a#s); our hour spent trying to work the phone to call home and more, lots more..... that's if anyone's actually still reading, surely you have better things to do? I mean COME ON!!!! 
Up next: Friday 27th October CONTINUED... - It's on Page 9, Post no. 127!
Friday 27th October, 2006
Today was going to be special.
On our first trip, I didn't understand the appeal of character breakfasts. I loved character lunches and dinners but I felt that character breakfasts meant getting up too early and spending too much money on a meal I wasn't awake enough to get the most out of (famine mentality, remember??). I was wrong. This year we scheduled Crystal Palace for 8.05 on our first MK day. You see, I was struggling to fit it in, knowing that it was on our must do list. But as Garth adores Columbia Harbour House (we all like it actually) I wanted that to be our first MK lunch venue. For our second MK day, I really wanted to try The Plaza so I reluctantly booked Crystal Palace for breakfast rather than lunch or dinner. And I'm glad we did!
We got up at 6am - an ungodly hour if I were at home. I can stay awake until 6am, and regularly do, but getting up at that hour hurts. Just goes to show what a draw that Disney magic is - all 5 of us got up easily, showers were had etc and off we went at 7ish to catch a bus. It was still dark.
As was always the case, a bus arrived within mere minutes and we were whisked off to the Magic Kingdom.
The feeling I had when we arrived at the entrance to MK is the exact feeling I yearned for when we returned from our first trip. And here I was experiencing it all over again. Oh joy! The magic is real! The atmosphere is one of sheer enchantment. Best of all, second-time round it was in no way diluted. In fact, it was enhanced. You learn so much on the first trip - I now think of that as mere preparation for the 'proper' trip. Because here we are, 7.30am, the sun has come up, it's set to be a beautiful day, there's just a handful of people at the entrance, everyone is smiling, the security guys are cheerfully welcoming everyone, a lady is handing out Mickey stickers, the Disney music is playing subtly (not too loud, not too soft) and we're here! We've done it. All the months of planning, saving, dreaming, debating, imagining...... we're truly here and we're so excited....
Even though we were at in AK yesterday and we've been in Disney World 3 days, this feeling at MK that morning just brought it all home. All five of us felt it. We didn't have to acknowledge it. The big smiles on all our faces and the chemistry between us said it all. Before we knew it, we were told we could go in and I knew that we we'd have a clear view of everything on Main Street. As much as I love the castle, when we enter MK, it's not so much the castle that I yearn to see, it's the entire view of Main Street and the more specific views of each shop, each pillar, every picture and the combined sights, sounds and atmosphere that Main Street offers us.
We stop for some photos and a kind lady offers to take one of the 5 of us. Then we stroll slowly down Main Street, savouring all the details that we missed last year and adoring the unobstructed views. Whatever about getting to headliner attractions early (and yes, you know by now I think that's a good idea, lol), to me, if you vowed to get up early just once during your trip, it should be to enter Magic Kingdom before the hoards of people, before the mania and mayhem and just bask in the luxury of the Main Street atmosphere. It's the best of Disney Magic wrapped up into one beautiful package.
Off we go to check into Crystal Palace. While I was in line, the boys were looking over the railings across from Crystal Palace, enjoying the castle view and all the beautiful sights; DH was smiling, totally happy to be back here and Alice stood fascinated, with a smile ear to ear, staring at the family of ducks passing by. Then it's my turn, yay! So I check in, get the bleeper and join the others. I think just seconds went by when the bleeper went off. We were shown to our table by a terrific server, full of Disney cheer.
The smells from that restaurant are worth the price alone.
We sit down, almost too excited to eat, we get our bearings and then take it in turns to go to the buffet line. What a wonderful choice of food they have and everything is so fresh and beautiful! The french toast is like nothing I've tasted before. It's so gorgeous with just the right texture. I can't get enough of it.
We eat up, chatting happily all the while, almost forgetting that we'll get to meet characters too because, even without the characters, this is one of the best restaurants in Disney World. But the characters!! Oh wow! Such magic. I know I'm over-using that word 'magic', but really and truly, it abounds here.
First up is Piglet and Alice's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw him. There were still quite a few empty tables so in no time at all, he was in front of us. We got photos and autographs and loved every second of it.
Then it was Tigger's turn and, much to Alice's delight, he bounced up to us! Wayne and Garth forgot all worries about being "too big", "too old", "too embarrassed" to be at a Pooh & Gang meal and big hugs for Tigger followed, with more photos and more autographs...
Next up was Eeyore...
Then last, but not least, the main man, er bear, Pooh himself. I love that Alice loves Pooh so much. I vividly recall reading the Pooh books when I was younger and seeing a Pooh movie in the cinema with my Dad. He loved the wit in those stories and took great pride in buying me those books and taking me to that movie. It's so nice to see traditions passed on.
Time flew by. It flew by a bit too quickly actually and this is the part I wasn't prepared for. We were so happy and had such a magical time with our Hundred Acre friends, the gorgeous decor and all that wonderful food and then, suddenly, my mood changed again and I don't know why. Well, I know why but I don't understand why it would get to me so much.
Let me explain..... we were chatting, smiling, having a great time when suddenly Wayne said "oh look, wow, that's a lot of people". I had my back to the window so I turned around too see what he meant and I saw what seemed like thousands of people pouring into the park. Not hundreds. Thousands. And all of them (or so it seemed) were on a mission with looks of steely determination on their faces.
Of course, I know that this influx of people shouldn't have bothered me (and what did I expect anyway, that the park would be ours alone??) and I know that the wise thing to do was to continue to enjoy our meal, take our time and leave our smiles still firmly planted on our faces but, loathe though I am to admit it, it would seem that it bothered me greatly! (This is one of those times when I feel like I'm outside myself looking in and not understanding myself one little bit and, in fact, rolling my eyes and muttering "women, tsk!"). So something inside me made me believe (and, er, *say*) that we need to hurry. I was irked that we hadn't left before all those people got ahead of us when we had the opportunity to be at rope drop first.
Stupid irked feeling. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Go away irked feeling. Come back smile and happy, magic chemistry.So there I was, panicked and stressed; my head suddenly filled with thoughts of long lines and packed sidewalks. I think this is where we see the downside to the months of planning. I wonder if, sub-consciously, we need to see a return on the time and effort we put into planning so, sometimes, us obsessive planners forget to enjoy the now and, instead, get taken over by the plan. I should only speak for myself really and not for all neurotic obsessive planners, lol!
If I had my time back, I would most definitely have given myself a sharp slap and told myself to stop ruining things. As it stands, I don't have the luxury of rewinding to do it differently. It seems all I could think was that our plan to ride Dumbo first was threatened and, therefore, there would be a domino fall-out effect. Again, it must have been (and I'm just guessing) that, on some level, I became starkly aware of all the pre-planning effort and I went into panic mode that that effort was in vain.
The stress that I (stupidly) felt rubbed off on DH and, in turn, on the kids. It's bound to. We had a tense rushed walk to Fantasyland during which time I convinced myself that Dumbo would now have a wait time of approx 3 days, the Pooh ride would be achievable for Dream Fastpass recipients only and Splash Mountain was a ride we could only relive in our dreams. Bye bye dear Splash, bye bye sweet Pooh. Exaggeration? Uh, yes, I think so.
The sad thing is that it took me eons to actually realise that the lines were minuscule. Even whilst walking straight onto ride after ride after ride I was still shaking my head, cursing our late exit from Crystal Palace and bemoaning the fact that we got to Fantasyland too late to ride anything - all this, I repeat, WHILST walking onto everything, queue-less, line-less, crowd-less. I guess when a notion takes hold in my brain, it really hangs on for dear life.
Want to shoot me yet? I know I do.So, in about 45 minutes (before it even reached 10am), we actually got to do Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh twice, Peter Pan and Show White and, yes, all whilst regretting our late start which apparently prevented us from riding anything.
Can we say P.M.S.? Is that wise? Or do I, as a novice, amateur, trip report writer, really want to alienate the entire male reader demographic in the already dog-eat-dog world of trip reporting? I won't say it again, I promise. Come back hubby, come back.
At this point, having done, and without realising it, apparently thoroughly enjoyed Pooh, Dumbo, Snow White and Peter Pain I began to breathe deeply and I tried to regain some perspective. Not before I squabbled briefly with DH, mostly with my eyes (a skill acquired from 13 years of marriage) about his lack of input into the holiday and his total lack of knowledge (as I perceived it) about all things Disney-related - and if there are any psychiatrists out there, full marks if you correctly diagnosed this annoyance with DH's lack of help (with this trip) as the root of my mania - well that and my P.M.S. of course. Oh dear, I said it again, those 3 letters, P --- M --- S. Yep, PRE-MENSTRUAL SYNDROME... pre-period dementia, mid-month breakdown, PRIOR-TO THAT TIME OF THE MONTH MADNESS. Dearie dearie me. Run away, run far far away.
But I don't want to leave you with images of us fighting like white thrash in the middle of Fantasyland. It wasn't that bad, mostly it was looks and vibes, not actual white-thrash screaming in the middle of Fantasyland. And, like I said, I was now taking deep breaths and starting to regain some perspective on the situation. We're in Disney World, we're together, it's wonderful, snap out of it you, er, me, chill, relax, enjoy. And we do, honestly. Lots more to come later.
It would seem that it takes me about a thousand words to describe just one hour of our trip.
That's about 16 words for every minute. Weird. Very weird. So anyway..... coming up: we down tools entirely and forget the race to Frontierland and instead take a trip to the First Aid centre (uh, no, not for a frontal labotamy for me, smart-a#s); our hour spent trying to work the phone to call home and more, lots more..... that's if anyone's actually still reading, surely you have better things to do? I mean COME ON!!!! Up next: Friday 27th October CONTINUED... - It's on Page 9, Post no. 127!
) and the more common in our house mom variety this is when the original OPSS has the "I" that created right in between the Planned and Stressed. 
who are are running in Pooh's Playground or a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream or Rice Krispie treat.
Yes--this is what I meant. I got it BAD one year. 
It certainly does seem daft when I look back on it!!
More please! 
