bengunn
Pirate Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
- Messages
- 375
Day 3 Magic Kingdom
Previous episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Sunday 18th August
Well we slept a bit more reliably last night and after our, soon to be usual, breakfast in the villa, we managed to leave at 08:20 (notice that we are already slipping?
).
Off on the same route as yesterday; I192, SR535, Osceolla Parkway. We were still fairly early to the car park and ended up in Pluto 14. However, by the time that we had caught a tram and then the ferry and negotiated the security check, it was 09:20. I love the view from the ferry as you cross the lake but I do wish that getting to the MK was not quite such an obstacle course.
The park seemed fairly quiet and so we made our way to Tomorrowland and discovered that the queue for Space Mountain was only 5 minutes. The 5 minutes is the time it takes to walk through the queuing area and we only waited a couple of minutes in the queue. This ride is great fun but nothing like the DLP ride of the same name. Josie was keen to go on it again but we agreed that we ought to go on some other rides while it was still quiet.
Alien Encounter was a 10 minute wait; while in the queue, we discovered from a CM that Labour Day was 2 weeks on Monday and would be busy; this caused us to rethink our plans later in the holiday. We had not done Alien Encounter before (it did not exist 10 years ago) and found it pretty funny; I really do think that they should have a much stronger child warning though; there were several children that had to go out before the main show even started. I managed to keep my arms freeish (just brace your shoulder when the restraints come down and keep them braced for the next 5 minutes) and annoyed Josie by tickling her during the dark bits of the show. I do agree with some peoples views that this ride does not fit in with the MK though; it is more like Universal Studios or IOA .
We next looked at the queue for Buzz Lightyear; the posted time was 25 minutes but we did not believe it as the queue seemed to be growing rapidly and they had not adjusted the time (we were right as the time later changed to 45 minutes). We got FPs for Buzz and went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority to pass some of the 45 minutes until our FPs return time. We were a bit disappointed to find that the Timekeeper and the Carousel of Progress were both closed park was busy enough for 45 minute queues so why close them? It also seemed silly that the COP, which Walt designed, has not stayed open for the 100 Years of Magic.
The Astro-orbiters was a 15 minute wait so that was next; those space rockets seem to have got smaller since I last rode them and were quite amusing to get in and out of Sam was worried that he was going to fall out mind you he is 6 feet tall and barely fitted in.
Time for our FPs for Buzz now; we managed to kill the baddies with varying success my effort was the best at 69000.
Off to Frontierland next where we decided to get FPs for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (35 minutes standby but FP return in 40 minutes) and queue for Splash Mountain (35 minutes standby posted but 25 minutes in reality). Splash Mountain was a new ride for us as last time it was still being tested prior to opening. It is a much longer ride than you expect with a great drop at the end; not too wet though (unlike some other rides we did later in the holiday).
Time for our FP return for BTMRR now so around we zoomed; always a good ride, although DLP has the edge here with the tunnels under the lake to the island.
Time for lunch now and we were not feeling terribly hungry due to the heat but we did all feel like eating something (NOT turkey legs though). We settled on Peco Bills 3 hot dogs with fries and an enormous chicken salad for Kathy with drinks was $31.93.
After lunch we caught the raft over to Tom Sawyers Island after admiring the real alligator in the lake. We wandered around for a while; this was one of the parts that Josie and Sam could remember from last time particularly the scary caves (well they were 10 years ago).
Haunted Mansion next; 15 minutes posted wait which was actually 10 minutes; do take the time to read the tombstone inscriptions, some are quite funny, also watch out for Leotas stone (the last one) which opens its eyes regularly. We all picked up hitch-hikers here, as usual.
We next walked through Fantasyland and looked at the huge queues; 55 minutes for Peter Pan and 15 minutes for Its a Small World so we carried on walking. We saw the end of the Sword in the Stone ceremony and then walked through the castle. It was now 14:50 so we stopped and watched the Share a Dream Come True parade. We were very impressed with this parade and had found a good spot on the north side of the roundabout in front of the castle; the park must have been quite today as we only got to the spot 10 minutes before the parade.
We were very hot now so we got some ice-cream to cool down. Adventureland beckoned so we went there next. The Jungle Cruise was 25 minutes standby and one hour for Fast Pass return so we got FPs and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean which was posted as 10 minutes but was a walk-on. I cannot distinguish this one from the DLP one and enjoy them both. Next we climbed up the Swiss Family Robinson Tree-house and then wondered what to do with the 30 minutes until our FP return time.
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin had a long queue and looked like Dumbo in disguise so Josie and Sam refused to queue for it (Triceratops Spin, another Dumbo clone, had been enough yesterday) so we went for the Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management instead. What a bizarre show; we were really glad that it is quite short as it is so bad that it is embarrassing; what is the point of it?
Jungle Cruise was next; we had a fairly good driver but this ride needs serious revamping and seemed rather a waste of time after the safari at AK yesterday.
We then walked back to Fantasyland; still 45 minutes for Peter Pan and no FPs so we walked on Its a Small World with no wait (except for Sam who refused to go on it and waited outside). Why did we go on this? I had the tune stuck in my head for the next week or two. There was also a 45 minute wait for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh so we gave up on Fantasyland.
It was now around 17:30 I think (did not write this down for some reason); the ride time board said that there was a 50 minute wait for Space Mountain and Splash and Big Thunder Mountains were closed due to distant thunder (it did not rain all day though). We decided to call it a day as we were all very hot and tiredWe decided to call it a day as we were all very hot and tired and returned to the car via the resort monorail and the tram.
I dropped the family off at the villa and went to Walmart for a few essentials ($27.43 spent); it was absolutely heaving; the locals must do their shopping on Sunday evenings. Back to the villa for a swim which was a mistake as by the time we were ready to go out to eat ( about 20:20), nobody was hungry as we were all too tired and had eaten fairly well at lunchtime. We ended up just eating cookies and fruit and resolved to eat less at lunchtime and dinner at around 19:00 in future (we did generally manage to stick to this for the rest of the holiday).
So our verdict on MK; well, sorry to all the MK lovers out there but we felt that we had done all we wanted to do (apart from Spectromagic and FITS) in one day. MK is not really very good for a party of our ages; there are some thrill rides which are good (the 3 mountains) but most of the rest is a bit tame and also most of it is unchanged from 10 years ago. We felt that DLP looks a lot less tired than MK and is more angled to mixed age ranges. Just our views and I am sure that many will disagree.
Tomorrow: Typhoon Lagoon and Illuminations Cruise
Previous episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Sunday 18th August
Well we slept a bit more reliably last night and after our, soon to be usual, breakfast in the villa, we managed to leave at 08:20 (notice that we are already slipping?
).Off on the same route as yesterday; I192, SR535, Osceolla Parkway. We were still fairly early to the car park and ended up in Pluto 14. However, by the time that we had caught a tram and then the ferry and negotiated the security check, it was 09:20. I love the view from the ferry as you cross the lake but I do wish that getting to the MK was not quite such an obstacle course.
The park seemed fairly quiet and so we made our way to Tomorrowland and discovered that the queue for Space Mountain was only 5 minutes. The 5 minutes is the time it takes to walk through the queuing area and we only waited a couple of minutes in the queue. This ride is great fun but nothing like the DLP ride of the same name. Josie was keen to go on it again but we agreed that we ought to go on some other rides while it was still quiet.
Alien Encounter was a 10 minute wait; while in the queue, we discovered from a CM that Labour Day was 2 weeks on Monday and would be busy; this caused us to rethink our plans later in the holiday. We had not done Alien Encounter before (it did not exist 10 years ago) and found it pretty funny; I really do think that they should have a much stronger child warning though; there were several children that had to go out before the main show even started. I managed to keep my arms freeish (just brace your shoulder when the restraints come down and keep them braced for the next 5 minutes) and annoyed Josie by tickling her during the dark bits of the show. I do agree with some peoples views that this ride does not fit in with the MK though; it is more like Universal Studios or IOA .
We next looked at the queue for Buzz Lightyear; the posted time was 25 minutes but we did not believe it as the queue seemed to be growing rapidly and they had not adjusted the time (we were right as the time later changed to 45 minutes). We got FPs for Buzz and went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority to pass some of the 45 minutes until our FPs return time. We were a bit disappointed to find that the Timekeeper and the Carousel of Progress were both closed park was busy enough for 45 minute queues so why close them? It also seemed silly that the COP, which Walt designed, has not stayed open for the 100 Years of Magic.
The Astro-orbiters was a 15 minute wait so that was next; those space rockets seem to have got smaller since I last rode them and were quite amusing to get in and out of Sam was worried that he was going to fall out mind you he is 6 feet tall and barely fitted in.
Time for our FPs for Buzz now; we managed to kill the baddies with varying success my effort was the best at 69000.
Off to Frontierland next where we decided to get FPs for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (35 minutes standby but FP return in 40 minutes) and queue for Splash Mountain (35 minutes standby posted but 25 minutes in reality). Splash Mountain was a new ride for us as last time it was still being tested prior to opening. It is a much longer ride than you expect with a great drop at the end; not too wet though (unlike some other rides we did later in the holiday).
Time for our FP return for BTMRR now so around we zoomed; always a good ride, although DLP has the edge here with the tunnels under the lake to the island.
Time for lunch now and we were not feeling terribly hungry due to the heat but we did all feel like eating something (NOT turkey legs though). We settled on Peco Bills 3 hot dogs with fries and an enormous chicken salad for Kathy with drinks was $31.93.
After lunch we caught the raft over to Tom Sawyers Island after admiring the real alligator in the lake. We wandered around for a while; this was one of the parts that Josie and Sam could remember from last time particularly the scary caves (well they were 10 years ago).
Haunted Mansion next; 15 minutes posted wait which was actually 10 minutes; do take the time to read the tombstone inscriptions, some are quite funny, also watch out for Leotas stone (the last one) which opens its eyes regularly. We all picked up hitch-hikers here, as usual.
We next walked through Fantasyland and looked at the huge queues; 55 minutes for Peter Pan and 15 minutes for Its a Small World so we carried on walking. We saw the end of the Sword in the Stone ceremony and then walked through the castle. It was now 14:50 so we stopped and watched the Share a Dream Come True parade. We were very impressed with this parade and had found a good spot on the north side of the roundabout in front of the castle; the park must have been quite today as we only got to the spot 10 minutes before the parade.
We were very hot now so we got some ice-cream to cool down. Adventureland beckoned so we went there next. The Jungle Cruise was 25 minutes standby and one hour for Fast Pass return so we got FPs and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean which was posted as 10 minutes but was a walk-on. I cannot distinguish this one from the DLP one and enjoy them both. Next we climbed up the Swiss Family Robinson Tree-house and then wondered what to do with the 30 minutes until our FP return time.
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin had a long queue and looked like Dumbo in disguise so Josie and Sam refused to queue for it (Triceratops Spin, another Dumbo clone, had been enough yesterday) so we went for the Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management instead. What a bizarre show; we were really glad that it is quite short as it is so bad that it is embarrassing; what is the point of it?
Jungle Cruise was next; we had a fairly good driver but this ride needs serious revamping and seemed rather a waste of time after the safari at AK yesterday.
We then walked back to Fantasyland; still 45 minutes for Peter Pan and no FPs so we walked on Its a Small World with no wait (except for Sam who refused to go on it and waited outside). Why did we go on this? I had the tune stuck in my head for the next week or two. There was also a 45 minute wait for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh so we gave up on Fantasyland.
It was now around 17:30 I think (did not write this down for some reason); the ride time board said that there was a 50 minute wait for Space Mountain and Splash and Big Thunder Mountains were closed due to distant thunder (it did not rain all day though). We decided to call it a day as we were all very hot and tiredWe decided to call it a day as we were all very hot and tired and returned to the car via the resort monorail and the tram.
I dropped the family off at the villa and went to Walmart for a few essentials ($27.43 spent); it was absolutely heaving; the locals must do their shopping on Sunday evenings. Back to the villa for a swim which was a mistake as by the time we were ready to go out to eat ( about 20:20), nobody was hungry as we were all too tired and had eaten fairly well at lunchtime. We ended up just eating cookies and fruit and resolved to eat less at lunchtime and dinner at around 19:00 in future (we did generally manage to stick to this for the rest of the holiday).
So our verdict on MK; well, sorry to all the MK lovers out there but we felt that we had done all we wanted to do (apart from Spectromagic and FITS) in one day. MK is not really very good for a party of our ages; there are some thrill rides which are good (the 3 mountains) but most of the rest is a bit tame and also most of it is unchanged from 10 years ago. We felt that DLP looks a lot less tired than MK and is more angled to mixed age ranges. Just our views and I am sure that many will disagree.
Tomorrow: Typhoon Lagoon and Illuminations Cruise
We tend to go for huge brekkie buffets but by about 4pm we're getting peckish so pick up a snack, which can ruin the best intentions of an evening meal. But we're on holiday, so what
