The return of the mummy episode 8

[jubileegirl]

Today was Magic Kingdom day. I was a bit unsure about it as we have such lovely memories of previous trips with our other two kids who weren’t with us this time. I thought I might feel a bit sad and nostalgic.

Anyway, we were in the parking lot by 8-30 (definitely easier to make an early start without three children!!) and quickly caught the monorail over to the entrance. I love looking at all the hotels around the lagoon and thinking perhaps we’d stay there next time. Yeah, right!
The park hadn’t opened and we got in line at the turnstile behind a family with 2 teenage boys. I was just thinking what a nice looking family they were when the older boy turned round and SPAT on the ground just missing my feet. I know what teenage boys can be like but what really bugged me was that he did it a few times more and his parents must have seen yet didn’t say a word! It was obviously quite acceptable! I thought if a ‘gob’ landed on my foot I’d rub his nose in it.

At last we were allowed into the area just in front of Main Street Station and just before 9 am the Mayor of Main Street with some of his ‘good townsfolk’ appeared on the platform above us, did a little song and dance to welcome the train which chuffed into the station loaded with Disney characters. More singing and dancing, then Mickey appeared and led us in a countdown followed by pixie dust and streamers to declare the Magic Kingdom OPEN! It was a lovely way to start the day and I’m really glad we got there in time.

We then had no choice but to go with the flow, and follow the crowd down Main St. At the hub by the castle we had to wait a bit, but then were allowed to ‘go go go!!’ I’d heard about the Space Mountain dash and although we didn’t really want to do it, seeing all those people hurrying past made you want to speed up too, just in case you were missing something! We even followed a family who took a short cut through a restaurant – would have felt daft if they were only going to the restrooms! This paid off as we were able to ride SM with only a few minutes wait. We really enjoyed the ride and the whole theming and whilst waiting we chatted to a man who had brought his wife up from Miami as her birthday treat, but she didn’t like theme parks (whereas he loved them!) so she was back at the hotel whilst he had fun!! Some birthday!
Next stop was Buzz Lightyear. Well, I didn’t have a clue but shot away valiantly and at first I was ahead of the others! Then they got the hang of it and beat me by thousands. Even the empty seat next to John scored more than me!
We left Tomorrowland and arrived in Fantasyland right by Winnie the Pooh’s adventure. Last time we were here it was Mr Toad’s Wild Ride and we enjoyed the references to Toad of Toad Hall in the ride ( also the bouncing carriages!) In the line I got out my Unofficial Guide itinerary and the lady in front dived into her handbag, came out with a piece of paper and said ‘snap!’


Next stop should have been Peter Pan but the wait time was already 45 minutes, and although we love it, we’ve been to Neverland many times before, so instead we went to Philharmagic. It won’t come as any surprise to those ‘in the know’ that we loved it and it was an absolute highlight of our day. I felt like a little child just gawping with my mouth open!! It included most of my favourite Disney songs too – great temptation to sing along but I couldn’t stand the thought of Chloe’s glare for embarrassing her!If you haven’t seen Philharmagic yet you’re in for a treat!
We decided to check out the Haunted Mansion next, which reduced Chloe to yet another nervous ‘state’. Funny kid, watches some horrible horror videos at home with lots of blood and gore, yet has a real fear of the HM! (This wasn’t helped when we went to DLP, persuaded her to give it a try, then as we walked into the stretch room the CM jumped out and shouted ‘BOO’ in her face!)
Anyway, she decided to be brave and even posed for a silly photo!

Chloe nearly chickened out again when she saw the bust with the moving eyes right by the entrance!! The CM this time left her alone, but was extremely weird as she knelt on the floor stroking the wall and talking to herself!
For the first time I remembered to look upwards to see the body hanging from the ceiling as we were about to leave the stretch room. Creepy!
I’m pleased to report that we survived the HM, although I smiled politely at a CM as we left and he yelled at me ‘DON’T SMILE’. OK, sir. Anything you say!
By now the crowds were picking up a bit, so we went over to Splash Mountain to collect some Fast Passes. They left us plenty of time to queue up and ride Big Thunder where we had a lucky break when a new pathway was opened just as we got to it and we just sailed down to the front of the queue. I love BTMR – it’s one ride I don’t feel at all scared on and even put my arms up in the air now and then! John of course loves BTMR as his hat goes so well with the décor and he can shout Yee Haa without anyone thinking he’s odd. People probably think he’s animatronic!
After BTMR we still had some time before our FP for Splash so we went over to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. I always enjoy this although special effects have certainly moved on a lot since we first went on the ride in California many years ago. I can remember thinking that the pirates looked so realistic then! Still great fun though and we looked hard for Johnny Depp
It was finally our time for Splash Mountain, so back we went and as always this was just great but as always I chickened out at the drop and shut my eyes. I try so hard not to, but a split second of terror always gets the better of me just as the boat reaches that moment before you go over the top! And I got soaked this time, whereas the other two were dry as a bone.

We needed food by now but as we were looking for somewhere we noticed some musicians on a porch playing some ‘hoe down’ type music and people going in to the building. Being true Brits we followed the queue and ended up line dancing with Woody, Jessie, Chip, Dale and Goofy. It was a fun way to cool off in some air conditioning and we even joined in a bit. We all had to sing a silly song which I wanted to remember to use in school with my class, but it’s now escaped my memory. I know our side of the room had to make horse noises and the others were coyotes and chickens. Anyone help me out?
By now we were starving and I remembered reading about Columbia Harbour House having an upstairs section which people often don’t know about, so we went to check it out – and sure enough, we found a lovely cool room with big wooden chairs and tables and loads of room. Also the food was a bit different from other places. John and I had sandwiches, bursting with fillings and very fresh bread.
It was getting really hot by now and despite lunch we were beginning to flake a bit. Then John remembered that he had planned to have a shave at the Main Street Barbers. He’s got a beard but if it gets bushy he looks like Captain Birdseye! Yuk! So off we went and I’d recommend this for something a bit different. If your child has their first haircut there he/she gets Mickey ears to wear with ‘my first haircut’ written on them. Haircuts also come with a liberal sprinkling of pixie dust! John asked for some for his beard and said he’d like green and gold being an Aussie. So he had gold glitter all over his beard and a green Mickey shape on his chin!! Good job he’s not a self-conscious kind of bloke!

Time was passing and we still had loads to see and do, but we decided to watch Cinderella’s Celebration in front of the castle and then claim our spots for the parade. I took loads of photos of the celebration and the parade and as always, as our camera isn’t that special most of them were a waste! John did an ‘I told you so’ speech when the photos came back and for once he was right (only this once though!) Reminder – we MUST get that digital camera we put off buying before our trip.
We sat on the kerb in Main Street for the parade and chatted to a girl holidaying on her own. I love my family to bits but I must admit I was quite taken with the idea of doing Disney solo, just once. Just think, you could do whatever you wanted, change your mind at the last minute, use the single rider line all the time, eat whenever and whatever you fancied etc. She told us she was having a great time but was coming back with friends later in the year.
After the parade (which was OK, probably not as good as others we’ve seen) we decided to have a break and caught the boat back to our car. We drove back to the hotel and were glad to just flop on our beds for an hour or two before setting off again to explore Downtown Disney. We booked a table at the House of Blues, spent ages in the gift shop there and got some good presents - badges, plectrums, stickers all with a Blues Brothers theme – then had a little look at some other shops before our vibrating pager vibrated (scared the life out of Chloe who had it in a pocket!) and we returned for our meal. We liked the food although it was pricey, but we’d expected that. I had Jambalaya, and then had that Carpenters song in my head for the rest of the night. We also tried cornbread for the first time. It was like eating a sponge cake with your main course!
I showed my age by seeing a leaflet for the HOB concert hall and asking Chloe if she liked The Nerds. Well, how was I supposed to know you say the initials without a ‘the’ – N.E.R.D. Oh no, I’m turning into my mother!
By the time we’d eaten we were ready for bed and so back we went to the Clarion and were all asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow!

Tomorrow : our ‘we haven’t planned this very well’ day.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

A great day for all - love Phillarmagic too - thanks for posting!