There's a Great Big MARATHON Tomorrow: Goofy Challenge/Marathon Weekend '15 FINALLY COMPLETE!

[emilyindisney]

Love the Christmas stuff on Jungle Cruise. Very cute! Also love the pictures with Chip and Dale. The photographer did a great job.

I was excited to see some good pics! We order PP too but I like to have pictures to share right away and sometimes the CMs can't always figure out my camera...I always appreciate them trying though!

 

[emilyindisney]

I was really surprised when I saw the Jingle cruise was still going so I knew I had to rise it. We had a great skipper as well. I have never met Chip and Dale in western gear definitely need to add that to the list.

A good, sarcastic skipper definitely makes for an amusing ride (even if it's not my favorite!) I think all the jokes sound funnier when said dryly!

They meet in frontierland regularly in those outfits if you ever wanna catch them in the future!

 

[jdd]

I didn't know they dressed up Jungle Cruise for Christmas - how cool!

This is one of our family's favorite rides - sometimes we're the only people in the boat laughing.....but we love it! I agree that the skipper can make or break it though.

 

[Ariel484]

Emily, I am so with you on the Jungle Cruise! I just don't get it! I haven't actually admitted that to my friends though, and our skipper this time was really, really good - dry and sarcastic, just like you said. Lots of comments about Disney still having it be the Jingle Cruise even though it was already a third of the way through January...

Super, super cute pictures with Chip and Dale.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

YAY for the Welcome Show!!! I can't think of a better way to start a day at Magic Kingdom.

Haha, the Jungle Cruise is absolutely cheesy and that's why I love it. For me, the jokes will never get old. And super bonus seeing the Jingle Cruise. They added so much more to it this year over last. I hope that is a sign of things to come.

Oh Lord I go nuts if I'm in the front row on BTM. Though I do also get a kick out of how you can actually feel the brakes kicking in before it does a drop.

I always say, the only thing cuter than Chip and Dale is Chip and Dale in tiny cowboy hats.

 

[emilyindisney]

I didn't know they dressed up Jungle Cruise for Christmas - how cool!

This is one of our family's favorite rides - sometimes we're the only people in the boat laughing.....but we love it! I agree that the skipper can make or break it though.

I'm pretty sure they have Christmas jokes to go with it too but they were using the regular ones when we rode!

Emily, I am so with you on the Jungle Cruise! I just don't get it! I haven't actually admitted that to my friends though, and our skipper this time was really, really good - dry and sarcastic, just like you said. Lots of comments about Disney still having it be the Jingle Cruise even though it was already a third of the way through January...

Super, super cute pictures with Chip and Dale.

I'm glad I'm not the only one!! It's a classic (that I won't deny) but it's certainly not on my must-do list!

YAY for the Welcome Show!!! I can't think of a better way to start a day at Magic Kingdom.

Haha, the Jungle Cruise is absolutely cheesy and that's why I love it. For me, the jokes will never get old. And super bonus seeing the Jingle Cruise. They added so much more to it this year over last. I hope that is a sign of things to come.

Oh Lord I go nuts if I'm in the front row on BTM. Though I do also get a kick out of how you can actually feel the brakes kicking in before it does a drop.

I always say, the only thing cuter than Chip and Dale is Chip and Dale in tiny cowboy hats.

It was a very festive way to start the day- I'm glad we caught it!

The front row is veryyyy slow, but still entertaining! I definitely need to try the back row next time!

 

[disneyhorselover]

Emily, I am so with you on the Jungle Cruise! I just don't get it! I haven't actually admitted that to my friends though, and our skipper this time was really, really good - dry and sarcastic, just like you said. Lots of comments about Disney still having it be the Jingle Cruise even though it was already a third of the way through January...

Super, super cute pictures with Chip and Dale.

I will even admit that a bad skipper can make it a pretty lame ride....

Our on this trip was excellent, and my favorite joke was unscripted...
We were on the first boat of the day, and they waited at the dock for a few minutes waiting for the boat to fill up a little more.

Skipper: So did you guys wake up this morning and think that you just had to go to Jungle Cruise? Me too. Did you guys then cry for 45 minutes? Just me?

 

[emilyindisney]

I will even admit that a bad skipper can make it a pretty lame ride....

Our on this trip was excellent, and my favorite joke was unscripted...
We were on the first boat of the day, and they waited at the dock for a few minutes waiting for the boat to fill up a little more.

Skipper: So did you guys wake up this morning and think that you just had to go to Jungle Cruise? Me too. Did you guys then cry for 45 minutes? Just me?

Okay, yeah- I'll admit that one was pretty funny!

 

[emilyindisney]

A little sisterly competition

We wanted to meet the Tremaines and heard they’d be in Fantasyland so we headed in that direction. We stopped for a castle pic or two because why not?


IMG_3236 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr


IMG_1301 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

Next up we decided to ride the carousel. We were discussing the horse different horses as we waited to board and looked up which horse was Cinderella’s. Once it was time to ride we split up and each circled the carousel looking for the horse with the gold ribbon in its tail. I found it first and climbed on (which made Caitlin mad because I wouldn’t get off and trade horses with her, haha!) I am actually still mad about this. #bitter

Victory is mine!


IMG_3238 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

The runner up, hahaha!


IMG_1302 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

Once we got off we tried to find the Tremaine’s and with the help of a CM found out they were meeting by the castle. The line was suppperr long but we got in anyways. Not even two minutes later we found out they were switching with Fairy Godmother in 5-10 minutes so we decided to save ourselves the wait and pass this time. We hadn’t stopped for any PP pictures on the way into the park so we stopped on the back side of the castle instead!



The people in the background always make me laugh.



That's our third sister on the left, obviously! Our derpy attempt at surprised faces also makes me laugh!



To give our feet a break we stopped into Philharmagic where we got a red wait time card to carry through (though I can’t imagine this ever builds much of a wait!)

We waited right outside the theater doors for maybe 5 minutes before we went in!


100_7535 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

This one is always so fun! The music they picked to feature is just great!

We had a Space Mountain FP+ on the horizon so it was time to head in the general direction of Tomorrowland. On the way we saw Alice and the Mad Hatter coming out next to the tea cups. Seeing as there was no wait we decided to jump in for some pictures.


100_7536 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr


100_7539 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

The Mad Hatter was a hoot- he made these hilarious model faces in the pictures of the people before use that reminded me of Zoolander.​

 

[courtneybelle]

Hahaha I am with Caitlin, I LOVE the Jungle Cruise!!! Jingle Cruise is super cute too.

I love Cowboy Chip and Dale too!!! Your pics are great!

Looks like a super fun day of characters--can't wait for more!

 

[emilyindisney]

Hahaha I am with Caitlin, I LOVE the Jungle Cruise!!! Jingle Cruise is super cute too.

I love Cowboy Chip and Dale too!!! Your pics are great!

Looks like a super fun day of characters--can't wait for more!

While I'm snowed in courtesy of the impending Blizzard I'll be writing lots of updates, haha! If snow is coming your way too stay warm and safe!

 

[Biggie Smalls]

Bummer about the step sisters- but I'm jealous you had the mad hatter, we had Alice and the white rabbit instead.

I'm not a jingle cruise lover but went for dS3 and had the most dry ridiculously snarky guide and I was dying laughing. It made me a believer that with the right one it's worth it.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I absolutely LOVE that you gals did the carousel. I don't know that there's anything that says "never grow up" quite like that and Walt would be proud. Also, well done on the Cinderella horse hunt Emily. Finder keepers.

It's surprising how few people get the PP photo behind the castle. Definitely a gem.

Ah cool meet with Alice and the Hatter.

 

[MagentaMulan]

Nice TR so far! I had no idea The Wave at the Contemporary had a buffet for breakfast. I must try that on a future trip!

 

[ZellyB]

Excellent day at MK! I didn't know there was a specific horse that was Cinderella's. Learn something new everyday. A little sisterly competition is a good thing.

 

[disneyhorselover]

Hahaha I am with Caitlin, I LOVE the Jungle Cruise!!! Jingle Cruise is super cute too.

I love Cowboy Chip and Dale too!!! Your pics are great!

Looks like a super fun day of characters--can't wait for more!

JUNGLE CRUISE LOVES UNITE!!! Seriously though. Emily clearly lacks a sense of humor.

Bummer about the step sisters- but I'm jealous you had the mad hatter, we had Alice and the white rabbit instead.

I'm not a jingle cruise lover but went for dS3 and had the most dry ridiculously snarky guide and I was dying laughing. It made me a believer that with the right one it's worth it.

I don't think I realized that they rotate-we caught them completely by accident, they just happened to be arriving as we walked by! The Mad Hatter is definitely worth meeting, he is really funny.

I absolutely LOVE that you gals did the carousel. I don't know that there's anything that says "never grow up" quite like that and Walt would be proud. Also, well done on the Cinderella horse hunt Emily. Finder keepers.

It's surprising how few people get the PP photo behind the castle. Definitely a gem.

Ah cool meet with Alice and the Hatter.

I sometimes take the "never grow up" a little too far and insist on riding the carousel where ever we go...which sometimes confuses people since I used to get paid to ride real horses for a full time job.

Nice TR so far! I had no idea The Wave at the Contemporary had a buffet for breakfast. I must try that on a future trip!

Yes I definitely recommend it-I think the buffet was only like $20 too...totally worth it!

Excellent day at MK! I didn't know there was a specific horse that was Cinderella's. Learn something new everyday. A little sisterly competition is a good thing.

If you go to look, Cinderella's horse is in the second row from the outside and has the bow in its tail! I think I have looked this up before this trip also, again mostly because I am guilty of being a horse nut

 

[ursalita]

I loved the Wave for dinner now I have to try it for breakfast.

I love your dual TR. Glad you got to ride the Jingle Cruise.

Chip and Dale are so cute. I'll have to watch out for them in their little outfits.

 

[emilyindisney]

I loved the Wave for dinner now I have to try it for breakfast.

I love your dual TR. Glad you got to ride the Jingle Cruise.

Chip and Dale are so cute. I'll have to watch out for them in their little outfits.

Most definitely because it was super tasty!!

 

[emilyindisney]

I just really love popcorn, okay?!

After our character meet-n-greet detour we made it to Space and walked right on thanks to FP+! Here’s our ride picture:



It is evident that we couldn’t remember where the camera was but the guy in front of us sure did! I even complimented him for making our picture so funny on the way off the ride!

As we walked through the Space gift shop I found my beloved Chocolate Mint popcorn! I bought this in February and it was sooo good! I was sad because I couldn’t find it anywhere in October and thought they weren’t selling it anymore. This means I clearly needed to stock up:


IMG_3239 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

I just really love Disney popcorn, okay guys?! Don’t judge!

Actually, some of this was for a gift for Mom and Dad too. I bought some so I didn’t have to take the chance of not finding it again and figured I would have it sent to the front of the park for pick-up...wrong-o! Turns out they won’t send popcorn to the front of the park because it might get crushed...boo! I had to carry it around for the rest of the day but once I realized it was pouring outside the shop I wasn’t so mad because I utilized the bag as a popcorn filled umbrella!

We wanted to escape the rain in Carousel of Progress but it was broken down so we opted for the Peoplemover instead!


IMG_1303 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

It was a little breezy up there but riding through the indoor tunnels was nice and warm! Once we got off it was getting close to our next FP+ so we headed back towards Fantasyland. We thought Gaston might be meeting in his tavern so we stopped in. He wasn’t there but I figured I would cozy up in the best seat in the house anyways.


IMG_3240 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

“I use antlers in all of my decorating!” Me too, Gaston, me too.


IMG_3241 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

When we were getting ready to leave it was rain so we made a run for Enchanted Tales with Belle- our next FP+! This was something we’d never tried and we were excited to see what it was about.

We went in and they handed out parts, though we passed on participating, haha!


IMG_1304 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

The show was very cute and the little kid who played the beast who adorable! I wish you guys could have seen the look on his face when he got to dance with Belle!


IMG_1305 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

The attraction was fun, though I don’t think I’d do it again because its definitely geared towards kids/families with kids. I’m glad we did it so I at least know what its all about!

Caitlin was in the mood to meet more characters and I was in the mood to be out of the cold, wet weather so we decided meeting Ariel in her grotto worked well for both of us. We stopped for a few PP before getting in line.





Fish faces! (Caitlin's a puffer fish, hahaha!)



Ariel is my favorite princess so Erik’s castle is obviously my favorite..sorry Cindy!

It probably took about 15-20 minutes to meet Ariel. I don’t remember talking about anything significant during this meet and greet.


100_7540 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr


100_7541 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr


100_7543 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

I do remember thinking that Ariel’s ‘winter-wear’ was a little bit strange looking and I was a little surprised she wore sleeves because she meets inside in all weather.​

 

[emilyindisney]

Putting the (quick) service to the test

After that it was time for our lunch FP at Be Our Guest- thank goodness because I was hungry! We were excited to try out Be Our Guest for lunch as we’d gone to dinner there shortly after it opened (back when getting a reservation wasn’t like winning the lottery and you didn’t need to ressie hunt like it was your full time job haha!) We checked in right around 12:30 and were seated within 5 minutes. I believe I overheard that the standby wait to be seated was 70 minutes at this point.

We opted to sit in the music box room because that room was closed when we had previously come for dinner.

Even though it was busy, it was fairly easy to find a table-they had tons of CMs constantly clearing and cleaning tables to help with turnover which was greatly appreciated! The tables were close together, but large, so by the time the 2 of us sat at the center of the table, we felt like we had plenty of breathing room to relax. (It is one of my pet peeves to have to eat so close to other people that its like you are sitting with them...that’s what dinner was like here.)


IMG_3244 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

It took about 10-15 minutes to get our food (which we preordered online) so while we waited we took turns grabbing drinks. I was beyond impressed that drinks were free- I mean, where in Disney do you actually get something free like that!? Fountain drinks, coffee, hot chocolate, tea, etc- all free! Sweet! We were actually confused and unsure about the drink process because we thought there was no way that drinks could just be FREE, haha.

Finally our food came. I got the french onion soup:


IMG_1312 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

It was good but very cheesy!

Caitlin got a turkey sandwich:


IMG_1313 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

This sandwich was super good-loaded with thick cut turkey (think thanksgiving turkey rather than sandwich meat) and the bread was delicious! The fries were also crispy and tasty, though they may have tasted that much better simply because I never eat french fries at home.

We also got the the grey stuff cupcake and the orange creme eclair.


IMG_1314 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

Both of these were delicious but ultimately forgettable-don’t come here just for them, but if you are going anyways, definitely try something! If I recall correctly, I preferred the cupcake and Emily liked the eclair, but they were both good.

Everything was really, really good. Over lunch we discussed how they let you seat yourself but know which table to bring your order too. They mentioned having to leave a magicband at the table if you walked away so we wondered if maybe there was an RFID reader in the table? Anyone know the scoop on this?

Overall, I really liked the lunch experience here and totally want to return. I had been unsure about the whole ordering one month in advance thing (that’s extreme planning, even for me) but since I’m kind of a picky eater, there isn’t a lot I’ll eat so I wouldn’t have wanted to change my mind anyways. You don’t have to pre-order with FP+, but I think it definitely saved us a lot of time.

After lunch, we headed up to Storybook Circus, where we noticed that The Great Goofini and Fortune Telling Donald had no line at Pete’s Silly Sideshow, so we decided to stop in for a meet and greet! We told Goofy we were running his challenge which he was happy to hear! He tried to offer us his motorcycle to ride, but he couldn’t get it out of the wall. We appreciated the thought, Goofy!


100_7544 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

Next we walked over to meet Donald and evidently got a serious sunburn in those ten steps.


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I really liked his outfit!

I love the Flying Dumbos- it’s such a Disney classic! So when we walked by and saw no line we jumped on. Well, actually, we walked through the queue and accidently took a pager in the play room because we thought we had to do that part (which it turns out we totally didn’t.) We returned our pager and got right on the next cycle.


IMG_1316 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr


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After like...two rotations the ride started slowing down like it was stopping...that was quick! However, when it came to a full stop and we were still up in the air we realized we were stuck on Dumbo…


IMG_1319 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

SOS- send help, stuck on Dumbo!


IMG_1320 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

They brought all the Dumbos down and it turns out they had to stop the ride because a parent let their little child sit on the outside of the car. They said we could reboard but we figured two rotations was enough to give us our Dumbo fixed and we offered our seats to the next people in line and kept moving.

We were ready for another sit-down break with some heat (I know, a change from the usually desired air conditioning break haha) so we headed back to…


100_7546 by secondaryhoney, on Flickr

Hall of Presidents! Did you know there is only one replica of the Presidential seal carpet from the oval office and it’s that one? It took an act of Congress to get it in WDW (which you probably heard if you saw the show.) I thought that was interesting because it just goes to show that everyone, Congress and the President included, loves Disney! Not only did I enjoy the comfy seat but I really liked the attraction. It made me feel warm, fuzzy, and patriotic! ​