Trip Report January 22-24 2008

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A week and a half ago, our family spent a couple of days at WDW at the tail end of a Florida trip that included a few days in the Tampa area with my inlaws. Cast of characters:

Me: Dear Old Dad, 46, lover of dark rides, unreconstructed trip planner
Wife: Linda, 47, doesn’t do thrill rides (and she considers Peter Pan a thrill ride), shopper
DD8: Colleen, on the verge of independence but not there yet
DD7: Mary, mama’s girl but thinks Mommy is a chicken, has about 12 stuffed Minnies in her room

We’ll do this in four further parts: the first night’s dinner, Day One, Day Two, and a roundup of highlights and lowlights.

 

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Day 0: Boma, or More Zebra Domes Please

We had never eaten at Boma, so we made a reservation for the night we got in from Tampa. We had reserved for opening time, and we got there a little early based on some reports that Boma can have long lines.

Before checking in, we looked around for some hidden Mickeys. Found all of them that were in the Hidden Mickeys book (some are really hidden!) We checked in about 15 minutes early.

As we waited, a couple of men played the drums inside the restaurant. Finally, our pager went off, which I thought was a bit unusual, since I was sure at least two groups had checked in before us. We came up to the podium, and were informed that we had been selected Family Of The Day! They announced our name and hometown, and we were paraded to our table and seated first - very cool for a first visit.

The food was nothing short of outstanding. Our waitress suggested the tomato hummus, which was truly excellent, as was the prime rib, the watermelon rind salad, the Zebra Domes . . . everything, really.

 

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Day 1: Magic Kingdom, or Where Is Everybody?

We had 8:05 reservations for CRT breakfast (our second time; I’m the king of CRT reservations!) , but our youngest, Mary, was sick. My wife stayed in the hotel with her while Colleen and I headed out to the park. It had rained all night, and all morning; we bought umbrellas on the way in. But just as we arrived, things cleared up.

Breakfast ended with a little “wish” ceremony, which I think is designed to get people the heck out of the restaurant so reservations can run on time, but which is kind of neat for the kids; all the kids close their eyes, wave their magic wands or swords, and make a wish. When they open their eyes, little sparkly lights are flashing all over the restaurant.

We went downstairs in time for “rope drop ,” only there were so few people, they dropped the rope early and we were told “just stay around this area here.” We were in the first group on Dumbo, walked onto Peter Pan and “it’s a small world,” and rode Pooh twice in a row without getting off (thank you, nice cast member). It was like having the park to ourselves. We rode Buzz Lightyear with minimal waits three times in a row (in the afternoon), saw Monsters Inc. and Country Bears and Belle’s little show next to the castle – the only thing that had a wait all day was Big Thunder, and we fastpassed that. Thunder had a 70-minute wait time posted midafternoon, probably because (1) Splash was closed for refurb, and (2) those times are wildly exaggerated anyway.

 

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Day 2: Magic Kingdom, or Oops, WHAT day is today?

Mary was feeling better Thursday, and DW wanted to go to the MK, so we went back there, instead of Epcot as we had been thinking. When we got there, they were holding people at the TTC until almost 9:00.

Oops.

Now I remember why we weren’t planning on the MK for Thursday: it was EMH Morning! We took the ferry in, since there was going to be a mob waiting for the monorail. Of course, we were let in just in time to watch a ferry leave, so we had to wait for the next one. Muttering obscenities all the way over, I revised the plan . . . Dumbo was out, what would we do if all of Fantasyland was a riot scene . . . .

We arrived, and bolted for Fantasyland. Dumbo: no way. We headed for Pan; posted 20 minutes, but the line looks short. Got in line, and $%^# Disney, it’s longer than it looks. Not 20 minutes though, and we ride successfully; the kids rode together for the first time, and DW and I shared a ship. Pan scares the living daylights out of her, but she was reasonably OK this time and really sort of likes the ride now.

I sent the family to “iasw” while I fastpass Pooh. I got back well before they’re done, and checked out the Carrousel; very short lines. We all rode that next. I wanted to go to Toontown Fair next, when it opens (Mary is all about Minnie and wants to meet Donald too), but DW wanted to wait for the Pooh FP time and have a drink. So I got in a (not too long) line for drinks while the kids played in Ariel’s fountain. We took our break, rode Pooh, and got over to the Fair at about 10:30.

Where we spent about 45 minutes waiting to see Minnie. Gotta do it, but I wish we had done it at 10. I vetoed seeing Mickey or Donald (30 minute posted waits for the Hall of Fame), but we did see Mick’s house.

From there, we split up; I wanted to see Pirates and Haunted Mansion (hadn’t been to either since the upgrades); DW and Mary wanted to see Country Bears; Colleen wanted to do something else, but had to choose between Pirates and Bears. She went to POTC with me. We all met up afterwards at Pecos Bill’s, then I went to HM while everybody else shopped. We caught the “family” parade and headed back to the hotel early.

 

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Highlights and Lowlights

Trip highlights:

1. Counter service food. I was pleasantly surprised by Cosmic Ray’s and Pecos Bill’s; good burgers, great toppings. Of course, this was nothing in comparison with:

2. Boma. Best buffet I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot – we used to go to brunch every Sunday when I was a teenager. But it’s really about the rides, so we get to the true highlights with:

3. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This was Colleen’s first “big” coaster, and mine too (I rode a log flume at Six Flags once). Thought I was going to die, but it was fun. It’s Colleen’s new favorite ride, but not mine; it falls short of:

4. Pirates of the Caribbean. This has always been great, and they did a fine job with the upgrade. Captain Jack’s figures may be the best animatronics ever. Nevertheless, it can’t quite match the quality of:

5. The Haunted Mansion. I first rode this a couple of years ago, and it was great, of course, but badly needed an upgrade, especially in sound. It got it, and more. The Imagineers fixed everything that was bad, kept everything that was great, and improved everything that was good. This is now an AWESOME ride. If I were in charge of WDW, I would take the team that did this upgrade, give them a huge bonus, and tell them to go ahead and do anything they wanted to anything else in the parks.

Lowlights:

1. The Country Bears. This was fun in a “cool, I finally got to see another of the old classics” way, but it sorely needs an upgrade. This is where I’d tell the Haunted Mansion team to start.

2. The fact that we couldn’t all enjoy the first day. Mary turned out to be fine, by the way.

3. My own stupidity, in showing up at MK on an EMH day and then departing from known touring principles. It wasn’t bad at all, though, which surprised me a little.

4. Having to come home.

It was a great trip overall. I'll try to get some pics up tonight or tomorrow. Post here or PM with questions, comments, or sarcastic remarks.