ZehnJahren
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2010
- Messages
- 2,801
So far my morning was coming along very nicely. It was gorgeous weather; crowds were low; I was feeling great and energy was high. I'd only been in a Disney park for a little under and hour and already rode several of my favorite rides. So, what's a girl to do when the clock strikes 9?
I headed back towards Frontierland. I wanted to see my beloved HM - I'd been dreaming about it for the few months since I'd been away. First, a picture of the castle.
It was now 8:54 a.m., so they should soon be letting us in for the HM rush!
I sat on a bench next to the rope across the Frontierland entryway, complete with some CMs dressed in HM garb. An asian couple, clearly not American, kept speaking with them in broken, difficult english and pointing to the map. The CM they kept speaking to kept shaking her head and saying "we're not open yet" and "nine a.m.". I took a photo to mark this moment from my bench, as I could not remember ever having waited for the HM like this before!
Just a couple of minutes passed, and I saw other groups starting our direction. I felt that rush of "hey, wait a minute! I've been waiting here; don't you think you're going to get past me!" and then realized that was ridiculous. It didn't matter anyway, as they were dropping the rope and walking us back to the HM.
The "rush" begins.
The "rush" continues.
A small group of guests passed the CMs; I was being careful to stay behind them, but the other guests had no such compunction and ended up beating me in line.
A quick picture of the horseless carriage, and I headed towards those foreboding doors.
I was so close to being the first one at the door! Ugh. Oh well I guess it doesn't matter.
I knew where to go stand in the stretching room, so I slid my way over until I was in the right place. There weren't too many people in the room along with me - the Mansion had just opened. When the spiel was done and the doors opened, I was the first through heading towards the Doombuggies - and being by myself that means I was the first on the ride for the day! A small triumph, but very cool to an old Mansion junkie.
Grim grinning ghosts, indeed! I enjoyed my trip through the mansion, and once I came out (somehow AGAIN avoiding becoming the 1000th ghost), I contemplated the fate of a man with seven winsome wives. Bummer.
With such a beautiful morning (and just now past 9:15), I thought I'd head over to Splash, in honor of DBF. But first, a picture of my beloved BTMRR. Aw, I wish it were open; as it were, you couldn't hear any refurbishments going on - but it's still early!
Now, on to Splash! Can't miss this one! Except... well, there was a CM apologizing out front - that's never good. Turns out Splash was down this morning. Aw. Well, with one backward look, I headed onward. Where would I go?
Hm, all the boats were backed up. Must be a real issue.
Well, I guess since I'm here I'll jump on Pirates!
Another walk on. They put me in a row all by myself, and I spent some time looking closely at the scenery instead of chatting the whole way through (like usual). Ah, the benefits of a solo trip! Now, I like the Pirates movies, but I don't know how I feel about them adding Barbosa and Jack Sparrow. The Jack animatronic is really awesome, though; oddly lifelike. Looks just like Johnny Depp (that being said - do you think his friends call him "Johnny"? Seems like a grade schooler's name).
We got to the cannon-fire area, and for the first time that I can remember, I had a VERY strong blast of air from the "cannon" go through my hair! I jumped and screamed, and the people behind me jumped as well, since my hair went flying! We all started laughing - it was very unexpected.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!
I got off the ride still chuckling to myself about the cannon, and then figured I'd go catch IASW before the crowds started growing. They'd be arriving soon - the park was open to the public by now. So off I went to the land of dolls.
It's 9:44 a.m. in this picture - please note the lines.
I got the front row to myself!
Instead of taking a bunch of pictures, I enjoyed the ride for once. The solo trip really gave me a chance to soak in all the rides of my childhood and enjoy them.
About halfway through, I started hearing the couple behind me. They had a daughter and son; the daughter was probably about 3 and beautiful - she was entranced by everything around her. The son was probably about 10 months, and his dad was holding him on his lap. And the entire ride - the ENTIRE ride - the woman was nagging the man. After a few minutes, I sneaked a peek at him - he looked exhausted. He would make a suggestion as to where to go next, and the wife would nag. Finally, he said "let's go to Tom Sawyer's Island." The wife didn't understand, she kept saying "I don't want to walk up in that treehouse" and he tried to explain it calmly. She kept arguing with him, and finally said, in a very "i'm always right" voice, "well honey, I don't have the entire park map memorized so I'm VERY SORRY if I don't know exactly what ride you're talking about at every moment." I had to stifle a laugh; she would NOT get off his case. Wonder how long they'd been there at that point...?
After getting off the ride, I figured I'd try Weirdo-the-Pooh one more time. It was up and running, and, surprise, a 3 minute wait.
This is truly the weirdest ride at the park, if you ask me. I think I sat with my nose wrinkled up in confusion for most of the time.
Once I got off the ride, it was about 10:10 a.m. and I could see the crowds moving into MK. I decided it was park-hopping time - but first, I stopped for a castle shot! Not a good shot of me, so it remains in the vault.
I stopped and watched the Main Street performers; I also took a video and enjoyed a little Main Street atmosphere:
I decided to take the monorail to Epcot, but noticed while leaving that my battery was running down for some odd reason on my phone! Hm, that shouldn't be happening already! Ok, I'll run back to the car - parked so nice and close at the TTC - and grab my backup battery charger. Would only take a few more minutes. Then I'd be on my way to Epcot.
And since I wasn't going straight to Epcot, I decided to take the ferry. And WOW, this was an odd trip! Why?
It was a ghost ship! While about 4,000 people got off the ferry, only me and one other woman got on at MK. Not too surprising - it was only 10:40 a.m. - but just a little odd to be on this big boat almost by myself!!
Aw, I miss the CR:
When we approached the landing at the TTC, one of the boat drivers (captains?) came out of his little driving box, walked over by where I was, and put up ONE of those "do not use the stairs during this time" stair ropes! I started laughing; I was the only person on the top of the boat, and I was sitting down - no worries, pal, I'm not going to use the stairs while we dock!
Once we arrived (and Mr. Worriedpants dropped the "DON'T USE THESE STAIRS!" rope), I walked downstairs to stand with the other person leaving the boat, a middle aged woman also by herself. We'd just taken this huge boat all by ourselves! And, waiting for the ferry, were literally HUNDREDS of people. It looked like a mass of seething humanity chomping at the bit for my solo friend and I to GET THE HELL OFF THE BOAT so they could get on.
We gladly obliged.
Now, I was heading to my car to grab my portable battery charger so I could continue to take photos and videos - I just didn't know WHY my phone was dying so fast. I paused for a photo of the monorail - no lines, people! - and then ran for the car and made a call to DBF to discuss the battery issue. I wanted to get to Epcot as soon as possible!
But I was about to be in for a rude surprise. The dream was over.
I headed back towards Frontierland. I wanted to see my beloved HM - I'd been dreaming about it for the few months since I'd been away. First, a picture of the castle.
It was now 8:54 a.m., so they should soon be letting us in for the HM rush!
I sat on a bench next to the rope across the Frontierland entryway, complete with some CMs dressed in HM garb. An asian couple, clearly not American, kept speaking with them in broken, difficult english and pointing to the map. The CM they kept speaking to kept shaking her head and saying "we're not open yet" and "nine a.m.". I took a photo to mark this moment from my bench, as I could not remember ever having waited for the HM like this before!
Just a couple of minutes passed, and I saw other groups starting our direction. I felt that rush of "hey, wait a minute! I've been waiting here; don't you think you're going to get past me!" and then realized that was ridiculous. It didn't matter anyway, as they were dropping the rope and walking us back to the HM.
The "rush" begins.
The "rush" continues.
A small group of guests passed the CMs; I was being careful to stay behind them, but the other guests had no such compunction and ended up beating me in line.
A quick picture of the horseless carriage, and I headed towards those foreboding doors.
I was so close to being the first one at the door! Ugh. Oh well I guess it doesn't matter.
I knew where to go stand in the stretching room, so I slid my way over until I was in the right place. There weren't too many people in the room along with me - the Mansion had just opened. When the spiel was done and the doors opened, I was the first through heading towards the Doombuggies - and being by myself that means I was the first on the ride for the day! A small triumph, but very cool to an old Mansion junkie.
Grim grinning ghosts, indeed! I enjoyed my trip through the mansion, and once I came out (somehow AGAIN avoiding becoming the 1000th ghost), I contemplated the fate of a man with seven winsome wives. Bummer.
With such a beautiful morning (and just now past 9:15), I thought I'd head over to Splash, in honor of DBF. But first, a picture of my beloved BTMRR. Aw, I wish it were open; as it were, you couldn't hear any refurbishments going on - but it's still early!
Now, on to Splash! Can't miss this one! Except... well, there was a CM apologizing out front - that's never good. Turns out Splash was down this morning. Aw. Well, with one backward look, I headed onward. Where would I go?
Hm, all the boats were backed up. Must be a real issue.
Well, I guess since I'm here I'll jump on Pirates!
Another walk on. They put me in a row all by myself, and I spent some time looking closely at the scenery instead of chatting the whole way through (like usual). Ah, the benefits of a solo trip! Now, I like the Pirates movies, but I don't know how I feel about them adding Barbosa and Jack Sparrow. The Jack animatronic is really awesome, though; oddly lifelike. Looks just like Johnny Depp (that being said - do you think his friends call him "Johnny"? Seems like a grade schooler's name).
We got to the cannon-fire area, and for the first time that I can remember, I had a VERY strong blast of air from the "cannon" go through my hair! I jumped and screamed, and the people behind me jumped as well, since my hair went flying! We all started laughing - it was very unexpected.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!
I got off the ride still chuckling to myself about the cannon, and then figured I'd go catch IASW before the crowds started growing. They'd be arriving soon - the park was open to the public by now. So off I went to the land of dolls.
It's 9:44 a.m. in this picture - please note the lines.
I got the front row to myself!
Instead of taking a bunch of pictures, I enjoyed the ride for once. The solo trip really gave me a chance to soak in all the rides of my childhood and enjoy them.
About halfway through, I started hearing the couple behind me. They had a daughter and son; the daughter was probably about 3 and beautiful - she was entranced by everything around her. The son was probably about 10 months, and his dad was holding him on his lap. And the entire ride - the ENTIRE ride - the woman was nagging the man. After a few minutes, I sneaked a peek at him - he looked exhausted. He would make a suggestion as to where to go next, and the wife would nag. Finally, he said "let's go to Tom Sawyer's Island." The wife didn't understand, she kept saying "I don't want to walk up in that treehouse" and he tried to explain it calmly. She kept arguing with him, and finally said, in a very "i'm always right" voice, "well honey, I don't have the entire park map memorized so I'm VERY SORRY if I don't know exactly what ride you're talking about at every moment." I had to stifle a laugh; she would NOT get off his case. Wonder how long they'd been there at that point...?
After getting off the ride, I figured I'd try Weirdo-the-Pooh one more time. It was up and running, and, surprise, a 3 minute wait.
This is truly the weirdest ride at the park, if you ask me. I think I sat with my nose wrinkled up in confusion for most of the time.
Once I got off the ride, it was about 10:10 a.m. and I could see the crowds moving into MK. I decided it was park-hopping time - but first, I stopped for a castle shot! Not a good shot of me, so it remains in the vault.
I stopped and watched the Main Street performers; I also took a video and enjoyed a little Main Street atmosphere:
I decided to take the monorail to Epcot, but noticed while leaving that my battery was running down for some odd reason on my phone! Hm, that shouldn't be happening already! Ok, I'll run back to the car - parked so nice and close at the TTC - and grab my backup battery charger. Would only take a few more minutes. Then I'd be on my way to Epcot.
And since I wasn't going straight to Epcot, I decided to take the ferry. And WOW, this was an odd trip! Why?
It was a ghost ship! While about 4,000 people got off the ferry, only me and one other woman got on at MK. Not too surprising - it was only 10:40 a.m. - but just a little odd to be on this big boat almost by myself!!
Aw, I miss the CR:
When we approached the landing at the TTC, one of the boat drivers (captains?) came out of his little driving box, walked over by where I was, and put up ONE of those "do not use the stairs during this time" stair ropes! I started laughing; I was the only person on the top of the boat, and I was sitting down - no worries, pal, I'm not going to use the stairs while we dock!
Once we arrived (and Mr. Worriedpants dropped the "DON'T USE THESE STAIRS!" rope), I walked downstairs to stand with the other person leaving the boat, a middle aged woman also by herself. We'd just taken this huge boat all by ourselves! And, waiting for the ferry, were literally HUNDREDS of people. It looked like a mass of seething humanity chomping at the bit for my solo friend and I to GET THE HELL OFF THE BOAT so they could get on.
We gladly obliged.
Now, I was heading to my car to grab my portable battery charger so I could continue to take photos and videos - I just didn't know WHY my phone was dying so fast. I paused for a photo of the monorail - no lines, people! - and then ran for the car and made a call to DBF to discuss the battery issue. I wanted to get to Epcot as soon as possible!
But I was about to be in for a rude surprise. The dream was over.
and to make things worse they are loitering around taking pictures while the line ups are BUILDING!!!! They must enjoy standing in long line ups 
I've never taken it!! I'm always in a rush to get in the park so go monorail and then dd and dh always say oh, let's just go with monorail at the end too. I'll have to put my foot down this time and say - We are TAKING the ferry out this time! 
My fingers are EXTRA crossed it's a go when we are there. It's not the most thrilling ride but for some strange reason it's my happy place and a trip wouldn't be complete without it.
to people who say it's boring. They just don't understand!
They went on it and unfortunately I watched dd who was too young to go at that time so i missed seeing them but it was a bit of surprise for them and i just get pleasure now thinking of it. haha. I'm so glad the went on it b/c you just HAVE to experience it - it's such an awesome ride/experience. 
