Who's Gonna Have More Fun? Two PTR's for the Price of One!

[sjs314]

MK used to be my favorite park but I have to say with all the changes to it and rides that are now gone and I have such fond memories of from the first time we visited, the skyway, 20,000 leagues and now snow white It just loses a tiny bit of the magic for me. It would be nice to return and relive or try to relive a small part of that first wonderous visit to MK.

Change is inevitable but I do not have to like it

 

[JoBird]

Good Morning,er, afternoon(???) everyone! I hope all of you are doing good today and have great plans for the weekend! I think we will finally get our deck done-- we are a month behind planting flowers and it's driving me batty!!
I probably won't get on here much for the next few days-- so let me wish everyone a safe and Happy Memorial Day!

SJS - There are 54 combinations to the ride. We were able to ride it during a soft opening at DHS, six times, all different rides. My son rode over twenty times and they were all different rides as well.

Got to ride it again this past weekend during AP previews at DL and all three rides were different, than any of my previous six rides at DHS. It is a VERY repeatable ride, the 3D is amazing, the projection and graphics are incredibly sharp, and it is a rougher, more bouncier ride.

Star Wars fans are going to love it. Everyone was clapping after the ride - they thoroughly enjoyed it. Disney has a hit on its hands!

Sea

I had no idea they had so many combos for that ride! We only rode the old one twice I think- Mark can't ride things like that so I rode with the kids. I'm looking forward to trying the new one out. Thanks for the info on it!

More beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing, Jo

Thanks Mindy!!

Jo, my list is pretty much like yours. Definitely Epcot #1 MK was also my 2nd fav, until I reconsidered after reading Shelly's list. Now I would say it is tied for 2nd with DHS. (which I think was still MGM on our last trip-when did it change?) And then, what seems to be everybody's bottom of the barrel, AK. I liked our first time at AK, when we went during Mardi Gras week. The weather was so pleasant-jacket in the morning, short sleeves in the afternoon, jacket at night. Last time it was so blasted hot that we finally gave up and cut it short.

So......for both you and Shelly.....I was wondering. Are there attractions that you know will be closed this time and attractions that were closed on your last trip that will now be open? Just a little PTR side bar, if you happen to know!

I'm so glad your area was spared the horrible weather. I know you just had the awful lightning strike, and it has to be scary seeing all these weather systems rolling through the middle of the country. The stories on TV are just too hard to watch.

Yeah- that lightning strike definitely was not fun. Mark said the other night "We took the lightning for the neighborhood last time, someone else around here's gonna have to take on the tornados, 'cause I'm done with getting new stuff."
Did you get any damage from the flooding??

Let's see- as far as what is or isn't going to be open when we go on vacation, I usually look at different websites to tell me what is in refurb-- I get a lot of my info on TGM and Allears as well as here.

I tell ya, though, I am NOT looking forward to the heat in Sept! Y'all will probably get a msg here from me saying to please send an ambulance to Adventureland, that I'm dying.

Hey all!!!!! love all your lists and the reasons.

Jo - I also am wondering if the new expansion and changes to the parks are going to affect my image of MK.

Quick question I heard that Mickey and Minnie house will NOT be going to MK anymore.... has anyone heard about this?????? i LOVE that part of toontown. my DD will be so upset.

I can just go for a Grey Goose Lemonade Slushie from WS right now? this heat is crazy!!!!!

Mari-- I think that the M&M houses are already torn down. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think that they are going to be up on Main Street now doing meet and greets.
I don't know what exactly is going to be in the place of their houses-- I'm trying not to read TOO much about it b/c I sort of want it to be a surprise when it's all done and over with.

 

[JoBird]

Great update Jo! I know how much you love Epcot and could spend days on end there!

We spent a good bit of time there last year, but I am really looking forward to it without all the Food & Wine Festival booths (and people) making it all crowded and without all those nasty smells coming from the booths! It really took away from Epcot for me.


I hope your DH enjoys DHS a little better this time.

I think Epcot will be so much better for you this time around. No funk around to make you ill!!
I'm not sure if I am even going to take Mark into DHS this time--- I think that might be one of his sleep in days.

Wow 54 combinations I loved Star Tours and can not wait to ride the new one!

I do hope we are not making a huge mistake going for F&W Festival although we do plan on avoiding it Friday night and Sat(except for a lunch ADR @ Marrakesh) and Sunday day so have my fingers crossed. I shudder when I rememeber your Epcot crowd pics from last year.
I do not smell too good so maybe the "nasty" smells won't bother me

Sheila I thought you were meaning that you don't smell good... as in you, personally, hygenically do not smell well. I swear I am losing it today. I had to re-read it b/c I said to myself--- "Girl! Why in the world would you admit that in front of God and everyone???"

Sorry. I really really don't believe that you stink.

I think you will be fine. My nose is super sensitive, so all the smells were making me a little nauseous. And you won't have little kids with you so all the people who have had a little too much Food & Wine Festival (emphasis on the Wine) that are walking around yelling profanities might not be as bothersome. I hope you don't encounter any of that though!! Or any of the crowds we did.

You'll have to tell me how Marrakesh is. We had an ADR there, but I got scared and cancelled it! I have actually changed that nights ADR 4 times. But I won't tell you what we ended up with until we get into the food part of the PTR!!

You changed the ADR 4 times........ now THAT'S funny!!!!! It was agony, wasn't it????? I still sort of wish you had kept Marrakesh--- you know I wanted to ask the boys about the Belly Dancer!!

I forgot today was my 3 Month mark!!! See, I told you it was a long day!

LOOK AT YOUR TICKER!!! IT STARTS WITH A '2'!!!! SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!:

Ok, this makes me nervous! Were you at the F&W Festival on a weekday or weekend? We've never actually been in WS during the festival but we have no choice this year since our dates are earlier. I've planned our WS day for a weekday hoping that will minimize the above mentioned problems. I can't handle that kind of stuff. If somebody started cussing around my child, it would get ugly quickly.

And I also want to know why you chickened out on Marrakesh??? (I have a feeling I already know the answer)

We've been a couple of times for F&W. It can be horrible or it can be good. Our first time was in 2006- Oct. It was unbelievebly quiet the whole time and it was over Halloween too! The next time we went was 2008 and it was crowded-- and it was over Halloween as well. There were drunk college kids making snide comments to my DS who had on a Gator Jersey--- my DH straightened it out super fast. It was on a weekend. There were some people who seemed to think they were the only ones around but mostly we tried to avoid those situations as much as possible.
The weekday wasn't as bad for us as the weekend but I know that Shelly had a different experience and it was crowded the whole time for her.

I am not overly enthusied over Marrakesh myself but DH has been wanting to go there since the first time we went to Epcot, back then I used the excuse that neither of our DS would like the food although they both were game for the belly dancer

My plan is the day we are having lunch at Marrakesh, we have dinner at 'Ohana so if I do not eat much lunch no biggy, let me at those pot stickers and wings etc

I have changed things a dozen time in fact DH had wanted to eat at Yak & Yeti for the Kobe burger then then we cancelled going to AK. I now see Big River Grille has a Kobe burger on their lunch menu(I did not tell DH yet) Not sure if I want to try shifting things around again since we have a few "must do" this trip and since I do not have to worry about an ADR for Big River maybe just play it by ear? I know you like that place from your last TR so it is now a serious option

Can you get food to go at Big River? If so could just get DH his burger some afternoon.

I like BRG too! I think it has good food and I like the fact that you can walk up to get in to it. You may want to play it by ear, like you said.

 

[JoBird]

WHAAAAAAAT????!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me? This is one of my all-time favs!!!! I am appalled...the first one Walt did and they are axing her?!!!! Surely to do something even better for her? I am just floored......speechless....
(and yes, I remember 20,000 Leagues too!! )

Sad, isn't it???? Now if we want to see Toad or Snow White we will have to go to DL --they have those there still.

This is so true, Shawna!
(but I like MK and Epcot best)

I think they are planning to close Snow White after the new Seven Dwarfs mine train ride opens. Maybe they figure one movie shouldn't get two attractions? I do miss a lot of the old Fantasyland things I remember from when I was little. I have a Viewmaster reel from the mid-70s that includes the Skyway, Mr. Toad (the big devil at the end!), 20,000 Leagues...aw, I need to dig that out and look at it again!

oh my gosh-- I used to have one of those viewmaster reels! And I had the little record player that had one of those thingys you pushed down and it showed pictures as it played--- I remember looking at the HM on it all the time. I wish my mom had've kept those for me.

MK used to be my favorite park but I have to say with all the changes to it and rides that are now gone and I have such fond memories of from the first time we visited, the skyway, 20,000 leagues and now snow white It just loses a tiny bit of the magic for me. It would be nice to return and relive or try to relive a small part of that first wonderous visit to MK.

Change is inevitable but I do not have to like it

I am afraid that when it's all said and done that it won't even feel like the MK to us old timers anymore. I don't do well with change.

 

[seacrestpromo]

^^ I have heard that the Snow White ride is going to be changed to a princess meet and greet area.

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

I'm a little sad about losing Snow White. I hope it isn't gone before we get there so that I can ride it one more time.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Afternoon everyone


Does everyone have big plans for the weekend? We don't really. Other than being outside! After tomorrow's rain it is actually supposed to be nice the rest of the weekend.

I am not overly enthusied over Marrakesh myself but DH has been wanting to go there since the first time we went to Epcot, back then I used the excuse that neither of our DS would like the food although they both were game for the belly dancer

My plan is the day we are having lunch at Marrakesh, we have dinner at 'Ohana so if I do not eat much lunch no biggy, let me at those pot stickers and wings etc

I have changed things a dozen time in fact DH had wanted to eat at Yak & Yeti for the Kobe burger then then we cancelled going to AK. I now see Big River Grille has a Kobe burger on their lunch menu(I did not tell DH yet) Not sure if I want to try shifting things around again since we have a few "must do" this trip and since I do not have to worry about an ADR for Big River maybe just play it by ear? I know you like that place from your last TR so it is now a serious option

Can you get food to go at Big River? If so could just get DH his burger some afternoon.

I know my boys (all 3 of them! ) would have enjoyed the belly dancer!! Too bad for them.

I'm sure you can get food to go at BRG. I highly recommend the place!

I think Epcot will be so much better for you this time around. No funk around to make you ill!!
I'm not sure if I am even going to take Mark into DHS this time--- I think that might be one of his sleep in days.

I hope so. You know how I don't like funk!!

Mark has to go to DHS, at least to ride RNRC!!

You changed the ADR 4 times........ now THAT'S funny!!!!! It was agony, wasn't it????? I still sort of wish you had kept Marrakesh--- you know I wanted to ask the boys about the Belly Dancer!!

I know, can you believe me changing that dang ADR so many times??? I sure hope we like what we ended up with!

LOOK AT YOUR TICKER!!! IT STARTS WITH A '2'!!!! SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!:

Well look at that, it sure does!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

13 WEEKS to go!!!!!!

 

[seacrestpromo]

Ok - I am heading out of the office and to lunch to start my holiday weekend.

We celebrated my wife's birthday at Club 33, check out the pix!:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41266665&postcount=1118

Sea

 

[ronnmel]

WHAAAAAAAT????!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me? This is one of my all-time favs!!!! I am appalled...the first one Walt did and they are axing her?!!!! Surely to do something even better for her? I am just floored......speechless....
(and yes, I remember 20,000 Leagues too!! )

They are building a new Snow White/7 Dwarf coaster to replace the old Snow White ride. As sad as I am to lose a classic, I'm very excited about this new coaster.


I agree with others, it's so hard to choose a favorite park.
- I *think* I prefer Magic Kingdom, for the amount of rides, the Castle, the firework and night time parade, and it's just so full of magic.
- Then I guess my second favorite would be Epcot, for World Showcase and Spaceship Earth.
- I also love Animal Kingdom. I love animals as well as taking walks in big parks with lots of vegetation.
- My least favorite park is DHS. Though some of my favorite rides are there, I just don't like the atmosphere of the park much. It probably doesn't help that I don't really like the restaurants there, and they also have my least favorite ride.

 

[sjs314]

I guess I should have said my sense of smell is not too good , and on occasion in the heat of summer at Disney I probally have not smelled to good too but how would I know since my nose can not tell

Jo - what is this about a lightening strike? what did I miss?

DH and I worked on the flower bed this morning ,wll closer to noon by time he got his old bones moving. He weeded while me and the dog watched, with me pointing out what not to pull out

He added 3 new bags of soil then topped it off with red mulch. He replaced the border fencing some of which had fallen from the weight of all that snow this winter.

I have some of the plants for the outside planters but need to pick up a few more so for now they are still sitting on the porch waiting their turn to be planted. Maybe we will get out to the garden store tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a super fun weekend, nothing planned here but finishing up the yard and relaxing

 

[T*Bird]

We've been a couple of times for F&W. It can be horrible or it can be good. Our first time was in 2006- Oct. It was unbelievebly quiet the whole time and it was over Halloween too! The next time we went was 2008 and it was crowded-- and it was over Halloween as well. There were drunk college kids making snide comments to my DS who had on a Gator Jersey--- my DH straightened it out super fast. It was on a weekend. There were some people who seemed to think they were the only ones around but mostly we tried to avoid those situations as much as possible.
The weekday wasn't as bad for us as the weekend but I know that Shelly had a different experience and it was crowded the whole time for her.

I hope they were wearing red and white and not purple and gold!

About the flooding......no, we didn't have any problems here. But the Mississippi is certainly higher than I've seen it in a long time, if ever. The worst flooding is south of here, in land that floods when the spillway is opened.

 

[Monny2AE]

I can't believe I am so late to the party!!!! I'm sure you ladies missed me. Apparently I miss all the fun when I take a DIS break to wallow in my missing Disney self pity party. Won't happen again. Promise.

Heading back to page 1 to catch up.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I can't believe I am so late to the party!!!! I'm sure you ladies missed me. Apparently I miss all the fun when I take a DIS break to wallow in my missing Disney self pity party. Won't happen again. Promise.

Heading back to page 1 to catch up.

Kim!! I was wondering where you were. I figured you were on a DIS break so I didn't bother you!

Glad you're back!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying a nice long weekend. We escaped the rain this time and it's been scorching hot all weekend. I guess we are getting ourselves ready for the FL heat this summer!

I realize there probably aren't too many people on the DIS today, but I'm going to go ahead and do an update since the week ahead looks like another crazy one!



Let's talk about Magic Kingdom!

There is something pretty special about a place that makes “tween” boys want to hug their mom in public!

We usually go to MK about 2 times per trip. We may add in an extra trip there this time since we will be staying so close during the second half of our trip. Well that and the fact that each time we go we probably won't last too long because of the heat, so it might take us more days to get to do everything we want to there!

Rides/Attractions we LOVE (and must do!) at MK:
Peter Pan
It's a Small World
Mickey's Philharmagic
Space Mountain
Buzzlightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Big Thunder Mountain RR
Haunted Mansion
Wishes

Continued in next post. . . .

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

continued. . . . .



Rides/Attractions we like (and usually do) at MK:
Winnie the Pooh
Snow White
Dumbo
Goofy's Barnstormer
Monster's Inc Laugh Floor
Splash Mountain
WDW RR
Cinderella's Golden Carousel
Mad Tea Party
Swiss Family Treehouse
Share a Dream Come True Parade
SpectroMagic Parade
Hall of Presidents
Tom Sawyer Island

Rides/Attractions we thought were just okay (and only did once) at MK:
Aladdin's Magic Carpets
Tiki Birds
Country Bear Jamboree
Carousel of Progress
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
Astro Orbiter



I believe the only things we have not done at MK are:
Stitch's Great Escape – just not interested
Liberty Square Riverboat – looks nice, but looks time consuming. The kids just aren't interested. Plus we have riverboats in PGH.


I'm not sure what all we will hit at MK on this trip. Due to the heat I am not planning on doing it all, that's for sure! Definitely everything on the first list. Anything beyond that will be a bonus. We missed Monsters Inc Laugh Floor somehow last year, so we will try to see that. Splash Mtn might feel good on a hot summer day! We did HoP, Astro Orbiter, and TSI for the very first time last year. We thought Astro was okay, but we didn't love it. We really enjoyed HoP, but probably won't see it again right away. TSI was very fun, but apparently we missed half of it somehow. We never saw any of the guns or animatronics. We would like to get back there again, but I doubt it will happen this trip with the heat. That raft ride over to the island was very hot on a day that was barely warm last November, so I think it would be unbearable in Aug/Sept!

We like to hit MK one day at rope drop. We head right for Fantasyland! We really enjoy those rides and like to do them first thing so we aren't stuck waiting in a long line for them later. From Fantasyland we usually go to Toontown or Tomorrowland next. Then cut across to Adventureland and then Frontierland and Liberty Square. After that we just wing it! And we usually head out around the time of the 3:00 parade.

On another day we like to have a nice relaxing morning at our resort, a CS lunch, maybe do some resort hopping, and then head to MK in the afternoon. Maybe around 2:00ish. Then we stay for the entire evening and for Wishes!


One more wonderful thing that I must mention about MK – Dole Whip Floats!! No trip is complete without one!

But we will talk about MK dining in another post.....

 

[DisMomAmy]

Mmmmmmm... A dole whip float looks amazing right now! Our weather pattern has finally changed & we're in a hot spell. It's a bit of a shock to the system after weeks of cold, rainy weather.

I wonder how long it would take a dole whip to melt in August?

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

That looks so good right now! It's crazy hot here. Florida hot.

Can't wait for a dole whip

 

[sjs314]

Love the pic of you and your DS's Shelly. I think you will be overdosed on Dole Whips since you will be able to get them while your at the Poly too.

I am sure you will squeeze in an extra trip to MK seeing how you will be so close, maybe you can get there really early and be selected as the Family of the Day

 

[ronnmel]

We visited Tom Sawyer Island in the middle of a hot August day last time and I actually think it's a great way to escape the heat. Though the raft ride may be hot, there is lots of shade on the island, and some of the caves are even a bit cool. Plus, it's a great place to get away from the big crowds and just relax a little.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

It's funny that you said you somehow haven't seen all of TSI, because I thought we saw it all too until seeing your pictures! I don't recall that area at all! And you mentioned animatronics, and I don't recall any of that either??? Very interesting!