Just Another Awesome Day at the Magic Kingdom
I was still stuck on California time even though I've been in Florida for nearly a week and a half. Sleeping in is always fun, except when you know that crowds are always the lowest at opening. If you parked at the Transportation and Ticket Center, it takes about 30 minutes to get from your car to the front gates of the Magic Kingdom. In between, you have the choice of the monorail or ferry. If it's early morning and you are deciding between the two modes of transportation, choosing the monorail is often a safer bet. While they both might take a similar amount of time, the frequency of monorails passing through is much higher. A road less traveled is to take the resort monorail line to the parks. While you will be making stops at the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, the monorail is often less crowded. The benefits of this monorail are more visible near closing, as the line for the Magic Kingdom line will have plenty of guests just waiting to board.
We haven't had our fuel for the day, so we dropped by Starbucks (sorry, I meant Main Street Bakery, don't scold me). We picked up a spinach and feta breakfast wrap and omitted the caffeine since it's never needed in a Disney park.
We opened up our day with Space Mountain. It was business as usual.
Today was a beautiful day to ride to take a drop on Chickapin Hill. With our FastPass, we got wet in no time. After getting off of the ride, we spotted some skywriting. Although it was more legible than my own handwriting, I still couldn't make out what it said.
Passing through Adventureland, we decided to make a stop at Pirates of the Caribbean. The wait for this attraction is always minimal and it was nice staying out of the sun's rays, not that we have anything against them, except cancer.
Wanting to lead a life full of piracy, we checked out some pirate loot at the exit. While it may be easy to dress up as a pirate, I don't think either one of us have the attitude of one. It's a shame, as I was hoping to have a animatronic look-alike some day.
Next up was our actual FastPasses for Space Mountain. In the queue, I saw a game I didn't recognized. I think you had to shuttle trash from one side of the screen to the other. My guess is that the goal is to be a hoarder like Ariel.
Since we were nearby, we took a ride on People Mover.
For lunch, we visited the best place to have a bowl of sweet butternut squash soup; that is, only if it is the seasonal soup, which it wasn't during this visit. Oh well. At least the spaghetti and meatballs are always a safe bet. I haven't seen Lady and the Tramp (no shame), so I'm not sure if I had to eat this meal a certain way.
Our last FastPass of the day was for the Jungle Cruise. While we didn't have the skipper that seemed like he just transferred from the Tower of Terror, I at least spotted a hidden Mickey en route to the Nile.
It was nearly 3PM by now and the Festival of Fantasy parade was about to make its rounds. We just hung around the central hub since we didn't want to try to hard to find the best viewing area.
After Festival of Fantasy, we have a tendency to follow the parade down Main Street. We are eventually drawn into the shops and then out again with the sounds of the Dapper Dans.
With our FastPasses depleted, we just roamed the park. Actually, Disney recently implemented the ability to make additional FastPass+ reservations after the first three were redeemed. So us being us, we went to the nearest FastPass+ kiosk and made a reservation for the Haunted Mansion. With some time to kill until our reservation, we decided to relax for quite a while near the entrance of the please-have-a-soft-opening-this-week Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Early today, Michelle had asked a cast member if there was any chance of a soft opening. As usual, Michelle received a canned response. This time, instead of asking, we just watched from a distance (~15 meters) if they were letting guests in. We saw that the trains were running and with riders on them. What we weren't sure of was if the riders were everyday guests, cast members, or holograms. We did see that those who entered and exited the ride carry a badge with them. When a rider passed us by, Michelle politely asked and learned that he was a cast member. My guess was that access was also granted to friends and families of the cast member.
After about 20 minutes of people watching, we walked over to the Haunted Mansion to use up our FastPass.
For some reason, I wanted to practice my aim. Off we went for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland. We took the path through Fantasyland where we came across the Princess Fairytale Hall. If you have kids that want to meet with either Anna and Elsa, I feel extremely sorry for you.
On Space Ranger Spin, I think I scored my highest yet. On the other hand, my partner in crime was too shy to be called my accomplice.
While we were in the neighborhood, we caught a showing of Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. I still didn't get a churro from the churro guy.
Back in Fantasyland, we walked onto It's a Small World as we were influenced by the walk-on wait time.
Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid is one of those rides that rarely has a sizable line. Pirates of the Caribbean is one and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is another. The issue with Under the Sea is that there is no one criteria to judge it by. Those who wish for the ride to follow the movie are disappointed and even confused by the limited number and abruptness of the show scenes. At the same time, it follows the same storytelling of the more classic dark rides. Similar among Disney's dark rides is that a lot of the story elements have been cut and the ending sometimes doesn't make sense. I still have yet to understand the ending to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. But I digress. Ignore what you've just read and go for the new hairdo that Ariel is rocking.
Continuing deeper into Fantasyland, we made a trip on the Barnstormer and then on Dumbo. Make sure to ride Dumbo at night, as the park takes on a different light from that height.
The clock struck 10 o' clock and we were at our usual place for fireworks. There were some walls put up near the Crystal Palace, which blocked the view right by the lake. This most likely was the reason why our favorite spot to sit was crowded when we got there.
Our last FastPass was for Big Thunder, making our FastPass count up to 8. Like everything else at night, Big Thunder is almost an entirely different experience. Big Thunder at night has the right balance of being able to see where you are headed but dark enough to not be able to anticipate each and every turn, unless you've committed the path to memory.
We wanted our last ride of the day to be Peter Pan's Flight. Since you are allowed to line up right up until closing, we had about 15 minutes to get to get there from Adventureland. Before that though, Michelle wanted to ride the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Due to staring behind the viewfinder a little too long, I didn't give us enough time to ride the Magic Carpets and make it to Peter Pan's Flight. Sorry sweetie.
After getting off Peter Pan, we slowly made our way to the front gates. Just before passing the Time Square, I spot a checkerboard set and challenged Michelle to a game. We left winning as a team.
Today was a day in which we tried to squeeze in as many FastPass+es. There is a crowd out there that frowns on My Magic Plus. While their concerns are legitimate, the removal of the three reservations per day limit makes FastPass+ just as useful than it's predecessor. While you still have to hunt down a FastPass+ kiosk to obtain reservations after your initial three, it is much more convenient going to a kiosk than to the other side of the park where the attraction is. It's only a matter of time until Disney addresses this issue, then the only thing I can complain about is that reservations don't make themselves.
Next up, join us for some movie magic at Hollywood Studios.
0 comments :
Post a Comment