Day 8: Magic Kingdom 2 - Late start
Since we were up late at Disney Hollywood Studios, we slept in a little the next morning and got to the Magic Kingdom *after* it opened. Shocking, I know. We kinda had two priorities -- make that three -- do everything we hadn't done, catch as many street performances as we could, and do our favorite things again (and again?). So, we headed over to Tomorrowland and all rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. I didn't do quite as well as the previous time, but I'm pretty sure I still had the high score in the group. I'm not entirely sure why, but I do shoot at lots of distant targets as fast as I can. Afterwards Tanner headed over to ride Space Mountain while the rest of us rode Buzz again. While we were waiting for Tanner to get done, we noticed Chip & Dale signing autographs, and Big-B and I jumped in line. After all, we'd all drawn Chip the afternoon before so it was fun to meet him & Dale.
Big-B was excited because our next stop was at the Tomorrowland Speedway, and this year he was big enough to drive by himself. They even gave him a driver's license. My Mom rode with my Dad and the rest of us each drove a different car - we had fun watching Big-B figuring out the driving thing. Steering does not yet appear to be his strong suit! We all then went over to ride it's a small world (yes, it officially is not capitalized) again, and again we managed to be going by the clock at the end as it chimed the quarter hour. We passed by "Dream Along with Mickey" again in the forecourt of the castle on our way over to Adventureland to ride the Jungle Cruise. Our guide was pretty funny, in a very snarky sort of way ... I guess that's the spiel they're using these days.
I was delighted to see that the Enchanted Tiki Room was no longer under new management (oddly enough three years ago it broke down midway through so we never really did see what the new management did to it, although the glimpse we got was more than enough). Apparently there was a fire early in the year that burned some of the characters used in the makeover, and they decided to go back to the original design. I wonder if that was more due to customer comments or finances? Anyway, like I said, I was glad to see them back to the original. My Dad and I then wandered in and out of a couple of shops while the other three rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. They never were at an angle so that my Dad could get a picture of them, unfortunately.
At this point we headed to Main Street to try and catch some live performances. We managed to find two of Cinderella's mice signing autographs, and Big-B didn't have to wait long for signatures and pictures. We were just starting to watch the glassblowing demonstration when we realized that the Main Street Trolley Parade that we'd been looking for had just arrived outside, so we popped out to watch that, then came in and caught the end of the glassblowing demo. Then we popped around Casey's corner to watch the pianist there tickle the ivories for a while. The group seemed to think that it was time for lunch at this point, so we went back over to Tomorrowland to eat at Cosmic Ray's - a counter service restaurant with enough options to keep everyone happy, and nice patio seating looking over water towards the central hub and castle.
There were a few things in Tomorrowland that we had not yet seen, so that was our next priority. Three years ago we'd skipped Stitch's Great Escape, and this time we experienced it, and now we know why we skipped it last time. Big-B never did understand what was going on, and well, I'm not sure any of the rest of us really did either. Lots of cool technology, but the Imagineers kind of did a swing and a miss when they tried to use it. The Monsters Inc. Laugh floor was next, and it was very much more enjoyable. They kept picking on a family sitting in front of us and wearing matching tie-dye t-shirts, which rather makes me wish we'd worn ours. Next time! Then it was time for Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, which was another one that my parents first saw at the 1964 World's Fair. Oddly enough, the final scene has been updated several times since then, but the others haven't. It's about time to drop out the second one, restore the original fourth one, and then do a new one at the end. Something like that, anyway.
We decided we had time to revisit the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and it's a small world again, then found ourselves watching the afternoon parade again. I suggested getting a snack at Sleepy Hollow, but my Dad and some others were more in the mood for an ice cream sundae, so we headed back to Main Street. The other four shared two sundaes but I popped into the Bakery and got a chocolate croissant. The best part was that there was plenty of seating available there, so I invited the rest of the group to join me. Just as we finished, the Main Street Philharmonic struck up a tune outside, so we headed up and grabbed some quality curb space to enjoy the show. There was a toddler happliy cavorting in the street and the players seemed to enjoy interacting with him whenever there was an opportunity.
Our plan called for us to revisit the Pirates of the Caribbean ride again at this point, but it was experiencing technical difficulties, so after Tanner reported the problem via touringplans.com's lines program, we headed over to the Frontierland station to ride the train, and decided to just ride it all the way around the park. It showed us a slight view of the new construction happening in Fantasyland ... did I mention there's a Dumbo's Circus thing planned there, that will somehow incorporate the Goofy barnstormer mini-rollercoaster? Once we got back to Frontierland we popped back over to Pirates of the Caribbean and they were up and running, so we got to enjoy it again.
Tanner then took a look at the Lines app so we could decide what would be a good thing to revisit. We all decideed that Mickey's Philharmagic was the way to go - it's a fun show. Then Big-B *really* wanted to visit the Tomorrowland Speedway one final time, and it actually didn't have a terribly long line, so we all agreed. My Mom kind of wanted to try her hand at driving this time, so I opted to ride with her and provide color commentary and hysterical sound effects - which all made it actually pretty fun. Big-B again of course chose to drive by himself, as did the others. After this mad adventure ("Aaayyeeeee! You were almost going 4mph around that corner!!") it was time to bid a final farewell to the Magic Kingdom, enjoy a look at all of the people arriving in costume for Mickey's Halloween Party, and head back to our condo for a hearty dinner of miscellaneous leftovers.
Tanner packed up and ordered a cab so he could depart for the airport the next morning since he had to go back to work or some foolishness, and the rest of us agreed that we'd go to Epcot the next day. After polling everyone on their lunch preferences and what attractions they wanted to revisit, I spent some time with my web apps working out a touring plan for our bonus day. Then it was off to bed!
Big-B was excited because our next stop was at the Tomorrowland Speedway, and this year he was big enough to drive by himself. They even gave him a driver's license. My Mom rode with my Dad and the rest of us each drove a different car - we had fun watching Big-B figuring out the driving thing. Steering does not yet appear to be his strong suit! We all then went over to ride it's a small world (yes, it officially is not capitalized) again, and again we managed to be going by the clock at the end as it chimed the quarter hour. We passed by "Dream Along with Mickey" again in the forecourt of the castle on our way over to Adventureland to ride the Jungle Cruise. Our guide was pretty funny, in a very snarky sort of way ... I guess that's the spiel they're using these days.
I was delighted to see that the Enchanted Tiki Room was no longer under new management (oddly enough three years ago it broke down midway through so we never really did see what the new management did to it, although the glimpse we got was more than enough). Apparently there was a fire early in the year that burned some of the characters used in the makeover, and they decided to go back to the original design. I wonder if that was more due to customer comments or finances? Anyway, like I said, I was glad to see them back to the original. My Dad and I then wandered in and out of a couple of shops while the other three rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. They never were at an angle so that my Dad could get a picture of them, unfortunately.
At this point we headed to Main Street to try and catch some live performances. We managed to find two of Cinderella's mice signing autographs, and Big-B didn't have to wait long for signatures and pictures. We were just starting to watch the glassblowing demonstration when we realized that the Main Street Trolley Parade that we'd been looking for had just arrived outside, so we popped out to watch that, then came in and caught the end of the glassblowing demo. Then we popped around Casey's corner to watch the pianist there tickle the ivories for a while. The group seemed to think that it was time for lunch at this point, so we went back over to Tomorrowland to eat at Cosmic Ray's - a counter service restaurant with enough options to keep everyone happy, and nice patio seating looking over water towards the central hub and castle.
There were a few things in Tomorrowland that we had not yet seen, so that was our next priority. Three years ago we'd skipped Stitch's Great Escape, and this time we experienced it, and now we know why we skipped it last time. Big-B never did understand what was going on, and well, I'm not sure any of the rest of us really did either. Lots of cool technology, but the Imagineers kind of did a swing and a miss when they tried to use it. The Monsters Inc. Laugh floor was next, and it was very much more enjoyable. They kept picking on a family sitting in front of us and wearing matching tie-dye t-shirts, which rather makes me wish we'd worn ours. Next time! Then it was time for Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, which was another one that my parents first saw at the 1964 World's Fair. Oddly enough, the final scene has been updated several times since then, but the others haven't. It's about time to drop out the second one, restore the original fourth one, and then do a new one at the end. Something like that, anyway.
We decided we had time to revisit the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and it's a small world again, then found ourselves watching the afternoon parade again. I suggested getting a snack at Sleepy Hollow, but my Dad and some others were more in the mood for an ice cream sundae, so we headed back to Main Street. The other four shared two sundaes but I popped into the Bakery and got a chocolate croissant. The best part was that there was plenty of seating available there, so I invited the rest of the group to join me. Just as we finished, the Main Street Philharmonic struck up a tune outside, so we headed up and grabbed some quality curb space to enjoy the show. There was a toddler happliy cavorting in the street and the players seemed to enjoy interacting with him whenever there was an opportunity.
Our plan called for us to revisit the Pirates of the Caribbean ride again at this point, but it was experiencing technical difficulties, so after Tanner reported the problem via touringplans.com's lines program, we headed over to the Frontierland station to ride the train, and decided to just ride it all the way around the park. It showed us a slight view of the new construction happening in Fantasyland ... did I mention there's a Dumbo's Circus thing planned there, that will somehow incorporate the Goofy barnstormer mini-rollercoaster? Once we got back to Frontierland we popped back over to Pirates of the Caribbean and they were up and running, so we got to enjoy it again.
Tanner then took a look at the Lines app so we could decide what would be a good thing to revisit. We all decideed that Mickey's Philharmagic was the way to go - it's a fun show. Then Big-B *really* wanted to visit the Tomorrowland Speedway one final time, and it actually didn't have a terribly long line, so we all agreed. My Mom kind of wanted to try her hand at driving this time, so I opted to ride with her and provide color commentary and hysterical sound effects - which all made it actually pretty fun. Big-B again of course chose to drive by himself, as did the others. After this mad adventure ("Aaayyeeeee! You were almost going 4mph around that corner!!") it was time to bid a final farewell to the Magic Kingdom, enjoy a look at all of the people arriving in costume for Mickey's Halloween Party, and head back to our condo for a hearty dinner of miscellaneous leftovers.
Tanner packed up and ordered a cab so he could depart for the airport the next morning since he had to go back to work or some foolishness, and the rest of us agreed that we'd go to Epcot the next day. After polling everyone on their lunch preferences and what attractions they wanted to revisit, I spent some time with my web apps working out a touring plan for our bonus day. Then it was off to bed!