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Day Two – Sunday, January 9, 2005 – The 75-minute
bus ride, fudge and EMH Evening
Steph left a wake-up call for 5:50 so she could go for a run and
a workout. Man, she’s tougher than I am. I was, however, awake
at 5:00 but I waited until the wake-up call before venturing out
to put on a pot of coffee. We typically have a light breakfast in
the room (cereal, fruit, bagels, juice, and coffee) while we get
showered and dressed. Everyone was ready by 8:10 so we headed out
for Magic Kingdom (MK).
Today is the WDW Marathon and I know it runs throughout the property
and, at various times, through all 4 major parks. I stopped at the
front desk and asked a CM if we would encounter any problems bussing
to the MK. She checked something on her computer and informed me
there would be no problem. Like an idiot, I believed her.
We boarded an MK bus at 8:15. At 9:15, we were still on the bus
making our way ever so slowly toward the Transportation and Ticket
Center (TTC). We were sitting for 10-minutes at a time, then moving
50 feet, then sitting some more. I really couldn’t tell what
the specific problem was but I could see runners, wrapped in those
mylar blankets, being bussed to a lot nearby. That front desk CM
never said there could be delays nor did she say anything about
being dropped at the TTC rather than MK.
We finally reached the TTC at 9:30 and were allowed to get off.
A lady on the bus had mentioned walking to the Polynesian to pick
up the monorail rather than fighting crowds at the TTC – which
sounded like a good idea. We asked a CM and he pointed us in the
direction of the path to the Poly and we made a quick walk there.
Now, I should mention that our first activity upon entering any
park is a Rest Room visit. More specifically, it’s a Ladies
Room visit for the girls. These poor ladies were now about 1 hour
overdue for this stop so, upon entering the Poly, it was a mad dash
for the facilities.
Relieved (in more ways than one), we made our way to the monorail
for the quick trip to the MK. We stopped on Main Street and had
a CM take our picture. One with the Castle behind us and a second
one from an angle with the girls cupping their hands together in
the middle – holding Tinkerbell, who would be pasted in later.
The CM gave me a plastic card to check on the photo later. It also
had a URL and number that would allow us to view them, and buy them
if we choose, later from home.
Barb and Steph were looking for a coffee but the Bakery had a line
of about 25 people. We walked, via the Plaza Pavilion, to TomorrowLand
for a ride on Space Mountain (SpM). They only had the right side
running but there was no line to speak of – it was really
just a walk through the long queue and on to the ride vehicle.
We then headed to Buzz LightYear where I attempted to recapture
the glory of my last ride when I scored the maximum 999,999 points.
Sadly, old age, a bum knee and an arthritic shoulder have taken
their toll. I scored a feeble 35,000 points and was even beaten
by (gasp!) Barb. The shame! Will championed the group with 155,000.
After Buzz we scored some coffee and juice from the Launch Pad
and sat in the sun for a bit. This day was a mirror image of yesterday
– sunny with an expected high of 81. Beautiful.
Next up was Stitch’s Great Escape – new for all but
Barb and me. I felt a little better about the attraction than I
did after our first visit in November. If you don’t compare
it to Alien Encounter, it’s OK. Not great, just OK. IMO, worth
doing once and then see how your group relates to it. BTW, Steph
hated it but she has an aversion to anything touching her during
a show.
We took a quick spin on the WEDWay (TomorrowLand Transit Authority
or TTA) and then headed to FantasyLand. There was a 5-minute wait
for Mickey’s PhilharMagic so in we went. This is rapidly becoming
a favorite attraction for me. As a matter of fact, Stephanie informed
me later that it was her favorite.
In the second scene, just after Donald goes through the vortex
(or whatever), the screen darkens and we see Donald’s eyes
as he says, “Where’s my hat?” Just then, a candle
lights and we see Lumiere as they launch into ‘Be Our Guest’.
There was spontaneous applause from the audience, which I took as
honoring Jerry Orbach who recently passed away. Very touching.
Time for lunch so we hit Columbia Harbour House for a mix of sandwiches,
soups and salads. We took our trays upstairs where it was very quiet.
After lunch, we took a ride through the Haunted Mansion (HM). I
rode with Stephen, intending to point out the third Hidden Mickey
(in the Grim Reaper’s hand) but missed it completely. You
really need to focus at the end of the ride or, like me, you realize
it’s there just after you’ve passed it.
We walked back to FrontierLand for a ride on Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad (BTMRR). The posted standby wait time was 20-minutes so
we entered the line. Once inside and wrapping around the railings,
they made an announcement that our wait time would be “slightly
longer”. I never found out what caused this but it seemed
to add about 5-minutes.
As you reach the area where the Standby line joins and merges with
the FastPass line, there was a CM checking FP tickets. A family
of 3 (mom, dad and 10 (?)year-old girl) were in the FP line. The
CM asked them for their tickets and Mom starting fumbling through
her fanny pack. She turned and asked Dad, “Do you have them?”
From his reaction, a grim smile and a slow shake of his head, it
seemed to me that this was Mom’s idea of a way to shorten
the wait time. “Let’s get in the FP line. They’ll
never ask for the tickets and, if they do, we’ll just say
we lost them”. Didn’t work. After rummaging through
the 3 or 4 items in her fanny pack several times and coming up empty,
the CM gave them directions on how to exit the building. As they
were making their way out, I could almost hear the Dad saying “I
told you it wouldn’t work”.
After BTMRR, the kids opted for a ride on Splash Mountain (SplM)
while Barb and I decided to stay dry and find a bench in the waiting
area. When the kids came out, reasonably dry, we decided it was
time for the pool so we walked upstairs and boarded the WDW Railroad
for a trip to the front of the park.
Once there, Will wanted to get some chocolate pretzels so we walked
up to the Confectioner’s. I wandered inside and weakened when
I saw the fudge. “I’ll take 4 pieces – one each
from the second row”. A Chocolate, a Rocky Road, a Brownie,
and a … can’t remember the 4th one. The CM informed
me that when you buy 4, you get 2 free. I knew this, but didn’t
remember it so a cartwheel was in order. And a happy dance. Six
pieces of fudge and I’m in Hog Heaven. It was pretty funny
watching Will order his pretzels – especially when he couldn’t
think of the word ‘sprinkles’.
We got to the room and the 4 ‘kids’ immediately headed
for Muscles and Bustles to work out and then take a swim in the
pool. Barb just chilled for a bit with the TV and… I slept.
Last night’s late game had taken its toll.
We had decided to hit MGM tonight for Extra Magic Hour (is it still
called that in the evening?). The park would stay open for an additional
3 hours for resort guests. We headed out at 5:30 except for Steph,
who was looking for a quick nap. She said she’d hook up with
us later.
We walked over to MGM and picked up our wristbands by showing out
resort IDs (room keys) to a CM just inside the turnstiles (off to
the right, next to Oscar’s Service Station). The kids took
a ride on Rock ‘n Roller Coaster (RnRC) while Barb and I waited.
Just as they were coming off the ride, Steph called on the cell
and informed me she was approaching the gate. I gave her instructions
on how to get the wristband and said I would meet her at the entrance
to Fantasmic. I sent everyone else inside to grab some seats for
us.
I waited outside Fantasmic and Steph showed in about 5-minutes.
We walked in and, just as we were about to phone Michelle, we saw
Stephen (all 6’ 4” of him) standing with his arm raised
and swinging a white sweatshirt. We would’ve been able to
spot that from a mile away. They had seats near the top in Maleficent
– about the 40-yard line on the left side of center.
Fantasmic filled up quickly and there were lots of folks in the
standing area at the rear. It was, as always, a great show.
We let the crowds thin a bit, and then started walking toward the
exit. We thought we’d get some dinner first – there
were only 5 dining spots open late – and we chose the Sci-Fi
Drive-In Theater. While walking there I realized that, other than
Fantasmic, this was the first time I’d ever been in MGM after
dark. Weird.
We had a good meal of burgers (not on the dinner menu but available),
salads, chicken, salmon and those killer Shakes. It was Stephanie’s
first time here and she enjoyed it. It’s funny but, for Barb
and me, the hokey movie clips and drive-in commercials are memories.
For the kids, they’re jokes. They kept asking, “Was
this really a movie?” “Were people really frightened
by this?”
After Sci-Fi, we walked over to Star Tours and walked on for a
trip to the Moon of Endor. Once again, we didn’t make it there.
We sat in the front row for the first time where I discovered that
it’s the row with the least amount of motion. I like Star
Tours – a lot. I used to love it. Please, invest a few bucks,
kiss and make up with George Lucas and get us a new film. It really
needs it.
We headed back to Tower of Terror (ToT) and it was a walk on. We
all were looking forward to riding this at night but I’m not
sure if it really makes that much difference. Anyway, it’s
a great ride. After ToT, the kids took another spin on RnRC while
Barb and I waited on a bench. I’ve ridden RnRC several times
and, while it’s not my favorite, I can handle it. Barb has
ridden once and did not like it at all. She has an aversion to the
inversion (how’s that for a phrase?) and has vowed to never
ride again.
The kids came out of RnRC at 9:45 and decided on one more trip
on ToT. Barb and I said we’d see them back at the ranch and
headed out of MGM. How did I like EMH evening? There were very few
people in the park and most of them were at ToT and RnRC. If you
wanted to spend the 3 hours hitting attractions, you could probably
get through each at least twice, maybe 3 times. It’s also
nice just to stroll the streets with no crowds – in some cases
no people at all. It’s a nice benefit for Disney’s resort
guests and one that I hope they will continue.
The kids got back to the room about 15 minutes behind us.
Things I Think I Think – I think you should not ride a bus
to the MK during the Marathon (not sure about the other parks).
I think that I will never again trust a front desk CM. I think Mickey’s
PhilharMagic is very good and fast becoming my favorite attraction
at the MK. I think you shouldn’t try going through the FP
queue without a FP. I think that six pieces of fudge, for the price
of four, is better then winning the Lottery (well, almost). I think
EMH evenings is a nice perk for resort guests and should be continued.
Day 3...
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