Finally the day had come that I would be spending in the Magic Kingdom. Walts baby. And it was with no small amount of excitement that I boarded the bus earlier than I did yesterday in readiness. As I stepped off the shuttle into the music filled parking lot, I fairly skipped my way the short distance to the turnstiles. With Annual pass in hand, I was whisked through and into the magic in a matter of moments.
But then came the next decision…. Where to go first.
I hadn’t given it a thought. I always thought I’d have the whole thing mapped out, or at least have a starting point in mind, so it was a little unnerving being a little ‘fogged in’ on where to walk first, because the volume of people pouring through the gates on a sunny Sunday was too large to go against the tide and just stop and think for a minute. So I went and took a quick photo ( unfortunately filled with random bodies) of the flower bed and station, before deciding to just walk under that railway bridge and get started.
So there I stood, looking around trying to decide where to go and who saunters along the pavement but the duck himself. Donald. ‘Good start,’ I think to myself and made a quick resolve to just immerse myself in it and let it take me where it will. I hit the shops in Main St, just wandering, and organised my photo pass ( again, cheaper than what I could do online) and then headed to one of my favourite places… the penny arcade.
I had a pocket full of pennies having been here a few days so that was the first thing - squish a few.
Out came: the Cheshire Cat, Mickey of course, Pluto and put a Nickle into the machine that punched out a 2008 Disneyland one.
So I fed a few more pennies into the machines, watching the likes of Charlie Chaplin do some really chuckle-worthy stuff through the eye guards and then headed out into the sunshine again, with an idea in mind.
The castle is one of my favourite shots to get so I spent some time trying to photograph every angle that I could ever possibly wish to scrap, inside, outside, gargoyles and flags and more. All with comparatively few bodies sullying the shot.
I wandered back towards the partners and took more photos, and had the first of my fast pass photos done.
From there I wandered down to tomorrowland, having decided that as a nod to my roots, I would begin my Disney ride campaign with the Nemo Submarines.
Hmmmmm … Sundays are not a good day to pick the ‘big ticket rides’…. but anyway after about an hours wait, I was boarding a sub with Aussie accent over the PA welcoming all and sundry onboard and the ‘loader’ saying an awful rendition of ‘g’day ladies and mates’….
And while I enjoyed the ride, it irked me somewhat that the Aussie-isms are from a generation that is not the usual vernacular anymore. I even said, ‘that’s not how we speak’ out loud at the end of the ride.
I’d spent the whole hour in line (almost an hour )helping the lady in front of me not to panic and scan the crowd outside the lines for her ‘running late’ 12 year old son. Whom I’d accurately predicted got sidetracked. And in the end, it was me who spotted the boy despite him having on a white T shirt rather than the black one his mother has assured me he was wearing.
And as a thankyou, they gave me their fast passes to a couple of rides in tomorrow land , because they had to leave the park before they could use them, and that was a great treat on a day that was packed to the eyeballs with punters.
So today, I did most of the rides in Tomorrowland, I didn’t have time to do the Matterhorn but will do that one tomorrow morning really early. I very quickly figured out the benefits of the fast pass and used it to its full advantage, taking a ticket and then joining the queue so that as soon as I got off ( or close to) my ticket was valid and I rode again in quick succession. I LOVED the Buzz Lightyear ride…. I was pretty happy with my efforts the first time through with a whopping 38,000 points by the end. Until I got to the leader board and realised that I was mulitple zero’s behind and a long way off the pack. That was it… I fast passed and went in for another attempt. This time reaching over 80,000. Still not happy with that I had another go ( and was now aware of how to aim the gun with the best accuracy I could muster) and got myself over the 100,000 mark taking me into level 4...
I was happy with that and moved on. This time, stopping at the Store Command to buy a Space ranger pin to seal the deal.
From there I rode Star tours, as there was only a 15 minute wait ( yes… incredible and not repeated for the rest of the day) and having been there, done that, gathered up my resolve and joined the lengthy cue for Space Mountain. This really took ages to get to and the whole time I was alternating between wanting to ride it and not wanting to ride it. Mostly because when I was last in a Disney park, Steve got to ride it and I didn’t but he assured me that it was not worth the bother and I’d be too scared so didn’t do it.
So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I stepped into the little space cart , stowed my gear, pulled down the guard and waited for what could be horrific or terrific.
WOOOOO HOOOOO!
That ride was seriously better than sex.
I screamed and giggled the entire ride and the sigh at the end alludes to my last statement.
I LOVE THAT RIDE and let me say, I will be doing it every day I am in that park. I rode it 3 times over the course of the day… I lucked out and got in the next few times with only a 20 minutes wait and that was sheer bliss - it was even faster than the fast passes going.
I also did Autopia today, and left it till almost dark, having done it before and not being into cars anyway… but when I got behind that left hand drive wheel and pushed down with a foot that is more accustomed to pressing the clutch than the accelorator, I was quickly caught up in the fun of trundling around in those funny little cars. We were all handed an Autopia Licence as we boarded and could take the option to get a licence photo at the end of the ride…. But I opted out knowing that I had several passport photos just wasting space back home that would suffice if I felt so inclined.
I think I had about 4 churros today, and a Chocolate covered Mickey Icecream. Tomorrow I’ll attempt to find the Dole whip and test it out.
Having a burger for lunch was also an eye opener… how huge are they?
It was just so big that I culled some of the bun and the compulsory fries that accompanied it were only picked at. I really couldn’t eat it all it was that big. As was the peperoni pizza I had for dinner. . One slice was equivalent to 1/3 of a large pizza at home. And everything seems to be cooked in too much oil…
So todays lollies were purchased from Marcellines confectionary in Downtown Disney. The haul tonight was a huge Mickey shaped rice crispy treat… like a massive LCM, a Mickey Head shaped pecan turtle, and two boxes of princess cookies for gifts.
The live music in the park was exceptional. I especially enjoyed the duel piano players playing honky tonk near the end of the evening. I have a real soft spot for such skilled tinkling of the ivories so I stood there and listened for a while longer than I’d intended. They were truly wicked and I’ll add the video I took of part of one of their songs to this entry.
The parade was wonderful, only I will choose one or the other next time…. I tried to video and take photos at the same time… with mixed results. Lots of cut off heads I suspect. I recongised some of the songs from music that Keith has on his trip CD and I am tempted to buy the CD before I come home….. Its on my maybe list.
If I look really carefully, there is an increasing amount of Mulan 10th anniversary stuff making it to the shelves. I’ve bought several things but they don’t feature Mushu - only Mulan or dragons. Either way, I’m loving having some of this stuff to choose from.
I stayed late in the park, and getting the shuttle back to my hotel was an exercise in staying awake. I might have this coming Saturday as simply a day off from being a tourist and sleep in stay by the pool for the day. I think I’m going to need it.
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