It had been going on three years since I had last been to Walt Disney World, so a return visit was long overdue. I had booked us a room at the Pop Century Resort on the Disney property, and I was ready to get moving bright and early. However, I had learned that Erin and her kids weren’t exactly morning people, so we didn’t board our free shuttle until about 11am. This was actually the earliest we would get started of any of the four Disney days. Of course, we had eaten some early lunch back in the room, so this actually wasn’t too bad of a start. And even though it was smack in the middle of summer, this was actually a great day at the Magic Kingdom – and the fact that they were staying open until midnight for guests of the Disney resorts helped us to ride nearly every ride in the park.
I still had four days left over on my Disney pass from my last visit when I purchased a seven day pass and only used two (then one at Disneyland earlier this year). For Erin and the kids, I got four day passes that were not Park Hoppers, the plan being to spend one day at each park. Magic Kingdom was the one we chose to visit first on Tuesday, July 6, 2010.
By the time we caught our bus and got to the park, we entered the gates at about 11:30am. We stopped quickly at Guest Relations to try and get the handicap pass that my friend Adam had gotten at Disneyland, but it didn’t pan out. We would have to wait in the lines like normal guests. Erin also bought an autograph book for Chloe.
Getting ready to enter the gates of the Magic Kingdom
On Main Street, in front of Cinderella Castle
We opted to break (my) tradition and begin our day in Tomorrowland, thinking that the crowds may have begun here and since it was getting close to noon, they might be moving toward the other side of the park by now. We started our ride journey off with the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, an animated stand up comedy routine where the cartoon ‘actors’ interact with the audience. I had seen this for the first time during my last visit, and ironically this was the attraction I had last seen at Magic Kingdom. As usual, there was one member of the crowd who was the butt on several jokes. Erin later spotted him at the pool at our hotel.
Chloe and I are ready to enter Tomorrowland, ride our first ride, and destroy Chloe’s flip-flop
We didn’t start out the day too well, when it came to Chloe’s shoes. While in line for the Laugh Floor, one of her flip-flops broke, rendering her either barefooted or sliding the footwear along as she walked. We got through the next attraction and then stopped at Mickey’s Star Traders, where Erin bought her a new pair. Crisis averted.
Next up, we hit Stitch’s Great Escape! – another that I had seen for the first time during my last visit. This had replaced the much superior (and scarier) Extra TERRORestrial Alien Encounter. But this one had the added benefit of having Chloe seated next to me. As you may recall, Chloe has a tendency to be terrified of any scary ride. But although this one was a bit of a nail-biter, she liked it. I couldn’t resist getting a photo of her waiting in anticipation to see what happened on this ride. I got yelled at for taking the picture. Oh well.
A bit of trepidation on Stitch’s Great Escape
We grabbed a FastPass for Space Mountain, which we never used, and then grabbed a seat on the Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress - still churning away after all these years. While the attraction is a bit in need of some refurbishment, I am always so relieved to see this one up and running. After all, it’s had a long journey since it began its life at the 1964-65 World’s Fair. Nate in particular enjoyed this one a lot as well.
One of my favorites since childhood, the Carousel of Progress
The Tomorrowland Transit Authority ride was always one that beckoned, and generally had no wait whatsoever. Although there was no line, it took a few minutes to board as the ride had temporarily been stopped. It’s always a nice, peaceful ride around Tomorrowland, but this time the nostalgic music from If You Had Wings and the older version of the Carousel of Progress was sorely missed.
Me and Nate, exploring Tomorrowland
Erin and Chloe enjoying the ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Although our FastPasses for Space Mountain weren’t good until much later in the day, we decided to go ahead and ride it anyway and just bear the relatively long line. It ended up being only about 45 minutes, which was made more bearable by the new interactive video games that you can play while in the tube portion of the line. Chloe naturally wouldn’t ride this ride, so I waited with her while Erin and Nate rode. Then once they returned, Nate and I were able to get right back on. Obviously this was working out well for him!
But I must add that I was gravely disappointed in this ride at the Magic Kingdom. After riding the same refurbished indoor rollercoaster at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris several times since I was last at Walt Disney World, this version seemed in desperate need of being updated with the smoother track and stimulating music that plays in the other version.
Nate and Erin, careening through Space Mountain
It was just after 3pm when we entered the gates of Adventureland. I took Nate and Chloe up in the Swiss Family Treehouse, while Erin took care of business elsewhere – then we all reconvened to get on the tried-and-true Pirates of the Caribbean, unchanged since my last visit. Chloe had a bit of nervousness on this one and almost bailed out just before we boarded the boats, but she got along just fine. The pirates looked great as always and Chloe had fun locating the three Johnny Depp animatronics.
Getting ready to enter Adventureland
Nate and Chloe in the Swiss Family Treehouse
There are my favorite pirates, once again
We picked up a FastPass for the Jungle Cruise and then caught the next show of The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), a more formal and entertaining show than its classic counterpart Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. We couldn’t hold out much longer after this show and decided to grab an early dinner at the Pecos Bill Cafe while we waited for our FastPass time to come around for the Jungle Cruise. Oddly enough, we ended up on the Ucyali Lolly, the same boat that I had last rode in 2007. It was a one in fifteen shot.
Enchanted Erin and Tiki Brad
Our group aboard the Ucyali Lolly
The bathing elephants along the Jungle Cruise
Picking up FastPasses for Splash Mountain, we then lined up for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Frontierland. Nate and I rode first while Erin waited with Chloe. This time however, it wasn’t a simple matter of just re-boarding. They gave us a FastPass, so Erin and I had to wait in a relatively short line to ride again. She almost declined riding, but I insisted that she got to see this since it had been closed when we visited Disneyland.
Heading to the top of Big Thunder Mountain
It was around 6:30 when we caught the Country Bear Jamboree show. We hit it at the exact right time to walk right on in and see this classic show, which is no longer at Disneyland. This attraction too is in desperate need of refurbishment. Even if they change nothing else, the sound system is absolutely horrible.
The only real ‘new’ attraction for me at Magic Kingdom was The Hall of Presidents. Not only was President Obama now speaking, but a short speech from George Washington was added, and an entirely different film with narration from Morgan Freeman has replaced the old version. Royal Dano’s voice, which was originally heard in Disneyland’s Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln, has been re-instated to the show. We had about a 15-minute wait for the next show, so I explored more of the Presidential memorabilia on display than I ever had before. The refurbished Hall of Presidents looked fantastic and Nate was particularly impressed.
Getting ready to enjoy the updated Hall of Presidents
With my old pal Jimmy Carter, whose city we had just stayed in two days earlier
Chloe had been dreading the moment of the Haunted Mansion. All through the line, she had refused to get on the ride despite our pleas and coaxes. We told her that we would see about someone waiting with her when we got to the load queue. She made it through the stretching room okay but still didn’t want to board the ride. As we got to the point of no return, Erin asked the operator where they might wait and was told that it was too late, they had to board. This sent Chloe running backward down the conveyor belt as Erin grabbed her and got her into the Doom Buggy. This was unbeknownst to Nate and me, as we had already boarded. It wasn’t until we were traveling down the hall of the mirrors and the hitchhiking ghosts had boarded with us that we saw Erin and Chloe delightedly observing our ghost passengers. Although she wouldn’t admit, she clearly enjoyed the ride (even after the frequent Doom Buggy stops along the way, including once in the graveyard).
We passed from Liberty Square into Fantasyland a little bit after 8pm, wanting to make sure that we were able to ride one of Erin’s favorites it’s a small world. Unlike the refurbishment that took place at Disneyland last year, the ‘classic’ Disney characters have not yet been added to the ride at the Magic Kingdom. In all likelihood these may be added soon, so this may have been my last ride-through of the original ride.
Chloe tries to remove that blasted sword, much as Ashleigh and Briana did here
Giving it my all, the sword not budging. A life metaphor.
Outside our ride
After we finished the ride, we split up for a bit. Tried as we did, we couldn’t convince Chloe to ride my very favorite ride Splash Mountain. She was afraid of the drop in the darkness that occurs on the inside portion of the ride. Since we had four FastPasses, Nate and I headed off to ride it twice, stopping for a Coke along the way as we maneuvered the Electrical Light Parade going on – while Erin took Chloe over to Mickey’s Toon Town Fair to see Mickey’s and Minnie’s Country Houses, the Walt Disney World Railroad, and the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Nate and I got on and off Splash Mountain so quickly, that we used the extra two FastPasses and rode it again and had a literal walk-on. During the second ride, sitting in the rear of the log, I caught the ball cap of a man who was sitting in the front of the log as we went down the biggest hill.
On Splash Mountain, just a split second before I caught that gentleman’s hat
We all met up again in Tomorrowland a little before 10pm in front of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which we rode for the second time. This time as the people-mover passed through Space Mountain, we got to see the ride – which had inexplicably been shut down – with all of the lights on. It’s not a pretty track, looking very rickety and metallic. Fortunately, the darkness and special effects make the ride seem much cooler when it’s operating.
Chloe had liked Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin so well that she wanted to ride it again, so we all boarded after just a five minute wait. I rode along with Chloe and beat her score 100,800 to 6900. But up in front of us, Erin had topped my score with 127,000 vs. Nate’s 81,900.
Chloe and I team up to destroy the universe or something
Having skipped virtually every ride in Fantasyland, we headed back over there after Buzz Lightyear. The area was so desolate at this hour that within the next 90 minutes we were able to hit every dark ride there. We began with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, followed by Peter Pan’s Flight, and then we all saw the great 3-D animated musical Mickey’s PhilharMagic.
Hook and Peter go head to head in Peter Pan’s Flight. Note the rare view of the unsightly ceiling of the ride.
This group seems to always be up for a 3-D adventure
I can’t remember the last time that I had been on the Prince Charming Regal Carousel, but with no lines in Fantasyland, this was the time to do it. And still having a half hour to spare, Nate and I got on Snow White’s Scary Adventures while Erin took Chloe on Dumbo the Flying Elephant (which will soon be relocated). Speaking of updates to the park, Mickey’s Toon Town Fair will soon be demolished, making way for a larger Fantasyland and new dark ride called The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Adventure.
Chloe upon horse
Nate and I seemed to just go round and round
One of the scary sights of Snow White’s Scary Adventures
When an elephant has low self-esteem about his ears, climb inside him
And with that, our very, very full and fun twelve-hour day at Magic Kingdom came to a close. We trudged our way back toward the entrance, passing through the castle, Chloe getting a picture with a Chip and Dale statue, Erin and I re-living our Disney statue pose, and then making our way down beautiful Main Street, gorgeously illuminated at night. We caught our bus for the seemingly never-ending bus ride back to the Pop Century resort.
Chloe plays a prank on Chip or Dale
A somewhat darker pose than the one at Disneyland seen here
We’d need a good night’s sleep considering we still had three more days of Disney World to look forward to.
Disney World will continue…
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