Well after a long day at Epcot, it was good to sleep in. For a bit. Today's agenda includes visiting the Magic Kingdom. We woke up at 7:30 and got to the bus line at 8:30am. For some reason, the buses to the Magic Kingdom were taking forever to arrive. We finally got to the Magic Kingdom and we head straight for Fantasyland. Here's a video clip of my niece entering the Magic Kingdom for the 1st time. I always film the reaction of 1st timers when they visit the Magic Kingdom.
As we enter Fantasyland, I check to see what the wait time is for Dumbo. It was only a 15 minute wait so we get in line. As we're standing in line I see how much of Fantasyland has been cleared out for the new expansion. There are construction walls everywhere. Right now it looks empty. I can only imagine what Fantasyland will look like once all the construction is done in 2012. As we ride Dumbo, I film our flight. At this point I can see over the walls and look into the area where all the construction is happening. I can see how much land has been cleared out. I can also see circus tents that have been built. Is this where Dumbo will be moved to? It sure looks like it. Here is the video I filmed while on Dumbo:
After Dumbo, we head over to Peter Pan. The wait is only 30 minutes so get in line. I love this ride. Its one of my favorite Disney films. After Peter Pan, its time for breakfast. We head to Main Street to see what we can find to eat. We head to the Main Street Bakery and grab two breakfast croissant sandwiches. We sit down to eat because its already hot outside. After breakfast, we head towards Splash Mountain to grab Fast Passes for later in the day. We go back to Fantasyland to see if we can catch the showing of Philharmagic. The next showing will start in 5 minutes. Perfect! My plan at this time is to see attractions that are indoors and air-conditioned. Oh, it felt so good to sit-down and get cooled off. After Philharmagic we ride Its A Small World since its basically a walk-on ride.
After Small World, we head into Liberty Square. We immediately head for the Haunted Mansion. In an effort to avoid any fears my niece might have, I explain to her that this is a 'ride'. I tell her not to worry about the ghosts or any of the noises. Then I remember that she actually loves the Haunted Mansion movie starring Eddie Murphy. I tell her the ride is like the movie: scary but with a lot of laughs. She seems ok with it. We go on in and enjoy the ride. I tell her we will ride it again at night. After that we head to the Hall of Presidents. This serves three purposes. One, I have not seen the latest version featuring President Barack Obama. Two, its a historical & educational attraction. And three, its another attraction that's air conditioned. While watching the presentation, I'm amazed at how well they have re-created Obama's likeness. After Hall of Presidents, we go to Splash Mountain to use our Fast Passes. It's gonna feel so good if we get soaking wet on Splash Mountain.
After Splash Mountain we did some walking around and took some pictures. I don't want us to ride everything now. We are scheduled to attend the Wishes Dessert Viewing Party later in the evening. Plus the Magic Kingdom is open until 1am, but I doubt that we will spend all night at the park. We then end up in Adventureland. We proceed to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and then the Jungle Cruise. I can ride the Jungle Cruise over and over. I love hearing those jokes over and over. Since the heat is really starting to climb, we decide to head back to the resort, maybe have a swim, get some lunch or maybe get a nap in before returning to the Magic Kingdom at night.
We decide to grab some lunch when we get back to Pop Century. As I look around the food court to see what looks good, I notice that there is a daily special. These daily specials are served in cute TV-dinner like aluminum trays. Today's special was turkey and veggies, but I was not hungry for that. As I look at the over-head menu screen I see that they have Shrimp Lo Mein. Now we're talking.
As you can see, the Lo Mein costs $8.49. But since I was on the free counter-service dining plan, in the picture on the right you can see what else comes with the entree. I have to admit I was not sure if I was gonna enjoy being in this dining plan. But it was more than enough food. Every time I got food and went to the register to use my plan, I was always told to go back for more snacks and drinks. I only paid for two meals thru-out the weekend: once for Sci-Fi Dine Inn at Disney Hollywood Studios and for Angel San Miguel in Epcot. At one point, I thought maybe I had gotten too many credits on my dining plan and that I would end up not using all my credits. But that was not the case. Well as soon as we got our food and found a booth to eat in, I look outside and guess what I see: RAIN! Yes, its pouring again. And I mean POURING. Well we then take our time eating our lunch.
After lunch, we head back to our room to rest. We are not due back at the Magic Kingdom till around 8pm to attend the fireworks dessert viewing party. Its about 3pm, so I set up a wake-up call for 6pm. I quickly end up snoozing. At 6pm, the phone rings for my wake-up call. I get up and take a quick shower and get dressed. I look out the window and its still raining lightly. At this point I get worried that the dessert party might get cancelled because of the rain. So from the hotel room, I called Disney Dining to ask my question. If the fireworks are cancelled due to the rain, will the party be cancelled and will I get a refund? It turns out NO. Since the dessert viewing party is held under a covered terrace at the Tommorowland Terrace, there is no need to cancel. So with that news, we get ready to head back to the Magic Kingdom.
So as we head back, its slightly misting. Not too bad. We make our way to the Terrace and sign in. We get wristbands and we get escorted to our assigned table. Our table is close to the edge of the balcony, so if we sit at out table we should have a clear view of the Castle and the fireworks. Of course that's not gonna happen.
So we start eating. OMG! There are desserts EVERYWHERE! Everything looks good. Everything taste good. Here is what you can look forward to if you sign up for the dessert party:
After Small World, we head into Liberty Square. We immediately head for the Haunted Mansion. In an effort to avoid any fears my niece might have, I explain to her that this is a 'ride'. I tell her not to worry about the ghosts or any of the noises. Then I remember that she actually loves the Haunted Mansion movie starring Eddie Murphy. I tell her the ride is like the movie: scary but with a lot of laughs. She seems ok with it. We go on in and enjoy the ride. I tell her we will ride it again at night. After that we head to the Hall of Presidents. This serves three purposes. One, I have not seen the latest version featuring President Barack Obama. Two, its a historical & educational attraction. And three, its another attraction that's air conditioned. While watching the presentation, I'm amazed at how well they have re-created Obama's likeness. After Hall of Presidents, we go to Splash Mountain to use our Fast Passes. It's gonna feel so good if we get soaking wet on Splash Mountain.
After Splash Mountain we did some walking around and took some pictures. I don't want us to ride everything now. We are scheduled to attend the Wishes Dessert Viewing Party later in the evening. Plus the Magic Kingdom is open until 1am, but I doubt that we will spend all night at the park. We then end up in Adventureland. We proceed to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and then the Jungle Cruise. I can ride the Jungle Cruise over and over. I love hearing those jokes over and over. Since the heat is really starting to climb, we decide to head back to the resort, maybe have a swim, get some lunch or maybe get a nap in before returning to the Magic Kingdom at night.
We decide to grab some lunch when we get back to Pop Century. As I look around the food court to see what looks good, I notice that there is a daily special. These daily specials are served in cute TV-dinner like aluminum trays. Today's special was turkey and veggies, but I was not hungry for that. As I look at the over-head menu screen I see that they have Shrimp Lo Mein. Now we're talking.
As you can see, the Lo Mein costs $8.49. But since I was on the free counter-service dining plan, in the picture on the right you can see what else comes with the entree. I have to admit I was not sure if I was gonna enjoy being in this dining plan. But it was more than enough food. Every time I got food and went to the register to use my plan, I was always told to go back for more snacks and drinks. I only paid for two meals thru-out the weekend: once for Sci-Fi Dine Inn at Disney Hollywood Studios and for Angel San Miguel in Epcot. At one point, I thought maybe I had gotten too many credits on my dining plan and that I would end up not using all my credits. But that was not the case. Well as soon as we got our food and found a booth to eat in, I look outside and guess what I see: RAIN! Yes, its pouring again. And I mean POURING. Well we then take our time eating our lunch.
After lunch, we head back to our room to rest. We are not due back at the Magic Kingdom till around 8pm to attend the fireworks dessert viewing party. Its about 3pm, so I set up a wake-up call for 6pm. I quickly end up snoozing. At 6pm, the phone rings for my wake-up call. I get up and take a quick shower and get dressed. I look out the window and its still raining lightly. At this point I get worried that the dessert party might get cancelled because of the rain. So from the hotel room, I called Disney Dining to ask my question. If the fireworks are cancelled due to the rain, will the party be cancelled and will I get a refund? It turns out NO. Since the dessert viewing party is held under a covered terrace at the Tommorowland Terrace, there is no need to cancel. So with that news, we get ready to head back to the Magic Kingdom.
So as we head back, its slightly misting. Not too bad. We make our way to the Terrace and sign in. We get wristbands and we get escorted to our assigned table. Our table is close to the edge of the balcony, so if we sit at out table we should have a clear view of the Castle and the fireworks. Of course that's not gonna happen.
So we start eating. OMG! There are desserts EVERYWHERE! Everything looks good. Everything taste good. Here is what you can look forward to if you sign up for the dessert party:
As it gets closer to 9pm, I see people start to stand against the railing's edge to watch the fireworks. I get my video camera and we do the same. Two people grab their umbrella's to stand at the railing, which is not covered by the Terrace roof. Their umbrella's are HUGE, like golf course size umbrella's. Well some people get upset because this now blocks the view of those who are seated at their tables. I guess someone must have told a Cast Member that their view was being blocked by the umbrellas. A Cast Member went up to the the 'umbrella people' and told them they would have to put their umbrellas away and that if they did not want to get wet from the rain, they should were ponchos or sit at a table. I thought this was awesome. I'm glad a CM took charge of the situation. The fireworks start. They are just wonderful. The fireworks we watched were the Celebrate America fireworks for the July 4th holiday. I did not get to see the fireworks finale because 10 minutes into the show, my niece tells me that she has to go to the bathroom. NOW. So I take her right away. I guess I should have asked before the fireworks started. I mean, we did eat tons of desserts for an hour before the fireworks. Lesson learned.
After the fireworks, its time to find Mickey Mouse to get our picture taken with him. We head to Toon Town and go to Mickey's Judge's Tent. There we find Mickey and Minnie!! We get our pics taken and now I feel our trip is complete. After taking the pictures, we ride some attractions. We ride Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mountain (3 times!), the Tomorrowland Speedway, the Mad Tea Cups and Stitch's Great Escape. We tried to ride Space Mountain, but the wait was way over an hour. By then we knew it was time to call it a day and night. So we head back to Pop Century, with snacks in hand. We start packing up our things because we leave the next day. I always hate this part. Oh well, all great things must come to an end. Time to get some sleep. The next day, Sunday July 4th, will be our Animal Kingdom day.
John
Man.. you are one cool uncle! This is going to be a trip she will remember for the rest of her life! You've surely created another Disney fanatic. Good on ya' mate!!
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