Filled with Disney Magic (also likely filled with caffeine and sugar following four days of this) we assembled at our bench FORTY minutes before Park opening due to the longer ride to the Magic Kingdom, made it to our favorite Park, and through our usual security turbulence before the Extra Magic Hour Half Hour began.
A lovely ride was had by all. (Naturally, it’s Peter Pan, duh.)
Even Anabelle who had to deal with the other eight of us telling her where the Lost Boys were.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
On the garden part of the line, for reasons, yet again, that no one else will ever know, Aurora tried to convince Anabelle that beets were not a real thing. This continued throughout the trip and beyond.
Ignoring that oddness, a short pass through the honey filled playground and we were surrounded by Heffalumps and Woozles once more.
YAAAAAAAY!
Sometimes, our ideas do actually work, amazing as that may seem
(No our Aurora does not have a movie. I meant The Frog Princess. Try to keep up.)
It’s us.
Come to think of it, those two words are the best explanation for all the deranged things that happen on these trips, aren’t they?
Jeff’s Disney World Philosophy:
Disney almost always overestimates wait times, especially for rides. (Characters can be harder to guess, given variable out of control emotional response based interaction times.) It was on this trip we figured out why this exaggeration is more extreme for the Haunted Mansion than other attractions. Right before getting on the Doom Buggies is a back and forth, chain separation line. The wait time covers everything before the Doom Buggies. Therefore, the Portrait Room and the Haunted “Is this room actually stretching” Room are both included in the listed wait time. Any human being with the tiniest amount of Disney Magic in them will believe they are already “on” the Haunted Mansion by that point. Very clever Disney, very clever indeed.
The Cast Member at the door was uncharacteristically cheery, which made it far creepier than usual for this location.
YAAAY!
As I stopped to check the map yet again, I was talking
to Grandma about always getting lost in my favorite section of the Magic
Kingdom. She pointed out the recent (remember we are old and crusty Disney
people) audacity of placing the mostly dull addition of the Aladdin Flying
Carpets smack in the middle of the Land was throwing me off.
I had been keeping an eye
on the Jungle Cruise wait time since the Park proper opened. It had bounced all
over the place, but by the time we got there had settled on about an hour,
which was standard for it. As it is another old school ride with no way to
improve throughput without negatively affecting the experience, that was the
best we could hope for.
Alas.
We separated for various
reasons on the way to the Cruise. As we arrived in clumps, we had to balance
out line etiquette with practicality.
Jeff’s Disney World
Philosophy:
It is true that a minority of a group cannot get on line and have the rest push through the crowd to catch up. This would be flat out rude and unmagical. However, a couple people are allowed to leave long lines for a rest room break and then return. Therefore, we felt that with only two of us left to catch up (due to that kind of break) the rest of us could get on line, while the stragglers hopped over the chain when we crossed paths.
The wait ended up being
only three quarters of the listed hour. (Because, as stated, Disney is
awesome.) The wait felt shorter to me, Grandma and Kim as we discussed
remembering that terrible feeling rounding the corner to the “back room” of the
line and seeing it winding and filling the entire section. This time, it only
went around that room’s gag filled edge.
Alas.
It is true that a minority of a group cannot get on line and have the rest push through the crowd to catch up. This would be flat out rude and unmagical. However, a couple people are allowed to leave long lines for a rest room break and then return. Therefore, we felt that with only two of us left to catch up (due to that kind of break) the rest of us could get on line, while the stragglers hopped over the chain when we crossed paths.
We stopped to wave to local ducks on
the river side, and I pointed out how fantastic the animatronics are, because I
am hilarious. Anabelle felt the line was longer than posted because Aurora
thought it would be fun to serenade her by making random bird noises directly
into her face as we waited. Aurora is also hilarious.
(“Neither of you are.” – Anabelle)
So it was kind of a
fiasco, but somehow it worked out anyway.
We got an older gentleman
as Skipper with a dry sense of humor and an old school approach to the
attraction. (That is, mostly classic lines and no jokes in the “spooky” Asian
temple.) He was excellent at his job.
Some gags I was unfamiliar
with:
The most frightening plant
in the jungle-
Bam- BOO!
And leading us all in a
cheer for the required “back side of water:”
“Oh two aich! Oh two aich!”
Oh, how I love this ride.
Speaking of old rides with
corny jokes: the Country Bear Jamboree was a brief pass through to Frontierland
from our location. Naturally, we had to go. Rosa, Anabelle and I also had to
take the traditional picture of our feet near all the claw marks on the floor. Then, we lost the picture. Honestly, there are Disney traditions we ourselves don’t know why we do anymore
at this point. The Cast Member settling
us in told us to put on our 3D glasses, and after a confused pause yelled:
“Made you look!”
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Veronica was having a
reaction to something (more great reporting there, Jeff) and took a Benadryl.
That meant while we waited on the Frontierland street for the noon parade, after singing along with
yet another show, and several members of our party made various
runs, she sat in the shade, leaned on Aurora and passed out.
(“Neither of you are.” – Anabelle)
Bam- BOO!
“Oh two aich! Oh two aich!”
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Aurora’s eyes widened and she gasped, “I thought it was brown!”
While Aurora finished summing it up nicely with, “She could lift a fridge!”
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Belle, Chip and Dale (naturally), Pluto Tinkerbelle (a pout), Snow White, the Mad Hatter, Philip, Peter Pan, serval Lost Boys, Pinocchio, Goofy, Minnie, a hook point from Captain Hook, and a long stare from the Raven Dude moving the Dragons tail.
And also because they were all screaming at the characters like the Disney lunatics we are.
YAAAAY!
For those who haven’t been following these family Disney World adventures since my daughter was a toddler and therefore didn’t know we called Mr. Smee “Stinky”…
I guess there is a great deal of catch up reading to be done.
“I’m seventy-six years old and you’ve always been my favorite princess.”
(“I heard that!” – Anabelle)
“And I get hit a lot less, now.”
She had to work with Morgan to help him decide what he wanted. (And hooray for my menu print outs again.)
Veronica decided the best description for those with vulnerable Old Man Bones was “Bonerable.”
“What is that?”
“I don’t know… charcuteries?”
For more reasons no one knows, they used Anabelle’s cilantro from her mussels to garnish their drinks.
Oh yeah, I had the mussels as an appetizer too, they were excellent.
Mmmmmmm, Disney food.
Veronica built an ice tower at one point.
And Aurora horded a bunch of onions.
They were basically “Garnish Gremlins”
Those who had it agreed the tenderloin was “bussin’”
(No, I do not know what that means either.)
YAAAAAY!
Queen Rachel came by when Veronica
was straight up eating the sugar supplied with Aurora’s iced tea. Everyone else
told her to take it away and Queen Rachel just went with it.
That and the cupcake decorations led to teeth chattering sugar highs for most of them, yielding almost no identifiable change in behavior.
Queen Rachael also appeared
at the table when the kids were washing and pocketing the tiny decorating
spoons, leading them to wonder why she always walked over during the worst
times.
When Queen Rachel brought
over the signature cards from Cinderella she sat down with them and double
checked that she didn’t need to charge extra for any of them getting a beer.
Awesome Happy Disney people are so fun!
We finished up in the Castle
with Grandma insisting she take the picture of me next to the suit of armor she
always takes a picture of me next to, going back to my childhood Dungeons and Dragons days. We are very old Disney guests with a strong sense of tradition.
Additionally, we drag anyone we can into our traditions, meaning Grandma took a
picture of Dave there too.
Passing through the Castle
(YAAAAY!!) we turned left into Tomorrowland for the always hilarious Monster’s
Inc Laugh Floor. On the way, we were able to share the joy with some folks who
had never seen the Cinderella Mosaics inside the Castle before. It’s always
cool to relive flashback moments like that with first timer Instant Disney
Friends.
I guess the Laugh Floor
show’s humor doesn’t translate. Rosa’s never really been a fan. She took a spin
on the People Mover instead.
Dave was picked as the guy
buying Churros for everyone, YAAAY!
(This turned out to be an accurate prediction of the final day.)
We met up afterwards for
the Carousel of Progress. I was between Rosa and Grandma, nudging them both
awake regularly. Eventually I gave up, figuring they needed the sleep, (as did
we all) and I was sure we’d be back there at some point. (We were. YAAAY!)
The next idea was a plan
to hit the People Mover as a group, to continue the idea of staying in one Land,
and possibly waiting longer instead of running across the Park for shorter
lines.
Then everyone decided a
twenty-five minute wait for that ride was too long, and the small world had a
short wait. Throwing our well-constructed and overarching plan to the breeze,
we crossed into Fantasyland together…ish.
That and the cupcake decorations led to teeth chattering sugar highs for most of them, yielding almost no identifiable change in behavior.
Awesome Happy Disney people are so fun!
(This turned out to be an accurate prediction of the final day.)
Actually, it was much like herding drunken
ducks riding cats between bathroom stops and people playing with the spinny, wet,
black, sphere thing. Our Disney seasoned kits were trend setters by demonstrating it was interactive to the throngs. Eventually we reached the small world…which also had a
twenty-five minute wait by the time we reached it. However, everyone agreed
that for the small world, the wait was worth it.
So it was kind of a
fiasco, but somehow it worked out anyway.
The other eight members of
my family informed me I was insane and that the moon with people sitting and
singing on it was not new, and had always been there. On the consistency side,
the last goose with Anabelle’s favorite Goose Girl in the white room was
missing. (Given her track record, she was lucky they were all there the first
day.) One Hula girl in every group was broken as happened every single time we
(or anyone else, I’d wager) rides this cruise.
Because we were in
Fantasyland again, and we were us, (not again, we’re always us… See?) we went
to Filmore’s Magic.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Following our sing along,
most of Kim’s family and Grandma were going to go on the Horse Tornado…a new
and surprisingly accurate name for Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel. Grandma
changed her mind when she saw the ride had shut down. It only shut down
briefly, meaning the five-minute line was unchanged. Patience is not a strong
point in any generation of our family group.
We adopted Aurora and went
into a store. Apparently, I did ballet in there for reasons I’m not sure of.
The plan was to meet up over at the top of Main Street for the Adventure Friends
Cavalcade. On the way around the Castle, Rosa and I took pictures together in
our Beauty and the Beast shirts, because we’re disgustingly cute.
Questionable, but not
actually rainy weather delayed the Cavalcade. Kim brought her kids down a
couple of blocks for their required silhouettes and Anabelle did some shopping
in that area as well.
Whoever cared about it,
and wasn’t busy hiding in shady areas from the blazing sun, showed up for the
stage show. (It was hot and I was tired, I can’t keep track of everyone.)
Elsa still headlined it,
and Mickey of course, but Rapunzel and her drunken barbarian friends were a
great deal more fun, as usual.
Finally, they announced
the Cavalcade was coming. We were prepared on the Plaza side of Main Street
near the Circle. Before the scheduled event, a Brazilian marching band (with a
lot more pizazz than the typical American one has) came salsaing down Main
Street.
YAAAAAAAAAAAY!
While squinting towards
the Cavalcade entry point, I realized I had again forgotten to put on my
sunglasses. Aurora said, “I wish I could.”
My excessively hot and tired answer, “I thought you did have them…”
*overly long pause*
“Oh crap, yeah…sorry.”
This exchange led my loving daughter to ask, “Why are you the stupidest man on Earth?”
Adding to the mental strain I had given her, Aurora dropped her phone during one of the pre Cavalcade intervals, cracking the screen.
Alas.
The Cavalcade came, but it
was the Mickey and Friends one. Therefore, the information supplied to us that
the one we had come to see was “delayed” until this time was a bit off. It was
flat out cancelled and the Mickey one was supposed to be at this time. The
girls happily danced along with Mickey and friends, but proclaimed they would
wait until tomorrow if they had to in order to see Mirabel.
Weather based luck was
with us this time, and they did not have to wait that long. The Adventure
Friends Cavalcade with all the most awesome characters came down the street. It
included Mirabel (who pointed at her own glasses and then to Aurora and
Anabelle), Merida, Miguel, Moana, Pocahontas, Mulan, Woody, Mary Poppins, Bert!!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
YAAAAAAAAAAAY!
My excessively hot and tired answer, “I thought you did have them…”
*overly long pause*
“Oh crap, yeah…sorry.”
This exchange led my loving daughter to ask, “Why are you the stupidest man on Earth?”
Adding to the mental strain I had given her, Aurora dropped her phone during one of the pre Cavalcade intervals, cracking the screen.
Alas.
Marie, Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistolas, plus many others that sent us all
into an overly excited state. (Above and beyond the considerably over excited
state Disney World sends us into all on its own.)
The three girls (and Rosa)
went absolutely insane, cheering and dancing.
When Max passed Anabelle, she
was caught up in her own hyper extended overly excited state (including
interactions with Jose). She yelled “GOOFY SPAWN!” out loud, getting a puzzled
stare in return.
After the Cavalcade passed
the four of them shot down Main Street, dodging crowds on the sidewalk, and
crossed in front of the Mini Parade to see it from the other side.
Mirabel recognized them,
having a quick mime and shouting discussion as to how they got there so quickly.
“We ran to see you!!!!!!”
Getting a picture of Merida is what triggered Aurora to run, and she was thrilled the Scottish Princess saw them and waved this time. Marie excitedly saw herself on Anabelle’s shirt, and Mary Poppins winked at them all in recognition.
Excessively hot and exhausted
already, their impromptu sprint down Main Street meant it was time for dinner.
Based on the awesome idea
of waving to small world riders, Anabelle’s report on the excellent chicken
nuggets and the menu of flatbread pizzas, most of the family went to Pinocchio
Village Haus. There Morgan, Grandma and Kim confirmed the excellence of nugget
based rumors my daughter spread. Anabelle went in a different direction and developed
a bond with the gyro based flatbread, and Aurora began an unhealthy attachment
to the baklava. They also all had an excellent time waving to, playing rock
paper scissors with and otherwise interacting with the small worlders.
YAAAAAY!
Rosa wasn’t sure about the
quality of gluten free flatbread or the “cheese” that went with it. (Those
quotes will get you every time.) I was balancing my stomach on a vacation diet
and didn’t want to risk a cheese (or “cheese”) overload. Instead, the two of us
curved around by the smelly Speedway to Tomorrowland. In the next door store,
we ran into Miss Jenny, former student teacher and classmate of the girls from
Danceworks. She was working there on a college program. Then, in Cosmic Ray’s,
Rosa got a seat near the master showman Sonny Eclipse while I waited for her
gluten free hot dog and fries and my Impossible Burger to the Moon.
Foreshadowing time: the Village Haus crowd was not the only one to develop and
unhealthy connection to a Magic Kingdom Counter Service food this evening. I
was on line with a guy named Stanley- always a positive sign.
After about sixteen phone
calls and texts as to who was going to meet whom and where, Rosa and I walked
over to Fantasyland, and we all figured out where everyone was.
Someone pointed out
Pirates had a short wait. I have no idea who but I certainly wasn’t going to
argue with them.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
On the way there and into the ride, the girls were skipping and dancing along like little kids.
Because Disney World is magic.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Take what you can, give nothing back!
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Dude, someone knocked over the skeleton stalemate chess game and lost the reference on how to set it up. How sad!
“We ran to see you!!!!!!”
Getting a picture of Merida is what triggered Aurora to run, and she was thrilled the Scottish Princess saw them and waved this time. Marie excitedly saw herself on Anabelle’s shirt, and Mary Poppins winked at them all in recognition.
YAAAAAY!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
On the way there and into the ride, the girls were skipping and dancing along like little kids.
Because Disney World is magic.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Take what you can, give nothing back!
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Due to:
A) Plans
B) Miss Jenny
C) It’s us (There it is again!)
We crossed the entire Park
from Adventureland to Tomorrowland.
Jenny wasn’t there (of
course) but came out from the back as we were about to leave. She gave us
advice for the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. After her description, and knowing
our family, I’d have put the over/ under on motion sickness at seven to eight
of us easily.
This was one of those end
of the night split ups where a few of us had bursts of sanity. Not many but a
couple.
Grandma went back to the
hotel.
Rosa went to see the
fireworks and projection show and then went back to the hotel. It was the
Fiftieth Anniversary show, not Happily Ever After that would have attracted
more of us. Having that new show only when we were there, and switching back to
the one we like a while after we left was darn inconsiderate. On the way to the
show, Rosa was unable to score the always in demand and notoriously difficult
to find a reasonable wait for- Rapunzel Toilet PhotoPass. Instead, she took a
picture by Prince Eric’s Castle, which I will invariably mistake for Rapunzel’s
tower, explaining why I have mentioned that Latrine Based PhotoPass spot twice
while we still have no pictures there.
A) Plans
B) Miss Jenny
C) It’s us (There it is again!)
Rosa stopping for PhotoPass pictures
when separate from us was akin to Uncle Dave finding alcohol in each Park. The
moments of peace were likely the reason she didn’t kill us all on the trip. The
McGinley Direct Blood Line Disney Genes are unique and sometimes require extra
means for maintaining mental health during long term exposure.
On her way home, Rosa’s
adventure continued. Somewhere on Main Street or the bus, her Dunkin’ water
bottle fell out of the Fairy backpack. It had an unrelated pink top on it for
ease of identification to prevent gluten contamination. We replaced it with an
emptied Sprite bottle the next day. (I know, no one cares, but I need to
remember this whenever I wonder why my pink water bottle at work now has a blue
top on it.)
The bus ride home was far
longer than it should have been due to an accident that looked like another bus
fell over. Rosa checked to make sure Grandma was not one of the “Fallen Over”
at home before going to our room.
At some point over this
day, Anabelle learned the actor Matt Cornett was in the Parks.(Promoting a zombie show which
neither her or Aurora had seen nor cared too, but that seemed to be irrelevant
since he appeared in High School Musical- the new one with the foolishly long
title.) He had been in both EPCOT and MGM on this day,
causing them to miss him by one day in each direction. There was much
complaining.
However, placing my manly bits between a mortar and pestle during those turns and dips is nowhere near my idea of a fun experience.
Of course we did. It’s us. (Once more!)
What else would we do?
No, I am not the biggest fan of Splash Mountain. Yes, Big Thunder Mountain is probably my favorite Disney coaster. However, my enjoyment of Disney comes not only (and not mainly) from the attractions and locations (and the food, good gravy I love the food) but from who I’m sharing it with. Therefore, I got infinitely more enjoyment going on a ride that isn’t a favorite but sharing it with my daughter and family than I would have gotten going on a favorite attraction alone.
And that made it totally worth it.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
It had no air conditioning.
“Anabelle and Aurora are so much fun to be on a bus with and they are my favorite people woohoo.”
Alas.
3 comments:
I love your shoes.
Scary about the bus crash!!
Thank you. I've word colorful shoes seeing seeing Weird Al's in the "I Love Rocky Road" video in my early teens. Thanx to the converse website, I get them custom now.
It's always bad when reality pokes its head in like that in Disney, but luckily no one was hurt. A quick Google shows it only damaged the bus's windscreen.
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