Friday 9 November
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in, auditioning for Snow Whites 8th dwarf, Grouchy
Andrew (5½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater, favourite saying of the holiday Excuse me, is this ride scary?
Day 13 - Magic Kingdom
Today was to be our last full day and we decided to make it a trip to the Magic Kingdom as there were still lots of things we had not done.
It was another absolutely beautiful day - very sunny and low 80s. We arrived about 9.30 and even pulling into the car park could tell that it was going to be a much busier day than our last visit. Straight on to a tram and then the monorail and then came the queue to go through security and enter the park. The queues here were much worse than any of the other parks we had encountered, possibly due to the fact that a full monorail and also the ferry boat both offloaded at the same time so it was quite chaotic but it didnt hold us up for more than about 10 minutes. We had probably been spoiled by the other parks as we had always managed to park quite close to the entrance making entering the park quick and easy, however after the first visit to Magic Kingdom and the trip on the ferryboat to get into the park which we enjoyed for its novelty value and the first view of the castle I found the distance from the car park to the park entrance and the fact that so many people hit the turnstiles all at the same time quite irritating - I just wanted to get in there and get on with it. Does anyone else feel this way? I think from actually parking up to getting into the park had taken well over an hour.
Anyway, entered Main Street and as we had concentrated on the right hand side of the park last time - Tomorrowland and Fantasyland - we decided to do the right hand side this time. First stop was Splash Mountain so that we would have time to dry out if we got soaked. The wait time was posted at 20 minutes so we all got a Fast Pass - even Andrew was really keen to go on this which surprised me, even after pointing out the drop to him which looked terrifying to me - and then decided to queue anyway. We walked straight through the queueing area and must have waited no more than 5 minutes to get on the boat so dont always believe the wait times posted. We all loved this ride and didnt get too wet. Andrew decided that he wanted another go but Michael and Brian wanted to go on Big Thunder Mountain again so off they went while I went straight back round with Andrew, again only waiting about 5 minutes to get on. No queue for Big Thunder either so we all met up again at the same time and guess what, Andrew wanted yet another go on his new favourite ride. Twice down that drop was enough for me so the other three went on using our Fast Passes which we had got earlier. We were glad of this as in the space of the last 10 minutes the wait time had changed to 30 minutes, and the queue was certainly a lot longer - dont know where everyone had suddenly appeared from but boy, had we timed these rides right today.
Time to move on so off we all trot to Jungle Cruise and straight on with no wait. We had a really good cruise guide and all enjoyed this, even if it is a bit cheesey. Next off the Pirates of the Caribbean but there was a 20 minute wait so time for FP again while we went on the Aladdin ride. Waited about 10 minutes for this, but I would rather do that than wait 60 minutes for Dumbo for essentially the same ride. What the kids see in those elephants is beyond me!!!!! Wandered round the stall here for a while and all got a Mickey Ice Cream bar while waiting for our FP time and then back to PoC and straight on with our FPs past a huge queue of people. Andrew was wary of this ride and the Excuse me, is this ride scary? question was asked again, but he really enjoyed it (but Im only going on if I can sit with Mum - this had become another of his standard phrases over the holiday - lucky Mum!!!!!).
Next we decided to shuffle round the Swiss Family Treehouse - done it once, OK, but wouldnt rush back to do it again.
By now we were getting peckish so headed back to Main Street to get a hot dog. I sat outside on the kerb while Brian went in to get the food and in the space of the 10 minutes he was in there hordes of people started to stake out their spot on the kerb and in the shade for the parade which wasnt due to start for well over an hour. We decided that of all the parades this was one that we could live without and we couldnt be bothered waiting so long so gave it a miss. I think the people around us thought we were crazy giving up such a great viewing spot but we really didnt see the point of wasting our last afternoon just waiting for another parade so we decided to get the railroad round to Mickeys Toontown Fair in search of characters.
I must say we were very disappointed with MK as far as characters were concerned. On the two days we spent there we didnt see any other than the ones we queued up for in Toontown Fair. I had expected to see some characters just outside with organised lines like at MGM. We could have very easily spent a day at MGM just going round collecting character autographs there were so many of them.
Anyway, the train ride was good, a nice chance to have a sit down and relax for a while. Toontown Fair was surprisingly busy considering the parade was due to start, but luckily the only character we hadnt already seen was Cinderella so we only had to queue up once for about 20 minutes. The other lines were Minnie and Goofy in one line and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in the other, all of whom we had already seen on other days.
Minnies house wasnt very busy so had a quick look round there but decided to give Mickeys house a miss as it looked very busy.
No queue for Goofys barnstormer ride so all went on there and I really didnt like this. Dont ask me why but maybe it was because it is a kids ride and on a smaller scale so it felt quite rough and the turns were quite sharp but once was enough for me - come back Kumba all is forgiven !!!!! Everyone else wanted another go so off they went while I sat on a bench sunning myself.
It was at this point that we realised we had made a big mistake. We had all had enough of MK by this point - it was very very busy by now (I think there was a Spectromagic parade that evening which probably increased the afternoon crowd somewhat) and we had been on and seen everything that was on our must do list (apart from Spectromagic, but that was hours away) except that Andrew wanted one more go on Buzz Lightyear before we left.
Right then, Buzz it is - oh, oh, maybe not - the wait time was posted at 90 minutes (and the queue definitely looked like that might be an accurate estimate) and FPs were for about 3 hours later !!!! Oh dear, tears were flowing. In hindsight, we should have got a FP for Buzz before we went to ToonTown Fair but there wasnt a lot we could do about it now and we certainly didnt want to wait so long.
I then had a brainwave and my powers of bribery came into force. Michael had already said that he wanted to go to Ponderosa and Pirates Cove mini golf on I Drive for out last night (sob, sob !!!) so Andrew was promised a trip to FAO Schwarz which seemed to do the trick and he cheered up considerably.
Back to Main Street for our last look at the castle and we all got a huge ice cream from the Ice Cream parlour which was delicious and did some last minute present buying in the shops.
Right then, off to Pointe Orlando. Andrews eyes lit up when he saw FAO Schwarz and we spent ages in here looking round but managed to get out without buying anything which was a miracle It did seem quite expensive and Game Boy Advances and GBA games were definitely a lot more expensive here than they were in Electronics Boutique or Walmart but certainly worth a look round. Wandered round the rest of the shops but werent really in much of a buying mood (think the going home depressions was beginning to set in) and as we were all quite hungry by now headed off to Ponderosa for our last evening meal (sob, sob !!!).
Had another enjoyable meal here and then crossed the road to Pirates Cove mini golf. This was great but much much busier than the Pirates Cove golf at Crossroads so it took as a long time to get round the course. The course is really lovely all lit up at night. It must have been here that my legs got bitten to death, although I didnt realise it at the time so beware if you play this course at night in your shorts !!!! It must have been all the water that did it !!!!
Back to the hotel about 10.30 and oh dear, too late to be bothered with the packing as we were all shattered. Never mind, it wont take long tomorrow and then we can be off and out to MGM for our last morning - NOT !!!!!
Tomorrow - final morning and journey home.
Julie (38) - demented planner
Brian (40) - planning, whats that?
Michael (11) - quiet, clone of his Dad, hormones just starting to kick in, auditioning for Snow Whites 8th dwarf, Grouchy
Andrew (5½) - not quiet, mummys boy, very fussy eater, favourite saying of the holiday Excuse me, is this ride scary?
Day 13 - Magic Kingdom
Today was to be our last full day and we decided to make it a trip to the Magic Kingdom as there were still lots of things we had not done.
It was another absolutely beautiful day - very sunny and low 80s. We arrived about 9.30 and even pulling into the car park could tell that it was going to be a much busier day than our last visit. Straight on to a tram and then the monorail and then came the queue to go through security and enter the park. The queues here were much worse than any of the other parks we had encountered, possibly due to the fact that a full monorail and also the ferry boat both offloaded at the same time so it was quite chaotic but it didnt hold us up for more than about 10 minutes. We had probably been spoiled by the other parks as we had always managed to park quite close to the entrance making entering the park quick and easy, however after the first visit to Magic Kingdom and the trip on the ferryboat to get into the park which we enjoyed for its novelty value and the first view of the castle I found the distance from the car park to the park entrance and the fact that so many people hit the turnstiles all at the same time quite irritating - I just wanted to get in there and get on with it. Does anyone else feel this way? I think from actually parking up to getting into the park had taken well over an hour.
Anyway, entered Main Street and as we had concentrated on the right hand side of the park last time - Tomorrowland and Fantasyland - we decided to do the right hand side this time. First stop was Splash Mountain so that we would have time to dry out if we got soaked. The wait time was posted at 20 minutes so we all got a Fast Pass - even Andrew was really keen to go on this which surprised me, even after pointing out the drop to him which looked terrifying to me - and then decided to queue anyway. We walked straight through the queueing area and must have waited no more than 5 minutes to get on the boat so dont always believe the wait times posted. We all loved this ride and didnt get too wet. Andrew decided that he wanted another go but Michael and Brian wanted to go on Big Thunder Mountain again so off they went while I went straight back round with Andrew, again only waiting about 5 minutes to get on. No queue for Big Thunder either so we all met up again at the same time and guess what, Andrew wanted yet another go on his new favourite ride. Twice down that drop was enough for me so the other three went on using our Fast Passes which we had got earlier. We were glad of this as in the space of the last 10 minutes the wait time had changed to 30 minutes, and the queue was certainly a lot longer - dont know where everyone had suddenly appeared from but boy, had we timed these rides right today.
Time to move on so off we all trot to Jungle Cruise and straight on with no wait. We had a really good cruise guide and all enjoyed this, even if it is a bit cheesey. Next off the Pirates of the Caribbean but there was a 20 minute wait so time for FP again while we went on the Aladdin ride. Waited about 10 minutes for this, but I would rather do that than wait 60 minutes for Dumbo for essentially the same ride. What the kids see in those elephants is beyond me!!!!! Wandered round the stall here for a while and all got a Mickey Ice Cream bar while waiting for our FP time and then back to PoC and straight on with our FPs past a huge queue of people. Andrew was wary of this ride and the Excuse me, is this ride scary? question was asked again, but he really enjoyed it (but Im only going on if I can sit with Mum - this had become another of his standard phrases over the holiday - lucky Mum!!!!!).
Next we decided to shuffle round the Swiss Family Treehouse - done it once, OK, but wouldnt rush back to do it again.
By now we were getting peckish so headed back to Main Street to get a hot dog. I sat outside on the kerb while Brian went in to get the food and in the space of the 10 minutes he was in there hordes of people started to stake out their spot on the kerb and in the shade for the parade which wasnt due to start for well over an hour. We decided that of all the parades this was one that we could live without and we couldnt be bothered waiting so long so gave it a miss. I think the people around us thought we were crazy giving up such a great viewing spot but we really didnt see the point of wasting our last afternoon just waiting for another parade so we decided to get the railroad round to Mickeys Toontown Fair in search of characters.
I must say we were very disappointed with MK as far as characters were concerned. On the two days we spent there we didnt see any other than the ones we queued up for in Toontown Fair. I had expected to see some characters just outside with organised lines like at MGM. We could have very easily spent a day at MGM just going round collecting character autographs there were so many of them.
Anyway, the train ride was good, a nice chance to have a sit down and relax for a while. Toontown Fair was surprisingly busy considering the parade was due to start, but luckily the only character we hadnt already seen was Cinderella so we only had to queue up once for about 20 minutes. The other lines were Minnie and Goofy in one line and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in the other, all of whom we had already seen on other days.
Minnies house wasnt very busy so had a quick look round there but decided to give Mickeys house a miss as it looked very busy.
No queue for Goofys barnstormer ride so all went on there and I really didnt like this. Dont ask me why but maybe it was because it is a kids ride and on a smaller scale so it felt quite rough and the turns were quite sharp but once was enough for me - come back Kumba all is forgiven !!!!! Everyone else wanted another go so off they went while I sat on a bench sunning myself.
It was at this point that we realised we had made a big mistake. We had all had enough of MK by this point - it was very very busy by now (I think there was a Spectromagic parade that evening which probably increased the afternoon crowd somewhat) and we had been on and seen everything that was on our must do list (apart from Spectromagic, but that was hours away) except that Andrew wanted one more go on Buzz Lightyear before we left.
Right then, Buzz it is - oh, oh, maybe not - the wait time was posted at 90 minutes (and the queue definitely looked like that might be an accurate estimate) and FPs were for about 3 hours later !!!! Oh dear, tears were flowing. In hindsight, we should have got a FP for Buzz before we went to ToonTown Fair but there wasnt a lot we could do about it now and we certainly didnt want to wait so long.
I then had a brainwave and my powers of bribery came into force. Michael had already said that he wanted to go to Ponderosa and Pirates Cove mini golf on I Drive for out last night (sob, sob !!!) so Andrew was promised a trip to FAO Schwarz which seemed to do the trick and he cheered up considerably.
Back to Main Street for our last look at the castle and we all got a huge ice cream from the Ice Cream parlour which was delicious and did some last minute present buying in the shops.
Right then, off to Pointe Orlando. Andrews eyes lit up when he saw FAO Schwarz and we spent ages in here looking round but managed to get out without buying anything which was a miracle It did seem quite expensive and Game Boy Advances and GBA games were definitely a lot more expensive here than they were in Electronics Boutique or Walmart but certainly worth a look round. Wandered round the rest of the shops but werent really in much of a buying mood (think the going home depressions was beginning to set in) and as we were all quite hungry by now headed off to Ponderosa for our last evening meal (sob, sob !!!).
Had another enjoyable meal here and then crossed the road to Pirates Cove mini golf. This was great but much much busier than the Pirates Cove golf at Crossroads so it took as a long time to get round the course. The course is really lovely all lit up at night. It must have been here that my legs got bitten to death, although I didnt realise it at the time so beware if you play this course at night in your shorts !!!! It must have been all the water that did it !!!!
Back to the hotel about 10.30 and oh dear, too late to be bothered with the packing as we were all shattered. Never mind, it wont take long tomorrow and then we can be off and out to MGM for our last morning - NOT !!!!!
Tomorrow - final morning and journey home.
