BriarRose0708
04-06-2007, 10:48 AM
Here's part 2 of 3/31/07.
After we got off Small World, we met Kim and the others at Haunted Mansion, mwahahahah! It was working again but the wait time was 40 minutes! The line stretched all the way back to Colombia Harbor House and we were at the very end of it. We slowly zigzagged through the line that looked like it used to be the entrance to a now-defunct ride but I got some great pictures of Aunt Polly's and BTMRR accross the river. We wound our way all through the green awning. To add to this, it had started to rain. It was sprinkling but sunny when we started in line, and just 10 minutes later it was raining harder. Great. Oh well, go with the flow, right? Even though I waited in line longer to ride Splash, this que was probably the worst of the day. We had some kids (about 10 or 11 years old) in front of us who were very bored and stated fidgiting, fighting, and goofing off, and understandably so. There was nothing to look at until the semitary. I wasn't too bothered by it, but they weren't accompanied by an adult (and if they were that adult was doing a bad job supervising) so Kim had to remind them to keep it moving a few times when their playing held up the line. Once we were through the doors, though, I knew right away this could very well be my favorite ride. After all I had heard about it and seen on tv and read here, I had high expectations. It definately came through! I was a little afraid it might break down because of the earlier technical difficulties and other such stories I've read on Intercot, but it went off smoothly! My favorite scene was the ballroom, there was so much to look at there! I wasn't expecting the fall into the graveyard when I "died" at all! It was such a fun time, I am glad I got to ride it before the refurb.
When we exited the ride it was still raining, and I forgot to look for the wedding ring and the pet semitary. There was no time anyway because I had an appointment with some pillagers. The wait for Pirates was posted for 30 minutes but it was more like 20. I'm not sure how I feel about Pirates- I almost would have rather seen the original because I have nothing to compare this version to. I liked how Davy Jones appeared and seeing Captain Jack pop up every now and then. Brittany thought it was a real person the first time she saw him. Seriously. It felt to me that this has now turned into a ride that was based on a movie (like the rides at that other themepark in Orlando we won't talk about), and not the ride that inspired a movie. I dodn't get to ride this one again, but I will next trip.
After Pirates it was still raining, so I assumed there would be no pirate tutorial. So we headed for a Jungle Cruise instead! Again, the posted wait time was longer than what we actually stood for. I was so surprised the waits weren't unbearable! For one of the busiest times of the year on a Friday during Orlando school's spring break, it wasn't bad! I've waited much longer for much less entertaining rides.
Again, Jungle Cruise- I don't know how I felt about it. This is also one of those rides I had built up in my mind and read a lot about, and I'm not sure if it lived up to my self-created hype. It was still raining, for one, so we had to sit on a wet boat. And our guide was so not funny. I know the script can change but his was virtually the same as a video I saw on YouTube. I think it was his delivery or his timing was off or something like that. It was also at this point that I noticed my camera battery in my camera was almost out. What!?! They were brand new when I put them in that morning. And where were my extras? In the room, of course. So I needed to slow it down with the photo documentation. Thank goodness I got that Photopass I didn't want.
When we were done with our cruise it was time to potty and figure out the game plan for the rest of the day. the others were getting bored and decided to hop to EPCOT. Now, really I had already done all of my "must do's" and then some, plus it was getting on 5pm and if I wanted to get my EMH wristband for EPCOT that night I'd have to do it then. It was tempting. But here's the thing. My sister and I made a pact that whenever we would go to Disney for the first time we would go together. There had been a few occasions where either one of us had come close to breaking it, but those plans always fell though. So when I knew last fall I could go for sure, I called hjer to get her blessing to break our pact. She was fine with it, but I had to promise to go only to one park so we could experience the rest of Disney together. So when the time came to make a decision about EPCOT, I just couldn't do it. Plus, while I hear great things about Illuminations, I had had had to see Wishes. And the park hours had been extended from 10 to 11 that night, which ment there was more time to ride and see what we had skipped earlier.
So the group split up and Britt and I were left to our own devices in Adventureland. The Tiki Room was just about to open and since it's another classic we got in line. That and my grandmother told me I had to see it. I liked it! Too bad it's not as popular as it once was. After leaving the tropical hideaway we went to get fastpasses for Splash because we both wanted to ride it again. Our return time was 7:40, which left an hour and a half to get some dinner and maybe do another ride. We decided to try a sit down because we had been in the park going on nine hours and needed a rest. I had only read fabulous things about the Liberty Tree Tavern, so we tried to get in there. The wait was an hour, so no dice. Then I remembered the Colombia Harbor House was just as good (according to my research). We walked in and it was close to empty! After we got our food we sat upstairs by a window looking over the Haunted Mansion. It was virtually deserted up there so I pulled up two chairs, put my feet up and relaxed. We ate, people watched, and made some phone calls. As we got up to leave I glanced out the window and saw the wait for Haunted Mansion was 5 minutes! We walked right on and the cast member in the stretching room was great. She walked around the perimeter of the room when we had to get into the "dead center" and said "get your wretched bodies away from my walls!" And then when it was time to file out to the Doombuggies she gave us the nastiest "get out" I've ever heard. I turned to Brittany and said "oh she's good!" This time the ride began smoothly, but then when we got to the sceance we stalled for about two minutes. I wasn't mad at all, I actually wouldn't have minded having to walk out so I could see it all with the lights on. But we got moving once again and finished the ride. Both times we had the same hitchhiker, I think he liked us!
Next Britt wanted to look in the Christmas shop. I told her she could look but not touch any more ornaments! I wasn't interested because it was the same stuff as in Downtown Disney, so I sat on a stone wall outside the shop and called my mom. I had talked with her briefly the night before, but I had been in World of Disney at the time and it was loud and distracting. The crowds by that point had also thinned out (it was around 7:15). So as it was quieter here and Britt takes her time shopping this was the best time to check in with New York. She must have glanced at the caller ID because when she picked up I heard, in her rare singing voice no less, "M-I-C..." and of course I answered "K-E-Y..." My mom rocks. I told her all about my day and all the characters I had met. Then she said "Do they still have Space Mountain there?" Bless her. I said "Yeah, mumsy, it was my very first ride this morning." Apparently the last time she was in Disney, which must have been in the 80's because she hasn't been on a plane in about 20 years, whe had gone on Space Mountain. "And I screamed the whoooole way down" she said. Seriously, my mom rocks.
Next up: Splashing down again and Wishes! Thanks for reading everyone!
After we got off Small World, we met Kim and the others at Haunted Mansion, mwahahahah! It was working again but the wait time was 40 minutes! The line stretched all the way back to Colombia Harbor House and we were at the very end of it. We slowly zigzagged through the line that looked like it used to be the entrance to a now-defunct ride but I got some great pictures of Aunt Polly's and BTMRR accross the river. We wound our way all through the green awning. To add to this, it had started to rain. It was sprinkling but sunny when we started in line, and just 10 minutes later it was raining harder. Great. Oh well, go with the flow, right? Even though I waited in line longer to ride Splash, this que was probably the worst of the day. We had some kids (about 10 or 11 years old) in front of us who were very bored and stated fidgiting, fighting, and goofing off, and understandably so. There was nothing to look at until the semitary. I wasn't too bothered by it, but they weren't accompanied by an adult (and if they were that adult was doing a bad job supervising) so Kim had to remind them to keep it moving a few times when their playing held up the line. Once we were through the doors, though, I knew right away this could very well be my favorite ride. After all I had heard about it and seen on tv and read here, I had high expectations. It definately came through! I was a little afraid it might break down because of the earlier technical difficulties and other such stories I've read on Intercot, but it went off smoothly! My favorite scene was the ballroom, there was so much to look at there! I wasn't expecting the fall into the graveyard when I "died" at all! It was such a fun time, I am glad I got to ride it before the refurb.
When we exited the ride it was still raining, and I forgot to look for the wedding ring and the pet semitary. There was no time anyway because I had an appointment with some pillagers. The wait for Pirates was posted for 30 minutes but it was more like 20. I'm not sure how I feel about Pirates- I almost would have rather seen the original because I have nothing to compare this version to. I liked how Davy Jones appeared and seeing Captain Jack pop up every now and then. Brittany thought it was a real person the first time she saw him. Seriously. It felt to me that this has now turned into a ride that was based on a movie (like the rides at that other themepark in Orlando we won't talk about), and not the ride that inspired a movie. I dodn't get to ride this one again, but I will next trip.
After Pirates it was still raining, so I assumed there would be no pirate tutorial. So we headed for a Jungle Cruise instead! Again, the posted wait time was longer than what we actually stood for. I was so surprised the waits weren't unbearable! For one of the busiest times of the year on a Friday during Orlando school's spring break, it wasn't bad! I've waited much longer for much less entertaining rides.
Again, Jungle Cruise- I don't know how I felt about it. This is also one of those rides I had built up in my mind and read a lot about, and I'm not sure if it lived up to my self-created hype. It was still raining, for one, so we had to sit on a wet boat. And our guide was so not funny. I know the script can change but his was virtually the same as a video I saw on YouTube. I think it was his delivery or his timing was off or something like that. It was also at this point that I noticed my camera battery in my camera was almost out. What!?! They were brand new when I put them in that morning. And where were my extras? In the room, of course. So I needed to slow it down with the photo documentation. Thank goodness I got that Photopass I didn't want.
When we were done with our cruise it was time to potty and figure out the game plan for the rest of the day. the others were getting bored and decided to hop to EPCOT. Now, really I had already done all of my "must do's" and then some, plus it was getting on 5pm and if I wanted to get my EMH wristband for EPCOT that night I'd have to do it then. It was tempting. But here's the thing. My sister and I made a pact that whenever we would go to Disney for the first time we would go together. There had been a few occasions where either one of us had come close to breaking it, but those plans always fell though. So when I knew last fall I could go for sure, I called hjer to get her blessing to break our pact. She was fine with it, but I had to promise to go only to one park so we could experience the rest of Disney together. So when the time came to make a decision about EPCOT, I just couldn't do it. Plus, while I hear great things about Illuminations, I had had had to see Wishes. And the park hours had been extended from 10 to 11 that night, which ment there was more time to ride and see what we had skipped earlier.
So the group split up and Britt and I were left to our own devices in Adventureland. The Tiki Room was just about to open and since it's another classic we got in line. That and my grandmother told me I had to see it. I liked it! Too bad it's not as popular as it once was. After leaving the tropical hideaway we went to get fastpasses for Splash because we both wanted to ride it again. Our return time was 7:40, which left an hour and a half to get some dinner and maybe do another ride. We decided to try a sit down because we had been in the park going on nine hours and needed a rest. I had only read fabulous things about the Liberty Tree Tavern, so we tried to get in there. The wait was an hour, so no dice. Then I remembered the Colombia Harbor House was just as good (according to my research). We walked in and it was close to empty! After we got our food we sat upstairs by a window looking over the Haunted Mansion. It was virtually deserted up there so I pulled up two chairs, put my feet up and relaxed. We ate, people watched, and made some phone calls. As we got up to leave I glanced out the window and saw the wait for Haunted Mansion was 5 minutes! We walked right on and the cast member in the stretching room was great. She walked around the perimeter of the room when we had to get into the "dead center" and said "get your wretched bodies away from my walls!" And then when it was time to file out to the Doombuggies she gave us the nastiest "get out" I've ever heard. I turned to Brittany and said "oh she's good!" This time the ride began smoothly, but then when we got to the sceance we stalled for about two minutes. I wasn't mad at all, I actually wouldn't have minded having to walk out so I could see it all with the lights on. But we got moving once again and finished the ride. Both times we had the same hitchhiker, I think he liked us!
Next Britt wanted to look in the Christmas shop. I told her she could look but not touch any more ornaments! I wasn't interested because it was the same stuff as in Downtown Disney, so I sat on a stone wall outside the shop and called my mom. I had talked with her briefly the night before, but I had been in World of Disney at the time and it was loud and distracting. The crowds by that point had also thinned out (it was around 7:15). So as it was quieter here and Britt takes her time shopping this was the best time to check in with New York. She must have glanced at the caller ID because when she picked up I heard, in her rare singing voice no less, "M-I-C..." and of course I answered "K-E-Y..." My mom rocks. I told her all about my day and all the characters I had met. Then she said "Do they still have Space Mountain there?" Bless her. I said "Yeah, mumsy, it was my very first ride this morning." Apparently the last time she was in Disney, which must have been in the 80's because she hasn't been on a plane in about 20 years, whe had gone on Space Mountain. "And I screamed the whoooole way down" she said. Seriously, my mom rocks.
Next up: Splashing down again and Wishes! Thanks for reading everyone!