SFTrny
12-06-2008, 01:01 PM
Breakfast in the cabin and we are off for the Magic Kingdom! Breakfast was blueberry muffins, juice and coffee. Four people with one bathroom takes time, so we ate in shifts and watched Stacey on TV. In the past, we would take the golf cart to the beach, and then the boat to the park; or sometimes, the boat to the Contemporary and then the monorail to the parks. With the wheelchair, we opted to drive to the parks every morning. We figured out how to fold down the rear seats of the minivan so that the entire back section was flat. That was REALLY nice. We could lift the wheelchair right in and out without having to collapse it. We didn’t have an Accessible Parking pass, but since we were early, we were in one of the front rows anyway. From the TTC, we took the monorail to the MK and were outside the gates 10 minutes before the opening ceremonies. Disney seems to have added things for restless kids to do while they wait for the park opening and parades, including hula loops, jumping rope (with cast members turning a large rope), and sidewalk chalk.
Once we were through the gates, we headed to Adventureland and PotC. Since this was our third trip, we didn’t feel the need to rush for any of the rides at anytime. Even when the parks were packed at Thanksgiving, we chose not to rush for anything and that made the vacation a lot more relaxing. PotC was pretty much a walk-on, but Davey Jones was not being projected on the waterfall. It was just a section of darkness, but the ride was still fun. Afterwards, we headed off for Big Thunder Mountain which brought two very big surprises for us. First, our younger daughter has never been a fan of roller-coasters. Three years ago, the drop inside of PotC was scary to her. She nervously agreed to try BTM…and LOVED IT! For the rest of the vacation, it was her first choice of rides to go back to. Second, as we exited the ride, the Year of a Million Dreams crew was waiting and everyone was receiving YOMD ears and a MK Dream Fast Pass (a card with tabs that gives you one Fast Pass for each of the Fast Pass rides in the park). HOORAY!
Fantasyland and our tradition of ice cream at 10 am followed - then over to Tomorrowland and back to Adventureland. We saw the Laugh Floor show for the first time, and the Dreams Come True parade. Because of the low crowds and the wheelchair, we wound up in either very short lines (less than 5 minutes) or bypassing the normal loading queue. At 3:30, we were ready to head back to the cabin and start planning dinner. On our way out, we had only used 3 out of 8 of the Fast pass tabs on our special YOMD passes, so we picked out another family of four just coming up through Main Street and created our own Magical Moment by re-gifting the YOMD Fast Passes to them. That is a lot of fun!
Just a word about wheelchair access to the rides – it is not true that it is always a ticket to the front of the line. The newer rides are designed with accessibility in mind. The older rides have alternate ways to get on the ride. Sometimes this means going in through the exit, and then waiting until the cast members can accommodate you. For shows, there is preferential seating for people using wheelchairs or EVCs, but just like the airline, this often means you are first in and last out.
Drinks, snacks and dinner in the cabin with some relaxing down-time and we were ready to head back out. We went back to the MK and – of course – headed right back to Big Thunder Mountain! Then we caught the Spectromagic Parade and Wishes before heading back out. Exhausted, we all headed right to bed as soon as we got back to the cabin. An EXCELLENT first day at WDW.
Once we were through the gates, we headed to Adventureland and PotC. Since this was our third trip, we didn’t feel the need to rush for any of the rides at anytime. Even when the parks were packed at Thanksgiving, we chose not to rush for anything and that made the vacation a lot more relaxing. PotC was pretty much a walk-on, but Davey Jones was not being projected on the waterfall. It was just a section of darkness, but the ride was still fun. Afterwards, we headed off for Big Thunder Mountain which brought two very big surprises for us. First, our younger daughter has never been a fan of roller-coasters. Three years ago, the drop inside of PotC was scary to her. She nervously agreed to try BTM…and LOVED IT! For the rest of the vacation, it was her first choice of rides to go back to. Second, as we exited the ride, the Year of a Million Dreams crew was waiting and everyone was receiving YOMD ears and a MK Dream Fast Pass (a card with tabs that gives you one Fast Pass for each of the Fast Pass rides in the park). HOORAY!
Fantasyland and our tradition of ice cream at 10 am followed - then over to Tomorrowland and back to Adventureland. We saw the Laugh Floor show for the first time, and the Dreams Come True parade. Because of the low crowds and the wheelchair, we wound up in either very short lines (less than 5 minutes) or bypassing the normal loading queue. At 3:30, we were ready to head back to the cabin and start planning dinner. On our way out, we had only used 3 out of 8 of the Fast pass tabs on our special YOMD passes, so we picked out another family of four just coming up through Main Street and created our own Magical Moment by re-gifting the YOMD Fast Passes to them. That is a lot of fun!
Just a word about wheelchair access to the rides – it is not true that it is always a ticket to the front of the line. The newer rides are designed with accessibility in mind. The older rides have alternate ways to get on the ride. Sometimes this means going in through the exit, and then waiting until the cast members can accommodate you. For shows, there is preferential seating for people using wheelchairs or EVCs, but just like the airline, this often means you are first in and last out.
Drinks, snacks and dinner in the cabin with some relaxing down-time and we were ready to head back out. We went back to the MK and – of course – headed right back to Big Thunder Mountain! Then we caught the Spectromagic Parade and Wishes before heading back out. Exhausted, we all headed right to bed as soon as we got back to the cabin. An EXCELLENT first day at WDW.