Beach Club Babe
12-07-2008, 11:53 AM
Ashleigh had chosen Magic Kingdom as the park to see on this one day adventure. She has not been back to WDW since May 2007, and one of her favorites, the Haunted Mansion was under rehab then, and she was dying to see the changes.
We were up early and had the car packed in no time. Luckily, with this really short trip, we hardly had anything to pack, and it didn't seem that awful as it usually does. While he loaded up, I went over and grabbed some breakfast for us from the food court. We debated between driving over or leaving the car, and taking the bus. I left it to Ron, and he thought it better to drive than have to come back for the car at the end of the day. While I do see his point, in the end I wish we would have taken the bus. I felt we left in plenty of time to make the opening ceremony, but I guess not, as it didn't quite work out that way. Once through the gates we were directed to park at the very furthest spot from the tram, although in a fairly decent area not too far away. We hopped on the tram and were at TTC in no time. The ferry boat had just left, so we headed for the monorail. Luckily, or so I thought there was one waiting for us. We hopped on, and then we sat. And we sat some more. Finally, we hear an announcement that they are holding for further traffic. Eventuallly, we begin to move and not a hundred feet from the station, we are stopped again. We are told that they need to add another monorail. This doesn't sound promising. We wait, while another family discusses what would happen if we became stuck here. Moving once again, we pass through the Contemporary and stop again. We are told that they will be conducting stopping tests when we arrive at MK. Of course, not many pay attention and those standing are nearly knocked down on top of us. This has got to be the longest monorail ride we have ever taken. I remark about "some express ride this is." and Ron follows with, they should wait for these tests at a time when it is a less busy arrival time.
We clear security and go right through the gates. We have missed the ceremony, but there is a lady looking for it on the inside of the tunnel. We try to tell her it is over and is held on the other side, but only listens when her husband returns from asking a CM.
First order of business Space Mt. but only for Ron and Ashleigh. I wander over to get fp's for one of the other mountains. It is obvious that this is going to be a slow day for Splash, as it is a little on the cool side, so I get 2 for BTMR. I thought the others were going to meet me by Pirates, so I head in that direction and there is literally not another guest to be seen. I try to call Ron, but he does not answer. I wait a little, but see no sign of them, so I decide to walk to Tomorrowland. I find them coming out the restrooms, and we hop on Buzz since there is no wait. Ashleigh decides she can no longer wait for HM, so we head there and she is impressed with the changes, but finds the bride a little creepy. Ron does not remember the ax in her hand. It's now time for Ashleigh's other favorite, Pirates, so we head there and there is still virtually no one in Adventureland. We ride Pirates followed quickly by a ride on Jungle Cruise.
Next we meandered over to Frontierland, where, as I predicted, hardly anyone was tackling Splash Mt. Another of Ashleigh's of favorites, she was excited to get on. While the other's rode I waited near the exit, where Goofy was signing autographs. I talked to a few people as they waited for their turn. When my two disembarked, Ashleigh did not feel wet enough and wanted to go again, so off they went in search of the front seat and bigger Splash. In no time they found it, and it was time for their FP's at BTMR. I thought Ron was being a rather good sport about this, as he does not really care for this, and hasn't ridden in a few years, but I definitely could not go on and he didn't let Ash down, by making her do it alone.
While they rode, I wandered over to Fantasyland and picked up some fp's for Peter Pan and told them to meet me in front of Columbia Harbor House, as I was getting a bit hungry. I couldn't imagine what was taking so long, but I came to find out much later that Ron had taken the very long way around, going through Adventureland. Don't worry, I didn't give him too much grief. We had our favorite lunches, at our favorite table overlooking the Haunted Mansion. Which is where we headed when we were finished. Ron did not go this time. We had a pretty creepy CM, whom Ashleigh found just about on top of her right before the doors opened to exit the stretching room. He was really trying to scare her, but we both found it highly amusing instead and had a good laugh.
It was already time for fp at Peter Pan, so on we went. Ashleigh did not feel like iasw at this time, so we left it for later. However, of all the rides the rest of the day, this is the only one that had a long line, so we never got to ride today. Next we were able to walk right into a showing of Mickey's Philharmagic. I then suggested Ron and Ashleigh get in line for Ariel. Of course, I was being sarcastic, given the amount of time he put in here in August with Emily, but he wasn't too amused! We then grabbed some fp's for Pooh and made our way to Tomorrowland. Ashleigh and I were on the same wavelength, as we both had 2 trips on the TTA in mind, followed by the Carousel of Progress. Zigzagging a little more, we went back to Adventureland, took in a showing of Tiki Birds and another ride on Pirates. Then it wa over to Frontierland again to catch the train, which we took a complete loop, plus the next stop and got off in Toontown. Ashleigh wanted a rasberry frozen lemonade from the Enchanted Grove and a pretzel from the cart in FL, and after finishing them, we used or fp's for Pooh. Back one last time to TL, where we watched the Laugh Floor. They had changed the Mac and Cheese skit, since we had seen it last. It was good too, but I think I prefer the old way.
We had really accomplished quite a bit, and other than iasw, there really wasn't anything else we needed to do, except grab a bite to eat. Ashleigh chose Peco's Bill's, so we grabbed our dinner, before heading out.
It was still a bit earlier than we had planned on leaving, we didn't really want to hit a lot of rush hour traffic on I-4, so we decided to catch a monorail over to Epcot and then back to our car. In August, when we dropped Courtney off, we only had 2 days in the parks, and Emily had chosen MK and DHS, Ron and I had kind of been hoping for Epcot on this trip, and since we didn't, at least we got one little peek at it!
Back to our car we went, and were soon beginning the drive home. I'll be back to finish off the drive and some final thoughts.
We were up early and had the car packed in no time. Luckily, with this really short trip, we hardly had anything to pack, and it didn't seem that awful as it usually does. While he loaded up, I went over and grabbed some breakfast for us from the food court. We debated between driving over or leaving the car, and taking the bus. I left it to Ron, and he thought it better to drive than have to come back for the car at the end of the day. While I do see his point, in the end I wish we would have taken the bus. I felt we left in plenty of time to make the opening ceremony, but I guess not, as it didn't quite work out that way. Once through the gates we were directed to park at the very furthest spot from the tram, although in a fairly decent area not too far away. We hopped on the tram and were at TTC in no time. The ferry boat had just left, so we headed for the monorail. Luckily, or so I thought there was one waiting for us. We hopped on, and then we sat. And we sat some more. Finally, we hear an announcement that they are holding for further traffic. Eventuallly, we begin to move and not a hundred feet from the station, we are stopped again. We are told that they need to add another monorail. This doesn't sound promising. We wait, while another family discusses what would happen if we became stuck here. Moving once again, we pass through the Contemporary and stop again. We are told that they will be conducting stopping tests when we arrive at MK. Of course, not many pay attention and those standing are nearly knocked down on top of us. This has got to be the longest monorail ride we have ever taken. I remark about "some express ride this is." and Ron follows with, they should wait for these tests at a time when it is a less busy arrival time.
We clear security and go right through the gates. We have missed the ceremony, but there is a lady looking for it on the inside of the tunnel. We try to tell her it is over and is held on the other side, but only listens when her husband returns from asking a CM.
First order of business Space Mt. but only for Ron and Ashleigh. I wander over to get fp's for one of the other mountains. It is obvious that this is going to be a slow day for Splash, as it is a little on the cool side, so I get 2 for BTMR. I thought the others were going to meet me by Pirates, so I head in that direction and there is literally not another guest to be seen. I try to call Ron, but he does not answer. I wait a little, but see no sign of them, so I decide to walk to Tomorrowland. I find them coming out the restrooms, and we hop on Buzz since there is no wait. Ashleigh decides she can no longer wait for HM, so we head there and she is impressed with the changes, but finds the bride a little creepy. Ron does not remember the ax in her hand. It's now time for Ashleigh's other favorite, Pirates, so we head there and there is still virtually no one in Adventureland. We ride Pirates followed quickly by a ride on Jungle Cruise.
Next we meandered over to Frontierland, where, as I predicted, hardly anyone was tackling Splash Mt. Another of Ashleigh's of favorites, she was excited to get on. While the other's rode I waited near the exit, where Goofy was signing autographs. I talked to a few people as they waited for their turn. When my two disembarked, Ashleigh did not feel wet enough and wanted to go again, so off they went in search of the front seat and bigger Splash. In no time they found it, and it was time for their FP's at BTMR. I thought Ron was being a rather good sport about this, as he does not really care for this, and hasn't ridden in a few years, but I definitely could not go on and he didn't let Ash down, by making her do it alone.
While they rode, I wandered over to Fantasyland and picked up some fp's for Peter Pan and told them to meet me in front of Columbia Harbor House, as I was getting a bit hungry. I couldn't imagine what was taking so long, but I came to find out much later that Ron had taken the very long way around, going through Adventureland. Don't worry, I didn't give him too much grief. We had our favorite lunches, at our favorite table overlooking the Haunted Mansion. Which is where we headed when we were finished. Ron did not go this time. We had a pretty creepy CM, whom Ashleigh found just about on top of her right before the doors opened to exit the stretching room. He was really trying to scare her, but we both found it highly amusing instead and had a good laugh.
It was already time for fp at Peter Pan, so on we went. Ashleigh did not feel like iasw at this time, so we left it for later. However, of all the rides the rest of the day, this is the only one that had a long line, so we never got to ride today. Next we were able to walk right into a showing of Mickey's Philharmagic. I then suggested Ron and Ashleigh get in line for Ariel. Of course, I was being sarcastic, given the amount of time he put in here in August with Emily, but he wasn't too amused! We then grabbed some fp's for Pooh and made our way to Tomorrowland. Ashleigh and I were on the same wavelength, as we both had 2 trips on the TTA in mind, followed by the Carousel of Progress. Zigzagging a little more, we went back to Adventureland, took in a showing of Tiki Birds and another ride on Pirates. Then it wa over to Frontierland again to catch the train, which we took a complete loop, plus the next stop and got off in Toontown. Ashleigh wanted a rasberry frozen lemonade from the Enchanted Grove and a pretzel from the cart in FL, and after finishing them, we used or fp's for Pooh. Back one last time to TL, where we watched the Laugh Floor. They had changed the Mac and Cheese skit, since we had seen it last. It was good too, but I think I prefer the old way.
We had really accomplished quite a bit, and other than iasw, there really wasn't anything else we needed to do, except grab a bite to eat. Ashleigh chose Peco's Bill's, so we grabbed our dinner, before heading out.
It was still a bit earlier than we had planned on leaving, we didn't really want to hit a lot of rush hour traffic on I-4, so we decided to catch a monorail over to Epcot and then back to our car. In August, when we dropped Courtney off, we only had 2 days in the parks, and Emily had chosen MK and DHS, Ron and I had kind of been hoping for Epcot on this trip, and since we didn't, at least we got one little peek at it!
Back to our car we went, and were soon beginning the drive home. I'll be back to finish off the drive and some final thoughts.