princessgirls
12-15-2009, 01:54 PM
Cast of Characters:
Me: Julie Disney Planner
DH: Fred Good Sport
DD: Morgan-9
DD: Madison-8
Resort: POP Century December 4-9
Saturday December 5th:
Today was our day to do Magic Kingdom, as early in the planning stages of this trip, we had decided not to do a hopper and try one park a day, it was a small savings and we also didn't get the trip insurance this time. More thoughts on the hopper pass later.
Going in, I knew that Disney was planning on taping the parade today, and I knew the crowds would be heavy as they were giving away free tickets to people. I was prepared!!
So we are all up by 7:30 and at the bus by 8:20 in a cold, steady rain. Fred is giving me the "death glare" . We have our rain gear on, and the bus comes quickly. One of the best things at the Pop is the busing. They run many and it is all very organized. We are at the park waiting for the opening ceremony at 8:50. Not many crowds. There is plenty of room waiting to get in. I've never seen an opening ceremony and I thought it was very cute and fun! I'm so excited to see Main Street and all of the wonderful sights and sounds, even in the Rain!
Morgan and Madison are proudly wearing their Birthday pins (Morgan's birthday is 10/10 and Madison's is 12/1). Once inside our plan of attack in Tomorrowland . I love Main Street USA! The decorations are beautiful! The castle so pretty. I'm happy in spite of the elements. We see a horse coming down pulling a car. Cool! Get over to Tomorrowland and waited for about five minutes for it to open and we were off to Space Mountain. Fred decided he would sit this one out. Not his favorite ride... OK, here is what I did notice in terms of changes. They have updated the waiting queue. It has some interactive video games that you can play as the line moves, there are some more updated space items in there. The actual ride is a lot darker. In the past, once your eyes adjusted to the dark, you could see the track, not anymore. Pitch black!! The ride was smooth and we had fun. It has stopped raining when we exit, and next we do Buzz Lightyear where I kicked BUTT!! Over to the Laughing Floor Comedy, where they ask Fred a question and they use the joke we texted. The crowds over here are really light. Back for another round of Space and when we came out of the space "gift shop" we had our first Kelly Ripa sighting. Ms. Ripa has a 4 inch heels on... crazy. She is with her husband Mark, and their three children along with Disney CM's. She is super tiny. I know she hosts the parade, so I asked a CM who told me that the taping was canceled for today, and rescheduled it for tomorrow! Whoohooo, I think to myself. The crowd levels won't be nearly as bad.
We nixed Stitch this trip and head over to Fantasyland. Girls do a round on teacups, we hit pooh, Dumbo, which had a 15 minute wait, Small World, and Peter Pan. Now, we are getting hungry and Fred's favorite is Comic Ray's Starlight Cafe...delicious lunch!! YUMMY! The carrot cake was so good too! After our full bellies, we decide to do the Indy Speedway, Astro Orbiter, and the TTA (do not like the new announcer at all) some barnstormer, more teacups (just the girls), and catch the train as we are headed over to Frontierland. I enjoy the train, it is a useful way to get around the park! Girls really want to do Splash, but it's chilly out. The weather has improved, and it is trying to clear. Just in the 60's. So we check out Splash Mountain...no wait... imagine that... girls are in full "We want to go on Splash" mode and I notice that they had the water canon not running, which is the part that soaks you. So we get the rain gear on and go on! We had fun, and came off dry! It was all good, we actually went on this two or three times. We fastpassed BTMR and rode on this after. We also hit the Haunted Mansion. When we were done with the Mountains, we grabbed a quick snack and watched the parade. After the parade it was time for the some Adventureland. Pirates which was our longest wait of the day because the ride had broken down, Jungle Cruise, Aladdin Magic Carpets, and the good 'ole tiki birds. We did another round of BTMR and then headed over to the Crystal Palace for our 4:45 ADR. We were on-time, which was good because the place was mobbed. Only waited about 15 minutes. The food was good, and we all enjoyed our dinner and character interaction. Girls got special cupcakes. We got out of there about 6:15 which was perfect timing for the Castle lighting ceremony. LOVED the castle in the Christmas lights. So beautiful. I got teary...
Madison decided she wanted a character drawing done of herself over by the castle as we were walking over there, Morgan didn't want one then (that became an issue during the week...LOL) so Fred hung out with Maddie while she sat for that and I took Morgan back over to Space and the gift shop over there. I got a nice Mickey Santa long sleeve waffle shirt and the Castle blanket promo for $15.00. Morgan got a cute tote bag beings she wasn't getting a picture done. Fred and Maddie met us in the gift shop, and I must admit... Maddie's picture turned out adorable! Love it! She is quite happy with it too. I took the girls on another round of space mountain. By this time, it was around 8pm and we had been going ,going, going all day, so we decided to start making our way out Main Street and maybe catch Spectro, but not making it to Wishes. We stopped in a couple of shops, got a spot for Spectro and made our way out of the park right after the parade. Got right on a bus, and back to the resort where we all crashed!
It was a Wonderful Magic Kingdom Day!
Some random observations:
Saw Kelly Ripa four times around the Kingdom today enjoying the day with her family and the 4 inch heels. God Bless her!
Weather shaped up as the day went along.
Space enhancements were OK, but did it warrant a six-month shut down???
Please bring back the old voice of the TTA. Ride is just not the same.
Pop beds were very comfy. Not a creature was stirring...not even Madison!
Julie:mickey:
Coming up part 3-Hollywood Studios!
Me: Julie Disney Planner
DH: Fred Good Sport
DD: Morgan-9
DD: Madison-8
Resort: POP Century December 4-9
Saturday December 5th:
Today was our day to do Magic Kingdom, as early in the planning stages of this trip, we had decided not to do a hopper and try one park a day, it was a small savings and we also didn't get the trip insurance this time. More thoughts on the hopper pass later.
Going in, I knew that Disney was planning on taping the parade today, and I knew the crowds would be heavy as they were giving away free tickets to people. I was prepared!!
So we are all up by 7:30 and at the bus by 8:20 in a cold, steady rain. Fred is giving me the "death glare" . We have our rain gear on, and the bus comes quickly. One of the best things at the Pop is the busing. They run many and it is all very organized. We are at the park waiting for the opening ceremony at 8:50. Not many crowds. There is plenty of room waiting to get in. I've never seen an opening ceremony and I thought it was very cute and fun! I'm so excited to see Main Street and all of the wonderful sights and sounds, even in the Rain!
Morgan and Madison are proudly wearing their Birthday pins (Morgan's birthday is 10/10 and Madison's is 12/1). Once inside our plan of attack in Tomorrowland . I love Main Street USA! The decorations are beautiful! The castle so pretty. I'm happy in spite of the elements. We see a horse coming down pulling a car. Cool! Get over to Tomorrowland and waited for about five minutes for it to open and we were off to Space Mountain. Fred decided he would sit this one out. Not his favorite ride... OK, here is what I did notice in terms of changes. They have updated the waiting queue. It has some interactive video games that you can play as the line moves, there are some more updated space items in there. The actual ride is a lot darker. In the past, once your eyes adjusted to the dark, you could see the track, not anymore. Pitch black!! The ride was smooth and we had fun. It has stopped raining when we exit, and next we do Buzz Lightyear where I kicked BUTT!! Over to the Laughing Floor Comedy, where they ask Fred a question and they use the joke we texted. The crowds over here are really light. Back for another round of Space and when we came out of the space "gift shop" we had our first Kelly Ripa sighting. Ms. Ripa has a 4 inch heels on... crazy. She is with her husband Mark, and their three children along with Disney CM's. She is super tiny. I know she hosts the parade, so I asked a CM who told me that the taping was canceled for today, and rescheduled it for tomorrow! Whoohooo, I think to myself. The crowd levels won't be nearly as bad.
We nixed Stitch this trip and head over to Fantasyland. Girls do a round on teacups, we hit pooh, Dumbo, which had a 15 minute wait, Small World, and Peter Pan. Now, we are getting hungry and Fred's favorite is Comic Ray's Starlight Cafe...delicious lunch!! YUMMY! The carrot cake was so good too! After our full bellies, we decide to do the Indy Speedway, Astro Orbiter, and the TTA (do not like the new announcer at all) some barnstormer, more teacups (just the girls), and catch the train as we are headed over to Frontierland. I enjoy the train, it is a useful way to get around the park! Girls really want to do Splash, but it's chilly out. The weather has improved, and it is trying to clear. Just in the 60's. So we check out Splash Mountain...no wait... imagine that... girls are in full "We want to go on Splash" mode and I notice that they had the water canon not running, which is the part that soaks you. So we get the rain gear on and go on! We had fun, and came off dry! It was all good, we actually went on this two or three times. We fastpassed BTMR and rode on this after. We also hit the Haunted Mansion. When we were done with the Mountains, we grabbed a quick snack and watched the parade. After the parade it was time for the some Adventureland. Pirates which was our longest wait of the day because the ride had broken down, Jungle Cruise, Aladdin Magic Carpets, and the good 'ole tiki birds. We did another round of BTMR and then headed over to the Crystal Palace for our 4:45 ADR. We were on-time, which was good because the place was mobbed. Only waited about 15 minutes. The food was good, and we all enjoyed our dinner and character interaction. Girls got special cupcakes. We got out of there about 6:15 which was perfect timing for the Castle lighting ceremony. LOVED the castle in the Christmas lights. So beautiful. I got teary...
Madison decided she wanted a character drawing done of herself over by the castle as we were walking over there, Morgan didn't want one then (that became an issue during the week...LOL) so Fred hung out with Maddie while she sat for that and I took Morgan back over to Space and the gift shop over there. I got a nice Mickey Santa long sleeve waffle shirt and the Castle blanket promo for $15.00. Morgan got a cute tote bag beings she wasn't getting a picture done. Fred and Maddie met us in the gift shop, and I must admit... Maddie's picture turned out adorable! Love it! She is quite happy with it too. I took the girls on another round of space mountain. By this time, it was around 8pm and we had been going ,going, going all day, so we decided to start making our way out Main Street and maybe catch Spectro, but not making it to Wishes. We stopped in a couple of shops, got a spot for Spectro and made our way out of the park right after the parade. Got right on a bus, and back to the resort where we all crashed!
It was a Wonderful Magic Kingdom Day!
Some random observations:
Saw Kelly Ripa four times around the Kingdom today enjoying the day with her family and the 4 inch heels. God Bless her!
Weather shaped up as the day went along.
Space enhancements were OK, but did it warrant a six-month shut down???
Please bring back the old voice of the TTA. Ride is just not the same.
Pop beds were very comfy. Not a creature was stirring...not even Madison!
Julie:mickey:
Coming up part 3-Hollywood Studios!