Main Street Jim
01-04-2012, 12:49 PM
Well, we made it back home in one piece :)
This'll just be very basic "notes" about our visit during the holidays.
Wednesday, Dec 28: Magic Kingdom
Got to the park somewhat early (for us - it was before 9am...LOL). Took the train first thing around the park to hear the "new" spiel (new to us, anyways). It's OK...just doesn't have that same "oh, gee, get me excited!" feeling about the rest of the park that the old spiel had. Train did stop at the water tower (old TTF station), so we got to see "through" the scrim and see what all was going on in the new Fantasyland. The new train station looks like it'll be great - much better than the old one.
After our round-trip tour of the Magic Kingdom, we rode Bill and Sue's horse-drawn trolley up to the Hub. These two have been CM's for *years*, and really love what they do.
Headed into Tomorrowland to visit with old (CM) friends, and we took the PeopleMover for a ride around Tomorrowland. Had to ride Space, Speedway, and CoP :)
Went through the queue at Pooh to see the new interactive stuff. The dripping honey is pretty cool.
Then we headed through Fantasyland to Liberty Square. By this time, the line for it's a small world was well past Columbia Harbour House! They had a CM with a sign out there showing where the end of the line was...LOL
Got to Haunted Mansion, and the wait time was posted at 55 minutes. We thought, "Ehh, we'll come back later...", but then, decided to just get in line. Went through the new cemetery - *very cool* - and were in our Doombuggy in less than 20 minutes.
By then, it was getting close to the first day parade, so we staked out a spot in front of the Tradin' Post (near Pecos Bill's). Not too crowded then, but by the time the parade stepped off in Frontierland, there was a pretty good crowd behind us. One thing about this parade - I miss the riverboat/Dixieland band float.
Then we cut through to Adventureland, where Pirates was posted at a 45-minute wait. Since we uhh, "knew people" :) , we were back-doored and got through quickly. After PotC, we headed to the Sunshine Pavilion for the "new/old" (or "old/new") Enchanted Tiki Room. Wish they had the barker bird out front and the original pre-show, but hey...at least that *annoying* Iago ain't there no more. I still miss the Magic Fountain, too. Had tears in my eyes when Jose' announced "Welcome to *Walt Disney's* Enchanted Tiki Room!"
After that, it was time for....DOLE WHIP....mmmmmmm! Stopped at Casey's for a coupla hot dogs, did some shopping on Main Street, and then we headed back to the room for a little nap before parades and fireworks.
Magic Memories, and You: better than I expected.
Holiday Wishes: *very* cool - better than Wishes, but still not "Fantasy in the Sky" :)
and...Main Street Electrical Parade. STILL my all-time favorite.
Crowds: was told that the park was closed due to capacity, but sure didn't feel like it - to us, anyways. We went knowing it would be crowded, and to us, it sure didn't seem to be. We never waited more than *maybe* 20 minutes for any attraction - but again, we weren't really there to ride anything; just to really see old friends and hit some of our favorites. Just took it easy, and enjoyed being back in the park after nearly a year. :thumbsup:
This'll just be very basic "notes" about our visit during the holidays.
Wednesday, Dec 28: Magic Kingdom
Got to the park somewhat early (for us - it was before 9am...LOL). Took the train first thing around the park to hear the "new" spiel (new to us, anyways). It's OK...just doesn't have that same "oh, gee, get me excited!" feeling about the rest of the park that the old spiel had. Train did stop at the water tower (old TTF station), so we got to see "through" the scrim and see what all was going on in the new Fantasyland. The new train station looks like it'll be great - much better than the old one.
After our round-trip tour of the Magic Kingdom, we rode Bill and Sue's horse-drawn trolley up to the Hub. These two have been CM's for *years*, and really love what they do.
Headed into Tomorrowland to visit with old (CM) friends, and we took the PeopleMover for a ride around Tomorrowland. Had to ride Space, Speedway, and CoP :)
Went through the queue at Pooh to see the new interactive stuff. The dripping honey is pretty cool.
Then we headed through Fantasyland to Liberty Square. By this time, the line for it's a small world was well past Columbia Harbour House! They had a CM with a sign out there showing where the end of the line was...LOL
Got to Haunted Mansion, and the wait time was posted at 55 minutes. We thought, "Ehh, we'll come back later...", but then, decided to just get in line. Went through the new cemetery - *very cool* - and were in our Doombuggy in less than 20 minutes.
By then, it was getting close to the first day parade, so we staked out a spot in front of the Tradin' Post (near Pecos Bill's). Not too crowded then, but by the time the parade stepped off in Frontierland, there was a pretty good crowd behind us. One thing about this parade - I miss the riverboat/Dixieland band float.
Then we cut through to Adventureland, where Pirates was posted at a 45-minute wait. Since we uhh, "knew people" :) , we were back-doored and got through quickly. After PotC, we headed to the Sunshine Pavilion for the "new/old" (or "old/new") Enchanted Tiki Room. Wish they had the barker bird out front and the original pre-show, but hey...at least that *annoying* Iago ain't there no more. I still miss the Magic Fountain, too. Had tears in my eyes when Jose' announced "Welcome to *Walt Disney's* Enchanted Tiki Room!"
After that, it was time for....DOLE WHIP....mmmmmmm! Stopped at Casey's for a coupla hot dogs, did some shopping on Main Street, and then we headed back to the room for a little nap before parades and fireworks.
Magic Memories, and You: better than I expected.
Holiday Wishes: *very* cool - better than Wishes, but still not "Fantasy in the Sky" :)
and...Main Street Electrical Parade. STILL my all-time favorite.
Crowds: was told that the park was closed due to capacity, but sure didn't feel like it - to us, anyways. We went knowing it would be crowded, and to us, it sure didn't seem to be. We never waited more than *maybe* 20 minutes for any attraction - but again, we weren't really there to ride anything; just to really see old friends and hit some of our favorites. Just took it easy, and enjoyed being back in the park after nearly a year. :thumbsup: