Magic Kingdom & Hollywood Studios
We had a quick breakfast consisting of donuts so we could catch Disney transportation to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived just as a bus was loading but some biotch cut in front of us in line (her kid ran in front of us so I guess instead of grabbing him she decided this gave her carte blanche). Talk about rude! I wouldn’t have been half as angry if they didn’t take the last two seats on the bus. It started to pull away with us standing, but we asked to be let off. The driver looked at Joe like he never heard such a request before. Sorry, but as frequently as those buses run I wasn’t about to stand the whole 10+ minute ride to the park. By the time we got back to the boarding area there was another bus ready to go and we got seats right in front.
We arrived before the park was officially open, but they did let us in 15 minutes early which was nice. They do a whole little countdown to opening too.
Last time we visited the park in October 2005 I don’t recall any Halloween related decor at all, but now they put up Mickey pumpkins which are cute.
I had purchased a $12 membership to this site where you can input all the rides you’re interested in and your fastpass+ reservations and it will put together an itinerary to minimize time waiting in line. That itinerary went out the window immediately because the first ride on our list, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, wasn’t open yet. I had to re-order a few things but the app definitely saved us from standing in line very long at all. Listed below are all the rides we went on.
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – This was ok, but not so much that I’d waste my time going on it again.
Stitch’s Great Escape – Very lame. Honestly, I think Disney should scrap this and replace it with something more interesting.
Space Mountain – Only the right-hand side was open which was a bummer as it seemed more intense than I remember. Still fun, though. Plus we didn’t have to stand in line since I had a fastpass.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – It was finally open at this point, and while cute, I’m not sure I’d ride it again. Plus the line was much longer than pretty much all the other rides we went on that day.
Mad Tea Party – I loved this ride! I’ve never gone on it before and I’m wondering why because it’s so much fun! Joe and I were quoting this kid during the ride because we were so dizz-aaaay, lol!
Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid – This was so cute, especially the part with all the sea creatures dancing.
It’s a Small World – A Disney classic you’re required to go on even though it’s not that exciting.
Splash Mountain – I didn’t know what to expect from this ride since we’ve never rode it in the past, but it was a lot of fun. It’s definitely in my top five now.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – Still a fave, but not long enough. I wish we had time to go on it again.
Haunted Mansion – Another classic ride that we love.
Pirates of the Caribbean was closed for refurbishment and we intentionally skipped the Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan’s Flight because they are lame.
There were a few other rides we skipped as well, but only because we knew we were coming back the next day and wanted something different to ride then.
It was nice that about half the rides were in air-conditioned buildings because it was very hot out and the humidity was stifling. We took the train from Frontierland to Main Street to look for somewhere to eat, and ended up in Liberty Square at Columbia Harbour House. We had chicken nuggets which were nothing special. We were so hot and sweaty, though, we didn’t really care; it was just nice to get away from the heat for awhile.
After lunch is when I believe we went on Haunted Mansion but I can’t remember for certain. I know we didn’t stay too much longer after that because our feet were extremely sore. I thought my pink sandals were very comfy but it turns out they were not supportive enough and my feet were killing me. It sucked to have to stand on the bus ride back to the hotel where we rested for a couple of hours.
A very freaky thing happened back at the hotel – we found the spray sunscreen we had thrown in the trash sitting on top of the table no longer broken. We threw it out that morning when the nozzle got clogged. We thought maybe the sunscreen got ruined from the flight since it was in our checked baggage. I remember on the bus ride to MK I mentioned to Joe that maybe we had been too hasty to trash it, but it was too late. How weird it was to see it sitting there when we got back to the room. Housekeeping (or Mousekeeping, as they are called at Disney) was next door so Joe asked the lady if she had fixed it and she said yes. She thought we had thrown it away on accident and when she saw it was clogged she fixed it. Talk about going above and beyond! Needless to say we gave her a nice tip. I joked to Joe later that maybe Disney was eavesdropping on our bus convo and put out an APB.
After cooling off in the pool and taking some pain reliever for our sore feet, we drove to Hollywood Studios where we stood in line for two agonizing hours to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. The posted wait time was 80 minutes, but I honestly thought it would be less than that since all the wait times at the Magic Kingdom were shorter than posted. I guess our luck ran out – the line moved soooooo slowly. It didn’t help that this lady was practically standing on top of me in line and kept bumping into me. I will never understand why people do that – it doesn’t make the line move any quicker! I finally asked her if she could give us some space and she backed off. There were also these two girls who kept cutting in front of people to get pictures of the props throughout the rooom which was dumb since if they would have been more patient they would have ended up right in front of them as the line moved along.
I’m still not sure why the heck the wait was so long. My theory is that three things contributed to the ridiculous wait time for the ride: its popularity, the ride length (5 minutes), and too many fastpasses being distributed. There were times where the line didn’t move whatsoever for several minutes, which given how quickly they were cycling people (eight at a time) didn’t make sense. And while it was really cool (you can watch it on YouTube if you’re interested), if we can’t get a fastpass next time, we’re skipping it.
We stayed past park closing at 7:30 pm to see Fantasmic! which was really cool. I liked how they projected cartoons on the water fountains. I didn’t care for the two girls behind us who kicked me in the back more than once, but the show itself was great.
I have to say, compared to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios had the rudest people. We weren’t even there that long but people were getting under my skin like you wouldn’t believe.
» Magic Kingdom photos on Flickr
» Hollywood Studios photos on Flickr