Ashleigh and I pressed on at the Magic Kingdom as we creeped into the afternoon hours of Friday, September 17, 2010. She and I had done some bouncing around from place to place that morning, taking full advantage of the early, uncrowded hours – while also satiating the hunger of her pregnant little belly. But by noon, we were ready to proceed pretty much our normal route, finishing up in Adventureland and moving back into Frontierland. We started out at the Country Bear Jamboree, whose next performance was beginning just as we walked up to its front doors.
I remarked during my last visit that the sound system in the Country Bear theatre left a lot to be desired. But this time we sat up in the front row – and I found that this was a much cleaner looking show, with a much more vibrant sound. It also gave me the chance to continue my in-depth photo coverage of the park with lots of great (non-flash) snapshots of the various bears.
In the Country Bear lobby
The show’s ‘MC’ – Henry
Trixie’s rousing rendition of Tears Will Be the Chaser For My Wine
The Five Bear Rugs – Fred and Ted and Tennessee and Zeke and Zeb…and Baby Oscar
The Sun Bonnet Trio – Bubbles, Bunny, and Beulah – encourage audience participation in All the Guys That Turn Me On Turn Me Down
Melvin, Buff, and Max oversee the proceedings. Their Disneyland counterparts are resigned to the Winnie the Pooh ride.
Big Al (voiced by Tex Ritter) sings an off-key Blood on the Saddle
All of the bears come out for the grand finale
Henry and me after the show. He wouldn’t sign any autographs.
Ashleigh and I grabbed the standard burger and fries (with the free cheddar topping and mushrooms) at Pecos Bill Cafe in Frontierland before moving on to the next couple of attractions, both being ones that we hardly ever get to. The first was the Walt Disney Railroad. This was a nice place to let our stomachs settle after lunch, with a nice leisurely train ride around the park, making stops at Mickey’s Toon Town Fair and on Main Street U.S.A. We also had the added benefit of having a cute little baby cooing at me from the seat in front us.
Some mid-bite texting at the Pecos Bill Cafe
The baby cooing at us on the Walt Disney Railroad
Since we were so dramatically ahead of schedule, we opted to also visit Tom Sawyer Island– which is something we almost never do. In fact, Ashleigh couldn’t remember ever seeing it. We took the raft over and explored the area for about a half-hour, checking out the suspension bridge, Fort Langhorn, the Escape Tunnel, and the caverns. It was nice to get over and check out this often overlooked area of the park.
Ashleigh recalls the days of playing Becky Thatcher in her third grade production of Tom Sawyer
Making my escape on Tom Sawyer Island
The ominous Haunted Mansion as seen from the island, beckoning us. We would get there shortly.
Following our stroll around the island, Ashleigh and I headed toward Liberty Square to see the Hall of Presidents. This was her first time seeing the new presentation of the updated Barack Obama version – which I had seen during my last visit about ten weeks earlier. What I hadn’t seen during that visit was Holly Madison – one of Hugh Hefner’s Girls Next Door – who was also waiting to see the show. This was my very first celebrity sighting at Walt Disney World, and you can read more details about it here.
The newest incarnation of the Hall of Presidents – with the addition of Barack Obama and a speaking part for George Washington, both standing on either side of a seated Abraham Lincoln
I was hoping that after the show Holly and her entourage would veer into the line for The Haunted Mansion with us, but alas they went off into Fantasyland. Although we had been extremely lucky with short and reasonable lines all day long, we had a bit of a wait to get into the Mansion – which was looking as amazing and spooky as ever. I limited myself to two flash photos, one of which was quite interesting.
The flash photo of the Hitchhiking Ghosts revealed that they are almost completely transparent!
The pet cemetery outside the Haunted Mansion. I had been looking for Mr. Toad, who can be seen all the way in the left rear of the gated area, and finally found him during this visit.
It was about 3pm as we passed the gate into Fantasyland again. You may recall from the previous posting that Ashleigh and I had already hit all of the major dark rides in this land before noon. The only thing left here of any note was Mickey’s PhilharMagic, the fabulous musical 3-D spectacle that impresses more and more each time I see it.
The 3-D kids in Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Fantasyland is in the midst of a major reconstruction, with the addition of a new underwater Little Mermaid ride. In addition to this, Mickey’s Toontown Fair – which my sister Denise and I had been making fun of since it first opened as Mickey’s Birthdayland in 1988, then renamed Mickey’s Starland in 1990 – will be demolished in order for Fantasyland to expand. Almost without fail, we typically bypass this land altogether.
However since I was fairly certain that I’d never be seeing it again, Ashleigh and I went into the Toontown Fair, looked over Mickey’s Country House, browsed one of the shops, and almost waited in line to meet Mickey in the Judge’s Tent, before deciding not to. We probably would have ridden The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm, had Ashleigh not been in her delicate condition. No matter, I hear the Barnstormer will remain in the new Fantasyland. But what pleased me most in this area was to hear Leroy Shield music (aka Laurel and Hardy/Little Rascals incidental music) playing at Mickey’s house.
Ash and I visit Mickey’s Toontown Fair for the last time
Mickey’s Country House – with the sweet sounds of Leroy Shield emanating from it
Next up was Tomorrowland. Ashleigh wouldn’t be riding Space Mountain during this visit, but we had yet to hit any of the other rides here either. We started off with a quick spin through Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. I yielded a score of 201,600 while Ashleigh ended up with an embarrassing 12,700. Thereby I was deemed a Planetary Pilot while Ash was a mere Space Scout. That baby in her belly must have taken something out of her aim. For the record, this was my highest recorded score to date.
Ashleigh and I fiercely compete in the Space Ranger Spin
Next up was one of my all-time favorites – Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. It’s always a treat just to see that this ride is still going strong. Whereas I had attempted to take videos during my 2007 visit, this time I settled for some nice photos of each era.
Ash outside the classic Carousel of Progress
Animatronics John and Rover enjoy life in America around the turn of the 20th Century. Rover used to be known as Buster, Sport, and Queenie in earlier incarnations of the show.
Belting out It’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow circa 1927
John and Rover in the 1940’s around Halloween
Grandfather and Patricia enter the 21st Century in the final scene of the Carousel
Grandmother, James, John, Rover, and Sarah – family of the modern age
The final room – me and the Carousel of Progress logo. I almost look like a real animatronic.
Of all of my times in the Magic Kingdom, I cannot ever recalling having a meal there with table service. Since this was our only Disney meal of the trip, I was determined to break that cycle. So before we had watched the Hall of Presidents, we tried to make a reservation at the Liberty Tree Tavern. Although it wasn’t guaranteed, they told us to come around 4:30pm and that they could probably get us in. On our way back to Liberty Square, we stopped in front of the castle to re-enact the famous pose originally made famous by Jimmy and me.
Ashleigh becomes the third person to become Mickey to my Walt
So although it was a bit early for dinner, we enjoyed the table service family-style restaurant. We had Declaration Salad and the Patriot’s Platter, which consisted of roasted turkey breast, carved beef, smoked ham, mashed potatoes, herb bread stuffing, vegetables, and macaroni and cheese – with root beer for a drink and apple pie ala mode for dessert. It was good, although far from the best meal I’ve had at Disney World.
Back in Liberty Square again – this time for eats
Family-style dining at the Liberty Tree Tavern
With our bellies full once again, Ash and I decided that before we finished up in Tomorrowland, we would re-visit a couple of our favorite rides over on the same side of the park as our restaurant. So we boarded the Haunted Mansion for another spooky ride-thru. My photo of the caretaker during my first ride didn’t come out very well, so I grabbed another one. I try to minimize my flashes so that I don’t get yelled at so much.
The caretaker and his mutt check out the ghostly shenanigans at the Haunted Mansion graveyard
The hitchhiking ghost…who followed us home
We then went back to Frontierland to hit Splash Mountain once again with a bit longer wait than the morning hours, but still remarkably short at about 20 minutes. To our astonishment, that big boat splash hit us AGAIN! We weren’t quite as soaked, but still wetter than on the average Splash Mountain ride.
Thumbs up to our second ride on Splash Mountain of the day
And since we were already in Frontierland, we figured it wasn’t far to go back into Adventureland where we first started and board the Pirates of the Caribbean one last time. Although the line wasn’t too bad, it took a while to get through the ride as the boats got backed up near the end. April Jones happened to call me as we were on that ride, so she got to hear the Pirate commotion. Outside the ride, I found a one dollar bill as we walked back toward Tomorrowland to finish up the evening.
We got to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor at about 7:45pm, but we had to wait until 8:10 to get into the next show. The one-two punch of the Laugh Floor followed (as tradition dictates) by Stitch’s Great Escape is always a bit anti-climactic, as neither are among the Magic Kingdom’s finest rides. We broke them up a bit by taking our traditional spin around the Tomorrowland Transit Authority – which will always be the Wedway People Mover to me.
The colorful entrance to the Laugh Floor
A rare peek inside the show
Tomorrowland Transit girl
Wedway boy – hair severely trashed by Splash Mountain
It was right around 9am as we fought our way back to the head of Main Street U.S.A. The fireworks were getting ready to start and everyone had already claimed their spots. I wanted easy access exit once they ended. In fact, we didn’t even wait until they had completely ended, before making our way to the bus area. We had boarded and began our trek back to Pop Century by 9:15pm. Although exhausted, I gave up my seat to a Mom with a little child. I must’ve had that Disney spirit in me.
Our view of the fireworks. The kid added a little something extra to our enjoyment of them.
I had a fabulous day at the Magic Kingdom and I’m so happy that my most recent memory of visiting the Happiest Place on Earth is with my daughter.
The trip will continue the next day…
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