It had been a bit of a rough night to get through since both Silas and I had colds. I did some snoring and Silas did quite a bit of waking up. But regardless of our exhaustion and colds, it didn’t stop us from making the most of second day at the parks of Walt Disney World on Monday, April 16, 2012. Unfortunately, we didn’t get off to that great of a start that morning. I had decided in advance not to try and run around the parks like a madman, sucking in every ride opportunity possible. For one reason, I had been visiting the Disney parks a lot lately, so it was easy to be more accommodating to what the others wanted to do. For a second reason, I’m just getting older.
After a restless night, some early morning cuddling as we head to the Magic Kingdom
But despite the easy-goingness, I did get irritated right away upon arrival at the park due to some miscommunication from all parties. We arrived a bit before 10:00am. The entire crew of Mom & Bob, Denise & Aaron and Adam and Megan, Barbara and Jenny, and Ashleigh, Silas, and I were all trying to stay together at first. But when we stopped to look for a Mickey hat for Silas, I took the opportunity to grab my Disney World 2012 magnet. Not realizing that I wasn’t with the group, they all took off. Mom realized this and waited for me, but the others went to Fantasyland to hop onto Dumbo the Flying Elephant (which, as part of the new Fantasyland, is only partially completed). Once I caught up with Mom, she thought they had all gone to Adventureland, so we went to the wrong place.
Here is where the memories began
All aboard the new version of Dumbo!
Starting in Fantasyland where every other family with kids were starting is a cardinal sin in its own right, but the wasted time and the leaving us behind were what irritated me most. I decided to just take Ashleigh and Silas and hit some other rides while everyone else went to The Barnstormer, which Silas couldn’t ride anyway. So I finally got on my first ride at the Magic Kingdom at about 11:30am: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which had a ridiculously long line. Silas quite enjoyed hanging out in the play area though, so no matter how long it took, it was just fun to be with him.
In the Winnie the Pooh queue
Silas plays with the big kids
On the ride
Winnie the Pooh gets into another nice mess
The others in our group had boarded another ride, so Ashleigh and I then hit it’s a small world. The wait was reasonable at about 30 minutes, but still probably the longest I’ve ever seen for this ride. Fantasyland in the morning… tsk tsk tsk. Silas fell asleep as we waited in line and slept through the entire ride. I am still anxiously awaiting the addition of the Disney characters that can be found in the ride’s Disneyland counterpart.
Silas conks out while waiting for it’s a small world
Silas will never know how close he came to that hippo
The Hawaiian hula girls
We missed the other group again, so Ashleigh, Silas, and I caught a showing of Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Silas had woken up by then, but wasn’t too receptive to wearing the 3D glasses. I tried to keep him interested in the music of the show, which he would typically love, but I think it was a bit loud for him. He fidgeted for most of the show.
Silas Vision 3eee-Deee!
I struggle to keep his glasses on, while Silas struggles to take them off
Jenny had already taken off, as she was catching a flight that afternoon, but everyone else convened at the Crystal Palace at about 1:30 for our lunch reservation at 2pm. Since we had a half-hour to spare, Ashleigh, Silas, and I headed over to Adventureland and caught the classic Tropical Serenade – which had been restored back to the slightly-edited original version that had not been seen at Walt Disney World since 1998. It was now going under the name Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. It was virtually the same show that has been running at Disneyland all of this time, so I’m not sure how I feel about the retro-show being back. Silas remained a bit fidgety.
Silas thought this attraction was for the birds
We made it back to the Crystal Palace for our 2pm reservations, but apparently people ‘weren’t leaving’ so we didn’t get seated until about 20 minutes after our slated time. The food was a decent buffet with a good variety of food. I concentrated mostly on the coldcuts and the salmon, but tried multiple dishes and desserts. This was another character lunch, so we got photo ops with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. Highlights included Silas trying desperately to hug the characters and Bob accidentally bringing the soup ladle back to his place at the table.
Lunch at the Crystal Palace
Silas needs some Pooh lovin’
The giblets with Piglet
Silas holds hand with the pig
Tigger and Catsafterme, felines extraordinaire
Silas sinks into Tigger’s armpit
Bob ‘accidentally’ brought the soup ladle back to the table with him. How does one do that? And this was after both he and Mom accused the waiter of stealing their napkins…when they were actually sitting on them.
After lunch Aaron took Adam and Megan back to the motel for some afternoon rest, and rest of us headed back into Adventureland for the traditional ride-thru of Pirates of the Caribbean. Silas fell asleep in line, and was awakened to the sounds of cannon fire from the big pirate ship near the beginning of the ride. Poor kid falls asleep and seemingly wakes up in the middle of the night amidst gunfire! Megan enjoyed most of the ride, but didn’t care for the dark parts at the beginning. The ride had been unchanged since my last visit. We stopped by Splash Mountain to check out the situation there. It had closed down temporarily, but we grabbed FastPasses for later.
Silas’ second siesta of the day
Mom, Denise, and Barbara board the Pirates of the Caribbean
Silas wakes up during the middle of a Pirate attack
The other prison pirates
My prison pirates
The Haunted Mansion however, did have some cool changes. For starters, the outdoor graveyard had been significantly expanded into a walk through cemetery with many busts, graves, and even a musical interactive tomb. But the more amazing effects involved the Hitchhiking Ghosts and the mirror where they hitchhike their way into the rider’s Doom Buggy. They now talk and interact with the riders, doing such cool things as switching their heads or stretching their necks. Its quite an impressive change indeed, one that hasn’t yet occurred at Disneyland.
The kiddos outside the Haunted Mansion
New busts in the Haunted Mansion queue. Silas doesn’t count as one.
The new musical interactive tomb
Being next to the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square, we caught the 5pm presentation of The Hall of Presidents. Ashleigh and I had seen it since the President Obama upgrade but for Mom, Bob, Denise, and Silas, it was their first time.
Mom, Silas, Ash, and Bob wait for the Presidents
We had passed the Country Bear Jamboree between Frontierland and Liberty Square because it was in the midst of a show, but we caught it at just the right time to walk into the 6pm show. Silas enjoyed ‘dancing’ in the aisles to the Bears’ tunes. We didn’t get up front as Ashleigh and I had in 2010. Again I beg Disney, sound upgrade please.
Big Al and his Blood on the Saddle
The Bears
Silas then took another nap and Denise struggled to find her way around Fantasyland with the Portuguese map that Mom had picked up. I did insist on one particular ride in Fantasyland: Snow White’s Scary Adventures. The reason for this was that it would be our last time on it ever at Walt Disney World. Even though its Disneyland counterpart will remain open, this one was going to be closing down operation on May 31. Denise thought this would be a good time to ride it since Megan and even Adam were both scared of it. Space Mountain=ok. Tower of Terror=ok. But Adam refused this one. Odd kid. So we rode it and bid our farewell to a ride that had been at this park since the day it opened.
Denise se esforça para ler e compreender o mapa ridículo da mamãe
Silas gets a leg up on his third nap. How lazy.
Outside Snow White’s Scary Adventures
Our final Snow White ride-through at Walt Disney World
Adam and Megan would have nothing to do with that witch
Dopey bids us our final farewell
We headed from there into Tomorrowland for a 7:30 spin through on the Carousel of Progress. Denise thought we should do this one now because Aaron doesn’t like it. It’s become a staple of our visits and was probably my favorite ride during our 1977 trip, and as much as I love the fact that it’s still up and going, it desperately needs some refurbishment. Actually, if I had my druthers, I’d revert it back to the way it opened at Disney World in 1975 (even though it is now closer to the 1964 original ride).
John of the 1940’s – from dead center of The Carousel of Progress
When Ashleigh and I rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority during our last visit in September 2010, I hadn’t noticed that a little over a month earlier, they had added the name Peoplemover back to it. This time I did notice it, and even took a picture of it. Since the ride will forever be known as the WEDway Peoplemover to me, this is a nice nod to days gone by. Oh, and obviously, we rode it.
The name is back
Mom & Bob – people…being moved
Denise and Barbara, being moved as well
As you can see, our group is being moved toward Space Mountain
It was now time to tackle Space Mountain for the first time of the day, utilizing FastPasses that we had picked up earlier. Since Silas obviously couldn’t ride, they gave Ashleigh and me additional FastPasses and we waited while Mom, Bob, Barbara, and Denise went on the ride. Ashleigh played “I’m gonna get you” with Silas. Then she and I went on the ride. We hadn’t ridden this during our last visit because Ashleigh had a baby in her, and I was quite pleased with the refurbishment that had taken place. I have long complained that the ride is so much better at Disneyland, but the ‘Starry-O-Phonic’ sound that was added here at the Magic Kingdom in August of 2010 has vastly improved the ride, although it’s still not as smooth (or good) as its sister in Anaheim.
Ashleigh ready to ‘get ’em’ during the game ‘i’m gonna getchoo’
Space Ashleigh
It was getting late – almost 9:00 – when Aaron finally returned with Adam and Megan. We also finally got around to eating dinner, which we did at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe (utilizing our quick service meal deal of course). I stuck with the standard burger and fries combo, and since it included, I got the mango ‘gelato’. Barbara decided to take off after this as she had a flight to catch in the morning, so at the resident Disney World expert, I gave her directions out.
After dinner, we all boarded Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, one of my least favorite rides in the park. Ashleigh was my rider partner, and even with little Silas on her lap, she was able to close much of the gap from our previous competition and score 135,700 to my 180,500. This was a rather lame showing for me and I did not top my prior high score of 201,600. I was deemed a Star Cadet, while she was a Galactic Hero.
Bob trys to blast the cameraman
Don’t blink or you might miss Silas in this photo
You can tell that Mom takes her role of Star Cadet very seriously
The big moment then came for our second ride-thru of Space Mountain. What made this the big moment was that it was Adam’s first time on the ride. After our previous ride, I was questioning whether he was going to freak out on it, as I did when I was his age. We utilized our additional FastPasses and Denise, Aaron, Adam, Ashleigh, and I got on rather quickly. Not only was Adam a trooper and sat in the front seat of the rocket, but he absolutely loved it! His tongue was abuzz about the experience for minutes afterward. Then he moved on…
Proud of this young man for taking the Space Mountain plunge. I cried on it when I was his age.
Adam’s first ride on Space Mountain… and the efforts of the Disney folks to stymie my photos of their photos
Actually all of the Ocks moved on. Mom wanted to ride it’s a small world and I wanted Silas to see it while he was awake, so Denise & Aaron took the kids and rode The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Adam was leery about the Mansion and Megan didn’t like the dark parts of Pirates.
Mom, Bob, Ashleigh, and I rode Peter Pan’s Flight for the first time of the day, and did second ride-thrus of The Haunted Mansion and it’s a small world. This took about an hour in total, during which the fireworks display went off and scared the dickens out of Silas.
Aboard Peter Pan’s Flight. You’d never recognize it based on that tree I so professionally included in the background.
The gang inside the stretching room of the Haunted Mansion
This time my boy was awake for it’s a small world, and loved every minute of it
It was 11pm when we began our trek out of the park. Soon we found that the Main Street Electrical Parade was going on. We chose not to fight it trying to exit, but to just stand back and enjoy it. Usually the crowds are insurmountable, but this time we got a nice front row view on Main Street U.S.A. The Ocks watched the play from Liberty Square.
It was a treat to catch the Main Street Electrical Parade again
Silas and Ashleigh are mesmerized
It had been a long day, but a great day. Cold or no cold, I was having a great time, and was very happy with how great Silas was being and how much he legitimately seemed to enjoy Disney World already. We’d get back to the resort around midnight and catch some sleep. The next day would be significantly more relaxed.
The Disney World trip will continue…
Definite highlight: Bob Ch*ndler accidentally bringing the soup ladle back to his place at the table – awesome! All while wearing his Fricker’s shirt no less!!
Favorite photo: The new musical interactive tomb. Ashleigh is pointing and about to say something (what, I wonder?), Denise has a priceless expression. Also, what is in the plastic bag that Barb Ch*ndler is clutching? Lots going on in that photo.
Peter
May 21st, 2012