After our whirl around the Haunted Mansion – which Adam did not care for – we headed back over to the Hall of Presidents to catch the next showing. As a Presidential buff, I always eat up this attraction and will be anxious to see the representation of our 44th President during one of my next visits. For now, I’ll have to be satisfied with the speech of President Bush. Our wait wasn’t short, so we browsed the Presidential artifacts and watched Adam get his diaper change and swing on the velvet rope partitions. This attraction concluded our visit to Liberty Square.
Outside the Hall of Presidents
Getting ready to change Adam’s diaper under the portraits of our former leaders
Bring me the head of George W. Bush
From there we passed into Fantasyland. Although the castle and Main Street had looked spectacular upon entry, the back side was under construction and there was actually a bulldozer visible. If Walt Disney was alive, he would have rolled over in his grave. Our first attraction was the 3-D movie spectacle Mickey’s PhilharMagic. This was housed in the building that used to show The Mickey Mouse Revue (which I do not remember), then Magic Journeys followed by Legend of The Lion King.
Mickey and Adam
Hoooonnnk!
Adam-vision 3-D!
From there we embarked on the tried-and-true voyage It’s a Small World. I made my obligatory call to Jimmy while in the queue for the ride. We had an extremely long ride due to the boats inexplicably backing up causing a small world traffic jam. Adam konked out while waiting to get out of the neverending small nightmare. The ride looked good though, having been retro-colored back to its original white and pastel scheme.
It’s a Small World
Adam naps while stuck on the ride
Adam in his own Fantasyland
Next we rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a cute attractions that replaced Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in 1999. This was followed by some much-need ice cream for everyone. We stopped in Mickey’s Toon Town Fair to purchase Adam’s first set of mouse ears. And with that, we bid the Fantasyland area adieu and headed to Tomorrowland.
Our first excursion was the scaling of Space Mountain. This differed from Disneyland’s ride as it didn’t include the blaring music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, just the classic sounds of space travel. Mom and Denise sat the ride out while Bob, Aaron, Ashleigh, and me took our turn on the high-speed adventure. This, like most rides during the week, was a virtual walk-on. However, Ashleigh and I grabbed FastPasses after the ride, so we could embark on the journey once again with Mom and Denise.
Ashleigh and Aaron head into space
Bob was thrilled on Space Mountain
After Space Mountain, it was good to kick back in the relaxing Tomorrowland Transit Authority, the former Wedway People Mover of yore. During the trip, I noticed Disney’s nod to attractions-past with the inclusion of the old Carousel of Progress theme song “Now Is the Time” and the theme song to If You Had Wings.
Adam digs the Wedway
Yaht and Mom kick back
Joe Cool – the Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Next up, we rode Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, an attraction I’ve never cared for, as I pine for the days of If You Had Wings and Dreamflight – but as you can see from the photo below, Adam adored the ride. I usually do very poorly with the shooting of the Z’s on this interactive ride…but this time I slaughtered Ashleigh with a score of 156,200 over her 29,900. Upon exit, we got our one-and-only taste of the Florida rain for the week. It downpoured for all of five minutes. We made a dash for the Carousel of Progress.
Adam shows Mom and Bob how to navigate the Space Ranger
I was then extremely pleased to be able to see the Carousel of Progress. This was my favorite ride of all time back in 1977 when Disney World was new and exciting. Every time we visit, I hear rumors that the attraction would be boarded up. Maps even often exclude it, always keeping you guessing as to whether it will be up and running. This time it was. Aaron sat out with a squirmy Adam. I decided to try and use my digital camera to film a bit of each of the four scenes. I got yelled at over the loudspeaker by an alert cast member.
We then orbited Space Mountain once again while Aaron and Bob sat out with Adam. These boys rode Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin once again. I got the front car this time, which I love. At the end of the ride, Mom nearly got stuck in the rocketship. I tried to snap a photo, but she had escaped too quickly with the aid of a cast member.
In front of Space Mountain – after the rain
Thrills aplenty on Space Mountain
It was obvious that everyone was winding down at this point, but Denise and Aaron had enough energy for one more ride, so they joined Ash and me for Stitch’s Great Escape. This was my first time on this replacement for the Extra TERRORestrial Alien Encounter (and before that, Mission to Mars) and I was extremely disappointed. While AE was never my favorite, this one even lacked the special effects of the shattering glass, enabling the alien escape. Quite a letdown.
Finally, Mom, Ashleigh, and I saw the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor for the first time. While cute, it was nothing spectacular. It simply involved animated characters who could interact with the audience as they went through stand-up comedy routines. It seems that whatever attraction had been in this particular building had been mediocre, beginning with America the Beautiful, and most recently The Timekeeper.
And then it was time to work our way back to our bus. Since the parade was about to began, we had to fight our way down Main Street. Ashleigh and I stopped in the Emporium so she could buy some Mickey ears for Derek (and have his name embroidered) and I could grab a t-shirt for Jackie and a stuffed Winnie the Pooh for Grace – and naturally some magnets, which I was rapidly accumulating on this trip. The others had high-tailed it out of there, so Ashleigh and I boarded the bus on our own (which picked us up right in the Magic Kingdom. I cannot stress enough how odd I find that.)
The turkey ciabatta, cheddar fries, Coca-Cola slushee, and hot chocolate all hit the spot back at our hotel’s Disney dining area. We were exhausted and we had a full day ahead of us visiting the two remaining Disney theme parks.
After a long day, Adam is ready to climb into the suitcase and go to sleep
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