This morning, the pool was calling our name. We didn't have anywhere to go until later on in the afternoon, so Daddy and Madison went to the All Star Movies Resort Pool. This had the theme of Fantasia, with a Mickey Mouse on a rock directing fountains of water out into the midst of the pool. Naturally, Madison wanted to push Daddy under each fountain.
The water was cold. Not as cold as a few years ago when we were at the Art of Animation pool. But the weather last night was chilly, and the pool had yet to catch up. Even in the sunlight, with warmth starting to bake the land, we still felt like Polar Bear Club members, braving the elements and diving in, regardless of temperature or personal health. Madison was oblivious to these sorts of things anyway. It is a pool, therefore who cares? We swam for about an hour, and returned back to Mommy, who was relaxing in a much warmer sort of water: in the bathtub.
By this time we were ready to eat, which is what we did at the food court. Also, we did a bit of exploring of the resort grounds. Madison met Herbie the Love Bug, who is currently residing in part of the All Star Movies Resort. We saw the Duck Pond pool, themed from "The Mighty Ducks." This is a movie we'll be seeing some time this winter. And of course, there were those giant dalmatians in the section themed after "101 Dalmatians."
There was a dilemma though: Mommy and Daddy did not really have costumes for tonight. So a decision was made: let's use the little time we have remaining to go to Downtown Disney, where we can hopefully find something to wear. This wasn't the best idea, it turned out: the place is overcrowded, still. And we had promised not to come back until the construction was complete. The reason for this has to do with the overwhelming amount of traffic.
Still, we did find a parking space - this time, not after circling the parking lot for 40 minutes. Still, we were only partly successful in our costume hunt. Daddy spent the gift card Nana and Ye-Ye gave us last night for Daddy's birthday: he bought a shirt and hat themed to "Nightmare Before Christmas." And Mommy determined that she would wear Madison's Minnie Mouse hat, along with a red sweatshirt of the same theme. So, with our ideas in place, we were set. This took a lot longer time than it took to type, however. We were at Tren-D again, and the larger Disney Store. No time for ice cream this trip, a fact that brought about great weeping and gnashing of teeth. Seriously, it was not cool.
But we did have to go back to the resort to get ready, and that we did. Madison got in her dress, and Mommy put her hair back. The effect was radiance. Madison glowed, and she just knew it. From this point on, for the rest of the evening, she was a princess. She acted like a princess, a faint smile in the corner of her lips, and a look of elegance about her that kept all of us common folks at a safe distance.
We drove over to the parking lot, parked in "Hook," and boarded the tram, our first ride of the night. The tram ride is taking on a new significance, as the game Disney Infinity features a tram you can race around in. Madison and Daddy discussed tram races on the ride, how they would design a course that involves these trams. We have some ideas we'll have to try when we get back.
Next, we boarded the monorail. This is a must if you are at Disney, and we're glad to say we were able to do it. There is something quite magical about approaching the Contemporary, going through, and seeing the Magic Kingdom for the first time in a while. Madison saw the castle and announced as much to the rest of the folks in the car.
Happily, they actually let us in a little early. We went through the process of baggage check, tickets turned in, and new wristbands issued. We waited in the Emporium, looking around in the air conditioned building when lo! There was a pressed penny machine that was giving out pennies with Anna and Elsa on them. Got that. And then we got the phone call: Nana, Ye-Ye, Aunt Shain, David, Jonathan and Hannah had arrived. Daddy quickly went to the tunnel to meet them, and very soon, we were off. So much for lengthy greetings!
It was all business for a while tonight, as there was a slight 'mandatory checklist' to follow. First, it seems a tradition that we all ride the Jungle Cruise together, which is what we did. And then there was the Pirates of the Caribbean. The thing to note here, is the wait for that ride. There was a wait, which is highly unusual. That set the tone for the evening - there were a lot of people in the park. The fact is, the event we were attending sold out, and it was just plain crowded. Atmosphere was sacrificed, replacing 'spooky' with 'crowded.' And we had to skip a few rides that we ultimately wanted to go on - mostly a few over in Tomorrowland.
But we still did get to do a lot. For example, Madison, Mommy and Daddy flew on our magic carpets next, and then did something that Daddy just loved: the Tiki Room.
This attraction is back to what it was when he first experienced it. Three wonderfully dated songs, and so much atmosphere from a time not long ago. This, like the Carousel of Progress and It's a Small World, are such magnificent bits of art. These were all featured in the World Expo, and nearly identical in presentation to what they were back then. And yet Madison was not bored at all. She loved it, looking upward and all around the room as the birds sang words and the flowers crooned. Strangely enough, this was somewhat of a highlight of the evening for Daddy, as the presentation seemed somewhat shorter the last time we came to the Tiki Room. And, of course, the times before that were when Iago violated this sacred ground. So were were quite content for a time - it was the last show of the day, so that made it even nicer.
The Country Bear show is right next door, and that's where we met the rest of the family once again. They had gone on Thunder Mountain, a ride that Madison is not quite ready for. We saw Big Al and the others once more, and the audience is always there with the show, laughing through it all. Mommy and Daddy are always singing along too, as we pretty much know the entire thing by heart.
The next stop was the Haunted Mansion, which is just an incredible experience. Especially when you consider the date the thing was created in. 999 happy haunts danced and sang, and it never gets old. This is one of the greatest attractions ever built, and if you're at Mickey's-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, you have to do this one, or else.
Sadly, they would not allow nine of us in a picture out in front of the hearse. They did the last time, but the photographer threw up an excuse about a changed policy. So we were hastily divided up, and by that time we didn't care. We won't buy that picture. Whereas, we would have if we could have done a group shot once more. Thumbs down there.
But we were ready to move on, and that's what we did. We saw the new area dedicated to "Tangled," and rode on "It's a Small World," which was, of course, the very first ride we went with Madison on. This was in Hong Kong, of course. Madison sat with Hannah and Nana, looking all about her the entire time, taking everything in. We have a surprise for Madison at Christmas, and it involves about five of these little dolls. And then there's one more for Chinese New Year....
So next we all went on "Peter Pan," which is equally mandatory. This is also one of the most important rides in the park. A lot of other people must feel the same way, because there is always a tremendous line for this ride. But our wait time was such that we just went for it. How can you not love this ride? It literally whisks you away to Neverland, and your spirits soar. We'll be seeing more of Neverland soon, of course. KidPak has a series we're contemplating, and it should be pretty amazing.
Here, the relatives left us for a bit. We stood in line for our first trick-or-treating experience. This started out slow, as we didn't see many places to stop and get candy. There were a lot more over in Tomorrowland, which we wouldn't have seen if we didn't push and stay up later than originally planned. But we did find those candy stations, and before we left, we had several pounds of candy. No exaggeration on the weight. It was a lot of candy. More than I've ever seen from any trick-or-treating in my life.
We went on the carousel next, and it was at that time we realized time was short. So many of these lines were so long that we just ran out of time. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze in two more attractions with shorter lines, and both of them big on Madison's 'to do' list. One was the Teacups. This is the challenge to make Daddy dizzy. This isn't hard to do. It's also not hard to give Daddy a great big headache the rest of the evening, but fortunately, that did not take place!
The next thing we did was the Tomorrowland Speedway. It was a big deal for Madison to drive her car, and this is something she did very well. Seriously, she did fantastic with the steering, only hitting the sides of the rails a few times on curves. It's a lengthy little drive too, one she was very much into. Daddy had the gas pressed down at just the right speed, and together, we were off and running, going for a nice drive. We asked her if she was ready for her driver's license, and fortunately, she reminded us that she was way too young for that.
So that concluded the rides we were able to do before the fireworks. We wanted to do more, but the crowds were just too much. Add to the high numbers of folks were the more limited viewing areas for the fireworks because of construction. There were these higher fencing areas set up, and our traditional viewing area was gone. So we had to scramble to find something else, and wait there for the show. The same thing for the parade - we were already too late to get a big enough spot for all of us, and this was getting to the parade route a full hour before the parade started. It's just because there were too many people there. Again, we had a bit of favor because Madison was able to squeeze in a spot along the line - and Nana was able to fit in there too. The two of them watched the parade together, which is fantastic as always. We spent a few hours waiting for parade and the fireworks - in fact, we spent a lot of our time waiting tonight.
Despite this, we had a decent time. The recommendation is to not go so close to Halloween, when things are likely to sell out. Hopefully it isn't so bad earlier in the month.
Anyway, at the end of the parade, we said our goodbyes to Nana and Ye-Ye, who were on their way out of the park. They had a great time, and were ready to get back to the campground to get a good night's rest.
Daddy was determined to get a bit more candy, and at least ride two more rides. We were tired, but we made it to Dumbo. This is a big ride in our history with Madison, and we wanted to make sure we did that. Afterwards, we followed the path to Tomorrowland, and got ourselves a lot more candy. We hung out at a Monster party with Mike, Sully and Boo - and even got a picture with Lotso.
This is funny, because Lotso is a bad guy. And yet Madison loves him. He's in the hotel room, in fact. Right there with Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and Mr. Pricklepants. Lotso was a gift from the Disney Cruiseline - a consolation present for a lost stuffed animal that Madison could not find on the ship. In fact, the employees there did eventually find her lost stuffed animal. But that was at the end of the cruise. And rather than see Madison sad about her loss, they gave her a replacement doll: the Lotso she has to this day. And so, there's this unusual connection she has with Lotso. And there's the reason for that special sweet smile she has when posing with him.
We had one more ride to do - and that was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Daddy scored absolutely big on this, as did Madison. We were both tired, but adrenaline pushed us forward, driving us to a berserker mode as we attacked Zurg's minions.
And thus, we concluded our visit. It was fairly close to midnight, and therefore close to closing. We made our way down Main Street, taking in the music and lights and visuals. The pumpkins on the rooftops, the scarecrows, the banners and the window displays all are so great this time of year. We exited the park, and rather than go with the more crowded monorail, we opted for the quieter boat ride across Seven Seas Lagoon. We sat up on top together, watching the park get smaller, looking out over at the water, and noting the new construction at the Polynesian. Someday we'll be back at that resort as well.
We rode the tram back to our car after quite a bit of a wait. We were followed by seventeen people dressed as Luigi. They were all part of the same group. The costumes we saw tonight were fantastic. There were some that were so creative - there was one guy dressed as Gru and his wife dressed as Lucy. The rest of our family was dressed up as Steampunk Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course, there were a lot of costumes tonight, as the place was packed. It was fun night, but a late night.
We got home, and Madison remarked that this was the latest she'd ever stayed up. She's right. It was just after 1:00 am when she went to sleep. Which was just before we went to bed. It was quite a full day!
The water was cold. Not as cold as a few years ago when we were at the Art of Animation pool. But the weather last night was chilly, and the pool had yet to catch up. Even in the sunlight, with warmth starting to bake the land, we still felt like Polar Bear Club members, braving the elements and diving in, regardless of temperature or personal health. Madison was oblivious to these sorts of things anyway. It is a pool, therefore who cares? We swam for about an hour, and returned back to Mommy, who was relaxing in a much warmer sort of water: in the bathtub.
By this time we were ready to eat, which is what we did at the food court. Also, we did a bit of exploring of the resort grounds. Madison met Herbie the Love Bug, who is currently residing in part of the All Star Movies Resort. We saw the Duck Pond pool, themed from "The Mighty Ducks." This is a movie we'll be seeing some time this winter. And of course, there were those giant dalmatians in the section themed after "101 Dalmatians."
There was a dilemma though: Mommy and Daddy did not really have costumes for tonight. So a decision was made: let's use the little time we have remaining to go to Downtown Disney, where we can hopefully find something to wear. This wasn't the best idea, it turned out: the place is overcrowded, still. And we had promised not to come back until the construction was complete. The reason for this has to do with the overwhelming amount of traffic.
Still, we did find a parking space - this time, not after circling the parking lot for 40 minutes. Still, we were only partly successful in our costume hunt. Daddy spent the gift card Nana and Ye-Ye gave us last night for Daddy's birthday: he bought a shirt and hat themed to "Nightmare Before Christmas." And Mommy determined that she would wear Madison's Minnie Mouse hat, along with a red sweatshirt of the same theme. So, with our ideas in place, we were set. This took a lot longer time than it took to type, however. We were at Tren-D again, and the larger Disney Store. No time for ice cream this trip, a fact that brought about great weeping and gnashing of teeth. Seriously, it was not cool.
But we did have to go back to the resort to get ready, and that we did. Madison got in her dress, and Mommy put her hair back. The effect was radiance. Madison glowed, and she just knew it. From this point on, for the rest of the evening, she was a princess. She acted like a princess, a faint smile in the corner of her lips, and a look of elegance about her that kept all of us common folks at a safe distance.
We drove over to the parking lot, parked in "Hook," and boarded the tram, our first ride of the night. The tram ride is taking on a new significance, as the game Disney Infinity features a tram you can race around in. Madison and Daddy discussed tram races on the ride, how they would design a course that involves these trams. We have some ideas we'll have to try when we get back.
Next, we boarded the monorail. This is a must if you are at Disney, and we're glad to say we were able to do it. There is something quite magical about approaching the Contemporary, going through, and seeing the Magic Kingdom for the first time in a while. Madison saw the castle and announced as much to the rest of the folks in the car.
Happily, they actually let us in a little early. We went through the process of baggage check, tickets turned in, and new wristbands issued. We waited in the Emporium, looking around in the air conditioned building when lo! There was a pressed penny machine that was giving out pennies with Anna and Elsa on them. Got that. And then we got the phone call: Nana, Ye-Ye, Aunt Shain, David, Jonathan and Hannah had arrived. Daddy quickly went to the tunnel to meet them, and very soon, we were off. So much for lengthy greetings!
It was all business for a while tonight, as there was a slight 'mandatory checklist' to follow. First, it seems a tradition that we all ride the Jungle Cruise together, which is what we did. And then there was the Pirates of the Caribbean. The thing to note here, is the wait for that ride. There was a wait, which is highly unusual. That set the tone for the evening - there were a lot of people in the park. The fact is, the event we were attending sold out, and it was just plain crowded. Atmosphere was sacrificed, replacing 'spooky' with 'crowded.' And we had to skip a few rides that we ultimately wanted to go on - mostly a few over in Tomorrowland.
But we still did get to do a lot. For example, Madison, Mommy and Daddy flew on our magic carpets next, and then did something that Daddy just loved: the Tiki Room.
This attraction is back to what it was when he first experienced it. Three wonderfully dated songs, and so much atmosphere from a time not long ago. This, like the Carousel of Progress and It's a Small World, are such magnificent bits of art. These were all featured in the World Expo, and nearly identical in presentation to what they were back then. And yet Madison was not bored at all. She loved it, looking upward and all around the room as the birds sang words and the flowers crooned. Strangely enough, this was somewhat of a highlight of the evening for Daddy, as the presentation seemed somewhat shorter the last time we came to the Tiki Room. And, of course, the times before that were when Iago violated this sacred ground. So were were quite content for a time - it was the last show of the day, so that made it even nicer.
The Country Bear show is right next door, and that's where we met the rest of the family once again. They had gone on Thunder Mountain, a ride that Madison is not quite ready for. We saw Big Al and the others once more, and the audience is always there with the show, laughing through it all. Mommy and Daddy are always singing along too, as we pretty much know the entire thing by heart.
The next stop was the Haunted Mansion, which is just an incredible experience. Especially when you consider the date the thing was created in. 999 happy haunts danced and sang, and it never gets old. This is one of the greatest attractions ever built, and if you're at Mickey's-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, you have to do this one, or else.
Sadly, they would not allow nine of us in a picture out in front of the hearse. They did the last time, but the photographer threw up an excuse about a changed policy. So we were hastily divided up, and by that time we didn't care. We won't buy that picture. Whereas, we would have if we could have done a group shot once more. Thumbs down there.
But we were ready to move on, and that's what we did. We saw the new area dedicated to "Tangled," and rode on "It's a Small World," which was, of course, the very first ride we went with Madison on. This was in Hong Kong, of course. Madison sat with Hannah and Nana, looking all about her the entire time, taking everything in. We have a surprise for Madison at Christmas, and it involves about five of these little dolls. And then there's one more for Chinese New Year....
So next we all went on "Peter Pan," which is equally mandatory. This is also one of the most important rides in the park. A lot of other people must feel the same way, because there is always a tremendous line for this ride. But our wait time was such that we just went for it. How can you not love this ride? It literally whisks you away to Neverland, and your spirits soar. We'll be seeing more of Neverland soon, of course. KidPak has a series we're contemplating, and it should be pretty amazing.
Here, the relatives left us for a bit. We stood in line for our first trick-or-treating experience. This started out slow, as we didn't see many places to stop and get candy. There were a lot more over in Tomorrowland, which we wouldn't have seen if we didn't push and stay up later than originally planned. But we did find those candy stations, and before we left, we had several pounds of candy. No exaggeration on the weight. It was a lot of candy. More than I've ever seen from any trick-or-treating in my life.
We went on the carousel next, and it was at that time we realized time was short. So many of these lines were so long that we just ran out of time. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze in two more attractions with shorter lines, and both of them big on Madison's 'to do' list. One was the Teacups. This is the challenge to make Daddy dizzy. This isn't hard to do. It's also not hard to give Daddy a great big headache the rest of the evening, but fortunately, that did not take place!
The next thing we did was the Tomorrowland Speedway. It was a big deal for Madison to drive her car, and this is something she did very well. Seriously, she did fantastic with the steering, only hitting the sides of the rails a few times on curves. It's a lengthy little drive too, one she was very much into. Daddy had the gas pressed down at just the right speed, and together, we were off and running, going for a nice drive. We asked her if she was ready for her driver's license, and fortunately, she reminded us that she was way too young for that.
So that concluded the rides we were able to do before the fireworks. We wanted to do more, but the crowds were just too much. Add to the high numbers of folks were the more limited viewing areas for the fireworks because of construction. There were these higher fencing areas set up, and our traditional viewing area was gone. So we had to scramble to find something else, and wait there for the show. The same thing for the parade - we were already too late to get a big enough spot for all of us, and this was getting to the parade route a full hour before the parade started. It's just because there were too many people there. Again, we had a bit of favor because Madison was able to squeeze in a spot along the line - and Nana was able to fit in there too. The two of them watched the parade together, which is fantastic as always. We spent a few hours waiting for parade and the fireworks - in fact, we spent a lot of our time waiting tonight.
Despite this, we had a decent time. The recommendation is to not go so close to Halloween, when things are likely to sell out. Hopefully it isn't so bad earlier in the month.
Anyway, at the end of the parade, we said our goodbyes to Nana and Ye-Ye, who were on their way out of the park. They had a great time, and were ready to get back to the campground to get a good night's rest.
Daddy was determined to get a bit more candy, and at least ride two more rides. We were tired, but we made it to Dumbo. This is a big ride in our history with Madison, and we wanted to make sure we did that. Afterwards, we followed the path to Tomorrowland, and got ourselves a lot more candy. We hung out at a Monster party with Mike, Sully and Boo - and even got a picture with Lotso.
This is funny, because Lotso is a bad guy. And yet Madison loves him. He's in the hotel room, in fact. Right there with Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and Mr. Pricklepants. Lotso was a gift from the Disney Cruiseline - a consolation present for a lost stuffed animal that Madison could not find on the ship. In fact, the employees there did eventually find her lost stuffed animal. But that was at the end of the cruise. And rather than see Madison sad about her loss, they gave her a replacement doll: the Lotso she has to this day. And so, there's this unusual connection she has with Lotso. And there's the reason for that special sweet smile she has when posing with him.
We had one more ride to do - and that was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Daddy scored absolutely big on this, as did Madison. We were both tired, but adrenaline pushed us forward, driving us to a berserker mode as we attacked Zurg's minions.
And thus, we concluded our visit. It was fairly close to midnight, and therefore close to closing. We made our way down Main Street, taking in the music and lights and visuals. The pumpkins on the rooftops, the scarecrows, the banners and the window displays all are so great this time of year. We exited the park, and rather than go with the more crowded monorail, we opted for the quieter boat ride across Seven Seas Lagoon. We sat up on top together, watching the park get smaller, looking out over at the water, and noting the new construction at the Polynesian. Someday we'll be back at that resort as well.
We rode the tram back to our car after quite a bit of a wait. We were followed by seventeen people dressed as Luigi. They were all part of the same group. The costumes we saw tonight were fantastic. There were some that were so creative - there was one guy dressed as Gru and his wife dressed as Lucy. The rest of our family was dressed up as Steampunk Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course, there were a lot of costumes tonight, as the place was packed. It was fun night, but a late night.
We got home, and Madison remarked that this was the latest she'd ever stayed up. She's right. It was just after 1:00 am when she went to sleep. Which was just before we went to bed. It was quite a full day!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment