Magic Kingdom

As you can see from this picture taken by Madison on her iPad, today we were off to the Magic Kingdom!  We started out the morning with the tram ride from our parking spot in "Simba," which wasn't too far away.  The tram stopped in the parking lot, and we had to walk a bit to get to the ticket center, and we were blessed that we saved up a lot on our Disney rewards, which basically got us a few tickets - before taxes - for free.  On the way there, we hopped onto the Monorail, which early on was one of my favorite rides!

We squeezed on just as it arrived, and Mommy and Madison got a nice seat there in the back for the comfortable ride over to the Magic Kingdom.  Despite the hot temperatures, the park was decorated for fall with the carved pumpkins, orange bunting, and scarecrows too.

These are typically scattered throughout the entrance of Main Street.  At night, all the pumpkins are illuminated, and it makes for a fun atmosphere, rather than the terrifying one that you tend to see at other parks.

We spent some time in the Main Street area, as we had lunch reservations within an hour.  The thinking was that there wasn't really enough time to head over anywhere else, and why not just stay at Main Street.  So during that time, we were blessed to hear from the Dapper Dans, who were there performing as always.

They sang some standards like "Lyda Rose" and a few other songs, including "Bella Notte," which of course seems to be a theme, given how "Lady and the Tramp" has been a big part of Mommy and Daddy's early history, and how in a little bit, we'd be eating at Tony's again, and of course there's the upcoming live-action movie.  Anyway, it was nice to hear that song again, and sing along with it a bit too.

We explored Main Street a bit, looking through the shops and seeing the decorations and buildings.  We probably spent more time here on Main Street than we ever had before.

It's amazing how many little shows roll up and down Main Street, including parades that have classic Disney characters, and also these singers and dancers riding along on the trolley.

But our reservation time arrived, and in we went to our restaurant destination at Tony's.  Once again, we sat in the atrium, and enjoyed the air conditioning and a nice Italian lunch.  It was a lot of food, actually.  Here's Daddy and Mommy together at Tony's:

And this was Madison's idea - just to be clear!  She wanted to recreate the scene from "Lady and the Tramp" with a spaghetti strand.  So she got some spaghetti on a fork, and put one side of the strand in her mouth, and got Daddy to come over as well...

We're lucky we didn't make a mess with the spaghetti sauce!  Anyway, it was a pleasant meal there, and a good way to fill our tummies before heading off to the park.

This is the third time we've eaten here, actually.  We were going to do the Liberty Tavern, but the menu items didn't appeal as much to Madison, so Tony's it was.  With the new movie coming out soon, it sort of goes with things a bit.  As we left, a head waitress got us the autographs of Lady and the Tramp, two footprints.  Mommy kept that away in her purse as we said goodbye to Tony's and walked up Main Street on our way towards the castle.

We had plans to do this or that or the other, but an overcrowded park tends to dampen said plans.  My definition of an overcrowded park may vary from others, but I tend to think when you keep running into lines that are 75 minutes long, that's a lot of people and very little ride time.  We had to fight to make things work today, and it was a struggle.  We sucked it up at one point for one ride, waiting over an hour in line.  Other rides we waited around a half hour for.  For some reason, that didn't seem that bad - mainly because we were acclimated to miserably long lines by that point.

We still somehow made it work, though there was a bit of stress trying to navigate through it all without wasting the entire day waiting in lines.  Our first stop, after turning down a few monster lines, was the Hall of Presidents.  We were happy to see the Muppets performing outside, telling the story of Paul Revere.  Or, as Mrs. Piggy assumes, the story of Paula Revere.

This is a great idea!  The Muppets looked fantastic there, and with all the original voices, it was as if we were in the presence of celebrities.  The routine they had from these windows was about the same humor and pacing as you'd see on the show and some movies, and there were lots of laughs coming from the street below.  Afterwards, we went to a place that I haven't seen in over twelve years:  the Hall of Presidents.

We were able to generally walk right in this one, mainly because it's a Hall of Presidents, and not a roller coaster.  It's been majorly updated since we last went, and the movie beforehand, the one that leads up to the presentation of the different Presidents, was very well done.  There's a bit of a tribute to "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" in there, but when the curtains open and you see all the Presidents on stage, it's very impressive.

One by one, they're introduced, and when you let your imagination stretch with Disney for a moment, you see them all unified with respect for the office of the Presidency.  They all quietly nod in agreement when President Trump speaks, and there's a sense of unity amongst these great men.  It's a far cry from the reality of government today, of course.  But here there was a temporary refuge from all that, and this moment where we were all in school again learning about the government, and assuming that everyone elected worked together to make this country a great place.  Anyway, it was good to be back to the Hall of Presidents.  With a much younger Madison in our company, it just didn't make sense to come here previous, so it was a good stop today.  This might be the only speech we hear a sitting President make, but it was a decent one, and by the end of the production, there were some patriotic stirrings.

Here's another dignitary we were pleased to see afterwards:  Captain Hector Barbossa!  After the Hall of Presidents, we decided to tough out a line for "Pirates of the Caribbean," which is always a thrill.  This ride and the Haunted Mansion are two that Madison really wanted to go on today, so we made sure that we got on at least one of them before too much time went by.  They didn't have the waterfall and Davy Jones (or Blackbeard), but the ride was still fun, and we got to ride in the front of the boat.  We didn't like the flashing skull that much - this thing is sitting up there talking to you, and suddenly his eyes flash at you like to flash bulbs in a camera.  Imagine looking right at a flash bulb of a camera when it goes off.  Anyway, we didn't get wet from the little plunge the boat took.  But a stray shot from Barbossa got us, Madison more than others.

Next, we opted to avoid a line and head straight to the Tiki Room.  This was great because there's no line, and it's just a chance to sit and enjoy a show in the cool, darkened room.

What was so great about this show was that it was restored to what I think is its original programming.  We went through the version with Iago, and that was pretty rough.  Afterwards, there was an abbreviated version of this same show, singing a few songs and then kicking everyone out.  Now, it seems we're back to the original length.  And it's so gloriously dated - it's like a trip back in time, and we loved every moment of it.  From the soundtrack to the animatronics, this was a highlight of the day.  It was like being a kid again.

Here's another attraction that we hadn't done before with Madison.  It was the Swiss Family Tree House!  This has been closed each time we've been there in the past, so it was fantastic to actually get to climb the tree this time around.  It's a great maze upwards and down, but you get to the top of the tree, nearly, and there's a great view of things.  And all the while, you can here that organ theme song playing.  If you know the one I'm talking about, odds are that you've got it in your head even now!

Afterwards, we thought about getting one of those famous Dole Whips... but even that line was twenty minutes long.  So we passed on that.  But right there next door was another show that we were able to walk right in on, and that was the Country Bear Jamboree.

This is another classic.  We have these songs memorized, and it's gotten to the point that I could probably tell you what song comes next before it even plays.  The bears were in great form, and it's always great to see the audience really get into things!  It's wonderful to see these old nostalgic attractions still going strong, right there amongst the newer things as well.  I think that's the mistake that other theme parks have made while reinventing themselves.  Daddy had a lunchbox with these characters on it, and seeing this again brings back special memories, and now we're hopefully making memories with Madison as well.  Oh, speaking of which, let's hit another one of Madison's favorite rides:

We made our way over to the Mad Hatter Teacup ride, and this was one that we were pretty much able to walk on.  Madison selected this cup, and away we went, spinning - and getting Daddy a bit dizzy.  Actually, I'm dizzy again right now thinking about it!  She wants to spin this faster and faster, just like every kid her age, and Daddy is hoping for the best by the end of the ride.  Fortunately, it's nowhere near as bad as some other rides that get you super dizzy with headaches and so forth.  I generally get over it fairly quick.  Some other rides are brutal though - I remember that swing ride at Dollywood last year... fortunately, Madison and I agree:  never again on that one!  We both were pretty seasick by the end of that one.

Our next stop was Tomorrowland, and we were on our way to an appointment with Buzz Lightyear, but first, we took a spin on the Carousel of Progress!

You can see James here is ready for Halloween, dressing up as a Wolfman and carving his own pumpkin!  We try to balance the rides a bit, and Madison enjoys rides too - but admittedly, these are more for Mommy and Daddy.  In fact, you can hear us singing along in the back of the room, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow!"

Daddy took this picture during the second time we saw the Christmas part of the show.  Everytime someone gets up and out of the ride during the production, things have to start all over again, and everyone involved as to rewatch whatever scene it is they just saw.  It's not supposed to be that way, and in fact people are supposed to stay seated for the entire presentation.  Yet it happens, and today it amusingly happened twice while we were at Christmastime.  The end result was a second viewing at Christmas, and then nearly a third - fortunately, the operator was able to move us along and out.  We nearly had that segment memorized!

During the second time we saw this, Daddy took a few pictures that just might show up around Christmas time.  It would be such an obscure reference...

ANYWAY, after this, we hopped right on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.  Thanks to a little training about a month and a half ago, Daddy vaguely remembered a few targets to hit and wound up with a score of 800,160.  This was much higher than he'd ever done before.

Next time, I think we can max out the score now that I know what to shoot for.  Madison and Mommy rode together on this one, and they got some pretty impressive scores as well.  We were taking turns riding together today, with Mommy getting to ride with Madison on a few important rides - and Madison riding with Daddy on others... like the next ride here:

We were on the race track, and although Madison was offered the chance to ride by herself, she opted to ride with Daddy in the car this time.  She did really well, and is getting better.  She's certainly much better than she was last time, hitting that guard rail repeatedly.  We had some improvement this time around, and the wait for the ride was only about twenty minutes or so, which meant it was a nice little diversion.  Mommy was at the Starlight Cafe across the street enjoying a lemonade, and you can sit in some stands up there at the race track, watching your family motor around the course.

We caught one more thing before leaving Tomorrowland, which was another "must-see" for us:

We went to the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, and we did indeed laugh.  Madison thought it was hilarious, as did the rest of us.  Last night we were watching "Party Central" and "Mike's New Car," so we were sort of in a Monsters frame of mind as is.  We'll be watching both the movies before the end of this month, and can't wait for the new series to come out shortly.  But right now, we were happy to see Mike Wazowski, Buddy Boil, and these guys above - I think the name is Mac and Jeeves.  The show was hilarious as always, and we laughed enough to fill the energy canister and save the day.

This brought us to our next ride, a classic in our family.  We always tell the same story to Madison as we approach "Dumbo," how we rode that with her in Hong Kong in July of 2008, how it was one of the first rides we rode on with her.  It was Mommy and Madison back then, and here in Florida, it was Mommy and Madison here as well.  Daddy hopped in the elephant behind them, and we were off quickly!

It's a short but magical ride.  We were zooming around again, just like we'll continue to do in the years to come, just Madison and Mommy flying around.  It was a sweet moment!

As you can see, the sun was setting, and we missed the sunset - because we were inside the waiting line area, waiting for well over an hour for one ride:  Peter Pan.  We knew we couldn't miss it, and this line's length was just not getting any shorter throughout the day.  So wait we did, and for a long, long time!  But eventually, we got onboard our pirate ship and sailed over London and off to Neverland.  We noted the time on Big Ben, and saw the raven sitting there inside the eye socket of Skull Island.  According to "The Bridge to Neverland," we have to have some pixie dust, and throw it at that raven at around 9:07 or so... but we still had another hour to go.  We'll have to save that trip for another time, I think.

We rode on "Ariel's Undersea Adventure," waiting on another shorter line (all lines are shorter when you consider that previous one - this line was a mere 25 minutes long).  Also, we waited a short while to get on "It's a Small World."  That there is the first ride that Madison ever rode, over in Hong Kong.  It was nice going through all the countries.  We got to the African section, and unable to differentiate some of the others after Egypt, Madison settled on pointing out one remaining area as representing the nation of Wakanda.  Which was hilarious at the time.  We saw China and the other areas as well, but there was a bit of education going on, even here.  There were surprising moments of education along the way today, never a bad thing.

Anyway, our next stop was our last for the day, a trip to the Haunted Mansion.  This was the ultimate must-stop destination of the day, and we sacrificed the fireworks of the evening to get a chance to see this ride.  Otherwise, the wait was another 75 minutes.  We got in within less than a half hour, and it was worth it as always.  In fact, as the ride was over, the fireworks were just starting - so we hopped on again in less than ten minutes.

Here's the view across from the Haunted Mansion, looking back at the Mark Twain.

The lighting was nice, and the view unique.  Long lines enable you to stop sometimes and get a sense of things and surprises.  For example, if you stare too long at the headstone of Madam Leota, she actually opens her eyes and looks right back at you!  And here's Madison alongside some of the busts outside the ride.

There's a small degree of interaction out there with certain items, including this one below, a large pipe organ that you can pose in front of.  This would be a nice one for Madison to practice on!

We rode the ride, and enjoyed it - twice.  And just like that, we were done with the Magic Kingdom.  We had a fast pass for another ride or two, but the girls were ready to make the long trek back to the car.  It took us an hour to get there, and it was such a long wait.  We made our way out of the park, returning down Main Street at night time, alongside pretty much every other person in the park.  We got to the ferry out there, and it took well over a half hour to get on board and cross the Seven Seas Lagoon.  From there, we had that walk again - the trams were out in the parking lot, so we had to all collectively walk along the road for several more minutes until we got to the last ride of the day, the tram.

Heading home, we were all pretty tired - it was a long day.  Everyone went to sleep rather quickly tonight, and by day's end Madison had ridden everything she wanted to.  It was a fun day for her!


Okay, as we close: here's my list of "Tips of What do Do When Disney is Crowded."

Tips of What do Do When Disney is Crowded

1.  Don't go

But if you must go, or didn't realize that it was going to be this way, then struggle through the day as best you can.  That's basically what we did today, battling through the long wait times to get to some of those classic rides.

Imagine paying $25 to park, only to be dropped off by a the tram several minutes away from the place where you can stand in line to get tickets.  That walk was even more brutal at the end of the day.  It took us over an hour to get from Liberty Square to our car in the parking lot.

Anyway, add the $25 to the $350 we paid for three one-day tickets and you get to a price $375.  This is how they punish those who can't come for multiple days.  It's just one way though. 

We spent a lot of time getting to the park, given the transportation systems and lines, and one hour was spent eating at a restaurant that we paid $120 to eat at.  So after eating, that left us about nine hours.  So let's divide that $375 price by 9 hours, and you get $42.00 per hour.  

Imagine then seeing - as we did - many rides that had a wait time of 75 minutes.  Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and others - these are just a few that had that sort of waiting time.  Yes, that means I'm paying Disney $42.00 to stand in line for an hour.  And sometime after that hour, I get to ride a four minute ride and do it again somewhere else.  It's a frustrating struggle of overcoming  disappointment and a looming sense that it would be a long day, mixed with trying to stay optimistic in an crowded overheated park.  

All that being said, Madison had a great day still.  We just had to fight for it, sacrifice some things like the parade and the fireworks.  And dinner.  But we got to get on most of those rides we wanted to.