Obrins At WDW December 2006 Day 1

Friday, December 29, 2006
Magic Kingdom And Pop Century

We got up later than we really had wanted. This was going to happen a lot this trip. I always feel like the day at WDW goes better with an early start, but that just did not happen much this time. We were not out of the Hyatt until after 9:00, and not at WDW until about 10:00. We got in the room at Pop Century about 10:30. The restaurant at the Hyattn was closed when we got up. We wandered back into the airport area, and found a Starbucks. The Danish I had was dry, but the pumpkin spice latte (which I always have at home, when it is in season) was terrific.
	The ride over in Tiffany was great as always. This remains worth the money, in my opinion. There was an older CM at the desk at Pop Century when we checked in. She was a saint. She got us into the 90s building, and had the room released, even though it was 10:00 a.m. We really were not supposed to get into the room until 3:00, but she went the extra mile. Dont you love (Disney) people like that?
Pop Century is very cool, but expectedly a bit garish. The 90s building has a giant cell phone and a giant laptop. We were on the top floor, but had easy access to the room from the elevator. We had a clear view of the 80s building, which featured packman, skaters and such. We were not far from the pool, though we really did not take advantage of it this trip. The room smaller than our frequent place at OKW, but was very nice, very clean. There were kind of neat pop decorations, not too exaggerated. The beds were small, but comfy. I would certainly recommend Pop Century, especially if you are looking to not spend very much on your room.
	There is still a $10 a day charge for Internet access. We did not do it while at Pop Century, although Nick wanted to for his MMORPG. I told him maybe we would get one day while at the Boardwalk (which we did). We were at the Magic Kingdom pretty late. We were met with astounding crowds. Most posted waits were over an hour, but really less when you waited. Just getting from place to place was hard, because there were so many people.
We did not stop and watch the parade (which we ran into twice), but it seemed cool, what we saw. This was the Christmas parade. After coming in the front gagte, we rode the train around to Frontierland. We were warned that the train was being stopped for the parade, which seemed a bit odd. It really did not effect us. We got a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain right away upon arriving at Frontierland. We had lunch at Pecos Bills. We were a a little confused about the meal plan, since this was our first day, and the first time we have tried this incarnation of the DDP. The receipt seems to be what you have left on account, but only of the type of meal you just had. Pecos Bills was one counter service each. We had good bacon double cheeseburgers. Debbie said their hamburgers are sooo good. We did had to troll a while for a table. The crowds were massive.
	After lunch, we headed to Pirates. I liked the additions to the ride, in general. The ride has not really changed that much, which is good, because messing with an icon often turns out poorly. Davy Jones is the best addition. He shows up early in a very neat mist curtain projection that your boat then passes through. This is very cool. The mention Captain Jack in several modified dialogs. He shows up himself 3 times. The only place where he is really a detriment is where he replaces the girl in the barrel, and the chubby pirate has some silly dialog about a treasure map. But the theme of the Pirates and the women was lost a long while ago, and there is no point rehashing that argument. The animatronic very closely resembles Captain Jack from the film. Barbosa shows up on the ship which is attacking the fort. Nick argued that it was the same buy that was always there. Nick is disappointed in the changes overall, partly because Barbosa is really his favorite character from the films. Has the queue been enhanced? There seemed to be more nooks and crannys, with more interesting things to look at as you waited. There was a huge line.
We headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and waited in a light drizzle, not really rain. It was very warm compared to home, but not really hot. We had a very long wait. At the point where they mix in the Fast Pass folks with the standby, their procedure seemed a bit odd, as they let every single person in the FP line in before mixing in even one person from standby (I just do not recall it being like that, maybe it seemed strange because there were so many Fast Passers). This was the first of several odd things I noticed about FP this trip. This was such a neat ride. Since Debbie and I were seated together, I caught a little air on the ride. This was such great fun. Our FP on Splash Mountain was up now, which was very lucky timing. I guess the shoe was on the other foot, because we got on pretty quick. We were also in luck, as there was no rain then. Once again, this was a great ride. It is this cute little song and dance, with an exciting, wet, long drop at the end. We got very wet, and had a lot of fun.
	The meal plan is confusing about snacks. Pop or chips is a snack, but not a hot dog. Nick and I had ice cream, Debbie went around the parade, determined to get a hot dog. It was not great timing, but we managed to stay together. Then it was time to go on the best ride on property, the Haunted Mansion. Despite the crowd, we had very good ride. I was by myself, and Nick and Debbie were together. It was just the great ride we expect. We stopped only once, at a place where I could hear little Leota, but not see her. Keep in mind that a stop on the Haunted Mansion is a bonus, because you get to spend more time enjoying a part of the ride (except for the constant and needless reminder that the ride will be starting again at any second). While waiting in the queueu outside of Haunted Mansion, I was remembering Nicks Unabrow imitation that we caught on video. Those were the days.
Picture taking was a little bit harder because of the crowd. We seemed too busy just going frommone ride to the next line. We next caught a show of the Hall Of Presidents. We got there early, and got a bench to sit on while we waited. We were all pretty tired, and I was having some back pain (from shoveling snow the day before we left!). This remains a very moving show. We highly recommend this show. I have to tell you folks, booing this show is inappropriate. It is a sad commentary on the state of our country. It is an artifact of the fact that elections are won by smear tactics, leaving people confused about who their leadeers really are, and what they have really done. But, enought of that.
	We crossed the courtyard in front of the castle, but only got a couple of pictures. It was already getting dark, because of the overcast skies. It had started raining a bit more.
We did a quick ride on the People Mover, which we all really like, and is still a lot of fun.
	We bought some rain panchos in the shop by Stitchs escape. Or course, it had stopped raining by then. Debbie put hers on anyway, but I never even unfolded mine that night. I knew it would get used before the trip was over.
Ater a little poking around in the shops, Debbie was feeling like another ride on the People Mover. It had stopped running, perhaps because of the weather. We sat in a relatively dry spot, absorbing the atmosphere for a while. We were all feeling a bit tired at this point, and just wanted to catch our breath.
	When the People Mover started up again, we took another ride, then headed over to Buzz Lightyear.
I still find Buzz to be a fun ride. We were in the standby line, and it was huge. At least it was not hot in the inside queue, sometimes it is unbearable in there. The queue itself is a load of fun. You have to decide on a day like this that you are going to enjoy the queues. Despite the posted wait of an hour and the daunting size of the line, we were actualy on the ride in about 20 minutes. We all had decent scores, but not memorable. Nick was acting a bit bored, but it may have been tired. The crowds seemed to really begin to thin out after 8 p.m.
	We did Stitchs Escape one time before dinner. I stil enjoy the show very much, but Nick was still acting a little off. He had really loved this show last time we were here. I did not hear the part where Stitch steals the cell phone. I wonder if this has been modified, or if there was some kind of glitch. It was ironic (and a bit pathetic) that the girl seated next to me was on her cell phone before the show started (I do not recall if they had dimmed the lights yet). I mean, you are in a queue between every ride on a day like this, that seems like plenty of time to talk on the phone.
We had dinner at Cinderellas Castle (I think it is called Cinderalla Royal Table these days). I have to say that dinner was a bit dissapointing. They charge two table service credits for this on the dining plan. It was certainly not worth two dinners at the Liberty Tree or the Rose And Crown. The price of a commemorative photo with Cindy is included, but it felt like Nick was too old and too male. On the positive side, we got to watch fireworks through the stained glass windows of the castle, and that was pretty special. The little floor show they do with the fairy godmother and the mice was pretty neat.
	The crab and corn soup that I started off with was the best part of the meal. My lamb shank was really a bit too rich for my taste. That was my fault. Debbie had the prime rib, which was substantial in size, and reported very good. Nick had the rigatoni, which he liked, but did not love. Debbie and I split his spring roll appetizer, which was very good. For desert, I ordered a blueberry muffin thing in confusion. It was just OK. Nick and Debbie both had chocolate mosse cake, which they seemed to like.
Debbie abandoned us after dinner, and went back to the room. She may have missed the best part of the day, because the crowds thinned out a lot. Nick and I did a ride on Space Mountain, which seemed very dark and fast. There was a slight line, but we were on and off the ride in less than 20 minutes. Much better than the middle of the day.
	We did a turn on the Astro Orbiter. Nick was a bit dissapointed, claiming that his rocket would not go as high as it should. The one I was in was high and fast enough for me. I even felt a bit dizzy afterwards.
Nick was not interested in standing in line for the teacups any time this day, and we missed it completely this trip. That had been kind of a tradition for he and I. While standing in the short line for Autotopia, I smiled as I remembered the story about opening day at Disneyland. The ride had originally opened without the railing in the track which limit your cars motion. Something like 80% of the cars were damaged the first day. They closed the ride to put the railings in. By the time we come back to WDW, Nick will be driving for real. It is not long before he is eligible for his learners permit. This is still a little scary to me, and not just because I have seen him drive at WDW.
	We helped them close the park down about midnight. The ride home was crowded, but not terribly unpleasant. The ride form Magic Kingdom to Pop Century is pretty long. At least we did not have to stand.