Sunday, March 29, 2009
Magic Kingdom
 | We came into WDW today, having spent the night before at the Hyatt. We got checked in first thing in the morning. The room was already cleared, although this was before 9 am. Online checkin seems to have worked OK. We actually arrived at the park at a decent time, about 9:15! Nick and I left at about 11 PM. (this was an Extra Magic Hours day). Debbie went back to the room at 2 PM, came back to meet us for dinner, then left again. |
 | So, I had a very pleasant day with Nick. We did not do everything we possibly could, but we had a very relaxing and fun day. I was a little surprised at what he picked to do (including the Disneyland Railroad and the TTA a lot). |
 | The Hall of Presidents was closed, of course, since they were doing the election refurb. The Tomorrowland stage was undergoing a big refurb, and was also closed. Everything else seemed open. We Rode on Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Transit Authority (eight times!), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice), the Haunted Mansion (twice), Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear, the Laugh floor (twice), Splash Mountain (twice), Stitchs Great Escape, the Teacups, the Liberty Bell, Its a Small World, Mickeys Philharmagic, the Carousel of Progress, and the Disneyland Railroad (six times!). Debbie only did TTA (four times), HM, train, BTMR, Laugh Floor, and Small World. |
 | The best ride of the day may have been Space Mountain. We had a wonderful ride, in what I believe are the older style cars. it is a fun, fast ride in the dark. The woman sitting in front of me was screaming like a teenager girl, although she looked like she was in her 30s, and was talked into it by her kids. She told me afterwards that it was her first time. Nick said he got a lot of air (in the back). I was between these two loud people. It was a very memorable ride. |
 | HM is still best ride in park, both times were wonderful. My loss of night vision is somewhat noticeable here. But, I still love this place. A CM on the first ride asked if I was psychic, because I had his masters words on my shirt (one of my HM tees). That was a nice touch. |
 | The Philharmonic was also great. Its 3D and 3D--computer generated spectrographic animation. I know this is showing up in the theaters on a daily basis now, but this show is still very funny, and has some neat special touches. The are is beautiful art, with spectacular effects. Nick said he forgot how good that show was. Its really amazing. It is funny and exciting if have not seen it for a while. |
 | The cell phone gag is definitely back in Stitch. I swear it was missing the last time, but maybe I had forgotten it. Its a very funny bit, as is most of this show. There are great humor and effects, including the chili dog smell o vision. I really like this attraction. |
 | BTMR was the first ride of the day, and the last ride at night. We rode once in the light, and once in the dark. That made it different each time. It is a really, really, fun ride. I caught lots of air, and love the very special scenery. This is a durable classic. |
 | Splash Mountain was great both times. I had the camera with me the second time, and was seated in front, so I worried about wetness, but everything was OK. We did get pretty wet both times. It was raining the first time, cold and dark second time. Nick is crazy. why do we do this? |
 | CoP continues to be an all time favorite. You kind of have to respect it as one of Walts pet projects. It is still enjoyable, but the gap times are kind of funny now. Around 1900, 1920, 1940, and then, 2000. And the 2000 even tries to look a little futuristic, though we certainly have voice recognition and some VR lying around now. It is still a neat concept, though. |
 | The Laugh Floor, on the other hand, has a feeling of being pretty cutting edge. Each time we saw it, the show was a little different, and the audience participation is pretty interesting. It leaves you wondering what parts of the show are canned, which are an interactive technology, and whether there are live CMs behind the scenes in some places. We had fun on Buzz Lightyear, our scores were mediocre. Nick says the gun is not accurate. I still thought it was fun. |
 | The front of the Small World boat was very bad for leg room. All three of us suffered. Not all boats seem to be that way. Still, this ride is a durable classic. I did not notice anything new, I thought there was a refurb. Yeah! Teacups! We missed it last trip! I had to prod nick, but I am glad we did it. We had a really hard time fitting (Nick is very tall). We still managed to spin and have fun. |
 | The Liberty Bell was surprisingly pleasant and relaxing. It is also a nice place to take photos from. Nick kept trying to sit down. Im glad we did it. |
 | Nick says it is the same old pirate on the first ship in POTC, but admits it is Barbosa's voice. It really does not jump out at you. Of course, Jack Sparrow does. Now that we are accustomed to it, Jack is not too obtrusive, and people seem to like him there. The ride was not busy at all. My night vision problems were noticeable. |
 | We will not do DDP again. There are no tips, and no appetizer. I am certain both of these items were included before. Now, it is only entrees, drinks, and deserts. I really can not believe we saved any money over just winging it. Regarding the snacks, any little thing you buy will burn through those fast. Counter service also entree, drinks, desert. Really counter service is too much food (another reason we could piece meal it cheaper). We got the simpler plan, 1 counter, 1 snack, 1 table a day. It was still over $40 a person a day. We will be lucky to break even on what we are eating (and deserts at lunch kind of silly). At Pinnocchios, Debbie and I had chicken nuggets, Nick had pizza. Nick said pizza was a better theme for this place than hamburgers (since Pinnochio, of course is Italian). Funny it is still some kind of Alpine Germanic restaurant, but no longer serves burgers. Are burgers really German? he food was good, the cheesecake too sweet. Debbie and Nick had chocolate cake. Tony's Town Square is really very good. I had spaghetti and sausage, Nick had spaghetti, sausage, and meatballs. It was a good, solid quality. Debbie had primavera gnocchi, said it was just OK. Debbie had Tira ma su, Nick ice cream bomb, I had pistachio creme brule. Mine was really good, but the portion was small. Nick and Debbie both were happy with desert. |
 | The crowds were light all day. Many rides were a walk on. There was some waiting around mid day, but no more than about 15 minutes. People are nicer when its not as crowded. No one was difficult to deal with amongst the other guests. It was raining a lot in the morning. Right when Debbie left, it cleared up. It was warm the rest of the day, but not hot. Really, the weather was pretty cooperative. |
 | They were clearing you into attractions with the room key during EMH. Don't think they threw people out at gate close, which they had done before. EMH was fun and effective, but the crowds were light all day anyway. OKW had a big, beautiful room as always. Online check in seemed to work out OK, but can't charge back to the room for some reason. It might be new Disney resort limit and DDP charged to room messing us up. The room was close to the bus, a little loud, but very convenient. |
 | Debbie did go to the store, and set up breakfast and snacks for the room for the week. It was a wonderful Disney day. We spent a long time at the park, and did not kill ourselves trying to do everything 12 times. I kind of did miss some of the things we missed. |
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