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| Walt Disney World 2001: |
May 19th |
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Trip Reports
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| Walt Disney World 2001: |
May 19th |
| Main Index | < | Travels | < | Walt Disney World 2001 | < | Saturday May 19th 2001 |
We got up at 5:45. By we I mean I did. the girls got up about 15 minutes
later after I'd dressed, made coffee, and taped my day's intro. We gathered
our forces by 6:45 and took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom for
Early-Entry. MK opened for us at 7:30. We strolled down Main street and
part of me misses the old Space Mountain Sprint... a very small part of me
that is insane. We paused at Casey's Corner for coffee and rolls. This was after searding
high and low for the Bakery like in Anaheim. Florida's was closed for rehab so Casey's was the
ONLY place on Main Street to get coffee. We got some then sat across the street at some tables
to enjoy them. In 5 minutes we were asked by 12 different people where we got
the coffee. Disney should add a not to their guides, sheesh. After the pause I cranked back
up the camcorder and videotaped our walk towards the castle.
We were heading for
Fantasyland. Our plan, and it was a great one, was to enjoy all the
dark-rides before the crowds. A long line for a payoff like Splash Mountain
is one thing, but for Snow White? Nyet. We had tickets for the E-Ride night
the following Tuesdays anyway so we could hit Tomorrowland then if the
timing didn't work out today. Snow White was first as I got turned
around. In Disneyland, Peter Pan, my favorite dark ride, is on the right as
you enter Fantasyland, and Snow White on the left. here it's the exact
opposite. This version of SW features more Snow White than it's Anaheim
counterpart. I videotaped it, using the night-vison mode for the first
time. Looked cool but the autofocus hard a hard time of it. Not as hard as
when we rode Peter Pan (the ride, not the fictional character eh). It kept
focusing on the sail of our ride vehicle. Oh well, I wasn't selling the
tape to anybody. Anaheim's Pan is hella better. We paused at Pottyland
while Melissa and Pat rode Small World. Really, I tried to talk them out of
it, but I guess it's like picking a scab, they just couldn't help gawking.
After they escaped, we headed over to the Winnie The Pooh Ride. Greg had to
document every square inch of it. I liked it and didn't have to use
night-vision as much as on the other dark-rides. I've read about Tokyo's
version and would love to see it. I'm glad Disneyland still has the
superior Mr. Toad (WDW's sucked). None of these dark rides had any
lines... well Pooh maybe had a 2 minute line. We made our way over to
Tomorrowland then at about 8:30. We rode Space Mountain which is vastly
improved IMNSHO since they did away with the "sit in each other's laps" ride
vehicles. Could use some Dick Dale tunes though... We basically walked
right onto that ride as well. Took an extended break to grab a small bite
to eat and Pat got us Buzz Lightyear FastPasses. While waiting we
popped out to the hub to get a picture of the whole group in front
of the castle. A friendly Brit obliged. it came out a little dark
unfortunately, but we've got Photoshop so no worries.
FastPass time came and we walked right on. What a blast! Makes me want to
ride the new MIB ride at Universal. We then got in a short line for Alien
Encounters, my favorite attraction from 5 years ago. They've dumbed it down
unfortunately. No more completely fried Skippy, no more exploding alien in
the dark. Sigh. Lowest common denominator sucks sometimes. They even
gutted the cool giftshop adjacent to it. My other favorite, Timekeeper, was
closed. I'd read about that so was prepared for the disappointment. Took a
ride on the PeopleMovers (oops sorry the TTA). I videotaped the ride and
got some fun night-vision shots.
Shortly before noon we decided to go back to the hotel for a break. I took
a 2 hour nap while Kel downloaded pics off the camera onto the laptop. At
5:30 we all met up for a bus ride to Epcot. Walked right through
FutureWorld as we planned on seeing it later. We had 7:00pm PS at the
Teppanyaki Dining Room in Japan. Waited about 10 minutes for a table. As
we were 7, we got one all to ourselves. Great dinner. I had the
"Fujiyama" as did several others in our group. It was the steak
dinner. We had lots of shrimp and salad and vegetables and stuff. Great
fun watching the chef and none of us got whacked by a shrimp tail! I like
Benihana better but they don't have a restaurant in Epcot so.... Greg
bought us all plum wine to celebrate the trip (what more reason do you
need?) Nummy.
Dinner took less time than we thought, so we changed from our plan to hit MK
by 10:00 for the fireworks then watch Spectro Magic at 11:00 to instead see
the 9:00 parade, then the fireworks then head home. Took the monorail to the
TTC and transfered to the MK train. Arrived at MK about 8:45, just in time
to get a spot to see the parade. The crowd was hella obnoxious, reminding
me of the last time I saw Fantasmic at DL. Rude parents and Girl Scout
leaders shoving their kids through the crowd to see what ended up being a
fairly lame Electrical Parade knock-off. Oh well. Found a quiet spot to
smoke and sit for a half hour then found a new place to watch the
fireworks. Were were still in Town Square in front of the Train station and
although I was dubious about our position, it ended up being a truly great
show. Had a great view of the castle and not too many obnoxious assholes
around us. I especially like the lighting effects they used on the
castle... maybe it IS as pretty as Disneyland's. We skedaddled out of the
park with everyone else who wasn't staying for the second parade, and went
all the way down to the end where the Port Orleans bus did it's
pick-ups. Looks like the PO busses always get the farthest stop :)
Got back to the hotel about 11:00 and hit the hay shortly thereafter.
Early-Entry on Main Street |
King Arthur's Carousel |
Heading to Tomorrowland |
Tomorrowland |
Cinderella's Castle |
The Group |
In Japan |
Makin' Food |
Right before the Parade |
Spectro-Magic Parade |
Spectro-Magic Parade |
Spectro-Magic Parade |
Spectro-Magic Parade |
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