Seriously Disney, do you? Let me explain, never mind-there is too much. Let me sum up. Crowded buses, crowded parks, strollers, bad show, beards on cast members?!??!? This is not MY Magic Kingdom. On the 24th our little intrepid band of merry-makers decided on the spur of the moment (2 months ago when it was time to select fast-passes) to go to the Magic Kingdom. Now, having worked here, I knew that Mondays are crowded. I knew this. But this, this was out of control. It started at the bus. When taking Disney transit, you come to expect some crowded conditions. On this sardine can of a bus, I was hanging on by my fingernails to “stay behind the yellow line” and Lucy was almost down for the count. But hey-we made it in time to try and make rope-drop. And the strategy of getting there early would have worked except for the other 8.5 million people with the same idea.
I figured, eh, we’ll get in and the crowds will thin a bit as folks head their own way. And for about the first hour it was thus. We went directly to Peter Pan’s Flight and had a 15 minute wait. No big deal. After that attraction, we went to ride the happiest cruise that ever sailed. Yep, it truly is a small world after all. I thought-now we’ll go ride the Haunted Mansion. I mean, we are on this side of Fantasyland so what a great idea. Except it was closed for some reason. Bad show #1. Ok, adapt and overcome, we are on vacation. Alright gang, let’s go see Mickey’s Philharmagic. No wait so that was great. So in the first hour or so of our day we hit three attractions. By this point the Mansion was opened back up. Ethel was a tad nervous about the ride, but at the end she admitted that it was good. A quick check of the “My Disney Experience” app showed that wait times were now really starting to creep up and we were closing in on our fast-pass times. The boss and I thought a trip to Adventureland would be a good way to get to then. The Christmas-themed “Jingle Cruise” was fine-even with a 40 minute wait. I’m glad we went when we did. Shortly after we exited the ride, the wait time jumped to 80 minutes. Swiss Family Tree House? Sure. Um, sir? Would you please extinguish your cigarette in the attraction? Hey, same guy? Maybe put down the phone and stop the convo while in the attraction? No? Ok. I’ll adapt and overcome your selfishness.
Our little group thought that we might should eat before delving in to our 3 fast-passes. And it would have been marvelous except the line was about 2.5 million people deep. The others were in line for the three open rides. We did manage to get food in Lucy, Ethel, and the old man which was really the goal. At this point we headed to Splash Mountain to try and find our laughin’ place. We by-passed an 80 minute wait with this fast-pass and boarded and things were going along swimmingly. Then, just before the last drop the music stopped and the house lights came up. Uh-oh, not good. We did get to do the final drop and finish the ride while the boss and I provided the soundtrack for our log. At the exit, we were quickly and with no explanation or apologies, ushered out of the attraction and (gasp) the gift shop! We never did find out what happened, but I considered our crew lucky to have even gotten to ride. I feel for those that waited and lost more than of an hour of their day only to miss the ride. Bad show Disney. Hey-isn’t that the wildest ride in the wilderness just next door?
This time we by-passed a 70 minute wait and were on the train in no time. I got to ride this attraction with Ethel and we secured the front train car. By the time the day was over, she proclaimed this to be the highlight of her day. And, to be truthful, it was fun. With some time to kill the boss took Ethel to ride Aladdin’s Carpets (you know, Dumbo, but with carpets. Way to be original Imagineers). I walked around some of the shops in Adventureland with Lucy while my parents rested. For our last fast-pass of the day we hopped on Pirates of the Caribbean. Um, ma’am posting on Facebook in the middle of the ride? Please stop. Oh, you’re not posting just checking your feed. That is more important than being in the moment with your child. Um, grandma with the same family? You must of have understood no flash photography to mean everyone but you. It’s ok, I didn’t need to see the last scene of the ride. Anyway one of the cast members left a door to backstage open in the middle of the ride, so-bad show Disney. It might sound as if our day in the Magic Kingdom was less than magical and for me it was. For Lucy and Ethel (particularly Ethel) it was fun and that is all that matters.
We came back to the hotel and took advantage of a quite wonderful pool here at the Beach Club. My mom initially took the girls down while the boss and I grabbed a bite to eat. I think it was good we got to the pool when we did. Nana looked like she had a hard time keeping up with two high energy children. The boss and I took over and enjoyed some time with the girls in the water and took a bit of weight off of our legs. The only drawback to the pool, and it is minor, is that to access the poolside bar, one has to exit the pool area. Not a big deal, just something to know. We had no real plans for the evening so we decided to head over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
My dad, Lucy, and I decided to take the canal-side walking path while the others took the boat. We got their way before them. Again, we had no real plans so we took in “One Man’s Dream” to try and show the girls a bit about where all of this came from. Then on the way to “Muppetvision 3-D”, we swung by the Christmas light show. This was admittedly cool. The “snow” that falls is a nice touch and quite honestly the only way I want to see snow-80 degrees and pretend. From there we ducked into Pizza Planet to grab dinner. I was elated when the cashier knew exactly what to do and called the manager over. I placed my order directly with her and 15 minutes later I had a piping hot fresh made veggie pizza. I destroyed it. It was ugly. Wait times for the main rides were a bit on the high side so it seemed like the “Great Movie Ride” would work.. We headed right on and were led on our tour of the movies by a young college programmer. The ride has not changed in 20 years. Except for the fact that the trams are getting old and not running properly, including the integral to this show-microphone. Our guide did the best she could and we acknowledged her efforts with vigorous applause. Hey-let’s hit a few of these shops on the way out. Yes Ethel, you can have the marshmallow Olaf. Yes, Lucy, you can have the sugar covered caramel apple. We’re on vacation.
Observations.
1. Hey Disney, at peak times run a couple of more buses.
2. Also, with all of the technology today, could you not have message boards at each bus stop to give us an approximate arrival time of the next bus? Is it imminent or will the second-coming occur first?
3. Strollers, stroller parking, electric scooters, and wheelchairs are the bane of my existence at the Magic Kingdom.
4. I have seen more examples of bad show in one day than in my entire college program experience.
5. The pool here is neat.
6. Walking to the studios is nice.
7. My children are still having fun and still growing up too fast.
