Magic Kingdom Pictures
Fort Wilderness Trailer Park
Our last day in the Magic Kingdom. I always hate getting to this point. It was a short day as well as we had tickets to go see the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review over at Fort Wilderness that night. Well, we had two lands left to get to, with a few other missed rides to fit in as well. We made it in to the park, again by the ferry (Ari's favorite way to get there by far. She didn't think much of the monorail) and made our way in. After a few rounds of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (Finished up the Main Street mission against Cruela) we headed for Adventureland. Other than a quick ride on the Magic Carpets earlier in the week and a visit with Aladdin during the Christmas Party, we hadn't even set foot into Adventureland. We met Peter Pan on the way and were the last to get to see him at that point. Ari loved this as Peter is one of her favorite characters. He had to run off to be part of the official grand opening ceremony of New Fantasyland. We decided to keep going and take advantage of the light crowds at the rides. No one was really in the mood to be crushed in the crowds that morning. Once the ceremony was over the lines never really got too bad. I guess there were a lot of people from the press that day. There definitely were a lot of camera around.
We headed over to the Tiki Room (Skipping the Swiss Family Treehouse. No one would walk through it with me) and decided to start there. It's back to the original show with a few scenes removed. I don't remember the original well enough but it did seem a bit short. Still, I loved having it back as I did enjoy it when Amanda and I were on our honeymoon out in California. The kids loved it too, although Ari was scared of the thunderstorm.
Next up was the Jungle Cruise. We took the handicapped line for this and it was very helpful. We probably waited a little less than we would have in line and Ari got to rest. I carried her on to the boat and she got to sit right up front by the skipper. She loved this ride as you can probably tell by the picture of her sitting in the boat. It was the usual spiel from the skipper with the usual playing down of the gun use that they usually do nowadays. She tried to shoo the hippos away with the gun, which was actually funny. Most skippers have just tried to ignore or just mention the gun in passing. But enough about that. The ride was soon over and I walked past the crates with "Evans" stamped on the sides. Those are a tribute to the original landscaper of the parks: Bill Evans. It amazing the number of people out there I share a name with.
Up next was pirates of the Caribbean. We considered asking about the Pirates League for Ari, but with us being short on time and going to dinner afterwards, we decided it was best just to continue on to the ride. We did the handicapped entrance again which as I remember was basically the normal line. So it allowed Ari to conserve her strength while we waited. Again the wait wasn't very long. This was one of Ari's two favorite rides in all of WDW. The other was the new Ariel ride in New Fantasyland. She was watching everything as we went through and kept talking about it afterwards. Also, she had to buy a pirate sword before we left the gift shop. It was only $5 so we got it for her. You can probably see it in several pictures for this day and the next and she took it with her everywhere after we left the shop.
After pirates, we were all getting hungry. We headed over to Pecos Bill's since it was a fairly generic place to eat and no one wanted anything fancy with our dinner coming up. Amanda and I each got a taco salad. I love the way they do it. They basically give you the shell and a scoop of meat and point you at the extensive fixin's bar. I loaded the thing up with cheese, salsa, onions, lettuce, etc. and had a nice filling meal. As usual we split a soda. I think this was the only time we had counter service the whole week and didn't just split a meal. The portions at WDW are usually unusually large and have always been plenty to feed the two of us. For this we each wanted our own things on the salad and they weren't too expensive.
Next up was Tomorrowland. We actually hadn't set foot at all over here. We started with the Raceway since Ari had been asking about it all week. As usual, it smelled of fuel exhaust and the cars were really hard to control and we spent a lot of time trying to not hit the center track. Ari gave up on driving after a while so I had to drive from the passenger seat. Overall though she enjoyed it. I'm not sure there was much she didn't enjoy this week. She was extraordinarily well behaved during this trip (other than during travel periods) and handled the large amount of walking and lines much better than we ever expected. Again, thanks go out to Disney and the Cast Members for allowing her all the stroller time and for making her time go as smoothly as possible.
After the Raceway, we realized that we had missed Pooh Bear, so we made a quick cut back into Fantasyland to go on the ride. Pooh and Tigger happened to be waiting there with a short line so we got their autographs and a few pictures. Then it was off to the ride. We used the normal line and took her stroller through. She loved the little games and the honey touch screens. They kept her entertained for most of the wait. It was a little long, but not too bad. She enjoyed the ride but I'm not so sure she liked the bouncing portion. Or the hefalums and woozles portion. They scared her a bit. After the ride was done it was back to Tomorrowland.
We hit a few rides in here, bit I don't remember the exact order so I'll just list them out. One was the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. This is my mom's favorite. I always enjoy it and the kids had a good time. I'm not one for audience participation so I'm always a little nervous going in here, but I always get a laugh out of it.
We also hit Buzz Lightyear. This is a favorite of mine. For some reason I love this ride and have to do it at least once a trip, while the wildly popular Toy Story Midway Mania is something I'm completely willing to skip. I've never really enjoyed it. I got a fairly large score, about mid way up the scale. Not too bad for someone who only plays once every few years. Ari loved it and Lily had fun looking at all the colors. My parents had Lily and my mom got a picture of them with Lily from the ride.
Amanda and I did Space Mountain. Still bumpy and hurt a little and the room wasn't all that dark so we could see the track, but not too much of it. I don't remember ever being able to see that well in there other that when the lights were on. Also the line was very different and we got stuck behind someone who had wicked gas. Not good on a small area. Overall we still enjoyed it.
I saved my favorite two for last. Of course they are not thrill rides or anything even close to it. One if the Peoplemover (Tommorland Transit Authority). I just love being up there and looking out over the park. I love riding it at night and seeing the castle lit up, but I didn't get that change this trip. There's always next time. The last it the Carousel of Progress. I just love watching animatronics and this is a great example of them. Plus I love history and getting the glimpses into the time periods plus knowing the connection this ride has to Walt and the 64 World's Fair make it that much better for me.
Well, after that it was a little wandering and hitting a few shops. We ended up back over in Adventureland and I grabbed a Citrus Swirl and Amanda got a Root Beer Float. We had to head out and the kids said their goodbyes to the park and we made our way to the docks. We were taking the boat to Fort Wilderness this time instead. They were cramped and not stroller friendly which was only really an issue since Lily was asleep, but we made it over there without any problems.
Next up was waiting around. We couldn't check in yet so we wandered the area. It brought back a lot of memories. I love all the times we stayed there when I was younger. I'd love to stay there again some day, but for now it's just too expensive for my tastes. Maybe one the kids are older. It's just as rustic looking as ever and almost exactly what I remember. Of course River Country is gone and Discovery Island is closed. Both of those were great diversions from the park. They were relaxing and beautiful. I understand why they were closed in general. I still miss them.
We headed over to the general store and picked up a few souvineers and I showed Amanda around the little area we were in and talked about the cabins we had stayed in years before. We almost took a horse and buggy ride and there were plenty of them available. Then we found out why there were so many available. They were really expensive for the short ride you got. So we wandered around some more until check-in started. We got our tickets and got our pictures taken (They'll be in with the PhotoPass pics I need to post) and waited for the doors to open.
We were seated right up against the stage, towards the left. Ari and I were right up against the steps. They show was as good as I remember and the food even better. I ate way too many ribs and beans that night. They were just so good. There was also cole slaw, chicken and strawberry shortcake. Beer and wine were included in the price, all you can drink. So we had a little too much of that as well. The kids loved the show, but Ari didn't like all the noise at the end. Everyone gets a washboard and they encourage as much noise as possible. Once we got through that she was good again.
Afterwards we wandered the trailer park area as it's known for it's elaborate light displays. Everyone seems to compete to make their little plot look the best. I have a few pictures of that as well. After a little walking and a few breaks we headed back to the boat. The boats were still crowded and came infrequently, so we ended up taking the boat to the Contemporary instead of back to the Magic Kingdom. It was a Party night anyway so we couldn't get back in. I got to see the gingerbread Christmas tree there on the way up to the monorail, which is way too difficult to find, especially when you are using strollers.We tool the monorail back to the Transportation and Ticket Center and got to see the Electrical Water Pageant along the way. After a quick trip on the travel (Ari's name for the tram) we were back at the car. It took way too long to get back from Ft Wilderness, but it gave everyone time for their food to settle before heading back to the hotel. Se we all got in the car and the girls passed out and we made our way back knowing that all we had left was our one last day at Epcot. I hate how fast these trips go. For once I'd love to have one where at the end I get to say that I have had plenty of time away from home and I've done everything I wanted to do. We did get quite a lot done, but there's never enough time to see all the little details and do some more of the relaxing things like wandering the gardens in World Showcase or exploring all the countries. All that and I've never seen any of the other parks down there other than Sea World, which I've seen in San Diego as well but that's another story all together.
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