DAY 4 - SAT 19th SEPT
We all get up
around 6:30. All these early mornings must come to an end
soon.
Mickey rings with an alarm call at 7:00 and we get India
to answer it.
Today is early entry into the Magic Kingdom and fireworks
tonight. Unfortunately there is no Spectromagic the whole
2 weeks we are here, not very fair, you would think they
could run it at least once a week even in off season.
We plan to hit the Magic Kingdom for a short while until
it gets crowded and then zip across to Epcot before
returning for the fireworks at night.
We have breakfast in the room. This is something we do
most mornings as it saves the expense of a meal and
allows us to get ready quicker. A nice cup of coffee in
the never full mug helps perk us up too. Georgia insists
on fizzy orange every morning which might not do her
teeth much good but at least keeps her happy. If you
happen to see a toothless, yet smiling, young girl, you
will know why.
On to the bus at 7:30.
Wait a minute, what is this strange, bright object in the
sky? Yahoo! Dry and hot.
We head straight for Fantasyland to allow Georgia to do
the one thing she has been looking forward to since we
arrived. Dumbo. Her father has to miss the ride to look
after all the equipment. Nothing to do with the fact that
it goes round and round, you understand. Georgia loves it
and India enjoys it because she gets to ride on her own.
The Carousel is next, which I ride and survive intact,
thank you very much for your concern.
Peter Pan is better than I remember, those mermaids are
good looking! Georgia comes through her first dark ride
with no problem. Things are going too well, I am waiting
for the first disaster.
Georgia does not want to do Snow White as we have told
her about the witch so Tammy and I take turns to ride
with India.
It's a Small World has Georgia and India singing and
Kevin cringing. No, that's not fair, this ride is too
easy to take a pop at. It almost seems like it is not
fashionable to say you like it, but along with the
Carousel of Progress it is probably the finest example of
old style Disney.
Sorry to upset all you Toad fans but Tammy has a quiet
snigger as we pass the boards hiding the new Pooh ride.
She never did like poor old Toad, I always felt sort of
neutral about it.
The first showing of the Lion King is about to start so
in we go. This is the first real goose bump moment of the
holiday. The dark theatre, the first few bars of the
Circle of Life and the film always make for a special
feeling.
Let me state here and now that this is it! This is what
we came thousands of miles for. Not Florida, (lovely as
it is) not Sea World and certainly not the weather.
DISNEY. More specifically Walt Disney World.
The music, the smell, the cleanliness, the flowers, the
CM's. It isn't just the rides or shows, it is the FEEL.
An intangible, unexplainable phenomenon.
I have to say that despite the doom and gloom that I
often read by contributors to this newsgroup I see very
little evidence of decline, it is as wonderful as ever.
The park is now beginning to fill up so we head to the
Main Street Bakery where we buy ice cream cookie
sandwiches which we eat in seclusion in the waterside
park looking at the castle. Funny how children have a
strange ability to cover at least 50% of uncovered flesh
with any available foodstuff. Thank goodness for wet
wipes.
We leave the Magic Kingdom and head for Epcot.
Our attempts to ride in the front of the monorail are
declined due to staff training in progress but our trip
is fun anyway, especially as you circle Spaceship Earth.
As we go in I am strangely drawn to ride the old ball but
I'm outnumbered and dragged off to Journey Into
Imagination which I ride with India and Georgia as Tammy
thinks this is silly. At this point I feel I have to
apologise for marrying a woman with no soul. Ouch! (She
has, however, retained a pretty good left hook.)
I'm glad that we rode it before the rehab started, it has
always been one of my favourite attractions. Tammy is off
into Honey I Shrunk the Audience and is disappointed when
she does not feel the mice. (Hah! the spirits from
Imagination have their revenge.)
The girls have fun in the Image Works with India looking
like a demented conductor playing the light orchestra
thing.
I go into Honey I Shrunk the Audience (India doesn't want
to do it after a nasty experience with a large snake on
our last trip) which I really enjoy but I never really
see many of the 3D effects. I probably only see about 30%
of them in any 3D attraction. The only exception to this
is the old Magic Journeys film which I thought had the
greatest effects I have ever seen, pity about the
storyline.
By the way, Tammy really likes the True Colors pre-show,
which just goes to show that she does possess some sort
of emotional and spiritual depth, no matter how shallow
and warped. Ouch! (The right hooks not bad either.)
(No it's not so much the pictures I like as that tune -
sad as it may seem it gives me the Disney goosebumps like
Circle of Life and Oh Canada) - Tammy
Well, I knew it was all going too well. Here comes the
rain again.
We rush over to the Land.
The Circle of Life is interesting, if a little
simplistic. Timon and Pumba help to keep the children
interested. (Me too if the truth be known.)
Food Rocks is next, something that I am never that fussed
about. Anyone that ever heard 'fruit, fruit, veggie,
veggie, fruit, fruit' will know what I mean. The girls
think that it is great fun, however.
Living With the Land is one of Tammy's favourite rides,
she loves to see everything growing and is always amazed
to see the cotton and peanuts, after all, these are
exotic plants to us people from rainy old England.
(One day I will do The Land Tour - just never enough
hours in a Disney day!) :Tammy
A decision now has to be made. Do we have a quick, late
lunch or opt for the character dining meal in the Garden
Grill. The rain decides for us. As we sit in our booth
slowly rotating with a table full of food, a pitcher of
beer and 2 excited children straining to see Mickey and
Minnie, I know we have made the right choice. By the way,
we walk straight in at 3:00.
First the food: very good, including barbecued chicken,
beef, cat fish, corn bread, fresh vegetables, mashed
potatoes and gravy. Of course Georgia gets her regulation
french fries, not that she eats much, too excited. India
eats quite a bit, it's funny, the whole trip either one
was eating well or the other but never both at the same
time.
The characters are Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale. The
girls have an absolute whale of a time, Georgia is
giggling fit to burst when Minnie tickles her.
The girls get
their autograph books signed, (I made them books with the
characters name and picture on each page, which seemed to
go down well and attracted quite a few comments, not from
Mickey, of course, but he made his thoughts known.) and
there are many happy pictures and videotape used.
As Tammy said, the look of delight on their faces makes
you realise that all the planning and saving is worth it.
As we leave I see 2 chipmunks, oh, it's ok, it's Chip and
Dale together. thought I'd overdone the beer there for a
moment. The characters have been round about 4 times
each, one of the advantages in dining at a quiet time.
A brief look around Innoventions, a quick ride on
Spaceship Earth (see, got them on there eventually) and
we go off back to the room.
We had planned for a longer break but time is short as
usual so a brief 45 min nap, shower and then back to the
Magic Kingdom. Wonder of wonders, the evening is lovely.
Dry and balmy.
We stake out a place to watch the fireworks to the right
of the castle on one of the paths just off the hub. At
this point both Tammy and I notice how beautiful the
castle is looking. Bathed in changing pastel colours, the
face lift has done this lady proud.
Tink flies and the fireworks erupt in all their glory.
This has to be one of the defining moments of any Disney
holiday, watching great chrysanthemums of colour burst
above the castle.
Georgia copes quite well but India seems to think that
crouching on the ground will make them quieter. She still
watches though.
A walk through Tomorrowland and a ride on the TTA are
fitted in before closing. Tammy is undecided on whether
or not she will ride Space Mountain later in the week.
A hot dog, fries and coke at Casey's Corner top up the
stomachs and we exit to find very long queues for the
buses. I think 'this is going to take ages' but after a
couple of buses the infamous cattle truck turns up,
tooting it's horn to cheers from the assembled throng.
Now, I didn't know what to expect but from some of the
things I had read I was anticipating the ride from hell.
Far from it, this was very little different from a normal
bus and we were on our way within 15 mins of lining up.
As Hades would say 'Two thumbs, waaay up'.
Back and bed at 11:00. The girls are a bit fractious,
probably over tired.
