DAY 14 - WEDNESDAY JUNE 9th 2004
Now this will
be a very strange day of my trip report for me to write. You
probably know by now that I write my reports as I go along. I
find that it helps to capture the feeling that I have at that
point in time.
However, this day (and the one that followed) were so packed with
action and incident that I didn’t find time to stop and
write down the events that happened.
Consequently I am writing this on my computer in rainy old
England where thoughts of Florida are exactly that. Thoughts. And
pretty distant ones at that.
So, bear with me if things seem disjointed and vague. Perhaps I
ought to rephrase that. Bear with me if things seem more
disjointed and vague than usual.
We all get up
at 7:30am as we are aiming to be entering MGM Studios when they
open at 9:00am. Things are going pretty well to plan at this
point as we arrive bang on time and wait for Susan and Lu Beth.
And wait. And wait. Around 9:20 I decide to go and get Fastpasses
for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster with India and Georgia while the
other ladies wait for Susan and Lu Beth.
We plan to split up so Tam is going to tell Susan and Lu Beth to
meet us while they go to do other more sedate attractions.
Eventually
Susan turns up and says that Lu Beth and Evan are just coming.
Evan is joining us to do a few of the bigger rides. Sure enough,
they turn up a few minutes later. I can’t remember the
excuse for their lateness today, it was probably pitiful and
implausible.
Our Fastpasses are not for another hour so we go to the Great
Movie Ride, which has no wait. Unfortunately the CM gets his
timing wrong somehow and we drive straight through the Wizard of
Oz scene. No wicked witch or munchkins for us today.
We can just fit
in Voyage of the Little Mermaid before RnRC, so in we go. This
particular Ariel does not have a very strong voice, but she sure
ain’t 16! Not with those 36C conches! 36-24-$3 a lb.
As we exit the show we bump into a rather unhappy Tam. There has
been a missed communication and she, Grandma and Julia were
waiting until 10:00am at the entrance of the park waiting for Lu
Beth and Evan! Tam does the only thing she can do in such
circumstances – blame me. And I do the only thing I can do
– blame Susan and Lu Beth. Hey, let’s not play the
blame game here folks, we shall just proclaim me innocent and
move on.
We also manage
a quick visit to our Muppet friends and then it’s time for
Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. This is Georgia’s first time
and she is a little apprehensive. Boy, what a blast the launch
is! I’d forgotten just how fast that thing accelerates. As
we get to the end I look at Georgia, she’s not looking too
happy, but afterwards says she enjoyed it.
Evan leaves us at this point to rejoin his family in the Magic
Kingdom.
We all meet up again to watch Beauty and the Beast before we split up again. Tam, Julia and Georgia are heading back to the Boardwalk, I am going to get something to eat and Susan, Lu Beth and India are off to the Tower of Terror. Grandma suddenly announces that she wants to go too! She loves the Tower of Terror and wants to ride as she hasn’t done it in years.
I grab a burger
and wait for them to exit. And wait. And wait again. An hour
later they arrive. Why should I be surprised, ‘tis my lot in
life to stand around looking pretty while the ladies judge just
how far they can push my patience.
Grandma loved it and she has the photo to prove it.
We all now
return to the Boardwalk in Susan’s car. Susan and Lu Beth
come back to our rooms to freshen up and so I can show them our
Boardwalk view and gloat.
Evan gave us the video of Sharon’s wedding and we all sit
down to watch it. Sharon looks beautiful in her dress. We look
out for all the little Disney touches like the hidden Mickey in
the wedding cake. At the reception, Sharon and Gerry undertake a
particularly moving interpretation of the Birdie Dance. 9 out of
10 for artistic impression.
It’s E-ticket night in the Magic Kingdom, but Grandma and Julia are not feeling too good and decide to stay at the Boardwalk. Grandma still has back pain and nausea and Julia has a bad stomach. Considering the spicy food last night to be a possible cause, the more childish in our group (Tammy) renames The House of Blues, The House of Poo’s.
Off to the
Magic Kingdom for the rest of us in Susan’s car. It’s
ages since I took the Ferryboat across the lagoon and really
enjoy the slow, almost empty ride across.
We walk round to Pirates of the Caribbean and meet up with
Sharon’s gang. Pirates is a walk on. Next we go to Snow
White as we are trying to ride things that we won’t be able
to do later on E-ticket night.
As we exit it starts to rain. Where do you go when it rains? Why, the TTA of course. After our ride, Sharon and her troop leave us to go for dinner at Chef Mickey’s. We’ll meet up again later.
It’s still
raining hard, so we rush across the road to the Carousel of
Progress. I always enjoy this, what a true Disney original. The
theatre is not particularly full, but everyone is clapping and
singing along every time it revolves.
When we come out the rain has stopped. Hooray! We are all a bit
peckish, so I suggest the Columbia Harbour House. I’ve
always liked this little counter service restaurant and it
doesn’t disappoint today. I think we all had the ½ sandwich
with clam chowder, which was very good.
It’s getting close to Spectromagic time so we find a spot in Frontierland. When I say ‘we’, there appear to be less of us than there were. Tam, Susan and Lu Beth have wandered off again. I swear I’m going to buy some of those child reigns for the troublesome women. They eventually retrace their steps to find us.
As we sit waiting for the parade the rain starts again. Not really hard, but enough to get you wet. The ladies create a small camp out of unfolded ponchos by draping them over themselves and the rope they put up to mark the parade route. I’m waiting for the camp fire to be started, but, luckily, they stop short of that.
Spectro is as spectacular as ever. We do notice that one of the good fairies is missing from her float. India informs us it’s Merryweather. How appropriate. Perhaps Maleficent caught up with her.
We slowly make
our way to Casey’s Corner to meet up with Sharon and her lot
who have enjoyed their meal. Throngs of people are leaving the
park, but we manage to move forward a little way to get just
about the perfect spot for Wishes.
Jiminy talks and a single firework arcs across the sky to signal
the start of a wonderful display of fireworks, music and light.
This is certainly the best show I have ever seen at the Magic
Kingdom. It sends a positive message of hope and brings a tear to
even my jaded eye. Wonderful.
E-ticket night now begins. We first go to Mickey’s Philarmagic. What a charming show. The 3-D effects are stunning in places and I enjoy the fact that they have made Donald a little ‘softer’. You can’t help but laugh. I liked the old Lion King show, but this is even better.
Pooh is next
(don’t go making up your own smutty jokes now) followed by
Peter Pans Flight. This is probably a mistake as we queue for 20
of our precious e-night minutes.
The Haunted Mansion is next. You’ve got to love this place
at night. The lightning (Disney, not the real thing) and the
wolf-howling make it creepy and the lack of people adds to the
isolated feeling.
Splash Mountain follows for most of us (Tammy you chicken!) and we escape without getting too wet. I noticed that the fountains and water effects in the cavern before you start the climb for the big drop are not working. Is this a regular thing?
After this we split again as we all want to do different things. Susan and I want to see Mickey’s Philarmagic again. It’s just as good second time.
We all meet up
again in Tomorrowland as e-ticket night finishes at 1:00am.
We walk down a very beautiful and quiet Main Street and say our
‘goodbyes’ for the night.
We clamber into bed at the Boardwalk at 2:00am, tired, but happy,
teddies.
Well, I remembered more than I thought I would, but I could have just made the whole thing up. You’ll never know.