3/3: The day I arrived I hit the ground running. I basically dropped my things off a Pop Century Resort and got right on the bus to the Magic Kingdom. On the way I was beyond hyped to simply see the backside of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge towering over the road. August can't come soon enough for that thing to open up!
As hoped for I managed to get into Magic Kingdom and grabbed a spot right on the corner of Main Street and waited as the Festival of Fantasy Parade was making it's way through the central hub area. I have seen the Festival of Fantasy Parade from many areas around the park. My favorite spots to date are right where the parade begins by Splash Mountain and also right on the corner of Liberty Square. Both offer their advantages, but this was my first time seeing the parade at the corner of Main Street. The parade was amazing as always and I streamed it on Facebook Live for fun and to give my friends and family back home a little unexpected magic. This was also my first time seeing the parade since before the fire that destroyed the head of the Maleficent dragon float. After being back in service for about a month, the new dragon head looks truly amazing and still breaths fire and spews smoke as well.
This spot was really great as the parade floats seem to slow a little bit while taking the turn. Hats off as always to the dancers and other performers in this parade. It is a long parade to keep the level of energy they do up. Especially with as hot as it gets in Florida. It really is incredible how they can all perform so well for so long in that heat. After the parade I ducked into the Hall of Presidents. As a fan of history I always find the Hall of Presidents to be a nice little stop. I also hadn't seen the Donald Trump animatronic yet so that was another reason for it. The show focuses on the history of the American Presidency from George Washington to today. It culminates in a roll call of all the Presidents. All of them are present in animatronic form which is always impressive to see. I feel like the Hall of Presidents is something that any student should see at least once and something great for history buffs to check out. It is also air conditioned, so it's good for a get out of the heat break.
From there it was time for my first fast pass, Peter Pan's Flight. This ride is a true classic. You magically take flight and basically go through the movie. You fly over London, watch Peter Pan battle Captain Hook, and see various characters from the movie. The animatronics in the ride are obviously older, but that does not take away from the ride's charm at all. It is a favorite to many. For me, it is a very fun ride, but you will never catch me standing in the 90 minute stand by line. I will fast pass it though every trip I go on!
Between fast passes I slowly made my way to Frontier Land. Along the way I snapped some pictures, waved to people on the Liberty Belle riverboat, gave some directions to a family that couldn't locate Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (that was fun), and took in the sights and sun. My next fast pass was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. If you've never been on it, Big Thunder Mountain houses a runaway mine train roller coaster. There is all kinds of scenes along the way as you chug through a small mountain town, caves, and the mountains themselves. The scenery is great and really makes you feel a lot higher than you really are (a theme with many of Disney's rides). The ride had about a 45 minute stand by line. Depending on the situation I would potentially wait for it, but it'd have to be a situation where I had a decent amount of time with nothing else planned. That was not the case this time as I had dinner to get to.
Dinner on my first night was my treat to myself for getting down to Disney. Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen, or as it is commonly referred to, Skipper's Canteen. Skipper's Canteen is located in Adventure Land just a short walk from the world famous Jungle Cruise ride. The theme is a continuation of the ride, so your servers are dressed in the Jungle Cruise Skipper outfits and will crack some really just awful, but hilarious jokes throughout your adventure. The restaurant looks probably how you would expect from a jungle canteen. Lots of space, and a ton of hidden references and secrets. After your meal try to look around a bit and see what you can find. It's worth it for sure. Now for my meal, cause that matters.
What a way to start the trip food wise. I had Dr. Fall Signature Grilled Steak. The steak was cooked to perfection and nearly melted in my mouth. It was topped with a garlic butter that went extremely well with the steak (New York Strip). Normally it comes with black beans that I swapped out for fries (just cause). It also comes with tomatoes and some Jasmine Rice, which went great with the steak. The price was $35 which for Disney isn't terrible for this kind of a meal. I was extremely satisfied and left feeling good and full. I've only eaten here one other time and had the steak then as well, but I am told pretty much anything on the menu is very good. They recently changed their menu too so if you have been there before, but not recently, it may be worth checking out again.
After dinner it was time for my final and most anticipated fast pass of the day, The Haunted Mansion. There is so much fan made lore about this ride that it's crazy. While the ride itself doesn't have a true story, fans have pieced together a variety of theories and mysteries about the mansion. Some of those I'll probably get into in future blogs. The ride was great as always. I did notice a couple of projections in the ballroom were not working, but outside of that the ride seemed in pretty good shape. During the stretching room preshow I was really happy to not be the only one reciting the script along with the ghost host as well. We all gave ourselves a nice round of applause once the doors opened.
After the ride it was time to find a spot for the fireworks. Happily Ever After is a show that words really cannot describe. I know a lot of people, myself included, miss Wishes. That being said, Happily Ever After is such a blend of technology and fireworks and music that I feel like the two shows cannot be compared. I found probably the best spot I could ever hope to find considering I was still in Liberty Square when the five minute announcement went off. The following are some pictures from the show! It is a must see for anyone going to the Walt Disney World Resort.
I know it's not overly easy to see, but this part the first time I saw the show made me freak a bit. I am a big fan of Moana and what is going on here is the spirit of her grandmother in the form of a manta ray is swimming up the castle with How Far I'll Go playing in the background. Ugh! It's too much!
Before the Once Upon a Time Projection show existed, there was a show called Celebrate the Magic that had a scene where paper lanterns would float up the castle with At Last I See the Light playing. That scene was brought back in Happily Ever After, looks amazing, and has fireworks. Again... Too much! Ugh! So good!
Towards the end of the show Tinkerbell will take flight just as she took flight in Wishes. Only now there is a backdrop of fireworks going off while she's flying.
Whew! Now if I've learned anything going to Disney it is not to go back to the hotel right after the fireworks. The park closed at 10pm so I had about an hour and a half left. I fought through the crowd back to Adventure Land and picked up a Dole Whip (pineapple soft serve). There are three ice cream shops near me that now serve Dole Whip, but for some reason they are always just better in Disney. From there I got on two more rides. I was actually joined by the bride to be for these two. The first was Pirates of the Caribbean (which was walk on).
This was my first time on the ride since the old auction scene was removed, so I was pretty excited to see it. The ride is still the classic it always was, and the new scene is actually pretty good. The iconic we wants the redhead line is gone and replaced with we want the rum. Eh. I have mixed feeling on the change, but for sure it is a good scene. Red as a pirate looks really good and I wouldn't be surprised if future Pirates of the Caribbean movies featured her in some way. It works really well. I have to say the audio in the new scene is also much more clear compared to the rest of the ride where the audio is a bit older now. Not a complaint, but it was noticeable. The fog screen that wasn't working when I was there last was still not working. The mermaids are now totally removed as well. Again, I have mixed feelings on it, but the beach still looks fine without them.
From there were power walked over to Jungle Cruise for a trip through the,well jungle. Jungle Cruise, whether day or night is always a great time. After a short 10-15 minute wait we were on the ride. The skipper was hilarious as always and it's always good to hear a slightly refreshed script. Heard some new jokes which was nice. Even at night though, it did appear that the ride needs some help. For example, several of the hippo animatronics were motionless when they usually moved. There was also an unusual amount of garbage floating around. Not sure if that's a nightly thing or not, but it was strange to me.
From there the park was closed. I stuck around to see the Goodnight Kiss mini show and then head to the bus. If you've never stuck around for the goodnight kiss, I totally recommend it. I was in Magic Kingdom from right around 3 till probably 10:15ish by the time I got out. It was a good start to the trip overall. Was a bit nerve racking at first being there solo, but as the day went on I felt more comfortable and had some fun!
Thank you for reading this blog on my first day! The next blog will probably consist of March 4th and 5th as my time in the parks were limited on those days due to the wedding. Stay tuned!
Thank you for reading this blog on my first day! The next blog will probably consist of March 4th and 5th as my time in the parks were limited on those days due to the wedding. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment