The hotel we stayed in was the Buena Vista Palace, formerly known as the Princess, which, back in 1984 was painted pink. Yes, Pink. Now, it's a yellowish color. The interior was completely renovated and it was very nice. Picture will be on my Dropshots page!
The first day we went to the Magic Kingdom. We got to the transportation center at around 10am, and I completely forgot that you can't just take a bus to the Magic Kingdom. You have to either ride the Monorail to the park, or take the ferry. We headed to the ferry, but there were two cast members standing there telling us to go to the ferry because the monorail was too crowded. So, like cattle we were herded over to the ferry. This was the first time, and certainly not the last, that we felt like cattle, chewing our cud, just waiting to go. The craziest part of this was that as we stood in line and approached the dock for the ferry, this man essentially pushed me to the side by jabbing his arm in my way...to get to what? A boat that would have held him and me quite comfortably at the same time. But no, he had to push. Thankfully this was the last time I was purposely shoved while trying to get somewhere. I will say, though, that this should have been an omen of what was to come.
How can I describe the park? Fun? Yes. Awesome? Yes. CROWDED? OH MY GOODNESS YES!!!!! Man. Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking of coming down during that week. I truly haven't seen it that crowded in a long time.
First ride: Jungle Cruise. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as I walked up to the queue, there was one of my co-workers, aged by about ten years. I'm not sure if he recognized me, but that's okay. He didn't appear to want to be there, so I just accepted my status as a guest, and his status as a Jungle Cruise skipper who has been there for about 20 years. Yes. 20 years. B loved the ride. He loves corny puns, so it was right up his alley.
Then we went to Splash Mountain, where we waited in line for about 45 mins. We had been advised to use the Fastpass system, but the way it works is that you get your fast pass ticket at each ride. They give you a little ticket that says when to return, which is about an hour or two later, depending on the ride and availability. So we decided NOT to get the FastPass for this ride because we didn't know what else we would do for 45 mins to an hour to wait for our time to get on with the Fast Pass. How dumb we were. The answer to that is that is doesn't matter: fast pass is the way to go. We stood and sweated it out while we waited to get soaked on our plunge down the mountain when we could have gone around to explore the rest of the park. If we really knew what we were doing on that first day, we would have gone to all of the rides to collect passes for the whole day, and then returned for the fast pass returns for the rest of the day. The beauty of Fast Pass is that when all the other poor tourists are standing in line, enduring the crowding, pushing and sweating, you get to go in a separate line and breeze right on by. The other people standing and waiting eye you with jealousy and disdain, and for a moment, you feel guilty. But then, once you get on the ride, and don't have to endure everyone, the guilt is fleeting. And really, since the pass is free and open to everyone, at least in the Magic Kingdom (at the other parks, you can only get one pass every so many hours, I guess because of limited availability of rides), there's no reason to feel guilty. I think we stood in line for maybe two rides. The rest of them, we did fast pass.
I am happy to report that B really enjoyed the rides. He appreciated the level of detail that the rides had, and he liked the theming. This tells me why Disney works for so many. B is very picky, and if he can be happy, then anyone can. I was even shocked at his like of It's a Small World. He liked it because of the detail given in it. I was surprised! His favorite: Space Mountain and Spaceship Earth.
My Favorites: Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, Rockin' Roller Coaster (AWESOME), Tower of Terror, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, Pirates (although it was closed down for rehab), Haunted Mansion and Mission Space.
Biggest disappointment: The redux of Imagination. When I was there in 1998 they were getting ready to re-do Imagination. I was excited to see what they did. Oh man. They really messed that one up. Awful. That's all I have to say about that.
We ate at a very nice restaurant in Epcot, Cafe de Paris. I ate escargot and frog's legs for the first time. I have to say that I am NOT a fan of escargot. I ate it, but I didn't like it. My main entree was scallops and artichoke with fennel confit. MMMMMMM. Really good. For dessert I had a souffle with grande marnier. It was okay. A little too eggy for me.
So all in all we had a great time. I'm glad we did it, and I'm happy that B liked it. I have to say that without Fast Pass, he probably wouldn't have liked it as much.
One little side story: at Epcot there is a Segway section in Innoventions where you can test drive a Segway. So B and I went and watched a video about the company, signed a little form, and then got to test them out. VERY COOL. To get it to move forward, you just lean slightly on your toes. To move backwards, just lean slightly on your heels. B wanted none of the slightness. He wanted to GO! So he got on one, and he was paired with a lady who would teach him how to use it. Well, he didn't want to listen. Apparently she told him "No! No! No!" several times as he basically defied her instructions. Meanwhile I'm flying around on my Segway, and my teacher is cooing "Excellent! Very good!" And B is hearing from his teacher "No! Don't do that!" When we were both finished I got off with a smile, and B looked a little flustered. After he told me what happened I said, "See! I told you that you were difficult!" Ha ha! I still remind him of the Segway lady when he gets stubborn with me. ;)
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