Even if you've been to the parks lots of times, there's still going to be stuff you've never done. We've never gotten to the parks early enough to see the rope drop, so this time we resolved to do so. I didn't think we were going to make it at first; a few delays caused us to get on the road 20 minutes later than I wanted to, but thanks to light traffic on I-75 and the Turnpike (and maintaining an average speed of 85mph until I hit the construction on the Turnpike) we made it just in time:
Main Street is so full of detail that you always spot something you haven't seen before. I took this picture of a familiar slogan in a window above the candy shop:
Hmm, "If we can dream it, then we can do it" . . . seems like there used to be an attraction with that theme. Whatever happened to it, I wonder?
After a brief pit stop, we headed over to Adventureland. Although the flowerbeds are off-limits to guests, the ducks evidently do not respect this restriction:
The first ride we did was the Jungle Cruise. There was almost no wait, but I was able to pause long enough to take a picture of one of the humorous signs in the load area:
And my wife got a nice pic of the elephants:
Next, we rode Pirates. Interestingly, the Davy Jones smoke projection was not turned on. (We rode again later in the day, and it was there). As everyone here knows, taking flash pictures on a dark ride is a major breach of etiquette, like cussing in church. Unfortunately, most of the people in our boat did not know this (or didn't care) because there were flashbulbs going off every few seconds. Unfortunately, even my dear wife got in on the action. (Hangs head in shame)
After Pirates, we headed to Frontierland. My wife always wants me to ride Splash Mountain, but I'm just too big a chicken. I think I could do it if they dropped you right away, but of course it doesn't work that way. So Marie headed off to ride Thunder Mountain, and I stood on the bridge overlooking Splash and watched the ride vehicles plunge to the bottom, trying to talk myself into riding it. Unfortunately, my brain kept repeating the following points:
* The centerpiece of the ride is a five-story vertical plunge, which is supposed to be entertaining because it's "thrilling"
* The "thrill" in question is actually your body's panicked reaction to what your instincts tell you is a lethal drop.
* That panic reaction is there for a good reason.
So I did not ride Splash. We did, however, go to Tom Sawyer Island, which we haven't done since our honeymoon in 2001. The caves were more cramped than I remembered (probably because I was 60 pounds lighter nine years ago) and darker, too. I kept bonking into walls, and Marie thought it was hilarious.
It turns out you can get some good pictures of Thunder Mountain from Tom Sawyer Island:
And the fort is a good place to play checkers:
After we left the island, it was getting warm and I decided it was time for a Dole Whip. Then we headed for Fantasyland to get Fastpasses for Peter Pan, and on the way Marie dragged me into the Princess Tiana line:
At least it was in the shade. Well, we did Peter Pan, the Carousel, Winnie-The-Pooh, and Mickie and Minnie's house, and by then it was time to get some lunch at Pecos Bill's. The burger I got there was kind of a disappointment: the buns they're using are way too thick, so there's almost as much bread as meat. After lunch we bummed around for a while, and then Marie really needed to sit down and rest for a while. I suggested we go back to the resort and take a nap; unfortunately this was only a day trip and we did not have a room, so we went to the Tomorrowland Terrace instead. Since the noodle station (or whatever they're calling the restaurant there) is usually closed, it's a great place to just chill out for a while. We got a good view of the parade from there, too, (I felt sorry for all those folks watching the parade in the hot sun!) While Marie rested, I went and got Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear, and witnessesd a funny exchange between a CM and a clueless guest:
The Buzz Lightyear fastpass machines are located directly below a sign that says BUZZ LIGHTYEAR'S SPACE RANGER SPIN. The machines are decorated with the Buzz Lightyear logo. So naturally, this guest walked up to the CM on duty, pointed to the fastpass machines, and said "What ride is this for?"
"Buzz Lightyear," the CM replied.
"Huh?"
"Buzz Lightyear," the CM patiently repeated.
The guest looked stumped. "Which one?"
The CM remained cheerful (at least on the outside) but it reminded me of the time I spent working at Publix as a teenager, when customers would walk up to me and ask where Aisle 5 was. (Answer: between Aisles 4 and 6. The More You Know!)
While I was getting the Fastpasses, Marie got some pictures of the castle:
Soon our Fastpass return time arrived, but before we headed over to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, we made a pit stop at the bathrooms on the uppermost level of the Tomorrowland Terrace, and that was when I realized that the upper level seating area is air conditioned. All this time, we could have been sitting in the AC!
Well, Marie beat me soundly on Buzz (as usual) and then we went on the TTA. Before we left Tomorrowland, I wanted to do the Laugh Floor. We'd only done it once, in 2007, and enjoyed it. At the very beginning of the show, various audience members appear on the screen with humorous captions under them that sometimes encourage them to do silly things. This time, I looked up at the screen and was shocked to see myself, with a caption indicating that I should dance. I complied about as well as a fat, uncoordinated white guy can, and everyone laughed (at me, not with me, I'm pretty sure
) Then the main show started, and something strange happened. The Laugh Floor broke down. We noticed that what Mike Wazowski's actions were not matching up with his words (he just stood there and waved, even during the part where Roz dropped him through a trap door) and when he indicated that the first "act" was going to appear, they did not. The show stopped, and the CMs tried to entertain the crowd by soliciting jokes from people in the audience, but when it became apparent that there would be no quick fix they gave us all parkwide fastpasses good for any attraction and sent us on our way. They didn't come right out and say it, but I'm sure it was my bad dancing that broke the Laugh Floor. I mean, what else could it have been? Well, we rode Pirates one more time to see if the Davy Jones effect was working again (it was) and then we rode the train back to Main Street. As it passed behind Fantasyland, we caught a glimpse of some land-clearing in progress, no doubt for the expansion. The ground looked really swampy, though, they've got a lot of work ahead of them!
You may remember that a major weather system was sweeping across Florida on Sunday, and by the time we left WDW it was knocking on the door. We could see dark clouds and lightning off in the distance, and we ended up driving right into it when we got onto the Turnpike. There was driving wind and blinding rain (or is that blinding wind and driving rain?). Either way, it was no fun to drive through, although we survived.
We'll be doing Star Wars Weekends in early June, and I should have another report for y'all then!
