Day 1 was a long day, evidenced by the fact that I didn't wake up until 8:30, and didn't irritate anyone with my cheery morning self. We got up and dressed and on the bus -- and Pal Mickey wouldn't talk. As we were leaving Epcot the previous night, he said "What a busy day. I think I'll take a nap for a little while." Turns out, Mickey going to sleep is much like putting a dog to sleep. We were bummed, because he hadn't irritated us enough yet.At the Magic Kingdom, while the other three stopped at City Hall to get Krys an "It's my birthday" button, I headed to Space Mountain to get fastpasses. We then met up at the Main Street Bakery for breakfast, where we had coffee (ick!), pastries, breafast sandwiches, and yogurt. We then headed over to the Emporium, where they gladly exchanged the defective Mickey for a functional one.
We next rode Space Mountain, which was less impressive than the updated one at Disneyland, but still fun. Then, onto the teacups, which were much better than the overlawyered ones in California. Kim, who's not into barfy spinning rides, went to adventureland to pick us up some fastpasses for the Jungle Cruise. We met up at the Tiki Room.
I enjoyed the "Under New Management" aspect of it, with Gilbert Godfried Iago's snide remarks, but Krys was surprisingly upset that they had ruined the "classic" cheezy attraction. We both agree that we hope they never make this change on the west coast -- there's gotta be at least one original.
The Jungle Cruise was weak -- our skipper just wasn't into it. We then rode Pirates of the Caribbean (the new projected-on-mist effect of Davy Jones, and the super-realistic Johnny Depp animatronics were impressive), and Big Thunder Mountain (just like Disneyland, yay!), then began searching for somewhere for lunch. The Pecos Bill Café was closed, the Pirates restaurant was no good (we didn't want fish), so we ended up waiting in long lines at the Liberty Tree Tavern.
I'd realized before I came here that I'd wanted to visit the Hall of Presidents, which is different than Disneyland's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln", even though most reviewers said it was a good place to sleep, and that GW Bush's speech was unbelieveably coherent. I particularly wanted to see it because I'd first heard about it on my first date with my wife, back in 1989:
Ted: "Oh wait . . . remember at Disney World? The Hall of Presidents?"Bill: "Yeah, good! What did he say?"
Ted: "Welcome to the Hall of Presidents!" [mp3]
Not yet, though. Kevin and I rode on Splash Mountain while Kim and Krys shopped. For some reason, Splash is Krys' least favorite ride -- perhaps it was because we had her ride it when she was six, and it scared the tar out of her then.
We'd been in Frontierland and Adventureland nearly all day, so Krys wanted to see other areas of the park. We hopped the train to Toontown, and while the train ride was OK, Toontown itself was surprisingly lame. Shopping and character greeting, yes. Rides, no -- only a little kid's rollercoaster. Yawn.
We wandered over to Tomorrowland again, and rode the Indy Speedway (Autopia). I like the fact that on these cars, the breaks kick in -- and cause the tires to skid -- when you let off quickly on the accelerator. Kim thought I was nuts for flooring it, then stopping and skidding, then flooring it again. Repeatedly. She's right.
Next we "rode" Stitch's Great Escape, which is more of an experience than a ride or a show, but it was cute. Stitch is one of my new favorite Disney characters. We then hopped across to the Buzz Lightyear ride, where I kicked but with a score in the 71,000 range.
Dinnertime, and we headed to the Terrace Noodle Station, which was -- darn -- closed. The parade was starting, and we were able to see most of it from here without fighting the crowds. The fireworks were due to start in 30 minutes, so the plan was to sit tight and catch those, too in this empty area of the park. It started to fill in a little bit after the parade ended, and Kevin and I trotted over to "Cosmic Ray's" to grab dinner for everyone. When we got back to the terrace, the crowd was about four deep, but since we'd already snagged a table up front, we got a great view (and a great photo for my desktop wallpaper).
After the fireworks and dinner, we foolish mortals visited the Haunted Mansion (still one of my all time favorites), then split up briefly while we checked wait times for Pooh, Snow White, and Peter Pan. I wanted to ride the Snow White ride, and Kim came along, while we agreed to meet Kevin and Krys in front of Peter Pan. When we got there, they were nowhere to be found. We called Kevin's cell, and Krys had talked him into riding It's a Small World. Poor guy. Doubly so, really, because as soon as they got off the ride, we talked them both into riding with us, so he had to do it twice, consecutively.
Being the kind-hearted person that I am, I refrained from calling Robbbbbb from the ride this time, and texted him instead.
We then hopped across the path to Peter Pan, rode it, then wandered over to Philharmagic to end the day. Cool 3D show, and the Little Mermaid's 3D shells gave Kevin and me something to joke about for the next three days.
Back on the bus, back to the hotel, back to sleep. Next on day 3: What makes Animal Kingdom better than the Woodland Park Zoo?
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