I’m long overdue for a photo dump…and if today is any indication, most of the rest of this blog is going to end up being done in photo form. I’m working on figuring out why I can’t get the WordPress mobile app to work; it’d let me better utilize my line time if I could…one day, but not today, because wow I’m tired.
Let’s see…
Lizzy and I were out the door a few minutes after 7. Yes, me, yes, 7. I’m chalking it up to “Disney Magic”. Here’s some highlights:
Maybe I simply don’t remember because of my age and the elapsed time since the last time I was here, but Lizzy is far from the only one focused on wearing Disney shirts. Here were some more memorable T-shirts I saw:
- Countless “Mommy Mouse / Daddy Mouse / Auntie/Uncle Mouse / Brother/Sister Mouse” coordinated shirts. Some were customized and had the wearer’s name on it.
- A blonde woman around my age with her daughter, maybe Kindergarten age. The woman was wearing an Elsa skirt and a tiara. Her top said “never grow up”.
- One woman had her Minnie Mouse cosplay on point – the ears, the makeup, the black top and polka dot skirt, even yellow Nikes. Easily the best Minnie I saw.
- Twin siblings, maybe 7 or 8, wearing matching Ariel shirts with their fire engine red hair in the exact same pony tail.
- An obviously-pregnant woman with a shirt saying “Beauty and the Bump”. Her significant other was wearing a shirt that said “I’m her Beast”.
- A family wearing Disney-stylized “Best Day Ever” shirts…except the dad, wearing a Disney-stylized “Most Expensive Day Ever” shirt.
- A man wearing a shirt saying “My favorite Disney Princess is my wife”. Similarly, another man I saw wore a shirt saying “My favorite Disney Villain is my wife”. Rounding it out were two sisters with shirts saying “My favorite Disney villain is my (older/younger) sister”.
- I really liked the fact that I got this reference because it’s one of the more obscure ones: a young girl dressed as a generic princess (seemed like some Cinderella / Elsa sort of thing; wasn’t particularly descript). The dad was wearing a shirt that had the “Princess Protection Program” logo, a nod to a Disney Channel TV-movie from the late 2000s.
- But the one that had me laughing out loud was a man with a clearly-miffed Mickey Mouse on it, saying “I don’t do coordinated T-Shirts”. Lizzy informed me that this shirt is very unlikely for sale in the park; I would most definitely buy it if it were.
Okay, enough with the fashion show.
The bus on the way to the park definitely reminded me of home; every seat was filled and there were easily 20 straphangers. I was proud; it was a New York City Subway car. It was nice to have that experience here in vacationland.
We arrived in time for rope drop, and let me tell you, I might tease Lizzy for her extensive time spent planning, but I can’t argue with her results. “It’s a Small World” was the third ride we went on by 9AM. My feet hurt by the end of the day, but when you get half of Magic Kingdom done by dinner time, you learn quickly to pop Motrin by the bottle and soldier through.
I feel like I went to the Haunted Mansion when we went to Disney in 2005 or 2006, but I more remember it for the 1995 visit when my mom protested us going on it; consequently I was too scared to do so. As a result of dad’s insistence, I joined him, but I had my eyes closed literally the whole time…it wasn’t the best way to do such a ride. Going through it as an adult, it almost seems like a satire of haunted houses. It’s Lizzy’s favorite ride, and while I don’t know that I share all of her affinity, I do have a modicum of appreciation for how well done the ride is, with its visual effects and complete avoidance of jump scares and shock value in the process.
After Haunted Mansion, it was time for breakfast. I got a waffle and coffee…and the place we went to had a drink that came with a 50th anniversary commemorative straw. So I got the drink I didn’t particularly want just to get the straw for Lizzy…only to be disappointed that it’s one of those stupid paper straws. Shoot me now.
Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, and a few others.
Lizzy and family went to the Hall of Presidents; I ended up with a quick work call I took and stayed outside. I ended up catching a short parade, which was a nice silver lining. Some long-beaked birds were hanging out clearly waiting for tourists to drop their fries.
Steamboat, Tom Sawyer Island, Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, lots of walking around.
Just before lunch, it started to rain. A gentle drizzle that didn’t warrant anything at the beginning, and though it didn’t turn into a straight-up downpour, it was raining for most of the day.It’s an occupational hazard at Disney (though I don’t expressly remember rainy days either of the last times we went), but the bigger issue was that it was a bit cold throughout the day. Being that it was about 73 when we left the hotel and forecast to hit 80, no, I didn’t bring my jacket – ironically, I brought sunscreen.
Lunch at a restaurant with a Jungle Cruise theme, though we didn’t get on that particular ride today.
After lunch, Lizzy and I did our own set of rides as everyone else paired off in different directions.
Carousel, Teacups, People Mover, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger. Buzz was particularly amusing because the ride stopped a few times, giving me extra time to hit more targets. It seemed cheap, but I got about 295,000 points, several factors higher than anyone else whose score I saw.
Dinner was a quick service pizza from Pinnochio’s tavern; I was upset that of all places, there was no rum in Tortuga. Why is the rum gone? Anyway, separate topic. Annoyingly, they didn’t give me a lid for Lizzy’s drink, even when I asked for one…but my coffee cup lid fit properly, so why didn’t they give me one of those? That was an annoying game of don’t spill (spoiler: I did, slightly, when trying to open a particularly petulant door with my butt while carrying the tray and wearing my backpack).
Now, I was legitimately impressed by the evening fireworks show. Really, it wasn’t the fireworks that did it. See, for the 50th anniversary, they repainted Cinderella’s castle. For the fireworks show, they turned the whole thing into a projection screen. Light shows? Seen ’em. Fireworks? Raised on Grucci. Oddly shaped projection screens? owned one. Projecting a video clip of Elsa from Frozen raising her hand in the “magic pose” and then having fireworks launch as if she did it herself? Show the “fly outside the Axiom scene between Wall-E and Eva” and have them fly out out frame in perfect sync with two fireworks on spiral paths? Do all of this on a castle that is colored and looks nothing like a projection screen at all during the daylight? Yeah. THAT is impressive.
To top it all off, as I sat here blogging, I got to see a SpaceX shuttle launch in the distance.
7 miles and a shade under 20,000 steps today. Let’s see if I have enough energy tonight to get a photo dump out there for you.
