MouseBuzz.com - View Single Post - I FINALLY made it to WDW (for the 1st-time EVER!!!!!) :D

KentB3 · 11-21-2005

I just returned home from my trip earlier today, so I'll get into more details about Monday & Tuesday, and tell about the rest of my trip. I already talked about Spaceship Earth and the meals I had made PS for Monday, so I'll get right to the rest. After riding Spaceship Earth, we went to Innoventions. Most of what they had here (in both buildings) appeared more like a trade show than a theme park attraction, so we skipped over half of what they had here. They did have a neat game where a large group of guests build their own spaceship and race it against each others, and I came in 3rd place!

Also, there were a couple of people that showed guests how paper was made, which I found quite interesting. Next up was lunch at Coral Reef, which was great, though I was quite disappointed that The Living Seas was closed. Next up was The Land; where we watched Circle of Life, road the Land's ride (the boat ride with the greenhouses in the back). We tried to get on Soarin' after that (and even again on Thursday, our 2nd day at EPCOT), but had a long wait (60+ minutes on standby) and all FastPasses were out for the ride (both this day and Thursday). We then went to ride Journey Into Imagination, and then headed for ImageWorks. The Journey Into Imagination ride was something else, and Figment was especially memorable! However, it did seem watered down since Dreamfinder is no longer on the ride. Also, the current group of ImageWorks attractions/exhibits pales considerably in comparison to the original ImageWorks offerings, but still a lot of fun! It would be great if the would reopen the old ImageWorks upstairs, complete with the Rainbow Corridor!

After JII, we went to ride Universe of Energy. The Jeopardy! parody at the beginning and end of the ride was hilarious! After that, we decided to retire for the evening and heade back to the hotel room to relax and recharge our batteries after a long day of walking around EPCOT's Future World.

Tuesday was our Animal Kingdom day. This day started off with Donald's Breakfastosarus in the park. This was a great breakfast, with good service, goof variety of food on the buffet, and the characters were great! Donald was there of course, joined by Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto. Pluto was the 1st character at our table, followed by Donald, then Goofy, and finally Mickey!

Festival of the Lion King is, without a doubt, the best attraction of any kind in Animal Kingdom, and would tie with Fantasmic! in first place of the shows I attended at WDW! The show is presensted in a "theater in the round" (guests sit in a circle surrounding the main stage), and participate greatly in the action of the show. Kilamanjaro Safaris was really something as well, but taking pics can be a bit tricky due to animal behavior and how fast the vehicles are going by. Right after that, we took the train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch, where we stopped by Conservation Station. Here, we met Rafiki from The Lion King, Pocahontas, and even Stanley from the Playhouse Disney cartoon (who I am just about sure was a random character there!).
While greeting with Pocahontas, I mentioned that in the Circle of Life film at EPCOT's The Land, it was mentioned that more and more people are learning the lessons presented in her stage show (Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends); such as protecting wildlife, working to preserve forests, and caring more for the environment. Her eyes lit up and widened, and she said "I know, that's WONDERFUL!" with a huge smile!

Dinner was at Rainforest Cafe by the Animal Kingdom entrance. This is one of the coolest restaurants in all of WDW, with the entire restaurant designed as a tropical rainforest! The food was great too. After dinner, we went to see It's Tough to Be a Bug (a really cute show, IMHO), and then headed to DinoLand USA. DinoLand was a nice standout from the rest of the Animal Kingdom theme park, designed much like a boardwalk amusement park or a county pair, complete with Midway-type games seen at such places. Primeval Whirl was a fun ride, as were TriceroTop Spin and Dinosaur, though the Dinosaur ride itself was a bit on the jerky side for me.

Wednesday was out first full Magic Kingdom day. We had been to the MK briefly Saturday night and Sunday morning, but this was out first full day in this park. Several characters were doing greets in Town Square that morning, such as Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, but the lines were very long. However, I REALLY lucked up on one that morning! Outside the Opera House (where the Town Square Exposition Hall is located), Peter Pan came right out in front of me, turned to me, and said "Hello there!" With the exception of character meals (where the characters normally come to your table), I had to wait in line to greet characters, so this was amazing! We chatted for a minute or 2, and I remember asking him how Tinker Bell was doing, he said she was doing great, and that "she and Wendy were watching over the Lost Boys" then. He the proceeded to sign my autograph book, and posed for a picture.

After looking through shops on Main Street, we then headed for Fantasyland, where we rode the Carousel, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventures, and watched Mickey's Philharmagic-- the latter of which was amazing, especially when seen in 3-D! Next was Liberty Square (which I really loved, so quaint and charming!) where we went to see The Hall of Presidents. The animatronic presidents were so lifelike it was almost unreal! I did notice that the current Hall of Presidents show seemed to focus on the fact that once not ALL American's had full rights (such as blacks, Native Americans, and to a certain extent, women) that everyone else had, with Abraham Lincoln adressing this issue that everyone should have a share in these rights in part of his speech.

At 1:15pm, we headed back to Main Street, for a Lunch PS at Tony's Town Square restaurant. Here, out waiter took one of my autograph books back to get "paw print" autographs from Lady & the Tramp! After Lunch, we spotted Pinocchio and Geppetto out in front of Tony's. Pinocchio was simply adorable, and Geppetto even picked up an umbrella I was carrying with me, swinging it like a baseball bat. My Dad asked Geppetto "looks like your a baseball fan!", to which he nodded very enthusiastically.

After lunch, we headed for Mickey's Toontown Fair, where we stopped by Mad Tea Party (one of my personal favorites in the MK), then arrived at Toontown Fair, where we rode Goofy's Barnstormer, visited Mickey and Minnie's Houses, and then headed for the Judge's Tent, where all 3 of us met Mickey. (again!)

Then, around 2:45pm, we headed back to Main Street to watch the Share a Dream Come True Parade. Shortly before the parade, Baloo and King Louie were doing greets in front of City Hall, where I picked up a pic and a couple of autographs for my book. The parade started shortly after 3pm that day. This parade was a lot of fun to watch and so magical in the Disney tradition. Peter Pan reminded me earlier to keep an eye out for him in the SADCT parade, and it turned out the VERY SAME Peter was in this parade, who pointed me out and waved at us!

Next up was back to Frontierland, for the Country Bears Christmas Jamboree, which was HILARIOUS!, especially Big Al and his really bad singing and guitar picking! After that, we tried our hand at the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade, and then to Adventureland, where we rode Pirates of the Carribean. POTC simply was awesome; one of the best rides/attractions in the MK and all of WDW for that matter, with an ever-catchy tune that's nearly impossible to get out of your head, "Yo Ho Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me!"

Finally, it was time for the fireworks above the castle. Turns out we really lucked out that night, and were treated to a sneak preview of the Holiday Wishes fireworks show, which was great, and even had Tinker Bell flying by in a red and green lighted outfit!

After the fireworks was a late dinner a Chef Mickey's. Donald was greeting guests by the buffet; while Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale were stopping by the guests tables in the dining hall. The character interaction at Chef Mickey's was the best ANYWHERE at WDW, not just character meals, but all of WDW! All the characters stopped by our table more that once; after finishing up all the tables they started all over again. Minnie showed up four times at our table, and even gave me a kiss the first time she stopped by! Dale even gave me a BIG bear hug his first time at our table, like he was REALLY glad to see me or something!

The food as Chef Mickey's was outstanding, and the parmesian mashed potatoes were out of this world! In fact, I'd rather have a serving the parmesian mashed potatoes than some of the things offered for dessert at Chef Mickey's, or just about any restaurant at WDW!

I'll post my report for my remaining 2 days in my next reply to this thread.

11-21-2005	#28 (permalink)
KentB3 Big Cheese Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 680	Re: I FINALLY made it to WDW (for the 1st-time EVER!!!!!) :D I just returned home from my trip earlier today, so I'll get into more details about Monday & Tuesday, and tell about the rest of my trip. I already talked about Spaceship Earth and the meals I had made PS for Monday, so I'll get right to the rest. After riding Spaceship Earth, we went to Innoventions. Most of what they had here (in both buildings) appeared more like a trade show than a theme park attraction, so we skipped over half of what they had here. They did have a neat game where a large group of guests build their own spaceship and race it against each others, and I came in 3rd place! Also, there were a couple of people that showed guests how paper was made, which I found quite interesting. Next up was lunch at Coral Reef, which was great, though I was quite disappointed that The Living Seas was closed. Next up was The Land; where we watched Circle of Life, road the Land's ride (the boat ride with the greenhouses in the back). We tried to get on Soarin' after that (and even again on Thursday, our 2nd day at EPCOT), but had a long wait (60+ minutes on standby) and all FastPasses were out for the ride (both this day and Thursday). We then went to ride Journey Into Imagination, and then headed for ImageWorks. The Journey Into Imagination ride was something else, and Figment was especially memorable! However, it did seem watered down since Dreamfinder is no longer on the ride. Also, the current group of ImageWorks attractions/exhibits pales considerably in comparison to the original ImageWorks offerings, but still a lot of fun! It would be great if the would reopen the old ImageWorks upstairs, complete with the Rainbow Corridor! After JII, we went to ride Universe of Energy. The Jeopardy! parody at the beginning and end of the ride was hilarious! After that, we decided to retire for the evening and heade back to the hotel room to relax and recharge our batteries after a long day of walking around EPCOT's Future World. Tuesday was our Animal Kingdom day. This day started off with Donald's Breakfastosarus in the park. This was a great breakfast, with good service, goof variety of food on the buffet, and the characters were great! Donald was there of course, joined by Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto. Pluto was the 1st character at our table, followed by Donald, then Goofy, and finally Mickey! Festival of the Lion King is, without a doubt, the best attraction of any kind in Animal Kingdom, and would tie with Fantasmic! in first place of the shows I attended at WDW! The show is presensted in a "theater in the round" (guests sit in a circle surrounding the main stage), and participate greatly in the action of the show. Kilamanjaro Safaris was really something as well, but taking pics can be a bit tricky due to animal behavior and how fast the vehicles are going by. Right after that, we took the train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch, where we stopped by Conservation Station. Here, we met Rafiki from The Lion King, Pocahontas, and even Stanley from the Playhouse Disney cartoon (who I am just about sure was a random character there!). While greeting with Pocahontas, I mentioned that in the Circle of Life film at EPCOT's The Land, it was mentioned that more and more people are learning the lessons presented in her stage show (Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends); such as protecting wildlife, working to preserve forests, and caring more for the environment. Her eyes lit up and widened, and she said "I know, that's WONDERFUL!" with a huge smile! Dinner was at Rainforest Cafe by the Animal Kingdom entrance. This is one of the coolest restaurants in all of WDW, with the entire restaurant designed as a tropical rainforest! The food was great too. After dinner, we went to see It's Tough to Be a Bug (a really cute show, IMHO), and then headed to DinoLand USA. DinoLand was a nice standout from the rest of the Animal Kingdom theme park, designed much like a boardwalk amusement park or a county pair, complete with Midway-type games seen at such places. Primeval Whirl was a fun ride, as were TriceroTop Spin and Dinosaur, though the Dinosaur ride itself was a bit on the jerky side for me. Wednesday was out first full Magic Kingdom day. We had been to the MK briefly Saturday night and Sunday morning, but this was out first full day in this park. Several characters were doing greets in Town Square that morning, such as Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, but the lines were very long. However, I REALLY lucked up on one that morning! Outside the Opera House (where the Town Square Exposition Hall is located), Peter Pan came right out in front of me, turned to me, and said "Hello there!" With the exception of character meals (where the characters normally come to your table), I had to wait in line to greet characters, so this was amazing! We chatted for a minute or 2, and I remember asking him how Tinker Bell was doing, he said she was doing great, and that "she and Wendy were watching over the Lost Boys" then. He the proceeded to sign my autograph book, and posed for a picture. After looking through shops on Main Street, we then headed for Fantasyland, where we rode the Carousel, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventures, and watched Mickey's Philharmagic-- the latter of which was amazing, especially when seen in 3-D! Next was Liberty Square (which I really loved, so quaint and charming!) where we went to see The Hall of Presidents. The animatronic presidents were so lifelike it was almost unreal! I did notice that the current Hall of Presidents show seemed to focus on the fact that once not ALL American's had full rights (such as blacks, Native Americans, and to a certain extent, women) that everyone else had, with Abraham Lincoln adressing this issue that everyone should have a share in these rights in part of his speech. At 1:15pm, we headed back to Main Street, for a Lunch PS at Tony's Town Square restaurant. Here, out waiter took one of my autograph books back to get "paw print" autographs from Lady & the Tramp! After Lunch, we spotted Pinocchio and Geppetto out in front of Tony's. Pinocchio was simply adorable, and Geppetto even picked up an umbrella I was carrying with me, swinging it like a baseball bat. My Dad asked Geppetto "looks like your a baseball fan!", to which he nodded very enthusiastically. After lunch, we headed for Mickey's Toontown Fair, where we stopped by Mad Tea Party (one of my personal favorites in the MK), then arrived at Toontown Fair, where we rode Goofy's Barnstormer, visited Mickey and Minnie's Houses, and then headed for the Judge's Tent, where all 3 of us met Mickey. (again!) Then, around 2:45pm, we headed back to Main Street to watch the Share a Dream Come True Parade. Shortly before the parade, Baloo and King Louie were doing greets in front of City Hall, where I picked up a pic and a couple of autographs for my book. The parade started shortly after 3pm that day. This parade was a lot of fun to watch and so magical in the Disney tradition. Peter Pan reminded me earlier to keep an eye out for him in the SADCT parade, and it turned out the VERY SAME Peter was in this parade, who pointed me out and waved at us! Next up was back to Frontierland, for the Country Bears Christmas Jamboree, which was HILARIOUS!, especially Big Al and his really bad singing and guitar picking! After that, we tried our hand at the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade, and then to Adventureland, where we rode Pirates of the Carribean. POTC simply was awesome; one of the best rides/attractions in the MK and all of WDW for that matter, with an ever-catchy tune that's nearly impossible to get out of your head, "Yo Ho Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me!" Finally, it was time for the fireworks above the castle. Turns out we really lucked out that night, and were treated to a sneak preview of the Holiday Wishes fireworks show, which was great, and even had Tinker Bell flying by in a red and green lighted outfit! After the fireworks was a late dinner a Chef Mickey's. Donald was greeting guests by the buffet; while Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale were stopping by the guests tables in the dining hall. The character interaction at Chef Mickey's was the best ANYWHERE at WDW, not just character meals, but all of WDW! All the characters stopped by our table more that once; after finishing up all the tables they started all over again. Minnie showed up four times at our table, and even gave me a kiss the first time she stopped by! Dale even gave me a BIG bear hug his first time at our table, like he was REALLY glad to see me or something! The food as Chef Mickey's was outstanding, and the parmesian mashed potatoes were out of this world! In fact, I'd rather have a serving the parmesian mashed potatoes than some of the things offered for dessert at Chef Mickey's, or just about any restaurant at WDW! I'll post my report for my remaining 2 days in my next reply to this thread. Last edited by KentB3; 11-21-2005 at 04:26 AM.