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View Full Version : My Trip Report Sept. 14th – 18th



UncleGDogWord
09-26-2005, 12:39 PM
Well I spent a very interesting few days at the Magic Kingdom and thought I should share with all you fine readers, so without further ado...

Sept.14th

Left Fresno around 2pm and drove that long stretch of 99 to the 5 listening to the Disney Podcast from the July 17th and was having a blast. Around 7pm we arrived at the Park Place Inn. They promptly and very politely told us that we canceled are reservation and that they had no rooms for the next few days. This of course was not the case so after 20 minutes of arguing with the front desk clerk we had them verify with the 800 reservation desk of our reservation. After 2 minutes they stated we had a reservation and there was no cancellation. The hotel tried to argue with them, but they magically had a Suite (Two Queen Size Beds instead of one) available for no extra cost.

Once that was settled and we hauled our gear to the second floor (We had asked for the ground floor, but what are you going to do) we made our way to the Spaghetti Station. To our horror it was gone! Oh the humanity! We then went to Downtown Disney and ate at the Rain Forrest instead which was only a ten minute wait. We then did some light shopping and went back our room.

Sept. 15th

After a Continental Breakfast at the restaurant next door wee head over with my Niece and In-Laws to Disneyland. We walked right in and headed down to Main Street. To my shock I noticed that there was something very wrong with the Castle. The unpainted spire was painted! I went to City Hall and filed a complaint, but the funny thing was they did not really have an explanation regarding this. We had a 20 minute wait on the Autopia and my Niece got to ride one of the Gold Cars. She was very pleased. It was then off to Small World and we look at all the mosaics. After the second time around Small World, my wife and I split off and went to VMK for our Tomorrowland quest cards. We got the Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Adventureland quest guides. We spent the rest of our day riding rides and filling out the quests. Around three we got all of the quests done and got a large amount of cards including four tour cards. Crowds were very light that day and we rode pretty much everything.

Sept. 16th

While my in-laws and wife were having breakfast I went off to the park to pick up our Fantasmic river front reservation and decided to do some people watching on Main St. So I grabbed a Corn Dog and enjoyed Eeyor and the band play in Town Square. I saw the Dapper Dan’s and I requested them to do that great Be Sharp song “Baby On Board”, this is from the Barbershop Quartet episode of the Simpson where a young Joe Piscapo… ok went off on a side note, but they did they did back-up and harmony for that episode. I am a huge Simpsons fan so it was such a treat! My in-laws, wife and niece joined us and we rode the Jungle Cruise. Everything was going well until the piranhas! My niece freaked! Since there was no piranhas the last time we took a trip down the river it was ok. My niece said she would feel better if she went on Small World, so away we went. The evening was very pleasant. We got to our Riverfront seats for the last showing of Fantasmic and I dank at least 4 Mint Juleps. I took forever to exit the park. My wife and I got separated from her family. It is very romantic to walk in an empty Fantasyland.

Sept. 17th

Well we did Toontown and Fantasyland all morning and then my wife and in-laws wanted to shop. I went my own way and went walked through the park. Rode Temple of Dome a bunch of times thanks to single rider. I think I spent $300 on pins alone! Towards 11am the park was packed so I met up with the fam and ate over by Angles Stadium. We did some shopping in Downtown Disney and head for dinner over at DCA. Grabbed some Fastpasses for Tower and ate a bread bowl. It was so empty in the park! Got on Tower and wait 4 minutes to get in. We sat in the elevator for about 8 minutes before the ride started. It turned out they were unloading a special needs guest. I realized that bread bowls and that ride do not go well, but it was dusk and the view was excellent! It is funny how they only give you a half an hour shopping at GCA after it closes. Well, I got me a Darth Tatter Mr. Potato Head. I was pleased! We head over to Disneyland to see the last 10 minutes of the Fireworks show. The crowds were nuts and I hate the fact that just because your to lazy to walk they let you rent a scooter and teenage kids in wheelchair that do not need one ticks me to no end too! We got to enjoy the rest of our evening with the Autotopia and Pirates then left right about an hour after closing.

Sept 18th

My wife went to see her family off so I went to the park. Got on the CK Holiday. Around Tomorrowland I asked the Conductor if I could ride up with the Fireman and the Engineer. He told me I would have to wait till we got to Main Street station and it was a round trip journey. If you have small children or are just a big kid I highly recommend this trip aboard the tender. It is only available on trains with tenders, so if you see the Ward Kimball it doesn’t have that type of seating available. Waited for the wife a Christmas Tree Point and we proceeded on our day. In the afternoon after doing the special VMK Frontierland quest for Sunday we got the same cards from the other Frontierland quest and we head for the Mark Twain. The Columbia had just left, so I asked the Lead if my wife and I could ride in the Wheel House. He checked and said we could. Boy I was like a kid. I was so excited to ring the bell and blow the horn. My wife rolled her eyes. We had a great time with the Captain. After that we went to Splash for our Traditional Splash Photo. We found out that the photos were not working and we were so bummed! We then headed over to ride Space Mountain. I love how it looks, but wished the queue had some more entertainment. It’s so strange how dark it is in that ride. I miss the orange, but I cannot wait for Rock It! We then ate at the Hungry Bear and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon. Watch a very moving Flag Retreat and picked up our Shag and Ride Posters from the Gallery. We had the last 50th Tour for the day so we made our way to the Tour Plaza. The tour was wonderful! We started with the 50th Movie and our guide was very good with all the tidbits and stories about tickets and the model. I wonder what they did with the Capitol building and she was not sure. She did mention that Abe is at WDI getting a well deserved makeover and they may do a Hall of Presidents attraction after the 50th. We then made our way to the Castle and I asked about the Spire. She only said it was not the parks decision and that she could not talk about it. When I tried to press more she stated they could not discuss it. We then went on Big Thunder, which was a blast. It was twilight and the ride looked great. We then went on to Pirates and got stuck in a large jam just before the first drop. We then rode Buzz Lightyear and it was the first time we rode it. Our guide told us that both Zods have little black circles on his chest and if you hit them you will get a million points. We got stuck in the ride twice. My wife hit Zods sweet spot and she beat me. We then made our way to the fireworks only to find out that it was not going to be presented that night and ended up on the ground in a special viewing area for Fantasmic. We got a photo of the group and a special pin of Walt’s Lamp over the firehouse. After Fantasmic we did all of Tomorrowland and rode the Matterhorn twice before closing.

Sept. 19th

I got to the park early to get on the VMK Tour. I was able to get the 1pm tour. We then rode Space Mountain. We went to GCA and saw Turtle Talk. IT ROCKED! He had a sign along of Under the Sea and turtleized it. It was so amazing how interactive Crush was. I rode Grizzly why my wife went for Ice Cream at the Pier. This was big mistake due to the fact that we got a huge wave in our boat. Trying to dry myself we rode Soaring and then left for our Tour. Our VMK Guide was definitely not up to Tour Guide standards, but I understand that VMK is not under the Tour Guide office. We had fun though answering questions and getting cards. We rode Pirates and we got the all the answers correct which meant we all got the exclusive series 2 cards for Pirates (See Ebay there is currently a few auctions for those cards). We caught the Train and went on Buzz Lightyear, which went 101. After that we went backstage into Inoventions and played VMK. After a few minutes we finish our shopping and then it was on our way home. It was a great time and Disneyland is so gorgeously decorated for the 50th.

Skunker
09-26-2005, 01:04 PM
Thanks for the report! I love the Simpson's too - I can relate.

And twice on IASW - you are the man....I can't take that ride.

Mermaid
09-26-2005, 01:42 PM
Great Report! 4 juleps wow!! I think they taste like mouthwash!!

Skunker
09-26-2005, 01:43 PM
Great Report! 4 juleps wow!! I think they taste like mouthwash!!

Well now...I am not sure I need to try a mint julep with that description!

DefyingGravity
09-26-2005, 03:38 PM
Rode Temple of Dome a bunch of times thanks to single rider.

Assuming that you are talking about Indy, does this mean that Indy has single rider again? I thought they had gotten rid of it? Is it back? Any information would be helpful!

Great report, by the way.

LoveDL
09-26-2005, 05:07 PM
Thanks for the trip report! :)

Minnie66
09-26-2005, 05:11 PM
Ever noticed how reading someone's trip report make you a little jealous......sounds like you had great fun.

UncleGDogWord
09-27-2005, 06:13 AM
Assuming that you are talking about Indy, does this mean that Indy has single rider again? I thought they had gotten rid of it? Is it back? Any information would be helpful!

Great report, by the way.

I just asked for a single rider and I got wisked through. It was like she wasn't really paying attention.