Tuesday, August 11 - Day 3

Today was Magic Kingdom Day. We got going at 10:00. My intent this trip was to take our time and see the things we normally don't stop to see. I didn't have any specific plan of attack for any of the parks, intending just to play it by ear.

I always attack the Magic Kingdom by going counterclockwise, so we headed up Main Street to AdventureLand. We walked through Swiss Family Robinson, something I don't think I ever did before. Then we went to the Frontier Trading Post and bought me a hat. I wanted a wide brim hat, since I was tired of baseball caps. After trying on every hat in the shop, I found the right one. Judy wasn't as lucky.

With my new hat firmly in place, we went to the New Enchanted Tiki Room, getting there just before the preshow. I definitely liked what they did to it. It's been a long time since we saw the old show, and I forgot that the best place to sit is in the back.

Outside of the show, we stopped into Sunshine Tree Terrace to buy some frozen yogurt. It was so big, that we shared it, but when we were done, we were each sorry we didn't get our own. From there, we took in the Hall of Presidents (notice how I try and pick all the INDOOR attractions?) The park was starting to get crowded, so we headed over to TomorrowLand and rode the TomorrowLand Transit Authority. Since tonight was the E-ride night, we went back to the room and I took a short nap, while Judy took a dip in the Luna Pool. We then headed over to Animal Kingdom for a 4:00 dinner reservation at the Rainforest Café. We got there about 10 minutes early and were at our table at 4:00. For anyone who's been to the Rainforest, you know how when they call your party, you queue up at one of the rooms to wait to be seated? Well, a couple standing in front of us left the line, when the wife told her husband that it was an hour and half wait. I don't know how long people who didn't have a priority seating had to wait, but I do know from past experience that once your party is called, the wait is over. Our server was very accommodating. Judy cannot eat anything spicy and with me on a low fat diet, we can drive any server crazy. We both started with the Garden Patch Salad. Judy had the Sunset Salmon, plain, and I had the Chicken Monsoon. Btw, I don't remember seeing it posted anywhere, but both Rainforest Cafés take priority seating requests now.
After dinner, we went into the Animal Kingdom for our second time. We took in It's Tough To Be A Bug again. I liked it a little more the second time, but I still like HISTA and MuppetVision 3D better. The lines for the Discovery Boats were too long (an hour wait), so we went to Conservation Station. There was a temporary exhibit called Art and the Animal at the station. It will only be there until October, so if you get a chance, catch it. There were some beautiful works of art on exhibit, most of them for sale. However, they don't take the Magic Kingdom Card. Conservation Station is a great place to go in the middle of the day, since it is air conditioned. We walked around and chatted for a while with the cast members that work there.

We then rode the Kilimanjaro Safari a second time. The wait was a little longer this time, about 10 minutes (we had walked on the ride on Sunday), and we got as native guide this time, which gave it a little more realism. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to ride Countdown to Extinction, so we exited the park and grabbed the bus to the Magic Kingdom.

When we arrived, we went right to City Hall to get our bracelets. The line was a little long and a bit disorganized. One CM was handing out bracelets in the middle of the line, in an attempt to facilitate things, but all it did was create a bottleneck, since the people behind couldn't get by to the table where the other bracelets were being distributed. Once we got our bracelets, we headed over to TomorrowLand and got on line for the GrandPrix Speedway. This ride holds a special place in my family's hearts. We always call it Grand Pricks, since when my daughter Sara made her Bat Mitzvah she read poems for the candle  lighting ceremony. It reading a poem for us, she talked about going to Disney and riding the Grand Prix, accidentally mispronouncing it. It's been a family joke ever since. The wait wasn't bad, about 20 minutes. Despite all her complaints about my driving, Judy decided not to take her own car and rode with me. We got stuck behind a car with a little kid driving, so I wasn't able to "floor it." After the speedway, we took in the Timekeeper. Even though it wasn't 10:00 yet, it wasn't crowded (I suspect most people try to get in one last ride) and the wait was only about 8 minutes. I finally got to stand up front, which I've never done in the past and could see how much the Timekeeper resembled Robin Williams.

It was almost 10:00, so we went to Alien Encounter before doing Space Mountain and leaving Tomorrowland. By the time we got out of Alien Encounter, it was past 10:00. I was ready for Space Mountain. Judy sat outside and wrote some postcards to the kids while I got on line. The line is deceiving. Although it is backed up to the entrance, the queue doesn't wind around inside, so the wait was only 15 minutes. On a good day, when you see that line backed up so far, you can figure you've got an hour of line ahead of you. A word to the wise, stay away from what I call the "big three," Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, at first, since the queues still have guests on them who are getting in that one last ride before leaving the park. The lines tend to grow at first, as everyone who doesn't know better, rushes to the big three as soon as the park officially closes and e-ride begins. While waiting for the Haunted Mansion, someone told me they waited on line for an hour and a half for Splash Mountain. That seemed a little long, but I have no doubt that the wait was longer at first.

Next, we headed toward Liberty Square and rode the Haunted Mansion two times. We took a break and grabbed a snack from one of the ice cream carts that were still open. Judy had the strawberry bar and I had the orange fruit bar. Warning for people watching their weight, I'm allowed to eat the frozen fruit bars, and strawberry is my favorite. But the one that Judy got should not be confused with the 90 calorie frozen fruit bars. This one was definitely not low-cal as it has a coating on it. The orange fruit bar is the better choice.

After we were finished, we got on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain in order. Both waits were under 10 minutes. When we got to Country Bear Jamboree, the wait was 18 minutes, so we decided to skip it and went to Pirates of the Caribbean. While riding it, someone must have tried to climb out of the boats, as the CM monitoring the ride had to announce two times to someone to get back in the boat. Judy and I had no idea what whoever it was was trying to accomplish. They must have been either drunk or stupid or both. It was just about 1:00 when we got of Pirates and we were pooped and glad to go back to the room.