A different kind of Disney trip - February 2013

Hi everyone!! I"m back for another trip report. This one from February 3-10, 2013. We arrived in Orlando on the 1st, but went to Universal on the 1st-2nd which was a lot of fun. I prefer Disney though! This trip was a lot different than some of the past trips mainly due to: a lot more solo time for me, realizing that others don't share the same love of Disney I do, and really solidifying that I want to work for this company.

Day 1: February 3, 2013 - Magic Kingdom

We arrived to Bay Lake Tower around 11 and checked in and then before you know it, we were on our way over to the Magic Kingdom. It was a lot more crowed than I expected, but I really didn’t care since I was FINALLY in the Magic Kingdom! We made our way up Main Street and I took in all the sights and sounds, including Move It Shake It Celebrate It, which was up at the hub.

Of course the first thing we were going to do is to go check out the new Fantasyland. Not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed with it at first. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Although I do think the wall to wall people back there is what killed it for me. Ariel’s Undersea Adventure was closed, so we explored Gaston’s Tavern and we looked in the shop there. No sign of Gaston though.

We made our way over to Adventureland to ride Pirates, which was great as always! I really enjoyed the addition of the Mermaids. We also rode the Jungle Cruise and it might have been one of my favorite experiences on that ride ever. We had skipped Diana and she was hysterical! Job well done to her. I definitely found a new love for the Jungle Cruise this trip, as I rode it about four times over the course of the week. After spending sometime in Adventureland we made our way into Frontierland and made it into the Country Bear Jamboree just before the doors opened! It was the first time I saw the show in years. I enjoyed it, but I did find myself bored at times. It’s a nice place to go if you want to relax and get a break from the heat.

We ventured into Liberty Square and rode the Haunted Mansion, which was great! I love that ride so much! I still get spooked out in parts of it. After riding Haunted Mansion, we went into Fantasyland only to discover that all of the ride waits were at least 45 minutes long. In my opinion none of the rides in Fantasyland are worth a 45 minute wait. We saw Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (who I haven’t seen in years) and the White Rabbit outside the Mad Tea Party so we hopped in line for each of them.

 

[disneyfan1995]

Day 7: February 9, 2013 - Magic Kingdom (Keys to the Kingdom day!)

I had been looking forward to this day the entire trip and for the past couple of years actually since I was finally old enough to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour. I had wanted to do it ever since I was about 12 years old, but you had to be 16 so I never could. The year I turned 16 was the year I went to WDW with school so doing the tour then was out of the question. This trip was it though! My dad and I had the 8:30 AM tour and it was great. Our tour guide was Steve and he was an excellent tour guide. He was very informative and made the tour a lot of fun. I had been a little worried because some people had given the tour negative reviews, but my overall experience on the tour was fantastic. I would definitely do it again!!

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 7:45 and were let in early which was super awesome. We had Main Street basically to ourselves!! It was really neat to be able to walk down an empty Main Street.

*TOUR SPOLIERS AHEAD*

At 8:30 we started the tour and we were told that we were not allowed to take any pictures either on stage or back stage during the tour. We also were given headpieces so we could hear Steve if we got separated from the group in the crowds. We started the tour by walking down Main Street and we learned about how the buildings were built to look higher than they appear and we also learned about the names on the windows. Those are essentially the credits of the show. Walt Disney’s name appears on the last window at the top of Main Street since he is the director. Once the park opened (at 9:00) we stepped to the side and watched everyone come in. Steve said that people would coming running in and he for sure was not kidding. People came running down Main Street so they could reach their favorite attractions. It was actually kind of comical to see. In the whole process of everyone coming in, my dad and I saw my mom, brother, and sister coming in which was cool! We were also told about how the sidewalk and street are two different colors (they were originally going to be just one) because people would come running in and wouldn’t realize they were up on the curb (or not on the curb) and would fall.

We then made our way to Adventureland where we discussed theming. It was really interesting to see how the theme of Main Street slowly faded out and the theme of Adventureland slowly started to begin. Simple things such as the way the grass is maintained and the way the shrubbery is cut is part of the theme change. The music also starts to slowly pick up and then is in full swing as you walk across the Adventureland bridge. I thought that was really interesting and I found myself applying what we learned later on in the day when I was exploring the park on my own!

We walked further into Adventureland and stopped by the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. We learned about how Walt and the company got its start including blurbs about Oswald (who is slowly starting to make an appearance in the parks) to Steamboat Willie. We also learned about the first color cartoon the studios produced which was Flowers and Trees. I thought this was really interesting especially since I’ve never even heard of this cartoon. He also talked about how Walt was very risky with his decisions and how Roy was very realistic and tried to keep the finances in order.

We also discussed one of the classic attractions from Disneyland that also appears in Disney World which is the Jungle Cruise. Originally, this ride was meant to be very educational for park guests and it was going to be used to teach the guests about the various animals found in the attraction. Walt actually wanted to use real live animals, but he unfortunately couldn’t, so instead we have AA’s in there. The attraction opened and was used as an educational attraction until one of the skippers started to tell jokes during their spiel through the jungle and that his spiel became so popular that people would request that they would get him. At first, Walt was not happy with this at all, but that changed and now we see the Jungle Cruise as a cruise through the rivers of the world with some corny jokes (in which the skipper can change up) thrown in. We then rode the Jungle Cruise (but Steve continued to give us facts about the ride). Some of the areas with just plants contain special heaters for some of the plants that need to be kept really warm (as it can get cold at night in the winter) which are disguised with a green camouflage. Also the water is anywhere from 4-8 feet deep and the boat navigates through the trough. The skipper still occasionally has to drive the boat, but the trough is also there to help navigate it. Another thing I thought was interesting is that the design of temple that you enter toward the end of the ride, is also the same kind of design for temples that are located over at the Animal Kingdom.

 

[disneyfan1995]

Once we got back ashore we headed over toward Pirates and I thought we were going to ride it, but we didn’t. Oh well! We did learn some really interesting things about it though. The actual show building for the ride is located in Frontierland, not Adventureland. I honestly had no clue about that so I thought that was really interesting. The queue building is located in Adventureland and you board and disembark the ride there, but once you go down the 14 foot drop you are in Frontierland. They have the drop in order to get under the train tracks since you can’t go under them, nor can you go over them. We took a little break after we learned about Pirates and then soon enough we were headed to go BACKSTAGE!

We went through the backstage gates in Frontierland over by Splash Mountain. We sat on the benches that they use after the parade for the performers to cool down while Steve taught us about the trash compactor system. First thing is that it reeked, but it was interesting to learn about how they deal with all of the waste in the park each and every day. We also saw the show building Splash Mountain is in, as well as all of the logs that were back there since the ride was under refurbishment. We then headed over to where the parade floats were stored. It was really neat to see all of the floats up close. Each float has a red button on the side of it just incase someone runs into the street or some other emergency happens so that the cast member on parade duty can easily hit the button and then the float will come to a complete stop. We also saw the floats for Spectromagic I believe. There was a guy back in the warehouse working on one of the floats and he showed us the inside of the float which was really awesome. Take this for what it’s worth, but Spectromagic should be returning within the next year or so.
Once we were back on stage, we went through the rest of Frontierland and toward Liberty Square. A few interesting things about Liberty Square is that there are no bathrooms in the entire land (the closest ones are in Frontierland and Fantasyland) since back in the colonial times, they didn’t have bathrooms. Also, the way the sidewalk is designed is that the red parts of the side walk represent the street while the brown strip in the middle represents all of the sewage that was dumped into the street. I honestly had no idea about that and I thought it was great that they really pay that close attention to theming.

After we learned the history of Liberty Square we headed over to the Columbia Harbor House for lunch. I got the chicken strips and they were good as always. My dad and I were at the same table as Steve and he told us about how he started off in Entertainment and now he is a tour guide with guest services. We also discussed some of the upcoming technology such as the magic bands, which are currently being rolled out.

After lunch, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion where we were given a history of the ride and its design and then we went through and rode the ride through a secret entrance so we didn’t have to wait in the line! We learned quite a lot about the Haunted Mansion. One thing that is puzzling to me is that it is located at a different land at each Disney property. Liberty Square at WDW, New Orleans Square at DLR, Fantasyland at Tokyo Disneyland, and Frontierland at DLP. Some interesting things are that the hearse located at the front of the mansion is a civil war artifact, the stretching room’s walls move up (hence why they always tell you to move away from the walls). For anyone that wants to get right into the loading room ASAP then I suggest you stand under the portrait of the lady in pink since that is where the wall opens up once the room is done “stretching”. This attraction, just like Pirates was meant to be similar to walk through wax museum. How boring is that? I’m so glad that they ditched those concepts. The doom buggies are an omnimover system and are way older than the ones at Nemo/Little Mermaid so the ride always needs to be stopped when someone who needs assistance is boarding, whereas at the other attractions that use this system they can just slow it down to the speed that they need it at. The two main designers of the mansion, Marc Davis and Claude Coats were always arguing over whether the mansion should be spooky or funny. In the end, they went with both! The beginning half of the mansion (right up until you get to the graveyard) is Claude’s Haunted Mansion and then the graveyard onward is Marc’s Haunted Mansion! Another cool thing is that the ghosts in the party room are created using Pepper’s ghost effect. They have dummies above and below where the doom buggies pass that are painted a bright color and they move around on tracks and then there are projectors that project them to where they need to be in that room.

After we were done at the Haunted Mansion, we went back to where the Crystal Palace is and went through the backstage gate there. I saw the backside of Main Street, the back of the Jungle Cruise, and the Move It Shake It Celebrate It parade coming out. We went through a door and then down a flight of stairs and then we were in the utilidors! We spent close to an hour in the utilidors, but we only stayed in the Main Street portion.

We saw many areas including the entrances to the stores on Main Street, the pin trading room and the break room (where Peter Pan was on his break, still in full costume). It was really neat to be down in the utilidors. The utilidors actually slope downward when you hit Cinderella Castle since it couldn’t be built on top of them since the castle weighs way too much. In the utilidors, they had a screen that honored cast members in various departments who demonstrated one or more of the four keys. Those four keys are safety, courtesy, efficiency, and show.

We came up from the utilidors on the opposite side of Main Street and we saw the backside of Tomorrowland and we saw the balloon room. We came back on stage and headed back toward where we checked in where Steve told us the story of the Partners Statue. After the story we all said our farewells and went our own ways.

*END OF TOUR SPOILERS*

 

[WDW_Princess24]

Thanks for the congrats lovey! I have never done a tour at WDW, thanks for the awesome review, it's something I am really going to look into for my August trip!

 

[disneyfan1995]

Thanks for the congrats lovey! I have never done a tour at WDW, thanks for the awesome review, it's something I am really going to look into for my August trip!

You're welcome!! Definitely look into one of the tours! It was a lot of fun and really opened my eyes to many new things.

 

[joanna71985]

Nice TR. As for GMR, I've sat with other people in the front row before (I always request the front). It's not that bad, unless for some reason the row gets over-loaded

 

[disneyfan1995]

Nice TR. As for GMR, I've sat with other people in the front row before (I always request the front). It's not that bad, unless for some reason the row gets over-loaded

Thankyou!! It was just awkward since I was on the end and there were these two girls in wheel chairs so it got a little crowded

 

[joanna71985]

Thankyou!! It was just awkward since I was on the end and there were these two girls in wheel chairs so it got a little crowded

Yeah, wheelchairs can make it a little cramped. But the front row is the only row big enough to hold them (unless the group is loaded in the back of the vehicle)

 

[Jessica Meier]

Loved your trip report. Pictures are amazing! Gave me a little piece of home today.

 

[disneyfan1995]

Yeah, wheelchairs can make it a little cramped. But the front row is the only row big enough to hold them (unless the group is loaded in the back of the vehicle)

Oh okay. The ride is still always a lot of fun no matter where you sit! One of my faves!!

Loved your trip report. Pictures are amazing! Gave me a little piece of home today.

thankyou!! Glad you're enjoying!

 

[disneyfan1995]

It was almost time for Dream Along With Mickey to start so I went up to the castle and got a seat on the ground and watched the show. I really enjoy this show, but I think it’s time for a new one! I started to make my way out of the park, but decided to stop midway down Main Street so I could watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade once more. I was able to get some good pictures this time since no one was in my way this time! After the parade, I exited the park so I could go rest up in the room since I was planning on returning for a night full of fun!

 

[disneyfan1995]

 

[disneyfan1995]

I returned to the Magic Kingdom a few hours later, but not before stopping for dinner in the Contemporary. Gotta love those quick service burgers. Upon arriving in the Magic Kingdom, I didn’t have much of a plan other than that I wanted to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. I headed over to Tomorrowland in hopes of cashing in my Space Mountain fastpass that I had obtained earlier in the day. Just my luck that the ride had broken down earlier in the day so they were honoring fastpasses from the entire day. The standby line was 80 minutes long and they estimated fastpass would be a good 45 minute wait. Disappointed in that, I moved on to find something that had I line I could actually tolerate to wait in. I saw that Stitch didn’t have a wait, so I did that. Oh the horror! It was just as bad as I remembered it from last time. After Stitch, I went over to the Laugh Floor and waited about 20 minutes to be let in. I spent the entire showing hoping I wouldn’t appear on the monitors and have the spotlight shined on me. That would have been horrific.



It was almost time for the parade so I headed over to the hub and secured a spot. I got a spot about 2 people deep which wasn’t too awful. My mom came to meet me and we watched the parade which was good. I prefer Spectromagic though... We then waited around for Celebrate the Magic (preferred the other show to be honest) and then saw Wishes which was awesome!























Afterwards we rode Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Buzz! It was a great end to the evening and around 11 we started to make our way out of the park. It was a very bittersweet walk down Main Street. I just love this park so much and it was really hard to leave.

 

[disneyfan1995]

Day 8: February 10, 2013 - Departure Day/Chef Mickey’s

After a fun filled evening at Magic Kingdom we awoke early for our breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. It was great to be able to say see ya real soon to some of our favorite character friends, especially Mickey and Donald! Those two are some of my favorites!! Shortly after finishing up our meal we boarded Magical Express and made our way back to the airport.







Overall it was an amazing trip and I had a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to go solo on some days through the parks. It was nice to just wander around without worrying about everyone else. I also really enjoyed the Keys to Kingdom tour and would do it again in a heartbeat! It was probably my favorite part of the trip. This trip really solidified my desire to work for this company. I plan on applying for the college program for Fall 2014 and I really hope I am accepted as it would be a dream come true to keep Walt’s vision alive for guests of all ages!

thanks for reading everyone!! - I'll be back for one more TR for now (Disney Fantasy March 2013)

 

[wishing_upon_a_dstar]

I loved your trip report, we r doing the keys to the kingdom tour in August and can't wait. Do they make you put all your bags in a locker? We have also booked the 8.30 tour so we can get in before the park opens and get some pictures with an almost empty magic kingdom

I went over to the Laugh Floor and waited about 20 minutes to be let in. I spent the entire showing hoping I wouldn’t appear on the monitors and have the spotlight shined on me. That would have been horrific.

This made me laugh as I did exactly the same thing.

Thank you for sharing, the countdown to our disneymoon is exciting.

 

[disneyfan1995]

I loved your trip report, we r doing the keys to the kingdom tour in August and can't wait. Do they make you put all your bags in a locker? We have also booked the 8.30 tour so we can get in before the park opens and get some pictures with an almost empty magic kingdom

I went over to the Laugh Floor and waited about 20 minutes to be let in. I spent the entire showing hoping I wouldn’t appear on the monitors and have the spotlight shined on me. That would have been horrific.

This made me laugh as I did exactly the same thing.

Thank you for sharing, the countdown to our disneymoon is exciting.

Thank you for reading!! You will love the Keys to the Kingdom tour! They did not make us check our bags so I was able to carry my drawstring bag around with me. You aren't allowed to use cameras though, so don't even pull one out. Getting into the park early was great! I definitely suggest making use of all of the time you have to take pictures of the empty park.

I don't even know why I did Laugh Floor to be honest. It's funny watching the others get picked on by the monsters, but no so much when it's you.

Congrats on your disneymoon! I'm sure that'll be a blast!

 

[WDW_Princess24]

I cannot even believe that stupid Stitch thing is still there, ugh, I did it once, never again! Love the laugh floor, I too am always afraid of that spotlight. It's been on Ryan twice LOL once as Mike and the other as the guy who wants to get up and dance, it was hilarious, at least for me!

I agree 100% bring me back some Spectro! Loved your TR and cannot wait for your next one, I've never done a Disney cruise so I can't wait to hear all about it! Good luck on applying with the college program, let us know! I wish I knew about it when I was in school, it has to be a great experience!

 

[disneyfan1995]

I cannot even believe that stupid Stitch thing is still there, ugh, I did it once, never again! Love the laugh floor, I too am always afraid of that spotlight. It's been on Ryan twice LOL once as Mike and the other as the guy who wants to get up and dance, it was hilarious, at least for me!

I agree 100% bring me back some Spectro! Loved your TR and cannot wait for your next one, I've never done a Disney cruise so I can't wait to hear all about it! Good luck on applying with the college program, let us know! I wish I knew about it when I was in school, it has to be a great experience!

Thanks for reading along!! The Stitch ride is just a waste, but it's good when there is nothing else to do, lol.

 

[mousefreak]

Really enjoying your TR. Please tell me...were in Hollywood Studios did you meet Mike and Sully? We haven't met them yet.

 

[disneyfan1995]

Really enjoying your TR. Please tell me...were in Hollywood Studios did you meet Mike and Sully? We haven't met them yet.

Thanks for reading!! Sulley and Mike can be be found over by where the Backlot Tour lets out. Their meet and greet is right next to a store and it's also right across from where Studio Catering Co. is.

Hope you guys get to meet them!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Love the report!! I agree with you on Spectro. I love it so much more than MSEP!! And I loved MMY and haven't seen Celebrate the Magic. Next month though we will see it.

I'd always been interested in the Keys to the Kingdom tour but your TR has solidified it for me! Next time we go back to MK on a trip we don't already have planned (not next month, not September and not November but the NEXT trip after that, hopefully 2014 for the Princess Half weekend!) I want to do it!!

I just saw your other TR posted so I'm going to go read that now!