Phil's MK/Epcot Report - 1/2/05 (with many pictures)

[GymLeaderPhil]

It's 2005! Woo-hoo, my first report from WDW. I hope you enjoy the photos from January 2, 2005 of the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Please contact me if you wish to use any of the images for your site(s). Otherwise, don't directly link me!

The TTC was quite busy even at 10:30 a.m. during the first day of the new Magic Your Way ticketing system.

I've personally never seen all of the ticket booths open at the MK before...

Cast Members were patrolling the lines to help guests choose the best Magic Your Way ticket options.

CMs would give each person a paper that had their choices to present at the ticket window:

Pick Your Days
Boxes 1 through 7

Pick Your Options
Check Boxes for Park Hopper Option and Magic Plus Pack Option OR Magic Your Way Premium Ticket. Also the No Expiration Date Option had a check box too.

Number of Tickets
Finally two boxes to put the number of Age 10+ and Ages 3-9 tickets you need.

No more pictures of the park symbols, just cold, hard for tourists to decifer ticket information!

More about the options available. I've never seen so many windows open!

Still constructions walls up on two different sides of the TTC between the ticket windows and the Tram Loading/Unloading Areas.

More sexy shots of the right TTC Construction walls. What is contained in these mysterious blue containers? My money is on the Land Balloons. But the view from the monorail says more flowers/trees.

Red Wreaths on the right and Blue/White on the left of the TTC. They're going all out for these!

MORE TO COME IN A FEW MINUTES...

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

It's a good sign that the Magic Kingdom has admitted that "There's Chaos in the Kingdom" and it might even result in hiring some decent writers at WDI.

Even this doesn't improve the new monorail spiel. Where's a "Stitch on Board" sign when you need one?

Constructions walls still up at the Magic Kingdom which reportedly contain additional turnstiles to deal with larger crowds expected this season.

Could the Land Balloons be going in here? Grizz, help me out here!

Not too crowded at the turnstiles...

...because there's plenty of warnings about the biometrics.

Disney's Ticket Tag! Now you too can feel like an Annual Passholder!

The machine lights up just in case you have a habit of entering the park first, pick up your ticket, then insert your fingers, and finally insert your ticket. It seems like WDW has done everything to try to speed up this process...

BUT the LED screen that displayed where you were supposed to move your fingers while in the biometric machine is totally gone... covered up by instructions which does not help matters much.

I believe that the LED screen still exists on the back for the CMs to view. I suppose that system provides some great use to the person with the fingers in the machine...

 

[General Grizz]

Wow! Lots of pictures. Looks like chaos almost.

Most interesting. Thanks! :wave:

 

[maxime29]

Good thing we were still under the old card system during our trip.

So much easier to put the room key through and pass the turnstyle...

Good photos!

 

[DisneyWorld30th]

Spiel

Speaking of the new spiel, I can't stand the new announcer! I hope this is just for the Christmas/Holiday season and not a permenant change!

We my wife and I got on the monorail, as soon as we heard it, we new it was someone new!!!!


Has this discussed somewhere else?

 

[basas]

Great photos! Was the park busy today? Usually this time of year isn't too busy so looking at those crowds at the ticket booths- you can imagine what it will be like during more crowded times.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Research was out in full force with their PDAs after you survived the turnstiles.

DW smelled trouble and he flapped his way over to Main Street. A bit late to catch Stitch, sorry.

Apparently it's Darkwing Duck Day in Town Square or a "Let's Celebrate a Decade Old Character" day. I always loved that show though, especially how they brought Launchpad over from Ducktales.

We're going to miss ya! RIP Jerry Orbach!

The Plaza Pavilion is still open, so I decided to take pictures instead of stomaching the awful pizza they have there now.

The Italian Sub they have isn't half bad though, but I look forward to some noodles.

This can mean only ONE thing: Stitch is getting a Haunted Mansion/Halloween Overlay. Some real nice show with the webs.

They've finally found a use for the Timekeeper: A Buzz Lightyear Meet and Great. Joy. The Timekeeper spiel was apparently still running when you rode the TTC. I'd march to City Hall and protest for false advertising, but I wanted to get the new 2005 Passholder Booklet.

I can't tell you how tempted I was to sneak a peek past the second doors...

...until the greeters caught up to me. It was very confusing walking into the queue, because there was only one sign saying the Timekeeper was closed once you reached the Nine Eye display and one small "seatbelt-ish material rope that did little justice to prevent people from walking backstage. They should have a CM up near the front if a character is not present.

 

[General Grizz]

WHAT?! Another Meet and Greet Location.

*sigh* Looks like nothing's changed since 2001.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Pleakley is indeed back and attracting the children and parents to the DVC booth. Not only does he excel in Earth Culture, Mr. P also knows a great timeshare deal when he sees one.

New sign at Starlight Ray's Cafe...

With the Universe of Energy olive?!?

I bet the CMs in the area have been receiving alot of questions of how to climb the fence to reach the tents now that the 20K land has been cleared.

A few weeks back when the construction walls moved back there was only trees surrounded by wooden fences and benches. Now it's cart city.

Lookie what re-opened...

...into a quick bites location? Every time I passed by there was almost nobody there. The CM in the picture tried to start a conversation with me, but I was afraid he might con me into purchasing something. Didn't look like there was much business, if any.

Existing rock work behind Scuttle's Landing and a new sidewalk/fence in the old 20K location.

New construction of a rock/wall/building/gift shop for the Pooh Meet and Greet area.

Work continues for huge dune hills so that the Lights! Motors! Action! Stunt Show crew can have a dirt bike arena. How does it fit in to Fantasyland? A minor problem that can be solved by tying it into the Happiest Celebration on Earth.

 

[basas]

Remember when Meet and Greets used to take place out on the paths and didn't actually need showbuildings?

 

[General Grizz]

Wow... the olive has a sister, Olivia. . .

Welcome, Olivia. . .

 

[CaptainMichael]

I'm curious. Why do you need to insert your fingers into the ticket machine now???

 

[MissM]

See? I told you the Dwarf Mine shop was empty! Even on NYE! *lol*

And it's funny because Timekeeper was open on NYE but it ALSO had a Buzz meet and greet inside. Walk in, there's a line for Buzz, pass Buzz, there's the queue for Timekeeper.
-m

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Locating the Stoller Sign that directs guests to park those walking hazards over at the old Fantasyland Skyway location is like trying to find Waldo in this shot.

The best shot I could grab from inside the Pinocchio Village Haus out of thirty shots. You can see the Gold/White walls that resemble Disneyland's version. The load station seems to be the same color or hasn't been painted yet. The track itself is still water-less, of course. Seems to be extensive queue re-working still going on.

That's a magical lock that seperates this 7.1 megapixel camera from getting all of those juicy ITSW construction shots...

...maybe Stitch could actually come in handy?

Haunted Mansion's Fast Pass Signs were all covered up, as well as the machines.

Is this the end of Haunted Mansion Fast Passes?

I could just see some 1920 gangsters (no kids, not the ones that shoot people up today that never have lived in a major metropolitan area but from a suburb) dropping these off a bridge into a body of water. That or Houdini magically escaping from the Haunted Mansion Fast Pass Machines.

Those darn Seagulls were everywhere and causing more problems than Stitch's TPing.

Aunt Pollies' Resturant looks like it got the worst of the damage from these evil little creatures.

Open Seasonally? Ha! I could really go for a Beef Empanada or Taco Salad or heck, I'm stretching myself here, a churro if this was "open seasonally".

 

[OliveMcFly]

We were just in WDW Dec 3-11 and I hated the new monorail spiel and there wasn't even any Stitch on board to make it better. Great pictures though, thanks for the update.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

There needs to be more turnstiles/bag checks at Epcot. At the time of this picture it was almost 2:00 p.m. and all three turnstile/bag check lines were all the way to the back of the ticket windows. If this is Disney's idea of Magic My Way, well they have throughly exceeded my expectations.

I would really recommend leaving your personal belongings in the car/hotel or pay someone to carry your stuff through. I spent about five minutes to reach the turnstiles.

It's time to see how the Umbrella is dealing with the fact that it's one of two counter service restaurants in Future World...

Niiiccceee. This being 2:00 p.m. I would not want to see the Electric Umbrella at Noon.

I saw this open "Express Dining" about three weeks ago on the West Side of Innoventions behind the Fountain View Bakery. It was pretty much empty like the Seven Dwarfs' Mine over at the Magic Kingdom.

The main problem I believe with this make-shift counter service resturant is the fare that they offer. It's very different food than what you would expect from a theme park, while that is not a bad thing and should not be frowned upon, their menu offers nothing to those who are picky. Columbia Harbor House over in the MK has very interesting food, but has a Chicken Basket option for those who are picky.

This is the inside of the "Express Dining" also at 2:00 p.m. Compare this with the Electric Umbrella just a short walk away from this resturant.

Darn, I wanted some Holiday Cheer, in a bottle...

But look at this horrible example of bad show that was left at the Holiday Cheer stand from the previous night in World Showcase.

I'm not even going to ask why there were latex gloves in the Holiday Cheer booth.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

I was very tempted to go to Guest Relations and tell them that I've been waiting to see the Making of Me for years now so I could get all those tough questions answered. However, after what mkt went through last Friday, I was afraid they'd start attacking me with tripods.

Captin', Captin', Captin', Land Ho! Thar she blows! Load your spear guns to capture those bloody balloons!

The Land's first wave of construction walls on their first day, blocking the walkway off...

...which seems to be their only purpose since you could easily take a peek backstage and/or actually walk up to the pavillion without even getting your dirty feet on the landscaping.

It's all still there. For the moment.

Hmm. I wonder if my camera could capture where the Land Balloons might be. in one of the wall's cracks.

It's nice to tell people what's to come, but there were no signs directly saying that The Land was closed. Most would walk all the way up to the walls and some walked around to the other sides. I had one couple ask me how to get in.

By 4:20 p.m. the Electric Umbrella had no lines.

And of course, I would like to end this with something very random:

FuNkY Cinderella's Suprise Celebration Photos!

I love charades. Oooh, Oooh I know this one. It's a jar of almonds. Right?

Thanks for your time and bandwidth WDWMagic.
-Phil

 

[dxwwf3]

Thanks for this great update.

The Timekeeper news is disgusting. And to hear that at one point they had the meet and greet AND The Timekeeper going at the same time is even worse. This attraction deserves better than this.

 

[OliveMcFly]

Y'all are so brave to be there with those crowds. I would freak.

 

[MonoRon]

great pictures,thanks for sharing