I had made plans to go with a friend together since we both had the day off; but I really wanted to see MK by myself and have all my feelings in check by the time someone else got there. So I asked her to meet me mid-morning instead. I left the house at 7:20am and arrived at MK perfectly at 8:30, in time to line up, get goosebumps at the countdown, and rush through the gates with everyone else at 9:00.
My first view down Main Street to see the castle was very emotional for me; every other time I have ever been to Disney, my family has been with me. I was so frantic to share the experience with them that I tried to FaceTime my dad; when it wouldn't connect I made a video of myself to send him later, telling them that I missed them and wished they were there with me. I was very happy, however, when my internet connected just a few minutes later in Tomorrowland and I was able to send dad the video. As I was getting my very first Space Mountain FastPass, Dad messaged me back. Knowing my internet was good (at least for the moment) I tried FaceTime again, and was able to get through! I only talked to dad for a few minutes, but I almost cried; how do I do Magic Kingdom, let alone all of Disney without my family?!
I got over the emotional bit pretty quickly after hanging up - even though I still wished they were there more than anything, there was too much to do and see; specifically, the new Fantasyland which has been based off of Beauty and the Beast (AHHH!) and The Little Mermaid. I stopped by the Be Our Guest restaurant and learned that it would open at 10:30 for lunch, and just past that is Gaston's Tavern and a small village shop with BatB merchandise. I think I want to buy everything in the store! A set of dishes caught my eye that I especially might have to go back for.
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| I'd never use them. And getting them home might be a challenge. |
Just past that is Ariel's area and I jumped right on the Little Mermaid ride, marveling at Disney and thinking of my sister the whole time. There wasn't a line at all, and so I was able to get right on. It was very well done and I have made a mental note to make sure Becca goes on it! Right beside the ride was Ariel's castle, which was straight from the movie. While not nearly as big as the Cinderella Castle, still beautiful.
High on life and Disney, I ran all the way up the Fastpass lane of Space Mountain and had a two minute wait for a seat, instead of the 50 minutes in the stand by line! It was just as much fin as I remember, and was not the only time I went on it!!!
I met Keshia on Main Street around 10am, and after some castle pictures and grabbing Space Mountain Fastpasses, we made our way back up to Fantasyland and the Be Our Guest Restaurant. On the way there, we saw Merida from Brave! We didn't get a picture with her, but we stopped and took a few from behind the line. I can't wait to meet her!
Even though dinner reservations are next to impossible to get for Be Our Guest, lunch is a first come first served basis (literally!). The line begins to form usually around 10:20am, and the restaurant opens its doors at 10:30. However, they will only allow as many people through as there are tables, so it's important to line up early! Keshia left for the washroom for a few minutes and so I got into line by myself. As you enter, you are directed to the right where you walk down a hallway lined with suits of armor, with menus on monitors as you go. When you reach the end, a host is there to greet you. He'll ask how many are in your party and hand you a red disk with a rose on it! The next room is the ordering process. You tell the cashier what you'd like to order, and you pay for it. He'll scan your rose and give you a receipt and tell you to find a table.
And you walk out into this:
It is stunning. Absolutely gorgeous. I took a million photos of the same thing. The ceiling is perfect, there is fake snow falling behind the windows. All that's missing is the balcony and the song "Tale As Old As Time"... oh no, wait. They played the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. Sometimes you'd hear "Be Our Guest" and when "Tale As Old As Time" came on, I teared up a little.
You place your rose and receipt on the table you choose, and they find you and bring you your meal. My turkey sandwich and chocolate cupcake were delicious!! It was amazing. I asked to 'try the grey stuff', but it turns out that it's only a dinner thing. It's okay though, because it just makes me more determined to go there for dinner!
I had heard that Belle's library was also a room you could eat in, but it turned out to just be a room with large framed photos on the wall and a rotating life-size dancing Belle and Beast. Still cool, but certainly not the iconic library. The West Wing, however, was awesome. A ripped picture of the Beast as a human, and a rose under a glass bell jar. The rose was holographic and so every once in a while, a petal would fall. It was perfect. More pictures of the ballroom later, and I was ready to leave (for now, at least)!
And because Disney leaves no detail out, this was on the way out.
When we were done, We walked outside and Gaston was standing by the tavern!! The line was huge though, and so I vowed to meet him sometime before I went home (I think I'll have to make a list)! Keshia wanted to ride Space Mountain (and like I was going to say no... pfft), so we went back down to Tomorrowland and jumped in the Fastpass lane. It's even more fun the second time around! And as we got off, we saw Buzz Lightyear! Again, the line was huge (added to the list!) so we didn't stay but made out way to the train station instead! We hopped on a train at Storybook Circus and rode it past Main Street Station all the way to Frontierland :)
Because I was planning to stay the whole day and didn't want to get soaked, we skipped Splash Mountain and headed straight for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad instead. We grabbed some fastpasses and then stood in the stand-by line up. The wait was almost an hour, but it was still interesting! They've revamped some of the slow lines with simple interactive activities. I was very interested, but I have no idea if they're new or not... my family goes to Disney in December, when even if we don't have fastpasses, lines are rarely long enough to have to wait for very long!
During the hour wait I was able to get an internet signal and FaceTime Dad and Daniel! It was bittersweet because they weren't there with me, but I couldn't think of a better way to spend my wait time :) !! It is so great to be able to share this experience with my family however I can. I miss you guys!!!!!
Adrenaline pumping, we made our way through Frontierland and Adventureland back to Main Street, with the intention to shop and spend some time in the air conditioning. One side of the stores on Main Street has them all connected, so you can walk from one end to the other without going into the heat. We worked our way form the castle end to the gates end of the stores, and just as we came out, a parade was starting! Main Street sidewalks were full, but right by the parade gates (where the parade comes out) was nearly empty! Prime spots! Keshia wanted to be father up the street, but I stayed in the shade ;) Lots of costumed characters were the first out of the gate, and Woody even came over and kissed my hand! :)
Of course, seeing Belle and Beast was my favorite part - this was my first look at the new Belle dress that has recently been released (a much less harsh color than the old one) and I love it!
The entire length of the parade, I ended up standing by a woman who was super excited to be there. She was yelling "WOO!" at everything. "WOO GO GENIE! GO SNOW WHITE WOOO! YEAH DANCERS! GO SIGN CARRIERS! WOO!" She was absolutely hilarious, and snapping pictures with her iPhone! And so I turned to her halfway through and I told her that I had picked the best parade spot, and that she was making my day! She laughed aand kept wooing! When the princesses came out, I heard her go "WOO GO SLEEPING BEAUTY WOO... oh crap! My phone flipped and has been taking pictures of me wooing!!!!!!!" I laughed so hard, it was awesome! As the parade ended, her enthusiasm was infectious and I started woo-ing as well!
As the parade rounded the corner away from us, I saw that her daughter had a graduate badge! So I told her congratulations. Turns out she's just graduated from college as well! The two of them had come from Wisconsin to visit an uncle who works at Disney for Memorial Day weekend! We bonded for a few minutes over the brutality of the hot weather and I introduced myself. Keshia returned just as the uncle arrived. He asked us right away if we were cast members... I think cast have an aura that other cast members can recognize ;) We explained we were here for the International College Program (ICP) and where we were from. We kept bonding over the weather and I found out their names: Susan and her daughter MacKenzie, and David! David told us to make sure we had sunscreen and lots of water - turns out that he's a character attendant for Merida! So I might see him again when I go to meet her! :) He also gave me the inside scoppon Be Our Guest reservations - ask at the window on the night of; cancellations are not advertised, but if you ask they can give you any open spots!! Also, not only can I try the grey stuff (it's delicious!) at dinner, but the Beast is there every night!! As if I didn't have enough motivation to go already!!!!
Meeting them was one of the best parts of the whole day, and I can't believe that it's my job to meet awesome families like them :)
We said goodbye and walked up the other side of Main Street; where the most memorable shop was a glass shop, with someone actually melting glass for castles there. A 37,500$ castle caught our eye, but I think I'll have to leave that one behind ;) Keshia decided to go home and so I sat in Tomorrowland Terrace for a bit, just soaking everything in :) :)
After a few minutes I decided that checking out the Beauty and the Beast store would be a good idea, so I wandered back up to Fanatsyland, taking my time and enjoying all the sights, sounds, and smells of Disney World. I got to the store and after taking a good time to look around I ran into Natalie! She's from Nova Scotia as well (Saint Anne's area) and we get along wonderfully :) We were both there alone and decided to hang out! We spent some more time in the shop and talked to the cast members there for a bit about how it was to work for Disney and at the newest area of the park. When we left, Gaston was back!!!!! Natalie and I just looked at each other and started frantically nodding and raced to the relatively short line up like a pair of 5 year-olds in a candy store! He was hilarious! He asked me where I was from, and when I told him Canada, he asked if I spoke any french. I don't really, but Natalie does! She started prattling off and he answers the basic french questions, but then says, "Woah! All you really need to know is Ooh la la, voila and magnifique! All of which I am!" He told Natalie she was awfully mouthy when she said he wasn't very muscly, and he was all around straight out of the movie. It was brilliant!!!! Definitely my favorite so far, and going to be hard to beat!!
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| The 'we just met Gaston' face!!! |
Well, let me tell you, Disney is magic. There is pixie dust in every air particle and magic in every breath. I saw 3D!! I felt like I could reach out and grab some of Ariel's treasures. I swear, Aladdin and Jasmine were flying on Carpet right above people's heads in front of me. I know that cork from the bottle shot right by my head!! (Disney even adds a puff of air to that one. Crazy.) And I would bet you anything that Donald Duck actually flew right out of the screen into the wall behind me. Now I know why people love 3D movies... they're amazing! Disney magic, I'm telling you. Magic.
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| I teared up on the way out, I was so overwhelmed by the magic. |
Then we went to get dinner at Starlight Cafe! It's also called Cosmic Rays and it sits connecting Tomorrowland to Fanasyland. I also found out that it is the second busiest fast food restauant in the world. The only one busier is the McDonald's in Hong Kong. Which is insane, because it never seems super busy when I go! Their bacon cheeseburgers are incredible though - and they have that fake nacho cheese sause stuff at the condiment bar. I dip all my fries in it instead of ketchup :) So yummy! When we were done, our Fastpass time had arrived! We went over to tomorrow land and got into the Fastpass lane for Space Mountain! It was Natalie's first real ride of the trip at all, and we both LOVE this roller coaster :) We scream and laughed and had a great time :)
After Space, we grabbed another fastpass for it for later, and we went all the way up to Frontierland to check out the wait time for Thunder. The sign said it was going to be a 90 minute wait, and so we asked the cast member standing there if she thought the time would be accurate. She told us that, unfortunately, even though the line doesn't look long form here, the huge group just moving into the Fastpass lane now would get to go through first, while the stand-by line went party by party. So unless we had fastpasses, we should be prepared to wait. Of course, we had just gotten a Space FP, and so we didn't have any for Thunder. We stood there discussing what we should do next, and had decided we didn't really have time to do either Thunder or Splash when suddenly the cast member asked us if it was just the two of us in our party. We said yes, and she pulls these out of her pocket!!
It is a general fastpass for any ride at any time! And good until May 31! We were so excited :) We've decided we probably won't end up using them though... it was Natalie's first 'magical moment', and I've decided to collect fastpasses over the summer: this is the crown jewel of any fastpass collection! The only way to get one is a cast member taking pity on you! ;)
My iPod beeped with a message from Emily saying that she was on her way to the park! We took a stroll through Frontierland and Adventureland, and jumped on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride while we waited for her. It's a lot darker than I remember, but still fun to do with a friend! We met up with Emily at Starlight Cafe (Cosmic Rays) because she hadn't eaten yet. We sat out on the terrace with a beautiful view of the castle :) We meandered through the park some more (Emily refusing to look into New Fantasyland, because she's waiting for her sister!) and eventually all headed up to see if Thunder or Splash wait times were any shorter, but they weren't. It was about 9pm, with the fireworks due to start at 10, and we found ourselves once again in Tomorrowland (I should have started a pedometer when I got here, I go back and forth from one end of the park to the other so often!). Emily said she wouldn't mind holding a spot for fireworks for us if we wanted to use our FPs for Space before they expired :) Natalie and I raced to the ride and hurried into line. We decided that since now we knew where the ride takes our picture, we can anticipate and make faces! We decided to go with a dinosaur theme ;) We all know I'm a good velociraptor, but Natalie is a naturally born T-rex. The ride was awesome, but the pictures at the end had us both laughing so hard we could barely move. I'm so sad we didn't take a picture of the screens!!
We found Emily on the bridge between Tomorrowland and Main Street, and found a good viewing spot from a small path that would allow us to get a head start on the mass exodus when the fireworks were done. When my family and I go to Disney, we go in the second week of December. Not only is it one of the least busy weeks of the year, it's also much less hot. Not only that, but Disney decks itself out for Christmas! (It's been very odd, and a little depressing, to not see wreaths on all the lamp posts and lights on all the streets and characters not in Christmas outfits!) But the Castle, at Christmas, is always lighted to look like it has icicles all over it. It's beautiful, but what I didn't know is that when the castle does not have icicles, they play a projection show on the castle before the fireworks. Apparently this has been going on for a few years - so they may even have a Christmas version by now! The version I saw is a special 'Limited Time Magic' that is only playing for the summer :) My camera had no battery left, so I took hardly any pictures, but it was amazing!!!! I found a video on youtube of the whole thing, so I can watch it whenever I want! (I will put the link to the video in this post after my family comes to Disney, but I don't want to ruin it for you guys!)
The whole thing was beautiful, and again, I was emotional; mostly because I missed my family so much. I hate being here without them - nothing feels quite right! It's all wonderful, and all Disney, and all perfect, but I miss you guys like crazy! Natalie and Emily were giggling at how in awe I was. Wishes (the MK fireworks show) came on about five minutes after the end of the light show. I learned from Natalie that the little girl's voice you hear singing pieces of the song form Wishes was actually a Make-A-Wish child who's wish was to sing in a Disney song. So they put her in Wishes. To sing for thousands of people every night. Tear-jerker, that's what that is.
My 14 hours at the Magic Kingdom were over. I was still sad to leave! But I had to be up at 5:30am the next day, and so a short walk to a resort brought us to the bus stop. Hudson and Eleanor were there, and the five of us took the bus home together. I made a list so I wouldn't forget anything that happened, and then I went to sleep. I can't wait to go back! :) I love Disney World!
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