"Day Two: Magic Kingdom" or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mouse"

Day Two - A LONG, LONG, LONG Post

Our first full day in Florida and our first day of park tickets started early. Fortunately, day one was relatively calm and peaceful with only one true tantrum.

At 6:30 the phone rings with our wake-up call. Remembering the staggeringly annoying wake-up calls at Disney World when I was there in 1997, I made my wife answer it… (I’m sorry, I just cant handle anyone or anything being that fuc**** happy that early in the morning, especially without any coffee in my system)

She’s up and walks over to the food court to get herself some soda and me some coffee (isn’t she sweet?) and I hit the shower while letting the younglings sleep a ‘little’ longer.

We are at Magic Kingdom at 8:50, in time to see the “calling” of Mickey so he and his ‘posse’ can officially call for the opening of the Magic Kingdom. And right on cue, the train arrives at the station and Mickey and his friends get out, sing their little ditty, and huzzah; the gates part and we enter the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’.

And with that, The PB and The J’s first trip to Disney World was “officially” under way.

The PB and The J are not really accustomed to sitting in lines… let alone relatively long lines. So the Day One Meltdown (herein called DOM) starts… for both of them... while we wait in the line to ride Dumbo.

They don’t want to wait, they want to get on the ride NOW, not later. They want to know why the people in front of us aren't sharing. They want to ride Dumbo, and they want to ride it now...
After about 10 minutes they calmed down and realized that they weren’t the only ones waiting and that no one else in line was crying. So they stopped.

Then finally, it was our turn, The PB with HoMu and The J with me.

They loved it. They laughed, they giggled, they applauded…

(Aside: Is it me, or is the length of rides getting shorter and shorter??)

We rode Dumbo, we rode the Carousel, we rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (which was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride back in 1997. Apparently the braintrust at Disney finally realized that the kids of today had no clue who the hell Mr. Toad was...), Snow White's Scary Adventures (which, quite frankly, scared the bejeebus out of The PB), Mad Tea Party (The J's favorite ride while we were there) and The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm (the PB's FAVORITE ride while we were there)

Now it's time for me to make a confession; I like rollercoasters, I like flying, I like doing fun-stuff, but I, Kemp, have a confession to make:

I don't like the Teacups at Mad Tea Party.

It's not that I don't like the ride per se, it's just that for some unknown, unearthly reason, that ride makes me queasy and nauseous. The four of us went on it once, and I had to prevent HoMu from making the cup go faster because I was starting to feel sick.

What's wrong with me? Am I a chicken? Am I a wuss? I don't know. There, that's my confession.

After riding a surfeit of rides, it was time for our first (of MANY) character meals. This was Winnie the Pooh and Friends at The Crystal Palace.

One word can sum it up: 'Wow!'

The restaurant is gorgeous, the food was great, and the characters came to each and every table and then, at one point during the festvities, they did the 'Tigger Dance' and had all the kids form a conga line and dance throughout the place. The PB & The J did, and I almost had to restrin HoMu from joining in (WTP is her all-time favorite Disney character. So much so that when we first started dating in college, that was her nickname for me, 'Pooh'... why the hell did I just tell all of you that??? Son of a bit--)

Anyway... after eating WAY too much and getting autograph and pictures galore, we headed to Adventure Land and rode, among others, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin (which is the same thing as Dumbo but with 'carpets' that can hold four instead of baby elephants that can hold two). This was also where the kids bought their first souvenier; a water bottle that 'spritzes' water through a kid-friendly fan. Find a need and fill it has always been my motto...

About 4:00, seeing that the girls were getting cranky, we decided to head back to the resort for a quick break (and a change, it was 93 degrees and we were all hot and sweaty) before our next character meal at 6:30.

We get back to Magic Kingdom and hopped on the Monorail (every time we got on, I had to sing the 'Monorail' song from The Simpsons, to the extent that The PB and The J also started singing it) to get to Chef Mickey's for our dinner with Mickey and the gang. Again, a very nice place. Good food, a LOT of characters (Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale) and a relaxed atmosphere. They also did a dance with Goofy that required everyone to take their napkins and twirl them above their head (and apparantly ignoring the fact that some of the napkins probably have bits of food on them that will be flung in every direction)

Back to Magic Kingdom and watched Country Bear Jamboree (I think this attraction's time has come. The songs are more than a tad strange 'Blood on the Ground'?) and the "SpectroMagic" Parade followed by the nightly fireworks.

Then back to the room to sleep for another day of fun...

Tomorrow, Day Three at MGM. And this is where the fun REALLY starts...