Tuesday, December 28, 2021- Magic Kingdom

      So many people have matching t-shirts when they come to Disney World.  People use them to announce a reunion or someone's birthday celebration or just a family trip.  They are often customized with people's names on it.   (There are even shirts about the shirts.  We saw several variations on a shirt saying, "I don't wear matching t-shirts."  It was funny the first time, but after you've seen it a dozen times or so, it seems like they really do wear matching t-shirts.)  We had some shirts made up before we came.  They have a 50th anniversary of Disney World design on them and they each say, "Abby,"  "Emma," "Mommy," "Daddy," and of course, "Grandma" and "Papa."  We saved them for our big day at the Magic Kingdom today.

     We did get our Instacart order brought by a bellhop this morning.  Rather than have a breakfast, we put a mobile order in for an early lunch at 10:00.  We then hopped on a bus and headed to the Magic Kingdom once again.  We got there just a few minutes before 9:00 when it officially opens.  After getting Grandpa a wheelchair, we started a slow trip up Main Street.  Our first stop was the Town Square Theater, where Abby got to meet Mickey Mouse himself!  We had been waiting for this moment.  Abby was cheering for the posters of Mickey when she was going in, but she must have had no idea she was going to see him.   She was enthralled by him.  We were socially distanced from him and had to keep our masks on too.  We were only there long enough to say hi and get a selfie (for some reason, Disney photographers weren’t there to take a picture), but Abby had her eyes on him the whole time and he was really paying attention to her.  As we continued up Main Street the Dapper Dans barbershop quartet went by on the trolley.

     When we got to the area called the Hub in front of Cinderella’s Castle, we stopped to get Grandpa his morning cup of coffee.  While the rest were sitting, Scott went around the hub taking pictures of the many characters with golden anniversary statues in the vicinity.  There are sixteen separate statues in Magic Kingdom representing twenty-four different characters, so basically half of the fifty total.  Mot of them are in the hub area, but there are several in the rest of the park making it more of a scavenger hunt.  We found all of them, but Scott did cheat on three of them.  Abu the monkey from Aladdin was up on the corner of the sign into Adventureland and Stitch was on a wall in Tomorrowland.  Tinkerbell was the last we found.  Scott had asked the cast members by Peter Pan’s Flight to tell him “yes” or “no” if she was near there.  They laughed and said no.  Ultimately, at the very end of the he and Emma had to ask a photographer in the Hub area and he pointed out her “life-sized” statue on the very top of a shrub nearby.

     As Julie required, we went to the left and into Adventureland.   We started at the Flying Carpets since they were something like the ride Abby went on before, but while waiting in line, they had a technical problem, so we continued on.  We went to the nearby Enchanted Tiki Room, and Abby watched the whole thing closely and clapped for the singing birds.

     Our 10:00 lunch time was approaching and we stopped at the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Café.  Again, we found a quiet corner, and Abby played with her favorite Disney World attractions- rocks and puddles.  She also chased an ibis and said it was a duck- “Wak, wak.”  Grandpa had tacos for brunch and said there’s a first time for everything.   Julie was learning to order peanut butter and jelly “Uncrustables” for the rest because it was enough for them.  Scott brought a bar and was finished early, so he slipped off to Frontierland to shop.  He got another pin for the collection and a new popcorn bucket.  Yesterday’s Christmas Tree bucket was cool, but this one is a little more practical to carry around the park, and we made use of the $2 refill option several times during the day already.

     Liverlips McGrowl was waving to people from atop the Country Bear Jamboree, so that was our next stop.  Abby seemed to really like the bears, and of course it’s one of Scott’s favorites.  Scott was worried it was going to be the sappy and ill-conceived holiday version of the show, but it wasn’t.  They’ve shortened the show a bit, cutting a few lines and a few songs, but it is basically the original presentation.  They’ve also re-furred many of the animals.  Henry is a darker brown then before and doesn’t have a lighter patch on his stomach anymore.  Gomer the piano player has an odd “soul patch” of a beard, and Liverlips has a messy mop of hair on the top of his head.  It must have been a toupee because he didn’t have it a few moments before when we had seen him outside.

     Grandpa had said from the get-go that he didn’t want to miss the Hall of Presidents, so we made sure to go there next.  During the course of the presentation, Lincoln makes a solo appearance and gives the Gettysburg address.  After all of the Presidents are introduced, Washington stands and says a few words.  Scott was ready to skip it this time because he didn’t want to hear any Trump supporters cheer for him when his name was called.  Indeed, there was one “jack-wagon” with a “Trump 2024” hat who catcalled.  When Trump was President, he wouldn’t record any speech for the Hall of Presidents, so they just used his recording inaugural oath.  Now, with him standing in the back looking grumpy, they have continued that with Biden.   Emma didn’t remember if Biden spoke at all because she and her mother took a little catnap.

     Our first Lightning Lane of the day was approaching- the Jungle Cruise.  We were actually there a little early, we were let in.  Julie’s dad stayed in the wheelchair because Abby had fallen asleep.  We had to wait a little bit to board because we were taken on the wheelchair accessible boat.  The crew members helped wheel him onto a special lift on the boat and lowered him down.  Our skipper was Skipper Kyle (“First name, Skipper.  Last name, Kyle,” according to a line he used many times.)  After we had boarded, he filled the back of the boat with other guests because, as Skipper Kyle said, “It’s best to do the Jungle Cruise fully loaded.  …With people.  This is Adventureland, not Epcot.”  That made Scott laugh.  Actually, it was the “Jingle Cruise” this year, because it had a Christmas theme to it.  There were Christmas decorations and presents and Santa hats throughout the ride.  The jokes weren’t necessarily holiday themed though.  After telling the old standby about the backside of water as we passed under the Schweitzer Falls (named after the famous explorer, Dr. Falls), he started telling chemistry jokes.  Did you here that oxygen and magnesium got married?  OMg!  Skipper Kyle seemed to like that Emma was one of the five people who got his chemistry references.  He only gets to tell them periodically.  Meanwhile, Abby had woken up from her nap and we were pleased to see she was having fun spotting the animals.

     As we headed towards Fantasyland, we saw the Celebration Cavalcade.  This is like a mini-parade and features two floats with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale.  We were just in time for Abby to see it, and she seemed to love it.

     We had used the 120 minute rule to get a Lightning Lane on It’s a Small World next, and once again, Grandpa was wheeled onto a special boat with the rest of us.  Abby was pointing at many of the singing dolls as we rode through and seemed to enjoy the boat ride.  As we left though, the signs in the ride said, “goodbye emma” not once but twice.  Emma said she was very disturbed that the dolls knew who she was.  The ride picked up our Magic Bands, but she was the only one that was mentioned.

     Daddy took Abby on Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel and hoped she would like it since it wasn’t her first go-round on one.  She watched the horses and seemed eager to get on.  She was a little unsettled when they started to move, but Daddy stuck close by her going up and down alongside, and by the end of the ride she was petting the horse and saying “up” and “down.”  Once more, it reminded us of baby Anna when she was here.

     Now, Scott really wanted to make sure that we got a zoom picture in the Magic Kingdom.  He went off to find the spot where they take them, and came back and got the rest of the family.  It was a little bit of a walk, and Julie’s hip was bothering her, but she came.  Once we had the picture taken, we gave Abby a chance to play on the “Hub Grass,” the soft Astroturf-like grass in the fenced area where toddlers like her can be a little more free to roam.

     We had more Lightning Lane passes for the  Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride, and Abby seemed to do much better riding this one.  As we exited through the gift shop, started sorting out tiny stuffed Minnies and Plutos. She took a Minnie and left the store.  The rest ran after her while Scott stayed to pay for it.

     It was after 4:00 and time for our early dinner.  We ate at the Friar’s Nook in Fantasyland, which unfortunately really was not much more than a nook.  We didn’t have a lot of room to sit.  Our last couple of meals had kind of spoiled us into expecting more room.  Scott got an order of the “Brats and Tots.”  We went to Gaston’s Tavern after, and Emma got a dessert- a chocolate dome with Mickey ears and a chocolate 50^th anniversary medallion on it.  She said it was good and it had a Crème Brûlée center.  She also got LeFau’s Brew, which she described as tasting like apple cider with melted marshmellows.  She didn’t like that as well as the chocolate.  Meanwhile, Abby was fascinated by the fountain and really wanted to climb in it.

     Abby really wanted to play, so when we took her away from Gaston’s fountain, we headed into the Storybook Circus area.  We knew that the new Dumbo ride had a toddler’s play area.  While you are waiting to ride, you get a pager that buzzes to let you know when it is time for you to queue up.  Meanwhile, the little ones have slides and things to climb on under Dumbo’s circus tent.  Abby had fun here but wore herself out.  When the pager went off, Emma and Dad went to ride Dumbo, while the rest exited.  When we joined up again, Abby was sound asleep.

     It was dark now.  It was around 6:30 and it was decision time.  Abby was out and wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon.  The grandparents were getting tired, and Julie’s hip was sore.  They decided to go back to the resort, but they gave Emma the option of staying in the park with Dad.  After all, the trip was a graduation present for Emma.  Julie and the others made their way back to the hotel for some much needed rest. 

     The group had Lightning Lane reservations for Pirates of the Caribbean, so that was the next stop.  They had to cross the entire breadth of the Magic Kingdom and it couldn’t have been much farther from where they were.  Even counting the Johnny Depp scenes that were added a few years ago, there have been changes to the ride.  The auction scene, where the pirates used to chant, “We wants the redhead!” has been changed significantly.  Now the redheaded woman is one of the auctioneers.  They are auctioning off chickens instead, and the pirates are chanting “We wants the rum!”  Clearly, the auctioning off of sex-slaves is not really family friendly, but you know, pirates aren’t supposed to be good guys.

     From there, we went to Main Street to shop.  We went down one side and back up the other.  The crowd was gathering for the Enchantment fireworks show and Cinderella’s Castle was lit up to look like peppermint and Christmas.   When they had finished shopping, Emma had to use the restrooms, and that put them on the Tomorrowland side of the Hub when the fireworks were about to begin, so they stopped to watch them there.  They had an obstructed view of the castle again, so they couldn’t really see the projections, but they did hear the music and watch the fireworks.  They used some special glasses that Grandma had saved from their last trip that made the brightest lights of the fireworks look like Mickey head.  It was a funny effect and had them both laughing.  Emma said it was like you were “drunk on Mickey!”  They also had a great spot to see Tinker Bell fly down from the peak of the Castle.

     When the fireworks crowd had started to depart, Emma still wanted to go to the Haunted Mansion.  To get there, they turned right, into Tomorrowland, in order to make their way around the outside of the park.  Since they were passing the PeopleMover, and there really wasn’t a wait, they jumped on that.   Emma was dancing to the music coming from below, even though the sign on the PeopleMover clearly showed “No Dancing.” 😉 From there, we saw area where they are constructing the Tron cycles.  (Anna and Emma rode them when we were at Disneyland Shanghai, but they will be new here.)  At one point, as we were passing through Space Mountain, the PeopleMover stopped.  They were in pitch dark until the lights came on, but it did start moving again after a few moments.

    They made their way to the Haunted Mansion and had a bet as to how long the wait would be.  Emma said it would be more than an hour, but Scott said it would be less than half an hour.  Scott won.  The Haunted Mansion itself had some updates since we had been there last.  The most significant one is that the famous hitchhiking ghosts that join you in the Doom Buggy are now animated and moving as they ride with you.  

    After the Haunted Mansion, they went back to the hub area in front of the Castle to find the one last golden anniversary statue that Scott hadn't yet found- the statue of Tinker Bell.  They took some pictures of themselves and the Castle and also had a Disney photographer take one of them too, but they weren't able to find Tinker Bell.  Scott finally asked the photographer and he pointer her out.  The statues are all "life-size" and Tink is only a fairy, so she is quite small.  She is on the top of a small tree.  We never would have found her without "cheating."  It was around this time that Emma fell and skinned her knee.  She was ok, but the knee did look pretty bad afterwards.  They made their way down Main Street to get to the busses they needed to take back to the Caribbean Beach Resort.  On their way, they passed a Starbucks and stopped to get strawberry refreshers (light ice, no berries) for Emma and her mom.  They both said it was ironic that they did all of Julie's favorites after she had left for the night- Pirates of the Caribbean, the PeopleMover, the Haunted Mansion, and Starbucks.  It seemed only fair to bring her a consolation prize of a strawberry refresher.  Scott and Emma did have a great time on their own, though.

'