Salt Touched

The first thing you’ve got to remember about Disney World is to pace yourself. This is a mistake that a lotta first timers make. You’ve got all these unbelievable rides and cool stuff to do! But if you try to do it all at once, you’ll be sleeping like a baby by lunch time…
~ Disney World “The Voice of Experience” advert, circa ‘96

I never actually thought I would make it to the Magic Kingdom. Somehow it was easier to get to all the other Disney parks – even Tokyo, than it was to manage to get myself to Florida. But there I was, bouncing around a hotel room early in the morning, on the one day so far that has not been abnormally cold, getting ready to board the resort bus one of only two major Disney parks I had not yet been able to visit. It was all I could do not to just grab Amras by the hand and run to the bus station.

Of course, it helped that the resort we were staying at had a garden that was full of various statues of Disney characters so I was able to zip from one to one taking creatively staged photos. Including one of bowing to Mufasa that I am rather pleased with.

Finally we made it to the Magic Kingdom. For the first time in ages, I didn’t cry when I saw the castle, I just stopped and stared at it. Because it was huge. I thought I knew Disney, I really did, but I was floored by the size of this park. I have never seen one so massive, and there was no way we could have done it all in just one day. We got there shortly after the park opened, but by noon we had barely even scratched the surface of Fantasyland let alone even ventured into the other areas. Even the Fantasyland here was huge!

Once we got ourselves oriented we did head for our first Fastpass, which was the Haunted Mansion, on the outside it looked very different from the ones I was familiar with, but on the inside it was the same well loved graveyards and ghouls as in California. I still find myself surprised that I remember so much of the script, considering it’s not necessarily my favourite ride (that honour stands with Big Thunder Mountain, which doesn’t have a script).

We wove our way from Big Thunder back through fantasyland, where I had my inner child set free by Peter Pan’s Flight, which much to my delight had a full interactive queue, unlike the one in California. The line wove through the Darling nursery, with Tinker Bell darting across the walls creating interactive shadow butterflies and shadow bells you could ring with your fingertips (seriously, how did they do that?). We did have a bit more adventure than we expected as we got stuck on Peter Pan, unfortunately not over London which would have been pretty magical, but the ride stalled just as we were getting to the exit, we still hear the soundtrack behind us, and next to us Captain Hook was endlessly trying to escape from the crocodile – but the ships were not moving. It was only for a few minutes but it was none the less a new addition to my roster of “fun and unusual Disney experiences”

Then it was once again out into the Florida sunshine – which was thankfully actually warm today. The park was crowded, but amazingly not overly so. We were able to weave our way through very easily. Some lines were definitely on the longer side, but not terribly so. One of the first things we noticed was that at least one of the character meet n’ greet lines were much shorter than expected so we were able to meet both Elena (whom I am not actually familiar with as she comes from a tv series that doesn’t’ seem to air in Canada) and Cinderella, who was by far one of the best cast members I’ve ever seen in the role.

It’s difficult to know where to start when you’re exploring a park this big. Do you go to Pirates first or to Space Mountain? Do you use your extra fastpass on the seven drawf’s mine train? Or on Big Thunder? Where do you start.

For a long while we bounced from photographer to photographer. Since we bought the Memory Maker pass every photo that was take by the park photographers and every ride photo we got was already paid for so hunting out new opportunities to add to the collection was a fun way to spend the time.

But eventually we did start getting hungry, so we headed back in the direction of Main Street; while we were trying to decide whether or not to meet Tinker Bell before or after lunch (our fastpass for her line was for 12:40) we ended up stumbling directly into the morning parade! Definitely a stroke of luck, because if there’s one thing that Disney knows how to do it’s Parades. This was just a little mini one, only three floats, but definitely still counted as a parade, and since we were down at the beginning of main street, we actually ended up standing right where it came out of the gates. Utterly brilliant.

Once the street party had moved on, we were still trying to decide on when we wanted to eat vrs when we wanted to meet and greet my favourite fairy. But looking up at the wait time for Town Hall, where we were scheduled to meet Tink just after noon, we realized that the wait time was only 15 minutes, there is absoluetely not point in wasting a fastpass to bypass a 15 minute line, so we swapped the pass out for a chance at Buzz Lightyear’s Toy Story adventure later in the evening and popped into the standby line for Tink instead. The line zipped through the comparatively reserved Town Hall before entering into a room that had been painted to look like giant blades of grass, where a cast member asked us

So we need a few things before we can make you fairy size so you can see Tinker Bell…we need faith trust and what’s the third thing…?

And all the kids in the room (and yes, us too) cried out in their most excited voice

PIXIE DUST!!

And the room suddenly lit up with pixie sparkles as the hidden door swung open to reveal Pixie Hollow.

Thank you Disney, for always thinking of the most magical way to do the most mundane things, even just opening a door.

Tink was definitely “new” Tink, more chirpy and friendly than her classic counterpart, but she said I was a flower fairy so I can’t really fault her.

Once we’d left Pixie Hollow (and returned to our normal human-type size) we went next door to Tony’s Italian restaurant, for those of you who know Lady & the Tramp, yup it’s that Tony’s! We even had spaghetti and meatballs, although we didn’t find ourselves eating the same strand ;). Once we finished lunch we realized that we still hadn’t seen much of the rest of the park so we made our way to  Tomorrowland for our slot at Space Mountain, which – as it always does – reminded me that I still love dark coasters. The version in Florida did not feel as fast as the others I’ve ridden before, but the effect was the same, twists and turns through the darkness that require you to have total faith in the machinery.

Frontierland, where we lingered in the cool damp air of the line for Pirates of the Caribbean (a ride photo for which would later should up in our Memory Maker account with neither of us having any idea how it got there), before heading over to Big Thunder to use the free fastpass we’d been given because of our loss of Beauty and the Beast the day before. Still by far my favourite ride in the park, I will always be willing to wait for “the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness”…but getting to practically walk right on? Yeah, that’s definitely a bonus.

It was far too soon that sunset began to gather around us, we had one last battle on Buzz Lightyear’s (which he won, by totally unfair advantage *Ahem* more on that eventually) – before heading back to Fantasyland to see the Fireworks.

Oh. My. Goddess. I’ve seen fireworks, I’ve even seen Disney fireworks, but these fireworks? These put everything to shame. The stars shattered into millions of flashing sparkling pieces, fire glowed and music soared, and suddenly it didn’t matter that there were thousands of people crowded around me. None of it mattered. Nothing mattered. I started crying, I couldn’t stop crying…and just when I thought that it couldn’t possibly be any more perfect…there she was…on sparkling incandescent wings…Tinker Bell flew. I first saw Tinker Bell fly when I was just little, and ever since then….ever since then seeing her makes me that little girl again…and if I wasn’t crying before, watching her soar up there in the giant follow spot, the tears definitely came.

Because after all these years I still remember just how hard you have to wish…

Because Tink still flies…

And I will always believe

I thought I was an expert at planning all things Disney…but as it turns out? Planning a few days at Disney World is pretty different than organizing a day trip to Disneyland Hong Kong. I had no idea how big Disney World was, or how high tech it was either…once we got our reservations in, we were presented with the ability to choose our three top experiences to fastpass before we got there (I’m used to luck of the draw when we arrive at the park…the chance to figure out what’s going on before arrival? That was new to me).

So we set everything up; including Amras’ booking of an official Disney Resort hotel (which was a total surprise for me, and caused me to bounce around on the ceiling for a little bit as I’d not stayed at a proper Disney Hotel before), and the next morning we got up ridiculously early and were out the door by 7 in the morning.

And once arriving at our destination, we swiftly found out the big advantage of staying at a proper Disney hotel. Although official check in time wasn’t until 3:30 in the afternoon, they let us check in early, and take advantage of the complimentary hotel parking, and the immediately issued us with what they call “MagicBands”. The little gizmos strap onto your wrist like a watch and they’re linked to your chosen method of payment, your hotel room, and the “My Disney Experience” App on your phone containing your fastpasses and dining reservations. What that all means? Unless you have things to carry, you don’t have to take a purse or anything to the park, everything you need is right there on your wrist; want to buy something? Zap. Want to pay for dinner? Zap. Want to use that fastpass you booked for Star Tours? Zap.

So. Very. Cool.

We only had two days, and one day per park (yes there are five parks, but hitting all five was way out of our budget, so we chose two and that was fine with us) so we ventured to Disney Hollywood Studios first. Neither of us had been there, and it features some of the rides that in Cali are in California Adventure. Loaded up with our new magicbands and preset fastpasses, we zipped through security at a remarkably brisk pace and made our way straight to our first ride choice. And in Hollywood Studios, there is only one first ride choice.

The line for Tower of Terror is usually at least an hour long, even though our fastpass was for 9:30 – 10:30 (and the park doesn’t even open until 9) the line was already starting to snake its way around artfully abandoned corners and cobwebbed lobbies. We tapped our magicbands to the sensor at the front of the fastpass line and were able to bypass the majority of the line, cutting a 70-80minute wait down to just under 20. But I don’t actually mind waiting for Tower, as the queue is amazing – it looks as if a whole hoard of people just up and left out of the blue, food left half finished, dust dripping from massive chandeliers. The place looks both freshly abandoned and as if it has been left to rot for decades. It’s creepy, to say the least. The line switches back and forth until you end up in a library, where a flash of lightening knocks out power to everything except an old-style television set perched near the ceiling

You unlock this door with the key of imagination; beyond it is another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension sight, a dimension of mind. You are moving into a place of both shadow and substance of things and ideas. Youve just crossed over into The Twilight Zone.

The time is now, on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Tonights story of The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize is a maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for you. We invite you, if you dare to step aboard because in tonights episode you are the star. And this elevator travels directly intoThe Twilight Zone.

From there you wind your way into the boiler room where solemn looking bellhops seat you in the massive service elevator cars that carry you through the rest of the ride. I’d been on the version in California, before it was changed into the (awful looking) Gaurdians of the Galaxy, but the Florida and California version are different, and after the first lift in the elevator there was nothing I recongized. But any one who rides the Tower knows what comes at the end of it…at least this time I didn’t scream quite as loudly when the doors opened at the top of the tower – before sending us plummeting back down to the bottom.

Ha! I love that ride.

As it turned out, Hollywood Studios is quite a small park, so it isn’t very far to get from one place to another. A quick glance to the left of Tower of Terror showed us that the line for the huge rollercoaster was way too long to brave at that particular moment (110 minutes for one ride? Nope, wait till the crowds die down), so we wandered over to Star Tours instead. One of my favourite rides from California’s Tomorrowland, it was a blast to once again go rocketing through space fighting Siths and Empire lords. The first time I rode Star Tours I was just a little kid and actually had no idea what Star Wars even was, but I loved it even not understanding all of the storyline.

We had never decided what we were doing food-wise, so we just ambled about until we stumbled on something that looked interesting. Actually, as it turned out we had no idea just how cool what we stumbled onto was until we actually got inside…

Drive in and eat in your car? What’s that supposed to be?

Don’t know, but it looks like food, want to check it out?

Sure…

So we asked for a table and followed a chirpy young car-hop down the hall

I’ll be your guide for the next 30 seconds as we go back in time to the 1950s, welcome to our drive in…

And we turned the corner into a huge semi-dark room with a massive flickering movie screen at one end, lined with row upon row…of cars! 1950s thunderbird style cars! With tables in them! It was a drive in! Very cool, and very yummy, one of the best milkshakes I’ve ever had.

Of course, when visiting Disney in any shape or form, one has to meet the mouse himself. The line to meet Mickey and Minnie was surprisingly short (although I think fewer people were out because of the weather, it was cold) – we collected our hugs and high-fives and zapped our magic bands to have the photos logged in our Memory Maker account (best purchase ever!) and then were free to wander around looking for more characters – I’m always on the look out for more characters – before making our way to our next FastPass at the Beauty and the Beast stage show…

Unfortunately, that one was not to go so smoothly. Three quarters of the way through the show, just as Mrs Potts was about to start singing about how fanastic it would be to be human again, the sound cut off, the curtains closed, and an announcement came across the PA stating that the performance was concluded. Now, Amras and I both have been in entertainment long enough to know the difference between a technical glitch that causes a sound error, and something that has actually stopped the show cold for another reason. This was the second option. Sure enough as we made our way through to exit the theatre, there was a medical team at work nearby. I dearly hope that whoever it was that was affected was okay, but of course there’s no way to find out such things…

With the show cancelled, we were left with a block of open time, and there was one ride we had not yet managed to get ourselves on. A quick check through the Disney App told us that the wait time for the Aerosmith coaster had dropped from the 100+ it had been at all day to only 75. Trust me, that’s worth it. Plus the queue for the ride is full of recording memorabilia and musical instruments so it’s not as if we didn’t have something to look at. We loaded into the “stretch limo” coaster cars and sat for a moment while a road-style electronic sign flashed instructions at us (it looks like the kind of sign you see at construction sites telling you to go slowly)

Traffic bugging you? Then STEP ON IT because the car pool lane is open WIDE open

And then you’re off…fast.

The coaster itself was brilliant, the launch is so fast it steals your breath, and it’s a dark coaster, so you truly cannot see what the next high speed corner is going to bring. One of the many reasons I love dark coasters. The fact that this one fires around the corners to the soundtrack of a massive live concert is just another perk.

There was one more reservation we had left, and it was one I had made when I booked the park tickets. Disney Hollywood Studios houses the huge specially constructed outdoor theatre that shows Fantasmic, and if you’re going to view Fantasmic, the only way to do it is with VIP seats. Amazing desserts, and brilliant seats only two rows from the front as Mickey battles it out with the forces of evil. And the show was as breathtaking as I remembered, and different from the one in California, so it was seeing something old and much beloved as something new, which is a brilliant thing. And sharing it with someone I love? Even better.

Sure, you get a little damp from the misters, and sure it was cold (I was shivering by the end of the show) but it was amazing. And finally I got a pair of “glow with the show” ears, so as we were sitting there watching the princesses float across the rivers of America, the ears were pulsing pinks and lavenders, and as the dragon rose out the shadows, they flashed vivid villain green. So much fun!

And at the very end of the night, I had what can only be called a Disney moment. You see, when we were on our way into Fantasmic, I suddenly reached up to my head and gasped…

My ears! Where are my ears???

I had bought a pair of classic Mickey ears at the beginning of the day, even had my name embroidered on the back in fuschia thread. With a heart-sickening moment I realized that I had left them on the floor of the Tower of Terror souvenior shop when I had gone in there earlier in the evening to try on a bellhop dress. Anywhere else in the world?  Those ears would be long gone, they’re not particularly cheap and kids love them and my name is not all that uncommon…but wouldn’t you know it…when we walked back into the store and made our way up to the counter we had barely gotten half-way through our explanation…

Excuse me but…we’re pretty sure she left her ears here…classic style….

Yup! They’re in the back

And they were! I got my ears back! Because someone turned them in or some cast member picked them up. I can’t say how giddy that made me.

It was a long day, and by the end of it we were a little footsore and a lot cold, so we made our weary way back to the Disney Art of Animation Resort…ready to wake up the next day to start all over again at the Magic Kingdom…

I…love this place.