Day 24 - Thursday 2 March - Magic Kingdom

Slept til about 6:30. Breakfast in room and on the 8:00 bus to the Transportation and Ticketing Centre (external buses aren't allowed at the Magic Kingdom bus stop or some such nonsense).

Took the ferry across the lake to get to the park.

Magic Kingdom and one of the ferries
Magic Kingdom and one of the ferries

Returned a phone to its owner. She'd been on the 7:00 bus and dropped it. David called various people using Siri ("call mum" and "call dad") and got through to someone who got through to her husband. Met her at the gates.

Main Street, Magic Kingdom
Main Street, Magic Kingdom

Me with the Disney Partners statue and Cinderella's Castle
Me with the Disney Partners statue and Cinderella's Castle

Cinderella's Castle
Cinderella's Castle

First up we went on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Supposed to be a 50 minute wait but was more like 35. Fun little roller coaster. We had a front row which was nice but would probably have been a slightly better ride at the back.

Pinocchio's Village
Pinocchio's Village

Next we saw Enchanted Tales with Belle. Said 15 minutes but was probably about 8. For this one, various people will act parts and then you meet Belle at the end. I would have skipped this if I'd known what it was going to be, as it was a bit lame (it'd only really be worth it if you had kids as one of the parts).

Belle from Beauty and the Beast
Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Then we did Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid. This is a clamshell style ride taking you through various scenes from the movie.

Castle bridge in Fantasy Land
Castle bridge in Fantasy Land

Scene from The Little Mermaid
Scene from The Little Mermaid

Ariel's castle and grotto
Ariel's castle and grotto

Next was The Barnstormer. Said 15 minutes but was longer. Cute little roller coaster.

Then we took the train the entire way around the park.

Walt Disney World Railway
Walt Disney World Railway

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Hayley wanted to go on the Prince Charming Regal Carousel, so we did, just a bit of fun.

David on Prince Charming Regal Carousel
David on Prince Charming Regal Carousel

Hayley on Prince Charming Regal Carousel
Hayley on Prince Charming Regal Carousel

Me on Prince Charming Regal Carousel
Me on Prince Charming Regal Carousel

Next was Mikey's PhilharMagic 4D show. Nice big theatre. Except they forced everyone to bunch up the entire way to the right of the theatre, leaving almost noone in the middle. So we got up and moved, with them yelling at us all the while that we can't leave that way or go that way or wtf but we ignored them and came in behind everyone else and sat in the middle of the theatre. So dumb.

Buildings in Fantasyland
Buildings in Fantasyland

Hayley wanted to have a go at pulling the sword out of the stone. When she was a kid her sister had actually done it and they got express passes the rest of the day. So we lined up. And this little kid just in front of us (who was all dressed up) actually pulled it out!! Except all he got was a sticker. Lolz.

David and me trying to pull the sword from the stone
David and me trying to pull the sword from the stone

Next up was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Slow slow slow tedious queue and very noisy. It said 15 minutes but was probably a bit over that. I don't really even remember the ride. Just a bit of fun. Meh. heh.

Hunny cart in the Winnie the Pooh ride
Hunny cart in the Winnie the Pooh ride

Then we did the Tomorrowland Speedway. Such an anachronism with noisy petrol powered little cars. Said about 15 minutes which was about right. Bit of fun. I let David drive and took photos.

Tomorrowland Speedway
Tomorrowland Speedway

David and me at Tomorrowland Speedway
David and me at Tomorrowland Speedway

Look at this character, texting and not even looking at the road ;)
Look at this character, texting and not even looking at the road ;)

Tron roller coaster from Tomorrowland Speedway
Tron roller coaster from Tomorrowland Speedway

Had an ice cream afterwards which was nice.

Next was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It was supposed to be a 20 minute wait but the queue just STOPPED for ages, apparently there was some disabled person somewhere that clogged things up for ages. So it was 55 minutes waiting in the end, and a lot of it in the sun. HATE. It's a bit of a stoopid ride anyway, you just go around shooting stuff trying to get points. I would have been happy to abandon the queue after it stopped moving after 10 minutes. Oh well. Also I banged my head on a pole so I was pretty damned grumpy about the whole thing.

Danger: Energy Level Falling
Danger: Energy Level Falling

Yup, this was me
Yup, this was me

After the ride we parted ways with Hayley.

David and I continued on.

Did the Astro Orbiter next, which was like Dumbo in rocket ships. Said about 20 minutes wait, about that.

David on Astro Orbiter
David on Astro Orbiter

Happened on another parade.

Anna and Elsa in the parade
Anna and Elsa in the parade

The Little Mermaid in the parade
The Little Mermaid in the parade

Peter Pan in the parade
Peter Pan in the parade

Baby flying horse from Fantasia in the parade
Baby flying horse from Fantasia in the parade

Mickey and Minnie in the parade
Mickey and Minnie in the parade

Went and saw the Swiss Family Robinson tree house.

Inside the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Inside the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

Tron and Space Mountain from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Tron and Space Mountain from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

Then sat for the Enchanted Tiki Room show which was a bit meh.

The Jungle Cruise said it would be a 65 minute wait, but we'd queued and done the whole ride and were off again within 32 minutes. But it was quite fun, and stuff like the rhino chasing people up a tree which was been in every park ever was there which was fun.

Jungle Cruise
Jungle Cruise

Last aid
Last aid

Rhinocerus chasing people up a tree
Rhinocerus chasing people up a tree

Elephants on the jungle cruise
Elephants on the jungle cruise

Then we went around on the Liberty Belle river boat, which is actually a steam paddle boat. The thing is on a rail so they don't need to steer it, but David was fascinated by the operation of the steam engine and watching it go into reverse to cast off as well as slow down at the end.

Steam engine on the Liberty Belle
Steam engine on the Liberty Belle

The Haunted Mansion from the Liberty Belle
The Haunted Mansion from the Liberty Belle

Frontierland from the Liberty Belle
Frontierland from the Liberty Belle

Tom Sawyer Island from the Liberty Belle
Tom Sawyer Island from the Liberty Belle

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from the Liberty Belle
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from the Liberty Belle

Native American camp from the Liberty Belle
Native American camp from the Liberty Belle

Paddles on the Liberty Belle
Paddles on the Liberty Belle

The Liberty Bell (replica)
The Liberty Bell (replica)

On the way out of the park we dropped into Pandora so David could get Kellie a Disney charm.

View down Main Street
View down Main Street

View down Main Street
View down Main Street

Magic Kingdom main building and train
Magic Kingdom main building and train

Monorail at Magic Kingdom station
Monorail at Magic Kingdom station

Took a monorail back to the TTC and got the 18:30 bus back to the hotel.

Screen of David's camera showing Jupiter and the four Galilean moons
Screen of David's camera showing Jupiter and the four Galilean moons

Me taking a photo of David taking a photo of Hayley taking a photo of David's photo of Jupiter and the four Galilean moons
Me taking a photo of David taking a photo of Hayley taking a photo of David's photo of Jupiter and the four Galilean moons

Met up with Hayley who organised a Lyft to Golden Corral. I was initially thinking I wouldn't go with them because I wasn't sure I'd be able to stomach it. But I'd been feeling better and getting my appetite back, and it's fairly cheap anyway, so I went and actually had a really nice meal there. Even had some healthy stuff ;)

Carvery buffet at Golden Corral.  Not as big as the one we went to in 2004 :)
Carvery buffet at Golden Corral. Not as big as the one we went to in 2004 :)

Then Lyft back to the hotel.