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Wednesday – November 3, 2004 - The Bird That Hates
Me
Woke up at 5:30 and flicked on the tube. Reports are that the
election is still too close to call. I have visions of 2000.
At 8:15 we head out to AK to pick up a couple of attractions that
we missed the other day. The bus shows quickly and we’re through
the turnstiles and into the Oasis, waiting for the official opening.
While we wait, we have a rope on our right that separates us from
the folks heading in to have breakfast with Donald. On that side
of the rope, there’s also a drinking fountain. As they will,
a number of children on our side see the fountain and ask Mom or
Dad if they can get a drink. There’s a young boy, about 7-8,
in front of us and he’s playing with the rope. On a couple
of occasions, he tried to trip or decapitate several smaller children
as they made their way through. Wayne waited for an appropriate
point when the kid was just leaning on it and gave the rope a sharp
tug. It got his attention and he went back to join his parents who
were deep into a park map and oblivious to the whole thing.
Mickey was part of the official opening and, although I expected
to see Goofy, there was no one by the Tree of Life. We walked to
Dinosaur and rode without a wait. A CM at the entrance did give
one of those ‘timing’ lanyards to a young boy in front
of us. I’m really not sure why because we walked straight
in to the pre-show.
We exited into the carnival and took a spin on Primeval Whirl.
This ride seems to get a bit more violent each time I ride it. It
was a first for Sue and Wayne and, although we didn’t know
it then, this ride gave Wayne a sour stomach for a good part of
the day.
One of our AK semi-traditions is a late breakfast at Tusker House
so we headed over there. To my dismay, I saw they no longer offered
the breakfast croissant sandwiches. Shoot. Wayne and I had the scrambled
eggs and the girls had cinnamon rolls (although Barb informed me
later that she had asked me to get her a Danish. Shows how well
I listen to her).
Sue and Wayne had never seen Flights of Wonder so we took a seat
there to wait for the next show. About 10 minutes before the show
starts, a CM comes out front with a horned owl on his arm and talks
about the bird and answers questions from the crowd. It was pretty
interesting.
At a point in the show, they bring out a very large condor/vulture
(I can’t remember the name of the thing) and he flies very
low over the audience. On our last trip, I was lining up for a photo
of this thing when he flew over me and grazed my head with his ‘talons
of death’. Being much the wiser now, we sat farther back and
further left. He ain’t getting me again.
Sure enough, we reach that part of the show and they bring out
Rodan. I smirk. They release this thing and doesn’t he fly
directly over me? Actually, he flew directly over Wayne but his
left wing hit me in the head. Everyone else saw it so, this time,
I’m sure it was not my imagination. There’s a bird at
AK with a vendetta against me.
Next up is Kali River Rapids. Wayne chooses to sit this one out,
the wimp. He takes up a spot on the bridge where he’s planning
on blasting us with the elephants but several kids hog the controls
and stymie his plans. The ride is good and we really don’t
get too wet. It’s mid-80s again so drying out quickly is not
a problem. It’s interesting but, during the early part of
KRR, as you’re winding through the burning rain forest, you
get a very good view of the construction on Expedition Everest.
It seems contrary that Disney would allow a view of a mountain in
Nepal from a forest in South America.
We’ve now done everything at AK that we needed to do so
we head out and to the bus stops. We exit again at the Swan and
walk to the BW. Sue and Wayne continue on to the room and we have
plans to meet at the quiet pool. Barb and I head into the shops
to look over the globes one last time. After a bit of hemming and
hawing, we finally decide to buy the Fantasmic globe. I know I can
save 10% if we buy it at World of Disney but we can’t remember
if we saw it there and we don’t really want to make the trip
anyway. We buy it for $80 and have it shipped home for $10.95 –
this also saves the sales tax because you ship it out of state.
Let New York try and recoup the tax. They also told us to expect
it in 10-15 business days. (NOTE – It showed up yesterday,
exactly one week since our return. Unfortunately, and despite some
impressive packing material, Goofy (one of the characters on the
boat) came with a broken nose. We really didn’t want to go
through the turmoil of sending it back for replacement so I super-glued
his nose back on. So far, it looks like it will hold.)
We headed up to the room, changed and went to the quiet pool for
a swim. Sue was there, but no Wayne. He was napping and trying to
shake off that feeling he’s had since Primeval Whirl. After
about an hour, we went up to the rooms to begin packing –
never a good feeling. We planned on meeting at 4:15 for MK.
At about 4:00 (we are ALWAYS early) we headed to MK. Our first
stop was one of Wayne’s favorites – the Tiki Room. It’s
an attraction I can tolerate. I don’t love it nor do I hate
it. It’s fine if I see it but nothing’s lost if I don’t.
I do enjoy the newer version more than the old one.
We took a look at BTMRR but the standby was 30 minutes so we decided
to take another turn with Mickey’s Philharmagic. This would
be our third viewing and second this trip. We walked in and had
about a 5-minute wait outside the theater. When the doors opened,
we found ourselves in the 3rd row – much closer than any of
us had been previously – and fairly close to the end of the
row on the right side. As I enjoyed the show, I had the distinct
impression that I was ‘seeing’ things better. The 3-D
effects seemed better and more pronounced indicating that sitting
closer may be a bit better. I thought it was just me but, on the
way out, Wayne was saying exactly the same thing. I’ll have
to try it again to be sure.
We were a bit hungry and Barb suggested Casey’s. We grabbed
some dogs, fries and sodas and took up residence in the bleachers.
All the outdoor tables were full. While ‘dining’ they
were playing the Goofy sports cartoon, which is my all time favorite.
It was time to find a spot to see Wishes so we found a area to
the right of the hub where we could lean on a planter. Someone mentioned
ice cream so I went off to get us some Mickey bars. As I turned
the corner on Main Street, two CMs were wheeling the close-up carts
by me for storage. Curses, too late. I did find a popcorn cart closer
to the Castle that also sold ice cream but the line was 25 deep.
I walked back empty handed.
While waiting for Wishes to start, we could hear a lady behind
us speaking into a cell phone. She was directing her daughter to
find them. I heard her say, “Come down the ramp. We can see
you. Look to your left.” I looked toward the Pavilion and
I could see a young girl walking, cell phone to her ear, searching
the crowd. We started waving our arms saying “Over here”.
She was the woman’s daughter and she thanked us.
At 7:05 they announced that they were having technical difficulties
and that Wishes would be delayed. Just before they said ‘delayed’
I expected to hear ‘cancelled’. This would be our only
chance to see Wishes and I was really hoping it would go on.
At 7:15, the lights dimmed and the music started. A few fireworks
exploded and then we saw Tink fly down from the Castle. We walked
under the Castle earlier and I glanced up at that wire. My palms
were sweaty just looking up. That is one brave person. As part of
the Keys to the Kingdom tour, Kristin learned that there were multiple
‘Tinkerbells’ but only 3 were woman. They need to have
the upper body strength to pull themselves along the wire in the
event something snags or fails. That’s one job at WDW I would
not want.
Wishes is a great show and, having seen them back-to-back, it’s
head and shoulders over FitS. I have the soundtrack for Wishes but
it really doesn’t do it justice.
After the show we bussed back to the BW (via the Swan) and hit
Seashore Sweets for a waffle cone (actually Barb got a Sundae).
We watched the juggler on the BW while we ate and then went into
the Belle Vue Room for a nightcap. I can’t believe it’s
our last night and it’s the first visit to the Belle Vue.
We grabbed a table and 4 chairs in the back and were served by
CM Allen. He’s been there since our first Boardwalk stay in
2001. We sipped a drink and chatted about the day, the trip, etc.
I still maintain the Belle Vue is an excellent close to a Disney
day.
Things I Think I Think
I think there’s a bird at Flights of Wonder that has it
in for me.
I think sitting up front at Mickey’s Philharmagic provides
a better show. I’ll need to verify this, though.
I think, shoot - I know, that I really enjoy Wishes.
I think I’m not ready to go home.
Day 6...
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