I woke up a little before my alarm this morning, which was not necessarily a good thing. It was going to be a very full day! This morning I watched the local news a bit. Given all that was unfolding with both Covid and Afghanistan, this was probably not the best idea, but also seemed wise. I DID enjoy watching all the news about local kids going back to school that morning while I was going to the theme parks!
Eventually I got up and redid my bandaid foot art and got ready for the day. I think I had a breakfast bar and then I headed for the bus stop. I got to the bus stop by 7:20. While I wasn’t exactly in a rush this morning, because I knew Magic Kingdom was the one park that was absolutely NOT opening rides before official opening, I really liked the concept of being at the front of the opening crowd pack and since I had no problem getting up and out for it, being on the first bus out of the resort just made sense.
A coach bus rolled up to the Magic Kingdom stop at Movies at 7:31 and was loaded up and rolling out shortly after. We pulled in to the Magic Kingdom bus zone at 7:48, and were quickly held there by security. It didn’t take very long to realize mine was the very first bus to arrive at the Magic Kingdom that day. New level of Disney dorkdom unlocked!!
Other buses quickly filled in around us, and behind us. The picture isn’t super obvious, but there was a long line of buses on the road in front of the Contemporary.
At exactly 8:00, buses were allowed to start rolling in to bus stops. Getting off the buses felt like not exactly controlled chaos. It was a LOT of buses unloading at once!
I headed for the entrance. Tip! Stay left for security. No one coming off the buses realizes that there’s a line to the left; they just go to the closest line, which is on the right. Granted, these lines go a lot faster with the new security screeners than they did pre-Covid, but still...shorter lines are always better. Also, for the love of everything, if you have a stroller, have the kids and the bags out when you reach security, because that’s going through a different line. Just don’t even load the stroller after getting off the bus until you get through security. And if you don’t take my advice, then listen to the security dudes, and stay out of the way of the people who have a plan. Please.
I made it to the tapstyles pretty quickly (again, stay LEFT), and was hit by a cloud of aerosol sunscreen. For the love of climate change and breathing issues, could we please ban this crap? And if we can’t do that could we require a spray-on sunscreen etiquette course for all who buy it? DON’T SPRAY SUNSCREEN IN AREAS WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE!!!
On the plus side, I’d decided that the Covid safest way to tackle rope drop was to keep my mask on from the bus until I got off the first ride. The mask definitely did filter out the aerosol sunscreen, and I was VERY grateful for that.
Within just a few minutes of arriving at the tapstyles, they let us into the park. I grabbed a park map, because how can you NOT grab such a joyful map, and headed deeper into the park.
I headed for the entrance. Tip! Stay left for security. No one coming off the buses realizes that there’s a line to the left; they just go to the closest line, which is on the right. Granted, these lines go a lot faster with the new security screeners than they did pre-Covid, but still...shorter lines are always better. Also, for the love of everything, if you have a stroller, have the kids and the bags out when you reach security, because that’s going through a different line. Just don’t even load the stroller after getting off the bus until you get through security. And if you don’t take my advice, then listen to the security dudes, and stay out of the way of the people who have a plan. Please.
I made it to the tapstyles pretty quickly (again, stay LEFT), and was hit by a cloud of aerosol sunscreen. For the love of climate change and breathing issues, could we please ban this crap? And if we can’t do that could we require a spray-on sunscreen etiquette course for all who buy it? DON’T SPRAY SUNSCREEN IN AREAS WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE!!!
On the plus side, I’d decided that the Covid safest way to tackle rope drop was to keep my mask on from the bus until I got off the first ride. The mask definitely did filter out the aerosol sunscreen, and I was VERY grateful for that.
Within just a few minutes of arriving at the tapstyles, they let us into the park. I grabbed a park map, because how can you NOT grab such a joyful map, and headed deeper into the park.
My rope drop goal was Splash Mountain, and I knew that Magic Kingdom wasn’t opening anything early, so I also wanted shade. I waited at the rope at Adventureland. This was pretty amusing, as they sent some of the guys from Pirates out to chat with everyone. They were pretty good. While waiting for the park to open, I mobile ordered a Kakamora float from Aloha Isle, for pickup between 10 and 10:30. I was not throwing away my shot at trying that float!
Obviously this strategy doesn’t work for those that need to ride Mine Train. But if you’re like me and realized 10 years ago that Mine Train is just meh, rope dropping the Frontierland area is the way to go. That Adventureland rope filled in, obviously, but it just didn’t get crazy crowded.
The rope was dropped at EXACTLY 9:00 and we were truly walked through Adventureland. I debated heavily but eventually veered off to Frontierland, where I met another rope. This ended up being a good strategy because at that rope, we were all told that Splash Mountain’s opening was delayed. ARGH. And then they began walking us to Big Thunder. But, because I was on the Frontierland rope, I was on the right when we met the rope coming from Adventureland. So I was in the right spot to join the Big Thunder Mountain queue, and I basically walked right on the ride.
Once I made it off the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!, I opened up the app to see what wait times were. It was obvious that Splash was still very down. There wasn’t even water coming over the falls. Turns out Pirates was also down, so wait times were building everywhere. So THIS is what people are complaining about!
Despite my aching feet, I headed for Tomorrowland, watching wait times grow as I limped. Buzz Lightyear was somewhat miraculously still posted as only a 5 minute wait, so that seemed like a good starting point, even if it was clear on the other side of the park!
Miraculously, Buzz Lightyear was still nearly a walk on (have they changed where the line dumps into the load zone? Or has it just been forever since I’ve been here?). I got a solid enough score that I don’t remember, even though my Zurg blaster had terrible agility.
Next up? Peoplemover. Except...not. As I approached it, they weren’t letting anyone up the escalator, the escalator wasn’t moving, and the CM at the bottom was on the phone. Not a good sign! Sure enough, by the time I walked by it, they were clearing the line. So how many rides are down at Magic Kingdom now?! (at least 3…)
I studied the app some more and made my way to Little Mermaid. This was a walk-on.
Back on land, I headed for Adventureland. Time to eat! But first, I hear music! I watched the Tinkerbelle cavalcade, before heading over to Aloha Isle.
I studied the app some more and made my way to Little Mermaid. This was a walk-on.
Back on land, I headed for Adventureland. Time to eat! But first, I hear music! I watched the Tinkerbelle cavalcade, before heading over to Aloha Isle.
As I approached Aloha Isle I hit the “I’m here” button on my mobile order, and pretty quickly I was directed to window 3. I’d wondered how mobile order would go with frozen treats, but it turned out they didn’t actually make them until you’re physically in front of them. So that was good. The not so good? They were accepting walk up orders at the mobile order pick up windows. Not cool, not cool.
So...what’s the kakamora float? That would be coconut dole whip, in pineapple juice, with blue syrup. And a cake pop. My understanding is the cake pop is chocolate, so I didn’t eat it, because Disney chocolate cake and I are NOT friends. The float was AH-MAZING!
Adding to the fun, I got to eat my float while watching another cavalcade. These cavalcades are so much better than full parades (during the day...we’ll talk about special after hours events later).
As I finished my float it became clear that Splash Mountain was finally opening. While an actual date for the redo hasn’t been announced, I’m familiar enough with Disney’s refurb patterns to be pretty confident that this is my last trip to ride the Zip-a-dee-do-dah version of Splash. So I inhaled the rest of my float, and headed for the line. They were claiming a 45 minute wait, but they weren’t actually sending occupied logs over the flume yet, so I figured my odds were pretty good.
And they were. 25 minutes exactly from the time I stepped into line I was stepping into a log. Front row too, because the people in front of me in line didn’t want the front row. Guess I’m making this one count! I zip-a-dee-do-dah’d and just generally enjoyed the ride.
After Splash, I had to get a selfie with my Splash appropriate shirt and Splash in the background. This was easier said than done.
Splash conquered, I headed for Fantasyland. Even though I was still wet from Splash, it was time for some AC, stopping to see some Country bears on my way to Fantasyland.
Philharmagic was basically a walk-in so that’s where I went. It was enjoyable as always, but I definitely prefer sitting farther back than the 4th row where I ended up!
Philharmagic done, it was time for another float! Storybook Treats thankfully does not use mobile order, so within a few minutes I had the Peter Pan float in hand. This one is lime dole whip in Sprite. Super refreshing, although the sprite didn’t do much for it. But overall, delicious on a hot day.
Philharmagic done, it was time for another float! Storybook Treats thankfully does not use mobile order, so within a few minutes I had the Peter Pan float in hand. This one is lime dole whip in Sprite. Super refreshing, although the sprite didn’t do much for it. But overall, delicious on a hot day.
From here I did some picture taking and shopping as I gradually made my way out of the park. I saw another cavalcade and the band, and I bought stuff in the Christmas shop and the Emporium. Then I left the park. It was really feeling like August today, both in terms of heat and people. It was time for a break.
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