Today’s plan was for a slow chilled start and then end it with a bang at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I was all for going out for a quick visit to Celebration but Karen & Neil outvoted me by wanting to just laze by the pool until it was time to leave.
I started to read the Rick Astley autobiography which so far seems be to be much better than I anticipated. I also sat by the pool continuing the never-ending edit of all the old photos we were given.
The weather seemed to be even hotter and sunnier than ever, and it continues to feel strange with all the Christmas activities happening around us.
We ate lunch by the pool before getting ready to leave the villa at 2.45pm.
As ever we picked the wrong car park booth queue with the person ahead of us wanting to have a full-on conversation with the attendant. Eventually though through gritted teeth I got to hand over another $30 into the Disney coffers. I suppose as a Disney shareholder I shouldn’t be complaining about contributing to their profits. But I own just one share as a token gesture and it would cost me more to access the dividend in an US account than it is worth.
We parked in section Scar 412 and caught the waiting tram to the Transportation Centre. From here we caught the monorail to the Magic Kingdom entrance where we joined the long queues waiting for the 4pm entrance time for the ‘event’.
Pleasingly as we were standing in the hot sun, we were let in at 3.50am where we duly collected out blue riband wristbands and proceeded into the park. We collected our ‘free’ Christmas ornament and were then free to wander around. All the cast members were suitably festively dressed and seemed holly, jolly and merry.
Wandering slowly and taking some photos our first stop was the new Country Bear Jamboree. We headed here first as it was one of the rides that would be closing once the Christmas Party got in full swing and we hadn’t seen this new version. It was very amusing with its version of Elvis and Beyonce as country bears.
As Tiki Birds was close by, we went to that as it was also closing early. I think they should do a Christmas version of this, but perhaps Pierre, Michael, Fritz and Jose are too set in their ways to learn anything new.
Neil then treated us to a Dole whip which Karen & I shared as they are huge.
The ride for Jingle Cruise was short so we rode that. The ‘captain’ was good but the speaker was quite ‘tinny’ and I found it difficult to fully catch what she was saying. Still, she put her all into the narration.
Then it was time to ride Pirates which was as good as ever. It was fun having some Americans sitting behind us who had never ridden it before and were in complete awe of it all saying it was like being in the movie itself which is some compliment.
By now I was getting hungry but Neil was keen to get another couple of rides in first. We went to the old Splash Mountain now rethemed as ‘Tiana’s Bayou Adventure’. I had to ask who Tiana is or was (apparently from The Princess and the Pea – not that I had ever seen that). It was another clever piece of work by the Disney Imagineers reusing an existing ride.
It felt totally different although I did miss Brer Rabbit and the ‘Zipperdy Do Dah’ song. I may an old fuddy duddy and do understand the ‘woke’ movement but you cannot rewrite the past. I had never ridden the old version and thought to myself it was promoting ‘slavery’ instead I thought it was just a silly story set in the past about a mischievous rabbit.
The queue for Thunder Mountain was so short that there wasn’t one. Neil snagged the back row. He and Karen then rode it again but I took the opportunity for what seemed like less than a 5-minute sit down before they were back with me again.
We called into the Harbour House to collect our first free cookies and hot chocolate of the night. Karen & I saved ours to try and take home for Ellie. I had intended to grab some normal food here but they were just being used as a cookie stop for the night.
Instead, we rode Haunted Mansion which again was a walk on. I thought it had been improved since last time we rode it but not sure how.
As we were riding it, I thought of all the people who have never been and experienced these rides. Many haven’t been here because of cost which I fully understand. Many though just ‘pooh pooh ‘the idea. They really do not understand what they are missing. These rides are not something you get on a fairground. The sheer size of some of them are bigger than an entire fairground. The detail and immersive nature is just incredible and difficult to explain to someone who had not been. As for the technology designed and used it is just amazing.
I was now allowed food (but not any drink) and so I queued up in Pinocchio’s to get some bland Chicken Strips with fries for Karen & myself whilst Neil wandered off and got himself a festive special hot dog of sorts. I continue to hate theme park food. Overpriced, overcooked, spartan and mostly tasteless. I know I have a bland and faddy approach to food but it cannot be that difficult to have a better more appetising choice of options at a reasonable price.
I was now flagging as it was almost approaching my normal bedtime and both my legs and back were starting to give me real ‘gyp’ from the walking and stretching to get in and out of rides. I carried on trying not to stop Karen & Neil’s enjoyment but could tell they were not happy that I was struggling to keep up with them.
I sat and waited whilst they rode Seven Dwarfs mine train as it had a posted 25-minute wait which I thought might just about finish me off for the night. They were easily back with me within that time though.
We collected more cookies and free drinks. The eggnog was so good in one place I went round twice.
In Tomorrowland we rode Buzz Lightyear. I easily beat Neil which made him even grumpier with me.
It was then time for the Christmas fireworks. We walked to the centre outside the castle with about 7 minutes to spare and found a good position to view them. They were lovely.
As soon as they had finished, we hurried to Space Mountain. Although I wanted to ride this special festive themed version, I knew I had to keep some energy in reserve to eventually get back to the car and drive us back to the villa. Karen & Neil were back with me within 15 minutes and I kind of regretted not making the effort to go with them.
I had a nice sit down with them on the Peoplemover before we made our way back to Fantasyland for them both to go onto Peter Pan. This always has an horrendous queue so it has been many years since we have been on it. I sat it out again but it was only 20 minutes before we all walked straight onto It’s a Small World.
It was now only minutes before the park closed at midnight and so we made our way through the throngs of people down Main Street which looked beautiful all decorated with its massive Christmas Tree at the very end. We caught the end of the parade with the big red man himself on the last float.
We caught the ferry back to the TTC and pleasingly got on the tram that was waiting to take us back to the car.
It was tomorrow as we drove back to the villa. It was a quiet drive as we were exhausted, tired but hopefully all very happy.
