WDW: Three Tours

Here are our Magic Bands from the trip; our inspiration came from Pluto (one of my very favorite characters, if not my absolute favorite) and his dog girlfriend, Dinah, from a 1945 classic Disney cartoon entitled, "Canine Casanova," who is a Dachshund.

Dinah & Pluto

Canine Casanova

adorable

so cute

Thursday, September 17

Our flight to Orlando arrived around 8:00, after which time we picked up our rental car and drove straight to Magic Kingdom without even stopping to check in to our room first.  MK was closing at 10:00, and we walked in the front gate at 9:30, leaving us just enough time to grab a drink at Starbucks, get a Nutella waffle, and watch the Main Street Electrical Parade.  Just about a perfect time at MK in our opinion.  We stayed until 11:30 to see the Kiss Goodnight and wander around taking photos with very few people around.  And guess what song was playing as we walked down Main Street?  Married Life.  So perfect!

By the time we drove over to Caribbean Beach Resort to check in, it was almost midnight.  Apparently midnight on Thursday is not when the "A Team" works.  It was a painfully slow and extremely frustrating check-in experience, from the cast member not being able to sign on the computer and repeatedly telling us she was going to have to "call IT," to the people next to us who were asking ridiculous questions to a second cast member that revealed that they had clearly spent zero time planning or preparing for their trip, to the cast member "helping" us being confused about the names on our Magic Bands and pulling out a huge, Nancy-Drew-style magnifying glass to try and read the numbers on the back of the bands.  I am amused thinking back to the absurdity of it all, but at the time, it took every ounce of restraint to not completely lose it.  Thankfully, we got a great corner room with two windows in an ideal location, so everything worked out, but my goodness!  What an ordeal.

Peter Pan

Friday, September 18

We had to be up early because we were taking a tour at MK!  We had never done any Disney tour prior to this trip and over our four days, we took three tours!

Friday's tour was called "Keys to the Kingdom" and it was phenomenal.  Seriously.  Our tour guide was amazingly knowledgeable and charming.  We had two reservations about taking the tours:  1) Would they "spoil" the magic for us? and 2) Would they turn out to be a waste of money because we are rather well-versed in Disney history and know a lot of Disney trivia?  Neither of these concerns were founded.  In addition to learning interesting stories and facts over the course of the five-hour tour, were rode Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, and went "backstage" to see the inner workings of MK.  We also had lunch at Columbia Harbor House and were fortunate to be seated with the tour guide, so we spent the entire time talking about our respective Disney experiences.  We loved it!

After the tour, we drove to Epcot and rode a few attractions before attending the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party.  This was another first for us, because we'd never done one of the dessert parties before.  Despite the fact that we aren't particularly fond of IllumiNations, the location was great – the large area between the two gift shops as you enter the World Showcase – and the food was delicious.  Tons of dessert choices, along with champagne, coffee, tea, water, etc., and it was a fun experience.  We checked in at about 7:45 and IllumiNations began at 9:00, so there was plenty of time to sample everything and then enjoy the show!  It was a little on the pricey side, and as I mentioned, we don't really love IllumiNations, so we probably wouldn't shell out the money to do this again.  But it was great to do it once!

Founder waffle

Paperman

hard to see, but it reads, "Disney's Keys to the Kingdom"

Inside Out

A Hidden Mickey of my own creation

Saturday, September 19

We headed over to MK for a breakfast reservation at Be Our Guest and then spent a few hours wandering around Main Street, where we caught a performance of the Dapper Dans and met the Mayor, and took tons of photos.  I never, ever, ever get tired of castle photos!

We took a bus over to Beach Club and walked in the back entrance to Epcot because we had a lunch reservation at Via Napoli in the Italy Pavilion.  We walked through Epcot and out the front of the park to catch the monorail back to the Ticket and Transportation Center.  We went over to the Polynesian for Dole Whip Floats at Pineapple Lanai and on a whim, I suggested we go over to Trader Sam's because C hadn't seen the WDW version yet.  Over course it was insanely busy, but out behind the bar is a beautiful patio area called Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace and we sat there to enjoy the awesome live music – a ukulele player who was fantastic!

We finally went back to CBR to relax before our late dinner reservation at California Grill over at Contemporary.  Dinner was amazing.  The food was amazing.  The view of Wishes was amazing.  I cannot say enough good things about this place!

Sunset at CBR

Sunday, September 20

Sunday brought our second tour at MK:  "Marceline to Magic Kingdom."  As you might suspect, we loved it!  The first thing our tour guide discussed was the importance of calling WDW "Walt Disney World" – NOT "Disney" – which is something that drives me CRAZY.  It's like nails on a chalkboard to me when people say they are going to "Disney" – because to those in the know, that means NOTHING.  Disney is a name, possibly even an idea, but it's NOT a place.  The place is "Walt Disney World," and the meaning behind the name is of great importance. He also spoke to another pet peeve of mine – when people refer to the castle as "Cinderella's Castle" – it is "Cinderella Castle." So within the first five minutes of the tour, I already thought that our tour guide was brilliant.

As far as the tour goes, we learned a great deal about the Disney family, about the artists who helped bring the ideas to life, and the "Disney Details" that I love so much, and we rode Haunted Mansion, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Carousel of Progress as we walked through MK.  But the best part of the tour was going "backstage" inside and underneath Haunted Mansion.  I will not give away any secrets, but that experience alone was worth the cost of the tour!

On our way out of MK that afternoon, we passed a cast member who had a basket of celebration buttons.  I noticed some doodles on them, so I stopped to take a photo.  I admired his Winnie the Pooh drawing and he gave me the button!  Such a little gesture, but I was deliriously happy because, as I've written about in previous posts, I love Winnie the Pooh.  The teacher in me was fine with his spelling of "Honey," but the Disney fan in me was mortified because any Pooh Bear fan knows it's "Hunny!"  Regardless of the spelling, I love the button…and goodness knows that in hundreds of trips to Starbucks (those times when I give my actual name and not a Disney character), I can count on one hand how many times my name has been spelled correctly, so Honey/Hunny shouldn't bother me!

We went back to CBR for a nap before returning to MK for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.  We've attended this event several times, and this year was equally fun!  The party runs from 7 pm until midnight, and although it was a little busy earlier in the evening, it seemed like the crowds had really thinned out by about 10:30 and wait times for rides were really low (10 minutes for Space Mountain!).  For me, the highlights were the Boo To You! parade, HalloWishes, and the Cadaver Dans, along with the lighting and theming of the park for the event.  I will never understand why people pay $60+ per person for tickets to the event and then spend their time going from candy station to candy station.  What a waste!  Stop by Target or Walmart and buy your own candy so you can spend the night enjoying the park!  Think, people!

Our almost perfect night was tarnished by yet another unpleasant encounter with cast members.  It was almost 1 am by the time we got back to our room, and we had decided to call the front desk and ask for a late check out the next morning because we had a very early tour at MK and didn't want to have to pack everything up at 6 am.  Twenty minutes and two uninformed and dishonest cast members later, we were finally granted a late check out.  I did share my frustration over this with a manager at the resort the next day and he apologized profusely, but I've really been disappointed with some cast members over the past few trips!

Best seats at MK

Haunted Mansion

Cinderella Castle Mosaic

Love this so much!

Frozen

MNSSHP

Candy Corn ice cream

Headless Horseman

Cadaver Dans

Rainbow Space Mountain from TTA

EMBARRASSING (Buss Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin)

Monday, September 21

Our third and final tour was back at MK, and because we had to be there so early, we were allowed to park at the Contemporary and walk over to MK, which was super convenient!  The tour was called "The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains," and it was the one I was least looking forward to taking.  Perhaps my initially low expectations were a factor, but I thought this tour was fantastic!  Once again, I was extremely impressed with our tour guide, and I ended up learning SO much about trains and early Disney history!  Plus, we saw the maintenance bay and rode the train around the park, so that was really fun.

We ended the trip with a quick stop over at DHS to visit One Man's Dream, which is my favorite attraction there and is sadly rumored to be closing soon, and Muppet Vision 3-D.  Unfortunately, it was then time to make the depressing drive to the airport and return to reality.

Up

Make Mine Music

Final Thoughts...

Now that we've experienced three of the amazing tours that are offered, we will definitely consider other tours in the future.  They gave me an even deeper appreciation for the Disney Parks, and overall, what we really took from the three tours is that Disney history is compelling and thought-provoking and inspiring.  I cried multiple times as I listened to the guides on all three of our tours because I was so moved by the stories they shared.

It's always been the stories of the Disney Company that I have loved – the "rides" are an extension of those stories, but they are not the be all or end all for me.  And that's why we can spend hours at MK and not go on a single ride.  I could go to a regular amusement park or a carnival or a midway if I wanted rides.  I want Magic.  And so I go to Disney Parks.

Happy Tails to you!