Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Florida: The Magic Kingdom

Traveling with children, Disney feels like it is inevitable. So, morning broke and we scrambled together a lunch, water and drove to the park to pay our $15 parking fee. I am sure there is a way to get around that, but I was already tired and did not want to think about it. From there, we walked to the gate and wandered onto the Monorail to be transported to the most magical place on earth. That is the slogan. I would suggest that it a crazy, insane cacophony of sound and people.

On arrival, the lines were huge to get onto the Monorail. If you wanted to meet the characters, the lines were at least 45 minutes long. So, we skipped that and went to Tomorrowland to get our Fast Passes. You are only allowed three per day. Then, we rode on Buzz light year and then wandered to the Pirates of the Carribean. We watched the street dancing parade, which was OK, but blocks every route imaginable.

And the people keep pouring into the park. Fast passes are a god send, but you only get three. We still had to wait about 20 minutes with the Fast Passes. The thing to note with Disney is that they do their best to be friendly and kind but of course, you get those that are inept. We thoroughly enjoyed Pirates, the Haunted House, the Speedway, Buzzlight Year, It's a Small World and Disney's Philharmagic. However, we lost 30 minutes at the Fairies as the wait time posted was 20 minutes and they meant an hour, but worse than that was Jungle Boat where we dutifully noted the wait time of 45 minutes, did some calcuations and figured that with 90 minutes in hand we should be OK for our next fast pass. TWO hours, we waited and eventually, did not even get to go on the ride. The girls were upset and I was incensed. I hate crowds and to be trapped in a line that long without the opportunity to get out due to sheer misinformation shaped our day. Fortunately, when the fellow at Thunder Mountain heard me talking about it, he apolgized on their behalf and offered a free fast pass for that ride. I was somewhat mollified by that. As I said, the majority of the staff were great.

We also had a Royal Dinner with the princesses in the castle. This was worth the time and energy. The food was magificent and the girls got to be up close and personal with the princesses which made their day. After dinner, we slipped down the ramp to watch the fireworks. Next time, we will watch from behind the castle, they would be better. And heaven help you if you have a toddler that needs restrooms, it took me 30 minutes to negotiate four girls to bathrooms through the fireworks crowd. Disney staff contientously had every logical route blocked off for public safety. That is more important than a direct route to public washrooms. I have a lot of pithy comments to make about that but perhaps I shouldn't. And perhaps the staff should know the park well enough to be able to clearly communicate the best route to find restrooms instead of just saying ma'am you can't go that way, or maam you have to go back. (Visualize a 6 year old barely holding it and being asked to walk 20 minutes back the other way). These staff were just doing their job. I just think their job should be more reasonable in nature.





In the end, I enjoy Disney in part. I hate it in parts too. It is not my favorite place and it is not magical. It is an exercise in patience and a struggle to keep the children entertained in the endless lines. I think that we will try Epcot, or somewhere not so magical. I think we will have to go back, but I really don't want to. Is that wrong?

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