Halloween at Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Originally uploaded by mgharris

Well it isn’t for the faint-hearted, tired or the Disney-phobe. We arrived yesterday at 9am and parked in the Pluto car park. When we left after midnight there were only 6 cars left of around 1000 spaces. Everyone else had wimped out!
Ha, amateurs, to those with staying power, the candy!
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party is a ticket-only event which takes place on select evenings during October. The actual Halloween date sells out way in advance.
Too bad we didn’t think of that when we booked our hotel and flights some months ago. We ended up buying tickets from a scalper on eBay, some clued-in guy who bought them up well ahead of time, and made out like a bandit. As my friend Donna’s husband Ben remarked yesterday, at this point buying those tickets in advance is a better investment than any stock.
Party-goers get to enjoy a special parade (Boo To You) and fireworks, trick-or-treating and dance parties, plus late night access to the rides.
After lining up multiple times for the free candy that was being handed out all over, and seeing the mayhem around popular rides like Peter Pan we headed for the relative quiet of Tomorrowland (quiet apart from Stitch’s wild disco dance party, where we mamboed with Pluto and Goofy.)
There we adults finally allowed the kids off the leash, and let them ride the Peoplemover alone, where i’m told they discussed confidential ‘girly’ stuff. And in our own separate car we kicked back, exhausted, and temporarily child-free. ‘The best ride in the park’ was the verdict of Donna (fellow author @writerdonna of the LITOPIA Daily podcast).
Best ride of the day: Splash Mountain.
Best score on the Buzz Lightyear ride/game: Donna with 270,000 odd points.
Best snack: the Pineapple Whip at Aloha Isle in Adventureland.
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Random observations from Disney

Originally uploaded by mgharris

The Twilight Zone ride Tower of Terror is out of order for a bit.
I’m still very spacey from some cough medicine I took last night. How cool that you can buy such effective drugs over the counter in this country!
Also my appetite has failed to return post another attack of some kind of virus. (I hesitate to say H1N1 but it kinda probably was…) thank goodness, really, because food here is so yummy and tempting that a bird-like appetite is all that stands between me and massive weight gain. The cupcakes are frosted six-inches high! And apples smothered in thick layers of caramel.
What is a girl to do?
A High School Musical float has just appeared next to the Starring Rolls Café where we’re having breakfast.
I bought a Jack-O-Lantern shirt for tomorrow’s Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom.
Oh how I love Disney. And did I mention I’m feeling a bit jazzed? You’ll get no sense out of me today.
Hasta luego. X

MG Harris

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Mission Space Green Team is for wimps

Originally uploaded by mgharris

Thus spake Little Daughter after experiencing the most hardcore simulator ride I’ve ever come across, Epcot’s Mission Space.

Despite numerous warnings, before and just prior to the ride, we chose the more challenging Orange Team mission. We laughed when they told us it was not for the wussy. I’ve never been on a ride where they tried so hard to talk you out of it. If you have any doubt whatsoever about which mission to pick, the ‘mission trainer’ urged, pick Green Team. Or dip out completely and go do some mission training at a console.

Remember Tomorrowland’s old ride, Mission to Mars? Well, this is a new mission to Mars but that’s where the resemblance ends. Once you’re in the ‘training capsule’ you’re subjected to actual G forces, as well as the usual simulator stuff, sudden turns and drops.

Fully, fully awesome. We last visited Epcot during the millenium celebrations and it’s changed quite a bit. Yet still, the ‘wow’ factor isn’t quite what it was in my first visits in the 1980s.

The truth is that the gap between Epcot’s vision of the world and the actual world has narrowed. Little Daughter’s jaw didn’t drop as mine had on first seeing a silent monorail glide around the futuristic buildings. How could it? She’d seen sleek monorail shuttles at the airports of Singapore, Detroit and Orlando. Fountains emerge from flat ground to dance in front of Heathrow Terminal 5. She’s been on the insanely high London Eye and seen our capital’s swanky new skyline.

Epcot is still seriously cool but it’s no longer an experimental prototype.

Do kids today even know what EPCOT means?

But then I’m nostalgic enough to miss Horizon and the Carousel of Progress.

*sob* damn you Disney, what have you done to my childhood memories?

Best ride at Epcot for little kids: The Seas with Nemo and Friends

Most physically challenging ride at Epcot: Mission Space Orange Team
MG Harris

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