MAGIC KINGDOM FALL AND CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

I really can’t decide which of these holidays I love the most at the parks.  Fall is my favorite time of the year and who doesn’t love the Christmas holiday season?

When we arrived in October the Fall/Halloween decorations were out in full force.  Then on November first  it was magically Christmas! The Christmas decorations grew and grew more every night, right up until we left.

The Magic Kingdom is the theme park most associated with Walt Disney World. Our touring of this main theme park was at our pace.  Which is the pace of a seasoned annual pass holder who has been to the park enough times they have lost track of how many times it has actually been.

Over the years we have experienced “rope drop”, the opening of the park each day.  Even doing the early morning and late evening “Extra Magic Hours” that are reserved for on-site guests and enjoyed them, but not enough these days to make it worth it to us to get up early, eat a hurried breakfast and fight the crowds to get on the transportation system. We do still on occasion stay during the late hours.

Instead we now prefer a leisurely breakfast at the camper, thus avoiding paying for a high dollar one in the park.  Then strolling to the appropriate transportation hub and riding near empty conveyances to the park of choice. 

We also prefer to leave the park before the main crowds do in the evenings.  While we love the fireworks show we generally only remain around for them one night, if that, each visit.  We have found great viewing areas outside the Magic Kingdom to see the actual fireworks, just not what is projected on the castle and of course you can’t hear the background music and story. 

Our planned trip for fall 2017 will include a night to see the new Happily Ever After fireworks show that is replacing Wishes in the spring of 2017. 

Once at the park the main bottleneck of people rushing to get into the park is gone.  By combining our policy of carrying no bags and entering at the annual pass gate it is almost a straight walk in for us rather than the long lines to get in had we gone earlier in the day. I recently read they have instituted an annual pass bag check as well, which will speed up things for folks who do take in bags of all sorts.

On the subject of bags.  When we were first visiting WDW as much younger people we all wore belt bags, carried camera bags or backpacks.  These you either rent a locker for or are constantly having to take them  off to store them in the required bins on rides then dig them out of the bins and put them back on.

Instead I carry my ticket, id and debit card in a well covered pocket with my cell phone in another one. Gary wears cargo pants into which he puts spare camera batteries, battery packs for the cell phones, keys etc.

Periodically we will be asked to empty our pockets and go through a metal detector (maybe it has something to do with Gary’s long hair and beard but it isn’t a problem because we carry so little. 

The freedom of no bags is great.  We feel it is worth paying for a meal or snack to split rather than putting up with the hassle.  It doesn’t work for everyone, but it works extremely well for us.

One request please, if you truly feel you MUST carry a backpack or a purse, watch where you swing that thing.  I cannot tell you how often I have received major hits from people paying no attention to who they conk with those things.  Same goes for scooters and strollers.  People we are in the USA, we drive on the right side of the road here.----rant over

By eating at the camper before we go we then have the luxury of eating a late lunch (which is generally cheaper than supper prices) or early supper, which allows us to once again avoid a crowded line.

More importantly, it also allows us to stop and truly see things along the way.  While we do still take photos and videos of parades such as the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

rides

We get to enjoy the ambiance and take photos of things many people often over look.  There have been volumes of books written about Hidden Mickey’s, the names on the main street windows and such, but it takes slowing down to look for these things as well as at the detail the behind the scenes artists have put into every inch of the parks.

We love this slower pace and have discovered so many “hidden treasures” as we tour the parks now it is almost like visiting the parks for the very first time.

interesting dressed non-cast members

Not to mention all the various little pop up shows that aren’t in any buildings, but are viewed from the street.

One such show is in Liberty Square near the Hall of Presidents.  There a few different versions of the show.  This is just one of the Muppets "Great Moments in History".  Click the hyperlink for the complete show.

One hidden Mickey that many people will most likely never see can only be seen from the air.  As my post “Kudos to Mickey Mouse”, which is yet another Disney World post mentions Disney does a lot toward conserving our environment.  This hidden Mickey is huge, very huge.  It is a solar panel farm that helps provide some of the energy for Walt Disney World and is located just outside the main gates leading to the Transportation Ticket Center parking.

We try to visit the Magic Kingdom on traditionally less busy days.  In the past Mondays and any day that the Magic Kingdom has “extra magic hours”  or a special party like “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party,”  Or “Mickey’s VeryMagical Christmas Party” are the busy days.  So we check the online calendar for these events and try to go on days that such events are not happening.

We plan ahead of time on what rides we do want to ride in each park and if they are a popular ride, like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, we try to get fast passes for them before we ever leave the camper.  Sometimes even days ahead.  Although we will skip rides or add rides as the mood hits us, we are still go with the flow type travelers and have no qualms about cancelling a fast pass if we decide not to use one.

We also try to make reservations for any specialty meals like supper at “Be Our Guest” as far ahead of time as we know we will be going to that park that day. 

Both of these cut our wait time down considerably. 

The rest of the time we do stand-by lines if the line is less than 20 minutes.  We do not do long lines, there really is no need to.  If you pay attention you will find many lines in all the parks have peak times and then times where the stand by line is 10 minutes or less.

Want to ride Space Mountain without a fast pass?  Go during a parade or even better during the fireworks.  Lines virtually disappear then.  Also consider single rider lanes.  While riding with your buddy is fun, if you want on certain rides quickly go with the single rider line.

Over the years we have also learned to stay off the main thoroughfares of the parks and look for the path less traveled.  Often that path is only a few feet from the main one, but because it curves away from what the maps show as the main pathways many people do not take them.  Sometimes these paths are a little longer, but due to the lighter foot traffic you will actually get there faster, or find a bench to set down and rest, or a table to eat your meal at.

A prime example of such a path in the Magic Kingdom is the one going off Main Street toward Tomorrowland where you turn by the ice cream shop.  If you turn directly right at the ice cream shop you will be dealing with the people all trying to find a spot at the provided tables to eat their ice cream.  However if you go back one street down a dead end there are tables there as well that are often empty.

To get to Tomorrowland you can also take the main pathway across the bridge near the castle.  That is generally very congested.  However, between the ice cream shop and the bridge streets there is another path going near the gardens.  It is only a few steps away from the one at the ice cream shop and comes out at exactly the same place, near the restrooms at a restaurant that is only open during peak times.  This path is usually not busy at all.

In fact if you go up through the restaurant walkway and through the seating area you will come out at the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and miss most of the traffic going to Tomorrowland.  

Every park has several less traveled areas that can save you a lot of time and steps.  So study your maps. 

Another time saving hint.  It is the nature of most people to go to their right when entering a park.  If you are getting there with the main crowd, go to your left.  You will find that the crowds are less and therefore the lines are shorter.

We of course have certain rides we really enjoy riding each time, although the herky jerky ones are quickly falling out of favor with us. While others we just don’t feel like our visit is complete unless we ride certain rides.

In the Magic Kingdom the must rides would be Pirates of the Caribbean, People Mover, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin(how is it I always manage to get the one with the non-operative gun?), Haunted Mansion and a few others.

The People Mover (Transit Authority) and Carousel of Progress are our favorites on hot days when we are tired.  Both provide a long cool ride and in the Carousel of Progress it is dark and you can even catch a quick cat nap if you need one.

Then of course there are certain shows we like to see if time allows, as well as the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

For a video of the Festival of Fantasy parade you can view it here.

Unless you arrive late enough in the day that you are near the train station when the 3:00pm parade comes by, at approximately 3:30pm, I recommend that you try to be at the beginning of it near Frontier Land.  The crowds are generally smaller and your wait is much shorter to see the parade.

Not much had changed since our visit in 2014, so we tended to spend more time enjoying the fall decorations.

And then in November the Christmas decorations

Not to mention taking advantage of the new annual pass perk of free photos taken by the Disney photographers.

No matter how many times we go, there is always something new to see and enjoy.  Some of the rides and areas had undergone refurbishments since our last trip. We spent a lot of time pointing out the changes to each other.

Even more had been done by the time we were there in the spring and when we go back in the fall of 2017 Pandora the World of Avatar will be open in the Animal Kingdom.  So that will be a whole new area to explore.

Because I started my review blog, Outside a Dog after I had already read the "Kingdom Keepers: Disney after Dark", book 1 of the series written by Ridley Pearson I haven't yet created a blog post review on it.  You can, however get a brief description of it in the second book review.

MAY 6, 2017, ON THIS DAY ONE YEAR AGO….

We hit the road for the adventure of a lifetime. 

So much has happened, so many plans have changed and we have learned so much it is all hard to put down in words, but here goes.

People have asked me if traveling full time is what I expected it to be, the answer is yes and no.  How is that for an answer?  We have done and learned so much it is hard to sum it all up. 

One thing is for certain with traveling full time, if you don’t like a travel plan wait five minutes it will change.

From the very first day, when instead of getting away early in the day as planned we didn’t do it until mid-afternoon life has been basically go with the flow. That is okay though, because we are retired and have no set place we have to be at any certain time.  We make as few reservations as possible so if Murphy of Murphy’s Law pops up from his place in the back seat to misbehave we aren’t out a deposit or stressing about getting to a campground on time.

A prime example is our plan to spend quality time at Williamsburg, VA.  We headed that direction last fall, only to be met by Hurricane Matthew and turned away.

This spring we decided we would head directly up there from Florida and we actually are at Newport News, VA right now, and have been for around two weeks.  We leave first thing tomorrow and have yet to make it into Williamsburg due to weather and all the other site seeing we have been doing. So Williamsburg and Washington, DC are on our travel plans for this coming fall.  We will see if we get there then.

Murphy hits in the form of flats, a lost wheel, a lost truck rear end, a stolen truck, trailer repairs, broken eye glasses, sheer exhaustion and so much more have changed our travel plans on numerous occasions. 

Some of those visits from Murphy were enough to make us consider for a nano second tucking our tails and going back to the farm to hide for the rest of our lives.  Like I said for a nano second.  We aren’t quitters and for the most part enjoy all that we do as we travel.

So far we have proven ourselves to be time travelers of sorts.  Thanks to museums, amusement parks, and archeology sites we have visited from 900 AD at the Mitchell,SD Prehistoric Indian site

to far in the future at Walt Disney World.

 In between we have gone to school with Laura Ingalls Wilder,

fought in all the wars our nation has participated in,

 visited with Andrew Jackson in his home,

listened to Dolly Parton at Dollywood.

We even tried to get the secret recipe from Duke at Bush Beans.

One of our biggest entertainments is enjoying the diverse landscapes as we travel the country.  From the green hills ofArkansas

 to the Palo Duro Canyon of TX,

 the stone bluffs of the Badlands,

 to the beaches of Galveston, TX.

  Let’s not forget the Great Smokey Mountains.

 The landscape is constantly changing. 

We have yet to do the Little Sahara and the Great Salt Flats in Oklahoma in our retirement travels, nor the great southwest.  So there is much more to see.

Another great thing we have done is visit with friends, both old and new.  There are no words to describe how much delight this has brought us.

Of course there have been some down times. The biggest of which was the sudden loss of my brother in law.

 Luckily we were close enough to Oklahoma at the time we were able to scoot home for the funeral.  While when my cousin passed we weren’t able to do so.

Nor were we there to say good-bye to an ancient beloved cat as he took his last ride to the vet. 

These times were hard, but life happens when you least expect it and so does death.

We have learned so much in our travels.  Not only about camping life but about unusual things and words.

Before this last year of traveling we never knew there was a point in history a ten hour watch.  Nor had I pondered the meaning of toothsome (tasty).  Yet touring two different museums these two items and many more were made known to us.  Travel is educating.

Speaking of toothsome, we have created so many tasty meals traveling and using dried foods it is amazing.  I know Gary was a little reluctant when I suggested we fill our cupboards with dried foods instead of can goods to save on weight and space, not to mention money.

Now he is very adept at creating such meals himself and wonders why we hadn’t been using dried eggs for baking all our married life, or at least all the camping we have done throughout our 44 years as husband and wife.

One year on the road and we have barely made a dent in our dried food storage, where we would have had to purchase massive amounts of canned and frozen foods in that same time period.

Another thing we have learned is less is more.  We have learned to cook for just two now without leftovers to worry about squeezing into our tiny refrigerator. 

You can get through cooking a meal without having every single appliance, pot, pan and utensil that Bed Bath and Beyond sells and do so quite easily.

Teamwork is essential when you are together 24/7, whether it is cooking a meal or replacing the landing gear on the fifth wheel.

 Working together we can accomplish just about anything.  We can even survive driving through Houston, Texas!

I have been asked more than once what would be the one piece of advice I would give anyone starting out on this adventure.  My response “have a large emergency fund and then double what you think is big enough and you might get close to what you need”. We had a huge one thank goodness.  We are now in the process of rebuilding it to an even larger amount, just in case.

While you may not have the same breakdowns we have had, you will have them.  Every camper we have spoken with on that subject says they were in no way prepared for all the “little” things that popped up their first year, and even subsequent years on the road.  Having an easily accessible emergency fund is essential while traveling.  Don’t leave home without it

With all our ups and downs this last year we discussed this morning whether or not there would be a year two of travel.  We both agreed whole heartedly that as long as we can physically and safely do it we will keep moving on down the highway learning, seeing and enjoying all this great country has to offer.

To quote Gary this morning “We’ve barely scratched the surface of all the things there are to see and do in this United States of America.”