Travel Log

Disney World: Day 4

My shoulders have gotten burnt from being out in the sun so much. I had to put some lotion on them this morning to try to help the sunburns. After a quick breakfast at the hotel cafeteria, Mom and I got on the bus to go to The Magic Kingdom. The partly excited, partly nervous, about to pee your pants feeling that I love overtook me as soon as I arrived. The first stop on our itinerary was supposed to be the Haunted Mansion. This ride fascinated and terrified for most of my life. Thirteen years ago, my seven year old self  was to scared to even go near the place. My older self became intrigued by its gothic creativity. Since the purpose of this trip was to do all of the things I was too afraid to do the last time I was here, The Haunted Mansion was a priority. But in a development worthy of Alanis Morissette's Ironic,  the several times we tried to go on the ride, they were having technical difficulties  and we not letting people on. Ghosts, what are you going to do with them?
The first thing we were able to do was go to The Hall of Presidents. There was a display in the lobby of dresses and other items belonging to first ladies Dolley Madison, Edith Roosevelt,  and Laura Bush. Dolly Madison was always one of my favorite first ladies and the guide told me something I did not know about her; that she was the only woman to be first lady to two different presidents. She acted as hostess to the widowed Thomas Jefferson before becoming First Lady to her husband, James Madison. The Hall of Presidents was always one of my mother's favorites and she was disappointed by the lack of people there.
Behind the Christmas shop in Liberty Square, Tiana from The Princess and The Frog was greeting guests. There was jazz trumpet music playing and I asked her if her friend, Louis the Alligator was playing. Tiana said that it was him indeed but she's shy around humans and if I wanted to see if I would have to go to the restaurant; I could not tell if she was talking about one in the park or the one from the movie.
Mom got us Fastpasses for It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Adventure, and the Haunted Mansion. It's a Small World was one of the rides I went on years ago . When I checked into the ride on Facebook,  Dad left a comment saying "how old are you?" My response was that it was Mom's idea. This time I found the ride as childish and annoying as he did the first time he went on it during the 1964 world's fair in New York.  Mickey's Philharmagic, something which has opened since I was last here and I had been wanting to see, had no line so we walked right on. Our next Fastpass was for Buzz Lightyear, which was a game involving these spaceship omni movers which spin where we had to shoot at targets. I did not like it because Mom was better at it than me. On our way back to The Haunted Mansion, we stopped at the Fairytale Garden and met Merida from Brave.  Merida at first thought that the Nala from The Lion King  stuffed animal in my backpack was a bear cub and began to tell me about how her brothers were once turned into bear cubs. We then began to compare notes on the subject of brothers. I told her that was on my way to explore a haunted house, but by the time Mom and I finally got there, we were again told that it was closed.
Our Fastpass for The Haunted Mansion was transferred to  Pirates of the Caribbean.  The big drop at the beginning of this ride scared me that first time I went on it, but this time I thought it was fun. Pirates of the Caribbean is without a doubt one of the best attractions in the Disney Parks. It's animatronics are almost uncanny and at some points the scenery felt real enough to momentarily take me away from the fact I'm on a ride. By the time we were finished with Pirates of the Caribbean, It was time for our lunch reservation at the Diamond Horseshoe. Our reservation was originally for 1:30 but was changed to 12:50 at the last minutes, so we were a bit late and they did not yet have a table prepared for us. While we were waiting to be seated, Mom got us fast passes for The Journey of the Little Mermaid, which reminded me a lot of the Finding Nemo ride in EPCOT.  After this clamshell omnimover ride through the plot of The Little Mermaid,  I was able to meet Ariel herself in her grotto, after waiting in a long line. Ariel asked me if I was a land princess or a sea princess, I said both because I live near the ocean and love to swim, though the water where I live is often too cold to go swimming. There's also a lot of fish there, but I did not have the heart to tell her that these fish get eaten.