Okay…this may have been one of the craziest ideas that I
have EVER come up with regarding a Disney park.
While planning for our September 2012 trip to WDW, I noticed that, on the day
we were doing Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, the Magic Kingdom was
scheduled to have VERY low crowds; so low, in fact (according to
Touringplans.com), that this was in the bottom 10% of days in the year for crowds.
That got my imaginative juices flowing…I wonder just how
many attractions we could do in one day.
Now, I have to take a moment to discuss who “we” actually would be for
this trip. It’s not just “me”…I have the
bladder the size of Texas, and, depending on the circumstance, I might
be willing to wear Depends. “We” also
includes my wife and two boys (both under the age of 10). In order to get them to come on board with
the idea, I knew I had to incorporate a few rules/caveats/quid-pro-quos. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to walk at
the pace I wanted to – dragging your kids through any WDW park is distinctly
unpatriotic (with apologies to Sam Eagle).
I also knew that, with the Halloween party going until Midnight, I’d
probably have to schedule in a break out of the park for a little while. I also wanted us to have a meal in the park,
to regenerate and to give our legs a rest.
Without telling anyone else, I started looking around at the
TouringPlans “Ultimate” Magic Kingdom touring plan, which includes pretty much
EVERY attraction in the park. I took
that plan and went into editing-monster mode.
I added the break…I added the lunch…I added the Halloween Party
items. The application that determines
wait times and orders completely blew up – I was actually nervous that I broke
touringplans.com (and wondered if this was how Fred Hazelton felt when he took
down much of the eastern Canadian networking capabilities when he tested
something for TP).
After a message to the gurus at the site, it was determined
that (WOW…BIG SURPRISE HERE) I had too many things going on, with the break in
the middle of the day, for the site’s optimizer/evaluator application to
run. I did a workaround (basically had
around two hours of free time between my last attraction before the 3:00 parade
and the actual parade), and, after not including a couple of items, I had the
evaluator spit out a plan that had me hitting a TON of attractions before
midnight…there were 40 steps that estimated us to be done around 11:45 pm…38
attractions! I had a feeling that, based
on the times it estimated, we’d be ahead in a couple of places to sneak in
several more “bonus” attractions that took around 5 minutes. I had my goal….50 (FIFTY!!!!) attractions in
one day.
Yes…50.
With kids..
With an afternoon break…
With (hopefully) an intact marriage afterward.
I strategically told the boys first to get them excited
about the idea…that way it would be harder for Sheri to say, “NO”.
Oh, don’t judge me…most of you would have done the EXACT same thing!
Luckily, everyone agreed, though I think Sheri was doubtful about my promise to not drag everyone around at warp speed. The boys were genuinely excited about A) staying up until around midnight; and B) trying a whole bunch of new attractions at MK.
Oh, don’t judge me…most of you would have done the EXACT same thing!
Luckily, everyone agreed, though I think Sheri was doubtful about my promise to not drag everyone around at warp speed. The boys were genuinely excited about A) staying up until around midnight; and B) trying a whole bunch of new attractions at MK.
To improve our chances, we set up ADRs for Kona Café at
7:30. This allowed us to be carbo-loaded
(me with Tonga Toast and Sheri with Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes) before
the endeavor, and it also gave us a chance to have a decent parking spot at MK
so we could save time by avoiding the trams when we left the park.
The day of reckoning arrived, and we were out the door of our
unit at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek at 7:05.
Being that this was the first time we’ve EVER driven on WDW property, I
spent countless hours figuring out how to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ on
Google, and it was time well spent…not a single wrong turn the entire
trip! This was an easy route…left on
Buena Vista and take the ramp to World Drive…simple as that. We stopped at the MK toll plaza, and I took
great pleasure showing our new APs that allowed us to not have to pay the
parking fee. We followed the cones and
signs and ultimately found our way to our parking spot…front row…third spot from
the walkway to the TTC.
Holy cow!
We parked, collected everything (including the
ever-important clipboard with my sheet/plan), and started walking to the
Polynesian. As we walked, we realized
just how spread out the Poly was, and, after a short jaunt to Georgia, we made it to the Longhouse for breakfast.
We ate and were on the monorail to MK by 8:20. By 8:30, we’re at the turnstiles and
positioned to the left of center, so we could be close to the tunnel but still
able to see the welcome show. Sheri got
the requisite train station/floral pics, and we waited about 15 minutes for the
show to start.
Now, for an ultimate touring plan to be counted in the Hall of Fame, the participant must get pictures at every attraction. Even though we knew that it wouldn't count, we decided to have a little fun and treat it as though we were going for it. Be prepared...there are a lot of pics in here!
The boys were primed for the day...
Now, for an ultimate touring plan to be counted in the Hall of Fame, the participant must get pictures at every attraction. Even though we knew that it wouldn't count, we decided to have a little fun and treat it as though we were going for it. Be prepared...there are a lot of pics in here!
The boys were primed for the day...
- 8:50 – Welcome Show
- We were on Main Street by 8:55...and, of course, we have to pause to get pics of the park all dolled up for Halloween.
- I knew Sheri wanted a Photopass pic on Main Street early to minimize the chances of the boys spilling stuff all over themselves before the pic. I initially suggested that we wait a bit since Photopass was all busy (and I wanted to keep ahead of everyone); however, as we neared the hub, there was a free Photopass photographer, so we jumped in for pics…and, of course, about 40 pics were taken. No problem…through the castle.
- Of course...we stopped for even more pics (argh):
- Cinderella Castle – 9:00 on the nose!
- We stopped and grabbed pics by one of the mosaics before continuing through.
- Peter Pan – 9:04
- The folks from Crystal Palace and Cindy’s breakfast were ahead (curse them for doing the same thing we do when we book 8:05 ADRs inside the park). Peter Pan was a 4 minute wait, and we were out at 9:12
- Quick walk to the Winnie the Pooh FP Distribution – Return time 9:50.
- As I got the FPs, we received bonus FPs for Dumbo, and I had to convince the rest of the Mushfam that we’ll try to catch it at night…it’s supposed to be much cooler at night. I put them in my pocket and started looking for someone who might want them.
- Tomorrowland Speedway queue line at 9:18
- This one was just about a walk-on, and I was feeling confident that we were doing fine…4 minutes behind schedule, but we had Cinderella Castle done, which was scheduled a bit later on. We rode around…I nearly got whiplash from Aaron’s driving. We finally got to the exit portion, and, as luck would have it, we get stopped so that the CMs can add 8 more cars into the attraction…ARGH…that cost us a good 3 additional minutes. This probably also meant that the line at Space Mountain was going to be a bit longer, too. We were out at 9:28.
- Space Mountain queue line at 9:30
- The posted wait was 10 minutes, and I was hoping that it was an over-estimation. It wasn’t. We got on the ride at 9:41 and off at 9:46.
- Tomorrowland Arcade at 9:48
- This was a REALLY quick one…the boys did the basketball hoops, and we flew out at 9:50. Time for our first new attraction for us at WDW…
- Astro Orbiter – in line at 9:51
- Elevator up and flying by 10:01. Done at 10:05. Elevator Down. Boo-ya.
- Decision-time…Philharmagic was up next on the Touring Plan, so we entered the queue only to find that we JUST missed the next show. I made an executive decision to come back to this one later. We headed out and hopped in line for the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel.
- In line at 10:14, on at 10:17, and off at 10:22.
- Winnie the Pooh
- We flew from the carrousel over to Pooh and, using the FPs that we had, we were in line at 10:24, on the attraction at 10:26, and off at 10:29.
- Dream Along with Mickey
- Knowing the castle would be closed for the forecourt show, we headed around the Tea Cups and hit the bathroom. I had a particular place in mind to view this, and it was about as close as I could be from where we were (about 1 o’clock from the Partner’s Statue). We got there at 10:33…just before Dream Along with Mickey started. This gave us a chance to sit down a bit, too.
- Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It
- After Dream Along, I grabbed a couple of drinks for us to enjoy while we waited for the floats to make it up Main Street. There was a lot of energy with this short parade! The number of guests was pretty low, though…I could see the hub really rocking when the park is full! We were done with this at 11:19.
- Dapper Dans
- I had a little cushion with what to do here. I knew I was running out of time to grab a ride in one of the Main St. vehicles, so we made our way to Town Square. I grabbed FPs to meet Mickey, and the return time was 12:10…EXCELLENT! Oh, and, yes, we got another free set of Dumbo FPs, too.
- After that, I initially jumped in line to get signed up for Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom, but the line was slow-moving, and I was watching the stable for any sign of them hooking up the trolley. At 11:40, we make our way to the little-known location for the trolley loading. While we waited, the Dapper Dans popped out near the stables and serenaded us. I moved to the other side of the Square to listen. Yep…that’s what I want to do when I retire!
- Main Street Vehicles
- We got on the trolley at 11:53 and enjoyed a leisurely ride up Main Street around the hub. Off the trolley at 12:02.
- Casey’s Piano Player
- Casey’s Piano Player
- Waaaaaiiiiit a minute! How/Why am I counting this for 2? Well, we hopped off the trolley and immediately went to the baby care center to see if our friend Judy was in there. We took a quick bathroom break, and we were at Casey’s Corner at 12:09. The piano player had already started when we walked by, so we listened for the required 5 minutes. While we were there, the Fire Marshall (Main Street Character) came in and sang a song with him. Hey…my plan…my rules!
- Main Street Show
- The trolley that we got off was soon loaded with the CMs for the Main Street singing show. As luck would have it, it was going on as we left Casey’s and walked through the Emporium in search of Judy. I stopped at one of the exits and watched them. Yes, the pic is from just before they started, but hey, it's proof! Start 12:15. End 12:20.
- Town Square Meet-and-Greet with Mickey
- Arrived at 12:23…in line at 12:25, and done at 12:31 (see ya real quick!).
- BREAK TIME!!! We were already by the entrance (yeah, it was planned this way…I’m an economist, so I want efficiency!). We headed out, hopped on the express monorail, and were back at the car and at the resort by a little after 1.
- This may have been a mistake, because, while we did rest for a bit and grabbed a bite to eat, we didn’t sleep at all, and we were all really antsy to get back to the park! SOOOOOOOOO…
- At just after 2:00, we were back in the car and back into MK. We ended up quite a bit further away from our earlier spot this morning and had to take the tram. Off the tram and onto the resort monorail (the express monorail just left as we approached the station, and a resort monorail was leaving the Contemp for the TTC). We were back in the park at 2:50…just in time for:
- Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade
- Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade
- Yeah, I’m double-dipping again…sue me! By some freakish twist of fate, there were spots available to view the parade in Town Square, so we grabbed some pavement and waited just a couple of minutes. It was then that I recognized one of the CMs directing foot-traffic around the square before the parade. It was the well-known Barbara, who is famous for dancing during the parades and, in the process, lost a lot of weight. I’m counting her as an attraction, and, yes, she was dancing with the parade! 3:18 was when the last float passed, and we then started our way up Main Street (next to the last float for most of the way).
- Carousel of Progress
- We looked in the Emporium one final time to see if Judy was there, but it just wasn’t meant to be this trip. We crossed back over and headed into Tomorrowland, where we caught up with the next attraction on the Touring Plan list…CoP. Entered at 3:35 and was sitting down at 3:36. Out at 3:58. Across the hub and finally into Adventureland. We grabbed a FP for the Jungle Cruise, with a return time exactly where I was hoping it would be…4:45.
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- In line at 4:10, and we had a slight delay here…on at 4:17 and off at 4:20. I was getting a bit nervous because the next attraction was a show that was going to start at 4:25. At least you can tell that we went back to the resort and changed clothes with this pic.
- Pirate Tutorial
- We high-tailed it out of Aladdin and flew to the Pirate Tutorial with a couple of minutes to spare. 4:22 arrival, and it started right at 4:25. Over at 4:45. I contemplated running over to the Frontierland train station to knock off the train as well as the Flag retreat, but there was no guarantee that we would be able to make it to Town Square in time, so I grudgingly axed it from the list.
-
- Jungle Cruise
- I told you I was hoping for a 4:45 return time…now you know why. At 4:48, we entered the queue with our FPs, and we sailed away for our two-week trip at 4:51. It was a quick two-weeks, because we were back at 5:00.
- Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
- We JUST missed the start of a show, so we had a 12 minute wait here…in the pre-show area at 5:02…in the room at 5:14…and out at 5:27.
- By now, the clouds were really starting to look ominous, so I decided to skip the Liberty Square Riverboat, which appeared to have called it a day. We headed over to the Hall of Presidents and just missed the start of the show. Knowing how close the Frontierland Shooting Arcade was, we headed over there next.
- Frontierland Shooting Arcade
- In at 5:32, out at 5:35. I was a cheapskate and didn't grab a gun for myself.
- Hall of Presidents
- We were back the HoP at 5:40. At 5:46, we’re in the theatre and watching our history. Out just after 6:00 (I forgot to write down the exit time). It was about time to start prepping for the party. Before that, though, we were near Fantasyland, so we made a beeline past the Columbia Harbor House and hopped in the queue for Philharmagic.
- Mickey’s Philharmagic
- This attraction was mocking me today…we juuuuuuust missed another show. In line at 6:13 and not into the theater until 6:25. Out.
- By now, the rain has commenced, and it was coming down in buckets!! We contemplated the Tea Cups, but there was somewhat of a line, and it was already later on in the plan, so we kept on going around into Fantasyland. They were doing wristbands for MNSSHP near Stitch, so we got in line to dry out a bit as well as get legal for the party. Since the rain was coming down in buckets, we ran across and get in the queue for…
- Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor
- In line at 6:49, and our timing was perfect…in the room at 6:52. Out at 7:09.
- Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café (Sonny Eclipse)
- The rain was really wreaking havoc on everyone’s plans now, so we continued working for the indoor stuff. We were getting hungry anyway, and Cosmic Ray’s was right there, so we went in and ate…and saw Sonny. Out at 7:39.
- You know...as I am creating this blog post, I realized that I need more Instagram friends...0 likes and 0 comments in many of these pics.
- it’s a small world
- This was the longest line I’ve seen here. In at 7:43 and on at 7:47. That may seem like a short wait, but seasoned veterans know that anything more than a 2-minute wait in slow times is big. Everyone was on it to stay out of the rain. Off at 7:59. We went through a Trick or Treat line and got some candy to keep the energy level up.
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- The line was just out the door as we walked by, so we thought it wouldn’t be too long…in line at 8:09...
- ...aaaaannnnnd on the attraction at 8:24. Yeah…it broke down when we were by Buzz. This one killed the plan completely. Off (finally) at 8:29. It was a complete disaster because Aaron also lost his bag of candy on Buzz.
- TTA Peoplemover
- We skipped over to the TTA (yes...we actually skipped)…there at 8:30, on at 8:32, and off at 8:42. As we got off of the TTA, there were rumors swirling around like crazy regarding the Boo To You parade being canceled and HalloWishes either being canceled or delayed. We were completely playing it by ear at this point.
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- We headed to the hub to try getting some more reliable information on what was going on. Eventually, we heard that there was only going to be one Boo To You parade at 10:15 and HalloWishes at 9:30. It was around 8:50, so we had a bit of time to hit something before fighting for a spot for the fireworks. I made an executive decision and headed towards POTC, which can move crowds quickly. We arrived at 9:02 and were on at 9:07. Yo Ho’ed out at 9:16. (no pic...sorry...it was starting to get a little late)
- HalloWishes
- We hustled towards the hub, made it over the Adventureland bridge, and veered to the right…in front of the Crystal Palace. We were able to get to a place where we were allowed to stand at 9:22. 9:30 was the start, and I was too amazed at the show to write down the time it ended. WOW!
-
- Boo To You Halloween Parade
- The instant HalloWishes was over, we made a beeline back to Adventureland and snuck through the bathrooms to search for a spot to watch the parade. Knowing that the parade started in Frontierland, we could be one of the first ones done with the parade. We found a spot around 9:50 where all four of us could fit without cutting in front of someone. There was a young couple next to us that gave the boys their candy haul from the trick-or-treating. Yeah, Aaron was happy. We waited for the Headless Horseman, but the rain did not permit him to ride down the road (that just means we’ll have to head back to see it again).
- Around 10:17 the first float comes into view…the last float passed at 10:35.
-
- Yeah, we had a better pic of the last float, but I actually had a couple likes on Instagram, so I had to show proof.
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- They weren’t even queuing the guests up…in at 10:48, on at 10:52, and off at 10:58. It went so fast that I didn't have time to get a pic!
- Splash Mountain
- Yeah, we were already drenched, so did it really matter if we got wet on this? In line at 11:02, on at 11:04, and out at 11:22.
- Cadaver Dans
- Many of you are going, “Who????!!!” During MNSSHP, the Dapper Dans don different digs and become the Cadaver Dans. We were able to catch them for a few minutes while walking back from Splash towards the Haunted Mansion. We started watching them around 11:27, and we moved on around 11:32.
- Haunted Mansion
- I figured that this would be getting quiet as late as it was getting; however, this attraction proved me wrong. Entered the queue at 11:33 and in the stretch room around 11:41. A cast member dressed as a ghost rode with someone a couple of buggies behind us. I don’t have a time where we exited, but I'm guessing it was around 11:50.
I thought about one final attempt at doing Dumbo but decided against it and threw in the towel. We started heading down Main Street towards the exit...
...along with several thousand of our best friends (we found Waldo, too!) As we hit Town Square, Sheri looked to her right and snapped this:
Midnight.
We all paused for a minute to reflect on the day...39 attractions in 1 day...with a break?
Yeah...we'll consider it a success.
This was a really fun day, and we hopped on the ferry tired, but with 4 large smiles on our faces. Both of the boys crashed on the ferry, and we had to struggle a bit to wake them up long enough to make it to the car. We all slept really well that night, and we even slept in long enough to make it to Epcot only 25 minutes after park opening...one of the first times we have ever missed a rope drop.
Soooooo....which ones did we miss?
NOT Country Bear Jamboree...it was down for a major refurb.
Dumbo
Flag Retreat
Liberty Square Riverboat
Tinker Belle Meetup
Merida Meetup
The Great Goofini/Barnstormer
Casey Jr. Splash and Soak (though we got soaked walking across the hub)
Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom
Stitch's Great Escape
Swiss Family Treehouse (in the rain??? Not a good idea)
Tom Sawyer Island
WDW Railroad (oh, the horror!)
Tea Cups
Had we not taken the break, we probably could have taken care of most of them (though I doubt all of them).
See Ya Real Soon