We went to the Magic Kingdom yesterday and got in around 11:40 AM. By noon, they'd reached capacity and closed the park. Today they closed the Magic Kingdom at 9:30 AM. Fortunately we were at Epcot. We're doing MGM tomorrow but, boy, we're gonna make sure to get there early.
Took caroline today to the Seas, where they have a "Finding Nemo" exhibit. She watched the real life versions of the fish swimming around in tanks, and she was breathlessly saying, "Nemo! Dorrie!" She had a great time, spending close to two hours there before collapsing in sheer blissful exhaustion.
PAD
Posted by Peter David at December 29, 2004 04:56 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingGlad to hear that the family is enjoying it. I was at Disney World in the early part of December in '02. The lines were short enough that I never had to even worry about the Fast Pass system. I don't know if that would contradict holiday plans are Casa David, but it sure sold me on the idea of Disney World in the Off-Season.
"Sheer blissful exhaustion." Sounds like every parent's dream. :-)
TWL
The only problem with Caroline collapsing in blissful exhaustion is that PAD and family weren't back at the hotel room where they could've taken advantage of that respite to get in their own little bit of extra (catch up) sleep.
Peter,
I live in Orlando and would like to meet you. Please check out your padguy@aol.com email for my contact information.
Thanks a million.
Ryan
Hey, I live in Orlando, too. But I have to work all week, overnight (9 PM - 5 AM) and my only day off was last Tuesday. Much as I like Mr. David, I have bugged him enough with the thirty seconds I spoke to him at the last Dragon*Con to satisfy my inner drooling fanboy. Especially trying to navigate Disney during Hell Week.
While you're down here, I hope you get away from the Mouse to eat at a real restaurant - like one of the Shells restaurants, or Charley's Steak House.
Oh, one other bit of advice. Definitely avoid Disney's Pleasure Island nightclub resort for "the real New Years Eve." (They do New Years Eve every night, but the "real one" costs like $85 per person.) You don't need to have your kids in a place packed with amateur drunks. Universal Studios Florida has more open space, but they'll be crowded with the David Lee Roth appearance. If I had been given the night off, I would probably dose myself with Nyquil, sleep through it and see what the daylight looks like.
I went to Disney once in September. It was great, no lines anywhere. The only drawback was it was the height of hurricane season.
Awesome Peter. She must've loved that new Talkin' with Crush show. Can't wait to get back there again in august and my son'll go nuts for that.
Yeah, did you guys do Turtle Talk? Fun stuff.
We live out there so we go pretty regularly. The restaurant in Canada is superb.
I went to DisneyLand and California Adventure in November. Don't think they were even close to closing the park because it was too full. Since Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and the Tikki Room, were all closed, it was not one of my better visits.
I have only been to DisneyWorld and Epcot once, but liked the California version better. But growing up there, that makes sense. Hope you have a great time with your family out there. Just don't start coming up with story lines like "What if . . . Micky Mouse became the Hulk." You might not get out of there alive! ;-)
Jim in Iowa