Anniversary Trip - Day 5

 Today was the day for the Magic Kingdom.  Still had the whole campground to ourselves (well half of the loop we were on anyway).  It was a little warmer, but still was in the high 40s first thing.

We got a little bit of a slow start (park opened at 9, we got there at 10).  We pedaled over to the boat dock and got the boat over to the Magic Kingdom.

The boat ride is point to point, now that they aren't going between resorts (there always was an express option, now it's the only option).    They kept everyone pretty spread out.   We had the whole stern to ourselves.

We started out in Tomorrowland as the app said Space Mountain was a 10 min wait.   It was really about 5.  So we rode it again right away and were able to ride both sides, so that was fun.   We walked over to Carousel of Progress and literally walked on, no wait.   Then about 10 min wait for the Buzz Light year shooting gallery.   

About once a decade I'll get on the Grand Prix.  Just to recall what a crappy ride it is.  When I was 9, I waited 1.5 hours to get on this thing thinking how great it would be to be able to drive a real car.   Even then I thought it sucked.   Well it didn't disappoint, but I let Lucy drive and made fun of her and Naya the whole time as the cars are terrible and it was funny.  We were laughing pretty hard the whole time. The old 'it's so bad it's good' routine.  You could see them building the TRON roller coaster next to Space Mountain.  It looks pretty crazy.

From there it was on to the Tea Cups, then Dumbo (my elephant wouldn't go up and down and I hate the ride ever since I got rained on (soaked) while on it).  Goofy's coaster next, then on to The Little Mermaid ride.

After that, we waited for the Snow White Mine Train coaster.  One of the new ones, it was the longest wait of the day at around 45-50 minutes.   While in line, we ordered food from Pecos Bill's in Frontierland so it would be ready when we got over there.
 

On the way over a couple of the bears were out on the balcony waving at people.  I wanted to come back later but it never happened.

After lunch, it was off to Splash Mountain (one boat per party) and Big Thunder Mountain (two empty rows between people).   From up on the 'mountain' you got a good view of the waterway around Tom Sawyer's Island, or actually lack there of.

The local Orlando paper had a good story about the being moved while the work was done.  It noted that 4000 cubic feet of sediment was removed from the waterway.   I heard it was mostly Turkey Leg bones and other garbage.  The rail is for the paddlewheel boat as I found out it has no rudder so they needed a tug boat to move it around, but it does have an engine.  Seeing how shallow the water is, I can see why.

After a second trip on Thunder Mountain (or was it 3?)  We headed off to Adventureland.  We just missed the Tiki Bird Show, so we went on the Jungle Cruise.  Was surprised they updated the routine a little, and I actually laughed at a couple of the jokes.  Then back to my favorite, The Enchanted Tiki Room.  It has really grown on me over the years and love it.

Love the roofline on this building!

Five minute wait, time for a rest!

The pre-show is about to start!  There were about 20 people that went in for the show.  Room was under 50% capacity with rows and seats blocked off.  I found this 4K video of the whole ride.   It's good quality

This song gets stuck in my head pretty often and I'm okay with it.

Conveniently located just outside is the Dole Whip stand.  How can you say no?

Pretty sure this is actually Disneyland, but that's where Shag (the artist) lives so that makes sense.

After eating the snack and it was cold out, so it went slower than usual, we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean.   I had never noticed it before that when you start the ride and pirates are dead on the beach, the rocks form a skull just for a moment as you pass them.  I couldn't believe I never saw it before so I researched it and found this article.  While not brand new, it's been there for a little while.

It was getting later, so we headed back to the Haunted Mansion as it's a must ride on every visit.  The fact the stretching room is deactivated and you just walk through it, takes away from the ride, but understandable due to Covid.   Lucy stopped to look at some things on the walk over, so Naya and I rode it once and then Lucy caught up and we went again.

With a half an hour of park time left, I was amazed that Peter Pan had virtually no wait.  It's a classic, one of the original rides and not changed much since it opened.  Basically it was walk on, so we rode it.  

Just to get one more under our belt with 5 minutes left we ran across the way and got on the Small World ride.   When Naya was little she had the same haircut as the dolls and she LOVED it.   As a teen she's kinda meh about it anymore.   Tommy liked it and I guess got a few snaps for his portfolio.

Park closed, so back to the campsite where we cooked up dinner and cooked meat for tomorrow as EPCOT is open later and we can make a quick dinner.