Trip Log:

Got a later start this morning so grabbed breakfast at the resort before heading out to the Magic Kingdom.  Strolled down Main Street USA and turned into Tomorrowland.  Grabbed a Fastpass for Buzz and then went to get a seat for Twas the Night Before Christmas.  After the show rode Buzz and then walked through Fantasyland and grabbed a Fastpass for Peter Pan.  Stopped by the Hall of Presidents and then continued on to Pecos Bills for lunch and then hopped on the train from Frontierland over to Toontown.  Walked back through Fantasyland and watched Philharmagic  and then used our Fastpasses for Peter Pan.    Circled the Castle a bit taking some pictures while others ate a Funnel Cake and we all tried to stay out of the rain.  Then headed down Main Street and hopped a Monorail to the TTC and to EPCOT.  We just missed out on riding Spaceship Earth (we saw people in line but the walls were closed up by the time we got there) so we stopped by the Art of Disney and then the Spaceship Earth post show before heading off to Canada to see the new film.  After Canada we headed to the UK and France on the way to the American Adventure.  After the show caught a boat near Germany and took it across the lagoon.  Once back in Future World headed for the exit. Spotted a line forming for Spaceship Earth so hopped in it and waited.  After about 5 minutes they opened the walls and we were lucky enough to go for a ride.  After riding took a bus back to Port Orleans but got off at the Riverside for dinner.  After eating headed back to the Magic Kingdom, caught the end of SpectroMagic and worked my way down the East side of Main Street.  Walked around the Castle (well next too, but not close) and into Fantasyland and circled around to the Haunted Mansion.  Walked on and then finished my circling of the Castle.  Wishes was just starting so watched it as I headed back to Town Square.  Decided I was tired of the crowds so hopped a Monorail to the TTC and over to EPCOT.  Headed out to the lagoon to watch Illuminations and then back to the bus and Port Orleans to call it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

• The reason for our trip back to the Magic Kingdom this morning was to see the Mickey Twas the Night Before Christmas show in Tomorrowland. This was the old day it was being performed while we were there, unless we went to the after hours party. The show was the same as last year with no noticeable changes. I still enjoy how they use a live band for the show, its one of the few theme park shows that do and I think it makes a big difference.
  
  
• Stopped by the Hall of Presidents and it was great as usual. Wonder when the displays in the lobby will change, it seems they have been the same for quite a while now.
  
  
• We were the last group let into the Philharmagic show and thus got stuck with whatever seats were available which ended up being the front row. Besides having to look up the seats were really good. I have not sat in the front row for any of the 3D films and I have to say the 3D effect looked a little stronger from that vantage point.
  
  
• Once over to EPCOT we stopped by Canada to see the new version of O Canada. Overall I thought it was good. There seemed to be a lot more use of single camera montages than full 360 with the new clips though. The new and old clips did meld together ok but the quality was noticeably different in a couple spots. I thought Martin Short did a good job being a narrator. Some of the jokes may grow old after seeing the film several times but they worked. There is a new version of the theme song in the film sung by the winner of the Canadian version of American Idol (I forget the shows name and the singers name), I did not like this version as much as the original. It was so much the vocals as the scoring that bothered me.. guess I am a traditionalist.
  
  
• In the American Adventure waiting area is a new exhibit called National Treasures. I really enjoyed this exhibit and found some of the pieces really interesting. Also I found it interesting they labeled/indicated which pieces were replicas and which were originals...
  
  
• The Golden Dreams clips have been updated since my last visit. They now go up until 2004 or 05 and include shots of the World Trade Center ruins, the Women's Softball team, President Bush, etc.. I thought the clips fit in seamlessly.
  
  
• The highlight of the day came as we were heading out of the park to dinner. We noticed quite a few people lined up near the gates for Spaceship Earth. The gate was not open but there was a buzz in the air so got in line and waited. After a few minutes a CM came by asking us to move off to the side but saying it looked like they were going to open. After about 10 minutes the gate swung open and we were lead through the queue and eventually into the attraction.
  
  
• There is a new narration done by Judi Dench and its much more contemporary sounding with references to being online, etc... As you start your climb they take your picture, but as of the preview we went on this picture never resurfaced. I read that it was to either appear at the end or in the post show eventually. The old show scenes on the ascent all looked touched up, cleaned up, and brighter. The decent has had the biggest change. All the show scenes are gone and you are now focused on the touch screen in your row. You answer a series of questions and then a short animated clip is played that takes your responses into account. The animation reminded me of the Jetsons for some reason... I thought it was an interesting interactive experience and it sort of works. I would have liked to have seen a bit more on the animation side but with the number of choices based on the questions I think they had to have animation that was flexible to different narrations in portions. It looked like more work was still going on during the decent. There seemed to be quite a few lights off and a few ceiling tiles off on the way down.
  
  
• Managed to visit the Haunted Mansion on my second trip to the Magic Kingdom. The most noticeable change to me was the cleaned up audio. The attraction sounded great, from the "surround sound" in the stretching room all the way through the attraction. The new endless stairway scene is a fun addition. The floating Madam Leota and the attic scene changes seem to be the same as Disneyland's version.
  
  
• The Magic Kingdom was open late this evening and the crowds made the park feel quite full, still nothing compared to the upcoming Christmas rush, but definitely the most crowded we saw the park during our week. The traffic flow around Main Street and the hub was jammed up and the CMs were not doing that well of a job moving it along, it seemed almost a free for all at points with no real direction, I guess I am used to Disneyland's fairly well rehearsed routine of moving people around Main Street and the hub area with one way traffic and CMs everywhere to keep things in some sort of order.
  
  
• It still really disappointed me to see the same Wishes show running now for four years and no holiday version for the general public except on a couple nights around Christmas. (I know I keep complaining about this but every trip to the park it just grinds on my nerves).
  
  
• After Wishes I headed over to EPCOT to catch Illuminations. I arrived at the park and made it into Future World at just about 9:30 and heard nothing from the lagoon... I made my way to a spot to view the show and it still had not started. I noticed flashlights out on one of the barges, seems the one closest to France had an issue and the show was delayed a good 15-20 minutes, which meant I would get to see the entire show and I did not have to rush to get there. Only bad part of the evening was in my rush I did not follow one of my own rules which was to check the wind... seems it was coming out of the South blowing toward the North, which meant that I was directly downwind of the show once it started. So I had a good helping of smoke blown my way (luckily the wind was fairly strong and it blew by/above me for the most part), but also I managed to be in a fallout area with paper and other pieces from the fireworks landing around area.

Pedometer Information for the day:

Enough with the text.. onto the pictures

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