Take Me Out to the Mouse House **Updated 4/24** COMPLETE About This Page:

[travismom]

Sounds like a wonderful time at MK!!! I had the same thought as Eileen - I could just picture a little boy taking a long dive.
Great pics of the parade!!

[lindawdw]

Glad to hear that you were able to get another Space Mountain and TTA ride in before the shutdown! Loved the shoe story. How frustrating to wait in the line for your lemonade only to find you had to pay cash So sad your trip report is ending but glad you have another trip planned soon.

[Luvsun]

I love the new parade, don't you? I love being able to be right with the characters and dancing in the street! So fun!
I am another one that is glad all the little boy lost was his shoe! I wasn't sure what went overboard, but I knew something was! My boys never kept their shoes on either. :
I am happy that you got to ride SM before it closed for refurb! I am going to miss riding SM and the TTA when I am there next week!
All of your pics are great Sharon!

[HiddenMickey]

We really liked the new parade in MK too. My sister and my niece LOVED dancing in it. I recommend it too! I just took pictures of them having fun and smiled at all the fun everyone was having.....and sang along!

Left side at SM for me too. If we get a choice (we did this time)...we head that direction. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference after the refurb.

[PrincessSharon]

Originally Posted by coffeechef

As for your ice turns, hows this for nerdiness... I tried looking up what they are really called. You know the Ice type. Since I have had to order Ice before in my job, its not one that I have heard of. We generally gets cubes, crushed or blocks. So it makes me wonder what the Ice industry calls them. its not keeping me awake at nights ..... yet. But I do think about it everytime I see it mentioned here now. THough I have not actually tried googling "ice turd"

Now I'm curious too. But I'm afraid to google "ice turd."

[HeatherD]

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Now I'm curious too. But I'm afraid to google "ice turd."

Well, I did it! And I didn't click on a few of them (oh, lord no!). BUT, PSha - you need to see this link, to see what they call Sonic Ice...

[PrincessSharon]

Day Five – Tuesday, March 31
It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over What Yankee fan’s baseball-related TR would be complete without a Yogi-ism?

I woke up early and packed up my stuff. Epcot had EMH that morning, but I decided to head to the Studios instead. I called up to have my bags stored (and hitched a ride with the CM back to the Springs). I filled my mug and headed to the bus.

I decided not to try for another ride on TSM and instead have a TOT marathon. I figured 99% of the crowd would be heading to TSM and I’d have a leisurely stroll down Sunset Boulevard, but there were a ton of people with that same idea.

I picked up a FP before entering the queue. It wasn’t a walk-on, but I was in an elevator within 10 minutes. I got right back in the queue and waited about 13 minutes that time (). I noticed that TJ was working (one of my favorite bellhops, that you’d probably recognize from one of Disney’s Travel Channel specials).

I got the same exact drop sequence that time. I don’t really mind, but I like it better when there’s a different sequence every time. After that, the standby was up to about 20 minutes, but it was worth it (and I got the exact same sequence for the third time in a row!).

After that, my FP was ripe, so I grabbed another TOT FP. I decided that I didn’t want to fight the madness that is Toy Story Insania. I stowed the new FP and used the old one. This time I actually got a different (and better) drop sequence. Whew! I was beginning to think my beloved Tower was in B Mode.

As much fun as I was having riding TOT over and over again, I wanted to get a few rides on RNRC, so I headed over there. The standby was listed at 30 minutes (it actually looked longer than that), but I cruised right through on the Single Riders Line. In fact, I was the only one in it! It was so fast that I went right through again!

I get dizzy riding three times in a row, so I headed back to use my other TOT FP. I got a good drop sequence again, so it’s definitely not in B Mode. I didn’t have breakfast, so by now I was ready for lunch. I decided to give Catalina Eddie’s a try.

The family ahead of me took forever placing their order. I ordered the Hot Italian Sandwich. The family ahead of me also ordered the Hot Italian Sandwich. When they got to the pickup window, they requested that their sandwiches be made without ham (not a problem, really, but perhaps they should’ve mentioned it when they actually placed the order).

Since it was fairly early, there was only one CM filling orders and she had to talk to her manager, since the sandwiches are pre-made. The woman said it would be ok for them to take off the ham and then heat it. The CM came back and said she could prepare the sandwiches without ham. This process took 15 minutes.

Then I got my food (the other family was still waiting). I found a table and sat down to eat. Who would’ve thought something called a “hot Italian sandwich” would be so bland. It sounded pretty tasty from the description, but it wasn’t. For one thing, it was cold. Plus, I'm not sure I'd call a sandwich featuring ham, turkey and Swiss cheese "Italian," but that's just me. I guess the Provolone was the difference-maker. It was supposed to have Caesar dressing and pesto, but it seemed very dry (and consequently, much less Italian).


Hot Italian Sandwich (Fail)

After lunch, I hopped on a bus to the T&TC. From there, I caught the monorail and made my way into the Magic Kingdom.

The main reason I’d decided to return to the MK today was to see the MISICI street party. I headed to the hub and found a spot. This isn’t so much a parade as a moving street party, so if you’re sitting along Main Street, it’s over very quickly. My advice is to find a spot in the hub on the inside where the Partners statue is, so that you won’t get crowded out by latecomers. (When you look at the pictures, notice how much more crowded it gets between when the Fab 4 Float passes the first time and when it stops.) The Party moves down Main Street, comes around the hub and stops there. Then the Party really gets started (whoop whoop ).

I found a spot to get started, but I was also able to walk around and see everything. So I was able to get pictures of most of the floats and characters (while doing a little dancing myself). There’s an emcee on the Fab 4 float and he does a great job of getting the crowd moving.


This makes me laugh – either Donald Duck is working it out or he fell asleep

Minnie Mouse is with Goofy. I find myself saying that so often it makes me suspicious there’s a little something-something going on there.















Because I’d seen it the day before, I knew where to strategically place myself to be next to Goofy (just like Minnie )




See that big crowd? Those are all the folks who’d positioned themselves on Main Street



Then the emcee introduces special guests, who all pop out of the top of the gifts.







Guests are invited to join right in the party and the characters on the floats get down and boogie with the guests (I didn’t intended for that to sound so dorky. That’s what they really do – get down from the floats and dance with the guests).



As I said, it’s really a lot of fun and I recommend you try to see it. It looked like it might rain, and there were a few sprinkles during the party, but it didn't actually start raining. Once that ended, I headed into Tomorrowland. I checked Space Mountain, but unfortunately the return time was too late. I considered waiting it out but decided against it. Instead I took my final spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (for a while anyway).

After my trip around Tomorrowland, I decided to hit the Carousel of Progress. I’ve enjoyed that ever since I was a little kid. Once that was done, I headed to Adventureland to the Enchanted Tiki Room.

When that ended, I was ready for a snack. While waiting in line, I answered some questions the woman in front of me was asking. She saw what she wanted, but didn’t know what it was! It turns out she wanted the orange dole whip (which I think they call the citrus swirl) float (with pineapple juice). It doesn’t sound too appealing as a float, but I’ve had citrus swirls before and they’re yummy. I got a pineapple float.

It was almost 3:00, so I decided seeing the parade would be a nice way to end my time in the MK. I walked down Main Street and found what I thought would be a great spot. I was in front of the Indian, so I figured nobody could squeeze in behind me.

There was room for one person to sit next to me, so naturally, a family of four decided to claim it. You know where this is going don’t you? Well, it’s probably not what you’re thinking! Anyway, there were two little girls in strollers. The Mom pulled one of the strollers up to the curb and the other little girl squeezed in beside me.

The parade began and I started taking photos.







Well, the family decided that they wanted to take pictures too. Except they wanted to take pictures of their daughters’ expressions while watching the parade. So the Dad goes out into the street to get a photo of his kid. I moved out of the way so I wouldn’t be in the picture. He thanked me.

I continued taking pictures.







So did he. I was hoping a CM would come along and shoo him back onto the curb. Just my luck. He finally did get back onto the curb, so I continued watching the parade and taking pictures.







Next thing you know, the Mom’s out there in the street taking pictures. With me in between her and her subject. By this point I’d had enough and I didn’t even move one centimeter to try to get out of the picture. They’ll just have to crop me out.

















Anyway, the parade was recycled and fairly dull, so no great loss. A lot of people have last-day traditions, and mine has become buying fudge from the Confectionery. And I have to tell you that I bought a piece for DM and got fussed at for it! She said “who brings home one little piece of fudge? ” In DM-speak, that means she really liked it and wanted more! I promised her that next time I’d bring her a whole tin. I guess I should know better by now, huh?

I caught the bus back to SSR and used my final TS credit to get a pepperoni flatbread. I also had two snack credits left over, which I used to get rice krispy treats. When I sat down to eat, the heavens opened up and it poured. The kind of rain you can hear inside. It was funny to suddenly see a bunch of people come running in from the pool!

Luckily, it stopped raining once I’d finished my pizza. I picked up my suitcases and the DME bus arrived shortly thereafter. I was surprised to see that the bus was pretty full when I boarded, so it obviously made a stop or two before SSR.

I had a bus driver I’ve had before. I didn’t remember him until he told the same corny joke (unless more than one driver tells that same corny joke). We hit a little traffic, but I arrived at the airport with plenty of time before my flight. The line to check bags was fairly long, but it moved fast. I made it through security and spent the time at the gate watching a movie on my laptop (RIP DVD player ) At least SWA has outlets right next to the seats so it wouldn’t drain the battery before the end of the movie!

The flight home was pretty bumpy, but otherwise uneventful. It took forever for the luggage to come out – I think there was some problem or something. I waited about 20 minutes before it even started, and it’s usually already coming around when I get there or starts up within a minute or two.

A fitting end to a rather odd trip, I guess.

Up Next: Final Thoughts and Ramblings

[dsteiny23]

I am going to take your advice and get my little dancin' machines right inside the hub for that street party. It looks awesome!! And they'll love it. Thanks for the advice

[bethf]

Great update. I can't believe that this TR is almost over. Hurry back with another trip!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great last day Sharon! You certainly got in a lot of rides at DHS this morning! Sorry about the sandwich, and the rude people at the parade!! Looking forward to your final thoughts!!

[HiddenMickey]

Great trip report. You had another good vacation!
My trip is now a big jumble in my head with very few photos, so there is no report coming from me.

[vfair]

Thanks for all the parade pics - sorry about the family thing. I don't know why folks think that since they have littles they can move in front of the adults no matter when they get there. Nice of the rain to wait to you were eating your pizza so you didn't get drenched before the trip home. As far as the fudge, you should have known better.

[amandal]

So sad it's over, but we only have another 7 days!!! That dance party/parade looks like alot of fun. I wonder how long they'll have that there. . . . . Is it just seasonal? The comment about Donald either dancing or sleeping actually made me LOL here at my desk . . . . Can't wait to hear the final thoughts. And make sure you put a link to your DoD PTR!!

[belle0517]

Great finish!

[disney_duke]

A great way to end your trip -- with multiple drops on your beloved ToT!!! Bummer about all the strange strangers this time. As usual, your photos are great! Thanks for the tip on where to sit/stand for the parade. I'm looking forward to seeing this one in November!!! Glad the flight was less annoying on your flight home than on your flight there. Looking foward to your ramblings!!