Our flights are scheduled for 6PM and I’d forgotten to do an online check in last night, so I tried to do it this morning. Delta has a very easy mobile site that I’ve used before (I love their electronic boarding pass–no paper to lose!). But this time it didn’t work; there was no information about my flight at all!! I called Delta right away to find that they had canceled the 6PM flight and rebooked me on a 3PM. I don’t know when this happened, I do not have an email update about this, and the first person I talked to was not at all helpful. In the end I made it clear that I would not be at the airport for a 3PM flight and that I would be arriving at the airport a bit after 3PM. What was Delta going to do with me? After being told twice there were no seats for later flights I was suddenly booked on a 7:30PM flight.
This is probably the only downside of purchasing tickets through travelocity.com; this isn’t the first time a flight update has either not been sent to me or wound up in my junk mail. I never did find this email in my junk or deleted box.
Anyway, our first stop today was Epcot for one ride: Soaring. Just like everyone else standing at park opening rope drop. Disney does do this rope drop well; they know where we are all headed and they have multiple cast members walk with in a line to prevent the crowd from running to the Land Pavilion. Lots of people walked more quickly than we did and once at the ride Jake picked up two Fastpasses while I walked slowly through the line, allowing people to rush by if they felt like it. In the end we waited about 15 minutes.
I love love love this ride! Its one of my mother’s favorites too, but the first time on was a battle. She doesn’t like heights, fast rides, or anything she can’t see before getting on so she was a afraid. Those of you who have done this know that not only is it not fast, it’s not actually high either (simulated flight, not real flight!). She cried, clutched my Dad’s hand, and the proclaimed that she loved it. Now its one of the few rides she goes on (mostly she’s a park bench sitter, chatting with the other moms who don’t go on high/fast/dark/any rides!).
A quick ride on Spaceship Earth (am I the only one totally bothered by the completely western perspective of history on this? For example, it completely ignores Korean development of movable type before, yes before, Gutenberg…) and its time for Magic Kingdom! We left Epcot, got on the monorail, took the ferry, and found ourselves very quickly at the gates. As is normal at Disney, all of this always takes longer than you plan. We arrived at Epcot at 9, left around 10:30, got to MK a bit after 11, and had some Photopass pictures taken:
Magic Kingdom and US
You can’t see it in this photo, but the entrance is decorated with Halloween bunting and pumpkins.
One of the most important parts of our Magic Kingdom visit is going to be Space Mountain. Its be rehabed since I last went on and I’ve assigned Jake to do some serious recon on the changes. This was my first and favorite roller coaster. Way back when, the late 70s?, the riders had to share seats; one person got in and the second person sat down sort of on their lap, sort of between their legs. Of course you could go alone, but since I was a kid I rode with my Dad. He would take his glasses off, I would sit, we would be strapped in, and for the rest of the ride Dad would have to hold my head upright since my neck was too skinny to hold my head up against the g-forces. We went on over and over while Mom and my brother waited (he never liked fast rides either). I suppose my love for this is more nostalgic than anything; it’s really not that great a ride, no loops, no big hills…but I love it. Dad stopped riding coasters for awhile due to back and heart trouble, but once he retired he went right back to it. Now when we are at Disney together (and Universal) we hit all the big ones multiple times. And he love Hulk at Islands Of Adventure–claims it’s the smoothest roller coaster ever.
Anyway, we decided a Fastpass would be the best way to hit this ride and since Jake can walk a lot faster than I can right now, I sent him straight there while I went to Casey’s Corner to get hot dogs for lunch and a table on the sidewalk. MMM, hot dogs…
After lunch we hit Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion. We tried to stop at the Hall of Presidents, but one of the presidents was malfunctioning and they closed the show. Mickey bars were consumed, more pictures taken, and we headed over to Space Mountain.
I’m so jealous. The que is updated a bit with some interactive video games to keep you occupied. They’ve ditched the old themes (at one point a space station, at one point a FedEx delivery depot) and given it a futuristic airport sort of theme (although it’s always felt forced here). I waited in line with Jake and took the escape route to the ride exit. He said its darker and somewhat smoother and now they’ve added music–good updates in his view, but since he doesn’t have the same memories of the ride, it’s never going to live up to Rockin Roller Coaster or Expedition Everest for him.
I can’t wait til our next trip when I can go on it!!
Our trip is coming to an end, we need to get our car, change into cold weather clothes, head to the airport and part company as Jake heads to NY and I head to Detroit. But first one more picture:
Future Mousketeer in the House!
