Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

On Monday morning of our honeymoon, we slept in, relatively speaking, and didn't get moving until about 9 a.m., when we had breakfast in the room and packed lunches of peanut butter sandwiches, apples, carrots and Kashi bar, which we would take into the park.

Since it was our first full day, we started with Magic Kingdom, which had a lot of the classic rides we wanted to go on.

When you enter Magic Kingdom, you go first down Main Street USA, a series of shops that looks like 19th Century America. All the details were beautifully wrought, which was just a hint of what was to come.

Inside the gate, we stopped at the Kodak store and museum, where they sold photographic supplies and also had some displays on photographic history as well as some cutouts that allowed you to pose in some classic Disney movies.

We continued our walk down Main Street. We could see in the distance Cinderella's castle. Now, I'd heard that the castle isn't as big as it looks in pictures, and that proved to be the case. But like everything in Disney, it was done about 2/3 to scale, much like a movie set. Therefore, in photos, the eye is fooled into believing it's farther away and therefore bigger.

The overall effect is that they create a spectacle that is nevertheless comforting and welcoming instead of imposing.

In every section of the park, hidden speakers played music that matched the area of the park. This made everything seem more dramatic, as if you were starring in your own movie.

Of course, we wanted to get pictures in front of the castle, and we discovered that there are Disney PhotoPass photographers stationed throughout the park. They will take pictures, either on your own camera or with theirs. If they take it with theirs, they give you a PhotoPass that allows you to view your photos either at stations around the Disney parks or online, and you can order prints from there.

We had him use my camera, which might have been a mistake. I had the settings wrong for such a bright day, and the castle came out overexposed. I'll have to see if someone with more PhotoShop expertise than I (such as my brother's wife) can work with it.

When the photographer took our photo, he counted, "One, two, seventeen." I laughed, and he said that Chip and Dale taught him how to count. I misunderstood at first and asked him if he was in the Chippendale's, but the moment after I'd said it, my brain parsed what he'd meant, and I blushed. I don't think Disney employees, a.k.a. cast members, are allowed to participate in off-color humor, because he got really quiet and I changed the subject, thanking him profusely for taking the picture.

I had much better luck photographing one of the cheerful Halloween decorations, adorning a street light.

We crossed the bridge into Tomorrowland to head for Space Mountain, which was the first ride The Gryphon wanted to experience. Tomorrowland was very Space Age, very retrofuturistic, and I loved it. They also had a lot of amusing little names for the stores, such as the Merchant of Venus.

We headed straight for Space Mountain. Over the entrance to every ride hangs a digital sign that gives the line wait. Some of the more popular rides also have Fast Pass booths. The way these works is that you insert your park ticket into the machine, and it prints out a fast pass, which will give you a window of time during which you can return and take the Fast Pass entrance, effectively skipping the line. However, the Fast Pass window doesn't begin until about 10 minutes after you would reach the head of the line if you simply waited, so it's really a matter of how you want to spend your time.

We used the Fast Pass machines as much as possible, and used the intervening time to check out other things in the park. While we were waiting for our window to enter Space Mountain, we checked out Tomorrowland. I was interested in the Carousel of Progress, because it looked like it might be the show from which we had pulled some of the stills for our wedding reception. It was closed, presumably for renovations.

At The Gryphon's suggestion, we hopped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which took us around the outskirts Tomorrowland on an elevated track. It actually passes into Space Mountain, where you can see people loading into cars and also view space-related displays. I tried to get some shots, but it was too dark for non-flash photography. Some of the shots, though, were interesting in an abstract art sort of way.

I had better luck outside. Here's a kinetic sculpture on top of one of the roofs.

After we were done, we looked around the place a bit more and then used our Fast Pass to enter Space Mountain, an indoor roller coaster. Like most indoor roller coasters, it consists of short drops, twists and turns. It's a dark roller coaster, so you can't see what's going up. Along the track and on the ceiling are lots of lit, spacy images.

Even the entranceway was fascinating.

For the first time, I discovered what a waiting line was like at Disney. The Gryphon had told me they try to make the wait interesting by having things along the way that you can look at or read. Of course, we walked through it much more quickly, using our Fast Past.

When we rode on Space Mountain, you had to secure all your loose items, which could go on the floor. It's the only ride at Disney I can think of where you had to remove your glasses. The Gryphon buttoned ours up in his cargo shorts and put my camera inside his backpack. We placed our bags at our feet and had no troubles.

Though I don't consider myself a roller coaster enthusiast, I've been on a variety of types of roller coasters, and this was different than any I'd been on. It combines the best elements of a thrill coaster with a dark ride. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Even as we came out of the ride, you stand on these moving belts that take you past scenes of space exploration and robots. Again, my attempts at photos weren't that great. Near the end, closed circuit television projects your own images on screens next to the moving track.

We left Tomorrowland, bypassing the Toontown entrance, since it didn't look that interesting, and we walked through Fantasyland, marveling at the sites along the way. We paused for a photo of me in front of the Alice in Wonderland tea party topiary.

Fantasyland looked very much like a storybook place, the sort of old European style houses from movies like Cinderella and Pinocchio.

Since there was only a 10-minute wait, we waited in line to see "it's a small world", a Disney staple that has been refurbished so that it's back to its original glory. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much from the journey through various areas in the world, but it was actually surprisingly wondrous. The singing dolls sometimes seem a bit silly, but the scenery, the moving parts, and the bright colors are designed to dazzle and actually do. I must admit, I rode through it expecting to laugh at it and instead, was caught up in the journey, having fun identifying the different parts of the world and anxious to see what was around the bend.

Right on the edge of Fantasyland, in the the Liberty Square area, which is a section that looks like colonial America, we waited in line for the Haunted Mansion. This was one of the few more popular rides that didn't offer a Fast Pass. I'd guess that's for two reasons. First is that part of the ride is the anticipation of what you might see inside. So they probably don't want anyone to be able to skip that.

The other reason is more practical, in that this line just snakes under a breezeway in front of the ride, where you can see the mansion the entire time. There's no obvious way to create a Fast Pass line there, other than just a straight alleyway directly to the entrance, which would be very visible to the rest of the line.

The Fast Pass lines generally take a somewhat hidden route so that it's not as obvious to the rest of the people waiting, partly out of consideration for their feelings, I'd imagine, and partly to discourage line jumpers. Of course, they don't collect your Fast Pass until you reach the head of the line, so those who do attempt to line jump are disappointed when they reach the front.

I'm not sure how long of a wait it was, maybe 30 minutes, but it didn't seem long. While we were waiting, in the staggering heat, the people behind us, who were holding up a parasol to protect themselves from the sun, said they felt bad for the cast members who worked outside the Haunted Mansion, forced to wear dark green long pants and skirts.

Now, haunted houses used to terrify me, and I would not go in them. In particular, I was terrified of the ones that had real people working in them, and I still don't particularly like that variety. But I'd long since learned to handle that fear, and I sort of dare myself to go into haunted house rides.

The Haunted Mansion was the best dark house attraction I've ever been in. They use special effects such as video projection and holographs to create the illusion of actual spirits roaming the halls. As you ride through on a small cart where only two people can fit, you get taken through different scenes, sometimes closer than you'd like.

The Disney imagineers skillfully told stories, often of very macabre events, without ever showing anything bloody. Yet, the scene would complete itself in your head and become chilling. The ride is definitely not for small children or the weak of heart. In fact, when we'd reached the head of the line, we'd seen a couple parents leaving with tearful children who had refused to go further.

Like many Disney rides, it begins with an introduction in a room, where a video or show prepares you for what you're about to go on. This helps with line control, but it also allows people an extra opportunity to bail out. There is always a Disney cast member in there, who can direct people to the exits, should they choose not to go further and actually load into the cars.

The only other big attraction in Liberty Square was the Hall of Presidents, the famous audio animatronic show featuring Abraham Lincoln, which was closed for renovation.

From there, we walked into Frontierland, where immediately Splash Mountain caught our eye. By now, it was getting hot, and it was a flume style ride, so we gave it a shot.

While this ride did offer a Fast Past, the line was so short we decided to wait. I think it was a 10-minute wait, probably because people were already lining the streets to watch the parade that comes through the Magic Kingdom every afternoon.

Splash Mountain tells the story of Brer Rabbit in a rather amusing way. It begins in the line, where you see portraits on the wall of the different characters, which hint at the fact that Brer Rabbit is the good guy and that Brer Bear and Brer Fox are out to get him.

As you ride through, it tells the story through audio and visuals, including some tableaux. Then, of course, there's the big drop, where they snap your picture. We thought it was amusing, so we purchased ours.

As we found out later, if we had purchased every available picture from all the rides that offered them, we could have spend more than $100!

As we exited Splash Mountain, we lined up along the road to see the parade. We had a great place, right near the beginning of the sidewalk. A man with a videocamera stood in front of me on the curb, but I was able to snap pictures out of a gap in the crowd.

Disney has clearly thought a lot about logistics. All of the most popular characters were on raised floats so that they were easy to see. They piped music through the entire park, which accompanied the parade and created a dramatic atmosphere. The characters danced along and sometimes even lip-synched to the music.

We had dinner reservations that evening for the 7 p.m. hour, so we only had so much time in the park. We didn't have much time left before we'd have to get home to our resort and change, but we rode on Pirates of the Caribbean before leaving.

Interestingly, the movies were based on the ride, and now the ride has incorporated characters from the movie, namely Jack Sparrow. Just like any other ride in Magic Kingdom, it tells a story, this one about Jack's adventures as he tries to uncover a hidden treasure. This ride, classic Disney, includes state-of-the-art animatronics, music, lighting and scenery to create a captivating experience.

We hopped a bus back to our resort then, changed into nicer clothing, and took a bus to Epcot, because we'd been told we could walk from there to the Disney Boardwalk, where we could find the restaurant where we had our reservations, Flying Fish Cafe. Unfortunately, this might not have been the quickest way to get there (I'm still not certain what is), and on top of that, the heavens unleashed the only true, soaking rainstorm we saw during our stay.

Within minutes, our ponchos were practically useless, as our legs became thoroughly drenched and the rain dribbled down our arms to soak the rest of us. But we only had a brief window to make our reservation, so we trudged through the angling rain while all around us, people waited it out under awnings.

To make matters worse, we got disoriented and walked across the wrong bridge, ending up in the Paris section and having to retrace our footsteps until finally we found the international gateway, the exit to Epcot and also the entrance to the Disney Boardwalk.

Then we had to find the restaurant itself, which wasn't easy to spot, as it's tucked back in a little alleyway off the main boardwalk area. But with triumph, we spotted it and entered the restaurant.

The front desk person gave us both towels so that we could sponge off, and she even gave us a big Disney bag to place our wet ponchos. We told her who we were and discovered we weren't even late for our reservation! So my spirits started to pick up. After The Gryphon had gone back outside to dump the water out of his shoes, we followed the hostess to our table.

Our water was Italian, and he was very knowledgeable about the menu. He assured us that this was the best restaurant that we'd eat at on the Disney property and told us that the chef was excellent. We each began with a glass of wine and then ordered an appetizer of the signature Crisp Jonah Lump Crab Cake. It was superb. In fact, I can't remember any time I've eaten a better crab cake. The outside was crispy, and the inside was filled with fresh crab, delicately seasoned to savory perfection.

For my entree, I ordered the Pumpkin seed-crusted Barramundi, since I'd never had it before. It was served with Jicama, Watercress, hearts of Palm, Salsa Tropicale, Fragrant Mango and Sweet Pepper Ketchup for a fresh, summery dish. The Gryphon ordered the Potato-wrapped Red Snapper, in part because we'd seen a very similar dish prepared as one of the challenges on Top Chef.

We each ate half of our entrees and then traded, so the other could try it. I was glad we did, because the snapper was cooked to perfection, served with a Creamy Leek Fondu in a Red Wine Butter Sauce. It had a much richer, creamier mouth feel than the Barramundi.

We were feeling much better by this point.

The waiter brought us a complimentary glass of champagne, since we were newlyweds, and then The Gryphon and I shared a chocolate dessert that was so many different layers of chocolate I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Our friendly waiter even gave me a copy of the menu, as a souvenir. "For your scrapbook," he said. How well he knows women!

Overall, the experience was enough to make us forget about the rain. By the time we left, it had cleared up, and we were drying off.

There were extended hours that evening in the Magic Kingdom, so we caught a bus back to the park to enjoy a few more rides, after dark. The park was beautifully lit after dark.

This included the Buzz Lightyear ride, in which you ride a ship and aid Buzz where you shoot evil robots to help your alien friends success in their mission. We didn't expect them to take a picture on this ride, and our serious expressions were so funny I insisted we purchase a print.

We had time for one more ride before leaving, so we checked out Peter Pan's Flight, which starts out like a typical boat ride but then takes you on a flying journey over the world of Peter Pan. Although the ride might sound simple, the combination of the scenery, sound, and animatronic figures made me feel like I was inside the story of Peter Pan.

On the way out of the park, we passed through Liberty Square and, highly amused that they had a full-scale replica Liberty Bell, I had The Gryphon take a picture of me.

Seeing this, a very kind fellow park guest offered to take our picture together, and we gladly agreed, for a less silly picture.

Since we were already starting to get sunburned, I suggested that we stop in one of the stores on Main Street USA and buy ourselves some brimmed hats. We each found baseball hats to our liking in a store near the front gate, which was called, I believe, Chapeaux or something to that effect. I chose a white baseball hat with a small pink Mickey on the front, and The Gryphon chose an olive drab baseball hat with a classic Mickey Mouse on the front, distressed to look as if it was vintage. We made good use of them the rest of the week.

More Musings on Alyce's honeymoon:

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Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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