Many of you may be anxious to hear about my time with the Dwarfs, but as my discussion of Gay Day will be brief, I'll address it first. Upon arrival at the park, I did notice the overwhelming number of red t-shirts, which signify either participation or support on Gay Day (alternately, that you just like wearing red). A few of these shirts bore innuendos that I'm not entirely sure can actually be classified as such, as they were pretty straightforward and crude - this, however, was the extent of my "issue" on Gay Day. Since I'm a Disney blogger, and this is a very controversial event, I figured I'd keep my eye out for inappropriate public displays of affection and other such "problems" (I'll mention here that I don't want to see anyone making out in Disney parks - gay, straight, pink, purple - it's just not the place). As I suspected, however, there were none. Mainly what we saw, if I may borrow from Tabby's Facebook post about the event, was "laughter and smiles and occasionally a stolen kiss of affection that mirrored myself and my boyfriend." Basically, if people being inappropriate is your concern with Gay Day, have no fear - if crowds, on the other hand, are what you want to avoid, stay far, far away.
Now, on to the main event - the thing we've all been waiting for. Not just the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but New Fantasyland being complete. Coming around the corner from the central hub was a beautiful sight, though people who are not frequently at the parks wouldn't know what I might be referring to, as the beautiful thing about the sight was the absence of something rather than the addition. The final construction barriers are down, and New Fantasyland now has a beautiful cohesion, each bit flowing into the next, no ugly walls ruining the illusion: you are now 100% transported into the realm of Disney fantasy. Now this may come as a surprise to some folks, but the line for this brand new ride was quite long (105 minutes when we joined the queue), and long enough of a line that it stretched out of the actual entrance to the attraction and around the corner.
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| The line was so long, they had a cast member whose sole job was to hold up a sign with the current wait time. |
It was an extremely hot and humid day, so Tabby popped out of line to grab a couple of Premium Mickey Bars, her first, in fact, so it was a bit of an exciting moment (It's the little things). We soon wound our way through the exterior queue, which, thankfully, was lined with enough giant fans that there were very few areas where we were not being at least somewhat cooled down. Unfortunately, along this part of the path, there seemed to be an inordinate number of people who had left family members to hold a spot in line for them so they didn't have to wait. Please don't do this, people, it is perhaps my biggest pet peeve at Disney - maybe even more than people who refuse to go all the way across the row, no matter how many times the cast members insist that you keep on moving. Once we made our way to the indoor area, we finally got to check out the interactive queue that Disney has been talking about so much.
The first interactive bit features a stream of gems flowing down a sluice. You have to pull the gems out of the water and put them into proper corresponding slots to be carried down to the mine train. It's a fun little distraction, and unlike some other interactive queues, you can keep playing as you go around the bend, preventing people from getting distracted and not moving with the flow of traffic.
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| Nothing like a bit of mining work on your vacation. |
Next up was a musical gem washing station - a series of spigots carved in the shape of woodland creatures that played a note when you moved your hand under them. I imagine that there may be some way to get them to play tunes from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but I didn't have much time before the line moved on.
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| Carvings of adorable woodland critters. |
In the mines themselves, there were seven barrels of gems that you could spin, each projecting a kaleidoscope of colors on the cave ceiling until spun fast enough to reveal an animated Dwarf. If all seven barrels are simultaneously spun, a surprise animation appears on the ceiling. I won't spoil it here, because surprise and delight is what Disney is all about.
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| Doc's instructions are featured at each stop - rhyming, of course. |
It wasn't too much longer from there until we finally got on the ride that we've been waiting years for - and, I must say, in most regards it doesn't disappoint. If you were expecting a crazy roller coaster ride, you will likely be a bit Grumpy, but if you wanted a kids first coaster with classic Disney dark ride elements, you'll leave extremely Happy. Though the summer heat had definitely made us Sleepy, the innovative audio-animatronic Dwarfs were quite a sight to see, and there was what I would define as a perfect Disney parks moment as the diminutive diggers end their workday with a "Heigh Ho!" I'd definitely recommend grabbing a FastPass for this ride, as it is a tad bit short for the massive line that it will more than likely continue to draw.
After we were done digging with the Dwarfs, we headed over to Adventureland to ride Jungle Cruise, and then began to note that the park was becoming extremely crowded, and the day was becoming even more unbearably hot. I will note, that my friend Kevin was extremely pained by the puns-per-minute that were dished out by our skipper, though he did nod with approval when it was mentioned that "headhunter territory was a terrible place to be headed." (Get it? Be... these are the jokes, people.) So we decided to head on over to Epcot, where carbonated libation could be had for free, and there was no need to wait in queue, simply to enjoy a meander around the World Showcase Lagoon, snacking and drinking our way.
On this trip, we also were making use of Memory Maker, and had a few Magic Pictures taken. If you're ever using Memory Maker, be sure to ask if the photographer has any Magic Pictures that they can take - it's definitely a fun little treat for later. They'll ask you to pose, take the shot, and then later, when you look at your pictures, you'll find that some magic occurred. Strange things can happen when working with Memory Maker, especially when the photographer asks the women in the party to do a particular pose, and then the men also insist on getting the same photo done...
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| Very strange things... |
The rest of the day was full of tired, hot laughter and fun, though little more to note. We stopped in at the temporary location of Captain Cook's at the Polynesian Village Resort for dinner, but we were all so tired that I forgot to take any photos for the blog (Sorry, guys, I'll try to be more diligent in the future), but I will say, definitely try out the nachos there. Pulled pork over house made potato chips with cheese, sour cream, and pineapple - definitely a unique treat. Tabby got the Thai coconut meatballs, which, while not my cup of tea, as I'm not a huge coconut fan, were quite well made and tasty. We ended the day by watching Wishes from across the Lagoon on the Polynesian beach, and trudged, exhausted, back to the car.
So while you will see a review or two pop up, or possibly a new experience I've tried at the resorts, my trip reports are going to be few and far between until we hit September, but I've still got plenty planned, including more recipes (including some fun tropical drink recipes for your summer parties), to keep you busy all summer long! Stay magical!
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