Hello everyone. Just wanted to share with you the some of the latest happenings at WDW.
I was at the Magic Kingdom this morning for the opening of Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. I was among the first to go on the ride after purchasing a commemorative pin created for the event.
It seems that not too many people were aware of the new ride, based on the small lines I encountered from 9am until noon. Basically the waits were in the 15-20 minute range all morning. And that's taking into account what I considered to be a very slow guest re-load system.
Your party is handed a color coded plastic card which is to be collected by a cast member before the ride launches. This was very time consuming, and I just didn't see the logic behind it.
Anyway, the carpets seat two passengers per row comfortably, with two rows per carpet. I suppose a third would fit if it were a small child. As it was, my wife and I sat in the first row, with my 9 month old daugther sitting in my lap with her legs secured beneath the lap safety belt. The first row has a control knob(like the one on Buzz Lightyear) on the front dashboard which makes the carpet go up or down, while the rear passengers control the forward and backward pitch.
The ride itself was very short, lasting maybe a minute and a half at most. But it was alot of fun. There's one spitting camel that hits unsuspecting passengers should their carpets fly at about mid-level height. I made sure we made a couple of passes at this height so that my daughter and wife would be surprised.
There's just one other camel that faces out into the crowd. It wasn't spitting water like the other one, but I suppose it's set up to do so.
Anyway, as I said, it's a very cute ride and is geared toward the little ones. It's very short, which was really my only complaint. And I expected the theming of the surrounding area to be a bit more elaborate. Other than that, I think families will be very happy with this new addition. My daughter really enjoyed the ride, but seemed to like It's a Small World best out of all the rides we did with her. Go figure.
I'll post a picture of the ride when I get back, although I'm sure WDWMagic will have one up before then.
I also happened to catch a glimpse of one of the new floats for the MK's 100th B-Day celebration. It was one of those snow globe floats with an animated Mickey standing inside and greeting the crowds. Ahead of him were about a dozen sweeping brooms from the Fantasia series. The reason I was able to see this preview of the new parade is that they were shooting a promo for the celebration early this a.m. down mainstreet. Filming went on until about noon, with guests standning in as extras.
Again, I'll post a picture of the float when I get back.
The fire near WDW has not been as big a problem these days as when I arrived. For the past 3 days I haven't noticed a hint of smoke in the air. Apparantly last night's storm, which lasted about an hour, helped out a bit(good news for you HorizonsFan).
Also, Pooh has been closed all week for refurbishment. It's expected to re-open this Friday.
I'll check back in as things come up. For now anyway, things couldn't be better for us here at the happiest place on earth. The magic just oozes out of everything and just about every cast member we meet. It's been truly great,and a pleasure to behold, all of the spring time beauty in WDW. I don't remember the parks looking any better.
I was at the Magic Kingdom this morning for the opening of Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. I was among the first to go on the ride after purchasing a commemorative pin created for the event.
It seems that not too many people were aware of the new ride, based on the small lines I encountered from 9am until noon. Basically the waits were in the 15-20 minute range all morning. And that's taking into account what I considered to be a very slow guest re-load system.
Your party is handed a color coded plastic card which is to be collected by a cast member before the ride launches. This was very time consuming, and I just didn't see the logic behind it.
Anyway, the carpets seat two passengers per row comfortably, with two rows per carpet. I suppose a third would fit if it were a small child. As it was, my wife and I sat in the first row, with my 9 month old daugther sitting in my lap with her legs secured beneath the lap safety belt. The first row has a control knob(like the one on Buzz Lightyear) on the front dashboard which makes the carpet go up or down, while the rear passengers control the forward and backward pitch.
The ride itself was very short, lasting maybe a minute and a half at most. But it was alot of fun. There's one spitting camel that hits unsuspecting passengers should their carpets fly at about mid-level height. I made sure we made a couple of passes at this height so that my daughter and wife would be surprised.
There's just one other camel that faces out into the crowd. It wasn't spitting water like the other one, but I suppose it's set up to do so.
Anyway, as I said, it's a very cute ride and is geared toward the little ones. It's very short, which was really my only complaint. And I expected the theming of the surrounding area to be a bit more elaborate. Other than that, I think families will be very happy with this new addition. My daughter really enjoyed the ride, but seemed to like It's a Small World best out of all the rides we did with her. Go figure.
I'll post a picture of the ride when I get back, although I'm sure WDWMagic will have one up before then.
I also happened to catch a glimpse of one of the new floats for the MK's 100th B-Day celebration. It was one of those snow globe floats with an animated Mickey standing inside and greeting the crowds. Ahead of him were about a dozen sweeping brooms from the Fantasia series. The reason I was able to see this preview of the new parade is that they were shooting a promo for the celebration early this a.m. down mainstreet. Filming went on until about noon, with guests standning in as extras.
Again, I'll post a picture of the float when I get back.
The fire near WDW has not been as big a problem these days as when I arrived. For the past 3 days I haven't noticed a hint of smoke in the air. Apparantly last night's storm, which lasted about an hour, helped out a bit(good news for you HorizonsFan).
Also, Pooh has been closed all week for refurbishment. It's expected to re-open this Friday.
I'll check back in as things come up. For now anyway, things couldn't be better for us here at the happiest place on earth. The magic just oozes out of everything and just about every cast member we meet. It's been truly great,and a pleasure to behold, all of the spring time beauty in WDW. I don't remember the parks looking any better.
