I’M GONNA WRECK IT, Mermaids, Goofy’s Glaciers, Gaston’s Steins Have Siblings, Pinocchio Village Haus Breadsticks, UNCRUSTABLES – 10/21/12

We’ll head out to Magic Kingdom on the afternoon of October 21st for no reason in particular.  This website is basically just going to be Florida sunsets from now on.

I’m sure Disney would like me to remind you that Wreck-It Ralph is coming to a theater near you sometime in November.

Apparently there was some pre-screening at Downtown Disney this past Saturday at like 8am.  I wasn’t in attendance

Reactions seemed to be positive, but you can’t really trust these people.  Disney seems to be pushing the female lead character hard in an effort for the film to attract girls. A video game movie starring an oaf-of-a-man may not initially appeal to the younger female demographic.   Vanellope von Schweetz will be greeting alongside Ralph inside the Animation Building at Hollywood Studios beginning October 28th.

Disney Store is stocking 58 items, so they must be expecting it to do well.  Frankenweenie has 32 items available, most of which are already 25% off.

As far as oafish men go though…he is $26.95.

Also in merchandise land:

And over at Epcot, an assortment of new shirts and such:

This is my favorite.

Where you at Jeff?

That’s not even a quarter of the new stuff….

Over at Pirates of the Caribbean, the mermaids have finally been “installed.” They’re projections on the water.  The clearest view is from 37 to 42 seconds.  It’s a pretty subtle effect before the little drop, but it’s neat to see in person.  I’ll see about getting a better video.  I only rode once and wasn’t sure what to expect exactly.

Aladdin’s Magical Carpets is closed through October 25th, reopening on October 26th.

In exciting restaurant news, Pecos Bill’s menu has a new look.

Everything should be the same as the actual update in August.  And the Pork Glop Platter is back.

The items look a little more appetizing now.

More temporary work at it’s a small world.

Work continues on the Rapunzel bathrooms, which are really beginning to look like quite the production, though it may be hard to gauge size from the pictures.  But it’s a serious structure.

And speaking of serious structures, the Mine Train continues to get larger.  Larger: http://i.minus.com/ikzL3rZtMuPU.jpg.

I wouldn’t be looking at New Fantasyland being open during regular hours until previews end on November 5th.  At the moment, cast members can tour the area if they’ve signed up along with their guests.  This seems to create some amount of confusion as regular guests can plainly see normal looking people inside the area, but are told they can’t enter themselves.  The shrubs are gone, so it’s just a simple rope with an opening manned by a couple cast members who give people the bad news.  Since October 12th, New Fantasyland has been open during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and I would expect that trend to continue.

I’ve gotten a few questions about walking time between Storybook Circus and New Fantasyland, since the two areas aren’t connected at the moment due to continuing construction.  From the Storybook Circus sign to the current entrance to New Fantasyland next to Pinocchio Village Haus, the walk is only about three minutes.  It would be another couple minutes to the Mermaid attraction or another minute to the Dumbo/Barnstormer FASTPASS tent in the back of Storybook Circus.

Wait times continue to be twice as long for Minnie & Daisy compared to Goofy & Donald at Pete’s Silly Sideshow.  This is at 5:15pm on a recommended Party night.

Decent wait time at Dumbo.  The minimum posted wait is still 15 minutes with the tent.

The posted wait at Barnstormer was 20 minutes, but the wait looks to be closer to ten.  It would depend on how many people return with FASTPASS.

For your enjoyment, I present the Blue Raspberry Goofy’s Glacier in a souvenir cup.  I am on a bit of a souvenir cup binge these days.  The Glacier normally runs $3.95, but was “only” $5.95 with what I deemed to be a darling cup.  I’m sure it will either melt, leak, or disintegrate before the week is up, but it will be a lot of fun until then!  Goofy’s Glaciers are slightly different than your prototypical frozen beverage available at The Lunching Pad and others and it’s the first time they’ve been offered inside the theme parks.  I’m not sure how to explain it exactly – the Glacier is “less frozen” than your usual frozen drinks.  It makes it easier to drink, but you’re still going to end up in that place half way through when you’re left with an undrinkable mass of frozen ice.  It was refreshing, but it’s really going to be a sugar rush, even more so than other frozen drinks.

This was my first sighting of Pumpkin Fudge this year – the best flavor.

These Dumbo cupcakes are smaller than the usual cake, but I’m assuming the Dumbo on top is edible chocolate?  We’ve seen the Caramel Corn Cupcake, but I still haven’t seen the cotton candy version.

Here’s a slightly better shot of The Periodic Table of Pirates shirt: http://i.minus.com/i9KP1WFKzt8LD.jpg.

You may recognize this as the souvenir stein from Gaston’s Tavern.  Disney has deemed it appropriate to offer it in other quick service locations with a different sticker stuck to it.  Here, we have the headless horseman at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments.  I feel like this lessens the uniqueness and novelty of the stein at Gaston’s, where it actually makes sense.  By all means sell me a souvenir mug here too, but you could make it a pumpkin or something, couldn’t you?

Over at Pinocchio Village Haus, they were displaying one with a sticker of Pinocchio or Jiminy Cricket.  Via Twitter, Kevin joked that they’d call this one “Pinocchio Punch.”  I would say there’s at least a 75% chance he’s right.  Frozen Tomato Soup with a Basil Foam?

Dinner today is at Pinocchio Village Haus.  Since I’ve gained 25 pounds in the last ten months, I’ve been trying to find items that are healthier.  This was another colossal failure.

This is five (one is apparently shy) breadsticks with a side of pizza sauce for $4.99.  I would guess it’s 1,000+ calories of bread.  These were a lot better than I remember them being.  They were incredibly soft and dipped nicely into the pizza sauce.  The pizza sauce is on the sweeter side and reminded me a lot of Pizza Hut.  For five bucks, this is more food than the $4.75 Mickey Pretzel and the pasta sauce is a nice change of pace.  They would also dunk beautifully into the Tomato Basil Soup they serve here.

Because I don’t value my own life, I opted for the Smuckers Uncrustables Kids Picks.

As usual, the Kids Picks come with a nice array of options and anyone is welcome to order one.

This was my first Uncrustables and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  As you might imagine, it’s basically two pieces of soft bread pushed together with peanut butter and jelly on the inside.  Growing up, I was always a peanut-butter-only-sandwich guy.  Most people could not believe this, but I’ve been assured that an aversion to jelly isn’t uncommon.  Actually, I basically had every ailment growing up before people realized it was a legitimate problem.  Anxiety.  Separation anxiety.  More anxiety.  Really I was just an anxious kid.  Now they have kid-size Xanax bars.  I just thought I was going to have a heart attack between the ages of nine and eleven and everyone thought I was crazy.  Anyway, I enjoyed this one for what it was.  It’s on a lot of menus here at Disney World and Uncrustables should be widely available in stores.  You may want to pick one up and see if the kids like them prior to your arrival, as it will make choosing Kids Picks easier.

The grapes are hit or miss.  These were soft and yucky.  The Danimals yogurt is par the course as well.  You can sub in apple sauce, fries, a cookie, and/or a soft drink if you prefer.  I’d skip the grapes more often than not.

I’m not sure if Mickey Milk is a weird name or not.  If you think about goat’s milk, soy milk, etc.  I’m not sure I want to think about where this stuff is coming from.  The Kids Picks are usually a decent amount of food, particularly if you order the heftier french fries and cookie.  For $11, this was a filling meal and not much more expensive than a regular adult entree.  Plus is comes with a small drink.

As I mention occasionally, Mickey’s Parties are almost always recommended because casual vacationers avoid the short day and lack of evening entertainment.  Incoming Halloween Party guests don’t increase wait times much as they tend to congregate on Main Street.  It’s 6:22pm and most attractions have nominal waits.  Pooh can easily hit 50+ minutes with plentiful FASTPASS and a low capacity.

Main Street is another story.

Cropped a bit right at 6:30pm.  I recommend staying through 7pm if you don’t mind seeing the special characters come out around 6:55pm.  With kids, it can get ugly if they see the Dwarfs, Captain Jack Sparrow, etc. and you’re not staying for the Party because you won’t be admitted into the line.  I like to get in line for Splash Mountain right around 6:55pm because waits are short, it’s a longer attraction, and it’s at the back of the Park.  By the time you mosey to the front, most of the crowd that’s exiting will be gone.  Here at 6:30pm, there’s going to be a substantial line for the Express Monorail, which means a ten minute wait and packed cars.

This is a turnstile-less exit canopy of sorts.

With cameras that see you.

If you’re arriving after 6pm, I recommend heading to the regular security check, where lines are often short.

While the special security lines set up are mobbed.

Heading out via ferry.  It took just about 30 minutes between the time I got in line for the ferry and when I arrived at the Transportation and Ticket Center.

More crowd calendar updates and more Food and Wine Festival incoming.  A reminder that if you have Food and Wine pictures and reviews to share, please forward them to josh@easywdw.com.