Thwarted, Dumbo Update, Beef and Blue Salad – Magic Kingdom 6/22/12

Rain again thwarts our attempt at a pleasant day at Magic Kingdom.  Sorry.  I had set out to do a little reconnaissance on the arrival of FASTPASS at Dumbo, but it was too wet.  And to anyone that would tell you, “it’s just water,” they shut Dumbo down when it rains that hard, especially with the threat of thunder/lightning.  So any pictures on the ride would be impossible, especially with my hesitation of pulling out Tom in the rain.

For anyone waiting on the Flying Fish review, I offer you this 22 megapixel picture of bread while you wait: http://i.minus.com/iY5NnXXNtK7SE.jpg.  It’s not quite as satisfying when it’s a picture, is it?

Here’s some archival footage of the two Dumbos.  FASTPASSes are distributed at Mickey’s PhilharMagic.

Where you also pick up FASTPASSes for Winnie the Pooh.  The Dumbo machines are underneath those covers.  There is new signage up top that indicates the FASTPASS return time and the standby wait.  The standby wait may be helpful since Dumbo is a ways away from this location.  I obviously can’t say if the wait time here will match the wait time posted at the attraction itself.  I’m also not sure what FASTPASS return times are looking like.  I just wanted you to be aware that FASTPASS is indeed available at Dumbo and should be for the foreseeable future.

Edit as to how it works: Apparently I don’t have my facts straight.  From the comments section via Bryan:

Allow me to be an easywdw correspondent since you got rained out Both fastpass and Standby enter the tent from the sides of it. The regular line has a couple switchbacks, enters the play portion of the tent and then exit the play area when it’s their time to fly where they merge with fastpass where both lines could be sent to either dumbo.

As I mentioned before, the addition of the interactive queue and FASTPASS may make Dumbo a far lower priority than it was as recently as yesterday.  To dodge that 30+ minute wait, you really needed to head to Dumbo first thing or at least by 9:30am.  The late night is also a viable time to ride.  That fact is only magnified by how beautiful the attraction and Storybook Circus are in the dark.  Now, a lot of people with kids may want to spend time inside the tent.  Even without kids, the area is nicely air-conditioned, making it more pleasant than other outdoor queues.  If FASTPASSes are relatively easy to pull with return times just 40 to 60 minutes in the future, then an afternoon or evening FASTPASS may be in the cards.  With the low hourly capacity, FASTPASS return times may take off early, but the interactive queue may also play a role there.  I’m not sure, especially how few people would be aware that the queue exists and you have to wait in the standby line to experience it.

Lunch today is at the refugee camp known as Tomorrowland Terrace.  When I had the Citrus Shrimp Salad, management had stationed a cast member at the front of the seating area denying entrance to anyone that didn’t have food.  That was nice for those us who had food.  Today, there was only one empty table to sit at and it was only empty because there was a banana peel and two fruit snacks sitting on it.

We’ll try the Beef and Blue Cheese Salad.  I’m getting pretty close to trying every theme park salad I think.  The Salad-Off competition is on the way one of these days where I rank every salad in an epic battle to the death!

Here it is:

Obviously, you’re going to have to like “blue cheese” to enjoy this one.  The blue cheese seemed to be high enough quality.  It isn’t (insert amazing name brand) quality, I’m sure, but it would be comparable to something like Sargento.  You can actually see all of the beef that’s in it sitting on top.  There might be one more piece hiding, but it wasn’t a hefty portion of meat.  It’s also topped with a few apple slices and has a lot of tomatoes mixed in.  Overall, I was pleased with it and surprised at the amount of blue cheese sprinkled on top.  I don’t think you could expect much more.  I would have liked more beef as there’s only six or so bites.  For me, there was the “perfect” amount of balsamic vinaigrette mixed in.  Try to remember to order it on the side if you like to pour it yourself.  I always forget.  Otherwise, it was another fine option if you’re in the market.  I personally enjoyed the Citrus Salad more and the Peppercorn Chicken Salad at Columbia Harbour House is also better, in my opinion.

Just to confirm, the Beef Salad is indeed off the menu at Cosmic Ray’s.  This one was far more hefty, with hard boiled eggs, artichoke, more beef, and a huge hunk of bread.  It came along with a price that was about two dollars more.

In other news, Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure officially opened today at Epcot.  I have not had an opportunity to play.  The reviews I’ve read seem to indicate that the story is better, but the effects are mostly the same as Kim Possible.

I was also excited to see this Disney Parks Blog post.  Apparently the Tropicals band that used to play at Animal Kingdom will be performing at Typhoon Lagoon on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11:30am – 3pm through July 15th.  Accompanying them are Lilo and Stitch and a some Caribbean influenced food items.  Fun!