First of all, a big thanks to Ray for taking me out to lunch at Crystal Palace today. I had a great time and enjoyed meeting you.
Following yesterday’s Extended Queue Saturday, we’re headed back to Magic Kingdom for Not Extended Queue Sunday. Magic Kingdom was our “Most Recommended Park” today. With yesterday’s nuttiness and a longer day tomorrow with both nighttime spectaculars scheduled, this would have been your best opportunity to visit Magic Kingdom since last Wednesday. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.
Geppetto was out meeting and greeting with Pinocchio this afternoon, which is rare. His gloves are pretty creepy.
Disney is getting a lot of flack this week due to the removal of several characters at Animal Kingdom (Lilo, Stitch, Terk, Jiminy Cricket, and the Rafiki’s Planet Watch Pocahontas) and the Tropicals steel drum band. There is still a lot of fun live entertainment though, including these guys that perform up and down Main Street throughout the day.
The second silhouette stand and a caricature artist are still hidden on the right side of Main Street here. The other one is in Liberty Square near the Christmas Shop.
Here they are up at the train station.
And down below – performing to a decent crowd considering no one really knows that it’s going to happen.
That Tinker Bell balloon is $15. The “balloon inside of a balloon” is $10. Pretty crazy.
Disney will ship your order to you, provided that you order a boatload full of stuff. Or probably about three t-shirts at today’s prices.
Fun topiaries at the end of Main Street on the way over to Tomorrowland. Amusingly, there was a line about ten people deep to take a photo with these guys and no line for the Photopass photographer that would take a picture of you with the Castle in the background.
You may recall this queue for Buzz Lightyear was full yesterday.
This one for PeopleMover too.
It’s about 12:30pm here. We have a 30 minute posted wait at Space Mountain, compared to 90 yesterday.
No $5.00 hot dogs for sale from this cart today. Sad face. Come back next Saturday.
Alice and White Rabbit meeting in front of Mad Tea Party. A fun meet and greet when you can get them together.
Another nice topiary background with Mad Tea Party behind it.
Beast’s Castle just looks bigger and bigger every day!
I just want to box it up and take it home with me! It would be a great conversation piece.
Compared to 70 minutes yesterday. 20 minutes is actually optimistic, probably. Disney issues a ton of FASTPASSes and its capacity is even lower than Toy Story Midway Mania.
Less crowded today. But you believe me even without this picture, right?
This would make for a fun haunted carousel ride or something.
Speaking of Winnie the Pooh FASTPASS, they are still available at Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Return times just 40 minutes in the future.
30 minutes is a short afternoon wait for Peter Pan’s Flight. The median peak wait across the past 365 days is an even 60 minutes.
No extended queue necessary at it’s a small world.
And a line that isn’t all the way out here for Haunted Mansion.
Are you going to be able to say “no” to these souvenir popcorn buckets? Drop a glow cube inside when you get home for a nice holiday decoration.
No Parade ropes.
Frontier Trading Post has been behind scrims and walls for a while now.
The usual number of people playing the Shootin’ Arcade. Actually, this is about five more than usual.
There was a question about where the leather engraving was actually located. Sorry that I didn’t get back to you sooner. Amusingly again, it’s actually located directly behind the sign.
Here.
At $5-$10, it’s inexpensive for Walt Disney World. Less than one of those balloons and it most likely won’t pop or deflate. Fall apart? Probably.
A few choices.
No one waiting to get inside at Pecos Bill.
Over to Big Thunder and Splash Mountains – something I couldn’t even do yesterday.
Not bad, with the usual FASTPASSes that are 40 minutes out.
Splash Mountain lines are significantly shorter this time of year, even with a similar number of people in the Magic Kingdom as the summer months. Even though it was 75+ degrees today, most people seem to think “wet” and “December” don’t go together.
I think it’s funny that they give you a sample picture at the Kodak Picture Spots. We’re dumb, but are we that dumb?
Unfortunately, the tree in said picture has seen better days and there is this light pole thing in the way too. They should update the sample shot.
Compared to 25 yesterday. 15 is probably a little long.
Jungle Cruise is much shorter too.
This is where Peter Pan is currently meeting guests. We’re out in front of the main entrance to Adventureland. Crystal Palace would be down the path to the right of where Peter is standing. Lines are usually short because it’s not a well advertised meet.
Over to Crystal Palace for a nice buffet with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. Expect to wait 15-20 minutes after your reservation time unless you get really lucky or eat at an off-time, like 3pm. We had a reservation, but everyone you see here did too and they’ll all be seated before us (or you, as the case may be).
Should you actually make it through the doors, you’ll be greeted by this holiday themed set of topiaries.
It’s always fun to wait 20 minutes for a table and then enter the restaurant, only to find a dozen open tables. Crystal Palace is loud, like most buffets. It’s just a big open space. Unfortunately, it reminds me a lot of the cafeteria experience. Except for the price tag, which is currently $30 for adults and $17 for kids.
Another look at one of the two main sections. It’s basically just a big room.
The food:
Yum.
And a couple plates full:
Sorry they aren’t half-eaten. Nothing was, “Wow, this is good.” The Mediterranean Saute Chicken, Flank Steak, and Ham were all fine, but this is far from a culinary tour de force. And a few of the items are downright sad – the cheese pizza, curry vegetables, and “spoon bread” were all pretty blech. The salads and other cold items are better – but you’re probably not going to eat $30 worth of lettuce. They do have grapes though. And hard boiled eggs in a bowl. As previously mentioned, the meal is hosted by Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger. Considering these characters are pretty easy to find and meet, particularly over at Animal Kingdom, you don’t need to dine here in order to meet them. They come to the table individually, so you can’t get a picture as good as the one at Mickey’s Halloween or Christmas Party where the four of them often meet together either. We were there for over an hour and Winnie the Pooh never came by the table. We barely got to see Tigger as we were leaving. I would recommend breakfast, but the lunch and dinner really don’t offer a lot of value for the money.
Crowds for the 3pm Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade. It’s going to be pretty crazy when it switches over to the Christmas Parade on the 19th.
Main Street Players marching down the street in front of the Parade.
Another shot of the Grand Floridian Wedding Pavilion.
That’s a scrim with a painting (picture?) of the Grand Floridian taped to a billboard-size piece of wood or cardboard or something. Pretty ridiculous.
And so it is.
puuuuuuuuuumpkiiiiiiiiiiiiin cheeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeecaaaaaaaaaake!
Big on pumpkin, I take it?
Disney is getting a lot of flack this week due to the removal of several characters at Animal Kingdom (Lilo, Stitch, Terk, Jiminy Cricket, and the Rafiki’s Planet Watch Pocahontas) and the Tropicals steel drum band.
What?! I missed this news – and I was there and saw Lilo & Stitch on Friday, when I picked up my calendar, and all of them on Tuesday. There really was a ton of live entertainment all week – I kept stumbling upon musicians or comedians just about everywhere I went, it seemed. Of course, some was scheduled and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And some I was clear across the lake and still heard the gospel chorus screeching JESUS at me. (ugh, hate being confronted with religion like that)
Also, I was at the MK today. I can’t tell you how fast I scrolled down to double check that you didn’t catch me in an embarrassing pose. My ears hat was very distinguishing, as it was handmade with pink sequins and feathers. Luckily, I appear to have been halfway across the park for just about every photo, judging by the time stamps 😛
I was impressed when I went last night around 7pm that there was just about no sign of the taping, and again today. They sure do know how to disassemble things quickly down there.
Yeah, here’s the character update: http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions/Character-Meet-and-Greets-at-Disneys-Animal-Kingdom/News/01Dec2011-Characters-from-%27UP%27-soon-to-begin-meet-and-greets-at-Disney%27s-Animal-Kingdom.htm
I tried to get a picture of you doing something embarrassing, but I guess I didn’t time it just right?
That is nice you were able to have lunch with a friend of the site. Crystal Palace looks very pretty, I have never dined there. I get anxious in buffet lines and end up eating lettuce with a few grapes.
Josh,
Agree on the CP lunch and dinner food. It’s almost as bad as Hollywood & Vine. I can only tolerate the buffets for brekkie. Just wanted to point out that Piglet is only available to meet on a regular basis at Hollywood Studios and CP.
Lilo, Terk and Jiminy bit the dust today at AK and Pocahontas did revert to only Camp Minnie Mickey (which actually makes sense). Stitch only offered one 30 minute meet and greet session at AK, but he is found around every other corner in WDW.
KtP
Thanks for the CP review. I have an ADR for lunch there when we go in January. Now I am re-thinking that plan. My kids are not even big Pooh fans so it looks entirely skip-able and actually pretty unappetizing. Is H&V as bad as everyone says? I am afraid the Disney Junior folks are a must-see for my merry crew.
The buffet just looks scary…..lets just throw a bunch of crap out in bowls! Yuckypoo!!!
Pumpkin is a way of life, Josh!
I’m not a fan of buffets in general because I’m slightly picky, especially when it comes to meats and fish (breakfast is usually all-good though). Even at buffets I consider ‘good’ my dish winds up containing mostly salads and desserts. My hubs however is very much a ‘quantity over quality’ person when it comes to food, which allows me to trick him into doing character dinners, mwaha! We had lunch at CP last October and I enjoyed it more than I expected, I appreciated the variety of salads and veggies, though they look a lot sadder in your pics than I remember. Still not something I’d repeat, due to the cost and the overall time involved, but I enjoyed it far more than my hubs’ favorite Dis-buffet, Biergarten. *shudder*
So, this would have been Saturday I’m guessing?? The crowds seem very managable.
Very nice of Ray to take you out. I’d love to buy you a meal, but my husband is a bit reserved (shy) and would be very puzzled “Josh, who???”. It will have to be sufficient for me to say thank you (!!!) for all the help you’ve given us in planning our vacation. Couldn’t have done it without you.
Ahhh, I just saw. It was Sunday. Makes more sense…much more.
Well of course they’re going to get rid of character meets, why have something given away when you can charge adults $24.99 each so they can have their kids meet them at a buffet.
I know dining with characters isn’t anything new, but its sad to see things that were free, slowly get overtaken by the desire to make another buck, whether its roping off areas for “special parties” or charging $30 for a sundae and a seat to watch a show, or whatever the case may be. Why give something away for free when they can make it “magical” and charge you money
(sorry I’m just a bit grumpy today)
Where is the garland that goes between the buildings on main street?
I LOVE The Crystal Palace! Were the collard greens really good?!
I love these walk-around reports, Josh! Is there any chance that you will be heading over to the Animal Kingdom soon to see who (if anyone) is replacing Jiminy Cricket and company?
Just wanted to say that I too LOVE the Crystal Palace!!..your pictures do make it look yucky though… I think the key is to get there early, whatever time the earliest lunch seating is b/c we always go there, its tradition, and Ive never seen it look like that…
PEACHES – There are worse places to get grapes. For sure.
Kenny – I’ve seen Piglet periodically at Animal Kingdom. Maybe not recently. Hollywood Studios would be a better option, you’re right.
Martha – Yes, Hollywood & Vine is as bad as everyone says. It’s certainly edible though and fun for the kids.
anne – Those eggs in a bowl have your name written all over them.
cupcake – I’m glad you had more luck than I did.
Jane – Yes, Sunday. There is also a post from Saturday here: https://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/magic-kingdom-christmas-day-parade-taping-swiss-family-treehouse-greek-salad-extended-queue-saturday-and-the-survey-says/
Mike – Luckily, most of the Winnie the Pooh characters are pretty easily meetable elsewhere. I do wish there was a wider variety of character meets around the parks though. Most people probably do.
Michael – It was removed for the Christmas Parade taping on Saturday. If it’s not back today, it will be tomorrow when the Christmas Tree arrives.
Joe – No.
MusicMouse – Yes, I’ll be over to Animal Kingdom here one of these days. Russel and Dug from Up should be meeting guests beginning Sunday.
Josh,
Whoa no nasty!!! You are making me gag!!!!!!!!
Crystal Palace used to be our traditional 1st day dinner. It’s gotten so bad that we took it off our list 2 years ago. Haven’t missed it at all. We have a new 1st day dinner tradition now.
Too bad, because the food at dinner used to be pretty good. Seems like it’s not bad for breakfast though.
Dawn – You’re probably right. I just go where I’m told.
anne – They have your name on them. You have to eat them. All of them.
marlaine8 – Never too late for new traditions ^_^
I was going to say what Kenny said, too, about Piglet. I didn’t see him at DAK at all, but we found him with Pooh in front of the Sorcerer’s Hat at DHS in May 2010. The only time we ever “got him.” All I’m missing from the Pooh characters now are Rabbit and Owl, and I heard Rabbit is sometimes at Epcot (in a shop in the UK) but Owl doesn’t appear anywhere. Looking forward to meeting Russell and Dug from UP! some day – if you meet them, please post a pic!
If the eggs are mine…..the condiments are yours…..yum
Josh the last time I attempted to eat at a buffet was at a Casino in Biloxi. You do not even want to know… never, never again.
And,I do not gamble!
Thank you for all of the updates. Please keep us posted on any new characters in addition to UP characters at Animal Kingdom.
I love Cryatal Palace, eaten there several times and it’s always been good. Like Dawn, we usually go to one of the earliest dinner times. We’ve also never had to wait for any of the characters, in fact we usually end up seeing them come by more than once (which can get awkward, no, really, I love you Tigger, but I already got my pic with you.) and I guess we’re one of the weird ones that get a lot of salad & the salad at CP is really good.
Maybe I should think about changing our H&V ADR to breakfast. Sounds like that is a better option for buffets in general.
Josh, not only does it look like you were waiting outside next to us, you were also seated at the table next to us. Had we known it was you, we would have invited you to dinner later that evening!
can’t thank you enough josh for the excellent tips–we just returned and used your crowd calendar. we walked on to so many rides and found so many characters. our supper at the Plaza the night of the Christmas party was perfect. after supper we found tigger, pooh and piglet together, were only the 6th group in line to meet with Cindy and the gang (stepmother, stepsisters and prince charming)-like a 12 minute wait! then saw pan with wendy which was quick too! my hubby and daughter rode buzz lightyear 4 times that night. we watched the 10:30 parade-perfect! after the parade we took someones tip to head to the woody jesse dance after the parade–about 12 people total in the room my hubby and i also enjoyed pics with tiana and naveen (no line-well 3 people) and pics with the genie and jasmine! kids were sleeping we used that photopass to all its advantages 🙂 all the tips came in so handy all week-glad i had done my research.