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Friday, February 5, 2010

Magic Kingdom - Fantasyland (WDW)

Cinderella's Golden Carousel

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – None

WAIT TIME – Low

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages.

ADULT RATING – (C+) If you like going around in a circle.
Let's face it, a merry go round is a merry go round.  This one is prettier than most but it is still the same thing.  A bit of trivia for you: the white horse on the outside with the gold ribbon is Cinderella's horse.  The absolute BEST way I have found to ride this ride is with a fabulous guy wearing a pointy Princess hat.



Dumbo's Flying Elephants

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – None

WAIT TIME – High

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages.  This is a time tested favorite!

ADULT RATING – (C+) Again if going around in a circle is your idea of a great time, you will love this.  Personally I have found most adults just find it a few minutes of respite because now their kid is having a good time.
This is one of the Holy Grail rides of tiny tyke land.  All the little kids want to ride Dumbo and it is a pain in the.. donkey.  Why?  Because there are only a handful of elephants that fly for a specific amount of time.  This makes the ride very slow loading. If you want to ride without standing in the sun for over an hour, this is what you have to do.

Get your family up, dressed and going EARLY in the morning.  No excuses.  Poke them with something sharp if you have to.  Get them to the Magic Kingdom at least an hour before it opens.  They will open the front area of the Park and then have the "rope drop".  When the rope drops, go STRAIGHT TO DUMBO!!!  Do not get something to eat, don't stop to pee, GET TO THAT FLYING ELEPHANT!  This way you can ride right away, get off, get back in line and ride it a 2nd time.  See?  Wasn't that fun?  Now we can ride some of these other rides in Fantasyland.  The things you do for your kids....


It's A Small World

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – None

WAIT TIME – Low

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages. 

ADULT RATING – (C+) OK, the ride is entertaining but that song will haunt your nighmares.
This is a poor imitation of the original ride at Disneyland.  Disneyland's is better.  The whole line is a topiary extravaganza!  The pop-out dolls and animated clock are iconic.  Magic Kingdom gets a tent.  whee.  This really is a fun ride.  Walt debuted this at the 1964 Worlds Faire in New York.  It is sweet, infectious and the song will imbed itself in your brain and never leave.

I must say the BEST time I ever had on this ride was at Disneyland in the 80's.  We had an AIDS fundraiser and riding this with a boatload of drag queens, singing along was the most magical thing EVER!



Mad Hatter's Teacups

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – Medium

WAIT TIME – Low

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages but evaluate how they deal with spinning

ADULT RATING – (B) A fun ride if you like spinning like a looney
It's really not fair for me to review this ride because I hurl.  I hate spinning in circles and I hate spinning fast.  I avoid this ride like the plague.  So I will turn this over to my Disney Companion "Dot " for her analysis of this ride:

I really like spinning fast. Watch the teacups and head for the fastest spinners. Some are better than others. Spreading your weight out so you are not all clumped in one place also helps for maximum spinage.

I give this ride a solid B but the waiting and break-down factor can slip it to a B-.


Peter Pan

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – Medium

WAIT TIME – Medium

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages unless your kid is freaked out by the dark or flying over Lodon.

ADULT RATING – (B) Just for the sheer kitch and nostalgia.  I mean honestly, who doesn't like flying in the air in a pirate ship?
Peter Pan was always one of my favorites from Disneyland. They show more of the story on this ride than the original Disneyland version so I do like this one better. You can’t beat seeing everything from in the air in a sailing pirate ship. This was one of my favorite rides when I first went to Disneyland at 8 and still is.

While the ride cars (pirate ships) do not hold many people, the ride is short and they are quick to load.  At peak times there can be a wait of upwards of 45 minutes.  I personally think this is the best ride in Fantasyland.  How can you miss with flying out of Wendy's window, sailing over the streets of London, soaring over Neverland (please, not NeverNeverland) and watching a swordfight at the end between Pan and Hook?  It's the best.

One of the mermaids in the lagoon sequence looks a bit like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Hmm. One small, picky geek note of an error on this ride. Peter Pan is set in late Victorian/early Edwardian London. When you are flying over London, look down. You will see streets filled with cars (headlights). There were no cars in Peter Pan’s London.  Barrie wrote Peter Pan in 1902.  The Model T Ford rolled off the line in 1908.  Even with this issue, I give this ride an A-

Kid Grade (G): Suitable for all ages.  Kids will either love the flying or be a bit scared.  It is perfectly safe but the "buoyancy" of being suspended from the top of the car may set very small children on edge.  Only minor scary scenes.  Nothing objectionable.


Pinocchio's Daring Journey

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – None

WAIT TIME – Low

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages. 

ADULT RATING – (C)
Pinocchio is not my favorite story.  Let's see, a creepy old guy builds a little boy puppet to keep him company, a blue fairy brings the puppet to life and the puppet goes wild.  He is inconsiderate, goes truant from school, smokes, drinks, barely escapes turning into a donkey only to go on a voyage of redemption to try to find the father figure he lost.

We see the dancing puppets, Pleasure Island, the blue fairy, Monstro the Whale, all the good bits with little of the scary, dark and depressing parts of the movie/book.


Snow White's Scary Adventures

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – None

WAIT TIME – Low

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages unless your child is freaked out by the dark, menacing trees or other "spooky" things.

ADULT RATING – (C) This is really pretty dull. Sorry.
When this ride was first designed for Disneyland it was always intended to be from Snow White's point of view.  As a result, she wasn't in the ride.  As the ride says, you see her "scary adventures" so there are lots of Evil Queens, warty hags, apples, scary trees, and falling rocks.  If your kid wants to see Snow, this is not the ride for them.  If they are freaked by the dark and scary things, like the Evil Queen trying to poison them (remember YOU are Snow White) then skip it.

True, the refurb threw in more dwarves and one shot of Snow but it doesn't change the fact that the ride is not all goodness and light and singing critters.  Make sure your kid understands.  For solo adults, pass it.  It's boring.



Winnie the Pooh

ADULT THRILL LEVEL – None

WAIT TIME – Low

KID GRADE – (G) Suitable for all ages. Only minor scary scenes.  Nothing objectionable.

ADULT RATING –  (B) if you are into Pooh
Here in WDW, Pooh created quite a stir.  He evicted staple Fantasyland ride Mr. Toad.  If you still want to ride Mr. Toad, you can do it at Disneyland.  At Disneyland, the rotund bear evicted his kin (The Country Bear Jamboree).  It seems Pooh brings ride destruction in his honey lickin' wake.  

All and all this was a nice ride (although I still miss Mr. Toad). The ride depicts Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.  The cut-outs were bright and the animatronics were decent for a Fantasyland ride.  There was a variation of movement to the ride. You would bounce when Tigger was there, you felt like you were floating on water when it was raining, etc. There are a few tiny scary elements in the storm but it is not anything Mom can’t fix by being there. Teens may find it slow but I think it's just plain fun. I give this a B+.

1 comment:

  1. When I was little I LIVED for the Dumbo ride. My parents had to distract me around it when we were in Fantasyland, otherwise I would want to go on it a dozen times.

    Okay, Small World + Drag Queens = AMAZING. :D

    I didn't know that Winnie the Pooh kicked out Mr. Toad in WDW. I've been on the Pooh ride at Disneyland and it just seems like one big acid trip. All the bright, neon colors.

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