When Disney Magic Wanes

This morning, Molly and I decided to join Maribeth and Mathieu for a visit to Hollywood Studios. Our plan was to do Toy Story Mania and go from there. Here's how it went:

1. We waited in the cold for the bus - which didn't take too long. Once at Hollywood Studios, I decided to get in the Will Call line to get my annual pass renewal. The line seemed a little long, and everyone at the windows had either major Disney World issues or were making lifelong relationships with the cast members, so I decided to see if my current annual pass would work - it did. Things looked promising.

2. Our plan was for the other three to get in line for TSMania and I would get fast passes so we could do the ride twice. However, the lines for the fast passes were were longer than the one for the actual ride, so we decided to skip the fast pass and just go for one ride. We did and everything seemed like it was moving along.

3. We considered eating somewhere in the park, but everything was booked up. This really wasn't a problem, since the M's had a reservation. Molly and I debated a bit about what to do next and decided to go to Downtown Disney for a movie and lunch. Here's where the magic ended.

4. Upon leaving Hollywood Studios, I decided to get my annual pass. When it was my turn, I handed the cast member my confirmation paper, my current annual pass, and my id. He said I needed my DVC card, which was back at the room. We then got in a discussion as to where I was staying, and it wasn't until the third time that he understood where it was. At this point, I decided to try this mission another day when I had all of the above, plus my passport, my library card, and my first grade report card.

5. Now let me say that it's cold down here. Certainly not the snow cold that is in NYC, but colder than we were planning. The brisk wind doesn't help much, either. So, we decided to wait on a bench in the sun for the resort bus to go back to Saratoga Springs in order to get to the movie theater. We noticed that two people were waiting at the actual bus stop. After about thirty minutes, we notice two Disney cast members are talking to the two waiters, and after a brief discourse, all four leave the bus stop. Molly and I keep watching and waiting for our bus, only to see hospitality bus after hospitality bus zoom right on past. After an hour, we give up and decide to walk to Boardwalk to catch a bus to DD. It's still cold, and we get to walk against the wind all the way to Boardwalk.

6. Upon arrival at the bus stop at Boardwalk, we begin waiting anew for the desired bus. We watch as buses for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom come and go. And come and go again. And again. Finally after about thirty more minutes, two buses arrive for Downtown Disney. We get in line and notice that a scooter person is driving to the second bus. We decided to get on the first bus and as we are finding our seats, we see the scooter lady preparing to board our bus. This involved many maneuvers. Finally, thirty minutes later, we head for DD.

7. We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express where our our waiter was Chicken Little. Really. That was the name on his name tag and with which he introduced himself. During our meal, he sang a bit and danced a bit. Maybe that was the magic returning.

8. Finally, we decided the day was done for us and walked back to our room. There we decided to take naps - until Molly discovered $5 fleece zip-ups at Old Navy. Lucky for me, she decided to take this adventure with Maribeth and Mathieu.

So, the moral of this story is that sometimes things get a bit constipated, even at Disney World. You can moan and groan about your current situation, or make some corrective measures. Eventually, everything gets worked out in the end. And maybe you'll get a $5 fleece as a bonus!
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Things that make today great: Titans win; adventures with Molly; grapefruit cake from Brown Derby