The Magic Kingdom

We had  great day at The Magic Kingdom yesterday. We got to the park nice and early...before the official opening time, in fact. Through masterful planning, we worked the "Fastpass" system so that we ended up not having to wait more than 15 minutes for any of the rides. The fastpasses were such a huge help, I can't understand why more people don't use them.

Here's how Fastpass works: For most of the major rides and attractions (Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain railroad, Splash Mountain, etc.) you can walk up to a kiosk next to the ride of your choice, run your admission ticket through a machine, and the machine will spit out a "Fastpass." The fastpass is only good for the ride tied the kiosk you've placed your ticket into. The fastpass will have a time stamped on it that lets you know the hour you should come back to the ride. If you show up during that window of time, then you get to go right to the front of the queue.  In other words, the fastpass works like a line placeholder-- Instead of having to wait in the regular line (which can be very long... up to an hour at some times of the day), you get to reserve a place in line and head up to the front when your number is up.

It doesn't cost anything-- It's all included in the regular ticket price. It just takes a little planning and strategizing to work it out to your advatage. Matt was singing the praises of Fastpass yesterday, saying how happy he was to see a system that's organized to directly benefit people with strong organizational and time managemnet skills. (It's how the whole world should work.) It feels like VIP treatment, waltzing right up to the front of the line, bypassing all of the suckers that are in the regular "stand by" line.

It was really a perfect day. Not nearly as hot as Tuesday, and hardly any long lines to fight. We did everything we wanted to do early on, and were home and in the pool by three. It was a great day at the theme park.

Here are some pictures from Tuesday (the hottest day ever) at The Magic Kingdom:

Frankie's favorite ride, Thunder Mountain.

Frankie's post Thunder Mountain permagrin. (She's ridden it four times, and had this same expression every single time.)

And here are a few pictures from Wednesday's morning outing:

Opening ceremony.

There were insanely huge crowds at the gate, but fortunately they spread out as soon as the park opened.

Intergalactic jail with Zurg.

Teacups! (hurl!)

Frankie, groovin' at It's a Small World.