On May 23, 2014, I decided to do attempt the Ultimate Magic Kingdom Touring Plan, which is to say every ride, show, parade and character that is offered in a single day. I spent roughly two months planning because you can’t just check things off a big list and say you did them. To be official (and the jury is still out as to whether or not I made it!) you have to record your fast pass return window (which from here on will be referred to as fp+), the posted wait time, the time you get in line, the time you enter the attraction and the time you exit the attraction. In addition to the data, you have to provide indisputable photographic evidence that you experienced each ride, character, show, etc….so if you’re still with me, get ready for more selfies than I ever expected to take in my life, much less in a single day. If the 75+ pics in this blog aren’t enough for you, you can head over to my instagram feed and see the other 528 I took that day. That in itself, I believe is a single-day record for me.
The Alarm
Much debate was had the night before as to whether my 13-year-old would attempt the Ultimate Tour with me. For months he had sworn up and down that he was doing it, no matter what. When it was time to set the alarm, I asked him one last time and he said, “Absolutely. Get me up in time to shower.” My plan was to get up at 4:30, shower and be on the road to the Magic Kingdom by 5. I’m a pretty quick morning person and don’t need a lot of time. I had purchased a turkey sandwich and had it in the fridge for breakfast and planned to get as much sleep as possible before the big day. Turns out I didn’t need the alarm and woke up at 4 am on my own raring to go. After my shower, I gently shook the sleeping beauty and told him to get in the shower if he was going with me. His answer was, “Going where??” Needless to say, he rolled back over and I, dressed as Mrs. Incredible (somewhat) took off.
Arriving
Luckily we had our car at the resort, so I didn’t need to wait for the Disney bus to pick me up and take me to the Magic Kingdom. I have never felt more inclined to pick up a stranger than seeing the couple dozen people at the resort waiting on the bus at 5 am, but being cautious I decided not to risk it.
I literally couldn’t keep the smile off my face while arriving alongside with what I knew were thousands of kindred spirits. I had never been so excited about a day at any park and wouldn’t be disappointed, but its a long story. I arrived early enough to be parked in the second row of cars, now known as Emperor Zurg’s lot. It was a short walk to the Ticket and Transportation Center. The line for the monorail was much longer than I wanted and I didn’t want to start off the day missing the Welcome Show (the first official attraction on the list) so I opted for the first ferry boat over. I’ll admit, being alone waiting for the boat to leave, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it through the day alone. Everyone was there in costumes, in twos and threes. Felt pretty lonely, but determined and knew that I would move faster alone. My self-given Native American name is “Becky Strongbladder” and I would earn that name this day. I remember seeing Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum on the boat, which I would later find out was Kenny the Pirate, the Ultimate-ist of Ultimate touring champions. He had given me great planning advice which proved to be invaluable.
The boat began to move and the crowd cheered. After getting through baggage check at the entrance (I’m getting pretty good at profiling the “quick-checkers”) I went to the left side of the entrance. The middle was blocked off for media and sure enough, Mickey, Minnie and Donald (that I could see) showed up in their jammies to get things rolling before the Welcome Show. No autographs or pictures with anybody, but still fun to see.
The rules for an Ultimate Attempt state that you have to obtain a times guide for the day and take a picture of it. I went to the gift shop to get a guide but they only had the standard one for the week that ended the day before. I politely told them there would be a different one for today only, but they didn’t seem to believe me but said they would ask somebody. Sure enough a few minutes later, official-looking cast members came out announcing they had today’s time guides. Everyone there kind of forgot to thank me for getting them but that’s ok. (this is a composite of the pics I took that morning)
I’m literally pacing back and forth at this time. My journal at the ready. Checking the clock every 45 seconds waiting for the Welcome Show. I still have about 15 minutes when my friends The Schmidts show up and give me a little last minute encouragement. Or it might have been pity I saw in their eyes because they knew what I was in for. Kristi and I had tried an Ultimate MK years before and failed barely. Missed one attraction and then lost the photographic evidence to turn in, but that’s another story.
My countdown clock gave me a heads up and it’s go time!
And I’m Off!!
#1 Magic Kingdom Welcome Show
Good morning! Good morning! I love this show with every fiber of my being. I know its going to be a good day and soon I’ll be walking right down the middle of Main Street USA. The picture for some reason is backwards (if you can read the words) but the characters are clearly giving their best jazz hands and #1 is checked off.
The rope drop is anything but on this day. The “rope” is a line of cast members who calmly walk down Main Street keeping everyone behind them, funneling them into the castle and into the line for the Frozen meet and greet at Princess Hall. As you can see in the first picture, I’m quite a ways back from the front, but as predicted….
I move quickly alone and manage to get right up to the rope before we get to Fantasyland. The baby steps seriously reminded me of trying on shoes at Kmart.
After 99% of the people around me got in line for Anna and Elsa, I decided to take a gamble and head to the 7 Dwarves Mine Train. It was due to officially open on May 28, and we had been there on Tuesday but no soft-openings. The discussion boards showed that several hundred people had been allowed to ride over the last couple of days, but no official word on it being open today was floating around. Since it’s not officially open, it would not count as a “core” attraction but would count as a bonus if I could ride it.
#2 The Seven Dwarves Mine Train!! 6:13 am
The gamble paid off. After I cleared the Anna and Elsa madness, I saw that there was a single cast member standing at the entrance, but no rope and I saw someone go straight in. I took off running and at 6:07am managed to be the 7th person in line that morning. I made it onto the first train! Couldn’t have imagined a better start to the day!
And a little blurry but woot!
Great view of the Beast’s castle…
Final scene…
#3 Peter Pan’s Flight, 6:22 am
I used my first, pre-scheduled fast pass of the day on Peter Pan. The wait wasn’t that long, but it still saved me a few minutes.
#4 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, 6:27 am
My plan, as it had been throughout the week with the family, was to use a combination of an optimized, custom touring plan on the “Lines” app and the official MDE app on my iPhone. These pictures were taken in instagram and uploaded as soon as I took them. I had made a custom touring plan with all the core attractions and most of the bonus attractions and after I completed one, just checked it off and hit “optimize.” This feature calculates what you have left to do and what the best order is to do them based on current wait times.
The app said Winnie the Pooh, so it was off to the 100-Acre Wood.
And if that one was a little dark for you….
The first trolley show was coming up, so it was time to head back to Main Street.
#5 Cinderella’s Castle, 6:37am
One of the requirements of the Ultimate Tour is to walk through Cinderella’s Castle and take a photo in front of each of the murals. Quick little thing to check off and must be done when the walkthrough is open.
and two…
and three…
and it’s off the trolley show…
#6 Main Street Vehicle (Car), 6:49am
I made my first rookie Ultimate mistake here this morning. I had never seen a trolley show and didn’t know where to look for it. I assumed “trolley” but that’s as far as I knew. At the base of the castle, I asked a cast member about it. I should have been wary when she didn’t know what it was and had to refer to the times guide to see when it started. She directed me to the hub at the entrance, and I still had several minutes to spare, so I headed down to wait.
Got to the flag pole and tried to look cool and like I knew what I was doing, inwardly practicing my look of pleasant surprise when the trolley show started. Several minutes later, start time having passed, the Main Street car comes out waiting for passengers. I figured the driver would know so I asked him where it started. Of course, he tells me it starts at the castle hub and moves down Main Street in increments. He said it would last for about 20 minutes so I hopped aboard to ride to the hub and catch the trolley show as it came back down Main Street. This would meet the requirement of “Main Street Vehicle” on today’s list.
Now to catch the real trolley show…
#7 Main Street Trolley Show, 6:53am
After arriving at the hub, I start trekking back down Main Street and catch up with the Trolley show. I catch the end of one show and follow it down the street to finish the mandatory 5 minutes to complete the task.
#8 Casey Jr., 7:06 am
This is another easy-peasy one. You have to find Casey Jr. in the new Fantasyland and take a picture with him. He tried his best to spurt all over my phone, but he missed by inches.
#9 Barnstormer (starring the Great Goofini), 7:08 am
One of my favorites. The coaster is less than 90-seconds long, but its smooth and fast and fun. 🙂 Notice the empty train behind me at such an early hour. Always a good one to catch first.
#10 Dumbo, 7:15 am
Everyone’s favorite flying elephant. This was my first time on the newly-relocated kiddie ride. The queue area looks like it would be a lot more fun for little kids, however the detour through the circus tent cost me some valuable seconds and I missed boarding by just a few feet and had to wait a round.
#11 Cinderella & Rapunzel at Princess Fairy Tale Hall, 7:26 am
I’m not a huge fan of character meet and greets. Its tough for me to get into character and have conversations. The last time I tried to hurry a fairy visit, I was nearly cut to the quick by the scathing look from the fairies. This was my second, pre-planned fast pass. One more and I can start getting new ones. So, trying to be charmingly in a hurry, I told Rapunzel and Cinderella that I was trying to tour their entire kingdom in a single day and would love a photo. They were intrigued with the idea of so much foot travel and the proof required but the royal documenter (aka David.)
After I got out of Cinderella, I made an attempt to “optimize” my app, but none of the plans were responding so I had to go it “old style” which means looking around at things I hadn’t done and deciding whether it was a good time to wait in line for them.
#12 Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel, 7:39 am
Again missed the ride by just a few seconds, but took that time to double-check my data sheets. One bookkeeping error or missed photograph and the whole deal would be off.
(fyi, looking down at your phone while uploading to instagram and then looking back up whilst riding a carousel can do a number on your inner ear.)
#13 Its A Small World, 7:48 am
I have to admit…this is my favorite ride…like ever. I love roller coasters, haunted mansions and the like, but this is the ride I want to work at when I retire. Every day until I die.
My happiest cruise on earth….
#14 Main Street Vehicle (Trolley), 8:06 am
Again another rookie mistake. I kept making these because I usually don’t go back to Main Street once I hit the rides unless I need a Casey’s Corner hot dog, so I’m fairly unfamiliar with the character and show schedule there. The Main Street requirements were the ones that made me most nervous about going into this.
The first Dapper Dans show was listed at 8 am. Since its 20 minutes long and somewhere on Main Street, I wasn’t too worried about finding them. Sure enough, came out of the castle and they were standing at the hub, but not singing yet. By 8:05 they still weren’t singing but the trolley pulled up. Turns out the first “show” was on the trolley as it cruises Main Street. My ultimate guess was that watching the Dapper Dans while on the trolley might not “count” but I hopped aboard and took a ride down to the entrance counting it as a “bonus” Main Street Vehicle ride and would come back later for another Dapper Dans show.
#15 Main Street Mickey Meet N Greet, 8:22 am
While in line, I met a trio of other Ultimate Attempters (really no good name for those of us crazy to do this). We compared notes. I was maybe 2 attractions ahead of them at this point. We discussed Merida which we knew would be a long line and figured we’d see each other there later.
My third and final pre-planned fast pass was for talking Mickey at the Main Street Theatre. I had been here before when he was Mickey the Mime (get it?) but had never met the talking Mickey. My awkwardness at character greetings did not get any better while chatting with a giant talking Mickey…he was especially offended by my proclamation on the back of my Mrs. Incredible shirt, “NO CAPES!”
Quick side trip to the fp+ kiosk at Guest Relations to score a 10:20 fp+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle.
#16 Mad Tea Party, 8:41 am
My plan was to be in line for Merida by 8:45. Having lost our last Ultimate Attempt in December 2010 by not getting in line for Rapunzel and Flynn early enough, I knew that little meet and greet grove close to the teacups could be a downfall. I knew the teacups would be a ride that could potentially require some downtime (note to self: write blog entry about my first encounter with Mission Space), so I rode the teacups before heading to the Merida line.
Btw, did you know that with some effort you can make the teacups not spin at all?
#17 Meet Merida, 9:16 am
Yep, you read that right. 30 minutes on one attraction. I figured I would get in line and try and be part of the first meeting group and made it into line at 8:48 am, exactly 2 minutes before world-record holder and mentor Kenny the Pirate. My other Ultimate friends were just a few back from him. Of course, I knew none of this at the time, but would find out at the flag retreat and subsequent blog entries.
Low and behold, while in line for Merida, who should wander by?
Finally into meet the woman herself. Turns out to be one of my favorite characters. She was wonderful. (didn’t take a closer pic of just the autograph that day, but you can clearly read it in green ink)
#18 Haunted Mansion, 9:32 am
Probably my second-favorite ride. The posted wait said 10 minutes, but that was only because people in front of me were stopping to play with the fun stuff in the queue.
Since the rules say you don’t have to create any great art, here is my attempt to provide photographic proof that I actually made it onto the ride. Those who know, will recognize the curve of the doom buggy and the wallpaper in the background.
My other attempt, lol!
#18 Move It, Shake It Parade, 9:56 am
Perfectly poised to exit the Haunted Mansion and catch the first 5 minutes of the first Notorious Banjo Brothers & Bob show, I hightailed it over to the archway beside the shooting gallery where I’d seen them the other day, and waited. And waited. And waited. After a befuddled cast member couldn’t explain where they were, I left to catch the first Move It, Shake It Parade.
The requirements for the parades are such that you experience the entire parade from start to finish. This parade arrives in the hub, stops so everyone can dance and then leaves back down Main Street.
By this time it was almost 100 degrees so my “move it, shake it” was more like a “bob gently back and forth to the music like the horses in Monty Python and the Holy Grail” but I think it still counts.
My selfie-mode flipped the image in the background, but here was Goofy heading back down Main Street.
#20 Enchanted Tales with Belle, 10:31 am
My plans called for the first Dream Along with Mickey at the Castle Stage, but I was able to get a 10:20 fp+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle, so I moved the show down in the queue and headed for the new Fantasyland.
This was my first time in, but seems to be a good re-hash of the story time with Belle that used to be by the Enchanted Grove. Remember strawberry swirls? Dole Whip, schmole whip, I want my strawberry swirls back.
Then a couple more shots once we “surprise” Belle in the library.
#21 Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Adventureland, 11:15am
Its almost noon and my lovely family has arrived. They birthday present to me was to do nothing more than root me on but not get in my way. 🙂 They wanted to check in and do a couple things together, so I grabbed a frozen FROZEN drink for Anna and waited for them by the carousel for a few minutes. Not only did they not assist me by getting me food or drink, but I managed to get it for them.
While waiting, I stopped by the Fantasyland fp+ kiosk to get my next time slot. Pat was having a banner day and this wouldn’t be the last time I saw him. When I asked for what was available for 1, a time for Anna & Elsa M&G popped up. It wasn’t until 4:35, but since I hadn’t planned on seeing them that day, it was too good to pass up. Basically the next 4 hours would be standby only, but I would get a good bonus point for something I hadn’t planned.
Pat was a little excited because it was his first Anna & Elsa fp+ ever.
One a fp+ note, I do believe I should get bonus points for scheduling my family’s fp+s that day. I warned them with threat of life and limb not to step near a kiosk. Its tricky to schedule different party members at different times (especially if you haven’t been on MDE for the past 3 months morning, noon and night) so I told them to tell me what they wanted to ride and I would schedule it for them.
The family caught up with me and we headed to the Adventureland SOTMK quest. The lines for a few of the adventures (click on the picture below to see pictures of each step.) Here is me finishing the last mission:
#22 Dapper Dans, 11:47 am
A lot happens on Main Street over the next half an hour or so. The family didn’t want to see the Dapper Dans, so we parted ways and back I went. The next 3 steps were actually done at the same time as Kenny the Pirate, but we don’t show up in each other’s pictures.
Not on a trolley this time…
#23 The Mayor of Main Street, 11:55 am
The Mayor of Main Street and several other citizens show up morning and early afternoon. This is another picture and autograph requirement. I did find out that Mayor Warren’s ex-wife is from Toledo.
His artwork is to die for…
#24 Main Street Glassblower
What do you do at noon on one of the hottest days of the year? Stand and watch a glassblower, of course.
If you check out Kenny the Pirate’s blog about his attempt not only will you see that he is 11 attractions ahead of me by this time, but you can also see the same glass slipper in his picture from a different angle. 🙂
KennythePirate’s Ultimate Magic Kingdom tour – The Quest for 100 – May 23, 2014 Part ONE #DisneySide
So, it’s noon. I’m going strong and only have 18 hours to go. Next up, Festival of Fantasy Parade.
To be continued….
a year at disney 