Under the Sea check (3xs)
Space Mountain check
Haunted Mansion check (2xs)
Seven Dwarves 180 minute wait?? … Pass
River Boat check
Thunder Mountain. check
Peter Pan 90 minute wait with no air circulation… Pass
So what now? If you’ve frequented Disney World you have been in a similar position before. There’s only so many times you can ride It’s a Small World in a month (or year) before the little “children” in the ride inexplicably go from sweet to sinister. Buzz Lightyear starts becoming monotonous once you’ve figured out the high-scoring spots. And a 180 minute wait for anything? Yeah right. So… What do you do next? Have you done it all?
If this is a repeat visit to Disney or you’re going for more than four days, you will have seen the majority of the sights. But there’s so much more! We’re going to focus on Magic Kingdom in this post, but be on the look out for the other parks that make up Walt Disney World soon.
–WANTED–
It’s on the big sign strung up over the firehouse on Main Street USA. Inside they’re recruiting people to help “save” the Magic Kingdom! The game is a mixture of a trading card game/scavenger hunt/video game and they’ve named it “Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom”. This is a free game to participate in. It’s free to join, and you get free cards, at the least amount, daily. And if you beat the villains of the day, you get yet another pack of free cards. Did I mention that this activity is completely free?? In a park that sometimes makes you feel like it charges you to breathe in the air, it’s refreshing to find an extracurricular activity that doesn’t cost. Don’t mistake me- there are ways that this can cost. For instance, there are certain cards you can only get if you buy a pack, which will be the only way to get them all. And they release certain cards for special events like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the Very Merry Christmas Party, which you do have to pay to come to. They don’t give you the card unless you do. (We tried once, we really did.) There’s merchandise like card-holders and T-shirts and the like, but none are requires to for playing. We personally have never bought anything from Disney for this game, since we have card holders from our card trading days (ah, childhood) that were bought significantly cheaper.
This is a good middle-of-the-day kind of fun. A good portion of the hidden “portals” are in shade, or are in buildings, and they’ve made the cameras associated with the game a little more sensitive, and adult-height friendly, so you’re not fussing and cussing (which isn’t so kid-friendly) at the portal in the heat.
A-hoy Mateys!
It’s a non-description building on the walk way from Adventureland to Frontierland. Usually there’s one cast member hanging around out front and a long empty queue. One afternoon, Mr. TFM and I were curious and asked the cast member what this was. Here, we met the most realistic cast member yet. (Which is another whole subject for yet another whole post.) Between the frank conversation about spoiled children (there were no kids about), this guy explained that this little building hosts the Pirate’s Adventure- Treasures of the 7 Seas. This is an Adventureland based scavenger hunt. Then he told us a vital tid-bit. This game is fun, but even better at night. He was so right! Again, this is another FREE thing to do and great for those few hours before either the Electrical Parade, (or during it) or the fireworks (nobody wants to skip those). Things light up, smoke, move, talk, shoot, emerge, and even… Well, I’ll let you be surprised by that one. This is probably one of, if not my absolute favorite thing to do outside of rides and pin trading. The hunts are different every time, so they’re never boring. The only thing is that rain may affect which effects are being used. Some of the more grandiose ones are not used when the rain starts. However, no matter what the weather, this is a blast to do in the dark.
So before you get bored of the Magic Kingdom, be sure to try these things- they’re a great time, and I guarantee you’ll have fun without spending more money then you want!
Two Foolish Mortals 