Magic Kingdom 1/7/24

[Yoshi]

I went to Magic Kingdom for my first park visit of the year. Crowds were moderate with it being marathon weekend. The original plan was to get into the park by 1:00 for the Tron boarding groups but I saw roads would be closed until 12:30 because of the marathon and we left at around 11:30 and walking into the park just after 2:00. There were still boarding groups available but I knew it would be a while before the number got called.

 

We mostly stuck to the lower wait rides until later in the day and went to the more popular rides before and right after fireworks and the last few hours the park was open.

 

My first coaster ride of 2024 was Space Mountain. This is my favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom. It feels so much faster than 27 mph and like the theming.

 

At the beginning of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin the ride stopped. The lights turned on and those fences were raised. The ride was reset as the scores disappeared on the vehicles and were back to 0.

 

I always wanted to ride Astro Orbiter during the fireworks. You get a different view from the waiting area at the top. It's a lot of fun to be on the ride while the fireworks are going off.

 

It looks great at night. I can't imagine waiting for this ride with much of a line. Even with only a 4 cycle wait (including waiting at ground level and at the top of the boarding area), it was around 15 minutes for a ride that was less than 90 seconds.

 

 

The decorations were will up and the lights looked great.

 

The Tron boarding group was called just before 10:00. They were not using the pre-show and there was basically no line. It took just over 10 minutes from entering the line until I was back outside. When there is such a short wait, I'd like to see them offer the ride as standby especially late in the day when so few people are there so there would be a chance to get more than 1 ride a day in.

 

Riding Tron as night is cool with the blue lights on the bikes and on the dome. It really adds to the experience.