Just Back!!! Carousel of Progress/Timekeeper Open!! and other observations

[clkelley]

I was just at the Magic Kingdom for an awesome day on Saturday!!

Was there for the last day of Alien Encounter, and then later that day both Carousel of Progress and Timekeeper were open!!!

Carousel had a couple of bugs. The theater didn't rotate once, and we saw the 20's scene twice. In the side scene, where grandpa and grandma are watching TV, the light never came on, and in the final scene where grandma and the kid are playing the VR game, the large Sony TV never came on. Hopefully, they'll get those bugs worked out in the next day or so.

They also showed Wishes! and Fantasy in the Sky that evening.

Mickey's Philharmagic is awesome!!

There was supposed to be two runnings of Spectromagic, but not sure it happened cause it came a terrible downpour about 8pm right after Wishes!!

I saw Wishes in the park, then sloshed to the exit afterwards and went over to the Poly and had dinner at Ohanna and saw Fantasy in the Sky from Ohanna.

Mission Space is awesome too!! Saw it on Sunday.

Staying off property is a bummer. I found out I hated worrying where my car was parked. For example, I was at Epcot Sunday morning, then took the boat over to the Studios for the evening. After Fantasmic, I had to go back to Epcot to go get my car. The quickest way ended up being a bus to the TTC, then the monorail to Epcot. The boat dock was jammed, the Epcot bus line was jammed. Also finding your car in the dark is hard!! I would have never found it except for hitting my alarm button :-/

I then went over to Adventurers Club, where I couldn't drink cause I was driving :-( I didn't stay as late either cause I didn't feel as safe going back to Quality Inn on 192 at 2am.

Carol

 

[helenabear]

Just reading your post has me so excited for my upcoming trip! I missed not seeing CoP my last trip and I can't even recall the last time I saw Timekeeper! I don't think I've heard one bad thing about Mickey's Philharmonic yet either!!! Sorry about the bummer with staying off site... I could see how it could be a drag. Welcome back, and in general sounds like you had a great trip, Carol

 

[BrianD]

Originally posted by clkelley
...Carousel had a couple of bugs. The theater didn't rotate once, and we saw the 20's scene twice. In the side scene, where grandpa and grandma are watching TV, the light never came on, and in the final scene where grandma and the kid are playing the VR game, the large Sony TV never came on. Hopefully, they'll get those bugs worked out in the next day or so.
...

COP does need a major facelift. We saw it on July 4 and it was very worn down, the carpet was worn out, the seats were worn out, and it smelled musty in there. Did you experience any of this, or have they maybe at least done some refurb since it's going to be open now for at least the next year?

 

[BethC1952]

I would love to see COP again. I missed it on my last two trips (even though it was open) because I can't remember to keep track of time!

For me, it would be a "40th Anniversary" viewing, since I saw the original at the World's Fair in New York when I was a kid. It sounds to me as though COP and I could both use a little updating!

Beth

 

[Pete W.]

Originally posted by BrianD
COP does need a major facelift. We saw it on July 4 and it was very worn down, the carpet was worn out, the seats were worn out, and it smelled musty in there. Did you experience any of this, or have they maybe at least done some refurb since it's going to be open now for at least the next year?

We saw CoP on August 14th which was just before it closed for the summer, and I actually thought it was in pretty good shape. Everything worked and it didn't smell musty -- maybe it had aired-out during the previous 6 weeks.

 

[barbeml]

Thanks so much for the update! I'm looking forward to seeing Timekeeper again, not to mention Wishes, Mission:Space and PhilharMagic. We picked a great time to go!

 

[TimeWarp]

You saw Wishes from Ohana! Oh good. This was a plan of mine but I wasn't sure. So you can see the fireworks from inside the main dining area? Thanks. Sounds like you had a great time.

 

[SnowWhite33]

I can't wait to get there!! My DH thinks I'm a little on the nutty side because I was very excited about the opening of CoP. What he doesn't understand is that I have such vivid memories of this from my one and only trip as a child. I honestly can't recall Timekeeper so maybe we didn't see it, but it's on the must do list now.

Thanks so much for your report. Sorry that you didn't enjoy staying offsite, but Disney offsite vs no Disney at all is a no-brainer !

 

[danny1649]

COP and Timekeeper are open during our December trip 7 through 12th.COP is one of our favorites we've not seen for several years.

 

[sue1013]

Beth,
I guess I'm in line for the update also. The last 2 trips CoP was closed I was very disappointed. Hope to see it in November!!

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by danny1649
COP and Timekeeper are open during our December trip 7 through 12th.COP is one of our favorites we've not seen for several years.

My guess would be that Disney will keep both CoP and Timekeeper open the entire time that Alien Encounter is down for the rehab. That would take it easily into 2004.

 

[clkelley]

Actually, I saw Fantasy in the Sky from O'hanna. I was in Fantasyland for Wishes. Wasn't able to get to Main Street in time as I had come from Haunted Mansion.

Carousel looked rather clean and fresh, just some mechanical bugs.

Carol

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

I was there this past week and noticed that the seats for CoP were very dirty, lots of stains. The TV in the last scene where Jimmy and Grandma were playing the virtual reality game the TV came on and off during the whole scene. When it was on it was all fuzzy dots.

Then it was really funny, for a few seconds there was a green screen with the Disney copyright info that you would see if you were starting to watch a Disney movie. Then the TV quickly turned off. It happenned so quickly, I was the only one in my family that saw it. Also, in one of the side scenes little Jimmy was blinking and one of his eyes would take a very long time to open. It turned out to be my DD(7)'s favorite ride.

 

[sters]

I've always LOVED CoP.. one of my fondest childhood Disney memories, and was disappointed to hear it wouldn't be running. So, this is GREAT news!

 

[Ted and Holly]

We went to MK Saturday too! It could have been a really bad trip out. At the gates for parking, the CM told us that it was VERY busy. On the tram, it was announced that Wishes was at 7:30pm. We had thought we read it was at 9. We were cutting it REALLY close. When we were waiting for the Monorail at the TTC, it started to rain lightly. Neither of us had a watch, so we asked someone the time. 7:30. Sure enough, Wishes started while we were between the TTC and the Contemporary. Murphy's Law dictated that we had to stop for traffic. We watched the entire Wishes show from the Monorail. No sound, but the fireworks looked GREAT!

We got off the Monorail, went through the gates and as soon as we went under the train station it started to POUR! I mean POUR. Well, we were there, we missed Wishes, which is why we went. Nothing left to do but enjoy it. Holly and I grabbed each others hands and strolled slowly down the center of Main Street. People were running in every direction. Trying to find shelter. Poeople were huddled under the hanging plants! We were having a great time, getting absoilutely soaked, planning what attraction to see.

Then, we saw them. HUNDREDS of people, most with double-wide strollers RUNNING at us. Everyone was trying as quickly as possible to get OUT. And they did not care WHO they ran over.

The odd thing was that all of the attractions, even the inside ones were empty. We rode PotC, we were the only ones on the boat. And no one in two boats in front or behind. We asked the CM, jokingly, if you get wet on the ride. Wouldn't have mattered at that point.

We rode COP. What a great ride! The TV at the end that was supposed to show Granny and her flying skills never did come on. Otherwise, everything worked and it did not seem any more worn that it usually does. Timekeeper wasn't open when we went by. I don't remember ever seeing that attraction. I was hoping it was open. Maybe during the Holidays...

I do need to iron my AP before that though. It got a bit wet this weekend.

Ted