Day 10 - US, Last Day!!! Key Largo, Universal and MK in one wonderful just about perfect trip

[KathyM2]

Grocery store lunches are the best!!! Sounds like you ate well...I tend to always forget something crucial like...forks lol whenever I do that though!! That's a really nice end to the keys portion of the trip. You're right that it may have made more sense to have the more relaxing part of the trip last...but whatever...the Orlando part will be great no matter what...and also, if you did the beach part after...there might have been more "I'm bored" from the Boo....

 

[livingthedream]

@livingthedream I found this pic of the area where they do the shallow encounter, thought you might want to see the platform you stand on

View attachment 96498

That is SO awesome that you would go to the trouble of posting that pic! It is definitely something we might consider.

Hubs has had some significant challenges at work lately to the point where we are ALMOST on the austerity program - in other words, we might have to cancel the trip They are doing a major restructuring of the area he manages, so we will see. I have not cancelled the trip yet, but it is a real possibility. It is tough planning for something that I now don't know will happen for sure. BUT I will still take all the tips you can give me because if it doesn't happen in August like we planned, it will still definitely happen.

 

[mrsabbott]

Sharona, I am LOVING your TR so far! The Keys are on my travel wish list and so I really enjoyed that portion of your TR! Looking forward to reading the rest!

 

[sharona]

Grocery store lunches are the best!!! Sounds like you ate well...I tend to always forget something crucial like...forks lol whenever I do that though!! That's a really nice end to the keys portion of the trip. You're right that it may have made more sense to have the more relaxing part of the trip last...but whatever...the Orlando part will be great no matter what...and also, if you did the beach part after...there might have been more "I'm bored" from the Boo....

Grocery store lunches will be at the top of my list next time we're in a similar "challenging" situation.

That is SO awesome that you would go to the trouble of posting that pic! It is definitely something we might consider.

Hubs has had some significant challenges at work lately to the point where we are ALMOST on the austerity program - in other words, we might have to cancel the trip They are doing a major restructuring of the area he manages, so we will see. I have not cancelled the trip yet, but it is a real possibility. It is tough planning for something that I now don't know will happen for sure. BUT I will still take all the tips you can give me because if it doesn't happen in August like we planned, it will still definitely happen.

Oh that stinks! I've been in that situation several times over the past few years with major cutbacks at my company. Nothing you can do but economize while you're waiting for things to blow over.

Sharona, I am LOVING your TR so far! The Keys are on my travel wish list and so I really enjoyed that portion of your TR! Looking forward to reading the rest!

Hi thanks! Working on our arrival at Universal now!

 

[sharona]

Day 6/Thursday/Arrival at Royal Pacific Resort!!!

The drive from Key Largo to Orlando was long and boring! 5 hours total including a brief stop at McD's for fries and sodas. We wanted to save our appetites for a late lunch with the General before taking her to the airport. We had been pretty lucky weather wise for the first part of our trip and our luck continued. It rained while we were driving up to Orlando but by the time we were within 100 miles it was blue skies and sunshine once again! We stopped for lunch at the Olive Garden in Orlando (I know I know... but Boo is addicted to their chicken gnocchi soup and frankly, the food there is not half bad). Service was slow which we run into a lot when we split lunch and dinner and try to get a good meal around 3 or 4pm... Day shift has already mentally checked out and dinner shift still not in first gear. Fortunately, we were early enough that the extra time it took didn't impact our schedule.

We zipped mom over to the airport. She was a bit nervous about flying alone so we'd booked her on a non stop flight and gotten her to the airport with plenty of time to get through security and find her gate. She had gotten TSA pre-ckeck on her boarding pass so I took a shot at explaining that to her and she was going to give it a go. Boo and I offered to park and walk her to security but she wanted to go solo. We were a few minutes from the airport when she called to let us know she was through security and had found her gate.

Boo and I set the GPS for the Royal Pacific Resort and initiated warp speed! We arrived at the RPR at 5pm. I pulled up to the valet area and let them know I'd be self parking as soon as we unloaded the car and checked in. Boo and I had a rolling bag and a backpack each as well as a shopping bag with snacks and another with water and sodas. The bell services team quickly grabbed our bags and I left the keys to the car in case they had to move it. Boo was super impressed by the RPR lobby and thought it reminded her of some of the resorts in Hawaii. We were 2nd in line to check in and after a very short wait we were up. I asked if there was any way we could possibly have one of the newly refurbished rooms with a fridge and he was happy to accommodate us! Room 1515 - Tower 1, view of the "garden". I didn't really care about the view, just wanted a new room in tower 1!!! Bell services met us at the elevator with our bags and escorted us up to our room. He gave us a quick tour and even tucked out drinks into the fridge. Also he told us about the "shortcut" to the walking path.

Took a few snaps of the room with my cell phone before we spread out all our stuff:








The room was beautiful and still had that new car smell. I'd bet that no one else had even stayed in it before us - it was that spotless. Boo took some snaps as well and we texted them to 2DT (2 Door Terri for those who skipped the PTR). Boo was jumping with excitement and I was right there with her. We did a quick change and decided that we had enough time to get a ride or 2 in at US. The parks were closing at 7pm that night for a grad party and it was almost 6. We hurried down to the lobby and made our express passes and then decided to take the water taxi. We were almost to City Walk when I realized our mistake. Did you catch it???? Well, in our excitement to be at Universal and finally start that part of our trip, I'd never gone back and moved the car! It was still in the registration parking area. I called the hotel and asked for valet. Spoke to someone there and advised I had changed my mind about valet parking (lol) for that night and would they please keep the car, I'd be calling for it in the morning.








Boo and I had time for 1 ride on Minions and 2 turns on Mummy before the park closed. It was uncrowded and a perfect taste of our next few days and, it was enough to get us really revved up for our big day at Magic Kingdom the next day! Found something on the Minions ride that we'd never noticed before in the outer lab waiting area:




It was time for the parks to close. We walked slowly out of the park, just enjoying the hustle and bustle after the quiet of a week in Key Largo.

Had our recent trips to Universal with express pass spoiled us forever??? Would the magic still be there for us at Magic Kingdom? I have to admit that I had a lot on the line for our Disney day. 2 one day MK tickets, a character breakfa$t, hours spent planning our 3 FP+s and stalking the site for that ADR, a full day out of our Universal trip (which would have been free since we have APs) not to mention the plan to take a mid day break even though we were not staying on site! We had a disastrous one day visit to Disneyland last summer and I was hoping we were not going to regret not having learned a lesson from that. With all that on my mind, we decided to have an early night. I packed my park bag and laid out my clothes for the next morning, set my alarm for 6am and we tried to get some sleep.

 

[KathyM2]

That room looks so spotless and lovely!! Such fun that you got to go into US just for an hour or so...I guess with AP's that's the only way that would have happened. BTW, I LOVE Olive Garden...I know there are tons of amazing restaurants around Orlando...but...we don't have OG anymore in Ontario and so every time I'm in the US, I HAVE to eat there...I could live on the salad and breadsticks. Looking forward to hearing about your MK day. I feel your pain...we spent just ONE day at MK in March...and I can't believe how much agonizing and planning and rethinking and second guessing went into it.

 

[wiscbugs]

When we were at Royal Pacific at the end of March, we got a non-renovated room...it was not nice at all. Your renovated room looks much nicer!

 

[sharona]

Day 7/Friday/Magic Kingdom!!!

We were both up before the alarm, excited to start our day. MK opened at 9 but we had a pre-park ADR at Crystal Palace at 8:25am. Our plan was to valet park at the Contemporary, line up early and hope we could be seated and out of there before 9am rope drop. We had FP+ planned to start at 11:10am. Estimated travel time to CR was 20 minutes and we wanted to arrive there by 7:30 am at the latest. I'm pretty sure I spent more time planning our 1 day at Magic Kingdom than I'd spent on all of the rest of our trip combined. It was our first time using FP+ and also first time there since the Fantasyland expansion so there were a lot of new tricks and tips to learn.

Thanks to the awesome info available here on the DIS, despite our off site lodgings I had still gotten 7DMT FP+s for Boo and I at 11:05 and 11:10am at 30 days out. We also had Space Mtn FPs for 12:25pm and BTMRR for 1:25pm. I had printed out our FP plans and took a quick snap of that so I could reference it later if needed.




We called valet for our car and went down to the entrance to wait. It was still dark out but already warm and a bit humid. When the valet brought the car around, I told him we would be self parking for the rest of the stay. He said "Be sure to stop by here and let us know that", which I thought was weird. I said "This is me stopping by now and letting you know." He didn't seem to understand that. As I drove away I knew that I'd have to double check our bill to be sure we didn't get charged for valet for the whole stay. I hate paying for parking as it is and didn't want to pay any more than necessary! I had already cost us $7 with my mistake the night before. No dole whip for me. Well, dole whip but no sprinkles. Sprinkles are for winners.

We could have returned the car to MCO when we dropped the General off the day before but then we would have had to arrange for transportation to/from MCO/RPR then again to/from MK 2X as we planned to take a mid day break and again back to MCO at the end of the stay. The cost of that was just about equal to the parking fees at RPR + the extra cost to keep the rental car for 4 days and it allowed us to be on our own schedule which for me is an important part of vacation. I do not like to wait for buses or shuttles and I don't like group transportation where you have to sit in some van while others are dropped off and picked up. We rent a car even when staying on site at WDW.

Boo was navigating using my phone and we zipped right along. It's a pretty easy drive at that hour (we left RPR at 6:50am) with 0 traffic and very well signed. Because I was driving, Boo had the honor of taking the cliche "We're at Disney!" pic:





I followed the signs for MK and MK Resorts. Pulling into the parking lot I was happy that I had read a post about staying in the far right lane in order to get to the CR. I stopped at the booth and told the attendant where we were going and she waived us through. We pulled up to the CR just as it was getting to be full daylight, stopping at the guard booth. I asked to be directed to the valet parking area for the Contemporary. He asked where I was heading and I said "We have a breakfast reservation..." he started to point "...at Magic Kingdom". He stopped and frowned. Now I had read in a very recent TR that this is what the OP had said and it had been just fine. Instead, I get the big surprise face followed by "You need to park at the transportation center". Boo was cringing in embarrassment at this point. I asked politely if we could please pay to use the valet parking because I didn't want to have to backtrack and be late for my reservation. He directed us to the guest parking area and said to park over there and move your car after breakfast. Now, I was willing to pay to valet park - I wasn't trying to skirt the charge at all - I just wanted the convenience of being close by so we could more easily take a mid day break. I was not willing to move my car right after breakfast during prime rope drop time. But since I knew we'd be leaving mid day, I parked in the guest parking.

We took the walking path over to MK from CR and it was a very quick 5 minute walk. We arrived at bag check and were soon in the area between the gate and the entrance. It was pretty deserted but there were a few early birds about:







We got in the line for the early ADRs (far left side). There were 2 or 3 families in front of us. At 7:45 they moved us up to the end of the tunnel. We were just a few people back from the front:



At 7:50 they let us in and we started walking slowly up Main St. Well, Boo and I were walking slowly - there were others who were in more of a hurry. I think the goal was to get to the castle and get those crowd free pics. Or maybe they wanted to be first at breakfast... We took our time, even stopping for a few photos of our own.




Photo pass photographer missed focus with my camera. ^^^ I forgot to change it to auto before handing it over!

We checked in at CP and then went to take some pics of our own while we waited for a table.

 

[sharona]

That room looks so spotless and lovely!! Such fun that you got to go into US just for an hour or so...I guess with AP's that's the only way that would have happened. BTW, I LOVE Olive Garden...I know there are tons of amazing restaurants around Orlando...but...we don't have OG anymore in Ontario and so every time I'm in the US, I HAVE to eat there...I could live on the salad and breadsticks. Looking forward to hearing about your MK day. I feel your pain...we spent just ONE day at MK in March...and I can't believe how much agonizing and planning and rethinking and second guessing went into it.

Yes, the biggest difference for me between Uni and WDW is the planning/aggravation that goes into a WDW trip makes it so much more stressful and so much less vacation-like.

When we were at Royal Pacific at the end of March, we got a non-renovated room...it was not nice at all. Your renovated room looks much nicer!

I only knew to ask because of the awesome DIS Universal forums!

 

[KathyM2]

Jealous of your pre-park opening ADR here!! But ugh...leave it to the parking to mess things up!! Glad it worked out ok in the end but that must have been stressful. That said...I wonder what would have happened if you said "we are here to eat QS at the CR"....would you be allowed to valet park at the CR for that? Who knows....anyway..glad it ended ok. Great early park photos...still looks like a lot of people where there walking up Main Street though even before RD?

 

[sharona]

Due to the constructions/green walls and facades, I had to really work to get good pics from around the CP and Cinderella's Castle area while waiting for our ADR:











All too soon for the photographer in me we were being buzzed for our CP table. It was about 8:10, maybe a few minutes earlier. We were shown to a lovely table for 2. The place was practically empty. I was shocked since I had been stalking the website to get our ADR moved up to 8am and could find nothing! We really enjoyed the food and the characters at CP. Pooh and friends have always been a favorite of Boo's. She was a bit bummed that she forgot to pack her new Pooh shirt to wear on this day! Me too since I doubt she'll wear it anywhere else...





I'll never move to FL because my hair always looks like crap when I'm there. I had straight hair when I left the hotel that morning!

To be continued...

 

[sharona]

More pre-park opening photos:





Took a peak down Main and they were coming!!!!



We quickly scooted over to the entrance to Adventureland as we had our eye on a couple of rides on BTMRR and Splash before the crowds got there. Knowing that 99% of the rest of the crowd would be going for A&E or 7DMT, made BTMRR an easy choice! We waited with a few of the CMs from Pirate's League and about 20 others.



Soon enough - we were there... THE WILDEST RIDE IN THE WILDERNESS!!!! Boo and I love BTMRR and we decided to ride as many times as we could before 9:30 which turned out to be 3X.





After we rode BTMRR 3X and then Splash once we rode BTMRR once more before heading to POTC and then across the pond to HM:

 

[sharona]

After HM we walked toward the new Fantasyland. I love what they've done over there with Belle's castle and the Rapunzel tower. Very cool. It was about 10:45 so we took our time walking through and taking some more pics of the area. Stopped for a couple of bottles of water and to reapply our sunscreen in the shade over by the Rapunzel restrooms. We had about 20 minutes to look around while waiting for our 7DMT FP+ window to open at 11:10.















We watched 7DMT for a few minutes, getting a feel for the ride. Standby wait time 90 minutes!!! Finally it was 11:10 so both of our FP+ windows were open. There's a been a mixed bag of reviews about 7DMT - but we LOVED it!!! I totally agree with the consensus that the ride is way too short and I would have been very disappointed if I had waited any amount of time for it. As it was, with a FP and a 5 minute FP queue, it was wonderful and we enjoyed it quite a bit. Boo and I both like speed and small dips but not any big drops so this was a good one for us. It's very smooth. My only nitpick other than the short ride is that the seats are molded plastic and are were definitely made with the original 7 dwarfs in mind. They forgot to take into consideration additional potential dwarfs - Chubby, Chunky, Plumpy and Hippy.

 

[sharona]

After 7DMT we had about an hour before our Space Mtn FP window would open. We wandered in the direction of Tomorrowland and ended up taking a spin on the People Mover. Boo had never been on Space and I hadn't been on it in about 7 or 8 years so we loved the fact that the People Mover goes through Space. I was a bit apprehensive about riding Space due to all the posts about what a back breaker it is. I have a cranky back but hadn't had any issues with it recently. I briefly considered moving our FP to later that night, on the chance that it would hurt my back and that would not be good in the middle of our day but Boo was so excited to ride it that I couldn't put it off. We were getting a bit hungry so we decided to split something from Cosmic Rays before the lunch crowds built up. We got one burger and fries with 2 drinks and it was more than enough for us, especially after that big breakfast. We followed that by another round on the People Mover (which actually had a small line at this point). Tried to take some Space and castle pics from up there but didn't have too much success:









12:30pm - Finally it was time for Space Mountain! We got in the FP line which was a bit backed up outside the entrance due to people having issues scanning their MBs. Now Boo and I didn't have MBs but she was eaten up with jealousy and wanted one so badly, she declared that would be her souvenir from MK so we did end up buying them and syncing them to our tickets after riding Space. She got the Minnie red with white polka dots and I got the turquoise with the castle print. Since we were hoping for a Christmas visit this year to the Swan and could use the MBs again then, I felt that the expense wasn't that big of a deal. Much better than some toy or stuffed animal that would arrive home and end up on a shelf never to be seen again.



The FP queue moved quickly once past the entrance and we were soon next up. Much to my delight we got spots 1 & 2 in the first car. I had read that it was a smoother ride from the front and I certainly hoped that proved to be true. It did!!!!! Boo loved Space and I really had fun, I didn't find it too jarring at all although I definitely kept my hands in after watching a lights on video of the ride and seeing how close the tracks are!!! If the standby wait had been less than 30 minutes we probably would have jumped right back in line! But it was 60 minutes!!!!! I think it had been closed for a few days earlier that week so it was extra popular that day. I did try to change our 3rd FP from BTMRR to Space so we could ride again but nothing was showing as available on the app. We decided that instead of backtracking over to BTMRR before leaving for our break that we would change our FP to something close by and save another ride on BTMRR for after dark! Buzz was a 30 minute standby and we love to be competitive on rides like that so we opted for Buzz FP with a window that opened in 20 minutes. We got some popcorn and drinks and just wandered around Tomorrowland while we waited. It was busy but not what I would consider crowded. I think the wdwinfo crowd prediction of a 5 was pretty spot on. Buzz was fun as usual and I kicked some serious Boo butt. It was after 1:30 pm at this point and we were hot and starting to get a bit cranky after almost 6 hours in the park so we decided to hit the kiosk for one more FP for later and then make our way out.

Our first kiosk experience was ok. People really need to get a clue before getting in line. Here's a tip - if you're holding magic bands for 10 others, have some idea of what they want before it's your turn. I know it's difficult because you really have no idea of what's available before getting in line... I'd love to see a scrolling news feed type of thing that shows what's currently available so you can have an inkling of what to expect when you get up there. We used the ones by Stitch and there were about 6 kiosks open and maybe 10 CMs over there. It was about 6 families deep at each kiosk. When our turn finally came (we waited about 20 minutes I think) we were able to choose from BTMRR, Splash, Space or any of the lesser rides for windows after 8pm - the only thing not available was 7DMT. Not sure why Space hadn't come up an hour before when we wanted to change FP #3 - maybe because we had already ridden it? Or because our window was still open after riding? Not sure how that works but would love to know! We decided that another ride on Space would be our best choice and agreed that we would wait in standby to ride BTMRR either during the parade or after the fireworks when people started to clear out. BTMRR is so much fun after dark! With that business taken care of we made our way out of the park, stopping a few times to look in the Main St. shops and to take a few photos.



It was a little after 2:00pm when we got to our car. We had Space FP+s for 8:10pm so we decided that we would plan to get back by 6:00 or 7:00 depending on whether or not we ate dinner during our break. The park was supposed to close at midnight but we had just found out that it was now going to stay open until 1am. I was surprised since it didn't seem particularly crowded but maybe we were just zigging when everyone else was zagging...

After making a stop to gas up the car and buy some munchies, we arrived back to the Royal Pacific a little before 3pm. We self parked (!) and went up to our room. We discussed a midday swim but really we both wanted to just relax. Boo was asleep within a few minutes of hitting the bed. I had a quick shower and just relaxed with the tv on. Sleep always seemed just a wink away but never actually took over. I'm not much of a napper to begin with and sometimes falling asleep during the day does me more harm than good so I was ok with just the shower and putting my feet up for a few hours.

 

[mrsabbott]

I have to admit, the FP set up for Disney really intimidates me. I don't know how I feel about that.. And I had no idea that Disney stayed open so late!! We haven't been since '09, but I remember it closing at about 10p back then?? Maybe?? Regardless, seeing your pictures really makes me want to visit MK! Buds adores Mickey Mouse (borderline obsessed!!) and I wish we could have him meet Mickey before he grows out of it.. *sigh*

Your pictures are lovely though! You have a good eye!

 

[sharona]

Jealous of your pre-park opening ADR here!! But ugh...leave it to the parking to mess things up!! Glad it worked out ok in the end but that must have been stressful. That said...I wonder what would have happened if you said "we are here to eat QS at the CR"....would you be allowed to valet park at the CR for that? Who knows....anyway..glad it ended ok. Great early park photos...still looks like a lot of people where there walking up Main Street though even before RD?

With CP, Cinderella's Castle and BOG all serving breakfast there had to be 300+ people lined up behind us waiting to get in. Since our ADR wasn't until 8:25, we definitely let a lot of them get ahead of us once we were inside. Most of them headed right toward the castle. CP wasn't crowded at all and once the BOG and CC crowd dispersed, it was easier to get less crowded photos but with all the construction, it was a bit of a let down in that regard. As far as getting a massive head start on the RD crowd, it was well worth the money.

I have to admit, the FP set up for Disney really intimidates me. I don't know how I feel about that.. And I had no idea that Disney stayed open so late!! We haven't been since '09, but I remember it closing at about 10p back then?? Maybe?? Regardless, seeing your pictures really makes me want to visit MK! Buds adores Mickey Mouse (borderline obsessed!!) and I wish we could have him meet Mickey before he grows out of it.. *sigh*

Your pictures are lovely though! You have a good eye!

Thanks!! I love the later hours at MK! I understand that if you go in the summer you can get EMH where MK stays open until 3am!!! If I thought I could stand the heat I would go in July, sleep all morning then spend the afternoon at the pool and hit the parks from 6pm - 3am!!! FP+ makes that a very attractive option now.

Re FP+, I was curious how it would work for us and I have to say it was not half bad. If you're a rope dropper you can really still take advantage of that and then save your FPs for early afternoon or after dinner. If you like to sleep in you can still get a FP for the most popular rides. My biggest complaint is that you can only get 3 and you have to plan your park hop ahead of time. But, I'm a planner so I'm ok with scheduling things so far in advance. If you're a seat of your pants type of visitor, it won't be to your advantage. If they add the ability to get a 4th, 5th etc. via the app, I would love FP+ I did not miss having to race across the park to get my next FP and watching the clock to see when the next one would be available! It was nice to skip the 7DMT stampede knowing that we already had a FP in hand for later that morning! I've done that with TSMM and Soarin and there is nothing fun or magical about it. On the other hand, I saw many people entering the FP entrance before 10am for BTMRR when the standby line was empty. Obviously they had no idea what they were doing.

 

[wiscbugs]

I think they need to have separate kiosks for additional same day fastpasses and everything else. We got behind some family trying to set up fastpasses for like 10 people and it tooks them about a half hour...it was just ridiculous. It then took me 30 seconds to get our 4th fastpass....just a crazy waste of time!!!

 

[KathyM2]

I'm totally in the mid-day break camp...even though you only had one day at MK...I'm sure you felt a lot better for it. Sounds like Boo really needed a nap too! I hope that my DD will nap on our trip otherwise we have no chance of seeing Wishes lol. Sounds like a great morning and day at MK so far. If the Peoplemover had a line...it must have been busy lol...don't get me wrong...I LOVE the PM...just have never seen it with a line!

 

[sharona]

I think they need to have separate kiosks for additional same day fastpasses and everything else. We got behind some family trying to set up fastpasses for like 10 people and it tooks them about a half hour...it was just ridiculous. It then took me 30 seconds to get our 4th fastpass....just a crazy waste of time!!!

I'd like to see the 4th, 5th FP available to book on the app after the 3rd one is used.

I'm totally in the mid-day break camp...even though you only had one day at MK...I'm sure you felt a lot better for it. Sounds like Boo really needed a nap too! I hope that my DD will nap on our trip otherwise we have no chance of seeing Wishes lol. Sounds like a great morning and day at MK so far. If the Peoplemover had a line...it must have been busy lol...don't get me wrong...I LOVE the PM...just have never seen it with a line!

I don't see how or why anyone would attempt MK without a mid day break - unless you are sleeping in and not getting there until after 2pm (which is now a real option with FP+). I think for HS and AK - you don't really need a break, you can pretty much see it all in 1/2 day if you rope drop then take a rest and do something else. EPCOT is a bit different for me. I prefer to do a morning for rides and early afternoon at WS then a different day come back for the rest of WS after hitting AK or HS in the morning. Now that FP+ is in place, I can see making that 2 late afternoons through closing instead.

It was a great morning!!! We rode all the mountains and had a relaxing pace going - nothing too commando and no backtracking (the family's biggest complaint on previous trips was the back and forth of a touring plan). We poked into the shops when we felt like it and didn't feel the need to rush around. Definitely a different experience from our previous FP running, park crisscrossing, ride it all or bust trips!

Re the line at PM - I think it had more to do with loading issues than anything else. The moving ramp was shut off when someone had an issue and then they stopped people from entering for a few minutes while it was reset. There were about 50 people waiting for it to reopen so I guess not really a big stand by line but still... It must happen fairly often now as there was a CM with a sign that read "the People Mover line starts here" and she would keep walking to the end as more people got in line. It was definitely what I would consider a moderate to low crowd day. Other than the PM, we had not waited in any stand by lines, just utilized rope drop and our FPs. If we had been on a mission to ride everything in Fantasyland, it may have seemed much more crowded to us!!!

 

[sharona]

We left RPR at 6pm and made our way back to MK. Boo had never been on the monorail and that was on our to do list this trip so this time I parked in the lot at the Transportation Center. The attendant attempted to direct me to the far far away lot but I asked if I could check for spots up front since people had probably left for the day. He said ok and we found a spot that was in the aisle after the handicap aisle. It was pretty much as close as you could get without a HP plate. We walked to the TTC just as a monorail was letting out. We quickly walked up the ramp and boarded with a second or 2 to spare. Perfect timing!

We entered the park again this time using our Magic Bands. Boo was so thrilled by this - she loves technology and was fascinated when I told her if we were staying on site the bands could open our hotel room door and be used to pay for our meals and in the shops. Now THAT would be dangerous territory for us! We do love to shop!!!

The sun was low, just getting ready to set. It was absolutely perfect out at that point. Still warm but no longer as humid and with a nice breeze and no hot sun beating on us. I wanted a pic of the castle with the sun setting in the background. Dusk is such a pretty time of day for photos. I got some but nothing that quite captured the beauty of the sky.







Followed by a quick run on the PM to check out the crowds and take some more dusk pics:





It was a bit before 7 so we decided to grab a quick dinner. We went to Cosmic Rays again. Yes, boring I know but they have that great rotisserie chicken dinner and we were already in Tomorrowland! We split that and got mashed for me and a side of fries for Boo. It was just right after our earlier snacks at the hotel. After dinner we walked round Fantasyland again and found a 10 minute wait for IASW that was really more of a walk on. We love this ride and I think I notice something different each time we ride.






It was almost time for our Space FP+ time of 8:10pm. We wandered over that way and were surprised to see a huge line to check in at the FP entrance. I asked someone if the ride had been down and sure enough it had and it had just reopened. If your MB didn't scan green, they were checking the time against when the ride was down before letting you pass. We got in line and it moved fairly quickly. When we at last got inside and up toward the loading platform, they were taking people from the FP lane and sending us to both tracks. I was glad I wasn't in stand by because I didn't see them load anyone from there while we were in the platform area. Boo and I ended up on the opposite track of the one we had ridden earlier and we were in the last car, the last 2 seats!!! It made quite a difference in the ride experience. Not sure if it was the track or the placement in the car - I tend to think the latter because coasters are always more wild from the last car. If the first ride had been as jarring, I would probably not have agreed to ride again but even so, it wasn't the OMG back breaker that many have made it out to be (at least for me, YMMV).

After Space it was full dark and we wandered over to my new favorite photo spot to get some more castle pics. This angle was a good one because you still had the water and not as much ugly green construction wall to work around.





Then we walked around to get an ice cream and ended up on the other side: