Magic Kingdom Evening
One of my friends that I was with asked me if I was interested in seeing the Grand Floridian DVC model rooms, so I said of course! I didn't get any pictures but we went over there to look at them. Those rooms are really beautiful. I've always been a fan of the Grand Floridian and I think the DVC rooms capture the essence perfectly. I wish I could afford to stay there- maybe someday!
She then dropped me off at the Magic Kingdom, and of course it started raining as soon as I arrived. I took the monorail over and ended up with my own private monorail car!
The rain wasn't too bad. But I was hoping to catch the parade, which didn't work out quite as I'd planned...
I had no idea that they did this. On the one hand, it's nice that they still do something even when they have to cancel the parade. On the other, it's almost sad in awhile. Like, here's a few cast members with umbrellas and a couple of cars with characters you can barely see instead of floats!
I headed to grab some sorcerer's the magic kingdom cards and then I decided to go on the people mover. I didn't feel like waiting for very long but I wanted something that wouldn't leave me out in the rain! While on the people mover I got a text from another one of my friends that lives in Tampa, and she said she was going to be in MK that night with her husband! So I planned to meet up with them.
Chilling in the people mover:
After the people mover I grabbed a fast pass for Space Mountain and then explored some of new Fantasyland. I hadn't seen much of the Dumbo area so I went to look at that, and I checked up on the progress of the 7 dwarfs mine coaster!
Then I met up with my friend and her husband. We started off by doing the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. They had added a new bit for Monsters University, so it was cool to see something different. That show always makes me laugh!
Next we did the teacups. I hadn't been on them since I was 8 years old.
Oh my word, those things go way faster than I ever imagined! I'm usually pretty good with not getting dizzy, but that ride is intense hahaha! I totally get now why parents don't like that one
We also did pirates before my friends had to leave. They were celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary and had dinner reservations at Fulton's, which is where they had their wedding reception last year. We said goodbye but they mentioned they might be back for fireworks and extra magic hours.
After they left I stopped to get myself a citrus swirl. I'd heard good things about this treat, and I wanted to give it a go. Let me tell you... I discovered heaven!!
Sorry to all of you Dole Whip lovers, but to me this simply blew it out of the water. The combination of the soft serve vanilla with the more icy orange, and of course those flavors together - I think this just became my new favorite Disney treat
Just as I was getting off of pirates I got a call from my other friends - I was so popular today!
It was the couple that had just gotten married that week, and they wanted to know if I had plans for dinner. They missed their reservation because they had done the Wild Africa trek and it took longer than they anticipated. They couldn't find any other place that had open reservations. I had some at the Plaza that night for two (thinking one of my friends might want to tag along) so I stopped by to see if I could change it to three and they said sure, no problem! So we made plans to meet up for dinner.
Before they showed up I decided to go on Under the Sea. There is something just really enchanting about that ride. I like the Little Mermaid but it's not one of my absolute favorites - but for some reason I can't get enough of this ride!
I then poked around in the Beauty and the Beast gift shop, since that is my favorite movie and I want everything in there. This time I discovered a new item that I would absolutely love to have:
It's stunning! And at $80 it's actually not a terrible price for what you get, but definitely an extra I can't afford right now!
I used my Space Mountain fast pass and then headed to the Plaza. I found my friends and we went on in.
The food definitely didn't leave a huge impression on me, but then again we were busy talking and catching up so I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the food. They told me all about their meal the evening before at Victoria and Albert's, and also about their experience on the Wild Africa Trek. They were on the dining plan and she didn't want her dessert, so she ordered the banana split so I could have it! Very generous...
But even more generous was the fact that they snuck my check away from me and paid for my dinner! They definitely didn't have to do that, but they said it was a thank you for sharing my reservation with them since they couldn't get one anywhere else.
After eating we went on Buzz twice in a row - they're big Buzz fans - look how adorable!
Chris showed me how to hit the spots where you can get the big points. I have terrible aim and still did pretty horribly, but managed to get over 200,00 0 points, which is way more than I usually get! Chris and I did Splash Mountain next, but Megan wasn't interested so we met her at the pin store afterward.
We wanted to find a place to watch Wishes. One of their wedding guests said there was a "really good view" from the top of the Swiss Family Treehouse, so we decided to try it.
Spoiler alert... not a "really good view"! It's okay, and on the plus side there wasn't really anyone else up there, but there are lots of branches in the way so you can't really see a good portion of the show. Not bad if you're just looking for a quick, unique spot to view from, but I personally won't see it from there again.
After Wishes the two other friends that I had met earlier and done the teacups with came back, so the five of us went to Monsters Laugh Floor again. This one was so much funnier thanks to the audience! Two people in the audience had gotten engaged, and they texted that in to the "joke" number. They also happened to be sitting with "That Guy" - but when the camera went to show the engaged couple it focused on the guy from the couple and That Guy! It was pretty funny how he got involved in another joke.
After that we rode Buzz again. I was by myself, so I decided to use both the guns - one in each hand, baby!
And I somehow miraculously got over 700,000 points on one gun!! I don't know how I did it, but here's the proof...
Megan and Chris left after that, but I stayed with my other two friends and we did Winnie the Pooh and Haunted Mansion. We left MK around 12:15, but I didn't get back to AKL until about 1am. And I had an early morning planned because I wanted to make sure I would get on Toy Story Mania so I had to go for rope drop!
