Me and My Girl - A Week in Pictures (Day 5 - Four Parks in a Day)

[wilma-bride]

Sunday 16th March

Ever since we started going to WDW regularly, I have loved the idea of visiting all four parks in one day. So, as soon as Sian and I had booked this trip, I started weighing up the possibility of turning an idea into a reality. When Sian decided to make a list of cupcakes she wanted to try while we were on holiday, I knew we had the ideal opportunity to combine the two. With the added challenge of riding one ride in each park also, we decided to embark on our very own ‘Four parks, four cupcakes, four rides in one day’ tour. As it happens, our ride plans were slightly scuppered by technical problems but we did manage to sneak an extra cupcake in - and would have made it to six had we not been pipped at the post by an elderly gentleman at the Contemporary. But, for now, back to the beginning…

Our finely tuned plans began with an alarm call at 7.30am. None of the parks had morning EMH today, so we had to be well prepared in order to fit it all in. There were various factors which had dictated the order we had to visit the parks – our FP+, which had been made for Hollywood Studios between 10am and 1pm and a dinner ADR at Be Our Guest (which could not be changed) for 5.15pm.

So, just after 8.30am saw us showered and dressed and on the bus to the first park…Animal Kingdom.





The plan of attack was to head to Expedition Everest and ride, then grab the first cupcake of the day from Kusafiri Bakery. We arrived in time for opening, quickly had a photo taken, then hot-footed it to Everest, only to find a huge line outside. We joined the end of the line but were growing a little concerned when we hadn’t moved in about 10 minutes. Eventually, a CM wandering down the line informed us there were technical problems and the ride was not yet operating. Our plan had us leaving Animal Kingdom no later than 10am so we had to make a decision. We agreed that we would wait until 9.30 and, if we hadn’t moved by then, we would move on. Sure enough, at 9.30 we were seeing no signs that the ride would open any time soon and so we wandered over to Kusafiri Bakery, where we encountered technical hitch number two. They don’t start selling the cupcakes until 11am – talk about poor planning on my part.

Being quite close to Kilimanjaro Safari, we thought we would use that as our one ride but the standby line was already showing 40 minutes (presumably because everybody from Everest had come here instead) and we knew we wouldn’t have time. We had to accept that we would just have to miss out on a ride at Animal Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Sian wanted to buy a t-shirt she had see the other day so we decided to do that and then see if we could find a generic cupcake from somewhere else that might count. As we finished paying for Sian’s t-shirt, I suddenly recalled having seen the Cotton Top Tamarin Cupcake advertised at a kiosk nearby, when we were here the other day. We located the stand and, sure enough, there it was in all its glory – the Cotton Top Tamarin Cupcake. We were elated and quickly bought one, then found a seat on a nearby bench to enjoy our not-so-healthy breakfast.





This was a pretty good cupcake – nice and chocolatey, with a light whipped cream topping and a solid chocolate Cotton Top Tamarin lollipop (which we wrapped up and put in Sian’s bag to take with us).

After stopping for a very brief picture, we made our way out of the park and towards the bus stop.



Parks = 1
Rides = 0
Cupcakes = 1

We had a little bit of a wait for a bus to take us to our next park so we were cutting it fine to make our first FP+ at…





We made our way straight to Rock n Roller Coaster and just made it within our 10-11am window. The good thing about this is that we were able to use our second FP+ straight away, as our window had opened up for Tower of Terror by the time we were done.





We had some time to kill before our Toy Story Mania FP so we stopped into Starring Rolls for our next cupcake, a St Patricks Day special.





I totally loved this cupcake, however Sian did not. It was a chocolate cake, with mint frosting and a white chocolate Irish hat. The cake, admittedly, was not as good as the previous but I loved the minty frosting. Sian said it tasted like toothpaste. I let her have the chocolate hat.

We made our way over to the Pixar area, where we had a short wait before I kicked Sian’s butt (yet again) on Toy Story Mania.







We figured we needed something savoury now, to counter the sweetness of the cupcakes so shared a hot dog in a pretzel roll and some chips from Min & Bill’s Dockside Diner. This is one of my favourite quick service options at Hollywood Studios.



Once we had eaten, we made our way out of the park, stopping just long enough to pose for a photo again.



Parks = 2
Rides = 3
Cupcakes = 2

We caught the Friendship Boat back to the Boardwalk.





After a quick stop back in the room to drop off Sian’s t-shirt and the (now melted) chocolate Tamarin lollipop, we walked out onto the Boardwalk and down to the Boardwalk Bakery, where we bought a bonus cupcake – the Oreo Cupcake.





This is an old favourite but still great. I love the Oreo frosting right inside the cake. The cake is light and moist and the creamy topping is not too sweet. In fact, the only negative is that the Oreos on top are usually a bit soggy. They still taste pretty good though.

Parks = 2
Rides = 3
Cupcakes = 3

 

[wilma-bride]

We entered Epcot via International Gateway and made our way to the front of the park. Our intention here, as it was well into the afternoon and we had already used our FP+, was to try and ride either Mission:Space or Spaceship Earth using the standby line. Mission:Space was actually showing a pretty respectable wait time of 15 minutes so we did that and then went over to Spaceship Earth. We ended up waiting over 20 minutes but that wasn’t bad considering we hadn’t thought we would get much done at all.











It was around this point that we realised we were both a little sick of cupcakes but a challenge is a challenge and so, somewhat reluctantly, we headed over to The Land and downstairs to Sunshine Seasons where we found this little beauty.





This was just perfect. Not too big, very light and the tang of the lemon curd filling counteracted the sweetness of the meringue topping. We both really enjoyed it.

As we made our way out of the park, we spotted Pluto and couldn’t resist grabbing a quick shot.



And so we said goodbye to Epcot and left the park via the main exit.



Parks = 3
Rides = 5
Cupcakes = 4

We caught the monorail over to Magic Kingdom and entered the park with around an hour to spare before our ADR. We were able to more or less walk straight in to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, which was absolutely hilarious as usual. Both Sian and I ended up on the screen (I cannot remember why) but the funniest moment was when Mike Wazowski’s nephew said about a two-for-one and the camera panned over to two young Chinese ladies dressed completely identically. Hilarious!

After Monsters Inc, we managed to fit in a go on Buzz Lightyear too. Sina wasn’t happy, though, because her gun wasn’t working properly so she ended up with a score of about 3.

Sian’s feet were really hurting now and we were both flagging a bit so we walked over to Be Our Guest, where we had a short wait on the bridge before being led in to the restaurant.







Our server came over and introduced himself, and we ordered a couple of diet cokes. A few minutes later he brought our drinks and some delicious warm bread rolls. Sian and I both ordered the steak (cooked medium) for our entrée. When the meals arrived, I commented that we hadn’t been brought any steak knives. As I couldn’t see our server, I picked up my butter knife and used that to cut my steak. To my surprise, it sliced straight through. The steak was seriously tender and incredibly tasty.





Unfortunately, our server was a little ‘off’, nothing I could really put my finger on but he seemed a bit distracted. As far as I could tell, he was only looking after two tables and, as I glanced around, I noticed that other servers were really engaging with their customers. He did bring us steak knives, when we were both at least half way through our meals and half-heartedly apologised that he had taken so long. I commented that it was fine as they weren’t necessary anyway, the steak was that good. He just walked away. Regardless of his attitude, our meal was great and, although neither of us really wanted dessert, I just had to try one of the cupcakes. I chose the lemon, thinking ti would be sweet and tangy but, in actual fact, it wasn’t that great. The cake was a little dry and the lemon flavour was quite bland. A bit of a disappointing end to a lovely meal.



We paid the check but opted not to leave an additional tip (obviously the 18% tip was already included because of using the TIW, otherwise I might even have been tempted to leave less). After snapping a couple of pictures in other areas of the restaurant, we went into the library to meet the Master.







Our original plan had been to stay at Magic Kingdom to see the Main Street Electrical Parade a bit later on but we were both worn out. Sian had a friend who was currently on the ICP, working at Magic Kingdom. She had messaged us earlier to let us know she was working at the Town Square Theater this evening so we decided to make our way down to say ‘Hi’ before we left.

As we were walking down towards Main Street, we decided to have a couple of last photos taken.





As we were walking away, I heard somebody shout my name. I couldn’t think who might be calling my name so figured it must be somebody else so continued walking. I heard it again – someone shouting both me and Sian. We both turned around to see the Stringers waving furiously. We chatted for a while – they had just arrived and were going to watch the parade. We briefly considered joining them but we were full from dinner and feeling quite tired now so decided to head back to the resort. We obviously had to have another Photopass picture first.



We popped into Town Square Theater to see Ashley and hear all about her experiences. She was absolutely loving her time at WDW.



After a few minutes, we left her to do her job and caught the monorail over to the Contemporary as we had one last stop to make.

Parks = 4
Rides = 7
Cupcakes = 5

We exited the monorail at the Contemporary and headed down to Contempo Café, where we were in search of the elusive Frozen cupcake which I had read about on the Disney Food Blog. Although neither of us was in the slightest bit hungry, we had decided we would take the cake back to the room for later (or maybe breakfast). We couldn’t see one on display so I asked and was told “that gentleman over there got the last one”. We looked over and saw an elderly man carrying the cupcake over to two excited little girls. I briefly considered rugby tackling him to the floor but decided against it and so we caught the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom, empty handed.

Luckily, the bus to Boardwalk came quickly and we were back in the room chilling out by quarter to 10. What a fabulous day!

 

[Azza1987]

Wow! What a challenge you made yourselves!

I love the sound of a minty cupcake, might add that to my list this year!

 

[darthtatty]

What a great day, like the idea of the challenges. Might have to try the 4 park myself one day

 

[SusanEllen]

You met the challenge (I had no doubt you would) and so I am standing and saluting you, Joh. Getting to 4 parks wasn't the difficult part of your challenge but doing it within the frame of those FP + times and the elusive-you-can't-possibly-change-it ADR for Be Our Guest was. If you want, we can pretend that eating half of 5 mile high cupcakes was a challenge but my money was on you the whole time.

 

[Nubbedy]

Challenge completed! Would love to try four parks in one day, but think I will wait until my kids are a bit older - it sounds hard going! Of your days cupcakes, the cutest was the cotton top tamarind, and I really like the sound of the lemon meringue. Will have to make a trip to BoardWalk for the Oreo one though, both my boys are Oreo fans

 

[Linda67]

Wow, 5 cupcakes, that is some going!
They do all look yummy though

 

[Chilly]

Excellent challenge but I think it could have been improved by adding cocktails to the mix.

 

[Tammy Stringer]

Not a lover of cupcakes but some of those did look quite tasty.

Lovely to bump into you both that day.

Tam

 

[wilma-bride]

Wow! What a challenge you made yourselves!

I love the sound of a minty cupcake, might add that to my list this year!

I love the combination of chocolate and mint - although I don't want to disappoint you, I think they only have them as specials, not year round.

What a great day, like the idea of the challenges. Might have to try the 4 park myself one day

We will definitely do it again, it was tiring but exhilarating.

You met the challenge (I had no doubt you would) and so I am standing and saluting you, Joh. Getting to 4 parks wasn't the difficult part of your challenge but doing it within the frame of those FP + times and the elusive-you-can't-possibly-change-it ADR for Be Our Guest was. If you want, we can pretend that eating half of 5 mile high cupcakes was a challenge but my money was on you the whole time.

Thank you Susan (I think). The cupcakes were definitely a challenge, I have to be honest and say that I didn't think I ever wanted to see another cupcake after that day (in fact, when Sian had one on our last day, I couldn't face it).

Challenge completed! Would love to try four parks in one day, but think I will wait until my kids are a bit older - it sounds hard going! Of your days cupcakes, the cutest was the cotton top tamarind, and I really like the sound of the lemon meringue. Will have to make a trip to BoardWalk for the Oreo one though, both my boys are Oreo fans

Sara, the Oreo Cupcake is certainly worth the trip to the Boardwalk Bakery Four parks in one day is something which is probably not the best idea with small children - Daniel is desperate to try it now so we might give it a go in October but I figure he won't be as patient as Sian.

Wow, 5 cupcakes, that is some going!
They do all look yummy though

Mostly yummy, yes Can't quite believe we managed so many.

Excellent challenge but I think it could have been improved by adding cocktails to the mix.

Yes, cocktails would have made for a far more interesting challenge. The challenge being staying upright at the end of the day. Not sure Sian (my non-drinker) would have been up for that but I am willing to try it (in the name of research) on another occasion (although not sure where I would find a cocktail at MK ;-) )

 

[irongirlof12]

Ah the cupcake challenge my kid of touring plan

 

[Tinks1984]

That looked like an awesome day! Busy, but awesome!