A Private, Romantic 30th Anniversary Trip- Just Ask My Friends! Last Afternoon: EP p. 37 9/19

[pooksma]

Whew! Just read all through and enjoyed every minute. Gearing up for our first trip as a family in a few years.

 

[natebenma]

Thank you so much for reading!

Oh, wow, your trip is close! Where are you staying? Who are you traveling with?

 

[natebenma]

Another First for Mark at MK

As I mentioned in my last update, as we were heading to a new land on our way to use our Splash Fast Pass, we encountered a show we had never seen before.


Did you guess the new Muppets historical stories show in Frontierland?


If so, you are wrong!


We were going from Fantasyland to Adventureland and when we passed by the carousel we saw a gathering of people.


I had not heard that there was a show where guests can attempt to pull the sword from the stone.


We stopped to watch.


First up was this guy.

I didn’t really like his chances.


Then, it was a young princesses’ turn.

Success!


And if I may add a little political commentary and throwback to our theatre company’s performance of Spamalot:




We entered Adventureland.


The wait time listed for Jungle Cruise was 30 minutes. We decided to skip that.


But we saw that it was 20 minutes here. We didn’t pass that up.

We were near the end time of our Splash FP, which was 9:40 to 10:40. The time stamp on the ride photo is 10:47.

According to my notes, we were stopped by the possums for a few minutes.

We were in the back, so either I didn’t take a photo when we were dropping or it was so bad I deleted it.






We did not get very wet on the ride, which is fine with us.


Our next Fast Pass was for Mine Train, 11:10 to 12:10. This would be Mark’s first time riding this.


But we decided to make a detour first.

We wanted to stop to enjoy our Dole Whip, so we took a seat here, next to this guy

We looked across the river to Tom Sawyers Island and Mark remarked that when he first saw the graffiti on the fence it looked like it said Tom <3 Brady.

I’m ok with that!

After we finished with our snack, we proceeded to the Mine Train. I didn’t take note of what the wait time was, but I know I am glad we had the FPs.

It was around 11:20 when we were done with the ride.


Our next FP was for Space Mountain at 12:20, an hour away. Since we had already been on Space earlier that day, as well as Peter Pan, Buzz, Dumbo, Pirates, Splash and Mine Train and we were coming back to the Magic Kingdom that evening for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, we decided to leave.


When we got to the train station, I went up the stairs so I could take some pictures of Main Street from the second floor:

Back at ground level:

Like we usually do, we planned our trip back to the Yacht Club via the monorail and EPCOT with the plan to visit some Food & Wine booths for lunch.

We walked up the ramp and saw a monorail at the station so we broke into a fast walk-run.

The doors closed.

Then opened!

We’re off!



Next up: First Time for Food & Wine

 

[pooksma]

Thank you so much for reading!

Oh, wow, your trip is close! Where are you staying? Who are you traveling with?

Thank you. We are a family of 3. Our DS is turning 16 and our last few trips have been day trips or without DH. We are staying at ASSp-DS' birthday choice. If the Canadian $ wasn't n the toilet we might have stayed at Yacht Club...LOL

 

[natebenma]

Thank you. We are a family of 3. Our DS is turning 16 and our last few trips have been day trips or without DH. We are staying at ASSp-DS' birthday choice. If the Canadian $ wasn't n the toilet we might have stayed at Yacht Club...LOL

Enjoy your trip! That's great that you are going on a family vacation all together.

I haven't stayed at Sports, but I have stayed at Music with my family and Movies twice during class trips. There are great options for meals at the food courts there.

 

[rteetz]

You guys got some great ride photos!

I've never had the dole whip float only the regular dole whip.

Looks like you had a great morning in MK!

 

[wdwnut61]

More great ride photos
I love your pictures from on top the train station just beautiful. I never thought to go up there during the day but I will now

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

What a brilliant morning you had love all the photos especially those from the train station

I had my first ever dole whip float this past summer it was scrumptious!! So so perfect on a hot summer day

Hurray for making it onto the monorail. I'm excited to hear all about your snacking around the world

 

[SarahDisney]

We've seen the pulling the sword out of the stone show while on the carousel, but we've never actually stopped to watch it. It looks like a cute show, especially if you have a kid who might actually be able to pull the sword out.

Wow, lots of firsts for Mark this trip! Which first did he like better - Dumbo or Mine Train? (I know they're very different experiences, so it's okay with me if there's no answer to that question)

 

[natebenma]

You guys got some great ride photos!

I've never had the dole whip float only the regular dole whip.

Looks like you had a great morning in MK!

Thanks! We don't do much for poses on the ride photos.

Both are good. The float can be especially messy and sticky, but it is really refreshing.

It was a fantastic morning!

More great ride photos
I love your pictures from on top the train station just beautiful. I never thought to go up there during the day but I will now

Thank you!!!

That is the second time I have done that. It is a really great vantage point and I have used the pictures of Main Street from there as my Facebook cover photo a few times.

What a brilliant morning you had love all the photos especially those from the train station

I had my first ever dole whip float this past summer it was scrumptious!! So so perfect on a hot summer day

Hurray for making it onto the monorail. I'm excited to hear all about your snacking around the world

We really enjoyed our Magic Kingdom morning.

Dole Whips, with or without juice are one of my favorite Disney things! It was so cool when they had them at Stormalong Bay for about a millisecond. I was so sorry that I just missed out on it that year!

We were so grateful when the monorail reopened the doors to let us in.

We've seen the pulling the sword out of the stone show while on the carousel, but we've never actually stopped to watch it. It looks like a cute show, especially if you have a kid who might actually be able to pull the sword out.

Wow, lots of firsts for Mark this trip! Which first did he like better - Dumbo or Mine Train? (I know they're very different experiences, so it's okay with me if there's no answer to that question)

I didn't know that was a show! Worth stopping to watch for a minute or two.

Yes, there were a lot of firsts for both of us (Yacht Club, Food & Wine, Halloween Party, new Soarin' and a few more coming up), but more for him since I had been to the World 4 times since his last trip. Magic Bands, Dumbo, Mine Train.

He preferred Mine Train, hands down! I don't know that Dumbo did much for him.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Ok totally off topic but I tried to make the rolo turtles and while they look more like fish, mainly because I could only find mini pretzels and so used 2 per sweet, they are very very tasty Thanks for the recipe Dee
My Mickey pancakes turned out better shape-wise and are equally tasty

 

[annie170]

I once saw a little guy of about two years pull out the sword. So cute!

That dole whip looks delish. Sadly, we didn't get one in January as we were in Tomorrowland when everyone wanted a snack. No one (but me) wanted to walk all the way over to the other side of the park to get one. Of course, my husband later complained about not getting one. I will try the dole whip with rum one of these days!

I enjoy Mine Train, however, I think they could have made those seats a little bigger. I'm petite, so I didn't have any problem, but my husband and one son-in-law are both XL guys and were a tight fit in the seats.

Your pictures from the train station are great! That was so smart to go up there for the view.

 

[afwdwfan]

Have you ever thought that the grass is always greener at the MK? It is. They paint it.

I'm totally not surprised by this, but I am more surprised that they'd be out doing that at a time of morning when guests are arriving.

And now, I present about a thousand pictures of Cindy’s castle:

Well, at least they aren't wall to wall people, despite all the extra early entry options.

Overall, the meal was meh. The setting is beautiful, but it didn’t blow Mark away. The food was good, but expensive. But we weren’t paying for the food so much as for the opportunity to get into the park early for some once-in-a-lifetime pictures. Mission accomplished there.

Yeah, totally understand. I thought our first lunch at BOG was fantastic, but food seems to be getting served at less optimal temperatures in subsequent visits. I'm just not sure they can do the quality they try to serve with the volume that they try to crank out.

After we had hit a few of our favorites, it was time to introduce Mark to something he had never done before.


He was going to ride an elephant.

What??? This was his first time on Dumbo????

After we finished with our snack, we proceeded to the Mine Train. I didn’t take note of what the wait time was, but I know I am glad we had the FPs.

Yeah, I don't think there's any way to do this aside from using FP.

When we got to the train station, I went up the stairs so I could take some pictures of Main Street from the second floor:

Nice pictures!

Like we usually do, we planned our trip back to the Yacht Club via the monorail and EPCOT with the plan to visit some Food & Wine booths for lunch.

Nice plan!

We walked up the ramp and saw a monorail at the station so we broke into a fast walk-run.

The doors closed.

Then opened!

We’re off!

Whew... that was close.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We find that MK is usually less crowded on days that have a party. I was nice that you were able to walk on so many rides.

Breakfast at BOG is too expensive and the selection is poor. Your food looks good.

We were going from Fantasyland to Adventureland and when we passed by the carousel we saw a gathering of people.


I had not heard that there was a show where guests can attempt to pull the sword from the stone.


We stopped to watch.

We've only seen this show once. I never knew it existed until I read about it on the Dis. This forum comes in handy sometimes.

We walked up the ramp and saw a monorail at the station so we broke into a fast walk-run.

The doors closed.

Then opened!

Did it open its doors just for you?

 

[pas130]

So behind! I am so sorry Dee. Catching up and loving the pics

 

[natebenma]

View attachment 222807 Ok totally off topic but I tried to make the rolo turtles and while they look more like fish, mainly because I could only find mini pretzels and so used 2 per sweet, they are very very tasty Thanks for the recipe Dee
View attachment 222808 My Mickey pancakes turned out better shape-wise and are equally tasty

Nicely done on the treats!

I would gladly consume either the turtle-fish or the pancakes!

YUM!!!

I once saw a little guy of about two years pull out the sword. So cute!

That dole whip looks delish. Sadly, we didn't get one in January as we were in Tomorrowland when everyone wanted a snack. No one (but me) wanted to walk all the way over to the other side of the park to get one. Of course, my husband later complained about not getting one. I will try the dole whip with rum one of these days!

I enjoy Mine Train, however, I think they could have made those seats a little bigger. I'm petite, so I didn't have any problem, but my husband and one son-in-law are both XL guys and were a tight fit in the seats.

Your pictures from the train station are great! That was so smart to go up there for the view.

I would love to see someone in the park pull it out. With the show, you knew once it was a kid up there, it was coming out.

I think the Dole Whips are expecially precious since they are only available at a limited number of places. I have a couple of recipes for Dole Whip to make at home. I tried one of them, but the flavor was a little subtle.

It didn't occur to me before, but this was the first time I had been on Mine Train with someone. My two previous times, I was alone- once with FP and once in standby line.

Thanks. It is such an amazing view of Main Street and the castle from there.

 

[natebenma]

I'm totally not surprised by this, but I am more surprised that they'd be out doing that at a time of morning when guests are arriving.

Well, at least they aren't wall to wall people, despite all the extra early entry options.

Yeah, it actually wasn't too bad. Maybe all the early entry people headed immediately to ride the rides that they had paid so much to do.

Yeah, totally understand. I thought our first lunch at BOG was fantastic, but food seems to be getting served at less optimal temperatures in subsequent visits. I'm just not sure they can do the quality they try to serve with the volume that they try to crank out.

I have had one lunch and one breakfast at Be Our Guest. The setting is incredible but I was certainly not blown away by the meals either time.

Yeah, I don't think there's any way to do this aside from using FP.

Unless you want to check out the interactive features of the stand-by line

What??? This was his first time on Dumbo????

Yes, but I really can't fault him. My first ride on an elephant was not until June 2015.

Nice pictures!

Thank you! The raised platform of the train station is a great spot.

Nice plan!

Unless we have a reason we need to rush back to the Yacht/Beach Club, we use the monorail and return to the resort via EPCOT instead of using the bus.

Whew... that was close.

It is always sad to see a monorail at the station pull away as you arrive. We were grateful this one didn't!

 

[natebenma]

We find that MK is usually less crowded on days that have a party. I was nice that you were able to walk on so many rides.

Breakfast at BOG is too expensive and the selection is poor. Your food looks good.

We had a great morning and did just about everything we wanted to.

It was a bummer that Big Thunder was down for refurb during our trip. It is my favorite ride.

The price for the breakfast at BOG is ridiculous. When they only had my order, I thought, hmmm... we probably have enough to split with just the one meal. But then honest Mark was up at the host station before I could suggest it.

We've only seen this show once. I never knew it existed until I read about it on the Dis. This forum comes in handy sometimes.

Did it open its doors just for you?

I think so, but I wasn't paying attention to see if anyone else made it on at the same time.

 

[natebenma]

So behind! I am so sorry Dee. Catching up and loving the pics

No worries, my friend! I know how much you have going on. I'm just happy that you come by and visit when you can.

 

[pas130]

No worries, my friend! I know how much you have going on. I'm just happy that you come by and visit when you can.

Now that hubs and I are coming to YC this month...I am re-reading the whole report