wilma-bride
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
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Chapter 10 - The As Yet Unnamed Day
Since we had plans to visit Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight, the plan for today was to take it easy at Blizzard Beach.
We started the day with breakfast at Boma. This was a first for us all, although Nat and John had previously had dinner there.
Since I am somewhat unadventurous, I cant say that I found it to be much different from other breakfast buffets around Disney World and left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. Still, it was a nice, relaxing start to the day and, having brought our stuff with us to Animal Kingdom Lodge, we hopped straight aboard a bus bound for Blizzard Beach. It was a nice, short trip and we were there well before opening. We didnt have long to wait and, after stopping to rent some towels, we found a spot to camp out by Tikes Peak.
It became increasingly obvious that one of our party was taking the opportunity for relaxation more seriously than the rest as Nat stripped off (well, almost), plonked herself on a sun lounger and pulled a book from her bag, announcing Let me know when its lunchtime. It's a water park!! There are sunbeds and I was on holiday, whats the problem?!
John and Matthew immediately headed off to conquer Summit Plummet. Not being able to spot Gary, I thought he must have gone with them so suggested the rest of us go to do Teamboat Springs. I am not a massive fan of water slides but I do enjoy this one. Nat was not happy when I told her she had to come with us, but eventually she tagged along, grumbling all the way. Since there were 6 of us, we were able to go together and it was a really good laugh. We were going to grab the chair lift and ride again straight away but the chair lifts were out of order temporarily so we walked back up. The one thing I dislike about Blizzard Beach is there seem to be so many steps compared to Typhoon Lagoon. At the top, we rode again and then Nat declared that shed had her fill of excitement for the day and was heading back. I got wet...twice...and that was enough
Back at base camp, we found Gary, who had been getting changed oops! and was not amused that wed all left without him. Leaving Nat comfortably ensconced with her book, we then went off to try a few more rides.
After a little while, I left Gary and Daniel to go on the lazy river (too many leaves in it for my liking) and went to join Nat.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the sunshine, with various members of the family joining us at various junctures throughout the day. Rea and Ellie decided they wanted to get their hair braided so went to check out the prices. Having determined her holiday finances would stretch to it, Rea decided to take the plunge and Ellie followed suit. Off they went together while Nat, Sian and I relaxed and chatted and chatted and relaxed some more. Now thats more like it!
John went off with the camera and took a few photos.
It was a very pleasant day and incredibly relaxing. Not being a take it easy kind of person, though, by the time 3 oclock came, I was getting twitchy and was ready to head back. Since we had ADRs at The Plaza at 5.15, we knew we would have to leave soon to get ready anyway so decided to call it a day.
Back at Kidani, we showered and changed before dressing up for MNSSHP. After much thought, the adults (and teens) had decided not to dress up. The children looked brilliant, though, with Matthew dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, Ellie as Alice and Daniel as Peter Pan (courtesy of an outfit borrowed from Matthew thanks buddy!)
Once again, we had problems with the Magic Kingdom bus. After a wait of almost 20 minutes, one finally arrived and we hopped on board along with half of the other residents of Kidani Village. The bus was packed but we struck up a conversation with a very pleasant lady who was also running late for her ADR. Eventually, we arrived and piled off the bus, once again hot footing it up Main Street (this was becoming a bit of a habit). We checked in at the podium outside The Plaza and were given a buzzer. Because we were late, I had given up hope of meeting up with Jakki (TinkTatoo) who had been having dinner at Crystal Palace but, while we were still hanging around outside, she turned up. They all looked great in their costumes and Nat and I spent much time admiring Jakkis svelte new figure well done hun
We certainly did! You looked fab Jakki, it was lovely to meet you x
After a quick chat and a couple of photos, Jakki and co went on their way and we continued to wait. And wait. And wait. Several people went up to the podium to complain about the length of time they had been waiting. While we had been patient up until now, the kids were starting to get bored (and hungry).
Eventually, we were shown to a table and our order was taken promptly. The food was very reasonable, in terms of price and quality and, despite having waited so long, we all enjoyed it. We were all keen, though, to finish up, get the check paid and join the party.
After leaving The Plaza, we quickly had some Photopass pictures taken in front of the castle and set off round the park, in an anti-clockwise direction. We had decided we wanted to see the characters that the kids were dressed as/connected to so our first destination was Toontown Fair, where we hoped to see Alice. On the way through, the kids decided to ride Goofys Barnstormer while the adults waited outside. While we were waiting, a couple walked past us in incredible ghost costumes. We commented how great it was that the Americans went all out for things like Halloween, when one half of the couple spoke and I realised they were Brits. I later found out (while reading his trip report) that the couple were Kenny and Elaine (Mr and Mrs Pegasus928). I so wish we had realised at the time and said Hello.
After the kids had finished on the Barnstormer, we took the walkway between Toontown Fair and Tomorrowland where we collected plenty of candy and our Alice met the real Alice.
It was very sad to see Space Mountain closed as normally the lights look lovely on Halloween. Rea was extremely sad that her favourite ride was closed the whole time we were there, as this picture shows.
From Tomorrowland, we crossed over the hub and headed for Adventureland, where we hoped to see Captain Jack. Unfortunately, he wasnt around but we did the next best thing and took a picture of Matthew in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. There was also a Photopass photographer there so we got some on the Photopass (I will post a separate thread once I've finished our trippies, with some of our Photopass pics on since there are so many).
We saw Captain Hook and Mr Smee so joined the short line to meet them. Daniel was being incredibly brave and announcing loudly how he was going to have a sword fight with Captain Hook. However, when we got to the front of the line and Captain Hook saw Daniel as Peter Pan, he made a gesture to him and Daniels bravado completely disappeared. In fact, he refused to have his picture taken unless Ellie went with him
(I remember when Matthew felt like that about the characters)
After that, we decided to see some more characters and joined the line for Tarzan. When we got to the front, we went up to have our photo taken and Tarzan asked our names. Just for a laugh, I said my name was Jane. Tarzan know a girl called Jane he said. Mum, stop messing about said Rea to which Tarzan replies Why you lie? You say your name Jane when it really Mum? We were absolutely killing ourselves laughing, he looked so indignant.
We had a little while before the fireworks were due to start so we decided to have a go on Big Thunder Mountain. There wasnt much of a wait and it was great fun in the dark. John and the kids decided to go on again while we got a couple of drinks and waited for them.
After Big Thunder, we decided to head back to watch Hallowishes. We originally tried to watch from the area by Sleepy Hollow but the trees obscured the view so we walked over the bridge and back to the hub to watch from there. My photos werent great since I had no tripod and Garys shoulder proved a pretty poor substitute
After Hallowishes, we had a general wander and got some more candy, then decided to stake out a spot along Main Street to watch the second parade. After a slight altercation with a guy who had tried to reserve half of Main Street, with the aid of a couple of rucksacks and a carrier bag, we found a spot and quickly sat the kids down on the side of the kerb. That guy was very rude and we soon pointed out the error of his ways! Nat and John shared a private moment - well, not too private since I caught it on camera.
The parade was great and we managed to get a fairly good shot of the Headless Horseman.
The kids got a load more candy too. Daniel and Matthew came up with the ingenious idea of collecting the candy in their hats, rather than the plastic bags. Clever boys; trust Matthew to get as much candy as he could! As usual we were eating it for ages after we got home.
As we were all quite tired, we decided this would be a good time to leave and so we followed the parade down Main Street and caught the bus back to Kidani. It was almost midnight by the time we fell into bed. Although we should really have planned a quiet day the next day, Sian had arranged to meet a friend at Epcot so we were off there first thing.
Sorry for the delay in updating, Ill try and be quicker with the next episode:
Tiredness, Tantrums and Tempers Fray And Thats Just the Adults!
Since we had plans to visit Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight, the plan for today was to take it easy at Blizzard Beach.
We started the day with breakfast at Boma. This was a first for us all, although Nat and John had previously had dinner there.
Since I am somewhat unadventurous, I cant say that I found it to be much different from other breakfast buffets around Disney World and left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. Still, it was a nice, relaxing start to the day and, having brought our stuff with us to Animal Kingdom Lodge, we hopped straight aboard a bus bound for Blizzard Beach. It was a nice, short trip and we were there well before opening. We didnt have long to wait and, after stopping to rent some towels, we found a spot to camp out by Tikes Peak.
It became increasingly obvious that one of our party was taking the opportunity for relaxation more seriously than the rest as Nat stripped off (well, almost), plonked herself on a sun lounger and pulled a book from her bag, announcing Let me know when its lunchtime. It's a water park!! There are sunbeds and I was on holiday, whats the problem?!
John and Matthew immediately headed off to conquer Summit Plummet. Not being able to spot Gary, I thought he must have gone with them so suggested the rest of us go to do Teamboat Springs. I am not a massive fan of water slides but I do enjoy this one. Nat was not happy when I told her she had to come with us, but eventually she tagged along, grumbling all the way. Since there were 6 of us, we were able to go together and it was a really good laugh. We were going to grab the chair lift and ride again straight away but the chair lifts were out of order temporarily so we walked back up. The one thing I dislike about Blizzard Beach is there seem to be so many steps compared to Typhoon Lagoon. At the top, we rode again and then Nat declared that shed had her fill of excitement for the day and was heading back. I got wet...twice...and that was enough
Back at base camp, we found Gary, who had been getting changed oops! and was not amused that wed all left without him. Leaving Nat comfortably ensconced with her book, we then went off to try a few more rides.
After a little while, I left Gary and Daniel to go on the lazy river (too many leaves in it for my liking) and went to join Nat.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the sunshine, with various members of the family joining us at various junctures throughout the day. Rea and Ellie decided they wanted to get their hair braided so went to check out the prices. Having determined her holiday finances would stretch to it, Rea decided to take the plunge and Ellie followed suit. Off they went together while Nat, Sian and I relaxed and chatted and chatted and relaxed some more. Now thats more like it!
John went off with the camera and took a few photos.
It was a very pleasant day and incredibly relaxing. Not being a take it easy kind of person, though, by the time 3 oclock came, I was getting twitchy and was ready to head back. Since we had ADRs at The Plaza at 5.15, we knew we would have to leave soon to get ready anyway so decided to call it a day.
Back at Kidani, we showered and changed before dressing up for MNSSHP. After much thought, the adults (and teens) had decided not to dress up. The children looked brilliant, though, with Matthew dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, Ellie as Alice and Daniel as Peter Pan (courtesy of an outfit borrowed from Matthew thanks buddy!)
Once again, we had problems with the Magic Kingdom bus. After a wait of almost 20 minutes, one finally arrived and we hopped on board along with half of the other residents of Kidani Village. The bus was packed but we struck up a conversation with a very pleasant lady who was also running late for her ADR. Eventually, we arrived and piled off the bus, once again hot footing it up Main Street (this was becoming a bit of a habit). We checked in at the podium outside The Plaza and were given a buzzer. Because we were late, I had given up hope of meeting up with Jakki (TinkTatoo) who had been having dinner at Crystal Palace but, while we were still hanging around outside, she turned up. They all looked great in their costumes and Nat and I spent much time admiring Jakkis svelte new figure well done hun
We certainly did! You looked fab Jakki, it was lovely to meet you x
After a quick chat and a couple of photos, Jakki and co went on their way and we continued to wait. And wait. And wait. Several people went up to the podium to complain about the length of time they had been waiting. While we had been patient up until now, the kids were starting to get bored (and hungry).
Eventually, we were shown to a table and our order was taken promptly. The food was very reasonable, in terms of price and quality and, despite having waited so long, we all enjoyed it. We were all keen, though, to finish up, get the check paid and join the party.
After leaving The Plaza, we quickly had some Photopass pictures taken in front of the castle and set off round the park, in an anti-clockwise direction. We had decided we wanted to see the characters that the kids were dressed as/connected to so our first destination was Toontown Fair, where we hoped to see Alice. On the way through, the kids decided to ride Goofys Barnstormer while the adults waited outside. While we were waiting, a couple walked past us in incredible ghost costumes. We commented how great it was that the Americans went all out for things like Halloween, when one half of the couple spoke and I realised they were Brits. I later found out (while reading his trip report) that the couple were Kenny and Elaine (Mr and Mrs Pegasus928). I so wish we had realised at the time and said Hello.
After the kids had finished on the Barnstormer, we took the walkway between Toontown Fair and Tomorrowland where we collected plenty of candy and our Alice met the real Alice.
It was very sad to see Space Mountain closed as normally the lights look lovely on Halloween. Rea was extremely sad that her favourite ride was closed the whole time we were there, as this picture shows.
From Tomorrowland, we crossed over the hub and headed for Adventureland, where we hoped to see Captain Jack. Unfortunately, he wasnt around but we did the next best thing and took a picture of Matthew in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. There was also a Photopass photographer there so we got some on the Photopass (I will post a separate thread once I've finished our trippies, with some of our Photopass pics on since there are so many).
We saw Captain Hook and Mr Smee so joined the short line to meet them. Daniel was being incredibly brave and announcing loudly how he was going to have a sword fight with Captain Hook. However, when we got to the front of the line and Captain Hook saw Daniel as Peter Pan, he made a gesture to him and Daniels bravado completely disappeared. In fact, he refused to have his picture taken unless Ellie went with him
(I remember when Matthew felt like that about the characters)
After that, we decided to see some more characters and joined the line for Tarzan. When we got to the front, we went up to have our photo taken and Tarzan asked our names. Just for a laugh, I said my name was Jane. Tarzan know a girl called Jane he said. Mum, stop messing about said Rea to which Tarzan replies Why you lie? You say your name Jane when it really Mum? We were absolutely killing ourselves laughing, he looked so indignant.
We had a little while before the fireworks were due to start so we decided to have a go on Big Thunder Mountain. There wasnt much of a wait and it was great fun in the dark. John and the kids decided to go on again while we got a couple of drinks and waited for them.
After Big Thunder, we decided to head back to watch Hallowishes. We originally tried to watch from the area by Sleepy Hollow but the trees obscured the view so we walked over the bridge and back to the hub to watch from there. My photos werent great since I had no tripod and Garys shoulder proved a pretty poor substitute
After Hallowishes, we had a general wander and got some more candy, then decided to stake out a spot along Main Street to watch the second parade. After a slight altercation with a guy who had tried to reserve half of Main Street, with the aid of a couple of rucksacks and a carrier bag, we found a spot and quickly sat the kids down on the side of the kerb. That guy was very rude and we soon pointed out the error of his ways! Nat and John shared a private moment - well, not too private since I caught it on camera.
The parade was great and we managed to get a fairly good shot of the Headless Horseman.
The kids got a load more candy too. Daniel and Matthew came up with the ingenious idea of collecting the candy in their hats, rather than the plastic bags. Clever boys; trust Matthew to get as much candy as he could! As usual we were eating it for ages after we got home.
As we were all quite tired, we decided this would be a good time to leave and so we followed the parade down Main Street and caught the bus back to Kidani. It was almost midnight by the time we fell into bed. Although we should really have planned a quiet day the next day, Sian had arranged to meet a friend at Epcot so we were off there first thing.
Sorry for the delay in updating, Ill try and be quicker with the next episode:
Tiredness, Tantrums and Tempers Fray And Thats Just the Adults!
I loved the younger member's costumes ~ Ellie's Alice one is lovely.
Awesome chapter! I love the costumes and Ellie's signed dress!
)
