Booknut
<font color=green>I couldn't figure out why people
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2005
- Messages
- 2,544
Sunday 18 September
Day 2 started off a bit more relaxed and quiet than Day 1 (and without as many dramas!). DH and I had tested all the beds in the villa and found the bed in the master bedroom too soft so we slept in one of the other rooms. We used the big bedroom as our dressing room (plus it had sliding doors to the pool which was handy!). I woke up at 3.45am (which in British Time is a lie-in for me!) and went to the master bedroom to shower, change and unpack. I was DYING to get to the Disney park! DH slept until 6am (sleepyhead!) and we were ready to go out the door at 8am.
I should say at this point that I spent hours, days, even weeks coming up with the perfect itinerary for our trip, I had each day planned out like a military operation, even had a schedule typed out and laminated (ok, so I got a bit carried away any excuse to plan and make lists and schedules!) and our first trip to WDW was meant to be a day at Epcot. I chose Epcot because everyone I knew who had been to WDW said to avoid the Magic Kingdom at all costs on a Sunday because that was the busiest day. So off we went to Epcot. I was driving as DH found positioning on the roads a pain and since I grew up in Canada and learned to drive there it was pretty straightforward for me.
Anyway, the drive took less than 15 minutes and suddenly we saw the huge sign that said WDW and we were so giddy, I know that sounds silly considering DH is 40 and I'm 32 but it was like we were kids absolutely fantastic! We were going to turn for Epcot but DH turned to me and said 'let's just go to the Magic Kingdom, it won't feel right unless we go there first' and there was no way I was going to disagree with him! So much for that itinerary
We parked and decided to take the ferry boat out. I'll just say at this point that I actually squealed with unadulterated joy the first time I saw Cinderella's castle! I'll never forget it! It was so brilliant anyway, we went through the gates and there were heaps of people on main street. I had planned on getting on the train to Frontierland to save on a bit of walking (I'm not the fittest person in the world and I normally don't do a lot of walking) but I wanted to just soak everything up so we walked up to the castle amongst the throngs of people.
Incidentally, when I say throngs I mean a few hundred. As this was our first time we had no idea what 'busy' constituted at Magic Kingdom. We walked towards Liberty Square and there was just nobody there, it was so quiet, we were in awe, it was as if the park just ours! Not sure where all those people went, maybe to Toontown or to get on Space Mountain? We arrived in Frontierland and again, no people, it was so bizarre! We walked onto Splash Mountain and sat in the front, I loved that ride! Over the course of the 2 weeks I rode it heaps, it was definitely my favourite! We then did Big Thunder Mountain railroad, Haunted House, Cinderella's Carousel (which was a dream come true for me and slightly embarrassing for my Harley-loving husband who I made come on with me!) and then Snow White, all of this with no queues! In fact, besides DH and I there were only 3 other people on the Carousel J I highly recommend visiting mid-September!
We walked over to Adventureland and stopped for some lunch (hamburgers - loved the toppings bar pickles and onions galore!, chips and cold chocolate milk yummy!) and then had a good look round, did Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise. After this we walked back to Frontierland rode Splash Mountain again and caught the train to the entrance to go home. Took the monorail back to the parking lot, it was much faster but preferred the boat ride in!
Got home around 3pm and spent a couple of hours swimming in the pool and sunbathing. This became a regular thing for us, get to the parks at opening, spend 5-6 hours in parks, then afternoon/evening at villa relaxing. It made for a less tiring holiday. DH found some pool 'toys' in the garage and I managed to get my large behind into one of the tubes - ok, so it took 3 attempts, the second of which saw me actually flip backwards in the pool, I didn't even know I could bend that way!
I spent a very happy relaxing hour floating in our pool getting baked by the sun. 
We were going to go out for dinner but once we actually stopped for a few moments after a full day in the parks and then swimming we realised we were so tired so we ended up having a quick sandwich, coke and crisps and falling asleep around 8pm! According to our schedule, Monday was going to be MGM day well, the intention was there anyway
Day 2 started off a bit more relaxed and quiet than Day 1 (and without as many dramas!). DH and I had tested all the beds in the villa and found the bed in the master bedroom too soft so we slept in one of the other rooms. We used the big bedroom as our dressing room (plus it had sliding doors to the pool which was handy!). I woke up at 3.45am (which in British Time is a lie-in for me!) and went to the master bedroom to shower, change and unpack. I was DYING to get to the Disney park! DH slept until 6am (sleepyhead!) and we were ready to go out the door at 8am.
I should say at this point that I spent hours, days, even weeks coming up with the perfect itinerary for our trip, I had each day planned out like a military operation, even had a schedule typed out and laminated (ok, so I got a bit carried away any excuse to plan and make lists and schedules!) and our first trip to WDW was meant to be a day at Epcot. I chose Epcot because everyone I knew who had been to WDW said to avoid the Magic Kingdom at all costs on a Sunday because that was the busiest day. So off we went to Epcot. I was driving as DH found positioning on the roads a pain and since I grew up in Canada and learned to drive there it was pretty straightforward for me.
Anyway, the drive took less than 15 minutes and suddenly we saw the huge sign that said WDW and we were so giddy, I know that sounds silly considering DH is 40 and I'm 32 but it was like we were kids absolutely fantastic! We were going to turn for Epcot but DH turned to me and said 'let's just go to the Magic Kingdom, it won't feel right unless we go there first' and there was no way I was going to disagree with him! So much for that itinerary
We parked and decided to take the ferry boat out. I'll just say at this point that I actually squealed with unadulterated joy the first time I saw Cinderella's castle! I'll never forget it! It was so brilliant anyway, we went through the gates and there were heaps of people on main street. I had planned on getting on the train to Frontierland to save on a bit of walking (I'm not the fittest person in the world and I normally don't do a lot of walking) but I wanted to just soak everything up so we walked up to the castle amongst the throngs of people.
Incidentally, when I say throngs I mean a few hundred. As this was our first time we had no idea what 'busy' constituted at Magic Kingdom. We walked towards Liberty Square and there was just nobody there, it was so quiet, we were in awe, it was as if the park just ours! Not sure where all those people went, maybe to Toontown or to get on Space Mountain? We arrived in Frontierland and again, no people, it was so bizarre! We walked onto Splash Mountain and sat in the front, I loved that ride! Over the course of the 2 weeks I rode it heaps, it was definitely my favourite! We then did Big Thunder Mountain railroad, Haunted House, Cinderella's Carousel (which was a dream come true for me and slightly embarrassing for my Harley-loving husband who I made come on with me!) and then Snow White, all of this with no queues! In fact, besides DH and I there were only 3 other people on the Carousel J I highly recommend visiting mid-September!
We walked over to Adventureland and stopped for some lunch (hamburgers - loved the toppings bar pickles and onions galore!, chips and cold chocolate milk yummy!) and then had a good look round, did Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise. After this we walked back to Frontierland rode Splash Mountain again and caught the train to the entrance to go home. Took the monorail back to the parking lot, it was much faster but preferred the boat ride in!
Got home around 3pm and spent a couple of hours swimming in the pool and sunbathing. This became a regular thing for us, get to the parks at opening, spend 5-6 hours in parks, then afternoon/evening at villa relaxing. It made for a less tiring holiday. DH found some pool 'toys' in the garage and I managed to get my large behind into one of the tubes - ok, so it took 3 attempts, the second of which saw me actually flip backwards in the pool, I didn't even know I could bend that way!
I spent a very happy relaxing hour floating in our pool getting baked by the sun. We were going to go out for dinner but once we actually stopped for a few moments after a full day in the parks and then swimming we realised we were so tired so we ended up having a quick sandwich, coke and crisps and falling asleep around 8pm! According to our schedule, Monday was going to be MGM day well, the intention was there anyway
