Day 2: PamNC & Uncle Albert learn lessons

[PamNC]

Day 2 – Magic Kingdom, an attempt at Stormalong Bay, an attempt at MGM, and karaoke & cocktails

Cast of Characters: Me and my DH
Resort: Beach Club

So, the phone rings at 6:30 a.m. and Stitch screams in my ear - “no sleeping!” Thank goodness Mickey interrupts with an apology. Our first full Disney day was about to begin. I had showered and properly groomed the night before, but DH had not. So, while he showered I made coffee and took my time getting ready. We were out the door a little past 7:00. ADR’s in place for 7:30 at Kona Café, a tradition for us on our first full day. Here’s the drill: We park in the MK parking lot, front row, and we walk over to the Poly by way of the TTC. That way you get a nice stroll through the lovely Polynesian grounds on the way to the Grand Ceremonial House. We were concerned about being late, but we actually arrived a few minutes before Kona was open. We were the first ones seated for the day. Our server was fantastic, but I can’t remember her name. All I can remember is the fact that she was from Ireland and had a cute accent. We split the tonga toast and ordered a side of scrambled eggs in an effort to get a little protein in our systems. We drank enough Kona coffee to shink a ship and then wobbled off to the bathroom before going out to wait on the monorail. Hubby snapped a picture of me on the monorail with my take-out cup of Kona coffee in hand. Yes, we took some with us but it wasn’t our idea. It was the server’s idea. I told you she was fantastic.

We got to the entrance about 8:30 and we certainly were not the first ones there. Lots of people, but we knew that once the park opened and everyone “dispersed” it wouldn’t be too bad. We watched the opening celebration and I got all goosey and blubbery and choked up. And then, 5, 4 3, 2, 1 – IN WE WENT. That magical moment when you walk under the train station is still just as magical for us as it was on our first visit in 1994. The music, the smells, the horse drawn carriage…ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t beat that moment. If you could only bottle that moment in time and open up the bottle whenever you needed a boost.

We decided to head for two of the three mountains…Thunder and Splash. We did Splash mountain first, then thunder. Fun fun fun! Next we headed to Peter Pan to get a fast pass before heading off to Pirates. Did Pirates, Country Bears and thought about Jungle Cruise but the line was too long. So, we did Peter Pan with our trusty fast pass. Oh, on the way to Peter Pan we of course stopped by to pay homage to my favorite Disney attraction, Haunted Mansion. All locked up and how sad it was to see like that. The hitchhiking ghosts are “there” and my husband decided he wanted his picture with them so he pretended to be the fourth hitchhiking ghost. I got a great picture. Then he went over to the wall where Master Gracey had left that awful note about the mansion being closed and he started banging (lightly of course) on the door. Got another great picture of that. We felt we had sufficiently expressed our dismay over the closing of our favorite attraction so we walked away quietly without incident. There is not a live CM stationed there, and that’s probably a good thing. The poor person would suffer immensely from crazy guests such as ourselves. ‘Nuff said about that.

After Peter Pan we grabbed a fast pass for Pooh and headed for the new Monsters Inc. show. Having not seen the movie, I had to ask DH for an explanation of what it’s all about. Kind of a cute idea I think and I liked the show, but I wouldn’t say I loved it. Off to Winnie the Pooh which we absolutely love. Tigger is my favorite Disney character.

At this point, I was feeling kind of “yucky” and so was my DH. Just an overall tired and sluggish and queasy feeling. We figured out that we didn’t exactly eat that well for breakfast – the eggs were greasy and the tonga toast is pure sugar and grease. Plus all that coffee! We decided we needed a nutritional lunch and ended up at the Plaza Restaurant. It was just past noon so we thought perhaps we wouldn’t get in, but surprisingly we were able to get in with, get this, ZERO wait. I had the vegetarian sandwich and DH had the grilled chicken sandwich. We both loved our meals and felt much better. We steered clear of french fries and had water to drink and no dessert. Much better on our old tummies. As we were eating, the mayor and Hildegard “somebody” (forgot her last name but I have her card somewhere) strolled in. She is the mayor’s nemesis as I learned later on in the trip. She wants to be the next mayor of Main Street USA. They were there to announce someone’s anniversary and to present them with free dessert. Very nice touch. The mayor shook my hand and Hildegard came to our table, then she sat down and cuddled up beside my handsome DH. I can’t blame her. She informed us of her intentions to run for mayor and presented my husband with her card. The card listed all the committees she serves on and as my husband read them out loud she said, “honey you name it and I’m on it.” I got a great picture of Hildegard and my DH. This truly made our delicious meal magical. Oh, the sweet potato chips that came with my sandwich were delicious!

We decided to stroll through the shops a bit and then head back to the resort to partake in Stormalong Bay. Got there I guess around 2:30 and could NOT find a chair…finally found two sit up type chairs (vs. lounge chairs) on the top deck. We put our stuff down and went straight into the water. Couldn’t have been in there more than 2 minutes when we heard a loud rumble of thunder and the lifeguards informed us that the pool and pool area was closing due to electrical activity in the area. That was the quickest visit to a pool in history. Just enough to tease us. We headed back to the room after walking through the freezing lobby in our wet bathing suits. We sat out on the balcony while it rained which was most relaxing actually.

We showered and headed for MGM because we had a plan. Yes, a plan. It was EMH evenings at MGM so we had ADR’s at 6:00 for Brown Derby. And we were going to MGM to hit the Great Movie Ride, TOT, RNR, maybe see a show like Beauty and the Beast and Indiana Jones, and close the night with Fantasmic at 10:30. We walked to MGM which was quite enjoyable. Got there about 5:00 and wanted to do GMR but the line was 45 minutes. So, we opted for the Muppets. After the Muppets we decided to go ahead and check in a little early for dinner. Good thing we went on in there because a cloud opened up…yet another storm. We were seated within 5 minutes. Okay, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best, I would give the food and service at Brown Derby a solid 5!! I had the filet which came with steamed watercress and fingerling potatoes with a very nice sweet vinegar sauce. DH had the cobb salad which is actually on the appetizer portion of the menu at dinner and intended to be a shared by two. For dessert I had the grapefruit cake and DH opted out of dessert. He doesn’t like the grapefruit cake so I had it all to myself. Couldn’t finish it, but I did a pretty good job and enjoyed every single solitary bite. YUM!!!! DH loved the cobb salad, said it was ultra fresh and delicious. I was stuffed but excited about the evening and I simply waddled out of there with a smile on my face. And a plan.

Yes, a plan. A plan that ultimately failed. We learned a couple of lessons about MGM this evening. LESSON ONE: Do not attempt MGM when it’s extra magic hours in the evening. I suppose we were done with dinner around 7:00There were no more shows for Indiana Jones, which I really wanted to see, until 9:30. I figured that would mess up our plan of getting into Fantasmic for the 10:30 show. Okay, so we went over to the Great Movie Ride, still a 45-minute wait. Not willing to do that. Checked the tip board and TOT was 60 minutes, RNR was 75. I forgot to mention that prior to dinner we ran over to see if there were any fast passes left for either of these and there were not. So, those two were out of the question for us. So, we saw the Little Mermaid. I think it was a 7:45 show. Okay, Little Mermaid was once an attraction that I loved but they have cut it down length wise. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but there was a scene between Ariel and Flounder and the crab…no longer happens. Also, when Ursula steals here voice those “hands” are no longer there as Ariel sings. So, this was a disappointment to us not to mention the fact that the women beside us STAYED on the cell phone. My husband finally looked at her and screamed, “HEY!” She shut up. People kill me with their cell phones and I noticed it more and more on this trip. This same woman was on the phone the entire time we were waiting for the show. I don’t get it. You’re on vacation, give it a rest and respect others who may want to enjoy the show.

Okay, now that I’m off my cell phone soap box, I’ll move on. After the show, which was probably 15-17 minutes tops, it was just past 8:00. We strolled through Walt One Man’s Dream Exhibit a little. Then we thought, “hey maybe they have opened fast pass back up on TOT and RNR for times past the regular closing time. It was EMH after all. But first, we found a place to get our wristbands. NOPE – no fast passes still for TOT and RNR. It was about 8:40 and we noticed a few people still filing into Fantasmic. So, we thought since there was nothing else we really wanted to do and no shows were open, we would go ahead and do the 9:00 Fantasmic instead of 10:30 and maybe after that GMR, TOT and RNR would have shorter lines. We walk up to go into the entrance for Fantasmic and the CM says “Sorry folks, standing room only.” Not interested in that.

So, the dilemma of what to do. DH didn’t want to do Star Tours because of his back issues. No shows going on. Lines too long for GMR, TOT, RNR. It was 9:00 and we really didn’t feel like strolling around until time to get seated for the 10:30 Fantasmic. I don’t think we should have to feel that way in a Disney park. We certainly never are at a loss of what to do at the other 3, quite the opposite. Therefore, we opted to leave. Remember I said we learned two lessons about MGM this evening? LESSON TWO: We don’t like MGM so much anymore. The park truly needs help. I miss the days of Superstar Theater and the Monster Sound Show, oh…and I loved the animation tour. What a treat to peak over the shoulders of the animators and I remember many times getting to actually talk to one of them in a small room during the tour. Very sad realization because years ago I remember saying to my husband, “MGM might be my favorite park.” It was all about putting you into the movies, about the heyday of Hollywood. It doesn’t feel that way to me anymore. I hate that they have taken out residential street for Lights Motors Action, which is okay but not an attraction I want to see over and over. The backstage tour has certainly suffered at the hands of this attraction. Not to mention you have to fight to get into Fantasmic and sit on that hard bench for 45+ minutes and FIGHT your way to RNR and TOT. It’s just “too much.”

Oh well – what’s the worse that can happen? We will have to head back to the wonderful, stupendous Beach Club Resort. Can’t beat that. We opted to take the boat back vs. walking. This was a mistake because it took FOREVER for the boat to come. When we finally did get on the Friendship and got closer to the Swan my DH said, “how about some karaoke at Kimonos?” So, we got off at the Swan/Dolphin dock and headed to our favorite sushi joint. Now, I was too full to have any sushi although I absolutely love it, but hubby had a lighter dinner than I so he got a few pieces. We sang a duet, Unforgettable by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole which was in fact my first karaoke attempt. I’m sure I sounded awful next to my husband, who is a real live opera singer, but it was fun nonetheless. He sang one more time, My Way by Frank Sinatra. I had a couple of champagne cocktails, DH had a beer and we listened to the other folks sing. Very fun! We left Kimonos about 11:00 and headed to the room, tired as all get out and I must admit I was a tad tipsy. Those drinks are strong! I can assure you I had a good night’s sleep that night.

Stay tuned for Day 3: Epcot and Animal Kingdom.