Tuesday, June 21 Magic Kingdom, Yachtsman Steakhouse, mini-golf
The Cast:
Me, the Disney-fanatic
DH, Craig, who puts up with my Disney obsession
DD, Jessica, age 10, part fish, goes with the flow for just about anything
DS, Ryan, age 6, also part fish, would prefer to always have his way
We were following the go-to-the-park-the-day-after-extra-magic-hours plan, so today would be Magic Kingdom day. We had an 8am PS at Chef Mickeys for breakfast first. Stitch and Mickey woke us up and we were at the bus stop at 7. We were the only people on the Magic Kingdom bus, and we had asked the driver whether he thought it would be faster to walk or take the monorail to the Contemporary. We got a bit of early morning pixie dust when the driver took us straight to the Contemporary. This got us there rather early for our PS, but we were still seated almost immediately after the obligatory group photo.
We have had dinner at Chef Mickeys and had been pretty unimpressed with the food, but I have to say we really enjoyed breakfast. The cheese omelets and cinnamon rolls were excellent. We met Minnie right away. Chip & Dale and Goofy came around eventually, but apparently we had just missed Mickey when we sat down, and then when he got close again, he went on break, so we decided to give up on Mickey and head out.
It was still before 9am, so we decided to take the monorail around. We were lucky enough to score the front car for the ride. We joined a few thousand people at the Magic Kingdom gates our first taste of summer crowds! After a quick stop at the first gift shop to get our Chef Mickeys photos sent back to the hotel (they couldnt do this at Chef Mickeys), we headed down Main Street.
The castle looked beautiful with the gold trimmings. A family photo was a must. We did the photopass thing. When we checked out the photos after the trip at home, the photo with the castle in the background was crooked and off-center. I think Disney needs to hire me as a photographer at least I can hold the camera straight. I plan to order the photo, scan it, straighten it, and reprint it. Probably a copyright violation, but I wouldnt have to do that if they had taken a decent photo to begin with.
My photo of the castle...I'll have to figure out how to add the lousy photopass version later...
We headed straight for Tomorrowland and grabbed fast passes for Buzz Lightyear. Then we hopped into the worst queue in all Disney World, the Indy Speedway. We had to do this while there was no line, because standing in the hot line with the noise and fumes drives me crazy. Ryan drove with Craig. Jessica drove with me, and bounced all over the place. Its a good thing its a few more years before she can get a license.
I guess it would help if Ryan could see over the wheel...it took a few tries to get this photo taken over my shoulder with Jessica weaving all over the road...
Next up was Stitch which already had a 15 minute wait. Stitch was okay. I think they could have done better. The kids liked the part where he bounced on the shoulder harnesses.
It still wasnt time for Buzz, so we went on the Carousel of Progress with only about 25 other people. Jessica and I love this attraction. Id really hate to see them close this, but the crowds there are pretty paltry, so Im not optimistic.
Finally it was time to go blast Zurg. Craig found something big and had the high score by quite a lot.
No one was interested in Space Mountain, so we headed for the other mountains. On the way we took a quick spin on the Teacups. Craig doesnt do spinning rides, so he sat this one out.
Frontierland was very crowded. We got fast passes for Splash Mountain and headed to Big Thunder Mountain. We waited about 30 minutes here one of our longest waits all week. We still had a while until our Splash fast passes, so we jumped on the next train and rode an entire lap around the park. By the time we got back it was Splash time, so we took our ride hoping to get wet enough to cool off as we were really starting to bake.
Time for lunch, so Craig took the kids into Pecos Bills to order some burgers while I ran for fast passes to the Jungle Cruise. I got back just as Craig got the burgers. We loaded them up at the fixins bar, and went to search out a table. There is an UnDisneylike moment coming up here skip to the next paragraph if you want all happy news! We wandered for a quite a while, but couldnt find a place to sit. Craig spotted one all the way at the back and wove his way through the tables. There was a mom and 4 kids sitting at the next table with no food. All the kids and the mom had chairs. Just before Craig got there, the mom had the oldest boy hop over to the table we were heading for. Craig politely told the boy we were going to sit there and eat, and put our trays down. The mother made a few comments about stealing tables from children and that they needed more room for their whole group. We ignored them and ate our lunch. In the time it took us to eat, the mom moved her group to three different (progressively larger) tables. By the time we left, they still didnt have their food. How silly is this? If people waited until they got their food (or were at least CLOSE to getting their food) before they sat down, there would be plenty of tables.
Enough complaining. Back to happy Disney memories
We swung through to Adventureland and rode Pirates. Ryan was tiring out and was very whiney by now. Usually feeding him perks him up, but it didnt work this time. He didnt want to ride anything, complained in the lines, but then ended up enjoying himself when he got on. We saw quite a few t-shirts on this vacation that said Its all about me, but unfortunately they were all for girls. They would have been perfect for the boy.
We did the Tiki Room next. I still miss the original. I am determined to someday take a decent photo in here.
Then we went on to the Jungle Cruise. Our guide was a Hong Kong trainee. Her English wasnt all that clear which affected her delivery, so I dont think most of the boat got the jokes. There wasnt much laughter.
It was too hot, too crowded, and the boy was too whiney to continue, so it was pool time. We stopped for Dole Whips and ice cream on the way out. Ryan never turns down ice cream. I even got him to taste the pineapple version.
After a nice long swim, we got dressed for our dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. I made everyone dress nicely, insisting that Craig lose the flip-flops in favor of real shoes, but we noticed it was definitely only a suggested dress code. There were plenty of people in t-shirts, and yes, even flip-flops.
Our meal here was one of the best weve had in Disney. The roasted garlic and bread was delicious. Jessica and I split a shrimp cocktail, though I think I got the short end of the stick there. She loves her shrimp. Craig had a Caesar salad that he said was excellent. I got the filet and Craig a Porterhouse. My filet was perfect, but Craigs steak was a tad overcooked (past medium), but still delicious. Jessica had a kids steak as well. Ryan had mac n cheese hes not ready to leave the kids meals behind yet. Jessica and I shared her first taste of crème brulee with fresh berries for dessert. Jessica discovered she liked raspberries and loves crème brulee. No more sharing desserts with her!
A heavy rain was washing out our mini-golf plans, so we got some cash from the room and made a large donation to the arcade where I spent about $10 trying to win a $2 keychain. The rain stopped, so we walked over to play the Fantasia Gardens course. It was about a 15 minute walk from the Beach Club via the Swan. It was a cute course with squirting water and music that played when you made a shot. I think I like WinterSummerland better though.
The Cast:
Me, the Disney-fanatic
DH, Craig, who puts up with my Disney obsession
DD, Jessica, age 10, part fish, goes with the flow for just about anything
DS, Ryan, age 6, also part fish, would prefer to always have his way
We were following the go-to-the-park-the-day-after-extra-magic-hours plan, so today would be Magic Kingdom day. We had an 8am PS at Chef Mickeys for breakfast first. Stitch and Mickey woke us up and we were at the bus stop at 7. We were the only people on the Magic Kingdom bus, and we had asked the driver whether he thought it would be faster to walk or take the monorail to the Contemporary. We got a bit of early morning pixie dust when the driver took us straight to the Contemporary. This got us there rather early for our PS, but we were still seated almost immediately after the obligatory group photo.
We have had dinner at Chef Mickeys and had been pretty unimpressed with the food, but I have to say we really enjoyed breakfast. The cheese omelets and cinnamon rolls were excellent. We met Minnie right away. Chip & Dale and Goofy came around eventually, but apparently we had just missed Mickey when we sat down, and then when he got close again, he went on break, so we decided to give up on Mickey and head out.
It was still before 9am, so we decided to take the monorail around. We were lucky enough to score the front car for the ride. We joined a few thousand people at the Magic Kingdom gates our first taste of summer crowds! After a quick stop at the first gift shop to get our Chef Mickeys photos sent back to the hotel (they couldnt do this at Chef Mickeys), we headed down Main Street.
The castle looked beautiful with the gold trimmings. A family photo was a must. We did the photopass thing. When we checked out the photos after the trip at home, the photo with the castle in the background was crooked and off-center. I think Disney needs to hire me as a photographer at least I can hold the camera straight. I plan to order the photo, scan it, straighten it, and reprint it. Probably a copyright violation, but I wouldnt have to do that if they had taken a decent photo to begin with.
My photo of the castle...I'll have to figure out how to add the lousy photopass version later...
We headed straight for Tomorrowland and grabbed fast passes for Buzz Lightyear. Then we hopped into the worst queue in all Disney World, the Indy Speedway. We had to do this while there was no line, because standing in the hot line with the noise and fumes drives me crazy. Ryan drove with Craig. Jessica drove with me, and bounced all over the place. Its a good thing its a few more years before she can get a license.
I guess it would help if Ryan could see over the wheel...it took a few tries to get this photo taken over my shoulder with Jessica weaving all over the road...
Next up was Stitch which already had a 15 minute wait. Stitch was okay. I think they could have done better. The kids liked the part where he bounced on the shoulder harnesses.
It still wasnt time for Buzz, so we went on the Carousel of Progress with only about 25 other people. Jessica and I love this attraction. Id really hate to see them close this, but the crowds there are pretty paltry, so Im not optimistic.
Finally it was time to go blast Zurg. Craig found something big and had the high score by quite a lot.
No one was interested in Space Mountain, so we headed for the other mountains. On the way we took a quick spin on the Teacups. Craig doesnt do spinning rides, so he sat this one out.
Frontierland was very crowded. We got fast passes for Splash Mountain and headed to Big Thunder Mountain. We waited about 30 minutes here one of our longest waits all week. We still had a while until our Splash fast passes, so we jumped on the next train and rode an entire lap around the park. By the time we got back it was Splash time, so we took our ride hoping to get wet enough to cool off as we were really starting to bake.
Time for lunch, so Craig took the kids into Pecos Bills to order some burgers while I ran for fast passes to the Jungle Cruise. I got back just as Craig got the burgers. We loaded them up at the fixins bar, and went to search out a table. There is an UnDisneylike moment coming up here skip to the next paragraph if you want all happy news! We wandered for a quite a while, but couldnt find a place to sit. Craig spotted one all the way at the back and wove his way through the tables. There was a mom and 4 kids sitting at the next table with no food. All the kids and the mom had chairs. Just before Craig got there, the mom had the oldest boy hop over to the table we were heading for. Craig politely told the boy we were going to sit there and eat, and put our trays down. The mother made a few comments about stealing tables from children and that they needed more room for their whole group. We ignored them and ate our lunch. In the time it took us to eat, the mom moved her group to three different (progressively larger) tables. By the time we left, they still didnt have their food. How silly is this? If people waited until they got their food (or were at least CLOSE to getting their food) before they sat down, there would be plenty of tables.
Enough complaining. Back to happy Disney memories
We swung through to Adventureland and rode Pirates. Ryan was tiring out and was very whiney by now. Usually feeding him perks him up, but it didnt work this time. He didnt want to ride anything, complained in the lines, but then ended up enjoying himself when he got on. We saw quite a few t-shirts on this vacation that said Its all about me, but unfortunately they were all for girls. They would have been perfect for the boy.
We did the Tiki Room next. I still miss the original. I am determined to someday take a decent photo in here.
Then we went on to the Jungle Cruise. Our guide was a Hong Kong trainee. Her English wasnt all that clear which affected her delivery, so I dont think most of the boat got the jokes. There wasnt much laughter.
It was too hot, too crowded, and the boy was too whiney to continue, so it was pool time. We stopped for Dole Whips and ice cream on the way out. Ryan never turns down ice cream. I even got him to taste the pineapple version.
After a nice long swim, we got dressed for our dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. I made everyone dress nicely, insisting that Craig lose the flip-flops in favor of real shoes, but we noticed it was definitely only a suggested dress code. There were plenty of people in t-shirts, and yes, even flip-flops.
Our meal here was one of the best weve had in Disney. The roasted garlic and bread was delicious. Jessica and I split a shrimp cocktail, though I think I got the short end of the stick there. She loves her shrimp. Craig had a Caesar salad that he said was excellent. I got the filet and Craig a Porterhouse. My filet was perfect, but Craigs steak was a tad overcooked (past medium), but still delicious. Jessica had a kids steak as well. Ryan had mac n cheese hes not ready to leave the kids meals behind yet. Jessica and I shared her first taste of crème brulee with fresh berries for dessert. Jessica discovered she liked raspberries and loves crème brulee. No more sharing desserts with her!
A heavy rain was washing out our mini-golf plans, so we got some cash from the room and made a large donation to the arcade where I spent about $10 trying to win a $2 keychain. The rain stopped, so we walked over to play the Fantasia Gardens course. It was about a 15 minute walk from the Beach Club via the Swan. It was a cute course with squirting water and music that played when you made a shot. I think I like WinterSummerland better though.
