Day 2 first parks day, 3 parks in one day
Today was early entry day at MGM. Since a ride on RnR was very high on our to-do list, we decided to hit this park first. We had set the alarm for 6:59am
and Mickey was kind enough to wake us up. We had figured we would shower later after swimming, so we just threw on some clothes, sunscreen, and deodorant and headed for the bus by 7:15. Once again we walked right onto the bus and we were at the gates 20 minutes before opening. We were allowed through the turnstiles about 5 minutes before 8 and allowed up to the rope near the turn for ToT and RnR. We saw runners from the Race for the Cure running by the big hat. This race had started from the MGM parking lot around 7:30. When the rope dropped, we headed for RnR (along with everyone else!). We were still on the ride in less than 5 minutes. We had the back seat, which we both agreed was rougher than on previous rides near the front. Still an awesome ride though!
DD didnt want to ride again, and she wont do ToT, so we decided to grab some breakfast at Starring Rolls and figure out what else to do. We ended up going on the Great Movie Ride, which I didnt think was open for EE, but we walked on well before 9am. DD had been looking forward to doing the animation class, but it turned out the animation studio tour was closed. Im not sure how I missed that one on the refurbishments list I thought I knew about all the closures. The only other thing we wanted to do in MGM was WWTBAM, but they dont start until 11:30, and we didnt want to hang around that long, so we hopped on the boat to EPCOT. MGM was still looking pretty empty when we left.
The boat between MGM and EPCOT is very slow. But we enjoyed the ride. Since it was still before 11 when we got to EPCOT, we had to walk through the still-closed World Showcase and head to Future World. We went to see the new Nemo stuff at the Living Seas pavilion first. The Nemo room is very cute, and we saw Nemo outside as well. We were also just in time for the dolphin presentation, something we hadnt seen before. Considering the entire show was viewed underwater unlike typical dolphin shows, it was very entertaining.
DD decided that what she wanted to do most this trip was the countries in EPCOT, complete a Kidcot mask, and get a pressed penny from every country. So we headed off to see how many countries we could do before the pool called us home. We started in Mexico. We did the ride here. DD wanted to know if this was what happened to Small World. DD started her mask and penny quest. We also did the ride in Norway for the first time in many years. We skipped the movie. In China and Germany we just did the Kidcots and wandered around a bit. I looked longingly at the F&WF booths, but that pizza from the airport was still haunting me, so I stuck with just looking. EPCOT WS was pretty much empty, and Futureworld wasnt very crowded either.
The Friendship boat was docked in Germany, and we were ready for a swim, so we hopped on to get a ride back to Futureworld. Once back at the hotel, we got ready for the pool. We grabbed some food from the food court and brought it poolside to the hippie dippy pool. DD took a short swim. I thought the water was a bit too cold. We decided to go check out the other pools. We went to the computer pool first, which DD rated as boring because its just a rectangle. Then we went to the bowling pin pool. This pool was several degrees warmer than the hippie dippy pool , so we both took a nice long swim.
After cleaning up from our swim, we caught a bus to the MK. So heres where all the people are today!
The place was packed. There were two Spectromagics scheduled that evening, and the park was open until 11. All the big rides had wait times of 40-70 minutes. We got Fast Passes for Buzz, and headed over to the Tiki Birds. Theres never a wait there, it seems. We just had to wait for the next show, which wasnt even quite full. We saw that there was only a 20 minute wait at Pirates, so we rode that as well. We stopped for a few minutes right below the guy with the hairy leg. It was very strange because we stopped at that exact same spot on our last trip. 
Now it was time for our PS for dinner in the castle. We checked in a few minutes early (walk-ups were being turned away) and walked into a very crowded waiting room. Cinderella came in and met with the kids. DD isnt as into the characters at this point (sniff, sniff) and didnt want to get her picture taken. We were seated about 20 minutes after our PS seating time at a table for 2 right by the windows overlooking Fantasyland. The restaurant was lovely and the server addressed us both as princess.
I got Prime Rib (excellent), and DD got the chicken strips with mashed potatoes and the Bibbity Bobbity Brew in the souvenir mug. She thought it was too sweet and didnt really drink much of it. I tasted it and had to agree with her. We got a clean glass to take home. During dinner, Capt Hook ran by the windows chasing Peter Pan twice. This causes quite a stir in the restaurant as all the kids yell Look, its Capt Hook!. We would definitely eat here again, even with the rather long wait.
After dinner we ran for Haunted Mansion FPs and then went to use our FPs for Buzz. Neither of us scored particularly high. We have yet to find the high scoring targets. Fantasyland had been a madhouse during our FP run (really more of a bob and weave through the strollers), so we thought wed try going through Toontown and taking the train around the park instead of trying to cross through it again. Did I mention the park was crowded? Our timing was bad, and we got to the train station just as it left, so we had to wait 15 minutes for the next train. It was still better than navigating Fantasyland though.
We got off in Frontierland. FPs for Splash were for after 10PM. We were flagging a bit, so we decided to pass for now. We went and used our Haunted Mansion FPs instead. You still have to wait pretty long to get into the first room at the HM, even with a FP, so we will probably not use FPs here in the future. The next night HM had no wait at all, so in retrospect, we probably should have FPed something else that night.
We fought our way through the pre-parade crowds on Main Street to get to Town Hall to pick up the photos we had taken. The parade started while we were there, so we watched a little bit from the Town Hall porch. Weve seen this parade a few times, so we decided to beat the crowds to the buses rather than watch the whole thing. We walked right onto the bus and we were asleep in no time!
Next up: EPCOT (again) and MK (again)
Today was early entry day at MGM. Since a ride on RnR was very high on our to-do list, we decided to hit this park first. We had set the alarm for 6:59am
and Mickey was kind enough to wake us up. We had figured we would shower later after swimming, so we just threw on some clothes, sunscreen, and deodorant and headed for the bus by 7:15. Once again we walked right onto the bus and we were at the gates 20 minutes before opening. We were allowed through the turnstiles about 5 minutes before 8 and allowed up to the rope near the turn for ToT and RnR. We saw runners from the Race for the Cure running by the big hat. This race had started from the MGM parking lot around 7:30. When the rope dropped, we headed for RnR (along with everyone else!). We were still on the ride in less than 5 minutes. We had the back seat, which we both agreed was rougher than on previous rides near the front. Still an awesome ride though!DD didnt want to ride again, and she wont do ToT, so we decided to grab some breakfast at Starring Rolls and figure out what else to do. We ended up going on the Great Movie Ride, which I didnt think was open for EE, but we walked on well before 9am. DD had been looking forward to doing the animation class, but it turned out the animation studio tour was closed. Im not sure how I missed that one on the refurbishments list I thought I knew about all the closures. The only other thing we wanted to do in MGM was WWTBAM, but they dont start until 11:30, and we didnt want to hang around that long, so we hopped on the boat to EPCOT. MGM was still looking pretty empty when we left.
The boat between MGM and EPCOT is very slow. But we enjoyed the ride. Since it was still before 11 when we got to EPCOT, we had to walk through the still-closed World Showcase and head to Future World. We went to see the new Nemo stuff at the Living Seas pavilion first. The Nemo room is very cute, and we saw Nemo outside as well. We were also just in time for the dolphin presentation, something we hadnt seen before. Considering the entire show was viewed underwater unlike typical dolphin shows, it was very entertaining.
DD decided that what she wanted to do most this trip was the countries in EPCOT, complete a Kidcot mask, and get a pressed penny from every country. So we headed off to see how many countries we could do before the pool called us home. We started in Mexico. We did the ride here. DD wanted to know if this was what happened to Small World. DD started her mask and penny quest. We also did the ride in Norway for the first time in many years. We skipped the movie. In China and Germany we just did the Kidcots and wandered around a bit. I looked longingly at the F&WF booths, but that pizza from the airport was still haunting me, so I stuck with just looking. EPCOT WS was pretty much empty, and Futureworld wasnt very crowded either.
The Friendship boat was docked in Germany, and we were ready for a swim, so we hopped on to get a ride back to Futureworld. Once back at the hotel, we got ready for the pool. We grabbed some food from the food court and brought it poolside to the hippie dippy pool. DD took a short swim. I thought the water was a bit too cold. We decided to go check out the other pools. We went to the computer pool first, which DD rated as boring because its just a rectangle. Then we went to the bowling pin pool. This pool was several degrees warmer than the hippie dippy pool , so we both took a nice long swim.
After cleaning up from our swim, we caught a bus to the MK. So heres where all the people are today!
The place was packed. There were two Spectromagics scheduled that evening, and the park was open until 11. All the big rides had wait times of 40-70 minutes. We got Fast Passes for Buzz, and headed over to the Tiki Birds. Theres never a wait there, it seems. We just had to wait for the next show, which wasnt even quite full. We saw that there was only a 20 minute wait at Pirates, so we rode that as well. We stopped for a few minutes right below the guy with the hairy leg. It was very strange because we stopped at that exact same spot on our last trip. Now it was time for our PS for dinner in the castle. We checked in a few minutes early (walk-ups were being turned away) and walked into a very crowded waiting room. Cinderella came in and met with the kids. DD isnt as into the characters at this point (sniff, sniff) and didnt want to get her picture taken. We were seated about 20 minutes after our PS seating time at a table for 2 right by the windows overlooking Fantasyland. The restaurant was lovely and the server addressed us both as princess.
I got Prime Rib (excellent), and DD got the chicken strips with mashed potatoes and the Bibbity Bobbity Brew in the souvenir mug. She thought it was too sweet and didnt really drink much of it. I tasted it and had to agree with her. We got a clean glass to take home. During dinner, Capt Hook ran by the windows chasing Peter Pan twice. This causes quite a stir in the restaurant as all the kids yell Look, its Capt Hook!. We would definitely eat here again, even with the rather long wait.After dinner we ran for Haunted Mansion FPs and then went to use our FPs for Buzz. Neither of us scored particularly high. We have yet to find the high scoring targets. Fantasyland had been a madhouse during our FP run (really more of a bob and weave through the strollers), so we thought wed try going through Toontown and taking the train around the park instead of trying to cross through it again. Did I mention the park was crowded? Our timing was bad, and we got to the train station just as it left, so we had to wait 15 minutes for the next train. It was still better than navigating Fantasyland though.
We got off in Frontierland. FPs for Splash were for after 10PM. We were flagging a bit, so we decided to pass for now. We went and used our Haunted Mansion FPs instead. You still have to wait pretty long to get into the first room at the HM, even with a FP, so we will probably not use FPs here in the future. The next night HM had no wait at all, so in retrospect, we probably should have FPed something else that night.
We fought our way through the pre-parade crowds on Main Street to get to Town Hall to pick up the photos we had taken. The parade started while we were there, so we watched a little bit from the Town Hall porch. Weve seen this parade a few times, so we decided to beat the crowds to the buses rather than watch the whole thing. We walked right onto the bus and we were asleep in no time!
Next up: EPCOT (again) and MK (again)
