Living the Dream Trip Report: Day 3- Magic Kingdom

[BudgieMama]

Another bright an early start for us as we planned to head off to the Magic Kingdom for the day... Not quite as early as our first morning, we awoke to the phone this morning, for our wake up call. Whilst it was nice to be greeted by Olaf, the ringing of the phone was an incredibly jarring alarm, and we didn't use it again!

After a quick toast breakfast, we were off for the bus, hoping to catch the welcome show. We waited a little while for the bus, and weren't sure we would make it in time, when our bus pulled in to... Hollywood Studios! Erm, the front of the bus definitely said Magic Kingdom, and all the passengers on the (standing room only) bus objected! The driver, however, didn't believe us, but as we all refused to get off the bus at DHS, he got off and checked the front. Sure enough, we were right, he was wrong and he set off for the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, by this point, we knew we'd missed the welcome show, but rather than lose anymore time complaining, we just set about having a great day at MK.

Our previous day at DHS was hot- none of the promised Florida rain arrived to cool us off, and today was even hotter! We soon decided we couldn't open and close the park without a break, so we planned to head home mid-afternoon to cool off (good plan!) and smarten up before our dinner at Be Our Guest.

As we strolled up Main Street for the first time, we stopped for a nice photo:

Then it was time to choose our first ride. My lovely husband is not great with roller coasters, so I wanted to get him on something quickly before he could change his mind, and we decided to start with Big Thunder Mountain, which was a great choice! We walked on (hooray!) and both really enjoyed it. We then hit Splash Mountain before I chickened out of that one...

Here is the proof- we did Splash Mountain... never again! Sorry, I didn't like the drop at all! Give me a roller coaster any day! DH wasn't a huge fan either, so whilst I'm glad we did it, I don't think either of us would ride it again!

We decided to stroll over to Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was shut, so we head for the Jungle Cruise instead. I loved it! The humour is right up my street, and we both enjoyed it. The most memorable moment, however, came at the end. As I came to disembark, the boat drifted slightly from the dock, and I paused to make sure my footing was right before I moved. Sadly, the bloke behind me was a bit too impatient, and stood on my shoe as I stepped off. Said shoe then fell off... into the water! Argh! Fortunately, I was wearing crocs (lol- a croc in the river!) and it floated, so they were able to fish it out! Phew!

We decided to check out the Railroad after that, and as it was already incredibly hot, opted to do a whole loop and a bit, taking us all the way round from Frontierland back again, and then onto Fantasyland, as our FP+ for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was approaching. I managed to dry my shoe off a bit, and we cooled down before to was time to join the Dwarfs! The seats are a bit tight on the Mine Train (we are both tall), but the ride is fun enough... a bit short, so we were glad we had a FP+ for it- it wouldn't have been worth a wait! We also stopped by for the obligatory ride on Dumbo whilst we were in NFL, before heading back to use our FP+ on Peter Pan (another thing we're glad we didn't wait for- in fact, we've said when/if we go back, I'd do a day in MK, and DH would spend an extra day at DHS, because MK really didn't impress him much at all!) and then onto It's a Small World... wow, that ride is weird!

After that, we headed towards Haunted Mansion for our next FP+. We were able to use the app to bring the time 25 minutes closer, giving us a 5 minute wait before we could use it, rather than 30 minutes! I'm not normally good with ghost rides, but HM was fun (I HATE hanging bodies, so I knew to shut my eyes for that bit in the stretch room, and all was fine). We did have the ride stop just as we started the steep backwards decent (I think to get someone off with a disability), which wasn't very comfortable, but it was OK.

We head back to SSR after that, for a shower. We planned to grab lunch at The Paddock to take back to the room- hoping to share a QS- but they had a problem and weren't serving any food! Boo! Instead, I walked to the Artist's Palette, and ate there... this was their daily special:

It was HUGE! I ended up only eating half the bread, all the meatballs (yum) and all the homemade crisps- if you stay at Saratoga, those homemade crisps are delicious! One of my favourite things I ate all week! It was also mid-afternoon by this point, and so although I was hungry, I didn't want to spoil my appetite for BOG in the evening!

After showers and freshening up, we head back out to MK, feeling refreshed. It's amazing what a difference the afternoon break makes!

We strolled through Tomorrowland, which we hadn't seen at all in the morning, stopping to get some nice Photo Pass photos on the bridge there, and went to see the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. We both laughed a lot- I'm not sure why that show is so disliked- and I think the technology is fascinating!

It was soon time to check in for dinner at Be Our Guest- something I'd been dreaming of for nearly 11 months! We checked in, were given a buzzer and asked to wait on the bridge, which we did.

As we waited, we chatted with the CM who greets people at the entrance of the bridge. She was so patient with all the people who turned up asking what it was, whether it was a ride, thinking it was Enchanted Tales with Belle, wanting a reservation there and then, or just generally being confused. One guy asked her if Beast's Castle was "Harry Potter World" and my husband and I nearly cried from laughing. We commended her for being able to respond without laughing in his face!

We seemed to wait a while to be summoned, and in the end, a CM came down calling our name (our buzzer hadn't gone off), and we were shown in. He was helpful at pointing out the different rooms, and invited us to look around after dinner We were sat right at the far end of the ballroom, next to the windows, so we had a stunning view. We were next to a table of WDW big wigs having a meeting, so we guessed we had a pretty prime spot.

Both shots taken from my seat- great views!

I'm getting long again, so I'm going to jump to a second post again to continue!

 

[BudgieMama]

I loved the snow effect at the windows, but found as I was close enough to touch them the only bit Imagineering didn't seem to have thought about- if it's "snowing" outside, the windows need to be cold to the touch! They could do with cooling the area outside to create that effect.

Our waitress for the evening was Kimberley- she was amazing! So attentive and helpful all night. She congratulated us our our wedding anniversary (which we were celebrating that night) and was ready to answer every question. I had the Scallops and Shrimp pastry, and DH the lamb rack. My food was incredible, and I loved that Kimberley specifically stopped by with a sharper knife (learn on that, Mama Melrose) and told my husband that in the Beast's Castle, it was quite alright to eat the lamb with his fingers.

After the amazing main, I was pretty stuffed again, but around came the dessert cart- I can't remember what DH had, but I chose the Tropical Fruit Puff, which was delicious, but too much to eat after my main! After we had our desserts, Kimberley brought us a small dollop of the Grey Stuff to try (covered in Mickey sprinkles!), which she said Mrs Potts had sent as it was our anniversary. It was great to be able to try it... and it was surprisingly good!

I loved meeting the Beast- we went to join his line whilst he was out visiting the guests, so had a lovely moment of him bowing to us all as he arrived back. We were only the second or third family in the line, so we didn't wait long to meet him.

After dinner, we wandered down to Tomorrowland again, and checked out the PeopleMover (I loved it- I rode it several times during our visit- what a great place to cool off, and some cool views!)

When we came off the PeopleMover, we met up with Scrap_Vamp and her husband (Hi Jeni and Carl!) before heading off to the Carousel of Progress... am I the only one baffled by the final scene? Is it meant to be today or the future or what?!

We stopped for a ride on the Tea Cups as we strolled over to use a 4th FP+ at Pirates of the Caribbean. Despite not being on the front row, I got quite wet (boo!) but we did get some cool photos done outside!

We decided to head back to BTM for another ride, but as we got close, we realised the parade was due to pass through soon, and we could get a decent and not too crowded viewing spot. We had planned to see the later parade, but this worked well as we were quite tired at this point!

I think this parade was when DH finally got caught up in the Disney magic- he took all the photos, and waved at the characters and everything- he loved it! Yay!

We head towards main street to try and get a good spot for Wishes- we saw maybe half of the castle projection show, and then found a decent place to see the fireworks. We had a great view. I didn't take any photos, as I wanted to just enjoy the show... it was beautiful!

After Wishes, rather than join the hoards leaving the park, we head back for the second ride on BTM. Again, like this morning, we walked onto it, and were in the front carriage. We both swear the ride was MUCH faster in the evening. I'm not sure whether that's true or whether it's because in the dark you can't see to brace yourself, but it was very cool!

After that, we head for the exits, as we definitely needed to call it a night. We also realised we couldn't manage Rope Drop the following morning, as we needed a bit more sleep after such a late night, so with an 8am (rather than 7am) alarm set, we were soon fast asleep!

 

[micksn]

Sounds like a lovely day We had as seat in the same part of BOG and it was magical

 

[Chilly]

I love the parade as well its like the essence of Disney

 

[Azza1987]

Sounds like a great first visit to magic kingdom!

 

[SilentK]

Aww sounds like a lovely first trip to MK. I dream of that Lamb at Be Our Guest, it was an absolute dream come true being in the castle.