Me...a Walt Disney World Honorary Citizen?!?!?! June 2012**updated 8/11**

[grandfloluver]

Getting off of the monorail, it felt so good to actually be in the Magic Kingdom! The sun was bearing down on us, so it was pretty darn hot. I was definitely not about to complain because I think any of us would rather have the hot sun then rain most of the time. My mom always carries a fanny pack, so she was the only one of us that had to go through the bag check line. My dad, Jordan, and I all walked through the Guest Without Baggage entrance. Mom keeps all of our room keys/park tickets in her fanny pack, so she got through her line and we all got our keys and tried to find a ticket machine to get this party started.

After finding one, we all made it through without any delay. The only reason I say this is because I am always bad to struggle with my finger scanner not working correctly half the time. So, so far so good!

After discussing our options, we decided to send my dad, our official Fast Pass runner, to get some Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain while the rest of us looked around a little in the Emporium. I just recently got an iPhone, so one thing I was looking for was a case. Honestly, that's the main reason I wanted an iPhone-to get a Disney case. I looked around a while, and I must say I finally found one! I didn't take a picture of it because I was just so eager to put it on my phone I guess, but I have one of what I got.

I just finished buying my case with some of my birthday money when my dad called. He had gotten our FPs and was heading back towards Main Street USA and wondered where we wanted to eat lunch. I offered my opinion of Casey's since we were closest to that and it just so happens to be one of my all-time favorites. That seemed to jive well with everyone, so Casey's it was. Once my dad finally found us totally consumed by the awesome merchandise, we all walked through the Emporium to Casey's through the men's clothing entrance. Jordan and I saved us some seats on the top row of the bleachers and mom and dad went to order our hotdogs.

I don't know if I just missed Disney food or I was so hungry from not eating since 6:00 that morning, but my food was good and I enjoyed every minute of it! haha We all did somewhat take our time eating. My mom made a few phone calls back home to check on the family and then we were ready to start riding rides.

After checking the time, our Big Thunder Mountain FP time slot had just opened, so we headed towards Frontierland via Adventureland.

The line for Big Thunder Mountain was about 30 minutes, and just looking around when we were walking through the FP line, I do believe it. I noticed little things that had been done during the refurb last month to the entrance line. Still no air conditioning, though. Bummer because I do think that the BTMRR queue can get toasty sometimes.

We got put in the front of the train. Every one of us would by far rather be put in the back because it's faster, but it was our first ride of the trip so we had more chances to get in the back. I sat with mom(mostly to make fun of her screaming haha) and Jordan sat with my dad.

Since we were in the area, my dad and I went to get FPs for Splash Mountain for later that we could use. The return time was about a hour out, so we had some time to kill. Jordan really likes Pirates of the Carribean, so it was his decision to go over to Adventurland to get some things done in that area. Walking through, the line for Magic Carpets of Aladdin was only 10 minutes, so we all got in it. Everyone got into one carpet....with me as the driver of course! It was a goal to get "spit on" by the camel because it honestly would've felt great. It either wasn't spitting when we flew by or I just miss aimed, but we never felt the water hit us.

yeah....I don't really think my mom knew where the camera was in that last picture. To Pirates of the Carribean we go! I tripped once or twice going through the line(it is pretty dark), but beyond that we made it out unharmed!

 

[Goofy442]

Love your phone case, did your iphone take those photos.

 

[grandfloluver]

Love your phone case, did your iphone take those photos.

Thanks!
No, all or most of my pictures are from an actual camera. I did take pictures with my iphone, but they were the same as with the camera, so i just used those pictures instead

 

[grandfloluver]

I got a little splashed by the water canons in Pirates of the Caribbean, but I was the only one out of the family who got wet at all. I guess that's what I get for sitting on the end of the row. Our FP time for Splash Mountain was open, so we headed towards Frontierland to use them. My mom normally only rides Splash Mountain once a trip because it's not really one of her favorites and I'm pretty sure she is paranoid about her hair getting wet. *I never said that!* Obviously with our FPs we walked straight on through and got put in the front of the log!

And yes, here is our ride picture: (Me and Jordan did our poses like that on purpose....mom and dad are natural screamers I guess)

My mom's hair did end up getting a little wet, but we all got a tad bit wet. It was scorching hot outside, so a little water wasn't going to hurt us any. Since we just used our Fast Passes, we decided to get some more for Splash Mountain for later. This time, mom obviously didn't want to ride, so we didn't get a Fast Pass for her. I hadn't seen the new Circus area of Fantasyland, and the quickest way to get over there was by the train, so obviously that's what we did. It was a nice, short trip and it did feel good to sit down for a while.

We got there and I was pretty impressed by the little details in it. I pay a lot of attention to things like that, so the different animal footprints in the pavement caught my eye right away! The line for Dumbo and Goofy's barnstormer were obviously both long, so we didn't do either. I really wanted to scope out the place first just to get a feel for it, so no one was disapointed with not riding either of them.

Since we were in the area, Jordan and I wanted to go see Mickey's Philharmagic. I have always loved this show, and right now that air conditioning seemed pretty nice. It actually had somewhat of a line. I've never actually had to wait in a line before we get to the Philharmagical doors since it opened years ago, so this experience was sorta new to me. Despite the crowds, we got seats right in the front.

Time was still needed to be killed before our Splash Mountain Fast Pass return time, so Small World was the next best thing with the smallest wait. Honestly, I dozed off a few times during the ride. I don't know how, but it's sorta embarrassing. It was all I could do to stay awake. I am actually pretty sure my dad did fall asleep when we were in the white room at the end.

We were awake by the time we needed to get off the boat, and decided if we walked real slow we could make it for our FP return time. Mom went and headed towards Main Street USA so we could meet up with her there when our dining reservation time was ready.

 

[Goofy442]

Funny because my DH always takes a nap on this ride.

 

[grandfloluver]

Funny because my DH always takes a nap on this ride.

haha no way! As far as I know, we have never slept through it until this trip. there's a first time for everything, right?

 

[grandfloluver]

Sorry so much everyone for the lack of an update here lately. I've been away from home these last two weeks with cheer camp and now I'm actually in Disneyland for the rest of the week! as soon as I get home, I will get right on another update.

 

[DisneytheKid]

Loving the TR! As a life long DL visitor it is always cool to see pictures of the "other park" Looking forward to reading more!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

I'm here for this one!

So cool that yall got to stay at the Grand Floridian! And in the main building, too... awesome!

The new Fantasyland looks GREAT and I can't wait to see it all finished next year

 

[grandfloluver]

Loving the TR! As a life long DL visitor it is always cool to see pictures of the "other park" Looking forward to reading more!

yay! I'm glad. I really enjoyed my DL trip especially the whole Carsland deal.....even though it was pretty mass chaotic in through there

 

[grandfloluver]

I'm here for this one!

So cool that yall got to stay at the Grand Floridian! And in the main building, too... awesome!

The new Fantasyland looks GREAT and I can't wait to see it all finished next year

welcome!!

yes, I most definitely love the Grand Floridian. Being in the main building is so special, I almost can't describe it haha It's so convenient too with the monorail and everything.

 

[grandfloluver]

*just for starters, my mom threw away some of my notes, so I am doing this chapter by memory, so bare with me*

The second time riding Splash Mountain was almost as good as the first, but not quite. Whenever my mom doesn't ride, me, Jordan, and my dad all sit in one row in the log together. It's not unbearably cramped, but I will just say it's a tad more comfy when we sit two to a seat. Our picture didn't turn out as well either. We all tried to spell out "VOLS"...minus the S since we are from Tennessee and all, so you gotta love those Volunteers. It turned out awful. I was the only one whose letter you could really tell what it was. Sadly,(or not so sadly haha) I did not take a picture of it.

We had the always expected boat jam at the end of the ride, so it did take a little while to get off. Once we got off and hardly wet, the parade was just beginning. It had been years since I had seen the afternoon parade. Like forever. We normally take a swimming break everyday just to relax and cool off a bit, but since our room wasn't ready we couldn't really do that.

Since we didn't really plan on watching the parade, we just kinda stood in what looked like a decent viewing spot to watch until we could get back to Main Street USA where my mom was. There were these Indian/Arabic people in front of us who just blocked half of my view the entire parade. It didn't frustrate me too bad, but even if I did say something who knows if they would understand English. haha we all know how that goes

That parade has never been my favorite, and still after watching it, I keep my opinion. You just can't beat the Boo To You parade for MNSSHP. If you can't tell, the skies were sorta overcast, so it looked like it could rain at any moment. I texted mom and told her we were on our way over there because she was sorta wondering what was taking us so long, even though I told her about us getting stopped by the parade. It didn't really make sense, but we went over to Main Street through Adventureland.

About the time we hit Crystal Palace, it started sprinkling the rain. My mom was sitting in some chair in the kids' clothes section of the Emporium when we found her. She wanted to go into some of the shops on the other side of the street to kill some time and stay out of the rain.

The Dapper Dans got moved inside as well due to the weather.

 

[grandfloluver]

The rain was still sprinkling down, and yes the mysterious ponchos had been pulled out of the many drawers to sell. I obviously didn't buy one, because none of us really saw the need. There were those who did, of course. We shopped around a bit, just mainly to kill time before our reservation at Tony's Town Square. I thought it was at 4:30, so it wasn't too far away. We didn't know exactly for sure, but that was about our normal supper time reservation, so we went for it. My mom and I looked at the Dooney and Bourke stuff and Jordan went and looked at the pins. He seemed to be in a pin obsession this trip.

It was about 4:00, so we decided to go ahead and walk down to get checked in and everything. There were quite a few people in the building, just to avoid the afternoon shower....and to see the princesses. Poor Mickey didn't have half of the line they did. This makes absolutely no sense to me but to each their own, I guess. My dad walked up to the counter and went to try and check us in. Apparently, our reservation wasn't until 5:00, and they weren't checking parties in until 4:30, so we had to wait.

I just watched Lady and the Tramp on tv while we waited. At 4:30, they took us right on back!

I had some cheese pizza....well two kids cheese pizzas because they were out of their regular cheese pizza?? It didn't really make sense, but I didn't complain one bit since pizza is my favorite food anyway.

Since we had been up since 3am this morning, we were all sort of tired, so we headed back to the Grand Floridian to rest up and relax a little. Our original plan was to take the boat since it is quicker, but due to the rain, it was closed so up the monorail ramp we went!

rainbow after the rain!

We got checked into our room which was 4328, so not a bad room at all! We decided to go down to the lobby and listen to the band play and relax a little.