Me and My Girl - A Week in Pictures (Day 2 - Magic Kingdom)

[wilma-bride]

Thursday 13th March

So, this is where the detailed commentary will desist and the pictures will have to mostly speak for themselves as I have no notes from this moment forward.

It was morning EMH at Magic Kingdom this morning so why not take advantage of the fact that we were both up early again. It was a little chilly this morning so, learning a lesson from yesterday, we both wore jackets. We arrived in plenty of time for the opening ceremony. It really gets you in the mood for the day.







It was pretty busy.



This is where we joined the standby line for Space Mountain.



But it moved pretty quickly.





There was a family in front of us with a boy about Daniel’s age. The boy was moaning about how long the line was and his Mum was trying to tell him that it was only because they hadn’t let many people in yet. And that if they came later in the day it would be even worse. Sian and I were laughing with each other as we knew that the way the boy was acting is exactly the way Daniel would have been if he were with us.

We were soon on the ride (exactly as the boy’s Mum had predicted) and it was great, although a little bumpy.



Sian had never been on the Astro Orbiter so it seemed as good a time as any, since the line was short.



Buzz Lightyear was closed due to technical difficulties so we wandered down to Main Street for breakfast at Starbucks.







I had a ham, egg and cheese sandwich (edible but not that great), Sian had some apple slices with caramel dip and we shared a piece of lemon loaf (dry and a little tasteless). All in all, a disappointing breakfast for $15.

After breakfast, we found ourselves in front of the castle (complete with crane) and decided to walk through and into Fantasyland.



While I was taking this picture, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people’s pictures I would be in















We found ourselves in Storybook Circus and wandered into Big Top Treats. The smell in here is awesome and hits you as you walk through the door. The treats looked equally delicious but it was still early and we didn’t want to be carrying them around with us all day.





We struck up a conversation with a CM who was an ex-pat from the UK. He had moved out to Florida years ago with work, retired and remained out there and was now working at WDW part time, just to keep him occupied. We had a lovely chat and I considered asking him if he’d like to adopt me. Sian must have sensed what I was up to and dropped hints about moving on.

 

[wilma-bride]

With time to kill before our first FP+ reservation, we decided to register for Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.





We were soon distracted by the shops though and did a bit of shopping before heading into Adventureland.



Yet more huge lines for FP+ kiosks.





We were lured in to Jungle Cruise by an advertised 25-minute wait. Unfortunately, this turned out to be nearer 40. Having stood in line for ages, we rounded the corner to discover that the line twisted and turned all the way around the back (an area of the line I’ve never even seen before).









We still had an hour or so to kill before our Big Thunder Mountain FP so we decided to go to Philharmagic. The line for It’s A Small World was stretching outside and pretty much all over the place!



After Philharmagic, we did a circuit back round and into the hub and back through to Liberty Square, then over to Big Thunder Mountain.







This is the sight that greeted us when we entered the FP line.



We moved forward very quickly but it has just made these areas so congested. There were people everywhere, presumably just hanging around waiting for their window to open up.

The line on the left in this picture is the standby line. The FP line moved continuously until we got to the loading area.



After our ride, we walked back to Liberty Square for our lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. This was another first for us and I was pretty excited to try the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. We both ordered diet cokes. I loved the mugs they came in. Since we weren’t all that hungry, we ordered the Tavern Fried Cheese appetiser, a portion of fries and a dessert to share. The food was great. The Tavern Fried Cheese was just standard issue mozzarella sticks – pretty tasty but nothing out of the ordinary. The fries were nice – big, fat chips. But the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake was out of this world. It was the most amazing dessert and, by far, the best dessert I’ve had at Disney. It really was fantastic. Both Sian and I said that we wished we had gotten one each (although we probably wouldn’t have finished two). Liberty Tree Tavern will be a must do for us from now on, if only for that cake!















With TIW discount and 18% tip, the check came to $29.56. We left $32 as our server, Bonnie, had been really great.

 

[wilma-bride]

We then walked up to the new Tangled area to use the restrooms and look for Hidden Pascals. We only found one!









We had a FP+ for Haunted Mansion at 1.30pm so wandered back in that direction. This was what greeted us outside.



Again, the line moved quickly but the extension of the FP line outside the entrance made the whole area seem very overcrowded.





After Haunted Mansion, we had a bit of time to kill before our next FP for the new Festival of Fantasy Parade. It was really warming up now so we decided to make the most of the air conditioning in the shops and play a bit more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.







After wandering aimlessly for a little while, we were getting a bit thirsty so decided to walk up to Cheshire Café for refreshments, in the form of a Raspberry Lemonade Slush. We also spotted these delightful cake cups and, despite not being in the least bit hungry, we couldn’t resist giving them a try.





It was almost 2.45 by now so we headed into the hub to the FP+ reserved viewing area. We had booked a FP+ on a whim when they were released a few weeks earlier and so we ended up with a prime viewing spot (if anything we were a little bit too close to get pictures of some of the bigger floats). It was a great place to watch from and we both absolutely loved the new parade.

 

[wilma-bride]

As the parade passed us by, we joined the slow moving crowd of people and followed the parade down Main Street. At the bottom of the street, we fought our way through the crowd and headed for the bus back to the resort.

We didn’t have very long until it was time to head out again, this time to Downtown Disney as we had tickets for La Nouba. We had seats right in the front row, to the side of the stage, which we had bought at a great price with DVC discount. This was the third time I had seen the show but first time for Sian. She absolutely loved it. We bought the CD of the music afterwards and I have listened to it loads since I came home. When certain pieces of music come on, I can almost see the action on the stage – it’s a great reminder of a fabulous night.

After the show, we walked the length of Downtown Disney, heading for Earl of Sandwich.







We had a nosey round the shop next to Raglan Road and were amused to find this (remember I mentioned previously that one of Sian’s nicknames is Shaunessy).



We made it to Earl of Sandwich, which was packed but the line moved quickly. I got the BBQ chicken sandwich (no onion), Sian got the Earl’s Club (no lettuce or tomato). We also got a diet coke and some Brownie Bark (which we brought home with us). Yet again, I forgot to use my DVC discount in here so the total came to $18.92.







After we’d eaten, we walked round to catch the bus. As we approached the stop, we noticed there were quite a few people waiting so we took this to be a good sign – that a bus must be due. Thirty minutes later we were still waiting and the number of people has doubled with more arriving all the time. Eventually a bus arrives and we all pile on. For a horrible moment, I worry that we aren’t going to make it on but we do, even though we have to stand. The bus then proceeds to travel extremely slowly back to the resort, via the Swan, the Dolphin, the Yacht Club and the Beach Club with the Boardwalk Inn/Villas being the last stop. All in all, it took us almost 90 minutes to get back to the resort from when we left Earl of Sandwich. After reading for a while, we settled down for the night – tomorrow is Sian’s 21st Birthday.

 

[smadath]

Wow! Thanks for posting these, they're fantastic! Definitely a good way to experience the park vicariously though you!

Oh, and I love the "napkin art"!

 

[SusanEllen]

Joh, this is an unbelievably detailed report for someone working without notes! Great photos again. Don't know where to start, you covered so many things that sparked a thought. As a good trip report should be, yours is educational as well as entertaining. For instance, more than a dozen trips to WDW and I never even heard of Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake, but after seeing that photo I promise you I will be eating one of my own next time there--and those cake cup things, I want them both. See what important things a person can learn from an informative trip report. I'm impressed with how many attractions you made it to and the miles you trekked. Good plan crisscrossing the park, working off the cake for breakfast, cake for lunch, cake for a snack, and the brownie bites or bits or whatever they were that you had at Earl's for dinner--my idea of really great diet and exercise program!

 

[Nubbedy]

Ooh, fast pass + queues look scary!! Those cupcakes look yum

 

[wilma-bride]

Wow! Thanks for posting these, they're fantastic! Definitely a good way to experience the park vicariously though you!

Oh, and I love the "napkin art"!

Thanks so much for the compliment - and thanks for your kind words about my daughter's art. Who knew she had such talent

Joh, this is an unbelievably detailed report for someone working without notes! Great photos again. Don't know where to start, you covered so many things that sparked a thought. As a good trip report should be, yours is educational as well as entertaining. For instance, more than a dozen trips to WDW and I never even heard of Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake, but after seeing that photo I promise you I will be eating one of my own next time there--and those cake cup things, I want them both. See what important things a person can learn from an informative trip report. I'm impressed with how many attractions you made it to and the miles you trekked. Good plan crisscrossing the park, working off the cake for breakfast, cake for lunch, cake for a snack, and the brownie bites or bits or whatever they were that you had at Earl's for dinner--my idea of really great diet and exercise program!

Susan, it is probably a good thing that I took photos literally every second step that we took as it really did help jog my memory. I am definitely forgetting little details though - some of which were probably the more amusing things that happened throughout the day. But, hopefully, Sian is still reading along and being young and having her memory in better shape than mine, I'm sure she will be quick to remind me of anything I've forgotten.

We certainly did a lot of walking on this day and a lot of crisscrossing. Poor Sian has Plantar Fasciitis and I remember she was suffering a little bit in the evening after I'd worked her so hard. I felt a bit guilty but reassured her that it would help to minimise the damage from all those naughty snacks - just so you don't think we're complete pigs, we did bring the brownie bites back home for Daniel and Rhiannon to enjoy.

Ooh, fast pass + queues look scary!! Those cupcakes look yum

Yes, those kiosk queues were pretty long practically everywhere we went. I was so glad we were staying onsite. Hopefully now that offsite visitors are able to pre-book, those queues wont' be quite as long.

The cupcake cups were nice but very, very sweet. I preferred the strawberry to the white chocolate one - which is surprising as I'm not the biggest fan of strawberries.

 

[micksn]

Love your photos, making me reaaly excited to see New Fantasyland in all it's glory. Think we might be spending a few snack credits there too!

 

[irongirlof12]

I love LTT their desserts a re out of this world yummy and EOS as well - my kind of dining! great photo's - the parade looks good.

 

[Jets fan]

Love your photos, what camera do you use?

Tina

 

[wilma-bride]

Love your photos, making me reaaly excited to see New Fantasyland in all it's glory. Think we might be spending a few snack credits there too!

They certainly had some great looking treats I will most certainly be paying another visit there in October.

I love LTT their desserts a re out of this world yummy and EOS as well - my kind of dining! great photo's - the parade looks good.

I can't believe I'd never been there before Andrea. We have made a lunch reservation for October too as I know Daniel will love that Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. The new parade is brilliant, the floats are amazing!

Love your photos, what camera do you use?

Tina

Thanks Tina, it's a Nikon Coolpix S6400. I bought it on special offer at the end of last year and it's the first time I've properly used it. I was very pleased with it as it has turned my very rubbish attempts at taking photos into something almost passable

 

[Linda67]

Wow, you are really flying through this TR!
I agree with everyone else, great pictures
We tried the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake for the first time in December - AMAZING!!
Urgh, I can't stand waiting around for buses, that trip from DTD sounds awful

 

[Chilly]

Wow MK sure looks busy. The parade looks really good. Tell me more about the toffee cake it sounds lush!

 

[runskyhy]

Wow! Fantastic TR! Loving every minute of it and can't believe how much I'm learning... hidden Pascals, Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom, Festival of Fantasy Parade. And the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake looks like a must-do! Did you happen to see Cinderella's step-sisters in the FoF parade?

 

[wilma-bride]

Wow, you are really flying through this TR!
I agree with everyone else, great pictures
We tried the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake for the first time in December - AMAZING!!
Urgh, I can't stand waiting around for buses, that trip from DTD sounds awful

Thanks Linda, I have had to book an ADR for LTT in October just to introduce Daniel to the delights of the OGTC

The buses from Downtown Disney were a nightmare the whole trip. I will definitely not be using them in October.

Wow MK sure looks busy. The parade looks really good. Tell me more about the toffee cake it sounds lush!

The new parade was brilliant Claire, we really enjoyed it. Hmm, how to describe the OGTC - it is like a cross between a choc chip brownie and a gooey warm cookie, with ice cream and (what I believe are) Heath bar pieces plus toffee sauce. Quite sickly but supremely delicious. I found a recipe so might attempt my own version.

Wow! Fantastic TR! Loving every minute of it and can't believe how much I'm learning... hidden Pascals, Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom, Festival of Fantasy Parade. And the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake looks like a must-do! Did you happen to see Cinderella's step-sisters in the FoF parade?

Hey Wendy, I have so much to teach you in October I don't recall the step-sisters being in the new parade

 

[RobynPrincess]

I have to agree with you, not only are the buses from DTD sucky but the BWI is the worst with all the damn stops!

 

[jockey]

Brill Joh fab pics. , we love sorcerers of the kingdom !

 

[Tinks1984]

Ohhhh all these options! Now I want an ADR at LTT so I can try to OGTC too! And I love the look of the new parade!

 

[darthtatty]

great day, lots of lovely pictures. youre right, it does look really crowded everywhere. Hopefully theyll organise everything a bit better.