psst -- take off your crown! A Disney in a Day trip report

[wdwlovin'family]

A week ago today I was in sunny, hot *humid* FL celebrating my birthday. I took a quick pre-trip (since our big trip in in December) down to visit the parks with my sister and her dh, who are AP holders. I went to Epcot with my sister until around 4pm and then we met her DH and went over to the MNSSHP.

The cast:

Me: a now 33 yr. old Floridian that has lived in Wisconsin for the past 12 years and misses FL and WDW sooo much.

My sister: A smart 36 yr. old woman who stayed in Orlando and loves all things Disney and visits quite often with her annual pass.

My BIL: another highly intelligent member of our group since he moved to Orlando from NJ when he fell in love with my sister 15 years ago. He also loves wdw and has the t-shirts to prove it.

Epcot was fun as always -- it's my favorite park. After getting my b-day ticket and button, we went to get FP's for Soarin. The sign said it was a 45 min. wait but we looked in and it in no way looked 45 min long -- the crowd was very close to the blue section of the line -- so we decided to get in to get two rides in that day. We were right, the line was about 20 min. It was worth the wait for me since I've never waited in the actual line for Soarin, we've always just done FP, so it was neat to see the interactive things.

Since we decided to ride Soarin first, that meant that we missed our lunch resv. at Chefs de France. "No big deal", so we thought, "it's the first day of the food and wine festival, we'll just eat around the world", we said. That idea came crashing down after waiting in line in the blistering heat for some Canadian cheddar cheese soup. Granted, the soup is delish, but soup at 98 degrees with 100% humidity... not really that good. We quickly rethought our plan and walked over to Chefs where we were able to get a new seating with only a 10 min wait. We were thrilled to see Remy, esp. since we didn't think he was there anymore. Lunch there was so-so -- good but definitely not the best meal I've ever had on wdw property. It was refreshing to sit in the AC and relax though. I think the most memorable park of the lunch was the cold Cokes we slurped down. We usually get diet but got the real stuff this time and it was soooooo good.

After lunch, we walked around the world showcase, making at stop at several bathrooms (thank you Chefs de France!!) It was a fun walk with no agenda. We visited Germany, and right then and there deceided to cancel our resv. for Beirgarten in December. You could smell the saurkraut from the water fountain in the courtyard and it was just too overpowering for us. I know all of you say the buffet there is great, but if I walked my picky dh up to the check in podium with that smell, he would have a fit. Now I just have to find a decent alternative.

Our walk continued to Mexico where we went on the little boat ride. This will definitely be a must do in December. My 5 yr old will just love it. From there we took a little stroll over to the first aide center to nurse the blisters that were forming on my feet. Darn my shoes!! I had bought the Crocs Patricia sandals earlier this summer and wore them all summer since they were so comfy. But, there must have been something about the heat and humidity that made them little torture traps on my feet all day. It was very disappointing but a learning lesson to just wear comfy walking shoes and forget the sandals in December. On the flip side, the first aide center will give you huge bandages to cover your feet free of charge. Remember this rather than buying A 10 pk of the itty bitty ones for $3 at a gift shop.

We continued our stroll with bandaide covered feet over to Test Track to check out the wait. It was 45 min. in the standby entrance, but the single rider line was a walk on, so we made the no brainer choice, single rider! Here's another note to make mention. If you ever choose single rider on Test Track please pay attention to the signs clearly stating that YOU WILL BE SPIT UP when you get to the front of the line. Ignoring this and begging the CM to keep you together and then directly defying the CM by getting in the line you want to be in only makes you look like an a**. I say this because that's what the couple in front of us did and it was embarrassing to watch. The CM did make the lady get out of the line she chose, so that was good, but still embarrassing.

After all this was done, we took our last ride on Soarin and then bid adieu to Epcot with great anticipation of seeing it again in two more months. We then met my bil at the Fantasia Minigolf where we left his car so he woudln't have to pay for MK parking too (he was coming from work). They are seasonal pass holders, so parking isn't included. I thought this was a good idea for avoiding the double parking cost if that's an issue.

Since this is becoming such a long story, I'll split it into two postings. Next up, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and the reasn why this is called the psst... take off your crown Trip Report. Stay tuned! It's a good one!

 

[wdwlovin'family]

I left off as we were entering the MK for MNSSHP. I have never attended an after hours party at MK before and it was truly a unique experience. We donned our princess tiaras and entered the park. Even though we were adults with little girl tiaras on, we never once felt out of place since there were so many others wearing even crazier things. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the park and I did not see one single cast member who did not look thrilled to be there. As we were entering, the block party bash (or whatever parade that is) was just about to start down main street, so we got to see most of it. It was a neat enough parade since we were right there at that time, but not something that I would make an effort to sit out and see vs. riding rides during our December trip.

We made our way to Fantasyland via the pathway for Cindy's wishing well. We then walked over to Haunted Mansion where we walked on for the ride. After HM, we went over to BTMR where we also walked on to the ride. We decided to skip splash mountain even though it was walk on. Our clothes were already sticking to us something fierce and we figured they would never dry in the humidity, and that would make for a miserable night. As we finished up frontieerland, they made the announcement that the party was starting and so we jumped in line to get our first handful of candy in adventureland. Pirates was a walk on, so that's what we did next. Funny story: my sister knows that I DIS and so when we entered the line for Pirates she kept asking me, "should we go to the left or to the right?" I was about to reply that I didn't know when my bil emphatically said "Right!! Go Right!!" So, to the right we went. As we were boarding the boad, I asked him why he thought we should go right and he said "becuase the guy with the screaming kid was going left!" Truly, that was as good enough reason as any.

Another funny story: as we were exiting Pirates, we, and several other people, thought we were getting in line to see Cap'n Jack Sparrow. Turns out Cap'n Jack was just a regular person in a really good costume. We quickly ducked out of "line" when we realized what was going on.

At this point, we were hungry and so we strolled over to Pecos Bills for a bite to eat. I got a kids hamburger meal and even though the bun was a bit dry, it was yummy, esp after loading it with mushrooms and onions at the topping bar. The grapes were refreshing and the drink was just enough. I'd order a kids meal again if I wasn't on the dining plan.

After finishing our dinner, we were only about 20 min away from the first halloween parade, so we decided to wait it out in frontieerland. The parade was awesome, even though it has the song that I still can't get out of my head. Can you say "Happy Halloween"?

We really enjoyed just walking around and getting candy and taking in all the sites and characters after this. There was a dance party in Fantasyland for a more "younger" crowd and during it, Mickey, Donald and Pluto came out and danced on the dance floor with all the kids for quite a while. Then, on the sidelines of the dance party, Cinderellas stepmother and stepsisters were on the standing back criticizing all of the dancers, it was very funny. It was a lot of fun interaction with the characters. Snow white and all of the seven dwarfs were out for a photo op -- one of the first times I have ever seen this.

Wow -- time is really getting away from me. Am I really going to have to make this Disney in a day into a three part series?? Stay tuned for "How to Make a Fool of Yourself at WDW"