The Theme Parks, the Dining & Compeed..nailed it! (4/10) Life Update

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Loving your TR so far!!!

 

[Princess Leia]

Love Wolfgang Puck! My favorite dish there is the mac and cheese. The OKW rooms are so big, really wonderful for a family to spread out!

Maria

There is a really good range on the menu. I did love the space at OKW although I prefer the location of some of the other resorts.

Loving your TR so far!!!

Thanks and We'll be finally heading to a Disney park. Can you guess which one?

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

tagging along now as I've always been curious about old key west

 

[Mainemama]

Just found your report! Your mini-report of Dundee visit was so fun to read! Those harbor pictures bring me right back to pushing a stroller up the hill from the Crail harbor when my middle child was 1! (We didn't discover Disney vacations until he was 4.) I seem to remember we had troubles finding places to eat, too. We spent a week in an apartment in a manor house. I can't wait to return to Scotland some day, but airfare for 5 is prohibitive! I am glad you get a good long trip once you make it over here.

 

[Princess Leia]

tagging along now as I've always been curious about old key west

I hadn't been to OKW before this trip. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try my best to answer them.

Just found your report! Your mini-report of Dundee visit was so fun to read! Those harbor pictures bring me right back to pushing a stroller up the hill from the Crail harbor when my middle child was 1! (We didn't discover Disney vacations until he was 4.) I seem to remember we had troubles finding places to eat, too. We spent a week in an apartment in a manor house. I can't wait to return to Scotland some day, but airfare for 5 is prohibitive! I am glad you get a good long trip once you make it over here.

I'm glad you enjoyed reading the mini-report. Well, as the song goes "It's a small world after all!" The flights are expensive so we tend to stay for 2 weeks. Hopefully you'll make it back to Scotland one day.

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Four Part One: Everybody’s got a laughing place!

Monday 6th July 2015

We were up bright and early. As it was our first morning at WDW we had to go to Magic Kingdom even if the crowd calendars had it as the least recommended.

The plan this trip was to take advantage of the kitchen at Old Key West and eat breakfast in the apartment. On the past couple of trips we picked up a pastry or muffin for breakfast before heading to the parks. We hadn’t yet been to Walmart for breakfast items so the plan for this morning was to get something in the park. We were at the bus stop for 8.17am. The bus came at 8.34am. Travelling to Magic Kingdom by bus is a good option as the WDW buses stop close to the park entrance. If you take the car, you need to travel over on the ferry or the monorail from the Ticketing and Transportation Center. We arrived towards the end of the welcome show. Hannah and I stopped for some photos on Main Street. The boys were too impatient to get to their first ride.



Tinkerbell even put in an appearance. Note our best musical theatre reactions!



I just love the atmosphere of Main Street first thing in the morning!



There go the Dapper Dans!



The Main Street Fire Engine is standing by!

We, as a family, have a tradition for our first ride. It was lovely and quiet as we made our way through Frontierland.




We caught up with the boys.



We were quickly on Alan’s favourite ride. We had a log to ourselves. All the better for singing our way round. The music quickly gets inside your head “How do you do?” Splash Mountain has such a distinctive smell.



Why is Br’er Fox standing on Br’er Bear’s shoulders?



There’s Br’er Porcupine using some poor tortoise as a percussion instrument!

This is where Peter and I always sing alternative lyrics. Doo be doo, show us your...



Alan says I’m a bad influence!

I had forgotten about the little drops on the way round. Ready arms in the air it's time for the big drop!



I always seem surprised by the Zippity-Doo Dah bit at the end. Of course there’s another bit after the big drop!

We didn’t get too wet. Since we were in that neck of the woods we had a trip on the Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road. I always like to do these rides in this order as you can dry off on BTMRR if needed.

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Four Part Two: Ice cream for breakfast....squirrel!

It was still only 9.30am - time for some breakfast. We knew where we wanted to go to – Sleepy Hollow. It was the first day of the holidays and that called for a special treat. We all had special memories of Sleepy Hollow from when the Hannah and Peter were younger.



Here is a 5 year old Pete.



Here is the 10 year old Pete.

Peter enjoyed it but did struggle to eat two big cookies and a generous helping of mint choc chip ice cream.



Hannah had memories of eating funnel cake in the Sleepy Hollow. The bad news was the funnel cake was no longer a snack credit on the dining plan but the ice cream cookie sandwich still was. Hannah decided to choose the waffle with powdered sugar instead. I went with the waffle with cinnamon. I couldn’t quite bring myself to have an ice cream cookie sandwich for breakfast.





Can you spot the difference? They did taste different.

Alan, on the other hand, well he decided it was OK to have a birthday cake ice cream cookie sandwich for breakfast and it wasn’t even his birthday.






We had company!



"What did you say was for breakfast? That’ll do!"

We didn’t feed our furry friend as we didn’t want to encourage him.



Peter really didn’t trust this fellow!

We started the morning with some old favourites but it was now time for something new.

On our way we stopped for a family photo. We had time before our first fast pass of the morning.



It has been a long time since we have tried a new ride in Disney. We were looking forward to trying out the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We had watched the construction with interest on our last trip. We all really enjoyed the ride and, yes, we did sing along. We dig, dig,dig.....Heigh-ho, heigh-ho!



I’m not quite sure if Alan looks like he is enjoying the ride but he assures me he did!

 

[ariane37]

I see nothing wrong with ice cream cookie sandwiches for breakfast! And waffles are perfectly appropriate, regardless of toppings

Your squirrel reminds me of the tall bird we had watching us at Flame Tree BBQ over in AK back in Nov., I believe someone pointed out if may have been an Ibus. When you eat outside there the birds are ALL around; walking up to you and flying real low over your tables. This one guy wouldn't leave our poor Ricky alone and Ricky is not fond of birds! He finally gave up eating and just stood up by our table. Then, after we'd finished eating but were still sitting there relaxing, our uneaten food in front of us, a bird flew really low over Steve's head and......made a deposit on the table right next to his hand.

That was our signal to get up and go!

 

[Princess Leia]

I see nothing wrong with ice cream cookie sandwiches for breakfast! And waffles are perfectly appropriate, regardless of toppings

Your squirrel reminds me of the tall bird we had watching us at Flame Tree BBQ over in AK back in Nov., I believe someone pointed out if may have been an Ibus. When you eat outside there the birds are ALL around; walking up to you and flying real low over your tables. This one guy wouldn't leave our poor Ricky alone and Ricky is not fond of birds! He finally gave up eating and just stood up by our table. Then, after we'd finished eating but were still sitting there relaxing, our uneaten food in front of us, a bird flew really low over Steve's head and......made a deposit on the table right next to his hand.

That was our signal to get up and go!

There is definitely holiday rules for what is acceptable. I remember the first holiday with Hannah we went to a hotel in Wales. We tried to do everything right in terms of normal meal times and bed times. It was truly miserable. Since then we have been flexible and enjoyed it so much more. It is meant to be a break from everyday reality. So ice cream for breakfast is OK occasionally. You will see we did give our children some healthier breakfasts later in the trip report.

I agree with Ricky on the birds. Give me a squirrel over a bird any day. At least the squirrel was cute. I had a really bad experience as a teenager at a wildlife park. This peacock literally followed me round shaking its feathers at me. I would move to another area of the park thinking it was gone only for it to appear again. Just as well Steve managed to avoid the deposit landing on his head.

I am surprised Disney aren't charging extra for an up close animal encounter. Maybe I shouldn't give them ideas.

 

[khertz]

Really enjoyed all of the Universal updates!! It seems like y'all got a great use out of the Photo Connect. I didn't learn about this until after our October trip, so we didn't end up getting the year long pass for it, but it looks like there are a lot of photo opportunities to use it!

The OKW villa looks soooo spacious! We stayed on rented DVC points for the first time in February and absolutely LOVED it! I'm hoping we can do that again in the near future.

Great first ride choice!! Splash Mountain is my favorite ride in all of Disney World! I could ride it over & over.

 

[Princess Leia]

Really enjoyed all of the Universal updates!! It seems like y'all got a great use out of the Photo Connect. I didn't learn about this until after our October trip, so we didn't end up getting the year long pass for it, but it looks like there are a lot of photo opportunities to use it!

I am glad I got the Photo Connect for the ride photos. There really aren't that many photographers about so it is very different from Memory Maker. I believe they no longer have the Simpsons couch. We got the 3 day pass but you had to use it for 3 consecutive days so we couldn't use it when we returned for the evening later in the holiday.

The OKW villa looks soooo spacious! We stayed on rented DVC points for the first time in February and absolutely LOVED it! I'm hoping we can do that again in the near future.

It really was much bigger than the rooms we have previously stayed in.

Great first ride choice!! Splash Mountain is my favorite ride in all of Disney World! I could ride it over & over.

The question is .. do you sing along?

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Four Part Three: I want my photo taken with the Horse

We had a bit of time before our next Fast Pass. Our strategy outside of using Fast Passes is to see what rides had fairly short wait times. Things were beginning to get busy. “Small World anyone?” “Why not...? We haven’t been on it for a while!” We all survived...actually It wasn’t as bad as I remembered it. You will be glad to know we didn’t sing along.

We left Fantasyland and walked to Tomorrowland for our next Fast Pass. We still had a little time to spare so where better to wait than on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover.





Alan had been on his favourite ride this morning now it was time for Peter and my favourite - Space Mountain. I just love the feel, the sound, the smell of this ride. There is always the debate about who gets the front seat. This time Pete got that honour. At the end of the ride we headed to see the ride photos.



Magic bands were new to us this trip so I think that someone in our party may have been too eager and used their band against the wrong photo.



I recognise these space cadets!

I suppose I better put in the other space cadet in our family. I always wonder what people from other families think when you turn up in their photos. “What is that random person doing?” The rest of the family were also doing it but I’m just at the front of your ride vehicle. Sorry!



We still had time for one more attraction before lunch. We helped fill the canister in Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.

We had booked a 12:20pm ADR for ‘Be Our Guest’ the first day they started doing ADRS for lunch. We had a small wait outside the castle but were attended to quickly once we got inside. As always it was very busy. We had previously been for lunch and dinner and both times had dined in the Rose Gallery.



There were no tables free in the West Wing so we were happy to sit in the Ballroom.

Alan and I opted for the braised pork.



Peter chose the Carved Turkey Sandwich with pomme frites. There was quite a bit of eating in this.



Hannah’s choice was the Croque Monsieur with pomme frites with fresh orange juice to drink.



For dessert the lemon meringue cupcake was the choice for three of our family.



I chose the Master’s Cupcake as I hadn’t tried the grey stuff and it’s meant to be delicious. The inevitable happened everyone wanted to try my cupcake. I’m glad I tried it but I prefer the Lemon meringue.



I think ‘Be our Guest’ is a really good use of a Quick Service credit. I like how the food is served to the table avoiding the struggle of balancing trays through a restaurant while looking for an empty table. You are also able to refill the soda drinks which is very welcome on a hot day. I do think they should improve their desserts for the table service option in the evening.

We had a quick tour of the castle before heading back out to the searing heat.





As we came out the castle we came to Enchanted Tales with Belle. We started walking up the path but Hannah complained about this choice so we turned around and headed back out the garden. We then decided to go after all but it had got busier in those moments of procrastination. We just missed the cut off point of entry to a show so had to wait – Hannah pointed out that it had been a bad idea. Two years ago Hannah and I came here and she had been chosen to be Mrs Potts. The enchanted mirror transported us to the room with the talking armoire. We roared, we neighed and marched, obviously with too much enthusiasm as Peter got picked to be the horse and I was chosen to be a Knight. I was hoping to sit on a bench.



Alan and Hannah hesitated for a moment and ended up having to sit at the back.

Peter neighed dutifully in the right places and got to interact with Belle.





When the Tale as Old as Time concluded the cast get to have their photos taken with Belle. As the horse was announced Peter stepped forward. I stepped forward and asked if I could have my photo taken with him as he was my son. I was firmly put in my place and was told “No, you are a knight and you will wait over there until it is time to have your photo taken with the other knight".



I waited my turn and got the approved photo with Belle and the other knight.

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Four Part Four: It’s a Festival of Fantasy!

Our next Fast Pass was for the Festival of Fantasy Parade. This was new since we had last visited. Hannah and I had looked at the costumes when they were first revealed but had managed to resist watching videos beforehand. We headed down to the Fast Pass area stopping at Casey’s for waters, except Casey’s was absolutely heaving and was queued out the door. We checked in at the Plaza Ice cream Parlor and it was also stowed out. We made the mistake of thinking that we would get something a bit further on forgetting that after we walked by the Main Street Bakery there were no other places to get drinks from. We got our magic bands scanned and entered the Fast Pass viewing area. Hannah and I had watched the parade previously from here on a number of occasions before it was a Fast Pass area. I always liked the view it gave down Main Street and the quick exit after the parade.



We got our spot and sat on the scorching kerb.
Here come the Main Street Philarmonic. It’s nearly time!





Just time for a group photo.



5 minutes to go!




Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls Welcome to the Magic Kingdom! You are warmly invited to join Mickey Mouse and his Fantasyland friends for a magical celebration in the streets. Dreams will come true, hearts will soar and you will become a part of the magic! For the time has come to take your places and prepare to welcome the wondrous and wonderful Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade.



Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly.









For the first time in forever...





Yes, you're looking good Naveen!



I don't know either!



Well, hello!





Beauty and Majesty, Shining Magically...











Lilac character shoes now you're talking!

Here comes our favourite little mermaid! Stay a mermaid it's more fun!

 

[Princess Leia]

Day Four Part Four: It’s a Festival of Fantasy!



Even the lost boys sing “It’s a festival of fantasy.....”





Oh a Pirate’s life is a wonderful life!





Oh look there’s Tink at the back of the float!







Poor Smee had to walk.. he stopped right in front of us. He seemed to be listening to some sort of ticking sound.





Och aye the noo! Where are those lilac character shoes when we need them?



Yes, your hair is unmanageable in this Florida humidity too! Well at least they don't have midges!







I loved how the fairies scooted about!



This guy came right up and gave us a little wave!







I love on the video we have of this that you can hear Hannah and Peter say "Dad!" when they spot Snow White. Like he wasn't going to notice. Despite Snow White being the oldest of the Disney Princesses she has to walk while all the young whippersnappers get the floats.











It's the ladies with the balloons! They must have got a job lot of those character shoes!










Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?
M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E







The music changed to Zippity Doo Dah! and with the arrival of Mickey and Minnie changed to 'When I see an elephant fly!'





Mickey declared “This is the best celebration ever!”

I certainly think it was a really good parade. It certainly had an eclectic mix of characters. I like how different parts had their own choreography.

We were, however, absolutely baked in the heat. Take my advice and make sure you have some form of hydration with you before you get in this area. We kept to our plan and headed out of the park straight after the parade to get a bus back to our resort.

 

[ariane37]

I did the same thing when FoF came out, I looked at the costumes but resisted watching any videos until I could see it in person
Great parade pics so far BTW

 

[stephensmum]

Loving your report. Thanks for doing it.

 

[Princess Leia]

I did the same thing when FoF came out, I looked at the costumes but resisted watching any videos until I could see it in person
Great parade pics so far BTW

Self-control you have!
Glad you like the parade photos. More coming soon!

Loving your report. Thanks for doing it.

That's great you've made it to Disney with me. Plenty more days to go.

 

[Princess Leia]

Sorry for the delay with posting the second part of the parade. Real life getting in the way. Enjoy!

 

[ariane37]

Despite Snow White being the oldest of the Disney Princesses she has to walk while all the young whippersnappers get the floats.

It's so funny you mention this, because I have thought the very same thing every time I watch FoF! Why is she the only princess made to walk?
I believe she walks in the MSEP too, while Cinderella gets to ride in her carriage Could this instance be a blonde/brunette thing?

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am joining in as well. Great report so far.

I just love the new Festival of Fantasy Parade. It is one of my favorites. They didn't spare any expense for it. And we said the same thing the first time we went to Disney, that is would be a once in a lifetime trip or at the least once in a long time. We now average 1-1/2 between trips!