Early Monday morning, my suggestion to eat Mickey waffles for breakfast at the food court got shot down quickly. I don’t remember exactly why, probably reasons of time. But it was hot chocolate and pop tarts again. We had no set time to be at MK, but it still seemed a good idea to get there ASAP. The kids were wearing their Mickey ears. This time, a real Disney bus took us from the POR south depot all the way to the front gate of MK. One last (and still relatively pleasant) bag check later, we are joining the crowds forming at the rope. It turned out to be a good thing we didn’t sleep in, because we might have missed the opening Welcome Show. Mickey, Minnie, Wicked Stepmother and stepsisters, and Anna and Elsa were among the characters riding Casey Jr. down the track.
When the rope dropped, we headed for Adventureland. Passing through Liberty Square, I kept an eye out for the Tiana meet and greet, but I didn’t see it. We arrived at Pirates of the Caribbean only to be told that there was a “delay” in opening and that we should check back later. Waiting around for about five minutes saw no change, so I suggested riding Aladdin’s carpets. The line was short and, once we were on it, basically identical to Dumbo and Triceratop Spin. When done, we went back to POTC, which was now letting people in. I enjoyed getting to ride this classic at long last. I had heard it was shorter than the one at Disneyland in California, and it did seem short. But it was fun. And we no longer needed the 2:00 fastpass for it, so I canceled it and set up a meet and greet with Tinkerbell for about the same time. We had a fastpass for Anna and Elsa for 11:30ish, so we had time to kill. We spent the next few minutes visiting some of the old fixtures of that half of the park, such as Jungle Cruise (still in “Jingle Cruise” mode,) the Enchanted Tiki Room, and the steamboat. We got a good look at Tom Sawyer Island, but nothing grabbed us to the point of wanting to go over there.
When noon drew near, the entire park started becoming a different place. Just before our next fastpass, the kids wanted to ride the carousel again. Afterward, there was something I had intended to do Friday that we didn’t get around to. The January 2015 facebook group wanted everyone to have their pictures taken by the Sword in the Stone and posted to the page. We finally made our contribution to that project.
Then it was time to go meet the Frozen sisters. This was, ironically, our last day at the parks and yet our first use of a fastpass. I made sure Jacqueline’s hat was showing the Anna side on front as she met Anna, then switched to Elsa to meet her highness the Snow Queen. They were both super sweet. What amazed me was that Jordan (who normally cringes every time the movie Frozen is even mentioned) got into the pictures with his sister. Two more signatures for her book.
Then it was lunch time. Pinocchio’s Village Haus was nearby. I quickly pulled out my phone and looked up the menu for the place. Mostly flatbread pizza. My kids could deal with that. The place was very crowded, but not nearly as bad as Cosmic Ray’s had been Friday. The pizza was good. Julie got a Mediterranean salad.
The next ride we went for was the Little Mermaid. There were some neat things to look at in the queue, including an animated Scuttle. There was nothing too exciting about the ride, but it had some really good animatronics that brought parts of the film to life. I think the next ride was It’s a Small World. Honestly not much to hold the attention of anyone older than about 8, but it’s a timeless part of Disney, and its message is an important one. Then it was time to head for the Town Square Theater to meet Tinkerbell. We probably didn’t need the fastpass, but we used it anyway. When they brought us in, the CM gave us a brief introduction explaining that we would need a little pixie dust to shrink us down to Tink’s size before we could enter her hangout. Some lighting effects in the ceiling simulated the dust. Then they brought us into a room filled with giant props such as spoons and teacups (the name Barrie & Co. could be seen on the bottom of an overturned cup, a tip of the hat to the original Peter Pan author.) Tink was just adorable. She signed her name with little pixie dust dots.
We had a few hours until our fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain RaIlroad. My suggestion was to ride the Disney Railroad all around the park to kill some time. The trip around the park didn’t take nearly as long as I expected. When it returned to Main Street Station, we got to watch a few minutes of the Festival of Fantasy Parade, with Prince Phillip fighting the giant dragon. It’s a pity they won’t let you watch the whole parade from up there. Anyway, we got off the train the second time it stopped in Frontierland. I wanted to see the Hall of Presidents, but it wouldn’t start again for a while. It was confusing because the clock at the entrance was wrong. I suggested the Haunted Mansion. There was a long standby line, but I was used to that. The queue had lots of funny headstones to read and some fun, interactive things to do. As the line moved on, there were a lot of CMs yelling at us about filling up all the available space. The ride was a real visual treat. There was so much to see in there, I kind of wish the ride had gone a bit slower. Guess I’ll just have to ride it again when I go back. When the grim, grinning ghosts come out to socialize…
By the time we left Haunted Mansion, they were letting people in for Hall of Presidents. Just as we found a bench and were getting comfortable, Jordan announces that he needs another trip to pottyland. I had trouble finding a bathroom near there, and the crowds, uncomfortably huge by now, made it even harder. Noted for future reference: Liberty Square simulates life in the 1700s a little too well; it has no bathrooms.
I found myself back in Fantasyland, using the restrooms near Rapunzel’s tower. Then I had to steer the both of us through the sea of people to get back to the Hall before it started. When I regrouped with the women, there were mere minutes to spare. The show wasn’t quite what I expected, but it was still good. I hope the kids learned something. When that was over, it was time to make the long trek back down the streets of Frontierland to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It looked like a long line even for fastpasses, but I think a lot of people found out they were in the wrong line and moved on. Jacqueline started acting out for no apparent reason. When we got into a car, we waited a few seconds and nothing happened. Then CMs started yelling at each other, then our restraints were opened, and we were led out of the ride and back toward the exit. Although no one took the time to explain directly to us, the guests, what was going on, it seems that the car we were in broke down, and we were being loaded into a different one on another side of the ride. These things happen sometimes, but the situation could have been handled more efficiently. When we finally got to ride, it was a great coaster, but not the best ride I did during that trip. On our way out, a girl (not sure if a Disney CM or not) asked if we wanted to take a brief survey on the ride experience. We declined. I suggested riding the train back to the front, unaware of how long the line was to the train. Jacqueline threw another fit, wanting to ride Splash Mountain, which was closed anyway.
We started discussing dinner. Julie and I were really burned out with the Riverside Mill food court. We wanted to go back to Downtown Disney, maybe try Earl of Sandwich. Jordan is even willing to try that. But Jacqueline argued. She argued the whole time we were in line to get on the train. She argued the whole ride on the train. She argued all the way from Main Street Station to our bus depot, by which time Julie was perturbed at me because she believed we would have gotten out of there faster on foot. All the way back to our room Jacqueline continued to argue that she DIDN’T WANT to go to Downtown Disney. She wanted to order another pizza and eat it in the room. We explored other options, and there basically turned out to be none. GrubHub had an Orlando branch, but they only delivered for about five restaurants, none of which looked any more appetizing than the food court. So back to the food court we went. To add insult to injury, we had to listen to that annoying Riverside song again. I decided immediately that I would much rather have had “It’s a Small World” stuck in my head forever than the food court song. “We’re gonna make those mem-o-rees…” Yep. And not all good ones. On the plus side, Julie admitted that the turkey salad she ordered from the create-your-own-salad station was actually pretty good. Then after the kids got bathed and put to bed, I headed back to the laundry room, better prepared this time. Except I discovered that I hadn’t packed enough single-load laundry pacs. I had to buy some extra detergent from the machine, but I got it all done. Now we would only have to bring one day’s worth of dirty laundry home.
