Tuesday, June 5
Magic Kingdom
Day 2
We had to get up quite early today, but at least we didn't have to worry about getting breakfast before we left. We actually drove up to the TTC so early that we were not charged to park. But we somehow took a wrong turn and ended up exiting the parking lot. So by the time we found our way back to the booths, they were open. We paid the $22, which I suppose is how it should be. Fortunately, we still had time to park (we were close enough that we didn't need the tram) and walk to the Polynesian. We followed the signs until we arrived at the Great Ceremonial House (main lobby,) which is also where 'Ohana is located. We got in a long line and gave our name and reservaion time. Then it was announced that Pluto would be doing Photopass pictures and autographs before we were seated for our meal. Jacqueline had already met Pluto at the Chase Visa character spot last trip, but this time she got his scrawl as well. Then our waitstaff introduced themselves (as our "cousins") and took us to our table. Our table had a nice view of Seven Seas Lagoon. The food was at least as good as Akershus, only this time we didn't have to worry about getting up to get anything; our "cousins" brought all of it to the table. The guava orange juice was great also.
It wasn't long before we were visited by the Big Boss himself, Mickey Mouse. I finally had the chance to correct the mistake I had made last trip (5 days and we didn't meet Mickey once!) I made sure to get in the picture too. Next came Stitch. Then came Lilo, who gave Jordan a kiss, which he did not appreciate. I had to remind him he was at Disney World and he needed to calm down and be happy. Jacqueline had three more autographs, so she was happy.
When we had eaten our fill, I led us to the monorail stop. Julie was pleasantly surprised that it was right there in the same building. After a not-too-crowded ride, we were back at Magic Kingdom. We really wanted to ride 7DMT, but the wait was already approaching 90 minutes. I had had a 9:50am fastpass for Haunted Mansion, but Julie asked if I could reschedule that one for later. I was able to get another fastpass for HM at 3:45 or thereabouts. I also went ahead and scheduled a 10:40 fastpass for Under the Sea, which is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. It's not a terribly exciting ride, but it wonderfully tells the story of one of my all-time favorite animated films. The problem was, by the time we got all the way through the 7D line and off the ride, we would really be pushing it to avoid missing the one-hour window. Jordan, due to inheriting certain genetic traits from my dad's and Julie's mom's side of the family, was unable to ride because the castmember could not secure his restraint bar. As for Under the Sea,...we JUST made it. Bad news: the ride got stuck briefly. Good news: it was at my favorite part - Sebastian and his hot crustacean band! In the video I took, you can hear me singing along. Go ahead and judge me if it makes you feel better.
Now it was time to find a place to eat. I wasn't hungry, but the kids were. I suggested Columbia Harbor House. I had heard it has plenty of indoor seating including upstairs, not to mention mobile ordering. So during our walk toward Liberty Square, I got out my phone and pulled up my MDE app and...had connection problems. It seems we were simply not destined to enjoy mobile ordering this trip. Too bad, because if I had been able to order online, I might not have made the ordering mistake I made at the register. I got the numbers mixed up and ordered Jordan salmon instead of chicken strips. Fortunately, the cashier overheard my anguish as I was telling Julie what I had just done. He asked me what was wrong and offered to make the correction, even though it was entirely my fault. We found a spot upstairs. Julie and I just had Coke Zeroes while the kids ate their chicken. I enjoyed listening to the instrumental sea shanties they played over the speakers.
We were going to find something to ride before our 1:30 fastpass for Splash Mountain, but there was nothing with an appealng wait time. The park did not seem quite as crowded as it had Saturday, but everything had wait times a lot longer that one would expect. For example, 50 minutes for Pirates of the Caribbean. As we passed through Liberty Square, I could hear the Muppets Great Moments in History show going on. I would have loved to stop and watch it, but I knew the idea would not be popular with the rest of us, since that would have involved standing in the hot sun for who knows how long. So we ended up just finding a place to sit near Splash Mountain and taking a water break.
We would have gotten in line a lot sooner if we had known the situation with the Splash Mountain fastpass line. It was so long, we weren't sure where the end of it was, until some castmembers were setting up ropes and marking tape on the ground in order to organize the line. I kept asking myself, "THIS is the FASTPASS line???" I later learned that this was most likely because another ride had broken down, and all fastpass holders for that ride were given "multiple experience" passes as a replacement. Well, fast or slow, we finally got to ride Splash Mountain (it had been down three years ago.) I must say I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. It has rollercoaster thrills, it is excellently themed with animatronics and music,and of course, you get wet! Julie enjoyed it a lot as well. It made me really want to see Song of the South, but due to the film's controversial nature, I don't know if that will ever happen.
We had lots of time to kill until our Haunted Mansion fastpass, but nobody wanted to wait over an hour to ride old rides that shouldn't have been more than 20 minutes. So we just rode the train around to Main Street Station. Julie decided to check out the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor again. The line was long, but not nearly as long as it had been Saturday. It moved along pretty quickly. Once we all got our goodies, we found a table right outside. It so happened that the Festival of Fantasy Parade started just then. We didn't have the best view of it, but we did get to see enough of it. The big dragon had been malfunctioning recently and was still not ready to join the parade today. The ice cream was terrific, by the way. Definitely much better than Auntie Gravity's.
After a bathroom break, we made our way back to Liberty Square. It was getting close to time to ride Haunted Mansion. I had really been looking forward to experiencing this again. It is without a doubt one of the coolest rides at Disney, a timeless classic.
When this ride was done, the decision was unanimous that it was time to leave. We were saying goodbye to Disney, but not to Florida.
We had the displeasure of watching a group of rude people jumping over a chain barrier to get on the monorail before anyone else. But we didn't have the energy to get too upset about it. We found our car at the TTC and headed back to Windsor Hills.
We still had plenty of sunlight left in the day and had not yet tried out the swimming pool. But Jacqueline and I were the only ones who wanted to go. The pool was big and clean and not too crowded at the moment. There was a waterslide, but it did not appear to be open. There were also a couple of new water playground features, but I think they were still under construction. After about an hour and a half, I told her it was supper time and we needed to head back. Julie had wanted us to go out to Chuy's (we love the one in Fort Worth) but Jacqueline didn't want to get dressed again. She just put on her pajamas, so we were stuck looking for some place we could order takeout. Fortunately, Chuy's offers takeout. Julie called it in, and I went to pick it up. It was good. Jacqueline, not a fan of Mexican food, just had another turkey sandwich.
During the day, I was beginning to notice how badly worn the soles of my shoes were. I needed some new ones, but I did not want to tangle with that insane Walmart again. Fortunately, I found a Target that didn't close til midnight. After everyone else went to bed, I went there and saw the polar opposite of what I had seen Friday night at Walmart. The place was almost empty even though it was almost two hours to closing. In addition to some new, comfy kicks, I picked up some gifts for family members back home. I also grabbed a few more sundries. On the way back, I stopped to get gas a a Wawa station. We don't have those in Texas. I called it "Chachi gas." Yeah, I used to watch Happy Days a lot.
