It was our first proper day! I woke early at around 5 and the girls were up not long after at about 5.10. I’m always up early on the first day I’m too excited to get out and get going so we’d booked an 8.15 reservation for Be Our Guest. Ellie was up and dressed within 10 minutes raring to go – at home it usually takes me a good 20 minutes to wake her, of her pulling her cover over her head and rolling over – then I eventually carry her downstairs where she lays for another 20 odd minutes. Not today!
I put Disney channel on for her while I woke Dan and the rest of us got ready. They watched Vamprina and PJ masks and both had a cereal bar I had packed for them until it was time to leave at 6.30.
We had planned to drive to MK but as we walked to the car park a bus for Magic Kingdom was sat there waiting. We’ve never used Disney buses the before and the girls were desperate to get on so we did! As we had planned to drive we’d left extra time to park, get the tram and then the resort monorail. On the bus we skipped all this out so we arrived at MK before 7 for a 9am opening. I was impressed with how quick and easy the buses were – we were the only crazy people on there and even coming back later it wasn’t busy so can’t comment on how efficient they are at busy times but I was impressed. When we arrived the place was deserted and still dark! However, it was still so pretty and incredible to see.
Bag check opened at 7 so we were able to walk through to outside the ticket turnstiles, we talked about popping over to the contemporary to grab a coffee and drink but decided once we’d got over there we wouldn’t have much time till it was time to head back so we just enjoyed being here. We were able to get through the ticket turnstiles at about 7.20 and the shop was open so we could at least pass some time by having a mooch in there. Ellie decided then she needed a wee so Dan took her outside the turnstiles and headed to the toilet and then met us back in again.
I grabbed a bottle of water, Leah got a Minnie and Daisy pin (9.99) and Ellie got a mystery pack of new fantasyland pins (14.99) and a frozen lanyard (12.99).
The breakfast reservations were let through at 7.45 even though ours wasn’t until 8.15 but it was nice to take a slow walk up Main Street getting a photopass photo on the way. Ellie smiled for one – but then buried her head in my shoulder.
I love comparing photos so I drove them all mad making sure we got pictures in the same places as last time
2018
2016
(I promise I won't put them all on
)
We still arrived at BOG for 8 and were let in despite being early. We had pre-ordered so were given a yellow rose and showed to the left hand side, where there was a small que again to confirm the order. We were told we could have an alcoholic drink but she would need to see ID, as we didn’t have any on us we left it. We found a table next to the window in the ballroom and waited around 5 minutes for our food. Ellie declared she was starving and it had felt like a long wait since 5 this morning! Both the girls had the pancakes child’s meal with a water. Dan had the Feast A La Gaston and a coffee and I had the egg whites and a bottle of water. (I only seem to have a picture of mine - although my food photos are never any good!) We demolished the pastries, so I sent Dan up to ask for a second plate. They were fine with this and brought one out straight away.
We were finished by 8.45 and headed out of the restaurant taking a couple of pictures on the way out.
The que for 7 dwarves mine train was formed already but we turned left and waited for new fantasyland to open. The CM there was cheerful and smiley and amused the kids for a bit. Time for a quick selfie.
We then all counted down with Mickey to open the park. Most people headed for the bigger rides like 7DMT so there were very few people heading our way. We headed to meet ariel first and were 2nd in line.
Then we walked straight on to under the sea. The girls always enjoy this ride and it was lovely to see the smiles on there faces. We then had a FP for Dumbo. It wasn’t needed but I had wanted to use our FP’s up early this morning as I wasn’t sure how the girls would last. I’d also planned the smaller rides to give them a chance to ease into it as didn’t want to push them too soon.
Ride Selfie!
While we were on Dumbo the girls spotted barnstormer and wanted to ride! This would be there first rollercoaster! Leah had been a ride wimp (like me) up until last month when she’d overnight overcome her fear! I’d read this one was short so agreed as I thought it would be good to start with! There was no que again so we walked straight on and all loved it! Next up was our it’s a small world FP. This used to be the girls favourite ride, but after barnstormer it felt a bit slow! Leah had read about a hidden mickey in her book she wanted to hunt for though and its nostalgic for me.
I have to get this photo everytime!
Next up we had some extra FP’s to use. (A couple of weeks before we travelled I rung up to extend our tickets to 21 days and try and upgrade our room. The person on the phone was super helpful but unfortunately there were no rooms available. We were talking about moving from AKL due to the pool works and he said he would put 2 extra FP’s for each park day we had FP’s booked for per person! This was a lovely surprise bit of Disney magic!).
The girls chose 7DMT for their first one! I really wanted to ride this but was a bit nervous! With our extra FP’s we didn’t have to prebook – we just scanned our magic band as we would if we had booked one and it would work. I was a bit unsure about this but sure enough we went to the fastpass que and the turnstiles went green. I sat with Ellie and Dan with Leah. We all loved it! The girls especially (although my face tells a different story)
Next Leah spotted Winnie the Pooh opposite and wanted to hunt for some hidden mickey’s. We scanned our bands and the CM noticed Leah’s book and pointed out a couple of hidden mickeys to her. She was over the moon. She said there was a couple more in the standby que so we said we’d do that if we saw it was reasonable while we were here. I think she enjoyed hunting for mickeys more than the ride! Finally, was our FP for Peter Pan. This is another one of my favourites, but Ellie wasn’t keen on the flying or the dark and it stopped when we were over London – she panicked and didn’t enjoy the rest of the ride. When we came out it was really hot by this point and Ellie was starting to flag so we headed for the exit. On our way we saw Mary Poppins meeting with a short que so I asked the girls if they wanted to wait and they did so we jumped in line. The girls really enjoyed this meet.
We got to the bus stop about 11.15 and there was only one other family waiting. The bus came at about 11.23 so we didn’t have long to wait. The bus journey back to the boardwalk was quick and easy and when we arrived back we headed straight back to the room to change into our swim stuff and grab our refillable mugs before finding the pool. The pool was a good size with plenty of loungers, we got some right next to the bar. The kids got straight in the pool and I laid on our lounger and made some notes. After a while they came and said they were hungry so we grabbed them a Ham and Cheese QS kids meal each and Dan had a Turkey Sandwich meal with a beer. We used 3 QS credits but it should have been £37.47.
They spent another hour playing in the pool before I bribed them to get out with ice cream so we could head back to the room for a nap afterwards. I had been so excited to try out the ice cream at Ample Creamery and wish we’d made time to go back for a second time.
The Boardwalk really is such a pretty place! I loved that view across the lake.
Anyway, back to ice cream, Leah had a cone with strawberries and cream and cotton candy.
Ellie had a cone with Chocolate and Strawberries and Cream.
Dan had an Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich with toffee coffee.
and I had a cone with Sally Seashell and Peppermint Cream.
Total should have been £29.70 but we used 4 snack credits.
It was about half 2 by this point so we headed back to the room, room service had been and arranged our ears
Our balcony view;
I put Ellie down for a nap. She protested she wasn’t tired but it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. Leah laid in bed but wasn’t going off so I let her get up and people watch on the balcony for a bit and face time some family at home. Dan was watching Vikings on his tablet and I pottered about getting bits ready for when we left.
I woke Ellie at about half 3 and got her dressed and ready. Tonight she had a special outfit to meet provincial Belle – a matching blue dress. My mum had made this for her especially and this is what she had been looking forward to most!
We left for International Gateway at 4 and went straight to check times for Belle. She was already out but the line was shut and they said she would be back in about half hour. While we waited we went and met Aurora.
Then went and got in the que for Belle. This was my favourite, Ellie had been waiting for this for so long and I definitely choked up. She squeezed her so tight. Leah asked her what her favourite book was and she said sleeping beauty. She told Ellie to keep a look out for chip which made her feel super special.
Next up was food, I hadn’t eaten since breakfast this morning. We went to Liberty Inn as I knew they would have something easy the kids would eat. The kids shared a chicken nugget meal with a frozen cola slushy.
I had a southern fried chicken burger with a cola slushy.
Dan had an all American burger with a beer.
Total should have been 55.59 and we used 3 QS credits. This food was delicious. I really enjoyed this QS meal and although people may complain it’s expensive it’s definitely a better standard than your Mcdonalds or Burger King in my opinion. Now the kids aren’t allowed coke at home – I had told Dan to get them the fanta slushy they do in here but the machine had broken so he had got them the coke one instead. I’m sure this sent them hyper because they were so excitable after this, talking non-stop and skipping around. At least it gave them a boost to last the evening.
While we had been eating I had booked a living with the land FP which ended at 6.15. I totally underestimated this walk. We power walked round there and then it turned out we didn’t even need it – we scanned our bands but he said it would be quicker to walk through the standby que so we did. We’ve never done this before – in fact on our visit in 2014 I’m ashamed to say we didn’t even visit Epcot! I knew Leah would find it interesting as she is like a sponge and loves to learn about stuff like this but even Ellie really enjoyed it. She asked to go again but I think once a day is enough. I might have nodded off a second time. It was nice to see all the pumpkins and Halloween stuff around.
When we came off I managed to get a nemo FP for straight away – this again we walked straight onto. The kids loved this ride and we all came off singing a big blue world. The tiredness had hit me on this ride – a combination of the song and darkness I think but we let the kids wander around looking at the fish for a bit and headed out.
We planned to head back to IG now but on our way we saw joy and sadness meeting and Leah wanted to wait so we joined the que. We waited about 10 minutes and Sadness pointed out Ellie’s dress and how they matched. They gave lots of hugs and we had a group picture.
They had also spotted Baymax’s meet but the girls decided against waiting for him and were ready to head back to the Boardwalk. We walked past club cool and were all dying for a drink so popped in on our way. We tried a few drinks – Fanta Pineapple was delicious and Ellie loved Fanta Melon. I also liked Sparletta.
It was a nice walk back to the Boardwalk without having to worry about trams back to the parking lot and a drive home. We all went straight up to the room, Dan grabbed the mugs and headed back down to the bakery to refill them while I changed the kids ready for bed and tucked them up ready for the HS fireworks.
It was a busy but amazing first day and I feel like we got so much done. I wrote up some notes and Leah started a holiday diary. Dan and Ellie played squares for a bit and we shared one of the girls cupcakes from yesterday before all falling asleep pretty early.
9 rides
5 character meets
19,484 steps (14.34km) I was tracking on my phone rather than fitbit so not sure how accurate this was