5 do Florida for the 1st time - October 2018 - Day 3 - Magic Kingdom, The Yachtsma and Boardwalk

[Milpston]

Index

So today was a much anticipated day in our family. It was the first ever visit to The Magic Kingdom for everybody except me. My only visit was for one day about 17 years ago. It was our few days in Disneyland Paris whilst Sally was pregnant with Benjamin that made us plan this trip. There are a few memories for that trip that I really treasure. A couple of these were Emma talking about the elephant ride and the horsey one for months on end afterwards referring to Dumbo and the Carousel. She had got upset a few weeks back when I told her she wouldn't be able to go on Dumbo on the first day.

So this morning started when the kids woke at 04:30. Benjamin rarely sleeps through the night but unfortunately I'm unable to comment on how many times he was up through the night. At least this was an improvement on yesterday.

Soon enough Benjamin was having some milk and everyone was starting to get ready for the day ahead. I took my chance to go out for a smoke. I did have a little stroll along the by the beach just enjoying another warm beautiful morning. When I got back Sally looked a bit stressed. Benjamin had kicked off for some reason while I had been gone and just calmed before I arrived back. Impeccable timing as always

I did my bit of grovelling and then face timed the Grandparents at home so that they could see the kids. On the way down we filled our resort mugs for the journey to Magic Kingdom. When we chose the mugs Emma went for the Halloween one and I think Sally and Chloe were still a bit jealous. They wanted that one too but we decided we would all go for different colours. We left the Beach Club at 07:10 (I know these kind of notes don't last much longer ) and walked over to the car. We decided we couldn't be done with a bus journey like last night and this was the one park I said I would definitely be using Disney transport to.

The drive to the Magic Kingdom was straight forward and we parked in Aladdin 205 which was a pretty short walk to the TTC. Bag check was a breeze. The direct Monorail to MK wasn't running at that time so we got the resort monorail. My notes say we went via the Grand Floridian and The Polynesian which sounds about right. On arrival Main Street was relatively quiet. We had an 08:10 ADR for breakfast at Be Our Guest while MK didn't open until 09:00. We all strolled in together and enjoyed soaking up the early morning atmosphere.

We caught our first look at Cinderella's castle, took a few pictures as
we approached and stopped for a couple of photopass pictures.

I really like this picture Chloe took of Chloe skipping towards the castle.

So we didn't really have a clue where we were heading but got directed to check in for breakfast at Be Our Guest. after dumping the stroller nearby.

My Magic Band was scanned a couple of minutes after 08:10 and we were handed a yellow rose due to being a conscientious Dibber. One of a million things I had learnt from The Dibb on the build up to this trip. We had no wait at all to speak of.

I have to say the setting of Be Our Guest is really lovely and I'm glad we made the effort to get an ADR here. We headed in to find a table and found one in the main room near the entrance to the one where the rose is... an example of my fantastic Disney knowledge not having a clue what they are called. I took Emma to have a look at he rose.

It's fairly dark in there and she said it was a bit scary.

Benjamin had now woken from his little snooze you saw him having on Main Street and I think Sally had gone to change him when our food arrived at hour table. I'm sure the Cast member told me our drinks would be brought to the table but we soon worked out to go and get them ourselves. She probably never told me that but 5 years of marriage has clearly damaged my hearing!
I think this is Sally triumphantly returning with a drink after proving me wrong.

Sally, Chloe and I all pre-ordered the Feast Al L Gaston. Emma had some cereal whilst Benjamin ate a selection of all of ours. I really rated this as a breakfast experience. I thought it was really good food in unique surroundings. Probably the best use of a counter service credit for a whole week on site.

I would definitely eat here again given the opportunity. After a leisurely breakfast I took a couple of last photos on the way out.

We set off from Be Our Guest into Fantasyland at 09:10. We planned to get a few of the small rides done this morning as we hadn't got fastpasses for any of them. First up we went for the Carousel. We went straight the front of the queue and as soon as the ride stopped we were the first on. Emma loves this and it really felt like we had arrived. For me it brought memories of our previous trip to Disneyland Paris flooding back. It was a damn site warmer than Paris in February though I can assure you. Benjamin and Emma really enjoyed it and Chloe secretly loves going on these rides with them too as do Sally and I. For me this is what I was looking forward to about MK.

We headed straight for another of Emma's favourites next which was Dumbo. This was a walk on at this time too but we found time to stop in the queue area for a couple of snaps.

Emma wanted to go on with Chloe and Sally had Benjamin. I could have squeezed in with Sally and Benjamin but decided to go on my own to be brave... and to get a couple of photos of the others.

We made straight for the tea cup ride. We waited just a few minutes and were on as soon as the ride stopped. We were all able to squeeze on one tea cup. Benjamin looked a bit concerned when I started to spin it but had taken to the rides really well.

We were next walking straight on to the dreaded small world. Emma had never really mentioned this since Paris so I was hoping it would be a 'once and done' but unfortunately it became a real favourite for both of them on this trip. After the holiday Emma has said, "I want to go on Small World again.. pleeeeease.

I honestly think my kids were are strange but they absolutely loved it. In the meantime I remember hoping that every room was the last and having that damn music stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
On exiting I noticed that Peter Pan had gone tech. Hoards of people were exiting through the entrance. I have no idea how long it was down for.

On wandering around we saw one of the bears from the Country Bear Jamboree strolling so we met up with him.

We then set off for our first fastpass of the day which was Jungle Cruise. It was really starting t get hot now. We used the tangled toilets on the way. We even took pictures inside but I'm sure everyone on here has seen them before! Being a virgin on the Jungle cruise I actually quite enjoyed the cheesy jokes. Other than someone falling over in front of her it couldn't have been on Sally's level any better so she enjoyed it too.

We decided we had a very successful morning so decided now was the time to cool off with an ice cream and some drinks. I had placed a ban on buying drinks with credits at this stage and just charged them to the room. I headed off to Adventureland to check out the smoking area in Adventureland. I think it's Adventureland anyway... the one by Big Thunder Mountain. I was gone a little while as I got chatting to an American guy who had moved down to Florida a few months back who had a young baby with him. His Wife was working at Port Orleans French Quarter. I can't remember the detail but they were DVC members and I remember thinking their fees were absolute peanuts when he was telling me about it.


I headed back to the gang and we made for our next fastpass at Haunted mansion. Benjamin was entertaining the ladies in the queue as became his hobby during this holiday. He was always smiling and sucking up to the ladies. Emma cam on with me and Benjamin went with Sally and Chloe. We wasn't sure what the kids would make of it. Emma was actually fine in the stretching room and Benjamin didn't seem bothered either. Emma went very quiet the ride itself so I had to keep checking on her. I think she was a little bit frightened. I always struggled to hear her on rides though as it was the only time in her life so far that she speaks too quietly to hear.

After the ride we stopped for a little look at the Muppets show that had started. It didn't really grab our attention having missed the start though so we soon moved on.

We had a 12:35 fastpass for pirates. We decided at this stage that we didn't want to race around in the heat to get to Benjamin's first haircut that we had booked in Main Street Barbers for 13:00. We grabbed some ice creams which consisted a Mickey Premium Bar for Benjamin, an ice cream sandwich for Emma, an Olaf ice lolly for me. I'm not sure Sally and Chloe had anything on this occasion but we used snack credits.

By chance we were in the Hub and the show on the stage started. I', showing my Disney newbie status again as I cannot recall what it's called. We stood at the side and watched it as we ate our ice creams. Benjamin was bouncing to the Rapunzel bit when he heard the music.

As became the norm we spent most of the time mopping the kids up of melting ice cream but they were certainly happy. It was now that Benjamin decided that he would develop a new habit. Every time he now gets anything on his hands whether it be food or anything else he would wipe it over his head. Bearing mind he was getting his actual first hair cut within the hour it was a great choice! We sent a picture of him to friends of ours and they now refer to him as Mikhail Gorbachev!

The likeness is actually uncanny!

We headed off to the barbers having given Benjamin a stroller bath using wet wipe like all good parents do.

We arrived at the Barbershop at 12:25 for Benjamin's 13:00 appointment. We checked in and were asked to wait outside. Due to the lull in proceedings I took the opportunity to go for a cigarette... just the short stroll all the way over to Tomorrowland and back. I think I made it worthwhile by having two. Whilst I was gone Sally had bought Emma and Benjamin a balloon each from one of the CMs walking around with them. They couldn't accept magic band payment so she just paid by credit card.

We killed a bit of time having a sit down outside the barbers. Benjamin enjoyed a little run around in a shaded part outside.

Soon enough Benjamin was seated in the Barbers Chair. The Barbers was much smaller than I expected for some reason. I lost count of how many people came in and asked for walk up appointments only to be told there were none available all day. We had joked about this appointment being a waste of time before we came. When we booked it months before we expected that he would have grown a little more hair by now. Anyway, it was a nice experience and with the wispy bits he had at the side chopped he actually looked much smarter. They gave him a toy to play with to keep him happy and also gave one to Emma. He did really well and Emma was as good as gold too. I half expected her to say she wanted her hair cut too and get the hump but there were no such issues.

It was a shame there isn't a photopass photographer actually but it was a nice experience and he can forever say he had his first haircut in MK. At $25 I think it's pretty reasonable too.

Straight after the haircut the kids were getting hungry and so we decided just to get them a portion of fries. I went off looking and ended up at Casey's Corner. It brought back vivid memories of the one at Disneyland Paris. I was met by the same organised chaos of people ordering, paying and collecting food as I was there. Fries in hand the kids were fed.

More than happy with our exploits for the day we hopped back on the monorail to our car and were back at the Beach Club around 14:00. Now, Sally has never driven in Florida before and in the lead up to the trip she was adamant that she would do some of the driving this time. I have to say I wasn't really bothered either way as I quite like driving really. When we got back into the Beach Club car park I said just to have a drive around the car park to get used to the size of the car and go for there. Well after about 6 attempts to park it straight in a space (despite the biggest reversing camera screen I have ever seen and sensors all round ) she gave up and I straightened it up. Needless to say I was the lone driver for the rest of the trip

On arrival back at the room Emma really wanted to go for a swim. I told a little white lie that someone had pooed in the pool so it was closed for cleaning as she wasn't really taking no for an answer. We topped up our resort mugs and had some Budweisers from our Walmart trip, got us and the kids bathed ready for our 17:50 ADR at The Yachtsman Steakhouse. I have to say this was probably the ADR I was looking forward to the most.


It was nice to just have to have a walk through the hotel to dinner. On arrival we just had a short wait outside before we were taken to our table.

They were happy for us to take the stroller in. Benjamin actually fell asleep before we had even finished ordering. We had taken a couple of bits from their 'Keep'em quiet packs' knowing that this may be quite a long meal for them both.

Our server was a lady (I didn't note names) and she was really nice. She was also brilliant with Emma. Emma was in one of those moods that every parent would wish there 3 year old could stay in. She was happy and just an absolute delight to be with. This is so unusual for such a long meal that I couldn't not mention it. It will probably never ever happen again.

We ordered drinks. Sally and I had developed a liking for Mojitos on a recent night out in London so we opted fot a raspberry mojito each as our included ding plan drink. Chloe had a virgin cocktail. Emma stuck with her current favourite of water. Sally and I also had a bottle of Kim Crawford with the meal. We didn't have appetizers but were brought bread rolls.

The rolls were really nice and the garlic was potent. There'd be no vampires near us tonight... mainly me to be fair. We were then brought sorbet before the entrée.

For entrée Emma had the children's fish meal. From that I am presuming they didn't do chicken tenders She is the fussiest kid in the world and does our heads in at times!

With lots of encouragement from Sally and our server telling her she would bring her a surprise if she ate it all she actually ate most of her fish and most of her fries. She wouldn't even look at her veg but even that was an improvement.

Chloe had the filet.

It was ordered medium but I have to say it wasn't even close. It was well overcooked and there wasn't even the slightest hint o pink inside. Chloe was happy enough and I don't think she wanted to make a fuss. In hindsight though it should have been sent back.

Sally and I shared the Porterhouse.

I haven't really got much to say about this. It was nice. Nothing more an nothing less.

Forgive me for not making a note of the menu but I had some kind of chocolate cake.

It looked fantastic. I wasn't a big fan. Don't get me wrong there was nothing wrong with it. I ate it all. It just wasn't to my personal taste. It had quite strong taste that I wasn't overly keen on. It may have been marzipan but I can't remember... trip report fail

Sally had a crème Brulee

Chloe's was a carrot cake of some description.

They both really enjoyed their desserts. Emma had the Mickey Puzzle. She didn't really eat any of it but enjoyed painting it.

Our server also brought Emma her surprise for eating well. It was a cup of water with a glow cube in it. Emma was absolutely delighted and it was a nice touch.

We left about 20:00. I find it difficult to give my thoughts on this meal. You know when you really want to love something that you almost talk yourself into to it. My notes say, "enjoyed a really good meal", but I honestly feel that on the evening Sally and I were both in denial.
Our server, the ambience and the setting were, without a doubt, excellent. he food just didn't really hit the mark. The Porterhouse that Sally and I shared was nothing more than average. To be honest I had a fair few steaks on this holiday and it wouldn't have come ahead of any of them. Chloe's steak was over cooked and not jus ta little but by a margin. Looking back I can't believe I didn't send it back. All of that is before taking into account the cost of it. If I was paying OOP I don't know what I would have thought but it's never going to happen. We left an 18% gratuity and that with the bottle of wine probably cost as much as any of our off site meals alone. Having said all that we had a fabulous time in there. We really enjoyed each others company and everything about the place but the food. Despite all my moaning it was one of the most memorable evenings of our holiday. I think that makes me a bit fickle!

After we left The Yachtsman we decided to just have a little stroll. We walked through the Yacht Club around towards the Swan and Dolphin and on to The Boardwalk. Emma was in the mood for posing.

It was a lovely warm evening and we just soaked up the atmosphere. We were watching a magician and Benjamin woke and watched too.

We had a slow meander around the lake back towards The Beach Club. As we approached Illuminations started so we decided to sit on the bridge and watch from there. Emma was a little bit jumpy with the loud bangs saying she didn't like it so we had a slight concern how much she would enjoy any of the fireworks on the trip. Benjamin, however, was transfixed.

We got back to the hotel room and everyone was asleep as I lay in bed making a few notes by 22:30. Today was probably what I imagined as a perfect Disney day when planning the trip. It gave us a lot of fond memories which is probably the reason for the photo spam At this point though we were all knackered!

[Eccle]

It sounds like a great day, the castle shots are beautiful. Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Yachtsman, it’s one i’d really like to do, but i’m torn on priorities for our limited dining credits. I had even considered whether it was worth OOP, but on your experience it probably wouldn’t be worth the money

[DisneyDaffodil]

What a brilliant day you had 😀. We haven’t had breakfast in BoG, only lunch, but it does look very good. We love the theming in there. Emma and Benjamin seemed to love their day at MK, very brave on Haunted Mansion too. Benjamin’s face is a perfect picture watching the fireworks 😀. Shame you didn’t enjoy Yachtsman as much as expected, we haven’t tried it but may do so on our next trip (when we finally get back 😀 ) so will be checking lots of reports for opinions.
We did Jungle Cruise for the first time this trip too, we were laughing out loud at the cheesy jokes too (no one else on the boat did though 😃 )

[Goldia]

As you say the perfect Disney day! It sounds like a brilliant morning in MK, I loved all the photos on Main Street, plus the photo of chocolate and ice cream all over Benjamin's head! What a brilliant morning with all the fun rides and then the haircut, just lovely.

[caitlinsmummy]

Poor Sally, I can imagine what it's like, my OH sounds similar to you

Oh Emma's little face with Tinkerbelle, that's definitely one to treasure! Adorable.

We didn't know either, I panicked because I thought I'd bought chocolate milk for the boys. We ended up going and getting fountain drinks and a water for Noah as he doesn't drink soda, then the chocolate milk came out with the meals! :ermm:

We never managed 'it's a small world' but sounds like it's become a firm favourite of Emma's

We haven't seen the Tangled toilets I don't even know where the Tangled area is, you should definitely post them.

I love when babies entertain in the queue, I love nothing more than playing peekaboo or smiling at them, always cheers your day up ... until they cry

I did the same with the drinks, made everyone get free iced water instead of using snack credits not sure if it was the same for you but ended up being a massive mistake for us

Benjamin wiping on his head, the joys of toddlers. But just look at how happy he is in hte next picture haha, he's dead chuffed with himself!

Oh he looks so cute! What a handsome little man.

I hear you on the fussy kid's, if something doesn't look the same to Noah he won't even entertain it and Caitlin doesn't eat any sort of potatoes 🙄 it's a nightmare going out for food with those two

Such a shame about Chloe's steak, I've very mixed reviews of The Yachtsman. Oh Emma looks over the moon with the ice cube, well done Emma!

I think because your using the DDP you feel less inclined to complained as you don't feel like you've paid OOP? Or at least that's how I felt. I think it's the service and ambiance that's made it memorable for you, it's just a shame about the food.

Fab day and I can't wait to read about the rest xx

[Cinderella]

Great evening 👍

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Eccle

It sounds like a great day, the castle shots are beautiful. Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Yachtsman, it’s one i’d really like to do, but i’m torn on priorities for our limited dining credits. I had even considered whether it was worth OOP, but on your experience it probably wouldn’t be worth the money

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Looking back now I don't know if I have been too harsh on the Yachtsman. We had a lovely evening but just did not really rate the food. I personally would not be paying out of pocket based on the food we had but having said that I may have felt differently on another day. I had a reservation for California Grill which I was going to be paying OOP but cancelled it partly due to this meal. I just didn't feel paying for a signature would be good value for us. That's not to say I wouldn't try again in the future though.

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

What a brilliant day you had 😀. We haven’t had breakfast in BoG, only lunch, but it does look very good. We love the theming in there. Emma and Benjamin seemed to love their day at MK, very brave on Haunted Mansion too. Benjamin’s face is a perfect picture watching the fireworks 😀. Shame you didn’t enjoy Yachtsman as much as expected, we haven’t tried it but may do so on our next trip (when we finally get back 😀 ) so will be checking lots of reports for opinions.
We did Jungle Cruise for the first time this trip too, we were laughing out loud at the cheesy jokes too (no one else on the boat did though 😃 )

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It's only looking back now that I realise what a great day this was. I'm sure others would have had a fantastic meal at the Yachtsman but I just didn't feel ours was quite up to scratch. It was a nice unexpected treat to sit and watch the fireworks on the bridge. It's a real plus for the Beach Club

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Goldia

As you say the perfect Disney day! It sounds like a brilliant morning in MK, I loved all the photos on Main Street, plus the photo of chocolate and ice cream all over Benjamin's head! What a brilliant morning with all the fun rides and then the haircut, just lovely.

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Strangely he's still in the habit of rubbing things on his head... food, mud, paint... anything! It's a real treat

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

Poor Sally, I can imagine what it's like, my OH sounds similar to you

Oh Emma's little face with Tinkerbelle, that's definitely one to treasure! Adorable.

We didn't know either, I panicked because I thought I'd bought chocolate milk for the boys. We ended up going and getting fountain drinks and a water for Noah as he doesn't drink soda, then the chocolate milk came out with the meals! :ermm:

We never managed 'it's a small world' but sounds like it's become a firm favourite of Emma's

We haven't seen the Tangled toilets I don't even know where the Tangled area is, you should definitely post them.

I love when babies entertain in the queue, I love nothing more than playing peekaboo or smiling at them, always cheers your day up ... until they cry

I did the same with the drinks, made everyone get free iced water instead of using snack credits not sure if it was the same for you but ended up being a massive mistake for us

Benjamin wiping on his head, the joys of toddlers. But just look at how happy he is in hte next picture haha, he's dead chuffed with himself!

Oh he looks so cute! What a handsome little man.

I hear you on the fussy kid's, if something doesn't look the same to Noah he won't even entertain it and Caitlin doesn't eat any sort of potatoes 🙄 it's a nightmare going out for food with those two

Such a shame about Chloe's steak, I've very mixed reviews of The Yachtsman. Oh Emma looks over the moon with the ice cube, well done Emma!

I think because your using the DDP you feel less inclined to complained as you don't feel like you've paid OOP? Or at least that's how I felt. I think it's the service and ambiance that's made it memorable for you, it's just a shame about the food.

Fab day and I can't wait to read about the rest xx

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We soon leant to start using snack credits for drinks otherwise we never would have got through them all.
I hope Emma becomes less fussy but heaven knows how long that's going to take.
I think you're right about the DDP. It's easy to forget you have definitely stumped up the cash one way or another for the meals.