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Old 19 May 19, 04:11 PM  
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Newlyweds in the Caribbean: Curse of the DLXDDP - Day 13 - Magic Kingdom & Epcot

Newlyweds in the Caribbean: Curse of the DLXDDP - Day 13

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Tuesday 11th September

Magic Kingdom & Epcot

Lunch at The Plaza Restaurant, Dinner at Le Cellier

I was definitely ready for a return to Magic Kingdom – it had been three days and I was missing it desperately!

We got up at 7am and did our normal morning routine – I spent far too long getting ready and Ollie brought back hot chocolate to the room for me (I don’t drink tea or coffee so like a morning sugar hit in lieu of caffeine).

We were at the bus stop for 8am and didn’t have to wait too long for a bus. Generally, the buses to and from French Quarter were really good. We only shared with Riverside at non peak times and never to and from the Magic Kingdom. Much better bus service than at Saratoga Springs on our last trip (it took forever just to leave the hotel property).

Our fastpasses and reservations for the day looked like this –











There was a long queue for bag check at MK, but at least they were being thorough and there are plenty of stations.

Once through, there was still some time until the park opened so went to guest services to ask about lost property. I thought it was a long shot getting back the personalised button I lost on Space Mountain, but a cast member recommended we give it a shot. We were told that all lost property goes to Disney Springs and to try there instead.

Some Halloween theming –





It was soon time for the welcome show. This was cute and featured lots of characters, but I do miss the show on the railway station. It’s not the same without a ‘good morning’ song to start your day!





As soon as the park opened we made our way over to Splash Mountain. Cast members walked us over in a reasonably calm manner.

The Liberty Belle river was completely drained –





We made it to Splash and were on the first boat of the day.









We were lucky to be in the back seat of the boat – the people in the front seat got absolutely drenched. Fortunately, I only had a light drizzle – Ollie fared slightly worse as the person on the right always comes off soggier.

I do have a real soft spot for Splash Mountain and always enjoy that it’s quite a long ride.



Time to get competitive next and ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.



I don’t have our scores written down, but I do know that I won! (There is a slightly pouty photo of Ollie at the end of the ride to prove it).

On our way over to Space Mountain we noticed it was down, and checked my emails (as the app wouldn’t load) to see we had been assigned an anytime fastpass. After a quick restroom stop, Space Mountain was up and running again. As it had a wait time of 10 minutes, we didn’t use our FP and used the standby line instead. This ride is a real favourite of ours. Expect us to ride Space Mountain a few more times over the course of the trip…

On our way to Fantasyland, we stopped off at the Cheshire Café to pick up one of the Cheshire cat tails for a snack credit.







It’s basically a chocolate twist pastry, but I really like these, so that was ok with me! It was made even better by adding lots of multi coloured icing.

I somehow managed to convince Ollie to ride It’s a Small World next. He must have been on a sugar rush from the Cheshire cat tail.







Is it really a trip to the Magic Kingdom if you don’t ride It’s a Small World?





I just about caught the goodbye screen at the end, which I thought was a cute touch!

Next stop was Mickey’s Phillarmagic, where we waited about 10 minutes until the next show. It was pretty quiet in here, but I suppose it was still the morning.

I do love this show and only managed to see it once this trip. Although I find it impossible to keep my eyes open at the end of the Be Our Guest segment when the champagne bottles are popping!

It was then time for our Big Thunder FP. I’m not a fan of the communal lap bar on this ride as I never feel that strapped in. However, I suppose the ride isn’t too ‘thrill’ in the grand scheme of things, so I’m probably ok!



I was really loving BTM this trip. I also fell in love with BTM at Paris on our sneaky May trip.

We had an early lunch reservation at The Plaza next. With all these meals on the deluxe dining plan, you’ve got to get your lunches in early to manage dinner! View of the castle en route –



Our ADR was 11.20am at The Plaza restaurant. Although, looking at what we ordered, you probably would think we went to the ice cream parlour next door instead!



The restaurant is tiny, but I liked the theming. Very light and bright in a similar in style to Crystal Palace.





To drink, we shared an All-You-Care-To-Enjoy Milk Shake - Hand-dipped Milk Shake topped with Whipped Cream and a Cherry. $9.00



We started with mint choc chip. Mint choc chip is one of my favourite ice cream flavours and it made for a surprisingly refreshing milkshake.

We also got a diet coke to share and two big glasses of water.

There weren’t a lot of appetisers to choose from, but we both knew in advance what we’d be having (after being championed on the Disney Food Blog).

Plaza Loaded Fries - French Fries topped with Melted Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Ranch Dressing - $9.00



These were a big hit with both of us. Yes, we both finished our portions.

For our mains, we chose two dishes to share -

Baked Honey-Barbecued Brisket Mac & Cheese - Baked Pasta in Cheddar Cheese Sauce sprinkled with Crispy-fried Onions and Scallions topped with a Savory Barbecued Beef Brisket - $21.00



Chicken-Strawberry Salad - Fresh Garden Greens, Grilled Chicken Breast, Cucumbers, fresh Strawberries, and Gorgonzola tossed in a White Zinfandel Vinaigrette Dressing - $18.00



The topping on the mac n cheese was nice, but I didn’t care for the mac n cheese itself. It was a bit too yellow in colour. I often find that (probably) packet mac n cheese can taste a bit sweet. We sampled a few this trip and this just wasn’t up there (honourable mentions go to Chef Art’s and California Grill).

The salad was a delightful surprise. It’s not often you find us going for a salad as a main course, but this was lovely. Packed full of chicken, strawberries, croutons and blue cheese, but still really light.



For dessert, again we shared two dishes -

Butterscotch Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream - Warm Butterscotch Bread Pudding topped with Caramel Sauce, Butterscotch Morsel, and Vanilla Ice Cream - $9.00



Banana split – A ripe banana and 3 scoops of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry) topped with hot fudge, strawberry sauce, crushed pineapple, chopped nuts, whipped cream and a cherry - $10.00



The banana split was nice, but we didn’t really make much of a dent in it. It did have pineapple and strawberries in, so it completely counts as healthy.

I rarely pass up on a bread pudding if it’s on the menu. I often claim the ‘Ohana bread pudding to be one of my favourite desserts in the world (the whole world, not Disney World). This bread pudding was delicious and up there with ‘Ohana for me. I highly recommend!

We also got a second portion of the refillable milkshake, this time in a cookies and cream flavour. I do wonder if anyone can manage more than this on the unlimited refills!



By my calculations, I think we had 12 portions of ice cream between us during this meal…

During the meal, the young boy at the table next to us was made the Junior Mayor of Main Street and awarded a certificate and fastpasses for his whole family. It’s touches like this that make the Disney parks really special.

On our way to our next fastpass, I somehow got roped into the Main Street Marching Band show! I was handed a flag and stood with a crowd of volunteers, waving as patriotically as I could!





Next was our fastpass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Always a fun ride!







However, a bit of a disaster at the end of the ride – my Minnie ears broke . The hair band part had snapped in two. (My head isn't that big!)

To try and get over the disappointment, we went to ride Space Mountain, using the anytime fastpass.





While the ride did help, I was still sad about the Minnie Ears. We headed to the Emporium next to buy a new pair. Fortunately, there were lots of the classic style to choose from.



Ollie got chatting to a Cast member on the shop floor about them, who said if I took a pair to the desk they would exchange them for free, which was very kind of her. I chose my pair (with the best spot placement on the bow) and took them to the checkout.

The lady behind the till was a little sceptical about our conversation. I had to convince her they were a genuine Disney pair, as she didn’t like that the white label had been cut out. I always do this as I think they look a bit silly with the large white label visible. They were a genuine pair – I bought them during our 2013 trip.

Eventually she let me have the pair of ears. It was good customer service of Disney to let me have a new pair for free and I was very grateful.

It wasn’t too far off the parade now, so we went to suss out a spot. Main Street was very busy, so we headed up to the train station as we wanted to exit the park quickly after the parade. An area was roped off, but with about 15 minutes to go the cast member took away the rope and let us stand there, which was an ideal spot. Ollie went off to get some cups of water as it was very hot, and the nearest place he could find any was Casey’s Corner. Somehow he managed to carry back 6 cups! We gave some to the family next to us who we chatted to a bit.

The spot was perfect for the parade and we had a great view of all the floats.

Edited at 04:14 PM.
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Old 19 May 19, 04:13 PM  
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Annoyingly, we just missed a bus back to French Quarter after the parade. It’s inevitable on a trip, but it was a pain waiting 20 minutes .

Once back at the hotel, we filled up our mugs in the food court. Ollie probably tried some elaborate concoction from the coke freestyle machines, while I went for the tried and tested coke zero vanilla. Back in the room, we may have added some of the Jamaican rum to our mugs…

We also managed to book a Fastpass for Soarin at 6.25pm, which would work well before our dinner reservation this evening.



Despite what it says, it was for 2 people and not 0!

Whilst getting ready for dinner, we caught up on how Hurricane Florence was doing. Love a bit of the Weather Channel!

We left the room around 5.35pm and waited about 15 minutes for a bus to Epcot (the bus waiting times screen could have said anything…)

As always, the queue for bag check at Epcot was insanely long. Lots of people entering for an evening of Food and Wine Festival snacks! I suggested that Ollie went to the Art of Disney shop whilst waiting for me.



Eventually I made it through bag check and met Ollie. He was eyeing up the Metal Earth figures on display and had seen the Mickey Wheel from California Adventure on display, which he loved (we will make it to Disneyland one day!) I asked a Cast member, but unfortunately they didn’t have any in stock.

We headed over to The Land next to use our Soarin FP. The standby line said 15 minutes, which was really reasonable! It only took us a few minutes and we were flying over the world.

It was then time to check in for our Le Cellier reservation, which I was really excited for.

We ate here during 2013 and had an ok meal. Ollie was feeling a bit under the weather and my steak was cooked a bit unevenly, which didn’t help. I had the most amazing meal here in 2011 – this was back when it was one credit which was amazing value!

We had a short wait for our reservation, but I liked how they had chilled water available in the waiting area. The gardens around Le Cellier are beautiful – as we have recently been researching our 2019 Canada trip, I know now they are based on the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island.







We were soon seated in the Newfoundland section and given Happily Ever After menus, which were a nice touch.



Our server soon came over and talked us through the different provinces represented in the restaurant. She had a real Disney Princess vibe about her and was really cute.

To drink we shared two cocktails -

Blueberry Icewine Martini - Dillon's Small Batch Vodka, Château des Charmes Vidal, and Muddled Blueberries - $14.00

The Montreal 75 - Dillon's Craft Gin #22 with Neige Sparkling Wine blended with Peach Purée and fresh Lime Juice - $14.75



I championed ordering the martini – having now sampled 2 martinis this trip (my first ever) I felt like this was a good cocktail for me!
Both of the drinks were delicious. I was really enjoying having alcoholic drinks included on the dining plan, as it meant we could justify having one with most meals and being a bit more adventurous. If paying out of pocket, you tend to go with something you definitely know you’ll like (ie rum and fruit) rather than trying something a bit different.

We were brought out the bread basket, and our super cute server explained which provinces each bread represented. She noticed we finished the pretzel bread first (obviously) so brought us out some more of those!





The reason we got through the pretzel bread so quickly? It was the perfect accompaniment to our appetisers.

We both went for the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup - Moosehead Pale Ale and Nueske’s Applewood-smoked Bacon - $12.00



One of the iconic dishes from Le Cellier and it didn’t disappoint.

For mains, we both went for Le Cellier Filet Mignon - AAA Canadian Tenderloin, Mushroom Risotto, Asparagus-Tomato Relish, Truffle-Butter Sauce - $59.00, cooked medium rare.



This was cooked really well and the filet melted in your mouth. One of my top steaks of the trip! I’ve always been a bit sceptical about risotto with a steak in the past, but really enjoyed this accompaniment this time.

I was really happy with my choices for my first two courses, but struggled a bit with my dessert choice. Generally, I struggled a bit at most signature choosing a dessert. This is unusual for me, as I am quite partial to a sweet treat. However, I really hate anything coffee flavoured (the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning makes me feel a bit ill). I also really dislike peanut butter and am not a big fan of cherries. These three seemed to feature in most signature dessert menus this trip, meaning my choices were somewhat limited.

I decided to go for the - Chocolate Maple Yukon Bar - Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Maple Ganache, Shortbread Cookie Crust, Whisky Caramel Sauce, Raspberry - $11.00



This was nice and I do tend to favour a chocolate based dessert. However, it wasn’t amazing.

Ollie went for the cherry mousse seasonal special, which I can’t find on the online menu.



It had a sheet of white chocolate over the glass when it was presented to him. Our server then poured hot cherry sauce over it, to make this fun hidden Mickey! The presentation was excellent and he enjoyed the dish too.

I also liked that we got ‘congratulations’ white chocolate plaques, which was a nice touch.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Le Cellier and was one of our top signature restaurants.

We exited not too long before the start of Illuminations, but managed to find the most amazing viewing spot just to the right of the Yorkshire County Fish Shop (but separate from the tables for customers).

It really added to the impact of the show watching it from such a great spot.





Illuminations has never been up there for me with Wishes or Happily Ever After, but I do really enjoy it. That being said, I am excited to see the new Epcot firework show.

It was now officially extra magic hours and we decided to walk around the World Showcase. We stopped off at the bakery in France, hoping to get one of the roulle lard de fromage (as recommended by the Disney Food Blog) to have for breakfast the next morning. Unfortunately, they were out and somehow we managed to decline the other tasty looking treats.

The next stop was Karamel Kuche in Germany, where I picked up a salted caramel cupcake and Ollie got a caramel apple. These would have to do for breakfast tomorrow instead! They helpfully put them in plastic tubs to help us transport them safely.

In Mexico, we enjoyed the Coco displays by the entrance to the pavilion. Excellent film, in our opinion.





Ollie purchased this skull ($11.95), which is both cute and creepy all at the same time. (Queue various Hamlet jokes). They were selling similar in Cozumel port during the cruise, which were actually more expensive.





We then took a ride on the Three Caballeros boat tour and had our own boat. This ride does have a certain charm to it. However, does anyone else think a Coco theme on this ride would be amazing? A great soundtrack!





We then had a good browse in Mousegear, where lots of people were commenting on the cupcake I was carrying around!

I managed to spot the Metal Earth fun wheel from earlier, so bought this as I hadn’t seen it anywhere else.

After this, we made a slow walk out the park. Fortunately, a bus turned up just as we arrived, which is always a bonus. The bus ride back was very quick, which was good as we were both tired after a long day!

Day 14 - Hollywood Studios & Magic Kingdom

Edited at 08:26 PM.
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Old 19 May 19, 05:13 PM  
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What a lovely bit of Disney magic getting your free ears. Thanks for sharing your trip report with us, I'm really enjoying reading along.
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Old 27 May 19, 08:14 PM  
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Originally Posted by Palm trees View Post
What a lovely bit of Disney magic getting your free ears. Thanks for sharing your trip report with us, I'm really enjoying reading along.
Thanks for reading
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