Day 10 - Back once again like a Floriday Master - MK/Red Robin

[Man v Disney]

Welcome to our first double digit day! This means that we are over a third of a way through our trip and in some ways it feels like we have been here forever and in others, it’s just speeding by!

Today was going to be a half park day, with the morning at Magic Kingdom then a chill out afternoon getting ready for the Descendants 3 TV premier which we were going to watch at the villa as it has Disney Channel.

A check of the weather app’s first thing had us a little apprehensive as there was a tropical wave moving in which was expected to bring heavy rain with it. We still had our plans though and decided that we would continue anyway and use our ponchos if necessary… unless a ride or experienced is cancelled due to the weather, we will be there – front row hands up!

After we all managed to wake up on time and get breakfasted we put on our suncream, not expecting that it would get much use today! After a steady drive up to MK we pulled into the Simba parking lot and were on row 123. Even though it was still before 9.30am there were a lot of people in and the bag check queues were quite long. This time I managed to find a quick queue and we were through in no time at all and onto the Ferry after only a short wait.

This stills bring back memories of our first trip when we had our first visit to MK and went over on the ferry. I love that sight! There was a nervy moment when Josiah gave Eliana his iphone to do a time lapse and Han was convinced it would end up in the water… we formed a protective barrier around her and it didn’t happen! Phew!

I went ahead to get a return time for Space Mountain - Josiah was quite nervous about this but wanted to give it a go anyway as he regretted backing out of it last time. It started to rain a little as I headed over there and the sky was looking ominous, so I donned a poncho and once I got the return time, I went over to Winnie the Pooh to meet the others for our first fastpass. Not a usual FP choice but we had fastpassed this to try and make sure we hit all rides at MK over our three visits.

The ride is very cute and can be a bit bumpy at some stages when we were ‘bouncing like Tiggers’ and in the dark bit, Han joked to Josiah to watch out for the dinosaur after his sheer shock at Animal Kingdom on that ride yesterday!

Once we were off the ride we headed over to our next fastpass at Dumbo, stopping for a go on the Mad Hatters Tea Party ride as this had only a 5 minute wait. I went with Eliana and Han was with Josiah and I’m not sure which of us had the spinniest ride but what I do know if that Han couldn’t walk in a straight line as she came off it!

It was certainly busy as we headed into the Circusland (past Small World with the longest wait time we have ever seen at 25 mins! The queue was outside) and given the weather, Han and I had decided to not get a return time for 7 Dwarves as planned, as we suspected it would be cancelled looking at the dark clouds overhead.

Dumbo was fun, although Han and I seemed to get stuck riding at the maximum height, until it automatically went down at the end. The kids were up and down like yo-yos so, given Han’s tea cup experience it was probably good we were on a steady ride!

Once we were off this we headed over to our return time for Space Mountain while Han popped into the Storybook Circus shop and checked out the food selection (although didn't buy anything)

Space Mountain was fab and once Josiah had completely convinced himself that there would be no inversions he was able to enjoy the whole ride. He described it as being at a bit of a 7 Dwarves but in the dark. I found it a bit like Dinosaur in that it is quite jerky and you don’t know what will happen next! Eliana feels it needs to be quicker, she is now used to that sort of thing and wants to really push herself at Universal & Busch Gardens!

We wandered over to Gastons Tavern to meet Han and she had just picked up a gift for her Mum and Dad and was chilling out near Gaston’s fountain and had passed the Beast's Castle.

The sun was shining and the sky had cleared, the suncream was certainly getting a good run out today now that the clouds had cleared. There was still rain expected, but not until around 3pm or so as the storm has re-routed! Bonus for us as we had prepared ourselves for a 2nd rainy MK day. Our next stop was a visit to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This only had a 10 minute standby and was enjoyable and ticked another one off the list. The animatronics in this are great and it’s very easy to sit back and enjoy.

Having checked our weather app, Han decided she would now get a return time for the 3 adventurous ones on 7 Dwarves as the forecast had improved. She had booked it as soon as we had been on Space Mountain for 80 minutes out so a good portion of that time had already gone – we just had to fill the rest of the time!

Han and Josiah had seen an article with the LeFou’s brew from Gaston’s Tavern and when we got in, there was an option to get it in a souvenier Stein so they got that and both enjoyed this a lot!

From here we went to one of Han’s favourite experiences in the whole of Disney – Mickey’s Philharmagic. Unfortunately we were some of the last in the theatre and ended up on the very front row and at the very end of the row so this took some of the joy out of it as it was so close and you didn’t get the whole screen experience. What was particularly entertaining though, was a massive family group behind us who had obviously never seen it before and were effusive in their excitement for each new scene and they really were excited!

Our final fastpass of the day was for Haunted Mansion, it was quick to get through the queue again and we really enjoyed the queueing area with the gravestones, the waiting area and the ride itself, particularly our hitchhikers!

We were starting to get very hungry and so headed over to 7 Dwarves for our return time. We were able to get on this quickly with Josiah and I together and Eliana sat with the extra person from another group. It was fun as always and we agreed the ride could be a little longer.

Unfortunately, the family in the fastpass queue ahead of us had got the wrong end of the stick about how fastpasses worked – they thought that because they had the magic bands they could just go to any ride fastpass line and that was it. They were very cross when they realised they had to pre-book but the cast member was very patient with them and told them where in the park they could go to book at a podium.

We met Han at the Peoplemover but the queue was long and not moving so left the park at this point, deciding we would head there first thing on our next MK day. We decided to get the monorail then the tram back to the car and drove to our lunch at Red Robin through the start of the bad weather.

We were very well welcomed by Chris who was our server. He really loved the UK and chatted to us quite a lot about the similarities and differences. He kept asking us to say words in our English (own) accents and was so excited each time.

This is definitely a place to try if you haven’t been before! Almost all of their entrees come with bottomless sides which you can mix each time.
Han had the onion soup and BLTA (bacon, lettuce, turkey and avocado) croissant combo, Josiah went for the Teriyaki Chicken Burger with bottomless fries, Eliana had plain burger and fries and I went for the Southern Charm burger and fries.

Han says that the onion soup was amazing and better than the one she had at Be Our Guest last time (which we ummed and ahhed about this time – pretty much only for that soup!) and loved the combo with the croissant.

Josiah and Eliana polished theirs off in no time and I could have eaten mine, with the Tennessee Whisky Sauce, twice over!

I ordered more fries and then we asked for a salted caramel milkshake, oreo milkshake and the Fruffles (chocolate brownie sticks, covered in dark chocolate with sea salt and sugar crystals on top served with raspberry dipping ‘ketchup’) to go.

The bill came to $67.86 and we tipped up to $81.50 due to amazing service.

We popped to Target (again) to top up with Tropical and High Pulp OJ, loo rolls and more salty chocolate pretzel goodies that Han found last time. We also found some powerade and beers mysteriously landed in the trolley!

We got home and Han and I shared the Fruffles which were just as good as they sound!

The kids went into the pool for 2 or 3 hours while Han and I wrote up yesterday’s report and looked at the plan to make sure we were still happy with it.

At 8pm, Han and the kids settled in front of the TV and after a touching little montage and tribute to Cameron Boyce who played Carlos and died recently, they watched Descendants 3. I may, more may not have watched out of the corner of my eye as I wrote this report!

Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom, Olive Garden and then back to AK in the evening to see if we can watch Rivers of Light.

[RachelE]

Thank you for your trip reports - I am really enjoying them.

[Eccle]

Another great day, you seemed to get through loads in MK for the time you were there! Red Robin isn’t somewhere I have really come across but it looks good.

I am jealous you got to see Descendants 3, we are hoping there will still be replays on when we get there as the boys are desperate to see it (and me too really!)

[sheluk]

All caught up! What a fabulous time you are having. Thanks so much for sharing your holiday time with us lot stuck at home!

The kids seem to be so well behaved & they are both doing great trying all the rides out.

Lots of great things to eat as well - shows how cheap off site is to on site, even with the ddp the tips soon add up.

Have another great day!

[Man v Disney]

Originally Posted by Eccle

Another great day, you seemed to get through loads in MK for the time you were there! Red Robin isn’t somewhere I have really come across but it looks good.

I am jealous you got to see Descendants 3, we are hoping there will still be replays on when we get there as the boys are desperate to see it (and me too really!)

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Thanks for reading. Our general rule is that we play hard and rest hard while here! Make the most of your time in the park, the MDE app is your friend!

I 'didnt' watch Descendants 3 out of the corner of my eye!

[Man v Disney]

Originally Posted by sheluk

All caught up! What a fabulous time you are having. Thanks so much for sharing your holiday time with us lot stuck at home!

The kids seem to be so well behaved & they are both doing great trying all the rides out.

Lots of great things to eat as well - shows how cheap off site is to on site, even with the ddp the tips soon add up.

Have another great day!

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Thanks for reading. In terms of meals we researched a lot beforehand, how else do you fill the time between booking and going? T

he kids have been great, that's not to say there hasn't been moments, but lets be honest no kids are perfect all of the time. Both keep thanking us for the holiday, Josiah particularly after a meal he enjoys a lot! This has happened quite a bit