The 3 Mouseketeers Non-Stop WDW Adventure (Aug 2018) Day 3 - 3 parks

[Custancia]

Day 2 can be found here

Be warned you might want to sit down with a mug or glass of something before you start reading today's write-up! It's turned out quite long

It was an early start today, as we wanted to be at Hollywood Studios for the extra early magic hours starting at 7am. We had breakfast in our room, having bought things from the Food Court the night before. DD, fittingly, had a Millennial Cupcake. DH had his favourite – a magic cookie. I went for the slightly more traditional breakfast option of blueberry and pecan overnight oats. This was accompanied by coffee made with the machine in the room. I appear to have completely failed to take any pictures of this (but it was quite early )

We got the bus to Hollywood Studios at 6.20 am, and were there by 6.40am. We were held on the ‘street’ inside the Studios entrance. There were quite a lot of people waiting!

See look how early it was (sorry for the blurry photo - early morning humidity!)

Then at 6.50am, we were led into Toy Storyland.

We were really impressed with the detailed theming.

We had intended to go on the Aliens spinning ride, but it had some tech issues and wasn’t up and running yet, so we headed over to Toy Story Mania instead. It was a walk-on, to the extent that we went round once, and then were able to stay in our seats and go round a second time!
After this Aliens was still tech, so we joined the 40 minute queue for Slinky Dog.

It was a Disney 40 minutes , so it actually only took us 25 minutes.
We also tried out Disney Play in the queue – which was fun (even if we did struggle to follow some basic instructions on using it occasionally).

We all really enjoyed this ride, including DD who had been uncertain about going on, as she holds a view that she doesn’t like coasters. (I say ‘holds a view’ as her favourite ride is Big Thunder Mountain!) . DH’s favourite bit was probably being able to see over into the building site of Galaxy’s edge!

Aliens, by this time, was starting to recover – to the extent that half of it was working, and the other half was still shut. Anyway, it wasn’t a long queue so we went on this ride too!

DH was uncertain how he’d feel as he hates spinning rides, and can’t go on the Teacups ride, but he actually really liked it and found it really thematic, and didn’t make him feel too sick! He really loves the Aliens in Toy Story.

It was probably about 8.20 by this time, and DH was desperate to go to Andy’s lunch box

DH really wanted to get a drink in the Aliens souvenir cup, so this is what we did! We also got two cups of iced water, and added some squirty squash to them.

Then we headed out of Toy Story land - did I mention that we loved the theming!?

DH insisted that we call in at the Star Tours ride. Apparently, we visited Jakku, Krate and Batu (the Galaxy’s Edge planet).

We had an ADR at Crystal Palace at 10.30am, so we needed to head over to Magic Kingdom – we’d booked this for breakfast on our first park day (as it’s now a family tradition), but then the extra early hours at Hollywood Studios were announced, so we decided to make the most of our UK body clocks and come here first.

As we were walking out we saw some autograph books for sale, and realised that we didn’t have one for our Character meal , so we quickly bought one before we left Hollywood Studios.

The building work and the hoardings made it hard to locate the bus stop we needed, but we managed and were soon headed over to Magic Kingdom.

Sorry, long stretch with no photos - are you still awake?

We arrived at Magic Kingdom with a little while before our ADR, so I went to collect a birthday pin from Guest Services (as it was my birthday shortly before our holiday). DD had decided to disneybound as Snow White today, in a yellow skirt, blue top, and a Descendants necklace. She and DH spotted Snow White doing a meet and greet whilst waiting for me, so went over to speak to her. They reached the front of the (small) queue just as I came out. DD really enjoyed the interaction, and apparently Snow White was very impressed with her dress sense!

We were still a little early for our ADR, so we went into the Emporium on Main Street for a look around. I was half-hoping to bump into Cast Member Charlotte, who had been writing about her experiences working at WDW over the summer on the Dibb, but instead I fell into conversation with a CM, Gloria. She wished me Happy Birthday (having seen my pin) and asked about my plans for the day, and suggested I ask Tigger how high he could bounce at Crystal Palace.. I explained I’d managed to temporarily lose DH and DD in the shop and asked if she’d seen DD (as she was pretty noticeable in her disneybounding outfit). Gloria spotted her, so left me to go over to DD saying “Let me guess where you’re going next…. Is it Crystal Palace? And let me guess your favourite character… Piglet? ” DD wasn’t taken in, and just said “Have you been speaking to my mum?!”

We arrived at Crystal Palace at 10.20 am for our 10.30 reservation. It was quite busy, so we weren’t seated until 10.45.

However, quite a few tables cleared out whilst we were there. We had some great interactions with Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger (who really could bounce high!).

We’d brought along DD’s much loved Piglet, and had fun introducing the two Piglets to each other. Piglet made a big fuss of our Piglet!

We ate and drank plenty!

Even some healthy stuff

Then, as we were close to full, Frankie our excellent server pointed out that the lunch offerings were now available and strongly encouraged us to try them!

And then, as we were preparing to leave he bought over not one but 3 cakes to celebrate my birthday!

By the time we left we were completely stuffed, and it was nearly noon. So we headed back to Riverside. DH and I were in need of a lie down, but DD wanted to head over to the main Pool, so we agreed we’d join her there in a little while.

After a bit of a rest, DH and I wandered over to the main pool area - and did our good deed for the day in helping a completely disorientated lady with a map find her way to her building. We cooled down in the pool, and also bought a couple of cocktails at the pool. DD and DH had a non-alcoholic ‘lava’ cocktail, whilst I had an Odwalla lemonade. If I recall correctly (but I might not!) non-alcoholic cocktails, in non-souvenir glasses, counted as a snack credit. Either way, it was handy being able to use our magic bands to pay, and not having to worry about carrying round cash/cards by the pool.

We had plans for the evening (of course – I love planning our Disney holidays!) and headed back to our room to get ready to go out. We got the bus to Animal Kingdom at 4.45, which was when our Fastpass for Dinosaur was starting… but it was all Ok. We wandered though Dinoland, admiring all the theming, even extending to the bins!

And we still got there within the hour window!

DD isn’t keen on this ride. I suspect its because when we first went, we told her that it was just a museum, and then surprised her when it was actually a ride!

But she says it's because it's too scary (apparently! ) so insisted that she would only do it if we were on row 2 (so not on the front, or the back, rows). I requested this, and the Cast Member asked us to stand to one side, then put us on the next vehicle on row 2. After we set off, DD was not too happy when she looked around and realised that there was no-one sat on the back row! No dinosaurs gobbled her up though… Not even the one on the way out.

Our next Fastpass was now ready, so we wandered across taking in the theming. I really love Animal Kingdom.

And then we were onto Expedition Everest. DD (who, you may recall, holds a view that she doesn’t like coasters) loves this ride, and really enjoyed it.

Not so much DH and I. The last time I went on it, I came off feeling a bit travel sick. This time was worse, and DH felt much the same way. I have a horrible feeling that it’s not that the ride has changed, and it’s more to do with us getting a little older. (Those of you who made it through Day 2 may be noticing a theme here for DH )

Next up was our 6.30pm ADR at Yak and Yeti (we were making full use of our Table Service credits today!). I’d deliberately planned Expedition Everest for before dinner, rather than just afterwards, but I’m glad there was a short, 15 minutes, wait for a table to give us time to recover from it. We’d not been to Yak and Yeti restaurant before, but DD had been researching WDW restaurants and decided that we should request a table by the window upstairs. We got it, and it was a lovely table, slightly off the main room so a little bit quieter. Not quite as much theming, but we got to see lots as we walked through the main areas and the view from the window was really relaxing.

Ryan from Boulder was our server, and he gave us some good recommendations. We didn’t feel rushed at all during the meal.
I had a Yak Attack to drink and DH had a Tropical Daiquiri (Mango flavour).

DD had the non-alcoholic Strawberry Daiquiri,

I had the Miso Salmon to eat. I love Salmon, so I really enjoyed this dish.

DH had the Coconut Shrimp. He also really enjoyed his dish.

DD had the Lobster and Shrimp noodles (she’s always been quite adventurous in her tastes). I think she and DH may have shared their mains... I wasn't going to share my salmon!

I had the Cheesecake for dessert.

DH had the sorbet for dessert.

DD had the pineapple and cream cheese wontons for dessert.

Then it was time to head over for our third fastpass of the day. We’d managed to get Flight of Passage! We wandered over to Pandora, and were impressed by the theming.

Then we joined the Fastpass queue for FoP. My notes just say WOW! We all really, really enjoyed this ride. Whilst we were in the ride, it had gone dark outside, so when we came out of the ride back into the Pandora landscaping it was all lit up and looked amazing. This is another pre-dark photo, but you get the idea!

It had been an amazing day seeing both Toy Story Land and Pandora for the first time; but a very long day. So we headed back to Riverside. Back at our room, we collapsed into bed. Both DH and DD were fast asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillow. I didn’t even write up my notes for the day! We’d lasted until 9.30pm.

Day 4 is here

[GezzasGem]

Impressive stamina! 😄 great that you got to do so much in just one day, I would have failed miserably I'm sure! Looking forward to the rest 👍

[Ivegottadream]

Wow! I'm in awe of three parks in one day. Yak and yeti looks really good 😁

Loved your nails on pre travel day, where did you get the decals?

[tory79]

That is an incredibly busy day! Sounds amazing though - you got so much done x

[Palm trees]

What a fab day. I love Yak and Yeti, unfortunately we haven't managed to get a reservation on our upcoming trip.

[Goldia]

Sounds like a brilliant first Disney day. We loved the 7am HS EMH last summer.

For someone who doesn't like coasters your DD seems to be enjoying them pretty well!

[Cinderella]

3 parks that is good going 👍

[Custancia]

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

Impressive stamina! 😄 great that you got to do so much in just one day, I would have failed miserably I'm sure! Looking forward to the rest 👍

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I think we were completely fueled by Disney excitement - and getting to go to new lands/rides. I was amazed by how much we did, when I was writing it up!

Originally Posted by Ivegottadream

Wow! I'm in awe of three parks in one day. Yak and yeti looks really good 😁

Loved your nails on pre travel day, where did you get the decals?

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Yak and Yeti was so good! I'd tried their quick service, so really wanted to try to restaurant - and really glad we did

We got the decals off Etsy - we ordered two sets; one was from Storybook Nails, and the other I can't remember (and I think it was those you saw in the photo). They were quite easy to apply, and we sealed with a top coat of clear polish. They didn't survive the day at Discovery cove though ( But that was probably asking quite a lot of them - and we had enough to just redo our nails!)

[Custancia]

Originally Posted by tory79

That is an incredibly busy day! Sounds amazing though - you got so much done x

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It was such a fabulous day - we were so tired by the time we got to bed though

Originally Posted by Palm trees

What a fab day. I love Yak and Yeti, unfortunately we haven't managed to get a reservation on our upcoming trip.

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I'll keep my fingers crossed that a reservation opens up for you!

Originally Posted by Goldia

Sounds like a brilliant first Disney day. We loved the 7am HS EMH last summer.

For someone who doesn't like coasters your DD seems to be enjoying them pretty well!

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It was a great use of our early UK body clocks to go to the super early HS EMH.

DD is so funny, she is really hard work to persuade to go on coasters now. It's touch and go if she'll chicken out. But then, if I get her on it - it's hands in the air, whooping all the way!

Originally Posted by Cinderella

3 parks that is good going 👍

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My original plan was much less ambitious - 9am MK with 10.30 ADR and then back to AK late afternoon. But then they announced the 7am HS and it was just too tempting!

I look at people doing 4 park challenges, and think 'how can they manage that'. But 3 parks was quite fun

[Jules32]

what a fab day, really enjoying your reports. x