All Villa No Filler - Day 13: The Wave breakfast, Magic Kingdom, Red Lobster dinner

[Stewboy]

The Index

Thursday 3rd August 2017

We broke with the usual morning routine when Jo, feeling spontaneous, suggested we have breakfast at the Wave. Never one to turn down a buffet, I said yes instantly, and thankfully a reservation was available and booked, all before Isabella was even out of bed!

Once she was awake, Isabella was as excited as we were (she’s also a fan of a good buffet), and after tea (Jo and I) and milk (Isabella) in bed, we all got ready and by 9:25am we had arrived at the Contemporary Resort.

There was more than just breakfast that had lured us here - we were spending the morning in Magic Kingdom, so a reservation at the Wave meant we could park up, eat, and use the handy walkway and bag check in to Magic Kingdom, no T&TC tram, ferry/monorail hassle for us today!

After checking in and being seating in the Wave we hit the buffet. Multiple trips were made and various selections of pastries, fruit, hot food, and yoghurt were consumed. I always find at this point in the holiday, I’m a bit bored of the usual breakfast fare, so a trip to the Wave is perfect as they have such an eclectic mix of offerings. This also applied to the drinks - I opted for a lemon and ginger herbal (urbal) tea instead of the usual coffee (we usually drink it at least once a day at home, and I was missing it).





Pretending to study the menu (she knows she wants buffet!)


I love how she does this rather than demand iPhones or iPads to play on


Fruity art


Pastries


Yogurt


Fruit


Hot stuff


More hot stuff


Mickey waffles etc.


Other food


Yum


Yum yum


Yum yum yum


Yum yum yum yum


Yum yum yum yum yum


Yum x6


I think you've got the idea now

The Wave breakfast was great, and once we’d had our fill (total cost: $50.27 with the 20% Annual Passholder discount) it was time to head over to Magic Kingdom.

As you you take the walkway from the Contemporary, there is now a bag check just before you reach Magic Kingdom. It wasn’t busy, and by 10:45am we were on Main Street USA heading for our first stop of the day: Princess Fairytale Hall to meet Cinderella and Elena (of Avalor - the new princess animated show on the Disney Channel).


On our way to meet some Princesses




Elena of Avalor




Cinderella

[Stewboy]

After Isabella met the two princesses we had a look around “Sir Mickey’s” shop. Jo bought a “Beauty and the Beast” VHS notepad, and then we were on our way to Tomorrowland. Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor was supposed to be our next attraction, but the queue was too long so instead we went on the People Mover, as we realised we hadn’t ridden it yet on this trip - such a simple but great ride.


Willie the giant trying to browse the shop


Cover of Beauty and the Beast


Inside










Views from the People Mover


Moving people selfie

Disembarking from the People Mover we headed out of Tomorrowland, and over to Frontierland for our Big Thunder Mountain Railroad FastPass. Isabella was given the choice of who she wanted to sit with, and she decided that she’d like to sit with dad this time


Big Thunder Mountain Selfie

After BTMR we walked over to Fantasyland, as we made our way through Frontierland we saw two of the Country Bears - Wendell and Terrence (aka Shaker) - out hula-hooping…. and why not?!


Nothing to see here, just a coupla good ol' bears hula hoopin'

After a quick stop at Rapunzel’s to use the restroom we used our Peter Pan FastPass. There were a lot of English CMs on this ride, in fact we’d noticed English CMs on a lot of the rides on this trip, and wondered if it was to do with the International College Program as it was the summer holidays?

As we were in the queue Jo managed to get a FastPass for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. After we’d flown over Never Land, we exited the ride, got some iced water from Storybook Treats (it was a hot day today), then went next door to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

We were on a roll, and next up was Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Despite having been on this attraction a couple of times, Isabella had forgotten about it (we found that this was the case with a few attractions that we hadn’t been on for a while).

Despite the theatre filling up quickly, that didn’t stop some selfish idiots plonking themselves down in the middle of the row (despite the CMs constant announcement to the contrary), and forcing everyone else to literally climb over them to get past.

Whilst we’d been waiting to enter the attraction Jo had managed to secure yet another FastPass, this time for Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, so once Mickey’s PhilharMagic finished, we left Fantasyland, and headed back to Tomorrowland. This attraction was also busy, it had turned into a busy day in Magic Kingdom.

We left Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, and decided it was time for a snack, and as we were in Tomorrowland what better option than a pepper jack pretzel from the Lunching Pad.


Mmm, pretzel


Isabella trying the pretzel - she wasn’t impressed

After a brief sit down to enjoy our snack, washed down with some iced water, we decided on one more ride before calling it a day. We hadn’t been on Carousel of Progress yet this trip, so that’s where we went next.

After entering the revolving theatre, the CM went through the usual spiel but enliven with a couple of jokes, including telling us to put on our 3D glasses, and seat belts!




A couple of COP photos before Jo told me not to take photos because the CM had said not to

Once “It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow” was well and truly embedded in our brains we were let out of the theatre, and we decided to head for the exit.

As we walked down Main Street USA we all decided that ice cream would go down nicely given the afternoon heat. We stopped at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor (where else?!) , and got three kids cones: strawberry for me, mint chocolate chip for Jo, and vanilla for Isabella - take no notice of what the menu says, you can definitely get the kids ice cream in all the flavours, not just vanilla; one scoop is definitely enough, especially on a hot day when it melts as fast as you can eat it!


Ice Cream Jo


Ice cream Stew


Eaten-her-ice cream Isabella

As we were stopped on Main Street USA to eat our ice cream, the time was about 2:45pm and Jo suggested that as the Festival of Fantasy parade was due to start soon maybe we should stay and watch it before we left. Also, she wanted to go and have a look at the Pandora charms in the Uptown Jewelers shop, so left Isabella and I in a decent space to watch the parade.

As we waited a family of seven saw a tiny gap between us and the family next to us and somehow managed to fit into it, crowding us, leaning on the stroller, and doing the same to the other family in the process. If we’d been planning to watch the parade and had been in this spot for a while then I would’ve got annoyed, but we saw it from a great viewing spot in front of the castle at Christmastime, and I wasn’t that fussed about seeing it again today.

Jo returned having found a Pandora charm she liked, and sent me into the shop to buy it, as she didn’t have ID for her passholder discount. It also transpired that the parade wasn’t at 3pm like we thought but had been moved back to 3:30pm. It also turned out that after all the effort the family of seven had gone to to get into the tiny space, they then decided to try their luck further along the parade route, and left - good riddance.

I got Jo her Pandora charm for $55.38 including the Annual Passholder discount.

At this point, we’d decided we couldn’t be bothered to wait an extra 20 minutes for the parade, so decided to leave (again). However, there was yet another shop that we wanted to visit, in fact it was the same shop - Uptown Jewelers - just a different entrance where the Art of Disney On Demand stuff was.

We had been wanting to get some art for the house, and had decided on the classic Enchanted Tiki Room poster, which were able to order from the Art of Disney self service kiosk. Isabella also managed to trade two pins with two different CMs while we were in the shop, and as we were about to leave the shop the parade came past so we watched it from the shop doorway, which turned out to be a pretty good place to watch from, as there was A/C!

In case you’re interested the art that we ordered cost $60 ($48 with the Annual Passholder discount) + $26.50 for shipping to the UK. You may also be interested to kow it’s still rolled up in the tube it was delivered in…. :S


Art of Disney kiosk


These were cool




Our view of the parade




Pin one...




And pin two

After we’d finished Isabella wanted to buy herself an Elena of Avalor sceptre (as you do) from the Emporium for $21.59 (including AP discount). She also wanted to get one last pressed penny before we left Magic Kingdom, but we weren’t sure where the nearest machine was. After a quick browse on the internet, we found that there was one underneath the train station, so that’s where we headed.

Visiting the area underneath the train station in between the two exit/entrances was a brand new experience for us, we’ve never spent any time there, but as Isabella got her pressed penny I had a little look around, and there’s lots of stuff related to Walt’s passion for railroads.

Isabella finally had her pressed penny, and we could leave. We took the walkway back to the Contemporary, stopped in the lobby for some free iced water, then went back to the car. The drive home was uneventful, and by 5pm we were back in the villa.


Yay, pressed penny


Kimball Canyon anyone?




Love these posters in the exit/entrance tunnel


A post-park selfie


I wonder if Bob & Amy are still together?


Trying out her Elena sceptre - it makes annoying sounds

As we were relaxing before heading out again there was a brief thunderstorm, but it cleared up quickly, and by the time we were showered, changed, and on our way to Red Lobster there was no sign of it.

We drove the short distance to the Red Lobster at Formosa Gardens. We were seated straight away, and ordered drinks: Sam Adams for me, Margarita for the lady.

Jo had a voucher for a free appetizer, and we ordered the following:

• Appetizer: Crispy Calamari and Vegetables
• Me: Parmesan-Crusted Fresh Tilapia with Mashed Potatoes and Fresh Broccoli
• Jo: Wood-Grilled Lobster, Shrimp and Salmon with rice and summer squashes
• Isabella: Grilled Chicken with fries / Ice cream sundae

Cheddar Bay Biscuits = free


Crispy Calamari and Vegetables


Parmesan-Crusted Fresh Tilapia


Wood-Grilled Lobster, Shrimp and Salmon


Grilled Chicken


Ice cream sundae


Jo's middle name is (almost) Margarita

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here; that’s twice we’ve been here and loved it. So it’s definitely on our off-site dining must-do list (we also have an off-site dining never-do-again list which currently consists of Buffalo Wild Wings!).

The cost of dinner was $68.85 (including drinks, excluding tips). Once we’d settled the bill we left. We made a quick stop at Publix, and were home by 8:45pm. Isabella went straight to bed, and Jo and I finished off the Amarula before going to bed at about 10:30pm. The crickets were going crazy outside the villa tonight, but only when the light was on, as soon as I turned it off, the shut up. Weird.



Anyway, that’s another day done, tomorrow we’re off to Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Thanks for reading, and for all your comments - I will reply to them all but I only have a couple of weeks to get this trip report done before our next one!


Isabella's TR day 13

[Zomax25]

What a lovely day! You packed so much in. Both Waves and the Red Lobster look delicious.

[Floridaagogo]

I think the entrance to the Wave is beautiful.a great day.i do love Disney art but think if I started I wouldn't know where to stop 😳

[Pumba75]

Day 13 and you're only just riding people mover - poor show, must try harder First ride of the holiday for us - dad's law

Loved breakfast at The Wave - the Eggs Benedict were awesome.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits were missed this year.

That area under the station was where, on our first visit, we asked a CM to settle a family discussion over the pronunciation of "Pinocchio" - poor lady was utterly confused and, nearly 6 years later, the discussion still rumbles on

Looks like you're on track to finish before the next trip!

Another great day, thanks for sharing.

[EJSakaAnna]

Another great day, breakfast looks yummy. Can't beat a spontaneous buffet in the morning!
I need to get clued up, never heard of Princess Elena! xx

[collybird]

Love Red Lobster, everything looks gorgeous.

I really wanted to order something from the Art of Disney kiosk but I wasn't sure if they would ship to the UK, kicking myself now! I was hoping they'd have had the old Wishes poster that used to be in the entrance tunnels but they didn't.

[Unexpectedpenny]

I’m not sure I ever said thank you for recommending The Wave previously. We tried it for the first time this year and it was delicious! So thank you

Red Lobster looks good too! A great day.

[DisneyDreamer81]

Oh those cheddar bay biscuits! They always look so nice. Definitely need to squeeze in a trip to RL on a future trip!

People who squeeze in to tiny spaces for parades and people who sit down in the middle of a row and make people climb over them are both on my hit list. So. Rude!

[JK's Mummy]

Love your trip reports- looks like you're going to be there same time as us 😁