"A Tale of Two Cities" DC/Florida September 2016 - Day 13 (Magic Kingdom, BOG & California Grill)

[soraia]

Day 12 is here.

"A Tale of Two Cities" DC/Florida
Day 13 - Thursday 15th September 2016

I woke up today to a mixture of emotions. I was super happy because today was Magic Kingdom day! I was also feeling a bit sad because I knew the trip was almost over

I tried to put that to the back of my mind and got ready for the 'magical' day ahead!

We met David & Thara at the Congress Park bus stop and luckily we didn't have to wait too long for a bus this time. We were soon pulling up to Magic Kingdom

Security seemed to be tighter today and after we went through bag check we also had to go through some airport style metal detectors. This didn't take long though.

As soon as we got in and I got the first glimpse of the castle my heart was happy

We got straight in there with Memory Maker!

We popped in to Starbucks for some morning coffee and I made a mental note to come back just before we left to buy a Magic Kingdom Starbucks mug. Before the trip I decided to try and get all 4 park mugs but when I had a think about it, realistically I wouldn't have been able to fit them all in my suitcase so had to make an executive decision and decided to go for the Magic Kingdom and Epcot ones.

We were clearly all obsessed with Memory Maker now as we stopped further up to get some more closer to the castle!

That pesky crane...

First order of business was Jungle Cruise! This is Bernie's favourite attraction and he was gutted that it was closed for refurn during our previous trip so we made it a priority to head there first. Everyone really enjoyed it – so punny!

After that Kieren was feeling really hot so wanted to go cool down in some air conditioning. The rest of us went to the Enchanted Tiki Room (so cute!) and when we got out we found Kieren enjoying a dole whip. Good choice, my friend!

We went on Pirates of the Caribbean next (always good fun) and after that, Kieren and Thara wanted a go on Splash Mountain.

David looked after the Minnie ears while Thara was on the ride. He was clearly thrilled about it!

It was almost coming up to our ADR time at BOG but we had time for a quick visit to the Haunted Mansion. I always love this!

None of us had been to BOG before so we were all looking forward to something new. We hadn't pre-ordered so had a bit of a wait at the machines but we were soon shown in to the ballroom. The theming is great in here – I absolutely love the chandeliers!

Everyone ordered the Roast Beef baguette and I went for the Croque Monsieur.

It pains me to say this but I wasn't really impressed with the food. The others were all left feeling a bit “meh” about it as well. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't that great either and I must admit that I was left a bit disappointed – especially as this was one of the places I was most looking forward to trying! I'm glad we came and had a look at all the different rooms though. I might be tempted back next trip for breakfast, but for lunch I think we'll definitely stick to Columbia Harbor House in future.

Our FP+ window for SDMT was about to open so we headed over there. We lucked out and ended up being on the front car I love this ride! I know it is a bit short but it's so fun!

We didn't realise our picture would be taken and we still don't know how they did it! They just suddenly appeared on MDE – how do they track it? It's magic!

It was then time for the Little Mermaid and then, one of my personal favourites, Phillarmagic!

We walked around to Tomorrowland where Kieren & Thara headed for Space Mountain. The rest of us went on the People Mover. This is one of my favourite things at Magic Kingdom – so nice to just people watch and make your way around the park. Some great views!

We managed to get a FP+ for Buzz so headed straight in. As we were on I had a feeling there was something wrong with my gun shooter as I wasn't getting many points at all (I'm not the best shot in the world but I'm not THAT bad!) At the end Kieren got something like 350,000 points and I had 700 points!? This picture perfectly sums up my confusion at the situation.

By now we had done pretty much everything we wanted to so we made our way out of the park (with a pit stop at Starbucks for my mug!) and headed back to Saratoga Springs for some pool time. We had a late ADR so we spent a few hours at the quiet pool (I spent the whole time alternating between the pool and hot tub again – bliss!)

Dinner tonight was California Grill. We tried it for the first time during our last trip on my birthday and had a great meal so we were looking forward to going again. We got the bus to Magic Kingdom and the resort monorail to the Contemporary Resort. Our ADR was only at 20:55 so we checked in a little early and went straight to the observation deck to watch Wishes which was at 21:00.

When you wish upon a star...

Lovely. Just lovely. I've never actually seen Wishes from the park itself so I made a note that it would be great to do that next time.

They were happy to hold our table until after Wishes so we went in and were seated at a lovely window table with a view to the castle which was an added bonus. Our server was Saad and he brought out the bread which we devoured (OMG that focaccia!) and took our order. Get ready for picture overload!

The food was just fantastic and everyone really enjoyed their meal. Tig said it was his favourite meal of the holiday! It was then time for more cocktails and dessert!

All suitably stuffed and satisfied we made our way downstairs with the intention of getting the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom but didn't realise it was so late that the monorail had stopped working and the buses had stopped. Oops! We could have got a bus to Disney Springs and walked to Saratoga Springs but we were all tired so just got an uber back and headed straight to bed.

Another great day and a fantastic meal at California Grill! Tomorrow is the last day (*sob*) and we're off to Epcot!

Last but not least – it's time for Soraia's hilariously bad selfie of the day.

I think the grimace says it all...

Thanks for reading!

Day 14 is here.