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Old 13 Jan 18, 09:51 PM  
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lumosq102
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Tuck your elbows in - a September / October trip report - day 2


Friday 22 September


Day 1 is here

Is there anything more exciting than that first morning? The whole holiday is ahead of you, all of your plans are coming to life - you are finally there! Then there is the jet lag… Despite the late night it was the usual early start. I woke up at 4am, dozing until I finally gave it up as a bad job at 5:30 and put the coffee on.

R finally rose at 6, and we proceeded to tumble around the room, pulling things out of suitcases and reworking our park bags for the day & we were at the bus stop at 7am, a delightfully short 2 minute stroll from our room.

Now, we were staying so close to Animal Kingdom where we had a whole new world to properly explore, so where would we be going on our first morning? Magic Kingdom, obviously. The park was opening at 8am for Extra Magic Hours and we were taking advantage of that jet lag to be up and about and raring to go. We were at the bus stop waiting for the bus to Magic Kingdom at 7am, on a bus and on our way by 7:10, and pulling into the MK bus station at 7:30, not too bad considering how far away Animal Kingdom feels in comparison to the rest of the parks.

The new security procedures were a doddle and by golly the entrance is just so lovely without the security lines cluttering the place up. So so gorgeous. We were through the tapstiles in no time, joining the rest of the crowd waiting to get in for breakfast reservations and EMH, and who was the cast member at the helm of rope drop duty? Laramie, previously of Fresh Baked WDW, now of Laramie on the Loose. Alas we were a little too far away to say hello, and regardless it would probably be rude to interrupt someone whilst at the day job.


It was a somewhat measured walk up Main Street. Somewhat. Before we were held again at the entrance to Fantasyland, looking up at the castle and pinching myself that we were really here. Home. And then the rope drops again and the stampede of exceptionally grumpy people towards Seven Dwarves Mine Train commenced. We were in line in good time, but ended up stuck for a few minutes by the spinning barrels due to technical difficulties (a reoccurring theme – so much so that it almost became the title of the TR), but we were still boarding our mine car and heading into the mountains in 10 minutes or so.


By 8:10 we were in line at Peter Pan. This is one we always try to do during EMH so you can get the full experience of walking through the new queue. Its so charming and I just love the Darling children’s nursery area with Tinkerbell dashing around making toys move and bells ring. Such a plus for this experience. Unfortunately the ride… the one in Paris is better. There. I said it.


Next up, a stroll over to Tommorrowland for a trip on Space Mountain. Alas, Space Mountain was “temporarily unavailable” which gave us a splendid excuse to take a relaxing trip on the People Mover (and get a glimpse at Space Mountain with the lights on. I don’t know why that’s such a thrill, but it never gets old, like you’re seeing behind the curtain).





After our time on the highway in the sky it was time for a spot of breakfast, so over to Main Street we went to Starbucks for a couple of cold brew vanilla cream coffees and a couple of breakfast sandwiches (cheese and egg muffin for me, a meaty version for R, no pictures today but the same breakfast will reappear a few times yet…). We sat in Centre Street to enjoy our breakfast and watch the hoards stream in. Let’s be frank, this was not the best touring strategy but it was a lovely start to the day, so relaxed. I could merrily spend hours hanging out on Centre Street and not be bored. Today we also got to listen in to the start of the Keys to the Kingdom Tour that drops into Centre Street at the start. It reminded me how much I enjoyed this tour when we did it, so many years ago. We must get around to doing it again one of these days…

It was then time for a quick wander around the Main Street stores to see where my souvenir budget might be going this time, and we did find some very cute bits and pieces, but nothing we wanted to pick up just yet.


Still wish I'd purchased this one... such a cute handbag.


A couple of these may have come home with us. possibly.




We took a slow walk up Main Street and hung a right over to Adventureland, starting with a trip to see those dastardly pirates.


This is another ride that I do prefer in Paris, but I can never resist a trip. R is still cross that they took the Mermaids away. The new photo never arrived in our photopass account and we didn’t care enough to pursue it, but the flash did come as a bit of a shock. It does add a certain thrill to the drop though; you’re still working out what just happened when before you know it the boat is going over the falls.






It’s at this point that we accidentally made this a classics morning & we found ourselves heading over to the next showing of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. Its one of those marmite attractions, but I just love the Tiki Room. From the welcome show outside to the clacking of the audio animatronics, there is just something truly enchanting about the show. Plus a few minutes sat down in the A/C never hurt anyone!








We rose for our standing ovation and marched on over to Frontierland where it was just a few minutes until the next showing of the Country Bears. Now, the Country Bears and I have not had such a good relationship over the years as the one I have with my birds over at the Tiki Room, but this time it finally clicked & I was in stitches. It wasn’t hurt by the fact that we were sat just down from what must have been the Country Bears biggest fan. This little boy must have been about 8 or 9 and knew every word to every song and was just having the best time with his grandpa. It was adorable. We even bumped into him chatting with Big Al outside of the theatre.
















Edited at 02:52 PM.
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Old 13 Jan 18, 10:06 PM  
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As we were trying to distract ourselves from the horror of a scaffold covered Splash Mountain we turned right out of the theatre and walked on over to the Haunted Mansion. It was getting to sauna levels of heat right about now so a 35 minute wait in the shade sounded pretty dandy.










The wonderful imagineer, X Atencio, had passed away less than 2 weeks before so we had to, of course, doff our cap to his tribute in the graveyard. Thank you X!


It was as wonderful as ever of course. I finally, after many years of trying, managed to get a photo of the hanging (hung?) ghost host in the stretching room. Not the best photo but as new camera and I were getting used to each other (I upgraded to a full frame from my old mirrorless a little earlier in the year) I figured it wasn’t too bad a starting point & I’d continue to refine on what I was sure would be many more trips to the Mansion over the next couple of weeks.








We were in dire need of refreshment by this point so called into the Liberty Square Marketplace for a couple of frozen strawberry lemonades that hit the spot quite nicely. We were wandering with our drinks seeking shade when we realised that the 1pm showing of the new Muppet show was about to start – perfect timing!


Well, perfect timing would be perhaps earlier in the day when the sun isn’t beating down quite as enthusiastically at your back, and when you’re not trying to take photos with one hand and hold your melting slushy with the other.


Great Moments in American History with the Muppets was just as fantastic as we have all heard. JJ and the gang told us all about the Declaration of Independence whilst we melted into sweaty pasty puddles. Seeing the muppets in the flesh, so to speak, was ever so slightly amazing and I was a little star struck.











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Old 13 Jan 18, 10:22 PM  
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As soon as it was over we fell into the welcoming air conditioning of the Christmas Shop to get a quick blast of lovely lovely cool air. Ahh. It was then time to find a spot for Festival of Fantasy. They were expecting a storm so the parade kicked off at 1:45 instead of the usual 2pm. Lovely! And in a spot of luck we fell out of the Christmas Shop into a lovely shaded front row spot right by the door and in reach of those powerful A/C breezes. This might be my new favourite spot.





Ahh yes, there’s that storm a brewing…

I’ll take this opportunity to mention how ticked off I am that the parade is moving back to 3pm this year. 2pm was the perfect parade time – not the hottest part of the day, early enough that you could leave the park afterwards and have most of the afternoon left for swimming / shopping / napping. By the time the 3pm parade reaches the end of the route its almost 3.30pm, almost the hottest part of the day and the time by which my face starts going full Indiana Jones / Raiders of the Lost Ark face melt. Bah.



































Frustratingly I ran out of memory on my camera so no pictures of the last unit. There is always one camera / FoF calamity per trip so it was nice to get this out of the way early!

After Festival we struggled back to our feet and walked off the inevitable pins and needles with a stroll over to Adventureland and the Pirates of the Caribbean gift store to pick up the Orange Bird funko pop. I’m not a huge fan of the Funko pops usually, but throw Orange Bird on anything and I’ll inevitably weaken and purchase and this was no different. They had been released originally just the week before in Disney Springs where there was a huge line to buy them so I was just relieved that they had restocked and they were available.



It was now time to head out of Magic Kingdom for the day. We took a slow stroll out of the park, planning on heading over to Disney Springs. However we soon discover that buses from the park don’t run to Disney Springs until 4pm. Bother. Rooky mistake aside, we’re old hats at WDW transport so walk over to the Contemporary to pick the bus up from there instead. Easy! Of course as soon as we cross onto the Contemporary grounds what do we see but the Disney Springs bus pulling out onto the road. Bother again.

By the time we drag our sweaty selves to the bus stop the countdown is telling us that its just 15 minutes until the next one which isn't too bad. We flop on to the bench to wait but I am soon joined by a small child who starts pulling my hair.

Nope. Nope nope. Of course the parents are off elsewhere paying no attention to the little devil, so off we go to another bench with me deploying my best don’t even think about coming near me face that works nicely.

Buses to Disney Springs used to be a nightmare. It felt like it took forever to get there from pretty much any of the resorts. Today's bus has us from the Contemporary to Disney Springs in 15 minutes. Hurrah. Time for lunch and as a storm is approaching we decide on sharing a pizza at Blaze.

"Life changing" pizza says R.

That pizza and 2 drinks was $15 with Annual Passholder discount. Bargain. We had half & half - barbecue chicken for Kirsty R, banana peppers, mushrooms and all the cheese for me. Can they come to London please? So so good. The drinks are great too & it gives us time to sit out the rain storm.


From Blaze we snuck into Sprinkles to grab ourselves a couple of yummy cupcakes – no queue at all which made a pleasant change after the crazy switchback-tastic line last year. These are the best cupcakes a WDW, no over inflated sugary messes, just lovely lovely cakes and a lovely cake to icing ratio.


We then headed over to the Co Op on what has become a very important mission. The Dress Shop has reopened and I have heard that the Tiki Room and Orange Bird dresses are back in stock. Oh my goodness - these dresses fantastic. As a fan of anything mid century these are perfectly up my street, lovely sundresses heavily inspired by the late 50’s and yes they would be mine. I go through every dress in the store before heading to the changing room with the 2 I knew I wanted going in and I was quickly purchasing them and heading out with those 2 gorgeous dresses. The others were lovely, but the colours and styles not quite as me (though I still regret not buying the Snow White dress – maybe next time). No photos here, but they will appear later in the TR.


There was a break in the rain and instead of spending the rest of the afternoon tearing around Disney Springs we decided to head back to the room to freshen up. And stare at Giraffes. Mainly stare at Giraffes. We turned the A/C on high as we could and revelled in the cool air after a lovely day in the boiling sun. It was going to take a moment or 2 for us to get used to that Florida heat again after our time away.


The original plan had be to spend some time in Animal Kingdom that afternoon before our dinner plans, but our bodies decided for us that spending time in the room would work out better and I must say our siesta was just lovely. Sometimes you need some downtime. We got to watch another storm pass through, and a few episodes of Law and Order. Whats not to like?




We finally regained our energy in time for a walk over to Jambo House for our dinner reservation – we were heading back to an old favourite, Jiko.

The walk between Kidani Village and Jambo House was actually really simple, and easier than waiting for the transport between the two. All you have to do is head for the Kidani bus stop and then walk past it and keep going. It took just about 10 minutes, so very reasonable even on a hot night as it was that evening.


The Jambo House lobby is just draw dropping. Don’t get me wrong, the Kidani lobby is lovely, but the Jambo House has such scale you can’t help but be impressed. The restaurants are off to the right hand side of the lobby and down 2 flights of stairs. We had a little time to kill before our reservation so we nipped in to the gift shop for a little wander before heading downstairs.

We checked in quickly and were seated almost immediately. I mentioned to the check in staff that I am vegetarian & they pulled out the vegetarian menu for me, which was helpful. It’s always nice to have more than 1 choice on the menu!


We each started with a glass of red, from South Africa of course. Not that I can remember the name of it now… neither of us was hungry enough for a starter, we just nibbled on the bread quite happily. Although the bread service has changed over the years (the tandoori butter it used to come with was heavenly) the rolls they have there now are delicious, and the butter is creamy and lovely.




R went full carnivore and had the oak grilled filet mignon with the bobotie mac n cheese which she adored - best steak ever, apparently. Tender, perfectly cooked to medium rare. Man n cheese was flavourful & paired perfectly with the steak. She could have eaten it all again.


I had the Malay vegetable curry which was jam packed full of lovely veggies and plenty of tofu. The sauce was delicious, as was the rice but by golly was there too much of it. By the time I found the rice under the mounds of veggies and tofu I had really had enough. Always a shame to leave good food.


Instead of puds we went with an after dinner cocktails. Well, boozy coffees – the Keokie coffee and a Nutty African. It was a lovely way to finish our meal, as heaven knows neither of us could manage anything more substantial at this point.


This is the only time during the trip that I remembered to take a picture of the receipt. Thanks to the AP offer they had on we got 30% discount, leaving us with a $117 bill, plus tip.



We walked dinner (well, at least 10% of it) off on our stroll back to Kidani, getting back to our room at a very reasonable 10:45. Of course we were exhausted after a full first day and quickly headed off to the land of nod.

Another busy day ahead tomorrow!

Day 3 - Animal magic

Edited at 03:19 PM.
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Old 14 Jan 18, 10:41 AM  
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Your photos are amazing! Mine are always a bit blurry, but yours are brilliant. You really spoiled us with this, thank you!
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Old 14 Jan 18, 10:42 AM  
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Great pics of the parade
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Old 14 Jan 18, 10:52 AM  
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Lovely day...It's great Disney do so many Veggie options now too!
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Old 14 Jan 18, 11:10 AM  
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Wow what a great day, I can't wait to try Jiko, I am going to book it for my husbands birthday hopefully 😀
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Old 14 Jan 18, 12:03 PM  
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Wow, that was a busy first day! I didn’t realise the parade was moving back to 3pm, 2pm was much better ☹️ Really looking forward to the rest of your report
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Old 14 Jan 18, 11:28 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
Your photos are amazing! Mine are always a bit blurry, but yours are brilliant. You really spoiled us with this, thank you!
Oh thank you so much! I took over 7 thousand photos over the time we were there, so you can probably tell its a bit of an obsession.

Originally Posted by Jannyjan View Post
Great pics of the parade
Thank you very much - the parade will become a bit of a reoccurring theme

Originally Posted by Jockey View Post
Lovely day...It's great Disney do so many Veggie options now too!
It really is! Its so much easier than it used to be - and thankfully no longer just nasty veggie burgers!

Originally Posted by Jaspercat10 View Post
Wow what a great day, I can't wait to try Jiko, I am going to book it for my husbands birthday hopefully 😀
I'd highly recommend it. The restaurant is gorgeous, the servers are just super and the food is delicious. It might be my favourite table service restaurant on property.

Originally Posted by Leia77 View Post
Wow, that was a busy first day! I didn’t realise the parade was moving back to 3pm, 2pm was much better ☹️ Really looking forward to the rest of your report
I know - no good at all. Apparently people were complaining that it had moved - crazy people!

And thank you, I'm sorting my photos now so hopefully day three will be up much quicker!
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Old 15 Jan 18, 08:37 PM  
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Fantastic day great photos Jiko is really lovely.
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