The 3 week Sept extravaganza – which turned into a 2 week trip in June with no cruise! Day 13 - MK

Lizzim · 21 Jul 22, 07:31 PM

Fri 24th June

This morning we ventured down to breakfast for the first and only time at the hotel, having packed up most of our things for our final move (we were of course supposed to be returning to Orlando following our cruise).

Rob had an omelette (that I forgot to photo) and some items from the buffet. He made me Mickey waffles using the waffle maker and we both had hot drinks (coffee for me, tea for Rob) plus some orange juice.

I also had a yoghurt and a muffin I think but again forgot to take a picture.

We used Lyft to move to Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House although we had a slight issue when we booked it. We saw the time quoted and assumed it was the time the Lyft would arrive to collect us but it was in fact the time it estimated we would arrive at our destination.

Luckily, we were ready and got an elevator down to the lobby before our car had arrived.

The driver loaded our bags (we had selected an XL to make sure it would all fit) and he took us the short drive to our resort. On arrival we stored our bags with Bell Services and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom.

Somewhere along the way we caved and bought Genie Plus for the day as our first Magic Kingdom day hadn’t exactly been full of rides.

I booked Splash Mountain as our first LL and set an alarm for the next window (it was over 2 hours’ time).

Bafflingly when we were on the bus on the way to the Magic Kingdom we had our room ready notification! We had a value studio so suspected we had been allocated one of the rooms with a parking lot view.

On arrival at the park we headed for Tomorrowland, the Peoplemover was down when we arrived but looked like it was just about to reopen…and it did in fact open a few mins later.

We took a nice relaxing ride around Tomorrowland and then onto Carousel of Progress again. I was able to book us a 2nd LL and selected Buzz Lightyear and whilst we waited for our window to open we went to bake ourselves in the sun at the Speedway. The line was only 20 mins but it was so hot, and then when we had to wait to ‘return’ our car it was hotter than the sun!

As we had a couple of hours until our Splash Mountain slot we got the bus back to our room to freshen up.

This reminded me why I don’t really like Disney transport, we were lucky and got a bus almost immediately on the way back. We got our luggage brought up and both had quick showers before taking waters with us and headed to the bus stop.

Here we waited 20/30 mins until one arrived and I knew we would struggle to get back in time for our Splash slot.

We got back into the Magic Kingdom and speed walked to the ride, we got there, tapped in and the heavens opened.

The ride was obviously closed and we waited in the line for a while – mostly because it was nice and dry. After about an hour we decided to leave as I had booked us a LL for Pirates so we thought we could see if we could get there without getting too wet.

We managed it and then afterward visited the Tiki Room and the Country Bears as they are both inside

We then popped into Pecos Bills for a drink while we waited for our reservation at Skippers Canteen.

We checked in on time and in a pleasant surprise were once again seated almost immediately.

We ordered drinks and Rob ordered a starter which isn’t on the online menu, basically they were garlic and cheese balls and they were really good.

For our mains we ordered Irrawaddy Irma's Hanger Steak and "Tastes like Chicken" Because it is! There was a brief issue where the restaurant apparently had an issue with its gas supply, they asked if we wanted to change our choices but we said we would wait and hardly noticed the delay.

For dessert we both had Kungaloosh! which was really good. The manager gave us 10% off our bill because of the delay and we concluded it would have been a bit cheeky to try and get a DVC discount too!

So, our total was $120 with tip and I think this was possibly our best dinner of the whole trip. The food was so much better than I expected for a theme park restaurant, and in fact I think I’d call it our best meal of the whole trip!

After dinner I had a few more LL’s booked so we headed over to Space Mountain as that had the shortest window.

It was closely followed by Haunted Mansion (which is another of my favourites) and as we exited the fireworks were still going so we stopped and watched the remainder from Liberty Square.

We had a Big Thunder Mountain LL from earlier in the day when rain had stopped play so we went to use that intending to leave after the ride.

But we saw the line for Splash Mountain was only 20 mins and as this might be the last trip before the change to Tiana’s ride we got in line and off we went.

Then as a final bonus ride we stopped by Jungle Cruise where the posted wait was 30 mins but the line was very short….it took 5 whole mins and was as cheesy as always.

We headed out of the park with a brief visit to the Emporium and a photo on Main Street.

We were again lucky and there was a bus waiting so we got back to Jambo House at about 2320.

**Sparksy72** · 21 Jul 22, 08:53 PM

You managed a great amount of rides - what a great MK day! We love Jungle Skippers Canteen- it’s such a nice respite from the busyness of the parks and the food is fantastic. I love your castle and end of night pics, just lovely xx

Lizzim · 21 Jul 22, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by Sparksy72

You managed a great amount of rides - what a great MK day! We love Jungle Skippers Canteen- it’s such a nice respite from the busyness of the parks and the food is fantastic. I love your castle and end of night pics, just lovely xx

Yeah, I resent having to pay for Genie + but we definitely got more rides with it than without

Skippers Canteen was really good, definitely on my list to repeat

**Goldia** · 22 Jul 22, 09:17 AM

Even with quite a bit of back and forth you got loads done in MK, lots of rides. I'm glad you managed one last ride on Splash before the makeover. I'm excited for the Tiana refurb, but I'm really glad we will get one last go before the ride is closed.

**mick** · 22 Jul 22, 01:22 PM

You did well getting on so many rides

I realise you paid for Genie +

We haven’t been to a park for a few years so sad that people have to pay extra just so they can get on the rides that were free before

And a lovely meal too

Joan

Lizzim · 22 Jul 22, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by Goldia

Even with quite a bit of back and forth you got loads done in MK, lots of rides. I'm glad you managed one last ride on Splash before the makeover. I'm excited for the Tiana refurb, but I'm really glad we will get one last go before the ride is closed.

Yeah sad we had to pay £20 to do so but it did make our day better. If we didn’t have the rain I suspect we would have squeezed in a bit more.

Originally Posted by mick

You did well getting on so many rides

I realise you paid for Genie +

We haven’t been to a park for a few years so sad that people have to pay extra just so they can get on the rides that were free before

And a lovely meal too

Joan

And yep, only a few years ago we could have find the same day without the added cost and I found FP+ to be more flexible.

Maybe we’ll learn to like it but it’s definitely not on our highlights at the moment.

But I love being in the MK so

21 Jul 22, 07:31 PM	#1
	21 Jul 22, 07:31 PM Lizzim Imagineer
Lizzim Imagineer Join Date: Apr 10 Lizzim's Reviews DIBB Villa Reviews: 1	The 3 week Sept extravaganza – which turned into a 2 week trip in June with no cruise! Day 13 - MK Fri 24th June This morning we ventured down to breakfast for the first and only time at the hotel, having packed up most of our things for our final move (we were of course supposed to be returning to Orlando following our cruise). Rob had an omelette (that I forgot to photo) and some items from the buffet. He made me Mickey waffles using the waffle maker and we both had hot drinks (coffee for me, tea for Rob) plus some orange juice. I also had a yoghurt and a muffin I think but again forgot to take a picture. We used Lyft to move to Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House although we had a slight issue when we booked it. We saw the time quoted and assumed it was the time the Lyft would arrive to collect us but it was in fact the time it estimated we would arrive at our destination. Luckily, we were ready and got an elevator down to the lobby before our car had arrived. The driver loaded our bags (we had selected an XL to make sure it would all fit) and he took us the short drive to our resort. On arrival we stored our bags with Bell Services and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Somewhere along the way we caved and bought Genie Plus for the day as our first Magic Kingdom day hadn’t exactly been full of rides. I booked Splash Mountain as our first LL and set an alarm for the next window (it was over 2 hours’ time). Bafflingly when we were on the bus on the way to the Magic Kingdom we had our room ready notification! We had a value studio so suspected we had been allocated one of the rooms with a parking lot view. On arrival at the park we headed for Tomorrowland, the Peoplemover was down when we arrived but looked like it was just about to reopen…and it did in fact open a few mins later. We took a nice relaxing ride around Tomorrowland and then onto Carousel of Progress again. I was able to book us a 2nd LL and selected Buzz Lightyear and whilst we waited for our window to open we went to bake ourselves in the sun at the Speedway. The line was only 20 mins but it was so hot, and then when we had to wait to ‘return’ our car it was hotter than the sun! As we had a couple of hours until our Splash Mountain slot we got the bus back to our room to freshen up. This reminded me why I don’t really like Disney transport, we were lucky and got a bus almost immediately on the way back. We got our luggage brought up and both had quick showers before taking waters with us and headed to the bus stop. Here we waited 20/30 mins until one arrived and I knew we would struggle to get back in time for our Splash slot. We got back into the Magic Kingdom and speed walked to the ride, we got there, tapped in and the heavens opened. The ride was obviously closed and we waited in the line for a while – mostly because it was nice and dry. After about an hour we decided to leave as I had booked us a LL for Pirates so we thought we could see if we could get there without getting too wet. We managed it and then afterward visited the Tiki Room and the Country Bears as they are both inside We then popped into Pecos Bills for a drink while we waited for our reservation at Skippers Canteen. We checked in on time and in a pleasant surprise were once again seated almost immediately. We ordered drinks and Rob ordered a starter which isn’t on the online menu, basically they were garlic and cheese balls and they were really good. For our mains we ordered Irrawaddy Irma's Hanger Steak and "Tastes like Chicken" Because it is! There was a brief issue where the restaurant apparently had an issue with its gas supply, they asked if we wanted to change our choices but we said we would wait and hardly noticed the delay. For dessert we both had Kungaloosh! which was really good. The manager gave us 10% off our bill because of the delay and we concluded it would have been a bit cheeky to try and get a DVC discount too! So, our total was $120 with tip and I think this was possibly our best dinner of the whole trip. The food was so much better than I expected for a theme park restaurant, and in fact I think I’d call it our best meal of the whole trip! After dinner I had a few more LL’s booked so we headed over to Space Mountain as that had the shortest window. It was closely followed by Haunted Mansion (which is another of my favourites) and as we exited the fireworks were still going so we stopped and watched the remainder from Liberty Square. We had a Big Thunder Mountain LL from earlier in the day when rain had stopped play so we went to use that intending to leave after the ride. But we saw the line for Splash Mountain was only 20 mins and as this might be the last trip before the change to Tiana’s ride we got in line and off we went. Then as a final bonus ride we stopped by Jungle Cruise where the posted wait was 30 mins but the line was very short….it took 5 whole mins and was as cheesy as always. We headed out of the park with a brief visit to the Emporium and a photo on Main Street. We were again lucky and there was a bus waiting so we got back to Jambo House at about 2320. __________________ All my trip reports in one place! Edited at 07:40 PM.

22 Jul 22, 01:22 PM	#5
	22 Jul 22, 01:22 PM mick VIP Dibber ✓Premium Member
mick VIP Dibber Join Date: Apr 04 Location: Rugby mick's Reviews Hotel Reviews: 1	You did well getting on so many rides I realise you paid for Genie + We haven’t been to a park for a few years so sad that people have to pay extra just so they can get on the rides that were free before And a lovely meal too Joan __________________