Magic is Calling - Day 5 - November 2021

[AJ86]

Index here

Day 4 here

Day 5 - 18 November 2021 - Blizzard Beach & After Hours Christmas Event


Today I wake up at 7 to a very overcast Orlando. I take the opportunity to do a load of washing at the hotel which is a $1 for the wash and lasts 30 mins and a $1 for drying which lasts around 45 mins.

Washing put away we pack our bags for a day at Blizzard beach, first up we are heading to feast on the goodies at IHOP. It’s super busy but we are given a table in a couple of mins. I have strawberries and cream pancakes and f has a breakfast combo.

We make the short drive to Blizzard beach. There is hardly anyone there and there are loungers aplenty. We dump our stuff and head onto the lazy river for a couple of laps and then into the wave pool. Once out and dried we have some lunch of chicken tenders and chips. It then starts to rain so we head into the shop for a little bit of shelter. It doesn’t last long so we head on our back to the car.

We drove to Walmart next for some bits and get back to the hotel for around 3. We have showers and cheese cake from last night and have a chill out before tonight’s plans.

Tonight we are going to the Christmas after hours event at Magic Kingdom, so we leave ours around 6 and arrive at the Christmas party around 630.

As soon as we are parked up the heavens open and tips it down with rain! I had been keeping an eye on the weather so had packed ponchos and umbrellas for this evening.

They are not letting the after hours guests in until 7 so we enter as day guests and take some relief from the rain by heading to the shops.

We grab our wristbands from Tomorrowland and have time to squeeze in a trip on buzz before enchantment tonight. It’s showing a 30 min wait but it’s a walk on. Once in our car the guns don’t work which is sad so we have to sit round the route just enjoying the scenery. On exiting we advise the cast member what happened and they allow us to ride again, so they usher us onto a new car. This time round they work perfectly, until the ride stops by Zurg. Lights come on, safety rails appear and our screen goes blank. Around 5 mins later our screens come back up but scores are now at zero! So we get to work while stationary and by dumb luck we find the high scoring targets. We are sat for another 5 mins or so, so F gets a near perfect score and I am a few 1000 off. So scores are currently 1-1.

We are off with about 10 mins before enchantment so head to the plaza for a spot and again it tips it down with rain so we grab our ponchos out rather than block views with our umbrellas. This is our second time watching and it definitely has grown on me and I enjoy it a lot more.

After drowning in the fireworks we head back to Tomorrow Land for a firm favourite the people mover. The after hours event has now started so wristbands are needed to go on any rides. It shows a 10 min wait, but this is a walk on.

We then start round to fantasy land for Poohbear, a 10 min wait shown but we wait a little longer at 15 mins, but we forgive Pooh and his friends.

The snack carts are now open so we grab some Popcorn, ice cream treats and drink and head down to grab a spot on Main Street ready for the parade.

Yes I know a Parade! It was so lovely to watch the parade, and seeing more than one or 2 floats come by. All the usual suspects were out and about along with a few newbies. Really looking forward to watching tbr parades again when they start next year. I feared that they would be no more!

After the parade we headed to Pirates which showed a 5 min wait, which most of this was walking the queue line.

Big thunder was showing a 20 min wait, but was a walk on.

From here we power walked to the hub as we were around 5 mins before the Christmas fireworks. We get there just in time and then rain comes down hard! Ponchos back out and umbrellas this time round. They were amazing and great to see another show.

We head to Haunted mansion afterward which is showing a 25 wait but find out that it is actually down.

So we head to a Small world which is a 5 min wait, but turns out to be a walk on. From here we grab some snickerdoodles and coco, but on the way to the counter F slips and falls over landing on her leg. The cast members where super quick to come and help and so was security who appeared from no where within seconds. Queue lots of radio chatter and more cast members. We are taken to a table and given an ice pack for the bruising, and of course brought over plenty of cookies. (Which we didn’t even really like). Luckily nothing more than a bruise, but amazing to see how quickly everything happens and that security were lurking somewhere out of sight to be there in seconds if something happens.

It’s now around midnight, it’s still raining and we decide to leave the after hours to rest f’s leg. So we take the ferry boat back to the ticket centre and begin the trek back to the car. We get back to the hotel for 130 and get more ice for the leg and fall asleep by 2am.

Overall it was a great night apart from the fall, a real shame about the rain, but it didn't really stop us doing what we wanted to do.

Day 6

[ClaireNJ]

Great photos 😊

[Goldia]

Yummy IHOP breakfast, always a good start to the day. Plus lunch is leftover cheesecake, has to be done when you're on holidays. The after hours event sounds fab. The parade, the fireworks, the rides! Lovely!

[mick]

Some lovely photos even in the rain
Such a shame about the fall hope the leg won’t be sore tomorrow

Joan

[Fuellady]

Nice start to the day with an IHOP breakfast. The after hours event looks good - not too bad on the ride times. And 2 firework shows

Shame about the fall ending your evening - hopefully your wife isn't suffering too much the next day.