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Old 9 Jul 19, 08:50 PM  
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Redrach1903
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Cool He did a thing! June 2019 - Day 1 - Boardwalk, Bon Voyage Breakfast and Magic Kingdom

Travel Day is here.

Tuesday 11th June

Keeping in line with first morning tradition, I was first awake at 3.45am. I really tried to force myself back to sleep and I think I did drift of for another half hour, but by 4.30am we were both wide awake and lay in bed playing our newly acquired trivia quiz via Facebook (thanks Helen).

Oh, side note, the beds at the Dolphin are SO comfy.

We then watched some Fox News and saw that there were reports of lightning and we were told to expect storms later in the day.



At 5.30 Chris was first to go in the shower. Then while I got ready he went down to Fuel which is a "to go" café type place in the main lobby. I was dying for a cup of tea, but the hotel only provided Earl Grey in the room and that would not do! He also brought me back a 3 Musketeers bar Even for me it was too early though, so I popped it in the fridge for later! I finished getting ready and was happy to note that the hairdryer was decent. I was worried it would be one of those pathetic hotel ones in which you have to hold the button the entire time. It's the little things that please me

We popped onto the balcony to take in the morning view and it was even more beautiful with the pink sky



At 7am we were ready! We had nowhere to be until 10, so we thought we'd just explore a little. Before we left we put down some dollars for housekeeping. I deliberately didn’t put "mousekeeping" since it's not a real Disney hotel haha!



Ready to go



A very quiet lobby at 7.02am!



This is the corridor that leads from Shula's which is their signature steak restaurant.



We decided to check out Picabu for some grub. We did have a breakfast ADR at 10, but we were starving and needed something to keep us going! Anyway, it is totally acceptable to have two breakfasts on holiday, right? Picabu is open 24 hours a day by the way! Super handy!



I went for a Pan au Chocolat with a Minute Maid Lemonade from the Freestyle machine.







Chris got the egg sandwich which consisted of crispy bacon, egg & cheese on a roll with breakfast potatoes! He also got a coffee.





A thumbs up for Picabu! We both really enjoyed it! Chris gave me some of his bacon and potatoes and they were delish! Total was $26.51. Here are a couple more pics of the restaurant and the wee shop area within it.





We then went to explore the hotel a bit more, passing by the arcade room and laundry, before heading outside for a nosey there!





Ahh it was such a lovely morning and so warm already.



Main pool.



We then walked over to the Swan, just killing time! We saw lots of cute squirrels on the way







The lobby smells so good here, but we do prefer The Dolphin. The Swan just feels a little underwhelming compared to how grand the lobby is at The Dolphin. That's not to say it isn't lovely, it is, but we'd definitely always choose the Dolphin.



We then continued onto a very quiet Boardwalk







There's something about The Boardwalk that just makes us very happy. It's got such a lovely vibe, we just adore it!



I had noticed last night that our ride pic from Frozen Ever After hadn't appeared and I was worried that our free Memory Maker hadn’t linked properly. I thought if I nipped into one of the "proper" Disney hotels they might be able to help me, so we went to The Boardwalk Inn.



Unfortunately the CM, lovely as she was, wasn’t able to help me and advised that we go to one of the photo centres at one of the parks. Defeated, we went to sit on the rocking chairs for a bit.





We then continued our wee stroll around The Boardwalk area.



We stopped to watch the Skyliners being tested. They move a lot faster than you would think!



Some pics from around the Yacht & Beach club.











Is there a better way to spend your morning than on a swing chair on the beach? Nah….









[continued in next post]

Edited at 02:37 PM.
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Old 9 Jul 19, 08:51 PM  
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Cool

[continued from previous post]

It was now 8.40am. Yep, still only 8.40am We decided to head back to hotel and chuck our travel clothes in the laundry. I know some folk (looking at you Helen & Lisa) think doing laundry on holiday is a waste of precious time, but the thought of coming home to bags and bags of washing is not our idea of fun, so we'd rather keep on top of it! Anyway, on our way back we saw some more ducks. I love ducks.



Here, have some photos of how to put on laundry. You're welcome





With that done, we headed back outside and had a muck about with the sack game and then table tennis. It is safe to say that I suck at both.





It was now finally time for our ADR! We had booked the Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno one night after a few wines. This is a character breakfast with Rapunzel, Flynn, Ariel and Prince Eric. I mostly wanted it for the menu (cos hello? tower of pancakes!) and didn’t really think through the interaction we would have to endure with actual human characters Nevertheless, we were looking forward to it.

Back onto The Boardwalk…





The check in area was SO busy. We had a wee while to wait to be seated.



Here is the menu if anyone is interested.



Before we ordered we were brought orange juice and the frying pan of pastries





We spotted Flynn mingling with other guests.



And then Rapunzel joined him.



I think this photo is meant to be of the cute wee bottle of ketchup? Easily amused…..



Not sure if I'm looking at Flynn, Eric or food here. Probably food



So, I obviously ordered the Tower of Pancakes. Chris went for Flynn's Feast.





The food was really lovely and there was plenty of it, especially given the pastries beforehand!

It was taking a while for the characters to reach us and I was half thinking about escaping without meeting them, but thought better of it. Flynn was first. He was very in character and said he liked Chris's artwork (tattoos) and he asked me which one was my favourite. I pointed out the wee hidden mickey that he got for me



I asked him to do the smoulder for the photo. It was about the only thing I could think to say!





And of course I had to get a selfie….



Chris declined a photo with Flynn haha.

So, in the lead up to breakfast Chris has been joking around about Rapunzel and how he was looking forward to meeting her. Well, that all changed when he caught sight of Ariel. A new crush was born



She was only passing by though, so we had a visit from Rapunzel next. She was sweet, but again, it was all a bit awkward. I much prefer the characters that are mute





The characters disappeared a few times and took ages to come back, so that was a bit annoying. We were just gonna take off when Ariel came back. Much to Chris's delight! Look at his wee face! Haha!



She was good and asked if Chris was my sailor! But other than that, we didn’t have much to say to her. We suck at this



Prince Eric was miles away at the other side of the restaurant, so we decided not to bother waiting for him. He didn’t look much like Eric anyway to be honest So, verdict? The food was lovely. The experience and interaction, if you are into face characters, was good. It's just not our bag and we wouldn’t do it again without kids haha! It wasn’t cheap either…..



It was now about 11.30. We went back to the laundry to chuck the clean clothes in the dryer. We bought a packet of bounce dryer sheets and there were 2 in a pack. Chris went to put both in the one load and I gave him a ticking off as I thought it was best to save it for the next load. Well, he about fell over laughing. He thought it was hilarious that I won't bat an eyelid at $100 for breakfast, but wasting 50c on a dryer sheet is unfathomable! Suppose he has a point

Anyway, back up to the room we went. Housekeeping had been and left us a Mickey towel shape Chris pretended to pick it up to dismantle it, so you can imagine my reaction. Queue another fit of the giggles from him!





Our first FastPass at Magic Kingdom wasn’t until 3.25pm, so we decided to have a wee nap! We had already walked so much this morning and we wanted to last the pace in the evening. We set an alarm for 1.15, but were still tired, so decided to push our FP back an hour and go back to sleep! The long travel day and early start had worn us out!

[continued in next post]

Edited at 07:29 AM.
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Old 9 Jul 19, 08:52 PM  
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[continued from previous post]

We got up again at 2.15, raring to go! A quick peek outside confirmed there were storms in the distance. How eerie does Tower of Terror look? We were keeping everything crossed that it would pass by before we got to MK!



We still had plenty time, so thought we'd nip to the hotel bar for a quick drink. It's called Phins.





Chris discovered a new beer that he absolutely loved. It was called Bikini Blonde! I went for a Pineapple Crush cocktail







All the staff at the Dolphin wear name badges that state their passion in life, which I thought was super cute! Our bartender was Justin and his passion was puppies



Free nibbles!



I realised I had left my sunglasses in the room, so I ran up to grab them. When I came back Chris was chatting another barman, Travis. His passion was concerts, so they were chatting about Nashville and country music. His favourite band is Sugar Land, so Chris was telling him that I'd seen them at Country 2 Country!

Feeling suitably refreshed after our drink, we headed to the bus stop.



As luck would have it, a MK bus pulled in seconds later (at 3.01pm to be precise) and we were on our way!



While on the bus Chris kept saying he could smell food. We couldn’t see anyone eating, but then we saw these parents giving their babies bum a sniff and there was a code brown situation. Chris must have been really hungry if the thought that smelled appealing

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 3.20. It was really nice not to have to deal with parking and getting over the lagoon. As much as I love the Monorail and the Ferryboat, it's such a time thief!

Home sweet home









There was a particular window I wanted to find. I'd heard about it on my Connecting with Walt podcast. It's quite hard to see cos of the light, but it's all the names of the dummy corporations Walt set up in order to buy the Florida land at a fraction of the price had it been associated with Disney!



I didn’t forget about the best window either…..



PhotoPasses were taken.







Of course we had the awkward look at each other pose…..



We then made our way to the castle…..







…and through to Fantasyland.





It had been a long time since any food had passed our lips, so we headed for an old fave. Pinocchio's Village Haus! I ordered the Meat Lover's Flatbread and Chris ordered the salad (weirdo). I wanted to sit outside on the upper balcony which is something I had recently discovered on a vlog! Turns out we weren’t the only ones who knew nothing of its existence as we were the only ones out there!





The food was lovely by the way. We like it here for a quick bite!







We then walked through Fantasyland, stopping off to use Rapunzel's facilities.







We continued through Liberty Square, where some scary birds seem to have taken up residence.



Jungle Cruise was our first FastPass. We just missed out on the boat with a screaming kid, so that was lucky!



I do like the corniness of this ride! Our skipper was Danielle and she was very in character!









Some Disney ducks enjoying a seat on the hippos!







The backside of wateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!



[continued in next post]

Edited at 09:22 PM.
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Old 9 Jul 19, 08:53 PM  
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[continued from next post]

It was nearly 5pm and I wanted to catch the flag retreat as it's something we had never seen before. As we walked through Adventureland, Chris suddenly came over all romantic and grabbed me for a smooch. I did think this was a bit strange (there's a time and a place folks!), but I soon realised he was trying to get me spat on by the camel! Sod!

It was at this point that I realised Memory Maker was indeed working. It had just taken a while for the pics to come through! Yay!

When we got to the bottom of Main St, we saw the fox thing from Pinocchio! He tipped his hat to me!





The flat retreat was, as you'd imagine, extremely patriotic and serious! USA USA USA!









Here's a video.



Since I'd been paying a lot more attention to the windows, I also spotted Elias Disney's one!



And here's the Casting Agency door!



It was now time to head back to Fantasyland for our next FastPass – 7DMT! As we were approaching we both guessed what the Standby time would be. I guessed 60 mins and Chris guessed 135. It was actually 150 mins!



We were on within 5 minutes though as they shouted for a party of 2 from the FP line. Result! We got row 8 too which was a boost as its definitely better in the back (behave).









Chris's face in this one! Hahaha!



We decided to duck into Mickey's Philharmagic since we hadn’t been in a few years.



We literally walked straight through. Zero wait



Ahhh we loved this, we both forgot just how good it is. I felt a bit emosh in parts! I think its cos it pretty much has all my favourite Disney songs! Chris and I are always worried that first timers won't notice Donald at the end, so we always do a big exaggerated turn around to look



We had a quick nosey in the gift shop on our way out, but we didn’t buy anything.



It was time for a wee snack, so we went to Storybook Treats where I got the oh so pretty Lost Princess Cone and Chris got a Hot Fudge Sundae. Both were very tasty!





Winnie the Pooh was spotted nearby!



Big Top Souvenirs was our next stop, just for a look around. It's quite a good store!





My very own Wall-E



Our third and final FastPass was for Haunted Mansion. On our way we heard a big clap of thunder, but thankfully it didn’t come to anything. We were on within five minutes and I managed to book a Buzz FP while we were waiting! Yay!



I was trying to look out for flashes ahead so I could tell when the new photo op was coming up, but alas……..



Anyone know where it is, so we can pose next time?

At least we nailed the Photo Passes at the exit…..







Off to Tomorrowland now. I spied a couple of PP Photographers at the purple wall, so was of course straight in about! They asked if we wanted our photos with the wall behind us or the castle. I was like "can I be cheeky and say both?" and they laughed and said that was totally fine













Magic shot!



Back to Tomorrowland. I know some people love it (Lisa), but we (especially Chris) find it all a bit chaotic. Chris moans every year that it doesn’t fit in the MK. I personally get why it's there, but it's always SO rammed and loud.



This girl's face tells the story hahahaha! I wasn’t actually taking her photo btw. I was demonstrating how busy it was by the Peoplemover queue.



Never mind, we were only here for our Buzz FP! Off to save the universe from Zurg!



Chris of course whooped my butt. I am SO bad at this one. And I do try! The ride photo shows that I think!



My score…



Chris's score….



[continued in next post]

Edited at 09:26 PM.
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Old 9 Jul 19, 08:56 PM  
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Since we were here, I decided we should go to the Lunching Pad for a must try snack item! The Mickey head donut! It was fairly busy, so we did have to wait a while. We watched in absolute horror as an American woman pushed straight to the front and proclaimed that she wasn’t waiting in that queue just for some water for her kids. Eh that's not how queues work love. Rude, much?

Anyway. We eventually got to order and I got the strawberry version. I did want the chocolate one, but it was sold out. Chris was humming and hawing between a few items, but eventually settled on the sliced roast beef sandwich.





Yeah, it's a big donut.



It was very tasty, but I hardly put a dent in it! I wanted to give the rest away, but Chris convinced me it would be weird to give away a half-eaten donut to a stranger. Hmmm maybe

Chris's sandwich was DELICIOUS. So fresh and it was warm. I had food envy!



Disney duck family!



It was now 8.20pm. Since we had never had a prime spot for Happily Ever After before, we decided to find one now and wait it out. It was only 55 minutes, so totally doable!

The sun was setting and everything looked beautiful



We got a really decent spot in the hub and got to waiting! We passed the time by playing our quiz game and people watching!



Pretty sky!



Soon enough it was getting dark. Is it just me or does it go from light to dark, like, REALLY quickly in Florida?





While we waited for HEE to start we were subjected to loud, obnoxious American teenagers. Why are we magnets for irritating people?! There were four of them and they really wanted to be heard. One of them could sing, and she knew it, so kept randomly bursting in to song. It was one of those moments where you knew she was doing it cos she was expecting someone to say "wow, you're a really good singer", but she was just plain annoying. Thankfully they shut up when the show started and all was forgotten



Photo overload! Sorry, this is them cut down as well!

















This one was a PERFECT Mickey, but I was just a second late with the photo! BAH!









I absolutely love the sillouete of the partners statue in these!









Finale!



I love this show more and more every time I see it and watching it from that spot was just perfect! The song is all the feels



We were ready to head back to the Dolphin now and headed for the exit.





It was nice not to have the usual hassle of waiting for the Monorail and we were on the bus by 9.45pm! We had a really funny driver. She was telling corny jokes and we were convinced she must have worked at Jungle Cruise before!

So, as you know, you can see the Swan & Dolphin from pretty much everywhere around the WDW roads. When I spotted the Swan in the distance I started singing "I saw the Swan" to the tune of "I saw the sign" by Ace of Base. I thought it was hilarious. Chris groaned Anyway, it became a daily feature and you'll hear Chris's comeback in the next day or so……

We got off the bus at the Swan and walked back to the Dolphin. We decided to have a nightcap at Phins. I ordered a Rose wine and Chris had another of his Bikini Blonde beers. The wine was not to my taste though and I didn’t finish it!



We were back in the room at 10.40pm feeling very sleepy with even sleepier legs, but we had a brilliant first full day

Oh, and here's one more balcony shot...



Steps today – 25,116

Join us for the next day in which we visit Animal Kingdom, get caught in our first storm and visit Disney Springs in the evening It's here

Edited at 07:41 AM.
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Old 9 Jul 19, 09:11 PM  
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What an amazing day! And your photos are fantastic 😁 must try the lost princess cone, although it's almost too pretty to eat 😄
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Old 9 Jul 19, 09:20 PM  
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I’ve been looking forward to reading your reports
Sounds a fab first day
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Old 9 Jul 19, 09:32 PM  
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What a fab start! You got so much done and I love your photo pass shots.

I’d never considered the dolphin before but your morning walk has me interested
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Old 9 Jul 19, 09:35 PM  
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What a great day, love your photos - especially the haunted mansion ride one
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Old 9 Jul 19, 11:00 PM  
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You walked a long way and got a lot done! Great first day.

Love your pineapple top too.

Looking forward to reading more!
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