Split Stay Get Away - Day 2: "Today it was the best day ever in my life"

[Stewboy]

The Index

Saturday 26th May 2018

Welcome back. If you’ve taken note of today’s title (courtesy of Isabella) then no doubt you’ll be expecting something a bit special from today - hopefully we won’t let you down!

Yesterday’s disappointments and hours of travel were behind us and we were up early and raring to go for our first proper day at Walt Disney World - Magic Kingdom was our destination.

Jo was awake by 4am, despite the comfortable bed. I didn’t wake until about 6:30am, when I jumped out of bed, got dressed and headed off to get coffee and pastries from Sassagoula Floatworks.

It was a nice 5 minute stroll past the under-refurbishment building 6, and some lovely New Orleans inspired sidewalks - I took photos aplenty on the way!








Scenes from Old Orleans

Finally making it to Sassagoula Floatworks I got some pastries to go with the coffee - an apple Danish, croissant, pain au chocolat - and I swapped Isabella’s resort mug for a new one as the lid was broken.

Isabella was awake when I got back to the room, and after a quick cuddle we were all tucking into the pastries, drinking our coffee (and milk), and getting ready to get over to Magic Kingdom as soon as we could - there was no hanging about this morning!


Morning cuddles




Morning pastries

Despite having the car, we knew better than to use it to get to Magic Kingdom. We’ve all done the car park, tram, ferry/monorail journey; we all know it takes ages! Better to get a bus if you can - one of the perks of staying on property.

Once we were ready, we made the short walk to the bus stop, arriving just as the Magic Kingdom bus did. We had to stand, but within 10 minutes we were exiting the bus outside the Magic Kingdom.


"Bus stop that way" said Jo


Standing but happy

A Wilderness Lodge bus was just entering the bus stop area as we were leaving, and Jo swore that it said “Welcome Losers” on the front - it says “Welcome Lodgers”!


Ears in silhouette

[Stewboy]

We beat all the losers to the entrance and by 8:20am we were through bag check and into the park. Standing in Town Square and looking at that view down Main Street… is there a better feeling?!
Deciding what to do first, we suddenly saw the Omnibus appear. As it’s something that we’ve never done, Jo suggested we ride it - we weren’t in any rush as we had until 9:20am to do our Splash Mountain FastPass.




Main Street

The Omnibus stops outside the Town Square Theater, we got on board for a one way trip to Cinderella’s Castle. We headed up the stairs to the upper deck, and after a short wait we begun our slow drive down Main Street.




The Omnibus

It was 8:30am and Main Street was buzzing with guests. The other Main Street vehicles were out and about as they usually are early in the mornings. The Main Street Trolley Show was also underway so we paused for a minute or two while the performers finished their version of “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted.

The atmosphere was great, yesterday was well and truly behind us. Being atop the bus afforded us a wonderful view of Main Street, it really was turning into the perfect start to the holiday; so good in fact that it made Jo cry.




Bus selfies








Main Street views - part 1




Main Street Trolley Show performers






Main Street views - part 2








Hub/castle views

Eventually the Omnibus arrived at our destination outside Cinderella’s Castle. It had only taken 10 minutes, if that, but it was fun way to start the day; definitely worth giving it a go if you’re in early and have nowhere to be in a hurry.

We’d decided to head to Tomorrowland next to ride the People Mover. The Incredible Tomorrowland Expo had started the previous day, so there was a lot Incredibles 2 activity going on, including background music and decoration.


Tomorrowland PhotoPass

[Stewboy]

As we passed Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin we noticed there was no wait, so decided to ride that before People Mover.

Isabella and I sat together this time, with Jo going solo. As I mentioned in my last report, Jo always wins Toy Story Mania, and I always win Buzz Lightyear - that is until today! Jo won, so well done Jo… Isabella got her best score too, so well done Isabella .





Time for PeopleMover. Not much to say about this ride. It’s relaxing, everyone loves it. And yes, that cone is still riding continuously!


Fact of the day: I've never ridden Astro Orbiter


And they're off


Part of The Incredible Tomorrowland Expo


This is how I get my hair done


Cone riding the PeopleMover

It was about 9am now and time to mosey on over to Frontierland for our Splash Mountain FastPass.

By the way, the weather this morning was glorious, but we’d heard that the next few days were going to be full of rain, so we’d amended our plans and decided to head on over to Epcot to catch some Flower & Garden Festival this afternoon after our final Magic Kingdom FastPass.


Where's the fire?!




Scenes from Liberty Square


Liberty Square duck

We made a brief restroom stop at Pecos Bill’s - they weren’t serving food yet, but they were open, and empty - worth remembering if like us you miss the restrooms between Liberty Square and Adventureland.




Scenes from Frontierland


Frontierland duck

Splash Mountain! We love Splash Mountain, and were a bit disappointed that it was closed last time. The refurb had sorted out some of the sound bugs, and I thought it all looked a little fresher than it had done on previous trips. The drop got us a little wet, but the sun soon dried us off.






Yay! Splash Mountain














Views from Splash Mountain




Splashed!


What a wonderful day!


...Everything is satisfactual

[Stewboy]

It was now almost time for our 10am breakfast reservation at Be Our Guest. As we were walked back through Frontierland, Isabella’s crocs had started to rub - they were getting too small for her - so we stopped and she put on the pair of socks we’d bought with us for this very reason.


Socks




Stocks

After a quick stop at Rapunzel’s to wash our hands, we checked into Be Our Guest and found ourselves a table in the Ballroom. Isabella wanted to sit in the West Wing, but it was busy and the one table that was free was dirty. I also think that it’s too dark in there anyway so we settled for a table next to the wall in the ballroom; it was a good place to seat, on the edge away from the hustle and bustle in the middle of the room.

I got coffee and the the food arrived quickly. I’ve never been a fan of Be Our Guest; I’ve always found it to be all style and no substance. It was our first time trying breakfast here. This was probably the last chance for me to be convinced otherwise.

Our breakfast choices were as follows:

Jo - Croque Madame (Open-faced Ham Sandwich topped with a Fried Egg, Gruyere Cheese, and Béchamel served with Fresh Fruit)

Me - Open-Faced Bacon and Egg Sandwich (Poached Eggs, Applewood Bacon, Brie Cheese, and Arugula on a Croissant served with Fresh Fruit)

Isabella - Feast A La Gaston (Scrambled Eggs, Herb-Roasted Potatoes, Apple Smoked Bacon, and Sausage served with Fresh Fruit)

We also got a selection of pastries to share.


Croque Madame


Open-Faced Bacon and Egg Sandwich


Feast A La Gaston


Pastries

So how was the breakfast? Well, I have to say I really enjoyed it. Much better than lunch and dinner; I would definitely go back there for breakfast and recommend it for anyone else, who like us has been unimpressed with the lunch and/or dinner. It’s pricey, but a good use of a QS credit on the Dining Plan.


"Was it good Joanne?"

Pleased with our successful breakfast we walked back into Fantasyland, and into Mickey’s PhilharMagic as it was only a 5 minute wait. Everyone in the theatre obeyed the ‘move down the rows’ rule. I did have someone in front of me wearing Minnie Mouse ears that obscured my view a little. At the time I thought it didn’t bother me, but as I’m including it now, maybe it did!



On previous trips we’ve made autograph books for Isabella, or bought a book with us for her to get signed by characters. For some reason we’d not done that this time so we were looking for something for her to get signed; maybe a hat, or a photo frame or something.

We had a browse round Fantasy Faire, but instead of finding something to get signed, Isabella traded a pin, got herself a pressed penny, and bought a Pressed Coin Collection book for her pressed pennies - I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s already full by the way!


Princess on her throne


Pin trading




Pressed Penny book

Next up for rides was our Haunted Mansion FastPass. The park had got a lot busier over the last hour or so, and the line for Haunted Mansion was pretty long - 35 minutes. We headed straight in past all the lodgers and once in the stretching room we headed straight for our usual spot under the tightrope girl to be close to the door when it opens.

The doors opened and we were second or third in line to get to the doom buggies. We all love this ride - it probably just beats Splash Mountain as my favourite at Magic Kingdom. Jo and I decided that I should get in first on all the rides on this trip, rather than her, so that we get to see things from a different perspective!

There was one more FastPass left for us at Magic Kingdom, and that was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in about half an hour.

As we had time to kill we headed back over to Main Street to continue our autograph book/hat/whatever search. In one of the Main Street shops we found a really nice autograph book that Isabella liked, so we ended up buying that for her. Mission complete.


Autograph book

Now a story about ducks:

Outside Casey’s Corner there were a family of ducks; the kids - they were teenagers - were playing around in the flower beds, the mum was strutting around quacking loudly for people to get out of the way - they did!

The cause of her quacking soon became apparent; her ‘husband’ was in trouble! She must’ve agreed to meet him somewhere and he was running late. Literally running... Across the tops of the flower beds, trying desperately not to fall in between the flowers! It was actually pretty impressive, he only lost his footing once or twice.

As he got closer to her, she then turned and walked away from him. He got to the meeting place and looked bewildered. Poor thing he was in the ‘duck’ house!


If you look closely you can see the teenage ducks


Mummy duck


Daddy duck

We continued our day...

As I mentioned it was a glorious day i.e. hot! We were thirsty.

Main Street was too busy so we went back to Tomorrowland as we know that the Lunching Pad is good for getting free iced water - they usually have them ready.

Once we’d rehydrated we then walked back round to Fantasyland for our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FastPass. As we were in the FastPass queue (when is there not a queue for FastPass here?) Jo looked for FastPasses over at Epcot, and managed to get one for TestTrack.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a strange ride. If it wasn’t so busy all the time, I probably wouldn’t mind it, but I find it overrated and could take it or leave it to be honest - it’s just not worth the fuss.





At this point we’d now been at Magic Kingdom for four hours, done lots of rides, had breakfast, and generally had a fantastic morning. The fun would now continue over at Epcot, so we said goodbye to the castle for today, and made our way to the exit.

One thing we’d not found time to do today was the Walt Disney World Railway train. That was definitely on our to do list as we’d not done it since my very first trip to Disney World 14 years ago; we hoped to ride it when we returned in a couple of days.


Time for a drink

Using the Express Monorail - Monorail Peach - to get to the TTC meant that it was a short walk to the Epcot Monorail platform. If you go via the Resort Monorail you have to walk the long way round.

For the ride over to Epcot we were on Monorail Lime. All in all we only waited about 10 minutes for the monorails, and it was a nice and relaxed ride, so much so that Isabella even had a little snooze on the way to Epcot.


Monorail Peach has arrived


Oh no, somebody had a snack-cident!


Power nap


And she's awake!

As you arrive at Epcot the monorail goes on a loop around Future World before depositing you outside the park entrance, it’s a nice way to view the park, and if you ever get the opportunity to take that journey it’s definitely worth it.

There was a big crowd at the bag check - it was going to be a busy afternoon. Everyone probably had the same idea as us: see the Festival before it closes on Monday, without getting soaking wet on Sunday!

Despite the lines we got in fairly quickly. The longest line of the day though was definitely the one for Spaceship Earth; we avoided that one!


Bag check queue


Spaceship Earth queue

The sun was still shining and we were in Epcot, which looked extra beautiful with all the colourful flowers and topiaries.

We made a quick stop outside Guest Services to pick up a Flower & Garden Passport. Isabella was going to be in charge of ticking off the topiaries as as we saw them, and sticking the passport stickers on the food booths we visited.




Flower & Garden Passport

Starbucks was next on the list, and as it was such a glorious day we opted for a Peach Iced Tea, which along with the Iced Caramel Macchiato became our favourite drinks.


Peach Iced Tea


Stitch topiary

Our Test Track FastPass was now open so that was our next destination. We made note of the topiaries we passed so that Isabella could tick them off when we stopped.

Isabella designed our car; she opted for capability and responsiveness rather than efficiency and power, although in truth I don’t think she really cared, she just wanted it to look nice - she may be a designer like her dad after all.

After our high speed ride, Isabella messed around in one of the Chevrolet cars for a few minutes, but we had other places we wanted to be and were soon checking out the Flower & Garden Festival in greater detail.




Isabella's car


Definitely not Isabella's car!


Checking her mirrors

[Stewboy]

A bit of history...

This wasn’t our first time visiting the Flower & Garden Festival. We were here in 2010 (before Isabella was born) but I think we only spent an afternoon here. I don’t recall us visiting any food booths but I do remember seeing the Lion King topiary (still going strong 8 years later) and the signs of the Chinese Zodiac in the gardens of the China pavilion - which I recall looking for the next time we visited and wondering why they weren’t there (I wasn’t really clued up on Disney back then!).


Jo at Flower & Garden 2010


Me at Flower & Garden 2010

Back to the present...

We checked out the topiaries around Future World and Showcase Plaza and then had a wander through the Butterfly Haven - we definitely did that back in 2010 too.

After about 10 minutes observing a variety of butterflies, it was time to sample some festival food. The food at last year’s Food & Wine festival had been so amazing; Flower & Garden had a lot to live up to!




Cars topiaries


These people were driving around giving out seeds


Beautiful Epcot














Butterflies etc.


Daisy Duck topiary

Jo had her list, and The Honey Bee-stro, was close by and we wanted to try all three food options they had on offer:

Roasted Cauliflower with Buckwheat Honey Carrot Puree, Wild Rice Pilaf, Asparagus, Honey Blistered Grapes and Sunflower Brittle

Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with White Cheddar Cheese, charred vegetables, Clover Honey Sour Cream and Micro Watercress

Local Wildflower Honey-Mascarpone Cheesecake with Orange Blossom Honey Ice Cream garnished with Fennel Pollen Meringue Kisses

Once we’d made our purchases via our Magic Bands using Disney Dining Plan Snack Credits, we got stuck in!

We gave Isabella the cheesecake (she loved it); Jo and I shared the cauliflower and the chicken flatbread. Our first Flower & Garden food booth had been a success - the food was lovely.






The Honey Bee-stro


Enjoying her cheesecake


Beautiful Epcot

[Stewboy]

And then came the rain…

It was 2:30pm, and it felt like we had our fill for the day so we dodged the raindrops and headed for the exit; we were due at the Grand Floridian for our 1900 Park Fare ‘Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner’ at 5:30pm anyway.


Here comes the rain!


Donald and his nephews

Leaving the park, we noticed that the line for Spaceship Earth was, unbelievably, longer than it was when we first entered an hour and a half ago!

Resort bus was our easiest way home, and we made our way to bus stop 4. The bus arrived about ten minutes later, and by 3pm we were back at Port Orleans French Quarter.


Spaceship Earth queue - even longer than earlier

The disappointment with the room had been largely forgotten after a wonderful morning at Magic Kingdom, followed by an enjoyable couple of hours sampling the Flower & Garden Festival Epcot; but as we made up the stairs to our room a new issue presented itself: smokers. On the shared walkway outside our room. Yep, our neighbours were sitting outside their room smoking, which means they were sitting outside OUR room smoking. Brilliant.

We only had about an hour and a half until we needed to be ready to leave. I headed to Sassagoula Floatworks to get some drinks while Jo opened the package that she picked up yesterday - it was her 2019 Erin Condren planner complete with ‘planny pack’!

Isabella had her bath and then wrote her trip reports…






Jo unboxing her planner

Once I returned with drinks I wrote up my trip report notes too, before having a shower and getting ready for dinner.

When Jo was showered and we were all ready we headed off to the Grand Floridian - the time was about 4:45pm.


Ready for dinner (dress courtesy of Soph aka Mouse mess)


Pre-dinner selfie

Due to some heavy traffic on the way we arrived at the Grand Floridian at about 5:15pm. Our reservation was for 5:30pm so we headed straight to check in.

Jo and Isabella went to the restroom, and when they returned we were shown straight to our table. Our server arrived and we ordered drinks; Jo had a Blood Orange Margarita, I ordered a Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale. Cinderella then suddenly appeared - I don’t think she was supposed to yet! Fortunately we were prepared; we got a photo and an autograph, and then Isabella got a Kiddizoom selfie.








Meeting Cinderella

A few minutes later Cinderella was gone. Inexplicably our drinks took about 15 minutes to arrive. I think it was at this point that Jo remembered we’d been served by this guy before: his name is David and he’s very slow!




Finally!

Once she’d had some of her drink, Jo took Isabella to the buffet, before going herself. While she was gone Lady Tremaine arrived. As before, we got autographs and a photo, and then Isabella wanted another selfie. Lady T wasn’t impressed with Isabella’s efforts - she was really funny.










Lady T

After I got some food followed closely by Isabella’s second round - Anastasia then appeared and was a lot fun. Isabella got an autograph and a photograph, and another selfie. Unlike Lady T, Anastasia enjoyed goofing off for Isabella’s Kiddizoom. Drizella arrived immediately after her sister, and was equally at home posing for selfies with Isabella!








Fun with Anastasia








Drizella














Scenes from the buffet

The food, by the way, looked and tasted great. 1900 Park Fare is an underrated restaurant IMO.

There was no Prince Charming or Fairy Godmother tonight, but after eventually paying the bill (which took forever due to David’s uselessness) Isabella got to meet Perla the mouse as we left the restaurant.








Meeting Perla

Dinner had been really enjoyable, we’d all had a decent selection of food from the well stocked buffet, and the characters were, as always, a lot of fun.

After wandering around the wonderful Grand Floridian lobby, and taking some time to listen to the band - the wonderfully named ‘Grand Floridian Society Orchestra’ - it was finally time for head back to Port Orleans French Quarter.




Grand Floridian Easter Eggs


Grand Floridian selfie

On the way back to the car, Isabella was fascinated with a tiny snail making its way from one side of the wide sidewalk to the other; so much so that she took photos of its struggle!




Snail

It was about 7:45pm when we got back.

And now our neighbours’ kids were playing football along the shared walkway outside our rooms! Jo got Isabella ready for bed while I went for coffee. When I got back to the room I politely asked them to stop playing football as it was 8pm and my daughter needed to go to bed - to be fair, they did.

Once Isabella was asleep, Jo and I showered and watched another episode of The City and the City. We needed to watch the final 2 episodes before tomorrow afternoon, but we were so tired after our action packed day that we only managed one.

It was about 9:30pm when we decided to call it a night and go to sleep.

And so an absolutely brilliant first day was over; tomorrow we’d be back at Epcot but this time we’d need ponchos!

TFR

[Goldia]

Snap! We've never riden on the omnibus or the astro orbiter either! What a fun day at MK and then onto Epcot after a quick monorail power nap. It really looks like you're having fun from the photos. Shame the rain is incoming. Oh and POFQ does look fab in your early morning photos.

[DISNEYLIZ]

What a busy day, love the selfies

[Cinderella]

Brilliant report👍

[Palm trees]

What a brilliant day and endorsements dont get any better than the one at the end of your report! How lovely