A Very Disney New Year - Day 3: Happy Birthday Isabella!

[Stewboy]

Index

Friday 30th December 2016

We woke from a bad night’s sleep - the bed is too small, and uncomfortable - at about 6:10am. The reason for the early start was still fast asleep; today was Isabella’s 5th birthday and breakfast was booked for 8:15am at Chef Mickey’s.

After some Mr Coffee we woke the birthday girl at 6:25am, gave her some milk and then it was present opening time. We’d brought a few presents with us (mostly from us and her nanny) along with a few birthday banners, which put up around the room the night before. The rest of her presents would wait until we got back to our ‘other’ home.




We spared no expense in decorating the room for Isabella's birthday...


Morning cuddle for the birthday girl

Excited about her presents - what 5 year old isn’t? Or 40 year old come to that - she opened them quickly. She got some great presents (even if we do say so ourselves) including a bag of 50 Disney pins to trade. Along with the pins that Brett & Jo (Happyhaunt1000 and Tarnabanana83) bought her for Christmas she had plenty of pin trading to do! She also got: a ‘Snap’ card game - in French; the ‘Ten Little Princesses’ book (she has ‘Ten Little Monsters’ and has read ‘Ten Little Dinosaurs’ - they’re a fun set of books; Disney’s ‘Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters’ - people use it for collecting character autographs; the Minnie Mouse ears that we bought for her on our last trip; and a Unicorn purse with some dollars from her Nanny & Poppa.





















After the excitement of present opening we got ready for the day. Isabella was Princess Anna today; Jo was Queen Double Denim! Her excuse is that was early and she had planned on wearing leggings but changed into jeans instead. Forgetting that she’d made this change she then put her denim jacket on too and ‘Hey Presto!’ a double denim faux pas was made!

They both wore Minnie ears. Jo’s pair today were from The Merry Ear Market; she’d brought a selection with her and I forgot to mention that yesterday’s were a Christmas present from Brett & Jo.


Birthday princess

I’m certain that nobody cares what I was wearing...

Leaving the room at about 7:15, the drive over to the T&TC took about half an hour and by 7:45 we were parked in the Hook parking lot (cue dad impressions of Captain Hook from Disney Junior’s ‘Jake & the Neverland Pirates: “Save me Smeeeeeee!” ) and tramming our way over to the Resort Monorail.



The timing was tight, we considered parking at the Contemporary but as we were visiting Magic Kingdom afterwards we decided to risk the resort monorail. Fortunately the Disney Transportation gods smiled upon us and we checked into Chef Mickey’s dead on 8:15.







Once we’d had our obligatory Chef Mickey’s statue photo we were shown to our table, which turned out to be in the same area we sat in last time with the lovely view over Bay Lake. The restaurant knew it was Isabella’s birthday and she was given a birthday card by our server signed by Mickey and his pals, which when you consider that you’re at a character breakfast where you’ll get their autographs ‘for real’, is actually a bit odd.




What a view





We settled and ordered some (real) coffee, then Jo took Isabella to the buffet. They returned in time for our first (and everybody’s favourite) character of the day, the ever reliable and dependable Goofy! We found his page in Isabella’s new Character Encyclopedia for him to sign and he obliged.


Isabella's birthday breakfast






The Goof

After a couple of photos Goofy left and it was buffet time for Jo. She’d decided this morning’s buffet visiting target was four. One down, three to go.


The Four Plates of Jo...


...pt. 1

Minnie arrived as Jo returned. And was gone again less than a minute later. No messing around from Minnie!

Now it was my turn. I set myself no targets (or restrictions for that matter) I was just going to see where the buffet took me. Upon returning, Jo was straight up for plate number 2 - she was a woman on a mission!








Minnie


My first plate


The Four Plates of Jo - pt. 2

The food was actually of good quality and variety, an underrated breakfast buffet destination in my opinion.

Mickey was next to swing by, like Minnie he didn’t hang about and he was soon followed by everybody’s favourite duck: Donald. He’s not afraid to have a bit of fun, and when it came to signing his page he showed his love for Daisy by drawing a heart on her page (which was adjacent to his). We all thought that was cute: Donald Duck #1






Mick








Donald Duck #1

There was for the characters to do some parading around the restaurant to the ‘Mickey Mouse March’ song (you know the one: “M.I.C, K.E.Y, M.O.U.S.E… Mickey Mouse” etc.) as the guests waved their napkins. The birthday girl had a special yellow napkin and the characters made a point of acknowledging her as they came past, especially Donald and Pluto.







Once the parade was over the server brought Isabella a birthday cupcake complete with a candle for her to blow out - she duly obliged.

Pluto was the last of the characters to visit. He signed the book and then Isabella took a selfie of them both on her Kidizoom camera. Once Pluto moved on, we got more food - that’s plate number 3 for Jo. As we sat down to eat our most recent buffet selection I asked Isabella if it was a good birthday breakfast, to which she replied: “More than good, it’s magnificent!” - good to hear that she’d enjoyed it

[Stewboy]

Birthday cup cake


Selfie with Pluto




The Four Plates of Jo - pt. 3


My pastries


A happy birthday girl

Jo reached the magic four with one final plate of pastries. The rest of us were done. It was about 9:30 so we paid up and left. We had enjoyed our breakfast, a nice way to start Isabella’s special day.


The Four Plates of Jo - pt. 4

Just outside Chef Mickey’s was the Gingerbread House (Frozen-themed). We had a look, took a few photos then popped into Bay View Gifts - we were trying to find a Christmas sweater for Brett and Jo. Leaving empty handed it was time to head on over to Magic Kingdom, just a short walk away from the Contemporary .













As we headed down the pathway between the two, we arrived at the new bag check. Reminiscent of the ‘secret’ entrance into Hollywood Studios, this was a welcome addition as we got through it quickly and then headed over to Annual Passholder park entrances for a quick entry into the Magic Kingdom.







It was 10 o’clock when we made our way onto Main Street, U.S.A. We had about 30 minutes left until our Haunted Mansion FastPass ran out so we stopped to watch the Dapper Dans performing a Christmas medley - they were also dressed for the occasion. After about 10 minutes we moved on, pleased that we’d finally got to stop and watch them - another first for this holiday.







We left the Dans and made our way over to the Haunted Mansion. What can I say about this ride? It’s great fun, although we were disappointed that Madame Leota’s face wasn’t showing up in her crystal ball. We did, however, get a personalised hitchhiking ghost with a birthday cake for Isabella which he proceeded to drop on our heads!



After Haunted Mansion we got to ride Big Thunder Mountain railroad - it was closed in October/November so it was nice to get to ride it again. Isabella enjoyed it, screaming all the way round!

There was a bit of time until our Splash Mountain FastPass so we did another attraction that we hadn’t done last time: Country Bear Jamboree. Altogether now…

“There... was…. bloooood on the saddle
And…. bloooood all around
And a great. Big. Puddle
Of…. blooooood on the ground”

Interesting fact: that song was actually sung by Tex Ritter, dad of late actor and comedian John Ritter.




Zeke and Zeb and Ted and Fred and a bear named Tennessee




"Bloooood on the saddle"



After the Country Bears we had the opportunity to watch the ‘Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade’. This parade is usually only seen during ‘Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party’ but in this week between Christmas and New Year it was on during normal park hours, so we couldn’t miss it!

We got ourselves a good spot and waited. Isabella was hungry so I got her a Mickey ice cream bar to keep her going. Fortunately there was only about 20 minutes until the parade begun.

[Stewboy]

The parade itself was excellent. Great characters, great staging. We really really enjoyed it. There were a few particular highlights:

As Princess Anna came past, she spotted Isabella eating her ice cream (with chocolate all over her face) and said: “There’s a little girl dressed just like me, chocolate and all!”

When Kristoff saw Isabella he said: “Wait. Is that…. No, you’re over thinking it!”

Santa is at the very end of the parade and he saw her birthday badge and wished Isabella a happy birthday



































































The parade finished passing us at about 12:15pm. We still had 20 minutes left on our Splash Mountain FastPass, so we headed straight there.

It was a chilly day today and after the soaking we got last time on Splash Mountain we decided to take some precautions. Up went the hoods and Jo covered her face with her denim coat (which had been stowed under the stroller all day to avoid the double denim look!) during the drop. Turns out we needn’t have bothered as we remained dry.



Time to call it a day. As we’d been up early we wanted Isabella to have a nap so that she wouldn’t be too tired at dinner tonight, which was at Rainforest Cafe (the restaurant of her choosing). On the way to the exit we popped in the Plaza Ice Cream Parlo(u)r where Jo got a Cookies 'n’ Cream Mickey Mouse Kid's Cone, I didn’t really fancy ice cream so I went without.





After browsing the shops on the way down Main Street (still no luck with that Christmas sweater) we headed out of Magic Kingdom and onto the monorail back to the T&TC. The tram was literally waiting for us so we jumped on it and rode it back to the parking lot.



The drive back to the Rosen Inn took longer than expected as we got stuck in traffic on the I-4 due to people on our side of the road rubbernecking at an accident that had happened going the other way - super annoying!

At 2:15pm we arrived back at the room and Isabella had a nap. While she slept Jo and I had a little snack on the bathroom floor - jalapeño Kettle Chips and some Lindor (livin’ the dream) - and I wrote some notes.

Isabella napped until about 3:40pm then we woke her up, she opened some birthday cards, got dressed and we were gone by 4:10pm. Once again there was traffic on the I-4 (one major downside of staying offsite) so Google sent us on a diversion to avoid some of it. We ended up driving through the Orange County Convention Centre and getting on the I-4 a few miles closer to Walt Disney World, there was still traffic but at least we avoided a fair chunk of it.

[Stewboy]

It was about 4:40pm when we arrived at Animal Kingdom and parked in the Butterfly lot - a long way from the park entrance. We got the tram to the entrance, entered the park, got some PhotoPass photos in front of the huge Animal Kingdom tree, then checked into the Rainforest Cafe at about 4:55pm.








Go home Yoda, drunk you are




Our reservation was for 5:00pm but we didn’t get called about 5:20pm, which gave us ample time to browse the overpriced rubbish for sale in the shop…

Eventually we were led through the labyrinth that is the restaurant, being seated somewhere by a tiger. Drinks were ordered first: Fusion Margarita (Cazadores Blanco Tequila, Bacardi Pineapple Rum, Midori Melon Liqueur, pineapple juice, sweet and sour) for Jo, Goose Island IPA for me, and water for the birthday girl.


Jo in her natural habitat



When it was time for food, Jo and I both ordered the same:

BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger - Smokin' Mojo BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle, topped with a fried onion ring and safari fries

Isabella: Hot Dog with fries and sweetcorn







The food was fine, but we really don’t like the setting. It’s too loud and too busy. We probably should’ve tried to talk Isabella out of choosing it as I don’t think she really enjoyed it either and definitely would’ve eaten nicer food somewhere else.

Dinner finished up we left and headed into the park. It was about 6:20pm at this point and it was nighttime. Darkness meant that the Tree of Life Awakenings had begun. We watched the lights and animation on the tree for a few minutes and then carried on into the park. Jo was trying to get some FastPasses via the app but the park was surprisingly busy, or rather the rides were, the park itself was fairly quiet.

We decided to go on It’s A Bug Life as it’s another attraction we haven’t done for ages. After we watched that we headed over to Expedition Everest on the off chance we could ride it, but it turned out to be a really long wait (50 minutes) so instead we went over to Africa to ride Kilimanjaro Safari. It was posting a 15 minute wait but turned out to be a walk on.


Isa-bug-a


Late night pin trading

It was pretty cold out in the Harambe Wildlife Reserve, and we didn’t really see much activity (it was dark remember) but we still enjoyed it. After that there wasn’t really much else to do and it was getting late. Isabella spotted a CM with some pins and did some pin trading, then we got her a BB-8 Rice Krispie treat from one of the shops and decided to call it a night.



It was about 9:00pm when we arrived back at the room, we were all really tired - Isabella went straight to bed, Jo and I had showers then we went to bed too.

An enjoyable 5th birthday for Isabella was over


Isabella's photo of the day

Tomorrow: Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! and Happy New Year!

[Loopylooloo]

A lovely birthday for Isabella! She got some great presents too - love the unicorn purse!
The parade looks really good, love those nutcracker toy soldiers...
Drunk yoda! 😂😂😂

[Unexpectedpenny]

What a perfect day for Isabella! I'd like to spend my birthdays doing the same thing, maybe a different restaurant for dinner though

[Redrach1903]

Well what an awesome birthday for Isabella!
Love the attention she got at the parade!

Totally laughing at the bathroom floor snacking! How random! Ha!

Double denim Jo? Oh dear! Hehehehe

Thanks for sharing x

[debsym62]

Wow what a jam packed day, it felt like more than one day to me lol.

[collybird]

Happy Birthday Isabella! Her presents sound awesome, the autographs in the book look really cool.

We're not fans of Rainforest Cafe either but I can see why it appeals to kids.

I'm now craving a Disney buffet breakfast!

[vics18]

Ahh Isabella's little face when she's opening her presents

I do believe double denim is all the rage!

Chef Mickey's looks great. Definitely want to do this with Charlotte in December. The thought of character interaction fills me with dread but know we should do it so this seems like the best way!

HM ghost birthday cake? Amazing 🎂

I don't think I've ever read a good review of Rainforest Cafe

Magnificent birthday though, you can't get much higher praise than that.