First time on DDP April/May 2018... You used a snack credit on what ! Complete

[firsttimedream]

Great report so far looking forward to more 😊 ps I don't mind if u go off track as love reading it

[Goldia]

What a fab travel day. A shame your original plan for dinner didn't work out but it seems that cape may was a winner.

[slaleyhall]

Originally Posted by firsttimedream

Great report so far looking forward to more 😊 ps I don't mind if u go off track as love reading it

See more...

Aww thanks, I defo do tend to waffle on, so glad you're enjoying it x

[slaleyhall]

Originally Posted by Goldia

What a fab travel day. A shame your original plan for dinner didn't work out but it seems that cape may was a winner.

See more...

It really was a winner, cant recommend it enough

[slaleyhall]

Day 2 – Magic Kingdom, Friday 27th April
Today was our first full day and luckily there was EMH at MK 8-9am so we were up and out by 7.15am.
We filled up our drink mugs in the marketplace and im sure you will all be horrified by this, but we used a QS credit for 2 chocolate chip muffins and a bagel for breaky. We shared these between the 4 of us and ate in the car on the way there as we were rushing. We were very pleased to learn that Mia actually likes bagels, yippee. Sorry no pic as we were rushing so much to get there on time I was super excited, MK is my fave park as its just the most magical.
We were parking by 7.30 and waiting for the ferry. We love to get the ferry on our first day. Its so magical seeing the castle getting closer and closer ad you cross the water. We did wait a while, not sure why so bare this in mind if you need to be there for an early ADR.

We were straight up Main Street and I could have cried when I saw the castle up close and realised I was home again!

Having never stayed onsite before, we were new to EMH so were unsure on what to do but thankfully there were signs held up by cast members saying ‘resort guests this way’, we followed the signs to a roped off areas to the right of the castle and they scanned 1 of our bands and confirmed we were a party of 4 and let us all through. We walked straight through Tomorrowland and straight to SDMT which was already 45 mins, thankfully we had a FP for later and went on Voyage of the Little Mermaid instead, which was literally a walk on. We wandered around taking it all in and thought we would cut across to get on Haunted Mansion. What we didn’t expect is Fantasyland to be roped off just outside It’s a small world. In all my research, no one had mentioned that MK doesn’t open the whole park during EMH and you can only go in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. I was in utter shock and not happy it was spoiling my plans to run on Haunted Mansion before 9am, not good at all. So we went on It’s a small world, again, we just walked straight on and when we came off we were let in to the rest of the park.
So we went straight to Haunted Mansion. We were so proud of Mia for going on, in 2013 she waited outside with my dad, in 2015 she was feeling brave and then cried and screamed from the second she got on until she got off and this year she was fine, well done Mia.
After a go on BTMR, we stopped for a rest, It was at this point we decided a snack credit for a $3.29 coke was probs a bad idea and said we would pay oop for these from now on. We also decided a QS credit for a bagel at $3.29 and 2 muffins at $3.29 was probs the worst idea I’d had so far and we vowed never to do it again as it wasn’t the best use of the DDP. We said we would pay oop for anything under $4 from now on.
After getting totally drowned on Splash Mountain, we headed to Gaston’s Tavern for 2 of Lefou’s Brews, these are so yummy and refreshing, we had them without the foam though. Kids weren’t that fussed though. They do have free ice water in the corner where you can help yourself to, so Mia entertained herself by getting us all a glass each.

After the drinks we walked along to Big Top Souvenirs. I love it in here as you can watch them making all the products and chat to them about what they are making. Even though we were fast approaching our lunch ADR within an hour, the kids wanted things, typical. So a giant mickey head chocolate chip cookie for Finn and a red, strawberry slush for Mia. We sat on the wall outside and the kids had their snacks. As the cookie was the size of Finn’s head and lunch was an hour away, I wouldn’t let him eat it all.

We had a wander around, looking in the shops and then checked in at the podium at Crystal Palace for our 12.30pm ADR. As we approached, we could see a family already at the podium and the closer we got we realised it was a tense conversation. Obviously being the nosey woman, I am, I waited patiently behind them, so I could listen in. The short version of this story is they hadn’t booked and couldn’t understand why it would be at least a 3-4 hour wait ! , I know I shouldn’t, but I chuckled inside as I then approached the podium, gave my name and was told it wouldn’t be long and to take a seat in the shade until they called our name. You wait on a porch like area and they have lots of garden benches to wait on. 5-10 mins later, we were called and were heading in. We were all really looking forward to eating here as have never done a character buffet before.

It’s such a lovely place, a really light and airy conservatory and the characters wander around each table. Our server told us we were safe for at least 20 mins so we ordered our soft drinks with him and went to get food.

Caesar salad, carved sirloin, pickled cucumber, plus some kind of edamame salad but wasn't keen as it just tasted a bit strange (I am super fussy though)

Mia also got the pickled cucumber thinking it was normal and didn't like it, she got some peas and sweetcorn, warm bread buns, honey glazed carrots, which she didn't like either lol so just ate the boiled ones

salad and bread roll, they had lots of bread options which was great

Finn had macaromi cheese (which he said wasn't as nice as Golden Corral ! ), rice and carved turkey which he loved

David's second plate was carved turkey, some kind of sausage and fried veg dish, a pasta bake type dish and some token green beans

Mia decided plain was best and opted for crusty bread

I then had baked chicken, which was really tender, roasted veg, green beans and shallots and a bread roll. I couldn't eat all this but it was yummy.

Mia had her fave food of ice cream and sprinkles and I had a full plate of desserts

The purple ones are blueberry mousse, then toasted smore dessert, a chocolate soil dessert with a chocolate carrot sticking out of the top, a honey dessert with candy bee, a cupcake of some kind. I just ate the frosting and left the cake and then a cookie which Finn stole off me. Yummy desserts and I was happy and content

We have to remember that Finn is 12 so the least said about the shape he created with his desserts, the better

The characters started to arrive and we got out our home made autograph book ready for them to sign, they were all happy to see they had their own picture on each page and I had written each restaurant we had character ADR’s at on the top of each page, followed by photos of the characters at each place. Finn loved Winnie the pooh, I love Eeyore and Mia loves all pigs so was happy to meet Piglet.

After our meals Mia’s tummy started to hurt, while I was finishing my mound of cakes for dessert she started to cry in pain so we grabbed the bill and left MK. Again, this should have been $50 each and service was really good and he gave us drinks to go so we left him a 20% tip. Overall we really liked everything about here, food was yummy, service fab and overall feel with the characters was great so will defo be back here again. We were worried about Mia at this point and called at Walmart for some tablets to settle her stomach, as the pain was coming on every time she ate.
So we got some tablets for her in Walmart and somehow I was roped into buying blooming slime, because obviously we cant get this at home.

We then spent some time by the pool for a few hours before getting ready to eat at Beaches and Cream at 7.10. As it was at Beach Club there was no real need to rush the kids too, so that was great. We had eaten here in 2015 and loved it. It was my best burger of the whole holiday and this is when all 4 of us fell in love with Beach Club and the kids begged to stay here.
The have a system at the podium where you check in and give your name and they take your mobile number to text you when your table is ready, probs if you want to stroll the hotel grounds but as we were staying here we sat on the seats/tables right in front of the podium. So when our table was ready I fully expected her to speak to us when we were only 2 metres from her, but no, she sent us a text instead lol, this of course cracked us up as it must have took longer to do that, than just speak to us.
Our server was pleasant enough but no where near as good as Brian, who we had in 2015. He was working that night and I wished he was serving our table but anyway. Me, Finn and David all ordered burgers and couldn’t wait. We knew Mia wouldn’t eat much here due to her fussy pescatarian diet, so we asked if she could possibly have fries, cucumber and carrot sticks. They don’t have cucumber, but she was brought about 5 little bags of carrots.

We also ordered a side of onion rings which we thought was odd it was brought out as a starter and we were expected to eat them before our main meals were brought.

I didn't fancy any of the alcoholic drinks so David got 2 beers as our drinks on DDP and I had a coke which we said we'd pay oop for but ended up not being charged for. Odd that both beers were brought out at the same time when she knew both were for David, so meant 1 was going warm
Onion rings were really gorgeous but things went downhill from there.
All 3 pf us were disappointed with our burgers and had remembered them being so much nicer and juicier in 2015. Previously it had a wholegrain mustard spread on the bun which I felt made the burger last time, but this time it was just a burger in a bun, so I was gutted. I don’t do melty cheese and with my tomato allergy it doesn’t help as those things would probably would have made it less dry. However, saying that, David and Finn weren’t impressed either.

Mia ate about 2 carrot sticks and nibbled on a few chips then said her tummy hurt. In the end I had to leave and go back to the room to get her tablets for her tummy. She then refused to take them as they tasted disgusting, which obviously wound me and David up at this point as all we wanted to do was help her get better.
Me and David then shared a 3 scoop old fashioned sundae with strawberry sauce (Drenched with your choice of one (1) of the following toppings: Marshmallow, Strawberry, Pineapple, Peanut Butter, Hot Fudge, Caramel, or Chocolate Syrup topped with Whipped Cream, Toasted Almonds, and a Cherry. Extra Toppings 1 dollar each). We had mint choc chips, strawberry and vanilla

Finn had the fudge Mud side (A gooey, chewy Brownie covered with Hot Fudge, Three-scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream, Oreo Cookies, and Whipped Cream topped with Chocolate Syrup and a Cherry

The ice creams were nice, but not amazing. I’ve certainly had better and the service wasn’t a patch on our 2015 visit. We wont go back again, which is sad. Our server didn’t charge us for the onion rings or Mia’s fries and carrot sticks so we just used our 3 credits, left our tip and went.
Me and Finn went for a wander and we saw the fireworks coming from Epcot. Finn literally dragged me all the way from the pool to the bridge so we could watch them.

Wow, we couldn't believe how close we were. We then took a quick dip in the hot tub and David took Mia to bed as she said she was too ill join us, but still refused to take any tablets so we were both ready to kill her by this point and were hoping a good nights sleep would help.

EMH at AK in the morning so we weren’t up too late as needed to be up and out again.

[maronnettes]

Loving it. Shame about beaches and cream

[minnie29]

Brilliant! ...Shame about your DD's tummy

[slaleyhall]

Originally Posted by maronnettes

Loving it. Shame about beaches and cream

See more...

Defo wont go back, we were sooooo gutted

[redspottyowl]

Loving this report as we stay in the YC in 5 months!

[Goldia]

Just like you we have crystal palace lunch on put first day.
We have been for dinner before and loved it. Plus it is the only place dd can meet piglet. I'm glad you enjoyed it.