The Stones Family Vacay - May 19 – Day 1 – MK, Walmart, Chef Art Smiths Homecomin’ & Disney Springs

[MrsEgg]

Our Trip report Index can be found Here

John woke up early, he said he had been awake since around 5am but daren’t move to not wake us up. We hadn’t agreed a time to get up as I thought we would all be up super early but the beds were so comfy me and Chester didn’t wake up! John decided to wake us up at 7am and we all started to get ready. John popped over to the resort shop to pick up Milk so we could make a Tea in the room. We are Yorkshire Tea drinkers so brought some from home as American Tea just isn’t the same.

The plan of the day was to be Magic Kingdom, it was a Saturday so we knew whichever park we went to it was going to be busy but TheDibb Busy Day guide said Magic Kingdom was the best option so in TheDibb I trust and that is what I had planned.
Fast Passes – Big Thunder Mountain 10.30-11.30, Splash Mountain 11.35 – 12.35 and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 12.50 – 1.50.

As we didn’t have time to visit Walmart last night after the disastrous line at immigration we decided to head back over to El Mecardo for breakfast. There was a good selection of hot offerings and a few cupcake/cookies too although there was a better selection at the Rix Café if you were looking to use a snack credit.

We got 2 of the Grande Fiesta and took our refillable mugs so swapped the drinks for a blueberry muffin and a fruit pot. Again there was no problem doing this, they said as long as you tell them what you’re doing it is fine. The Grande Fiesta was really good, Chester and I shared one and John had his own. I’m not sure if the man behind the counter assumed me and Chester was sharing as he gave us a lot more than John.

QSDP Credits used: 2
QS Credits Remaining – 19
DDP Credits – 24
Snacks – 48

After we finished we headed to the car at 8.27am and was parking up in Simba 123 at 8.33am perhaps our quickest yet. The trams were running quickly and we were soon on and heading over to bag check. We split as I had the pram and John and Chester went through the non bag line and met back up at the monorail.

We both use to be precious over catching the ferry over to magic kingdom on our first Magic Kingdom Day however as time has gone on we now pick which-ever queue looks the shortest, so monorail it was! A quick ride going through the contemporary and we had arrived at the park entrance. It was looking like a beautiful day already without a cloud in the sky. It was now just gone 9am so from resort to park entrance it has taken us 40 minutes for anyone wondering for all those early ADR’s.

We had a quick picture by the entrance as there was no queue and we headed in. The park didn’t seem too busy. Now my fondest memory is walking into main street with the smell of popcorn, walking through I took my deep breath and nothing, what the heck Disney? Where it the popcorn?

We took some photos around the castle and then did what we also do on our first day at Magic Kingdom headed right and onto Buzz Lightyear. We all loved this ride, John won but he didn’t provide any proof, so it never happened right? He said he got 124300. Believe that as you wish, It looks a made up number doesn’t it!
The ride was still showing only a 15 minute wait when we got out so we went back on again. My competitive side got the better of me here and I have to say I did take it a little more seriously this time which paid off 201800 my highest score yet. I took a picture so my win did count

We then headed over to the people mover which was a walk on. We love this ride and having a nosey around the park as we go. We got a good view of the Tron construction too, it looks amazing.

Chester requested that we go and do Pirates of the Caribbean next, his favourite ride from last year. Queue was 10 minutes and he loved this as much as last year.

Chester then wanted to go on the Magic Carpets so we headed there next, it was feeling very hot already now. The line said 20 minutes, we wasn’t particular keen to wait that long for it but Chester really wanted to go on so we waited. The queue did 20 minutes too, the ride was OK – we managed to dodge the camel spit this time.

Out fast pass window for BTM was now getting on so we headed over there, this would be Chester’s first rollercoaster as last year he was only just big enough for 7DMT so we felt this was going to be a good test for how the rest of the holiday was going to go.

Fast pass line was short and we were on the ride in 5 minutes, Chester loved the ride, we managed to all sit together on this one. Leaving BTM on a high our fast pass window for Splash Mountain had opened (good planning hey!). The queue line said 50 minutes the fast pass queue took 5. We hadn’t really said too much to Chester about this one, log ride and a big splash at the end, we were classing 7dmt as a small/medium ride which he agreed BTM was also a small/medium. I have to say I was a little nervous on his reaction to this, again we all got to sit together and were at the back so at least we were easing him in easy!

He absolutely loved it and said he wanted to go again, not at a 50 minute queue though, we shall return another day.

We headed over to Peco Bills and picked up a couple of drinks – it was absolutely roasting now, my phone was saying 36 degrees.

We ordered a raspberry slushy and a bottled water – John wasn’t a fan of the iced tape water and doesn’t like black current squash which Chester and I were putting in the iced water.

Snacks Credits: 2
Snack Credits Remaining: 46

We also filled up our water bottle with iced water – here, it is located in the corner in a barrel and you can help yourself.

The Slushy was very sweet and froze our brains with every sip. The park was starting to feel a lot busier now. We sat in the shade and enjoyed a few minutes and decided what to do next. John was hungry so we headed over to Colombia Harbour house as it was close by and I wanted to have the Lobster Roll again.

I mobile ordered which was quick and easy and took our dinning credits as a payment option, we ordered:

Me: Lobster Roll – Chilled Lobster with a ouch of Mayonnaise on a New England Style Bun, served with house-made potato chips $15.99
John: Fish and Shrimp Combo – Fried Shrimp and Fried Fish Plate served with Hushpuppies and a choice of Green Beans & Carrots or French Fries $12.49
Chester: Chicken Breast Nuggets – served with Donnon Danimals Smoothie, GoGo SqueeZ Applesauce and choice of small Lowfat Milk or Bottled Water $7.49
We all chose Minute Maid lemonade for our drinks $3.99 each for adults.

My lobster roll was delicious, it was lovely and cold too. Chester enjoyed his Chicken nuggets and John said his was good, I think he was eyeing up my Lobster Roll if I’m honest, but I wasn’t sharing!

QSDP Credits used: 3
QSDP Remaining: 16
DDP Remaining: 24

We then headed over to 7DMT for our last fast pass, it took less than a 5 minute wait in the fast pass queue but the standby was showing 80 minutes. We all loved this ride, Chester especially. I defiantly think it is a good first rollercoaster for small children to test the waters before going on BTM.

Chester was feeling tired now so we agreed to head out of the park, as we did the castle show was on so we stopped for a few minutes to watch.

With snack credits burning a hole in our pockets we stopped at The Main Street Confectionary and picked up Mickey Crispy with M&Ms for Chester who then declared it was too sickly and promptly handed it to John.

Snack Credits used: 1
Snack Credits Left: 45

We caught the boat back to the parking lot and once back in the car, which was hotter than an inferno we headed to Walmart on the 192. We headed in on strict instructions not to browse too much as Chester needed a nap and John needed to get to the gym – Right!

After many a wondering question if we really needed 48 sugar donuts we picked up: 24 still water bottles, 3 boxes of Cereal and porridge oats and 4 Apples $29.54 incl tax.

When we got back John headed to the Gym and Chester and I headed to the room so he could have a nap. John said the gym was pretty good and had just about everything he needed. One of the reasons why we had book CS was that it is the only moderate with a gym.

We were heading the Disney springs tonight and had an ADR at Chef Arts Smith’s Homecomin. I was very excited about this as I had read so many good reviews. When we got to Disney Springs we realised they had changed the layout again to the garages, it meant you have now got to go past lime and do a U-Turn to get into it if you’re heading from Disney. Being a Saturday night the garages were pretty full but we managed to pull down an aisle as someone was leaving.

We checked into Chef Arts Smith’s Homecomin at 5.55 for our 6.10 reservation and was given a buzzer, the place was full and the waiting area was crowded too. Walk ups where being told at least an hour and a half wait. We only ended up waiting 20 minutes but we took a table on the covered exterior area as waiting inside would have been at least another 20 minutes.

Our server came around quick and took our drinks order (lemonades all round – you’ll get use to this).

John and I both ordered – Art’s Famous Fried Chicken- Butterfilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly friend and served with creamy mashed potatoes, a cheddar drop biscuit and love $29.00 each.

Chester: Friend Chicken Tenders - served with a veggie and a starch. $10.00

The food came quickly but we found some of the pieces of the chicken dry and we didn’t eat it all, it seemed like the thicker pieces were the ones that had dried out. The mash was absolutely yummy though and I ate most of that.

For dessert we had the Hamilton County Chocolate Pecan Pie – A 100-year-old traditional Smith Family Farm recipe served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream $11.00 and the Doughnuts – Freshly made mini sugar doughnuts $9.00. Chester declined his dessert although managed to fit in one of the doughnuts.
The desserts were a lot better than the mains – sorry for the picture I only remember half way through.

DDP Credits Used: 3
Remaining DDP Credits: 21
As we walked around Disney Springs afterwards we both agreed we wouldn’t be heading back anytime soon, it wasn’t for us unfortunately. We headed to the Lego shop on Chester’s instruction has he was desperate to build a car for Lego racing.

For anyone who hasn’t been before the Lego Shop as an undercover external area where you can build your own Lego Car and then race against others. Chester loves this and could easily spend an hour building and racing his cars. Well worth it for any budding Lego builders. I did spy quite a few competitive dads getting involved too!
Afterwards we headed to World of Disney, having not seen it since the refurb we both really liked the new look, controversial I know. I checked out the spirit jerseys and liked the 4th of July version, with them only have 1 small left I decided to buy it and if I saw another one I liked better I could always return this one. Jersey was $64.99 + Tax. I am normally a UK 10 and even the small is still on the larger size so I would recommend sizing down – they didn’t have an XS though.

It was now 9pm and we were flagging so headed back to the car, the car park was absolutely rammed with people queuing everywhere. It was worse than black Friday at the outlets. It took us 15 minutes to get out of the car park as people were just waiting everywhere for a space to become free.

The journey back to CSR was quick, Chester had fallen asleep in the car so we put him straight to bed and we watched a little American TV and joined him shortly after.

QSDP Used: 5
DDP Used: 3
Snacks: 3
Steps: 23,342

Tomorrow we head to Animal Kingdom, CSR and Yak & Yeti which can be found HERE

[Zomax25]

Fab day! I hope our 5 year old will be big enough for 7DMT and BTM next year. Short parents mean short kids 😂
Thanks for sharing.

[Minnie Mum]

Great day. Shame about homecoming, its one of the adr that im looking forward to in Aug😣

[collybird]

I think your mammoth travel day probably helped alleviate the jet lag as you really needed that extra sleep.

I was confused with the garage layout at Disney Springs last year, I kept thinking we had missed a turn when we kept having to do the U-turn! We completely aborted a weekend trip last year as the parking was a nightmare I just knew the whole area would be much too busy for me.

Once again you’ve included lots of helpful tips, I’m sure you’ll be really helping some people out.

[Palm trees]

What a great first day. Shame that your dinner was a bit of a let down though.

[Arsenal8]

Great report so far. If you really want to beat John on Buzz Lightyear look up the hints on you tube. There are a couple of targets that get you crazy points. I did it and managed to get my galactic ranger sticker and a score of 999999.

[MrsEgg]

We have both promised not to look at the cheats so he would know if I got the 999999

Day 2 now added

[MissJRabbit]

Great day! Shame you didn't rate Homecomin' - its on my list for next time because of all the great reviews!