The Mad Hatters in Florida May/June 2018 - Day 1 - Magic Kingdom and Disney springs

[Mad Hatters]

Hello and welcome to my very first trip report

So we are the Hatfield’s: Adam (Me), Grace (Wife), Joshua (Oldest Son), Trayvon (Youngest Son), Mick (My Dad) and Sue (My Mum).

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Friday 18th May: Day 1 Magic Kingdom and Disney Springs

Today was a very early start. It was a traditionally poor first night’s sleep with me awake at 02:45 and Grace not long after. We tried getting back to sleep but there was no chance.
To be honest, I was not too bothered as I was so excited for the day ahead. Trayvon was next up at 04:15. Finally Joshua awoke at 05:05. The early waking up wasn’t such a bad thing as we were planning on leaving the room at around 06:45, to make sure we got to Magic Kingdom nice and early and make use of the extra magic hours, which were 08.00 – 09:00.

This morning we had an ADR booked for 09:15 at Be Our Guest. This was a new one for all of us and we were excited to go, especially to see the theming inside. With that in mind, we had a light snack to keep us going. Well, three of us did; the boys and me had banana’s and the boys also shared a cookie from last night.

Ready to go!



Magic bands...


I bought the magic band stickers for all of us a few weeks before we went. Unfortunately Grace’s didn’t stick very well. You get 2 of each that you order so we tried reapplying the other and that also didn’t stick as it kept curling up at the edges. Mine and the boys weren’t too bad, but my mum’s also wasn’t having it. A shame as they looked good.

Once we were ready to go, we knocked on my parent’s door, at 06:50, and then were at the bus stop by 7am. There were quite a few people at the bus stop, though most seemed to be going to Animal kingdom. We were on the bus at 07:12 and on our way.
We arrived at Magic kingdom at around 25 past 7, and made our way through the security and then were waiting in front of the entrance. We passed a little time on by looking in the little gift store.

The boys trying on the different hats.



And all of us patiently waiting to be let in




Nice and close to the front.



At around 07:45 we were let into the park and we made our way into the park. We spotted a lonely photographer, so asked for a photopass picture in front of the castle. (spoiler – Take note of my mum wearing her ears).



And a lovely picture of Joshua and Trayvon in front of the castle.



We then made our way to Tomorrowland land.



It was a lovely morning.


Plenty of people waiting to get into Tomorrowland.


We were held until exactly 8am, then we were let through. While most people legged it up towards Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, we took a steady walk straight on to Buzz Lightyear space ranger spin. This was good fun as always.


The look of concentration right there!



Unfortunately, my Mum managed to lose the ears that Grace had made for her on this. Never to be seen again.

Next we moved on to ride on the TTA PeopleMover. Once again we just walked straight onto this, as you would expect.

Then we went on to the Tomorrowland speedway. This was a short wait of around 5 minutes to get on. Joshua rode with me. Trayvon with Grace and I think my parents went on together. The boys love this.
I managed a selfie with Joshua here haha.


Next up we went on to the Mad Tea Party spinning cups. This was good fun and we really managed to get it spinning fast, which obviously the boys thought was hilarious.

It was now just after 9am. Time for our reservation at Be Our Guest. There was quite a line to check in for this, but it moved quite swiftly. It was a lovely sunny day now and quite nice and warm already, so we didn’t mind queuing up outside. We had already pre ordered our food 30 days out from our reservation, so it was quick and easy. We were handed a rose and told to make our way inside. We headed to the till where they scanned my magic band. They then took the rose from us and we went in to find a table.

It is quite dimly lit inside, but the theming. Wow. It really is impressive.







After a wait of around 10 to 15 minutes our food was brought to us.
I had the Croque Madame (Open-faced Ham Sandwich topped with a Fried Egg, Gruyere Cheese, and Béchamel served with Fresh Fruit).


My parents and Grace had the Feast A la Gaston (Scrambled Eggs, Herb-Roasted Potatoes, Apple Smoked Bacon, and Sausage served with Fresh Fruit).


Joshua had the kid’s Scrambled egg.


Trayvon had French toast.


And you are also served plates of pastry to accompany your breakfast.


Both the boys had a chocolate milk, me and Grace had soda’s and my parents had coffee. I wasn’t expecting too much for this breakfast, however, it arrived hot and was quite tasty to be honest. So it got a thumbs up from us.

On our way out Grace tried to take some pictures of the rose, but as our camera isn’t the best, the pictures are a bit poop.


There was a family taking a picture just on the way out, so I offered to take it for them so they could all be in it together. They then offered to return the favour, so we all had our picture taken together too.


Our first Fastpasses were now open so we split up at this point. My mum went off to ride Buzz Lightyear space ranger spin once again. The rest of us went to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We were unsure how Trayvon would get on with this, but he was super excited to ride it. We need not have been concerned as he loved it. It’s a great ride and one we always try to get on. My mum won’t ride it as she hates coaster’s even though this is quite gentle.

We met back up with my mum where we had agreed, which was at the shop between BTMR and Splash mountain. From here we headed to Mickey’s Philharmagic. We love this show, although I feel the movie needs updating as the 3d effects are not that good compared to some of the newer stuff.

Obligatory picture of trying to pull the sword out of the stone. If it wasn’t for my splint, I reckon I would have done it haha.

Trayvon having a go.


Joshua’s turn…….


Next, we headed round to Pete’s Silly Sideshow where we met Donald and Goofy. I had a great interaction with Donald when he came over to look at my splint and gave me the thumbs up when he saw a sticker of himself.







We then popped into Big Top Souvenirs for the boys to choose a snack each. We used 2 snack credits for these. Joshua chose a packet of Goofy candy company sour gummy worms and Trayvon picked cotton candy (candy floss).



Now we decided to take the Walt Disney World Railroad all the way around the park. Grace has never been on this, so I thought it would be nice for her to see the park in this way. We got on the train, and back off at the Fantasyland station. This was a nice relaxed way to view the park.

We got off this at around 1pm and we noticed that the sky had suddenly become quite dark now. Sure enough, as we were walking across to our Peter Pan’s Flight Fastpass, it started raining. Properly raining haha. We quickly hurried to get some cover in the Fantasy Faire shop at Mickey’s Philharmagic exit. We had discussed getting ponchos before we came out, due to the forecasts, so decided now was a good time to purchase these. The shop was packed with people getting shelter and then from exiting the show. I purchased us 2 adult and 2 child ponchos. These cost us $38 and we paid using our e-gift card from declining Mousekeeping. (Just as a side note, later on in the holiday we went to Walmart and saw these at a fraction of the cost. We needed them when we did, so have no regrets on paying what we did).

Obligatory hat photo.


Joshua’s nickname for the holiday was goof because of his 1 big tooth. That other adult tooth has taken ages to come through lol.
The rain had started to slow down at this point and we were nearing the end of our Fastpass window. We got to the ride about 10 minutes before our window closed and were quickly on.

As soon as we came off we went to Pinochio Village Haus for some lunch. We used the new quick ordering system on the My Disney Experience app. To be honest, I don’t think this really saved us that much time. It was pretty busy inside, but we managed to snag a table pretty quickly.

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[Mad Hatters]

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Me and Joshua shared the Sausage and pepperoni flatbread (Flatbread topped with Sausage, Pepperoni, Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella Cheese). We also used a snack credit for a side of fries. I believe my parents had the same too.


Grace and Trayvon shared chicken nuggets and fries (Ten (10) Chicken Breast Nuggets served with French Fries). This too, was really enjoyed…..


The food was lovely and just enough, as we weren’t hugely hungry after our decent sized breakfast. We do enjoy eating here and always find the food to be pretty good.

Next we went round to our final Fastpasses of the day. My mum waited in the gift shop for the 5 of us as it was time to ride Splash Mountain. I have always been too scared to go onto rollercoasters and rides with big drops etc. so this was a first for me. Can’t deny I was nervous to go on this.

I have to say, wow. That drop was awesome. I have really been missing out over the years, it was superb. We all wore our ponchos except Joshua, who didn’t care if he got soaked!

Shame that you can’t make out Trayvon in the picture, as the woman in front had her hands up exactly where he is. He did go on it though haha, you will just have to take my word for it.


Once we were off, it was time for my mum’s fastpass for The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It was right at the end of the FP window at 14:40, so she rushed to get onto it while we waited outside.

Once my mum was off, it was time for us to make our way out of the park. We went in to a few shops on our way out and Grace spotted a stitch purse that she liked the look of. She agreed to wait and consider what she wanted once she had seen a few more things so made a mental note of it.

We got to the bus stop and only had a short wait for a bus. We were back at POR at 15:40. We went back to our rooms to get showers/baths and to get ready for going to Disney Springs. We hadn’t been since 2015 so were very excited to see how it looked after all the work done there.

The 4 of us may have had a little nibble on these. Yum yum.


And I may have had one of these, just to wet my whistle.


Once we were all ready we made our way to the bus stop. We got to the bus stop at 16:50 and 4 minutes later, we were on the bus and on our way to Disney springs.

At the bus stop.




We soon arrived and wow. What a transformation. It looked and felt completely different from how we remembered it. Unfortunately we weren’t going to be spending that much time there today; however we did have an afternoon planned in for the following week.

We made our way straight down to the World of Disney store to collect our $200 gift card. I had to ask a cast member where to go, but it wasn’t too bad to find. They were a little slow dealing with getting our gift cards sorted and we had a slight drama with my mum not bringing phot ID. They let her off with using ID with her name on it, which obviously matched the voucher she had.

With the gift cards sorted, we had a little look around the store. The boys earmarked a couple of things that they thought they might want to buy. I gave Joshua and Trayvon $100 each, to spend on whatever they wanted. As it turned out, they never ended up buying anything that they had earmarked.

So, with rumbling tummies, we made our way to The Polite Pig for our tea. I was really looking forward to this after looking at the menu and on TripAdvisor.

I ordered the Baby back ribs (Polite Rub Baby Back Ribs served with Jalapeño Cornbread, Signature Polite Slaw and choice of one Market Side). My side was the crispy Brussel sprouts. I also had a lager with it.


Both my dad and Grace ordered the Half chicken (Citrus-marinade Half Chicken served with Jalapeño Cornbread, Signature Polite Slaw and choice of one Market Side). They both chose BBQ waffle fries. My dad had a lager and Grace had a soda; Coke zero or diet coke, whichever they had there.



My mum chose the Cedar Plank Salmon (Maple-dijon Glaze Cedar Plank Salmon served with Jalapeño Cornbread, Signature Polite Slaw and choice of one Market Side). She also got the BBQ waffle fries.
Apologies for the half eaten salmon picture haha.


Trayvon went for Mac and cheese, with a side of waffle fries.


Joshua chose the mini ribs, also with waffle fries.


The food was fantastic here. The ribs were super smoky and the crispy Brussel sprouts were amazing. Everybody enjoyed there meal and its one we will be going back to. It was a great use of our quick service dining credits.

Now it was time to visit a few pre-selected shops. We firstly went into the Lego store. The boys both chose a Lego set each. They were certain that they wanted them, so we paid for them. Think they spent around $30 each here. We got a free Groot keyring with this, which became a gift for someone lol.


Joshua was very happy with his choice.


We quickly visited Uniqlo, but didn’t really see anything that jumped out at us.
Our final store was Sephora for Grace. She loves this store and could spend a fortune in there. She selected a few items that she really wanted. She had already pre-selected half the store at home, so she narrowed this down when we were in there. She managed to get it down to just under $130 for the little lot that she got. She also got a free gift with this for signing up for beauty insider, which is like a rewards card. My mum also purchased a couple of things.

Grace’s little haul.


It was time to head back now, we were all tired after a long first day and the sky had really gone dark. We headed to the bus stop and there was only a couple of people waiting so we assumed we had just missed a bus. Unfortunately we waited ages for a bus to turn up. It was really frustrating seeing multiple buses coming for other resorts but hey ho. Eventually after about 40 minutes, and with a lengthy que formed behind us, a bus arrived. Not everyone managed to get on to the bus.

We arrived back to POR at around 21:00 and sorted stuff out in our room. We put the boys to bed and then we got things together for the morning. We arranged to leave in the morning at a similar time to today. We then went to bed too and were asleep by 21:40.

Total steps for today 21,076.

Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom and Sanaa.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

[mick]

Great first day

Joan

[Cinderella]

A great day 👍

[Floridaagogo]

Great start.the Brussels sprouts look lush !

[mouselover22]

Great read Adam!

Magical day at the Kingdom. The boys seem fearless on the rides

Polite pig is a new one on me, the ribs look good

Great pics too

[Goldia]

Wow you did well to last the whole day given you were up so early! A shame your mum lost her ears on the first ride of the trip. It sounds like you had a great time in MK and really enjoyed yourselves.

[kat90]

Great first day! Polite Pig looks amazing especially for a QS, might have to add to my list of must-do restaurants!

[Mad Hatters]

Originally Posted by mick

Great first day

Joan

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Thank you for reading. It sure was a great day

Originally Posted by Cinderella

A great day 👍

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Thank you for reading along.

Originally Posted by Floridaagogo

Great start.the Brussels sprouts look lush !

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They were superb, i would definitely recommend them.

Thank you for reading

Originally Posted by mouselover22

Great read Adam!

Magical day at the Kingdom. The boys seem fearless on the rides

Polite pig is a new one on me, the ribs look good

Great pics too

See more...

Thank you for reading along.

They were super brave bless them. Far braver than i ever was.

Polite pig was really good. It is one we will certainly return to.

Originally Posted by Goldia

Wow you did well to last the whole day given you were up so early! A shame your mum lost her ears on the first ride of the trip. It sounds like you had a great time in MK and really enjoyed yourselves.

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It was a shame she lost them, just one of those things i guess.

We were so giddy, the time just flew by.

Thank you for reading

Originally Posted by kat90

Great first day! Polite Pig looks amazing especially for a QS, might have to add to my list of must-do restaurants!

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Thanks for reading along.

Definite must do for us, its a great use of QS credits

[minnie29]

Well done staying awake until 21.45 when you were awake so early. The Polite Pig looks yummy - first time I've heard of it. Great first day by the looks of it