Oh dear, this has taken me far, far too long to get Day 2 written up and posted!
So without further ado...
Day 2 - Sunday 25th September 2011 - Magic Kingdom (All Day)
I don't think it's that difficult to explain just how exciting it is to wake up on your first day of a Disney trip!! Excited almost seems like an understatement!
The plan was to be in Magic Kingdom
all day! It was open from 9.00am until 1.00am with EMH. I think if you have the energy to do a park all day, it's probably best on the first day when you are so excited!
We definately had to start the trip with the Magic Kingdom - I couldn't imagine it being anywhere else as after the last trip we left visiting The Magic Kingdom til the 4th day and our holiday didn't really feel 'Disney' until we had seen the Castle - so Magic Kingdom it simply had to be!
We got the bus really quick and easy - it was our first time using the resort bus at Saratoga Springs and I really have only the best things to say about it - busses were really frequent and although the odd bus was busy, it never felt overcrowded and uncomfortable. Top Marks
We were outside the Magic Kingdom by about 8.30am, and got our spot at centre to watch the opening show. Whilst we waited we had our hearty breakfast from the previous evenings Earl of Sandwich Desserts - Cupcake / Brownies - so unhealthy but so, so good (although I think everything on holiday seems even better as I'm usually just off of a diet/gym routine!!!)!
The rope drop music started and I swear it was so embarrassing but the tears just started running down my cheeks - we were here!! I tried pulling myself together but it was pretty difficult I have to say - I just giggled it off
For some reason though - it was a shortened version of the whole show - the train came straight away with all the characters? Not sure what happened there but about a half-hour later all the singers and dancers did the whole song on Main Street anyway so we stopped to watch this so we still got to see it all
So we got in to the park - and went straight to Town Square Theatre to meet Mickey and Minnie and let them know we had arrived! We only waited about 5 minutes and we were in and I loved the whole themeing of the meet and greet - however we went back to this near the end of the trip and had an amazing experience here which was even better than this day!
As we walked down main street, we had a few photopass pictures taken and headed straight through to Tomorrowland.
I was wearing my Stitch Ears I got from
Disneyland Paris and Scott had a Stitch TShirt he got from when his parents went to Disneyland Honk Kong (jealous!....). We had so so so so many compliments from cast members about our Stitch get up which was pretty awesome!
So we got to Tomorrowland and I think the first ride we went on to was Space Mountain - as this was closed last time we were here. It was so much faster than I had expected! I knew it was entirely different from the Paris version, and I suppose I had presumed that it would be really tame. Ok it wasn't quite 'The Hulk' coaster - but it was still fab!
We then went on Buzz / TTA / Speedway / Stitch / Space Mountain a couple more times! We saw Stitch too and had to go say hello!
We then headed across to Frontierland, only to see that Splash was broken down! This is my favourite ride in all of Disney - but I was pretty confident it would be back up and running later and knowing we had all day I wasn't too bothered - we were still able to pick up fast passes for this for later on anyway.
Instead, we went on Big Thunder Mountain, the Steam Boat and Haunted Mansion. We really took our time through looking at everything in Haunted Mansion and I think I have a much bigger appreciation for the whole ride - it's amazing! The last bit that has been updated when a ghost comes and hitch-hikes your doom buggy is amazing - no idea how they do it!
So by this point it was lunch time, and we decided to go to Pecos Bill in Frontierland. In fairness we did go at peak lunch time - but trying to find a seat in a counter service was pretty impossible! I think at that point of the trip we were maybe being too well mannered and walking around with our trays and noticing that at least half the tables were taken up by people waiting on other members of their party! We did eventually get a seat though.
We both had the delux cheeseburgers - that had onion rings in them with fries. Very tasty burger here. I had a carrot cake desert and Scott had the chocolate dessert. I didn't even eat half of my meal as we had a dinner reservation that day and there was A LOT of food - but it was really tasty theme park food! It wasn't anything different - it was typical theme park food, just done really well. You want a burger and dessert that is amazing in an obviously-really-bad-for-you way? Then seriously - go to Pecos Bill!
After lunch, we went across to Fantasy Land, to see Philharmagic! Ahhh beautiful show - I believe the tears came a little bit at The Little Mermaid. I think I always watch this show and realise that I'm not just in a cinema - as right outside is the Magic Kingdom! That's always an exciting thought I think!
We went on It's a Small World, then maybe Haunted Mansion again. Looked through a few different shops - Before heading across and riding the re-opened Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain a few times each.
It was getting a big later by this point, so we got the train from Fantasyland across to the main entrance for our Dinner ADR at Tony's Town Square Restaurant.
As a big Lady and the Tramp fan - I noticed this restaurant in our last trip and really wanted to go but we couldn't get a reservation. However the more I read about it when I got back I realised that the reviews were really, really mixed - some said it was great, some said it was completely awful. Like everything though, it is probably worth trying it for yourselves.
Our waitress was absolutely lovely here, and really helpful. We got a seat near the back of the restaurant and it was nice seeing all of the pictures and other small references to the film.
We started with the bread - which was standard bread! Nothing I can really say about that:
Then for main courses, we split Spaghetti and Meatballs:
and the Chicken Parmigiana:
Both dishes were good - I probably preferred the Chicken Parmigiana, but at the same time I think for a first time visit I couldn't pass up the classic Meatballs! The flavour of both dishes was a little bland - but that's the only bad thing I would have to say.
Quite randomly - the tables in this restaurant were really big - it felt like me and Scott were sitting really far apart!! The only reason we probably noticed this though is because I had asked him to nudge across a meatball to me with his nose - a la Lady and the Tramp! It didn't really work but he did it all the same - bless
For dessert, I had the Tiramasu :
This was ok - the little chocolate lady and the tramp was the best bit of the dessert, it had a lot of the mascarpone flavour - maybe i would have just liked a bit more chocolate / coffee flavour to be really impressed with it.
Scott had the Spumoni:
It didn't sound all the great on the menu and it wasn't exactly exciting when it came either. I didn't even bother trying this and Scott said it really wasn't anything to rave about. It did make the Tiramasu look amazing in comparison though.
So overall - Tony's was nice, it is definately not in any way as bad as some of the reviews on disboards - and its great that its in the Magic Kingdom and it was quite a chilled out atmosphere too - which is great for long park days as a chance to recharge your batteries. It's also not the best meal we had in Disney. As a comparison it's maybe about the same quality as a Frankie and Bennies with a nicer atmosphere?
Anyway, after dinner we went to see a comedy show. Mike from Monsters Inc's Laugh Floor - hehe this was really cute and good fun
We then went on Space Mountain and then went to Main Street to watch Wishes
And so came at least the third time I cried that day! pretty much from the start to the finish - I just think this is the most amazing show ever. I had no idea at this point as well how exciting and special the next time I would watch Wishes would be - only a few nights later
At this point the park was closed, and was only open for EMH. I believe we went to Pirates, back to Splash and Big Thunder Mountain and then Philharmagic, Peter Pans Flight and Winnie the Pooh. By the time we were in the queue for Winnie the Pooh we were both flagging a little bit. It was about midnight and the queues were still pretty heavy so we decided to start heading back to the hotel after the ride.
We went out , stopping in at Main Street Bakery for tomorrow's breakfast and by the time we got out and on the bus we were probably back in the hotel just a little after 1.00am.
After such an exciting busy first day, we were both out like a light as soon as we got back to the hotel!!