Whistle While You Work – 2 Weeks at Disney - A June 2022 Trip Report

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

e also had a Gooseberry Pie, which was meringue and gooseberry. I liked the meringue part but the “gooseberry” part was just okay for me.

The Gooseberry Pie is our favorite!!! But I can see how it isn't for everyone. It is very tart.

This meal is on the more expensive side, but both the food and character interactions are excellent, so the price is worth it for the experience in my opinion.

It is pricey but you do get the best of both worlds! We will def be back.

 

[jrmint427]

The Wilderness Lodge, Part 2​

It's hard to believe it's been more than a year since I last posted! I'm not sure where the time has gone. It's typical for me to come back to the boards when I am starting to plan our next trip to Disney, and we're planning a 2024 trip. I'll see if I can get this report complete before then! Back to the Wilderness Lodge...



We noticed this picture of a bear climbing a tree had a copyright of 1918.



We could have spent even longer hanging out in the Carolwood Pacific Railway Room, but I had one more surprise for the evening, so I told the girls we had one more adventure planned for the night. We headed back to the main building a little after 8pm.




As we were heading out around 8:15pm, we noticed a rainbow straight ahead!



It was brighter than it looks in my pictures.



And then we realized it was a full rainbow! I think it’s rare to see the whole thing like this and it was so magical seeing it over the Wilderness Lodge landscaping. I almost wondered if it was Disney magic.



I wasn’t the only one thinking that. DD7 said, “This really is the most magical place on Earth! I think Tinkerbell made that rainbow.” My heart just melted at that. I agreed, it was probably sent by Tinkerbell.



It was the perfect send-off for our last adventure of the evening!

 

[jrmint427]

The Polynesian Resort + Fireworks​

Our final plan for the evening was to check out the Polynesian Resort (we had never been) and to watch the MK fireworks from the beach at the resort. I was also hoping we might have time for a drink at Trader Sam’s before the fireworks show, but we learned that kids cannot enter the bar after 8pm so we skipped it. We arrived at 8:26pm and decided to walk around a bit before the fireworks. The entry to the resort was beautiful, we’d love to stay at the Polynesian one day.







The back of the Polynesian on the way to the pool was packed, there was some kind of party happening on the lawn area, and there were torches lit around the area. The pool looked packed too.

We made our way back to the beach and got there around 8:50pm. There were many chairs, some still open, but it appeared all were claimed, so I recommend getting there very early if you want a chair.



It was a beautiful place to watch the sun set. There were some rock ledges we sat on for a bit, but we ended up standing in the back. The girls absolutely loved playing in the sand and building sandcastles while we waited for the fireworks. They said this was one of their favorite memories of the trip.





We also watched the Electrical Water Pageant going by, which was really cool and offered some entertainment while we waited for Enchantment to start.





We were so excited when the lights and music started at 9:20pm! We had a great view of Cinderella's castle and the music was piped in loudly on the beach. Pictures never do firework shows justice, but I’m including a couple anyway so you can see what the view was like.





There were bungalows on the water ahead of us and I can only imagine how cool it would be to stay there and have a front-row view of the fireworks from your porch. That’s a bucket list item for me now!

We were back to our resort just after 10pm.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following

 

[jrmint427]

Thursday, June 9, 2022​

Steakhouse 71​

I was finally starting vacation time! Pat had to work one more day, unfortunately, but he was able to take a long lunch with us. We also had a date night planned with my parents watching the girls so we could have a night out.



We ended up cancelling our reservation for Enzo’s the day before because we decided we wanted flexibility to decide after dinner whether we were in the mood to head to Disney Springs or not. Disney Springs had been more crowded than we expected on Sunday and Monday, so we wanted to play it by ear depending on how we were feeling.

We just relaxed in our condo during the morning, which was nice.

Our Steakhouse 71 reservation was for 12:15pm. I was really excited to try this new restaurant! We left for the Contemporary at 11:50am. I checked into Steakhouse 71 as we were walking up to the resort at 12:11pm and received a text 2 minutes later that our table was ready, just as we were walking up to the entrance of the restaurant. Our timing couldn’t have worked out better.

I loved all the old photos on the walls as you enter the restaurant, there is so much history here.





Sorry for the weird glare on this one, but I was fascinated that Snow White’s hair was longer and with the dwarfs back in the 70s vs. today.



I also thought it was neat to see the older skyliners in this picture, which my parents recalled riding on many years ago.



The restaurant is themed to 1971, the year MK and the Contemporary opened. We thought it almost had a 60s feel to it, which makes sense since this was early 70s.



The restaurant was very open and had a clean and simple vibe. It was interesting that they gave the girls kid menus that appeared to be coloring sheets, but they did not have any crayons. We asked our server for crayons and she said they didn’t have any, but she could probably find extra pens for the girls to use. While she was searching for those, my mom remembered that we had crayons in the diaper bag from either Homecomin’ or Jaleo earlier in the week, so I pulled those out.



We were sat at a semi-circle table, which worked for our group, but we felt very far away from my parents at the other end of the table, so I would ask for a normal table next time.





I noted my dad’s shellfish allergy when checking into each restaurant. At Steakhouse 71, they said for legal reasons the chef would have to come talk to my dad. This was the only restaurant where we were told that. We had been considering the onion rings but the chef said it’s cooked in the same oil as the crab cakes, so we skipped them to be safe. Our server suggested bread instead, so we went with that.



This was the Sea Salt-Dusted Potato Brioche, which at $12 was a little pricy for bread (the onion rings we had been eyeing were $9). The bread was very good, but when the two portions were divided between 6 people, we were paying $2 per person for a few bites of bread each. I know I shouldn’t be thinking like this about Disney food but it’s hard not to! It was served with butter (with the 71 dusted on top) and a garlic-tomato spread. It was tomato and top and apparently garlic underneath, but I didn’t try the garlic (I think I had finished my bread before we discovered the garlic underneath).

Up next, I’ll share our main meals!

 

[Jerzetta]

following

 

[jrmint427]

Steakhouse 71, Part 2​

The girls both ordered grilled cheese with apple slices. This wasn’t on the menu, but none of the 4 items on the kids’ menu were vegetarian, which is unusual at a Disney restaurant. One was called P&J Chicken Wings, which I thought might be PB&J sandwiches served with chicken wings, so I asked if the girls could just have the PB&J, but apparently that wasn’t referencing a sandwich. Our server offered grilled cheese as a vegetarian alternative, so we went with it.



It was basic but worked for the girls. I was really excited to order the Vegetable Wellington (mushroom duxelles and fire-roasted artichokes wrapped in puff pastry, romesco, brussels sprouts). I had heard great things and while I’m usually not a fan of mushrooms, I had to try this.



It was amazing, especially the brussels sprouts on the outside which were seasoned well, I just wished there had been more brussels sprouts on the inside of the puff pastry. I even liked the mushrooms with it, and the orange sauce was perfect. I would go back just for this item.



I wasn’t even that hungry but finished the entire thing! At $26 this is expensive for a vegetarian meal but it was a really nice treat.

While the others could have ordered a steak, I told them I had read that Steakhouse 71 is really known for its burgers at lunch, and that seemed to convince them all to go with the Stack Burger (beef, American cheese, lemon aioli, red onion, house-made pickles on a brioche bun). It also came with pork belly which was not listed on the online menu but was listed on the printed menus at the restaurant.



Two ordered it with wedge salad, one with parmesan waffle fries. They all agreed these were very good burgers. My dad thought the beef was nothing special but said the pork belly and other toppings were excellent with it. The burgers were less expensive than my meal, at $20 a piece, and it was big enough that my mom made two meals out of it.

The kids' meals came with ice cream sundaes, which took awhile to arrive, about 10 minutes after we had all finished eating. The sundaes were fun, they came with various toppings so the girls could make the sundaes themselves.



The Mickey head sprinkles were a nice touch!



DD5 shared hers with my dad and DD7 shared hers with me and Pat.



I hope we make it back here again. It would make a good break on an MK day if we had more than one day to spend at MK, and it is conveniently located on the monorail. I had originally hoped to take the girls upstairs to see the monorail go through the Contemporary but we didn’t finish eating until 1:45pm and Pat needed to get back to work, so we headed right out.

We relaxed awhile at the condo, and I went with my dad to run a quick errand (had to pick up a prescription at a nearby CVS). Since this was our last full day at Bonnet Creek I really wanted to make it to the lazy river one more time. The girls had been begging to play mini golf before we left. I didn’t have time for both, but my dad offered to take the girls to play mini golf (free on property at Bonnet Creek) so I could go to the lazy river.

My dad said the girls did better than he expected. They didn’t keep score but they finished all 18 holes. DD5 said she used her “sweep” stroke to “improve” her score. DD7 quickly picked up on the right stance and technique and did well. She said she got two of them in just 2 shots.

I made it to the larger lazy river just before 4pm and took four laps around knowing I needed to head back by 4:30pm to shower and get ready for dinner. It was very relaxing, exactly what I needed that day.

Pat and I were heading out for dinner around 5:30pm and were very excited for a Disney date night!

 

[jrmint427]

Jiko​

Our dinner reservation was for 6:05pm, so we called an Uber a little after 5:30pm and were picked up at 5:42pm. Animal Kingdom Lodge is probably my second favorite resort after the Wilderness Lodge. They have a similar but different vibe for me.



We arrived and checked into Jiko on the app at 5:57pm and decided to walk around the lobby while we waited for the text that our table was ready. The fireplace is comforting, we would have sat there awhile if there wasn’t someone already there.



There was a neat art display in the lobby that wasn’t there on our last trip. The sign said this was an Ijele mask, “an enormous 16 foot high, 240 pound assembly that is carried on the head of a single dancer. The success of his ceremonial dance brings prestige and good luck to the entire community.” It was from the Igbo people of Nigeria, and it said the giant structure incarnates the spirits of Igbo ancestors. This piece was commissioned in 1983 specifically for exhibition in North America, made by Ijele artist Nweke Kogulu.



We headed downstairs around our reservation time. We were sat 5-10 minutes after our res time, but this gave us time to examine the menu outside the restaurant and decide what we were going to order.

We had a really excellent server who was from NY. She was attentive but also understood that we were having a parents’ night out and that we wanted to have a leisurely meal.

We debated trying some of the cocktails but ended up ordering a bottle of wine, since Jiko is known for its South African wines. We ordered the Raats Original Chenin Blanc. It was a good choice.



We started with the Jiko Salad to share (quinoa, radish, petite vegetables, peaches, pomegranate, tangy cashew cheese and lemon-ginger vinaigrette). I wasn’t expecting much from this dish in part because it sounded very healthy (and I'm not a big fan of radish or ginger), but there weren’t many plant-based options. It ended up being one of the most beautiful things we ate on this trip.



It was really good! Every bite was so flavorful. We devoured this. The “petite vegetables” were the cutest food we’ve ever seen! There were tiny baby carrots and radishes.




We also ordered the Roasted Squash Bisque soup (creamy soup, parmesan crisp, slow-poached egg and preserved pumpkin), after confirming it was vegetarian (but not vegan). I had ordered a sweet potato, pineapple and red pepper soup at Jiko back in 2012 (link: https://www.disboards.com/threads/nye-wdw-marathon-2012-trip-report-complete.3361462/post-52788458) that I’ve still not forgotten and even tried to recreate back at home. So I had high expectations for this soup. It was fun to share the picture and story of the 2012 soup with our server, realizing that was more than 10 years ago!



This soup lived up to my high expectations! I usually don’t like runny eggs but it was such a good addition to this soup.

Our final appetizer was some bread. We were brought Egyptian fehijer bread with sesame seeds and giraffe bread. They were both very good but the giraffe bread was my favorite.



We filled up pretty well on the bread and appetizers but still had our main meals coming! Our server's timing was excellent as it looks like there was a little over 30 minutes between our appetizers and main meals being delivered.

 

[jrmint427]

Jiko, Part 2​

Pat ordered the sustainable fish which was Red Snapper. It came with a “citrus butter” or some kind of lemon sauce. Pat said the fish was fried, which he wasn’t expecting (he had been hoping for something light), but he said it was good and the sauce was amazing.



I ordered the Injera Basket, which was the only vegetarian entrée on the menu. It came with four plant-based stews and Injera. The presentation was beautiful.



Two people could probably share this dish. It might look small but it was very filling, especially after the appetizers. It came with curried greens, king mushrooms, and lentils. All three main dishes were very good but I think the curried greens might have been my favorite.



Once again, I liked the mushrooms even better than I expected to. I think I like mushroom flavor but not the texture.



Then lentils were also excellent. I said I liked the curried greens the best but it was tough to say which was really my favorite.



It also came with 3 palette cleansers: papaya salad, a tomato salad and some kind of super spicy paste. I tried the tiniest dot of the red paste on my fork because I had a feeling it would be spicy, but wow – the tiniest drop had my mouth on fire! I have no spice tolerance. I avoided that the rest of the meal.

It looks like we spent about an hour with our main dishes. Time must have flown because I never would have guessed that if I didn’t have the photo time stamps! I was so full but knew I couldn’t take leftovers with me and kept snacking on my basket. We were moving resorts the next day and also planning to go somewhere else after dinner, so while I hated wasting this excellent food, a to-go box wasn’t practical.

Our server asked if we wanted dessert and we said no because we were so full. But then she brought us out a free dessert! She said it was a “Congratulations” for a night out without the kids, which was so thoughtful of her.



The chocolate was very good. We had a nice, leisurely meal here with amazing food and excellent service. We were feeling very happy!

We decided to check out some of the animals at the resort after dinner. We saw the flamingos first.





They were very noisy! Some of them were pecking at each other, it looked like it was dinner time, but I don’t think I’ve seen flamingo “fights” before this. We saw some of the giraffes at a distance too. They also looked like they were being fed.



We considered heading to Disney Springs, but instead decided to check out the Boardwalk. We ordered an Uber and we arrived just after 9pm.

 

[jrmint427]

The Boardwalk​

We thought we might be able to see some fireworks from the Boardwalk but that was a bit of a bust. We could hear the Epcot fireworks but couldn’t figure out where to see them. We did see some of the MK fireworks but at a distance, somewhat blocked by trees, and without the music, so it wasn’t quite the same thing, but fireworks are always magical! We watched the fireworks from a bridge near the ESPN building, and it was pretty quiet back there. For most of the fireworks we were the only ones on that bridge.



The views of the Boardwalk at night are gorgeous. We could see the Dolphin in the distance, where we would be staying at the end of our trip.



This was our obstructed view of the fireworks:



It looked like Turning Red was playing on the beach in the distance.

I had wanted to check out the Abracadabar but neither of us were really in the mood to drink more. Pat and his family stayed at the Boardwalk once when he was a kid, so it was nostalgic for him to be back. He remembered the Ice Cream shop and that was calling to him more than a drink, so that’s where we headed after the fireworks. The Boardwalk got super busy right after the Epcot show ended, so we waited in a line to get our ice cream.



I was debating between a single scoop or milkshake, but Pat wanted to share a sundae, so at the last minute I decided just to share with him.



He even asked for 2 cherries so we could each have one <3



Enjoying a nostalgic treat!



We finished up a little after 10pm and headed back to our resort.

 

[jrmint427]

Friday, June 10, 2022​

Boma​

We had to move resorts this day. We were leaving Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek and heading to Silver Lake Resort. We had to be out at 10am and couldn’t check into the next until 4pm, so we made brunch plans at Boma to fill the time between. I had initially booked brunch at Trattoria al Forno in hopes that Rapunzel and friends would be back by our trip (I think we're still waiting for that more than a year later??), but I switched to Boma the week before since we’ve never had breakfast there before and it would be something new.

It took us a good 1.5 hours to pack up and go. The girls packed up their things and were ready for the next adventure.





We were out just minutes before the 10am deadline. A cleaning crew was already waiting outside our room asking if they could go in. We took a wrong turn on the way to the Animal Kingdom Lodge (my fault) and ended up turning into the entrance to Hollywood Studios (I must have really wished this was a park day!). I told the Cast Member that we needed to turn around and she quickly put a yellow tag in our window and let us through. It must happen often since they had an efficient way to handle us! My poor parents were following us, so they got a yellow tag too.

We got to Animal Kingdom Lodge and checked in right at 10:30am (our reservation time). We weren’t sat until 10:56am, which I believe was the longest wait time we had for an ADR our entire trip. It worked out fine for us though, because we were on the tail end of breakfast and the restaurant cleared out pretty quickly after we were sat.

We started with the POG juice (passionfruit, orange and guava juice) which is amazing and then went to fill our first plates. The tomatoes were really good!



We didn’t make it very far down the line before our plates were full.



DD7 was super excited for the Mickey Waffles. We tried some oatmeal with banana chips. My plate is on the right , I went for eggs (both plain and with tomato, spinach and feta, which I liked even better), a blueberry pancake, tomato, plantain, cornmeal and tots. Soon it was time to go back for plate #2.



This was plate #2 for me or DD7, we got similar items: yogurt parfait, fruit, hard boiled egg, and a chocolate chip muffin.



You can see how empty the restaurant was by 11:30pm:



The girls and I decided we still had room for plate #3. We had more pastries and breads to try!







It all looked so good!

 

[jrmint427]

Boma, Part 2​

There were so many more options than I was able to try at this point in our meal.



DD5 had said she was cold and put on my mom’s sweater, which was just a little long on her.



DD7 was excited about her final plate.



So was DD5. We would soon learn this was a mistake!



About 15 minutes after that picture was taken, DD5 was throwing up in the bathroom. It was all just a little too much. She didn’t feel sick though and bounced back quickly after that episode. She also keeps asking if we can go back to eat at the restaurant where she threw up

We finished eating a little after noon and were one of the last families remaining at Boma. Overall it was a great breakfast with so many options, and pretty good value too at $29 for adults and only $17 for children. I felt like the kids got their money’s worth here and it wasn’t a bad price considering that included POG juice and coffee.

We wanted to walk off our meal and didn’t have anywhere we needed to be immediately, so we went upstairs to walk around the gift shop.



It had been raining but it looked like we had a break in the storm, so we decided to head outside next to find some animals. The pool had been cleared because of the storm.



We got distracted by the playground on our way to the animals, so we stopped to let the girls burn some energy.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I had initially booked brunch at Trattoria al Forno in hopes that Rapunzel and friends would be back by our trip

Yup! I did that, too, for our August 2022 trip. It's such a bummer that it still hasn't reopened. Maybe that one's truly donezo...

About 15 minutes after that picture was taken, DD5 was throwing up in the bathroom.

I am all too familiar with this trajectory. Ooof! Glad to hear she bounced back quickly. Was she complaining she was hungry and asking to eat again within 10 minutes? That's the part that always gets me!

 

[jrmint427]

Yup! I did that, too, for our August 2022 trip. It's such a bummer that it still hasn't reopened. Maybe that one's truly donezo...

That was my favorite character meal so I'm really sad if it's over, but I would have thought it would re-open by now. Same with 1900 Park Fare, we never got to try that one!

I am all too familiar with this trajectory. Ooof! Glad to hear she bounced back quickly. Was she complaining she was hungry and asking to eat again within 10 minutes? That's the part that always gets me!

Yes! If I remember correctly, she wanted to eat more from the buffet before we left the restaurant

 

[jrmint427]

Animal Kingdom Lodge​

I’m not sure what they were, but there were these giant seed/pod things that rattled when they were shaken (they had smaller seeds inside them), and they were all over the ground around the perimeter of the playground. They were black and kind of looked gross from a distance, but they were large and fun for the kids because of the sound they made. Does anyone know what I’m talking about/what those are?

Anyway, DD5 decided to collect a bunch and opened a “store” to sell them.



She accepted payment in leaves, which she referred to as money. Pretty soon she had a few customers.



And then more…



And then DD7 made friends with one of the other girls and they went around marketing the shop to other kids on the playground, and soon the store was mobbed! All of the kids wanted these rattle seeds. My daughters were saying you could make wishes with them, and that seemed to increase their value. DD5 eventually took on an assistant to help with her demand.

Then a few boys decided to try to steal the seeds, but the girls banded together to stop most of the theft. It was pretty fun to watch DD5’s idea come to life and all the kids on the playground buying from her store. When it was time for us to go, DD5 said she was giving her assistant ownership and left her with the remaining inventory.

We went to check out the flamingos next.




The giraffes were too far away to get a good look at them from where we were, so we decided to head out. At least I saw some giraffe art on the elevators.



We had come up with a few ideas to fill our afternoon but since it was almost 2pm, we wondered if we could get into our next resort a little early and just relax. My mom tried calling the front desk to ask but couldn’t get through to anyone to verify. It was less than a 10-minute drive, so we decided to just show up and ask. The low point of our entire trip (and not Disney related) is up next. Hint: related to a timeshare presentation.

 

[jrmint427]

(Never Attend) A Timeshare Presentation​

This chapter is not about Disney, but is more a warning about time shares to avoid sales presentations, so skip if you want to get back to the fun! I am curious if DVC presentations are different, I am guessing they’re much better than what we experienced.

We arrived at Silver Lake Resort just before 2pm. My mom went into the lobby to check if our room was ready while the rest of us sat in our cars. She was told it was not, but the front desk wanted us to sit through a sales pitch. I initially said no way. I know every time my parents stay at a timeshare they’re asked to sit through a presentation and typically given some kind of compensation in exchange for their time, but that is not how I wanted to spend my time on vacation.

My mom came back again and said our room wasn’t ready, but it would be by the time we got done with the sales pitch, and we only had to stay “60-90 minutes” for the pitch, so why not stay and sit through it and then we could check into our room? They were offering a $150 gift card per couple and a free week at one of their properties to each couple, so we were eventually convinced we could stick it out an hour for that kind of payment. At this point I was curious to hear the pitch and figured if we were out within 2 hours (4pm when our room was supposed to be ready), it would be fine.

I knew going in that Timeshare salespeople often stretch the truth (sorry if anyone here sells timeshares!), I just had no idea how much we were about to be lied to. They took about 30 minutes just to have us fill out paperwork and wait for a salesperson to be free. The paperwork said we had to sit through 90-120 minutes of presentation to get the payment, but I crossed that out and told the person at the desk we had just been told 60-90 minutes. This led to a negotiation that we had to be there a full 90 minutes and I eventually said, “Fine, but we’re going on 30 minutes already.”

Finally, a salesperson came to get us. The first thing he asked is how much we were bribed to be there. When we told him he laughed and said we should have asked for more! About 10 minutes into his pitch (note we were at the 45-minute mark at that point), he stated that we needed to stay another 120 minutes at minimum to go through his full pitch before we would receive the compensation that was promised. I said nope, we were told 60-90, had agreed to 90 but we were at 45 minutes already, and the guy got very upset. It took another 30 minutes or so of arguing, the original salesperson coming out and telling us he made a mistake when he said 60 minutes (and he admitted he had said 60 minutes), and the manager telling us he wouldn’t honor it even though this guy was admitting he told us the incorrect time, but the manager eventually gave in… because I am, as my family likes to call me, persistent.

Since our room still wasn’t ready and we had already sunk over an hour into this ordeal, this became a matter of principle for me. The salesperson got very angry and was slamming his pen into the table because we wouldn’t agree to give him a full 120 minutes more, and he eventually stalked off. His manager ended up giving us the presentation instead. The pitch was intriguing, but my trust in the company was so low at this point, I didn’t believe anything they were telling us (it was too good to be true and therefore definitely not true).

We were finally released a little after 4pm, given the $150 gift cards, but the “free week” turned out to be a “discounted week” which was still better than nothing, but another lie. We were finally given our room key! That was such a relief.

The condo was very large, nice, but a little dated. This was the master bedroom:



Which had a jacuzzi tub as well:



The living room was spacious.



There was a kitchen table, which we were able to use as our desk for the week.



Our bedroom had 2 full size beds, and the couch in the living room was a pull-out, which is where the girls slept.



We also had a balcony with a little table, which was nice.



We would stay on this property again but would avoid any invitations for a timeshare sales pitch in the future.

We hung out for a little while and then Pat and I went to get gas and pick up dinner. We ended up at a place called the Flower Café. The sandwiches we got were really good and I ordered a few pastries for us to have for breakfast the next morning. I got avocado toast with egg.




While we were running errands, Homecomin’ called to see if we were going to make it to our reservation that night. I was confused because I had never made a reservation for this day. I started searching my email just to make sure, and told the person who called that I had no record of booking for this day, and we had just eaten there a few days before. They confirmed we wouldn’t be charged as a no-show, but I was glad I answered that call! I never figured out why they thought we had a reservation that night.

We ate dinner, showered, and called the front desk to ask for a hair dryer. Instead of a hair dryer, they delivered a high chair! It was a funny mix-up, and they thankfully corrected it. We set up our Magic Bands and prepped for our first park day the next day! Being in Orlando or a week before our first park day led to a lot of anticipation for the second half of our trip.

 

[jrmint427]

Saturday, June 11, 2022​

Magic Kingdom​

It was finally our first park day! There was something about spending a week in Orlando building up to this day that made it feel even more special. I woke up at 6:30am, ten minutes before my alarm was going to go off. DD5 woke up shortly after yelling, “We’re going to Magic Kingdom!” We did a little dance.

I was logged into the app right before 7am ready to pounce on our first Genie+ LL. I planned to go for Jungle Cruise first, but expected we would get a time for later in the day. I was nervous since this was the first time I was using the new Genie+ system. I was refreshing right up until 7am and managed to snag a Jungle Cruise LL for 9:10am! I couldn’t believe my luck. There was more dancing.

Here was our plan for the day:



The park opened to offsite guests at 9am this day and we were planning to rope drop Adventureland. We got ready quickly and took the pastries I bought the night before in the car with us for breakfast. We were out the door at 7:40am and parked at 7:59am.



We were through security at 8:12am and picked up some Joffrey’s coffee at the TTC. There was no line.



As much as I love the monorail, our family likes to arrive at MK by boat.



We waited about 10 minutes for the boat to take off and it’s a 5 minutes boat ride to the MK entrance. I’m still not sure if it’s quicker or slower than the monorail but there’s something special about seeing the Cinderella Castle from the water as you approach the park.



We entered the park at 8:37am. Note that this was almost an hour after we left our resort. It always takes longer than we anticipate to drive, park, go through security, take the ferry or monorail, to go through ticketing and get into the park.

Arriving early gave us time to use our Memory Maker and take some castle pictures on our way to rope drop.







There’s just something magical about being in Magic Kingdom, walking down Main Street, and I tried to take it all in as we made our way back to Adventureland.



We made it to the Rope Drop line at 8:49am. I was glad to have a few minutes to spare so we weren’t rushing back. The line wasn’t too deep and there was a strong jalapeño smell, which I noticed in a few other places at this park and in Pandora at Animal Kingdom.

I debated going to Jungle Cruise first so we could book another LL right away, but decided to take advantage of Rope Drop to try to ride Pirates before lines got longer. I think the rope dropped 1-2 minutes early, as I was on the app trying to book 7DMT as an ILL right at 9am (park opening for non-resort guests), while we started walking. I got a time for the afternoon, I think it was something like 2:50pm.

It was soon time for our first ride!

 

[jrmint427]

Adventures in Adventureland​

We arrived at Pirates at 9:02am and almost walked right onto the ride. We waited about 5 minutes total.



The girls didn’t love this one. They don’t like the drop and seemed nervous at the beginning but relaxed more toward the end. I don’t know why I love the last scene so much, but the dog with the keys is a classic.



We were feeling energized after our first ride! We all hate the flash from this ride photo so you'll notice us looking in any other direction (we're in the back). It looks like we weren't the only ones purposefully avoiding it. If the flash gets me, I can't even see the next scene, that's how long it takes my eyes to adjust.



I think DD5 makes a great pirate.



Next up was Jungle Cruise, which is always a favorite of mine. I love the puns and that you might get different jokes on each trip. With the LL, we jumped in line at 9:24am and were on the ride 2 minutes later. The posted wait time was 50 minutes, so Genie+ saved us a lot of time here. I booked our next LL for Peter Pan. I knew it would be for later in the day, but it’s my dad’s favorite ride and gets really long lines, and I didn’t want to wait more than 30 minutes for that one. We got a time for around 1:30pm.



We had a really good Skipper, Taylor. He told a joke about wishing he had an elephant’s memory at least four times and I think it was the third time before I caught onto the joke.



The Magic Carpets of Aladdin were at the top of the girls’ list to ride, so I figured we’d knock them out while we were right there after JC. The posted wait time was 5 minutes and that’s what we waited, I think we just had to wait one round of the ride ahead of us. DD5 didn’t want to go too high but we realized that we were all in the same vehicle, I mean carpet, and DD7 had the controls.





I like the views from the carpets.



We were off the ride around 9:50am. In less than an hour we had been on three rides, and two of the biggest hits we had planned to ride for the day, so I was feeling pretty good about how things were going. We walked through Frontierland to get to Fantasyland. We already needed water (it was hot!) so we stopped to pick some up from a foo stand and said hello to a Country Bear who was out on the balcony.



Up next was the ride DD5 was most excited for!

 

[jrmint427]

Fantasyland​

Our next ride was It’s a Small World. We arrived at 10:04am and the posted wait time was 5 minutes. We waited about 8 minutes. We caught the clock opening from the side right before we boarded.



I will always love IASW. No matter how many times I ride it I always see a new detail each time.









The last room has always been my favorite.



It’s always fun to see your name at the end. Both girls saw their names, only 1 of the 6 of us didn’t make the boards.



After the ride my dad and Pat went back to Adventureland to pick up the stroller that we had left behind. It was nice to use it less this trip, but we realized we weren’t going to head back that way again, so we wanted to have the stroller closer in case the girls wanted to use it. While we were waiting, I saw a photographer with no wait near Be Our Guest so the girls had a few pictures taken.




After that we rode Under the Sea. There was a 5 min posted wait, but we waited almost 10 minutes.



I rode with DD5 who was concerned that we might actually be going under the sea. She enjoyed most of the ride except for Usrsula and Ursula’s eels. She told me as we were getting off that I had warned her about Ursula but I should have warned her about the eels too. Oops!

 

[jrmint427]

Fantasyland, Part 2​

Up next was Dumbo. I was looking for short lines but also trying to minimize walking back and forth across the park. I wanted to hit the rides the girls were most excited for early on. Dumbo was on the top of DD7’s list, but neither of my parents were riding it.

We arrived at 11:03am. The posted wait time was just 5 minutes, but we waited 17 minutes, one of our longest waits of the day. We skipped the indoor play area because my parents were waiting for us outside in the heat.




We were melting!

As we were getting off Dumbo it had been 2 hours since booking my last LL, so I booked Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin for 12:10-1:10pm, which was less than an hour away.

Next up was PhilharMagic. We were already seeking as much A/C as possible! The posted wait time was 10 minutes at 11:32am and we waited about 7 minutes to enter the theater.



I was really excited to see the Coco update. DD7 did not like this one at all and spent most of the time with her head down. We learned that she does not care for 3D shows or rides. I think she doesn’t like the feeling of things coming at her and she does not like being sprayed with water, which seems to happen in a lot of these shows. I love this show, though!

We crossed the park to get to our Buzz LL after the show. We cut through the castle.



There was a huge crowd of people lined up for the 12pm parade, which I had forgotten was about to take place. The castle picture was taken at 11:58am. I was worried at first that we might not be able to get through, but we had no issue cutting over toward Tomorrowland. This was the crowd right at noon.



It was nice to be heading away from the crowds!



The standby line for Buzz was listed at 50 minutes, so I was glad we had a LL. We basically walked right onto this one.



This is a fun ride for our whole family. The girls kept asking on our way here if the aliens were going to shoot back at us.



I didn’t record my score, but I think it was in the upper 100ks. Pat sent me a picture of his score of 392,800. I was impressed!

After we got off the ride and were almost walking out of the gift shop, DD7 noticed the Buzz bubble wands for sale and panicked. She had left her Ariel bubble wand on the ride. I was pretty sure this meant we had lost it for good (and were going to be buying the Buzz version), but I dropped DD7 off with the other adults and went back where we had come from to see if there was any way to track it down. The CM at the exit saw me coming and before I could say anything, handed me the bubble wand. I asked him how he knew that was what I was looking for and he said he could tell by my look of panic! I am so thankful for that CM and wished I had paused to look at his name tag so I could leave a cast compliment, but I was so flustered in that moment.

It was finally time to find some lunch!