Mickey Gras and a Birthday Day 2

[buzznwoodysmom]

Today we headed to MK. We took the bus and all the people riding with us on the lower level of the bus were from Louisiana. LOL. We ran into people from Louisiana every single day, on every bus ride, in every park, waiting in line to eat, waiting in line to ride, EVERYWHERE! I don't even know that I see as much purple and gold clothing in Louisiana on a daily basis!

We had to activate our military tickets, which didn't take long at all. Instead of keeping the salute ticket, as we have on past trips, the ticket was transfered to a plastic Disney character ticket that was able to go through the new RF scanners. We had no issues knowing which line we could go in, and we had no problems using our tickets. It amazed me at how many people appeared so clueless. All it took was for us to watch the poeple in line in front of us to figure out what to do while entering the first time.

MK was pretty packed. I felt this particular Mardi Gras week was comparable to summer or Thanksgiving. Much more crowded than past Mardi Gras trips, but still completely enjoyable and manageable.

We headed to the new Fantasyland first. We did the Little Mermaid ride first. I have to admit even tho LM is probably my favorite "princess" when getting off the ride I thought to myself "this won't be a must do on every trip". It was cute, but nothing I'd HAVE to do everytime. We looked around in the "Belle" gift shop, and took a look at Gaston's Tavern. All very well done, and absolutely gorgeous, but for some reason we all felt a bit underwhelmed. Perhaps if we had a young daughter we'd feel differently. That said, we still can't wait for the new coaster to be complete.

We made our way to Beast's Castle and the line was just past the bridge. We were told that Be Our Guest opened in about 2 minutes and that it wouldn't take too long to get in so DH and oldest DS ran to get FP for Space while younger DS and I got in line. By the time they were back we were already almost in the castle. We loved everything about our lunch here. The food was fantastic, better than any other QS meal we would have had in MK. The wait wasn't bad at all, and the place was very well done. We will definitely have lunch here again. We were so impressed that I'm not sure we'll ever even try to get a dinner ADR here. Lunch was good enough for us.

After lunch we headed to Tomorrowland and did everything there, before heading to Small World to meet up with SIL and her family. MIL and FIL had gone back to the room to rest. We all headed to Frontierland. We did BTM and Tom Sawyer Island, caught about half the parade, then onto Haunted Mansion before leaving for our dinner ADR at Whispering Canyon. Oh, as we were exiting BTM I stubbed my toe on the back of my niece's shoe. I didn't go to the Dr., but I am pretty sure I broke my toe. It was very hard to walk on, or put any pressure on, and for the rest of the week it was black, blue, purple, red and swollen. I managed to keep up with everyone, but it was very painful!

MIL and FIL met us at WL. My father in law was in awe of the lodge. He loved it! We hung around the lobby and "our living room" while waiting for our ADR time to arrive. It was nice to have some down time to enjoy being with the family. The kids played in the arcade while we waited. Dinner at WCC was good. I've heard complaints about the new way the skillet is set up, but we thought it was still good. Collin was called up to do the hokie pokie and got teased about his birthday. He enjoyed the attention. He got another birthday cupcake, but I had to ask our server about the cake I had ordered. It was noted on our reservation, and I told the CM who checked us in, yet our server was clueless about it when I brought it up after he brought the cupcake. The cake was a chocolate Mickey head and was way better than any of the desserts that came with dinner. This is the second time I order this exact cake and it didn't disappoint either time. Highly recommended for a special occasion.

After dinner we all headed back to MK. We watched the castle projection show (not sure what the official name is now) and the fireworks. We did a few things in Fantasyland, a few repeats in Tomorrowland, and finished up with Pirates (which was closed earlier in the day when we tried to ride).

We had a great MK day. My father in law couldn't believe how well themed and clean everything was, nor could he get over the size of the entire WDW resort. He thought he was going to a roadside amusement park, and was pleasantly surprised at every turn of the trip. I have to wonder, is the magic just wearing off for those who go too often???? Because my "non believer" father in law was impressed more and more each day. Same can be said for my SIL's first time friends. There was no shortage of magic for our crew!

Up next: Collin's 13th Birthday and his park of choice, EPCOT!

[DisneyDINK]

I liked the report on BOG! I'll try lunch there on our next trip.

[Dopey's Girl]

I love that your FIL is "getting it!" That's great.

[faline]

Fun day despite how busy it was!! Bet your father in law is wishing he had visited earlier!!

[Janmac]

I was wondering how the military tickets were going to work with the RFID. I agree - it wasn't that hard even for the newbie in our group, a week before your trip, to figure out what to do by noticing what was going on around her.

We felt too, that the parks were more crowded than we had expected, based on reported crowd levels.

Your poor toe! I hope it's getting better now. I had a similar but much less severe injury to a big toe while on our trip which was, thank goodness, better after 24 hours. Kudos to you for soldiering on!

Our newbies who traveled with us in 2010 were the same as your FiL. Couldn't believe how large and nice Disney World was or that we could leave our stroller somewhere and there it'd be when we got back. Unstollen.

I do think that it is possible to wear out the magic by too much familiarity.

Jan

[buzznwoodysmom]

Our newbies who traveled with us in 2010 were the same as your FiL. Couldn't believe how large and nice Disney World was or that we could leave our stroller somewhere and there it'd be when we got back. Unstollen.

I do think that it is possible to wear out the magic by too much familiarity.

Jan

We had a crawfish boil with DH's family Sunday night and my FIL informed me that next time he is staying at the Grand Floridian and not leaving! LOL. He even found "his" resort during the trip. He loved WL and GF. We talked about our trip all night. Even my BIL (who is a Disney nut too and was on the trip with us) text me Monday morning saying "After last night now I am really ready to go back".

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Well for me it remains magical and draws me back unlike any other vacation destination I've ever experienced. However, I will say it never matches that first trip experience but I think if you do some different things each trip and slow down to enjoy it gets better. Thanks for the report

[DizNee143]

What a great day you guys had!!
And it's so awesome your fil is becoming a believer!!!

[January-2007]

Thank you so much for reporting! Glad to hear the birthday cake you ordered was so fantastic.

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[shadowden]

What a great first day in the parks! We're heading to Disney this year over my DD birthday so I'll have to ask for that cake!

[Tigerinvestigator]

Nothing like taking someone "who gets it" for the first time to remind you of the magic. I don't think the magic is gone at all, we go twice a year and can't get back soon enough.