Fun, Fatigued, and Fabulous June 2016 Trip Part 3

[WDWFRK]

When: June 7-14
Where: Disney’s Old Key West, 1st floor studio in Miller’s Road section (room #1816)
Who: Me—44 (Disney vacation planner extraordinaire—really they should hire me!)
DH—46 (resident flying ace)
DD—15 (Hoop Dee Doo enthusiast)
DD Friend—15 (WDW newbie)

Day 7: Magic Kingdom
MK buses were VERY full this morning and if I recall, some people at our bus stop had to wait for the next one. We only had two what I refer to as “bus rides from hell” on this trip, and this morning was one of them. (The other was our very first bus ride with some very noisy, obnoxious, under-supervised children.) Since our bus was full, the bus driver either forgot or assumed no one wanted to get off at the Hospitality House (last stop on the loop) and proceeded to the exit of OKW. It was at this point that an older couple noticed and started yelling that they needed to get off the bus. The driver was not allowed to let them off at an undesignated stop, so we had to go down to FQ, turn around, go back to OKW, and let them off.

We finally got to MK after what seemed like hours. I thought we would hustle over to SDMT to see if the early morning line was manageable, but no way! We would just have to wait a little bit longer to ride as we had a FP+ for later tonight. By this point, we had pretty much seen and done everything at MK, so we just revisited all of our favorites and finally got to eat a Columbia Harbour House for lunch. We got there right at 11:30 and there was hardly anyone in the upstairs seating, but by the time we finished it was packed! I miss the days when this restaurant and its upstairs seating were kind of a secret.

Before leaving for our afternoon break, we decided to take a loop around the park on the railroad. There were performers on Main St. just below the RR station, so, of course, we stopped to see if “Jim” was among them. Sadly, no “Jim,” so we started up the stairs to the station. I was checking out the line when my husband waved me over to see something, or so I thought. He asked me if newbie was with me?? Uh-oh. I was worried she had kept walking to the exit, so DH and I split up to track her down. Thankfully, we found her quickly, but she was pretty spooked about the separation. It doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s scary to lose your “parents” in a crowd!

We went back to OKW, and I think the girls and I slept for 2-3 hours this afternoon! I’m telling you—those breaks are imperative to keep everyone mentally, emotionally, and physically sound on a Disney trip.

Everyone was excited for our first ride on SDMT when we got back to MK—but then lightning came into the area and all of the outdoor rides were pretty much shut down. I had kept telling everyone all week that they just had to keep being patient because we would get on SDMT today. At this point, I began to worry that we were, in fact, NOT going to ride it at all. I was going to catch a lot of flak if that happened!

We ended up wandering the park a bit, looking for somewhere to eat. DH ate at Pecos Bills and then we went back to Pinocchio’s Village Haus for a second time on this trip. Everyone loved the flatbread pizza! It seemed to be more difficult on this trip to find places to eat late at night.

Finally, after multiple checks of the MDE app, the rides were back open, so we headed to SDMT. I will say this, this is the smoothest coaster I’ve been on, but I wasn’t really impressed with the ride itself. Yes, it’s short, but the thrills just weren’t there for me.
The park was open until midnight and my family was determined to get to SM, BTMRR, and PoTC one more time before closing. We got to SM and Pirates, but then I bailed on them. I was done. I moseyed out of the park, stopped for an ice cream cone, and caught a bus home to start packing.

Highlights of the day:
Lunch at CHH, not screwing up the planning with late SDMT FP+

Not so shining (Yes, you can tell I’m tired and my patience with people is gone!):
Losing the newbie, some jerky kids at the Autopia cars who kept stopping in front of us on the whole route (I gave them a face full of what my daughter has termed “scary eyes” as we followed them off the ride. They ran away pretty quickly!), the gentleman in our SM boat who narrated the entire ride. “Now we’re going to a hill…you can feel the track…look at the cute little bunnies…now there’s another hill coming up…”, and the two teenagers (locals, I’m guessing who can ride whenever they want) who talked and texted through the entire PoTC ride.

Day 8: Check-out, DHS, and Disney Springs
We stayed up late packing up last night and called to have our bags picked up and stored this morning since our plane didn’t leave until 7:45p. Bell services was there lightning fast!

The girls decided that the park they wanted to revisit this morning was DHS, so that’s where we went. We did GMR, TSM, ToT, RnRC, Beauty and the Beast show, and Indiana Jones before saying goodbye and heading to Disney Springs for lunch and shopping. I was able to get a last-minute reservation at the Boathouse and it was FABULOUS! It’s a beautiful restaurant with great food and service.

Man was it hot today--there is not a lot of shade to be found at Disney Springs! The girls had some souvenir shopping to do, and then we took our last ferry boat ride back to OKW. We waited a bit for ME while visiting with a gal working under the Disney college program.

Some delays on our flight put us back into Denver after midnight. While waiting for the shuttle to our hotel, I learned about the alligator incident at the GF. How much more tragedy can we take? So very, very sad.

We had a great overall trip, and I think we gave newbie a good first-time experience. Since DD is an only child, it was really fun for her and us to have a friend along. Thanks for reading!

[JanetMegan]

I think it is just fantastic you were able to swing bringing a friend along for your daughter. What an amazing experience for everyone involved! Thanks for your great reports.

[faline]

Glad it was a good trip!! Thanks for reporting.

[Mackflava99]

If people were texting on the PoC I would have said something or splashed them. That is very rude.
So you were actually there when the series of orlando incidents happened. Wow, did anyone in the parks know what was going on?

Thanks for sharing your great report-
Bryan

[yjgirl32]

Great Report. Thanks for sharing.