thejens
06-19-2010, 11:47 PM
Friday, June 4, Another Icing on the Cake Day at Magic Kingdom
It is a bit hard to get up this morning, but we decide it is worth it to make the most of mornings at Magic Kingdom. Our Goal: three mountains and lunch. We make it just about at opening and head toward Splash and Big Thunder. We FP Splash and do Big Thunder first. As always I love Big Thunder. Zac is brave now, and rides in the front seat with Ben instead of huddling next to me. He makes a point to stand by every height restriction sign to show everyone he is big enough. When Big Thunder Mountain ends we are offered the opportunity to stay on and ride again! What Luck! Of course we stay on. Our luck seems to run out a moment later. The dark bat cave is strangely illuminated and we never make it up to the water fall area. We stop on the first incline. We wait for a bit while incomprehensible voices talk rapidly over an intercom. (Note to Disney, please train your CMs to talk much, much more slowly and clearly if the information is important.) We got the idea when staff started walking up the incline to let us out of the train. Zac was upset, but we told him how lucky we were to get this rare, behind the scenes, tour. The CMs gave us fast passes good for any ride. We decided our luck had indeed returned, because now we didn’t have to get a FP for Space Mountain! We headed to Splash next. No FP was needed as there was a 5 minute wait. It was fun as always. We wandered through Adventure Land. The skies were ominously overcast, but we decided to do the Jungle Tour. We brought our ponchos just in case. It was just a 10 minute wait. It began to rain immediately upon boarding, but not too hard. Our guide was a spunky young woman who made us all laugh. I admire the energy of these college students. After our tour of the jungle we continued on to our third mountain. We FP Buzz before boarding. We used our all attraction passes. Funny, but it seemed less dark than the other night. We all enjoyed it and my family laughed at how I screamed on all the drops. I am brave enough to do it, but I can’t help my screams! Next we did Buzz which is boring for me, as always, but the boys like it. Zac sees the cars so we have to do this. Again, he is brave enough to ride with Ben instead of me. Funny, but he is nervous about driving these cars even after tackling Space Mountain! During the ride he manages to bump his nose on the steering wheel. He seems fine when he gets off, but when Ben tells us of how he had bumped his nose he bursts into tears and needs a little cuddling from us both. Then he is fine again.
We finally head for the Main Street Bakery and share sandwiches and ice cream cookie sandwiches. I am thinking that I am a little sad to have missed the Trolley Dancers, when suddenly they appear. I stand out side and watch them. I love this corny, old fashioned routine. We meander through the Main Street shops and are out of the park and on the bus by 1:00 p.m. Before leaving we give our 4 Splash Fast Passes to an incoming family.
Back at the resort I recommend that we hit the pools before it starts to rain, but everyone wants to relax. Zac plays with his Legos and Ben is checking email and texting. The adults doze a bit. Of course when Zac decides he wants to swim it starts thundering outside. We head out to the pool to check out the possibilities. The pool has just been closed and 8 life guards huddle in the little pool bar area. We join them, hopeful the storm will soon pass us by. I am so impressed by the college age life guards who seem to be from all over the world. Zac, who thinks he is an expert on weather, tries to convince the guards that the sun is about to come out. The staff are very sweet to him and discuss weather safety with him very seriously. Zac plays in the puddles and at one point hides behind a trash can. A female life guard immediately sits behind the can with him. When someone asks what she is doing she says “I am protecting him, of course!” Another remarks, “she is a true life guard.” Zac loves all the attention. I debate the merits of hanging out with him cooped up in the hotel room and decided that the fresh air was better for us both. When the drizzle stopped Zac played on the play ground and enjoyed that with some other kids. They trooped back after a while to check in with the Life Guards. The Guards were about as restless as the little guys and had improvised a game of base ball using a flotation noodle. Some of the guards added a good bit of slapstick humor to this routine to the delight of all the little ones. I was impressed that they continued to check on the pool area and remind folks that they could not yet sit in the pool areas. Finally, at least an hour later, they opened the pool. Zac (and all the other kids) seemed to have a wonderful time. This slide is perfect for Zac’s age and they went again and again. It was really fun watching their faces. This pool really is hard to keep an eye on your child since there are a variety of obstacles. Fortunately, by now all the life guards knew who Zac and I were and would say “oh, I just saw him over there.” My hat goes off to all the Life Guards who made a disappointing situation so much fun for all the kids, while still assuring everyone’s safety. Very impressive.
I let Zac swim until the very last moment and then we rushed up to get ready for the Neverland club at the Poly and California Grill, respectively. The kids enjoyed a relaxing evening at the Neverland Club and we enjoyed a relaxing evening at the Cali Grill. We shared the cheese plate and the raviolli appetizer. Next I had the Halibut with rice and stir fried vegetables. I enjoyed it, but thought the sauce could be a touch less salty, but then I am a bit sensitive to salt. Jenny just had a salad. We shared the chocolate molten cake. I am still too full from all this food! I don’t think I will eat at all next week.
All in all, it was a very nice day to finish off our week at WDW. We had a great time this week despite the heat, humidity and rain. I must commend all the Disney staff for a "great show.! I did enjoy POFQ very much and would return, maybe to POR next time.
My only complaint is with the dining plan. I am not sure I would do it again as it is configured with the dessert included, but not appetizer. I think it would be a much more enjoyable experience to make an appetizer or dessert an option to better accommodate guest preferences. It would be healthier also.
Sorry, so long!
It is a bit hard to get up this morning, but we decide it is worth it to make the most of mornings at Magic Kingdom. Our Goal: three mountains and lunch. We make it just about at opening and head toward Splash and Big Thunder. We FP Splash and do Big Thunder first. As always I love Big Thunder. Zac is brave now, and rides in the front seat with Ben instead of huddling next to me. He makes a point to stand by every height restriction sign to show everyone he is big enough. When Big Thunder Mountain ends we are offered the opportunity to stay on and ride again! What Luck! Of course we stay on. Our luck seems to run out a moment later. The dark bat cave is strangely illuminated and we never make it up to the water fall area. We stop on the first incline. We wait for a bit while incomprehensible voices talk rapidly over an intercom. (Note to Disney, please train your CMs to talk much, much more slowly and clearly if the information is important.) We got the idea when staff started walking up the incline to let us out of the train. Zac was upset, but we told him how lucky we were to get this rare, behind the scenes, tour. The CMs gave us fast passes good for any ride. We decided our luck had indeed returned, because now we didn’t have to get a FP for Space Mountain! We headed to Splash next. No FP was needed as there was a 5 minute wait. It was fun as always. We wandered through Adventure Land. The skies were ominously overcast, but we decided to do the Jungle Tour. We brought our ponchos just in case. It was just a 10 minute wait. It began to rain immediately upon boarding, but not too hard. Our guide was a spunky young woman who made us all laugh. I admire the energy of these college students. After our tour of the jungle we continued on to our third mountain. We FP Buzz before boarding. We used our all attraction passes. Funny, but it seemed less dark than the other night. We all enjoyed it and my family laughed at how I screamed on all the drops. I am brave enough to do it, but I can’t help my screams! Next we did Buzz which is boring for me, as always, but the boys like it. Zac sees the cars so we have to do this. Again, he is brave enough to ride with Ben instead of me. Funny, but he is nervous about driving these cars even after tackling Space Mountain! During the ride he manages to bump his nose on the steering wheel. He seems fine when he gets off, but when Ben tells us of how he had bumped his nose he bursts into tears and needs a little cuddling from us both. Then he is fine again.
We finally head for the Main Street Bakery and share sandwiches and ice cream cookie sandwiches. I am thinking that I am a little sad to have missed the Trolley Dancers, when suddenly they appear. I stand out side and watch them. I love this corny, old fashioned routine. We meander through the Main Street shops and are out of the park and on the bus by 1:00 p.m. Before leaving we give our 4 Splash Fast Passes to an incoming family.
Back at the resort I recommend that we hit the pools before it starts to rain, but everyone wants to relax. Zac plays with his Legos and Ben is checking email and texting. The adults doze a bit. Of course when Zac decides he wants to swim it starts thundering outside. We head out to the pool to check out the possibilities. The pool has just been closed and 8 life guards huddle in the little pool bar area. We join them, hopeful the storm will soon pass us by. I am so impressed by the college age life guards who seem to be from all over the world. Zac, who thinks he is an expert on weather, tries to convince the guards that the sun is about to come out. The staff are very sweet to him and discuss weather safety with him very seriously. Zac plays in the puddles and at one point hides behind a trash can. A female life guard immediately sits behind the can with him. When someone asks what she is doing she says “I am protecting him, of course!” Another remarks, “she is a true life guard.” Zac loves all the attention. I debate the merits of hanging out with him cooped up in the hotel room and decided that the fresh air was better for us both. When the drizzle stopped Zac played on the play ground and enjoyed that with some other kids. They trooped back after a while to check in with the Life Guards. The Guards were about as restless as the little guys and had improvised a game of base ball using a flotation noodle. Some of the guards added a good bit of slapstick humor to this routine to the delight of all the little ones. I was impressed that they continued to check on the pool area and remind folks that they could not yet sit in the pool areas. Finally, at least an hour later, they opened the pool. Zac (and all the other kids) seemed to have a wonderful time. This slide is perfect for Zac’s age and they went again and again. It was really fun watching their faces. This pool really is hard to keep an eye on your child since there are a variety of obstacles. Fortunately, by now all the life guards knew who Zac and I were and would say “oh, I just saw him over there.” My hat goes off to all the Life Guards who made a disappointing situation so much fun for all the kids, while still assuring everyone’s safety. Very impressive.
I let Zac swim until the very last moment and then we rushed up to get ready for the Neverland club at the Poly and California Grill, respectively. The kids enjoyed a relaxing evening at the Neverland Club and we enjoyed a relaxing evening at the Cali Grill. We shared the cheese plate and the raviolli appetizer. Next I had the Halibut with rice and stir fried vegetables. I enjoyed it, but thought the sauce could be a touch less salty, but then I am a bit sensitive to salt. Jenny just had a salad. We shared the chocolate molten cake. I am still too full from all this food! I don’t think I will eat at all next week.
All in all, it was a very nice day to finish off our week at WDW. We had a great time this week despite the heat, humidity and rain. I must commend all the Disney staff for a "great show.! I did enjoy POFQ very much and would return, maybe to POR next time.
My only complaint is with the dining plan. I am not sure I would do it again as it is configured with the dessert included, but not appetizer. I think it would be a much more enjoyable experience to make an appetizer or dessert an option to better accommodate guest preferences. It would be healthier also.
Sorry, so long!