So good to see you again!
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Thanks to an early night we were up early again, and today we really
wanted to be early. There were Morning Extra Magic Hours at the
Magic Kingdom and we had planned on going through the regular line
of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. So, once we were up and showered, we
fixed some sandwiches with stuff out of the fridge and some fruit we
had bought the day before. |
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Bellies filled we tidied up the room and then grabbed our bags and
were out the door. We did not quite make it to rope drop, but we got
to security check when the masses started to move into the park.
Security had quite the line and it took us a few minutes to go
through, then we were sent to the opposite end to get to the
touchports to enter the park. |
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Once inside we walked straight to Fantasyland and to Seven Dwarfs
Mine Train. The sign said 10 minute wait and that was perfectly fine
with us. We walked through the part that snakes all around the
outside and once we got closer to the actual building the line
slowed down a bit. And we were glad it did, so we could look at the
fun games installed in the line. While moving forward slowly we
matched gems and spun the barrels and soon found ourselves being
directed to a row to board the train. By quarter to nine we got off
and walked towards Peter Pan, but the line was already pretty long.
So we walked past It’s a Small World and towards Liberty Square. By
then the park started to fill up, so we checked wait times for Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad and it was already 25 minutes, so off to
Pirates we went. We took a quick restroom break and jumped into the
five minute line. |
It did not even take five minutes and we sat in our boat going on
our little cruise. Once we got off we had a text from Michelle, that
she, her daughter Angelina and her son’s girlfriend, Hannah, were on
their way and arriving at the Magic Kingdom parking lot shortly.
Keeping that in mind, we decided to fit in one round on the
Peoplemover, before heading to the entrance. Once we got off we went
towards the exit, battling the crowds that were moving up Main
Street. To get out of the way we walked through the shops and found
ourselves at Starbucks. A big board with some specials caught our
eye and we decided that we needed something to drink. Tom got the
Iced Caramel Macchiato, while I went with the Iced Black Tea
Lemonade. A few minutes later we walked down Main Street again,
drinks in hand and now knowing that Michelle and her family were on
the ferry. Once we had made it to the entrance we sat in the shade
under the only tree waiting for them. It took quite a long time
until we finally saw Michelle pushing the wheelchair up to the
touchpoint and then into the park. We had met Michelle and her
family preparing for a cruise in 2012 and had stayed in touch ever
since. But it had been a long time since we had last been able to
meet in person. So, after intensive hugging we moved inside the park
and walked over to Guest Services, where Michelle added our
Magicbands to Angelina’s disability Magicband and the cast member
there was nice enough to get all of us a FP+ for the Mine Train.
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Necessities done we slowly moved up Mainstreet and it was so good to
see Angelina laughing and enjoying the day. There was a lot to catch
up on and we moved slowly, but once in Fantasyland we decided to
watch Philharmagic until our FP would kick in. And while in line,
Michelle told us that Angie loves Philharmagic and starts laughing
even before something happens and that sometimes people sitting in
the rows in front of her are irritated and turn around. So once the
doors opened we were the only group in the disabled section and the
cast member walking us in told us to sit right in the center seats,
which we gladly did. |
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And really once the show starts, Angie starts laughing at some
scenes, even before they are actually shown and the people ahead of
us turn their heads. Michelle and I just looked at each other and
laughed as well. Once the show was over we walked out into the shop
and looked around for a while, but soon enough our FP time opened
and we headed over to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. |
Michelle scanned Angie’s magic band first, then the rest of us
scanned theirs and off we went inside. Once we got inside we were
asked to use the line on the very left and when we got to the front
Michelle helped Angie into the car, we got in in front of them and
Hannah was in front of us and off we went. Again, as much as we
enjoyed the ride, we enjoyed Angie’s happy laughter even more. After
the ride Angie had to be transferred into her wheelchair again and
we went outside into the heat again. There was a short discussion on
what to do next and since Angie loves the Buzz Lightyear ride, we
went there to get some FP+ and once that was done we had another 45
minutes to gap. Why not going to the Laugh Floor? It is out of sun
and you can sit. Perfect. So over we went, just to find out that the
next show was about to start and we could already move inside. A few
minutes later Michelle, Angie and Hannah sat in the front row and
Tom and I had decided to just sit behind them. Didn’t take long and
it started and there were laughs and giggles and then it was time
for revealing “that guy”. And we all burst into laughter when we saw
that it was actually Tom. When it was all over and we were about to
leave, Tom was even given a sticker, that said, “I was that guy”.
And with that in hand, we slowly walked over to Buzz Lightyear’s
Space Ranger Spin. There was quite the line, even for FP and we
slowly crept along. |
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Once we got to the loading area we were told to wait by a door,
where we were all taken to where people exit the ride and there we
waited some more before we could all get into our ride vehicles. And
off we went. I have never been really good at those games and even
after I had done my best, my score was measly, while Michelle and
Hannah both had hit the maximum amount of points. So we asked how
they did it and got a few really good pointers. By then it was going
towards 1pm and we were all getting hungry. Since Michelle and her
family are regulars in the park we left the choice of the restaurant
to them and they decided on Pinocchio’s Village House. |
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The restaurant looked pretty full, but we were sure we would find a
table and while Michelle and I stayed in line, Hannah and Tom went
to find a table that was big enough for all of us and where Angie
could sit in her wheelchair. Soon we all sat around a round table
with plates full of yummy stuff in front of ourselves. Tom and I had
decided to share two flatbreads, the
Sausage and Pepper Flatbread
and a Caprese Flatbread,
which were both really tasty and hit the spot. We sat there for
quite a long time, chatting and nibbling on the last few pieces of
flatbread. It was already mid afternoon when we decided to head out
again. But by then it was time for Michelle to head back home, but
not without a short visit to our room. So we made our way to the
exit, walked up to the Resort Monorail and got on the next one in.
We got off at the Contemporary, used the elevator to go down to the
main level and then used the Skywalk to go over to Bay Lake Tower.
Once we were back in our room we handed Michelle the gifts we had
gotten them and we chatted for a little longer. Then, Michelle told
us that she and her husband wanted to visit us while at Old Key West
and they would bring all the food. We were stunned, but it was such
an awesome invite. |
We really were looking forward to it. Michelle, Angie and Hannah had
to leave after a call from her husband, telling her that he was on
his way home. We took them back to the monorail and waved goodbye
before heading back to our room. |
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Once there we started to pack up all the stuff we had taken out as
we were moving to the Yacht Club the next day. We were still
debating if we should return to the Magic Kingdom that evening as we
were tired already, but before we made a decision, we wanted to have
dinner and walked over to the Contemporary and went to the Contempo
Café. We had always had good food there and this day was no
exception. And even though we had walked by the restaurant, we were
stunned to see that the kiosks had been taken away. A cast member
told us to order at the register and we would be handed a pager.
Exactly what happened. So, after getting some drinks we found a
table and waited for the pager to go off. Didn’t take long and I was
able to pick up our food. Again, we had decided to share two dishes.
Tom’s pick had been the Beef
Pot Roast served with seasonal vegetables, mashed potatoes, and
gravy, while I remembered how much we had liked the
Steakhouse Salad with
Marinated Beef, Shaved Red Onions, Goat Cheese, Tomatoes, Mustard
Dressing with a warm pita wedge. And while we munched our yummy food
we thought if we should just walk back to the Magic Kingdom or not.
In the end, the “let’s go” won, mainly because we had another FP for
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. So after finishing dinner we went
back to our room, put on our Magic Bands and left everything apart
from the camera in the room to just do the two rides we still had
FPs for. |
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We arrived right when our first FP opened and since we did not have
bags, we could walk right past the desks, but were directed towards
the scanners. No biggie, better safe than sorry. And a minute or two
later we found ourselves walking up Main Street and over to the
Haunted Mansion, where we scanned our Magicbands and headed inside
and found ourselves in the stretching room really soon. Again, when
we were let out to where the actual ride is, the room was packed. We
just went with the flow and a few minutes later we sat in our
Doombuggy and on our way to visit the 999 happy haunts. Once we got
off we had a little time left until our second FP was going to open,
so we strolled along the Rivers of America. |
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Once we got to Splash Mountain, I tried to take one decent photo of
the logs coming down, but with the light fading I was failing
miserably. Then it was time to scan those Magicbands again and ride
the runaway mine train. As always Tom asked for last row and we were
happy to be granted our wish and within minutes we found ourselves
being jerked around on the train. After we had gotten off, the idea
of staying in the park for the Main Street Electrical Parade and the
fireworks, but we thought that there would be a lot more times to
watch it, so we slowly, slowly moved towards the exit and strolled
back to Bay Lake Tower. We finished packing and a little before 10pm
we headed to the lobby, signed in and went up to the Top of the
World Lounge. The Lounge itself was full, but we did not want to sit
in there anyway. We found a nice space to watch the fireworks and
enjoyed Wishes from there. |
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Once the fireworks were over, we took the elevator back down, went
to our room, put most of the luggage in the hall by the door and
watched a little TV before falling asleep. |
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