Day 3, August 05

So good to see you again! - Part 2

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.

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.

And really once the show started, Angie started laughing at some scenes, even before they were actually shown and the people ahead of us turned 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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

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 was dancing in our heads, 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.

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.