Day 13: Final Disney Day

Posted on May 20, 2014May 27, 2014 by Y2Neil

Up early to race to Epcot and be one of the first people on Soarin’. When we got there, it was still showing as a 20 minute wait, crazy. The ride was a bit of an anti-climax after all the build up, the fact we could see the edge of the screen and people’s feet above us took away from the immersion but it was still kinda fun.

We then bought some more souvenirs and another t-shirt for Neil (hope they all fit in the luggage!) before heading around the World Showcase only to find it closed. We managed to get to France however and enjoy a pain aux chocolate in the boulangerie. What is good about the World Showcase is they employ people from each of those countries, however Debora wasn’t impressed by my constant French accent impersonations.

After this we headed to the Magic Kingdom to try and get on Space Mountain but once again, it was heaving. We spent 35 minutes queuing for Buzz Lightyear’s Star Command and whilst waiting for it to be fixed after a breakdown, I googled for the fast pass tickets at Disney. It turns out every park ticket comes with 3 free daily fast passes. Typical.

Once we’d saved the galaxy with Buzz we enquired about the Fast Pass, but as we had to leave at 6 (which later turned out to be 6:45) we couldn’t get Fast Pass tickets until after this time. They managed to get us onto Space Mountain at 4pm so whilst we had lunch we browsed other attractions we could visit on the rather spiffy Disney App. We were able to get Fast Pass access to the Haunted Mansion which was lots of fun…but it broke down whilst we were on it!

Then it was Space Mountain but Debora and I were split on the two cars so our ride photo doesn’t show us together. Space Mountain also broke down whilst we were queuing for it and when riding it, it really doesn’t feel safe. Everything looks so incredibly close to you that it could take off your limbs or head if you’re a little big too big for the car.

Finally it was back to Epcot for our pickup, but we were too early! So we went back into Epcot for another go on Spaceship Earth and a quick walk around a bit of the World Showcase. Once we got back to the hotel, hungry, we decided to order a Chili’s to go…when we picked it up the bag was huge! Nice little feast of a Margarita flatbread and veggie fajitas, topped off with a brownie with ice cream. Giving us a nice early night ready for our last day tomorrow. 🙁

Day 8: On The Buses

Posted on May 15, 2014May 27, 2014 by Y2Neil

It was a long, long day which consisted mostly of travelling.

First we waited for a shuttle to take us to Animal Kingdom, it was late. The journey was long and slow and when we finally got to Animal Kingdom, it was packed. On a Wednesday?! We wandered around trying to avoid all the strollers being aimed at us but were left less than impressed.

On every Disney brochure it tells you how to get around their parks and makes it sound so easy. Get a bus to any resort and then another bus to the park. But if you don’t know which resort is close to you or where you want to go you’re scuppered. We got on a bus to the Contemporary Resort and then another to Downtown Disney. This took us over an hour.

Downton Disney is having a makeover and so there are lots of boarding up blocking views. We went in some shops including the Lego one but were left disappointed again. Lunch at Planet Hollywood was just as bad. It was freezing inside and the vegetarian options were terrible. The decor also is really rather dated and it just looks dilapidated.

After the last bus fiasco we were apprehensive about another. The plan was to go to Hollywood Studios and then to Magic Kingdom but after another bus to another resort (a nearby one thankfully), we just jumped on the first bus that came – luckily it was going to Epcot where you can get a much quicker and easier monorail to Magic Kingdom.

Epcot was just as busy, the queue for Soarin’ was 75 minutes. So we turned around and headed back to Magic Kingdom. It was now getting quite late so we hoped the crowds would have thinned. They hadn’t.

We queued for 35 minutes for Peter Pan’s Flight. 35 minutes! Jumped straight into Mickey’s PhillarMagic and then queued again for the Thunder Mountain Railroad which was really fun in the dark.

Then it was the light show, quite impressive as the castle was lit up with lots of Disney themes and music. Then there was the fireworks, the reason we had gone in the first place. These were good but not as incredible as I remember them. Finally, we waited again for the trip back. We got back to the hotel just after midnight. Long day. Again.

Day 4: Magic Kingdom & Epcot

Posted on May 11, 2014August 26, 2014 by Y2Neil

Having booked transport tickets to the Magic Kingdom for an 8am pickup, we were up early again and left the hotel without breakfast. It was only halfway to Disney’s main park that we realised we had also left without our reservation information! Fortunately, thanks to months of entering the Virgin reference into the website and having my passport to hand, the staff were able to find us in the system so we didn’t have to turn around.

This was our first weekend day. Wow! The park was absolutely jam packed. After a “quick” pop-in to a bakery (which was cunningly disguised as a Starbucks) for breakfast we headed to Adventureland where we were greeted with tribal design and an Aladdin theme, including a giant camel. As we neared the camel, I heard some water splashing, I then saw a puddle on the ground. Just as I put two and two together, the camel spat water, all over Debora. I couldn’t stop laughing.

It was then onto the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, a tame water ride that’s been updated to feature Barbosa and Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. Then the fifteen minute queue for Splash Mountain turned into thirty, the fifty foot plunge weighing on Debora’s mind, but it wasn’t as scary as she thought. Fun little ride that one.

But the heat of the sun was proving too much and Debora had burnt her head! She needed a hat, pronto! To the circus tent where we picked up a floppy Minne Mouse sun hat for her and a nice iced drink.

As we wandered around the park – getting our picture taken at any opportunity – we realised that the Magic Kingdom was really geared towards the young park attendee. Again, it was hot and not a lot of shade to take cover in. We went on the Stich ride – really don’t understand what that was about. After two video chats it’s into a circular room where an anamatronic Stich (of Lilo and Stich) is shown messing around. It then plunges into darkness and the ride jolts as Stich “runs” around you before letting out an awful stench. This proved too much for some of the little ones who had to leave early.

But not all little ones were upset – as after Stich we went to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory. This is an odd but strangely excellent live stand up comedy routine where the digital Mike Wakowski and friends interact with the audience. I assume there are actually actors in mo-cap suits behind the screens. They tell jokes and the story of Monsters Inc. and keep cutting to live shots of the crowd for ample laughter opportunites. Thankfully, when they described Sully as a hairy beast, they cut to someone else in the crowd with a massive beard. The star of the show was the tiny girl who they cut to for Boo, who kept playing peek-a-boo to audience and actor delight.

The park was so busy and our pick up not until 6. So we headed over to Epcot, thinking that people wouldn’t spend their time learning. We were wrong. Another 20 minute wait for the Spaceship Earth and a trek in the wrong direction in the heat saw us turn back and hang about in the air conditioned Coca-Cola shop. I tried a Japanese Cola, it was like flat Fanta.

The queue for Soarin’ was over an hour so we went on the Underwater Adventure with Nemo. Another ride I didn’t see the point of. You’re in a clam that moves along a track watching the abridged version of Finding Nemo. The scene in the current was alright, but the best part were the seagulls at the ride entrance who moved and declared “mine”!

Mission to Mars was next, we went on the timid Green version as the queue time was a tenth of the more intense Orange line. Don’t go on this if you’re claustrophobic or get sick in simulators. Otherwise, fun. Then one more trip to a shop where we bought Debora some Mickey Mouse shoes.

Another long queue – this time for the bus back to the hotel which wasn’t as air conditioned as it could have been. We had settled on an early night so went for a little walk down to Sweet Tomatos – the only place we can find that isn’t a steakhouse and offers vegetarian dishes!! On the way back we stopped at Walgreens for some supplies, a 24 pack of water so we don’t have to drink this awful rubber-water any more. By the time we got back, it was 21:20. So much for our early night.