"It's a great big beautiful tomorrow" sings the chap in The Carousel of Progress at The Magic Kingdom. Well, we can only hope that today sees us get to do more rides and activities at this park than we did yesterday at Hollywood Studios...
After a light breakfast it's the early bus to The Magic Kingdom. The bus fills up, but not as much as yesterday and we arrive in plenty of time to see the park opening show. Once that's done and dusted we are into the park and off at a fast walk to get to Fantasyland. This is new, and we want to make sure we beat the rush on some of the rides. We start on kiddie coaster The Barnstormer, which is more than enough roller coaster for me! Mrs B and Master B enjoy it too. We make an impromptu decision to do Dumbo as well, and Master B enjoys the play area for a few minutes before we ride. It's good fun with a few things for little ones of all ages.
We decide to head back to Tomorrowland to get to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin before the crowds arrive. Again, pretty much no wait, and we have a blast blasting Tharg and his minions. It can't hold a candle to Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios, but the no wait versus 75 minute wait more than makes up for this! We followed this with a trip under the sea in - er - Under The Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid. This had a lot of queuing area, but not much queuing, helped by the fact it was a continuous loader. It was OK. Fans of the movie will probably really love it. On the way to this, we made another spur-of-the-moment decision to ride Mad Tea Party spinning cups ride. I sit this one out, as spinning makes me feel really dizzy, but Mrs B and Master B have a ball. So far there has been minimal queuing, which makes a pleasant change from yesterday
Mindful of a lunch booking we have in the Liberty Square area we head off that direction and pass by "it's a small world". Master B and Mrs B are keen to do this again, and the lack of queue certainly swings in its favour, so we head off to watch lot's off dolls dressed in strange outfits singing a repetitive, catchy song that burrows it's way into your brain like a worm on acid... I shall wake at 4am tomorrow singing it I imagine! We decide a pit stop is in order and try out the Tangled toilets. These are new and about as fun as a restroom can be. They aren't marked on the park map, but are next to Small World and are fun to check out. There is some seating for picnics and the tower from the movie to have a photograph under too.
We are doing well so far. No real queues and not many people, so we are making good progress. Master B was desperate to do Pirates of the Caribbean so we headed off to there. Again, a minimal queue and we were soon on the boat. I remembered this ride as being a bit lame, so was ready to just yawn my way around it, but I actually thought it was alright this time. Maybe they changed it, maybe it was because I simply wasn't expecting much, but it was better than I remembered it It's not long before lunch, so Mrs B suggests Swiss Family Treehouse. This is a fun walk-through attraction where you climb stairs and look round a replica of the Swiss Family Robinson tree house home.
Now it's time for lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. This is a lovely restaurant done out in a New England style. We didn't wait long to be seated. I had The roast turkey, Mrs B had the burger and Master B had chicken nuggets. The chicken nuggets weren't on the menu, but I asked anyway and the server said it was no problem to get them. We finished it off with a lovely toffee pudding and washed it down with sodas. Delicious!
I forgot to mention that we had popped along to Splash Mountain for Fast Passes before going to the tree house, so we were able to return after lunch. The crowds were beginning to build now, and the queue at Splash Mountain was advertised as being 50 minutes. With our fast passes we walked right past that queue and got straight on. There have been some improvements in this ride since we last came, and it was just as much fun as ever. The 88 degree F heat meant after the big splashdown we dried off pretty quickly!
After all that excitement, something more tranquil was in order and Mrs B wanted to do something from when she visited the park as a child - so we went to Walt Disney Enchanted Tiki Room, via Jungle Cruise for Fast Passes. The Tiki Room was not Master B's thing at all, but the rest time was appreciated. It's quite fun, but you get to sit down in a nice air conditioned room and watched some mechanical puppets sing some songs. Mrs B had a ball - but she was reveling in childhood nostalgia.
It was getting sunny, hot, humid and crowded and my energy levels were flagging. We wandered around some of the shops before heading back to the Jungle Cruise to cash in our Fast Passes. Ironically, this was probably the longest wait we had - about 15 minutes - even with the Fast Pass. Still, the jungle cruise is nice and the guide cracks bad jokes. Again, it's nothing that pushes the entertainment boundaries, but I have a soft spot for it (especially as Jaws, a similar ride at Universal is now gone, which is bad news!).
We have a conference and decide to head to Epcot for an hour or so for a wander around. However, the Monorail is not working and it's really hot on the platform. We get back together for another discussion and decide on going back into Magic Kingdom. Master B saw a water playpark and we all want to do Carousel of Progress, so back in we go! The Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station is packed with kids cooling off from the heat (and some Mums and Dads too!). Master B get's absolutely soaked, but has a great time. We walk back to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress and enjoy the show just as we did the last time we were here. A definite Brewer family favourite and they must never take this show away!
Mrs B decided she wanted the Disney songs CD so we headed to Main Street USA to visit Emporium. The crowds were really building now and we were struggling against the tide (probably due to the influx of people coming to the Halloween show). The bus arrived after a short wait and it was back to Saratoga Springs for a well deserved drink and rest. Mrs B and Master B hit the pool, whilst I watched Amercian Football on the telly...
We decided to head in to Downtown Disney as I wanted to try Wolfgang Puck Express Quick Service restaurant as I was a bit hungry. Master B wanted to go to the enormous Lego shop to spend his holiday money. We had some trouble finding the place, as the map wasn't clear, and it just so happened to be the furthest building away from where we started our walk, but hey-ho... I had spaghetti with tomato and mozzarella, Mrs B had Mac 'N' Cheese and Master B wasn't hungry. We washed these down with some beers. Food and service were excellent and it was worth the trek. It was busy, but we managed to get a table and cleared out about 7.30pm. After a stop at the Lego Store it was back to the hotel for bed and a new day tomorrow!
So we did a lot today. We had a good run around Magic Kingdom and did loads of stuff there, had a bit of a swim and then did some of Downtown Disney too. Hopefully we can rest up for tomorrow and not get any blisters!
Beer consumed: Corona Light - with a lime twist - it was very refreshing
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