2013 Holiday Day 5 - Disney Magic Kingdom and more...

A day to go down a gear or two after some pretty intense days here. Perhaps Mrs B can keep this kind of pace up, because she's very fit and very enthusiastic, and whilst me and my boy are quite fit and quite enthusiastic - we feel the pace much more. Anyway, we had agreed last night that this would be a more relaxing day.

We got a later bus (so not one that got us there for opening) which was a new experience for us, and got to the Magic Kingdom at 10am. We went for Fast Passes to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which gave us a bit of time to ride Haunted Mansion. After a very short wait we were in and off! I had no real recollection of this ride, but it's a continuous loader that tours the inside of a mansion populated by 999 ghosts (there's room for one more, apparently, which could be you!!!). It's a fun ride, a mix of computer stuff and moving manikins. I guess it's a little dated, but we enjoyed it. Another one of those Disney classics that they shouldn't touch or improve in any way!

We then had time to head for Tom Sawyer Island and we spent a fun half hour exploring the island. There's lots of things to climb up and climb down and there is a lot to keep the kids entertained in particular. Master B is not renowned for his sense of adventure when it comes to exploring new places, he prefers it all mapped out, but he had a good time scrambling round the fort and through the mine in particular.

We got the boat back for Mrs B and Master B to use their Fast Passes on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. They didn't wait long and were soon roller coasting around on the runaway train. It's a bit of a Mrs B favourite - Master B was less convinced, but I think he secretly did quite like it!

After a short water break (whilst it was cooler today, it was still hot in the sunshine) we headed for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. This is a ride around Tomorrowland from a height so you can see all the attractions. It's a nice ride, nothing thrilling, but it is covered and their was a nice breeze, and we enjoyed the views over the park and looking down on all the people.

In a change this year, Mrs B and I decided we wanted to see some of the other resorts. We had only ever visited our own, Saratoga Springs, and I was keen to see the Contemporary. So...

Disney Contemporary Resort 

...we headed to the monorail that would take us to this resort. The Monorail is a lovely little ride and we were soon disembarking inside the hotel. Yep, the station is in the hotel! It's pretty cool! The architecture is lovely and there were loads of shops and restaurants on the bottom three levels. We chose to eat in The Wave - Amercian Flavours which has a menu that changes with the seasons. It's broadly the same, they just alter bits of it slightly.

We hadn't booked, but there was loads of room and we were seated straight away. It was a very swanky restaurant with cloth napkins and lovely tableware. I had the 'build-your-own-burger' and went for cheese and mushroom with potato wedges; Mrs B had a pasta dish and Master B also had a burger and wedges. Everything was delicious. The burger meat was locally sourced and tasted fabulous - cooked perfectly to medium as I like it. I washed it down with a lovely berry smoothie, whilst Mrs B and Master B had sodas as usual. Desert was a set of three 'samplers' for the adults (we had different ones so sampled six puds!) and Master B built his own ice cream sundae - which he loved. Mrs B and I had jasmine green tea and coffee respectively to finish off. A lovely meal, great service from our friendly server, Tim, and we were absolutely stuffed with food!

We wandered round the two large shops and games arcade - which were much, much better than the ones at our resort - before heading back to the Magic Kingdom. The monorail only goes one way on a big loop so we had to go through three stops before getting back to where we started. It was a bus back to Saratoga Springs and we hit the main Springs pool for a couple of hours to enjoy the sunshine and let our dinners go down (me and Mrs B lounged whilst Master B swam!).

A quiet night in after that watching Jeopardy! and Wheel Of Fortune as we need to be up early tomorrow...

Beer consumed: A Florida Lager from the Florida Beer Company which was most pleasant with some Pringles.