Sunday, March 10
I admit that I have no recollections of the finer points of this morning. We got up…sometime. We ate…something? for breakfast. What I do know is that we eventually ended up at the Magic Kingdom on yet another gorgeous March morning.
Much to the chagrin of touring plan aficionados everywhere, we have become something of lackadaisical Magic Kingdom visitors. We go here, there, and everywhere, in no particular order. Granted we know how to avoid the crowds when we want to, but generally we are agenda-free these days. On this morning, our first stop was the Haunted Mansion, something we hadn’t done in a couple of trips:
That’s how I look without coffee, too.
I’m quite fond of this picture.
Queued up.
The HM doesn’t look particularly threatening during the daylight hours.
Next, we had to check out – wait for it – no really, you’ll want to see this – seriously – the BEST BATHROOMS IN ALL THE LAND:
A work of excretory genius.
Tinkle Tower.
Seriously though, I don’t really have strong feelings about the E-Ticket Toilets like some people do. Would I have preferred a ride? Absolutely. Do I think it’s a bit tacky that you can see the tower from all parts of the Magic Kingdom? Of course, but it’s not like there aren’t already park intrusions, like the clear view of the Contemporary Resort from Liberty Square. These things just are. I deal with it. All these things said, do I think it’s a bit ridiculous that so much time, energy, and $$$$ was spent on toilets? Heck yes.
Moving on!
It was time to do something else new to us, or at least new to CP and not done by me since I was roughly 12 years old – a visit to Tom Sawyer Island.
A perfect view of BTMRR from our raft.
Look kids – a windmill!
Look kids – a Harper’s Mill!
Big Thunder kills me with its photogenic perfection. Good job, Imagineers.
Quiet day at the fort.
A view that almost lets you forget all the crap added to the MK in the past twenty years.
It’s not authentic unless you have audio-animatronic chickens.
I must say, I quite enjoyed our TSI jaunt. It’s a fun respite from the parks, and I could totally see taking some food to the island and relaxing. Admittedly, though, we didn’t linger, as we had a Plaza lunch reservation calling our name. As usual, it was well-priced deliciousness. I went crazy and changed my order, sampling the strawberry chicken salad. It was pretty good, but I’m really looking forward to Starbucks opening so that the Plaza can get its dishwashers back – these flimsy plastic bowls and plates make cutting salad leaves nearly impossible, so I spent my lunch flinging greens across the table. Fun!
What was fun, of course, was splitting the brownie sundae. This picture looks sort of disgusting, but trust me that it was good:
Wish I had one of these now.
In a normal world, this kind of meal would probably satiate me for the rest of the day. In Disney World, a meal at the Plaza naturally gets washed down with…a La Cava del Tequila margarita!
Speaking of wanting one now…
Why yes, we were off to Epcot! Since we had atypically taken the bus that morning (it’s coming back to me – cereal and fruit and iced coffee from the Rix Cafe, bus from the main bus stop – I’VE STILL GOT IT!), we hopped on the Express monorail and were pleased to find an Epcot monorail waiting for us. I love the monorail trip to Epcot, especially the end where you circumnavigate the park from above. My love/hate relationship with Epcot is mostly love, and Flower and Garden is probably my favorite time during which to visit Epcot. Here, let me drown you in some photos:
Margarita in hand (also…there was NO LINE at La Cava. I couldn’t believe it, not after this experience!), we set off on a leisurely tour of the World Showcase, stopping to take pictures as we went.
Margarita viewing location.
Nor-vay!
Maybe my favorite F&G offering.
Tiny F&G festival, complete with perfect Mater replica.
I like the placement of Snow White this year.
Like at the Ringling Museum, a Dwarf Garden.
Lotso has a new home by the American Adventure, but he still smells like strawberries.
It should be France in the background, but Morocco works.
Favorite.
Daytime snausages.
As you can see, we made a full loop around the World Showcase lagoon. We weren’t lingering in Epcot because my grandparents called to say they had made it to Disney, so CP and I had to take the bus back to Coronado, clean up for dinner, and then drive over to meet them at the Polynesian for our reservation at Kona Cafe. My grandfather’s birthday had been the day before, and Kona was his choice for a new place to try for dinner.
After pulling into the parking lot at the Polynesian, something weird happened. This woman and her teenage daughter flagged us down, and asked us if we had driven to the Polynesian. Tentatively, I replied that we had, and she asked – nay, begged – us to take her and her daughter to Shades of Green. They were apparently there for a cheer competition and were running late to meet the team bus. Skeptical, spends-time-in-big-cities me was a little hesitant about this, but there was something in the daughter’s look of absolute mortification that made me realize they were telling the truth. Back to the Jetta we went, and in short order we had them at the front gate of Shades of Green. Grateful, they offered to pay us, but we asked instead that they keep the good going.
So, once again, we drove into the Polynesian parking lot, the security guard not batting an eye that we had pulled through just five minutes before. We parked and went inside, having a few minutes to kill before my grandparents arrived.
When I get rich and famous I’m totally building a replica Great Ceremonial House…in my house.
Checking out the marina.
Flying fish (sort of).
In short order we were reunited with my grandparents, and we went upstairs to give our name at Kona. My grandparents – Midwesterners through and through – quickly and easily struck up a conversation with some other people waiting in line, and we had to pull them away to be seated for dinner. Kona was packed that night, and I was really pleased that we were given a seat on the edge of the restaurant closest to the monorail – it was actually pretty cozy and quiet back there.
It was at Kona that night that I made a new friend:
My grandmother in the background, but your focus should be on the INCREDIBLY TASTY DRINK IN AN ACTUAL PINEAPPLE.
Lapu-lapus are one of those Disney items that is on everyone’s “must try” lists, so naturally I’ve been dubious. The mood struck me though, and wow – it was a good drink. Strong, tasty, and full of novelty. As you can see from the picture, my grandmother too had a fruity tropical drink, and CP and my grandfather went crazy – tap water.
Dinner was good, but there were two things that made it fall short of lunch at Kona – 1) the service was incredibly, awfully, painfully, inexcusably slow. Whether this was because the kitchen was backed up or service was off, I don’t know, but in either case, it took far too long to get a glass of water, give our drink orders, get fresh bread, and then – twelve hours later – our entrees. 2) The same noodle bowl we enjoyed so much at lunch was maybe half the size of the lunch portion, and because of said terrible service, was lukewarm and kind of gummy by the time it hit the table. I think my grandparents enjoyed their meals, but CP and I left vowing only to dine at Kona for breakfast and lunch.
After dinner, my grandparents tried to buy DVC annual passes at the Polynesian’s concierge desk, so I amused myself taking some pictures:
Love.
It’s arty because my grandparents are in the background of the shot.
Self explanatory.
Eventually, the four of us piled into the Jetta and made the short drive back to the TTC parking lot. It was a crowded evening at the Magic Kingdom, but my grandparents hadn’t seen New Fantasyland, and we thought we’d all walk off our dinners at the MK. My grandparents had to first stop at Guest Relations to buy their annual passes (no luck at the Poly), so we waited for them and took in the lovely evening light.
Once inside, I did what I normally do when around my grandparents, which is to pester them for photographs since they’re so ridiculous photogenic.
Seriously, don’t fight me – I’ve got the cutest grandparents in all the land.
For some reason Cast Members were using the castle walkthrough for exiting guests only, so we had to walk around the castle the long way to get into new Fantasyland. It was crowded but not unbearably so, and we took our time so that I could show them the new sights.
(Not new) Fantasyland.
New Fantasyland.
The line for the Little Mermaid ride was something like a ridiculous 80 minutes, but there wasn’t a soul in the queue. I dragged all of us on, figuring that even my ride-averse grandfather would like this one. Indeed, it was a crowd pleaser, or at least not a crowd repeller.
Ariel’s eyes always look so creepy on this ride.
After showing them Storybook Circus and walking through Big Top Treats, my grandparents decided they were kind of tired and wanted to head back to their bus. We decided to walk with them, and offered to drive them back to Saratoga Springs, where they were staying that night. On the way, though, my grandmother, CP, and I stopped for a spin on the teacups.
I might yarf just looking at this.
The four of us then took a spin on the TTA, headed out via a crowded Main Street, and hopped on the resort monorail and back to the TTC. Once safely deposited at SSR, CP and I headed back to Coronado for showers and sleep.
Up next: More flowers, some flowers, and did I mention…flowers?
Nerds in Wonderland 