Daddy/daughter trip – October 24 – 30, 2017 – day 3

Thursday 10/26/17
After far too short of a night’s sleep (but hey, it’s Disney right?) we Hit the Magic Kingdom first thing and saw the Trolley Show before the park officially opened. I do like that happening with the change. Bag check was very efficient, with everyone going through the metal detectors. I do like how they’ve moved the bag checks for MK, and having different checks so that the buses are the only ones going through the check in that area. I think it makes it so much quicker and better than having one central check. We saw the new Welcome Show at the Castle. It was cute but no replacement for the train station show. I get why they changed it. I understand completely, and truth be told it is nice to stroll Main Street before open. Heck, you can even shop before park open and not use park time. I just really like the train station show better. It had a certain anticipation to it that can’t be duplicated. Today was “attack Fantasyland” morning. We generally do this once a trip and are able to basically knock out almost all of Fantasyland rather quickly. We rope dropped Peter Pan’s Flight, where we saw and experienced firsthand how they hold the folks at Liberty Square until the left side of the Castle is opened, thereby eliminating any unfair advantage to either route. We were still through very quickly. Then we went and rode Pooh….with no kids in the hunny pot again! It was great! From there we flew with Dumbo and rode Under the Sea, all in the first hour. We were able to meet Donald, Daisy, and Minnie at Pete’s sideshow just when they opened at 10:00. It was time to use our first FP for 7DMT, and then rode the Teacups and used our next FP for Haunted Mansion. We finally rode Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel, where Lauren got Cinderella’s horse, before time to check in for our lunch at Be Our Guest. Operation Fantasyland was a resounding success! Other than Philharmagic we had completed everything we wanted to do in Fantasyland before lunch! I can’t stress it enough, rope drop, rope drop, rope drop! There is just no substitute if you want to get things done!
We had a delicious lunch of croque monsieurs and split a master’s cupcake with the grey stuff for dessert. We ate in the main dining room, near the “doors” and windows with the snow falling gently outside. Love this place! Pre-ordering is the only way to go here for us also. We totally bypassed a huge line for ordering and basically walked right in!
After eating we re-dosed with sunscreen. I share this because I took care of Lauren’s face for her. Or at least I thought I did. In the lighting of the restaurant it looked rubbed in sufficiently. Until we got outside. In the sunlight it looked like she had been hit by a big powder puff! Totally white! Oh my gosh we laughed so hard we went down to the ground! And I am never allowed to apply sunscreen for her again!
It was time to use our FP for Jungle Cruise, stopping off to see Mary Poppins in the gazebo behind the Christmas Shoppe in Liberty Square. I just love that area back there, hardly ever any wait. We shared our tale of the sunscreen with Mary and she thoroughly enjoyed it! We got a fourth FP for Dinosaur for a little bit later and did a bit of shopping on the way out.
This was where we made what turned out to be a very happy mistake. We took the monorail to the TTC because that’s where we thought the park to park buses where. At least they used to be! We found out from a security guard that the buses to the parks were actually at the MK bus stops! Fortunately we hadn’t crossed the security line so we wouldn’t need to go through another bag check. We could either take the monorail back to MK or the ferry. Well, we decided we had taken a bus that day. We had taken the monorail. Let’s take a boat! So we rode the ferry back (all three modes of transportation in one day!). We caught the bus in short order to Animal Kingdom and used our FP for Dinosaur. While in the preshow, while Dr. Grant Seeker was telling us our task, Lauren was able to score a FP for Everest! When we left Dinosaur (I didn’t think we were going to make it!) Nemo was going to be starting in a few minutes. Perfect! We saw the show and then went and use our FP for EE. We were 6 minutes from entering the queue to riding. I’ll take that every single day! Good score Lauren!
By now it was dinner time so we got a Pepperoni flatbread at Pizzafari. While there I noticed a couple enjoying their dinner and the husband had a Vietnam Vet hat. After we finished I went over, apologized for interrupting their meal, and thanked him for his service. I think we made their, and especially his, day! We got to chatting with them and I told him Dad served in Korea and we must have talked for a good 10 – 15 minutes, about everything! Our daddy/daughter trip, their kids (grown), WDW in general, Animal Kingdom, you name it.
Lauren and I then walked into Pandora for our first time, with no intention of riding anything, but more to take it all in. First impression….WOW!!! Oh my gosh, the Imagineers nailed it! We were “those people” walking around with our heads turning everywhere, mouths agape. We took some time to explore, got some pictures and decided to have the blueberry mousse at Satuli Canteen for dessert while the sun finished setting so we could see Pandora at night. If we thought during the day was incredible, nothing could have prepared us for night! Oh my gosh, that place is just absolutely incredible! It truly is a whole different world! We got more pictures, including the only nighttime magic shot in all of Animal Kingdom. By the time we were done, it was time to catch some of the Tree of Life Awakenings. Oh wow! This is such an incredible show! We could have stayed there all night if not for being tired. We left, tired but happy, and each saying we just couldn’t wait for Kathy and Ben to see it in December! It was an awesome, full day, capped off by a great evening at AK.
Steps: 23,591
Miles: 10.64