Daddy/daughter trip – October 24 – 30, 2017 – day 6

Sunday 10/29/17
Magic Kingdom had a scheduled 8:00 am opening for our last day but we knew we were going left so we didn’t rush too much. There was just the slightest mist while waiting for the bus, not even enough to get the ponchos out and it was cool. This was going to turn out to be a blessing in disguise once we arrived as there was practically no one there! Our bus rolled up to MK just right at 8:00 so the park was open when we walked in. There was a Main Street vehicle waiting so we decided to hop on. No one else was wanting to take them so we had our own vehicle! Our driver asked where we were headed and we told her Big Thunder so she took us all the way around the hub dropping us off right at Adventureland! We walked through Adventureland and saw that Pirates was down before heading to Big Thunder where we rode that twice. As we were coming back through Adventureland we saw the cast members taking down the rope at Pirates and they informed us that Captain Jack had been stopped from his shenanigans. So we were the first people on Pirates that day, with our very own boat! We then took a Jungle Cruise, and there were eight people in the boat, including us! This tells you how uncrowded it was that morning. The clouds and breeze and relative coolness really kept people away! We then had a magic moment as we saw two of the Country Bears coming out of the Diamond Horseshoe. We walked and danced and played with them all the way to the end of Frontierland! We decided to ride Haunted Mansion and then checked wait times for other rides. Almost two hours into park open, Space Mountain had a 15 minute wait! When was the last time anyone saw this happen! A quick walk over to Tomorrowland and we were on and riding right quick! By now the sun had chased the clouds away and it was a beautiful day. So we shed the jackets and took a spin around Tomorrowland on the Peoplemover and then saw Laugh Floor until it was time to use our FP for 7DMT. After a full but very relaxing morning of touring we decided to try mobile ordering for Columbia Harbour House for lunch. Part of it was to try it out and part to report back here. I think the process is a success. We ordered and let them know we were there when we got to the restaurant. Quick tip for anyone doing this in the future. Let them know you are “here” while still walking to the restaurant. This way they will be getting your order ready while you arrive and you will have less time, or maybe no time, to wait when you do arrive. We found a nice quiet spot upstairs overlooking Liberty Square and Big Thunder. Another favorite lunch spot that I could just spend hours in!
We had seen bits and pieces of the Friendship Faire stage show throughout the trip and we decided we wanted to see the whole thing so we headed over there after lunch. It is a really good, upbeat show! I highly recommend taking a few moments to see it. We were getting to the end of our Peter Pan’s Flight FP window (planned that way) so we used that and then immediately following used our third to meet Ariel in her grotto. We checked Epcot and got a fourth for Test Track for later that day! We made our way up front and saw one of our absolute favorites Carousel of Progress before making our way up to the train station platform to catch Festival of Fantasy parade. What a great view to watch this parade from! The floats are all tall so it gives and awesome vantage point! And Maleficent’s Dragon from here? Wow! After the parade we stopped down and got our AP sliders for our magic bands before hopping the monorail to the TTC and then on to Epcot.
We got some sliders and a Mai Tai from Hawaii. I think the Mai Tai was the only drink I really didn’t care for so Lauren had most of that. Then we got the Almond Sundae from the Almond Orchard. Oh my gosh was this good! It was huge first of all, and at only $4.50 was probably one of the best value for the dollar items in all of F&W! Aiming to pace our bellies for our last evening, we then used our FP for Test Track, which would turn out to be our last ride of the trip. Not a bad way to round out the rides, really! We started to work our way around WS for the evening, clockwise from Mexico. We got the marinated chicken with peanut sauce and vegetables in Thailand. I must admit this was one I wasn’t sure about going in but it was really good! I would get that again. We got another Happy Peach (man were those good!) and watched the Dragon Acrobats in China. These people are amazing! Such talent! We got the bundt cake from India which was good, not great. Then we strolled up to Itally where we got the Spezzatino con Polenta, Beef stew and polenta. This was very good! As far as the prices per dish go, it was one of the more expensive though. We also got the chocolate covered cannoli and a Moscato. All of the Italy offerings we got were delicious and Lauren definitely enjoyed the Moscato! While we finished we caught the drummers in Japan where we saw our first glimpse of the lady we again met in Pandora in December. By now evening was really setting in and we were both feeling the full effects of the trip and just wanted to sit down. So we popped into America and saw the American Adventure with minimal wait, and got our shoes off for a bit! Man, did that feel good! Refreshed enough to finish out our tour we got the meat pie and cheese bread from Brazil and our Belgium waffle which we were too full for the other night. Continuing around our final stop was Ireland where we got the cheddar cheese and stout dip with bread and a warm chocolate pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard. Oh they were both so good but with it being a cooler evening, that pudding just totally hit the spot! Lauren said “I could go for another” and like a good dad, my reaction was “as you wish”. She said she looked up and I was gone! She thought I might had gone to use the restroom but I was back in line getting us another pudding! That was the perfect topper and our bellies finally said, “No more! We surrender!” We literally waddled out of Epcot and caught the bus for home around 8:30. I texted Steve that we were heading back to Pop and he met us there for a bit! It was really nice to just walk around and talk with him. We walked over the bridge to AoA and around that resort just enjoying his company before he headed home and we finished packing up and turned in for our final night.
Steps: 30,710
Miles: 13.85