We had noon FastPass+ for the Magic Kingdom. I was very excited as I have been waiting for a year to ride the newest attraction at MK, Seven Dwarves Mine Ride. It's a coaster that is Snow White themed and had some new technology on the cars.
Greg chose not to go, so he dropped Kaitlyn and I at the Marina, where we planned on taking a launch to MK. Unfortunately, the launches were not traveling between FW & MK at that time. There was a crane doing some work on the monorail and the barge was larger than Disney had anticipated. So, we took a boat to the Contemporary and walked from there.
The Contemporary is a HUGE resort. Kaitlyn and I have stayed there in the past and will do so in the future. But walking to the MK from there is an easy 10-minute stroll. We had fun, except for the inconsiderate people who think that they own the sidewalk and can walk 3 across. I seriously considered ramming into the mom of the group, but my innate politeness overrode those considerations and I moved aside.
Once at the MK, we wandered through the Disney Emporium, getting ideas for souvenirs and gifts. We found several and purchased them on our way back through. The park was semi-crowded, but we didn't have too many problems navigating our way to the very farthest away attraction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. BTMR is a rollercoaster, themed like an out-of-control mine train in the western desert/mountains. We have ridden it many times and simply love it. It's a bit rough, but fast and fun. The worst part was, even with FP+, we still had about a 30 minute wait (and half of that was in the sun). As we went through the line, Cast Members were giving explicit instructions about which line to be in. Apparently, some people didn't pay attention and got separated from their group. OOPS. That's what happens if you don't listen (or in their case, don't understand English). Overall, the ride was fast and fun and the crowds were polite.
After the mine ride, we decided we should probably eat some lunch. We were going to try the Tortuga Tavern, but it was closed, so we opted for Pecos Bill's. The food there is similar to Chipotle (which is NOT my favorite restaurant). We both got the Chicken Rice Bowls. Kaitlyn ate it all in record time. I ate about half and was full.
We then proceeded to walk all the way across the park to the Seven Dwarves. Easy walk, not too crowded. Kaitlyn and I are experienced crowd walkers and can weave in and out of traffic easily. As we got there, we checked the Stand-By time...it was only 60 minutes (which is so low for that particular ride). We basically walked onto it with our FP+!
The cars are mine cars and they sway side-to-side (that's the new technology). During slower times, we would swing our cart! The twists and turns are phenomenal. The audio-animatronics are great (as usual). I really, really liked this ride and it will be on my must-do list every year. If I had any complaint about it, it would be that the ride is just too short.
After the ride, we went back, got Starbucks and did our shopping. Thanks Dino for the gift cards...you helped me buy a lot of stuff! We then caught a bus back to FW and the first screw up of the day.
Normally traveling between the MK and FW is the easiest thing in the world. But with the aforementioned issues, we ended up on a bus that went to Wilderness Lodge and FW. Greg was supposed to be picking us up in the golf cart. Well, he went to the Outpost (which is where I told him to go). Unfortunately, the bus dropped us off at the Settlement. I texted him and told him we were going to the Trading Post (forgetting that there are TWO). After we came out of the Trading Post, he wasn't there, I got angry and started walking back...it's a very long way from the Settlement to our cabin. Luckily, he got to us fairly quickly and picked us up!
Back at the cabin, we relaxed for a bit. Our plan was to go back to EPCOT for more food & wine. Greg again declined that adventure and drove Kait and I to the Outpost to catch our bus. This time, baggage check was a walk-through, and the crowd levels were lower than the night before. We went through MouseGear, only intending to look, but ended up purchasing all of our souvenirs there. They have a wonderful feature, Package Pickup. Usually, you can have your stuff sent to your room/cabin, but since we were checking out the next day, that wasn't an option. We had it sent to PP to be picked up on our way out of the park. It worked like a dream, no package to carry around...
Our first stop was Farm-Fresh. The food smelled phenomenal, but we really just wanted to try the Cider Flight. I liked the Raspberry and Elderberry Hard Ciders, Kaitlyn drank the Dry Pear (which was disgusting) and Pumpkin. Overall, they were good and a fantastic alternative for people (like me) who do not like beer.
Our next stop was the Craft Beers (after a pit stop). Yeah, I know, I just said I don't like beer. But Kaitlyn does. So we tried Keybilly Island Ale, A Blueberry Ale, A Honey Wheat Ale and Grateful Pumpkin Ale. I liked the Blueberry and the Keybilly and drank most of those. Kaitlyn drank all the rest and I assume she liked them.
After that, we headed to Mexico to get our Margaritas. Strawberry/Mango frozen margaritas! Yum. Have to drink them slow or you get a headache. We sauntered over to Poland and got Kielbasa with Potato Pierogies. Kaitlyn really wasn't sharing but I did get one pierogi and one piece of Kielbasa. It was fantastic. We both loved it. They also had sauerkraut pirogues, but uh, NO.
Our next stop was Hops & Barley at the American Pavilion. Kaitlyn wanted the Lobster Roll (I tasted it...yuck). We sat and listened to Rick Springfield while she ate it. After that, we got Mimosa Royale and a chicken Harissa from Morocco. Kaitlyn got something else to drink (I don't remember what), we did some shopping in Japan and made our way to the front of the park. Picked up our package at PP and got a bus back to the campground.
Second screw-up of the day: I called Greg to have him come pick us up. Since we stopped at Wilderness Lodge, I figured we'd get dropped off at the Settlement again. Yeah, no. Outpost. So Greg didn't catch up with us until we were nearly back at the cabin.
Kait and I grabbed the golf cart and ran up to the beach to watch the Electrical Water Parade and Hallowishes fireworks from the MK. It was fun.
So now on to packing and off to the beach! Hope you're having fun reading about our escapades.
Talk to you later!
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