Tag Archives: Ferryboat

Day 150- Magic Kingdom & SpaceX

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Today is a beautiful day! We see so many ibis and turkeys walking along the road near Magic Kingdom. I love the wildlife! Sometimes we can see deer blending into the landscape. It is absolutely beautiful day! As we leave the house, it says it is 65 degrees and feels like 71; that is going to be perfect.

We arrive at the Transportation and Ticket Center, park, and catch the tram to the Monorail. There are several fun people on the tram. We reach the drop off point and walk to the Monorail. It is fairly busy and the Monorail is full as we take off to Magic Kingdom. We do have one stop at the Contemporary Resort on the way today.

As we walk to the entrance, I hear a family talking about the Flag Retreat Ceremony and how Disney honors our veterans every day. The Flag Retreat Ceremony is incredible. I love being able to watch it!

We get our bags checked, MagicBands scanned, and enter into Magic Kingdom. The sun is so beautiful as it shines down onto the Victorian-styled buildings. It is so beautiful! I can see Cinderella’s Castle as we head down Main Street USA. We stop into the lightly busy Main Street Bakery for a cup of coffee. It is fun seeing every getting sandwiches and bakery items to go with their coffee!

After we got our coffees, I had to go back in for a minute, and as I came out, I could not see my kids anywhere! I scanned faces across the street. Then, I turned and scanned up the street and down the street, but no sign of my kids. So, I stopped, pulled out my phone and texted them. Almost instantly, I hear Tooti’s voice. They had found the cutest little spot to sit and drink coffee. I had to laugh since I thought it was down a ways from here. Plus, they were laughing so hard that I had to think it was funny!

Since there are 3 of us, we walked to find a table where we could sit and have our coffee. As we walk, we pass the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor; it is fun seeing all of the beautiful ice cream creations—some of them even have Mickey ears on them! I pass by a grandma enjoying a milkshake, I had to stop and tell her how cute she is sitting there enjoying her milkshake! She started laughing and got the cutest twinkling eyes. I love seeing the kid come out in everyone here at Disney!

We find a table and take a moment to enjoy our coffee. We talk about our day and what we are up to. As we are talking, I see a young dad bringing 2 of the cute Mickey Ice Cream Cones for his little ones. The little princesses are surprised and begin eating their perfect little treats.

The breeze has a chill to it, but it is nice as we are finishing up. We head back to Main Street USA and see the new Minnie purses through the doorway at the Emporium. Detour! We must see these cute purses, backpacks, and shirts that are now in the Emporium.  I love Minnie Mouse clothes and accessories!

We make our way through the Emporium until we are back on Main Street USA. As we enter into Town Square, I notice a line of people. As we start past them, I hear one of the cast members telling a joke, so I stop and see that there is an empty spot in the line. I step into that spot and ask the young teen if they are in trouble or something. He looked at me, started laughing, and said, “Yes! And my Mom is in this line too!” His mom saw us laughing and he let her in on the joke! She thought that was great. Then, my kids stepped closer and we all had a grand time. Twinkie was giving us some trivia about the cast member’s blue nametag. So, I asked Twinkie to take my spot and ask the cast member about his blue nametag so we could all hear about how he got it and celebrate with him. So, she asked and the cast member had a blast telling us about the story behind his blue nametag (long story short, it means that the cast member is super awesome!). What fun!

Then, I could hear the dance party parade, well, it is called Move it! Shake it! Dance it! Play it! The line of people became the front row and got to see the parade enter into Town Square. Everyone was dancing and having fun, from the little kids to the grandparents!

We checked a few more pins for trading on the way to the Monorail. We had so much fun today enjoying the park and the wonderful people who come to Disney! I love seeing so many folks smiling and I am so glad to help them get family pictures.

Once we arrive at the Transportation and Ticket Center, we begin to walk out to our car, when we glance up to see a rocket and a trail of smoke! We stop for pictures, as we realize that this is the NASA SpaceX launch! A young couple stopped beside me to watch with us, and said that there was a launch today. I thought they both had high voices, until the young man lowered his voice and explained that they had been talking in character voices all day. He wished he could do the voice of Mickey Mouse! We all laughed as he demonstrated his Mickey Mouse voice, and his girlfriend spoke in her best Minnie voice. They were too much fun!

What a fun day at Disney!

Day 41- Magic Kingdom & Roaring Forks at Wilderness Lodge

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The sky is so blue today and there’s not a cloud in the sky! Magic Kingdom is beautiful as we arrive on the Monorail. There is a steady stream of people arriving, and the weather is a bit cooler today, under 80 degrees and sunny!

I love seeing little children so happy to be here, and the happy faces of first time visitors getting pictures with Cinderella’s Castle in the background. There is a bustle of strollers passing by as families make their way down Main Street USA.

We stop at the Starbucks inside of the Main Street Bakery and grab a tea and coffee. A few months ago, when we moved here, I realized that I could just run to Magic Kingdom and get my hot tea! I love to grab a cup of tea and get to see many happy people before heading home on those days.  Next though, we are off to lunch by boat!

We’re off to go to Wilderness Lodge for lunch. Tooti has talked about getting a Roast Beef and Blue Cheese Sandwich at the Roaring Fork quick service restaurant. I cannot wait to get to ride the boat from Magic Kingdom over to Wilderness Lodge. We sit in the front of the boat, the Mermaid I, and are joined by a family who we chat with as we are traveling across the water. Once we dock, we disembark and walk to Wilderness Lodge, enjoying the path through the trees.

Lunch was great! We absolutely loved their gluten free Roast Beef and Blue Cheese Sandwich, and my Turkey and Swiss sandwich. The homemade potato chips were amazing, and I loved the cucumber salad!

Now, back to the boat. We sat at the back, soon to be joined by a family; they were really nice. We enjoyed talking on the nice trip back to the Magic Kingdom Boat Launch. I love days like today when we get to meet so many young families visiting Disney World for the first time, and get to hear how they are enjoying their trip. The common topics that come up in these conversations are: the amount of walking, how tired their kids get just walking, the 8-10 hours spent at a Disney Park in a day (if not longer), and yes, it is about 1.1 miles around the World Showcase Lagoon at Epcot. That was a question today, “Should we think about renting a stroller for Epcot?” My answer is, “Yes, I would, it is a long way around the park. After you rent the stroller, you go up and around Spaceship Earth, and then down a long path to the World Showcase Lagoon. There are so many hills in Epcot and so many countries to explore, the 1.1 miles around the World Showcase Lagoon is just the beginning!”

Day 14- Epcot & Last Day of Frozen Fireworks at Hollywood Studios

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It was pouring as we headed out for Epcot. Then, it stopped, poured, and stopped again as we neared the park. We parked on aisle 50 once again! How do we keep being directed to that parking aisle? No problem, I looked over the top of the trees for Spaceship Earth. Found it. Now, what’s the quickest path from point A (us) to point B (Spaceship Earth)? We found a new walking path and headed in. As we entered the park gate, there was a lady from South Africa that loved the kids’ Frozen shirts! As we talked, she was so nice that we asked if we could have a picture with her, and her son jumped into the pic too! Fun!

Epcot!
All the way from South Africa 🙂

Off to the America Pavilion to watch Hanson, but the line was amazingly long. We waited for a little while and realized that the number of people in line already exceeded the number of seats in the theatre. We ducked out of the rain to sit in Italy for a few minutes. While we were there, we met a really nice couple with two beautiful daughters. It was fun talking and visiting with them!

Twinkie 🙂
Tooti 🙂

This reminds me about the other night at Epcot. As we were leaving, I saw a little girl with a frown and tears rolling down her face. “Are they putting up your ‘carriage’? Oh! You’re a little princess and they are putting up your ‘carriage’.” She smiled and hugged the little railing near her and nodded. I had overheard her grandparents telling her to stop crying as they pushed the stroller away, but I knew that in her little heart she saw the stroller as her “carriage.” Thank you, Molly A., for letting me learn that little treasure from you and your family!

Leaving Epcot

After Epcot, we planned to head to Hollywood Studios for the final Frozen Fireworks of the season! Frozen Fireworks it is.

Arriving at Hollywood Studios
Almost time for the show!

We made it to Hollywood Studios and enjoyed the bustle of people waiting for the show to start. While we were waiting, we met another really nice family. The mom mentioned that the kids didn’t want to stay, but she was hoping the fireworks would be worth it. I told her they are absolutely worth it! When my kids were little, they would tell me, “I don’t want to do something,” and I would tell them, “That’s just fine, but I want to!” She laughed! They did stay and it was so worth it!

As the fireworks came to an end, it was snowing! All the way from Mickey’s sorcerers’ hat to the front gates it is snowing! I love meeting so many people.

Heading home, we realized we had six minutes before the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party fireworks started; we could make it to the parking lot, catch the ferryboat over to Magic Kingdom, and see the Not So Scary Fireworks from the Ferry! It took me eight minutes; my kids can walk faster than fast. They made it to the entrance of the ferry and they were going to wait for me. I hollered, “See if they can wait for me!” I was a little ways back, but the deckhand teased me and said that my kids had told me to shut the gate; don’t let mom in! Funny guy!

We hurried onto the ramp and up the stairs to the front of the ferry and watched the Not So Scary fireworks from the stem of the boat!!! WOW! This show even has panoramic fireworks! It is so beautiful!

 

Three parks and two fireworks shows! I love Disney!

Day 1- Magic Kingdom

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The days before our start of 365 days at Disney were filled with total anticipation.  Where will this take us and what does God have in mind to send us on the journey?  I am so excited to see this unfold and glad to get to take you along with us on the ride!

We started our beautiful day going to Magic Kingdom. After you park, there are two options to get to MK- the Monorail or the Ferryboat.  We took the boat ride today and were so excited to see the boat not so full.  Maybe that means there won’t be long lines! We started across the water to see Cinderella’s Castle…  So pretty.  As we disembarked, the lines were pouring into the park from the Monorail, resort busses and the boats, so the area was full of people.

As we entered into Magic Kingdom, the place was bustling with Disney Magic.  Mickey’s signature flowers were out front, pumpkins dotted the landscape and the bustle of excitement is contagious.  Little people coming for the first time; their eyes sparkling with anticipation of what the day will hold.  Lots of families laughing together and making their way to the castle!  There, in front of the castle, was the “Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! Street Parade” dance party going on.

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There’s just something about a dancing monkey… or orangutan!
After we watched the conga line start, we headed around Cinderella’s Castle and noticed the line for Merida was much shorter than summertime lines, so we stopped to meet her for the first time!

Shirley was attending the line to let us into Merida’s home…
A peek of Merida’s place.
Merida’s Family
Jimmy was the character attendant assisting Merida today!
Merida and Me
Merida and the girls!

After Merida, we headed towards Liberty Square and rode the Liberty Belle Riverboat for the first time.  It’s a great way to see Tom Sawyer’s Island and even watch Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as you pass by.

The entrance…
Walking on!
On the boat…
On the river…
Pretty views…
You can see the Castle!
Helloooo!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
How cool!

We then headed off to Pirates of The Caribbean, but the line was quite a bit longer than expected for an “off-season” September day. We did get to see a bit of the Pirate show with Captain Jack Sparrow though!  Next, we decided to pick up one of our favorite treats- DOLE WHIP FLOATS!  They are tasty and even gluten free. 🙂  Twinkie and I like the pineapple and vanilla swirl and Tooti likes the orange and vanilla swirl.  They make the floats with Dole Pineapple Juice instead of soda.  YUM!

Captain Jack!
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride…
A 40 minute wait or Fast Pass + Option
Aloha Isle
The Menu… It’s even on the Disney Dining Plan for resort guests.
Delicious!

We headed towards Main Street to head back to the front gates, but paused to watch the end of the parade on the way out.  The line for the Express Monorail was short and it was a quick trip back to the Ticket & Transportation Center and MK parking lot.

The parade coming back down Main St.
Express Monorail line
The Monorail arriving… and the Ferryboat in the background.

A fun first day!!