After a long hiatus, I went back, Solo! - Trip 2 - Day 4

[ILoveLegos]

(Me) - Former quasi-Disney expert, just past 50 years old.

Resort:
Disney's Yacht Club

Dates:
January 7-11th

Day 4 – Magic Kingdom

Today I had different plans for breakfast. I had a 7:40 am reservation for The Polynesian Resort’s Kona Café. I realized that I was going to get up super early to make it in time, but I was in bed super early the night before. I was excited to try Tonga Toast for the first time ever! I got to the bus stop outside of the Yacht Club at, 6:20 am. It was still dark outside. I watched the grounds keepers tend to the area. I waved at the cast members on golf carts. I sat alone and watched the sun rise gradually. I saw 5 Animal Kingdom buses come and go and I could not figure out why not one was going to the Magic Kingdom. This was very perplexing to me. Finally, at 7:15 the first Magic Kingdom bus came and there was a little group of guests who boarded with me at the time. When I got on the bus, I looked back at the screen that was above my head the whole time at the bus stop and saw that the bus arrival times were on the screen. This was the 1st bus to the Magic Kingdom, and I was going to be late for my reservation. Ugh! I should have taken a Minnie Van, lol.

Once we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, I knew that the Resort Monorail was going to be filing up with Resort guests going to the early rope drop, so I chose to take the Resort boat to the Polynesian instead. I was the only person on the boat. Evidently this was the first running of the boat that morning with passengers. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. I got very good pictures of the Grand Floridian as we passed it and that little wildlife island. Now that I think of it, I think I got an express ride to the Polynesian, because that was the only place we went. I walked toward the Poly from the boat launch. I have never taken the boat there before at all the buildings kind of look alike as you wander around. I found the pool first. I figured that the pool had to be close to the Ceremonial Long House. It was. I got the Tonga Toast and POG juice. Tonga Toast is huge and decadent! The cinnamon and banana were the perfect back drop to spam & the berry sauce on top! I was not disappointed by this massive meal!

After breakfast I jumped on the monorail and the regular rope drop was just happening as I walked through the tunnel, I head the Dapper Dans singing via the speaker. Now if I was here with my family, we would be speeding off to ride Space Mountain or Thunder Mountain. I went up to the Train Station's 2nd floor and watched the other guest scurrying along. The Dapper Dans were on a Trolley heading for the Tarin Station! I took pictures from above as they finished their song. Then old fashion cars were coming out and various guest were getting in them. It was a cool place to watch the day begin. Soon I heard the train whistle and I got on my first ride of the day, the train! This day, I was determined to stay on until Toontown or whatever they call that area now.

I got to see Tatianna’s New Ride being constructed. I think it will be fantastic! When I got to “Toontown”, I rode Dumbo! Dumbo used to be in a different spot, and now it was double!!! I think that most guests were elsewhere because it was a 5-minute wait. I had ridden Dumbo as a kid and once in my 20’s so this was a very nostalgic ride for me.

I visited various Fantasyland attractions. When the steam ship was coming into port, I rode it for the first time since I was a kid. I took a bunch of pictures and was delighted again to see the things that my siblings were excited to see so many years ago with my “own eyes”! I was planning to go to Tom Sawyer’s Island next, but when I got off the ship, cast members were roping off the area. I got a seat on a bench in Frontier Land and waited for the parade! I have not ever stuck around to watch a daytime parade as an adult. This was great! The floats were tall, and I could see everything well.

I then cut over to walk the path on the side of the castle, did some shopping. I talked to cast members about a memory that I had that you used to be able to wake up Tinker Bell in the 90s, if you were the first person in the shop. The cast member I spoke to had been working for Disney in Florida since 1972 and she showed me which building it was where Tink used to slumber. She also showed me her Legacy Ring. I congratulated her for her many years of spreading Pixie Dust in this happy place! I found the Giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk and took a picture. Since Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (for an additional fee) were going to be open late that night, I decided to go back to my Resort for some downtime. Besides I was tired of holding my bags. I got my usual lunch at the Ale & Compass and talked to my sibling who was recovering from her surgery on the phone. After an hour or two I took a bus back to the Magic Kingdom because I had a dinner reservation at the Skipper’s Canteen.

Oh boy, was this a yummy meal! At first, I was convinced that I’d get the lamb until I wisely asked just how “raw” it comes. I know that medium well to slightly under is the preferred way to consume red meat according to the experts, but I’m not an expert and I prefer not to see “juices” pooling from my meat when I cut it. I diplomatically explained my concerns and my waitress who knew exactly what I was referring to politely suggested that I choose something else, because she told me she had seen what comes out of the kitchen when you order well-done, and it wasn’t pretty. I thought that was funny! Therefore, I gratefully ordered the Hardy Char Sui Pork & the Orange Dream Mocktail (a drink made with dole whip – I had not had a dole whip for the past two trips, so it was about time!). I did not have to worry about low blood sugar this day, lol! Oh, I almost forgot, I got the secret menu’s Brazilian Cheese Bread too! Everything was fantastic and stupendously delicious. I was stuffed when I finished the entrée, but I had only eaten two cheesy bread balls. My waitress gave me a container for the bread, which I munched on from time to time until nearly midnight. Yum!

After that, I had to ride The Junge Cruise, and I visited the Tiki birds. The last time I went to see the birds was in 2011 and Iago & Zazu were the new managers. They were loud and cute, but I longed to see the original show back again. It was a walk on for the show and as such, I missed the pre-show and the signage because I had to hustle to get into the nearly closing doors. As the show started, I prepared myself for the loud interruption to an otherwise peaceful show … but it never came, whoo-hoo! I was grinning from ear to ear. It was the original show again, yippee! I know that I am repeating this again and again, but this was one of the things that we did on my 1st trip, and I could not see a thing then. Here I could finally see that the totems really came to life and the flowers did sing! I love Polynesia! 😊

By this time, it was nearly fireworks time, but I chose to see the Country Bears original show one last time (it will be different the next visit). The audience with me seemed to be extra attentive and appreciative of each song, since it was going away soon. We gave a long round of applause in the end. When our show let out there was an even bigger crowd going in. So, I was in Frontierland yet again. I had intended to see the Hall of Presidents before that show closed for the evening but, I noticed a lot of people standing around including a security guard or two. Just then, the fireworks started. Now this was a moment of discovery for me because I was in Frontierland not quite to Liberty Square, but the fireworks were coming from Tom Sawyer Island it seemed and other the fireworks from Fantasy Land were more around the castle. It was not crowded at all in Frontierland. We could hear the music; but it was more like background music. I felt like we were getting our own special fireworks show on the side, although I’m sure it all lined up perfectly for the guests on Main Street who got the added benefit of seeing projections. They are nice I’m sure, but I loved seeing the show from over there where it was not crowded at all!

A few days before I arrived, the regular hours were extended by one hour for all guests and then I had two additional hours after that to enjoy the Magic Kingdom. I had not ridden Buzz Light Year yet or the People Mover so after the fireworks, I headed to Tomorrowland for those two rides in that order. I was in one of the last cars filled on the people mover and then it shut down right after I descended the ramp. While on the people mover I noticed that Space Mountain was finally open (it was down for most of the day). A lot of people were heading in to ride it and I decided that it would be a big time sink, so I skipped it. At this point it was not yet time for my boarding group for Tron but it was close. I decided to ride Tomorrowland Raceway. It said 5-minute wait. Well, they were repositioning cars for fueling so it really took about 35 minutes. I was a terrible driver or that car was badly in need of alignment, but it was fun.

At this time, I could have burned the rest of my remaining hour waiting for my boarding time near the Tron queue, or I could have kept riding. I chose the latter. I got a ride in a Honey Pot with Pooh, I tried to ride under the Sea with Ariel, but that ride was down all day. Then I walked through the tunnel just to take pictures of the nearly empty park at night. I had about 45 minutes left, and I could have done Peter Pan, Small World, and Pirates in that amount of time. Then I started thinking about how crowded the bus would be at closing time and that I needed to pack my bags for checkout the next morning. I reluctantly chose to head back to the YC. The bus ride had no standees, and I knew that I had made the right decision.

Next: Day 5 - Checkout, Animal Kingdom & the Trip Home.

[faline]

What a nice paced day!! You went to some of the attractions that many people seem to rush by without really knowing what they are missing!! Glad you got to enjoy some of the classics!!

[BriarRose0708]

If we ever have trips that overlap I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up at Kona Cafe or Ale & Compass at the same time. The two best breakfast spots for the value on property! I'm glad your dates lined up with extended hours at the MK. I do wish it was back to pre-COVID extra magic hours that's available to all resort guests, but gosh it really does make a difference if you'd rather not buy G+ or be in a park when it's less crowded. I paid for the MK After Hours event last month and it was well worth the cost. But it's sad that this is how the system works now.