Slushies, Fast Rides, and Zebra Domes Trip Report - Day 4

[Momof2boys]

Recap of Facts

Who:
Amanda (Me)
John (DH)
Matt (DS9)
Nate (DS7)

When & Where:
Friday, October 19 until Monday, October 29 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Pool View Bunk Beds


Day 4 - Monday, October 22nd

This morning we awoke to some sort of Lion King remix on the phone. Still not quite sure what it was or what the person (or animal) was saying, but it woke us up. We have a 8:20 ADR for Crystal Palace this morning. As mentioned in my pre-trip report, we don’t have much luck with making to breakfast reservations as we aren’t big breakfast eaters and tend to sleep late. But I was on a mission this trip & had everyone up & dressed by 7:30. I was pretty proud of myself. We were on a bus to MK by 7:45 and arrived just after 8. After a couple of pictures on Main Street, and just the “Ahhh, I love this place” moments, we were checking in at CP. We have never eaten here before but wanted to try something new. The boys thought Pooh & Friends were “too babyish” but since they were each allowed to pick their own restaurant to eat at, they complied with only minimal grumbling. Nate was, once again, starving & didn’t understand why we had to wait so long. After about 10 minutes, they finally called our name.

The breakfast itself was okay – John loved the Pooh’s French Toast, while I inhaled half of the raspberry coffee cake. Nate filled himself on fruit, cereal, and French toast, while Matt sampled a bit of everything. Service was fine and, although Eeyore never made it to our table, we did get time with Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger. Total bill after $11.99 DDE discount was $51.09. It was 9:30 when we headed out into the Kingdom.

Matt really wanted to go to Tom Sawyer Island to find a paintbrush. But Nate really wanted take advantage of the 0 wait time for Splash. So Nate & I went off to the Briar Patch and John & Matt caught the next raft to the island. Nate & I ended up in the first row & thankfully didn’t get drenched, but just wet enough let people around us know where we’d been. We didn’t see John & Matt so we headed over to Tom’s Island to see if they’d been successful in their hunt for a brush, which they had been. The boys explored the forts a bit, then they felt the urgent need to go ride Pirates. So we caught the next raft back with a couple from New York. When we arrived at the dock and went to go turn in our paintbrush, I saw the Dream Team hanging out by the little shack. Thoughts of a free cruise & a night in the castle danced in my head. Instead we were each given a DREAM FASTPASS ! We were all over the moon. Last year we hardly saw the Dream Team, much less were given something. After many thank yous, we skipped happily off to POTC.

After quick pics with Smee & Hook we headed to the ride – which had no line. The boys spent a good time shopping in the gift shop – Nate bought a puzzle & a magnetic story book ($6.33). They called all the kids around for a treasure hunt. They put a silver coin for each kid in line in a pouch and one gold coin. Whoever picked the gold coin would go on a treasure hunt with the Pirate. Matt was 9th in line (out of 21 kids) and PICKED THE GOLD COIN ! He was so proud, but Nate went to go pout. The pirate brought out a treasure map & him and map searched for the treasure, which was a bag of “jewels”. Matt was then pronounced Pirate of the Day , given a Magical Moments certificate, and told he could keep his treasure. I loved seeing him enjoy the attention. Sometimes he says he’s too big for things, so it brought Mommy tears to my eyes that he was having a good time.

In order to cheer Nate up, we bought 3 slushies ($10.52) to cool us off. Last year at this time we had to wear jeans & a jacket and now we were in shorts & tank tops and it was HOT ! They wanted to do the refurbed Haunted Mansion since I had been talking about how good it was so we headed over that way. Nate enjoyed the never ending staircase and Matt thought the floating Leota was so cool. After, we looked at the souvenir cart and Matt bought a DOOM BUGGY license plate. He already knows how he wants his room decorated in the new house, so he’s planning ahead. Walking thru Fantasyland we wanted to use our Dream Fastpass. It was so great going on the rides that we’d never wait in line for OR “waste” a Fastpass on. So we rode Peter Pan which seemed faster than before, Winnie the Pooh, and saw Philharmagic. We were in the queue for Peter Pan when I saw a woman pushing a stroller wearing a red Intercot shirt walking past. I couldn’t leave the line but hoped to see her again, which we didn’t. I had wore my blue Intercot shirt on Saturday, but nobody said anything about it except the CM in the Marie (the cat) line.

We ended up at Cosmic Ray’s for lunch. John & I had burgers while the boys each had chicken nuggets ($25.09). This is such a nice, and cool, place to relax. It was busy, but we had no issue finding a table. Then it was off to Tomorrowland for more Fastpass usage. We rode Buzz (which again seemed faster) and they let us ride without removing our tab so we could ride again later. John took the boys on Stitch’s Great Escape, which we had never gone on before – and they don’t care if they do again. Then it was across to Monsters Laugh Floor which we all really enjoyed. We found ourselves actually laughing, and not that fake laugh that you do so they don’t pick you out of a crowd. Then I took each boy on Space Mountain, which seemed WAY faster than last year. We were able to have our photos taken with Stitch & Buzz outside of Carousel of Progress before taking a spin on the TTA (another faster ride). Another spin on Buzz, this time using our tabs, and then it was back towards Fantasyland for another showing of Philharmagic (John’s favorite). We decided to eat at Pinocchio’s for dinner and had pizza, salad, & mac and cheese for Nate ($30.51).

Then it was back for another ride on Haunted Mansion, another trip thru the Briar Patch, missing BTMRR, and a dark voyage on the Jungle Cruise. A slushie stop ($3.50) and then we made our way to the front of the park. Wishes was just starting as we reached the Train Station. Afterwards, it was to the bus (which was waiting) and then in no time we were back at AKL. Another Zebra Dome ($3.93) pit stop for Matt & I and we were back in the room and ended up watching 3 episodes of Hannah Montana . Even though we hadn’t planned to stay at MK all day, it worked out. We were able to take our time and get a lot of rides in (thank you Dream Team).

[faline]

There's some serious Zebra Dome consumption going on there!

Congrats on your dream fast passes! It must have been really fun to walk onto all those rides!

[Bethis26fan]

Sounds like a really great day, thanks for sharing.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report!

[youngOx96]

I'm glad to see you all had such a great time.

Matt sure does like those Zebra Domes - I wish I could say the same, but I didn't care for them.

My DD loves Hannah Montana too, so I completely understand having to watch three episodes.

thanks for sharing.

[AbeeNormal]

Congrat's on the Dream Fast Passes......

Amazing what "wanting to find a paint brush" can do.

Looking forward to day 5

[KylesMom]

What a great morning all around.

Sometimes he says he’s too big for things, so it brought Mommy tears to my eyes that he was having a good time.

Boy can I appreciate that!

All of this talk about slushies is making me crave a cherry one - we call them "brain freezes"! Another wonderful report!

[ChipnDaleGal]

I don't know how a day at Magic Kingdom could go much better than that! Congrats on your Dreamn Team win!! Thanks for sharing.

[DizNee143]

wow what a great long day at MK...and awesome you guys got a dream!! very cool!!

[dolphinmickey9170]

Another great day full of slushies!!

[realtreebar]

thanks for the trip report!! "gotta love"