WDW Summer 2013 - Day 9

So here we are at Day 9 of our last Disney vacation...we have had a busy and varied trip so far so what was in store for us on Day 9.

Well it was up and straight out heading to Disney's Hollywood Studios and a strategic start to the day!  We headed straight over to Toy Story Mania where we obtained fastpasses for later in the day but then also got to ride it as the queue was an OK sort of wait time - we have a rule that around 45 minutes is an acceptable maximum wait time.  Have to say I love this ride, it's always a good giggle and especially as we pair up against each other so it's either kids versus parents or girls against the boys and whilst I don't often win I do pretty good!

Afterwards we headed to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster...well I say we...I actually mean that Simon and the kids rode it whilst I waited patiently for them.  I'm not a lover of fast scary roller coasters so I'm more than happy to sit a ride out while the rest of the family get flung about!  This was Molly's first time on this ride and she loved it!

Me waiting patiently

Post Rock n Roller Coaster!

We then decided that a late breakfast/early snack was needed so we headed over to Writers Stop for coffee and a pastry...

Pastry of the enormous size!

...before heading over to Star Tours for a couple or three rides, because the queues were soooo long!!!!

Look how busy it is...not!!

It was then time to ride Toy Story Mania using our fastpasses followed by our first time on 'The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow'.  We had never bothered with the previous attraction here, Journey into Narnia, as it had never really appealed but we thought as this was brand new we would give it a go.  Well we must have been less than 3 minutes into the show when the lights went out...initially we thought it was part of the show but when we could see cast members coming to our rescue with flash lights we realised something had gone wrong.  This was then confirmed when the special effects projection screen came up with the infamous 'blue screen of death'...quite comforting to know that Disney have the same problems as you and I.  So having been escorted out of the ride down a very dark passageway we decided to pay a visit to Walt Disney: One Man's Dream which is one of my must do attractions as I love looking at the history of Disney and at all the models representing recent Disney expansions.  But as we walked through it became apparent that not everything was working as it should...we then heard that there had been a power outage of only a few seconds across the park that had caused all sorts of havoc!  Only glad we weren't stuck on a roller coaster when it happened!!!

Following lunch at ABC Commissary we caught some of the Monsters University live show before sitting down to enjoy Beauty & The Beast Live on Stage.

The 'boys' getting all techy waiting for Beauty & The Beast

It had been a few years since we'd last seen the show but I love the movie.  I remember seeing the movie at the cinema when it first came out and being blown away, especially by the then new and exciting computer aided animation technology (remember this was way back in 1991). So seeing the live stage show had been on my 'to do' list for this vacation, and I wasn't disappointed, it was as magical as ever. Where else in the world can you see Broadway class performances as part of your vacation?!!

We now decided to head over to Epcot...

Leaving the Studios

 ...and we went by boat!  A nice leisurely trip over to the World Showcase entrance to Epcot although our first stop was to walk over to Future World and Club Cool for some thirst quenching, refreshing and free drinks...and yes Simon drank the Beverley again!  It was then over to Spaceship Earth as it had been closed for refurbishment during the earlier part of our vacation and this was our first chance to ride it, although we weren't really aware of any specific changes, but it's still one of our favourite attractions.

And then as the sun began to set we made our way over to World Showcase, stopping for a bite to eat in Mexico at La Cantina de San Angel, another favourite stop for counter service food.  And as we made our way around the World Showcase I indulged in one of my favourites...

Frozen Margarita time

Whilst I sipped my way along the kids decided to have another Phineas and Ferb: Agent P's World Showcase Adventure this time in Norway.

Playing Phineas & Ferb

And as we were in Norway I got chance to complete another one of my 'To Do' items for this vacation - try 'School Bread' from Kringla Bakeri og Kafe...and oh my was it yummy!!!  Sweet cardomom bun, vanilla cream custard and coconut...mmmm!!! Thankfully the kids weren't overly impressed so at least I know for future reference that I can order this and have it to myself without anyone saying 'mum, can I have a bite please' - why do kids always want to eat their parents food?!

Norway - School Bread

Full of sweet goodness and margarita we decided to call it a night and headed 'home', and rather than catch the monorail we decided to travel by bus, this was the view across a near empty parking lot..

End of the day

Turns out the bus was a good choice as there had been some problems with the monorail which was causing all sorts of fun and games.  Suffice to say we got back to the Wilderness Lodge had an evening feast of chips and popcorn and headed for the land of nod.

WDW Day 3

Well here we are at day 3 of our Disney vacation.  After a busy day at the Magic Kingdom on Day 2 where should we go today??

Well the day started very early again for us..ok for some of us.  Simon decided to get up and beat the heat and go for a run.  Yes you heard me right whilst on vacation Simon got up at 6.00am for a 5 mile run.  To be fair Simon knew that he had to find some time during our vacation for running as he was scheduled to run a half marathon at the end of September (only 3 weeks after we got back from WDW).  And I had said that I was going to run around Lago Dorado at Coronado Springs...but we weren't at Coronado Springs...

From a running point of view Simon was really pleased with our change of hotel as he was able to run from the Wilderness Lodge to the Fort Wilderness Campground, around the campground and then back again, a total of just under 5 miles in about 35/40 minutes.

Once Simon was back from his run we all made our way to Roaring Forks for yet another breakfast in the sunshine.  We decided that we would try having a snack for breakfast (lovely choice of pastries and cupcakes) along with our refillable mug courtesy of the Quick Service Dining Plan which worked out really well as this left us with two quick service meals each for the remainder of the day, if we so wished.  I will do a post all about the Dining Plan at a later date.

Now I have to admit that both the children were not as quick to move this morning as Simon and I so it was 10.00am before we arrived at Disney's Hollywood Studios and consequently Toy Story Mania had a stand-by time of 85 minutes and Fastpasses were being issued for late evening.  Now as we didn't know how long we would be staying at DHS and as we have a 45 minute cut-off for stand-by lines we had to give this ride a miss but vowed that we would be back another day!

So off we went in search of rides with Star Tours our first destination...I actually can't remember how many times we rode it back to back but suffice to say with a mega short stand-by time (10 minutes...more like 5) it was more than once!

Me and Molls proudly wearing our Start Tours Relaunch Limited Edition T-shirts!

We then decided to ride the Studio Backlot Tour.  Now we've ridden this ride a lot over the years and have to confess that many years ago when movies and in particular animation was being produced at the studios it was a really popular and interesting ride.

Earful Tower

Nowadays it has been scaled back big time but we decided to ride it purely for the Catastrophe Canyon element of the ride.  Rumours are abound that this ride maybe on it's final outing and maybe replaced by newer more exciting attractions, so we wanted to make sure we got one last ride in before it disappeared.

Catastrophe Canyon - dry!

Catastrophe Canyon - wet!

We then managed to sneak in a ride on The Great Movie Ride as well as Voyage of the Little Mermaid before stopping for food at one of our favourite counter service restaurants; the Backlot Express, where I decided to go simple and just have chicken nuggets...how many did I get?  I think I counted 10...suffice to say I was well and truly stuffed!  Although nuggets and fries is really just an excuse to indulge in some sauces, in particular the honey & mustard sauce that we just don't seem to get over here in the UK.

Nuggets, fries & sauces all lined up :)

The afternoon saw us having a wander around the studios with a number of visits to various shops...scoping out the merchandise on offer so that I could make some informed shopping decisions later in the vacation! We took a little breather early afternoon to partake of a frozen lemonade on Sunset Boulevard whilst watching some of the 'Citizens of Hollywood' street performers hamming it up three stooges style.

Enjoying a frozen lemonade

The kids then decided that as we'd not been able to ride Big Thunder Mountain yesterday (it had been down for most of the day) they wanted to see if we could ride it today.  So off we set for the Magic Kingdom. As the bus took us to the Transportation & Ticket Centre (TTC) we decided to take the ferry over the Seven Seas Lagoon to get us there...

Ferry boat, the Richard F Irvine

As we arrived the 3 O'Clock parade was just in progress along with a short downpour. Now this is where we started to have some unusual experiences!!

Firstly we decided that it was raining enough to get our waterproofs on, and being British we always come prepared.  So we delved into our bags to get out said waterproofs but in doing so Ethan managed to pull his out of the bag with such force that he hit me in the eye!  And boy did it hurt, Simon noticed that my cheek was starting to turn red so we quickly bought an ice cold bottle of water that I then held to my face hoping that any swelling and potential black eyeness could be avoided.  So whilst I recovered we headed for the Country Bear Jamboree, another one of my favourties :)

After I'd recovered we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain...and yet another incident involving our eldest, who it should be pointed out is much taller and slightly heavier than Simon!  So off on the wildest ride in the West we went having a fantastic time until I heard Simon yell out...Ethan had slid sideways into him with full force causing Simon to crash into the side of the ride vehicle.  We got off the ride and it was Simon's turn to be in pain...our Ethan was not having a good afternoon!  Thankfully after a short walk Simon began to feel better and so we headed off into Fantasyland in search of food.

We settled on Columbia Harbour House for something to eat and this is where yet another incident occured; thankfully though this time it had nothing to do with Ethan!  I had ordered our food and was waiting patiently in the queue when a woman seemingly barged her way through and nearly knocked me off my feet.  I turned round instinctively to see what was happening and saw the lady slump to the floor.  It transpired that the woman was newly pregnant and was struggling with very bad morning sickness; the Disney staff were brilliant and they swarmed round her to make sure she was OK.  A friend of the lady was just in front of me in the queue so whilst she helped her friend I entertained her children (like being at work!!), the staff then quickly ushered all of their group into a roped off area and sorted all their food for them.  This just epitomises that nothing is a problem when in WDW everything is manageable and no-one is left to feel unwanted or a problem.

After we had had our food the evening was drawing in and four very tired people decided to make our way out of the park and back to the hotel, so whilst we stood waiting for our boat we watched the Electrical Water Pageant make it's way across Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Grand Floridian Resort.

Another good day :)