Yesterday, we flew in SUPER early, and got to the resort at around lunchtime. We wandered a bit before we found The Mara, and had our introductory meal. We happened to come at a time when Disney was offering "free" dining. We DID have to upgrade to park-hopper tickets to get it, and we probably won't park hop, BUT that cost about $300 to do, and we would have spent just under that yesterday on our two meals! So it's already paid for itself!
We saw so many animals, then got to our "standard view" room and have been BLOWN AWAY by the frequency and variety of animals we have seen over here. By the time we were ready to swim yesterday, there were thunderstorms, so we just relaxed and explored. Mal and I found Simba's Cubhouse, which used to be childcare but now is just an activity center. It's a super space to hang out: bigger than our room; with a bunch of toys like a wooden train set, potato heads, board games, Xbox; and both free crafts and higher-end crafts for purchase.
This resort has so many activities, I don't think there's any way we could do all of them. From medallion-rubbing in the lobby to cookie decorating at one of the restaurants to learning to use African instruments to Mickey tie-dye to stories by the fire at night out back, it's just a ton of stuff.
We went to bed super early last night, and got up early today for one of only two "alarm" mornings of our week here. We made our way to the Magic Kingdom as it was opening, and my tears started when our bus pulled away from the resort and a pre-recorded message came over the PA instructing us all to be on our best behavior on the motorcoach, because on this day, we were traveling with a princess on board. There was one little girl dressed up, and just the idea that Disney goes to that much trouble to make kids feel special... it's why people fork over tons of cash to spend time here.
For James, I think he got choked up during the opening ceremonies at the castle. It was a simple little show, but all of the characters came out and welcomed us.
We hadn't had breakfast, so got a Cheshire tail and raspberry lemonade slushy on our way to ride Pooh first. Mal seemed to like the ride, but said he didn't want to do any more rides, but wanted to come back to the hotel to swim. Soon after, he said he wanted to ride It's a Small World, so we did that next, but as we were about to get on, he decided that he didn't want to ride... but we did. Then we used our FastPass for Peter Pan.
After that, Mal asked to go to the fountains that come up out of the ground. I think he meant our pool area, but we took a detour to Casey's Soaking Station and then realized there was basically no wait to see Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Minnie at Sideshow Pete's.
We went next to the Jungle Cruise, for which we had a FastPass, and after walking through the Swiss Family Treehouse, we enjoyed a Dole Whip swirl on pineapple upside-down cake. Goodness, that was brilliant on such a hot day. There was a line at Aloha Isle, too. Mobile ordering is the way to go.
Our next FastPass was Haunted Mansion, and I was a little concerned about Mal, but we got to chill out on the way, to watch the Muppets' American history show. And he seemed amenable, so we tried. He did great! Man, I love that ride.
Having used all of our FastPasses, we saw that the wait for Enchanted Tales with Belle was very short, and went there. While we waited, I made a FastPass for Little Mermaid, which we didn't need need, but we got to pass some people. All we had left on the agenda for the day was lunch, which I'd pre-ordered while we ate our Dole Whip.
Be Our Guest is super popular, and allegedly difficult to get into. I DID make our reservation 180 days out, BUT.. what made the biggest difference in our experience today was using pre-order. I walked up to the window at 1:40, when our reservation wasn't until 2:25. I said, "We're super early, but can we check in?" She said, "Yes, and I see you've pre-ordered, so here." She gave me a yellow hockey-puck-looking thing and said I could go in on the left side. The right side had a line outside of the building some 50 people deep. We walked straight in on the left side (after I sprinted back to the stroller because I'd left my camera hanging on the handle!) and saw that the line snaked around another room inside, up to two cash registers. We waited behind one person to "pay" for our meal. Then we looked through the castle before deciding on a table in the drawing room, primarily because that was the only room that had a table available.
As we ate, we chatted with a couple next to us. The girl said, "It's amazing to me how you can have a reservation, but still have to wait so long." I asked if they'd used mobile ordering, and they hadn't. So, people, if you're going to Disney and you're doing BoG for breakfast or lunch, DUDE, MOBILE PRE-ORDER IS THE WAY TO GO. All of those people were waiting in line to order and pay. We'd done the front end work, and it paid off big-time!
Also, the food was good, but not stellar. I had the Croque Monsieur, which was tasty. James's tuna nicoise was probably the stand-out. Actually, James and I both liked Mal's peach apple sauce, which he refused to try. He also said his turkey sandwich was for me, so instead he ate my fries while I ate his sweet potato chunks. Also, I DID have his sandwich for dinner.
We'd accomplished everything on the agenda except Tom Sawyer Island, which we'll try to hit later in the week. We stopped several times for Photopass photographers, because I bought Memory Maker. I wasn't ever willing to wait in much of a line, though. We'll see if any of the prime places are slower when we go back for the Halloween party, which seems unlikely, but maybe if all of those people are trying to see characters... Also, I was disappointed because one set of pictures didn't show up. Maybe it will later; maybe it's just lost to the ages. We still got some great ones.
On the bus ride back to the resort, it poured rain. Great timing!
Mal played with his mini-racers for a bit, then was ready to swim. We took the shuttle over to Kidani Village (our pool is under renovation) and had fun for about 20 minutes before thunder and lightning shut the pool down. We came back and watched some TV, then Mal wanted to show James the kids' club, so they went down while I did some organizing in the room, and then I joined them. We got dinner and brought it back to the room, and now my son is sleeping while James and I face each other over blue-lit screens. It's very romantic.
This trip is purposefully different than any trip I've taken to Disney before. I have a different family, and I had to plan slow days. We got a lot done today, but I completely left Tomorrowland for next time, and didn't try to hit either mountain in Fronteirland... also, skipped Pirates until maybe next time, when Mal's a little more confident. But beyond that, it's just a more laid-back pace because that's what the people I love need. It's working out great so far.
Tomorrow: the Food and Wine Festival! Woo hoo!
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