4am mocked me with its arrival. Sleep alluded me, but I would bed rot till 6am, We were all up and about by then, full of jet lag, last night’s fried pickles and that first morning excitement. This is typically our one shot at rope drop and I was determined to grasp it. We were rolling off the drive by 7.10am and up onto the 192. I shunned Sherberth Road, instead taking the long way round so that we could drive under the sign. It’s a first morning kinda thing. The other reason was that the left turn onto Sherberth was absolutely rammed.
We approached the entrance to the car park to be stunned by a $35 fee. For reasons unknown my credit card wouldn’t work and had I been in the cars behind me I would have been slagging me off in my trip report. Everyone writes one, don’t they?
I slid the Jeep Wrangler into Aladdin, which I suspect is illegal in 48 out of 50 US states. You know you’re early when you’re inside Aladdin.
We were of course too early and too close for a tram so we walked into the TTC and through security. There was no queue there or at the monorail. This was all going wonderfully.
It was lovely to be back amongst these familiar sights.
I was amazed to find the my Magic Band worked seamlessly after two years in a cupboard, and we were in.
The money shot.
There were tears within the group as per.
We were headed for Tron. The app showed no wait to speak of, so we could not pass up this chance to tick it off the list.
We figured out the lockers and we were on within that ten minute promise. It was a better ride than we remembered and a lovely adrenaline shot to kick off the trip. We left it feeling wide awake and very pleased that we had used our jetlag to get ahead of the game. Tron done and it was 8.30am.
At this stage I allowed the first restroom of the trip.
Space Mountain was right there, with no wait at all, so despite every fibre in my mid 50’s being screaming no, on we went. This was absolutely no smoother than I remembered. There were at least two “ooh my back” on the way round. It still wasn’t 9am.
Never has a sphincter been more clenched.
About four days previous, I had bought us Lightning Lanes. There was always a good chance we would not need them today. It was a MNSSHP so the park was likely to be quiet, but to ensure our first day was unencumbered with waits, it was worth the risk. Our first one was due now at the Haunted Mansion.
So we set off in the that direction.
It was showing the 13 minute wait that means it was quiet but it did not diminish my smugness of using the Lightning Lane queue.
With three headliners done by 9.20am, I thought it safe to allow a few minutes to eat something. And if we were going to eat, we should make it worthwhile. We mobile ordered this….
It was inhaled and if anything was even better than it looked. We tried not to have the experience diminished by the Dad on the next table constantly summoning snot and smegma up from his toes at a great volume. WDW would be all the better without other people. We sat behind the Christmas shop, which often has tables free if you find that the tables at Sleepy Hollow are full.
Breakfast was $56.
Enough of this not riding things and a consult of the app suggested that Mine Train was a five minute wait. I did not believe it but it was worth a stroll (at pace) to find out. Some weaker members of the group needed a second restroom stop already. They were on thin ice.
It was a bare faced lie.
But the other option was paying for an individual Lightning Lane so we entered hoping it would be less than that. And it was. We were on the ride in twenty minutes. As mornings at MK go, they would struggle to be more productive so far.
Our next LL (don’t make me type Lightning Lane every time please) was already due over at Tiana’s. The ping pong back and forth across the park was one of Louise’s favourite elements of this and every other trip, but needs must.
We were excited to see what looks like a new Frasier attraction in the park. Let’s see who gets that one.
We were moister than expected and Louise sang the old Splash Mountain song for most of the ride.
As we exited there was a smattering of characters going by.
Our next LL was for Buzz right about now, but I moved it to later in the afternoon to avoid another cross park walk, and it would have been Louise who was cross. Instead we did Pirates.
Louise decided to sit out as she wanted a drink. As a major sign that I had not been paying attention to WDW news in our two year gap, I handed her a $20 bill to buy that drink and I wandered off into the ride knowing I would never see any change.
On our exit, the $20 was handed back. Apparently many places are card only now, and the kindly cast member had taken pity on Louise and had given her the bottle of water anyway. I shall now go to everyone’s local Facebook group and copy and paste a 2013 post about how “they” are forcing us all to go cashless and this will somehow allow the powers that be to track Brian from Oldham’s every move, as he buys his kebab on a Saturday night.
Philharmagic was next on the list. You can tell it was a quiet day as we were stood here.
This will never not anger me.
The 4am start was kicking in a bit now and we needed some caffeine, and over priced caffeine at that. So we dutifully toddled off to worship at the temple of Starbucks. This would be the longest queue of the day.
We sat out by The Plaza and enjoyed them.
I don’t have a “go to” Starbucks and tend to choose something different every time. It was a Cold Brew today. I marvelled at how we now pay $5 to drink cold coffee. I am such a Grandad! It tasted OK.
There was no avoiding another walk across the park now as our LL for Big Thunder was throbbing in the app. This was our first ride post refurbishment.
In the queue we met Michelle, a Dibb/blog reader. Meeting anyone who knows who I am was very 2010, but we had a lovely chat about all things Disney before getting on the ride. It may all be in my mind but it felt smoother and a better ride to me.
We wandered to the hat shop near Country Bear and tried on a few before giving Mikey his first exposure to the bears.
On our exit, a parade had been laid on for us so we watched that for a bit.
Our deferred Buzz LL was up now and this was another first ride after a major refurb. Again, a big improvement although I did get half way through the ride before realising the gun could be detached from the vehicle. This adversely affected my score and I shall not be declaring it here, as it was null and void. Null and Void were a successful harmony duo in the Northern club scene many years ago.
The tiredness was driving our activity a bit now, as evidenced by us seeking out The People Mover. It stopped twice on the way round and we weren’t even mad about it.
Proximity was a big factor in us choosing Laugh Floor next, another first for Mikey, mainly as Emily would have avoided this like the plague on his earlier trips as she dreads getting selected by the camera in here. We were allowed to go in as long as we sat on the back row.
Another cross park trek to Jungle Cruise and yet another first for Mikey. Louise sat out of this one.
There was rain incoming and we were knackered so we decided to head out now. We had a reservation at The Cheesecake Factory but not for a couple of hours but we thought we’d see if they could accommodate us early. They could, but warned it may be a twenty minute wait. It was two minutes.
We were breaded up….
Then had some Mac n Cheese balls and an Egg Roll Sampler as appetisers.
Louise and I shared Nachos as our Entree.
Mikey had Fish Tacos.
Emily inconsiderately had a dish that I always struggle to spell. Fettucine Alfredo.
There was a red wine, four beers and some diet coke between us and it came to $200 including a 20% tip.
We were all stupidly full and very tired. We dragged ourselves to a Publix to stock up the fridge, with Louise waiting in the car…no, it’s fine, I’ll do the shop. We spent $150 in there and were home by 7.30 for showers and some relaxing before an early night.
Till the next time……
