We got out of the Taxi and headed to the lobby of the Animal Kingdom
Lodge to see if any of the other MouseScrappers were there yet. We
didn't see anyone so we did some exploring and relaxing around the
hotel. This hotel is STUNNING. Soo pretty! The lobby has gorgeous
detailing.
The giant window is awesome and i love the giant rocking
chairs they have in the downstairs portion of the lobby.
We headed
outside to check out the Serengeti area of the hotel to see some of the
animals. On the way you pass some seriously awesome fire pits with
rocking chairs that I would have loved to seen at night!
There were
some Giraffes grazing out in the Serengeti area that we were able to get
some photos of. It would be seriously amazing to stay at this hotel
and have those animals as your view every day.
After that we headed
back inside to just relax and enjoy the atmosphere. I could have easily
sat in that lobby all day long. It was very peaceful.
After a few
minutes the MouseScrapper ladies met up with us and we all headed down
to Boma to check in for our reservation. We had to wait a little bit,
but it wasn't too bad.
Boma was SUPER delicious. There were so many
amazing things that I wanted to try, and in true Tanya fashion I came
back to the table with 5 plates of food. It was all really good.
They
even brought me out a birthday dessert! It was a ton of fun getting to
chat with some of the ladies that I have known for so long, but have
never actually gotten to meet in real life. Doing that is always such a
great time. After dinner we all headed back up to the lobby to get a
group shot.
We said our goodbyes and then Heather, Kendall and I headed
over to the gift shop to take a quick look around before catching the
bus over to the Magic Kingdom for their extra magic hours.
Heather had a problem with her credit card when we were at dinner so
when our bus got to the Magic Kingdom she thought it would be best for
her to head back to our hotel, get it straitened out and then come back
and meet us. So Kendall and I headed into the park. We stopped to take
a break at some chairs down in from of Tomorrowland Terrace while the
people that were in the park for the day were starting to clear out. An
announcement came over the speakers saying that The Magic, The Memories
and You were going to be starting in 5 minutes! This was awesome since
Kendall hadn't seen it yet and we were already sitting in the perfect
seats for it! Of course I had already seen the version that we have
here at Disneyland where it is projected on It's A Small World, but it
was really awesome to see it done on the huge Cinderella's Castle. It
is such a beautiful and touching show. I just loved it.
During the
show Heather texted to me to let us know that she was beat and was just
gonna stay at the hotel and relax for the rest of the night, so Kendall
and I decided to get as much done as we could since this was the last
time she would be at the Magic Kingdom on our trip. We started in
Tomorrowland and headed over to Space Mountain. The great thing about
EMH's is that the lines are pretty short compared to what they would be
like during the day so we pretty much got to walk through the whole
Space Mountain line. I was really excited to see how this version
compared to Disneyland since the seats are totally different. I also
thought that is was really cool seeing the ride car pop up along side
part of the queue! I could hardly contain my excitement! The track
itself was quite different and riding one person per row was such a fun
change!
After Space Mountain we headed back towards Fantasyland and
rode the Teacups. This was one that I definitely think is better here
at Disneyland. I understand the need for the area to be covered, but
the whole thing was just really dingy and outdated. Not to mention when
the ride starts to slow down, it makes a AWFUL squeaky break sound! It
was pretty funny! It is always a fun ride though and we had a good
laugh trying to get photos while twirling around.
From there we walked
through the rest of Fantasyland to go to the Haunted Mansion. I loved
the queue for this ride! There is so much to look at and touch, but
what makes it really awesome is that if you don't want to see any of the
interactive stuff, you have the option of skipping that portion of the
line. We headed into the ride and for the most part it was the same as
the one we have here. There are a few scenes right at the beginning of
the ride that we don't have so those were interesting to see.
After
that, the rest of the ride is the same.
After the ride we headed over
to the Liberty Square area. I LOVED this area. The buildings, the
bell, the lights in the tree, it was all awesome.
I also loved the
giant Christmas store that they have there!
From there we headed all
the way around the river over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This
was awesome! For the most part the ride is the same, but all the turns
go in the opposite direction! There was also a little part in the
middle of the ride where you go through a western town and the track
does a little up and down twist! It was my FAVORITE part of the entire
ride! So fun!
After we got off the ride, it really started to hit us
how tired we were and my feet were KILLING me! We took a couple minutes
to rest in the rocking chairs at the exit of Big Thunder before we
sucked it up and kept going. I wanted to make sure I got a Dole Whip
while on this trip since you have the option of getting it with orange sherbert here, so we decided to do that next.
The poor kid working at Aloha Isle probably thought Kendall and I were insane. It was pushing midnight, we had been up since the break of dawn and spent all day in the sun. We were a delirious mess and we were about to add a cup full of sugar on top of it all. Kendall made a comment to the CM that I should get my Dole Whip for free since it was my birthday. Of course he couldn't do that, but he did put my Dole Whip in a HUGE cup for me! Twice the sugar for me!! They were amazing as
usual and now were were completely exhausted but totally pumped up on
sugar at the same time. It was like a second wind!
Since we were in
the area we went on Pirates of the Caribbean next. I did NOT like this
version at all. The building is ok, the queue was horrible and the ride
itself was WAY shorter than the Disneyland version. It was weird. I am glad I
went on it, but it was weird.
We both wanted to make sure we rode Dumbo
since they were going to be re-doing that ride shortly after our trip
so we crossed the park over to Fantasyland to make that our last ride of
the night. It was perfect because there were only a couple people in
line!
We headed back to Main Street through the castle so I could take
photos of the mosaic's on the inside. They were gorgeous.
We spend the
next 20 minutes taking photos of every inch of the castle. It is so
gorgeous at night when it is all lit up and it was a nice time since the
park was pretty empty by this point.
Then we slowly headed down Main
Street while I took photos.
Even once we were out of the park I was
still taking photos!
By this time is was 1:30 am and there was almost
no one around so I got some photos of the empty entrance to the park.
I
can't even begin to describe the pain that was going through my feet by
this point. By the time we got back to the hotel I could barely walk.
My right foot was so swollen that I had to take off my sandals to walk
to our room. We got back to the room and I hopped in the shower hoping
that a good soak would be good for my foot. It was so swollen now that I
had to take off my toe ring because it was cutting into my toe.
I
headed to the ice machine to grab some ice in a bag to put on my foot
while I was in bed. I have never had a problem with my feet before and I
kinda started to panic thinking maybe I got bit by something.
Especially because this was the first day where the mosquitoes really
started to do their job on me. Needless to say, I decided to except the
fact that I had been walking more the past couple days (in sandals to
make it worse) than I have probably ever walked in my entire life. My
feet just needed a good rest, so I iced them up and passed out for the
rest of the night.
If this post sounds kind of frantic and rushed, it is because that is how the entire night seriously was!! We ran from one end of the Magic Kingdom to the other trying to squeeze in as much as we could!
Next Up: Epcot Day 2!
1 - Finally Being Able To Scrap A Album
5 - Tower Of Terror
10 - Rock N Roller-coaster
12 - Phineas & Ferb
13 - Vinylmation Trading
17 - Tomorrowland Transit Authority
20 - Splash Mountain & Space Mountain
21 - The Big Hat
22 - Finding Nemo The Musical
25 - Sci-Fi Dine-In
26 - Country Bear Jamboree
28 - Pressed Pennies
30 - Earl Of Sandwich
31 - 1st Visit & Happy Birthday Pin's
34 - Animation Academy
35 - Seeing Heather in action on Toy Story Mania
38 - Meeting Heather & Kendall
39 - First Vacation On My Own
