July 18th, Thursday

I got up at 6:30an as usual to prepare, I wanted to get us out the door by 7:30am to catch the 7:45am bus. We successfully competed that challenge and arrived at Disney World Magic Kingdom. Lisa reserved the Tiana meet and greet at 10am, we rented a stroller – free with Lisa’s Disney Cast Member ID! – and got in line for the Seven Dwarfs mine ride. I also got the Photo Pass for all our days (over $200 ouch!) and we got a picture in front of the castle. 

First ride: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Momo did not like that at all. She cried almost the whole time. I did not like it much but with the Dramamine I took earlier (I made Alan take some too) I was ok. My hands did tingle a bit and I needed my breathing control. The ride was ok, I certainly didn’t enjoy it but I could do it again if we needed to. I would prefer not to go on this ride again. When I asked Alan what he thought he said it was ok. I verified that he thought there were too many sudden motions (that’s what I don’t like). 

Next up was the carousel. Momo liked that. So did Alan. I got a bit dizzy. 

Small World was nearby and next. Everyone enjoyed that. The Tokyo version has more Disney characters – I didn’t see any here!

Then lighting lane pass to meet Tiana and Rapunzel. After that we got in line again for Cinderella and Elena. Alan was fiddling with his Rubic’s cube the entire time he met Rapunzel. I took it away for Tiana. Momo was shy for both. Line wasn’t moving though so we gave up. 

On the way to the Buzz Lightyear ride we stopped to get in line to get our picture taken with the Mad Hatter. It’s a bit of a wait – maybe 20 minutes total – but one family in front of us gave up. The father was pretty nasty to the cast when they asked him to get his daughter off of the planter retaining wall because “it isn’t safe”. He responded with a dripping in sarcasm “Is it safe to keep kids waiting for 10 minutes in this heat?”  He’d never survive Tokyo Disneyland. 

10 minute wait for Monsters Inc laugh floor which is just next door so we did that. Apparently it isn’t a ride it is a comedy show and you can text jokes to the Monsters. It was a pretty fun show! Somewhat like Turtle Talk with improvisation and callbacks to a guy they picked out at the start. 

Next up was a normal wait for Autotopia – which Alan really wanted to ride. He was all over the place, banging into the rail left and right. It was crazy. At first he wanted to ride on his own but he made a last minute decision to go with me. Maybe we will do this again, he really liked it and only a 10 minute wait. 

Lunch was at Columbia Harbor House. I got us the Dining Plan so we don’t have to worry about food – just go and get a quick service meal each day, and I reserved sit-down dining each day as well. Lunch here was fine, though I’m getting sick of fried foods on this trip to America.

After that we went to the Haunted Mansion. Caught sight of the Liberty Bell SteamBoat on the way. 

Philharmagic had a short wait so we went there next.  Almost no wait to get inside to the air conditioned waiting lines. 

Pirates of the Caribbean next. We had lighting lane tickets so that was fast. I think everyone had a good time – Momo was a bit scared but liked looking for the dog and other things. 

We had Lightning Lane passes for Jungle Cruise, so that was next. On the way to Jungle Cruise, we were stopped since a parade was coming through. We were right at the front – this never would have been possible at Disney Tokyo where people line up at all the good spots well in advance of the parades.

Jungle Cruise was fun, I always enjoy the corny jokes.

After that we had lighting lane passes for Aladdin’s Carpets. 

Dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table at 16:10. Or later, as it took time to check in.  We were seated probably at about 16:30 after taking pictures with Cinderella. We used the meal plan (2 tickets) and we get a glass of wine with that – and one from Alan’s course. I got the most expensive red, Lisa the most expensive white. Very nice dinner!

I had the fish (I wanted and should have gotten the Filet Mignon), Lisa has lamb, and Alan had the Filet Mignon. Momo had checked strips. It turns out even though it’s an adult ticket Alan doesn’t get wine so we paid for that extra glass we ordered. Desert was great – I had the chocolate ganache. 

We got to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ten minutes before our virtual queue expired at 18:30. It was worse than Pirates of the Caribbean, but much better than the Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train. I could do this one again. Momo did not like the first down and up and down, and really fried at the final down. Alan said his chest hurt at the last big down. I didn’t like the first thrill part much either – I don’t do well with sudden moves. I could do that again though. 

18:47 when we finished, we got there at like 18:25. 

Country Bear Jamboree was close so we did that. It was all new and all songs were Disney songs. It was really funny – definitely recommend. 

Next up was the Hall of Presidents. We would need to wait for 15 minutes though. It sounds like Momo is getting tired, I definitely am, and Lisa might be too. We’ll watch the 19:45 show (22 minutes) then decide what to do – and a bus back to the hotel might be an option, even though in the morning there was talk of staying for fireworks. I’d be happy to head back to the hotel for an early evening. The show was nice, and the Animatronics looked better than I remembered. Someone cheered when Trump was announced. 

Alan wanted to do the Carousel of Progress so we did that next. The spinning room trick is neat, Alan said he liked it. 

Then we got some snacks nearby – we have 20 snacks from the dining plan. There was also a thunderstorm so I’m worried about rain. There is only like 20 minutes until fireworks so maybe we will watch those on the way out. 

We got some snacks on the way out, and Lisa did some shopping. We watched some of the fireworks while Lisa shopped, and then we boarded a 21:35 bus back to the hotel before the fireworks ended. 

It was an exhausting day, but lots of fun. There are some rides that are tough for Momo but she was adventurous and tried them all. I think everyone had a great time!