After another late night everyone (except me of course!) was asleep until 8am. We had toyed with going to SeaWorld as we have tickets included as part of our Discovery Cove package (which is Polly’s birthday treat) but none of us really wanted to go so we decided to have a pool morning instead. The aim was to last a massive 3 hours! It was ambitious as the most we’ve managed so far in the sun is about an hour but with visions of going home looking like I’d been on holiday to the Arctic Circle, we thought we’d give it a try! At least my feet which are the colour of creosote after the dye from my sandals stained them in the rain look like they have a tan!! The pool was heaving. I’ve found it’s always much busier at the resorts at weekends as a lot of Americans visit for short breaks, often without going to the parks. Also, English folk tend to avoid parks as they are supposedly busier, so it was already packed to bursting at 9am, but we found a space to settle and amazingly did manage to smash the 3 hour target (although that did include time out to eat/ do washing/ go back to the room to send emails-the Wi-Fi here isn’t the best!) and didn’t go up to the room until 2pm. We had a minor trauma where we couldn’t find a pair of socks we needed (turns out they were hidden in with Polly’s presents!) but we were on the bus to Magic Kingdom by 3pm. Steve managed to get a power nap in even though the bus ride was only 20 minutes long. I think he was upset that the girls didn’t have a 2 hour nap today!
We managed to catch most of the parade which is always a bonus when you haven’t had to stand melting in the heat for ages beforehand. I love the parade so much! It’s pure Disney, and with Maleficent back it’s even better.
We had a Be Our Guest tea booked for 4.30pm. I’m always torn over this one. We enjoyed the food last time (the girls not so much) but it’s steep at 2 credits. We considered lunch and actually had one booked too (always a back-up plan in the Pearson household!) but we have more table service than quick service credits left, so thought we’d go for it. Also, I’m not sure Winnie’s Beast dress will fit for another year and when I pointed out it might be the last chance she got to wear it Polly said ‘maybe we should tell the beast and then say ‘at least we got to see you one last time’ like he says in the film!’ She’s a smart one! (Obviously it didn’t happen as they adopted their standard mute personas throughout the meet!!)
Anyway, we had about 45 minutes before the meal, so the girls asked to go on the Ariel ride. It’s not my favourite but there was only a 15-minute queue (allegedly…turns out Disney timekeepers sit on a throne of lies as it was more like 30!) and we thought it would keep us cool. How wrong we were. Almost all the queue was outside (we usually Fast pass it!) Still, we eventually got on the ride and breathed a sigh of relief. That was until it stopped. And then stopped again. And then again. It’s a good job Scuttle stayed out of sight whilst he made his increasingly less funny announcements about why we may have stopped and how he’d have us moving again soon or I may have been tempted to turn him into Seagull pie! Eventually we got moving but at the speed of a snail. Now I consider myself a fairly patient person. I don’t lose my cool very often and am often the one who calms everyone else down. That is, unless I’m stuck in traffic. Then I become a raging monster (one of Winnie’s first phrases was ‘Oh come on!’ after being stuck in the back of the car with me driving and hearing it so many times!) Today the Ariel ride was pretty much the equivalent of being stuck behind the world’s slowest Sunday driver, except there was no chance of nipping off down a sneaky side road. You were in it for the long haul. I have never been so glad to see the end of a ride! We got to the exit and as always happens when we get off that ride, it was raining, but as we were only heading round the corner we left the coats in the bags and just went for it.
We checked in with the least Disney cast member I’ve ever encountered (maybe her personality was stuck on the slow-moving Ariel ride?)
We were seated quickly in the Rose Gallery which is where Polly wanted to sit apparently (we’ve usually been in the ballroom before as The West Wing is out of bounds as it scares Winnie!)
It took forever for our server to come to us, but we filed the time with Polly asking an array of impossible questions such as how many sips are in a guzzle? When the server did appear, he was really lovely and lots of fun. The food was really good. The girls had fruit and cheese to start with (and the best bread ever, apparently!) and were happy to learn they could have fries even though they weren’t on the menu. Good job really as their back up was wild rice, and when Winnie saw it, she declared that it looked like regular rice that the beast has dropped bits of his fur in when he was having a shave! Steve and I both had French onion soup and steak. Both really good and beautifully cooked. Puddings are a trio of macarons, white chocolate cup and grey stuff and a chocolate truffle (the girls got edible paints to decorate their cup). Now I have a nut allergy but last time I told them I ended up with a bowl of raspberry sorbet and I just wasn’t prepared to take that risk again, so I opted for potential projectile vomit instead (it’s not a fatal allergy) and did my best to avoid any potential nuttiness. As a result, I can’t really tell you what the puddings tasted like, but Steve polished everything off so they must have been good (although he is a human dustbin!) The white chocolate cup and grey stuff were nice enough, if rather sickly for me. Winnie loved them though but explained it’s because half of her tongue’s taste-buds and all of her teeth are sweet, so that’s why she loves sugar so much!
We then went to meet the Beast. He was really good fun and the girls loved him, especially when he danced with them.
We then snuck in a quick Mine Train fast pass before heading back to the hotel (the girls stood talking and giggling with each other on the bus the whole. Way back. They honestly have their own little universe! So cute!)
Early start for Universal tomorrow so best get some beauty sleep!
Goodnight my dears!
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 