Today we decided that we’d rope drop the 7am start at Magic Kingdom as we knew jet lag would be on our side. Everyone woke up at 5am so we got dressed at a leisurely pace and set off for the bus stop. I know people complain about AKL buses, but we’ve only ever had the occasional issue getting home and that has happened at all hotels. By the time you’ve waited for the bus, the small difference in journey time from different resorts really isn’t noticeable at all.
Anyway, the bus came at 6.05 (Winnie kept checking the time board and informed us that Blizzard Beach is closed for refreshments!) and by 6.30 we were through security and waiting to be allowed to enter the park. It had been absolutely hammering it down all morning but finally became manageable drizzle as we got inside and walked up Main Street. Seeing the castle with its Christmas lights really does take your breath away.
We headed for Peter Pan whilst daddy went for a coffee (obvs!). There was absolutely no queue, but it was raining heavily again when we got off. We didn’t fret, just donned the old ponchos and made our way around a very quiet park, with feet squelching happily along the ground!
We managed to do Small World, Under the Sea, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Seven Dwarves twice by 9am. It was so quiet. The plan was then to go for breakfast at Be Our Guest, but we were all soaked and didn’t fancy freezing in the air conditioning so modified then cancelled. We grabbed a cinnamon roll from Gaston’s Tavern to share (they are big!) and decided to head to Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house.
I was half expecting to be asked for my autograph as at this point my hair strongly resembled a variety of 80s soft rock stars, but it wasn’t to be! On our way out of the park we spotted the Trolley Show dancers who were just heading in because of the weather. The girls went over to say hello and they ended up doing a group photo with them even though the Disney man was telling them to go inside 🙈 They really are lovely.
We got the monorail as even though it’s a lengthy ride to GF (stopping 3 times on the way) we were ready for a sit down. We arrived and went into the bath bomb shop before going to see the gingerbread house and buying some to eat. We then headed to Gasparilla Grill for food. The girls had a children’s breakfast platter and were still hungry, so we ended up getting them another one each!!
We were planning on heading back to the hotel, but the sun had almost put his hat on, so we got on the monorail back to MK. We used our fast pass to meet Mickey before grabbing a spot for the parade.
It was so quiet that with only 30 minutes to go there was still so much front row viewing along Main Street. Before the parade the Christmas elves came around and played with the children which the girls loved.
It was rather toasty by this time, but we weren’t complaining as it helped to at least partly dry us out (although Polly kept informing us that her pants were still wet!) Steve even got the sunglasses out!
The parade itself was lovely and the characters interacted fabulously with the crowd. The girls got a lot of love heart signs, including one from Santa which they decided means they must be on the good list for next year!!
We then headed back to the hotel where we took off our wet clothes (the socks had a distinct air of wet dog about them which is still lingering in the bathroom!) then the girls had a quick swim in the rain. They were really flagging now (Polly’s eye bags were bigger than Dot Cotton’s!) but we decided to give AK a go as we knew it would be our only chance to see the Christmas Tree of Life Awakenings. In our usual fashion we checked the bus time on the app and discovered one was due in 1 minute’s time, so it was a mad dash, but we made it. Before the trip I’d paid $25 for a Landry’s card which gets you priority seating at numerous restaurants including Yak & Yeti, so we decided to go there and eat whilst waiting for it to go dark. We were seated in about 2 minutes and got $25 off our meal so it was a really good thing to have.
Food at Yak & Yeti is always good, and by the time we’d done it was dark enough to look at the beautiful Diwali lights in Asia before catching the first Tree of Life show, which is stunning!
The girls managed to last a whole 1 day before spending their Christmas money on a Frozen 2 Elsa and another Lotso (to add to the other 4 in Polly’s collection!!)
We are all so tired now and have the joys of a 4.30am get up for Galaxy’s Edge tomorrow. But it’s Disney, and we are so lucky to be here so I’m not going to grumble. May sleep in my clothes/ make up tonight though 😉
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 