After getting a good night's sleep from my wonderful first day, I woke up at 5:45AM, ready to take on the Magic Kingdom! After getting ready, I ate a breakfast of gluten free bread with Boar's Head Three Pepper Colby Jack along with strawberries, a banana, and orange juice. I then checked the weather and it was 50 degrees that morning reaching a mild high of 64 degrees, which was very nice but just a bit cool to swim, which would rule at the possibility of taking an afternoon break by the pool. Undeterred, I put on my sweatshirt and gathered my belongings, leaving the room at about 7:45AM to head to the bus stop. While I walking, I called my mother to make sure all was well. Unfortunately, due to heavy winds in our area, my mom reported that our house lost power and she was in the living room, huddled in a blanket to keep warm along with our dogs. I felt terrible and while the outage had already been reported to PSEG, our electric company, mom still wanted me to call them once more to make sure we got our power back quickly. Before the bus came, I called PSEG and the representative was very apologetic and said that power crews were already in our neighborhood, as there were other outages in our area. She said that the power would be restored around 9:00AM, which was a bit of a wait, but it was what had to be done. I called mom back and while she was a bit disappointed, she was very thankful nevertheless and since she did not want me to dwell on this issue too much, she told me to have fun and that she would call me as soon as she received power, which was a fair deal! While there was no one at the bus stop as there were mostly conventioneers staying at my hotel, I enjoyed the 80's music they played over the speakers, such as "I'll Stop the World and Melt With You" by Modern English, which made the wait pleasurable. At about 8:05AM, my chariot to the Magic Kingdom awaited me and I could not have been more excited!
Despite the fact that there was no one else who boarded at my stop, the bus was nearly packed with people who boarded for the Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios at other resorts on my route. Thankfully, I still got a seat up front and in no time flat, we were on our way to the TTC! At close to 8:20AM, we were approaching this happy sign!
As we were pulling into the TTC, my mother called. She was very happy to report that power was restored to our home and that PSEG crews came, as she would now have electricity and not worry about the cold. I told her that I had arrived at the TTC and that I was on my way to the Magic Kingdom. She was excited and while I was speaking to her, I learned from CMs making announcements that due to maintenance, the Express Monorail would not be operating until 9:30AM and to use the ferry or shuttle buses instead if you wanted to be in time for opening. Since a ferry was arriving, I made my way over to the dock to await its arrival.
In addition, she also told me that our friend who also breeds Affenpinschers (the same type of dogs we have) and Papillons in Montana approved of my idea to surprise her 3-year old granddaughter with some Disney magic. My idea was that since her granddaughter is a huge Frozen fan, I wanted to buy a Frozen related hat or other piece of clothing and have Anna and Elsa sign it when I met them again, as I knew that she would love it without a doubt. She should be receiving it at the end of this week as while her grandma/our friend received the hat, she will be getting when she sleeps over with her grandma at the end of the week. Anyway, mom told me that she gave the all clear and that I should proceed with my plan. Mom also asked when I would call her back and I told her that I would shoot for the afternoon, as I wanted to make sure she did not feel lonely. Mom thanked and told me to have a wonderful day and I thanked her, right as I was about to board the Richard F. Irvine, the ferry that would transport us to the Magic Kingdom.
Once I was onboard the ferry, I made my way to the upper deck without hesitation, as I love getting fresh air and enjoying the views of the Magic Kingdom, the Magic Kingdom Resorts, and the other scenery. While I was on the upper deck, I met a very nice family visiting from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. While we were sailing to the Magic Kingdom, we somehow reached the topic of weather while conversing, as we both agreed that the weather in Orlando was far better than from our respective locales. While I said that it was in the 30s in the New York area, they told me that it was six degrees below zero when they left! While I am used to the cold, I do not know if it has ever gotten that cold in recent history in the New York area and I will admit, I agree with what this family said that 30 degree temperatures are nowhere near as bad as below zero temperatures. Still, I am a warm weather person. After more conversing about our areas, they asked me if I could take a family picture of them on the father's iPhone 6 Plus. I was very happy to do so and got quite a few pictures, which they loved. I then asked them if they could take a picture of me and they were happy to oblige.
At about 8:45AM, the Richard F. Irvine docked at the Magic Kingdom, where I then went through security and the admission turnstiles. Walking down Main Street USA, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven as I was making my way towards Cinderella Castle.
After arriving in Fantasyland, my first order of business was to ride Peter Pan’s Flight.
My wait was short and in no time flat, I was off to Neverland with Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, the Darling Family, Captain Hook, and Smee. I had a lot of fun riding this classic attraction and made my way to 7DMT for my 9:20AM-10:20AM FP+ reservation.
By the time I arrived at 7DMT, it was 9:23AM and the standby wait was already 45 minutes! After admiring the detail and rock work that they put into the queue, I was onboard the mine train about five minutes after I entered the FP+ line. I hate to say it, but I think many sources, like The Unofficial Guide, sell this attraction a bit short as I loved 7DMT and it has become one of my favorite attractions. I loved the smoothness of the coaster, the pleasant side-by-side motions, the animatronic dwarfs singing "Heigh-Ho," and of course, The Seven Dwarfs dancing with Snow White as The Evil Queen eerily watches at their door!
After riding through The Seven Dwarfs mine and visiting their cottage, I then decided to visit Belle's Village and The Beast's castle.
After arriving at the Magic Kingdom, it was now 9:38AM and I was very happy that I was able to ride two amazing attractions and visit The Beast's Castle and Belle's Village. My first order of business was to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant, which is one of my favorite attractions.
I was greeted by a posted wait of a mere 10 minutes but walked on in about five minutes. Soon enough, I was soaring into the crystal clear skies on the lovable flying pachyderm they call Dumbo.
After a blissful ride on Dumbo, my next plan of action was to visit Pete's Silly Sideshow, where I would have the pleasure of meeting Minnie and Daisy!
Since it was 9:55AM, Pete's Silly Sideshow was not open yet, so I had about five minutes to wait until it opened. However, there were not many people, which would make for a short wait. What's more, the temperatures were beginning to climb, so I took off my vest and sweatshirt. While I was waiting, I took in the amazing and lively theming, like the introduction announcements by Pete for the different characters and the bright artwork. Not too much time later, the doors opened and all of the guests were ushered inside, where we were greeted by very bubbly cast members, including an older CM named Rosie. I loved being inside this circus tent and in no time flat, I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Daisy Fortuna, who was happy to show me my fortune with her crystal ball, which indicated that my future would be a good one!
After learning my fortune from Daisy Fortuna, I then went over to visit the marvelous Minnie Magnifique, who was ecstatic to see me and show off her trained poodles. She lovingly embraced me with a huge hug and warmed my heart!
After a magnificent time meeting Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck at Pete's Silly Sideshow, I was on my way to have more fun, but not before scanning my Magicband to the reader held by one of the CMs, which was pretty cool as my PhotoPass photos were stored on it, which I found to be much easier than carrying around the PhotoPass cards like in the past. Once I left Pete's Silly Sideshow, I then decided to ride The Barnstormer, as it is fun ride and it had a mere five minute standby wait.
Five minutes later, I was flying onboard The Great Goofini's propeller plane and while this roller coaster is tame compared to say, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, or even 7DMT, it is still a lot of fun nonetheless and makes for a very good beginner coaster. Once I rode the The Barnstormer, I then made my way to the Fantasyland stop of the Walt Disney World Railroad after my time in Fantasyland, which is a truly enchanting place. However, I wanted to head to Frontierland and Adventureland, as there were more attractions I wanted to visit and more characters I wanted to meet.
I then arrived in Frontierland after passing Main Street USA.
Once I entered Frontierland, I then walked to Adventureland with one thing on my mind.
That one thing on my mind was to meet Aladdin and Jasmine, as they are among my favorite Disney characters. It was around 11:00AM and lucky for me, it was the perfect time to line up as Elizabeth, the wonderful cast member who was handling the line, advised me that they would be coming out at 11:20AM. While I was waiting along with the other guests, I had a ball chatting with Elizabeth, who was another one of the wonderful CMs I met. She was engaging, as we conversed about Aladdin as that is both one of our favorite movies and she also asked me if I liked Wolverine from X-Men, as it was kind of an inside joke between us . I also chatted with other people in line who were very nice, like a lady who brought a large board to be signed by Aladdin and Jasmine (as well as other characters) for her friend who just got married, a mother and daughter visiting from the Houston, TX, and a family with two boys dressed as pirates and a girl dressed as Queen Elsa. I also admired the new greeting area they had integrated with the Agrabah Bazzar souvenir shop, as I really felt like I was in Agrabah. While the waiting was not the hardest part as the time went by quickly, I was soon invited by Aladdin and Jasmine into their meet and greet. They were absolutely wonderful and when they saw I was wearing my t-shirt with The Genie in the middle and "I am here" on the top and "What are your other two wishes?" on the bottom, they got even more excited. They loved that I was a genie fan and inquired if I knew the rules of the genie? I answered that I did and that genies could not kill, bring people back from the dead, or make people fall in love. They were impressed and Jasmine asked what I liked best about The Genie? It was not a hard thought and I mentioned that he is a very loyal friend. Aladdin and Jasmine agreed and Aladdin added, "that he never had a friend like him!" Aladdin and Jasmine then asked what my two wishes were, since Genie was there. It took some thought, but I said that I wished for my mother to be with me on this trip and since I could not quite think of the second wish, with Aladdin's help I decided to make my second wish to free the genies.
After our amazing interaction, I thanked Aladdin and Jasmine for having me and what an honor it was to see them!
Princess Jasmine also told me to keep an eye out for Abu, as they said he was somewhere off in the marketplace. I happily agreed and was soon on my way, ready to find Abu and head to Frontierland, to ride Big Thunder Mountain as I had a FP+ for 11:35AM-12:35PM. I arrived at BTMRR at 11:35AM, where the standby wait was 40 minutes. However, thanks to my FP+, I was on in less than five minutes.
While I was waiting to board, I talked to a lovely couple from Richmond, VA. As we were talking about where we were from, they mentioned that they had family on Long Island in Suffolk County, which was pretty cool as I am a Long Islander from Nassau County. We also talked about rock and roll, as they mentioned that they are huge fans of Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Soon enough, we were ready to board the wildest ride in the wilderness and before we said goodbye, they said "God bless you" and I returned their kind words back! Once onboard, I had a grand old time riding "the wildest ride in wilderness!" After riding BTMRR, I also got a couple of cool pictures in front of it.
After a fun morning in Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Frontierland, I felt hungry, so I decided to head to Pecos Bill, as I was intrigued by their new Tex-Mex menu.
arrived at the entrance of Pecos Bill, where I was greeted by two bubbly female CMs, who were happy to have me and hand out a menu, which I wanted to peruse as I was hoping to try the Chicken Fajitas, as those were calling my name. Ed, a very friendly and helpful older CM who was a cashier, was happy to take me over and try to answer my question as to whether the tortillas used for the fajitas were corn-based (which I can do as while I am allergic to most grains, I am not allergic to corn and rice) or flour-based? While Ed did not know, he was able to use his earpiece (or whatever those speakers the CMs have (it's not a walkie-talkie as it's not as large) to summon Benji from Pendleton, IN, who proved to be another one of the fabulous CMs I encountered as he was very friendly, polite, hard-working, and determined to make my experience the best he could be. He had the ingredient book with him and he inquired what I wanted to eat as well as my allergies?
I told him that I wanted the Chicken Fajita, but my main concern was about the tortilla as well as the fact that I was allergic to all grains except corn and rice as well as eggs. With that in mind, he immediately turned to the ingredients page for the tortillas. Unfortunately, they were out as they were flour-based. Since Benji still wanted me to be able to eat the fajitas, he looked to see if there were any other allergens. With the exception of egg in an ingredient to flavor the cilantro-rice, they fajitas sans tortillas were fine. In addition to substituting the cilantro rice for plain rice, he also offered me two bags of tortilla chips which were corn-based on the side (even though they normally cost extra on the menu) and advised that while my meal would take a couple of extra minutes to cook, this would be because he wanted to prepare the grilled chicken on a separate grill and with a fresh bag of spices, as he wanted to prevent cross-contamination. I also got a Diet Coke to drink. With my order ready, Ed processed it with the POS system and I used my iPhone 6 with Apple Pay to pay for my meal, as it is handy and can be more secure than using a credit card alone. I was thankful for Benji's fantastic service and excited for my meal and while I was waiting, I chatted with Benji, telling him how WDW has been excellent all the times I have been there about accommodating my food allergies and that he was definitely no exception. He also revealed that he was only working at WDW for three months, which surprised me as he seemed very experienced! When I complimented him on the fact that he did not seem new at all, he revealed to me that WDW trained him very well and I happily agreed, as I feel that they definitely do a great job at keeping the standards high! Since Benji wanted to go check on my food and had to take care of other business, we ended the conversation there and I chatted with some other CMs.
A short time before I received my food, I met a lovely lady named Debbie, who was visiting from Mineola, NY, which is located about two towns west of where I live. This excited us both as we were both Long Islanders and in addition, she was visiting with her husband and two children for their 17th Anniversary (based on her pin)(Mazel-tov!
) and for the WDW Marathon, which they like to do every year. Somehow, we ended up talking about transportation a little bit, as I mentioned how I live two stops on the same LIRR line. At that point, I added that she also lives near a station (Mineola) with some of the best LIRR service, as it is frequent due to the station being busy as well as being served by four lines, which include the Port Jefferson line, the Ronkonkoma line, the Oyster Bay line, and some Montauk line trains. She mentioned that she loves being not too far from the Mineola LIRR, as she is easily able to go to points like NYC and even Jamaica, for the Airtrain to JFK Airport. Since she brought up the Airtrain and I was contemplating using it for when I came home from my trip, I asked her how it was and she said it worked well, as it was quick, inexpensive, and enabled her to avoid road traffic. When she asked how I got to FL, I told her I flew on JetBlue from JFK and she said they used JetBlue too and that they liked using them, although they departed from LGA and were flying back to JFK. Debbie had to head back to her family, but I congratulated her once again on her anniversary and wished them a magical time! About fifteen minutes later, I had my meal, which looked delicious! In addition, I could not help taking pictures of the Texas flag hanging near the counter as well as the large toppings bar, which was well stocked with different types of salsa, cheese, guacamole, and more.
While I loved the very nice atmosphere inside of Pecos Bill, which felt like a Western hacienda with the dark yet warm colors as well as the brownish I think terra cotta floor tiles, I decided to head to the outside seating area, as it was a beautiful day and I wanted to bask in the sun. In addition to looking delicious, I found the meal to be large in portion size and it tasted as good as, if not better than it looked, as the grilled chicken was moist, juicy, and perfectly spiced, the rice was fluffy, the black beans were well cooked, and the tortilla chips offered on the side were crispy and pleasantly salty. I also enjoyed the sides I got from the toppings bar, like a balanced and not spicy tomato salsa, a slightly spicy salsa verde, a filling and slightly spicy corn salsa, and some salty shredded cheese, which I used later to add on to some tortilla chips along with salsa to make makeshift nachos (sorry I forgot to take a pic
).
While I was eating, I chatted with a very nice mixed-generation family visiting from Atlanta, GA for a bit, which made me feel like I was not alone. After enjoying this delicious and copious meal, I then used the restroom and decided to call my mom, as I wanted to check up on her. While I was doing that, I decided to see what wait times were like for various attractions, but with Haunted Mansion clocking in at a 45-minute standby wait, I decided to take a little break, as I knew that if I waited a little bit, the wait times would die down. So I walked around the Magic Kingdom for a little bit and called my mom, who was doing well and she wanted to know how I was doing? I told her that I was having a wonderful day, as I was full from my delicious lunch and had the chance to do a lot in the morning. Mom was very happy to hear this and she wanted to know my plans for later in the day? I told her that I planned to get a Pineapple Float from Aloha Isle in Adventureland, see the Festival of Fantasy parade, and then take an afternoon break at The Grand Floridian for a little bit. After that, I planned to return to the MK for my FP+ with Anna and Elsa at 5:00PM-6:00PM, more attractions, and Wishes! After talking, we ended the conversation as mom wanted me to have a good time and I agreed to call her later.
-Check out my other TRs:
Enjoying South Florida in Summer! JFK-FLL and back in C+/Y August 2015
JFK-PBI and back in Delta Y January 2015
JFK-MCO on Delta in Y January 2014