The Fairest Trip Report Of All: May 3

Magic Kingdom

It’s time for my favorite type of post: a trip report! I celebrated my second vaccine dose with a trip to WDW accompanied by Becky of Disney In Your Day. I will now exhaustively tell you all about it. You can read all the posts in this report here. Onward!

Our first full vacation day! Nothing like rolling out of bed in Bay Lake Tower, throwing back the curtains, and performing your morning ablutions while admiring your theme park view. Likewise, nothing like waltzing out the door and walking straight to the Magic Kingdom! Can I live in the Contemporary? I’ll clean up after myself, I promise.

WDW trip report: Rapunzel bathrooms

Being seasoned travelers, we decided to take a relaxed approach to our trip, so rather than go racing for a ride we started off with a fun photo session in front of Cinderella Castle. Come to think of it, lines for those photos can get long and backgrounds get more crowded, so maybe we were onto something regardless. Our PhotoPass photographer was from Vieques, so I made a little Puerto Rico bond with him!

Magic Kingdom hub photo
We’re for the birds
Partners statue photo
Magic Kingdom hub photo

We had planned to make Splash Mountain our first ride of the day in advance of the refurbishments, but it was down, so we kicked things off with Big Thunder Mountain instead.

Big Thunder Mountain sign

Splash was back up by the time we got off and the wait time wasn’t too bad, so we knocked out our planned ride. I nearly got my contacts splashed out of my eyes, but it was worth it. That’s why I only wear waterproof eyeliner anyway.

Blinking rapidly, we made our way over to the Jungle Cruise to play Spot the Difference as the ride’s refurb is running concurrently with operations. Aside from the omission of Trader Sam it didn’t seem crazy different to me just yet. I felt bad for our skipper, though; he was very good and even had some off-script jokes, but it’s so darn hard to communicate laughter through a mask!

We were getting peckish, so we headed over to Sunshine Tree Terrace for a brunch citrus swirl (orange juice is a brunch drink and ice cream exists outside of time, okay?). But, tragedy! The Citrus Swirl machine was down. Dejected, we instead crossed the park to Tomorrowland for a quick breakfast at The Lunching Pad.

Calorically fortified, we knocked out Space Mountain (right side this time) and then took a spin on the newly reopened Peoplemover. Long may it reign!

There was just enough time for one more thing before lunch, so we wandered over to the Enchanted Tiki Room to take in the show. One bummer thing about COVID (just the one?) is that because everyone was spaced out in the ride queues, it often pushed half the line out into the hot Florida sun. Unfortunately that happened here, and we wound up quietly melting mere feet away from the cool shade of the inside queue area. Happily, we were let into the next show and recovered in the air conditioned tropical serenade. Still cute!

Having finished up our avian revue, we walked back to the Contemporary for lunch at The Wave. (Incidentally, if I don’t review a food in the trip report it means it’s getting its own post later.) We took some post-lunch rest time in the room, then swimsuited up and stomped down to the pool complex for Operation Hot Tub. We had it all to ourselves, which is a Disney hot tub luxury in and of itself. Disney Hot Tubs I’ve Been In: 2. Disney Pools I’ve Been In: 0.

Some distant thunder cleared the pool area and cut our tub time short, but as it never actually rained it was no matter. We just changed back into regular clothes and meandered back to the Magic Kingdom via that handy-dandy walkway from the Contemporary. Have I mentioned I love walking in WDW?

WDW trip report: Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom

Now we just needed to decide what to do there. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train line was too long, or at the very least, too long for its ratio to entertainment value – don’t kill me for saying so, but I’d take the Haunted Mansion over the Mine Train any day of the week.

Speaking of the Haunted Mansion, we attempted that next, but shortly after we entered the queue we discovered it was down. We jumped out of that line and were back on the ride market. Pirates of the Caribbean had a short wait, so we wound up successfully doing that.

And then we… left? I know, it’s crazy; we only did one ride and then rolled out. Like I said, we were taking this trip chill and easy, which, now that the commando-crazies of my first few trips are out of my system, is really how I prefer it. Anyway, we were hungry. We couldn’t say no to a quick PhotoPass stop on the way out, though.

Adventureland

While in the park we had tried to secure a walk-up table at Skipper Canteen, but were cruelly denied. Instead we cast our minds to monorail restaurants, and after some discussion settled on the Enchanted Rose at the Grand Floridian. In addition to being a restaurant I had never tried, this also meant another first for me: a walk on the newly opened path from MK to the GF. It was maybe a skosh longer than going the opposite way toward the Contemporary, but ultimately very doable and pleasant. I approve.

After dinner we rode a waiting monorail back to the Contemporary, where we grabbed a small dessert at Contempo Cafe. We happened to be crossing the bridge back to Bay Lake Tower during the Electrical Water Pageant’s stint in front of the resort, so naturally we had to stop to watch. I can’t believe Disney’s accounting department lets this keep happening, but I hope they never stop.

Electrical Water Pageant

Then it was showers and bedtime and stuff. Which park were we off to in the morning? Well, if the Force was strong in you you wouldn’t need to ask me that…

Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.comSee ya real soon!

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