Let the Magic Find You - Our October 2011 F&WF TR About This Page:

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Another great update! Sorry you cancelled YSH, and the cupcake was a disappointment! Otherwise it looks like you had some great eats!

I was sorry about YSH too, but I do think it was for the best!

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

Day 2, Part 1

I usually have trouble sleeping on the first night of vacation and this trip was no exception. I tossed and turned and woke up a bunch of times so by about 5:30 a.m. I decided I might as well get up and do something so I went out for a morning walk. I forgot how long it takes for the sun to come up this time of year and it was very dark out. At one point I wondered if a walk this early was a bad idea but there were so many CMs out on the little carts that I never felt unsafe.

Here’s a shot of the BW from the YC.



And SAB resting up for a busy day!



By the time I looped around to Boardwalk Bakery it was only 6:20 a.m. so they wouldn’t open for another 10 minutes. I toyed with waiting so I could grab some breakfast but I figured DH might be wondering where I was so I headed back to the room. I could see the bakers hard at work inside though.



I hopped in the shower to get ready for our MK morning. Shockingly we were in the elevator right on time at 7:30 as we’d planned! We originally thought we’d take a cab to the CR and walk to MK but as we got out front DH noticed that there was a MK bus waiting at the bus stop. He power walked down there and told the driver I was right behind. Awesome – transportation luck continues!

I had to take this picture on the bus because I think it’s the earliest we’ve ever been on Disney Transportation (we are very slow moving in the morning).



The bus made a couple of stops but I can’t remember the order. I know we stopped at the Dolphin but I can’t remember if we went to BC/YC too. In any event, we arrived at the MK just a few minutes before 8 a.m. As we walked up to the park we heard the tail end of the opening ceremony. DH told me to run ahead through the “guests with no bags” while he waited at bag check. That way I could get a jump on my obligatory pictures and not waste any time.



Turns out bag check was very quick and we met up at the turnstile anyway. Our first stop was the art store on Main Street. I wanted to look for those retro plates and cups (still a no go) and see what ride posters are currently available at the print-on-demand kiosk (still no Splash Mountain, bummer!). A CM came over and gave us a friendly ribbing about how we shouldn’t be wasting our time in the shops we should be doing the RIDES! We figured he was right so we started to move along, with a brief stop for me to check out the new Dooney and Bourke pattern:



As we got to the top of Main Street we saw the Dapper Dans come by on the trolly.



Then we saw this double decker bus – I don’t remember this, is it only out in the early morning?



We made our way through the castle to Fantasyland to check out the construction. I can’t believe how much progress has been made on Beast’s castle since January!



Lots of walls and scrims too.





DH and I have a bit of a pact that we don’t do any Fantasyland attractions on our kid-free trips (in deference to DD) so we headed down to the Haunted Mansion.

What’s that you say? Only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open during morning EMHs? Really? REALLY? How did I not know this???!!! Yup, as we passed IASW we noticed a rope right before CHH. There was a father and daughter also trying to go this way and the CM explained that only the two lands were open. Oh my goodness, I don’t know how I didn’t know that factoid!

I felt kind of bad that I had dragged DH out so early in the morning and there really wasn’t going to be a whole lot for us to do. But we pulled out our “to do” list and quickly recouped.

We decided to head back to Tomorrowland and ride Astro Orbiter. I had to send a text to Kim at this point because I knew she’d be pretty devastated that I was going on it without her (hehe).



Once again they were looking for a party of two so we were able to zip to the front of the line and head right up. I haven’t ridden this ride in years, and never with DH, so it was fun to do something new. I tried to take some pictures from above but they came out kind of wonky. I was gripping the camera because I was really afraid it was going to go flying right out of my hands and get smashed to smithereens.







Once we were back on terra firma we decided to go on Buzz, which was a walk-on.



I stink at this game – I can never figure out where I’m supposed to be aiming.

At this point we were getting hungry for breakfast so I figured maybe we could beat the crowds at Main Street Bakery since there was still about 20 minutes of EMH left. We cut through the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station and headed toward Main Street.





Sure enough the line started right at the case so we were in good shape. DH got a yogurt parfait and I got raisin bran. And you know us, we can’t go to MSB and not get a cinnamon roll. As she plated it, the CM took her offset spatula and scooped up a ginormous amount of extra icing from the pan and drizzled it on top (we got the second to the last roll from the tray so I think we got everyone’s leftover icing). Holy cow, I was in heaven!!





We found a table for two and enjoyed our yummy breakfast.

Up next: Our first official rope drop

[chezp]

Wow, that really is a breakfast to keep you going all day!

We're often up early on the first day of our vacation due to the jetlag and I love walking around and exploring while it's deserted.

[PrincessSharon]

Sorry about the crowds at Epcot. Looks like a good morning at MK (when a cinnamon roll is involved, how can it not be? ).

[Cam22]

Really pictures of the Epcot resorts so early in the morning! Great start to you EMH at MK even though only two lands were open. Breakfast looks divine!

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

Originally Posted by chezp

Wow, that really is a breakfast to keep you going all day!

We're often up early on the first day of our vacation due to the jetlag and I love walking around and exploring while it's deserted.

It's the breakfast of champions!!!

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Sorry about the crowds at Epcot. Looks like a good morning at MK (when a cinnamon roll is involved, how can it not be? ).

The cinnamon roll is definitely happiness on a plate!

Originally Posted by Cam22

Really pictures of the Epcot resorts so early in the morning! Great start to you EMH at MK even though only two lands were open. Breakfast looks divine!

It makes sense now that I think about it that the whole park wouldn't be open but I'm still glad we got there early because that way we were up and running (and pumped full of icing) for the full opening.

[taylan1]

Originally Posted by WeRDisneyFanatics

Day 2, Part 1
We decided to head back to Tomorrowland and ride Astro Orbiter. I had to send a text to Kim at this point because I knew she’d be pretty devastated that I was going on it without her (hehe).

I am quite sure that you remember my reply to that picture and text you sent me. Enough said. Your pictures from up there in the rafters were good though.
Now that cinnamon roll looks absolutely devine! I must get one on our next trip. Maybe we will get lucky and get extra icing as well. I love MK during morning EMH it is so peaceful but I also did not realize that only tomorrowland and fantasyland were open. I guess because that is all we have ever done during morning EMH there, so we could do them before the crowds arrived. LOL Keep the updates coming and I loved that you mentioned me in your trip report.

[debrabrown]

A little late to the party but I'm joining in on the fun. Great pics of the food. Wow - that was a lot to sample! It all looked so good. Great pictures from WS and your room looks fabulous. I love how you can see the Eiffel Tower!

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

Originally Posted by taylan1

I am quite sure that you remember my reply to that picture and text you sent me. Enough said. Your pictures from up there in the rafters were good though.
Now that cinnamon roll looks absolutely devine! I must get one on our next trip. Maybe we will get lucky and get extra icing as well. I love MK during morning EMH it is so peaceful but I also did not realize that only tomorrowland and fantasyland were open. I guess because that is all we have ever done during morning EMH there, so we could do them before the crowds arrived. LOL Keep the updates coming and I loved that you mentioned me in your trip report.

Definitely check out the cinnamon roll and let me know what you think.

Originally Posted by debrabrown

A little late to the party but I'm joining in on the fun. Great pics of the food. Wow - that was a lot to sample! It all looked so good. Great pictures from WS and your room looks fabulous. I love how you can see the Eiffel Tower!

Thanks for joining in! I loved the view too.

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

Day 2, Part 2

We've made it to parks for the opening before but we've never actually done an official rope drop until now. We decided to wait by the bridge to Liberty Square so we could hit HM first.

The rope by Adventureland was pretty crowded:



But not so bad where we were:



Once they dropped the rope we made our way over to HM, stopping for a moment so I could get a picture of this cute display at Sleepy Hollow:



We were very excited to see the new interactive queu for HM. Unfortunately it was a little cramped in there so I had a hard time getting back far enough to get good pictures, but here are a few:







We really enjoyed all the cool elements they added. Before we knew it we were in our Doombuggy and hanging out with the happy haunts. LOVE the new hitchhiking ghost effect.

After HM we headed toward the mountains. I noticed the shooting arcade is under renovation. I hope they don't change it too much as that's one of DH's favorites.



Since BTMRR had a longer wait time, we decided to FP that one and wait for Splash Mountain, which only had a 5 minute wait.

It's been years since we've gone on Splash and it's even better than I remember! I think DD is tall enough for it now and I can't wait to take her on! Inspite of the "you may get wet" signs, I was determined not to - so I was fully suited up in my rain poncho. While we were waiting for our log another guest in a log looked at me and just started hysterically laughing. She said something as they sailed off - I think it was, "are you melting?" - but I'm not quite sure!







Oh, I should mention a Hidden Magic moment here - there's a critter in one scene that yells, "Go FSU!" DH caught it but I didn't.

After the ride we bought the photo image download of our ride picture. It wasn't the greatest shot but I was in a happy mood and had enjoyed the ride so much I figured why not!

We had a bit of time to go before our BTMRR FPs were ripe so we headed to POTC. This was a walk on and DH loved it as always.

More scrims in Adventureland.



We headed back for our wild ride on BTMRR.



At this point we had checked off most of the "biggies" on our to do list. I'm sort of half and half on Jungle Cruise and I told DH if he didn't mind, I'd rather do CoP instead. He said that was fine so we cut back through Fantasyland over to Tomorrowland. On the way Tigger came at us going warp speed and gave DH a big high 5 as he passed. The whole thing was really funny but the photo of him coming at us doesn't really do it justice.



We got loaded onto CoP pretty quickly. There were only a handful of people in the theater - a little sad for me because I remember it being packed the first time I visited in 1985 and now it seems like a sad, overlooked attraction. The CM that did the intro made a point to say it's a TWENTY minute show and you CAN NOT leave. Awww - why would you want to?

Here's a picture from my favorite scene:



Next we went on the Peoplemover. There was a hiccup during loading and people were starting to back up trying to get off the moving sidewalk so they had to put us in a little holding area. Finally loading started again and we were off - although it seemed slower than normal.



I don't think I mentioned it earlier, but SM was broken down this morning so as we went through, all the lights were on and we could see the tracks. I was feverishly trying to get pictures but my camera would not focus no matter what I did.



At this point we had done pretty much all we wanted to do at MK. We stopped in the Hub to look at the cute Halloween statues:







Then we made a quick stop at the first aid center to get Band Aids for DH - he was getting a blister on his heel.



We browsed through a few shops on our way to the exit.

See you real soon MK!



We hopped on the express Monorail over to the TTC and waiting across the platform was the Epcot Monorail so off we went.

Up Next: More F&WF

[Big Baloo]

That's it. After that cinnamon roll picture, the oatmeal is not going to cut it for me tomorrow morning! I'm going to stop at the local bakery after the gym and get me a TREAT! Hah Hah!! Feel free to join in on the boring breakfast revolution! (We now return to your regularly scheduled trip report)

[truenancy]

Holy breakfast sugar overload! That's awesome (and makes up for the soggy cupcake!).

[disneymom57]

Just catching up. Love the Dooney bags. I think I'm in trouble. Early Christmas present maybe? I'll be walking down the left side of Main Street, so that I won't be tempted by the luscious looking cinnamon buns.

[MayraLR]

All caught up! I really enjoying your TR! But I have to remember to eat before reading your updates, with so many food pictures it's not a great idea to have an empty stomach.

[Cam22]

I'm in awe of how much you got done in such a sort time! I don't like getting wet, so I'd have been poncho-clad, too!