We decided it would be nice to catch the boat across for our first trip, so after breakfast at the 24 hour food area we headed over to the ferry.
The Magic Kingdom sits at the top of a large man made lake. Around the lake, in a clockwise direction, is the Contemporary Resort, the Transportation Centre, the Polynesian Resort, and the Grand Floridian Resort. There is a large ferry that runs between Magic Kingdom and the Transportation Centre, and a small one that does a loop from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian and then to the Polynesian. There is also a monorail that does a clockwise loop starting at Magic Kingdom, and a separate manorial that goes directly to and from the Transportation Centre.
We went down and waited for the ferry - it is quite small, seating about 39 people maximum, but is quite a nice trip. You get to see both Cinderella's castle andSpace Mountain as you head across the water.
We got off the ferry and headed to collect our tickets. These were linked to our Magic Bands - personalised bands that acted as room keys, charge cards at shops and restaurants, fast passes for rides, etc. - and we pressed Mickey to Mickey (the Mickey on the band to the Mickey on the scanner), had our finger print taken (adults only), and we were in!!!
Our first set booking for the day was still a while away, so we headed to the fire station to grab some Sorceror's Kingdom cards. This is a cool new game that Disney has introduced - and it's free, which is a bonus. The premise is that Hades from the Underworld is trying to take over the Magic Kingdom and is recruiting all the Disney villains to help him. Merlin is trying to stop him, but needs help.
When you start a game you get a map showing the location of all the interactive portals in the Magic Kingdom, a set of spell cards for everyone in your party, and your very first clue. You place your band up against the little keyhole and the interactive portal comes to life. You see a scene showing what the baddy is doing (in our case the first baddy we came across was Ursula from The Little Mermaid) and then you either have to cast a spell (choose one of your cards and hold it up to be scanned by the portal), show the Sorceror's sign (the back of a spell card) or chase the baddy to another portal. Along the way you get to destroy minor baddies (like Flotsam and Jetsam), until eventually, after about 4 or 5 locations, you defeat your baddy. Of course, then there's another baddy to get.
We headed off to Fantasyland to start chasing Ursula down. On the way we stopped for some photos in front of the castle (of course!), and to join in the street party that came up Main Streey to in front of the castle.
Once in Fantasyland it took us a while to find our first portal, but once we had it we quickly found the next 2, also in Fantasyland. I really liked how you didn't have to go all over the park for one game, so it was something you could easily do with your beer kids without them getting bored of walking from one land to another to another.
After those portals we headed off for our first scheduled event - lunch! Our first lunch with Charlotte in DisneyWorld 4 years ago was at Crystal Palace, so we thought we'd continue the tradition. The big question was, would James be as scared of the characters as Charlotte was back then.
We headed in after a brief wait, and sat down. James was excited to see Pooh Bear, but he was a fair way away. Of course, lasttime Charlotte had been so excited to see Piglet, but then wouldn't leave our arms when they came by the table.
Not long after we sat down and grabbed some food for the kids Eeyore appeared. Success! James wasn't too scared. He was a little apprehensive, but gave Eeyore a cuddle and happily posed for photos. All smooth sailing then.
We ate lunch in between greeting Tigger, Piglet, and Winnie the Pooh, and then it was almost time for our first ride of the day. Well, after we'd seen the characters once more. :)
We had booked 3 fast passes for today - it was a bit weird booking them 2 months in advance, and was really a bit hit and miss as to what would be popular rides and need them, and what we would be able to ride with a limited queue. Still, off we headed for The Little Mermaid ride.
It was pretty much as we remembered, and both Charlotte and James really enjoyed it. The next ride was Splash Mountain - about as far away from Ariel as you could get. The weather was about 34 degrees (93 Fahrenheit), but very humid, so we were all very hot and sweaty. Splash Mountain seemed like a perfect idea.
James fell asleep on the way over, which was good timing as he couldn't ride Splash Mountain anyway. Wayne and Charlotte went on first - and although it's slightly different from the one at Disneyland, Charlotte loved it just as much. Next Michelle and Charlotte went on it.
We wandered around a bit and then headed for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride. This is fairly new, and we knew we needed a fastpass for this one. James was tall enough to ride this, although eg didn't want to stand up straight enough to prove it. Finally we got through the entrance and on to the ride.
Maybe James knew something we didn't, because he hated it. Roller coasters are not his thing. On the other hand, the rest of us loved it.
Ride over, and we had to hurry to make our dinner reservation. We realised last night that we hadn't booked dinner at O'Hana's at the Polynesian. It was our favourite meal last time, so we wanted
to eat there again.
We knew it would be tight, so hurried through the park...only to find that the monorail hadn't been working properly for some reason. The direct to the Ttansportation Centre one was shut down for the afternoon, and there was a massive queue for the loop one. There was a train at the station, but it seemed to be sitting there and not moving.
What to do? Wait for the monorail or try our luck with the ferry, which also had a queue? We started off in the monorail line, but decided to move to the ferry line. Which took a looonnnggg time. Oh well, not much we could do. There were others who also had restaurant bookings, so we weren't the only ones in this predicament.
Wayne overheard someone saying that if you were late for your booking they wouldn't turn you away, but you might have to wait a bit until they get you a table. That made us feel better.
We arrived there almost 45 minutes after our reservation, and at first the woman at the desk couldn't find our booking. Oh no. Luckily the guy knew where to look - under no-shows. Ha ha.
5 minutes later and we were seated and ready to eat. Entree was pot stickers (gyoza) and chicken wings, then there was salad, then main was noodles and meat off massive skewers that the waiter carried to your table - beef, chicken, and prawns. Yum.
We were all too full for dessert, so jumped on the monorail back to the hotel - to get marshmallows on the beach :)
