WDW sisters trip! - Day 4

Today was another Magic Kingdom day and Shannon and I got up at our usual time and wandered out to our bus stop around 8:30 am. Another thing that we liked about our bus stop, Casitas 2 (besides the fact that it was only a 2-3 minute walk from our room), was that it was the first of four stops to be picked up before heading out to the parks. That meant that we always had a seat (and sometimes the buses would fill up and people at the last stop couldn’t get on).

We arrived at the magic Kingdom right when it opened (9 am) and headed over to Tomorrowland where we rode the Buzz Lightyear ride (Shannon and I were becoming experts at scoring lots of points with hard-to-shoot targets!).

From Tomorrowland, we walked to Fantasyland to ride everything before the crowds got “heavy.” We took a spin on the teacups, then rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, Snow White, Peter Pan (another favorite!), and It’s a Small World. It was so great that we didn’t have to wait in line for anything!

From Fantasyland, we went on the Haunted Mansion (again!) before finding snacks (popcorn + pickle) for breakfast! We were harassed by a couple of ducks while we snacked -- this appears to be pretty common in Disney World.

We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean before finding lunch at the Pecos Bill café -- the food here was pretty good (I had a taco salad and Shannon had a burger).

In Frontierland, we rode the train around the park (a nice relaxing ride) before heading out to catch a monorail to the Grand Floridian hotel for out afternoon tea reservation! We took the monorail through the Contemporary Resort (looking at the Mary Blair Grand Canyon mural with the 5-legged goat) before making our way to the Grand Floridian.

Once there, we looked around a bath shop called Basin (cool soaps and things) before lounging in the main room to wait for our 2 pm tea reservation. I don’t really like the Grand Floridian décor (too stuffy and fancy -- it is the most expensive of all the Disney resorts), but there was a hilarious painting of a fluffy bunny perching on a white wicker chair...why?

At 2 pm, we checked in for tea and it was really fun! We had a great server (I think her name was Dottie) and Shannon and I both chose the Buckingham tea services that included: choice of tea (I had a really good orange vanilla black tea), finger sandwiches, scone with cream, jam tarts, and either strawberries and cream (my choice) or baked pastries (Shannon’s choice). We had a really nice time -- we should definitely do this again!

Thoroughly stuffed after our tea, Shannon and I took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom where we promptly rode Big Thunder Mountain. We next rode the train around the park (again!) before taking a bus back to our hotel around 4:30 pm.

After our break (around 6 pm), Shannon and I hopped on another bus toward EPCOT for dinner. Upon arriving at EPCOT, we rode Living with the Land (I love seeing all the plants here).

Next, we wandered into the World Showcase to find Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco. I wasn’t very impressed with this meal, but the food was OK (nothing special, and just about the weirdest desserts EVER -- I had mint chocolate chip ice cream over fruits doused in orange juice?! The menu description sounded much more appetizing!).

After dinner, we wanted to do some shopping in Downtown Disney so we walked over to the Boardwalk hotel (near the International Gateway between France and the UK). Eventually we found the bus stop and rode out to Downtown Disney (about a half hour ride -- it’s really out there!). We visited a few shops and found a few souvenirs (I will post pictures later) before heading back to the hotel around 10:30 pm. We went to bed anticipating our next day at Hollywood Studios!