Thursday, February 26, 2015

Weekend Wear-abouts: Part 2- All Four Parks + Monorail Bar Crawl + More!

Thanks for coming back around to check out Part 2 of last weekend's Weekend Wear-abouts. You can find Part 1 here

When I left off, John and I had an early morning rope drop of Magic Kingdom planned for Sunday morning. We've since referred to this day as our 'VIP Day in the MK.'

This is particularly special, and I'll tell you why. John likes Disney, mostly tolerates it for me, but likes it. He does not, however, like the Magic Kingdom. I think he appreciates it for nostalgia's sake, but the crowds, kids, parades that block the streets, and effort it takes just to get there really turns him off. 

However, about a year ago, he and I went one cool, sunny day at park opening. We took lots of photos and had pockets of the park to ourselves for the first hour or so. He really, really enjoyed himself. Here's some photos from that day. 




Aww, while looking back at those, I realized that it must have been in early January of last year, as the Christmas decorations are still up. Awww! And the hanging garland was still up across Main Street! (RIP). AND we rode the Omnibus. AND the trees were still along the walkway from Sleepy Hollow to Fantasyland along the castle- I miss them! I wish the Hub still had trees. They just give it such a warm fuzzy feeling. That's probably one reason why Disneyland feels so good to me. But I digress. 

So I've been waiting for a cool, sunny day to roll around again in order to convince him to take one of his precious, well-deserved weekend days and get up early to visit his least favorite park.

Sunday was the day! It was pleasantly cool enough but warm enough to wear shorts, hooray! I'd been waiting to wear my new Calahans since getting them from the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale in January. 

We arrived just after the welcome show. Upon entering Town Square, the surrey was sitting in front of the train station. We jumped on, and to our pleasant surprise, the driver got in and started on our way. Our own private surrey ride up Main Street!




Here's a snippet of video from our trip up Main Street. 



It was so awesome. People were looking at us, saying things like, "VIP, eh?!" "Wow, you must be special!" I waved as we passed. We made it to the castle and our driver (trying to remember his name, Edgar maybe? He was fantastic.) jumped out and had us sit in the drivers seat for a photo op. He then had us get out and stand in front of the castle for photos. He used our camera, and Photopass was there. It was really neat.



And it was perfect because our first FastPass was for Space Mountain! We headed there and walked right on. Pro tip: you rarely need a FastPass for most attractions the first 30 minutes of the day. Frozen stuff, Peter Pan, Mine Train, yes. But most others, no.

The cool thing here was that we had our own space shuttle on Space Mountain! We asked for the back seats, and had no one in front of us. VIP for the second time!


Exiting that, we sauntered over toward Liberty Square, sharing a banana on the way. As we entered Liberty Square, I suggested Haunted Mansion. Right then, the Liberty Belle pulled up to the dock. John had never done that, so our decision was made. I grabbed a pickle from the Liberty Square Market, and we hopped on. We found a bench on the second level. And then, the ropes were closed behind us. No one else was on the boat. VIP part three! I was SO EXCITED! Who gets the entire Liberty Belle to themselves? Like, when does that happen?! It was perfect.



 Lilly Pulitzer Callahan Shorts (old print; wait and stock up on these during the Sales, or at your local Lilly store where they're usually in the sale section) // Lilly Pulitzer Janelle Top (a great basic to pair with everything. The sleeves can be rolled up or worn down.)


After a lovely trip around the Rivers of America, we headed toward Adventureland to do yet another first for John-- the Enchanted Tiki Room. First, we split a Citrus Swirl. What's better than sharing an iconic treat with your love in the Magic Kingdom?? Not too much.



One reason I wanted to do this particular attraction was because of John's Instagram name. He created it based on Sacha Baron Cohen's character, Bruno. But *I* like to pretend he did is as a subtle Disney nod to Fritz in the Tiki Room. 

It was great, as always. By then, it was pushing noon o'clock and we had plans to meet my brother and family at Animal Kingdom. 

On the way in, I saw two interesting things. The first was a survey marker. 


The second was a really comfortable looking pair of sneakers.


Arriving at DAK, I was happy to see Governor Ratcliff and Meeko out front for a meet and greet. Here goes this 'not really a character gal,' meeting characters. John was sweet enough to join in the photo so I don't always look like a loser all alone in my pictures. 


We joined up with the crew in Dinoland and John and I split a bag of Lays and each had a beer while my brother and niece played the carnival games. 




Then we went to Dawa Bar to celebrate National Margarita Day, while my brother and co. did the Safari. The Dawa Bar was bumping, as always, but bartenders Sam and Bob from Boston were keeping up and taking care of business. I happened to score a seat at the bar, and struck up a conversation with a couple sitting next to me. Ends up they're from California, and the guy is the photographer for the Walt Disney Family Museum! Hi Frank!


Two margaritas later, it was time for lunch. We had ADR's at Yak & Yeti. Yummy as always. 


John and I headed out after that, so he could have some of his Sunday left to relax at home. I love my little homebody. 

On Monday, I got up early and picked up niece Amelia to rope drop MGM, her favorite park. We headed straight to Tower of Terror, only to be met with a bellhop telling us it was down. So, it was back to Trolley Car Cafe for Starbucks. Coffee and tea in hands, we walked back down to Tower to sit and wait for it to open. After splitting a breakfast sandwich and finishing our drinks, it still wasn't operating. Amelia really wanted to see the new ToT merch, so we asked if we could at least go back to the gift shop. Now, mind you, the CM's were stopping people out by the wait time sign, not up by the actual queue entrance gates. So we had the entire ToT courtyard area and gift shop to ourselves.


Amelia spend a good thirty minutes perusing the merchandise. About then, a few people started to trickle into the gift shop. I heard a rumbling in the building, and Amelia and I looked at each other with a knowing look in our eyes. The ride had opened! 

We paid for our goods and rushed out to the queue. Only one side of the ride was running, so the wait was 45 minutes, but it was no question that we were doing it because it's Amelia's favorite. 

After that, we did Rock n' Rollercoaster. Then we grabbed some lunch and headed out to meet by brother and sis-in-law to drop off Amelia. 

Thus ended the extended weekend. As always, it was busy and fun. 

Thanks for reading!

9 comments:

  1. I always enjoy your ig's and now LOVE that you are updating your blog frequently. Love just hearing about what you do in the parks- I have to check out Dawa Bar when I am there in April! I had never heard of it all the times I have been to WDW, and you mention it often. Chuckling over the "comfy sneakers"- too funny:)

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    1. Aww thanks- I wish I knew who this was, but it says 'Anonymous!' :) One of my goals for the year was to blog more regularly, so THANK YOU for the motivation to keep it up! I never know if anyone is really reading these ramblings I put out into cyberspace.
      And YES, do Dawa!!

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  2. Okay, I just LOVE your VIP morning. So perfect!! And I choked on my lunch looking at those shoes... the people watching in Disney is always SO good. xo

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    1. It was pretty ideal- I couldn't have planned it any bette for John's sake if I tried. And those shoes... THOSE SHOES!!! We'll have to get us each a pair to wear on your next visit.

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