Day 10 - Magic Kingdom (II)

TLDR: Breakfast at hotel for a second shot, then pool for a bit. Headed to Disney Springs and picked up some artwork and not much else. Then finally on to Magic Kingdom to hit a few of the rides we missed the first day including Pirates, Buzz Light-year and Space Mountain. Ate monstrous turkey legs. Got lots of memory maker photos. Stayed until the 4th July (but not really the 4th of July fireworks). Spectacular!

We woke up a little later than normal and hit breakfast at the hotel and then an hour at the pool before heading out to our first stop, Disney Springs. First stop was an art shop that stocked some prints from an artist I like - Jasmine Beckett-Griffith. I picked up a 10x8 print and a set of Oracle cards, really for the artwork (though if you want a reading, hit me up :P). Kudos to Ann for letting me indulge in the weird things I like (no, not like that ;) For the past 11 days its been cards, art-y stuff and my unnatural obsession for Harley Quinn… thus far. Next a standard Starbucks stop (though they looked at me funny when I wanted no cream and sugar in my cold brew), then to browse the t-shirts in the Harley Davidson (we were here for more than just me, honest). Popped into another few shops including Marvel, before getting back on the road to head to Magic Kingdom. The 4th of July is one of the busiest days in Disney due to the holidays but a little known secret is that they do a trial run of the Independence days fireworks on the 3rd, so that’s what our plan was for the rest of the day.

Before we continue, I’d like to present you with Patricks Fun Fact Of The Day, two in fact to make up for yesterday (and the first is a shark related one so quite fitting too).

> Fun Fact 1: More people are killed by bees and lightning every year than are killed by sharks.
>
> Fun Fact 2: Sporange is the only word that rhymes with orange - it means part of a fern or something (though technically it has the word orange in it so its a wee bit cheating).

Now we had to visit Lost & Found prior to heading into Magic Kingdom as Ann lost her special edition Magic Band on Saturday at Animal Kingdom. It was actually found and returned to the Lost & Found office which was at Magic Kingdoms car park - so that worked out really well. We got to the park as soon as the parade had started which was great timing (even though we seen it before), this was in main street so the kids had a much better field of view. They even got to interact and high five with a few of the Disney characters as they passed. I was too busy photographing the Disney characters to get their reactions but if we happen to do it again, when were next at Magic Kingdom, Ill definitely turn the camera the other way. I’m pretty sure Merida recognized our Celtic strips amidst the crowd and blew me a kiss, ohhhh and Elsa winked at me too, obviously I’m not looking into that meaning anything whatsoever (even though it does :P)

And then it started to rain, and wouldn’t you know it, due to the fact there was only a 20% chance of rain we didn’t take the bag with the rain-jackets in. Oh well, the rain wasnt actually that bad at all and we per served with it. We had Splash Mountain Fast Passed but they shut it down due to poor weather (as they do with all outdoor type rides). They do offer some alternatives so we headed to Haunted Mansion instead.

Next was a ride we hadn’t seen since 2013, Pirates of The Caribbean. We’d watched all the movies prior to coming over (well except the new one out in the cinema), so we were all pretty much clued up and excited. Nice wee boat ride through various sets all based around Pirates. They had a nice waterfall at the start which had different characters like Davy Jones and Blackbeard projected on it, which was a cool effect.

Left Pirates and a guys in a Cubs fan shouted ‘Mon The Hoops as he walked by (as we were all wearing our Celtic kits). In fact we got a few 'Mon The Hoops and Hail Hails over the course of the day, even from peeps not from the UK which was nice.

We were hungy by that point and there was really only one thing most of us wanted - Turkey Legs! These were like mutant turkey legs though and even wee Robert the fussy one said he wouldnt mind getting one for himself. So we made out way over to the opposite end of the park in Tomorrow Land where we knew we could get them. The trouble was, the weather also means all of the smaller stalls were closed down too - DOH! So we asked a cast member if there was anywhere else that sold them. Yes she said, Tortuga Tavern she said. And where is Tortuga Tavern I hear you ask? Why its directed opposite from Pirates - where we just came from! Trekked back over to the other side of the park and finally managed to get some, plus a cookie as Grace wasnt that hungry. These things are massive and it makes me wonder what the actual size of the turkeys where to have produced such huge legs! Im sure there’s an answer (Patrick if you’re reading this, can you go find out? THX ; ).

The rain had stopped by that point which meant that the Fireworks would definitely be on, there were even people settling down at a good spot at that time which was 2hrs before the show was due to start. Eek, what people would do for a photo, eh? Haha ;) Then we made our way back over to Tomorrow Land (yeah, I know, right?), after stopping to get a quick pic with a park photographer. In fact, we got quite a few photographs taken tonight using our memory maker, so here they are…

So first up in Tomorrow Land was Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Our third shooting game since we got here. Shoot the aliens and stop Zurg, getting points along the way. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know how this is likely to end, but here are the scores on the doors…

- Gerry: 134900

- Robert: 32500

- Patrick: 29700

- Ann: 29600

- Gracie: 6600

Carousel Of Progress after that and although Gracie had done this before she couldn’t remember it so she was asking lots of questions, which is normally a good thing but probably not when the animatronic puppets are they only other others speaking to the rest of the people on the ride! Although this is a new shiny ride, its still a really good one and gives a glimpse of how life has developed throughout the ages and to the future, which as Patrick pointed out, is mostly a reality now! Im not sure if this ride is adapted to current technological trends or if Walt Disney was spot on with forecasting the future!

And now the one Robert had been waiting for, Space mountain, the last of the big 3 mountains we had to ride this time around. It was me, Patrick and Robert on this one. This was one of Patrick’s favourites but Robert was so keen on it last time - I have a feeling he might feel a little different now. A roller coaster in the dark, and although doesn’t have any major drops, has lots of sharp (and unexpected) turns - really fun ride. I asked Robert once we finished what he thought and he said - It was easy! Haha, how times have changed.

Speedway next and the boys were tall enough to go on their own, but though it best to go in front of both in case they got over excited with the accelerator. After a few more memory maker photos which I posted above already, we got a spot to watch the trial 4th of July fireworks. It was pretty majestic and patriotic (well for Americans that is, but you cant help youself get caught up). Probably one of the best fireworks shows Ive seen even if we didnt have the best viewpoint (which was behind the castle).

We had Fast Passed Seven Dwarves but the the FP queue was LOOONG and the kids were getting really tired at that point. Headed out of the park just as another show was starting but we reaffirmed our decision to call it a day.

Now we ordered Gracie a Furbacca (Star Wars Chewbacca Furby) and we received a notification it had been delivered to the hotel (that 30 day Amazon.com Prime trial came in handy). One small problem though, the office which handles deliveries was closed until tomorrow morning, so that will be something we’ll have to do first thing, which will keep Grace happy as she wont stop talking about it. Shopping day tomorrow and anticipating BIG sales and deals due to the holidays. Goodbye bank balance! :P