Winter Break. Part I - Days 3 and 4: Happily Ever After.
Friday morning, we got up with the intention of heading out bright and early… which did not happen.
I think we left the room around 9:20. From there, we headed over to Magic Kingdom. One of the best parts of staying at Bay Lake Tower is that it’s not even a seven-minute walk to the park. It’s amazing. There’s a dedicated security line just for Bay Lake Tower guests, which makes getting into the park so much faster. We are technically on the monorail line and could take the monorail from the Contemporary, but that would take close to half an hour. The walk is a fantastic alternative.
As soon as we got into the park, we immediately noticed that all the Christmas decorations were still up. I’d noticed it the day before too, but it was much more glaring here. There’s a huge Christmas tree right as you enter Magic Kingdom, and they’re still playing Christmas music. I find this absolutely ridiculous. It’s mid-January. It’s time to let it go. It doesn’t always have to be a holiday celebration. (I later found out through Instagram that the decorations were still up because they were filming a Hallmark movie for next Christmas.)
Anyway, we made our way down Main Street, which was extremely crowded. I think it was Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, and there was also a cheer competition going on, so the park was completely packed. Thank God we had the Premier Pass.
We started in Fantasyland and basically banged out all the rides there—Teacups, It’s a Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. From there, we headed over to Haunted Mansion. We stopped for lunch at Columbia Harbor House then did a bunch more rides – Little Mermaid, Dumbo. Me, Hallie and Shir went on Tron while Tzvi took Madeleine on the carousel.
We all met up at Pirates where we tried the new Beak and Barrel (Pirates of the Caribbean-themed) bar. We got a bunch of alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, and none of them were very good. We also had some chips and dip that were fine. The space is very cool and I could see it being a really nice pitstop on a hot day, but not somewhere I need to run back to. After the bar we rode Pirates. For years Madeleine has refused to go on the ride because she's too scared. So it was a big deal that she went on it today, and she was very proud of herself. We told her we would buy her a present for it, and she has been thinking long and hard about what she wants. She hasn’t stopped talking about what she’s going to use her present for.
After that it wasn’t freezing so we did Jungle Cruise. Before we got on the ride a cast member named Andrew started talking to us. He said he lived in NY for a few years. Ends up he went to NYU Gallatin. He was shocked we also went to NYU and said he never meets alumni. Anyway, he basically said his Gallatin degree was useless and he just took his LSAT and is planning on going to law school. Nice to meet you Andrew. After the ride we got a Dole Whip, and then Hallie, Shir and I did Space Mountain.
Then it was time for dinner at Cinderella’s Castle, which is a character dining with Cinderella, Merida, Aurora, Rapunzel and Ariel. It’s very cute and the food was actually pretty good. We only really did this because we had the dining plan - I think if you pay cash this is super expensive, but we figured why not with the dining plan. It was a very nice experience - the restaurant itself is very cool, and at the end of the meal we all got plastic swords and princess wands. The girls wanted the swords, so Tzvi ended up with a princess wand.
After dinner we walked around and it wasn’t so cold so we stayed and watched the fireworks, then did the walk back to the Contemporary. Back in the hotel we made kiddush and then went to bed. Good day.
Day 4 – Saturday
Saturday morning we got up late. We basically lounged around and had breakfast at the hotel at Chef Mickey’s, which is a character buffet. The food is really not great – there’s just nothing remarkable – but it’s a classic experience sitting in the middle of the Contemporary lobby with the monorails going by right above your head. I don’t have much else to say about it. At the next table was a mother with two older daughters, and they had a photo of what appeared to be the deceased husband/father. They kept saying it was his birthday, and they were there celebrating. It was extremely depressing.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the hotel. In the afternoon it warmed up enough that we were actually able to go swimming, which was nice. It was the warmest day of our trip so far and a really nice way to spend the afternoon. After that, we got the kids pizza, then showered, changed, packed up, and got ready to head out after Shabbos.
When Shabbos ended we headed to Disney Springs. We decided to take a Minnie Van—it’s basically a Lyft that’s run by Disney and the drivers are actually Disney cast members. It’s actually a suburban (not an actual van), and about twice the price of a regular Lyft, but Hallie had been asking all trip so we decided to give in once. It is a nice, big, clean, comfortable car. The kids love that there are TVs on the back of the seat with Disney cartoons. Also, Minnie Vans can go anywhere Disney busses can go, so you can usually get closer than a Lyft.
We got to Disney Springs and went straight to dinner at Summer House, a California-inspired restaurant that, ironically, has no locations in California. Hallie was disappointed that we weren’t going to Rainforest Café, which we usually do, but this time she had to deal, because Tzvi wasn’t willing to sit through a Rainforest dinner (see our last Disney blog for the reason why). The food was really delicious. We had fantastic Brussels sprouts, Tzvi and I got salads, Shir got pasta, and we all shared a pizza. It’s a very nice, very good restaurant, although service took a long time. Still, I’d definitely go back—especially if the weather were nice, because it would be beautiful to sit outside.
After dinner, we walked from Summer House over to where the Disney stores are, and it was so packed you could barely move. It was insane. I truly cannot believe how crowded it was. We didn’t do any regular shopping and just headed straight to the Disney side to hit our usual stores.
This time, I opted not to get a make-your-own caramel apple, something I do on every Disney Springs visit. It was argued (not by me) that it wasn’t worth getting since I didn’t want to eat it all right then and we couldn’t bring it on the cruise the next day—and unfortunately, that person was right. [Tzvi: was it unfortunate that you didn’t get the apple, or unfortunate that I was right?] Both.
We did our World of Disney shopping, where Madeleine cashed in her Pirates prize and got a new Dumbo stuffy. I’m pretty sure it’s her eighth Dumbo.
We ended the night at Ghirardelli with a chocolate brownie sundae, which we had been waiting forever for because our buzzer never buzzed. When we finally checked, it turned out they never actually attached the buzzer to our order, so it had just been sitting there for a while. Why does this keep happening to us?
After that, we took a cab back to the hotel and went to bed. Good day.