Well, all hungry but can’t decide on what to eat…  Jason wants one of the Casey’s Corner famous footlongs so we head in their first, but the boys have different ideas and I take them over to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café.  This place has always been a go-to spot for lunch for our family ever since the kids were little.  Food on trays we head into the main room hoping to snag a table to view some entertainment along with our meal… and we were lucky and were able to get one very close to our favorite alien at the Magic Kingdom… Sonny Eclipse.  There is something heartwarming about a funny looking alien singing lounge music, we just love it!  

So onto the food… one thing we have all learned is that quick service meals at Disney can be hit or miss.  While some are great some are just mediocre.  So I was very pleasantly surprised when I ordered the pulled pork sandwich… it was so good!!!  The boys had burgers and we had enough fries to feed a small army and along with the chocolate cakes, it is needless to say that we all almost slipped into a food coma!  So much so that we actually left our backpack sitting at the table and were all the way to the castle before we realized it!

In search of a water ride…

We watched a bit of the Move It Shake It dance party/parade as we made our way over to Frontierland as we had FastPasses for Splash Mountain.  Well… unlucky for us, but luckily for Colby, because he didn’t want to ride, Splash Mountain was down.  So we decided for a nice relaxing turn around the park on the Walt Disney World Railroad.  This is always nice as it allows you to sit and rest for a while and there is always a cool breeze from the train’s movements.  When we made the full circuit of the park back to Frontierland, Splash was still down (Colby did a cheer).

We decided to use our FastPasses on Pirates of the Caribbean instead.  Hey, it’s a water ride too and there is a drop…  POTC is one of our family favorites!  We even dressed as pirates to ride earlier in this trip!  My favorite parts are when the wall of fog is in front of you and one of the villains is telling you to beware and your boat moves right through it and he disappears around you and off to the right the pirate skeleton that is driving the ship being beaten back by the wind and rain.  Both of those scenes give me chills.

At this point, we decided we all needed a break and instead of another ride in the Magic Kingdom, we opted for a ride on the bus back to Port Orleans Riverside for a rest…  

Want to see this story come to life?  Here is the video: YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 31

Want to see more from this trip?  Here is the full WDW September 2016 Playlist

If you have enjoyed this post, please share!  Also, sign up for our emails so you have every new post delivered right to your inbox!

Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels

The post Episode 31: Aliens & Pirates in Magic Kingdom – Walt Disney World appeared first on EECC Travels.

Our first ride in Fantasyland

Our first ride of this area was Goofy’s Barnstormer since there was only a 5-minute wait.  Something else we have learned is to take these 5-minute waits when you can get them because they don’t last long!  We love this family-friendly coaster and have dubbed it the ‘quickest’ coaster we have ever ridden… Not the fastest, but the quickest.  So we decided to time it and from start to finish.  The ride lasts 54 seconds.  But that’s ok, we still love it!

Walking into New Fantasyland still takes me by surprise.  

We had five years where we were unable to go to WDW and when we left in 2010 they were just starting to clear the way for this new area. And when we return in 2015 it is all complete and so different than what we had remembered!  The theming is so beautiful here and we love how each area stands apart but all flows together.  

The Little Mermaid area is a perfect example…  it sits right by Beast’s Castle and the mountain of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and while completely unique it fits perfectly.  The Journey of the Little Mermaid is a beautifully done dark ride that takes you through the entire story of Ariel’s longing for what is beyond, to Sebastian’s trying to convince her to stay ‘Under the Sea’, to her transformation and boat ride with Prince Eric with ‘Kiss the Girl’, to Ursula’s attack and finally the wedding!  This ride is perfect for all ages and even our boys enjoy it.  And if you have some who don’t tell them it’s sometime in the nice cool air conditioning!

It’s time for our ride!

Finally, it was time for our Fast Pass on Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train and we were so excited!  Ethan, Cameron or Colby had never ridden this as there were technical difficulties on our last trip and the ride was down.  Jason & I rode it several times on our trip in January and we knew the boys would love it!  Rides like this is why I absolutely love Fast Passes… There is a posted 90-minute wait and we were on in about 10 minutes!  Fantastic!  

After a quick and very dizzying spin on the Tea Cups, we head to Cinderella Castle for the show.  This was our first time viewing Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire which had recently replaced Dream Along With Mickey.  It was a great show that started off with our favorite Fab Five and their friends but then it was broken into smaller acts.  

The first being Princess and the Frog with Tianna and Naveen and even Louis with his trumpet and they sang some of our favorites from the movie… being from Louisiana, we are a bit partial to this story!  Next up was Rapunzel and Flynn and their band of hooligans from the Snuggly Duckling and the final act was Frozen.  First Olaf comes out and then brings Anna and Elsa and of course, we end with Let It Go and really cool ‘snow’ coming from Elsa.  All in all, it was a great show!

Want to see this story come to life?  Here is the video:  YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 30

Want to see more of this trip?  Here is the full WDW September 2016 Playlist

The post Episode 30: It’s Fantasyland Time!!! – Walt Disney World – September 2016 appeared first on EECC Travels.

The excitement of the Morning Show

We loved how the mayor of Main Street came out to greet us and the Citizens of Main Street sing ‘Good Morning’.  By the way, we randomly sing this to each other all of the time so this show will never truly go away for us!  And then it is announced that Mickey and the gang are on their way on the train.  They have a specially chosen family for the day and everyone breaks into ‘Casey Junior coming down the tracks…’  The steam engine comes into sight puffing smoke along the way.  

All faces are on the train station as the characters we know and love pour off the train to wave and smile at us and to welcome everyone for the day to the Magic Kingdom.  Then Mickey Mouse starts the countdown… 10…9… 8…  and we wait and count along until 3… 2… 1… and YAY the park is opened for the day!!!

Off to Tomorrowland!

Now the massive group of people who have gathered for the show squeeze through the two side entrances for the park to make their way down Main Street USA.   So for this reason, I can see the need for a change in the morning show and we are really looking forward to the new show on our next trip… But this will always hold a special place in our hearts!

Once into the park, we made a quick right turn and into Tomorrowland!!!  To see the empty areas of the park is a reason to get up out of the bed and get there early!  We rode Space Mountain three times in a row and then moved to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin with the high hopes of becoming Galactic Heros.  After two times on the ride, none of us were successful.  Jason got really close and we all had a lot of fun trying!  

After all of this excitement, it was time for a nice relaxing turn on the People Mover which is one of our family’s absolute favorite rides at Walt Disney World. About this time, everyone was hungry and thirsty so we made a stop for Mickey pretzels and water in the shade before continuing our adventure in Fantasyland…

Want to see this story come to life? Here is the video: YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 29

The post Episode 29: Our LAST Welcome Show at Magic Kingdom – Walt Disney World appeared first on EECC Travels.

Toy Story Midway Mania

We head over to Toy Story Midway Mania for our second ride of the day.  Now, we have never done this twice in one day before because we could only get one Fast Pass and never wanted to wait in the standby line, but we were lucky enough to score an extra FP from joining in on Jedi Training Academy earlier in the day so this is where we used it! 

It was great again the second time around!  Jason won this time, but Alisa still holds the high score for the day!!!  Afterwards we had an awesome encounter with the Green Army Men in Pixar Place, they were a lot of fun! 

One Man’s Dream

Next we head into an almost empty One Man’s Dream.  We found out earlier this year that you can take a short quiz and be entered into the books as a Disney Historian!  Jason & Alisa were entered in January of this year, but we decided to do it as a family and walked through the amazing history of Walt Disney to find our answers… well the ones we didn’t already know anyway.  So now the entire family was entered on September 17, 2016 as Disney Historians! 

Star Wars Fireworks

Last stop of the day was the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular Fireworks which the boys had been looking forward to all day!!!  We had to choose between this and Fantasmic since they were only 15 minutes apart.  As much as I hated to skip my beloved Fantasmic, this was an experience the boys just had to see… and it did not disappoint!!!  The show on the Chinese Theater was amazing and the lights and fireworks corresponded perfectly!  We had some very happy Star Wars fans when it was over! 

The only disappointment of the day came as we were leaving the park… Jason and Alisa had collected all of the Starbucks ‘You Are Here’ mugs from Walt Disney World on their January trip with the exception of Hollywood Studios.  So the plan was to get one while at the park today.  But we decided to wait until we were on our way out so as to not have to carry it around or having to try to get it shipped to the resort. 

Well we should have bought it earlier, because while all of the other shops were still open… Starbucks was CLOSED!!!  We were disappointed to go another trip without this mug… but that leaves us something to pick up next time!

YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 7

If you have enjoyed this post, please share!  Also, sign up for our emails so you have every new post delivered right to your inbox!

Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels

The post Episode 7: One Man’s Dream & Star Wars Fireworks – Walt Disney World – September 2016 appeared first on EECC Travels.