Walt Disney World Trip Report: Day 3

Day 3 - March 1

Before we left we would check the weather forecast online and it kept saying a 30% of rain on my Mom’s birthday. We were hoping that the rain would stay away, but when we got up on March 1, it was a cold and dreary looking day. It wasn’t raining, but looked as if the clouds would open up at any minute. We quickly got ready to head out for our 8:35 AM breakfast reservation at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort.

We found our way to the Transportation Center easy enough, but after we got through the gate I forgot that you are supposed to continue on to the Transportation Center then take the monorail to the Contemporary. I saw a sign that said Contemporary and headed that way. It was too late to turn back when I realized my mistake. I knew you really aren’t supposed to park at the Contemporary and there was no where to really turn around. We ended up by the campground when we finally got turned around and headed in the right direction. By this point it was clear we would probably be late for our breakfast reservation. We got back to the Transportation Center about 10 minutes before our reservation time. While we were waiting for the resort monorail I tried to call the reservation number to let them know we would be late, but was told they only hold a reservation for 10 minutes and then its up to the restaurant’s discretion if they want to seat you. This got Melinda all worried. I tried to reassure it that it would be OK, but she was being pessimistic. We finally got on the monorail and it lost power! It was insane. It took probably 5 minutes for them to fix whatever problem they were having. Being onboard the monorail without any power was kind of freaky. We were finally on our way. We got to the Contemporary about 15 - 20 minutes late. I explained what happened on why we were late, but it wasn’t a problem. We were seated right away. First though we had to pose for our photo with the plate.

This was a meal I had been really looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint. The food was excellent. Though they didn’t have the mini cherry muffins that I really liked last time. The Mickey waffles were excellent! We each got our food then went to the table to eat and wait for the characters to make their way to our table.

Photo of part of the buffet at Chef Mickey's


The first character to stop by was Pluto, followed by Goofy. Then came Minnie who is Melinda’s favorite. Minnie loved Melinda’s Minnie ears and hair ties. Minnie was so cute and sweet. Mickey was next. The last character to stop by was Donald. The character interaction was really great.

Me with Pluto


Me with Minnie


Me with Mickey



The entire time we were eating breakfast we were looking out the window at the darkening skies. We left Chef Mickey’s about 10:00 am to head over to the Magic Kingdom.

Melinda had wanted us all to wear mouse ears, but we first had to go buy some for Mom. Our first stop at the Magic Kingdom was Chapeau to purchase mouse ears. While Mom and I waiting to get our names put on the ears Melinda came back to say that Mary Poppins was over in Town Square Exposition Hall. Mom didn’t want to go get a photo with her, so I left with Melinda meet Mary Poppins. She was positioned in front of a cute carousel horse background.

Me with Mary Poppins


After we were done meeting Mary Poppins we went back to find Mom and we started down Main Street, but they were trying to clear it for a parade or something. We decided to head towards Adventureland, but didn’t get far before the clouds opened up. It was a cold rain. We kept heading towards Pirates of the Caribbean. Along the way we saw Rafiki and stopped for an autograph and photo.

Melinda and I with Rafiki


We continued on to Pirates through the rain and found that there was only a 5 minute wait. Melinda and I both prefer Walt Disney World’s version of Pirates. It’s quite a bit shorter than at Disneyland, which bored us, so we were looking forward to riding Pirates. As always it was lots of fun.

After riding Pirates of the Caribbean we looked around in the gift shop a bit before continuing towards Frontierland. By this point the rain had stopped, but it was still quite cold. When we got to Frontierland Melinda was excited to see that there was only a 5 minute wait for Big Thunder Mountain so she went off by herself to ride it while Mom and I warmed up on the Briar Patch.

Big Thunder Mountain


When Melinda was done she wanted to ride Splash Mountain so we told her to go ahead. Mom and I went to the spot near where the boats come down the big hill to watch for her. She waved to us as she floated by. It seemed to take forever until it was her turn to come down the hill. She was happy that she got to ride two of her favorites without having to wait long. Though Splash was closed the last time we went, so she was really happy.

Melinda on Splash Mountain




After that we wanted to take Mom on Haunted Mansion since she had never been on that before. We were really excited to see they had changed the ride since the last time we were there in January 2007. I rode with Mom and Melinda rode by herself. We both loved the changes. I love the update to the attic scene though the ballroom scene is still my favorite. Mom seemed to like it.

Haunted Mansion


We decided to head towards Fantasyland and towards Mom’s favorite ride. “It’s a Small World” has always been Mom’s favorite ride. She was lucky enough to see the original one at the World’s Fair in 1964. She really enjoyed it.

After “It’s a Small World” we decided it was time for lunch. We had planned on having lunch that day at Pinocchio’s Village Haus. Melinda and Mom went to find a table while I waited to order the food. I was bummed to see that they didn’t have the Turkey Bacon Panini that I had the last time we ate there in January 2007. Mom and I opted for the chicken nuggets and fries and got strawberry cheesecake for desert. Melinda had pizza and a strawberry yogurt for desert. By this time the sun was starting to come out. Melinda had found a nice table out in the sun. It was wonderful sitting out in the sun eating lunch. The food was good. I really enjoyed the cheesecake.

After lunch we decided to see Mickey’s Philharmagic. The show is so cute! Donald gets himself into some trouble and finds himself in several Disney movies like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” and the “The Little Mermaid.” We all really enjoyed it.

Next we went to check the wait time for Peter Pan’s Flight and it was at least a 45 minute wait so we checked the fast passes and the return time was right before our dinning reservation so we decided to get some fast passes.

We decided it was time to take a break, but before we left we wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin since it was going to be closed for the rest of our trip. Melinda rode with Mom this time and totally beat us all. I think there was something wrong with my gun. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

We decided to take the bus back to Pop since we had a really good parking spot. We were lucky that we didn’t have to wait long for a bus. Once we got back to the room we took a short rest then changed our clothes for dinner and took the bus back to the Magic Kingdom.

The first place we headed when we got back to the park was to Peter Pan to use our fast passes, but were sad to see it was broken down. The cast member working at the fast pass line said that our fast passes would be good for anytime that day after the time on them, so that made us feel better.

There really wasn’t enough time to wait in line for a ride before we had to be at the Crystal Palace for our dining reservation so we decided to head over there early since we didn’t want to be late for that one. We got checked and waited. There were TONS of people trying to eat there that night. There were lots of people trying to get in, but if you didn’t have a reservation you weren’t going to be eating there. They were completely booked. We had a wait a little bit, but it was fine. I wish they would get a bullhorn or something because with all the people waiting around it was often hard to hear the names they were calling. We got a table by the window that was decorated with streamers and confetti for Mom’s birthday. We had time to go get some food before Piglet got to our table. Next was Eeyore!!! YAY! Last time we ate here he was the last character to stop by our table because the first time he came around I wasn’t at the table. This time we made sure that everyone was at the table when he was near our table. Eeyore was awesome as always. We had to wait a bit before Pooh and Tigger worked their way to our table, but it gave us a chance to eat our dinner. The food was good. The macaroni and cheese was better last time. The chicken was good. The turkey was excellent, but then again Melinda and I are turkey junkies! The best part though were the desserts. They were all really good.

Me with Eeyore


Me with Pooh


Me with Tigger


When we went outside something told me to check my cell phone. There were two voice messages from my Aunt. They were both from during dinner. I had my phone on while we eating, but it never went off. Very strange. The people who were going to be bringing her to Orlando the next day were going to be able to bring her so she decided to take the bus that would get in at 8:00 pm. By the time we got the message she was already on her way to Orlando! We had planned on watching “Wishes” and staying for the extra magic hours, but we couldn’t leave her at the bus station.

Since we still have a bit of time before we had to leave to go pick up my aunt we decided to see if Peter Pan was working again and it was so we used our fast passes. It was my turn to ride with Mom while Melinda rode solo and tried to get some photos. I love that ride. I love how you fly in the pirate boats. It’s always a bummer that the lines are so long.

After taking a flight with Peter Pan we decided to take a spin on the tea cups since Melinda and Mom had both gotten to ride their favorite rides. Mom rode with Melinda since neither wanted to spin fast. I loved having my own tea cup. I was spinning soooooo fast. It was awesome. Everything was just a blur. I was laughing the entire time. I just loved it!!!

When we stumbling out of the tea cups it was time to head back to the Transportation Center to get the car so we could go pick up Aunt Joyce. We decided that we would drop Mom off at the hotel to pick up the room some while Melinda and I went to pick up Aunt Joyce. Before we left we got some directions from the concierge so we wouldn’t get lost. We managed to get to the bus station in about 20 minutes though we were about 10 minutes late. My Aunt was very happy to see us. She was so happy to be there since we hadn’t been to Walt Disney World since the late 70’s.

So we headed back towards Pop Century. We dropped my Aunt off at the room with Mom while Melinda and I headed back for extra magic hours. We got back to the park about 9:00 pm and there were a lot less people, which was nice.

Cinderella Castle at night. Isn't it pretty?


The first ride we headed for was Dumbo. While we were in line we saw Minnie and Mickey riding Dumbo! There were quite a few characters out and about. We didn’t’ have too long of a wait for Dumbo. Melinda was happy that she got to ride in Dumbo #14 which is her favorite. I wish Dumbo lasted longer. It is always too short.

Once we had taken a flight with Dumbo we headed to ride Haunted Mansion again. This time we could converse with each other about the changes they made. The Haunted Mansion is a ride that never gets old. I love how you can ride it again and again and each time find something you didn’t see before.

So with our hitchhiking ghost in tow we headed for Frontierland. Melinda wanted to ride Big Thunder again. I waited up by the one exit, but didn’t realize that there were two exits. Of course Melinda came out the other exit, but after waiting about 15 minutes I decided to go look for her and seen her looking for me.

Reunited we decided to go ride Pirates again which only had a 5 minute wait. Not sure if people just don’t want to ride it or if we were just going at the ride time. It was odd since when we went in January 2007 there always seemed to be a 30-45 minute wait.

We didn’t want to stay out too late since we had to get up early the next morning, but after Pirates we wanted to ride the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. There was almost no one at that ride. Melinda rode in the front which controls the height, while I got to control the tilt of the carpet, but my control didn’t seem to be working. We did manage to avoid being spit on by the camel, which was good. Like Dumbo it seems to short.

We had agree before we rode Aladdin that it would be the last one. So when it was over we started to make our way to the exit. We rode the monorail back to the transportation center and then drove back to Pop where Mom and Aunt Joyce were having fun chatting.

It was an eventful day, but full of fun. Up next was going to be a split day at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.