Day 11 - Monday, September 10, 2018
On this fine morning we made our way through that beautiful entrance, parked, and strolled on over to board a ferry to the Magic Kingdom.
I absolutely adore boat rides to Magic Kingdom. I love the anticipation of seeing Space Mountain, the train station, and best of all, Cinderella Castle, as we get closer to shore!
Seeing this park decked out in pumpkins never gets old!
On this particular morning I couldn't resist the opportunity to pop into the Main Street Confectionery and snap a pic of a nearly empty sweets shop.
We all headed to Frontierland. Upon arriving to that part of the park our girls dashed off for thrill rides. Meanwhile, Jason and I opted for a morning much more on the chill side. First stop, rocking chairs. Y'all know I love some sweet rocking chair time!
From there we chatted, took in the park atmosphere, and enjoyed sharing a bit of breakfast too.
Good morning, Mickey!
Time to visit those 999 happy haunts...
Lunch Reservations for Two
When we made dining reservations for this trip I thought it'd be fun to try The Plaza Restaurant on Main Street. When it got closer, the girls looked at the menu and didn't really see anything they were too excited about. I told them if they'd like to they could have their own sister lunch instead while their dad and I dined there. They thought that sounded fun and took me up on it. I love occasions like that when they want to enjoy "sister time". I know that, as different as they are, that's a friendship that will last a lifetime which makes this mama's heart happy. Also, I love a good date with my hubby too! Our family parted ways for a few hours and my Lovey and I headed to The Plaza Restaurant...
This was our first time dining here. I was really looking forward to seeing how we'd like it!
We were seated at a table nearest the door. I thought that was an amazing spot to sit for lunch as we looked out at the Castle.
The Plaza Restaurant offers bottomless shakes, which were too irresistible to pass up. I'll have a chocolate milkshake, please and thank you!
Here's a peek around the restaurant. It's very small and cutely decorated. It gets pretty noisy in there, yet we had a table with some space around us which was really nice. The server we had on this trip was friendly which added to our enjoyment of the meal. Jason and I returned during our anniversary trip a few months later and had a much different experience. Stay tuned for that recap in a future trip report. For now I will focus on this particular meal, but wanted to add that in there as following our experience in November I'm not sure I'd recommend this restaurant as highly as I would have had this been our only meal there.
We started our meal with a scrumptious appetizer, Plaza Loaded Fries.
Jason went with a cheese steak sandwich for his entree.
I had their Baked Honey-Barbecued Brisket Macaroni & Cheese.
There was no question about what I'd be ordering for dessert...
Jason loves bread pudding, so he enjoyed a delightful dessert too.
This meal was a bit of a splurge since I decided on getting a milkshake, we shared an app, and followed our entrees with desserts. It was vacation, our first time dining there, and a fun date too - so it was worth it. My only regret was that with all that deliciousness on our table, I wasn't able to make a much of a dent in any of it. It felt like a scrumptious spread I was only sampling from, yet I left completely stuffed. All in all though, it was a delicious date that I look back at fondly!
After lunch we had a bit more time before our arranged meet up time with our girls.
In keeping with the relaxing tone of our morning we decided to walk over and catch a train ride around the park.
We reunited while our sweeties were savoring some yummy Disney popcorn. I was so excited to hear about all their adventures during their sweet sister time! First they rode all the mountains of Magic Kingdom (Big Thunder, Splash, and Space) then enjoyed strawberry popsicles. After their cool treats they hit the tea cups, Peoplemover, and Carousel of Progress. Lastly they ordered popcorn. Little One got hers in the seasonal light up cauldron popcorn bucket. So their "lunch" was basically strawberry popsicles, bottled water, and Disney popcorn - to two teens on vacation that sounded about right though. :)
While the girls worked on finishing off a bit more of their popcorn, Jason and I hit a couple of our favorite rides that they had already ridden that day. First up, Peoplemover! Taking "purple wall pics" was still a fairly new thing then so we laughed as we took a selfie on the ride with the purple wall behind us. Jason said, "Purple wall plus Peoplemover, beat that!" Ha!
Next up, a forever favorite so rich in Disney history, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress!
I asked Jason if we could get some couples PhotoPass pics together that day since we'd enjoyed such a fun "just the two of us" morning.
We were staring directly into the blazing sun, so it was a bit squinty, yet the morning was sweet!
Then we all headed back to Animal Kingdom lodge for some afternoon R&R.
Evening at Animal Kingdom
Off to the most breathtaking land in Animal Kingdom, Pandora!
I know I've mentioned in the past how much I love the detailing in the pavement throughout the Disney Park that adds to the theming and atmosphere. These gigantic na'vi footprints in Pandora are awesome! Here's my oldest daughter's foot for size comparison...
And she wears a women's size 11 shoe!
Na'vi River Journey
This is one of my favorite parts in the ride. I love seeing the little creatures on these leaves overhead. If you look at the one closest to the top you can see their little feet in the photo above.
My favorite people in one of my favorite places :)
Cheers to Night Blossoms in Pandora!
Soon we headed off for a quick dinner at Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes.
Dinosaur & Expedition Everest
My silly family's ride photos are always good for a laugh!
Here's a closer look at details that give guests at Animal Kingdom the authentic feeling of being abroad rather than a typical U.S. theme park...
Goodnight, Tree of Life!
Soon we were back in our villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge, relaxing and having some bedtime snacks before calling it a day, a very magical day.
Thanks so much for stopping by today, friends! I look forward to sharing Day 12 deets with you a week from today in the next Trip Report Tuesday post!
You can check out the video footage from this day on my family's YouTube channel,
Eat, Sleep, Dis, Repeat!
Direct Link to the Video of Day 11:
Day 11 - The Plaza Restaurant
Eat, Sleep, Dis, Repeat!
Direct Link to the Video of Day 11:
Day 11 - The Plaza Restaurant
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Previous Trip Reports from this Vacation:
A sneak peek at what's to come...
Day 5-15: Walt Disney World
+ my 40th Birthday (September 13th)
Day 16: Georgia Aquarium
Day 17: Homeward Bound
So glad you're back for another day's worth of Disney travel! I think that your meal looks amazing and I am interested to read about your visit in November because it sounds like quite an experience (not a good one)! But honestly if we choose to find humor in those negative situations and value the positive experiences even more we can really enjoy every moment! I am sure that is how you and your hubby chose to handle it! :)
ReplyDeleteI love that you had a relaxing morning and took so much time on this day to appreciate those awesome Disney details!
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