Sunday 17th (Day 5) Sunny Day 
Very Hot 92
Woke at 7.00am. Pool at 9.00am. Had a Beach Club lunch. The menu was limited to about five choices today. Pool got fairly busy as the day went on as the HRH was having 'Battle of the Bands' poolside, with Chris Fitzpartrick (NSync) and Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) as judges.
We left the pool at around 2.30 and Hannah had a sleep in the room for an hour, then we headed on over to EPCOT at 4.15pm. We parked the car at the Yacht club and walked through the International Gateway. As it was late in the day, we got a stroller comped by a very kind CM
. We walked over to 'The land' and I rode Soarin, which IMHO thought it was good, but after reading some of the reviews, I expected a lot more. We then checked in at The Garden Grill restaraunt for our 6.20pm reservation.
Hannah was really up for seeing the characters tonight and couldn't wait. This character dinner was really nice. Bread was initially brought to the table, then caeser salad, then for our main a platter of meats, vegetables and mash with watercress was brought to the table. The characters came around about three times. The revolving restaraunt was good as you are looking at something different all the time. Total cost was $87.00 + tip.
We left 'The land' at around 7.45pm and headed over to Mexico in the World Showcase. We did the water ride and then went over to France and took our place for the fireworks at around 8.55pm.
We watched 'illuminations', then walked back throught the International Gateway back to the car in the Yacht Club Car park. The lighting around the Boardwalk looked great.
We arrived back at the HRH at 10.00pm.
Monday 18th (day 6) Sunny Day Hot 92
Lounged around the pool for most of the day. Had a Beach club Lunch (again). The pool was empty for most of the day. Went back to the room for 2.15pm. Hannah had a sleep, then we left for the Contemporary Resort. Arrived there at 5.00pm. Did some shopping on the fourth floor, then got the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. Rented a stroller ($10.00). We then headed to Fantasy Land and did some rides with Hannah. The lines were around 20 minutes for most of the rides. We then went over to Pirates of the Caribbean and the line was around 30 minutes, so we decided to come back at a later date to do that (this is when you really miss them FOTL room cards!).
We then walked over to Cinderellas Royal Table for our 7.35pm reservation. managed to get seated immediately at 7.05pm. We walked into the castle entrance and Cinderella was there, but unfortunately hannah went a bit shy, so the Disney photographers suggested we have our meal then come back down and try again. We then went upstairs and were seated immediately. To be honest the meal and the service really wasn't that good and the characters that were up there (the mice and the Godmother) didn't really interact or pose for photos. So overall, I would rate this Dining experience 4/10.
We walked downstairs to get Hannah's photo re-done and there was a line of people, but now she had a full belly of food she was a lot more eager to meet and pose for photos with Cinderella! We waited in line for around 10 minutes, then it was our turn. Hannah then turned to me as though she was going through one of her shy phases again, but fortunately it was only to hand me her toy wand. She then proceeded over to Cinderella on her own and gave her a big hug and was really happy to see her.
When it came to the photos, the Disney photographer asked Hannah to smile, but instead, she pulled one of her funny faces and this sent Cinderella into hysterical laughter. After a couple of minutes of trying to stop laughing, she was able to pose for the photos. Cinderella then said that had been the funniest pose she had seen in ages and really wanted to see Hannah do it again. Andrea (my wife) suggested they both do it on camera. She said she would love to, but unfortunately Disney would not approve of this. However, she suggested we take the photos away from everyone else:
Hannah then spent around fifteen minutes chatting with Cinderella and the smile on her face was ear to ear. We then went outside to watch Spectromagic from the entrance to the castle. The ramps leading down to the front of the castle were closed, so it felt like we had our very own viewing position. When Spectromagic finished we went back to the castle entrance to pick up our photos from the check-in area. We were then invited back in the castle for Hannah to say her goodbyes to her new best friend!
We then walked over to the front of Crystal Palace to watch Wishes.
After Wishes we walked over to the Contemporary Resort car lot and drove back to the HRH.
Up next: Islands of Adventure, Fantasmic, Bubba Gumps and Margaritiville.
Very Hot 92Woke at 7.00am. Pool at 9.00am. Had a Beach Club lunch. The menu was limited to about five choices today. Pool got fairly busy as the day went on as the HRH was having 'Battle of the Bands' poolside, with Chris Fitzpartrick (NSync) and Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) as judges.
We left the pool at around 2.30 and Hannah had a sleep in the room for an hour, then we headed on over to EPCOT at 4.15pm. We parked the car at the Yacht club and walked through the International Gateway. As it was late in the day, we got a stroller comped by a very kind CM
. We walked over to 'The land' and I rode Soarin, which IMHO thought it was good, but after reading some of the reviews, I expected a lot more. We then checked in at The Garden Grill restaraunt for our 6.20pm reservation.
Hannah was really up for seeing the characters tonight and couldn't wait. This character dinner was really nice. Bread was initially brought to the table, then caeser salad, then for our main a platter of meats, vegetables and mash with watercress was brought to the table. The characters came around about three times. The revolving restaraunt was good as you are looking at something different all the time. Total cost was $87.00 + tip.
We left 'The land' at around 7.45pm and headed over to Mexico in the World Showcase. We did the water ride and then went over to France and took our place for the fireworks at around 8.55pm.
We watched 'illuminations', then walked back throught the International Gateway back to the car in the Yacht Club Car park. The lighting around the Boardwalk looked great.
We arrived back at the HRH at 10.00pm.
Monday 18th (day 6) Sunny Day
Hot 92Lounged around the pool for most of the day. Had a Beach club Lunch (again). The pool was empty for most of the day. Went back to the room for 2.15pm. Hannah had a sleep, then we left for the Contemporary Resort. Arrived there at 5.00pm. Did some shopping on the fourth floor, then got the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. Rented a stroller ($10.00). We then headed to Fantasy Land and did some rides with Hannah. The lines were around 20 minutes for most of the rides. We then went over to Pirates of the Caribbean and the line was around 30 minutes, so we decided to come back at a later date to do that (this is when you really miss them FOTL room cards!).
We then walked over to Cinderellas Royal Table for our 7.35pm reservation. managed to get seated immediately at 7.05pm. We walked into the castle entrance and Cinderella was there, but unfortunately hannah went a bit shy, so the Disney photographers suggested we have our meal then come back down and try again. We then went upstairs and were seated immediately. To be honest the meal and the service really wasn't that good and the characters that were up there (the mice and the Godmother) didn't really interact or pose for photos. So overall, I would rate this Dining experience 4/10.
We walked downstairs to get Hannah's photo re-done and there was a line of people, but now she had a full belly of food she was a lot more eager to meet and pose for photos with Cinderella! We waited in line for around 10 minutes, then it was our turn. Hannah then turned to me as though she was going through one of her shy phases again, but fortunately it was only to hand me her toy wand. She then proceeded over to Cinderella on her own and gave her a big hug and was really happy to see her.
When it came to the photos, the Disney photographer asked Hannah to smile, but instead, she pulled one of her funny faces and this sent Cinderella into hysterical laughter. After a couple of minutes of trying to stop laughing, she was able to pose for the photos. Cinderella then said that had been the funniest pose she had seen in ages and really wanted to see Hannah do it again. Andrea (my wife) suggested they both do it on camera. She said she would love to, but unfortunately Disney would not approve of this. However, she suggested we take the photos away from everyone else:
Hannah then spent around fifteen minutes chatting with Cinderella and the smile on her face was ear to ear. We then went outside to watch Spectromagic from the entrance to the castle. The ramps leading down to the front of the castle were closed, so it felt like we had our very own viewing position. When Spectromagic finished we went back to the castle entrance to pick up our photos from the check-in area. We were then invited back in the castle for Hannah to say her goodbyes to her new best friend!
We then walked over to the front of Crystal Palace to watch Wishes.
After Wishes we walked over to the Contemporary Resort car lot and drove back to the HRH.
Up next: Islands of Adventure, Fantasmic, Bubba Gumps and Margaritiville.
