Bricker Family Disney World Trip Report — Pt 5

After day 3 of our family trip was spent in Magic Kingdom, the only park we had left to hit was Animal Kingdom. However, with Pandora – World of Avatar still under construction and Rivers of Light not debuting until the following day, my parents didn’t have interest in going there. Instead, they wanted to go back to Magic Kingdom for Carousel of Progress, the Peoplemover, and a handful of other attractions we missed.

While we were unlikely with our Rivers of Light timing, we were fortunate in one regard. That morning, the news that Happily Ever After was replacing Wishes! broke. This meant we’d have a final chance to say goodbye to the show before it was retired in May.

We got another late start to the day, but with only about 5 attractions on the agenda, this was not a huge issue. We took the boat over from Fort Wilderness, passing by the new Copper Creek Villas’ construction along the way…

I love the approach via the boats. I think this is underrated, in fact. Everyone loves the monorail resorts for their unique quality and convenience, but the boats offer a similar experience. They just are not nearly as unique as a monorail, and are arguably less convenient.

With the monorail, there’s a certain predictability in knowing that the next monorail is only a few minutes away. There’s a longer interval between boats and the commute is slightly longer and not as as predictable, but I don’t find them to be any less convenient. Additionally, the boats don’t tend to break down like the monorails.

For a lot of people, I think the difference really comes down to predictability. I get this, and it’s the same reason I tend to prefer the monorail resorts over ones with boat transportation.

Interestingly, now that the bus wait time board has appeared at resorts, I’m far more comfortable with those than I was before–even if they are not more efficient. The ‘fear of the unknown,’ so to speak, with the buses is what used to get me. You’d never know if the next bus was 5 minutes or 35 minutes away.

A decade from now, when Disney announces (probably via some holographic chip implanted in our heads) that the Move It! Shake It! Whatever It! Roaming Noise Festival is retired, people will mourn that.

Even I will probably be sad, recalling many “fond” memories of having the delightful ambiance of Main Street interrupted by the loud discord of pop music being blasted from boxes on wheels. Or not.

We started out the morning by heading over to Adventureland, where the plan was to do Pirates of the Caribbean.

Then, it was time for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover, which was (thankfully!) operating.

After that, my parents wanted to do Plaza Restaurant, so we headed there for lunch…

I had the Cheese Steak Sandwich. It was pretty much exactly what you’d expect. Definitely higher quality than similar iterations of this that you’d find at a counter service restaurant, and worth the slight premium in price (at least, to me).

Sarah had the Honey Barbecue Beef Brisket Burger. It was a bit too greasy for her tastes (I’ve had it in the past–it’s glorious), but she still thought it was a good option.

I don’t recall what my parents had, but since I didn’t take photos of their food, that means they probably ordered the burger and/or cheese steak sandwich, too.

For my drink, I also ordered the All-You-Care-To-Enjoy Milk Shake. Of course, for the sake of research, I had to try all four flavors.

They were all fine, but none stood out like the ones at 50’s Prime Time Cafe. By comparison, these seemed diluted and lower quality. Given that they were unlimited, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the case.

Since no person needs four milkshakes over the course of a meal, I’d much rather have a high-quality milkshake that isn’t bottomless.

My Chocolate PB&J Milk Shake at 50’s Prime Time Cafe was about a shake and a half, was perfectly filling, and cheaper. I’d take it any day of the week over what Plaza Restaurant offers. Oh well, live and learn.

Plaza Restaurant has been a restaurant we strongly recommend as a way to have a table service meal at near counter service prices, and while that’s still mostly true, they can still “get you” with the appetizer and dessert prices, which are decidedly table service prices.

My “research” (you’re welcome) left me what was either a food coma or a prolonged state of brain freeze. Either way, there’s about an hour and a half gap in my memory and photos during which time we did…who knows what. I’m 95% sure we did Carousel of Progress. If so, I watched through my eyelids.

There’s also the possibility that I passed out on a bench, and everyone else abandoned me and went over to Epcot to drink around the World Showcase. I’ll never really know for sure.

It’d be impossible to forget what we did next, which was watch “The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History.” If you haven’t seen this yet, make a point of stopping on your next trip. It’s the best addition to Magic Kingdom in years, and one of my favorite overall attractions.

I hope this show proves popular with guests, and continues to evolve with additional skits. A new segment about how angry Andrew Jackson was after he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War seems like it’d be educational for some.

My mom didn’t have dessert with lunch, wanting to try a Citrus Swirl.

It was getting to be late afternoon by this point, and I think my parents were getting worn out from the trip. They had set out to see everything they wanted to see in Magic Kingdom, so they decided to head back to Fort Wilderness for the evening before their flight back to Michigan the next morning. I tried to convince them to stay, noting it was their last chance to see Wishes, but to no avail. On Page 2, we’ll cover evening in Magic Kingdom, including our last-ever viewing of Wishes and dinner at California Grill…

33 Responses to “Bricker Family Disney World Trip Report — Pt 5”
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