Just Keep Swimming 2017- Our Day 1 Adventure

Many folks are asking me for all the details of our latest Disney trip, so here they are for you, in blog form. I'm going to take one day at a time and cover all the highlights. For those of you who haven't been to Disney, it would take all day to tell you all the details about the trip. Walt Disney World is amazingly huge, and we are very active on our trips!

Our first day was in the Magic Kingdom...the park that everyone thinks of when you say "Disney World". It has the most rides and, of course, the infamous castle. Over the last couple of trips, Magic Kingdom has elevated itself to my favorite park. The environment is so happy and energetic. I will always be a child at heart, so it suits my silly personality.

Location:

Adventureland & Frontierland with just a touch of Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom

ShellieMay was in her Sleeping Beauty outfit, while Duffy had a treasure map on his t-shirt!

Eats:

Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen- The Skipper's Canteen is a restaurant modeled after one of the classic Walt Disney Attractions (and one of my favorites!), The Jungle Cruise. It is travel and adventure themed with decor and a menu based on tropical destinations in Asia, South America and Africa. The ride has a cast member (a skipper) who takes you on a guided tour. The restaurant is filled with the same pun-filled "dad"-style jokes that are on the ride , and that I adore. The menu and servers at the restaurant have that exact same sense of humor.

To drink we had Coca-Cola flavors that are found in other countries. Jimmy liked the Melon flavored one of Thailand, but I preferred the Guarana Kuat of Brazil. Nigerian-style bread with honey was delivered to our table while we waited for our food to arrive. We shared the Falls Family Falafel (A secret recipe of Chickpeas, Garlic, Onions, Lemon Juice, and Herbs served with White Bean Dip and Tomato-Cucumber Salad) and Skip's Beefy Baked Pasta
(Egyptian-inspired dish of Spiced Braised Beef, Pasta, Cheese, and Béchamel Sauce served with Seasonal Vegetables). For dessert we had the Kungaloosh! (An African-inspired Chocolate Cake with Caramelized Bananas served with Cashew-Caramel Ice Cream topped with Coffee Dust).

Everything was delicious, the ambiance was fun, and our server was great. This was definitely one of my favorite meals.

Tortuga Tavern-

We had planned on eating at Columbia Harbor House, but they closed at 5pm on that day (for some strange reason). We ended up wandering in to Tortuga Tavern, hungry and tired, and afraid other things would close soon too. We ended up having hot dogs, as their menu was limited. The environment was great (quiet, outdoors, plenty of seating, themed like Adventure Land), but the hot dog was average theme park food. This was counter service, so we didn't have a server.

Rides and Attractions:

Jungle Cruise (x2), Pirates of the Caribbean (x4), Splash Mountain (x2), Country Bear Jamboree, Enchanted Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, Big Thunder Railroad, Haunted Mansion

It'd be too long to explain each of the here, but if you are curious about any of these attractions, please let me know. I love talking about Disney. I also know a great website for ride videos if you want to see what any of them are. Disney attractions are unique- so much more than roller coasters and motion simulators. The detail that goes into the theme of each attraction is simply amazing.

Diversions:

A Pirate's Adventure- Treasures of the Seven Seas- This was a four part quest around Adventureland. It was a bit like geocaching...we got clues, had to find the right spot, and then got some loot in exchange. I will write more about it in a later post, but I highly recommend it!

Great Moments in History with the Muppets- A short little outdoor show that retells pieces of American history in the style of the Muppets. Adorable and not too crowded. It was a nice filler while waiting for our next activity.

Sidenotes:

We left the park earlier than planned, but accomplished everything we wanted thanks to our customized touring plan (touringplans.com).

We had no character greetings on Day 1 since there aren't too many in this area of the park.

We gave a shout out to Skipper Patrick when we took an in-park survey about our experience in Adventureland.

I didn't trade any pins on this day. However, as with pretty much every day, I did purchase a couple of Hidden Mickey pin pouches. I also started my Pressed Penny collection!

Memories:

This was my first time using Dramamine on the rides, as well as being on anxiety medication. WHOA! I had so much fun on Big Thunder! I had my eyes open the whole time and was pointing out decorations I had never seen before. I had no anxiety during Splash Mountain either! In fact, Splash has now become one of my favorite rides.

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