Day Two (Part 2) – Bring me Ketchup and a LARGE Drink, please

Day Two (Part 2) – Bring me Ketchup and a LARGE Drink, please

Loading the stroller, we made the first trek to our bus stop (one of four (4) for our resort): The South Depot. Settling in at the depot, the kids hopped out and I tried to fold the stroller (so we would be prepared to load the bus when it arrived) – no luck. Well, mechanics is not my strong point, so here, Bop, you try.  Several minutes later, he was still trying to find the lever to pull to release the locking system, “how do you fold this thing”?????   Finally, he found the release straps in the middle of the seats (that’s strange, but it worked).  Ok, so that worked, now if our bus would just show up.  We had to take a bus to the Magic Kingdom, then a ferry to The Wilderness Lodge where our restaurant, “The Whistling Canyon Café” is located.  Still waiting… and then, “ Nana, I have to…” yep, Christian needs RR again – we are too far away from the room and surely the bus is about to be here, but the ride will take 15 minutes, then another 10 min ferry ride -  Kayna pointed to woods and a little hidden pathway through them – yep, for a boy – that’ll work.  Sorry Disney, I’m sure it’s not the first time though J.   Ok – back in business now, and here comes the bus.

A quick bus ride, straight to the Magic Kingdom, and then we boarded the ferry to the Wilderness Lodge. I love this peaceful lodge in the midst of thousands of people, so serene, well at least on the outside.  The restaurant itself is loud and playful, and fun – one of the reasons, we chose it.  The food is really good here too, so that doesn't hurt our decision either.  After checking in, we waited about 15 minutes, while Kayna explored the lobby as our official trip photographer.  A cute bridge surrounding a small bubbling geyser in the lobby caught the children’s attention.

Bop and Christian

Nana and Savannah

Nana with her girls, on the ferry

The Ferry

Wilderness Lodge

Wilderness Lodge

Bop on the bus

Finally, our buzzer lit, and it was time to enter the Loud and Fun zone of The Whistling Canyon Café.   Guess what Christian ordered?  Through guessing yet?  Yep, Chicken and Fries again. The rest of us ordered the All You Can Eat Family Platter (pork, steak, ribs, corn, mashed potatoes and beans).

After we ordered, I reached for my phone to take a quick picture of the kids at the table, and couldn’t find it… I dug through my small sling bag, looked on the floor, in my pockets, it was simply not there! I had left it in the lobby on the portable charger, by the chair I was sitting in.  I rushed to the lobby concierge desk and inquired. I’m sure the concierge heard the panic in my voice because he patted me on the hand, smiled and said “I’ll be right back, just hold on”.  Within 60 seconds he re-appeared from the back room with my phone and charger in-hand.  Ok, whew, I can breathe again now.

The waitress appeared at our table, greeted us, took our orders and threw the napkins and straws in the air, splattering them all over the table, quickly saying “ here ya go”!  That’s the tone of this restaurant and the fun was just beginning.  The kids giggled while we waited on our food. 

When the food arrived, Christian needed ketchup for his chicken and fries, so we asked for ketchup -  the waitress then stood right beside him and hollered (yeah, I said hollered), “ This little boy needs some ketchup over here “ – within a minute, several people brought arms full of ketchup bottles to our table. We ended up with about 20+ bottles – too funny.  

I took about 3 bites of food and then…. “ Nana, I have to go…”  ,  so I took the opportunity to gather the girls up too and off we went, back to the lobby to find the RR , again J . Back to the table to eat, the food was so good! Kayna loved the BBQ sauce on the ribs and the mashed potatoes.  Dennis needed a refill of Coke, and when he asked, the waitress brought him a tiny glass about the size of a miniature salt shaker. After 1 swallow (it was empty then), she asked “Would you like another refill” then brought him a mason jar style glass the size of a 2 liter. We love this place, so fun.  

They brought Christian a birthday cupcake with a candle in it – he stood up in his chair as the waitress announced his birthday, and everyone sang happy birthday!   

The waitress scanned my magic band to deduct the meal from the dining plan, I signed the receipt and we were on our way.  The temperature had dropped and the wind was blowing, so we opted just to take a bus back to the Magic Kingdom instead of the Ferry.  Getting to the bus stop was a bit of a challenge, but after asking directions, we finally found it, and within minutes, we were back at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom.

We walked the short distance to the Monorail station and rode the loop once, through the resort areas, through the Contemporary hotel, and around the park, to give Christian his first glimpse of the castle. He pointed to it in excitement, but it was still a long way away, so after a couple of glances from different points along the path, he kind of lost interest.  It would have been nice if we could have gotten on an express monorail from one hotel to the park and back, but it had to make the entire loop, stopping at each place. We are all getting tired now, and glad to finish the ride and get back on our bus to our resort. But, before we got back to the Magic Kingdom Monorail Stop, the familiar sound of  “Nana, I have to go…”  hit my ears again J  After unloading, we had to go through a quick bag check with security to enter the first outside check-in portion of the Magic Kingdom park so we could have access to the Rest Rooms.  He made it with no problem J

About 9:30 p.m. now, back in the room, the kids got ready for bed and I packed bags for tomorrow, so we would be ready to leave early.  It had gotten cold tonight when the sun went down (about 59 and wind blowing), so I packed a “locker bag” that I would store once we arrived at the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon, with pants, long sleeved shirts and lightweight jackets.  Savannah and Kayna had lightweight backpacks with their autograph books, and snacks for the day. I kept Christian’s autograph book and snacks in my cross shoulder bag, with other essentials (moleskin, small scissors, hand wipes, and a few snacks). Uh-oh, no Fat Pens! I forgot to buy Fat Pens for autographs. Ok, I can just get them in the morning at the Resort Gift Shop, on the way to the bus stop. Dennis had the camera bag, but Kayna is now the official photographer – she loves taking pictures.  All set now, kids are asleep, time for bed!

Note: (For those of you who may not be experienced in Disney Autograph Etiquette, the characters who do not talk, (Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Jake, Sophia, Doc McStuffins, Goofy, Pluto, etc) usually have large gloves or costumed hands, and a fat pen is preferable for signing instead of the skinny bic type pens).