12 Days at Disney Feb 2018 Trip Report - Day Nine

This was my mother's last day with us, and of course, we had to spend it at the Magic Kingdom, so we planned to get there for opening. The monorail from the resort was very busy and completely full, but the park itself was ok. One thing I loved about the Polynesian was that I'm the kind that needs a little coffee and a little nibble in the morning, and while approaching, or even waiting in, the monorail line at the Polynesian, you could go to Kona Cafe's little coffee stand and get decent Hawaiian coffee and a chocolate croissant, so I'm pretty sure I took advantage on this particular morning, as I did pretty much whenever we were taking the monorail in the morning.

We walked right onto Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This is one of my favorite rides at Walt Disney World (though wait until I tell you how DisneyLAND makes it even better!). After Buzz, we did the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Then, we had a FastPass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which my daughter quickly dubbed her favorite ride.

After this, we had to stop at Gaston's Tavern for another Lefou's brew. Ok, I say "we", but I mean "me". I was craving it, and the rest of the family was getting nibbly, so we also picked up a ham and cheese stuffed pretzel which was reallllly tasty. Gaston's is definitely underrated.

The side of the building that houses Gaston's Tavern

And of course, we met the man himself. He was absolutely wonderful. After meeting him, I went back inside to return our tray and he came inside because some kid had lost his autograph book, so Gaston was calling the kid's name, and he had a really booming voice. Like everyone in the place sort of jumped and turned to him. So, Gaston is basically like he is in the movie!

Next, we did Pirates of the Caribbean, followed by Splash Mountain. My daughter does not like log flume rides, so she was scared to go on, but she toughed it out. I'm glad she did. Splash at Disney World is one of my favorites and I feel bad if I go and don't ride it at least once.

We're going right down the middle of Main Street, U.S.A!

Then, we rode the train back to Main Street station and stood on the train station to watch the Main Street Trolley show before we had to head out as mom's Tragical Express time was approaching. We did have a little time, though, so grabbed some light lunch from the Oasis pool bar and again, underrated place! Almost no one was there, but the selection, drinks, and food, were quite good.

Mom's Tragical Express arrived at about 2:00. We waited with her for it and waved goodbye. The rest of us had a few more days, though, so after she left, we decided to hit the pool for a bit.

After the pool, husband, daughter, and I headed to Disney Springs. We got some shaved ice, watched the dreamboats from the Boathouse for a bit, and saw a sad and lonely looking Photopass photographer so we had our picture taken and chatted with her for a while. I hate seeing Cast Members who everyone is just walking past and ignoring. There are some locations that you get posted that are just really boring. I remember it, and was always grateful when someone stopped by.

A dreamboat at Disney Springs

Then we went the Lego Store, and then had dinner at Earl of Sandwich, which was as good as everyone says. I had the holiday turkey sandwich and have since had nothing other than that at Earl of Sandwich, so that tells you how much I liked it. The husband had the Hawaiian Turkey. We wanted to stop at Ghirardelli, but we were stuffed, and we had hit a wall of exhaustion, so it was back to the room. We did catch the end of Happily Ever After from our building, again.

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