Day 1-More Evening
I was lucky enough to get a great outside table at Cafe Orleans.
I plugged my phone into a power bank and looked at the menu. The waitress was super sweet when she came to take my order and asked if I needed more time, but I knew what I wanted-The Monte Cristo!
I also asked if I could get a half order of fries(the orders at other tables were huge!). She apologetically told me that they couldn't do that.
It took a bit to get the water I asked for but when I did I drank a ton. I was way thirstier than I thought and had obviously not been keeping hydrated. This surprised me as I have traveled in developing countries a fair amount under very hot conditions and am a fiend about drinking water. I think, maybe, being in Disney I just didn't think about it as much and thereby didn't "make" myself drink. I realized that I hadn't even finished off the water bottle I had brought with me and resolved to be better at this.
My sandwich came out fairly quickly, faster than food for other tables that had ordered before me. I'm guessing since I was by myself it moved faster than usual.
The hype is not without merit. The sandwich is amazing.
The filing is salty but it's nicely balanced by the breading and powdered sugar. The fruit sauce on the side just makes it even better.
I couldn't finish it but managed about 2/3rds of it.
It wasn't cheap at $21 plus tax and tip, but I also realized that if I had been with someone else we could have added an order of fires and both been full. Disney may charge a lot for the sit-down meals, but it seemed like they also gave you a lot of food which helped to balance out the cost for a group.
If I ever go again with people, I will make sure that there is copious sharing.
I do regret two things. I didn't order a julep or the beignets. My intention was to get beignets the next morning for breakfast and the julep at some point but it just didn't happen. I guess the lesson is, if you're short on time at Disney, go for it!
I thought I wouldn't be able to use my Indy FP, but I got my food so fast that I was done by just after 7. I figured I'd hoof it over to Indy and try to use the FP(I now know that FP's can be used for a bit after the window so I didn't need to hurry).
I scanned the FP at 7:13pm. I was worried about a jerky ride as I had had so much food, but it actually took awhile to get on the ride. I wasn't on until 7:35pm and it would have taken longer had I been with a group. The CM was asking for two people and I called out 1(I was at the top of the stairs where you do down into loading, at least 25 people back) and he motioned me forward. I would realize the next day when I did the single rider option, that, at this moment there weren't any single riders so it worked out well.
I didn't record how long it took on the ride, but I very much enjoyed it(though it was bit jerky).
At 8:05 I went over to BTMRR and grabbed an instant-return FP. I was off the ride by 8:16pm.
Here's where things went a bit wonky. My original plan was to do a Fantasmic dining package to get the FP as I knew I would get to the park too late to get one. The two sit-downs options seemed a little expensive and Hungry Bear's menu wasn't amazing. I had done some research and it seemed like the second showing was slightly easier to see without a FP and tons of waiting so my general plan was to try to get a spot at IASW for the fireworks, try to get on a ride in Fantasyland and then head over for the 10:30 Fantasmic. Oh, but the best laid plans of mice and men...
I was yawning a great deal after BTMRR and feeling rather tired. I wasn't really sure what the best course of action. Between travel and jet lag, I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I really just wandered awhile, looking in places on main street and trying to decide what to do, should I just go back to the hotel, try to stick it out? And here's where I really messed up.
I had read that getting a spot for a single person at the first Fantasmic might work ok because you could worm your way in. I figured I would try, but wanted a snack. For some reason I was by Main Street and got a churro. I then saw that the Railroad was loading and figured I'd hop on ride a full loop back and then walk over to New Orleans. It was 8:40. Can you spot my mistake?
It took awhile to load and there were some rude CMs yelling at people who were just trying to sit and settle in and eat my churro. We got to New Orleans Square and the area seemed really busy but I figured people were lining up early for Fantasmic, which at that moment I though started at 9:30. Why? I blame jet lag. We were halfway to Toontown when I pulled out the guide that gives times for everything when I saw that Fantasmic started at 9. I thought about getting off and trying to get over there at the Toontown stop, but I just didn't think I could make it.
I finished my churro and made the loop to Mainstreet where the CMs rudely hustled people off and on. I thought about staying for the fireworks but was having trouble keeping my eyes open and saw how crowded it was. My original plan, had I been correct, wouldn't have even worked because I'm not sure I could have fought through the crowd on Main Street. I headed out.
However, while I was walking to my hotel, fireworks started. I had a pretty good view of them from the street. Of course, I didn't see the projections, but it was a nice ending to the day. I got back, took a shower and passed out.
Here's what I accomplished in this partial day:
1. Dole Whip Float
2. Pirates
3. Pinnochio
4. MTWR
5. Jungle Cruise
6. Haunted Mansion
7.Cafe Orleans
8. Indy
9. BTMRR
10. Churro
11. Railroad
Honestly, I felt a little under accomplished. I thought I could get way more done, but I realized that the same thing happened to me when I visited Universal Studios a few years back. That first day is just really hard to get your bearings and figure out what to do when. It's almost like you need to build a day in to acclimate to the park. I can't imagine how it would work at WDW with 4 parks and if you could ever really figure it out with a few days of vacation.I'm glad I didn't park hop to CA because that probably would have made things worse.
It's hard to describe, but I was on the back foot all day, trying to catch up and figure out what I should be doing, which does not often happen when I travel. I think maybe I was trying so hard to figure things out and wretch every bit of fun out of this and do as much as possible that I lost some ability to enjoy. Please tell me if I am way off here and I would
love advice to not have this happen in WDW if I can go in Spring. It's so expensive that adding a "I don't know what I'm doing day" seems really wasteful.