Disney Day 2! Hotel + Party day! I got awesome sleep the night before. It's kind of nice ending the day with Animal Kingdom because then the park closes well before bedtime. I woke up feeling good, almost like I didn't need a relaxing morning and afternoon, but knew it was going to be a long night and I would rather be feeling good for the whole party instead of falling asleep lol. Prepare for a bunch of Skyliner pictures. And Christmas party pictures...
I took my time getting up and ready and then headed over to Riviera to get some breakfast. I can't tell you how much I love the menu at Primo Piatto. And that's saying something - I just don't care all that much about food. I like it plain. Though I do like it pretty! Anyways, there's a bunch of things on the menu that sound awesome when usually I only get a few options, so I knew I wanted to try it. (Spoiler, I actually didn't even each at Caribbean Beach lol.) I mobile ordered and then went to check out the resort. It's much different than the other value and moderate resorts I'm used to. It took me a bit to figure it out, but it's hotel vs motel. It's probably the one thing I (oddly) don't like about Riviera, and I'm guessing maybe the other deluxe resorts?.. We'll see. Anyways, annoyingly it took way longer with mobile order for it to be ready, probably because they actually cook the food vs the more basic quick service which likely microwaves and plops everything together, so I suppose I can forgive it. I got the Breakfast Panini and strawberries. SO freakin good. Like can I have it all the time, please? It was big though. I only ate half of it. The seating area was small and I wanted to be outside anyways, so I ended up sitting in a chair on the sand/beach area between Riviera and Caribbean beach. It was so nice, I hung out there before starting on the Caribbean Beach loop.
Next was exploring Caribbean Beach. It was a bit of risk to walk the whole loop, but I did it anyways and turned out just fine. So mostly this is going to be my thoughts about Caribbean Beach. I already talked a bit about it in Day 1, but here's some more.
Buses - I had 0 problem with them. I liked how often they came. I think it was about every 10-15min. I did go on off times, so there wasn't a ton of people. There were a lot after the party that people stood, but it wasn't completely full. For AK, their route was Jamaica, Aruba...Trinidad. For MK, their route was Martinique, Barbados...Aruba. That meant I was last for MK, which was annoying to be last but really wasn't an issue. It does add probably 10min for pure drop offs (since it was too late to pick anyone up). Honestly I didn't have a problem with all the internal stops.
Pools - There was a couple people in Trinidad. Other than that, all the quiet pools were empty. I had the pool to myself. Granted it did just do a quick Florida rain, but when I was walking and checking out the pools, there was no one around. The main pool wasn't busy either. Definitely people, but lots of chairs. I was planning to sit at the main pool, but ended up at the Aruba quiet pool and it was kind of nice. I think I would have wanted more time if I walked down to the main pool. It was a bit of a walk for just half an hour.
Size - People's biggest complaint about Caribbean Beach. And yeah. It's big. I walked the whole loop and was so glad I wasn't down in Trinidad. Forever an Aruba girl. I walked through each of the sections. Trinidad is actually across a road, which I didn't like either. The quick service restaurant there is also tiny. Their menu wasn't bad, but it does feel like a random tiny pool bar vs a true quick service restaurant. I didn't eat there, but expect it's the same as the main Caribbean Beach quick service. I was thinking Trinidad would be close to the main skyliner station, but it's really not. It's not terribly far if you're at the northern most rooms, but if you were at the farthers, you're going to be a gooood walk away.
Once I got back walking the loop, I changed into my suit and went over to the quiet pool. It rained during that time, but it was fine sitting by the pool. Actually it was fabulous with the skyliner overhead! I chilled for a bit, then moved to the hammock after it was dry. That was great too. Just lots of chilling and relaxing. Then I went back to the room to get ready for Magic Kingdom and Mickey's Christmas Party!
And now we get ready! I actually curled my hair for the first time at Disney! Actually that's mostly because it wasn't 90 degrees out so I didn't feel the need to keep it off my shoulders and neck.
Outfit check: Shirt is from Amaazon. Skirt is Amazon (same as yesterday, just a different color). Ears are Disney. And I had light pink crocs on, but I guess I didn't get a full length picture.
I originally planned to leave the hotel at 2, but I was a little early and decide to get going early. And then I got to see the parade on Main Street! My favorite float is easily the Tangled float. I LOVE Tangled, but I also love the swinging axes that the guys make swing. And Flynn Rider =) Then I took some photos of the castle since I have taken really crappy ones prior to this trip. Next I went to head to the Tangled tower. Or I guess Rapunzel's tower, but I like the Tangled tower better lol. But first, I got to walk through the castle! I either have crappy timing or it's been closed lots, so this was SUPER cool. Wish I could have lingered, but they were just about to close it off for the show at the castle. Then after the Tangled tower and Tangled potty break (lol), I caught the show at the castle. There weren't many people there, so I got an easy view.
Then I was off to the Liberty River Boat. Which btw, I don't think I've EVER ridden. I had no clue there was anything back around Tom Sawyer's Island, and there totally is! There's little scenes and things. I can see why it was created. I feel like Walt would have liked it. Anyways, this was on my bucket list to ride since it'll be closing as some point soon. Now I've gotten to the Liberty River Boat and Tom Sawyer Island. I'm kind of sad to see them go, but I'm also ready for something new.
Next I was off to the somewhere! It's now been over a month and I totally don't remember so I'll just pretend. I do know I ended up on the Tron path over to Storybook Circus, and then I walked through the Storybook Circus area..seeing Santa. Not literally though there wasn't really a line so I guess I could have. I wandered through the huge store there and then went and rode Little Mermaid. I think I then went and got my wristband? Maybe. I don't know. But I ended up on the People Mover after that. I wanted to get on it before the sun set. And that's when my sweater went on. Then I think I actually went and rode Tron. I was going to wait until later but just decided to go for it. Next was food because I was starving. I got the pot roast sandwich at Cosmic Ray's and it was pretty good. I started not feeling all that great at this point and so everything really went up in the air. I did go and watch the Frozen show at the castle and then made my way closer to Frontierland to watch the parade. I LOVED the parade. Terrible pictures but I loved it.
I assume I went and rode Space Mountain with the Christams overlay after. Though I really don't remember! I loved the Christmas overlay though. HATED the halloween one in the pitch dark. It was aweful. But I loved it a bit lighter with the red and green lighting. Also figured out there were 2 tracks. I totally didn't know that! But I literally saw the car on the other track heading up the mountain at the beginning, running just slightly before us. Next I don't know the order of things. I know I rode Pirates because I just walked right on, and same with Big Thunder. And I only rode Big Thunder because it was going to be down all next year (now this year) with no opening date in 2026. I actually really like the ride, but I HATE the queue. It's my most hated queue so I really hope they fix it. When it's hot, you roast in the queue outside and then you finally get to the inside and you're like YES, some shade. Only to be shoved in a claustrophobic heat box. I seriously don't understand how it can be so much hotter in the shade. And let's not even talk about the split line that you have to pick which side. Nope. Disney, please fix this. Thank you. Rant over.
I really wanted to ride Tiana's but it was down most of the day and night and when it came back up the wait was over an hour. Combined with the cold, I skipped it. Sad. I did start to feel better by the fireworks, but I ended up watching them from the Tangled tower. Or I guess Haunted Mansion area. Oh! And I did ride Haunted Mansion which sadly they didn't have the stretch room running because it was a walk on. The Tangled tower was SO pretty at night lit up. I will have that on my list for every trip to go walk through there at night. I skipped the big show at the castle too because the thought of standing there with tons of people didn't sound too good when I wasn't feeling 100%. Lastly I think I rode Buzz Lightyear and then left. Something like that. Next time hopefully I won't feel crappy. I headed back to the bus and there wasn't a ton of people. We waited and it filled up enough that some people stood, but it wasn't super packed. Aruba was the last stop too which was sad, but I got back at an okay time and knew I'd be sleeping in anyways. All in all, it was a pretty good day!
