The Plaza lunch and the rest of Magic Kingdom

We found The Plaza after a minute of searching.  I knew it was "just off Main Street", but I wasn't sure exactly where.  I finally spotted the sign...

... and we found it.

We checked in and waited about 5 minutes for our table.

 

 

We got a window table, which meant we had a view of the castle for lunch.

 



 

The restaurant is small, but really lovely.

 



I had the grilled chicken sandwich.

Daniel had the grilled cheese.

Brad had a mushroom swiss burger.

And Joshua chose the meatloaf.

You have the option of getting a milkshake with your meal or a dessert when you are using standard TS dining credits.  Everyone chose dessert.  Daniel got the "Mickeylodeon" ice cream (and quickly handed the two chocolate pieces to Joshua).

I got the strawberry cheesecake.

Joshua and Brad both got the hot fudge sundae.

This was the first time any of us had been to this restaurant, so here is my take.  The location puts you in the middle of the entrance to the park, so I would imagine some people would consider that a good thing and some people would consider that a bad thing.  For us, it was a nice change.  I liked the food and the location was fun, but it's not somewhere I would rush back to year after year.  It was just different, and different is good now and again.

After lunch, we decided to hit Frontierland since we had afternoon FPs for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Oh, but let's stop for some pictures first. 

We got to BTMRR and encountered the same ridiculously long line for FP Return as we did on our previous visit.

This shows the FP line vs. the Standby line (on the left... the empty one...).

 

 

Don't worry, you still get to the ride faster in the FP line because you don't weave through the building like the Standby line does.  It is still annoying.  I don't know what the holdup is at this ride, but they need to fix it.  Quickly.

 



Daniel waiting anxiously at the gate.

Next up was Splash Mountain.  The FP line for this one moved smoothly.

 

And we got a little wet.



 Since the Jungle Cruise sign indicated it was now the "Jingle" Cruise for the holiday, we decided to give it a shot.  Brad used our hotel key cards to get paper Fast Passes since the Standby wait time was listed as 50 minutes.  Our FP return time was only 20 minutes away, so we crossed the sidewalk and watched the Tiki Birds do their thing.



 

Once we sang what the birdies sing, we went back to the "Jingle" Cruise.

There were Christmas decorations on the signs and in the queue.

And the boats had all been re-named something holiday-ish.

There was a wreath onboard the boat.

And that was it.  That was the end of the holiday décor.  The only difference on the actual ride was that the corny jokes the driver tells were mostly holiday themed.  At least that means that you heard new corny jokes, right? 

 

We decided to tour Fantasyland again.  There was only a 10 minute wait for Pooh, so we got in the Standby line.

 

I realized this was our first time actually waiting in the new, interactive Pooh line.  The boys had fun with the "honey" walls.

 

 

Then Daniel wanted to ride the Goofy rollercoaster.  Okay, fine.  We walked back into the new section again and there was only a 10 minute wait for it.  We got in line, waited our turn, boarded the coaster, and climbed the hill.  Then we sat there.  And sat there.  And sat there.  I turned around and watched the CMs frantically trying to figure out what needed to be done.  When I saw one of them pick up the phone, I told Brad we weren't going anywhere for awhile.

 

 

We laughed and joked until, finally, a CM came up the hill to offload us.

 

 

 

For our trouble, they gave us what we dubbed the "Golden Fast Pass Tickets" that are good for any attraction.  The problem is that this was going to be our last ride of the night.  Now the boys are claiming we *have* to ride something else just to use the special FPs.

 

 

We went through the Storybook Circus area and I stopped to watch the CM making these candy apples.  I swear they were too pretty to eat.  They were art! 

 

 

I convinced the guys to use the FPs on Peter Pans Flight.  It was close and a short ride.  I don't think they were happy with me, but at least we got to use them.  I got a shot of Beast's Castle on the way out.

 

 

We started making our way to the exit, going against the flood of people heading in for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  As we passed the castle, they started the show where they light it up.

 

 

We watched for a bit, but kept working our way down toward Main Street.

 



 

It was fully lit by the time we got to the other end of Main Street.

 

  The crowds were getting to me and I was tired, so it was a good time to catch a bus back to our resort.  We grabbed dinner in the food court.

And then the boys used the "free credits" that came with our room package.

I warned them before we went in that the credits would probably only get them a game or two.

 

 

Yep.  Two games of Fruit Ninja was all the credits would buy.  Oh, well.  They enjoyed it.  Time to head back to the room and pack up because tomorrow we switch hotels.  Again.