Day three was Magic Kingdom day! Planning this day was huge for me. So huge that when things didn't go 100% how I had planned them, I started to have a little bit of a Disney Breakdown, or DB as I like to call them. Usually you see children having DBs throughout the day from being over-stimulated or under-rested. However, at the end of the day, you see parents and grandparents suffering from DB because they are trying to fight the massive exodus of people during parades or fireworks. That was me. I am not proud of it. It's my disdain for not having control of a situation, and my expectations that I've built up in my head falling short of what I was, well, expecting.
We went into the park knowing that the hours were from 9am-9pm with extra magic hours for resort guests extending to 11pm. Hubs and I decided to nix the wake-up call at 6:30am, because we were out late the night before and we didn't want our kids to be the ones suffering from DB. So instead of arriving at MK in time to see the opening ceremonies, we arrived around 10am.
When we first arrived, we decided to meet Mickey on Main St because the line wasn't that long. A was fine until we got into the room where he was...then there were tears, then screaming, then flailing the closer we got to him. So I just stepped to the side and tried to reassure her while K got her autograph book signed and had her picture taken. It's pretty cool because, unlike when I was a kid, Mickey interacts with the guests by moving his mouth, blinking and speaking. He even did the Hot Dog dance with one of the little girls. So cute, but not for our little one, unfortunately. On our way out, we purchased super cute purple leopard print Minnie ears with feathers on top for K. She was so happy to wear them all day!
Scared
Terrified
Only one child in the picture
From Tomorrowland, we took the back path by Space Mountain to the new Fantasyland. By the time we did this, A was asleep so she missed out on a few things. We decided to get lunch and move on, then come back when she was awake. I wanted to eat at Be Our Guest, but the line was SO long! We ate at Pinnochio's Village Haus instead. Hubs and I had flatbread Italian subs and K had flatbread pizza. We were all very satisfied with our meals, they were tasty and very filling! We couldn't have been happier with the quality. Once A woke up, we caught the Celebrations Parade. She was ok with the parade at AK because all of the characters were on floats, but that was not the case for this parade. When Goofy approached her, she was literally screaming terrified. I have a picture of this happening and it is hilarious! The rest of the parade was great, K, Hubs and myself enjoyed the whole thing. I especially loved Peter Pan and Mary Poppins because they are my faves.
Absolute TERROR
Checking to make sure Goofy is gone...
Of course we hit up the carousel, Dumbo, Mad Hatter's Tea Party, It's a Small World and met Cinderella and Aurora while we were in the area. A second Dumbo ride was added next to the first one, with a large indoor playground (equipped with AC!) between them. If there's a long wait, you can go into the tent, get a pager (like at a restaurant) and sit and relax while your child plays until it is your turn. Pretty clever, Disney!
On Dumbo
Waiting to meet Princesses with my Princesses
Trying to pull the sword from the stone
Frontierland is next, with Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. K wanted to ride all four mountains, so that's exactly what we did. She even got to ride them all twice (BTMR like 6 or 8 times) because of parent swap. We skipped Tom Sawyer's Island because K isn't really into just walkin around. She needs action!
We had reservations at Tony's for dinner, which I loved because I love Lady and the Tramp! Dinner was good, but it wasn't our favorite of the whole trip. A and I got Spaghetti and Meatballs (duh, you have to), K got Shrimp Scampi, and Hubs got Braised Short Ribs with Mushroom Risotto. A loved her spaghetti, but I think I would have liked it more had I just got meatballs instead of one meatball and one Italian sausage. K liked the way hers tasted, but it didn't treat her tummy well. Probably because we'd eaten a lot of heavy food and we don't usually do that. Hubs liked his short ribs, but he was expecting his risotto to be the same as a local restaurant that we go to at home. We all took desserts to go (pumpkin cheesecake and tiramisu) because again, we just couldn't finish it all. We walked back to Tomorrowland to ride on the Speedway...K is an awful driver, PS. Way too much over-correcting.
In Adventureland, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, which A was surprisingly ok with. Later on in the evening she actually requested a second ride! It was almost time for the light parade so we took a breather and staked out a good spot. The electrical parade is another vivid memory I have from childhood. <3 I had bought A a glowing fairy wand right before the parade started and from her float, Tink told A she liked her wand. Too cute! Poor K just kind of sat for a minute to let her tummy settle. Afterwards, we got kind of swept up in the crowd making their way to the front of the park to see the fire works. This is where I had my DB. I wanted the girls to see Tink fly down from the castle (another of my vivid memories), and to see the fireworks because that was one of mine and Hubs' favorite parts from our last visit. Cast Members were telling us not to stop, to keep walking and we couldn't turn around because of the crowd. When we finally got to stop to watch everything, the girls had barely gotten a glimpse of Tink and we were watching fireworks through tree branches. I started to lose it. I know it sounds silly, and it totally was, but at the time, I was super bummed. Hubs got pretty annoyed, K apologized that I was upset, then I felt bad.
We made our way to the Haunted Mansion not knowing whether or not A would be ok with it. Surprisingly, she was alright. There were short times of burying her face in my arm, but for the most part, she handled it like a champ and came out smiling. I count that as a win! By this time it was approaching 11pm, so we made a mad dash to Fantasyland so K could go on Goofy's Barnstormer with Hubs and A could go on Under The Sea with me. It was so cute riding that ride with A. She danced to Under the Sea, and held her nose because we were "under water". My heart melted! On our way in, I asked a CM what time the park closed and she said extra magic hours were until 1am. WHAT?!?! Bad mood over! K and Hubs were so psyched to hear the news! We rode Dumbo again, and then The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. A LOVES the Winnie the Pooh song, so this ride was one of her favorites. On our way out, both girls just HAD to have an Eeyore (or Eewore, as A says). Hubs really wanted to ride Space Mountain again, and that led to a second ride on Buzz Lightyear.
Super concentration
Me too
We trekked back to Adventureland for the Jungle Cruise, got a delicious Dole Whip, went on the requested second ride on POTC, and then we climbed up into the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House (great views from the top, by the way! Totally worth the climb!). At this point it was about 12:30am and Little A was the leader of the pack. She held up the hem of her Minnie Mouse costume dress as we climbed the Tree House, she was wide awake and alert and in a great mood! K wanted to ride BTMR again, and we actually fit 4 more rides in for her on that. Then we slowly and leisurely made our way to the entrance, taking pictures the whole way.
After the fireworks were over, we basically walked on to every ride we went on. The wait times were great all day, actually. The longest we waited was to meet Mickey (25 minutes) and Cinderella (30 minutes, even with fast pass). I will never go back to MK in the springtime like we did last time we visited. Autumn is SO much better! The weather is better, the crowds are better, wait times are next to zero.
Aw I sure hope so!
I already can't wait to go back to Disney! I get a little Moused out, sure...But I would take it over work any day!
Mrs. KDub
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