Thursday, January 29, 2015

Magic Kingdom I

On our 4th day at Disney, we headed to Magic Kingdom and we couldn't have been more excited! After resting the day before, we were ready to go :) Thankfully Addison was feeling much better and our entire family was able to go together, as planned. Since you can't park right in front of the MK, we had to arrive a little earlier than the previous days in order to catch a ride across the lake. We decided to take the Monorail across because it was a little quicker and we wanted to catch the opening show. We made it right in time to get through the security check and find a spot in line. It was so cool to see the characters ride up on the train and open the park. Definitely started the day out with a magical experience!
Of course, walking into MK and seeing the castle is breathtaking and magical. We knew better than to stop there at this point like a lot of others were and we would come back for photos later. I did snap a picture as we were walking by! This would be one of our two days at Magic Kingdom, so we chose to split it down the middle. This day we would focus on seeing all of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland with a little big of Liberty Square/Main Street.
Our first stop of the morning was Peter Pan's Flight. After doing a little research, we knew this was one ride that got long lines early and kept long lines. It was a fun way to start our day!
It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, It's a Small World after all, it's a Small, Small Woooorld!!! And that song was stuck in our heads the rest of the day!
Next our schedule said it was time to meet Peter Pan, but there was some sort of mix up by us and about 30 other people and he would not be appearing until the next showing. So, we walked around a bit before it was time to meet Rapunzel and Cinderella.
The princess meet and greets were a little tricky with our fast passes. I was able to make it work by some sort of miracle though! We were able to split our group's passes and get the kids into 2 rounds of princesses. First was Rapunzel. Kailyn had just gotten into Tangled and was very excited to see her.
Cinderella was in the same room as Rapunzel so we got to see both of them with the first round of fast passes. She was so sweet and pretty!
Now, can you believe that the kids got to see Anna and Elsa from Frozen? This was the most stressful fast pass of the entire trip. Once I figured out to split our group's fast passes, it worked! I could only get 3 passes with all different times but they all had a window of about 10 minutes in common with each other. Since Kailyn was only 2, she didn't need a pass. So I took all 3 kids in by myself! It was so fun!!! Anna and Elsa talked about Sven and Olaf with the kids and they were mesmerized. So stinking sweet! Memories for a life time...and oh so worth the trouble of pulling it off!
Sleeping Beauty/Aurora was also in the same room as Anna and Elsa so we got to see her too! Kailyn had slept through the Aurora visit at Epcot, so I was glad to get another chance to see her. She sat down on the floor with the kids and had a little talk with them.
After all of the princess meet and greets, it was time to meet back up with the group and recharge with some lunch. Then it was time for the Little Mermaid ride- Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. Since Ariel has always been a favorite of mine since I was tiny and now she was a favorite of Kailyn's, this was an extra fun ride for us. We sang along with all of the songs from the movie and enjoyed seeing all of our favorite scenes throughout the ride.
Next, we decided to try out The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This was our longest wait of the day, which was only about 20 minutes. It felt sooo long though! Thankfully there were several things to play with along the way to entertain the kiddos. I do have to admit that this was one of our least favorites, so we hated we stood in line so long for it! The ride only lasted a few minutes and wasn't that exciting.
So, of course, we couldn't leave Fantasyland without taking a spin in the teacups at the Mad Tea Party! There were several party poopers in the group who wouldn't ride, but most of us had a lot of fun.
About this time, Kailyn started showing signs of needing a nap. Daddy volunteered to push her around until she fell asleep, so I got to go and enjoy Dumbo the Flying Elephant. While you wait for this ride, they take you inside a tent where the kids can climb and play. The idea of this is very cool, but I was stressed the entire time trying to keep my eyes on Caleb. There were so many kids everywhere! Once our pager buzzed, we were ushered onto the ride.
Our next Fast Pass was to meet Ariel. I'm not sure who was more excited- me or the kids. Ha! Kailyn was extra excited because Ariel matched her shirt that day.
After meeting Ariel, we stuck around in Fantasyland a little more and enjoyed a nice relaxing time at the 3D movie in Mickey's Philharmagic. It was nice to sit down in air conditioning for a while! And this is always a great show, I love 3D movies!! The part where you are on the magic carpet with Aladdin and Jasmine is fantastic.
Once we exited Mickey's Philharmagic, we decided to ride Prince Charming's Carousel. Again, several party poopers would not ride, so Grandmama and I took the kids for a fun ride. I love this ride especially because you get to see Fantasyland as you go around, especially great views of Cinderella's Castle.
We still had some time until we went to Belle's castle, so the group voted to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway. This was another ride that was just ok for us. It isn't like your traditional go-kart ride where you get to steer and go all over the track. Your car is on a track so all you really control is your speed, which isn't very much. It was still fun for the kids though!
Our last Fast Pass for the day was for Enchanted Tales with Belle. This is a new attraction that wasn't here a few years ago when we were last there. We first walked into Maurice's workshop then we walked up into the castle where the kids were chosen to be parts in a "special" play for Belle. Caleb was chosen to be Chip the teacup and Addison was chosen to be the Beast because she had the loudest roar!! It was so fun seeing the kids in action. The photos are just ok because we could not use a flash inside. After they acted out a few scenes with Belle, they all got to go up and take a photo with her. This was the only part I wasn't fond of because it was a little rushed. THe kids were so excited to see Belle in her fancy dress though. We had seen her a few days ago in Epcot in her apron dress.
At this point, Josh, Jessica, Addison, and Grandmama decided to call it quits for the day. We had big plans to stay all night until closing, but they got tired. But my crew plus Grandaddy kept on going! We were excited to explore Tomorrowland for the rest of the afternoon. Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor was our first stop. It was SO funny. They basically joke around with the audience along with some Monsters related jokes. Too cute.
Next, we were on our way to the restrooms when we spotted the Incredibles! It was a fun surprise.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover was next on our list. It was absolutely the perfect timing for this ride. The sun had just started setting and we got to see some beautiful views of the park. Plus it was nice to sit for a bit and relax.
Carousel of Progress was our last ride of the day. Daddy actually walked next door to Space Mountain since no one else was brave enough to go with him. Oops! I think he still enjoyed it though. Grandaddy and I took the kids to this iconic Disney World classic...one of the oldest rides in the park. It gets a little long towards the end but still a neat attraction.
Now it was getting dark so we headed out to find a parade spot. We actually ended up in Frontierland for a perfect spot. We surprised the kids with glow sticks we had brought so they wouldn't ask for the way expensive Disney ones!
The Electric Parade was totally worth staying up late for. We saw all of our favorite characters all lit up and sparkly. It is definitely a favorite show of mine.
About 30 minutes or so after the parade, they close the Magic Kingdom for the day with a fireworks show. I had heard a lot of bad things about staying in the park to watch then it taking a long time to get out and back across the lagoon with the transportation lines. So we rushed out of the park after the parade in just the perfect timing to watch the fireworks from our ferry ride back across to the parking lot. It was truly magical and probably saved us at least an hour or more of sleep!
The next day would be a much needed rest day...