We had a long day and a late night at Epcot, so as much as it pained me, I let my family sleep in the next day. By 9:00, I couldn't take it anymore and roused everybody out of bed so that we could head for our first day at Magic Kingdom. It felt odd to wait until our third day at the parks to head to Magic Kingdom, but once there, we all remembered why it's our favorite.
Loving us some mine train!
We then fit in a visit with Ariel, a spin on the tea cups, a meet and greet with Alice, and a relaxing ride on the People Mover before lunch. We also tried out the new mobile ordering feature to order our lunch at Columbia Harbor House while waiting in line for the People Mover and immediately added that to our list of time saving tips for Disney. Loved it!!
Meeting mermaid Ariel is always a must for our family, especially for one specific family member.
Alice was lots of fun and the kids enjoyed spending time with her.
The People Mover is a favorite for Briggs. It's like a slow, relaxing train ride. What's not to like?
After lunch we did Enchanted Tales with Belle where Adelie was the Beast, Staley was Maurice, and Briggs was scared. It made it even more fun that Papa and Zach were chosen to be the soldiers.
Zach and Papa had a starring role.
Staley shivered in the dungeon as a very convincing Maurice.
Adelie enjoyed her time in the spotlight.
And although Briggs refused to take part in the activity, he did agree to a picture with Belle.
We took a relaxing boat ride on the Liberty Square Riverboat before the Festival of Fantasy parade. While Zach and Papa went to stake out a good spot for the parade, Uma and I took the kids for a spin on Dumbo before rushing back to catch the parade.
Dumbo is always a family favorite.
As is the parade.
We then enjoyed doing as many other rides as we could squeeze in for the rest of the afternoon and evening, including more Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin, It's a Small World, more tea cups, Haunted Mansion (for Zach and Papa), the carousel, and the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. We took a small break in the fun for dinner at Ohana. Riding the monorail to the restaurant was a highlight for Briggs. Zach and I both LOVE the food at Ohana. Unfortunately, our kids don't share the same sentiment. They ate a lot of bread, nibbled on the meat, and then polished off their dessert.
Uma and Adelie enjoying the Little Mermaid ride
We made it back to Magic Kingdom in time to fit in a few more rides (and a Dole Whip) before the night time show. The Happily Ever After show is my favorite Disney night time show with projections on the castle, fireworks, music, and Tinkerbell flying down from the top of the castle. Although it was insanely crowded and Briggs refused to watch it, I still thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.
The next day was our "free day", meaning we did not have definite plans about which park to visit or what to do. After our Epcot day, the kids had determined that they wanted to go back to Epcot for part of the day followed by swimming at our resort. However, the day at Magic Kingdom changed their minds and they instead decided that we should head back to Magic Kingdom the next day for the morning followed by swimming at our resort. So that's what we did.
We got to Magic Kingdom nice and early as Adelie had decided that she wanted to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train and I hoped to do that before park opening. Unfortunately, we soon learned that unlike the other parks that let you enter before the official opening time, Magic Kingdom holds everyone in the Main Street area until the posted opening time. So we waited in a growing mass of people until the park opened, walked as quickly as we could to mine train when it opened, and still waited in a 20-30 minute line to ride. In that time, Zach and Papa took Briggs on both the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Astro Orbiter (which made Zach feel a little ill).
I'm not sure why Adelie has her tongue out, but she enjoyed her first roller coaster experience and quickly deemed it her new favorite at Disney.
Once off the mine train, we were still able to fit in a few more rides, like the Barnstormer and Dumbo, before meeting a few princesses.
Tiana was Briggs's favorite princess...
while Rapunzel is a whole family favorite.
Because the day was cool and in the 50's, there was no line for Splash Mountain. We had learned from a park employee that they actually change the splash levels on the ride based on the temperature. Knowing that we wouldn't get too wet, Zach, Papa, Staley, and I took the plunge on Splash Mountain while Uma and the littles watched. It ended up being one of Zach's favorite rides at Disney.
Who doesn't love this little pixie?
We may have picked one of the coldest days of our trip for our swimming day, but that didn't stop the kids from loving it. The pool was heated, so as long as we stayed in the water, it wasn't too bad. We swam for over an hour before it was time to get ready for dinner. We bused back to Magic Kingdom, boated over to Wilderness Lodge, and enjoyed an excellent meal at the Artist's Point restaurant. This was my favorite meal of the trip. The food was amazing (and plentiful), and we got to meet Snow White, Dopey, Grumpy, and the Wicked Queen.
The characters not only came to each table, but they also danced and entertained throughout the meal as well.
The kids didn't all nail the Grumpy pose...
but acting goofy with Dopey was something they had no problem with.
The evil queen was very entertaining. She really embraced her character and was as vain as you'd expect. I really enjoyed her. She might have been one of my favorite characters this trip.
If the appetizers and dinner weren't good enough (they were!!), the meal was finished off with a sampling of desserts. The poison apple, gooseberry pie, and miner's treasure were all scrumptious...and cute!
The meal ended with the presentation of the hunter's gift. Our waiter opened the fancy box and dry ice came steaming out. Briggs was worried that the chocolate hearts and caramel popcorn would be too hot from all the smoke, but it was a fun end to the meal.
After dinner, Uma and Papa decided to head back to the resort while the kids wanted to go back to Magic Kingdom to fit in a few more rides before the park closed. So we did. We skipped the fireworks and night time show in order to float our way through It's a Small World, ride in a honey pot for Winnie the Pooh, and take a quick spin on the tea cups. As we were then heading out of the park towards the end of the night time show, hoping to beat the post fireworks rush, I realized that I did not have my camera. My good, expensive, fancy camera that I had taken to our Snow White meal. While Zach waited with the kids, I sprinted through the crowd back to the teacups. Thankfully it had been found and turned in to the workers for the ride. With great relief, I held tight to my camera as I found my way back to my family and we headed back to the resort.
We had filled two more days with theme park, resort, and restaurant fun, and we still had 2 more days at the parks to enjoy. You'd think that the kids would be getting tired or grumpy or ready for a break, but they were still riding high and enjoying it all. Thus is the magic of Disney!!
