This trip was so much fun! My mom joined us this time, which was super helpful since Littlecjc wanted to do everything with Grandma. We were at Disney the last week of April which fell 2 weeks after Easter this year, giving us some of the lightest crowds we've ever experienced. We were so ready for our first day in the park and we were at the bus stop of our hotel by 6:50.
The park was open from 9-10 this day, and we were lucky enough to get dinning reservations at Be Our Guest at 8:00. Our pre-planned fastpasses were as follows: Peter Pan's Flight 10:15-11:15, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 11:40-12:40, and Splash Mountain 12:40-1:40. Upon entering the park, we first stopped on Main St. to take our picture in front of the castle.
Although we've eaten many lunches here, this was the first visit to Be Our Guest for breakfast. The table was provided with a plate of assorted pastries that were delicious. My mom and I both went with the open-faced bacon and egg sandwhich.
Patrick went with the croque madame.
And Littlecjc chose the kid's french toast.
Breakfast was delicious and pretty quick, even with taking our time, we were done and back to the park by 8:45. This was our hope, as we walked just across from the restaurant entrance to the already formed line for the seven dwarfs mine train. Even though we had fastpasses for this ride later, it is a very popular ride that always has a long line and it was Littlecjc's favorite from our last trip. We were able to use the extra time to put some sunscreen on, and move the stroller from the restaurant parking to the main Fantasyland parking area behind the carousel. Our plan was to stay in Fantasyland for a while, and it's a real time saver to leave the stroller here for an extended time instead of trying to move it from one attraction to another. Not to mention, that most attractions in this area only allow parking here.
9:00
As soon as the park opened, we were allowed access to the actual line. For those of us that were already lined up, thanks to early dinning reservations, they directed us through the fastpass line, so that we didn't have to zigzag all through standby. I think we were actually on the second or third train of the day, making Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, attraction #1.
As soon as we got of the ride, we went right next door to ride Winnie the Pooh, attraction #2.
At this point, we decided it was time to meet some characters, so we stopped in at the Princess Fairytale Hall to meet Rapunzel, character #1 and Tiana, character #2.
Once we finished with this side of the hall, we walked right back in to the other side to meet Elena, character #3 and Cinderella, character #4.
I love how Littlecjc started popping her foot (or rolling it in this case) during this trip.
10 minutes and 4 characters later, we made our way to the Carousel, attraction #3. This ride isn't really a priority that needs to be done first thing in the morning, but Littlecjc really wanted to ride it and of course we were able to walk right on. We also knew that we needed to ride this today, as it was scheduled to close the next day for refurbishment.
Our next stop is another ride that most people don't consider a first hour priority, but it's one Littlecjc likes and the rest of us don't like to stand in line for it. We also knew our fastpass time for Peter Pan was coming up, so we didn't really want to leave this area. Therefore, our next ride was It's a Small World, attraction #4.
10:00
When we finished touring the world, it was almost time for our first fastpass. Here's a little time-saver tip; you can enter for your fastpass up to 5 minutes early. Don't worry, the mickey head turns green and you just walk in, it's not just a castmember decision to let you in early. We use this trick all the time and I'm sure this is what we did next with Peter Pan's Flight, attraction #5. Since this was our last attraction in this area, we finally went back for our stroller and moved around the mine train to attraction #6, Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid.
It only made sense to head to head to the Ariel's Grotto after completing her journey, making Ariel, character #5.
11:00
We continued to circle around the mine train, and made our way into the circus. Our first stop here, was Barnstormer, attraction #7.
We keep working on getting Littlecjc to get her hands up, lol. After this attempt, we made our way to Pete's Silly Sideshow where we decided to meet the boys, The Great Goofini, character #6 and The Astounding Donaldo, character #7.
We decided to save our visit with the ladies for later and instead opted to fun through the Casey Jr. Spash and Soak Station, attraction #8.
Since our fastpass time had already started for the mine train, we made our way back.
12:00
It was just after noon, by the time we made it onto the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, attraction #9.
After our second journey through the mines, we walked by Peter Pan's meet and greet and realized that he was just about to start, so we jumped in line. We have never stopped here before, and I'm so glad that we took the time today. I think this was my favorite meet and greet this trip. Littlecjc just plopped down on the ground and Peter joined her and started chatting away. Our photopass photographer must have enjoyed our interaction just as much as us, because she took 19 pictures. They were all so cute. I'm so glad that Peter Pan was character #8.
After waiting to meet Peter, it was now time for our final pre-planned fastpass at Splash Mountain. We had hoped that Littlecjc would be tall enough this trip for these 40" rides and this was our first test. She was so close, but just a little shy of making it. Therefore, we had to get a rider's swap so that someone could stay back with Littlecjc. Patrick and I rode first making Splash Mountain, attraction #10.
I couldn't resist that first row picture attempt.
1:00
Because of the rider swap, Splash Mountain was also attraction #11.
While on this ride, Patrick and Littlecjc found some dear local friends that decided to join us in the park this day. We were so excited to spend the rest of our day with them.
They had gained some fastpasses after entering the park and their first pass was for Pirates of the Caribbean at 2:40. Since we were ready to select our next pass, we looked for a similar option and ended up with Pirates at 2:50. Thank goodness they had just joined us and we had lots to catch up on, because this was when we made our first mistake of the day. We went to Jungle Cruise where the sign said it was a 20 minute wait. As soon as we got in line, we guessed it was probably longer. By the time we knew for sure, we were already committed. It worked out okay though, and Jungle Cruise became attraction #12.
2:00
While waiting in line, we realized that none of us had eaten lunch yet and that became our next priority. We all headed to Peco Bills, and Littlecjc was asleep before we even got our food. By the time we finished eating, it was time to use our next fastpasses.
3:00
So, we made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean, attraction #13.
As you can see, Littlecjc was still napping here. Patrick also got to work getting our next fastpass, and ended up with Magic Carpets of Aladdin at 4:00. With that in mind, we decided to get in Haunted Mansion during our downtime. Here again, this took longer than it should have, because we exited Adventureland just as the Festival of Fantasy parade finished. After watching Mickey and Minnie pass us by, we joined the crowd so that we could cross the street and make our way to attraction #14, The Haunted Mansion.
Littlecjc woke up just in time to board our doom buggy. Since we entered with the masses after the parade, by the time we finished riding, we were able to head back to Adventureland for our next fastpass.
4:00
Since our friends didn't have much interest in this ride, we used our fastpasses making The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, attraction #15.
Again, Patrick got right on the app to find our next fastpass which ended up being Mad Tea Party at 4:55. However, we couldn't leave Adventureland without getting some ice cream. Mom decided on the always popular Dole Whip, while Patrick and I decided to go with the classic Sunshine Tree Terrace citrus swirl.
With ice cream in hand, we made our way back to Fantasyland and Mickey's Philharmagic, attraction #16.
5:00
After the show, we made our way to Mad Tea Party, attraction #17. Since our friends didn't have these fastpasses, or a desire to ride in a teacup, they used this time to check out the big top area where Elizabeth's dad works.
As usual, as soon as we scanned our magicbands, Patrick started looking for our next fastpass. We were able to pick up Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at 6:05. So, for the first time today, we entered Tomorrowland.
6:00
We made our way to Astro Orbitor, attraction #18. We had so much fun waiting in line, because the Incredibles Dance Party had already begun we were able to dance around.
In case you can't tell from the picture, both guys are tall which made trying to fit in the rocket with them very interesting.
We also got a kick out of my mom and Littlecjc who hung out at the bottom the entire time. They missed the memo that you needed to pull back on the lever to go up.
When we made it back to ground level, we decided to take a tour of Tomorrowland on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover, attraction #19.
Littlecjc used this opportunity to snack on some popcorn. Our friends decided to split from us at this point, so that they could get some dinner before their final fastpasses on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. We then headed to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, attraction #20 to use our own fastpass.
Before actually even boarding the ride vehicle, Patrick had already acquired our next fastpasses for the Tomorrowland Speedway, attraction #21.
After our cruise, we picked up one final fastpass for Pirates, since Littlecjc was asleep the first time we rode it.
7:00
As we crossed the park, we stopped in front of the castle to take another picture since we realized we didn't get one of just the three of us and we really wanted this in our matching shirts.
When we made it back to Adventureland, our second visit to Pirates of the Caribbean became attraction #22.
Since we ate a late lunch, none of us were starving, so we decided to hit up Sleepy Hallow for some yummy chicken waffles to share. We then made our way to the castle front to find a spot to watch Wishes, which started at 9, and Once Upon a Time, which started at 9:45. Since this was going to be the last time to ever see Wishes and it was our first time to ever see Once Upon a Time, we ended up just camping out in front of the castle from 8-10 to make sure we had a good view.
This was a great first day in the parks. If you count Wishes and Once Upon a Time, we made it through 24 attractions, 8 characters, and 9 fastpasses. We also got to visit with some great friends!
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