Friday, July 7, 2017

Magic Kingdom, Day 2, April 2017

On our final day in Disney, Magic Kingdom was open from 9-11 with an extra magic hour in the morning at 8.  So of course, we were at the park by 7:30


Originally, we had fastpasses planned for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Big Thunder Mountain.  I don't know what our third original choice was, but we really changed our plans after our first day in the park as we figured we would anyway.  We did keep Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 9:50-10:50, and ended up adding Jungle Cruise at 12:10-1:10 and Pirates of the Caribbean 1:15-2:15.  Since we always attack rides first, and this was our second day in the park, our game plan was to start with Mickey and Tinkerbell.  So, by 7:50, they had opened the gates and we were in line at Town Square Theater.


8:00
As soon as they opened the door, we met Mickey, character #1.


If you're not familiar with this particular meet and greet, it's a must because this Mickey talks to you.  


We stayed at the theater after our visit with Mickey and got in line to see Tinkerbell, character #2.


After visiting with Tink, we left the theater and finally walked up Main St. of course stopping for a picture in front of the castle.



We were due for a ride, so we made our way to  Fantasyland and Peter Pan's Flight, attraction #1.  This ride has a really fun queue.  You walk through the Darling's house where Tinkerbell is seen flying all around causing things to move and light up.  This picture is pretty bad, but if you look on the pillow, you might spot Tink.


Another ride with a fun queue is Winnie the Pooh, which is where we headed next.  This isn't the first time I've talked about this queue area, but Littlecjc really does love standing in this line.  During this extra magic hour though, she didn't have to wait long to ride attraction #2, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.


9:00
When we got off Winnie the Pooh, the park had officially opened and more crowds were appearing.  We decided to head next door to the Mad Tea Party, attraction #3.


This ride is a great one to get adorable pictures of your little one.  



I always end up with so many.  When our ride was over, we made our way to Storybook Circus.  We spotted our friend working at Dumbo and Littlecjc couldn't wait to tell him hi.


Since we were here, we jumped in line making Dumbo attraction #4.  Of course, Littlecjc wanted to ride with Grandma, yet again.



With our ride over, we stopped by to see our friend one more time, since we knew we wouldn't see him again before leaving town the next day.


Right behind Dumbo was our next stop, Barnstormer, attraction #5.  Littlecjc likes this ride, but she looks terrified in this picture.


After riding the plane, we realized that Pete's Silly Sideshow didn't open until 10:00, so we stopped for a bathroom break and decided we might as well wait 10 minutes for it to open and be first in line since that was better than standing in line for 20.


10:00
At 10:00, the doors opened and we walked in to see Daisy, character #3.



and Minnie, character #4.


After visiting with these two ladies, it was time to use our first fastpass.  We rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, attraction #6, where I finally got to sit with Littlecjc.


I love how nonchalant Littlecjc is on this ride that she loves, but she is cute when she sees the characters.  Here's a little video.

 

I didn't think you needed to see the dark mine area, so here's where we come back outside.



We were thinking we would hit up Pinocchio Village Haus for an early lunch, but en route we found the evil stepsisters out and decided to visit them, making Anastasia and Drizella, characters #5 & 6


These two are always so much fun!

11:00
We then continued on to Pinocchio's where we were able to get one of the coveted tables next to the window overlooking It's a Small World.  Littlecjc thought this was fun.


After our lunch, we decided to wait in line for Haunted Mansion, attraction #7.



This is another ride that has added entertainment to the queue line, and Littlecjc had a lot of fun pushing these books in and playing the organ.


12:00
Patrick stopped for a drink at the marketplace right next to stroller parking for the Haunted Mansion and Littlecjc decided she needed some of the ice cream that was there as well.  So with our ice cream in hand, we made our way to the Liberty Square gazebo where Mary Poppins was scheduled to appear in about 15 minutes.  I really wanted to meet her this trip, because I feel like I keep missing out every time when I suggest meeting her and then it just doesn't happen.  This worked perfectly this time though since Littlecjc really needed to stand still with her ice cream anyway.  So, character #7 was Mary Poppins.


After I finally got to meet Ms. Poppins, we headed into Adventureland to use our next fastpass.  Here's Patrick and Littlecjc on Jungle Cruise, attraction #8, seeing the famous backside of water!


1:00
It was after 1:00 by time we got off our Jungle Cruise, and since we rode this at the end of our fastpasses' hour window, it was already time for our next pass, so that's where we went.  We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, attraction #9.  Since this was our third fastpass, as soon as we scanned our bands, we got on the app to select our next fastpass.  This time, we chose Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin for 3:25-4:25.

2:00
After riding Pirates, we put Littlecjc in her stroller, where she promptly fell asleep.  We knew we wanted to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade at 3:00, so we debated our options, and ended up just picking a spot in the shade and taking a little break.  We watched the Muppet's show first, and then I realized that we were in a handicapped reserved seating area for the parade, so we quickly decided to look for another spot before it got too crowded.  We ended up sitting across from the Sleepy Hollow.


This spot wasn't entirely in the shade, but the shade was moving closer by the minute, so we decided to save the curb spot.


3:00
As we were starting to wonder if we should wake Littlecjc for the parade or let her sleep, she woke up on her own.  The Festival of Fantasy parade is beautiful with large floats and a lot of entertainment.  The little girl that happened to be next to us was dressed up like Snow White, who spotted her and came to say hi.


Once the parade passed us by, we followed it for a bit, making our way to Tomorrowland.  Our fastpass time had just begun at Buzz, but the fastpass line was really long.  This tends to happen a lot here, and we decided to sit in some AC for a bit first to let it clear out.  So, instead, we rode Carousel of Progress, attraction #10


This ride is a classic and we hadn't rode it in a while, so it was a lot of fun.  Fair warning though, the song really does get stuck in your head.

4:00
While singing "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," we exited the theater and used our fastpass at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, attraction #11.  As always, we searched for our next fastpass while in line, and ended up with The Barnstormer at 4:30-5:30.  Patrick and I rode together and got competitive this time around.  I was so mad when we got off, because I was leading the whole way through and then right at the end, Patrick hit something big and ended up beating me.


I got over it quickly, as one of my favorite rides was up next.  No trip to Tomorrowland is complete in my opinion without a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, attraction #12.


After our Tomorrowland tour, we backtracked to Storybook Circus to use our fastpass for a second ride on The Barnstormer, attraction #13.  Again, we checked the app for our next fastpass.  This time, we chose an almost instant faspass for Tomorrowland Speedway at 4:50-5:50.  Patrick was so excited that he was allowed to ride next to Littlecjc on the Barnstormer, where he worked hard on getting her hands up.


5:00
Since our fastpass was good as soon as we got off Barnstormer, we headed straight there, making Tomorrowland Speedway attraction #14.  I was the lucky one this time to ride with Littlecjc.  However, the car infront of us was broken, so we were told to push them all the way around the track.  We were told we would get to ride a second time, where we wouldn't have to move so slowly and carefully, but there was a lot of confusion when we made our way around the track and Littlecjc seemed to be over it anyway so we just got out and moved on. 


This attraction has a small viewing area, which is where we found Patrick and Grandma who were all confused on where we had gone and how we had ended up so far behind them.  


While Grandma and Littlecjc sat here, Patrick and I planned our next fastpass for The Magic Carpets of Aladdin at 7:05-8:05.  Since I'm not a huge fan of the Speedway to begin with, I was thrilled to finally move on.  We moved back towards Fantasyland, where we decided to meet Merida, character #8.


We then continued through Fantasyland with a stop in at Mickey's Philharmagic, attraction #15.

6:00
The 6:00 hour was mostly spent getting dinner.  We opted for Columbia Harbor House this evening, where we sat upstairs.  It's always a lot roomier and more quiet upstairs.

7:00
When we finished our dinner, we headed to Adventureland.  Since we had just a few minutes before our next fastpass, Littlecjc, Grandma and I decided to take a tour through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, attraction #16.


By the time we made it back to the ground, we were able to use our fastpass at The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, attraction #17.  When we looked for our next fastpass, we decided on Space Mountain at 9:10-10:10.


After flying with Aladdin, Littlecjc spotted the "boat ride" and was determined that was what she wanted to do next.  Unfortunately, there was a longer line than I would have liked, but I think you know whose the ruler in our family.  So, we stood in line for Jungle Cruise, attraction #18.


8:00
When we finished our cruise, we decided to check out Country Bear Jamboree, attraction #19.  I hadn't seen this show in years, and Patrick and Littlecjc never had, so it seemed like the right choice for us.  I'll be honest, this is probably one we will continue to skip on most days, but Littlecjc really did enjoy it.


When the show ended, we were trying to decide what else we might want to get in this evening when we thought why not get a drink first, so we headed to Gaston's Tavern for some of LeFou's Brew.  While in line, we spotted the newly added macaroons and decided to sit down for a little snack so that we could test them out.  I can't believe I didn't get a picture, but they were so good.  I hope they stick around for a long time, because I'm already looking forward to getting them again on my next trip.  It was just about time for fireworks, but we had already decided that we weren't going to walk around to the front of the castle to watch the show this evening since we had already seen it this trip.  We debated watching from the backside of the castle, which can be fun for a second viewing, but Littlecjc didn't seem to care so we followed her lead.

9:00
We ended up riding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, attraction #20.


When we got out of our honeypot, we noticed that the line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train seemed a lot shorter than the 60-70 minute wait that was on the sign.  I really don't remember how long the sign said, but I knew looking at the line that it was a lot shorter than it said.  We figured it was a bit of a gamble still, because we thought the fastpass line might explode as soon as the fireworks ended, but we asked the boss and decided to take a chance.  This really paid off for us.  We waited about 20 minutes, which is great for this ride.  It's also nice to occasionally wait in this line, because it is another attraction that has an interactive queue.  Magical tip for you: if you get all the barrels spinning at the same time inside the mine, Snow White will appear.


When we boarded, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train became attraction #21.


When we left the diamond mines, we headed back to Tomorrowland.  Grandma decided that she didn't need to ride this, so she opted to stay out with Littlecjc.  Instead, they checked out the Incredibles Dance Party, attraction #22 while Patrick and I rode Space Mountain, attraction #23.


While in line, Patrick and I were able to pick up one last fastpass for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin for 10:00-11:00.  However, by the time we got back out to the dance party, we learned that Littlecjc had crashed for the night.

10:00
The park was open for another hour, but with Littlecjc asleep we decided we could call it a day on rides.  We couldn't leave quite yet though, because we had some shopping to do.  This was too difficult with Littlecjc awake, so it worked out great.  Grandma isn't big into shopping either, so she watched Littlecjc while Patrick and I got our fill of new merchandise to hold us over until our next trip.

We had a great last day for this trip.  We met 8 characters, obtained 9 fastpasses using 8 of them, to experience 23 attractions and 1 parade!


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