Magic Kingdom, Sep 2017

On our second day of this trip, we decided to start our day at Magic Kingdom.  The park opened at 9, but we were able to score some breakfast reservations at Be Our Guest at 8:25.  This meant we were at the bus stop by 7:00 and in front of Magic Kingdom by 7:35.

When they opened the park we entered and stopped for our mandatory picture in front of the castle.

8:00

We headed straight to Be Our Guest, even though our reservation wasn't until 8:25.  We really expected to be told we had to wait until closer to our reservation time, but they didn't say anything about us being early and just directed us in.  We had used the order ahead option, to speed up the process even more.

I didn't take any pictures of our food this time, but we got the same items as last time, so if you're interested in what the breakfast meals look like, check out one of my previous posts here.  Looking back for the link, I think Littlecjc actually changed her menu item to an egg option, so sorry I didn't get a picture of that.  We always enjoy eating here, especially if we can get in before the park opens.  This way, when you're finished eating, you can exit the restaurant and you will notice a line forming across from Enchanted Tales with Belle for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  They always send this line through the fastpass entrance just before the park opens.  So, before the park officially opened we were on attraction #1, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Littlecjc was so excited to be in the first car.  Patrick and I were excited that we got this ride in.  Since we hadn't originally planned on being in the park this early in the day, all the fastpasses for Seven Dwarfs were gone when we started searching for them.

9:00

 When we got off the ride, we thought about jumping in line to ride again, but it already seemed pretty long, so we decided to move on and ride attraction #2, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

With two rides in, we decided to beat the crowds to Fairytale Princess Hall.  First, we met Rapunzel, character #1 and then character #2, Tiana.

As soon as we exited this side, we entered again to meet the princesses on the other side; Elena, character #3 and Cinderella, character #4.

If you've read my past MK trip reports you can probably guess where we went next.  It seems like we've gotten a routine for the first hour the park is open.  I guess as long as it keeps working for us, we'll keep it up.  So where do we head next? Prince Charming Regal Carousel, attraction #3.

At this point, we head to It's a Small World, attraction #4.

Neither the carousel or It's a Small World are attractions most people would recommend doing during the first hour the park is open, but we enjoy not standing in line for them at all.  It's also nice to knock out most of Fantasyland first thing, since it always seems the most crowded area, regardless of time of day.

10:00

I'm pretty sure that at this time, we checked out the line to meet Peter Pan, but it was already pretty long so we decided to go ride the Haunted Mansion instead.  Although I failed on getting any photo proof to document our time, I'm confident enough that I'm counting The Haunted Mansion as attraction #5.  After our tour of the mansion, it was time to use our first fastpass at Peter Pan's Flight, attraction #6.  Although we had only eaten 2 hours ago, we couldn't resist stopping in at Gaston's Tavern when we decided to take a restroom break.  We also noticed only one family was in line to meet Gaston, so Littlecjc and I waited in line while Patrick went to the tavern to get drinks and macaroons.

We snacked while we waited for Gaston to come out, and our timing was perfect.  As soon as we finished our snack he appeared and we met Gaston, character #5.

Littlecjc has met Gaston a few times before, but for some reason she was a little shy this time and wanted me to stand with her.

11:00

We continued our path around the back side of Fantasyland and walked on Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid, attraction #7.

After traveling through Ariel's story, it was time for us to use our fastpass to meet her in person.  So, Ariel became character #6.

When our little mermaid immersion was completed, we headed into Storybook Circus.  Our first stop here was The Barnstormer, attraction #8.

Littlecjc was so excited because she asked the castmember if she could sit in the front and they obliged.

If you stop in at Barnstormer, you have to also visit Dumbo.  Even though the line did not require us to enter the play area, it was open and therefore Littlecjc wanted to spend some time exploring.  When we were able to persuade her to move on to the ride, Dumbo became attraction #9.

When we got off the ride, Littlecjc noticed the photo op Dumbo placed between the two rides.  I think maybe it's always been too busy before for her to notice, but this time she was determined that she needed her picture taken in this Dumbo.

 12:00

Littlecjc had stated that she really wanted to see Snow White.  She's one of those characters whose meet and greet times are a little limited.  So, we decided to take the train around to the front of the park.  So, the Walt Disney World Railroad became attraction #10.

We made it in time for littlecjc to meet Snow White, character #7.

 I'm so glad we listened to this request, because she was absolutely adorable telling Snow White all about how she was in her favorite ride, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  Since we were at the front of the park, we stopped in at the firehouse for a Sorcerer's Card.  We've never done this before, and I admit that we didn't do any of it besides the initial introduction.  Honestly, I'm still a little confused by this...game, I guess is what I should call it.  I really wanted to just start collecting the cards, but we already forgot again every other day.  However, Littlecjc continued to talk about our tutorial throughout the week so we might have to check it out another time.

1:00

Our next fastpasses were for Big Thunder Mountain, but we still had some time.  We decided to go ahead that way and take advantage of the restrooms back by Splash Mountain.  These are nice if you have little ones, because there is a small play area nearby, under the train station.  We used this space to let Littlecjc run around for a bit while Patrick and I took a little rest.

When it was time for us to use our fastpasses, we moved next door to Big Thunder Mountain, attraction #11.

This was the first time for Littlecjc to ride this one, and she loved it.  In fact, when we entered with the fastpass, we discovered that the standby line was actually really short so when Littlecjc asked to ride it again we made Big Thunder Mountain attraction #12.

2:00

We quickly crossed the parade route just before 2:00 and entered Pecos Bill for a late lunch.  This worked out nicely, because once Littlecjc and I told Patrick what we wanted to eat we claimed a seat next to the window and the parade route.  I obviously wouldn't recommend this to someone who's never seen the parade before, but for us it was perfect.  Littlecjc and I enjoyed watching everything pass.  Eating this late also had the benefit of not taking too long since the place was mostly empty.  By 2:30, we were done eating and using our next fastpass at Jungle Cruise, attraction #13.

It doesn't matter how many times we ride this, we always love it.  Littlecjc also loves the flying carpets nearby, so our next stop was The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, attraction #14.

3:00

Next up was our only mistake of the day.  We made way for Pirates and decided to stand in the standby line.  Now, I do know that a large group with wheelchairs entered at the same time as us and then backed out to go through the fastpass line.  I love seeing these groups in the park and never mind waiting for them.  However, I knew there had to be something else going on, because we literally did not move at all for such a long time.  We actually debated getting out of line, but we always hate doing that once we've committed to a line since your wasted time isn't rewarded at all when you do that.  So we waited it out and eventually made it to the front where we discovered that only one side was loading and launching boats.  That meant that not only did we wait on the large group, but also any and every fastpass that entered during our time in line.  By 3:45 we eventually made it on the ride making Pirates of the Caribbean attraction #15.

4:00

We had made plans to leave the park early today so that we could meet some friends for dinner at Disney Springs.  So, we picked up our final fastpass to meet Tinkerbell back at the front of the park.  Since we lost so much time at the Pirates ride, we made our way to the front of the park where we stopped for a picture of Main St with it's fall decorations.

We then used our fastpass to meet Tink.  For some reason, this seemed to take a really long time as well.  Even with our fastpass, we spent 30 mins at Town Square Theater.  I'm not sure what the hold up was here, because the line wasn't moving at all for a long time.  Both fastpass and standby were at a standstill for probably a good 15-20 mins.  Since this was the last thing we had planned in the park this day, we didn't mind waiting too much.  Eventually, we met Tinkerbell, character #8.

This was another really cute meet and greet, because Littlecjc didn't say much to Tink while Tinkerbell was trying to get her to talk, but as soon as her visit was coming to an end Littlecjc started opening up and kept talking.  I was impressed with how Tinkerbell still showed interest and took a little more time to listen to everything Littlecjc had to say.

Evening

After Tinkerbell, we left the park and headed back to the hotel for a short break before we met our friends at Disney Springs.  On this occasion, we enjoyed a dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express and then walked around the shops with a little play break at the Lego Store.

It was great getting to catch up with our friends and have a relaxing evening on property.