It was about 9:30pm on Sunday, June 1st when we arrived back at the Magic Kingdom.
Earlier we had a wonderful dinner at Narcoossee's, watched the Electrical Water Pageant, then hopped on a monorail back to the Magic Kingdom before Wishes was to begin at 10pm.
We still had two Fastpasses for anything in the park. We had all been greatly anticipating the opening of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in New Fantasyland. We made a bee line straight for that as soon as we were back inside the Magic Kingdom.
The posted standby time was still 90 minutes, but we scanned our MagicBands and walked right through the Fastpass line. Within 5-7 minutes we were on the ride!
We LOVED it! It was particularly awesome at night. Some of the views of the castles were great! The animatronics are the best at Disney World yet. And the way the ride vehicle swings out around curves makes it super smooth. It's not the big "thrill" of a Rock N Roller Coaster or anything, but it is 100% pure Magic Kingdom magic...a perfect new addition to Fantasyland.
As we got off Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Wishes was just beginning. We've seen Wishes before, but not from Fantasyland. Everything is so dark! And the fireworks are directly over you! We watched over our shoulders as we were walking towards Frontierland. By the time we arrived at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Wishes was over...and there was a small rain shower that only lasted a few minutes. The masses started leaving Magic Kingdom in droves! We walked on BTMRR in about 10 minutes. Afterwards, we went over to Splash Mountain. We still had one more Fastpass for anything in the park, but the standby line was only 10 minutes, so we didn't use the Fastpass. We were on in probably 5 minutes or so! (I didn't remember to get the ride photo this time.) After that, we rode BTMRR again. (Third time today!)
After that, DD and DW wanted to get back on BTMRR again (more on that in a minute), but DS wanted to ride Space Mountain since we didn't get to ride earlier in the day. So he and I headed to Tomorrowland and used our last Fastpass to walk right on Space Mountain.
The girls weren't far behind us. After riding BTMRR again they headed towards Tomorrowland and decided to ride Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. DD made a bet with DW: whoever scored the highest had to give the other person two of their snack credits for the trip! So the stakes were high! DD was victorious!
Next....what we had been waiting for...a less crowded Fantasyland! No strollers, no long waits in the heat....just a nice evening! It was a little more crowded than I thought it might be, but still....this is the way to go! I texted DW and they met us at the restrooms near Gaston's Tavern.
Then we rode Voyage of the Little Mermaid for the first time ever! This attraction was not here on our last trip to Disney World. What a neat little dark ride! DD and I loved it! DS...not so much.
It was about midnight and the park officially closed at 1am, with Extra Magic Hours until 3am. We walked back towards Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to see how long the wait was. Still 80 minutes at midnight! Just across the way, we saw that the wait for the Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh was only 15 minutes. This attraction was on my 'must-do' list for this trip....because, believe it or not, I had never ridden it! The standby line is always so long. Not this time. We got in line and were on within 15 minutes.
What a cute ride! I particularly liked the Heffalumps and Woozles part!
After that we walked towards Peter Pan's Flight. Still a 35 minute wait! So we passed it by and went to Haunted Mansion. 5 minute wait! Now that's what I'm talking about! So we did HM.
After that, we headed back to Frontierland and at this point the bulk of the people still in the park seemed to be in Fantasyland. We walked right on to BTMRR! Then walked right on to Splash Mountain.
This time I DID get a ride photo!
(I decided to ham it up a little for this photo!)
Just after we got off, it was 1am and they closed Splash Mountain, but Big Thunder Mountain would remain open for the Extra Magic Hours. DS was about ready to call it a day but DD was determined to stay until 3am! DS and I told the girls we would meet them back at the resort. We walked through Adventureland and was going to ride Pirates of the Caribbean but it was already closed. We rode Jungle Cruise just before it closed, then left the park.
Now...at this point I've got to tell you a story. One of my DD's favorite Disney World moments was back in 2009. It was a Magic Kingdom day and it just so happened to rain buckets on that day. Because of the heavy rains the crowd was the lowest I had ever seen. We all panchoed up and carried on. Anyway, on that trip DW and DD rode BTMRR 8 times! DD brags about that! NOW....fast forward to 2014...we had already ridden BTMRR four times on this day. DD and DW decided they wanted to break their record and ride it NINE times! (I think this picture was taken earlier, but I put it here for the sake of story telling.)
They celebrated by having a Dole Whip and Dole Float!
Then there was an unannounced late night "Celebrate the Magic" castle projection show!
They had a GREAT time and made some wonderful memories together!
Alas, it was finally time to call it a day.
This was one of my favorite Disney World days! I had an opportunity to spend time individually with DD with our morning pool time, with DW at POFQ for beignets, and with DS for lunch at Tony's Town Square. We all shared a wonderful dinner at Narcoossee's and we had a late night blast at the Magic Kingdom. We had accomplished a LOT for one day! All of us together had done Philharmagic, the Peoplemover, Splash Mountain three times, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad four times, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for the first time ever, Voyage of the Little Mermaid for the first time ever, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh for the first time ever, and Haunted Mansion. In addition, DS and I had ridden Space Mountain and Jungle Cruise, while DW and DD did Buzz Lightyear, Philharmagic a second time, had Dole Whips, and accomplished their new record of riding BTMRR a total of nine times! Day 3 was just absolutely wonderful!
Coming up next: Day 4 is gonna be another great one!
can't wait for day 4!!!
I think Mark will LOVE the Mine Train! It was just so neat to be right in the middle of Fantasyland...and riding a coaster! It just felt new and fresh!
The Port Orleans Plethora of Pictures Part II!
