Sunday, March 12th: A Magic Kingdom Park Day, Part Three
Welcome to the ending of our first park day! Where we last left off, we were in Tomorrowland and our Jungle Cruise Fastpass for 5:15 was ready to go, so we headed back across the park to use that.
As you may have read, when I did my Disney College Program, I worked at the Jungle Cruise. Weirdly enough, we actually didn’t ride this when we visited in 2015 (crazy, I know), so we wanted to make sure we did this attraction. I think at the time, it was just sad that I didn’t quite “belong” there anymore, and I felt awkward in a way. This trip, I didn’t feel that at all and I had a great time.
After cruising around the four major rivers of the world, we walked to Main Street to get on the train. It seems like the Main Street stop is often a lot less crowded than the stops in the other areas of the park. If you’ve never ridden the train, YOU NEED TO! It’s shaded with a nice breeze. Once you’re on it, you can stay on as long as you like, which would make this a really good spot if you want to stay in the park with a child who’s taking an afternoon nap (if they can sleep through the occasional train whistle, but sitting towards the back of the train should help with that).
Scott: If you're catching the train, avoid catching it at Storybook Circus. The SC stop is the only stop that's really... Obvious. Most people blow by the Main Street stop and the Frontierland stop in favor of other attractions, but the Storybook Circus stop always seems to have a line. Plus I have to say that catching the train from Main Street just feels right.
We got off the train at the Storybook Circus stop. I know that Storybook Circus is thought of as a “kiddie” area, but we love hanging out here. The theming is just so perfect. From the peanuts and animal prints in the pavement, to the delicious smell of sweets emanating from Big Top, it’s just a very transformative area.
We decided to go into Big Top and I wanted to see if they had fresh cotton candy, as I thought they might make it at the sweet shop in the center of the store. Well, they do, but they don’t make it to order. So, I didn’t end up buying any cotton candy right then. BIG MISTAKE! I don’t know what was going on, but there ended up being some sort of cotton candy shortage throughout all the parks besides Magic Kingdom for the rest of our trip!
At some point after the Jungle Cruise, we picked up a Fastpass for Buzz Lightyear at 6:40 and we headed towards Tomorrowland. I had read somewhere that Tomorrowland Terrace had “dipped chicken tenders” and it had been awhile since we ate a meal, so we wanted to stop there before we rode Buzz. We used to love getting the dipped chicken tenders they had at one of the carts in Animal Kingdom, Friar Nook’s in Fantasyland, or the Backlot Express in Hollywood Studios. I don’t know of anywhere still serving them right now. When we walked over to Tomorrowland Terrace, it was closed. I should’ve known it was only open for lunch. So we decided to head on to Buzz. We passed the infamous Purple Wall on the way, and I rejected Scott’s request for some “purple wall pics.”
Scott: It could have been a gorgeous, purple photo, but Alli is just to0o0o0oo0 co0o0o0ol.
Obviously, Scott obliterated me on Buzz. I just cannot get the hang of that game!
Scott: The orange robot's left hand, the top of the volcano, and the bottom of Zurg's little flying pod thingamajig. And then you can pose for awesome pics like this...
When we left Buzz it was 6:54, we went to look for another Fastpass and found one for Splash Mountain at 6:55! Woo! I promise, if you just look, there are so many options! If you really have your heart set on something, just keep checking when you have downtime, like in line for the restroom or a food stand.
We knew that we wanted to ride Splash Mountain a couple more times, and now day one we were already on ride two! From what we saw, picking up a Fastpass for Splash Mountain was never that difficult, so I wouldn’t use one of your initial Fastpasses there. I’m sure this had a lot to do with the cool weather, but even during warm times, there are more Fastpasses available for Splash Mountain than there are for the other thrill rides.
It was a really fun boat full of all young adults like us. I think it’s so funny when people get scared that each of the tiny little drops are going to be “the big one.” It’s as if they teleported to the load area, and didn’t just walk right by the huge drop to see what it looks like!
So, finally, it was time to get some dinner for real! We wanted a turkey leg, but missed the stand in Frontierland (there is still one there, right?) so I looked on the app and saw that there were turkey legs at Tortuga Tavern. This turned out to be a great place, because there was basically no one there. I think the registers were closing pretty soon, so check if it’s still open on the app if you’re heading there for dinner. The other good thing was that the turkey leg was served in a tray, so we found it a lot easier to eat than normal.
Scott: I'm (obviously) a huge fan of the Pirates movies, so I was visibly excited to find this "Crew Roster" in the back room of the Tavern.
We just hung out at a table in the room by the fireplace with the Sorcerers spot for a while and then we decided to play another APATOSS map. This time we did the Heads You Lose map.
After we were done, we had time for another map before Wishes, so we did Blackbeard.
This was the last map because the fifth map isn’t currently working. We got another set of Fastpasses for doing two more maps and decided to save them for our next time at the Magic Kingdom (they didn’t expire until the end of the month, so we knew we could hold onto them to use later in our trip.
Scott: I was pretty bummed that the 5th map (Guardian's Curse) wasn't operating. It's always been my favorite. Let me also take this second to say PLAY APATOSS. If possible, play at night. The symbols are harder to find, but most of the spots have amazing lighting effects. Look at that pearl!!!
At this point, it was 8:30 so we decided to go get a spot for Wishes at 9pm. We stood in the street to the left of the Partners statue. Now that there’s no nighttime parade, the street is fair game for fireworks viewing, which creates so much more space. I saw a friend who worked at the Jungle Cruise while I did, who now coordinates on Main Street, and she was telling me that back when there was a nighttime parade, they couldn’t keep people out of the street. But now that there isn’t one, people always leave the space empty.
While it’s certainly sad that Wishes is leaving, I know that these things need to change and I’m very excited to see what’s coming next!
After the fireworks ended at 9:12 on the dot (we used to use them to tell time because they’re so precise!) we decided to just wait out the thirty minutes until Once Upon a Time.
We loved the music from Celebrate the Magic, and the part with Walt always meant so much to us! However, the projection effects and quality in Once Upon a Time is just so superior. It’s an awesome show! I find it kind of odd that they’re not showing it right before the fireworks anymore, but maybe the schedule will change when the new fireworks show begins in May.
Scott: Celebrate the Magic was my all time favorite night time show. I loved it with a passion, and I was crushed when they announced that it would be leaving. The new show is great. The projections are crisp and beautiful. However, it lacks emotion, and it's just way too "Beauty and the Beast" for my liking. Great show, but I prefer CTM.
We didn’t want to join the mass of people headed to the buses just yet, so we decided to ride Haunted Mansion again. On our way there, we walked through the Tangled restrooms thinking that we may take a picture holding on of the lanterns in the new photo op.
Well…that line was wrapping around the entire area, so we decided against it and just headed on.
Scott: Most people don't realize that there's a puzzle to be solved hidden in the bust eulogies in the interactive graveyard. There are 5 busts and it's your job to figure out who killed who. Start at the center, and you'll quickly realize that each description lines up with a picture that's placed on another bust's eulogy. For example, Uncle Jacob was poisoned, and there's a vial of poison on Bertie's eulogy. But when you get to the last bust, Cousin Maude, it claims that "her dreams went up in smoke," implying that she burned to death in her sleep. (Isn't this a family park?) But there are no family members left to blame, so who dunnit?? Well check out Maude's bun...
MATCHES! The story goes that Maude had used matches to hold up her bun, and they ignited while she slept!! Pretty gruesome. Another mystery solved!!
I’ve told you about how our attitude has changed towards being a lot more relaxed in the parks over the last few years. Well, personally, I HATE the crush of people trying to jam out of the stretch room and into the load area. So, we now just always hang back for as long as possible. If you wait in the stretch room for just a bit longer than usual, you will hear the voices of the gargoyles below the portraits whispering to you.
Once we were in our doom buggy, we had a situation occur in front of us due to an issue with the age policy. Any child under 7 years old needs to ride with someone 14 years or older. It seems that Disney Cast Members are receiving some extra pressure to follow this rule tightly. So, if cast members ask your child their age etc., that’s probably why. They had to Emergency Stop the ride and switch a party’s seats around, because I guess there was a 6 year old riding alone from their party.
Scott: BEHOLD! THE ONLY CLEAR (ish) HAUNTED MANSION PHOTO I GOT!
BEAUTIFUL!!
We slowly made our way back out of the park, moseying down Main Street and taking in the beautiful nighttime lighting.
Eventually we made our way back to the bus and were at Pop around 11pm.
So on this day, we left the resort at 7:15am and lasted until 11pm (this will change drastically as the weather changes throughout the week). We used a total of eight Fastpasses, rode a total of sixteen attractions, and watched three shows and parades. We also did all of the APATOSS Maps, and had meals or snacks five times. It was an absolutely awesome park day! I wish I could live it over again right now!
However, our next day at Animal Kingdom was one of my favorites ever! But am I going to say that about every park day? Probably…
Thanks for reading along! I hope our words and pictures bring you some Disney magic, wherever you’re reading from!
Animal Kingdom Day 1 - Part 1! Click here!!!
It's just the absolute greatest moment! I swear sometimes I feel like the whole trip is worth it just for that!
I'm a little late joining in but since you are only one the first park day there is still plenty left.
I'm laughing about this, but honestly it's so true of me, too! 
