1/24 Magic Kingdom
Today was supposed to be our late start day. We had an ADR at Cinderellas Royal Table at 10:05. So thats a late start, right? Well, we got up at 7:30, that was the extent of our sleeping in on vacation. And it was a good thing we got up as early as we did because DD9 had a total freak out about not wanting to wear a skort. The weather was finally nice, we were eating at the castle
you would think that would be okay. Nope. I think in the end I gave in and let her wear capris, but I told her that was the only decision she was allowed to make for the day. (Thats how mad I was. We were going to MK and I didnt let my nine year old make any of the decisions!)
I think I was the most excited of any of us about eating at the castle. Not for the picture with Cinderella, not for the princesses, not for the food
I wanted to get inside to take PHOTOS!!!
Our bus seemed to take forever (we must have just missed one), but our timing ended up being perfect, because as we were walking up Main Street, we noticed the stage show was going on in front of the castle. How fun, cute, and Magic Kingdomy. We watched for a few minutes, figured out how to get to the back of the castle without going through the castle, and checked in at the podium at exactly 10:05. Phew.
Wow does the picture-taking with Cinderella process ruin the ambience of being in the castle. Tons of people crammed in the lobby
CM yelling peoples names
hurry up folks, stand by Cinderella
snap, snap, snap
NEXT! It felt more like a circus than dining at a royal table. Granted, were at a theme park, but that was the most expensive meal we had, I expected the time with Cindy to be a bit more special than it was! I wish we had just skipped the photo, actually, because it turned out really bad. I mean BAD. The girls were not even both looking at the PhotoPass photographer! The photographer didnt care. I really should have complained, but by the time we saw the picture, Cindy was gone. This was only my second irk of the week, so all-in-all, I figured we werent doing too bad. But if I had spent a ton of money at the Bibbety Bobbity Boutique and my girls were totally into Cinderella, I would have been ticked.
Anyway
the surroundings were beautiful, the food was delicious (although we were never offered more of anything as we should have been), and 3 out of the 4 princesses were beautiful. The Belle just didnt have it goin on. And she was in her blue and white peasant outfit, not a pretty gown. She just wasnt very good looking. Oh well
we cant all be beauty queens I guess!
All along, I wasnt sure if we should spend that much money just to eat in the castle, but Im really glad we did it. Im 99% sure that we wont do it again. But its a great memory.
After breakfast, DH and the girls went on the carousel. I get really dizzy on carousels, so I just took some pics. I wondered if the horse DD7 picked was Cinderellas Horse, but I have to do some more research on that one. While they were riding, I saw some CMs activate the Sword in the Stone so that some kid could pull it out. They made a really big deal out of it
gave him a certificate and everything
it was a total shame that he didnt speak English and didnt seem to even understand any of the storyline of The Sword and the Stone.
After that, we did Its A Small World. This was one of 2 or 3 rides that I went on when I was three. I wondered if being there would help me recall any memories from my past. Nope. Nothing. And I missed the hippo I was so looking forward to seeing! I took a lot of pics on this ride, I dont know exactly why, but theyre cute none the less.
We got fastpasses for Peter Pan and met the Fairy Godmother behind the castle, which was fun. She was very good at her job, the girls really liked her.
We headed over to Tomorrowland, not really knowing what to do next. We didnt really have a set in stone plan because I still thought at this point that we would be back for another day on our last full day. Anyway, we did Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, TTA, and Buzz. I was terribly disappointed in Buzz after doing TSMM earlier in our trip. I just didnt get what the big deal was
the technology seemed very old. I couldnt ever tell where my laser was shooting!
I was absolutely shocked by this point in the day because the park seemed so crowded! We had to take a break and just get out of the crowd and sit for a bit, so we got smoothies from Auntie Gravitys. Those hit the spot. We headed back over to Peter Pan, and by this time (around 3 pm) we couldnt hardly get through that area of the park. I cant imagine how bad it would be in the busy season!!! Seriously. I cant imagine. I asked a CM if the crowd level was unusual for January. She said that Saturdays were always busy, no matter what, because locals come on Saturday. Hmmm
note to self
NO MK on Saturdays ever again! We rode Peter Pan and Snow White. Both just seemed so classic and adorable, I really enjoyed the innocence of them.
After that we headed over to ToonTown to check on the Tink meet-n-greet wait time, because I was toying with the idea of not coming back to MK for a second day. This was a really big decision for us because we had an 8:05 breakfast ADR at Crystal Palace on our next planned day, mostly to try to get to Tink right at the beginning of the day! Meeting Tink was an absolute must-do for DD7. The wait time was posted as 60 minutes. Rats. We decided to check back later, specifically during Spectro. We rode Barnstormer, which we all knew was a kiddie coaster, but even the girls were disappointed. We were just past this coaster
the queue was amusing, so all was not lost.
We went on the teacups, I tried to get the coveted blurry background pic and succeeded with one of the girls but not the other so much. I was surprised how small the teacups were with 4 people in them!
By this time, DH was really ready for some more grown up type things. I offered Pirates and he said, I didnt even know that was in this park! I cant believe we havent been there yet! We took the train over to Frontierland, headed back to Adventureland. I think we all liked Pirates, DH really liked the gift shop. He was looking for junk for his Halloween costume. He didnt buy anything.
He ran over and got a FP for BTMRR while the girls and I used the restroom and met Peter Pan! Yay!
Can I just take a moment here and sing the praises of the restroom locations at Disney? They are everywhere! They werent always beautiful or themed, but they were convenient.
We had been trying to meet up with BFFs family pretty much all day, and we just kept missing each other. Finally, we were going to be in the same place at the same time. Our ultimate goal was to get some pics taken of all of the kids together in front of the castle.
While we were waiting for them, we checked out the Treehouse and got a
drum roll please
DOLE WHIP FLOAT!!! Oh my, I would have one of those every single day if I could. My mouth is actually watering as Im remembering it! I bet I could convince DH to go back based on those alone! Hmm
We met BFFs family as they were done with Pirates and headed to the castle. It was so fun seeing the kids together, so happy, at Disney. I feel so blessed that I could share part of our trip with them. BFF and I decided the other day that we always want to go to Disney together, preferably sooner than later!
Somewhere along the line, DH, the girls and I all decided that we would NOT be coming back to MK for a second day. I think it was a combination of the crowds, and that not any of the rides were must do agains. We would now be doing Epcot for 2 days, one in World Showcase and one in FW. That left us with one more thing to do today
meet Tink.
We had to give up Spectro for Tink. Which was a little disappointing for me, but what could I do? Especially as my DISfriend had called to tell me she had spots for us. Spectro (or something like it) will always be there. My daughter will not always adore Tink the way she does right now. I figured we would be done in time to see Wishes, so we scarfed some Cosmic Rays for dinner (surprisingly good) and headed over to Tink, hoping the line would be shorter. It was, but it was still posted at 45 minutes. We were cutting it really close and we knew it, because it was close to 7 p.m. That line moved so slowly. At first it seemed as if it werent moving at all! I got more and more worked up, picturing us waiting all that time and getting to the front of the line and hearing, Sorry folks, the fairies have to turn in for the night, theyll be back in the morning! We ALL would have been devastated, even DH. Absolutely devastated. So after a lot of time and a lot of worrying, we finally made it into Pixie Hollow!
And the long stressful wait was so incredibly worth it. We met Tink, Iridessa, and Silvermist. DD7 isnt the most photogenic child, she always seems to have a fake smile on her face for pictures. Not that night. She was in absolute pixie heaven. I love the photos of her there. Magic.
But we missed Wishes. In fact, as we were walking past the castle on our way out, the lawn mower engine vacuums were out sucking up everyones trash. Thats how long we waited for Tink. We didnt hustle out of the park because
why hurry up to wait for a bus? I took pics of the castle lit up in every different color, but my favorite picture that I took of the castle is this one:
Next Up: World Showcase