Trip Report: Day 7

Just as it is tradition to go to Magic Kingdom on the first day of our Disney trips, Matt and I like to end our trips there too.  What better way to get our money’s worth than to spend 12 straight hours there. By this point we were kind of running on fumes, but there was so much fun left to be had!!!

We didn’t make it for rope drop that morning, but were still there early enough to avoid Fantasyland crowds by heading there first. Despite the fact that we once again got a lot done by going there first, the crowds were much, much heavier on this day than our first day there. There were large tour groups of kids everywhere. It just isn’t easy to navigate two double strollers through a crowded Magic Kingdom…so I apologize to everyone who was inadvertently run into by us!

Here are my cuties riding the carousel. Pictures in birth order:) And notice Little-Miss-Motion-Sickness on her first carousel ride…she did great!

If you ask the boys what their favorite ride at WDW is, they will tell you it is Peter Pan’s Flight. I really like that ride too, but read somewhere that it is one of the most low-tech rides in all of WDW, remaining essentially unchanged since it opened decades ago. Brady was bouncing around with excitement as we waited to ride.

Since there were heavy crowds, we spent a lot of time walking to get Fast Passes, then crossing to the other side of the park, only to walk all the way back later. We did that to avoid having to stand in lines. It seemed like we did a lot of walking this last day!

We spent some time in Toontown because we knew it was the last time we could ever do that. Toontown is now closed as part of the Fantasyland expansion. One ride we went on for the first time was Goofy’s Barnstormer. It was an adorable  little rollercoaster that the big kids all loved. I have heard they are giving it a makeover as part of the expansion and turning it into a Snow White and Seven Dwarves' coaster.

We spent some time chatting with the Fairy Godmother just behind the castle in a quiet spot next to a lovely fountain.

  

Our two princesses…one of my favorite shots of the week!

And thank goodness we had our tour guides, Eli and Brady, to help us navigate.

We had the best lunch on Monday at  Columbia Harbor House in Liberty Square. It was just a counter service place, but we found a quiet spot on the second floor to eat. There were no other people eating in this little room and we had a great view of Liberty Square from our table. It was just one of those sweet, peaceful moments that you are lucky to find at Magic Kingdom. (And the fried shrimp lunch was so delish!)

We caught the afternoon parade again! It is SUCH a great parade!

 

By far, the most crowded area was Tomorrowland. Last year we didn’t even go to Tomorrowland at all, but this year we wanted to check it out. Earlier in the day we had stopped by to get Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin, so we went back to ride that. Once again, the Toy Story ride was adorable and really exciting for the kids.

The line for the Astro Orbiter was really long, so we had to skip that. We also didn’t feel like waiting an hour to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway. This is one of the lessons we learned  on this trip. It is impossible to see and do it all at WDW. We had a mental list of the things we wanted to make sure and do. The things with very long lines and no fast passes we sometimes had to skip, and that was okay! Luckily our kids are too young to know the difference. I’m not sure how easy it would be to convince a 7-10 year old that some rides have to be skipped!?!

One of the best moments of the trip for Cara was meeting Princess Tiana and Naveen from The Princess and the Frog. They were just the sweetest characters, I think my favorites of the week.

Eli was having a sad moment as we walked up to meet them (He was lamenting about the fact that Matt and I did not let him ride the Haunted Mansion with us. He wanted to see ghosts!). As we walked up to meet Tiana and Naveen, I was trying to coax Eli to come up and meet them. I said, “Naveen, do you have a sword that Eli could see?” He replied, “I don’t have a sword, but I do have GREAT HAIR! Check out my swoop? This is how I get all the ladies!” It was so funny!

Our Magic Kingdom day was coming to a close. We knew that we wanted to stay and see Wishes, the nighttime fireworks show. We had missed it our first night because Brady wasn’t feeling well.

We were able to snag our favorite spot to watch the fireworks. I’m not sure this spot even has a name, but it is a little pavilion to the right of the castle, down the brick pathway, kind of in front of Tomorrowland Terrace. There is a little winding path that leads you there, and inside are several tables and round chairs. It seems everyone wants to watch the fireworks on Main Street or right in the Hub in front of the castle. This spot is great because it is out of the way, you can sit, and there are barely any people there. The best part? Tinkerbell flies right overhead!!!

By this time, Eli had exhausted himself. He was sound asleep throughout.

           

Remember the crowds I was talking about? After the fireworks we would realize just how big the crowds were! I have never seen such a massive amount of people trying to leave MK at one time. We were at a standstill several times as we tried to make our way down Main Street. They had to divert part of the crowd to an alternate exit “backstage,” behind Main Street. We just kept inching our way out, in a wall to wall crowd, trying to stick together. I was so glad to have the kids safely in their strollers, but sorry about how my ankles I ran into.

The bus line back to POP Century was long, but we didn’t have to wait too long. Everyone just collapsed into bed. Everyone except for Matt and I!! We had a lot of packing to do! Tomorrow we would be leaving Disney and going back to our winter wonderland. We did have some fun planned before we left though. One more day of reporting to go!