This was the day that we had been waiting for, for a long time. Today we took the girls to Magic Kingdom. Ellie has been before, but this was Maddie's first time. Before the trip I surprised the girls with the costume of their choice for this day. Ellie wanted to first be Sofia, but I could not find her size. Her second choice was Jasmine. In the picture below she is doing her Jasmine pose. Maddie only had one choice and would not have settled for anything less--Minnie Mouse.
The weather was actually perfect. It was 80s with overcast and every once and a while a slight mist. Yesterday was really warm, so this was a much needed break, considering we were staying all day (because today was also special Magic Hours). We chose this day to go also because it was the only day this week that they were having the fireworks during the evening, and that was a huge request of Ellie. It took us a while to get organized and decide on where to go first. We had, as a lesson from yesterday, chose our fast passes. But we found out at the first ride, we may not need them as much. It was so weird. The rides that we could not get on in 2010, we practically no waiting today.
No matter how many times you see this...it never gets old.
Loved the Fall decorations
The first ride of the day was the magic carpet
Ellie loved meeting Jasmine
Maddie, surprisingly, loved meeting Aladdin
Ellie really wanted to meet Tinker Bell. The line was awful (at least an hour). After standing there for about 25 minutes and not moving at all, we left to look for Bob and Ellie would had walked (Maddie is not so happy about waiting). He had happened to come upon Tiana. Funny thing was he had no idea who she was until Maddie told him and asked to get her picture. So we got in line with them, the last person before they closed up. This was the best princess we met. She was so likable and really took time to stop and interact with the kids. At one point Ellie said that MK was so much different because the people they met here all talked. (At Hollywood, all the characters were in costumes from head to toe and did not talk) :)
The most ridiculous thing we did the entire trip is wait 2 hours + in line to see Rapunzel. Ellie also got to see Snow White. Maddie fell asleep about 20 minutes in and Bob weaved through the line to get her from me. But in the end, seeing Ellie's sweet face and bashfulness was worth it.
After the long wait, we were all hungry, plus we were getting close to some fast passes. We happened to come to a circus tent and upon exploring, I found out that Minnie was inside. Maddie would be so excited. So again after another 45 min-hour wait we met Daisy Duck and Minnie.
As the day was starting to wind down, we were getting closer to dinner plans. We passed back by Tinker Bell's line. Ellie really wanted to see her. The line was about in the same place. I told Ellie we would try it again and see how fast the line moved. It did not move much faster, but at least it moved. So an hour or so later these smiles happened.
We had dinner at The Crystal Palace, which is a character dining. I was really excited about this because the girls love Winnie the Pooh and that is who they would meet. It was also a buffet style dining, which works really well for the kids who are very picky eaters. The experience was not as good as I had anticipated. We arrived about 20-25 minutes before our reservation to check in. About 45 minutes after our reservation time, they finally took us to a table. This was very frustrating because we only had about twenty minutes to eat before the fireworks started, which was right outside, but still the delay caused us to have to rush. Also the girls only got to meet one character. But they were all smiles.
Right as the fireworks were starting, we finished eating. They were truly magical. This was the first time we had ever stayed late enough at MK to watch the fireworks. I cannot imagine ever missing this again. Because of the magic hours we still had about two hours until closing. So we decided to go back and see some of the other attractions or just walk around. Ellie wanted to see Cinderella, so we got in that line and both the girls got to meet her and Aurora.
Nothing like a little nighttime carousel ride
As we were walking back toward the exit we just happened upon the light parade. It has just started so the girls got to see the whole thing. There was a man who kindly stepped back from his kids and told us to let the girls take his spot so they could see better. They were as impressed and mesmerized as we were. Disney always amazes me, with the quality and technology it has.
As we were leaving, the photographer asked to take a picture. I love this photo and glad we waiting until the dark, because the castle looks so much better with the lights.
Things to Remember for Disney in the Future:
1.) Magic Kingdom is a MUST two day (at least) park
2.) The fast passes for rides are not the same for meet and greets. Get fast passes for those characters we really want to meet.
3.) Always make sure to be at MK during the fireworks and lights parade.
4.) Wandering around is fun and you happen on lots of attractions, but you miss out, know what attractions you want to see and make sure to look at the map often (we missed a whole area)
No comments:
Post a Comment