Disney Day 3: Magic Kingdom

I was so very excited about going to Magic Kingdom! I planned our trip based on crowd predictions at each park, so we went to the park that was predicted to have the lowest crowds each day. Friday of our trip was considered to be the best day for MK, so that's why we didn't go there first. And in hindsight I'm glad we didn't go there first- nothing else could have lived up to it, and I don't know if we would have loved Epcot nearly as much if we had already been to MK.

This was the only day we didn't have breakfast reservations. It was important to me that we get there before park opening {it opened at 8am that day} to see the welcome show. Mickey and some other characters and princesses ride in on the train and open up the park. In order to get a good spot for the welcome show, it is recommended that you get there 30-45 minutes early. The first MK bus that came to our hotel filled up before we could get on, so we had to wait on another one. So we didn't get to the park until close to 7:30, I think, and there was still plenty of room to see the show. They say to stand towards the side {where the entrance gates are} to watch the show instead of in the middle, so that way you get into the park quicker, but it was not that crowded and did not feel stressful at all trying to "beat the crowd in." 

Here comes Mickey on the train!

Curran had an 8:15 appointment at the Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique in Cinderella's castle, so we headed straight there. We did stop for a picture on our way. I was so upset that those big green construction walls were up, and also that that ugly ol' crane was in our pictures. Oh well. 

{You can see how blue the sky is- we did not have one cloud the whole time we were there!}

I almost didn't reserve the BBB for C because that's not exactly my cup of tea, but it is TOTALLY hers. So I knew she would love it. And don't let the pictures fool you. She doesn't show much emotion, but she really did love it. She was constantly worried about her hair getting messed up. :) We let her keep it like that for a day and a half before we made her take a bath and wash it out. I know she felt so special, and she loved that all the Cast Members as well as lots of visitors made a big deal over her.

Notice the mama photobomb. :)

While C was getting primped, John took SC to ride the carousel that is right behind the castle. They walked around some too, and met us as soon as it was done {it took about 30 minutes}. SC was fascinated by C's transformation. :) She wanted her hair like that too, so I told her we would let her do it when she was old enough {the girls have to be three}.

Then we headed straight for Peter Pan's Flight. The lines for that ride get long fast, and since we didn't have a Fast Pass for it, that was top priority for us. There was already a 20 minute wait so we hopped in line. The girls loved it and asked to ride it again multiple times, but we never could because the lines were always way too long. Then we headed to Fairytale Hall to meet Rapunzel and Cinderella. We had already met Cinderella the day before, but that is the only place to meet Rapunzel, and the two princesses are paired together. The wait time was 20 minutes when we got in line but they changed it shortly thereafter to 55 minutes, so we lucked out. 

Just doing some twirling.

After that we headed to meet Ariel at her Grotto, the only place she appears with her tail. The Little Mermaid ride was being refurbished, so I was super bummed we wouldn't get to ride it. But I knew SC would be so excited about meeting Ariel! The wait was only about 10 minutes, so it was pretty quick. The first question SC asked her was "Where's Flounder?" It was pretty cute. Ariel said he was swimming around in the water, which you can see through the ceiling. 

{looking for Flounder}

When we left Ariel, we stopped to pose in front of the Beast's Castle {way up on that mountain}

Then we had Fast Passes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I was really excited we got those because they are pretty hard to get. We were able to walk right up with no wait, and we got a rider switch pass so John could immediately ride it with Curran again. She absolutely loved it!! She insists on calling it "17 Mine Train" though. She said "Well that's what the sign says!" :) It was by far her favorite ride of the whole trip. Since SC was too small to ride it, John took her to ride the tea cups, and she really loved those, and while John was with C on Mine Train, I rode the tea cups again with SC.

Not looking too sure in that picture! haha!

Mad Tea Party with my girl!

After that we headed to Dumbo. They have a great play area to use while you wait, and they will give you pagers to let you know when it's your turn to ride, but the line was short enough that we didn't get to play in it, and the kids were kinda bummed about that. I really couldn't understand why they wouldn't let us play. It's not like there was no line at all??

John and C rode together, and SC and I were behind them.

Either before of after Dumbo {details are starting to get hazy}, we watched Mickey's PhilharMagic. It's a 3D show, and it is super cute! We all loved it! As soon as Ariel came on the screen, SC yelled "Hey Ariel! I met you this morning." Does it get cuter than that? :) I didn't realize the wait times were almost always short for that, so next time we won't waste valuable morning park time doing it and will wait until the afternoon.

We  rode It's a Small World after Dumbo. Still fun and just like I remember it. 

The park was starting to get a little more crowded by this time and wait times were getting longer, so we walked to Frontier Land to eat lunch at Pecos Bill. It's a quick service spot that has burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, etc. It was fine but nothing special {like most quick services we went to}. We could tell SC was hitting her breaking point, so after lunch John took her outside to the stroller, and she fell asleep for her nap in no time. That kid loved her some stroller naps! And thank the Good Lord for it!

While she was napping, I took Curran back to the tea cups since she hadn't ridden them yet, and it was one of the only shorter lines at this point. The wait time said 20 minutes, but it felt much longer than that. 

We had a Fast Pass for Enchanted Tales with Belle at 1:40, so we headed to Maurice's cottage. Since SC was asleep, John stayed outside with her. I hated that she missed it {and that we had a wasted Fast Pass}. They give all the kids parts to act out, and Curran wasn't thrilled she had to be a salt shaker. :) It was cute for sure, but it's not something I will feel like we have to do again. 

I saw that there was a Dream Along with Mickey show at 2pm, but we didn't get done with Belle until a few minutes after 2:00. I can't remember where we were planning to go, but we walked by the castle, and the music woke SC up. If you follow me on IG then you know this is one of the girls' favorite shows to watch on YouTube, so SC instantly recognized the music. She sat up and said, "Ah! What do I hear??" At least she woke up in a great mood! :) We parked the stroller and caught the rest of the show, which was super fun to see in real life. We all loved it! 

SC wasn't in the mood to pose. She's in there somewhere. :) And by the way, John was such a trooper about the matching shirts. I am not normally that cheesy, but if you can't be cheesy in Disney, when can ya?

Then we went and found a spot on Main Street for the 3pm Fantasy of Festival Parade. The girls sat on the curb, and I went to get them some Mickey ice cream bars.

 They were very good waiting on the parade to start, and we didn't have to do too much to entertain them. A Photo Pass photographer came and grabbed them off the curb to take some pictures in front of the castle.

Then it was time for the parade. I had heard it was amazing, and it did not disappoint! I'm pretty sure I had tears in my eyes the whole time. The girls just loved every second of it! I already told this story on IG, but the absolute best past was when Snow White came around the corner, Sallie Cate saw her and jumped up and pointed to her own Snow White dress. Snow White immediately saw her, excitedly pointed to her own dress, and blew SC a kiss. She waved a few times, and when she got close enough she came over and said hello. It was the absolute sweetest thing and made all of our days! I even got a little teary recalling the story for a patient the other day. :) It's hard to explain if you haven't been to Disney or experienced for yourself, but the cast members do such an incredible job of making the children feel so special. I know it's in their job description, but it doesn't feel like that when it's your own child who is experiencing that wonderful moment. 

The Beast and Belle are on the first float, but they never turned towards us so I couldn't get a picture. We were right where Main Street curves so it was kind of an awkward angle.

I couldn't get a shot of Maleficent breathing fire, but it was neat.

Here comes Snow White!

She spotted SC!

Blowing my girl kisses!

Coming to say hello and give her a hug!

Dale came and gave Curran a five. Not as exciting as a princess. :)

Mickey and Minnie smooching

After the parade, we moved to the front of the castle so we could have a front row seat for the next Dream Along with Mickey show at 4:15. We were a bit early, so the girls watched a show on the iPad to kill some time. During the show, Snow White waved to SC a few times, and she was so excited! It was precious. And there was a little girl next to us holding a sign that said "Peter", and Peter Pan saw it right away. He kept blowing her kisses, waving, and making goofy faces at her. It was the cutest thing to watch, and again, how awesome for that little girl and her parents. I loved seeing that!

Our favorite show!

Can't contain her excitement!

Waving to SC

After the show, we headed to Tomorrowland to ride the People Mover. That was fun, and we all enjoyed it. It was nice to sit down for a few minutes. :) The Buzz Lightyear ride only had a 20 minute wait {it had been much longer earlier}, so we hopped in line for that.

We're serious about competition.

Afterwards we were going to take C to ride Stitches Great Escape, but SC was too small to ride, and at point in the day, it didn't feel like we were going to be able to split them up without a meltdown from SC. So we headed back to Fantasy Land to see PhilharMagic again. That is something that never had more than a 15 minute wait {was really always more like 5 minutes}, and since all four of us loved it so much, it was always a fun option.

After that we headed towards the Beast's castle for our dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. Most things I read said that lunch is better than dinner, but we liked the food! And the girls' devoured theirs. We sat in the main ballroom, and the Beast walks through it a couple of times as he leaves the study {where he takes pictures with guests} to go take a break. They play some daunting music from Beauty and the Beast as he walks through, and SC was definitely not crazy about that part. She will say "The Beast is nice! He isn't mean." But she still doesn't really like him. :)

We had just enough time while waiting to be paged for someone to take our picture, and then our table was ready.

It was "snowing" outside the dining room windows!

I don't have a picture but SC loved The Gray Stuff they have for dessert.

After dinner, we had a Fast Pass to meet Anna and Elsa- another hard one to get! The only time I could get was 7:40-8:40pm, but it worked out fine. So we headed to Fairytale Hall for that, and the girls loved them. It always tickled me to hear their little scripts. There was lots of talk about sisters; I wish I could remember everything they said to the girls. I did overhear Anna saying something to the little girl in front of us about her "mental synchronization." Totally cracked me up!

They wanted to pose in the gift shop on the way out. :)

After meeting Anna and Elsa, we rode on the carousel and the Winnie the Pooh ride before finding a spot to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade.

A view from behind the castle.

Main Street was already getting crowded as people we setting up to watch the parade, so we walked over to Frontier Land where the parade exits. We got a great spot, and the girls watched a movie on the iPad to kill time while we waited. It was very cold, and I can't believe how well they did. I'm sure it's because they were half asleep at this point, but they didn't complain at all and sat very calmly!

With their glow bling from the Dollar Tree

Here comes Tinkerbell!

You can barely see Goofy and Minnie in there.

Alice perched on top of that mushroom.

Cinderella

Prince Charming, Anastasia, and Drisella

Peter Pan and Captain Hook

We enjoyed the parade and had some up close interactions with a few of the characters. After it was over, we headed back towards Main Street where we watched the Celebrate the Magic light show on the castle and the Wishes Fireworks show that immediately follows. It was so neat to see Tinkerbell fly down from the castle! Curran had fallen asleep by this point, and SC was not far behind. I think she was asleep before we exited the gates. Having two sleeping girls and a bulky double stroller made getting on and off the bus interesting, but we made it.

By the time we got back to the resort, it was nearly 11pm. We left our room at 6:45am that morning. The girls were complete troopers all day, and I'm so thankful! We could not have had a better day! I'm not trying to be completely cheesy or overly dramatic, but it will honestly go down as one of  my favorite days ever. Even John had the absolute best time. I can't adequately describe how it made my heart soar to see my girls having the time of their lives. There is nothing better than seeing your children happy! I know people have their opinions about Disney princesses and all that hoopla, and that is fine and dandy. But in this stage of life, this is what my little girls' dreams are made of! It is only for such a short time that life can be this magical, and we are embracing it.