Travel

Return to the Magic Kingdom

Ahhhh…sleep…glorious, blessed sleep…we slept in. After 16ish hours yesterday, we needed this more than we needed to get to the park for rope drop. Besides, our first Fast Pass isn’t until after lunch. So we finally get up and get around, have lunch at the resort and head back to the Magic Kingdom.

Us old folks are over the whole running to the rides stuff. We love it here, don’t be mistaken, but we’re both coming to terms with the fact that we don’t have the energy the kids do and we’re okay with that. First Fast Pass is for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Hey, kids go for it. You two know where you’re going, we trust you to stay together and we’ll get there when we get there. That’s exactly what they did – they ran for the ride and we took our time. We stopped and listened to the Dapper Dans singing, meandered through the shops on Main Street, stopped for a Cheshire Cat Tail and a Wonderland Slushy (complete with super messy candy-coated straw).

Magic Kingdom character experiences, especially the unexpected ones, are something truly magical. I was sitting there cooling off with my battery powered water misting fan and here comes bouncing Tigger out of nowhere. He stopped, watched my fan spin with his head tilted and started poking at it. He gave a little jump and click your heels motion, gave me a hug and took off. I love Tigger – he’s one of my favorites and that was such a sweet moment for me. I think the completely unexpected part of it was what made it so magical.

After the kids get off the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride, we take a spin on the Mad Tea Party ride. I have always loved the music of this ride. It's kind of silly, but when I hear the music for the tea cups, it just makes me happy. I cannot help but smile. Once you ride the teacups, I'm pretty sure there's a rule book somewhere that says you are obligated to ride Dumbo. Okay maybe not a rule, but that's just how it is at Disney. Those two rides are about as iconic as any for me. Tucked back into a corner behind Dumbo & the Barnstormer, is a super cool (no pun intended) water feature. (Remember, we're dealing with a heatwave.) My children make sure I understand Casey Jr's Splash 'n' Soak is full of little, little kids and we're (meaning Dad & I) are probably a little too big to play in it. Sheesh! Party poopers...

We stood in line for Under the Sea for a fairly long time and it was really surprising to see all of the Hidden Mickeys. It seemed like every twist and turn the line took, we found another one. If you find yourself in that standby line, take the time to really look in the rocks - you'll be surprised at how many there are.

We spent a little time looking at lots of cute things in the different shops and then off to Tomorrowland. I mean, what would a trip to Disney be without a ride on Space Mountain, right? Stand by line was only about an hour so it wasn’t as awful as normal to wait. Standing in line to get on Space Ranger Spin, it’s starting to spit a few raindrops on us finally. Today was only 102, but it’s still miserable hot and the humidity is really off the charts today. The clouds are banking and, honestly, I’m kind of hoping for a decent downpour. I mean, I was prepared for lots of rain – this is monsoon season, but these are the first drops of rain I’ve seen since we’ve been here.

Monsters Inc Laugh Floor is a tremendously under-rated attraction. If you love Monsters at all, this is a must-do. It’s so funny, so interactive and a great time. Granted, I might be a little biased. You see, they “randomly” pick people out of the audience to engage with the show and my husband was the one that got picked to “Feel the urge to get up and dance”…dance, he did. Ha ha! Really grateful I was quick enough to whip my phone out to preserve that moment to show our grandkids someday! Ha ha!!! Such a good sport. (By the way, it rained while we were inside and stopped when we came out.)

The next Fast Pass on our list is for the Jungle Cruise, but we have about an hour before we need to be there. We did the only logical thing we could do while we waited – went to the Tiki Room. I will forever love this attraction! It just makes you feel happy inside. And, naturally, no visit to the Tiki Room is complete without a Dole Whip. Yum!

Tummies full of yummy frozen pineapple goodness, we journey into the jungle. I don’t care how many times I’ve heard the cheesy jokes and puns, I still giggle (and sometimes groan) at them. I hope the Jungle Cruise is a ride that Disney never changes. It’s timeless. Truly, truly timeless.

When we finish with that one, we had planned on getting Turkey Legs at the Tortuga Tavern but guess what? They’re closed. Gah!!! No turkey legs? That seems like a sin.

Next (and last) Fast Pass of the day? Splash Mountain. See, I didn’t totally blow the whole Splash Mountain thing! Dad and the boys go that direction and I go off on my own, with an agreement to wait just inside the front gates for each other when we’re done. The first place I went was to see the Country Bear Jamboree. (I'm still sore at Disneyland for getting rid of this one!) I was pretty disappointed when I got there and it was closed for the evening. Boo! I suppose next time will have to work. I console myself with shopping. No doubt dad and the boys would hate shopping & I was kind of looking forward to being able to explore every single store between here and the main gates (which I happily did).

My last stop before I head out of the park is at a popcorn stand on Main Street. How crazy is this? I had two different people offer to buy my popcorn and drink with their meal plan credits. They both said it was their last night in the parks and they had unused “snack” credits on their meal plan they wouldn’t use and they would love to gift those to someone. I was buying one of the commemorative popcorn buckets (I always do – it becomes our “change jar” for our next trip when we get home) so it didn’t work on the plan, but the very fact that they offered was beyond sweet. I tell you, the people we had the opportunity to meet at Disney World are an entirely different bunch of people than we’ve ever met at Disneyland. (Don’t get me wrong – I love Disneyland too, but it’s a whole different type of people.)

I loved sitting out in front of the train (just inside the gates) waiting for my family. I loved the people watching I was able to do, the chit chatting with people from all different walks of life and places was so neat. Today really introduced us to people from all over the world. We met so many people from Scotland and England today! Such an amazing multi-cultural world-wide experience.

As we were waiting for the bus outside the Magic Kingdom, we were able to watch most of the fireworks. That was unexpected, but super cool. Our bus driver that night was a chatty fellow and he was hilarious. He had us laughing so much on the way back to the resort – I wish I could remember his name. He was a hoot and a great way to end another incredible day.

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