August Trip Report: Disney Day 3

Cast:
Us
Jen
Joe
H - Just turned 2 in June

Our friends
Kelsey
John
J - Turned 2 in March

My parents
John
Mary

We were exhausted this morning, after our late dinner and visiting with my parents, but we were up and meeting at Mara for breakfast by 8:30, and then off for the Magic Kingdom. Several times over the past few days, I had been struck by the fact that the parks seemed crowded compared to past visits. Walking down Main Street was no different. It definitely felt busier than it has when I’ve been in the past. Despite the crowds, I still love the feel of Main Street and taking in the general ambiance of the Magic Kingdom. H loved walking down Main Street looking at the buildings and pointing to the castle (“I see castle!”).

Our first Fastpass of the day was for Peter Pan. This ride is one of my all time favorites (although I would never wait in the ridiculously long lines that form). There is something about it that just seems like magic to me. Afterwards we checked out the Tangled area while parking the strollers and brought the kids to It’s a Small World. This is a family favorite (particularly of my father) and we were looking forward to sharing it with H. H enjoyed it, nodding his head to the music and pointing things out to us.

We head into the new Fantastyland area and met up with my friend Kelly (gifter of DVC points) at Enchanted Tales with Belle for our second fastpass of the day. What a neat show! We loved the beginning and walking through the mirror and it was a cute performance. H got to go up and get his picture taken with Belle after the performance and he loved it. A Train ride was definitely in order, as H loves Trains, so we were off to the Fantasyland station. I have always loved the Train at the Magic Kingdom, and looked forward to this ride around the park myself. It did not disappoint (and served as a good re-sunscreening spot for me).

After a full circle of the park, we were off for Dumbo, which had only a 10 minute wait. I love the queue! I love the concept of the play area (and the cover from the sun and the air conditioning that came with it)! H and J had a fantastic time playing during our short wait. Honestly, if we hadn’t given H the buzzer and asked him to bring it back to the podium, he might not have been willing to leave! But Dumbo called and H had been looking forward to Dumbo since we started watching the YouTube vidoes (and he started calling him “Bumbdo”).

For lunch we went to Cosmic Ray’s because no trip to Disney World is complete for me with out a lunch with Sonny Eclipse. It was very crowded, but we were able to snag a (very small) table in Sonny’s room and make it work despite the fact that there were 7 adults and 2 children trying to eat. We realized that our third fastpasses were rapidly about to expire. Kelsey and John (and my mother who had never intended on riding at all) decided to hang out with the kids while Kelly, Joe, my father and I walked briskly to Frontierland for a runaway mine train. After Thunder Mountain (including a brief moment where we were stopped outside at the crest of a hill) we met up with everyone else and head back to the Carousel, which H had seen on their walk to meet us and asked to ride. You forget the simple joy of a carousel until you have a child to remind you. We enjoyed Mickey’s Phillharmagic and were headed towards Tomorrowland before getting sidetracked by some rain. We hid out in Cosmic Ray’s for a few minutes and then head out as it began to taper. Our initial thought had been to ride out the rain on the PeopleMover, however we were apparently not the only ones with that idea and there was a line, so we moved over to the Carousel of Progress. H loved the music and this show is always a favorite of mine (and on a hot rainy day, so is the air conditioning).

After CoP it was time to head to the monorail for dinner. Chef Mickey’s is a tradition on my Magic Kingdom days. I know reviews of the food are mixed, but I generally like it, and I *love* the mashed potatoes. Plus, it’s fun to get some character interaction without having to wait in character lines during the day. H had a blast getting to meet the characters. He had a great peek-a-boo exchange with Minnie and got kissed by Pluto. After dinner was over and we were starting to leave, he asked me where Daisy was. Luckily we had breakfast planned for the morning at Tusker House and I was able to say that she was at home resting but we’d see her for breakfast.

After dinner we decided to head back to the hotel. Originally we had planned to go back to MK for the fireworks, but they weren’t until 10 and we had 8:15 breakfast reservations. At the time I told myself we could go back another night. I do somewhat regret this decision. This is the first trip, I think ever, that I did not see fireworks over the castle.

Next Up: Animal Kingdom