Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Disney Day 4 - Magic Kingdom

Day 4 - Friday, June 2 - Magic Kingdom

We spent our last day (of the whole 15-member family being there) at Magic Kingdom. The park had early magic hours this day, so we were there when it opened.

The morning was a little crazy. My sister caught a stomach bug. Poor thing! So she sent her 3 kids to the park with Brooks and my parents. Thank goodness we were traveling in a large group! We all arrived at the park at different times, but all went to the speedway first.

Hollon insisted on bringing her Frozen figures
(We actually did make it through the day without loosing one of the girls or dresses)
Gran & Woody


Nana & Gaines


Billy & Marrell

Jake rode with Robbie


I had planned to just stand on the bridge and take pictures, but Hollon insisted that we ride. And then she insisted that she drive.


On the way to our FP, Jake saw Stitch. Jake really didn't care anything about the characters (he didn't 2 years ago either), but he does love Stitch. So he wanted to get his picture made with him. Hollon cried and refused to go anywhere near Stitch.
Robbie & Jake used their FP to ride Space Mountain, and they we got a rider swap pass for he & I to ride it again later.

While the boys rode some fast rides, I took Hollon to ride some rides in Fantasyland.

She LOVED Dumbo!
to 


We rode the Little Mermaid ride. Outside the ride, there was a photographer taking pictures. Hollon cooperated perfectly, as shown in the pictures below.





I think the character Gaston from Beauty and the Beast is hilarious, and I've heard he is a fun character to meet at Disney. But I knew Hollon wouldn't get it and she didn't want to meet him anyway, because he was a boy. But thankfully my nieces met him!


I told Hollon it was her pick what she wanted to do. She said "ride the Goofy ride" (aka Barnstormer). We had rode it a few days earlier with my sister's family. Hollon cried the entire time. It kept asking her if she was sure she wanted to ride it again. I reminded her that it went fast and was a little jerky. She kept insisting, so I finally agreed. She was so excited standing in line and getting on the ride. Then after that first hill, she cried the entire time again. When we got off, I asked her if she liked it and she said "yes!".


Then we went over the Pete's Big Top to meet Circus Daisy & Minnie. Hollon still had her Frozen figures and plopped down in front of both Daisy and Minnie and showed them. I give the characters credit, they were so good! They played with her and and the toys. Hollon could have sat there all day (as I'm sure all the people in line behind us were rolling their eyes, thinking HURRY UP!) But it truly was a sweet, sweet moment.






And Minnie just melted my heart






#awkward pose






We did the carousal one more time and teacups. By then the park had opened and was starting to get more crowded. We had a FP in 20 minutes, so we took a break to get some ice cream. 



Then Hollon & I and Marrell & Leigh Ann rode Winnie the Pooh. Most of the rest of the group had a FP to ride Haunted Mansion, so we met up with them afterwards.
(By this point, Brooks, Gaines & Mae Stanley had headed back to the resort to check on Lindsey)


Of course we had to get our pictures taken with this!
(Jake was not amused)

2 years ago....

We were getting ready to leave the resort to rest at the hotel. As we were leaving, we caught the Move It! Parade. I thought Hollon would love it, but she didn't get into it like I thought she would.

But she did get into the bubble wand that Nana & Gran bought her


We rested at the hotel and then all met up to head back to the park. My amazing sister rallied and even joined us.


Jake with his 2 little buds that look up to him, Woody & Gaines

We caught the evening parade. Gaines LOVED it. Again, Hollon watched, but didn't get into it.

All 15 of us!!


Totally staged shot which they complained nonstop about

By this point, they were done with the brother sister photos

It was drizzling rain and Hollon had a blast jumping in the puddles

Jake & I both really wanted to ride the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. It was broken down during our FP the other day, was broken down the evening of the late magic hours. This was our last chance. We waited in line over an hour. We were about 30 minutes away from riding when the ride broke down AGAIN. (I question our sanity that we wanted to ride a ride that continues to break down?!?) While we were off doing that, Robbie took Hollon on some rides.

Like the People Mover

I told him he should take her on Dumbo again, since she loved it so much. They go to ride it, but when you walk through the line, they pass the huge play area. Of course Hollon threw a fit to play in the play area and no longer cared about riding Dumbo. (Same exact thing happened our last trip to Disney with Jake. We went to ride Dumbo and he had a melt down to play in the play area, instead of wanting to ride the ride.) Robbie is more laid back about that kind of stuff, so he just let her play.

Meanwhile, Jake & I were into our hour long wait


When they announced that the ride was shut down, I seriously thought Jake was going to loose it. (For a moment, I thought I would loose it too!) But we had a good talk about how sometimes things are out of our control, but we can control how we let it effect us. We can either be mad that we wasted an hour and half waiting in line for a ride we never got to ride, or we can be thankful for all the other things we got to do. 

By this point, Robbie & Hollon were eating dinner, so Jake & I went to meet them. While getting drinks, the sweetest Disney worker was talking to us and asking what ride we had last ridden. I explained to her that we hadn't ridden anything yet, because we had been waiting in line for a ride that ended up breaking down. I wasn't complaining, more just joking with her about it. We had a nice conversation, I pay for our drinks and then moved on. A few minutes later, she comes up to me and writes me a fast pass ticket for any ride at any park for up to 3 people for the next 7 days. It was such a nice gesture and certainly helped Jake out of his funk!

We rode our favorite family ride that we can all ride (Buzz Lightyear) one last time.
Some of these were from earlier in the day




Then we gave the kids the option to pick one last thing to do each. Hollon picked to see Cinderella again.
Elena is part of the Cinderella meet and greet
Elena asked for Jake to join the picture. I thought Jake was going to die!


The Cinderella this day was awesome



The only time Hollon non-awkwardly hugged a character
Jake picked to use his Space Mountain fast pass for his last ride at the park
Bahahaha...... the lady behind me!
We headed back to the resort after that

Thoughts: The Magic Kingdom is awesome and so worth taking 2 days to do. Jake & I were disappointed we never got to ride 7DMT (Robbie doesn't think it is that great, so he didn't care), but if that was the only ride we didn't make it on, we are doing okay. Rider swap was awesome, and I just wished we had used it more. It drizzled rain, but never hard enough to get out our ponchos. It was kind of nice, because it helped cool things off.
Go Figure: I brought to Orlando 16 Dollar Tree ponchos (4 for each of us for each park day). It did rain while we were there, but either not hard enough or it was when we were inside somewhere. So now I have 16 ponchos that I have no idea what to do with! But I'd rather come home with 16 ponchos, than have to use them every day! Also, go figure that both of my kids would love the Dumbo playground so much. I really wish there was a way to close it off and it only be seen if you had to use it. When Hollon & I rode Dumbo early in the morning, the playground area was closed off by big curtains. So Hollon didn't even know it was back there. We were able to just ride the ride and enjoy it. Poor Robbie didn't get that chance!
Kids Favorite Rides: Same as the first days
My Favorite Moments: Seeing Hollon actually get to play with Daisy & Minnie instead of just snapping a picture and then moving on. My funny conversations with Jake while we waited in line for 7DMT.

Recaps:
Atlanta to Orlando - {here}
Hollywood Studios - {here}
Magic Kingdom - {here}
Epcot - {here}

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