Our second day at Magic Kindom started with (you guessed it!) an early morning. We had a pre-park opening reservation at Be Our Guest so we were out of the condo at 6:45. It had taken us an hour to get the gates of the Magic Kingdom the previous time so we factored that in today. This time it took less, but I was glad to be a bit early.
We ordered our food before we left the condo and enjoyed a nice sunrise cruise on the monorail. It was not busy, super nice!
We arrived to the front gates at about 7:30 and were let into the park at 7:45 where we took some photos and headed back to Fantasyland.
It was pretty nice walking back there with no crowds yet! There was a big group of people coming in for breakfast reservations but you can also go to the Crystal Palace or Cinderella's Royal Table so not too many headed back to Be our Guest.
Our reservation wasn't until 8:10 but they let us in right at 8:00. We preordered so that saved a lot of time, we just had to pay and find our seats!
There was only one table left in the West Wing so we snagged it. Michael was excited to share this room with his sisters but one sister was less than enthusiastic about dining in a super dark room that sounded like a thunderstorm (it was Brynn). The kids enjoyed watching the picture flash from the prince to Beast and back again.
Brynn was so scared she would only eat if I fed her so she could keep her eyes closed. Poor girl!
Anna above, Brynn below.
We had booked the pre-park opening breakfast reservation to try and get a quick ride on the Mine Train before the morning crowds got here as we were unable to snag a fastpass. It works just like in this blog post and we had done it before.
So after we were done eating, Michael and I went to the restroom and then decided to check if they were letting people on the ride and they WERE! We texted Scott quickly to tell him to hurry up and we hopped on the ride. It was really close to 9 and I knew they were getting close to being done with breakfast rides.
Michael, Brynn and I hustled through the queue and rode once and then again a second time. Scott and the rest got to ride once because by the time they were done with their first ride the whole morning rope drop crowd had already entered the line and bam, waits were over an hour. It is a really tricky thing, but we had fun with our two rides and I'm glad everyone got to ride it at least once.
Brynn did not love it. We may have traumatized her for life. :(
After the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train we hustled over to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain. We'd done this our previous trip and got to walk right onto the ride for two rides in a row. This was not the case today as the queue had already built up outside the attraction and we waited over 30 minutes. It was brutal. We discovered as we got closer that they only were running one side of the attraction but it also showed us how a bit more hustle might have put us ahead of the crowd a bit.
We also experienced Brynn bailing out at the last minute to "go to the bathroom". We were close to the front and Scott had to take her out an emergency exit to use the restroom. It really stunk, and Scott didn't get to ride. We already had one potty accident on this trip and I didn't want to experience it again-ugh!
We met up with Scott and Brynn at the play area by Splash Mountain and then we rode Splash Mountain with rider switch. The girls loved playing, even though they were maybe a tiny bit too old for this play area.
The play area was a good meet up spot for non riders because it was out of the way but still easy to find and close to restrooms.
I watched these poor dole whips melt for about 30 minutes. Poor guys. :(
We all got through Splash Mountain and Scott rode twice. Luckily, I did not get too wet on this ride this year!
Jungle Cruise with fast pass was up next. It already had a long wait for so early in the morning and we were glad to skip the line with our fastpasses. It is the worst standby queue and moves slowly. I enjoyed the Jungle Cruise but no one in out boat laughed- they are jokes, people!
We skipped the Magic Carpets as the queue wrapped around the attraction and opted instead for the Tiki Room. I had done it with Michael years ago and I enjoyed it again this time. The house was packed!
Pirates was our next fast pass and we decided to ride before eating lunch. The line was a monster and no one was smiling. It was so busy on this day. The fast pass line still had a wait but it was better than 55 minutes out in the hot sun to ride Magic Carpets.
I love this ride!
We ate our sack lunch at some tables right outside Pecos Bills across from Pirates. It was nice and shady and Scott ran to get us some cokes. The sandwiches were a very much welcome alternative to standing in more lines to order food. I walked into Pecos Bills and it was bonkers. This stop was also near the restrooms behind Pirates, my favorite and least busy bathrooms in the whole park. Who knew?
Haunted Mansion was up next and it also felt like a smart use of our fastpasses. This meant we skipped the interactive queue which was also one of Michael's favorites so that was a bummer. It was fun seeing him remember all the fun things he had done in the past.
The girls were tired and I had to hold a sleepy Anna that fell asleep in my arms while waiting. It was a treat to ride with a little girl in my arms so I didn't mind too much.
Up next was a must-do on my never-done before attractions list: Hall of Presidents! We got there right as a show had started so we had some time to enjoy the exhibits and sit down for a bit in the pre-show area. This is a nice, fairly long show in a comfortable theater and it was surprisingly emotional. It was cool to see all the presidental animatronics on stage at once while the movie and score that accompanied it was moving.
Unfortunately, this was another situation where Brynn had to "go to the bathroom" right before the show started and Scott did not make it back in time to be let in. There are no close bathrooms to this area of the park, and again we didn't want to risk an accident.
However, Scott totally redeemed the situation with heading to meet Mickey and Minnie to save us a place in line. I kept saying how much I wanted to meet them but I wasn't sure we could with a long waits posted (40 minutes). He texted us he was already at the front of the line and we hustled over to the front of the park after the Hall of Presidents.
It was quite the journey as we were racing against a 2:30 pre-parade parade. Trying to navigate down main street during a parade and a huge crowd of people with a double stroller was very stressful but we made it and I only ran over a few people's feet (who were later yelled at by a cast member that they needed to stand up and not sit on the sidewalk where people are trying to walk-hehe).
We made it, and thanks to Scott's excellent spot saving we got to meet Mickey and Minnie right away! They were adorable and Mickey looks great for 90 years old.
It was just three o'clock at this time and my sister had the great idea of hopping off the monorail at the Poly to get some dole whips. We were in! It was really perfect, there wasn't even a line when we got there (then there was a huge one right after us).
It is such a fun resort to visit so I'm glad we squeezed this little trip in!
Another busy day in the books!
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