Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom! 

Above is our plan for the Magic Kingdom, where we decided to stick to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland to avoid backtracking in our walking path. This was a special day because it was our princess lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table! 

I had really been looking forward to having a princess meal with the girls and it is something I have always wanted to do, I probably would have done it even if I didn't have two cute princesses of my own. :) 

We got an early start, allowing us plenty of time for parking and travel on the monorail. We arrived at the front gate at 8:20 and we had plenty of time for a restroom break and photos in front of the castle. 

If you haven't guessed by now, it was raining. :( Overcast and cool as well. This is me putting on my happy face even though the weather was not cooperating. 

I was surprised at how few people were waiting for the park to open at rope drop. There was just a tiny group of people waiting to go into fantasyland and the other lands. The bad news was that due to the rain there were no photopass photographers out. :( Later my touring plans app rated this day less busy than predicted, only a 5 out of 10 and that makes sense just by the morning crowds. 

Our first ride was Peter Pan which we walked right into the queue for. However, we were with a big crowd of people and I got separated from the group when I parked the stroller so I ended up riding by myself. It would have been impossible to catch up with my family but I enjoyed the ride alone! I hadn't been on Peter Pan in a while, it seemed like it was always down when we had fast passes for it in the past.  

Barnstormer was up next with no line! We rode twice! Girls loved it. 

We got to wait inside for Dumbo until we were ready to board, to keep warm and dry. Unfortunately, the play area was not open for the kids. Michael was so looking forward to showing the girls all the fun things: hands down the play area was the highlight of his first trip to Disney. I am guessing it was closed because of the safety issue with everyone's wet feet? We enjoyed the ride anyway!

Up next was Under the Sea and then a little bit of a wait to meet Ariel. The girls were so cute! Ariel said Prince Eric was at home with his dog Max. 

While we were in new Fantasyland, we had to stop for a restroom break and snacks at Gaston's Tavern as it is our tradition. I think the treat was mostly a bribe for kids being good in line while waiting for Ariel. It was Mickey bars all around while Denise and I shared a big cinnamon roll and a Lefou's brew. It was pretty good! 

Our Gaston meet and greet was next. Michael and Scott bowed out, browsing around in some shops instead. The line moved fairly quickly and it was cute to see the character interact with the girls. He told them he was getting married that night to Belle and would they be his flower girl and his ring bearer? I asked him if Belle knew the wedding was on and he said of course, she was down in the dungeon with "crazy old Maurice". hehe :) 

Brynn's face! They were so shy meeting characters, never making a peep. 

We circled back to it's a small world where Scott and Michael had already gotten in line. I had made a critical error in skipping it earlier in my lines app when I meant to do it right after Peter Pan. It was a long posted wait (30 minutes maybe?) but the line moved quickly. The girls loved pointing out all the fun things in the ride.

We then headed over to Tomorrowland to use our fast passes for Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain. My ride photos for Buzz didn't show up but I promise we rode it! 

The girls, Margie, and I rode the Peoplemove while the others did Space Mountain. There was a WAIT (what?) and I think they were having some problems with the ride as the wait so long Michael & crew finished their Space Mountain ride before we were finished with ours.

It was getting close to our lunch reservation, so I headed to the restroom to change the girls into their princess dresses. It pretty cool weather this day and I'm glad they weren't wearing their dresses the whole day. The girls thought it was pretty silly to change in the bathroom at disney for some reason. 

I got these dresses from Only Little Once and they were made of a soft knit fabric. My one regret of the day is that I didn't bring my real camera because I didn't want to worry about it in the rain all day so the only photos I had were from my phone. :( I had planned on taking our photos before the park opened but that was tabled due to the rain and so our only options for photos were the places right around the castle. The girls were pretty excited to be in their special outfits and I think I still captured their happiness.

Brynn above, Anna below. They look so alike when their hair is the same!

When it was time to check in, we got to greet Cinderella. The girls told me later she said she liked their dresses and "now there was three of her!".  

We had quite a bit of time to wait until our table was ready in this little area. It was fun to take in the details and let the girls burn off a little steam. 

Once we got upstairs, it was so neat being in the castle! 

The princesses were announced when they entered the room and then our section was the last to be greeted so the girls had fun watching the princesses move about the room. It gave us plenty of time to enjoy our meal and beverages. 

Our seats were in a terrible location for photos and plus I didn't have my regular camera like I mentioned earlier. I'm positive these are the worst photos I have ever taken but they jog my memory of what a fun time the meal was. The princesses were so nice and beautiful. 

I had the steak and shrimp, it was delicious. Most of us also ordered the charcuterie plate for the appetizer. 

Probably the biggest hit of the meal was the build your own cupcake dessert for the kids. It was funny to watch the girls carefully decorate their little cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles. I don't actually think they have done frosting before so they thought it was so special. 

We really enjoyed the meal and did not feel rushed at all to leave even though the kids took forever with their dessert. It was a nice break in our day and we enjoyed it. 

We popped out of the castle just in time for the 3:00 parade! We watched it right from a little alcove on the pathway and it was nice to avoid the crush of a crowd and still be able to see the floats as they moved by. 

After the parade we headed back into New Fantasyland for our fast pass with Enchanted Tales with Belle. The girls were so cute getting selected for their roles- Brynn hopping as chip and Anna singing loudly for the role of the wardrobe. I was really surprised Michael decided to participate--not too cool all the time! 

The girls felt so special to be part of the show and this is one of my favorite things. I loved watching the show and seeing how much fun the kids were having. 

We rounded out the day with a ride on the carousel and a viewing of Mickey's Philharmagic before stopping at Starbucks on the way out of the park. 



It was a long wait but I was on vacation, too! You can see Scott waiting outside for us. 

We took the ferry boat back and then relaxed at our condo that evening. We tried to keep it to a short day but we ended up arriving back at the condo right at dinner time. I think we did some swimming at the little pool by our tower after dinner but now my memory fails me! 

Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom!