Day 3-Magic Kingdom

Undercover Tourist let us down today.  The Magic Kingdom had gotten a Great Big Go from their Crowd Calendar…but we’ve never seen the Kingdom as Krowded as it was today.  Some of that may have been due to the fact that a large portion of the park was under renovation (Mickey’s old Toontown Fair area and then some) and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was shut down for repairs.  It seemed that everyone was scroonched into the area between Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, which made walkways busy, attraction waits extra long, and temperaments a little bit stretched.

First off we headed to Space Mountain, immediately got Fastpasses for it, and then rode it (not using Fastpasses yet).  We talked Jack into it, and he didn’t hate it, but he didn’t like it either, so while Dave, Maddie, and Ben rode it again Jack and I headed to the Race Cars and took a drive.  This was more his speed (ha!  I’m so punny!)  The line for that was so loooong though, that Dave and the big kids rode Space Mountain four times, the last time using those Fastpasses, while we waited for our racecar.

While in the Fantasyland area, we also went to the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor (they used Maddie’s joke in their show!), the Peter Pan ride, and saw Mickey’s Philharmonic.  The line for It’s a Small World didn’t look too long so we headed there.  Unfortunately, it was deceptively long, and about 30 minutes passed until we were assigned to a boat.  By then, Jack was losing it.  He didn’t want to ride It’s a Small World at all, but by golly, we had waited this long, and we were riding it.  He spent most of the time seated with his butt in the air and his head on the seat, refusing to look at anything with his fingers shoved in his ears.  Dave and I each gave each other one of those looks that only mothers/fathers can interpret…his look said, “Let him alone…at least we’re getting some peace.”  My look to him said, “Is there any of that sangria left from last night?”

And then the dang ride stopped.  We were almost at the exit.  We could see the “Adios!”  “Au Revoir!” “and “Good Bye!” signs, but we were stuck.  I couldn’t help but think maybe someone in the loading area was having trouble donning a poncho, so I tried to be patient and understanding, but by then Jack’s butt and that endless song were getting to me.  We sat there a good five minutes, I’d say, before they started things up again and we were able to escape.

By this time the park was getting crowded, and we were getting hungry.  We headed to Liberty Square where we rode the Haunted Mansion ride, and then ate at Columbia House.  The food was definitely forgettable.

Do I sound grumpy?  Well, we all kind of were at this point.

After lunch I Fastpassed Splash Mountain (the wait was up to 50 minutes!)  and then the kids explored Tom Sawyer’s Island, but once again, only Jack really loved this.  I hate it when kids outgrow things.  The last time we were here, they raced around the island over the bridges and in and out of the caves, looking for paintbrushes (Disney Cast Members hide paintbrushes here and there…if you find one, you get a prize), but this time they could have cared less about the paintbrushes.

By now our Splash Mountain Fastpasses were ready, so we headed there.  I did not use a poncho.  Dave and Jack did, but I’m fairly certain I will never be using a poncho ever again.  Here’s what we looked like at the top of the hill (Jack is completely encased in plastic…I was unaware that he had done this to himself, so please no comments about my bad mothering):

After that Dave and the boys rode the Disney Railroad while Maddie and I got Fastpasses for Jungle Cruise.  While we were waiting for the guys to return, we split a soda, and a bird pooped on Maddie!  Ha!  Highlight of my day, I tell you!  Then it was Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, boring old Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and YAY!  Dole Whips!

Dave and I were ready to leave at this point, but for some reason, Ben really wanted to ride the Winnie the Pooh ride.  I think he wanted to experience that comfy, little kid feeling that Winnie the Pooh brings on, so we headed over there.  I am not kidding you, there was a 60 minute wait. Who waits 60 minutes to ride Winnie the Pooh?   But we Fastpassed it and rode the Carousel and checked out some gift shops and played in the Pooh playground right outside the ride, until it was time to use our Fastpasses on Pooh. 

Then it was time to go.  At this point, there were tears from both Ben and Jack who really just didn’t want to leave yet.  We were willing to stay and do things and gave them suggestions, but we found they really didn’t want to do anything…they just didn’t want to leave.  They were crying because they knew they wouldn’t be back again for a long time and they both just loved Magic Kingdom.  This moment made the whole trip worthwhile to me, and made me so glad we went. 

Next installment:  Cocoa Beach and Downtown Disney!