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On our second day at Disney we were off to the Magic Kingdom! Who doesn’t love a day where you might be lucky enough to run into Mickey Mouse?! (Hint, we didn’t. That would have to wait for day 5!)
We left our hotel by 8:15 am and decided to once again use an Uber as we were being lazy and could sit right in front of the hotel and wait for them to pick us up. This is Gary, Seth and Em in front of Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL) all ready to begin our days adventures!
We had the driver drop us off at the Contemporary Hotel. If you pin the Magic Kingdom (MK), it will drop you off at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) and then you have to go through long security lines there, and you then have to either get on the ferry or monorail to get to MK. If they drop you at the Contemporary it is a 5-8 minute walk to the gate with a very short security line along the walking path. Or if you really don’t want to walk, you can hop on the Monorail on the 4thfloor of the Contemporary!
It was a beautiful sunny morning and we got to MK by 8:45.
We made our way directly to Adventure Land as we did not have a fastpass (FP) for Jungle Cruise and the lines are frequently over an hour. If you go at rope drop, you can usually get on several rides before the larger crowds show up later.
It was at this point that a small teensy family disagreement occurred. As we were rushing up main street to get to Adventure Land ,my husband, who loves to pin trade, wanted to stop on main street and trade with a cast member there. I suggested (firmly) that the plan was to get to Jungle Cruise before the crazy long lines occurred. He was not happy with me and as we waited a good while for rope drop he informed me (several times) that he would have had time to pin trade for the very rare and excellent pins he saw on the cast members lanyard.
After, I did feel guilty and tried to apologize but it wasn’t until we ran into this guy, and he was able to pin trade with Wendell, (fairly certain it’s Wendell, one of the Country Bears), did he forgive me!
While we were hanging out with the bears, Seth and Em used fastpasses to ride Space Mountain.
And they ran into one of our favorite princesses (Merida!) on their way back to meet us.
Then, I’ve got them where I want them – in the stockade!
We then headed off to use a fastpass for one of Gary’s favorite rides, Thunder Mountain Railroad! We certainly don’t waste time getting things done in the Magic Kingdom!
Love this walkway along Rivers of America! You can see Thunder Mountain Railroad in the back ground.
Next up was a stop for lunch at Peco Bills. The lines weren’t too bad and I think we all got nachos. They were very good and it was nice to sit down for a few minutes.
After that was time for my absolute favorite, the 7 Dwarf Mine Train!!
I absolutely love this ride and it was also a ride that on my FP day 60 days before, could not get a fastpass.😠
But, (as someone pointed out-looking at you Gary), I am as tenacious as a bulldog and by stalking the My Disney Experience (MDE) app got us 4 FP’s for 2 pm! But, I was very sad for Gary as for the past 2 trips he can’t bend his knees enough to fit in the very small seats. He tried to get in (as I actually had him practicing at home trying to bend those rebuilt knees), but alas could not get seated and couldn’t ride with us.
After that it was time for the requisite “how much have you grown” picture.
When we first went to Disney my oldest child, Aleisha was 3 1/2 and we took her picture on the wall to the right of Cinderella’s castle. Seth’s first pic “on the wall”, was also age 3 1/2. And that started a tradition that we carry on to today. Gary stood in for Aleisha who couldn’t make this trip.
Remember how I recommended that everyone gets to pick a restaurant and a fastpass? Well, today was Em’s day. And we also happened to be celebrating her 18th birthday! Em chose Cinderella’s Royal Table! And even though she is technically not one of the family, she acts just like one. Why, you ask? Because CRT is one of the most difficult reservations to obtain! She didn’t know this when she picked it, but, it was fun to tease her.
We had a blast!
The food and service was excellent, we had Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, and Sleeping Beauty come to our table for pictures. Snow White enjoyed teasing Gary!
After dinner we parted company with Seth and Em. They headed for Hollywood Studios. We headed back to AKL.
As I was trip planning I knew we (old people), were going to be tired by that point in the day, so I only booked Seth and Em for the Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! dessert party.
They had delicious desserts, received a Jingle Bell/BAM ornament and got to meet Santa Goofy and BB-8!
They then had preferred viewing for the projection and fireworks show. They gave it a very high rating.
Well that ends day 2 of our adventures, tomorrow we have moving day in the morning then off to Epcot for day 3!