Magic Kingdom take three

On Friday we took our kids to Magic Kingdom for the third time in the past 24 months. Our day went a lot better than last year because none of us had the stomach flu, and they didn't have to close the rides due to a thunderstorm. We went to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train first, and the sign said the line was already 45 minutes long. Last year it was 75 minutes long when the park opened, but last year we were able to get fast passes for it, and this year the fast passes for this ride were already gone for the day before the park opened. So we decided to wait in line, and thankfully we only waited 33 minutes - which was the longest we waited for any ride the whole day. Most of the time we waited 5-10 minutes for each ride thanks to fast passes. While we were on that ride Paul's parents took Oliver on Winnie the Pooh's ride and Dumbo's ride. Nadia met Ariel, and then we all rode the Little Mermaid ride and participated in Story time with Belle before heading to lunch. Nadia was picked to be the Beast for the third time! She knows it's important to "roar" really loudly when they're assigning parts. This year we got a video of her dancing with Belle thanks to Paul's mom's iPhone! I'll get it uploaded some day. We also have videos of Nadia and Ian fighting Darth Vader at Hollywood Studios. Ian didn't want a part last year (he was the footstool two years ago), but this year he enjoyed being the teacup "Chip." Oliver was assigned to be a pepper shaker, but he didn't actually participate.

On our first trip to Magic Kingdom we tried to eat lunch at the Be Our Guest Restaurant that had recently opened, but the line was about two hours long. This year we actually ate in the restaurant although we had to make our reservation for 10:30. We had pre-ordered our food ahead of time the night before, and this drastically cut down how much time we spent in the restaurant because the line for ordering food was rather long. Nadia and Ian had grilled cheese, tomato soup, a drink, and a cookie. Neither of them ate their soup. Oliver ate Nadia's soup. Paul's mom and I had croque monsieur and fries. Paul's dad and Paul had turkey sandwiches (on baguettes) and fries. Oliver had many of my fries and part of my sandwich. The restaurant is very beautiful, but it isn't worth waiting in line for hours to eat there.

After lunch Paul's parents took the boys to see Philharmagic. Paul, Nadia, and I were supposed to ride Space Mountain together, but one of the fast passes was with Paul's parents so only Nadia and I rode it. it was her first time on the ride, and she loved it! When I was a child it was my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom. As an adult it wasn't nearly as exciting of a ride, but it was special riding it with Nadia for the first time! Paul retrieved the fast pass and very generously allowed Nadia to use it to ride it by herself while Paul's parents took the boys on the Barnstormer. It was Oliver's first time on that ride. Next we met at the Monters Inc Laugh in. Nadia was hoping to be picked as "Boo" again, but another girl was picked. Paul then took the kids on Buzz Lightyear's ride, which the last two years was Ian's favorite ride at Magic Kingdom, and it's still one of his top favorites. He rode it twice this year. After riding "It's a Small World" Paul and I took Nadia and Ian on Splash Mountain (Ian's first time) and Big Thunder Railroad (Ian's favorite ride this year). We also tried to get pictures with Woody and Jesse, but they had already closed the line.

We decided to skip the 3pm parade, as we remembered how badly we sweated during it in May 2013. We had never stayed for the 9pm electric parade before, and we said we'd attend that one instead (much cooler out at 9pm). Oliver thoroughly enjoyed the Country Bear Jamboree again, and then I took the three kids on Aladdin's Magic Carpets before Nadia and I waited in line to get pictures with Jasmine and Aladdin while the others rode the Pirates of the Caribbean. After the Tiki Room we went to the Pirate tutorial, but the kids were complaining that it was too hot to stand outside so we opted to have dinner instead. I think it would be nice if they had a sign-up process for the pirate tutorial like they do for the Jedi academy. After dinner I took the boys on Peter Pan's ride while the other four went through the Haunted Mansion. At this point I was very ready to be done for the day. Before we do another 14 hour day at an amusement park, I need to find a better pair of shoes. My legs weren't tired, but my feet were absolutely killing me. It was so painful to walk. Nadia got her picture with Merida while the boys rode Buzz Lightyear's ride again, and then I took all three kids on the tea cups, and Paul and I took all three kids on the Speedway for the firs time. Nadia and Ian did the steering, but Paul and I had our feet on the gas pedals. Nadia and Ian rode the Barnstormer while I took Oliver to meet Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Minnie. He was scared at first with each character once we got close (even though he kept asking to go see them). 

Paul and Nadia made it to the very front of the line to ride Space Mountain, and then they temporarily closed the ride. I took the boys on a train to the front of the park before the electric parade. Oliver was on my shoulders for the parade. After the parade I took Oliver to meet Mickey, and then we finally got on the ferry to go back to the parking lot. We watched the fireworks from the ferry boat and then Paul drove us to New Smyrna Beach. We arrived at our resort at 11:50pm. Ian and Oliver fell asleep in the parking lot, but Nadia didn't fall asleep until 11:00pm. Even though Nadia didn't get pictures with Anna and Elsa like she did last year (because we had fast passes last year for it but I couldn't get them this year), I think we all had a good day. Since we had reservations for lunch I didn't bring any water bottles or pack any food. We splurged and bought both meals and some bottles of water in the park. The two days at Disney represent more than 50% of the cost of our fourteen day vacation. To me personally it's not worth it. I'd rather spend the day at Knoebels or Sesame Place for a small fraction of the price, but Disney World is a special place for the kids.