A Long, Productive Day in Magic Kingdom

Wow, what a day.  With the help of Extra Magic Hours, we managed to see 19 characters and 9 attractions.  Yes, you read those numbers correctly.  Needless to say, we're absolutely exhausted, and our feet our killing us.  When planning for Magic Kingdom, we split the park, and, with the exception of the last ride of the night, we stuck to that plan.  We also aimed to only stand in line for thirty minutes, and we, mostly, kept to that plan as well.

Our day started out in Tomorrowland where we rope dropped Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.  My competitive side came out, and I had to redeem myself for the dismal score I suffered on Toy Story Mania.  My goal was to max out the score at 999,999.  I'm so angry, because I only scored 93,000.  At least I beat Bryan, so that's all that mattered to me.

After finishing up on Buzz Lightyear, we had FastPasses for Space Mountain, but the ride was down.  This was unfortunate, but they gave us a free FastPass to use for whatever we wanted, including Space Mountain, if it got up and running.  We went through a similar experience with Dinosaur and Toy Story Mania, so we decided to just keep an eye on the ride and see when it got up and running again.

Instead, we went to meet Stitch, which I was absolutely over the moon about (no pun intended).  I adore Stitch, he's my favorite Disney character.  Not only did I have a Stitch shirt to wear today, but I also had a Stitch headband.  He was wonderful and hilarious.  One of the families in front of us had a stack of autograph books for him to sign, so he laid down on the floor with his feet up in the air as he signed them.  Once he signed the first one he slid it across the floor to the dad, and the dad kicked it back; Stitch wasn't happy.  Since it was a big group, Stitch decided the best way to take a photo was gather them together while he lounged on the floor in front of them.  When we met him, I kept giving him big hugs.  I forgot to ask him if he'd come home with me.  I'm not entirely sure how my dogs would react to him though, as he can be a little high maintenance.

After meeting Stitch, we went to see Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, which is a comedy show.  This is unlike many shows in Disney, however, as there are actors backstage using motion capture so they can interact with the audience and react to what they say.  We even got to see Mike's little nephew, who was so adorable, I just wanted to take him home (along with Stitch).  It was a lot of fun, and a great place to sit around and relax in some air conditioning.

Done with Tomorrowland for the time being (Space Mountain wasn't running still), we headed towards Fantasyland.  On our way, we ran into Alice.  While I'm not a big Alice in Wonderland fan, we still stopped to talk.  We had a wonderful conversation about proper manners and how to greet people properly.  I asked her what her favorite part of Wonderland is, and she said the flowers, even though they called her a weed, they still sang her a beautiful song.  That was definitely an interesting part of the movie.

From Alice, we kept the character parade going with Ariel, as her wait time wasn't that bad.  It was a very short encounter, but it was a lot of fun.  She was very bubbly (again, no pun intended) and full of personality.  She asked us if we liked bubbles, then drew plenty around her signature on our photo mat.

At this point, Space Mountain was up and running, so we headed down there to go on it.  This was Bryan's favorite ride of the day.  I liked it, but I don't remember it being so jerky and all over the place.  I know it's a roller coaster, but it wasn't smooth and easy going like other roller coasters.  It was a lot of fun though, and it's impressive that all of it is contained in that one building.  It was a little bit of a tight fit on the ride, but not nearly as bad as our next ride: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

I'd heard Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was a tight fit, and I was worried we would have some issues, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.  This is a new ride for me at Disney World, and I'd heard amazing things about it.  It's definitely a step down in terms of thrills when compared to Space Mountain, but it was still exciting.  You're zipping through the mines as the seven dwarfs head home from work.  You even slow down to see them digging for gems.  That part was absolutely amazing, as everything glittered and sparkled around you.  As a whole, however, we thought the ride was alright.  It was fun, but definitely not worth the three hour wait in the stand-by line.  We waited no more than 15 minutes.  I said I'd wait up to 40 minutes for it, but Bryan said he'd only wait 20.

After Seven Dwarfs Mine train, we stuck around this part of Fantasyland for a while.  There was a forty minute wait to meet Pooh and Tigger, which broke our rule of 30 minutes, but we went for it.  While waiting in line, Bryan made friends with the 2 year old in front of us.  They spent forever giving high fives and fist bumps, then we looked at our markers and picked our favorite colors.  He was so adorable, and you could definitely tell the parents were grateful for the break.

Tigger and Pooh were so much fun.  My favorite part was when we asked them how we should pose.  This has seriously become my favorite thing to ask, because you get some hilarious poses.  Tigger suggested we should pose dramatically, and the results were amazing and hilarious.  When Tigger gave me a hug, I told him he gave me the best hugs.  The photographer called me out on this, as he remembered us from meeting Stitch that morning, who I kept hugging because Stitch is the best, and he said that I told Stitch he gave the best hugs.  Tigger got mad at me, until I pointed out that I said he gave better hugs than Stitch, so then I was in his good graces.

Keeping in the theme, we then bounced over (get it, bounced?) over to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which was our last FastPass that we had scheduled.  This ride is absolutely adorable as you go through the story of Winnie the Pooh.  This included bouncing with Tigger and escaping Heffalumps and Woozles, which are very terrifying creatures.  It was a cute ride, and while we waited in line, we were able to pick up FastPasses at 7:15 for Journey Under the Sea with the Little Mermaid. 

I really wanted to ride more rides, such as It's a Small World, but all the lines were ridiculous, so instead we got something to eat.  I'd been looking forward to the Peter Pan float from Storybook Treats and the loaded tots from Friar's Nook for weeks, and we were in the area, so that's where we went.  The float was delicious and perfect on a hot, sunny day.  It was key lime soft serve with Sprite and a little chocolate feather to look like Peter Pan's hat.  It was adorable.  The loaded tots were bacon mac and cheese, and they were delicious.  There's something about the mac and cheese at Disney World that is absolutely amazing, I can't quite figure out what they do to make it taste significantly better.

As we sat outside Friar's Nook to eat, we saw the Fairy Godmother walk by, so I got super excited; she's not an easy character to get.  I also saw the Evil Stepsisters walk by.  We finished eating and set out to find the stepsisters.  By the time we got in line for them, however, we learned they would be leaving shortly, and it would be the Fairy Godmother who came out, but Anastasia and Drizella would be back at 3:30.  We stayed in line for the Fairy Godmother, who was an alright character, nothing to really write home about, then hung around in the shade nearby for the stepsisters to come back.

I have to say right now, Anastasia and Drizella were by far my favorite character experience of the day.  They are a riot!  First, I handed Drizella my markers and told her she could pick a color.  She wanted green of course.  As soon as Anastasia heard this, she ran over and snatched all the colors except the pinks and purples, causing Drizella to go crazy.  Drizella's throwing a temper tantrum while Anastasia's mocking her, so eventually I have to step in and take back all the green markers to stop the fighting.  As Drizella's signing (using all 3 shades of green of course), Anastasia has the other colors, and she's drawing a face on the side of her hand.  I ask if it's a self portrait, and she says it's her sister, who she proceeds to mock.  Meeting them was an exhausting production.  They definitely take their time with each person and make it a memorable experience.  It was hilarious.

Having finally escaped the stepsisters, we doubled back slightly to meet Merida.  We walked right past her setup before.  While waiting in line, we struck up a conversation with the mom and three year old in front of us.  The three year old, Harper, was absolutely adorable, and I quickly started playing with her.  This eventually culminated with her practically sitting in my lap on the ground, looking at all my Disney photos, while her mom and Bryan talked.  Her mom was so grateful for the break, and Harper seemed to be entertained.

Meeting Merida was wonderful.  She told us she got up early to go see to the sunrise with Angus, but it was too cloudy.  Then, we talked about her little brothers.  Bryan joked that he was the youngest of three boys too, and Merida commented that he must have been the one to come up with all the ridiculous ideas, because her youngest brother, Hubert, is the one who does that.  She also said that her brothers have turned back into bears, but they don't seem to mind because that means they get out of their chores and responsibilities for the day.

At this point, we needed a drink, so we headed up to Gaston's Tavern at the top end of Fantasyland.  Here, we found out the most horrible news: Magic Kingdom is a dry park (the rest of the parks are not).  So, we settled for LeFou's Brew, which was frozen apple juice with toasted marshmallow and fruit flavored foam on top.  We also stuck around because the Gaston character meet and greet was nearby, and he always seemed like fun.

While our meeting with Gaston wasn't anything too spectacular, the girl in front of us is my hero.  She was with two other friends, but she asked for a solo picture with Gaston.  When posing for the picture, she said she was on a journey to find the biggest fool in the land, and her journey was no over.  It wasn't what she said that was so hilarious, but how Gaston reacted.  His face went blank, and you could see the wheels turning as he tried to think of something to say.  She actually stumped him, and it was amazing.  Gaston was an awesome character though, always in character.  Between meet ups, he would turn around and preen in the mirror.  He also kept talking about how our day was getting better now that he was in his presence.  Just like the evil stepsisters, he seemed like a blast to play.

From Gaston, we headed into uncharted territory in Fantasyland to meet Peter Pan.  We were probably the last people he met for the night.  He told us that he was signing in dark green and that when we met Tinkerbell, we were to tell her to sign in light green, it was an order from him.  He was very insistent on this, ask Tinkerbell isn't the best at listening to his order, such as when she told the Lost Boys to shoot Wendy because she was a bird.  He also said that it was partially Wendy's fault, as she shouldn't fly like a bird.

After meeting Peter Pan, we didn't want to stray far, as the Tangled lanterns photos were in the same place, and this is what I wanted to do more than anything.  So, we ate at Pinocchio's Village Haus, where they have decent flatbreads.  It was cool though, because you could see the loading area for It's a Small World, and they had little signs you could hold up with suggestions for people in line to do (sing the alphabet, clap their hands, dance, etc.).  It was super cute.

The Tangled lanterns were amazing.  The line was long and somewhat slow moving, but it was what I wanted to do on this trip more than anything else.  They're in the same place where you meet Peter Pan for right now because they're doing something underneath the actual lanterns, but they're right across the way from each other.  These are definitely some of my favorite pictures from the entire trip; they're absolutely stunning.

We finished with the lanterns just in time to go ride Journey of the Little Mermaid.  It was a cute little ride; very similar to Frozen Ever After or the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh where you're riding through the story as Scuttle tells you how Ariel met Prince Eric.  It was very bright and colorful, but I wouldn't wait an hour in line for it like some people were.  I guess if you have a small child who loves The Little Mermaid, it's perfect.

Now, at this point in our day, this is where I messed up.  The all-knowing internet told me that the fireworks didn't start until 9:15.  The internet lied.  We thought we had an hour until an announcement came on saying we had 10 minutes.  We were all the way back by the Teacups, and we had to get to Main Street, USA, along with everyone else.  It was a production and very stressful, but we eventually got decent spots near the Confectionary at the very end of Main Street.  I had hoped they would dim the lights on Main Street, but they didn't.  We also struggled to see the projections on the castle, but it wasn't the worst place to see the fireworks.

Once the fireworks were over, the line to meet Tinkerbell was only 15 minutes, so we went right there to meet her.  We passed along the message from Peter Pan, she said that she was only trying to protect the Lost Boys, as Wendy flew like a Dodo bird, which she heard are very dangerous, so she thought they were in danger.

By the time we finished with Tinkerbell, the park was pretty much closed for the night.  Luckily, we had Extra Magic Hours, and a plan.  We went back to meet Tiana and Rapunzel, as the wait was supposed to be about 20 minutes (it was probably closer to 15).

Tiana was delightful.  We talked about how Mardi Gras is coming up soon.  She said Lottie is in charge of the decorations for her restaurant.  She has a feeling Lottie is going to want to decorate everything in pink, but she hopes she'll stick to the more traditional Mardi Gras colors.  Tiana was also shocked to hear we'd never been to New Orleans before.  She told us when we visited to make sure we visited her restaurant; all we had to do was follow our noses, and we'd be sure to find her restaurant.

Rapunzel was incredibly hyper.  She was impressed by the number of signatures on our photo mat.  I asked how Flynn was doing, and she said he's getting ready for a talent show at the Snuggly Duckling.  Normally he won't sing, but she can get him to sing (she was quite proud of that).  She taught us how to do the smolder, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at it.  It doesn't matter, because it was still a lot of fun to learn how to do it.

We were going to stop there for the night for characters, but there wasn't any line for Cinderella and Elena of Avalor.  I'm afraid I know absolutely nothing about Elena, so I just let her lead the conversation.  I complimented her on her dress, and she said it's her coronation dress, and she loved it so much, she wears it every day now.  Cinderella was a quick meet and greet.  We told her we met her stepsisters and that they're quite characters.  She was so sweet and said that they've definitely calmed down a little and have gotten better at their singing now; she's heard them in the halls of her castle every once in a while.

After finish up our 19 character whirlwind, we headed over to It's a Small World, which said it had a 20 minute wait, but it was probably closer to 15.  The ride was just as adorable, and annoying, as I remembered.  I was a little disappointed because at some point Disney added in characters from the movies to the ride.  So, Alice would be with the British dolls, Lilo with the Polynesian, Aladdin and Jasmine with the Middle Eastern, etc, but they weren't there.  I guess they removed them, which was a little disappointing to me, but it was still a fun ride, and a wonderful opportunity to sit down.

This was going to be the end of our night, but Haunted Mansion only had a 20 minute wait.  So, we headed over there even though we have 9 AM FastPasses for it on Thursday.  It was a little creepier than I remembered, but it's still fun and perfect if you don't like jump scares.  The ballroom scene is my favorite, and not because there are portraits of Hamilton and Burr that come alive and duel.  I just love the technology and all the dancing ghosts.

I wanted to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, but Bryan was exhausted and done for the night.  As we walked through Liberty Square, we saw the PhotoPass location for Cinderella's slipper.  Like the Tangled lantern, you get to hold the physical slipper.  There was practically no line for it, so it was perfect.  I honestly think I might like these pictures more than the Tangled lanterns.

On our way our the door, we took a few pictures in front of the castle, which was absolutely stunning.  We did a PhotoPass (we didn't do many of those today), and we had some people take some as well.  It was the perfect end to a very long day.