Day 85- Magic Kingdom & Roaring Forks at Wilderness Lodge

It is a pretty day and we are off to Magic Kingdom. It is really chilly, so we grab our hats and our heavier jackets before we board the tram. It has been really busy the closer we get to Christmas, and the tram is very full even now, later in the day.  The monorail is pretty busy, too!

We enter Magic Kingdom and it is lit with all of its beautiful Christmas lights and festive Christmas decorations. We walk down Main Street USA to enjoy all of the beautiful buildings and lights. Magic Kingdom is bustling with so many people. There are plans in the works to rework the “hub” to make it easier to go down Main Street USA, and I am looking forward to the new changes.

First, we are going to Adventureland to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. I love Pirates of the Caribbean; from the moment you walk up to the building, it is like you are stepping into an era that only the pirates know. As you scan your band and enter into the line, the arches on the stone structure set the stage. When you enter the building, there are chains that would hold the bridge. There are prisons where the skeletons of prisoners long ago once lived. If you like pirates and want to see how they rummaged towns back then, you will love this ride. Captain Jack Sparrow is hiding in various places as you travel through the waterways in your ship. There is even a fun waterfall drop that may get you lightly wet!

As we exit, we follow the walkway around through Frontierland to Fantasyland. A Frozen Holiday Wish is just about to begin as we come around Cinderella’s Castle. We knew there would be so many people in front of the castle, so we thought that we might watch it from the side if there were any benches still open. We walked down the path to the side of the castle and were able to sit as the lighting of Cinderella’s Castle began.

It is spectacular to see A Frozen Holiday Wish from a new angle. I love the lighting of the castle! It is so beautiful.

It is getting late and we decide that it is time for dinner. Wilderness Lodge is not far away, so we stop in to Roaring Forks quick service restaurant for roast beef sandwiches. We have experienced their amazing gluten free sandwiches. They are always amazing and delicious! The bread is perfectly toasted and the roast beef is wonderful. Yes, we have kept this on our favorite list!

It has been a wonderful day, and we must say goodbye to the fun… until tomorrow!

Day 59- Magic Kingdom and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile

The sun is shining and the day is beautiful. We were running errands earlier today and saw the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile! I love seeing the Weinermobile! We were going to call home, but we forgot to tell Twinkie we saw it! So, now we are at the Magic Kingdom parking lot (at the Transportation and Ticket Center), thoroughly excited that we got a great parking spot as we wait on the tram. The kids wanted to walk, but they were waiting for the tram with me. Hey, Mom! Look! There is the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile!

What!? I am so willing to walk to get to see this amazing and fun Weinermobile! We chased the Weinermobile when the kids were little and we were driving in the country. We were driving near a lake where it was hilly and I thought I saw something that I had never seen. We sped up and saw it was the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile on the road in front of us! Yes, we chased it for over an hour before it stopped in a Whataburger parking lot. We met the driver, got pictures, and ate supper there. Then, we drove over an hour back home! Yes, we will do what needs to be done to have fun, like driving out of our way to get to see this fun vehicle! Today, we didn’t even have to chase it down!

After we got pictures with the legendary Weinermobile, we were off to catch the Monorail to Magic Kingdom. As we get into the Main Street USA area, we see that A Frozen Holiday Wish is going on, and Elsa is just about to light the castle. We run up to the top level of the Train Depot and just in time to watch from the balcony! It is beautiful!

Our first FastPass+ is Pirates of the Caribbean. I had heard that the crowds are heavy at Magic Kingdom today, and sure enough, they are very busy.

We scan out MagicBands for Pirates of the Caribbean quickly and get in line. The FastPass+ line is fairly long, and the mom behind us is trying to look past us as we turn another corner. I laughed and said that we go down this next hallway, then a little hill, and we will be to the boats. She relayed the information to her family, and we chuckled. We began to talk, started laughing, and she asked, “How many times have you been on this ride?” A lot! She asked us what out 3 favorite rides are! Oh, I love Peter Pan’s Flight. She said, “We have FastPasses for that one!” I love Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train, and Pirates of the Caribbean. It turns out that they had FastPasses lined up for all of these! We shared as much as we could in a couple of minutes, and they thanked us for all of the hints to enjoy Magic Kingdom!

Our next FastPass+ is Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, so, we head for Tomorrowland. However, on the way out of Adventureland is the Dole Whip stand. We grab two Dole Whip Floats and a pineapple wedge on our way.

We stop as we cross the bridge into Tomorrowland and sit to finish our Dole Whip Floats. We watch Cinderella’s beautiful castle with all if its thick, icy lights! It is so fabulously beautiful.

Now, on to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin! The FastPass+ line is very quick and we are soon on the ride! It is so much fun to shoot the targets and watch the score go up over 100,000! I can see Tooti’s score and she has a perfect 999,999: Galactic Hero! As we get off of the ride, onto the moving sidewalk, we are excited to see our pictures as we round the corner! The cast member says that the pictures are already linked to our MagicBands! How cool!

We must stop and get Tooti’s “I’m Celebrating” badge! If you get 999,999, a perfect score, take a picture to show the cast member in the store, they will give you a “Galactic Hero” pin and announce it to everyone!

The day is perfect and turns into a cool evening. It was a fun, yet busy, day at Magic Kingdom!

Day 43- Magic Kingdom

We are having beautiful weather this week! It is chilly in the morning, hot in the afternoon, and back to chilly at night. I love Florida weather.

Magic Kingdom is beautiful as we walk down Main Street USA, and see the sun shining on the buildings! There is a nice amount of people; it’s not very crowded today and seems to have a more laidback atmosphere. Oh, listen, the Mainstreet Philharmonic band is playing, and a crowd of people have gathered to listen and dance! Fun!

We have a little time before our first FastPass+, so we go through Adventureland toward Frontierland. As we pass through Adventureland, I see the lines for Dole Whips are so very, very long! I don’t remember ever seeing this many people in line for a Dole Whip.

Now, on around to Frontierland. I watch people taking pictures with Splash Mountain in the background, and listen as children are playing and having a wonderful time. I walked into Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café, and noticed that somehow, I missed that there is a Texas flag on the wall. Inside, there is this old west saloon that you can eat in, an indoor courtyard, and even more seating outside. It is a fun place to eat.

Now off to Pirates of the Caribbean! I love this ride! We have a full boat, and a little girl sitting between her dad and mom behind us said, “I feel like a sandwich sitting between you two!” I turned and said, “And a very pretty sandwich you are!” She giggled and thanked me. “…and your sister!” Both of her parents chuckled, they were a cute family! The ride was great, but this time, the cannons went off and when the “cannon ball” landed in the water, it soaked my side of the boat. Then, one hit near Twinkie and her side of the boat got soaked too!

We get off the boat and there is a moving sidewalk (or “gangplank,” as the announcer says) that takes you back upstairs to exit. I like the moving sidewalk going uphill! Very fun!

It was in the mid-80’s this afternoon, so the Tiki group was misting people!

As we are walking to the front of the park, we can hear the music coming from Cinderella’s Castle for the Dream Along with Mickey show. We catch a glimpse as we turn towards the Crystal Palace on our way to Main Street USA. Such a beautiful day!

Day 18- Magic Kingdom

Today was school day for the pups and then I was off to Magic Kingdom for teatime with my kids. The park was bustling with excitement and anticipation. We did see a bunch of what we call “the third day meltdown.” It is that moment in time when little ones are saturated with so much to see and so much fun that their little bodies just cannot handle it! At the moment of the meltdown, it is time to just hold them, cuddle them, and give the kids a moment of quieted hugs. The parents who do that seem to hit a restart button and the kids are off to have fun once again.

We saw the Mayor of Main Street; I have heard about him, but today I got to meet him! It is quite an honor for me.

Then, we went to the Main Street Bakery, got our Starbucks, headed for the Tomorrowland Terrace and had our teatime there. We had a view of Cinderella’s Castle in front of us, Tomorrowland to the right. There was a relaxing, cool breeze as we rested and listened to the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party. The Mad Hatter was dancing today; we don’t always get to see him, but he is really fun to watch! After our nice break, we were off to explore more of Magic Kingdom.

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of our favorite rides. With the sun so bright outside, it is really dark as you walk through the corridors of Pirates! I finally got to see the mermaids in the water! When you exit, the pirate shop is really great to look around in. Twinkie had to check out the pirate hat!

A favorite shop is Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. They have some really beautiful ornaments, stockings, books, and other holiday items.

We caught the last few minutes of the Dream Along With Mickey Stage Show at Cinderella’s Castle. It is so beautiful and features so many fun characters! It even has a few daytime fireworks!

The Philharmonic Band came out and they are amazing. They played a medley of classic Disney tunes with a marching band twist. Sometimes, they even play fun older songs like, “Tiger Rag (Hold That Tiger).” I love all of the unusual characters and music that you find on Main Street!

It was so sunny and hot today! It was time to go home, so off to the Monorail and Tram to the Heroes parking lot! A beautiful time on a beautiful day!