It’s the sixth
and final installment of my Disney World vacation series here on the blog, and
this one is a BIG one, so settle in, friends.
Friday morning
was Magic Kingdom day, and it was also… my birthday!!!! My birthday fell during our Disney vacation
on our list trip, but we didn’t plan accordingly, so I ended up spending the
day in Animal Kingdom, which is my least favorite park. (Although, no day in Disney World is a bad
day, right?!) But this year, I wanted to
make sure that I planned to where we could be in MK for my actual birthday
because… does it get more magical than that?
I wore my birthday shirt and my birthday pin, and I was wished a “happy
birthday” 30 times by Disney Cast Members, random people, and a few special
characters, too. ;o)
MK Day is
always our longest, craziest day because there is just so much to do
there. Rope drop was at 7:30 AM for
people staying in the parks, so we were up bright and early at 5:45 AM yet
again, walking out the door by 6:45 AM, and walking into the park by 7:15
AM.
While we waited
for rope drop, we took some PhotoPass pictures at the castle. They have numerous Disney photographers lined
up all the way down Main Street to take castle pictures, but we made sure to go
to the photographer all the way at the end of Main Street, closest to the
castle. You get the best pictures there,
and shockingly, the line is always the shortest there. I think a lot of people don’t realize that
there are multiple photographers taking those same shots, so they just stop at
the first one they see on the way in, so the lines for those are always long,
and the pictures aren’t great because you have so many people in the
background. #TheMoreYouKnow
Since we walked
all the way to the last one, we only had one family in front of us, and we were
able to get some ah-mazing pictures without crowds and crowds of people in the
background. Since it was my birthday, I also
requested to take some pictures on my own, and they popped a little bit of
magic into them for me. ;o) Also, ya gotta love those cheesy poses they got us to do. ;o)
By the time
that was done, it was time for rope drop (they actually dropped it at 7:25 AM
instead of 7:30!), and we were off and running to our first ride of the day…
Peter Pan. Brian and I had secured
lightning lanes for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain since those are
currently the most popular, and Brian had also gotten Tron for Jacob and
himself.
Since we had
some time before any of our lightning lanes, we decided to try to knock out as
many rides as possible before those were available. Peter Pan always has a super long wait for
some reason, so that’s why we ran there first.
The wait time already said 30 minutes by the time we arrived, but I
think we only waited about 15-20 minutes.
The kids used
that time to eat their breakfast bars, and I popped into the Disney app to look
at our pictures from the castle. When I
opened the app, I was DEVASTATED to find that the pictures for the family in
front of us in line had been loaded into our app, and our pictures were nowhere
to be found. Brian told me not to panic
because he was sure they could fix it, and spoiler alert, I did panic a little,
but they were, indeed, able to fix it. More
on that later. ;o)
By the time we
were done there, it was 8:00 AM so we ran to Haunted Mansion as it opens at
8. I’m not sure why it opens later than
the rest of the park, but it was perfectly timed for us because we were in the
very first group to get on the ride. The
ride snaps pictures of you at one point, and I laugh every time I look at the
pictures because all of our faces are so weird.
It’s very obvious that none of us knew it was coming. Haha.
After that, we
were right near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, so we decided to go ride that
one next. The wait was super short –
maybe 10 minutes? – so we were on in no time.
I was very hesitant about riding a real roller coaster since I’d avoided
them the whole trip, but I figured since it was our last day there, why not?
I ended up
doing well on it, but there was one part where you go in a circle (or two?)
really fast, and towards the end of that part I thought to myself, “Oh no, why
did I do this?” because I could feel my brain starting to swirl from my vertigo. But just as I started feeling yucky, the
circle ended, and we straightened out, and my brain did as well. :o)
I did feel like
I was rocking on a boat for a good hour or so afterward, but I was happy to
have been able to ride one without feeling too bad!
Also, while we were waiting in line, look what I captured...
Y'all. My heart swelled. This was completely unprompted, and they were just standing like this all on their own. We had just told them they were both big enough to ride without an adult next to them, and they were soooo excited that they could sit together, so they wrapped their arms around each other. They truly love each other and I love that so much.
After that
ride, we walked over to Pirates of the Caribbean since it’s nearby, and we
literally walked right on the ride as there was no wait whatsoever. At that point, it wasn’t even 9 AM and we’d
already ridden four rides and taken pictures at the castle! We were on a roll!
By the time we
finished at Pirates of the Caribbean, the lightning lane for the boys had
opened for Space Mountain, so we walked over there next. We had booked it for all four of us, but I
decided I didn’t want to do it… a roller coaster in the daylight is one thing,
but a roller coaster in the dark where you don’t know what’s coming in front of
you is a whole other ball game. I knew
that wouldn’t be good for my vertigo, so I opted out. Olivia was also on the fence about it, and
she ended up staying with me. She almost
rode it on our last trip – she made it as far as the front of the queue – and
then she decided she didn’t want to ride, so she and I walked off.
While the boys
rode, Olivia and I went to sit down on a bench nearby so we could eat our
breakfast and so I could take my vitamins and vertigo medicine. When I went to take the vertigo medicine out
of my old lady pill box, it slipped out of my fingers, and hit the ground. And then, as if in slow motion, I watched it
roll across the sidewalk, and into a deep crack. OMG.
The pills I
take have to be cut in half since I only take a half dose during the day
(otherwise I will fall straight to sleep), so it was shaped like a half
moon. Well, wouldn’t you know that the
curved part went down in the crack first, so the flat part was facing up and
flush with the crack so there was no way for me to grab it. What are the odds?!?!
It was the only
pill I had with me, so I knew I had to get it back somehow. Naturally, I tried using my fingers first,
but that didn’t remotely work, and I ended up pushing it down further in the
crack. Sigh.
I then tried to
pry it up with the edge of my Carmex (chap stick) tube… it has a flat end
(IYKYK), so I thought for sure that would work, but instead, it just pushed it
down along the crack. Ugh.
Finally, a
lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that I had some of those GUM
flossers that are shaped like toothpicks in my bag (thanks to my braces), so I
was able to wedge one on either side of the pill and lift it up out of the
crack while Olivia grabbed it.
WHEW.
The pill was
covered in dirt (and who knows what else – barf, I don’t even want to think
about it), and although I was relieved to have it back, I was appalled at the
thought of putting that in my body because, hello, thousands of people
walk through there every day and I am a MAJOR germaphobe. So, needless to say, it was a hard pill to
swallow. No pun intended. Hahahaha.
I did wipe it
off with a tissue first, and then I poured water from our water bottle over it
to “rinse” it off. Those pills
disintegrate quickly, so I’m pretty sure the whole top layer that touched the
ground (and the crack) washed off anyway, but I told Brian that if I came down
with some kind of illness or disease after the trip, we’d know exactly where it
came from. Hahahaha.
Anywayyyy, I
had just retrieved the pill when the boys came back from the ride, so we were
good to go ride something else. Since we
were near Tomorrowland Speedway, Brian was able to grab a lightning lane for
it, and we walked right on.
Jacob drove
Brian and Olivia drove me, and it was so funny to watch them both. We had some slowpokes in front of us, and
Olivia kept saying, “Step on the gas, people!”
Hahahaha. They couldn’t hear her,
of course, but it was funny that she knew to say that.
After that was
done, we stopped by a little souvenir kiosk in Tomorrowland because Olivia
wanted to look at souvenirs, but she didn’t get anything.
While we were
in Tomorrowland, Brian was able to grab a lightning lane for Buzz Lightyear’s
Space Ranger Spin, so we walked over there next. For that ride, there are two riders per cart,
and you shoot at targets all throughout the ride and see who has the highest
score. Brian and Jacob’s cart wouldn’t
spin, so we told a Disney Cast Member as we were getting off the ride, and they
let us get right back on and ride again in new carts. We didn’t even have to get back in the queue.
During our
second ride, Brian and Jacob’s cart wouldn’t spin again, and they were baffled,
but we decided not to worry about it and just move on. Well, as we were having a conversation about it
later, Brian realized that he had no clue that you have to spin your own cart
(there is a joystick to control it), so while they’d thought their carts were
broken, it turns out that it was just operator error. LOL.
We had a good laugh about that, and I’ll never let him live it
down. It sounds like something I would
do, since I’m the technologically challenged one in the family. Haha.
Also, on that
second round, somehow, Jacob and Olivia each hit a 100,000-point target (Olivia
hit it twice!), and their scores were insane.
We’ve been to Disney three times and ridden that ride at least four
times, and this was the first time we’d seen scores that high! And LOL, more priceless ride pictures!!
Once we were
done there, we walked over to Fantasyland to ride a couple of rides there. First up, was Mad Tea Party. I obviously sat that one out because that
would have been a nightmare for my vertigo, so I was happy to observe and take
pictures from the outside. :o) Then we rode Dumbo the Flying Elephant. The line for that one was about 30 minutes at
that point, so we used that time to Facetime my parents for my birthday.
By the time we
were done there, we were all starving, so we walked over to Starlight Café to
grab a quick lunch. They just have
burgers and chicken fingers and fries, so it was quick and easy!
After lunch, we
walked over to Enchanted Tales with Belle.
Beauty and the Beast is my absolute favorite Disney movie of all-time
and it has been since I was nine when it came out, and we had never done that
attraction, so I was excited. The wait
was only about 30 minutes, and we got to wait inside Belle and Maurice’s house
while we waited. ;o)
We also got a
text from my mother-in-law while we were waiting with a picture of Maui telling
me happy birthday! <3 That just made my day. We missed our girl so much while we were gone!
Enchanted Tales
with Belle is interactive in that you can volunteer to play a role in the play
at the end. Both of our kids are too shy
when it comes to doing stuff like that, so they both shrank back as they were choosing
the kids to participate. Haha.
At the end, we
were ushered into Belle’s library, and she came in and everyone oohed and
aahed. She was so beautiful. And the Lumiere that was sitting on the
mantle talked and moved and looked so dang real that it was just insane. He’s my favorite character in the movie
besides Belle and Beast, so it was just the neatest thing.
After the play
was over, we were allowed to walk up and take pictures with Belle, and she gave
us bookmarks to keep, and she told me happy birthday. Nine-year old Lindsay would have been elated. <3
After that was
done, we had a lightning lane for Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid,
so we headed there next and hopped right on.
Olivia was
dying for some ice cream after that, so we walked over to Storybook Treats Ice
Cream for some soft serve. Brian and
Olivia opted for the Aurora cup, which is Dole Whip strawberry and “blue”
(which is really just vanilla) and topped with those delicious white chocolate
crisp pearls that Disney World puts all over everything. Jacob and I opted for vanilla soft serve
because we’re both purists when it comes to soft serve. ;o)
It was bathroom
break time after that so everyone could clean up (the ice creams were soooo
messy), and then we walked over to Barnstormer for our lightning lane. We had wanted to ride it earlier in the day
when we were in the area riding Mad Tea Party and Dumbo, but it had been down
all morning.
It was finally
back up, and we were all able to ride.
That one is pretty tame, so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad for my
vertigo, and I was right.
We had some
time to kill before our lightning lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, so we
decided to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh since we’d never
ridden. The wait said 40 minutes, and
the kids weren’t too thrilled about riding it as none of us are really Winnie
the Pooh fans, but I wanted to do something new, so I played the “it’s my
birthday” card and we went for it.
Hahahaha.
It turned out
that we only had to wait about 20 minutes to ride, and the kids ended up
loving it because of the bouncing part with Tigger. Haha.
They wanted to ride it again immediately after we got off, but it was
time for to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so we told them we’d have to save it
for next time.
I ultimately
decided not to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train because I was worried about my
vertigo. It was sunny and it had warmed
up, so I didn’t want to risk it since my dizziness always seems to be the worst
in the afternoon. I was a little bummed,
but still just happy to be there, so I went and found a place to sit in the
shade while Brian and the kids rode.
Brian texted me
when they were getting close to getting on, and I walked down to the area where
you can see the roller coaster car ride by, so I was able to get a picture and
a video of them coming through. Disney PhotoPass
pictures are also taken on that ride (it knows when to snap your picture
because of the location on your Magic Band), so we also had a few pictures
automatically uploaded to our PhotoPass.
While they were
finishing up with their ride, I started to walk back to my seat in the shade
when I realized that Pooh and Tigger had just arrived across the way, and
people were lining up to meet them. I
quickly got in line, and I figured Brian and the kids could just walk on up as
soon as they got off the ride.
The line moved
quickly when I first arrived, but by the time Brian and the kids met up with
me, it had slowed to a crawl. They ended
up taking a break right as we were about fifth in line, so we had to wait even
longer, and I think that’s the longest wait we had the entire trip besides
waiting to meet Woody and Jessie in Hollywood Studios. But again, we’d never met them, so it was
something new to do… and it was more autographs for the kids’ books! And again, I was really excited because
Tigger motioned to my birthday pin and threw his arms up in the air all
excitedly to tell me happy birthday.
Those characters don’t talk, so that was the best he could do. Haha.
After that was
done, the boys had a lightning lane for Tron, and Olivia and I didn’t want to
ride that at all, so we split up. The
boys headed over there, and Olivia and I headed to Guest Services to see about
getting our PhotoPass castle pictures corrected. Well, on the way, just as we were walking by
the castle, they started a show called Magical Friendship Faire, and Olivia and
I happened to be literally right by the stage as it was starting, so we stopped
and watched the whole thing from start to finish. Olivia got to watch Elsa sing Let it Go, so
she was pretty happy about that. ;o)
By the time the
show was done, the boys were almost done with their ride, so Olivia and I
continued walking to Guest Services, and the boys met up with us there shortly
after we arrived. Guest Services was,
indeed, able to locate our pictures from that morning and pop in them right
into our app, and all was well.
WHEW. I later realized on the way
home that they hadn’t put the “magic” in my birthday photos, though, but with a
quick email to them, they had included the “magic” (balloons in my hand) and
popped them into the app. I’m telling
y’all, Disney customer service is phenomenal.
I asked Jacob
how he’d liked Tron since it was the most intense roller coaster he’d ridden to
date, and his response was, “Well, it was… thrilling.” And then he went on to tell me that he thinks
he almost passed out. The pictures that
were taken on the ride most definitely back him up on that. Hahahaha.
We all took a
bathroom break after that and refilled our waters (FYI, you can go to any quick
service restaurant or kiosk and ask for a cup of water and it’s free and
filtered and cold, and they also have various water refilling stations around
the parks where you can also refill for free!), and then we walked behind the
castle to meet some princesses that Brian had been able to get a lightning lane
for!
Olivia had made
a bracelet for Rapunzel before we left home, and it was on her wish list to see
her. The day we were there, we couldn’t
find her anywhere, but there was a meet and greet with Tiana and a “special
guest,” so Olivia was thrilled to find that our lightning lane was for Tiana
and Rapunzel. We’d met both of them on
our last trip, but our pictures were taken in ponchos because it had been
raining nonstop, and the kids weren’t allowed to get their autographs because –
Covid – so it was nice to have a redo.
Tiana was gorgeous
– her dress is my all-time favorite aside from Belle! – and Rapunzel was just
so kind. When Olivia gave her the
bracelet, she put it on immediately and she hugged Olivia and thanked her, and
it was just the sweetest thing. All of
it was captured on camera with our PhotoPass, and the pictures are just precious. I’m so happy that she hasn’t quite outgrown
princesses yet… I know it’ll happen far too soon.
Although, maybe
not… I mean, I still haven’t technically outgrown them. I was giddy when both of them told me happy birthday. ;o)
Once we were
done there, it was time to check in at Be Our Guest for my birthday
dinner. We had a reservation, but we
ended up having to wait about 20 minutes past our reservation time because they
were a bit backed up. That rarely
happens at Disney, but we were happy to wait because we found some shade and a
place to sit down. These goofballs!!
Unfortunately,
we weren’t seated in the main ballroom, so that made me a little sad, and
instead we were seated in the “West Wing,” which if you know the movie, that’s Beast’s
wing that is strictly forbidden. The room
is dark and dramatic, and the rose stands in the corner while lightning flashes
and thunder rumbles every now and then.
I was pretty
disappointed at first to know we wouldn’t be sitting in the main room, but I ended
up loving sitting in the West Wing. It was
a totally different experience, that’s for sure! And it was something that we’d never done
before… we had lots of firsts on this trip!
The experience
there is always really great. It’s a fixed
price for adults and children, and each person gets to choose one appetizer and
one entrée. Then they bring out an entire
selection of desserts for each person.
I chose the
mixed greens salad to start… it has goat cheese, and I never turn down anything
with goat cheese! *Chef’s kiss*
Then for the entrée,
I got the grilled filet mignon with smashed potatoes, Haricots Verts, and sauce
au Poivre.
I paired it
with a beer (normally I’d go for a glass of wine with a filet, but Brian and I were
both in the mood for a beer that night), and it was all divine. And we got to see Beast!
For dessert for
the adults, they brought out a trio of a chocolate tart (which includes “the
grey stuff.” “Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious!”), a dark chocolate truffle,
and a lemon jam macaron. Brian surprised
me with a candle (and he’d even snuck in a lighter), so they could sing happy
birthday to me. And he gave me a birthday
card with my gift inside… tickets to see Usher in Atlanta! EEK! I
can’t wait! I’m sure he can, but I sure
can’t. Hahahaha.
For the kids,
they got a similar dessert plate that also included a little white chocolate cup
that they could paint to look like Chip from the movie. Both of them tried to paint cute faces on
their cups, but they turned out looking creepy, so they couldn’t stop
laughing. And then, of course, they
wanted to take some creepy pictures of their cups with their creepy faces in the
creepy room we were in. Haha.
After dinner, we walked around the castle for a bit...
And then we didn’t have very much time until we needed to get settled for the fireworks,
so we hightailed it over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad one more time since
we had promised the kids they could ride it a second time. B was able to get a lightning lane for it, so
they didn’t have to wait long. I decided
to skip as to not press my luck with my vertigo – not to mention I was stuffed
– so I found a spot on the fence and waited for them.
After that, we
headed towards the castle to get a spot for the fireworks, and OMG, the place
was already packed, and it was only 8:05 PM.
Thankfully, we were able to slide in a spot on the sidewalk about midway
between the castle and the shops on Main Street. Olivia had to go to the bathroom just then
(such an inopportune time!), but she and I were able to find one that wasn’t
too far and make it back to our spot with time to spare. And the boys were able to hold our spot. Whew.
The show ended
up being delayed for a few minutes, so we played with Snapchat filters while we waited. We were able to find some very appropriate filters. ;o)
But once it was underway, it was worth the
wait! It always is. It’s, by far, one of my favorite things
watching that show. Pure magic.
After the show,
the kids weren’t quite ready to leave yet, so we decided to ride The Magic
Carpets of Aladdin since B was able to get a lightning lane for it, and by then
it was dark, so that was an experience. We
considered doing the Tiki Room after that since it’s right next door (and we’d
never done it), but it was getting late and we didn’t feel like waiting
anymore.
After that,
Olivia wanted to find a very specific Belle souvenir, so Brian took her and
Jacob into the shops on Main Street, and I headed to guest services yet again because
for some reason our Tiana and Rapunzel pictures hadn’t made it into our
PhotoPass app. They were able to fix it
for me quickly, and then I joined them in the shops.
Olivia wasn’t
able to find what she was looking for, and by then, it was nearing 10 PM, and
she was soooo tired plus her little legs were hurting, so she got a little teary. Brian took her to sit down, and I ended up purchasing
the closest thing I could find to what she was wanting, and then we said our
goodbyes to MK for another two years.
The next
morning, we slept until 7:15, we got showered and packed, we grabbed some beignets
for breakfast at our hotel café, and then we hit the road at 9 AM.
Traffic was
awwwwful on the way home, so it took foreverrrr to get home, and we stopped to
have lunch at a Chick-Fil-A that was insanely packed with other fellow vacationers,
so that added to our time. We finally
made it home in the late afternoon and we were all so happy to be home.
B picked up
Maui, I unpacked and did four loads of laundry, and then we ended the night
with pizza and wine.
It was yet
another amazing trip, and we are already looking forward to going back… hopefully
in 2026!
And just in
case you want to see our entire day summarized, here it is…
Summary:
Hours spent in park – 15 (7:15 AM – 10:15
PM)
Rides/Attractions – 18
Shows Watched – 2
Characters met – 6
Autographs obtained – 4
Disney Photo Pass pictures and videos
taken – 90
Steps taken – 18,596
Miles walked – 7.40
Weather – Sunny, high of 79 degrees, low
of 51 degrees
Schedule:
Wake at 5:45 AM
Walk to bus stop at 6:45 AM
Bus at 7:00 AM
Arrive 7:15 AM
PhotoPass Pictures at the castle
(everyone)
Peter Pan (everyone)
Haunted Mansion (everyone)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (everyone)
Pirates of the Caribbean (everyone)
LL – Space Mountain (Brian, Jacob)
LL – Tomorrowland Speedway (everyone)
Souvenir shopping (everyone)
LL – Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
(everyone)
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin redo
(everyone)
Mad Tea Party (Brian, Jacob, Olivia)
Dumbo the Flying Elephant (everyone)
Lunch at Starlight Café (everyone)
Enchanted Tales with Belle (everyone)
LL – Under the Sea: Journey of the
Little Mermaid (everyone)
Snacks at Storybook Ice Cream (everyone)
LL – Barnstormer (everyone)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
(everyone)
Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train (Brian, Jacob,
Olivia)
Met Winnie the Pooh and Tigger from
Winnie the Pooh (everyone)
LL – Tron (Brian, Jacob)
Magical Friendship Faire show at the
castle (Lindsay, Olivia)
Guest Services to correct our PhotoPass
castle pictures (everyone)
Bathroom break/water refills (everyone)
LL – Met Tiana and Rapunzel (everyone)
Reservation – Be Our Guest for dinner
(everyone)
LL – Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
(Brian, Jacob, Olivia)
Fireworks show at the castle (everyone)
LL – The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
(everyone)
Guest services to correct our Tiana and
Rapunzel pictures (Lindsay)
Souvenir shopping (everyone)
Left park at 10:15 PM (everyone)
And if you
missed any of the rest of the days from our trip, you can see them below!
Disney by the Numbers
Disney Springs
Hollywood Studios
Epcot
Animal Kingdom/Pool
Happy Monday, y'all!
