Day 5 – Thursday, October 13 – Magic Kingdom (Crowd Level 7)
This was the day that I was most looking forward to prior to the trip. We were super fortunate in that this was the one day all week that MK opened at 9 am. I had an 8:15 appointment at the BBB for DD4. And I snagged an 8:25 reservation at BOG for the rest of the group. I bought a gorgeous Rapunzel inspired dress off Amazon for DD4 to wear on this day. We were up early and out the door to catch the monorail to MK. We checked in and were held in line until around 7:45 when they let all of us into the park. It was awesome to walk down a nearly empty Main Street.
We walked down and took some pictures in front of the castle. Then DD4 and I headed off to the BBB while the rest of the group went to have breakfast at BOG. I did not want to go through the hassle of trying to walk them through the pre-order process, so I lied and said it was too late to pre-order. DD4 was seated right away when we checked in at the BBB. There were probably only 2-3 other girls seated at this point.
We had a wonderful fairy godmother-in-training named Maria. I selected the basic crown package, and DD4 chose the fairytale princess hairstyle. She absolutely LOVED every moment of this! The hair, the nails, the make-up, the jewels…she was giddy throughout the entire process. And Maria totally made a fuss over her. The photographer also took lots of pictures throughout the process. When we checked out, Maria gave DD4 a whole roll of multiple stickers of every Disney princess. And then she escorted us over to Castle Couture. We were the first ones finished, so there was no one else in Castle Couture. DD4 posed for lots of adorable photos, and we were out the door around 8:30. This was absolutely my favorite moment of the entire trip! Watching DD4’s reaction to it all…priceless!
We walked down to BOG, and the rest of the group was still eating breakfast. So we headed back to the Carousel, and I took some pictures of DD4 trying to pull the sword from the stone. We walked back down to BOG, and they came out a few minutes later around 8:40-8:45. DSis & DBiL immediately say to me that they thought it was going to be a character breakfast even though I NEVER told them that characters would be present. My parents enjoyed their breakfast, but apparently DSis & DBiL said that it was just okay and wouldn’t do it again. So that was…annoying!
We got in the line for SDMT. DD4 refused to go on it, so she waited with my DM. We probably only waited a few minutes before they let us on SDMT. We all loved the ride, especially DN6. I thought it was super cute and fun and could see myself riding it multiple times if not for, ya know, the massive line. By the time we exited, the RD crowd was there. At this point, I suggested that we split up since I could already sense that we wanted to do different things. And DSis & DBiL agreed, YAY!!!
I was finally free to follow my TP with zero complaints! Up first, we walked onto WtP. This was super cute, and DD4 really liked it. From here, we went to get in line to meet Merida. There were probably only 3-4 families in front of us in line. Merida started meeting about 5 minutes late, but once they let us in, the line moved quickly. Merida was great, and interacted with DD4 for a long time. She told DD4 all about how her horse and Rapunzel’s horse were best friends.
We then headed over to Mad Tea Party. Alice had just started meeting so we hopped in line with just one other family in front of us. Alice was great, and again, DD4 enjoyed meeting her and getting an autograph. We then walked onto Mad Tea Party and all 4 of squeezed into one tea cup for some unknown reason. My DF immediately started spinning the cup as fast as he could, and my DM actually screamed for him to stop, lol. So we then casually spun around for the rest of the time.
Next, we walked over to meet Ariel at her grotto with very little wait. DD4 is a huge Ariel fan and a huge mermaid fan, so she LOVED this M&G. DD4 loved the fact that Ariel could not stop talking about all the jewels on DD4’s dress. After exiting, we headed over to Dumbo. This was the only real line we waited in all day. They had both sides running, but the playground was still closed. The wait wasn’t terrible, but it still would have been nice if the playground was open. It was a quick little ride, but DD4 seemed to enjoy it.
From here, we headed to a bathroom break and then I tried to convince DD4 to do the Barnstormer. No such luck, so we headed to Pete’s Silly Sideshow where DSis & family met up with us. We got in line for Goofy & Donald first. There was a bit of a line, but it seemed to move steadily. The girls loved seeing Goofy & Donald again. We exited and went around to get back in line to meet Minnie & Daisy. But DD4 started whining about not wanting to wait in line again so we skipped it.
We then headed off to Under the Sea. This ride was still a walk-on at this point. I thought it was really cute, and the girls liked it a lot. We then headed up to the Carousel. My DM and I rode this with the girls, and they both still really enjoy a carousel. I wanted to try to meet the Fairy Godmother and/or the Tremaine Sisters before or after lunch. But they always seemed to have a long line, so I didn’t attempt it with DD4.
Next, we headed off to use our FP+ to meet Rapunzel & Tiana. This was a fabulous M&G as both princesses spent a good amount of time chatting with the girls. Once again, the girls loved meeting them and getting autographs. And I made sure to get a picture of DD4 alone with Rapunzel since they had matching dresses.
At this point, we split up again since DSis & family’s ADR at CRT was about an hour after our ADR. We still had a bit of time before our lunch reservation, so we walked over to see Mickey’s Philharmagic. This was super cute, and we all liked it a lot. We then checked in at CRT and were sent in right away. We stopped to meet Cinderella first. I have to say that she was probably the weakest M&G of the whole trip. I don’t even recall her speaking to DD4.
We then headed up and were seated for lunch. I really enjoyed my meal of the shrimp and beef plus the lemon sorbet for dessert. DD4 barely touched her food because she was bouncing with excitement over the princesses! We had Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine and Rapunzel at lunch. I thought Aurora would be there, so I had to tell DD4 that Aurora was sick. They definitely move the process along at CRT, but DD4 still loved meeting all the princesses. Some of them (Snow White & Rapunzel) interacted with DD4 longer than others (Ariel & Jasmine). DD4 also loved getting the wishing star and the wand!
After lunch, we headed over to the HM. I originally had FP+ for SDMT after lunch, but when DD4 didn’t want to ride it in the morning, I switched our FP+ to HM. DSis & family had been seated early at CRT, and they were finishing up lunch already so we waited just a bit for them to join us. When they found us, they said that they were going to leave the park and head back to the Poly. And with that, we headed off to use our FP+ for HM.
Of course, I didn’t tell DD4 that the ride was called HM because I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be. She kept asking me about the ride, and I just told her that we were going to ride in a buggy through a mansion. When we reached the CM, I asked if we could skip the stretching room. She pointed us in the direction where we would meet another CM who would get us when it was time to board our buggy. Once we were in line to board our buggy, I explained that there would be silly, pretend ghosts in the mansion. DD4 ended up not being scared at all. She loved it and intently watched all of the scenes.
After exiting, I convinced DD4 to stop at the Rapunzel bathrooms and change out of her dress. We then headed off to use our FP+ at PPF. This was another super cute ride that we all enjoyed. After I tapped my band here, I immediately got on my phone and added FP+ for IASW. So when we exited, we walked right over to use our FP+ at IASW. You really forget how long this ride is when it’s been 30+ years since you’ve done it. Still, DD4 seemed to enjoy it.
At this point, the only things left on my TP were ETWB and Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire. However, we were quite a bit ahead of my TP, and there was at least a 30 minute wait at ETWB. DD4 was not up for that line at this point. She had been asking to go back and pick out a souvenir at the WtP gift shop all day. So we headed back there, and my DM bought her a plush Eeyore. I must say that he is a really cute and cuddly little guy!
I asked DD4 if there were any more rides that she wanted to do before we left MK. She insisted no and that she just wanted to go back to the Poly and swim. I was a bit bummed that we missed ETWB, and I also would have gone back over to Tomorrowland to do some of the attractions that we skipped on Tuesday. But I listened to DD4, and we exited MK just before the start of the FoF parade.
We took the monorail back to the Poly. The girls swam at the pool for a long time while the adults enjoyed a few adult beverages. We went back to our rooms to change for dinner and then came back down to watch the torch lighting ceremony at 6:00. From there, we went down to the beach and let the girls play in the sand until it was dark. They absolutely LOVED playing in the sand! We then had dinner at Captain Cook’s. And then we were back to our rooms for a normal bedtime.
I thought this was a GREAT day! I must admit that it was so much more enjoyable touring without DSis & family. This only confirmed even further that I’d love for our next trip to be just me and DD4 (and possibly my DM). Still, I was looking forward to our last park day at AK!
