Ride All of the Magic Kingdom Rides Challenge

Earlier in the week we had the great idea to go to Magic Kingdom and see if we could hit EVERY ride in the park. We would get there at the elusive rope drop and run through the park with the sun shining and the children being happy and agreeable the whole way!

And then reality hit.

We had also realized that Kid #2 was tall enough for Space Mountain and told her that we had a surprise for her on our trip because surprises are fun. I should know better that to tell this child that there is a surprise coming because she is just like me and cannot sleep when she knows something is coming. Proof – She woke my husband up at midnight and 1am for a drink of water. Then woke me up at 3am for a drink and 4:15 because she had woken up Kid #3 and they were yapping away. What the heck! My alarm was already set for 5:45 (8am park openings are rough).

Through blurry eyes and loud children yielding frozen waffles and bananas we made it out the door on time to stop for gas and coffee. For once we were going to make it to rope drop…but then the gas pump wasn’t working, they didn’t have breakfast sandwiches, and the attendant was less than pleasant so we had to go to a second gas station before hitting the highway.

We didn’t make it. 😦

We were on Disney property when the Opening Show was going on, but we just couldn’t get there in time…however, we walked through the gate at roughly 8:05am and bolted straight to Seven Dwarfs.

The posted wait time was 30 minutes, but I am pretty sure that they list that at park open. It took us no more than 15 minutes from the time we stepped in line to getting off the ride. What a great way to start the day.

Then we headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but were distracted by a 15 minute wait for Peter Pan. We hopped in line. This was our first time ever going through the line because we usually grab a FP+. The line is ADORABLE and is the perfect set up to the ride. In fact, I think I appreciate the ride more after waiting in the line. I wish I would have been able to get some pictures, but we were really only in line 5 minutes.

After our ride to Neverland and back we made it to Big Thunder and were able to ride it twice because the wait was only 5 minutes! We were going to jump on Splash Mountain since we were there, but it wasn’t open. I’m not sure if it was because it was early, or something was going on, but the big drop didn’t have water on it and there were some alarms going off. We decided to come back later.

Space Mountain (and Kid #2’s surprise) was next up on our list. Hubs took the big kids while Kid #3 treated me to my first ever trip on the Astro Orbiter. I am NOT a fan. I don’t to heights well and I kept feeling like I was going to slip out of my rocket…not cool. The view, however, was pretty cool.

We decided to do a switch since the Space Mountain wait was still only 10 minutes and I took the big kids and Hubs took the little guy on the Tomorrowland Speedway.

I know it is cliche, but I love Space Mountain! I am well aware that it isn’t actually an impressive ride with the lights on, but when you don’t know what’s coming it’s awesome.

Now, friends, this is about where we started to loose traction for our “Ride Every Ride” Challenge. We decided that we needed to pick a spot and just circle the park to be more efficient so we started with the Circus.

Our family loves the quick and easy Barnstormer. I don’t know why, but we do. The ride is no longer than 30 seconds, but sometimes that’s all you need. We got in the 20 minute wait line knowing it would only be about 10, but then the line stopped moving…and the ride stopped running. Soon they made the announcement that the ride was down and they did not know how long it would be until it came back up. We gave the kids a snack, but after a few minutes decided to get out of line and head over to Dumbo.

Insert meltdown here.

I won’t get into the gory details of the meltdowns that occurred (ain’t nobody got time for that) but just know that this was about where we gave up on hitting every ride in the park. We decided to hit the rides we had FP+ reservations for (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Jungle Cruise) plus a few more, have a little snack, and play a round of Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom and then after dinner we would decide whether to go home, or try to stick it out for a few more rides.

Ahhh dinner. Earlier in the week when we decided to go to the park I was supposed to make a ADR (advanced dining reservation) for dinner. I was having trouble with my phone when the decision was made so I planned to do it later. I forgot. We got to dinner time and had no dinner reservation. BOOOO. You can’t walk in anywhere at Magic Kingdom. There are just too many people vying for those reservations…so we monorailed over to Epcot. I love dinner at Epcot.

The longer you read this blog, the more you will notice a pattern…we almost always go to Epcot for dinner. The food is just fricking amazing that we just can’t help ourselves. Oh, and you can almost always walk in and get a table. We have only been turned down once, and that was on date night at Le Cellier during Food and Wine so we were silly to think we would get in. I digress.

We bolted straight to dinner at Nine Dragons and were not disappointed.

After dinner I completed a Agent P mission with the big kids while hubs took Kid #3 on the Grand Fiesta Tour (a MUST in the Mexico Pavillion). We then we went to Spaceship Earth were I sat through the entire ride in a language I did not understand compliments of my daughter’s pinkie brushing the screen.

Once we returned to the present day I insisted on a park departure treat of ice cream. It had been years since I had a Mickey ice cream bar…it was time. This also helped quiet everyone since we were leaving relatively early and still had to monorail over to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC).

So there you have it. We attempted to do all of Magic Kingdom, only to be thwarted by our own planning. Whoops! Have you ever ridden every ride at Magic Kingdom, or any other amusement park, all in one day? How do you deal with meltdowns (from kids or adults) while at the park? Tell us below, and make sure to check out our NEW weekly podcast!

Yet Another Birthday Celebration

With a family of 5 it feels like we are always celebrating something…and that something is frequently a birthday! Last week was Kid #2’s 6th birthday, and she had been counting down to it since before Christmas. I guess turning 6 is a big deal.

Her celebrations included:

• Going out to dinner at her favorite Japanese buffet the Friday before her “real” birthday
• Mommy buying her a special outfit to wear to school on her birthday
• Mommy bringing cupcakes to her class at snack time
• Being picked up from the bus with a balloon (a tradition of mine)
• Getting a few gifts on her birthday
• Having a small party dripping with Disney Princess pink and sugar the Saturday after her birthday
• Going to the park of her choice the Sunday after her birthday…gotta get that birthday button!

Whoa…spoiled much? I’d say that this isn’t what we typically do, but why can’t you celebrate your birthday for a month?

But this isn’t a birthday blog…it’s a Disney blog so let’s get to the park part of the celebration!

We had been planning on going Sunday of MLK weekend for a while since there was no school/work the next day, but on Saturday it looked like there was a 100% chance of rain throughout the day so we cancelled our FP+ and decided to see if Monday’s forecast was better.

But then the pixie dust took over! When I woke up on Saturday the forecast was clear the whole day because the storm hit us overnight. We scurried around and were out the door with a bag full of snacks (we were only planning on purchasing one quick serve meal that day) and were able to make it inside the gates within 2 hours of opening.

Now, since Kid #2 had already had gifts and a party this was a bit of a low-key celebration. No ADR’s (advanced dining reservations) had been made, no appointments with Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and FP+’s were not made for meeting princesses…it was basically a “normal” day at the park for us, but with a birthday button.

Here are some of the highlights!

Big Thunder Mountain!! This is a family favorite and it is very rare that we get to ride it during the day. For some reason we always get evening/night FP+ for it. Kid #3 has just recently realized (admitted to himself) that he likes roller coasters. I cannot express how much more enjoyable trips are when you aren’t fighting a 4 year old in line for half an hour. And he’s a biter.

We finally got signed up with our starter sets of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards. Kid #1 has been begging for months to do this, but we wanted to wait until the holiday crowds went home to get started. We took turns at each portal to fight against the likes of Scar, Hades, and Maleficent. Even Mommy and Daddy got into the game. This isn’t something I would recommend for a family that is on a “once in a lifetime” trip to Walt Disney World, but I think it is awesome for Annual Passholders and guests who come regularly.

The birthday slushie! Kid #2 kept talking about getting a birthday cupcake from SOMEWHERE!! She went with daddy to grab dinner from Pinnochio Village Haus (like we did on her 3rd birthday trip) and she came back with a crazy sugary lemonade slushie. The boys have now declared that they wanted to go back there for their birthdays because THEY wanted slushies.

Kisses from Belle! Kid #2 gets very excited to always participate in Enchanted Tales with Belle, but Kid #3 is ALWAYS attached to my leg. He hides. This day he decided that he was going to play too! I was over the moon excited. He did everything the castmember asked when she was handing out parts and Kids #2 and 3 got picked to be Mrs. Potts and Chip! They are excellent hoppers! After the performance when it was his turn to meet Belle the castmember helping him showed him how to box to Belle and it was amazing. She spent more time with him than any other kid and then (after I put my phone away) she game him a big kiss on the check! THIS  is one of those times when I cannot wait to upgrade our passes so that Memory Maker is included!

We typically do not get in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train unless A) we have a FP+ or B) the wait is half an hour or less. On this trip we decided to get in line with it showing 50 minutes because every ride had been about half the posted wait time all day. This was the same! 50 minute wait posted and only 30 minutes until we were off the ride. Awesome as always.

Pixie Dust was on our side again!! I was grabbing a couple of coffees to warm us up while we completed the Adventureland mission for Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and the castmember made 2 hot cocoas. When I corrected her she offered them to me for free since she would have to dump them anyway. Talk about happy kids! This little boost helped us push through Kid #2 taking FOREVER to spend her birthday money (a Belle purse and gloves, thank you very much!).

This trip was almost picture perfect. We rode 85-90% of the rides we wanted and only had one small child meltdown when we were leaving. January is one of my favorite months to go to Disney because the crowds are gone and the heat isn’t forcing you to stop for water constantly.

 

This weekend we are looking to do Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on Sunday. Fingers crossed that it is another good trip!

Have you ever gone to Disney to celebrate your birthday? Maybe an anniversary or engagement? I have seen a lot of people there celebrating high school and college graduations. Walt Disney World is AMAZING for celebrations!