Finally getting around to sharing this recap of my day in Magic Kingdom at the end of last month. Almost exactly a year before, I visited Magic Kingdom for the first time in ten years. It was a wonderful day, except for the fact that it was kind of overwhelming. I guess I hadn't expected the park to be as crowded as it was, and I ended up spending so much of the day in Fantasyland and not in other areas of the park. Which was fine, because Fantasyland is amazing. But I did leave feeling like I hadn't really experienced everything Magic Kingdom had to offer.
So when a year later I decided to return to Disney World, going back to Magic Kingdom was a no brainer. And it worked out so beautifully. Although, to be completely honest, it didn't start out that way.
We got to Magic Kingdom on Monday morning, fresh and ready for the day of rides we had planned (we had all 3 mountains reserved with FastPasses, so our itinerary was pretty much set). And then the system at Disney went down... which meant if you didn't already have your tickets activated on your Magic Band, you had to make a line at Guest Services before you could get into the park. A line that quickly turned into a 2 hour wait. My sister and I stood in the line in the heat until about 11am (and we got to the park a bit before 9am), until we decided to just call it a day and come back on Tuesday. Of course, we knew that might mean we would lose all our FastPasses. But after speaking with a cast member, it looked like that might not be the case. We were told that as long as we hadn't used any that day, we could probably get them re-scheduled on Tuesday. So we left Magic Kingdom and spent the day relaxing and visiting Disney Resorts instead.
On Tuesday, we tried again. The funny thing is, the system being down on Monday ended up making our day in Magic Kingdom so much better. The cast member (Disney cast members are seriously the best) who helped us reschedule our FastPasses set them up so that we could get on all the mountains at any time we wanted to. That meant we didn't have to rush from one end of the park to another as we tried to make it to a certain area. We could just spontaneously do whatever we wanted. And that was such an amazing thing. Kind of felt like we had won the lottery...
With this new flexible itinerary, our day at Magic Kingdom ended up being surprisingly relaxing. And I never thought I'd say that after our previous year in MK, which was a little crazy at times. The longest line we waited in (no more than 20 minutes) was for Pirates of the Caribbean. Everything else went so smoothly and quickly. Of course, we made time for eating some of Disney's best snacks, and finding AC when we could (Gaston's Tavern in Fantasyland is the perfect place for this, by the way. You can sit and eat snacks you brought from home and enjoy their free, unlimited water).
Last year, Magic Kingdom was all about the photos for me. But this year? I think it was all about the food. From the desserts in these photos to a hot dog from Casey's corner, everything I had was delicious.
Of course, the rides were pretty amazing themselves. This was my first time getting on Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and both rides are pretty awesome. Space Mountain was a bit much for me because I don't like roller coasters (Big Thunder Mountain is so tame though), but I am glad I got in because it's so beautiful on that ride. I'll never forget flying through that indoor roller coaster surrounded by a night sky lit by stars. I'd gotten on Splash Mountain before, but I didn't remember how fast that drop is! It kind of took me by surprise honestly.
Later in the day, we stumbled across Mickey's Celebration Parade, and he posed for my camera! Main Street is a part of the park that I didn't spend too much time at last year, so it was nice to walk through it at the perfect moment to see Mickey and his friends pass by. The gift shops along Main Street are also the perfect place to cool down in the AC. You could probably spend hours checking out the variety of merch in there.
Another thing I did this year was find the Purple Wall, which I totally forgot about the year before (if you don't know, this wall is the most famous one at Disney, was made popular by visitors themselves who kept taking so many selfies here that Disney eventually spruced it up a bit). It was surprisingly difficult for me to find it for some reason, but eventually I did and got my classic photo (I was on outfit number two at this point, because, well, why not?
Since our day at Magic Kingdom had gone so well (since we focused on doing things we hadn't done the year before and visiting every area of the park, we really felt like we had seen almost everything), we got in place early for the fireworks show, and ended up getting a great spot right in front of the castle (we were in place by 7:30, and the show starts at 9:15. It's a good idea to wait to eat at this point. Have someone go get food while everyone else waits. That's what we did, so we ate our hot dogs from Casey's Corner as we waited for the show to begin).
This was another redeemed moment for me, because I was kind of bummed the year before when I hadn't been close enough to see the projections on the castle. This year, I had the perfect view, and the show truly blew me away. The Happily Ever After show is such a perfect way to end a day at Disney. Nothing captures the magic of Disney as well as that show does after a day at Magic Kingdom. It was one of my favorite moments of the day.
That's it for my recap on my second chance at Magic Kingdom. I still can't believe how beautifully the day went. The tips I would give anyone to have a similar experience are 1) don't stress over the small stuff. You're going to have to wait in lines, you will be uncomfortable if you go in the summer, but if you let this put you in a bad mood, you'll ruin your whole day. And 2) plan as much as you can, but don't stress if things change. Reserve your FastPasses at least 30 days in advance (60 if you're staying at a Disney resort), and get familiar with all the rides in each area so you won't waste time searching through a map all day. Same thing goes for knowing what food you want to try.
A day at Disney is truly what you make it. I'm so glad we were able to make it such a great one.
Comments