Disney World Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

Our third day in Disney World got off to a little bit of a slower start. We planned to visit Magic Kingdom. We got up and onto the shuttle around our usual time. The shuttle ride was a lot longer to Magic Kingdom than it was to the other parks. It took around 30 minutes for us to arrive. We got through security, picked up a wheelchair, and into the park right at the open. We were making our way down main street USA when my grandpa spied a bakery. We made a stop so that we could get some breakfast.

After our impromptu breakfast, we headed over to Peter Pan. Alison loves this ride because when she was little she couldn't go on Indiana Jones in Disneyland so her mom took her on this ride over and over again. It is nostalgic for her. A line had developed, but it wasn't too bad. Plus the queue in this line was very fun. They had pictures and quotes on the wall evoking the Peter Pan story. There was one room you waited in that was themed like Darling's nursery. Tinker Bell would fly around the room interacting with various objects - treasury chests, lampshades, etc. There was also an area where shadows were projected on the wall. People standing in line could then interact with the shadows. For example, they would have shadows of bells on the wall. If a person in line had their shadow hit a bell the bell would move and you would hear a bell sound. We really enjoyed watching the kids interact with the shadows.

We had a fast pass on Space Mountain. On our way there we stopped and filled up my grandpa's popcorn bucket. He was pretty content to sit and each popcorn and watch people go by as we rode on the roller coasters throughout the park. Space Mountain at Disney World is not nearly as good as the one in Disneyland, still fun to ride, but not as good. I think the biggest thing is that at the end of the ride you are just taxiing, whereas on the  Disneyland version it is thrilling to the very end.

The next stop was the Haunted Mansion. This is a classic and one that we could all ride together. It is a fun ride and very similar to the one in Disneyland. Our next fast pass was nearby at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This is a fun ride and I personally thought it was better than Disneyland. Alison and my grandma thought it was very comparable.

Our third fast pass of the day was for the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train. This ride is very popular at Disney World and we were pretty excited to try it. It was a very fun ride. It had a few technical difficulties while we were riding. Right as we got to the top of the big drop the coaster got stuck. We sat there for a few minutes before we got to experience the thrilling section of the ride. We had left my grandpa sitting near the drop. When we got back he asked us who was screaming - that would have been Alison. She is a screamer and screams every time a ride speeds up or drops.

We were getting hungry so we stopped at Gaston's Tavern to get some Lefou's brew (Disney World's response to butterbeer), giant cinnamon rolls, and pretzel sandwiches. I thought Lefou's brew was pretty good. It was a frozen, apple, cinnamon-flavored beverage. Alison still prefers butterbeer. My grandpa loved the giant cinnamon rolls. He polished off a couple of those and had to get a couple of glasses of milk to wash it down.

We found a spot to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade. One of the benefits of wheeling my grandpa around the park is that we got great spots for the parades and all of the shows. My grandpa loved to point out that he was a fast pass to these attractions. Whenever we got a benefit from the wheelchair he would pat his forehead and say "fast pass plus". The parade was awesome. It is a tribute to the stories of Fantasyland and they had fantastic floats. The most amazing float was the dragon from Sleeping Beauty. It was very intricate and even blew fire.

When the parade was done we headed over to the Country Bears. My grandma and grandpa loved the Country Bears, especially Big Al. He sang an old Tex Ritter song - Blood on the Saddle that my grandpa likes to sing. My grandpa graced us with his rendition a few times on this trip.

We also went to the Tiki Room. My grandparents have both been to Disneyland and Disney World a few times, but somehow they had never made it into the Tiki Room. We got to introduce them to it. After this show, it was a time for a ride so we went on the world-famous Jungle Cruise. This ride is excellent at Disney World it is a little longer than the one at Disney World and it is always cheesy.

Earlier in the day, we were walking by the river and my grandpa asked how a person could get on the riverboat. We had a little open time so we rode the riverboat. It was a nice ride, and the perfect time because it rained a little while we were riding the boat. We were on the second level so we stayed nice and dry. By the time the ride was over the rain had cleared. We headed out to the castle to make sure we got a picture of all of us in front of the castle and arrived just in time to see Mickey's Friendship Festival. It is a little stage show performed on the stage right in front of the castle. Mickey brings out guests such as Tiana and Elsa to sing some songs. It was a fun little show. Right after the show, there was another little parade and a dance party right in front of the castle.

After our pictures at the castle, it was time for our reservation at Be Our Guest. This is the hardest restaurant to get reservations for at Disney World. Alison woke up at 4am six months before our trip to make sure we got a reservation. The morning she got the reservations she checked later at 6am to see if she really needed to get up so early to get our reservation. At 6am all the reservations for the duration of our trip were gone. They were running a little late (15 minutes) on the reservations. My grandparents were a little antsy - anytime it looked like someone else was going in ahead of us they wanted me to double-check and make sure the cast members knew we were waiting. I assured them that we would receive a text when our table was ready and that everyone who had a reservation was waiting just like us. It was fine and they got us in as quickly as possible.

Be Our Guest is a Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant. It has three rooms. We were seated in the ballroom - designed after the ballroom where Beauty and the Beast danced in the movie. Alison and I also checked out the other rooms while we were waiting for our meal. My grandparents didn't immediately see the appeal of this restaurant. It was a pretty big room and had a bit of an echo. Once we were seated and got some delicious bread to start with they warmed up. We had an exceptional meal. I had lamb chops and Alison had a shrimp and scallop plate. We had a great conversation with my grandparents while we ate. It was a pretty tender and special moment. For dessert, we had the grey stuff because it is delicious! On our way out we got a picture with our host - the Beast.

Try the Grey Stuff it's delicious

My grandparents were ready to call it a night so we rode the train with them over to the front entrance. After they headed out to the shuttles Alison and I headed back in to catch the firework show. At the Magic Kingdom, they have their Happily Ever After firework show. It was incredible. We watched from Main Street and really enjoyed the projections on the castle. This may have been my all-time favorite Disney firework show.

After the firework show, we did a couple of things that we didn't have time for earlier in the day. We went and watched Mickey's Philharmagic, which is a 3D show with lots of Disney music. We almost forgot we had a fast pass to Pirates of the Caribbean. We had to run over there, but we made it with a couple of minutes to spare. Pirates of the Caribbean isn't the same in Disney World, but it was still kind of fun.

Before too long it was time to call it a night. This night was the only time we had to wait for the shuttle. The line was long enough that we had to wait for three different shuttles to come before we finally got on one. It was a rough night to have to wait for a shuttle because it is such a long ride from Magic Kingdom to our hotel. With the wait in line, it took us almost an hour to get from the park back to our hotel room.

Magic Kingdom was our least favorite Disney World park. It is ironic because we thought it would be our favorite because we love Disneyland so much. It was harder to see the Disney magic at this park. Alison kind of summed it up when she said it felt too much like a regular theme park. It was much more crowded and harder to navigate. We had fun, but it was the only day where we felt like we didn't do everything we wanted to do.