Walt Disney World
To say my daughter and I were excited to be at Walt Disney World would be an understatement. I took the advice of a Disney expert and arrived about one hour prior to opening. There were still lines for bag checks and admission, but the wait was minimal. During our day at Disney we used the both the Ferry Boat and the Monorail. Both were comfortable and convenient for use with a little one in a stroller.
Upon entering the Magic Kingdom we felt the magic immediately. The excitement I saw in my daughter’s eyes let me know it was going to be a great day.
We raced over to Fantasy Land and, thankfully, the line for the Dumbo ride was short. Most of our wait time was in covered air conditioning, a big plus for the June heat in Florida. There is a play area advertised for this ride but I did not see it, maybe because the line was short. The ride was fun. I was a little nervous because I am not a fan of heights or spinning, but once on it I did not have any problems and my daughter loved it.
Next, we went to see my daughter’s hero, Ariel, in her seaside grotto. I brought my daughter’s autograph book from her previous trip to Disney. Now I realize that Ariel meets thousands of children every day, but she spoke to my daughter as if she remembered her.
Next we went on the Under the Sea ride featuring the characters from the Little Mermaid, walking along a conveyor belt walkway to get to our clamshell car. My daughter navigated it well, maybe a bit better than me. We absolutely loved the ride. Music and colors filled our senses. They played all the Little Mermaid songs that brought back memories from my youth.
The Mad Tea Party ride with its iconic pastel tea cups was next. We rode with another mom and daughter. Thankfully our cup partners were ok with spinning, as my little one spun the cup faster and faster.
We next went to the Tomorrowland Speedway. Using a Fast Pass is the way to go for this ride as the line gets long very quickly. When we arrived at our designated time it had just started to rain, but that did not deter us. We loved the ride, one of our favorites. I had to drive because the pedal is difficult to push and the steering a bit jerky, but she fought through it and loved every minute.
Break time for lunch. We tried to get a walk in at Cinderella’s Royal Table inside Cinderella’s Castle, but no luck–it’s very popular! I was told that sometimes there is a last minute cancellation, but this was not the case for us. So we decided to use our Park Hopper pass and hop over to Epcot Center for lunch. We took the monorail from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot and found an area with food and activities from different countries. We chose Ireland. I had corned beef and cabbage, and my daughter had fish and chips. Both were delicious.
We could not visit Epcot without seeing Frozen’s Elsa, Anna and Olaf at the Royal Sommerhus. My daughter was starstruck seeing her favorite princesses from her favorite film, and I have pictures for her to relive it.
On our walk through Epcot we saw one of my daughter’s favorites, Donald Duck. We were able to meet with him and get a quick picture before heading back to the Magic Kingdom.
We timed our return to Magic Kingdom perfectly as the parade had just begun. My daughter loved it. Each float focused on a different Disney theme. We saw Peter Pan, Anna & Elsa, and Mickie & Minnie just to name a few. Colorful costumes, dancers and music…what’s not to love? To ensure we got onto the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride we booked a fast pass.
We then went back to the Tomorrowland Speedway. We were hot, tired and irritable, and I thought her favorite ride might do the trick. A fast treat of ice cream turned out not to be the best choice for nourishment. In hindsight, I should have given her something with protein because a meltdown was coming. During the ride my sugar-infused, over-heated, very tired toddler became upset with me because she wanted to drive the car ALL BY HERSELF. When the ride was over, she had a major meltdown and did not want to get out of the car, so I had to pick her up out of it. I quickly realized there was no reasoning with a tired toddler. So I picked her up and raced for the exit. Winnie would just have to wait. She fought me on the way but I knew I needed to get her back to the resort so both of us could get some much-needed rest.
Our second day at Disney started off with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. What a fun time! We parked at Magic Kingdom and took the Monorail to the Contemporary Resort. A quick hop off the Monorail and we were there. Wow, it was so organized. We were seated immediately and shown the buffet. Now for my little one the focus was not the food, but the characters. Each character visited every table, signed autographs and posed with each person at each table. The only thing that confused my daughter was when I told her she was having breakfast with Minnie and Mickie and she thought they we were going to sit and eat with her. A natural thing for her to think. But all was well with a little explanation.
The buffet was wonderful. Eggs, omelets, sausages, bacon, salmon, assorted breads, pastries, pancakes and waffles plus more. With full bellies and happy faces were were off to Magic Kingdom for day two. We met a friend who took some pictures to help us remember our visit. Then we rode our favorite rides: Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and Under the Sea. Then we enjoyed the Meet Rapunzel and Tiana at Princess Fairytale Hall experience, and took another ride around the Tomorrowland Speedway. Lunch by the Speedway was a welcome relief from the heat. We still had our fast pass to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh that we missed the first day. As we walked with the little one in the stroller she became very quiet.We arrived at the ride to find her sound asleep. So much for the Winnie Pooh ride this year!
As we were walking through the park, hot and tired, we came to the Castle. The After Show was in progress, but my little one was fast asleep. So we did the next best thing and got it on video for her to watch later. We made a quick stop for a last few souvenirs, and then we bid Disney good bye for this visit. We will be back!
