We’re continuing our Disney recap, and todays post will be all about Magic Kingdom!
We actually spent TWO days here (our first day + last day of our trip) so get ready for a lot of info.
Since we stayed at The Polynesian Resort (you can read about our stay here) it was a quick ride over to Magic Kingdom and only took about 10 minutes total. You go through a security check before you get on the monorail, so we were able to bypass the check at the park. This was a game changer!
Day 1
We started our day off with breakfast reservations at Be Our Guest. The park didn’t open until 9am, but with our reservations being at 8:30, it got us in the park early. I love scheduling an early breakfast, because not only does it get us in before everyone else, but we’re done eating by the time the park is open and we’re able to ride so many rides without a wait.
If you’re on the dinning plan, BOG breakfast/lunch count as a Quick Service credit, instead of a Table Service. So this is totally worth it! Plus, I get the same thing every time and its so good!
( It’s the Croque Madame)
Breakfast always includes a pastry plate when you sit down and it has the best muffins + cinnamon rolls on it.
We sat in the ballroom, and it was so fun watching Riley check out all the paintings on the wall. There’s three rooms in the restaurant, and this is my favorite one. Luckily, we got to seat ourselves, so we went straight to it.
After breakfast, we headed to the Ariel ride and were the first ones to get on. Easy peasy!
Riley was a little reserved on this ride, but when it was over, she was ready to see everything that Magic Kingdom had to offer.
Since she’s decided Ariel’s her “favorite” princess at the moment, we went straight to Ariel’s grotto, so she could get a picture with her girl.
I’ll never get tired of watching her face light up when she looks at all the characters. I think this is mine + John’s favorite thing about the parks.
Dumbo was pretty dead, so we got in line and Riley claimed that was her favorite ride. I honestly don’t even know how many times we rode it.
You can’t visit Magic Kingdom without seeing Minnie + Daisy! They don’t actually make it to the park until 10 am… so we had to wait in line for about 15 minutes.
We were first in line, so when the doors opened, Daisy came out and grabbed Riley’s hand and took her to her post. This was a super magical moment for Riley + us… and you know I got it all on video!
Since Riley’s on a princess kick, we visited Cinderella, Elena, Tiana ( John’s favorite) and Rapunzel. The lines were short for Cinderella + Elena.. so we walked right up to see them then used our fast passes for Tiana + Rapunzel.
The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh + Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel both had low lines, so we did both rides in no time.
We had a fast pass for Enchanted Tales with Belle, so we headed there next! John was part of the show, so we had a lot of fun watching him preform.
He’s always shinning in the Dad department!
After the excitement from all the Disney Princesses + the fun rides… we worked up a little appetite and walked over to Gaston’s Tavern to use 2 snack credits on a Frozen Apple Juice + a Warm Cinnamon Roll.
Both were amazing, but the Frozen Apple Juice was my favorite!
Our last fast pass for the day was Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. After that we headed over to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor since we were able to make a 4th Fast Pass reservation + it was open.
John beat me… but barely! Riley’s hiding because she’s scared. Ha!
We took a bathroom break and of course Riley spotted the face painting station. She saved $150 of Christmas money for the trip, so I told her if that’s what she wanted to spend her money on, she could do it.
She was perfectly content with spending the $16. ( insert eye roll here)
While she was wasting her money, John went on a splurge and got her a Mickey bubble machine.
All was perfect in her world.
It was getting close to the 3PM parade, so we headed to Main Street. We made a quick pit stop to see Princess Mérida + get Riley a Mickey ice cream sandwich… the first of many for the week!
The parade area gets really busy, so if you’re going to watch it.. I suggest getting there a little early to get a good seat. We got there about 15 minutes before it started and got lucky with our spot. I think this was because the park wasn’t super crowded, so if you’re going during a busy time, you will def want to arrive early.
Every float was absolutely beautiful. I can’t tell you which one was my favorite, but Riley’s face lit up at each one.
After the parade, we headed over to see Mickey before we went back to the hotel so we could relax a little before dinner.
I’m so impressed with how much we were able to do on our first day. I think part of it was the time of year that we went (Jan 6th-11th) and the other part was that we got to the park way before most people do. It wasn’t until 12PM that people really started to make their way in the park, so we were able to get so much done in those first 3 hours.
Dinner was at Ohana’s and you can read all about it here
Our 2nd Day at Magic Kingdom
This day was actually on the last day of our trip (we spent 5 days in the parks), but I wanted to keep both days in one post.
We started the day off with an early breakfast, again. This time it was at The Crystal Palace. I scheduled this one for 8:30 as well, so it was much like the first day.
We’ve never eaten here before, but I’d heard great things about it.
Riley’s obsessed with Winnie the Pooh, so she was super excited to match him. I’m not going to lie, this was one of my favorites outfits, too.
As far as food, John and I both thought it was great. We even said it was probably one of our favorite character meals we’ve had. I see us visiting again in the future.
It’s only 1 Table Service credit and Riley got to see all the characters, twice. That was simply magic in her eyes.
After Breakfast, we headed to AdventureLand and boarded the Jungle Cruise.
This was my first time on it, and our tour guide was hilarious! We were able to walk right on, so that was nice, too!
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin was right beside the Jungle Cruise, and since there was no line, we walked right on. Riley loved this ride (it’s a lot like the Dumbo ride).
From there we walked over to Frontierland, and enjoyed a show with the Muppet Babies.
Riley wanted to ride the Tea Cups, so we walked right up… then headed over to Dumbo for another ride.
The crowds were pretty low this day (it was a Friday), so we walked over to Tomorrowland. Luckily, we were able to walk up to Astro Orbiter, PeopleMover + the Carousel of Progress. All were great rides and something I suggest doing!
It was around noon, so we were starting to get a little hungry. Riley got her normal Mickey Ice Cream sandwich and John and I shared a sweet treat from Cheshire Cafe.
The pastry wasn’t our favorite, but the drink was really good. Kinda sweet/a little sour.. but the straw was the best part.
We were exhausted + had done everything we wanted, so we decided to take a break and head back to the hotel, since we were coming back later for the fireworks.
We rode the monorail back to The Polynesian, rested in the room for about 30 minutes.. then headed to the pool for a late lunch + drinks… while we watched Riley play on the water slides. (You can read all about it here!)
After some R&R, we got ready real quick and headed over to Magic Kingdom for our last Quick Service meal + the fireworks.
We love Mexican.. and hadn’t had a taco or nacho in almost a week, so we decided to eat at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. I got the nachos, which were pretty good for a QS credit, and John got the fajita’s.
Pecos Bill’s impressed us, and we claimed it as our second favorite QS meal that we’ve tried so far. Of course our first one is Be Our Guest.
I made sure to get one last Churro before our trip came to an end. OMG it was so good! I got this one at a little kiosk by The Crystal Palace, where we had breakfast.
It was around 6:30, so we headed over to the lawn on Park Ave, so we could reserve seats for the fireworks. This fills up very fast, so you really need to get here about 2 hours before they start. Again, we got lucky because the crowd level was low.
I reserved our spot, while John took Riley to ride the Tea Cups and Dumbo, one last time.
I took Riley to the bathroom when they got back + stopped at Starbucks for a coffee (it was a little chilly + I needed to use up some snack credits).
Then it was time for the fireworks.
We always end our trips with watching the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. I don’t know what it is about them, but they’re so magical and the perfect ending to a sweet vacation.
If you want to see my husband super sappy, go with him to the fireworks! He always has a sparkle in his eyes, and I love to watch him hold Riley while being a sappy mess.
If you made it to the end, bless you! I know that was a lot of information, but I didn’t want to leave anything out.
Make sure you check back next week where I’ll share all about our Epcot + Hollywood Studios days! If you’re new here, make sure you follow me on Instagram so you can see what we’re constantly up too!
xoxo- Lauren
Marie says
Great information! tHANKS!