Magic Kingdom, part 2

Yoho Yoho, a pirate's life for me!

After waking up for rope drop and staying out for Wishes on Tuesday night, we slept in on Wednesday! It was much needed. After we woke up, we decided to go get a hot breakfast at the food court, Landscape of Flavors. Maddie wanted waffles and guess what? They were Simba waffles! It came with 3, we got 2 Simbas and one Cars waffle...she made me eat that one, lol.

Then we had some more pool time (mostly me pretending to drown while Maddie the mermaid saves me) and then we headed in to get ready for day 2 at the Magic Kingdom! We got there around 12:30 and sent Dad to get FPs for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad while we made our way to the Haunted Mansion. On our way down Main St, music started blasting and we realized a parade was about to go by! It wasn't too crowded at all, we were able to just stop right on the curb and watch the Move It Shake It Parade go by- so fun! 

We met Dad outside the Haunted Mansion and waited in a quick standby line (and it's pretty fun line too!). As predicted, Maddie was a huuuuge fan of this ride. Her favorite holiday is Halloween and she loves all things spooky- so this was right up her alley! The only thing that could drag her away was the promise of a grown up roller coaster- Big Thunder Mountain RR!

It wasn't quite time to use our FPs, so we spotted a small playground and right behind- Woody and Jesse!!! As my dad said, before there was Lion King, there was Toy Story. Maddie's original obsession! Remember this little munchkin? She was excited to meet them, so I waited in line while she played and Mom and Dad grabbed some frozen snacks to cool us all off!

vintage Mads

It was worth the wait, Woody and Jesse were great and Maddie really enjoyed meeting them! She told Jesse about how she loves to lasso things, lol.

they match!

Dad ran and got FPs for Splash Moutntain, and then it was time for BMTRR- it was a hit! This child just can't be scared- the bigger and faster the rides get, the bigger her smile gets! She wouldn't even let me hold on to her on any of the rides. Anytime my arm got near her she'd swat it away. I did finally convince her to stop laughing at me and calling me a scaredy pants for screaming, lol.

We had some time before our Splash Mtn FPs, so we went over to Adventureland hoping to jump on Pirates of the Caribbean- but it was down, boo! So we wandered around the pirate gift shop and found some treasures-  a pirate Mickey shirt for Maddie and a HOOK for Papa! She has been wanting him to get one forever as he frequently gets to play Captain Hook to her Peter Pan. She was so excited about her shirt that she changed into it and immediately started dancing a pirate jig and singing, lol! We couldn't get a replay of the jig, but she did reprise the song many, many times.

We decided to ride the Jungle Cruise next, which was corny, but fun. Then we had time to see the Enchanted Tiki Room, which was only corny, lol. Maddie freaked out when they made it look like it was storming outside, bc she thought it really was and was afraid the rides would close down! She was relieved to find out that it was still bright and sunny outside, and it was time for Splash Mountain! As we gently glided past Brer Rabbit, Fox and Bear, Maddie complained that we were on a baby ride- but then came the drop! That was pretty fun- of course Mads and I were in the first row so we got very wet! Then the ride got stuck for a minute next to a waterfall and Mom got very wet too, lol.

After we were dome with Adventureland and Frontierland, we headed back over to the old Fantasyland. We got a snack from under the Big Top- (um, yum!) and then Maddie and I did Dumbo one more time because she wanted to play in the waiting play area again, lol.  After that there was a short line for Goofy and Donald- and Dad had been dying to meet Goofy, haha! 

 yes, I am wearing Maddie's youth sized Mickey ears on my pea sized head

Next we decided to take a nice break on the People Mover in Tomorrowland- man that is a great ride! Seriously, I could've ridden that for an hour, comfortable seats, a nice breeze and great people watching. But the Buzz line was short, so Maddie and I decided to do that one more time while Mom and Dad headed to Space Mtn (it was closed, womp). After we rode Buzz, we saw a little impromptu dance party going on, and my very friendly little girl hopped right in there, danced with Chip, Dale (Chips'n'Dip as she calls them) and Stitch! They danced with Simba too, which made her day!

We had a little more time before our dinner reservation, so we did the carousel and then a Magic Kingdom classic- It's a Small World! I think this is my mom and dad's least favorite ride due to the repetitiveness of the song, but how can you do MK and not ride IaSW?? 

Next up- dinner! I was more excited than a 30 year old (but hey, according to several cast members I'm under 18) should be about this dinner- we ate at the Beast's castle in the new Be Our Guest restaurant. At lunch BOG is counter service but at dinner it is table service and it's a tough reservation to get. I lucked into an 8:00 reservation very early into our trip planning and scheduled our trip around it!

we decided to lose the pirate shirt and bandana for dinner! 

gargoyles guarding the castle!

When it was our turn to go in, we found out we'd be eating in the West Wing! I was really excited. The main eating area is the ballroom, and it is so beautiful and has the appearance of snow falling outside the windows- but I think the West Wing is the coolest. It's much smaller, quieter and more intimate. And, it has the enchanted rose and a magical portrait! Every 15-20 minutes, when all of the petals fell off the enchanted rose, there would be thunder/storm sounds and for a second or two the portrait of Prince Adam would turn into a portrait of the Beast. Maddie loved "catching" the portrait change!

Our dinner was really yummy, we all got steak frites and Maddie enjoyed the classic French dish of buttered noodles and cheese. I told mom that she had to wear her birthday button (they gave her this at check in, and everywhere she wore it people went out of their way to tell her happy birthday!) for a surprise dessert. At BOG, they serve "gray stuff," but only for those celebrating something, it's not on the menu. If you can't figure out why they'd have something with such an awful name, go back and listen to the song Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast :). It was a very pretty presentation, and while I don't know if I'd go so far as "delicious," it was very good! Then we got real desserts from the dessert cart, and the chocolate cupcake that Dad and I split was indeed delicious! 

strawberry cupcake for Mads, of course!

All in all it was a very fun and special dinner. And afterwards, we went to the Beast's study to meet him and get a picture! He was humongous, but very sweet and Maddie of course loved him. Perfect ending to our night! 

By the time we got out, it was about 9:45, and while it was SO hard not to stop and watch Celebrate the Magic, a projection show they do on the castle before Wishes starts. But we wanted to get the heck outta dodge before the fireworks crowd hit the bus line! We made it, and even got to see most of Wishes as the bus was pulling up and away- great way to end a wonderful second day at Magic Kingdom!