Originally when I planned our day at MK I had an 8:30 breakfast reservation for Be Our Guest. We did that same time for our last visit and it worked out SO well to meet Elsa and Anna! This time the plan was for Zach and Kye to be able to ride Mine Train several times prior to crowds (and possibly for Britt, Mrs. Charlotte and I to meet Elsa and Anna again if it worked out).
I have ZERO regrets about changing our plans at the last minute! The day prior to leaving for our trip I switched our MK day from Wed to Thur. It meant rearranging all our reservations and also meant I lost our Be Our Guest breakfast as well as our Be Our Guest lunch. It was SO worth it for the BEAUTIFUL weather we had!
The park opened at 8 and I was pretty excited to see the opening show as it’s been awhile! I have a mega hardcore DREAM to be THE FAMILY that opens the park! If you’ve ever seen the MK opening show then you’ve seen a family help open the park and take part in the show. It’s awesome. They get to get in the park early and meet a ton of characters. Y’all. I’d DIE if we got chosen. I figured since it was the last time we’d have two kids old enough to handle going early that we should try it! Why not right? We got up and hit the road earlier than normal in order to be among the first people at the bag check!
Of course the kids got to open their special Disney presents before we left 🙂
I know Disney makes tsum tsums and they are super cute but I personally LOVE the Hallmark Itty Bittys!
Monorail time!
Mrs. Charlotte is THE person to have with you when you’re trying to stand out and get chosen for opening the park haha she and I were crunk and talking to everyone and being super cheerful. I mean I felt like it was going to happen!!! We were SO EARLY and chatted it up with SO many cast members!!!
As it got closer to show time I knew we weren’t going to get picked. I wasn’t really bummed b/c I know it’s a slim chance. That’s why it makes for such a great dream 😉 I was still super excited to see the show. It’s my FAVORITE thing at Disney!
We waited. And waited. And waited. AND NO SHOW. Ugh I was SO MAD. I’ve seen on some Disney groups that Disney has cut costs in a lot of areas and that they have been canceling the opening show more often. The weather was PERFECT so I just don’t understand that decision. Super bummed!
With our last minute change of itinerary I’m SO THANKFUL I used my touring plans account and made a custom itinerary for our day. It’s a MUST HAVE y’all. I will go ahead and say that we were there on what was supposed to be a level 4 crowd day. Due to the REALLY bad weather the day prior and so many people copying my idea about switching days…it actually ended up being a LEVEL 8. THE most crowded day we’ve ever experienced at Magic Kingdom. But guess what? Other than seeing tons of people we had NO CHANGE to our plans. Because I had the itinerary our day still flowed flawlessly with very minimal wait times. It pays to have a plan!!!
Our plan was to snap some quick castle pics then have the guys RUN to Mine Train (no way to get a last minute fast pass for that one!). Britt, Mrs Charlotte and I took our time (which was nice for my foot!) and had a fast pass to meet Rapunzel and Cinderella.
When walking through the castle I always love to look back down Main Street!
Britt had spent her money the day prior on a princess bracelet that had both Cinderella and Rapunzel on it. She was SO pumped to show them!
I adore how bashful Britt gets when meeting characters. It’s so precious and sweet and it’s like she’s just in AWE of them!
Cinderella LOVED Britt’s pretty blue eyes 🙂
Rapunzel was straight up adorable! I loved her! I’ve ALWAYS been a hardcore Little Mermaid fan and I do think my story is the most like Ariel’s but Tangled has actually taken the favorite movie spot for me! I adore it and LOVE Rapunzel (and, duh, Flynn is a total cartoon crush am I right?!?!)
Excitement over Britt’s bracelet 🙂
I love Britt’s pose!
It was SO NICE not feeling mega rushed. Usually at park opening it’s a mad dash for us but we knew the boys would have a wait for Mine Train so we took our pretty little time and enjoyed it!
Boys waiting for Mine Train! Zach did SO AWESOME taking pics this trip! It’s hard for me b/c I feel like so much of our Disney time is spent separated girls/boys. I miss my Kye but it’s great to see him having fun with his dad!
We had a potty break and STILL had time to wait and hang out outside the exit of Mine Train. Really though it was still only like 8:15 and they were done! It worked out REALLY well 🙂 It was pretty chilly and I’m so glad I randomly saw this amazing jacket at a kids sale for Britt. We got TONS of compliments on it all day…it really reminds me of something Mary Poppins would rock 😉
We met a duck 🙂 Is it just me or is it weird to see REAL animals at Disney? haha!
Up next we hopped on Ariel! Look at that Daddy with the selfies 🙂
Britt is NOT a fan of fast rides. Which really works out to my advantage b/c she and I can do things together while the boys ride the fast stuff. Zach always said that I’d start riding the fast rides once my kids loved them. I’m not tempted to ride them, but it does make me WISH I liked them! Zach and Kye went for Barnstormer and Britt, Mrs. Charlotte and I went to the Dumbo playground for a bit. We did have some failed communication here which was a good reminder to us both that when it comes to splitting up we HAVE to communicate. We had a pretty tight schedule and Zach didn’t realize it so he and Kye rode Barnstormer twice. It all worked out fine but we learned the lesson for the future to stay in better contact and I’m going to probably make sure he has his own copy of the itinerary too from now on!
Speaking of the itinerary this is the first time I used the Touring Plans App. It allowed me to pull up the custom plans I’d made and I could check them off as we completed them and it’d automatically revaluate the rest of our day with current wait times and predicted times etc. It worked wonderful!
The character meets by Dumbo RARELY have long waits. If you are wanting your kids to get to meet some of the classic characters, it’s a great place to do it! I wanted to surprise the kids with a chance to meet Daisy and Minnie. They’ve NEVER met Daisy and last time we went to that area we only had time to meet Goofy and Donald!
When we got there they were just opening up the character meet area. I was a little nervous about our time but it flowed pretty well. Since we were among the first people there for the day the meet and greets took less time than normal! They had it set up where it was one line for all four characters in the area (usually it’s a line for Goofy and Donald then a separate line to meet Daisy and Minnie).
Zach and Goofy have a special bond 😉
Last time Britt met this particular Donald she was SO SCARED remember?
She talked about it a good bit and said that she wishes she hadn’t been scared. When we realized she’d be meeting him again she said she wasn’t scared this time at all. I’m proud of her for being brave! I don’t blame her for the fear…the snakes surrounding Donald are pretty creepy!
BIG hugs for Daisy!
Kye getting in on the kisses action 😉
Not gonna front…I was pretty pumped myself about it 🙂
Kye is usually the first one to run to the characters so I often miss the chance to capture a picture of his interactions. I’m so glad I got this one! Even if it’s blurry you can still tell that even at almost 7 he LOVES some character meet and greets! I hope that magic always stays with him!
See? 31 years old and I still get crunk for some characters 😉
Britt wanted to get a picture of her and I with Minnie since we had on Minnie themed shirts (sidenote but my sweater, Britt’s top, and Kye’s shirt all came from Kohl’s! SO random but they have a lot of great Disney stuff!)
Mickey better watch out…Zach is coming for his lady 😉
The reason for our bit of time restraint that morning was that the #1 thing I wanted to do at MK that day was attend the Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial. We’ve seen it in passing but never actually watched the entire thing and I felt like it’d be a great focus for Kye’s birthday trip! He’ll soon be “too cool” for pirate stuff so I wanted to make sure he had the experience while he’d still enjoy it 🙂
I read up on the tutorial and read that if you want to be chosen to participate then dressing up in pirate attire is a must! Also you have a better chance if you are doing the Pirate’s League as basically the whole thing is kinda like advertising for the Pirate’s League so they typically choose kids who have done it. If you aren’t doing Pirate’s League then it’s best to go to the FIRST show of the morning. Typically the people who do Pirate’s League aren’t there yet so your crew has a better shot of being chosen. I also read to get there 20 min or so early so you can be among the first ones which helps your chances of being picked!
The kids were excited leading up to the trip to wear the pirate gear. They picked out what items to bring and everything. Then we went to put it all on and Britt wasn’t happy about it. Awhile back we brought her Belle dress to wear but then when it came time to put it on she didn’t want to so I didn’t push it and then she later told me she wished she would have worn it. I thought I’d handle it differently this time and push her to wear the pirate outfit to help avoid regrets later. It was also MUCH cooler than we’d anticipated so they kinda went for a layered pirate look 😉
Kye’s “cool dude” pirate faces are so funny! And Britt was just being SO dramatic about it haha
Riding pirates to practice for the real deal 😉
Along with the Captain Jack show I also wanted Kye to get to participate in A Pirate’s Adventure – Treasures of the Seven Seas. It’s REALLY cool and interactive and right up Kye’s ally! It was super neat and makes me want to do the Sorcerer’s one too!
Mrs. Charlotte, Britt and I went ahead and waited for the show while Zach and Kye started on the treasure hunt 🙂
I really, really wanted to handle the Britt wardrobe issue well. I knew if she didn’t wear the pirate outfit that she wouldn’t get picked to participate in the show. And I knew that it would bother her. But she was NOT happy about the outfit and even when I explained it all to her she still said she didn’t want to wear it and didn’t want to do the show. It was one of those mom moments where you KNOW the future but you also realize you have to let your child learn the lesson for themselves. I’m sure it’s the first of many 😉
So I used the time while the boys were on the treasure hunt to de-pirate Britt and to talk to her and turn her mood around 🙂 It was successful!
Someday I’d legit like to spend the day at Magic Kingdom and not have ANY agenda other than just WALK AROUND. Go in all the shops and the snack places and really LOOK at EVERYTHING. I think it’d be so fun! Zach and I did the Christmas Party for my birthday and it was great but it was also DARK. I’d love to go back just him and I and really see everything. It’s always such a rush that I feel like there is A TON we’ve never even noticed. Like we get pics in front of this Pirate sign ALL THE TIME yet because I was sitting waiting for the show I was actually able to LOOK at it and see the pirate on top that I’ve never even noticed before!
Like I mentioned earlier, we’ve passed by the Captain Jack show a ton of times and haven’t ever really watched it in full. Y’all! It’s GREAT! Captain Jack is DEAD ON and the show is cute with a good blend of silliness. It was fabulous and everyone there enjoyed it!
Kye was chosen right off the bat! And, as predicted, Britt wasn’t!
I will say that I was pretty nervous for Kye! He does best with preparation and I had NO CLUE what to expect in the show so he had none. I was proud of how he rolled with it and really seemed to enjoy it! It was a HUGE highlight of the trip for us all for sure!
Not only was Kye chosen to be part of the show but he was the ONLY one who got to do the sword fight WITH Captain Jack! I mean how awesome is that to be able to say you’ve had a sword fight with THE Jack Sparrow?!?! SO COOL and Kye doesn’t even KNOW who Jack Sparrow is haha This is one of those experiences he’ll appreciate even more when he’s older after he’s seen the Pirates movies someday 😉
SO thankful we did better with video taping stuff! I just always forget to take video but remembered and Zach captured the whole experience!!! You can see it here 🙂
LOVE IT!
At the end ALL kids were welcome to come up and get a scroll and say an oath making them official pirates 🙂 Britt was able to participate this time!
Our happy pirate!
After the show ended we were all pretty energized and it was the perfect time to finish up the Pirate’s Adventures – Treasures of the Seven Seas! Legit y’all, if you have a little boy it’s a MUST DO. SO cool!!! I want to do it again!
The way it works is you are given a map and a medallion and each stop on the map has a special message and clues. Several of the ones we visited weren’t working properly which was a tad disappointing but the kids didn’t notice a difference! Lots of the stops were REALLY neat and some scared me haha!
After we finished up it was time for LUNCH! Since we had to cancel our Be Our Guest reservations we were excited to try out somewhere new 🙂 I also was able to check in on my sweet baby Tess! I do FINE leaving my babies at home for Disney trips but leaving the toddler is harder for me. I feel more guilt about her not being part of! Her turn will come soon though 🙂
Casey had taken her to swim for us that morning and said she did great! I was so glad to see that she was having a good time 🙂
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