Following our quick morning at Epcot we hopped on the Monorail to head over to Magic Kingdom. I will say while I love using the Monorail for hopping between MK and Epcot…it is a pain at the end of the night when leaving MK to have to ride back to Epcot to get to the car. We talked about maybe starting the day off by parking at MK then taking Monorail to Epcot that morning that way at night we’d have our car at MK butttt that’d mean going through security twice in the morning which is also a pain. We may try it at some point though to see a comparison!
The monorail ride from Epcot to MK is the perfect time for a little rest 🙂
That toothless smile 🙂
Ferry Boat to MK!
Right when we arrived the boys headed over to Space Mountain to use their Fastpass. The girls and I planned on meeting them at Buzz and just kinda took our time walking down Main Street.
The crowd was predicted to be rather low that day (hello it was a Monday after all) but it was JAMMED PACKED and I quickly realized why. There were TONS of people wearing Eagles attire and I found out the Super Bowl MVP parade was going to be at 3:00 at MK. So hello crowds!
I LOVE seeing behind the scenes type stuff so the girls and I really slow rolled walking to Buzz and just checked out all the cool equipment and watched some of the people discussing parade plans and even the news anchor that was there practicing a few things.
I don’t know much about the NFL so I wasn’t sure who I should even be watching out for but this guy had quite the crowd around him and seemed to be “someone” so I snapped a pic just in case haha
I did a little googling and I’m pretty sure it was Nick Foles
Which I pretty much confirmed when I saw articles that night saying Nick Foles was the player honored in the parade!
They wheeled the huge camera right by us which was cool to see as well. It’s neat to think about ALL the work that goes into just a short little segment on the news!
CROWDS.
We met the boys at Buzz and continued our new ride system where Kye has to ride solo while Zach and I each ride with a girl on a ride. Kye doesn’t mind it!
Team Kye
We defeated Zerg!
The parade crowd was pretty crazy but they really did mostly stick to the parade area so we kept trucking to get in everything we wanted to do that evening 😉
At least Tess is smiling?
And of course the one where Tess IS happy looking Kye’s eyes are shut haha
Philarmagic is ALWAYS a win. NEVER a wait. Always inside so rain or shine or heat or cold it’s a comfortable experience!
My littlest Disney princess
We love Pirates!!!
Our big mission for the afternoon was a TREAT! We used to have certain “must do” items every time we visited Magic Kingdom. Since we go so much more often now, we’ve let a lot of the “must do” items go and a big one we’ve missed out on is our favorite orange float! We haven’t had one in AGES and all agreed it had to go DOWN! 😉
While Daddy ordered…Mommy took some pics!
I know the well known treat at MK is the Dole Whip but yall we prefer the orange float! It’s Orange Fanta with soft serve and it’s SO YUMMY!!!
The biggest two kids got Flight of Passage pins but since Tess didn’t ride it we wanted to get her a special pin to remember the trip by too. She decided on Fantasmic because she LOVES it SO much! She loves the part when Mickey comes down from the mountain and getting a pin for that experience was the perfect thing for her!
I love that we never are able to do IT ALL in a single trip because it always leaves us wanting more and having items to be excited about experiencing in the future. Tess wanted to ride Barnstormer on our last trip but it wasn’t able to happen so we made it a top priority this time around! We did a test run with her on a little rollercoaster at Wild Adventures and she LOVED it so we were sure she’d do fine!
I don’t do thrill rides. At all. So while Britt is under age 7 (which is the golden Disney age where a child can ride solo) Zach has to do rider swap and trade off with the girls. Originally Britt wouldn’t have wanted to ride Barnstormer anyway but this trip became the trip where Britt converted over to the thrill ride side 😉
We traded off and Britt stayed with me so Tess could ride then Tess stayed with me so Britt could ride and Zach and Kye got to ride twice!
First time riding…and got to ride on the first row!
I love love love this video Zach got of Tess!!!
I was nervous waiting to see Tess come around that corner but she was ALL SMILES!!!
thumbs up for roller coasters!
The Barnstormer Buddies
Both girls did SO well being patient while the other one got to ride 🙂
Britt agreed that she loved it too!
I had scored fast passes for Zach, Kye and Tess for Mine Train which is a ride we’ve skipped for a LONG time. It’s not a favorite of Kye’s or Zach’s so we never spend a fastpass on it and it’s always a CRAZY long wait so we just never experience it. But Tess is tall enough for it and knowing she’d love rollercoasters I wanted to grab a fastpass for them this visit.
Britt deciding she likes roller coasters too made things a little trickier but we lucked out and the cast member just let her walk right on with the rest of our group! They all got to ride together!
The ride even does a really neat video!!!
And I LOVE how their ride photos turned out!
This one makes me so happy. Tessie with her arms up and that huge smile! She LOVED it! She calls it “the ho ho ride” 😉
I also love how Britt is clinging on for dear life and looks terrified haha I’m so interested to see if her “liking” of thrill rides will be a long term thing or a phase!
My brave kids!!!
Dinner time at Pecos Bills!
Another item we decided was a “must do” for this visit was visiting the Shootin’ Arcade. We’ve never been before and it’s something Kye really wanted to do this time! It’s a great little spot to spend some time and isn’t very expensive either! It’s hard for me to fork out any money for an experience in the parks when I’ve already paid for admission, ya know? But I see why it’s not just free because there aren’t a lot of guns and I’m sure having to pay cuts down on the people who want to participate in it!
My biggest princess!
We really wanted to do Hall of Presidents this trip. Zach and I haven’t done it since college (Ha ha Katie!) but with Trump being added and our kids being old enough to enjoy it we wanted to check it out. Unfortunately the timing just didn’t work out so we walked in and then just walked back out. We do plan on doing it soon! It may be a good thing to do with Spear b/c I could easily feed him during it!
THE MAN!
What could be more important than learning about our country’s history?
Haunted Mansion. Duh.
Tessie loves the “spooky ride” and it’s a family favorite experience for sure!
Barnstormer was Tess’s “must do” item, the arcade was Kye’s, Philarmagic was Britt’s and mine…mine was to FINALLY see the entire showing of Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After. This is the castle show/fireworks display that has replaced Wishes and yall it does NOT disappoint. It was amazing. It gave me all the chills and teary eyes and I especially loved watching the other people during it. I saw MANY people getting emotional and you could truly just feel the magic of Disney around you!
To have a good view for Once Upon A Time you really need to be close to the castle. Which is tough for Zach because he can’t stand the crowds or having to camp out early for a good spot. I wish the dessert parties weren’t so expensive because I would love to do one so we could all be comfortable to enjoy the show. I think it’s something I may look into for a birthday celebration or something at some point! I think it’s one of those things that Zach may especially LOVE! I’ve heard they are worth the money for the great, relaxed viewing!
Snack break before Happily Ever After!
Watching this little girl on her Daddy’s shoulders literally brought me to tears. It was just such a perfect moment seeing a little girl so happy and excited like that! I know people often complain about kids on shoulders blocking their view but this view? It was perfect!
Simply PHENOMENAL show!
My little one ready for the monorail ride back to Epcot!
LONG day calls for sleepy kids in the car!
We had SUCH a fun-filled weekend! We won’t be doing days like these at the parks for AWHILE now that Spear is here and we will all be traveling so often to our home at Disney World! If you’re planning a Disney trip be sure to check out our new place as well as how to get an even lower price on your stay here!
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