Out of all the parks we were visiting, I knew for sure that we were going to want a second day at Magic Kingdom. Not only was it pretty much everyone's favorite park, it was also a good fit for the variety of ages and interests in our little group.
The night before our second visit, I spent a good chunk of the evening planning out our route so we'd hit everything that we missed the first go around. Though we had high hopes that we'd get it all in, a thunderstorm messed up our plans a bit in the end and we probably could have used a third day.
Right as we got there, I noticed a Tinker Bell "meet and greet" near the entrance that we'd missed the previous visit (probably as a result of our excitement at seeing the castle at the end of Main Street). Hadley had mentioned wanting her picture with this famous fairy before we even arrived in Orlando, so I persuaded my hubby to make a stop here before we got on with our planned itinerary.
Before our visit, I envisioned getting pictures of the kids wearing the classic Mickey hats - well at least the younger two since Caleb is too big for such nonsense. But up until that point, I hadn't really seen any of plain style ones like I remember as a kid. As we walked in a gift shop after meeting Tinker Bell though I spotted some and tried one on Reid for size. He was not much impressed, especially with the elastic band that went under his chin. So, I tricked him into smiling for a couple quick photos and back on the shelf it went. Isn't he cute though?
My game plan was to start out in "Adventure Island" since we hadn't hit any of that section yet. First off, we checked out the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Nostalgic about the film, Mom and I were the main ones interested in this attraction, but the kids didn't really know anything about the Swiss Family Robinson. They did know about tree houses though, so it was pretty neat nonetheless. While I thought it was going to be more of like a jungle gym, crawl-through, interactive exhibit for the kids, in actuality it was more of just a walking tour of the tree house where you got to peek into rooms set up like might have been on the movie.
Nearby, we spotted Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride, which was very similar to the classic Dumbo attraction, and took a ride high in the sky.
Afterwards, we tried a Tiki room show, which ended up being a bunch of animatronic birds singing. Most of us were not impressed but Caleb thought it was pretty hilarious.
We tried a safari boat tour next, eating our lunch as we waited in line. Then, we went on the "Pirates of the Carribean" ride." For small kids, this was probably a bad choice since it was pretty scary as you take a boat ride through various pirate scenes. Reid was especially terrified when they were shooting cannons at one another. The kids had a fun time playing in the gift shop afterwards though.
Splash Mountain was our first Fastpass of the day. Since we all liked this ride on our previous visit, we traded our Cinderella/Rapunzel meet and greet in for this thrill ride. Unlike the last time when we barely got wet, this time we got a bit soaked. Hadley even begged for an outfit change and didn't want to ride again with Daddy for the Rider Switch. (Thankfully, she is the same size as Reid and could wear the back-up I brought for him since it was probably the one day I didn't bring her extras!)
Nearby Splash Mountain there was a little play area for preschoolers where Hadley had a bit of fun while everyone went on the ride. Reid was sleeping by that point but he enjoyed the play place earlier while I was on the ride - until another kid bit his finger that is. :(
We also gave the "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" roller coaster another go before heading out of that section of the park. I was hoping to do Tom Sawyer's Island, but a storm was on its way so they closed up. Thankfully, we found a dry spot to hide our strollers and caught the "Country Bear Jamboree" before heading out of Frontierland.
The rain took a break, so we were able to head safely to Fantasyland for a ride on the teacups...
...and then over to the Dumbo ride (a Fastpass for just Reid and Dave).
Since Hadley had been anxious to get a photo done with Ariel, we stopped in to do that too while we were in the area. Meanwhile, Dave and Caleb went for another round on the "Barnstormer."
The rain was starting again after we finished there, so we had to rush to Belle's caste for our next Fastpass - "Enchanted Tales with Belle." While this could have been a really cute activity if done well, to be truthful, this particular attraction was the worst we experienced at Disney. The staff was horribly rude the entire time. In the beginning, the person to welcome guests kept barking orders at everyone to move all the way to the right side of the room, acting as if everyone was stupid if they didn't hear her immediately. Every direction she gave us was harsh, and she even yelled at one man for taking a different route to get out of the room than she had wanted him too - an honest mistake.
In the next room things got a bit better as everyone was assigned parts in the play. The lady working there was pretty friendly.
I even thought things were looking up as we went into the palace and Belle came out. The kids were so cute acting out the story with her. However, they were quite rushed and didn't really always have good directions about what they were supposed to do. At the end, each child was allowed to get their photos taken with Belle and were given a bookmark, but my camera stalled right at that moment. Since this was the only character Caleb actually willingly posed with, I was very frustrated and asked politely if he could stand with her again so I could snap a shot. The staff member just replied that she wasn't sure since Monsieur (the talking candlestick) had a tight schedule and that their camera person already took his pic. Not only did I not want to pay more to buy the photo, I was really aggravated by this and felt talked down to as if I were a kid or something. Right after I asked, another man stepped in and tried to get his baby's picture with Belle too, but mid-pose, she said she had to leave and swept out of the room.
As we were shown the exit, many guests stopped by the door since it was downpouring. The staff member there then proceeded to demand we get out of the building. A few of the dads ran up to grab their kids' strollers and were told they weren't allowed to bring them down to the door, so all these little babies and preschoolers had to go out in that mess. It was especially upsetting to my little ones who hate being wet!
We quickly found Gaston's tavern and went in, hoping we could find dinner and wait out the storm. After waiting for a table and finally snagging one, we realized that all they had were desserts though, so Dave had to trudge through the rain to find something while we waited with the kids.
Afterwards, we tried to ride our last Faspass "The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train," in the only time slot I found available the whole of our visit, but sadly, they shut the ride down due to rain and lightening. We waited a little hoping it would reopen, but finally decided to leave. Again, they said we couldn't bring the strollers up to pick the kids up, but this time Dave was a rule breaker and did it anyway, seeing no reason the kids should have to get soaked. He, of course, got yelled at, but at least our little ones were dry.
We were all so miserable at that point that we decided to just head home. We didn't feel safe walking the kids around in those strollers in a lightening storm. Most the rides were closed anyway and I'm sure the lines for the indoor attractions would have been ridiculous. Most of Disney is so well thought out that honestly, I am surprised that for a theme park that is in an area where downpours are frequent, they aren't better equipped for guests in that kind of weather.
The end of the day really left a sour taste in our mouths for sure. At the risk of sounding like a complainer, I emailed Disney about our experience with Belle's story time as well as our experience at Epcot with the attractions closing early and our disappointments at the princess dinner. Surprisingly, they really spent time with my complaint and offered us another day at Disney whenever we want to come (no expiration) and large Disney gift card to use to buy the photo of Caleb with Belle that their professional photographers took or on something else of our choice. It definitely helped make me feel much better about our experience there and that they truly cared if we had enjoyable time while in the parks.
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