Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's Royal Table

It was another rainy day, but again, we were blessed. We wore our panchos that I brought from home for maybe 10 minutes throughout the day. We got up, got dressed, headed out early, we had a date in the Castle!

We got to Magic Kingdom for "rope drop" which is when they officially open the park each morning. We saw Mickey waving at everyone and we headed straight to Tomorrowland, where we knew the kids would want to spend most of their time. We were early and there weren't many people in the parks yet, so we walked right on to the Buzz Lightyear ride, and grabbed Fast Passes for Space Mountain for later and were able to walk right on then also. Then it was time for breakfast so we headed up to the castle and checked in.

Now, I had heard about the "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique" for a while, it's a salon where girls can go and get their hair done in an up-do, with pixie dust sprinkled on them, and even get a Princess gown and slippers. I had tried asking Regan without giving away too much before we left, if she was interested in dressing up like the Princesses anymore and I got a huge thumbs down. She's not a girlie girl, she's not into that Princess stuff anymore, but let me tell you, after seeing all those little girls in Princess costumes with their hair all up and sparkly, even Regan the tom boy changed her tune! I felt bad, I should have seen that one coming and booked her a spot in the boutique anyway, but I didn't. As a result, I think we were the only ones having breakfast that weren't sparkling and glittering.

But, they called our name, we got in line, first up is a picture with Cinderella inside the castle. I don't know if it was being in the castle, or seeing Cinderella up close, or seeing MY daughter hugging Cinderella, but I teared up. This was the moment that made the trip worth it all. Regan had the biggest smile on her face and they took her picture and sent us on up to breakfast, I felt like a kid again. Breakfast wasn't anything remarkable, juice, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. But they called David and I, Lord and Lady, and Riley and Regan were the Prince and Princess. They would announce each Princess and we were the first table she would come too, sign our autograph books (Riley's too) and then stand with both kids so we could get pictures. I was in heaven! First we met Snow White, and then Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), then Ariel and Belle. They gave the Princesses a magic wand, and the Princes got swords, and they all got a little star that said "Wishing Star" and at the end of the meal there was a "wishing ceremony" where you waved your wand or sword in the air and made a wish, it was too cute!

So after breakfast, we headed back to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain again. Then we did one of my favorite things, the Laugh Floor with Mike and Sully from Monster's, Inc. It was the funniest interactive show, and they used people from the audience, and it was hilarious. The kids weren't too interested in seeing a show, but they enjoyed it. We spent some time knocking out the Tomorrowland rides, and then started heading off to see some of the other areas of the park.

The other favorite ride of the day was Splash Mountain. Regan had never heard of Brer Bear and Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit, but she loved it. I think that was her favorite ride the whole week. We rode it several times, and I mean several! Thankfully you didn't get too wet, I just got a face full of water a couple of times, but we stayed mostly dry. Then we back tracked and did the Haunted Mansion and a few other rides.

We had dinner reservations at Crystal Palace, where we had eaten before, with Winnie the Pooh and friends, but I had heard about a place called Whispering Canyon Cafe that was supposed to be a lot of fun, and inside the Wilderness Lodge and we've always wanted to see the Wilderness Lodge so I called and luckily was able to change our reservations! And around this time, we had some time to kill and sore feet so we rode the old steam train a few times around the park to give ourselves a break!

Then we took the water taxi over to the Wilderness Lodge. It was about a 10 minute ride and we all kind of decided that's where we want to stay next time we go to Disney! It looked like the inside of a great lodge in Oregon or something. HUGE totem poles inside and this massive Christmas tree. That was one thing, seeing all the holiday decorations was so neat. Everything was done in the same theme as the park or hotel, and it was very festive. We sat for a bit in front of the HUGE fireplace, they have a stream that starts INSIDE the lobby, that was cool. Then we got checked in for our dinner.

Dinner was awesome! Probably our best meal the whole week. On the dining plan you can have a bottomless milk shake as your drink, and or course, we could only drink one, but Riley was so sure he was going to have one of every flavor! We each got the skillet meal, all you can eat of grilled chicken, pulled pork, brisket and ribs, with corn, mashed potatoes and beans. Very yummy! And bread pudding for dessert (that we took back to our room because we were so full at that point!) But the restaurant would do stick horse races, and if you asked for ketchup, they would bring you about 15 bottles of ketchup, then when the next family asked for ketchup, you had to bring it to them! It was a fun place, and one that we will definitely eat at again!

By this time, we had high hopes of heading back to the park for Extra Magic Hours (the park was open till midnight) but we just couldn't do it. It was around 9:30 and we were wiped out. And we had another early morning/long day ahead of us the next day. The kids didn't even mind, that's how tired they were. We took the boat back to Magic Kingdom and then our bus back to our hotel.

I got each of the kids a journal and every night they enjoyed sitting in our hotel bed and filling out the journal with what rides they rode, what hidden Mickey's they found, and what we ate and where. It was a nice wind down time and time for us to all share our favorite things of the day with each other. We also enjoyed getting back to the room and seeing what little surprises Mousekeeping left for us in our room! The first night was a momma and baby bunny made out of hand towels! So cute. Regan left them a thank you note for the next day.