WDW July 2018 Recap: Day 3, Tuesday July 3rd - Magic Kingdom (Part 1)
This was another early morning for us, but not quite as early as the day before. The park opened at 8, and we were through the tapstiles at around 7:50ish. We heard the new Welcome Show, but didn’t really have any interest in seeing it. We knew it was going to be a long day, and while we certainly wanted to get things done, we figured we’d use FP+ as much as we could, so we tried to set a more relaxed pace for the day.
First stop was the
Emporium, because Beth wanted new Mickey earrings. Next up was coffee at
Main Street Bakery.
We drank our coffee and ate our breakfast before deciding on our first attraction for the day,
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. For many years Buzz Lightyear was our first attraction for any day at MK, so it was nice to return to that tradition.
After Buzz we saw that the line for
Space Mountain wasn’t bad, so since we were in the area, we headed over. Beth hates Space Mountain and always keeps her eyes closed from the second it starts. I was going to tell her to open them for the picture, but then I didn’t … I probably should have. (I love Space Mountain, so my eyes are always open enjoying the stars)
(Next time remind me to sit in the back because I think the skirt situation is not as bad there.)
Once we returned from space, it was time to head alllll the way across the park to our first FP+,
Splash Mountain. I like this attraction just fine, it’s plenty enjoyable, but this wasn’t a great experience because we were sharing a boat with the trifecta of annoying – teenagers, from a non-English speaking country (yes, the one you’re thinking), and part of a large group. Ugh. Morons kept putting their hands in the water and were just generally annoying. Not a fan.
Anyway … while we were on that side of the park, we hopped over to Adventureland for a quick ride on
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Then we hopped over to Liberty Square to meet
Mary Poppins, who was very impressed with Beth’s bag and how much she can fit in it.
While we were waiting for Mary Poppins, we saw on the
MDE app that
Anastasia and Drizella were meeting near the castle (near where the fountain is), so we went there and met them. We each found ourselves agreeing with one of the sisters, but since I don’t know which is which, I can’t tell you which one I agreed with.
We were in Fantasyland with a little bit of time to kill before our next FP+, so we decided to check out
Princess Fairytale Hall. Waits for both sets of princesses was the same at 20 minutes, so we decided to go for
Cinderella and Elena. Wrong choice … their line was longer and slower than the Rapunzel & Tiana line. Grr.
Anyway … time for our next FP+. As we got to
Haunted Mansion it was starting to rain, so the CMs really tried to condense the line and get as many people into the covered area as possible. We went into the covered area right away, and pretty soon we were headed for a stretching room. I usually hate the stretching room because there are so many people stuffed into one small room, but … there were about 10 people in the room, maybe less. I don’t know if this was some new procedure or if we just got lucky, but for once, I didn’t hate the stretching room. The area after (as you get ready to load into the doombuggy) was just as chaotic as usual, though.
Our next FP+ was actually turned into a Multiple Experiences FP+ because of a brief ride closure, but because the ride was reopened by the time we got there, we used the FP+ for
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. (Strangely enough, it didn’t disappear from our accounts)
While in line for BTMRR, we took out our phones and made our next FP+ -
Mickey’s Philharmagic. It was cute, but waiting for it was brutal because we didn’t want to be on our feet and the woman sitting in front of Beth was wearing her hat in a way that very much blocked Beth’s view. But it was still cute, just maybe not as enjoyable as usual. After PhilharMagic (I think) we stopped for a special photo op:
Anyway … lunch time. But first, another trip to
Main Street Bakery for more coffee time. We had brought lunch with us (probably the materials for PB&J sandwiches, but I honestly don’t remember), so we took our coffee and our lunch and once again ate in the outdoor seating area at Cosmic Ray’s. And like Sunday, after lunch, we went for a spin on
Mad Tea Party (I believe we had FP+, but I’m not 100% sure and I don’t remember how to check your FP+ after the fact). It was starting to rain as we got on Mad Tea Party, and by the time we got off, it was Mad Rain Party … like torrential downpour. We had forgotten our ponchos (I don’t want to talk about it), so we huddled in the covered exit area and waited for the rain to lighten up. CMs were actually not filling all the tea cups each time they started the attraction, and Beth’s theory is that they did that because the line was covered, so keeping people in line longer kept them covered for longer.
The rain finally looked like it was getting lighter, and Beth needed to use the facilities, so we headed over to the nearest restroom. There was a giant puddle and we couldn’t get to the restrooms without stepping in it … and then the rain started again and we huddled in the seating area for Cheshire Café. Eventually it stopped raining enough for us to find another restroom.
After our pit stop, we went to
Meet Ariel in Her Grotto, because I love Ariel (I think we used a FP+, but I don’t remember if we had FP+ for that or if it was another multiple experience one that we used). Ariel was telling us about how much she loves the human world, and I was saying it felt like we were under the sea because of the rain
.
After meeting Ariel, we went to hear Scuttle tell her story on
Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, which we had gotten a FP+ for after tapping at the M&G. Our basic philosophy for the day (and the rest of the trip, really) was “tap then app” – as soon as we tapped our MBs to use our FP+, one of us would pull out our phone and open the app to get the next FP+. We’re basically FP+ super-users. After tapping at Under the Sea, we got a FP+ that would save us a decent amount of waiting in line –
Meet Rapunzel and Tiana at Princess Fairytale Hall. Rapunzel was very excited to tell us about the new ice cream flavor she was creating, Eugene Fitzsherbert. Flynn wanted to make sure there was an appropriate amount of smolder in there, so she added toasted marshmallows.
Eugene Fitzsherbert. Seriously. I’m dying. Genius!
Our next FP+ took us to the Storybook Circus area of Fantasyland for a short trip on
The Barnstormer. Next up was an opportunity to fly with
Dumbo. If I remember correctly, we were on the one closer to the barnstormer. Once we were done with Storybook Circus, we made our way to our next FP+, the class
“it’s a small world”. Which had a decently long line. Long enough that there was a CM at the end holding a sign saying that it was the end of the line. Then we went halfway across the park for another shot at defeating Emperor Zurg on
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We made our next FP+ while on line for Buzz, but we had something we wanted to see first.
Beth is a huge Muppets fan, so
The Muppets Present … Great Moments in American History was a must-do for us. We caught the last show of the day, and they were telling the story of the Fourth of July. It was adorable. We loved it so much. This is a definitely must-do for us – such a fun show!
Our next attraction,
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, was our last one before fireworks. After celebrating with Winnie the Pooh and friends, we went to
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café (which is where they have the “on demand” kosher food at MK) and got chicken tenders (ps – the kosher food comes from an outside vendor, and it’s a different company than the last time we were there. Chicken was slightly overcooked and a little hard to cut, but tasted okay, and there was a vegetable, which was a nice change from the old vendor’s food, which was just nuggets and potatoes).
(To Be Continued)
