Tink in the Parks: Morning Fun in The Magic Kingdom

Good afternoon, Tinkers!

     This morning, when I went and got K out of his bed, he said, "We go Magic Kin-dom, Mamma?" So, obviously, we went to The Magic Kingdom today because, well... the cuteness. Seriously.

     Today D had camp, but K was home with me, so I figured he and I would hit the park for a few hours, for some Disney-obsessed Mother/ Disney-obsessed Toddler bonding time. By the time I packed K's backpack with all of the necessary supplies, (including a change of clothes for when we inevitably would get rained on, and snacks so we could avoid paying $5 in the park for a small bag of crackers), and dropped D at camp, it was about 10:30am. After our short drive to property, (lucky us!), we hopped on the "boo mon-rail", (blue monorail), and got to The Magic Kingdom right in time for our first Fastpass, which was for the Mickey meet and greet inside Exposition Hall, just inside the park. Since we had been off the monorail for all of ten minutes, and I was already a sweaty mess, I was happy to be stepping into some A/C.

     Can I just say, I know not everyone is pleased with FastPass+ and I know there are still kinks to be worked out, BUT there are a lot of benefits to it. And right now, I was saying a giant "Halleluiah" that I had grabbed a few FastPasses this morning from the My Disney Experience app on my phone. Here it was, only 11am, and the waits for everything were HUGE! (Welcome to summer in The Magic Kingdom.) Mickey's wait time read "60 minutes", so I was totally cool with swiping my Magic Band and only waiting about ten minutes instead. I always get a little nervous when we meet the characters that K is just going to be like, "Whatevs, lady. I have met this dude a bunch of times.", but his reactions never fail to be awesome, every time! (Never change, K!) For those of you that are unaware, when you meet Mickey in Exposition Hall at The Magic Kingdom, he is particularly "magical". He is dressed as a magician, which is pretty cool, but that's not all. Unlike anywhere else on property, at this meet and greet, Mickey's mouth not only moves, he actually speaks and interacts with his Guests, live. It's amazing and kinda blows your mind a little. Now, this can pose a problem for bigger kids, who are already a little skeptical of the "realness" of the characters. They will be VERY quick to notice that he only speaks here, and no where else. You will either need to plan accordingly, and avoid this location, make it a last stop, (so it's amazing when it happens and not a disappointment every where else when it doesn't), OR kill it with your story-telling game. If you're comfortable answering questions on the fly and can come up with something about how Mickey's magic is making incredible things happen, go for it. K loves seeing Mickey here, because something fun always happens.

Today, after greeting K with a hug and a, "Hiya, pal! It's so great to see ya again!", Mickey asked K to pretend to be a choo-choo train with him. Watching the two of them, chugging around the room, "woo-woo"-ing their train whistles was adorable. We took pictures, and K gave about 17 hugs goodbye, before we headed back out into the heat.

     Next, we went up Main Street to see "Mamma's House". I told you, I brainwashed him. He thinks that is what it's really called. He may be gravely disappointed when he realizes that I don't actually own it. The castle always looks gorgeous, of course, but the new, additional turrets that were put in recently, really add something special. I don't know about you, but I love the new hub. The removal of the planters and the addition of the "grassy" gardens and the water fountains was a smart move, I think. It makes the whole hub area seem less packed and uncomfortable. Though, when it's mid-summer, and tour group season is in full swing, it's always going to feel crowded. It did today.

     We headed off to our next FastPass, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I am starting to realize that this is a tough age for me to be taking K to the park by myself. He will be 3 soon, and he's 30 pounds. So when I have to park the stroller to walk through a queue line, carrying a 30 pound sack of potatoes who is refusing to walk because he's too hot, it's less than easy. Especially when I'm already melting. Plus, getting food at a counter service restaurant? Forget it! It's nearly impossible to navigate the narrow queue line up to the register with a stroller, and then you have to find a way to carry your tray of food, and push the stroller, to find a table. Ugh. Disney is great at so many things. Not so much on being easy for parent flying solo. (I will say though, Cast Members always go out of their way to be accommodating and helpful when they see me alone with K. Cast Members rock, man.) Then again, I'm pretty sure very few parents end up in the park, alone with their toddlers. Yes, I do realize how lucky of a person this makes me.

     We, of course, enjoyed our spin around the 100 Acre Wood with Pooh, and decided next to head back toward the Storybook Circus area, to maybe play in the Casey Jr Splash and Play zone. K had a different idea though. Right as we passed under the gates, my Little decided he was in desperate need of a drink. "Apple juuuuuice!!!", he started chanting, so we turned into Big Top Treats, and checked out our options. (So much for the snacks I packed. Disney food always seems so much more appealing.) After much debate, ("Mamma, mush-mellows."  No, K, we haven't had lunch. No marshmallows right now.  "Mamma, candies?"  Um, no, dude. How about some pineapple?  "Ok, Mamma. Pie-apple. Ok."), we settled on a pineapple spear on a stick and a lemonade. Man, did K demolish that pineapple spear! He did let me have one taste, though, and it was delicious. It was a nice, refreshing treat. Don't worry... we got candy later.

     Mr. K did not want to go play in the water, so we walked toward Gaston's, but the sky was looking as though Maleficent had something up her sleeve. As a Floridian, I know that sky all too well. OK, change of plans. We would forgo our Peter Pan FastPass, and outrun the storm instead.
As long as we could get to Main Street before the rain, I'd be happy with that. We could always kill time in the stores, get a hot dog at Casey's, or watch cartoons in the gallery. On the way through Fantasyland, we passed about 11 different South American tour groups, chanting up a (non-literal) storm. Even more reason to pick up the pace. They are harmless enough, but because there are so many individuals in each group, they can easily fill a gift shop, restaurant, queue line, or even just walkways. To them I say, "Ole, ole-ole-ole, please get out of my waaay!"

     We zipped down past the gorgeous Cinderella fountain, past a meet and greet that was happening with the Fairy Godmother, next to the castle, and down past Sleepy Hollow. As we went over the bridge toward Crystal Palace, I looked to the right and saw a lot of work being done on what I imagine will be the new "Skipper's Cantina" Jungle Cruise-themed restaurant that is being developed.

Can't wait for that place to open! It'll be similar in style to Be Our Guest in that lunch will be counter service, and dinner will be full service. The Magic Kingdom could use a fun new dining option. I'll be one of the first ones to nab a reservation there, when the opportunity comes!

     Right as we crossed the threshold into Casey's down came the rain. And it rained, and rained... The deluge. Just kidding. It wasn't that bad, but I never can resist an old attraction reference. (Living Seas, anyone?) But being that it is Florida, by the time we walked through the gift shops and into The Emporium, it had stopped. We crossed Main Street and went over to The Confectionary, to get a little surprise to take home to the hubs. Can I just say, I LOVE The Confectionary? I mean, who doesn't, right? But between the sweet, strawberry, cotton candy aroma, and the eye catching colors of the sweets, it is heavenly. I decided on fudge as a treat to bring home, since it was super fresh and almost anything else would be totally melted by the time we got home. Since you save 33% if you buy 6 pieces, I had to buy 6, of course. Duh. Disney marketing is designed specifically with my family in mind. I'm convinced of it. We took in the sights and scents of the candy shop, and got to see some fun stuff happening. We watched cake pops being made, Guests being allowed to help decorate Rice Krispie Treats, and cotton candy being spun. Sometimes, if you're lucky like we were, while watching the cotton candy being spun, the Cast Member might slip you a sample. She actually gave K a HUGE ball of the fluffy stuff! Almost as much as you would have in a whole bag! He was thrilled. So was I. Cotton Candy for lunch. Doesn't count if it's at Disney, right?

K's in there somewhere!

     While we were in The Confectionary, because it's Florida, it started raining again. Suddenly the shop was flooded with people. We were in a sea of wet plastic ponchos and pointy umbrellas. Yikes. Let's get outta here, K. The rain never bothered us anyway, right? Magically, it stopped raining again as soon as we stepped outside. They must have put that big bubble up to cover the park. Thanks, guys.

     We crossed back under the train station, through the gates, and went up the monorail ramp to head back to the car. How lucky am I? I mean, seriously. Not only do I have an amazing family to share my love of Disney with, but being locals, we get to come in for a couple of hours, have some fun, and head out. We don't have to worry about a park ticket being wasted, or missing out on anything, because we will be back soon. Always. Dreams really do come true, kids. THIS is paradise.