Day 3 of our Disney World vacation landed us at one of the most magical of all Disney Parks; Magic Kingdom. Yes, you probably recognize it from all those glorious castle photos, but my post will share with you many of the wonderful sites and sounds (and smells) that come from spending the day at the Magic Kingdom!
There is so much to do and see at the Magic Kingdom, you want to ensure you get there as early as you can; this might not be rope drop, but getting there before 10 am is ideal. We arrived at 9 a.m, and our first Fast Pass wasn’t until later in the day, so we immediately headed over to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse! For those who don’t know, Mickey turned 90 recently, so he and Minnie are sporting special birthday outfits, and there are special things going on to celebrate his birthday. Ironically, my past few visits to Disney seldom included visiting Mickey Mouse, but this time we simply had to go do a character greeting. We were told from many people that this was the most anticipated character greeting in the kingdom so we would be waiting awhile; yep – the line was already an hour wait at 9 am. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that once inside, we only waited 35 minutes! What a fabulous way to start off a magical day.
After saying goodbye to Mickey and Minnie, we made our way up Main Street, ran into Mary Poppins while listening to the quartet welcome everyone to the park, getting a whiff of delicious candy and baked goods, oh and snapping a few pictures in front of the castle. We headed over to tour the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, rode Aladdin’s Magic Carpets, and finally got to ride Big Thunder Mountain (the ride was closed for refurbishments my last 2 visits!). I must say, Big Thunder Mountain is a wicked ride; we were able to use a Fast Pass here but I would have gladly waited in line for it – it was a lot of fun! Before our next Fast Pass at the Haunted Mansion, we zipped over to Gaston’s Tavern to indulge in a decadent cinnamon roll that we paired with LeFou’s Brew; frozen apple juice with hints of marshmallow, topped with a creamy passion-fruit froth. Honestly, I could have had 2 or 3 of these they were so crisp and refreshing; we even had a few people stop us as we were walking back towards the Haunted Mansion what it was we were sipping. After using our Fast Passes for the Haunted Mansion, it was time for lunch.
Landing a reservation at Be Our Guest restaurant used to be next to impossible; the restaurant is right inside the Beast’s castle and during dinner service, the Beast will actually come out to see guests. Recently, they changed Be Our Guest lunch service to a quick service, which means that dining here doesn’t have to take up a lot of time, but it also allows for more guests to be able to eat inside the castle. We were able to snag lunch reservations, and while there were no characters coming around during our meal, it was really neat to sit inside the castle and get to explore the iconic rooms from the film. For about $20, I had a carved turkey sandwich with a side and a beverage; my friend and I shared the Master’s Cupcake, you know, the one with the grey stuff; it was delicious! Everything about the meal was good, and after snagging some pictures inside the castle, it was off for more adventures.
Once we left Be Our Guest restaurant, we stumbled upon Anastasia and Drizella, the step-sisters from Cinderella. I was excited to see them, as in past visits they had only ever been in the parades. I would be lying if I said that this wasn’t one of the top 3 moments of the day, perhaps even the trip. These ladies were such a hoot. Interacting with them was so much fun, and they were all about taking photos, especially selfies, after all, the attention was finally on them and not Cinderella. These gals had everyone in line laughing and made you forget about ever considering them to be ugly, evil or nasty step-sisters; they were amazing!
Meeting Anastasia and Drizella 
We said goodbye to the sisters and used our next Fast Pass to ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train ride; a favourite of mine for many reasons. Next, we headed over to the Winnie the Pooh and Tigger character greeting; my best friends’ most beloved characters. We left the Hundred Acre Woods and headed for the Mad Tea Party, where we took a spin on the teacups! After the teacups, we headed over to Storybook Circus and met our pals The Great Goofini and Donald Duck. It was a busy afternoon of character greetings, but we weren’t done yet! Next up was my favourite character greeting in all of the Magic Kingdom: Merida (from Brave)!
Apart from being one of my favourite characters ever, Merida is one of the best character greetings in all of Disney World for many reasons. As adults, we know that there are several actors who portray these characters, and sometimes you can really point out the great ones from those who are mediocre. Each time I have been to Disney, the characters portraying Merida have been spot on. Everything from the accent (which is a hard one), down to the details in conversation and interactions with the guests, Merida always knocks it out of the park. She is my favourite Disney princess because she is brave, bold, daring, courageous, loyal, stubborn, rebellious and headstrong, but also kind, compassionate and loving; and who doesn’t love that hair! Thus, meeting Merida always brings me great joy.
By this point, it was already after 4pm and there were still a few things we had to do. The rest of our day consisted of riding Space Mountain, grabbing a snack in Liberty Square (I made it my mission to ensure I got to have that Churro Ice Cream Sandwich), taking a few more castle pictures, meeting Rapunzel and Tiana, defeating Zurg at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, riding those Mad Tea Party teacups again, and hitting up some of the shops. Before long, the sun had set on another day at Disney.
The next two days of our trip were spent out of Disney Parks, as we finally got to visit Disney Springs. I’ll recap that in my next blog. Thanks for reading. Have a magical day!
Five Feet High Thoughts 