The Magical Kingdom Day 5

And so the saga continues...remember how I apparently didn't have "reservations" for the park but only had tickets to the park? Well guess what? I wasn't the only one! The other half of our party had the same exact issue and for two days had been trying to squeeze seven more, yes seven more tickets out of the system. No dice. So, we did what any other respecting individual would do, we put on our matching Disney shirts, drove to the park that we didn't have tickets reservations for, parked, lugged all of our strollers and lunches and water bottles to the ticket counter, and begged for help. 

And they sent us on the monorail and said, "Good luck, ask the next guy." 

So we did. And we explained the snafu all over again and the gentleman said that this has been happening to thousands of people (and we wondered why Disney wasn't doing something more like emailing those of us with no PARK reservation and telling us!). But we sent the positive mojo into the air and since apparently the parks have more leeway at the gate...he graciously found seven more spaces and we were all let in.

And there were some tears after. Because this was the only park day for some in the group, and we all know that the magic, is in the Magic Kingdom.

And off we went, matching shirts and all!

The park was busy. Maybe it was at 35% but we looked it up online and the daily limit can be 100,000 so that means that 35,000 people may have been wandering around with us, and it felt like it!

We had some younger ones with us so we hit up some of the smaller rides like Astro Orbiters and Peter Pan mixed in with some Space Mountain and Pirates. 

We had ridden a good amount of rides when we stopped in the noon heat for some ice cream and remove our masks....ahhhh. They've never bothered me much before, but this darn heat and humidity! 

The Disney app is where they want all food ordered so late afternoon we ordered our late lunch, after eating the PB&J's we brought into the park. The indoor dining wasn't crowded at all and we enjoyed a nice air conditioned lunch with burgers, fries, salads, and chicken tenders (all staple Disney foods). People were happy and full, and most were ready for more photo ops - like these on the bridge!!!

We waited in line for Splash Mountain for a good 75 minutes - where is the single rider line you ask? They don't have one. Where are the Fast Passes? They don't have them right now. Ugh. It was a little torturous but the baby was whisked away to ride dumbo a few times while we waited. And waited. The ride was great, and they we rushed over the Thunder Mountain Railroad to wrap up the evening. Our last ride in the park.

Oh wait, then there were Teacups.

Even though the park app originally said it closed at 8pm, it became evident at 8pm that it wasn't closing. Checking again revealed that it had been changed to 9pm but our tired feet were pooped and there was only one ride that we missed out on. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will have to wait for our next visit.

The drive home was energetic at first. The kids were all reliving their favorite ride and talking about how the park compares to the California version (there was a consensus that California has a lot of bonus items that the Florida versions don't have). Soon after, the voices drifted off to slumber and the hour drive back out to the coast was quiet. The smiles that you see on the faces of those you love, those are the best gifts in life.

And so the trip that seemed to not be able to happen, happened. Through some faith, trust, and maybe a little pixie dust ;)