Magic Kingdom Take Two

Magic Kingdom is most definitely my happy place. I love all of the Disney parks and Epcot is high up on my favorites list but if I could only go to one park it would for sure be MK. It's what I think of when I think Disney. We were excited to go back to Magic Kingdom for a second time because there were several things we weren't able to do the first day we were there. I really feel like you need two full days in Magic Kingdom to be able to do and see it all, especially with kids. It's definitely the most kid friendly park of the four.

The first thing I like to do when I get into the parks is spend a little bit of time to take a few good photos. There's always one shot I'm wanting to get and I want to get it before everyone is gross, sweaty, grumpy and tired.

As always, we got to the park right when it opened and Campbell really wanted to ride Splash Mountain so we headed that direction first. We did rider swap and there's a great little playground for young kids to play in that's covered and out of the hot sun so Scott hung there with Bennett and Wells (Bennett didn't want to ride it) while Campbell and I did Splash Mountain. Campbell loved it and was excited to ride it again right away with Scott. 

Next we headed back to Fantasyland to get on Dumbo. The boys loved playing in the play area inside of Dumbo before we got on the ride and Scott and I enjoyed getting to sit down in the air conditioning while they did. We gave them about 15 minutes of playtime then decided we should go ride Dumbo. While we were waiting in line, the sweetest Cast Member noticed the boys were wearing Dumbo outfits so she opened up a special section of the line so the boys could get close to the ride and I could take some photos of them. I thought it was so sweet of her to offer, especially since I didn't even make mention of it. I got the cutest photos of the boys that are some of my favorites from the trip! 

The morning was flying by and before we knew it, it was time for lunch at Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace is my favorite place to eat in Magic Kingdom. We always eat either breakfast or lunch here every time we come. The location is fantastic and I just love the ambiance. The food is obviously delicious too, otherwise I wouldn't want to eat here every time. Normally this is a character meal with all of the Pooh characters which is another reason it's my favorite but the characters still aren't making an appearance here unfortunately. I was so hoping they would be by the time we went. Oh well! We still had a wonderful experience with the best waiter and food. This was one of my favorite meals on this trip. So delicious. Also, I know this is so silly but I really like being able to use the bathroom at this restaurant (lol--it's small and feels really nice and extra clean to me) and getting my drink to go is a nice bonus too!

We took a left out of the restaurant and right in front of ice was a Mickey ice cream and you really can't go to Disney without eating one (or five) so we all enjoyed one of those before riding more rides.

One of my absolute must do's I wanted to do on this trip was get a silhouette done of my boys. They all obliged my wish (all four of them, haha!) and we walked towards Main Street to make it happen. There is a small little spot halfway down Main Street where you can get your silhouette done (there's also another spot in Liberty Square across from Sleepy Hollow). There was only one person in front of us and they were halfway through so we didn't have to wait long at all before it was our turn--maybe 5-10 minutes. You can do singles, doubles, the entire family....whatever you choose. I wanted all three boys in a silhouette together. The gentleman doing the silhouettes told Campbell to go first (oldest to smallest) so Campbell sat and literally 90 seconds later it was Bennett's turn then Wells. I could not believe how fast he was. He cut out the silhouette, pasted it onto some special paper then someone checked us out. The cost was $30, $10 per person and I will treasure this souvenir forever and ever!! I know a lot of times when you do stuff like this on vacation it really doesn't look like you but these silhouettes look just like my boys. I was so, so pleased. 

We got some more rides in and before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We decided on Be Our Guest for this trip because we wanted to stay in the park to eat. After doing Disney several times, we've learned we just prefer to stay in the parks for meals vs hopping to resorts or other parks. There's a few exceptions we'll make (like breakfast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian) but we've learned it's just simpler to stay put. We ate at Be Our Guest the first time we ever went to Disney and I always said it was a one and done for me. However, it was honestly our only option this time so we booked it and we were very glad we did. The food was wonderful this time and we all really enjoyed it. My only complaint is they took too long (I kind of like getting in and out because I want to get back to the rides!!) but otherwise the food was fantastic. I enjoyed my meal, the boys enjoy theirs, and my wine hit the spot after a long day on my feet. The best part was dessert for the boys--they got to paint Chip with edible paint then eat him! It was seriously so cool and chip tastes so good!! I think he is made of white chocolate but it was yummy. I had the grey stuff and it truly is delicious. In the past I would have said this is a restaurant everyone should do once just for the experience but you probably wouldn't want to do it again but now I'm not so sure. We may end up eating here every time we're in Magic Kingdom from now on. We were pleasantly surprised how much we enjoyed our meal considering the last time we ate there we found it to be fine but nothing super special.

Unfortunately when we got out of the restaurant the weather was showing a severe storm headed our way. Even though we still hadn't done one of our favorite rides yet, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, we made the decision to head on back to the resort. We took the bus to the Riviera and within seconds of walking into our room the rain came pouring down. Since we got back to our room a little early, Bennett wanted to paint some pottery like Campbell had done the day before. I took him to the art room and he enjoyed getting to paint his own masterpiece that is actually a really fun souvenir to have from our trip. 

We got the boys tucked into bed early then I snuck downstairs to do a little shopping in the Riviera gift shop. I had spotting some things I had been wanting and wanted to shop kid-free. The hotel gift shops are always really good and it's easier to shop there than the parks sometimes. 

Scott and I toasted another successful day in Disney on our balcony. We absolutely loved having a balcony off our room and I'm not sure we'll ever be able to do Disney again without one! This day couldn't have gone better. The kids were happy the whole time we were there and there was minimal complaining or fussing from either of them. Just an overall great day!