Rice Krispie Treat? Check!

Magic Kingdom Day Two! 

After tackling Fantasyland and Tomorrowland a few days before, the Schneiders headed back to the Magic Kingdom to explore Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square.  This day would have a small hiccup, but still ended up being probably the best day we ever spent in a theme park.  

Our park day began a little after 9 and we headed straight to Magic Carpets of Alladin.

Everyday should start with a spinner ride.

Then we walked over to the Jungle Cruise.  Since it was the second week of November, they had the Christmas overlay and it was called the Jingle Cruise.  This meant a few changes in the scenery and some holiday specific jokes.  We had a great skipper, which makes all the difference on this ride.

The boat was renamed the Vixen Val for Christmas.

Following the Jungle Cruise, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean with a FastPass+.  This was the first time the kids rode Pirates, because the last time we were there it was down for maintenance.  They loved it, don't let the faces in this picture fool you!

After Pirates, we walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse.  We recently watched the movie, so it was really cool to see.  One of the kids wanted to know how they got the tree off the island.  

​Then it was time for our new thing of the day.  I'm really ashamed to say this, but we had never seen the Enchanted Tiki Room.  Now that we have, its a must do!  All four of us were humming the songs for the next few days.  If you haven't seen it, this is a show where animatronic birds sing and dance.  In this world of high tech entertainment, sometimes it can be so neat to see what was high tech a few decades ago.

While we were waiting for the Tiki Room to start, I checked the My Disney Experience App and noticed we had an 11:30 reservation for lunch at the Crystal Palace.  Whoops!  I really thought I cancelled that before we left!  So when the birds were done singing, we headed over.  When we tried to check in we found out I HAD cancelled the reservation and the app was wrong.  Bummer, no lunch with Winnie the Pooh and Friends.  

Sidenote: I was a little disappointed that the cast member wouldn't honor the app.  I mean, she couldn't find us in the computer, but when I showed her my phone with the Disney App showing that I had a reservation, she shrugged and said if it wasn't in the computer it didn't exist.  Maybe if I had pressed and asked for a manager we could have gotten in.  But I was in happy mommy mode and didn't want to fight with them.  

We were planning to spend the rest of the day in Liberty Square and Frontierland, so we walked over to one of our favorite quick service places, Columbia Harbor House.  If you like seafood, this place is a great choice because it isn't typical theme park food.  A lot of people complain about eating in the parks, but we don't find it hard to eat a variety here.  Now, it was about 12pm, so there was a line and it was hard to find a table, but if you eat at 11, no worries!

We finished lunch with a little time to kill, so we headed to the shooting arcade. (See what I did there.  Kill, shooting arcade.  Hehe.)
​

All too soon it was 1:15 and we were ready to ride the Haunted Mansion.  Goodness we love this ride.  The kids were not scared at all, although we did hold them in the stretching room.  That was more so they wouldn't get trampled than anything else.  Even though I know how most of the effects are created on this ride, it is so cool to sit back in your doom buggy and let your imagination run wild!

The end of the ride put us in the perfect spot for the 2:00 parade.  Well, actually we put the kids in their stroller and crossed the pathway to be in the perfect spot.  You want to be on the shooting gallery side of the walkway for the parade so you are in shade.  We found a nice spot up front and waited.  The only thing we were missing was a nice ice cream or something, but it was getting crowded so we decided to eat the healthy snacks I had brought instead.

Do I even need to tell you that I love the Festival of Fantasy Parade?  The parade features a catchy song (you will be singing it all day), Disney characters, lots of performers dancing in awesome costumes, plus a fire-breathing dragon.  What more can you want?

We had a little while until our FP+ for Big Thunder Mountain railroad, so we took the incredibly slow raft over to Tom Sawyer Island.  This is an outstanding place to let your kids run around.  There is a small play structure, but also a fort to explore, a creaky bridge, a mill, and some other small buildings to go through.  The raft over and back are supposed to be part of the charm, but on low crowd days like this they only run one, making it less convenient.

Finally our FP+ window was open.  This was a new coaster for the kids and its about as rough as I will ride.  But its a lot of fun and I sat with Anne who screamed the entire time.   

So far, we were having an outstanding day.  The weather was so nice and the crowds were low.  Seriously, early November is the time to visit Disney!  Except for being too cool to swim, this time of year is perfect.  We stopped and bought some maple popcorn (which was disgusting! blech!) and I took this picture at 3:45 in the middle of Frontierland.

Where are all the people?

While Rob was getting the popcorn, I also had time to check the My Disney Experience App. There was a 4:00 FP+ available for Buzz Lightyear.  I asked the crew if they wanted to ride again and it was a unanimous YES! So we headed across the park to Tomorrowland.  

The ride had a delay while we were on it and Rob was able to wrack up a person best score: 567,899 points!

Here's the part where I tell you something funny.  When you leave Buzz Lightyear, they have monitors where you see your ride photo.  You simply match the number below your photo with a number on a kiosk, scan your MagicBand, and then your photos are added to your My Disney Account.  Well, Ryan didn't understand why we were scanning our bands, so he was randomly scanning his band to people's photos.  So if you know these people, we have their ride photos.

There was no wait at the TTA Peoplemover, so of course we had to ride one last time.  Oh yeah, I don't think I have mentioned that this day was our last day of vacation.  We were soaking up every minute!  While on the Peoplemover, I checked the app and snagged a 6pm dinner reservation at Kona Cafe, which is at the Polynesian Resort.  Since we had to go right past it to get back to Shades of Green it was perfect timing.  

But first, we needed a little more park time.  Rob took the kids back to the green space and let them soak up the sun in the shadow of Cinderella's Castle while I did some more shopping.  I had spied a Mickey Mouse Christmas sweater and I really wanted to buy it if I could find it.  The Emporium had exactly what I was looking for, including some Rice Krispy Treats that just called my name.

It might sound cliche, but Rob and I both remarked on the magic in the park at this time of day.  Twilight was approaching, the crowd was a soft murmur, there were Christmas decorations everywhere.  We both felt the peace and contentment that comes at the end of a trip well done.  

We decided to keep the good vibes going and take the boat instead of the monorail to the Polynesian.  It was a little chilly, so I modeled my new sweater.

Dinner at Kona was fantastic.  It's kinda an underrated gem.  I say every trip that I want to try their breakfast, but we've never managed to make it work.  Time to plan another trip?  Oh, if you go to Kona, get the Lapu Lapu.  It comes in a pineapple!

That's the end of our final park day.  This trip was out of this world amazing, unbeatable, hands down our best Disney trip ever.  Oh, and the MAGIC wasn't over yet!  I will have another post about our travel day surprises.

BEST DAY EVER!