Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

Day 2 started fairly early with arriving at the Magic Kingdom as the park opened. Aaron had the plan down out to maximize our time. The first ride we went to was the ‘it’s a small world’ ride. With virtually no wait, we walked right unto the awaiting boats with anticipation of seeing the world come alive with mechanized animatronics. As the classical ‘small world’ song started to grace our ears, it dawned on me that we were on another ‘water’ ride, that we did not have too good of luck with the day before. But the speed of this ride doesn’t even qualify as a walleye chop, so we were just fine. The kids loved it and the song stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

Following Aaron’s plan, we moved from ride to ride with minimal effort, hitting them before the crowds could overtake them. The key latter in the day was the ‘fast pass’. The fast pass allows you to go on a ride by bypassing all the other sorry saps in line, cutting a 45 minute wait down to 5. Anyone can get a fast pass…just wait in a different line and they hand a limited number out for a certain time period. We started to hit a wall about 3pm with the hot Florida sun beating down on us hardened, below zero, northerners, and walking several miles by now. We pushed through to the last couple of rides by 6pm with the Splash Mountain and the Thunder Mountain Railroad. Either some of the group did NOT learn the lessons of yesterday or the hot sun caused them to forget but Splash Mountain was another chance to get wet in the name of fun. I elected to stay off and ‘take pictures’ of them. Dad elected to stay off and ‘watch Owen’. Abbie and Julia went on it with Mom. They loved it and wanted to go again. The Thunder Mountain Railroad was a wild roller coaster that they went on as well. I think they are starting to love the bigger rides.

The day ended trying to make our way through the mass of people to find a spot for the nightly parade and fireworks. By this time it’s 8pm and I’m looking for a bench. But in the name of fatherly duties, I hoisted Julia on top of my shoulders and watched a great parade. Jacob and Abbie worked their way to the front but near us to enjoy it too. What a great day.

The Disney World motto is “Where Dreams Come True”…..I’m not sure my feet are livin’ the dream right now.

Splash Mountain