On the second day of our Disney World trip (the first day in theme parks), we ventured into the enchanting world of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park. As soon as I stepped foot into the park, we were greeted by the iconic Cinderella Castle standing tall in the center of Main Street, USA. The sight was magical and set the tone for an unforgettable day. Unpopular opinion, but we did not get up early for rope drop. On the evening before, we did the Starlight Safari at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was also our travel day. I didn’t want to wake everyone up early after a late night. It was worth it to have everyone well rested and not have cranky kids or be tired myself. Since it was my kids' first time at Walt Disney World Resort, I wanted them to have a great time, which means being well rested. We had a full day ahead of us, and sleep is important. We waited to take our children to Disney for them to be past the little kids stage, so napping in strollers is no longer an option for them. We did see many young kids resting or taking breaks in strollers while in the parks.
Our Magic Kingdom Morning
With the help of Disney Genie + and some careful planning, we embarked on our journey, ready to explore the park's wonders. We arrived at the parking lot for Magic Kingdom around 10. Unlike many, we're not thrill-seekers (no roller coasters for us), so our itinerary took us on a different route, leaving out some of the most popular attractions. Some of the thrill rides have long lines, so skipping those worked to our advantage. We skipped some rides that typically have a long wait such as Splash Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain. We started our day in Adventureland and did the Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean. After Adventureland, we worked our way over to Frontier Land where the kids enjoyed Tom Sawyer’s Island followed by Haunted Mansion, and It’s a Small World. My kids weren't interested in Peter Pan's Flight so we skipped that one. We rode it in Disneyland 2 years ago. By 3 pm we had done about half of the park including some of the most popular rides. We rode Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and It’s a Small World in about 4 hours, including a break for churros and some play time at Tom Sawyer’s Island. My favorite ride of the day was Pirates of the Caribbean.
Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
We had a 4:10 p.m. reservation at 1900 Park Fare, so around 3 pm we started our way to the Grand Floridian Hotel. We enjoyed taking the Monorail, it was a pleasant break from the afternoon heat. Even in April, the heat in Orlando was intense.
1900 Park Fare offers a dining experience, where exceptional cuisine, enchanting ambiance, and Disney charm truly come together. My son had no interest in many of the characters, but every day of our trip, he was asking to go back to 1900 Park Fare for the food. He says it was the best food he ate at Disney World. The food was fresh, the staff was friendly and the characters were great. It was our favorite dining experience on this trip! Since recently reopening, they have new characters at 1900 Park. We saw Cinderella, Tiana, Aladdin and Mirabel. My daughter was thrilled to meet Mirabel. 1900 Park was a great place for an air-conditioned break from the Florida heat. I will have 1900 Park Fare on our list of restaurants for our next Disney World trip. The cast members at 1900 Park were friendly and our waitress was so sweet.
Tomorrowland
After we ate, we decided to go back to Magic Kingdom and tackle Tomorrowland before calling it a day. We all rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and loved Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, it was one of our favorite attractions (we did this twice). Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor consistently had low wait times and was a great air-conditioned break. By 7:30 pm we were all beat and decided to return to the hotel.
Since we were doing 7 park days, we had several options to return to Disney's Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks.This may have been our first visit to Disney World, but it won't be our last. More reviews of the water park, our first fireworks, and Disney's Hollywood Studios are to come soon. To learn more about our Disney World Trip check out our summary post.
To learn how we booked our 7-day park hopper plus tickets, airfare, and hotel for $1,400 check out our postPlan a Free Trip to Disney World Using Credit Card Points.
