Day 2 – Magic Kingdom and Running Over Random Strangers in an ECV
Today was
THE day. The day I’d been waiting for. The day I was going to personally guide the family through
our Magic Kingdom traditions, whether they liked it or not. I was a woman on a mission — and if you think that means calmly waking people up, you’re wrong. I yeeted the boys out of bed and had us at the bus stop by 7:40 a.m. I even convinced Thomas to take a photo with me and smile. Do you know how rare that is for a teenager? It’s like finding a short queue for Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Practically mythical.
Unfortunately, the Disney bus gods were not on our side. The Magic Kingdom bus time kept increasing. This morning was EMH starting at 8:30 am and our plan of “catching the 7:30 bus and being early” was… optimistic in hindsight.
We finally rolled up to MK at 8:25 am, just in time for our first of approximately 17 bathroom stops of the day. This is how it works: one person goes, everyone else swears they’re fine… and one minute later, two more suddenly “desperately need to go.” Rinse and repeat until you’ve lost a small chunk of your life and all of my sanity.
At 8:44 am, we rounded the corner onto Main Street and saw the castle. Cue the tears. Yes, I cried. Even Chris also got misty-eyed (he’ll deny it). For non-Disney people, this reaction makes no sense. For Disney people, you guys get it. We stop for a family photopass in front of the Castle as is the first tradition, then headed to Sleepy Hollow for breakfast.
Waffles for the win. Chris, the boys, and I shared two fresh fruit waffles — historically enough food to feed us. This time, they looked… smaller? Or maybe Thomas has suddenly started eating like a professional bodybuilder in training. Either way, I had to order another one. The kids were distracted by some overly friendly squirrel, which I suspect was plotting it’s waffle heist.
Next: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. My nieces don’t like rides, but we managed to lure Olivia in. She spent most of the queue announcing she “wasn’t going on.” Minor meltdown at the boarding area. I worked my auntie magic, held her hand, and reassured her there were no big drops. (Yes, I lied. Don’t judge me.)
She loved it. Meanwhile, Chris and Catherine — sitting at the front — got absolutely drenched. Olivia found this hysterical and immediately wanted to ride again.
Win.
Bathroom stop number two: complete by 10:30 am
We cooled off in Pirates of the Caribbean (mainly for the aircon), then grabbed an I Lava You Float from Sunshine Tree Terrace, shared it, then got another with strawberry Fanta. Cue the family bathroom relay, round three.
The humidity was now doing its best impression of a hot yoga studio, so we escaped to Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. On the way, I spotted the open Spring Roll cart! We got a pepperoni and a cheeseburger spring roll to share. I dare say we preferred the pepperoni - We forgot photos - food photos are very lacking on this trip
We saw the end of Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire, Olivia got a Mickey balloon, we dropped off the ECV and stroller, then enjoyed the Laugh Floor. Sadly, no one in our group got picked on this time — unlike 2022 when Chris was “caught illegally recording.”
We hopped on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and I won overall. Then it was lunch at Cosmic Ray’s: Chris and I shared a salad and a truffle French onion burger, the burger was amazing, the salad was refreshing too. Thomas stuck with chicken tenders and Noah had brought his launchable from
WalMart.
Then the heavens opened and torrential downpour ensued. We decided to bail early and head back to the resort at 12:30pm trying to dodge the rain as much as we could, but not before I impulse-bought a new spirit jersey at the Emporium (and definitely didn’t almost also buy the matching
Loungefly and ears). Toilet trip number 35 then we headed back at Riverside, the kids wanted to chill - Noah ended up going to the park with Mia and Olivia.
So yesterday somehow between WalMart and Riverside Val managed to lose a shopping bag containing bubble bath, jam, toothpaste, and tonic water — this mystery remained unsolved. Chris and I volunteered to replace the goods, plus he needed a bowl for his feet (don’t ask).
This evenings plan was to travel to Disney Springs. Through security and we headed straight to the Christmas shop for personalised baubles. Val added “running over random strangers on the ECV” to her to-do list. This was consistent with her previous record of reversing into a bollard with a reversing camera and parking sensors.
Most of the family ate at The Polite Pig. The boys and I went to Cookes of Dublin for fish and chips. A guy from New Jersey in the queue was fascinated by my accent and asked if the fish and chips were “authentic.” I told him “close, but not as good as the UK.” We had a nice chat and he ordered the fish and chips. The boys enjoyed these as they usually do, I stole some of their leftovers.
Back with the family, we browsed Uniqlo, Pandora (new charm and safety chain for me — the new bracelet I was pawning over will have to wait), and World of Disney (Chris bought a jacket, Noah a Stitch keyring). We managed to catch a band at Waterside Stage before browsing Marketplace Co-Op and collecting ours and Val & Stephens baubles and got the boat back to Riverside.
Refillable mugs topped up at the food court, we collapsed into bed, ready for Hollywood Studios tomorrow.
PS - We also received a picture of Thumper enjoying her holidays
YT if you also want to watch:
JK! I am Looking forward to reading 
I didn't want a rucksack though as previous trips you end up with a sweaty back!
You are a brave woman. I don't think I could do it, if I did i feel like I would return home with a few less family members. I'm in, sounds like it will be a lovely, chaotic vacation.
