Disney World 2021 Day 3: Magic Kingdom

On Day 3, we headed to the Magic Kingdom. It was a magical day, if I do say so myself. :)

We got to the park at 8:20 or so and got in line. The boys were soooo excited for the fun to begin! Wade and I discussed the itinerary and plan for the day while the boys gabbed about what they wanted to do and see. The time passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time for the opening show and then the gates were open. Let the Memories Begin!

Right when you enter then park, you see the sign below and you smell the scent of fresh popcorn. It really does feel like you are entering the happiest place on earth. :)

Our strategy was for Wade to go and grab fast passes for Space Mountain while the boys and I headed to Fantasyland. Once again, Wade's planning was spot on. We were able to ride everything we wanted to ride in Fantasyland before 10:00 - The Many Adventures of Pooh, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Peter Pan's Flight, Mad Tea Party, It's A Small World, and Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster. It was awesome! I loved the nostalgia of Fantasyland - I remember some of those rides from when I was a kid. I made my parents ride It's A Small World over and over and over again because I loved it so much. :) We only rode it once this time - my boys didn't love it as much as I did as a kid. Ha!

The boys loved the Barnstormer roller coaster. Drew was big enough to ride, so it was fun to go on a roller coaster all together. We rode it twice. D loved it!

Me & my Drew on Dumbo

The pictures from the tea cups are some of my favorites from the whole trip. Those boys were beside themselves with joy.

After that, we grabbed fast passes to Splash Mountain and then went to use our previous fast passes to Space Mountain.

To my surprise, Space Mountain at Disney World is not the same as Space Mountain at Disneyland. Isn't that odd? At Disneyland, you sat two by two, and at Disney World, you sit single file. The height requirement is taller at Disney World as well, so Drew couldn't ride. I was a nervous wreck riding behind Clayton. It was dark and I couldn't touch anything but the top of his head in front of me. I kept leaning forward to make sure that his little noggin was still in his seat. Goodness. I was a mess by the time that we got off. ;) Clayton rode again with Wade (lucky boy got to use Drew's fast pass to ride it again) and loved it both times.

We got pictures and autographs with Stitch next. Clayton would act like he didn't care about the characters, but he sure was quick to whip out his autograph book and smile for pictures. I was glad to see that there is still a hint of the make believe stage of childhood left in my oldest. :)

We happened to walk across the "Celebrate A Dream Come True" parade on the way to get fast passes for the Buzz Lightyear ride. All of the kids dance in the street with the cast members. Drew was a wild man dancing like crazy out there! It surprised me so much to see my shy boy out there shakin' what his Daddy gave him (I sure didn't give him those skillz!). Ha!

After getting our next fast passes, it was time to use the ones for Splash Mountain. We managed to ride Splash Mountain without getting too wet. Wade promised that the front rows are the only ones that get wet - he was right. :)

Woody & Jessie were in Frontierland, so we had to stop and snap a picture.

We ate our sack lunch and then it was time to use our fast passes for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It was a super fun ride, and Mama dominated on the scoreboard. Oh, yeah! I have no idea what I hit, but I scored a ton of points right off of the bat. I'm pretty sure that pumped up my cool factor in Clayton's mind. ;)

After that, Clayton and Wade rode Stitch's Great Adventure while Drew & I waited to get Buzz's autograph. Drew was insanely happy to meet his favorite astronaut. Clayton was less happy with his choice of rides and declared Stitch's Great Adventure to be "lame." Ouch! Sorry, Stitch - the 7 year old crowd can be hard to please. ;)

At that point it was 2:00. We rode the Jungle Cruise and then headed back to the hotel for naps (Drew & I) and swimming (Clayton & Wade). After a little downtime, we got on the shuttle headed to the Magic Kingdom at 5:45. We ate dinner at Pecos Bill's and then rode Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm sure that it goes without saying that the boys LOVED Pirates of the Caribbean. We went to the Enchanted Tiki Hut (my least favorite attraction the whole trip!) and then staked out our spot for the Main Street Electrical Parade. The boys donned all manner of glow-in-the-dark garb - Clayton even talked Wade into a light up mohawk.

The parade started and it was just as I remembered it - magical! :)

Alice motioned to Clayton and mouthed a comment about his hair. C turned 10 shades of red. Ha! We had teased him in the days prior about how Alice might remember him from our trip to Disneyland. (You might remember that our 4 year old version of Clayton was quite smitten with Alice.) I think that this encounter proved to him that she hadn't forgotten. :)

We stayed for the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular. It was spectacular, indeed. Disney sure knows how to do fireworks, that's for sure.

We left the park feeling the Disney high. What a wonderful day we had at Magic Kingdom!

Next up.... Animal Kingdom!