 Today is a Magic Kingdom (MK)
day. I was up a bit earlier than the family and had enough time
to finish and post Days 1 and 2 of the trip report. Woke the
girls up around 7:15 and as soon as they realized we were headed to the
MK they were moving pretty well! We were ready and down to the
boat launch by 8am there waiting was the small boat to the
Contemporary. We enjoy the smaller boat so we hopped on and were
soon at the Contemporary. We headed in to jump on the Monorail
and arrived at the MK after making the rounds of the Ticket and
Transportation Center, the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian.
 There were already
lots of people through the turnstiles and waiting to
enter the MK. The show started about 10 minutes before 9am, but
we didn't see it. We had found a spot up near the entrance ways,
and shaded so we could zip right into the park. After the
countdown it was a pretty made crush into the park. We headed up
Main Street and on through the Castle to wait a few more minutes at a
rope they had set up just before Fantasyland. Can't have people
riding before 9am! ;-)
 After rope drop number two the girls bee-lined for Dumbo
and were first
in line. We caught up and got to ride the first 'flight' of the
day. After that we hit Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, and then off
to the Grand Prix Raceway so Brinn could once again drive by
herself. She LOVED this in December, and really wanted to drive
again. The line moved pretty fast since they had 8 cars
loading. Kristen passed on this one and headed off to get Fast
Passes for Space Mountain. Maddy is DYING to go on Space Mountain
- as we have heard no less than 300 times! ;-)
 Kristen was back in plenty of time to catch us on the
speedway from the
vantage point of a nice table alongside the track. We saw her as
we were 'speeding' by! Maddy was actually talk enough to drive
herself, But the gas pedal was too hard for her to push!
Good thing she wanted me along for the ride this year. Brinn did
great but said the pedal WAS tough to push and keep down.
 After the raceway
we headed to Tomorrowland and jumped in line for
Buzz. Pretty short wait and we were soon blasting away! I
came out the winner as a Space Ace with a about 427,000 points.
Gotta love those big point targets! :-)
Then we hit the TTA with Teeyore along for the ride and enjoyed our
tour around
Tomorrowland. It was now time for Space Mountain, but Brinn
decided she wanted to pass on this one. She and Kristen headed
off to Frontierland to get Fast Passes for Big Thunder while Maddy and
I rode Space Mountain twice. Worked out great - Maddy was happy,
and Kristen finds Space Mountain just a bit rough in the way it throws
you around some of those corners. Maddy LOVED it as much as she
thought she would and we had a literal blast!
As a side note the groups from Brazil are out in force! They
seemed to be everywhere yesterday, but other than shear size of the
groups really weren't a problem at all. The parks are crowded,
but not ridiculously so and the wait times as we headed into the day
were not really that bad.
 After finishing our second spin on Space Mountain we
headed out of
Tomorrowland and called Kristen on he cell. They were getting
bored waiting, and were glad to hear from us. I guess walking
into Space Mountain and waiting for loading takes longer than we
realized! We'll be back to the MK, and do some of the attractions
we have missed along the way on another day. Across the park we
go but instead of Big Thunder we target Pirates. The fast pass
isn't good for awhile so we'll fill the time with pirates.
Riiiiiggggghhhhttttttt! Get to Pirates, and no Kristen and
Brinn. Turns out they saw Hook and Smee and were with
them. Both Kristen and Brinn had Tink gear on and Hook was having
a fit! :-) They had fun and soon caught up with us.
The line for Pirates was REALLY, REALLY (I mean out into the park
really) long. I've NEVER seen it even close to this
popular! Old Captain Jack is packing them in!
 We decided to pass
on this one and try later. The wait was posted
as 45 minutes but I'm thinking it had to be at least an hour from
there. It was almost time for our Big Thunder fastpasses so
we headed back there. We thought we would be able to grab a
bottle of water and sit for a few minutes, but there were none of the
three little stands in that area that were open. One WAS opening,
but he CM was moving REALLY slow and I don't know if she EVER
opened! We sat and watched for 10 minutes while we waited for our
FP time. She eventually looked ready and I went over - nope
- 10 MORE minutes. Our fastpass time comes and we head on up to
Big Thunder. Standby on this said about 30 minutes so our Fast
Passes were very welcome, but there were a LOT of people in line.
Still it was moving quickly and both sides where pushing through the
people. We had a great ride and headed past that stand again as
we exited. We had been gone at least 20 minutes total and there
she was… folding up cardboard, with a group of about 10 customers
waiting - saying that it would be about 10 minutes! I don't think
she appreciated my laughing and saying it was 10 minutes 30 minutes
ago! Now this was between 11:30 and noon, and it was hot.
People were BEGGING to pay $2 bucks for a bottle of water! Hey
Disney - open up at least one stand near Big Thunder a bit earlier in
90 degree weather! ;-)
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We still had a bit
of time
before our 12:25 reservation at the Plaza Restaurant, so we walked
through Frontierland and into Fantasyland to ride Small World.
They
really DID do a nice job on the rehab of this last year, and it still
looks great. Even the water stays clear. If I HAD to find
something
to improve it would be the new boats. There is NOT enough leg
room and
I have to sit sideways and get cramps in my feet every time I ride
now. But we survive and it’s a wonderfully cool ride in the
summer
heat! 
OK - that did it. Time for lunch now! We
walk over to the
Plaza
Restaurant and check in. It must be busy because we had to wait
about
10 or 15 minutes past our seating time. But soon enough they
called
our name and we headed in. We had a friendly and efficient
waitress
and our food came out pretty quickly. The girls had Grilled
Cheese,
and Kristen and I shared two sandwiches. I ordered the club and
she
ordered the Rueben. BOTH were delicious and MargaretJ would be
proud!
We even got pictures! 
OK - back to important stuff! Our great meal and
DESSERT! The girls
ordered the Mickeylodean and Kristen and I got te brownie sundae.
VERY
good and ours were HUGE. Again - I even got pictures to
share! We had
a great meal with great service and even a bit of entertainment.
Two
thumbs up for the Plaza in the MK! :-)
There was just a short wait while the girl finished up
her current
client and then it was Maddy's turn first. Her shorter hair and
the
beads she chose would be $20. Brinn's longer hair and beads would
be
$30. There was no tax, but you had to have cash. They did
not take
room keys or credit cards. The CM was very good at her job,
and we
found out she has been at the Poly for 5 years working fulltime and
going to college part time. She was very nice and another
recipent of
one of Miss B's new CM appreciation cards. Along with a tip for
her
excellent job. :-)
We jumped the
monorail to
the Contemporary and then hopped on the small boat to the Wilderness
Lodge pretty quickly. After returning the girls hit he pool while I
relaxed in the room for a while. I can only take so much sun, and
didn't feel like a swim today. The girls swam until 4:30 or
so and
then came in to get ready to head back to the MK. We took our
time and
got back around 6:30 or so. Maddy and Brinn wanted to take
a picture
of mom and dad in front of the castle, so we stopped for a couple
photos. Not too bad, but I'll have to work with them just a
little.
;-) 
While I grabbed fast passes for Big Thunder (the girls
just CAN'T get
enough of this one!) they all went in to the Hall of Presidents.
Kristen really likes this one, and its VERY cool in there!
:-) I took
a few pictures, walked through the Christmas Shoppe and the Heritage
House store and then they came out of the show. Dinner time!
Time to use a counter service Meal plan credit and while
I wanted
Columbia House, the girls weren't thrilled with that menu. So we
decided on Pinocchio Haus and there we were all happy. The girls
got
pizza and Kristen and I got sandwiches. Can't even tell you the
name,
but they were good. We also got a side and a dessert. The
sandwich
normally comes with chips, but you could get fries as your side
instead. For dessert we all picked the shakes. And you also
get a
drink. Soda's for mom and dad, but the girls got those big
bottles of
chocolate milk. A LOT of food and would have cost about $50 off
the
meal plan. 
I'm sure the people
around us thought were horrible parents, but I told
her I'd take her off if she really wanted. But after
repeated (and
repeated and repeated) assurances that the drop was NO bigger she
decided to go. Thank goodness the drop is early. She was a
mess until
after that. THEN she was perfectly fine and loved all the new
additions. We told her she is going to write a note to
herself that
the drop is tiny and NOTHING to be afraid of next time! ;-)
We waited there for
a while while the crowds dispersed and then went to
find a spot for the second Spectromagic parade. Grabbed
some ice
cream bars trying to use some snack credits and the stupid card reader
there was broken. We are going to have to get moving to use all
these
credits by Friday! We grabbed a decent spot in
Frontierland for the
parade and waited. Spectromagic takes a LONG time to work its way
through the park, but we all love this parade.