Today was our day at Magic Kingdom and everything went very well. We didn't have any meltdowns, from Dad or the children, and only had to deal with a small amount of grumpiness at the end of a very long day.
We successfully got everyone up early and arrived at the park, tried to park in cast parking and then found a correct parking spot, and made it through security and to the gate exactly at 8:00am when the gates opened to the general public. The park was not busy, as it was still raining, and we were able to get in the line for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and ride the rollercoaster all within the first hour of arriving at the park. The younger kids didn't like the rollercoaster, so we went on a few smaller rides for them before the rain stopped and the park got busy.
The sun came out and it got quite warm and the crowds limited your rides, but we had a few Fast Passes scheduled for just after lunch, which allowed us to get rides in that the kids loved, such as the Buzz Lightyear ride where you shoot targets and Splash Mountain, though Evan really got himself worked up over the drop at the end and spent the entire ride scared.
Around 3:00pm, it rained again and the park emptied out. I mean, not empty, because it is Disney, but much smaller crowds than earlier in the day. We were able to ride the kid rollercoaster five times in a row when I noticed that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was down to a 30 minute wait from the 90+ minutes it was at all day. We rushed over there, but it is on the other side of the park, so it was up to an hour wait by the time we arrived. However, the time was not correct, as I and the older two kids made it through the line and out of the ride in exactly 30 minutes.
By this time it was getting late and the kids were tired and our feet were soaked from the rain, so we stopped for supper and then a tiny bit of shopping. There was an hour until the fireworks, but the kids were done with rides, which was OK, as we had gone on every ride we wanted, but they really just wanted to go home. Sandra made them stay, which they did, with Jonathan and Evan hunkering down on her jacket and closing their eyes. The fireworks were really good and after Jonathan proclaimed "I regret wanting to leave before the fireworks!"
We then joined the giant crowd leaving the park, which is where the only "disaster" of the day occurred. We made it out and into the line for the monorails. After two monorails left, we were at the front of the line and the two Disney workers were listening to their radio and making exclamations and then talked to us, as one of the trains that left had an emergency break down, due to someone leaning against the door. That meant there was a long delay, which they dealt with by moving us into a monorail and then
sitting, while moving the back of the line to the ferries. After sitting in a monorail for 30 minutes or so, we were told there would be a long wait and they got us onto the other monorail in haphazard fashion (because everyone was tired and stressed) and over to the parking lot. As we left, the poor workers we had been visiting with looked very stressed out - I have to imagine that a monorail breaking down at exit time is one of the worst case scenarios for them.
We drove home, got everyone into bed and I quickly fell asleep. Tomorrow will be resting and relaxing, for at least part of the day.
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