• trip day 7 of 8
  • Friday, February 3, 2017
  • Magic Kingdom
  • pool break at Wilderness Lodge
  • packed breakfast in room
  • lunch at Be Our Guest
  • dinner at Roaring Fork
  • snacks at Gaston’s Tavern and Pecos Bill Tall Tale Cafe

By Day Seven, our sixth full Disney day and fifth consecutive park day, we expected to be somewhat exhausted, irritable, and cranky. Instead, because this was a bonus day with no expectations, our last full day at Disney World ended up being one of the most enjoyable and relaxing. This was the second Magic Kingdom day of the trip so we’d already enjoyed our favorite attractions two days earlier. We would ride our favorites again, catch a few we had missed, enjoy a leisurely lunch and favorite snacks, and finally take the common advice of returning to the resort to swim in the afternoon.

order attraction
1 Peter Pan’s Flight
2 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Mom and Dad separate and then Mom twice again!)
3 Haunted Mansion
4 Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (FP+)
5 Mad Tea Party
6 Tomorrowland Speedway (FP+)
7 Under the Sea with the Little Mermaid
8 lunch – Be Our Guest
9 Peter Pan’s Flight (FP+)
10 It’s A Small World (FP+)
11 monorail loop
12 Wilderness Lodge pool and rest break
13 dinner – Roaring Fork
14 Pirates of the Caribbean (FP+)
15 snack – Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe
16 snack – Gaston’s Tavern
17 Dumbo the Flying Elephant
18 Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (FP+)
19 TTA PeopleMover

Being the last day of the trip, I was able to reserve FastPasses for this day a full 67 days in advance so FastPass availability was a gold mine. I snagged an early morning Mine Train FastPass for 9:20 which we’d use after our rope drop attractions. This was the first and only morning of the trip that we took advantage of morning Extra Magic Hours so we rope dropped Peter Pan’s Flight, enjoying the new queue for the first time since we bypassed it with a FastPass two days earlier. My childhood memories of standing in the boring Fantasyland dark ride queues is still so vivid so the new path through the halls and nursery in the house is such a welcomed change!

After a photo opp at the delightfully stroller-free Rapunzel restrooms (AKA Rapunzel Stroller Parking Lot by mid-morning), we strolled over to Haunted Mansion to find the ride unexpectedly closed during Extra Magic Hours but a friendly cast member was out and about walking her ghost dog, encouraging the boys to pet it. Moments like this are the ones I remember most vividly and why I love Disney World so much. The cast members truly go above and beyond to make guests’ vacations magical! Liberty Square was still a ghost town (pun intended) at this early hour and there were no other guests around other than us and our boys, delightfully entertained by this lovely CM and her ghost dog. Quiet mornings in the parks are the best!

The Frontierland mountains were the only rides running in this area of the park open early, so we chose Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, one of my all-time favorite rides and one we missed earlier in the week. Neither boy was interested so I rode alone first with a five-minute wait followed by Jeff alone. Jeff then took the boys and told me to ride as many additional times as I wanted. After two more walk-on rides, I met up with them again at the Haunted Mansion which was now open. Gosh, I LOVE Frontierland when it’s empty in the morning!

The park was beginning to fill up as the general opening time came and went so we proceeded to Fantasyland to use our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FastPass followed by a whirl on the Mad Tea Party tea cups.

The boys still find the Tomorrowland Speedway fun – what kid doesn’t like to drive a car? – so we used our second FastPass to slowly creep around the speedway. They still can’t reach the gas pedal so Mom and Dad provide the forward momentum while the boys steer. The stand-by queue at the Speedway is slow, exposed to the scorching sun, and usually at least a 30 minute wait so a FastPass is a must whenever we do this ride – once a trip is enough.

We began to make our way towards New Fantasyland for our early lunch reservation at Be Our Guest but were still early so we got in the ten-minute stand-by line for Under the Sea with the Little Mermaid on the way. I’m not a Little Mermaid fan and the boys aren’t fond of the princesses, but we all somehow manage to always enjoy this ride. Who can resist all the adorably brightly-colored dancing and singing fish?!

Dining reservations are few on our Disney trips as the precise timing they require cramps our attraction-heavy touring style, but on this second, leisurely Magic Kingdom day of the trip I had to book a reservation at the most beautiful and best-themed restaurant at Walt Disney World – Be Our Guest. Lunch is served counter-style from kiosks and guests are then able to choose a table to which the meal is delivered either via MagicBand tracking or separate tracking roses. I had hoped to eat in the smaller West Wing this time, but it was already full at this early lunch hour (our reservation was for 11:10 AM) so we “settled” for a table in the gorgeous main ballroom. Jeff and I both had the delicious croque monsieur and couldn’t resist the “grey stuff” Master’s Cupcake for dessert – it’s delicious!

Our third FastPass was scheduled right after lunch on a nearby ride that would be easy on our full tummies – Peter Pan’s Flight again, of course! Even the FastPass line at this time of day was nearly as long as the stand-by line had been at rope drop and the short wait gave us time to begin reserving extra FastPasses. We planned to return to the resort for the afternoon, but FastPass window opening in just seven minutes was available for It’s A Small World right across the walkway, so we snatched that one up and walked right on after Peter Pan.

By 1:00, we were leaving the front entrance and Jeff requested another ride around the monorail loop before returning to Wilderness Lodge. Since the monorail was down when we arrived by car on our first Magic Kingdom day (so we used the ferryboat instead) and we arrived via watertaxi from Wilderness Lodge that morning, we wouldn’t have a need to ride the monorail on this trip if not for our two planned full loops!

Back at the Magic Kingdom, we ventured to the boat launch and motored back to Wilderness Lodge. The boys and I changed into swimsuits while Jeff decided to stay in the room to nurse a headache. He would join us at the pool later in the afternoon. After a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at the pool, we dried off and changed, and ate an unremarkable dinner at Roaring Fork, the Wilderness Lodge’s quick service restaurant (Geyser Point was still a few weeks away from opening), before hopping on the watertaxi back to Magic Kingdom for the evening.

Earlier in the afternoon, we made another FastPass reservation for our estimated return time, a Pirates of the Caribbean window beginning at 6:05. Pirates is always a good time right from the queue entrance. I love the dark, cool queue, especially on warm days!

For the rest of the evening, we simply asked “what should we do next?” after each attraction and did it! Before leaving Adventureland, I wanted to try churros which we’d never eaten before, so we got churro bites with chocolate dipping sauce from Pecos Bill. We don’t regret getting them, but they didn’t instantly turn into a Disney food favorite so we likely won’t make an effort to get them again unless we happen to be in Adventureland in need of a snack.

Next up was a trip back to New Fantasyland (is if even called “New” Fantasyland anymore?) to accommodate Gavin’s request for another trip to his favorite Disney eating establishment – Gaston’s Tavern. A trip to this Beauty and the Beast-themed corner of the park and another cinnamon roll was necessary before calling this Disney trip “done.”

Jasper’s choice was next – a nighttime ride on Dumbo the Flying Elephant. All of the lists of “rides to do at night” are correct – Dumbo is magical at night, twirling around in the dark with amongst all the bright lights!

We continued our clockwise loop to Tomorrowland via the “secret” walkway between the Fantasyland train station and Space Mountain to use a FastPass for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. This ride used to be a favorite but has fallen off our “must do” list since Toy Story Midway Mania opened. Midway Mania is just easier to play and the boys always have trouble on Buzz determining which laser target is from their laser gun. Still, it’s enjoyable enough for all and definitely one to ride when there’s additional time on a second Magic Kingdom day like this one.

No day at Magic Kingdom is complete without a tour of Tomorrowland via the PeopleMover. This favorite attraction was the perfect final ride of our Disney trip. After passing by the castle for some nighttime photography, we headed back down Main Street, said “goodbye” to the Magic Kingdom and boarded a boat back to the hotel, concluding a lovely, relaxing, and thoroughly enjoyable final Disney park day.