Disney Day 1: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

We got back last Saturday from our first family trip to Disney World and I have to say it was pretty successful. We went at a slow pace, kept our expectations low, and were prepared to call it a day if Forest (or his parents) started to get cranky or tired. We had park hopper tickets (meaning we could get into any of the 4 parks each day) and spent 3 days there. 

Our tentative plan was to split day 1 between Magic Kingdom and Epcot, Day 2 we’d go hard at Magic Kingdom in the morning and then rest at the resort until a character dinner that evening, and Day 3 we’d start at Animal Kingdom and if Forest napped in the stroller we’d pick a park to spend our remaining evening, and if not, we’d just call it a trip and head back for some down time at the resort pool. 

The biggest advice Disney Veterans gave us before going was to arrive 20 minutes before the parks open. We are early risers but this still meant waking Forest up at 7:30 (6:30 Texas time) each morning so that we could leave the resort around 8, park and walk/ride the monorail to be at the gates for the opening ceremony and rope drop. But it was excellent advice because we were able to get so much done between 9-10 AM before the crowds started pouring in. 

Our plan each day was to race to a ride with a notoriously long wait time and then try to pack in as much as we could before 10 at which point we’d start using our 3 daily fastpasses or ride attractions with short lines. With technology these days it was super easy to check wait times using the My Disney Experience App so we could really minimize our waiting times. 

Patience is not a 3 years olds strong suit so we never waited in a line that was listed as more than a 15-20 minute wait. Because we went in early November, crowds were moderate/low but even so called “low” crowds at Disney are pretty crazy! Especially since they use their ‘low season’ to refurbish some of their biggest attractions which pushes more people to the remaining open rides. 

Ok, so our day 1 itinerary went like this: We rushed straight to Seven Dwarves Mine Train and still waited about 15-20 minutes. By the time we got out it was already listed as a 35 minute wait and only got longer as the day went on. Forest LOVED his first coaster. 

His hair is sticking straight up. I can't even.

Next we walked right onto Dumbo and Barnstormer, all of which he loved as well. 

Then he and Jonathan road Tomorrowland Speedway while I shopped and looked for coffee. 

At this point it was after 10 and the lines park wide were starting to get lengthy so we used our first fastpass for the Under the Sea Little Mermaid ride and then hopped on It’s a Small World which never had a line longer than 10 minutes or so. 

Scotland!

After that Forest showed some tired signals so we quickly used our next FP to ride Winnie the Pooh and then plopped in the stroller hoping for a hail mary that he would nap. 

He has such a 'Fear of Missing Out' personality so I really figured we’d just stroll him and let him rest before hitting our last FP at Pirates of the Caribbean (Jonathan had  FP at the same time for Space Mountain). Well he shocked me by falling fast asleep for an hour! 

Of course if I stopped strolling he would instantly start stirring so we took turns power walking the stroller the whole time but it was awesome! 

I don’t think he’d fallen asleep in the stroller since before his first birthday so we were really stoked! When he woke up the line for Pirates was pretty short so Jon ended up riding in the standby line around the same time as F and I with our Fast passes. 

PS. Forest hated the Pirates ride and kept asking ‘is it just pretend? Is it just pretend?’ the whole time so I really felt bad about taking him on this one. Now he keeps asking if there are pirates in the bathroom (last week it was monsters) so we can add that to his growing list of irrational fears.  Mom fail. 

Around 2 pm we left Magic Kingdom and headed to Epcot via the monorail. Y’all the monorail was Forest’s favorite ride by far. He would have happily ridden it all day. 

Epcot is my favorite park though most people rank it pretty low. I love the world showcase and the educational nature of the attractions. It also has a lot of hands on exhibitions which make it feel more like a museum than Disney Park, at least compared to Magic Kingdom. We were there in time for the International Food and Wine Festival which is so much fun. Forest was still pretty tired so he happily colored and did sticker books in his stroller while Jonathan and I went on a quick food (and beer) tour around the world. 

We were very disappointed that the Scottish booth didn't have haggis or sticky toffee pudding.

So we opted for beer and waffles from Belgium instead.

Afterward we took Forest to ride Finding Nemo which he was obsessed with. I realized that of all the movie-themed things we had ridden, this was the first one with characters he knew really well and it made a big difference. He just went on and on about Marlin, Nemo, Dory and the gang (though he kept asking where Hank was!). The ride spits you out into a pretty decent sized aquarium which he loved as well. 

He could have spent all day there but it was getting close to bedtime and Jonathan still wanted to ride Test Track so he ran to do that while we picked up some souvenirs and then we boarded the monorail back to our car. It was a really successful first day!  I’ll fill you in on days 2 and 3 later on this week. Stay tuned!