Disney 2021: Magic Kingdom Part 2

After a late night in the parks the night before, an attempt at an early morning to rope drop the Magic Kingdom just wasn't happening for my four year old. Jason and I attempted to wake Brayden and instead decided to sit out on our patio and enjoy a morning cup of coffee instead.

We decided it just wasn't worth it! Having a rested and happy child all day and being "late" to the MK was much better in our book over a tired and cranky child. We text our friends to go on with the plans without us and so they did!

He had the chance to sleep an extra hour and was much happier when he awoke this time around!

After getting dressed, we walked over to the boat dock at the Wilderness Lodge. We love being able to take a quick boat ride to the MK!

Even though we were later than we anticipated, the park was not crowded at ALL!

One thing my mom and Brayden share is their love for flowers. On this trip, Brayden stopped at practically every flower bed he saw, and sent a photo of the flowers to my mom. It was really really sweet! 

After finding our friends, we walked over to Fantasyland for a ride on Small World!

I think I mentioned this before, but Small World was Brayden's very first ever Disney ride (at 10 months old) and it's a "must do" every trip for us now! He loves it!

Know what else he loves? Throwing coins into the water down below! 

Although it's blurry, this photo of him with his little hands in the air makes me smile! :)

Somehow, my name appeared on the screen as we were departing the ride! Farewell, Small World!

Over to Pirates, we planned out our photo and I think we pretty much nailed it. The socially-distanced random guy on the back row made us laugh, too!

For lunch, we stopped by Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. I hadn't had a "Disney burger" all trip, so this was my fix! I also ordered a Cheshire Cat Tail for dessert and it was really good!

For some reason, we waited until after lunch to ride the teacups, and my husband and our friend Melissa decided to spin their cup as fast as humanly possible. 

Brayden, our friend Everett, and I rode in the "calm" teacup and we could hardly see our people as they spun on by!

We also took a turn on the Tomorrowland Speedway! Brayden and I rode together and it was quite the experience. I'm glad he's not getting his driver's license anytime soon! :)

Earlier in the day, Brayden announced to us that the only characters he would wave to are Mickey and Minnie. No one else. (His exact words.)

So, we spotted their cavalcade passing by and we lined up to wave. True to his word, Brayden waved his little heart out! Kids are so funny!

A mid-afternoon Joffrey's break was much needed and hit the spot!

We'd been watching the line for the Jungle Cruise all day and finally saw a break in the wait time, so we moved over to Adventureland. 

This actually ended up being our final park ride before taking a break to ride the Monorail around the loop a couple of times.

Brayden had been asking to ride the Monorail the entire trip, so we found our moment and took it! We ended up looping twice!

Remember that "I only wave to Mickey and Minnie" statement?

Yeah, well the princess cavalcade rolled through just as we were walking back into the Magic Kingdom, What did this kid do? Cover his eyes!

True story: Several of the princesses thought he was playing peek-a-boo and they started covering their eyes, too! It was hysterical!!

Dinner that evening was at Be Our Guest. We hadn't visited in a while and had never experienced the prix-fixe menu, so we decided to try it out!

The pre-dinner bread offering was delicious!

For an appetizer, I had the meat and cheese plate and it was really good!

I'm pretty sure each of us had the filet and we all really liked it.

My favorite part of this entire meal though, was the dessert....especially that macaron to the left! It is truly one of the best desserts I've ever had!

Look at this Chip themed cup, too! It was made of white chocolate and even included a little chip on the rim! SO cute!

Our final ride of the evening was on the carousel! It's so beautiful at night!

I have to admit, I was incredibly sad while waiting in line. Someone had ripped out most of the flowers along the inner rim of the flower bed, all the way around the entire ride. They must have pulled up at least 30 or 40 of these beautiful flowers. I just don't understand people. At. All. I used this example as a teaching moment for Brayden - to encourage him to always respect other people's property, especially something as nice and beautiful as this. (I'm happy to say, we returned to the Magic Kingdom two days later and all of the beautiful flowers had been replanted! I so appreciate Disney's attention to detail and it made me wonder how often something like that happens? So sad!)

Another one of Brayden's favorites, the carousel!

Back at the resort, we took a little time to play in the splash area, even if it was 68 degrees outside! Apparently the cold didn't bother Brayden anyway!

I know this was long, so if you made it this far I thank you!! Up next, our final "full" day at Disney - Animal Kingdom!

Dinner at Be Our Guest (Without A Reservation)

Ever tried obtaining a dinner reservation for Be Our Guest in the Magic Kingdom without any luck? Me too. Called 180 days in advance at exactly 6 a.m. and everything was booked? Yep, same here.

This past November, the unbelievable happened…let me tell you my story.

We spent the Monday after the Wine & Dine Half at the Magic Kingdom with our friends. We also happened to have MVMCP tickets for that evening and we had early dinner reservations for Liberty Tree Tavern. Around 4 p.m., someone suggested that we “try” at the Be Our Guest Reservation desk to see if they had any availability. I was incredibly skeptical from start to finish – a table for SIX? Yeah, right…ok sure.

Two of our friends had eaten at Be Our Guest for dinner in the past and were able to obtain seating right as they opened (around 4 p.m.) without a reservation.

We approached the reservation desk and were told that we had to check with the cast members who were standing in front of the castle gates for availability. We walked around and asked if they had any openings for a table of six (long shot, right?)….they checked their books, then said….YES! Wait…WHAT? They said YES? I am pretty sure I died and went to heaven right then and there.

Just like that, we were IN! I’d eaten at BOG for lunch (quick service) but never dinner so this was definitely a treat for me (and all of those in our group)! The Cast Member who seated us was super sweet and even allowed one of the children in our group…or grown adult children, whatever…to hold Lumiere as we walked  to our table. It was rather cute.

Oh yes, and about our Liberty Tree Tavern reservations, they were taken care of! We were on the Dining Plan and since we were using our DP credits somewhere and didn’t just bail completely, and we notified the cast member at check in, we didn’t receive a charge.

The castle was gorgeous and even decorated for the Christmas holidays! A perfect way to start our evening at MVMCP!

After we were seated, our waiter told us that we could walk around, take pictures, and enjoy the castle!

I loved the snow!

This garland along the wall was another favorite of mine!

Before long, dinner was served!

I had the pork with cauliflower “mashed potatoes” and asparagus. Y’all, this was delicious.

Jason had the Grilled Strip Steak with veggies and steak fries. He really liked his as well!

Before long, it was time for one of the best parts of the meal…dessert!

Our waiter came around to our table with this cart and we were able to choose our desserts from there. (I like the “look and see” aspect!)

Jason chose a holiday special, the egg nog cupcake.

I ordered the Grey Stuff (of course)! It was delicious (obviously)!

On our way out, we stopped at the library to tell the Beast thank you for being a great host!

We had a wonderful dinner and the “surprise” element of it all made that much better! The power of Disney Magic!

Moral of the story: if you’ve tried all other outlets (calling 180 days in advance at 6 a.m., calling repeatedly after that, etc.), just ASK once you arrive. All they can say is no….you have a 50/50 chance of having them say yes! :) If you don’t have a reservation, I do recommend arriving at the reservation desk as soon as they open (at 4 p.m.).

Have you ever eaten at Be Our Guest? What were your thoughts? Did you love it/hate it?