August 2021: Magic Kingdom

Happy Monday! Here I was, ready to begin a recap of day 2, when I realized day 1 wasn't finished yet! I know these things keep dragging out and I'm sorry - it's been a wild few weeks here since we returned home from our trip!

Hands down, one of our favorite parts of staying at BLT was the easy walkable access to the Magic Kingdom. In fact, we did it twice in one day - once in the morning, then again in the afternoon after our swim!

It's a fairly quick walk - and they have security there, so you don't have to worry about passing through them with a huge crowd at the MK itself.

Seeing the castle all decked out for the 50th Anniversary was a pretty neat thing, too!

Not long after we arrived, this little dude was worn out. Jason and I decided to eat lunch at Sleepy Hollow, and I ordered an extra set of chips for Brayden that we saved for later.

So good!

To give him an extra bit of sleeping time, we decided to visit Carousel of Progress. 

Poor dad was losing an eyelash! 

We were excited to see the TTA open, so after Carousel, we jumped in line for a ride!

Of course, Brayden requested two of his favorites - the Speedway and the Teacups. I think it's hilarious I avoided the Teacups all these years and it's really not that bad of a ride - you can make it what you want!

The next request was Dumbo, so that's where we went!

Quick story about those glasses on my face - I lost them.......in Dumbo.....in the play room. They slipped out of my book sack when I was reaching for something else. They are the Disney Ray Bans - Mickey's 90th birthday edition. When I realized they were missing, I panicked. We had just walked outside to queue up for the ride itself. Thankfully, the cast members let me walk back inside. I searched the room and wasn't able to find the glasses, so I asked the CM's at the table if anyone had turned in a pair of sunglasses. MUCH to my surprise, a wonderful soul had turned them in!! I was so so so grateful!! Those glasses are also now on a leash. And will never come off! HAH!

By mid-afternoon, we knew we wanted a cold snack, so we walked over to Adventureland. Jason's choice was the "backside of water float", and I ordered the kakamora float. Each float came from a different location in Adventureland and mine seriously took forever. Jason was mostly finished with his by the time mine was ready! Crazy!

They were both VERY good, though!

We also ordered Bray a little cup of ice cream. 

After our snack, we went back to Bay Lake Tower to swim, then returned to the Magic Kingdom for the evening.

This trail of ducks were the CUTEST! They were walking in a line into the entryway tunnel! 

Our dinner reservations that evening were at the Plaza Restaurant. 

I'd read mixed reviews about this place online, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect...

The inside of the restaurant was cute and quaint. I was honestly surprised at how small it was inside!

Brayden had chicken tenders and fries. Not gonna lie, the batter on these tenders was good!

I ordered the meatloaf which is one of the dishes they are known for...

...and Jason had the plaza burger. 

To be honest, I don't think we will be back. This was likely a one and done for us. 

After dinner, we walked outside and saw the crowds lining up for Happily Ever After. We still had about an hour and 15 minutes before the show, but I knew this would be one of our only chances to see it this trip and likely our last time to ever see the show.

So, we staked out a spot and Brayden fell asleep...again! Hah!

The fireworks were gorgeous and magical and everything I love about Disney nighttime shows. I'll be honest - I hated to see Wishes go and it took a while for Happily Ever After to stick with me. Now, I'm going to be sad to see this one go. There might have even been tears. Ok, there were lots of tears...

After the fireworks, we had 45 minutes to play, so we made our way to Tomorrowland for Brayden's new favorite ride - the Astro Orbiter!

We also stayed at the MK WAY past his bedtime but who cares...YOLO!

They were gearing up for their first Boo Bash of the season, so some pumpkin decor was already out. So much fun to see!

...and that's a wrap on day one of our August trip! Day 2 coming at you this week...promise! :)

Disney 2021: Animal Kingdom

Our last full day at Disney was spent in the Animal Kingdom. We arrived at rope drop and were able to get into the park pretty early!

Our first stop of the day was at Flight of Passage. Having never ridden this ride without a fast pass, I hadn't yet experienced the full queue line and I was excited to do so!

Seeing the full queue all lit up was really neat and something I'm glad I had a chance to experience, for sure!

After Flight of Passage, we jumped over to the Na'vi River Journey. 

I realize this is incredibly silly, but if you actually pay attention to the surroundings on this ride, you'll notice that the Na'vi are actually going along on the journey "with" you! (Hence the name "Na'vi River Journey"....serious face palm here.) How I missed this before, I'll never know!!

Up next was a ride on Kilimanjaro Safari, while it was still morning and the animals were out and about! 

We saw plenty of giraffes and elephants! It was great as always!

Such a gorgeous day!

As a mid-morning snack, I stopped at a cart near Asia where they offered fried pot stickers. These are my FAVORITE on Disney Cruise Line and were taken off the pirate night menu - I'm still bitter about it. 

 

When I saw a friend on instagram ordered these for herself a few weeks before our trip, I added them to my must do list and they did not disappoint! 

While our friends took a ride on Everest, Brayden and I hung out and enjoyed the atmosphere. 

We did a quick rider swap and somehow ended up on the very FRONT of Everest! This was my second time to ride up front and if you haven't done so before, you need to! It's so much fun!

For lunch, we had the pulled pork mac and cheese from Flame Tree BBQ. This is a favorite of ours and almost always an every-timer! While eating, we also saw a boat pass by with Mickey and Minnie on board! So fun!

After lunch, we walked over towards Dino Land and secured our Annual Pass magnets. We love this cartoon and thought the magnet was so fun!

One of Brayden's favorites in Animal Kingdom is Triceratops spin, so we all hopped on board for a quick ride!

Notice the now-gone Primeval Whirl in the background. I never had a chance to ride it as I tend to shy away from spin-type rides. Rest in peace!

I love how we still had a chance to see characters throughout the park without actually being up close to them.

It's Tough To Be a Bug was up next!

When we excited, we saw a beautiful hidden Mickey made of flower petals on the ground! 

I love the creativity behind this one and saw that Disney recently featured a cast member on their instagram who makes these beautiful icons throughout Animal Kingdom! So fun!

Dinosaur is one of my favorite rides in Animal Kingdom and we decided to make it our last ride of the day! Somehow, we were fully finished with almost every attraction in Animal Kingdom by 2 p.m.! 

Poor Brayden was scared to death! Hah!

Before leaving, we decided to grab a few snacks on the way out. I really wanted a few snacks from Pandora, so we meandered back over in that direction. 

On the way there, we spotted a few friends! 

Jason's favorite is the Night Blossom (I don't care for it as much) and my favorite is the Pongo Lumpia! 

This decadent treat is made with cream cheese and pineapple, wrapped in a flaky crust. SO good!

We also ordered Starbucks on our way out!

Our evening plans included a tour of the Copper Creek cabins at Wilderness Lodge (for our friends to see) as well as a dip in the pool!

This kid should have been born a fish. He would swim all day every day if I let him!

Our beautiful day turned into a beautiful evening.

Brayden LOVED the water slide at the Wilderness Lodge and still talks about it to this very day!

After swimming for a few hours, we returned to our room to change for dinner at Geyser Point.

While waiting, we also had a chance to see the Electric Water Pageant! This brings back such awesome memories of my childhood!

We all ordered the same thing - the bison burger. It was delicious!!

After hanging around the restaurant and enjoying our final evening in Disney, we walked over to Roaring Fork for dessert! :)

Brayden enjoyed a Mickey Bar...

...Jason LOVED this magic cookie bar... (I did taste it and it was amazing!)

...and I had a Mickey ice cream bar as well! Our friends also ordered ice cream! Perfect end to a great trip!!

Back in our room, Brayden played with his bubble machine out on the patio and then we drifted off to sleep with another amazing day in the books! 

Up next: Our final day (1/2 day) at the Magic Kingdom!