Day 10: Reunions and Dessert Party Time!

We had nothing planned for this morning as we have a dessert party booked at Magic Kingdom tonight, and as the girls haven’t managed to stay awake past 8pm we thought we’d better take it easy. Both girls had a rubbish night and were tossing and turning throughout (always the case when you want them well rested). They woke up at 6am but as it was still dark, we convinced them to go back to sleep which they did until 8am. 

Steve’s school friend who moved to America a long time ago just happened to be at Disney this week and we’re heading to Animal Kingdom today, so we arranged to meet him and his family as we had no plans. After a quick get ready where Winnie asked for deodorant for her legs, telling me how they always get sweaty at school and she has to try and stick them out in assembly to cool them down (chub rub issues at age 6!), we set off for the bus.  We arrived at the park at 9am and met them at the entrance to Pandora shortly afterwards. We ended up queuing for Flight of Passage with them whilst the boys chatted. I know Steve really enjoyed the meet up, and I’m so glad we made it happen even though I’m pretty certain we were the only people queuing with no intention of actually riding the ride. The girls and I exited after about 40 minutes, just before the queue went inside as they wanted a play in the Boneyard and to grab a few more Wilderness Explorer stickers, and Steve stayed in the queue with his friend. It was lovely having a leisurely stroll around the park with the girls (even if Polly had to keep stopping to spit out phlegm! Thank goodness for Starbucks muffin bags although thinking about it I think I may have left said bag in my shorts pocket! Better remember to remove it or it could get nasty!!).

It was really cloudy today, so much cooler and really quiet. The girls conned me into buying a refillable popcorn bucket, but it is pretty cute! Plus, we’ve hardly spent anything outside the dining plan other than tips and the odd alcoholic drink. 

We got to The Boneyard and the girls had the whole place to themselves for around 20 minutes which was lovely. They played for ages as Steve was meant to be meeting us there but never arrived, and as they were both full on hot messes by this point, we went for a look around Dinoland to cool down. We came across Daisy with no queue, so jumped in as this never happens. Except Polly then declared that she really needed the toilet. So, as any good parent would do, I told her to cross her legs and suck it up (whilst simultaneously smiling for the camera of course!) until we’d done the meet! (I did check that she could hold it first, honestly!!) We then sprinted to the nearest restrooms where Steve met us (Steve and restrooms are almost as much of a match made in heaven as Steve and coffee!) Turns out he’d been trying to get out of the Flight of Passage line and inadvertently exited through a door which led him into the backlot of the park! I think he had visions of security guards chasing him down and tackling him to the ground!! Luckily, he found his way back to us eventually.

We decided to call it a day and head back for a nap that was never actually going to happen before heading to Magic Kingdom. Steve stayed in the room. With the girls so I could have an hour to myself outside (bless him) only I was sick of the heat after 5 minutes so ended up coming back to the room to find Polly lying still pretending to be asleep and Winnie with her eye mask on doing huge sighs just so we knew she was actually still awake! We didn’t persist and got them up to get ready. For once we had a leisurely stroll to the bus as it wasn’t due for 10 minutes so it was nice and relaxing. That was until the journey started. I think the driver had ambitions of being an F1 driver and took every corner at full speed, braking at the very last minute every single time. We also went the weirdest route past the Polynesian and Grand Floridian and in around the back of Magic Kingdom. Polly was white and felt sick (which she hadn’t done on any ride!) so we were more than happy when we finally reached the park.

It had been raining hard, and lots of people were leaving. There were no queues for security and we were straight into the park at 3pm. Unfortunately the parade had been delayed indefinitely but we decided to find a spot and grab some food to go as other than a muffin the girls had for breakfast we suddenly realised we’d eaten nothing all day! Casey’s chilli cheese fries for us (because who doesn’t love fake plastic cheese (maybe that’s where Radiohead got their song inspiration?!)) and Mac cheese for the girls with a drink to share all for 5 snack credits. Winner, winner Disney dinner!

By this time they’d started to tape off the parade viewing spots so we were hopeful it would take place, and 10 minutes later it did! It was a slightly shortened version with less choreographed dancing/ fewer dancers etc but it was cloudy and cool and uncrowded, so we absolutely loved it (I don’t think we’ve ever watched the parade in a non sweat-drenched state before!) Ok, so some of the dancers looked a little lost (the dragons in particular but then I guess there are only so many times you can swish your wings without it becoming repetitive!) but it was so much fun. The characters were also less restricted due to the lack of dancing. The girls sang the whole soundtrack at full volume and were the happiest I’ve seen them all holiday. Afterwards they skipped up Main Street and Winnie declared it was the best parade ever because she’d never had huggles from parade characters before! Bless her heart! 

We then went to Cinderella’s Castle as the girls’ special fairy godmother in training had messaged me asking them to pop in. When we arrived she gave the girls the biggest hug before giving Polly a birthday gift because she’s not in the Magic Kingdom on her actual birthday. We let her open it and it’s the most beautiful bracelet with the words ‘she believed she could, so she did’ on it which is perfect for Polly as she loved learning about great women who changed the world and did a public speech at school about it and how she wanted to change the world herself someday. So lovely and incredibly thoughtful. 

We then went to Peter Pan where we had a fast pass. This always causes a huge discussion with the girls as they both want to be on the outside of the car but they also want to be next to each other. Usually I end up on one edge and Steve has to be Billy-no-mates in a different car but Polly took pity on him and opted to be his riding partner. Winnie wasn’t best pleased and as we got into our car declared ‘I can’t believe Polly sacrificed me to ride with Daddy!!’ After Peter Pan it was raining (I think rain likes to follow us to the Magic Kingdom) so we did Mickey’s Philarmagic which we always enjoy (no queue, cool and a sit down!) and People Mover before heading to the Main Street shops for our mini shopaholic (although she’s still only bought one thing!) We then went to see Mickey & Minnie again as Steve missed out last time before a quick play in the Dumbo play area.

We then used our fast passes for an extremely soggy ride on Mine Train where the rain drops turned into actual bullets shooting at my eyes (my pants are still stuck to my bum cheeks now!) and sneaked in a quick ride on Winnie the Pooh before heading to the dessert party. 

Now, it had literally been raining since we exited Peter Pan and was now hammering it down which made for a very damp firework viewing situation. However, because the weather was cooler the girls weren’t as tired, and as we had the dessert party booked anyway we decided to stick it out no matter what. We arrived at the Tomorrowland Terrace at 7.20 and got a seat near the front so at a push we could stay there and just about see the projections at least. Winnie loaded her plate with sugary morsels no adult human could possibly consume, along with 4 glasses of apple cider (Appletise) which she lined up she knocked back like a pro. A scary vision of what’s to come I feel! Polly, on the other hand, was the epitome of Englishness and drank from her teacup with her pinky raised to perfection!! 

We stayed put until around 8.45pm as there was no point getting wet until we had to! The sky turned such beautiful colours and the whole place looked magical (I did brave the rain to take a photo…that’s how much I love you!)

Polly was seriously flagging but she perked up when we got to the Plaza Gardens and they had the best time playing in the pouring rain!! And then the fireworks began. I can’t put into words how amazing It was to watch the fireworks with my absolute loves, despite the weather. I love the Happily Ever After Show. I know others miss Wishes, but this is the show that we’ve watched as a family (albeit never right through to the end until tonight). My girls sing the song at home whenever they miss Disney (we also say ‘have a magical adventure’ to each other when we say goodbye for school each day. Winnie’s teacher even finished her report using those words!!) so it has an incredibly special place in my heart and can bring me close to tears just thinking about it.

When watching a show when it’s raining so hard that the inside of your poncho is as wet as the outside (got to love that ‘plastic sticking to skin’ feeling!) with two girls who are absolutely shattered can be as unbelievably magical as today was, you know Disney is doing something very right, and I feel so incredibly lucky to be here experiencing it. 
Thank you so much for reading you wonderful people ❤️