Fireworks and Fireflies: Make A Wish {Thursday at Magic Kingdom}

**thursday, february 20, 2020**

As I mentioned in a post earlier, this amazing trip was quite some time in the making, from Ian and I accepting that Nicholas qualified, to applying to meeting our wish-makers, to learning that his wish had been granted and then waiting for the next calendar year so Ian actually had time off because of all the time we spent in Boston in May/June of 2019 for surgery. We all had expectations and parts we were especially excited about.

For me, while I really enjoy many of the thrill rides at other parks, THIS day was MY day. This was the day 100% dedicated to the Magic Kingdom! While not crack of dawn early, we were well into breakfast by 8:15 which is something considering our tween/teen brood that likes to sleep in, especially after three previous days of theme park enjoyment.

so appreciated that they have tables for large families in the dining hall so we don't have to drag tables around or sit in different locations!

Our "I'm bored waiting in line so I'll nibble something" snack stash was running low, so we pulled into the Walmart just up the street from the village on the way to restock. Just as an FYI, if you're ever going to the village, you can TOTALLY get any and ALL Disney gear in a section larger than the baby/toddler clothing and gear area in an average store. We could have purchased "family uniforms" easily...but for the teens in the group. With them we're lucky to pull of "theme "days at this point!

From that point it was a 30 minute drive in our rental van to my very favorite place! It's possible I may have been the most excited person in the van to arrive.

As we approached, we simply flashed Nicholas's "Genie pass" and were escorted to some primo parking, just a quick walk (though some of us *may* have been jogging in our anticipation to get there faster) from the monorail station.

Much to the chagrin of our reluctant paparazzi victims, I was determined to make full use of the free Memory Maker services, though we did have to strike a deal that we'd only stop once an hour for the Disney photographers to snap a full family photo.

Instinct when we walk in a circle is to head right. But long ago my dear friend Bekah ~ our Magical Vacation Planner when we plan a Disney trip...my girl can hook us up with deals we can't find on our own! ~ shared the simple tip of heading left instead. Of course we didn't need to worry too much about lines, the Genie pass got us unlimited FastPasses our entire trip, but it was nice to walk less "shoulder to shoulder" as we randomly made our way around.

First stop?

Try on some bling.

I didn't purchase, bows aren't quite my thing, but they are adorable on my beautiful girl, no?

Our first ride of the day was to to take a spin on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Not one of my all time favorites, but the Fast Pass line was super short.

Besides it put us in good proximity to Aloha Isle because enjoying a Dole Whip was high on EVERYONE's (especially my riding partner's) list.

From there the boys tried to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and were next in line when the ride malfunctioned. Nicholas, who LOVED the Pirate movies, was especially disappointed and we kept checking, but it never went back online that day. I'm just glad they weren't already in a boat when it came to a grinding halt.

Since we were in Adventureland, we went ahead and walked the Swiss Family Treehouse and of course took a journey on the Jungle Cruise ~ the only place where the jokes are more groan worthy than 'Dad jokes.' I will say it was great just to watch our older kids catch (and roll their eyes at) the puns that rolled right over the heads of our littler ones.

We grabbed a yummy carnitas lunch at Tortuga Tavern and then headed to Adventureland to hit a family favorite...Big Thunder Mountain!

We rode twice in a row just for good measure. Because...well...why not?

At this point it was getting pretty toasty (funny that was just about the time it started to snow back home) and while the boys went to explore the Riverboat, we girls claimed some prime real estate near the Liberty Bell and enjoyed some people watching. In general that is a fun way to pass time, but especially fun at Disney when folks are in matchy-matchy or themed shirts.

Speaking of matchy-matchy theme dressing...

Next stop, a new one for us ~ the Haunted Mansion. In trips past we skipped it, mostly because if Dr. Facilier from the Princess and the Frog freaked my kids out and prevented them from ever watching the movie in its entirety, then there was no way they'd handle a ride full of spirits. But this time Darcy was determined and while Ian, Kylie Caleb and Nicholas weren't interested, again with the Genie pass. Waits were so short for us that other family members didn't mind a bit of time off their feet to people watch while everyone got to ride everything they wanted (unless of course it was a height thing...those are rules that don't budge for anyone).

From there we headed through the edge of Fantasyland straight for the Speedway. Because when you're underage, driving sounds like THE BEST idea. Thankfully at this point all our kids are tall enough to drive themselves save the littles. Ian was chauffeured by Nat.

And I took my life into the wee one's hands by taking a spin with Nicholas. We'll say that there IS a reason that center rail is there and leave it at that...

Once in sight of Space Mountain, it's nearly impossible to not heed the call to venture inside to ride.

Never would have imagined we'd have enough kids to fill a rocket, but here we are...

It was right as we decided iced coffee (who can so no to something with the name 'mission to s'mores' latte?) and slushies from Joffrey's Coffee Revive that photo texts from friends back home of their kids playing in the snow started rolling in.

We toasted with frozen beverages and took advantage of a break in the crowds to test out the new Tron coaster seats. From everything we can tell, that's gonna be an awesome ride!

The one ride all day long we had been avoiding despite it being on everyone's top five list was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. For whatever reason it was insanely popular and even the Fastpass line was longer than we had been willing to wait. At this point though we had hit most everything else and decided to buck up and wait in the line before beginning to take repeat requests.

At least the line allowed for a bit of time to get some individual shots.

Luckily the wait time numbers were overestimated and HeadsUp continues to amuse. Bonus that while on Disney property several Disney themed games are unlocked, so we reviewed our Disney character knowledge as we snaked toward the front of the line.

One last selfie and we were on!

As always, worth the wait in the end!

Because much of the Kingdom is so compact, we frequently would park the stroller and wander a bit. Proving that it indeed is the 'most magical place on earth' siblings would volunteer to give Nicholas a lift when he started dragging.

As we passed back through Fantasyland to get the stroller, we noticed the line for the world's most catchy ear worm was super short, so we hopped on a boat to explore our Small World.

all smiles save the one who had been requesting to ride all day...at this point i don't remember what that was about

Repeat requests began at this point.

That moment you realize the above and below will be your reality in less than three years...

But I couldn't dwell on soon to be drivers too long. Jesus take the wheel because Nat sure wasn't!

Since we were so close and even the standby line was essentially non-existent, we literally walked right on the PeopleMover. Everyone has their reasons for liking it, mine is because when you're really lucky Space Mountain will be offline when you cruise through and you can see what the track looks like. Ian loves it because it is magnet powered. The kids have various thoughts, but this night DQ was all about the view.

Originally we had planned to go back to the village for dinner. But we still had plenty of money left on the Make a Wish card, the fireworks were just over an hour away, and everyone said they were hungry for a burger. With all that, why not extend our time in the magic? So we quickly ate burgers and fries at Cosmic Ray's and then went to hunt out a spot to watch Happily Ever After.

This experience definitely beat the previous time when we stood in the gentle rain to watch. Despite being surrounded in a sea of humanity that made me feel like we were back in China, we all enjoyed the show and found ourselves cheerfully humming and singing along.

At that point we once again considered heading back to the village to get an early night. But the stroller was where we ditched it for dinner near Cosmic Ray's and that's near the Mine Train and we noticed the line showed pretty short on the app while gathering the stroller. So one more time we rode off to work with the dwarfs, after all, it is a different, more exhilarating experience by night!

As we finally began to exit, we decided not to get caught in the crush on Main Street.

If you enter the shop closest to Casey's Corner, you can continuously shop pretty much the entire length of Main Street in the Emporium. Besides, we had kids with cash to burn...