Magic Kingdom Extra Magic Hours with a Hollywood Studios Afternoon

We have always been a rope drop to fireworks type of park family, but our plan for this trip was to attempt to take more breaks. We told ourselves that during this trip we would try to get up early and do Extra Magic Hour and then get some rest after lunch at the resort and then go back to a different park that afternoon/evening when it starts to cool off.

Day 2 started early with Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom. We left the room around 0710 and took a Disney bus over to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom close to 0745 and waited outside the right side tunnel til the park opened at 0800. Once they began to let guests into the park, we headed straight for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train line. A recommendation would be to stay to the right coming down Main Street (after you take in the view of Cinderella Castle). The black line illustrates the path you would take to get in the queue for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

There were cast members that day with signs showing which way to go for either Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or if you are there for Be Our Guest breakfast. The red line illustrates the path for Be Our Guest breakfast. We made it to the second staging line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train by 0810 and in the queue by 0816. Total wait in line was about 13 minutes, and then we were whistling with the dwarves on the mine train.

After Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, we headed over to Space Mountain at 0847 with an advertised wait time of 35 minutes. Total time in line and our trip through Space took about 33 minutes. Space Mountain is one of Braeden's favorite rides, so the day was off to a great start although Braeden did have a little dizziness and nausea after riding Space Mountain.

We took a little break after Space since Braeden wasn't feeling well after an early morning roller coaster. We stopped by Cheshire Cafe and grabbed a Cat Tail. The Cheshire Cat Tail is a flaky yet soft pastry with just enough purple and pink icing drizzled across it then it has chocolate chips layered within the twists.

Cheshire Cat Tail

After our pastry stop, we headed over to see Merida since the line was short and usually gets very long during the day. Merida is a fun meet-and-greet who loved to make some goofy faces. Her area was full of authentic-looking Scottish banners and pennants. She also has some neat items that are straight out of the movie. Scarlett fell in love with a Disney bunny she found outside meeting Merida.

We stopped for a quick photo pass spot in front of the Castle. I cannot stress enough the value of Memory Maker.

We made a quick detour for some coffee at the Main Street Bakery (Starbucks) and then stopped into the Fire Station to pick up a map and some new cards for the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game. Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is an entertaining and interactive game you can play to help defeat villains who are taking over the Magic Kingdom. There are portal screens throughout the park (shown on the map given to you at the fire station), and you use the cards given to you to help defeat the villains.

After the Main Street Fire Station, we took our favorite air conditioned shortcut through the shops down Main Street (they are all connected) to get to Frontierland/Adventureland.

We had a Fast Pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, so we went to Splash Mountain first since the wait wasn't too long (about 35 minutes). After Splash we stopped and played for a minute (literally a minute) at the playground under the Frontierland train tracks. Then we walked over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is Scarlett's favorite ride.

After Big Thunder Mountain Railroad we walked out of Frontierland and into Adventureland. Ride times were starting to get high (Pirates was 45 minutes) so we stopped for some Cuban spring rolls in Adventureland by Aladdin's Magic Carpets. (The spring rolls were delicious they taste just like a Cuban sandwich). The kids took a moment to play in the misting TIKI heads, and then we headed out for the day.

We had lunch back at the Resort and then went to the pool and played for a bit.

After our break, we headed out to Hollywood Studios. We had an Advanced Dining Reservation for ABC commissary which we did not end up doing. We walked in checked in and then left. We were having some stomach issues during this time that were being persistent, so we skipped this one for now.

Our first ride was Toy Story Mania, which is always fun. Toy Story Mania is probably still my favorite ride in Hollywood Studios. When this ride first came out we bought the video game they released for the Wii and played it all the time so coming to Disney and getting to play it for real is always fun.

After Toy Story Mania Braeden and Tami went on Rock n' Roller Coaster while Scarlett and I got popcorn and a mickey balloon.

We met up with Braeden and Tami at the new Lightning McQueen experience by Rock n' Roller Coaster. The show was down, but we still were able to see the cars that were showcased outside.

This was the end of our day. The stomach issues became too much, and we had to head back to the resort. It was a great day considering how it ended. Scarlett was so excited to get her Mickey balloon. We went on a lot of big rides and had minimal waits all day even though it was busy.

I look forward to sharing Day 3 with everyone it was an out of park day full of pool time and our anniversary dinner, so stay tuned and keep whistling.