Roller Coaster Queen!

Yesterday the Magic Kingdom was crowded, the weather was beautiful, and a good time was had by all, most of the time. We met up with Delaney's cousins, but Papa had scheduled fast passes that differed from ours, because last minute coordination doesn't work, so we did the same things but at slightly different times. We did join up with them for Dumbo and my beloved Philharmagic 3D show, but nothing else overlapped. Everyone had a great time, but not always together. We'll do better next time.

Yesterday was historic, it was Delaney's first trip on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I found this video on YouTube, and it gives a really good perspective on our ride yesterday. It was taken from the first row of the first car on the "train". My daughter and I were in the last row of the first car, so, I think three rows back? And Delaney was with her Daddy in the first seats of the second car. We expected her to chicken out at the last minute but not this kid. She LOVED it! She is officially the Roller Coaster Queen of the Magic Kingdom now. She's been on every coaster but Space Mountain, only because she isn't tall enough.



We had a "nearly as rare as a unicorn sighting" FastPass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train too, which is my favorite. (The entirely inappropriate and unnecessary music here annoys the living hell out of me, so apologies in advance):



It almost captures the cuteness. 7D is also the smoothest coaster EVAR - it's fast and fun but the ride is so smooth it's like flying. Delaney actually did "hands in the air" at times this time. And when it slows down and goes through the mine? I think you'd have to ride it a dozen times to see all the fun things in there.

Big Thunder Mountain is bigger, faster and rougher. It's noisier, and has more rattling along in the dark, bats, caverns, big climbs, big swooping drops (one swings out over water). We really thought Delaney would chicken out on Big Thunder, but she'd watched the YouTube video (at her demand) for months and was all about it. She was stoked, she was ready, and she loved it.

We would have had a three coaster day, but Barnstormer decided to have mechanical issues. So did Delaney. She had hit her wall - was tired and hadn't eaten much, and she truly lost her shit, and left the park in tears. We somewhat belatedly realized she had to be hungry, and decided to stop for a Happy Meal for her after we got off the "beltway". In quotes because it's not quite done yet. She fell asleep before we got to McD's, and I asked if they wanted to stop, but she was out like a light at that point. We got to their house and as she was unloaded from her car seat, she sleepily mumbled, "Happy Meal? Grandma?" So Daddy went back to get her one. Luckily McD's is five minutes away. We really do live in a hub of all things convenient: 40 minutes from Disney, 5 to 30 minutes from everything else. When I bitch about where I live, and I do, and I still will, I do realize that there are many good things about it, like access to shopping (I never go to McD's myself) and everything else.

Next Disney trip is the end of February, when we have a reservation for the Be Our Guest restaurant. We shall dine with the Beast! And we will pack many more protein rich snacks for Miss D. Grandma is going to introduce a preschooler-friendly version of trail mix - I'm thinking classic gorp. M&Ms, raisins, peanuts. It's still magic.