Fall Break 2020: Magic Kingdom Day

I love that our kids get a Fall Break! We get a long weekend in September for Labor Day and then another long weekend in October for Fall Break then a week in November for Thanksgiving and an extended break over Christmas. It’s SO nice having those breaks to look forward to during the school year.

With Disney now requiring park pass reservations we’ve had to kinda decide which parks we’re visiting when well in advance so we scheduled Magic Kingdom for the Friday of Fall Break, thinking we’d check the kids out on Thursday and drive down.

Zach ended up having an important work meeting on Friday morning. Rather than waste our park pass that morning we decided the kids and I would just drive down Thursday.

I’d take ALL FOUR KIDS solo to MK on Friday and then we’d come home for naps and Zach would meet us to go back to MK that evening.

I haven’t taken all four kids solo to the parks except for once. It was in June of 2018 and Spear was 6 months old. It was SUCH a memorable day that I haven’t had any desire to attempt going solo again with them (you can relive the moments here).

But when my choice was either NOT go to MK or go to MK solo, I opted for solo 😉

The kids were a HUGE help. It was a LOT more work on me loading up and driving down and unloading and managing it all without Zach (mad props to single mamas who do it all the time!).

Kye really stepped it up in a huge way and completely on his own found the pack and play and set up Spear’s bed. Without me even asking or even mentioning it! He knew it needed to be done, so he did it. Moments like these make it ALL worth it and make me THE most proud!

My dad and step mom sent the kids Mad Libs and it was perfect timing for the trip and Tess literally completed her entire book on the drive down. They LOVED them!

The Mad Libs Jr is really perfect for early readers and a great educational yet fun activity – perfect stocking stuffer idea too!

It was a BEAUTIFUL morning and we loaded up to head over to Magic Kingdom an hour prior to park opening. The kids were all such big helpers to make getting out the door run as smoothly as it could!

I had a small victory – my first time walking through the security detectors and they didn’t go off! I had the kids put their water bottles and I put my umbrella in the back of the stroller rather than in book bags and it worked perfectly.

We also didn’t have anyone stop me about Spear not having a mask. I think me being so overwhelmed with so many kids probably helped get some grace on that rule 😉

I wanted to make sure it was a fun morning for everyone and I tend to be a little too “YOLO” sometimes with that! Britt wanted to ride the monorail so I said “sure” when I KNEW we should have done the ferry.

Yes, the monorail is quicker. But the ferry is a sure bet. On the way to the parks? Ferry every time. On the way home? Monorail. We don’t care as much if we get stuck on a broken down monorail on the way home but wasting that precious early park time stuck sitting on a monorail is the worst.

We went up the ramp and were the next in line to board a monorail when it broke down. We were stuck at the top waiting the perk was we were able to hang out with a Cast Member who told us a lot of info about the monorails (and confirmed my thoughts – take the ferry).

He said that the main reason the monorails stop running is b/c someone leans on the doors. The whole system has to reboot! Good lesson – do NOT lean on the doors!

The cast member also never said a word about Spear’s lack of mask – even while we were standing like right beside him waiting.

When it comes to the mask rules at Disney – they are HARDCORE but it TRULY is a moment to moment, cast member to cast member thing. Sometimes we get reminded a billion times that Spear needs to wear one, sometimes no one says anything. It’s just luck and timing.

My thing is I will NEVER be rude about it. EVER. Typically a cast member will say “how old is he?” and I always say “2” and then they say “he needs a face covering” so I say “okay! I have it in my bookbag!” and get it out.

My main reason I don’t just have Spear wear the mask all the time? I don’t want to lose it. We literally have one that fits him (and is special with Lightning McQueen and Tractors on it) and if he loses it we’ll be out of luck! If he has it on he WILL take it off and will even take off the lanyard and when he’s in the stroller I can’t see him and know he’s taken it off.

We’ve lost it once (and a Cast Member thankfully got it for us out of the trash where a different cast member had tossed it) and I find it’s easier to just not have him wear it and put it on as needed or when reminded rather than be stressed the whole time worried we’ll lose it.

I know the rule is to wear a mask and we all wear our masks and wear them well and are respectful when we are reminded that Spear needs one too or in moments where we forget to put them on (most often happens with Tess). I will always be respectful about it but will also keep hoping the day comes soon that it’s not a requirement!

I let Spear get out of the stroller to see the views on the Monorail! First time getting to hang out on the monorail stroller-free and he loved it!

While we were bummed to get a later arrival at MK due to the monorail…it ended up working out in our favor! Right as we walked in we were greeted by Mickey and pals!!!!

They all looked so cute in their costumes and Spear was SO EXCITED. He had been saying leading up to the trip that he wanted to see Mickey so that box was checked first thing in our day!

I was very clear with the kids prior to our morning at the park – we couldn’t do it ALL and we needed to just have a few goals and focus on those. Anything else was just extra!

I wanted to try to knock out family friendly rides that get crowded later in the day while we were there that morning and let Zach handle the thrill rides in the afternoon.

Our first stop was Pirates and we were one of the first families of the day to ride!

Then we headed over to Jungle Cruise because that wait becomes a BEAST pretty quickly. It was only about ten minutes after opening and we’d already achieved three goals for the day: meet Mickey, ride Pirates and ride Jungle!

Spear is my lick-everything toddler. Which is pretty hilarious given that we are literally living in a pandemic, right? The looks strangers give me while I take a picture of my kid licking stuff is pretty hilarious.

I’ve just never been that mom that freaks out about germs. It literally builds up the immune system! I did always stop him, after I took the pic 😉

Britt was SO sweet with him on Jungle Cruise. I love moments with all my babies together and watching the bonds they share.

We also found a perfect hidden mickey made from water droplets on the top of the boat! We also saw a real life duck during our voyage and Britt said “that duck is brave with all those zebras and lions in there!”

Since the line was short we headed over to Aladdin together. I love when the park is less crowded and I’m able to let the kids run ahead a little bit together. It just makes my heart happy to watch my favorite babies enjoying my favorite place!

We had a little snack break and then decided to put our new Timex Family Connect watch to use for the first time!

Kye LOVES playing Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom so we all played a bit together and then the other three kids and I got in line for Haunted Mansion and he split off to keep playing the game. We had a 30 minute wait so he got a good bit of gaming in while we shuffled through the line.

The watched worked SUPER well. I was able to see where he was and we texted back and forth. I love that it allowed him a bit of responsibility and to do something he really wanted to do. So often I feel like Kye sacrifices the most having to stick with the littles!

We didn’t really have anything else on our “must do” list for the morning so we just kinda soaked up the magic 🙂 My main reason for picking just three goals for the morning was to make sure we had that downtime to allow Kye to play the card game and for the kids to just kinda do whatever! I love CHILL time at the parks.

Kye’s game had led him to Fantasyland so we tried our luck with the Sword in the Stone and Britt FREAKED OUT when she read the inscription…It’s SO neat to me that Britt is our kid who is obsessed with British Culture (aka Harry Potter and talking with a British accent) and her name literally means “Of Britain” AND she’s the only kid who has ever pulled the sword out of the stone and it says those who are able to remove it are “Born of England” SO NEAT!

Tessie really wanted to spend sometime INSIDE Cinderella’s Castle so she, Spear and I did that while Kye and Britt played the game in Fantasyland (all the card spots are near the backside of the castle!).

We enjoyed the views of Main Street and ate a snack and lucked out with the PERFECT spot to watch the Villains cavalcade come through!

We walked over to Frontier Land for a bit more of the game and got to watch another cavalcade pass by! I love that even Kye still waves to characters 🙂

We all decided to hit up Carousel of Progress on the way out since it never has a line and on the way we ran into one of our favs – STITCH!!!!

I think the days of Spear’s obsession with him are gone but he will always be extra special to me after how ADORABLE Spear was meeting him as a baby!

At Carousel of Progress they had us socially distance from each other b/c our party is larger than four people. So funny!

On our way out we heard music that meant a cavalcade was on the way so I told Britt (she’s my fellow character lover) to RUN ahead so she could see the princesses!

I love how much Britt loves the parks. She was SO excited to see all the Fall decor and just is my Disney loving girl!

We headed to the Firestation to get new Sorcerer Cards (they are free AND you can pick up new packs every visit…read more about it here!) and just so happened to see ANOTHER cavalcade (maybe seeing so many will help me eventually be able to spell the dang word).

We really had SO much great character luck all morning which couldn’t have been more perfect for my solo time with the kids at the park as characters are MY FAV!

Truly everything went pretty dang smoothly all morning. The ONLY issue we had happened on the monorail ride back. The kids started bickering over the dang Sorcerer Cards and wouldn’t stop bickering about them. As soon as we exited the monorail I pulled Britt and Kye to the side to do a proper Mom Chew-Out…

Then when I was done getting onto them I turned around and realized the ENTIRE monorail FULL of people was literally sitting with ALL the doors open WAITING for ME to move. Oops.

It was a MUCH smoother morning than my first time solo with them all and I’m sure it won’t be the last time we hit the parks together Mommy Yolo Style 😉

As we exited to the parking lot a super nice older man came up to me and said he just wanted to tell me what a good mom I am and what a good job I’m doing and how well behaved my children are. He said it was obvious I’m raising them right as they all minded me so well. Day made!

We headed back to the house (and ate lunch in the car on the way) for naps and Daddy arrived so we loaded back up for some family time together that afternoon!

First stop was to ride the race cars for Spear 🙂 Tessie rode with me and said she wanted to drive. It was her first time ever driving and she was SO cute about it. She kept saying “I’m not racing. I do not want to win.”

Pretty safe to say she’s gonna be a grandma driver someday 😉

We put the Timex Family Connect watch to good use again and let Kye and Britt split off together to ride Tea Cups. I’ve let the kids split off sometimes for a few minutes here and there (like let them ride something and I wait at the exit) and it’s always SO STRESSFUL for me.

Having this watch was a game-changer as I knew they could (and would) contact me and I could physically see their location. Zach and I were able to go together with Tess and Spear to ride Dumbo!

Zach rarely gets to experience the little kid side of things as he’s the thrill ride parent and it was so cute that BOTH Spear and Tess wanted to sit with him. I’m all about the kids enjoying time with Daddy and didn’t mind riding solo (although I think Zach’s knees wished we had traded ha!).

We finished up just as Kye and Britt were boarding their teacups so we were able to watch them ride together. I LOVE moments that encourage my kids to bond together, especially Kye and Britt as they are my most frequent bickering ones!

It was time for the bigs to all ride Space Mountain (Tess had loved it last time and she helped convince Britt to ride it) and Spear said he just wanted to play with his toys so we hung out and he played 🙂

I know I say it all the time but I just LOVE the vibe of being a passholder. It allows us to relax and just ENJOY the moment without feeling overwhelmed and rushed all the time!

We rode Buzz and, shocker, Daddy got the high score. It was actually his first time achieving the high score in the FIRST ROOM. I mean how is that even possible?!?!

We did mobile ordering for dinner at Peco’s Bills (per usual) and while placing the order we saw some adorable bunnies! They were eating the plants and Kye said “Man they are going to be disappointed when they realize it’s fake.”

He LEGIT thought the plants at Disney World ARE FAKE. I died. Even when I told him they are real he still didn’t believe me hahahaha

We did not have the same Spear mask luck in the afternoon as we did that morning. I feel like it’s because Zach is SO TALL and he just draws attention!!! Spear didn’t do so great with wearing it but we’d do our best every time we were asked.

We finished out the night with Barnstormer and the bigs all riding Mine Train (apparently it’s super cool at night) while Spear and I rode Little Mermaid. He was SO ADORABLE walking through the line!

It was a great feeling to be at the park in the dark for a change! We haven’t closed down a park in ages and it’s just a different vibe at night. I mean it was like 7:00 but still!

We had one last snack while Zach updated his DAS pass at Guest Services before heading out. Tessie was cracking us up reenacting the time she fell asleep with a sucker in her mouth 😉

From start to finish it was a really, really great day! The weather wasn’t crazy hot which made the masks WAY more tolerable than in dang JULY. The kids all did SO great (including Spear!) with being at the park so much in one day (we’re usually morning only people here lately) and it was so fun having Daddy and Spear there with us to shut it down! Usually IF we go at night it’s just me solo with the big kids 🙂

A great way to kick off our fall break!