Once we were all fueled up it was time to face the facts- our best laid plans didn't hold a candle to the nightmare that was becoming some of the wait times in the middle of the day. Sure it was the middle of January and sure we'd forgotten all about the lines and wait times from our last visit, but boy there seemed to be a whole lot of people in the parks with us!
So we scrapped 'the list' and started relying more heavily on the Disney app and our overall willingness to wait in lines. Overall, the park felt much smaller and more manageable than the last time we were here- chalk that up to longer legs and no stroller to navigate through the crowds or park at every ride. We could zip from here to there to just about anywhere with relative ease!
We all laugh about how stressed out little Noah was about It's A Small World last time, but he was more than happy to climb aboard this relaxing ride this time around.
Don't be fooled by Adam's eyes, I'm sure he's smiling under his mask!
This ride is a classic! Completely iconic and Noah was especially curious about all of the different lands and whether they represent the continents or just different countries. We did a lot of Disney Googling to answer his questions.
Pretty sure Jason slept through the whole thing.
A ride this long calls for lots of pictures!
After a quick stop at Mickey's Philharmagic we headed over to the Teacups- no one's favorite ride but we had to do it at least once! We spilt up into a fast cup-
and a slow cup-
although my cup-mates had other ideas about what slow really means!
At least we weren't flying like those crazies!
We all split up for driving too. Noah was a wild driver! And I loved the comments he made about what a good driver I am because I'm able to keep the car moving straight ahead and at a constant speed. 
Leah was close behind us, and Adam behind her! Daddy and Emma brought up the rear. 
Look! Cinderella's castle!
Next up- the Little Mermaid!
Another delightfully slow classic that held a different measure of magic than it did the last time we were here.
And then the Barnstormer! This tiny little roller coaster didn't do much for any of us, not even Noah, and the kids said it should have a sign posted nearby that said "Don't waste your time! This ride is a sham!"
Dumbo's Flying Elephants didn't disappoint though!
Although, once again I was threatened by a speed-and-height happy seatmate.
She was nice though.
Look! The castle again!
Overall our day was going according to plan, with a few major ticks missing from our done list- namely Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan, both of which had around a 90 minute wait the entire day. But there was still so much to see and do in the other parts of the park, we didn't mind skipping over those rides for the time being.
Another family favorite- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin! 
Oh my goodness those babies standing in front have Zurg sure have grown up. Maybe part of what makes Disney so magical is how easy it is to mark the passing of time from one trip to the next. 
A quick trip through the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and then we were back outside and loving it.
Ahh, blue skies and sunshine!!
And all those smiles!
And more sunshine!! The very best part of any vacation in January is feeling the warm sun on our faces!
For our first dining reservation of the trip, we snagged a table at The Plaza on Main Street.
We didn't quite know how the app check-in process worked so we ended up being there earlier than our table was ready, but that was okay because we came upon a parade!
And we took some more great castle in the background pics.
And we poked our heads into some of the shops
and/or decided that sitting on the ground was better than not sitting at all. It was definitely getting toward the end of this long day!
And we had just the right light for some good pictures on Main Street, including our new favorite! How am I at the shorter end of this height line??
And the classic walking away picture.
We call this one "Group hug. Daddy was there too".
There we are all squeezed in together!
And finally it was time to eat! Boy did we have a great view of the castle from our table!
The highlight of this meal was the monte cristo sandwich with super sparkly pixie dust,
with an honorable mention to Adam's meatloaf. I can't guarantee that this entire vacation report won't turn into one giant comparison of this time from last time or the time before that, but it was a marked change on this trip that our kids wanted to eat more than uncrustables, hot dogs and mac and cheese off the kids menu. One of the real delights of growing up is appreciated a wider variety of foods!
Hey look! There we are from the outside.
We got the Cheers to 50 Years dessert! It was HUGE- almost as impressive as Noah's smolder- and we didn't even come close to eating all of it. But boy was this a tasty first dinner at Disney World, and all of the extras with the 50th anniversary celebrations made it all extra fun!
The night lights made everything extra magical!
It got cold quickly once the sun was down!
It didn't really help. Noah was very nervous getting on the ride and in tears getting off it.
This pretty well sums up the experience- why, why? am I in the front seat nervously woo-wooing around every curve and dip in an effort to keep myself, and Noah and maybe Emma too? somewhat calm, while Jason is comforting Noah from behind/making sure the littlest of our babies isn't actually flying off into outer space. The darkness did nothing to increase the enjoyment of the ride for either of us- I kept thinking we were going to hit something- and it was just too dark to focus on anything. Not a hit for some of us, but at least we all tried it! That is pretty impressive.
Next up was the light show on the castle!
Just look at these cuties!
And of course the show was amazing, complete with non-stop fireworks for 15 minutes, amazing visuals on the castle, and the appearance of Tinkerbell! There might have been a few more tears in my eyes as they sang "You've traveled for so far, and now you're close enough to feel it. With a smile on your face and a song in your heart this is where you're meant to be." Disney certainly knows how to make family time extra special.
The park was scheduled to close at 9:00 so we just had 45 more minutes to get a few more rides checked off our list. So we swam upstream and made our way back to Fantasyland! We just didn't know how Noah was going to do on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and the line was still so long, so we opted for one of my very favorite rides- Peter Pan!
I loved those few brief seconds when Noah thought we were really flying because he couldn't see tracks anywhere. Smart little cookie figured it out soon enough but what a fun ride!
And to close out the day we headed into the Haunted Mansion. The total absence of a line was perfect for me, and we were able to hop onto the ride right away. It was a relatively calm, if not spooky way to end our day!
With another stop at Tangled too!
We all danced around to the music and laughed and got our 17th wind for the day.
And then we finally called it a night. We slowly meandered back up to Cinderella's castle,
and took advantage of the beautiful lights to take some more pictures!
Wow, what a sight!
It was pretty easy to say goodbye to Magic Kingdom after such a wonderful day, knowing that we would be back again before our trip was over.
It wasn't horribly late when we got back to our hotel, and everyone was hungry so we ate bowls of cereal and laughed about all of the fun we had and eventually crashed in our beds for the night. It was an awesome first day back in Magic Kingdom!
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