WDW Day 3, Part 2- Extra Magic Hours are My New Best Friend

We had planned earlier on Monday to visit the Magic Kingdom that evening after EPCOT closed. We thought it might be less crowded and we'd have a chance to get a head start on touring the park. Because we were staying on Disney property we got the privilege of Extra Magic Hours where parks will stay open late or open earlier and only resort guests are able to enjoy the attractions during that time. On Monday, Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic Hours from 11:00pm to 2:00am. We never planned on staying that late, but thought it would be fun to get a glimpse of the park that night. Let's just say our plans changed and we boarded the bus back to our resort at 1:45am.

Once we got off the monorail at Magic Kingdom, we arrived just about 15 minutes before the Magic Kingdom Wishes Fireworks show was scheduled to start. We decided to find a spot and enjoy the fireworks display before heading off to the other attractions. The Magic Kingdom fireworks show was by far one of my all time favorite memories of our entire stay at Disney World. The fireworks sparkling above Cinderella's castle was so iconic of Disney World. I mean really, who thinks about Disney World and at some point doesn't imagine the fireworks lighting up the sky just behind the castle? They played all my favorite Disney songs during the show too (When You Wish Upon a Star, A Whole New World, Beauty and the Beast), and perfectly timed the music and narration with the explosions of fireworks. I cuddled up to my husband and soaked in the moment. It was so romantic, so special, so beautiful, so magical. Ahh, I could go back now just to see that show again.

Seeing this castle for the first time in person was another highlight of the trip

Matt tried to capture some of the magic on video. It was waaaay better in person

After I recovered from the magic of the fireworks, Matt and I battled the crowd and ran off to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. Unfortunately a lot of other people had the same idea we did, and we had to wait about 40 minutes to ride (which was the longest we ever had to wait the whole trip). Space Mountain was fun, not the most thrilling roller coaster ever, but a neat experience. When we finished with Space Mountain, we headed over and rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We used laser guns on our cars to help Buzz beat Zurg. It wasn't near as exciting as the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios, but we didn't have to wait in line, so it was definitely worth it. When we finished with that attraction, it was 11:00, and the Extra Magic Hours had started. I was beginning to get tired, but we realized we had a great opportunity to enjoy some major attractions with a lot shorter wait, and we wanted to take advantage of it.

About to head off to Space!

Don't worry Buzz, we'll help you defeat Zurg

We walked over to Frontierland to ride Splash Mountain. My guide book had warned that during peak season at Disney World, the line for Splash Mountain could easily exceed 2.5 hours, so when we got up to the ride and saw that it had less than a 5 minute wait, we were in heaven. Matt had never ridden Splash Mountain, and I still can't figure out how you can go to Disney World and not ride it, but it was fun to enjoy the first time experience together. I LOVED Splash Mountain. It is probably my favorite ride period. I've always been a big fan of log rides, and this was so much more than just a log ride. Throughout the ride, which was actually pretty long, they told the whole story of Brer Rabbit, complete with talking characters, music, and special effects. I was mesmerized and had no idea how much detail would be put into what I thought was a simple log ride. Even after the 5 story plunge, they had more of the ride with more storyline. I think I'll remember that ride for a long time.

Splash Mountain

We didn't get too wet on Splash Mountain but decided to dry off by riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad another majorly popular ride at Magic Kingdom. Once again we walked right on with no wait. This was one of the rides, I knew wouldn't be that great, but I wanted to ride just because it was Disney World, so not having to wait totally made it worth it. After that ride, I convinced Matt we needed to ride Splash Mountain again, since there was no wait. We enjoyed the journey of Brer Rabbit all over again, and I even managed to keep my eyes open during the plunge the second time. I regretted closing them the first time, but I was scared, and it was instinct.

By now, we were closing in on Midnight, and the park had totally cleared out, so we strolled over to Fantasyland, so my husband could ride Dumbo (Yes, that was on his must do list). I warned him that the line for Dumbo would be one of the longest in the park and that it wouldn't be worth it to ride the kiddie ride. He agreed, but with the Extra Magic Hours extravaganza, we were able to walk right up and hop in. I'm glad he got a chance to ride it. He's so funny about stuff like that, and it was fun to see him act like a little kid with his excitement when he got in the elephant.

Matt's dream come true. Riding the Dumbo ride with his wife :)

After our Dumbo adventure, we stayed in Fantasyland for the rest of the night and enjoyed some of the attractions aimed at younger audiences including Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, and It's a Small World. These were just simple boat rides through animated scenes. They were fun, but totally wouldn't have been worth a 30 minute wait. Thanks again Extra Magic Hours. We also rode the Haunted Mansion ride, which actually exceeded my expectations. I thought the special effects were really neat and they did an incredible job on all the details throughout the ride. That attraction is also a favorite of mine from Magic Kingdom.

The last thing we did that evening was ride Cinderella's Golden Carousel. It was just a basic carousel ride, but taken up a notch in splendor. I had never planned on riding it, because I had heard the lines for it were very long, and it was nothing too special to actually stand in line and wait, but once again we had no wait, and a few extra minutes before the park closed, so we decided to mount a horse and enjoy the music and fantasy.
Finally, after a very long day and night, we made it back to our hotel and crashed. What a fun night, and I was so thankful we decided to visit Magic Kingdom that night and stayed awake to enjoy the rides with minimal waits. It also freed up some of the rest of our week since we managed to see so much of the Magic Kingdom in just a few hours.