Even though we’re not in Disney anymore doesn’t mean the magic is completely gone. And as we’re submerged deep in the trenches of potty training our little girl I just love taking some time and going through the tons of pictures and videos that we have from our most recent trip. Thanks to my blog, I get to relive my Disney days more often and share them with our little girl who even though loved every bit of Disney then, seems to be more than happy to be back in her normal routine, even taking huge steps towards potty training! So without further ado, today I’m taking you along on one of our Magic Kingdom days on our Disney 2015 vacation which was filled with rides, parades, pool time, and delicious gluten free food!
Since Magic Kingdom is home to some of our little girl’s favorite rides, and honestly mine too, we always try to sneak in as much time there as possible. Our second day in Disney was the perfect opportunity for an extra magic hour Magic Kingdom morning, pool time in the afternoon, dinner across the lake at the Polynesian, and a night filled with some rides, a parade, and fireworks too! After a gluten free breakfast sandwich courtesy of Roaring Forks at our home resort of Wilderness Lodge, we headed out to start our day with an early morning boat ride over to our favorite park and caught the opening show just in time. When the rush inside commenced, we took our time making our way back to hop on some non-fastpassed rides before the pre-planned ride surprises we had for our little girl. The biggest surprise of all was the Barnstormer which was up first so Dan took our growing toddler on her very first fast ride and pregnant mommy stood down below crossing her fingers that only smiles would walk through the gate, no tears. Just moments later I saw them soaring down the ride, smiling and seeming like they had plenty of fun, whew. It was a great morning filled with plenty of rides, some new to our little girl, and character visits that just melt my heart when I look back at them.
With a couple of hours in for the day already, we had an early lunch reservation at Be Our Guest so we headed over to check in and order our meals at the kiosks. An early lunch was just what we needed after our early start so after picking some grilled cheese and peach applesauce for little one, mommy decided on the Gluten Free Carved Turkey Sandwich with the Cream Puff for dessert that I thought our little girl might enjoy as well. After ordering, we headed into the rooms and picked a table in the ballroom right in front of the window where we could overlook the falling snow, sadly not a very foreign sight for us since we just left a snow storm but this version was much more magical and less cold too.
Soon enough our meals had arrived, my plate chock full of sandwich and delicious fries that pair perfectly with the dijon mayonnaise, if you haven’t tried this you absolutely should try it. The sandwich was pretty good, a little too much meat for me, more a side effect of me pregnant than my normal preferences, so I took off a couple huge pieces of turkey to make it more manageable for my sensitive self. But the star on the plate for me by far if you couldn’t have guessed it by now were the fries, perfectly seasoned and crispy and like I said delicious when you dip them in a side of the dijon mayonnaise that comes on the sandwich. The dessert was just as tasty as I remembered, a little too much lemon filling, in fact I’d probably prefer a plain old, regular cream puff, but nonetheless it’s just a real treat to enjoy a pastry along side my little family. As we finished dessert, we packed up and headed out to enjoy some more of Magic Kingdom before our sleeping beauty fell under her nap time spell.
A few short rides later and without too much of a delay, nap time was upon us so Dan parked me and little one in a shaded spot in Tomorrowland, brought over a nice cool treat, and headed off to hop on the Mine Train while I held down the fort. Ah that slushie, what a fond memory; a cool, tart drink from Cheshire Cafe that is a perfect treat on a hot day. On a previous trip I had the Raspberry-Lemonade Slushie drink but apparently this time the ingredients had changed and it was off limits so it was the Lemonade Slushie for me. So with my little girl sleeping peacefully, just like a Disney princess out of the movies, I rested my sore feet and enjoyed my Lemonade Slushie! Soon enough Dan appeared after his Mine Train fastpass and rested along side me for a little bit longer until we decided to head out for an afternoon swim between nap time and dinner.
It was a perfect morning at Magic Kingdom thankfully followed with a pretty good nap for our little girl so we decided to pop by the pool before we had to head out for dinner over at the Polynesian. Our little girl is definitely her Mommy and Daddy’s daughter as she loves the pool and probably would’ve loved a whole day there but thankfully we were able to sneak in at least some time, even if we had to get ready for dinner at record speed. After a bit of chaos on the transportation front, thanks to some downtime with the monorail, we finally arrived at Ohana with very big appetites. Soon enough we were seated, visited by the chef, and brought out our first course, an absolutely delicious gluten free island salad that even our little girl enjoyed. Every now and then she’ll request some of my salads that I eat so I wasn’t completely surprised when she liked it but the requests kept coming for more so I was very impressed with the toddler stamp of approval on Ohana’s salad. While I’m usually not a huge fan of sweet salad dressing on my salad, this one was amazing, which was probably why our little girl loved it so much! Needless to say, this salad didn’t stand a chance at our table especially since I’ve been on a huge salad kick the past few months, so I made sure to help myself to plenty of it.
While Dan indulged in some dumplings and bread, I happily continued to enjoy some of the salad until my warmed gluten free rolls arrived. I’m very picky when it comes to gluten free bread, as I’m sure many of my fellow gluten free diners are too, so I was pleasantly surprised to be treated with perfectly warmed, dinner rolls that weren’t tough like bricks or crumble apart in my hands. They paired perfectly with the Ohana butter and were an excellent complement to my favorite dish, the salad!
Next round of food arrived for the non-gluten free eaters and although the lomein looked delicious and seemed to be a big winner with our little girl, I was happily delighted with my gluten free plate of vegetables and chicken wings. The chicken wings were crispy and well seasoned and could even be accompanied with the gluten free sauce that was brought out too. I have to say I wish that they could put together a gluten free lomein, kind of like the amazing noodle dish at Kona Cafe just using rice noodles and gluten free sauce because I think it would a great non-meat addition to the meal, but all in all it’s a real pleasure to see chefs really put forth a huge effort to create tasty and safe food for all of their diners.
I should mention that between the chicken wings and dessert was the main course of skewer meats. By this point for me I was so filled with salad, bread, and chicken wings that I only nibbled a little on the chicken skewer but other than that I just saved room for dessert. Soon enough our final course arrived and for me a gluten free chocolate cookie, vanilla ice cream, and fresh fruit concoction. I loved the chocolate cookies which are Enjoy Life, they’re soft and brownie like and perfect with the fruit and ice cream. And even though she got her very own special dessert, a certain little girl couldn’t stop nibbling on mommies fresh fruit. A sweet finish to a delicious dinner at Ohana! It was a perfect dinner for everyone, and none of us left there hungry so we’ll definitely be considering this one again for our next trip, especially since our little girl was such a huge fan of so many of the dishes!
Well fed and rested we decided to head over to Magic Kingdom for a little nighttime fun. We got back over to the park just in time for the electrical parade where our little Snow White was greeted by Snow White herself and were able to get on a few rides like one of our favorites, Dumbo, a great one to go on at nighttime. And thanks to earlier parade and firework times in the first week in March we were able to catch the fireworks live and in person for the first time in quite awhile. Dan and I felt like we were little kids again seeing the Disney fireworks thanks to the new vantage point in Fantasyland and the look of sheer amazement in our daughter’s face. That’s why we go to Disney, to see that look of pure happiness and magic in our daughter’s eyes!
It was a long but great second day, but we were more than ready to head back for some much needed sleep. Stay tuned for more Disney adventures!
Sincerely,
Lindsay (25 weeks)