Now is the Best Time! Our 2024 Florida Road Trip (update 7/27) (2024)

4/8 Magic Kingdom with Our Boys
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Since our time with the boys was so limited, I had decided to book our next night at the Pop Century resort so that we’d be eligible for early entry on Monday and Tuesday. About two weeks before our trip, Disney updated the park hours so early entry was now 7:30 instead of 8:30. We had to get all the way from the Royal Pacific to the Magic Kingdom so we got up early and headed out as quickly as we could. On the way I purchased Genie+, attempted to get a VQ for Tron, and booked a LL for Peter Pan.

To my shock and amazement I got Group 10 for Tron!

I have never done better than Group 50 for Tron or GotG! We arrived at the TTC just in time to miss the ferry (which happens to us practically every time). We prefer the open air of the ferry to the crowded monorail so we opted to wait.

We got through the turnstiles at 7:45, not bad considering we were coming all the way from Universal. The boys headed over to ride Space Mountain, which was a walk-on. As they rode, I checked the app. By 8:08 our group was being called for Tron.

So, as soon as they came off Space Mountain, we walked over to Tron. The line was completely empty.

As we got to the boarding station, there were four people already on the ride. We asked if we could wait for the next one to get the front row. This was my sons’ first time riding and I wanted them to get an unobstructed view. The CM let us wait for the next one.

The boys really enjoyed the ride but, like most people, they felt it was a little too short. Next we headed over to Buzz Lightyear which also had no wait. I lost miserably. After Buzz, the four of us rode the People Mover and then headed to Peter Pan for our first LL.

At this point we were all hungry so we picked up breakfast at Gaston’s Tavern. We shared two cinnamon rolls with extra icing.

We enjoy these every time! The one my boys shared was perfectly shaped and huge! Ours was a little squished but still really good! (Photos of the better one).

Since we were right near Little Mermaid, we rode that with no wait. Next we rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates with no waits. My sons and I then used a LL to ride Big Thunder Mountain RR. We took the train from Frontierland and picked up a snack at Casey’s Corner - we shared two orders of corn dog nuggets and fries with two sides of cheese sauce.

Sorry, we ate a few before I took a picture! These are so good! My boys are huge corn dog fans and had never tried these before. They are so tasty!

The fries were also well cooked and good, especially when dunked in cheese sauce!
After our snack, we used a LL to ride It’s a Small World.

We had accomplished a lot already by 12:30! After using a LL to ride Winnie the Pooh, we needed another snack. My DS-27 is a huge fan of the spring rolls so we picked up two orders, one cheeseburger and one pepperoni, and shared those.

Interior view of cheeseburger springroll.

Interior view of pepperoni.

These were very good as well, albeit expensive for what you get. DH and my boys all preferred the cheeseburger one but I preferred the pepperoni. DS-27 said his favorite though was the pastrami one served during the 50th celebration.

Next we headed back to Tomorrowland and used a LL for Buzz and the boys used LLs for Space Mt. While the boys were on Space Mountain, my DH noticed Bonnie, the sister of Nate from Paging Mr. Morrow on YouTube, walking through the area. We went over to say hello and introduce ourselves. She was so friendly and sweet, which is pretty nice for someone who is a sibling of a vlogger and not one herself. She was looking for Nate. Eventually we found him recording content around a corner and introduced ourselves to him as well. We didn’t think to ask for a photo, so we have no proof, lol. He was very nice as well.

Once our boys returned from Space Mountain we went to watch the Carousel of Progress.

This was the day of the total eclipse but we really couldn’t see anything other than the sky seemed a little less bright. We decided to go see Sunny Eclipse since we couldn’t see the actual eclipse and watched him for a little bit.

Next, DS-25 wanted to ride the Liberty Belle, mostly because he is a fan of steam whistles. After our journey through the Rivers of America, we used a LL for another visit to the Haunted Mansion. We then visited the Hall of Presidents and used a LL for Pirates of the Caribbean. DS-27 insisted we go to the Enchanted Tiki room next. After the show, it was 4:30 and we had a 6:00 ADR at ‘Ohana. We took one last train ride around the park, our 21st attraction of the day. We then boarded the boat to the Poly. Since we were a little early, we relaxed on the beach for a bit before checking in for dinner, which I’ll review in my next post.

This was such an incredible day at Magic Kingdom. The crowd level was predicted by Touring Plans to be a “5”. It ended up being a “2”. The weather was perfect, the crowds were low, and we were able to do everything we wanted to do at a relaxed pace with a combination of low standby times and Lightning Lanes. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day!

Up next…the real reason DS-25 came on the trip - dinner at ‘Ohana.