Make-a-Wish Trip Day 4: Epcot & Magic Kingdom

This morning we were up early for a big day jumping between Epcot and Magic Kingdom. We grabbed a quick breakfast from the Ice Cream Palace Express Start breakfast bar.

Ice Cream Palace and Express Start Breakfast Bar

Getting a quick breakfast before heading to Epcot

Huge Candy Land game board in the Ice Cream Palace.  But this is a special edition--it is the GKTW edition of the game with locations on the board that match all the various locations around the GKTW village!  We received our own GKTW Candy Land game to take home from the Star Fairy one day.  It will definitely be a treasured souvenir to remind us of GKTW.

We parked at Magic Kingdom but rode the monorail to Epcot first thing. Of course we had to stop to get some pictures on our PhotoPass!

Since the girls wanted Mickey ears that would couldn’t find yesterday, we went in search of those very first. We got the ears embroidered and then had to get more pictures with the ears of course.

Molly liked these Mickey ears, but since they couldn't embroider them, she chose a different pair to buy.

While waiting for the Mickey ears to be embroidered, we browsed the store and Justin found this shirt for me.  He tried so hard to convince me to buy it, but was unsuccessful.

Molly's cute hat!

Annie is Disney official!

Then we went on our way to the Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush. Then we switched off riding Soarin’, and then all of use rode Living with the Land which Annie could ride in the boat in her wheelchair.

Finding Nemo ride at Epcot

 

We love the rides that allow Annie to stay in her chair!

We looked around for somewhere quick and easy for lunch, but all we could find close to us were booths with exotic foods for the food and wine festival going on. Epcot wasn’t too crowded, but everyone there was an adult it seemed. Not many kids at all. We didn’t want to walk all the way around the World Showcase loop since there wasn’t much to see that the kids were interested in and Epcot already had a ton of walking for us.

So we let Molly and Justin ride Test Track then headed for the VIP lounge inside the giant Epcot ball. There was a secret entrance that we had to use a keypad passcode at to enter. It took us up to a room meant for Disney executives and other VIP people, but MAW guests get access to it as well.

We laid Annie down to rest for a while and to change her, got some drinks, and Molly played on a HUGE touch screen monitor. It was so nice and then the receptionist told us to just let her know when we were ready to ride Spaceship Earth (inside the Epcot ball) and she would take us to the VIP access for that ride. So Justin hung out with Annie to rest while I took Molly and Lexie on Spaceship Earth since it wasn’t wheelchair accessible. The receptionist of the VIP lounge walked us down a short hallway and down a flight of stairs and when we opened the door at the bottom, we were literally right at the boarding zone for the ride and we were immediately ushered onto the ride. It was so cool. 

VIP lounge at Epcot inside the ball.

Molly playing with the huge touch screen monitor in the VIP lounge.

The VIP lounge also had this "mirror" that would put faces or costumes on you when you walked past it.  It was fun to play with it and see all the silly things that would pop up.

Annie definitely appreciated the chance to rest and stretch out for a while.

We met up with Annie and Justin after the ride and then rode the monorail back to Magic Kingdom around 2:00 for the rest of the day. We got lunch on Main Street at a hot dog place with patio-only seating. While Justin was getting the food, the girls and I stood watching for anyone who looked about to leave their table so we could snatch it up, however, nobody was leaving anytime soon. But then an older couple stood up from their table in front of me and told me we could have their table. I assumed they were done eating and were just letting me know their table was available, but after they stood and turned around, I realized that they still had more than half their meal left and had just willingly given up their seats for our family, even though they weren’t even done eating! What kind people!

We had to take every PhotoPass opportunity!

Justin, Molly, and Lexie rode the tea cups and then they wanted to go on Dumbo again.

Molly and Lexie on the tea cups

Molly had a great time spinning the tea cup

Across from the tea cups, in the new Fantasyland area, will soon be the new ride called the Seven Dwarfs Mine Adventure.  From what we could see, it looks like it will be SO fun and we wish it was finished for us to ride!  They no longer have Snow White's Scary Adventure, but will have this new ride instead.  I couldn't help but wonder if it will be a little like Disneyland's Matterhorn.

Checking out the map, trying to decide where to go next.

Molly loved the thrill of the Dumbo ride. Who knew those elephants flew so fast! (I think this is one of my favorite pictures of the trip!)

 

Then we went to go ride Little Mermaid again since Annie liked it so much the first time, but we accidentally went in the wrong entrance and found ourselves ushered to the front of the line to meet Ariel instead! We had no idea! It was a pleasant surprise. We also got to meet there a cute young couple from Provo, Utah, whose sister was a wish child and their family had gone to NYC for her wish trip, and talked to them for a while. It’s fun to see how many people are willing to talk to us and share their story or ask about ours when we have our wish shirts on or they see Annie’s MAW badge.

Pleasantly surprised to get to meet Ariel!

The entrance to the Little Mermaid ride

We checked out the new village from Beauty and the Beast--all part of the new Fantasyland that recently opened.

Gaston's tavern and the Beast's castle in the background--from Beauty and the Beast

Gaston's tavern.  No beer for us, of course, but it looked like they had some delicious croissants!

The girls wanted to ride the carousel again, then we went back to Aladdin’s Carpets to ride again, since that was one of Annie’s favorites as well and it’s wheelchair accessible, unlike the Dumbo ride.

Lexie sure likes carousels.

Again, who knew that the carousel went so fast!

Aladdin's Magic Carpets--this time we got a little wet from the spitting camels placed around the ride!

We were getting pretty worn out and felt like we’d done everything we really liked again at Magic Kingdom, so we headed back to GKTW a little earlier (7:30pm) and got dinner there at the Gingerbread house. It was actually SO wonderful to have more of a home-cooked meal tonight after eating so much pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs at the parks the last few days. The manicotti, spaghetti, garlic bread, chocolate milk, etc. at the Gingerbread house surely hit the spot for us and gave our taste buds a nice break. Of course we hit the Ice Cream Palace for shakes on our way back to our villa.

Dinner at the Gingerbread House at GKTW