The perfect way to play at the Magic Kingdom - Part 3

We were offered another round, but got off, as we had a few more rides we wanted to get on.

So we walked back and towards the Little Mermaid ride. Again, we thought why not as it said five minutes.

And we were off the ride again five minutes later is we had been able to just walk on, sit down, ride and off we went again. The walkway towards Gaston’s Tavern was empty and dark and so peaceful.

You could hear the fun and laughter from the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and this was where we were heading next. The sign said 15 minute wait, but we got in line anyway. We walked and walked though the line until we came to the barrels that you can spin and from there on we got into some kind of a line, which moved constantly until we got to the ride vehicle itself. There we were told which row to get into and within a minute or two we sat down and off we went to visit the dwarfs at work.

It’s such a fun ride and when we got off we thought about getting in line again, but a peek at our watches let us decide against it. We were already into the second hour of the event and we wanted to get on as many rides as possible. 

But we were thirsty, so we headed to the Friar’s Nook and got ourselves another free snack, this time we had 

a bottle of Diet Coke, a Frozen Banana and an Olaf Frozen Lemonade bar. 

They were yummy and the Coke was cold and nice. After we had finished our treats we made our way over to Peter Pan. Again, it said 15 minutes, but we could see people just walking along and getting on. So we joined them, 

walked around and with very little wait we got onto our little sailing boat and off we went to fly above London. Getting on so many rides in that short amount of time, as the event was just 3 hours long, was awesome. Gone was all the tiredness and all the thoughts of skipping it, we were so happy to be able to enjoy the event. But by now the second hour of the After Hours was nearly over, so we headed over to the Haunted Mansion 

and were greeted by one of the “servants” and shown where to go. Again, the line was empty, 

we walked right into the first room and soon found ourselves in the stretching room. It felt so different, not being squeezed in but having lots of room. No need to rush to the doombuggies as there were just a handful of people who wanted to go on the ride. 

And even though we have been on the ride many many times, it felt different with most of the ride vehicles being empty. 

When we got off we thought about going back to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but decided against it, as we still had to do the Adventureland rides. 

We walked through the walkway over to where the treehouse is and had a look if the Jungle Cruise was running, but it was closed and with the time ticking, we decided to give the Flying Carpets a miss and head to Pirates of the Caribbean instead. 

Since there were so little people we only shared the boat with one other couple. 

They didn’t even care to assign you a row, it was kind of pick where you want to sit. 

It was nice to sit and enjoy the ride, but again, it is not a short ride and there was one more ride we wanted to get on. 

So after we got off the boat we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. People were trickling into line, but not too many. 

We still had about 20 minutes left and were hoping to ride it maybe twice. So once we got to where they assign you a row we noticed that they were only loading on one side. We wanted to ask for the back of the train and we were lucky as there was no one, so we headed right for the last row. Didn’t take long and we were waving goodbye to the cast members and went on the wildest ride in the Wilderness. 

Somehow it always feels as if the ride is much faster during night hours and this was no exception. 

We felt like going a hundred miles an hour and we laughed a lot until we got back to the loading station. Now on the other side there were a few cast members who just said, “If you wanna ride again, stay in your seat”. The few ones who had already hopped out of the train, hopped right back in and with a lot of clapping we whisked away on another ride around the mountain. 

How awesome was that. 

When we got off it was about five to one and we were sure it was time to leave until we got to the entrance of the ride, where there were cast members who urged everyone to get in line again as the ride would close in just a few more minutes. 

We looked at each other and even though the long day started to get to us it only took us a split second to take them up on the offer and get in line again. This time everyone was hurrying and we got in the furthest open line at the back, sat down, pulled down the safety bar and off we went. 

We were pretty sure they would make us get off when we pulled back in, but no, we were sent out on one last ride for the night. 

It was just so unbelievable and so much fun. 

Everyone thanked the cast members when we got off and it was now past 1pm and the After Hours had officially ended. We just strolled over to the Pirates ride and towards the Magic Carpets and there was one of the popcorn carts, still handing out popcorn. He still had quite a lot in the cart and since people were still lining up we thought we might need a snack on the way out as well. Didn’t take long and I was handed a box of fresh popcorn and Tom had asked for some water. The cast member handed him two, as I might get thirsty as well. After a few steps we remembered that we had a small plastic bag that I had brought for my camera and our phones in case it would start to rain and it was just big enough to hold the two bottles. 

I was munching popcorn all the way down Main Street and once we got to the Town Square there were some cast members still handing out Mickey Bars. Well, you cannot say no to a free Mickey Bar, can you? 

So we both took one and then very slowly we walked back to Bay Lake Tower. 

And once we had made it to our room we realized how tired we were. 

It had been a long day and we were ready to fall into bed, which we did not long after.