When I was a little girl I drove my mother insane every time we visited anyone's house because I always wanted to go to the bathroom. This was especially true in houses I'd never been in before. You see, it wasn't that I really needed to go, it was that I was fascinated with bathrooms and wanted to see what each person's looked like. At least that's how my mother tells it. I swear I always had to go! Anyhoooo... when I heard the new bathrooms in Fantasyland were
Tangled themed, I knew I would magically need to visit them as we walked by.
Side Note: This is the night LaRae and I decided to close down Magic Kingdom. It was supposed to be open until 3 AM. Heaven knows it was an insanely early wee hours of the morning time, but we really wanted to do it. We mostly focused this evening on fun in the Magic Kingdom and paused the Magical Moments, so this post doesn't have a numbered moment.
We started the evening with some attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. I LOVE going through the Haunted Mansion queue in the dark! If you haven't taken the time to do so, you absolutely should! Splash Mountain was closed for refurbishment, but empty logs were going down it most of the evening. The splash at the end was turned off, so the whole silent logs crashing down to a small splash was oddly eerie. I've only ridden Splash once in my life, and I spent most of the ride scared of getting soaked, so I really do want to ride it again someday!
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The Liberty Belle all lit up at night. |
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Have you noticed the lighting in the Haunted Mansion queue? So pretty! |
As we approached Fantasyland from the Haunted Mansion, Rapunzel's tower loomed above us. It's so gorgeously lit at night and visible from various areas of the park. If you listen closely, you can sometimes hear Rapunzel singing. There's also a "find Pascal" game around her tower.
Lanterns hang all around the rest benches, charging stations, and bathrooms. While pretty during the day, it's almost breathtaking at night! Yes, I just described bathrooms as "breathtaking," but seriously Disney Imagineering outdid themselves with this new area!
This is the point where I think LaRae, my sister, decided to pretend she didn't know me. I made sure no one was in the bathrooms but us, and I started snapping photos like crazy! I'm not a big photos in the bathroom fan, but this needs to be shared! The bathrooms are decorated to the nines. Artwork on the walls and ceilings look like Rapunzel herself painted them. The stall doors are super neat and fit right in. The details are just fantastic. (Now I wish I'd gone in the men's room to see what the decorations in there were!)
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Rapunzel took a hand in decorating in here! |
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This is her "seriously, you are not my sister" look. ;-) |
In the end of it all, I didn't actually USE the bathroom there. I was too busy looking around and taking photos! Since we were in Fantasyland though, we decided to stick to the area and visit some of our favorite attractions like it's a small world. The ending of this attraction was recently redone. I like the changes:
We got stuck waiting for the Main Street Electrical Parade to pass. At this point our feet were really starting to hurt, and as LaRae said "you went all quiet on me." I was starting to feel really nauseated, but I wanted to stay until park closing, so I was trying to make it through. I waited a few hours to tell her I was sick, but she knew pretty dark quick something was up.
LaRae had never seen the Castle Projection Show, so I wanted to be sure we caught it. We had just enough time to have a ride on the Jungle Cruise, another attraction that is totally more awesome at night, before we found a bench to watch the show. Every time I see it, I love it even more!
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Wreck-It Ralph |
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Tangled |
At this point of writing this post, I'm realizing I like Magic Kingdom best at night. We went to Tomorrowland next which is another favorite place after dark. The neon lights and electric sounds of Tomorrowland are exciting and thrilling at night. LaRae hadn't experienced the joy of Stitch's Great Escape, so we continued her night of firsts. I love the pre-show in SGE, no joke, and while I don't love the chili dog burp, I genuinely like this attraction. It's a "try it at least once" kind of attraction.
Our family can never get enough Fantasyland. It was becoming fairly evident that I wasn't going to be able to hold out through the end of the night. Each step I took I wondered how I was going to make it back on a Disney bus while losing my dinner in a plastic bag. (I didn't end up losing it, but I really thought I was going to.) However, I pushed through because darn it, this was my birthday trip, and I willed the sickness to go away! The calm attractions of Fantasyland allowed me to stay in the park a bit longer.
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Have you seen the painting of Mr. Toad handing the deed to
Owl in the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh? |
Prince Eric's Castle is one I'd love to live in (right behind Prince Adam's Castle because it has an amazing library)! Check out how beautiful it is all lit up at night. *Swoon* Makes me wish I was there right now!
On the way out of the park, I was still snapping photos despite how I felt! I was so glad I spotted this backside of the Castle and took a photo. It's almost better than the front!
We made it until just after midnight. While it wasn't park close, it was pretty late. We'd had a wonderful day full of food and fun, and I wouldn't trade it for anything! The next day I found that I woke up feeling much better and eager to start a new day at Walt Disney World!
Magical Moment #12 will post on Wednesday. Join us as we visit Epcot!