Everything Went Wrong for Me in Magic Kingdom — But My Plan C Rescued the Day

We know, we know, you’ve probably heard us say it a HUNDRED times, but we keep saying it because it’s TRUE — you need multiple plans on your day in Disney World.

Why? Because Disney World changes ALL the time. You could walk into the park and see that your favorite ride is having issues and is down for the next five hours. Or maybe you’ve forgotten that a major ride is under refurbishment and other wait times are increased as a result. Whatever the reason, we’ve been there — actually, I’VE been there, and this one of the lessons I learned early on in my trips to the parks that has actually stuck with me! And that came in handy on my last trip when I needed a Plan B…then Plan C.

I hopped into Magic Kingdom with Fry Bucket and DFB Breea on the last day of my trip, just to have some fun in the morning for a few hours before heading back home. Fry and Breea both had flights to catch, too, but since it was Fry’s birthday, we knew a few hours of fun were called for before travel took us our separate ways.

The first thing we did when we got into the park was pick up some celebration buttons for Fry’s birthday, then Breea headed off to write for a bit while Fry and I went to get a specific souvenir she’d been looking forward to. When we were done, we rounded up Breea, and then headed straight to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train since it was only a 35 minute wait (which really only ended up being 25!). Then it was off to Cosmic Ray’s for a quick lunch before Fry headed off to the airport.

Breea and I had a little bit more time — just about an hour —  so after we said bye to Fry, we took a look at wait times and decided to head to Pirates of the Caribbean since the My Disney Experience App listed it as only having a 25 minute wait.

However, when we arrived, it was clear that the line was WAY longer than 25 minutes. A 25 minute line for this attraction usually only just stretches out into the external part of the queue, but the line we saw filled at least HALF of the outdoor queue, and we didn’t want to risk wasting our time (even though we both love the ride), so we decided to walk right by and head for Plan B, which was formulated in approximately 2 seconds.

Our Plan B took the form of Peter Pan’s Flight, which, to our surprise, also listed a 25 minute wait! We hustled our way over to Fantasyland (passing a SUPER long line for Haunted Mansion along the way, yikes)…only to find that Peter Pan, while still listed at a 25 minute wait, was also clearly longer. This wasn’t totally shocking, as we figured people saw the low wait times and headed straight to both attractions after their lunch, or after getting off a different ride.

Yep, you know what that meant — Plan C! Also formed in a few seconds as Breea and I just continued our walk around the park. We decided to head for Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, which only had a 5 minute posted wait time. Even if that one increased, we figured it would only bump up to 10 minutes or so, and that would still be low enough for us.

Thankfully, this was a success! We walked straight through the queue basically all the way up to the loading area (side note: going into the indoor queue section after being out in the bright sun basically BLINDS you — we both almost stumbled over each other)…that is, until the ride STOPPED.

It’s true — right as Breea and I were about to be directed into the last part of the line to board the vehicles, the ride had an issue and was briefly paused. We stood there for about five minutes, wondering if we’d need to come up with ANOTHER plan, or if we’d just choose to grab a snack and leave the park then instead of getting on another ride. Fortunately, the ride started back up again after that minor delay, and we were able to hop on! While we didn’t notice anything glaringly wrong with the line that could have caused the issue, we did realize Ariel’s hair was looking a little…rough. Or, in the words of Breea, “she’s got a rough current.”

We were excited we got a chance to ride, but it certainly required more plans than we had expected, and that’s the point! Since we were able to be flexible and come up with additional plans on the fly, our morning still went relatively smoothly. Breea and I ended our early afternoon with some Casey’s Corner Corn Dog Nuggets, then we cheers-ed to a Peach Tea from Joffrey’s (my favorite thing ever, please try one if you haven’t!), and then it was back to my car to drive Breea to the airport, and drive myself back to Georgia.

This is just one example of how your park day can go a little sideways, but there are certainly many more out there like weather issues, ride delays due to tech acting up, and more. Sometimes you can’t really prepare for them, other than having a few extra ideas as you go throughout your day. We do our best to keep you updated on all the latest Disney World news so you can feel as prepared as possible for your next trip, so stay tuned to AllEars!

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Have you ever had to come up with multiple backup plans in Disney World? Tell me in the comments!

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