After long night out at Epcot the following morning we got up early and headed over to the Magic Kingdom.  This was also our daughter Hanna’s 4th birthday and we had a special lunch scheduled for her but I’ll get into that a little later.  We hopped on one of the Transportation buses and it dropped us off just outside the main gates.  We made it through the new security lines but unfortunately were just a little too late to see the classic opening ceremony for the park.  But that’s okay just means we get to head right inside.  One thing I love is that as soon as I scanned my magic band I headed over to the Newsstand that is located to the left side of the main entrance to use the first machine of the day.

This machine has designs of Cinderella, Tinker Bell, and Peter Pan.  As I finished using this machine the rest of my family had already headed towards main street.

What walk down main street would be complete without a picture of the castle.  I have hundreds of these pictures but just can’t stop taking more each visit.  My family is definitely creatures of habit and every time we visit this park we always go clockwise through the different lands.  I’ve mentioned starting with Tomorrowland but to us it just seems weird and we always head to Adventureland first.  Jungle cruise is always a must, and our kids insist on riding Aladdin’s magic carpet ride.  After hitting up these two attractions I needed to make two quick stops.  First was the Verandah Breezeway (Also knows as the restroom area by the Island Supply shop) which has two machines available.  These used to be separate machines but have recently been combined into one large cabinet.

The machine on the left presses quarters and has designs of Nala, Simba, and Timon & Pumbaa all from The Lion King.  The machine on the right presses pennies and has images of The Adventureland Logo, Olaf from Frozen, and the Jungle Cruise attraction.   An interesting update on this machine, the Adventureland Logo design was removed shortly after I had visited the park.  Disney was slowly removing all pressed coin designs that had image of guns in them.  As you can see below this design included Mickey above the logo with a rifle.

This coin was replaced with one of the 2016 designs which had been relocated from the Splash Mountain Splashdown Photo Preview area.

This makes for a perfect transition into the next few machines which include one underneath the Frontierland Railroad, and the two machines at the exit of Splash Mountain.  I wrote about these in a previous separate post which you can check out here.  Taking Hanna on Splash Mountain may have emotionally scarred her, but our niece Ava loved it and by the end of our trip probably rode it a half-dozen times.  As we left the Frontierland area it was just about time to turn in our Pirates of the Caribbean fastpasses.

This is another favorite of ours, and all the kids seemed to enjoy it.  As we exited the ride you always end up in a gift shop somewhere in Disney and as everyone picked out some pirate swag I used the next machine shown above.  The pennies here were of Pirate Mickey with a Treasure Chest, Pirate Micky with a Parrot, and a Pirate Ship.  Next on our list was to take a chance to cool down and rest by watching the Country Bear Jamboree show.  We headed back towards the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride to use the little bypass that sneaks you over to Frontierland.  This was done on purpose because I felt it was about time for a snack.

Aloha Isle Refreshments is where you can find the magical Dole Whip.  I have come to really love the Dole Whip floats that have pineapple juice added.  My entire family has joined into this obsession so I had a large order to place and did a fantastic balancing act to ensure I didn’t drop or spill any of them.

Here’s my Dole Whip float which didn’t last too much longer after this picture.  With our internal temperatures now a few degrees lower thanks to this refreshing treat we headed over to the Country Bears.

In the waiting lobby of this attraction is a penny machine.  Technically you can just go in use the machine and exit without watching the show, but we always thought this was a cute show and a nice way to take a little break.  The pennies here were of Little Ole Tennessee Bear, Big Al Bear, and the Frontierland logo.  Check out this last penny design below.

Another gun included in the design.  As with the penny I mentioned above at the Island Supply store this was also removed shortly after our trip was over.  It was replaced with a penny showing the Big Thunder Mountain Train.  I could have sworn I had this design in my collection, but the only one I have doesn’t match what is listed online at the CTM Group’s (The Penny Men) website.  Below is a picture of the design they show was added to this machine.  Guess I’ll just have to make a trip over to the park and get myself a copy.

Now that we were over near Liberty Square it was time for our next favorite ride the Haunted Mansion.   After our escape from the mansion it was time for a pit stop and I knew just where to go.

You may recognize this as Rapunzel’s Tower from the Disney movie Tangled.  Now before anyone complains this is also technically considered Mother Gothel’s tower where she kept Rapunzel locked up.  Whatever you want to call it this is a pretty cool little area of the park.  This is about as close to the tower as you can get, but be on the look out for hidden Pascal (Rapunzel’s chameleon friend).

I’m showing it for assistance, but will not explain exactly where to find him (what fun would that be).  Hint: there is also more than one to find.  Good luck!  Now that we were over in the Fantasyland area there were a lot of attractions we visited all in a row.  It’s a Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Hanna’s favorite the carousel.

Our special lunch for Hanna’s birthday was quickly approaching so we needed to head towards the castle.  I had one stop to make before checking in for our reservation.

The above machine was located in the Sir Mickey’s shop.  This is where you end up after visiting with the Princess meet and greets in the castle.  The pennies here have designs of 2016 Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey, Snow White, and Elsa from Frozen.  Now it was time for lunch.  Our reservation was at Cinderella’s Royal Table which we have never experience before.

When you first enter you are greeted by the famous princess herself Cinderella.

There is then an elevator you can take upstairs, but to be honest it’s worth it to walk up the winding staircase as the architecture and design is incredible as you head upstairs.  We were sat at a large table that looked out through large stain glass windows overlooking Fantasyland.  Throughout our meal various princesses came by to say happy birthday and of course take lots of pictures.  Here’s one of our favorites Princess Jasmine.

The other princesses that came by included Snow White, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Ariel.  Once our lunch was over I had requested before our visit that a special dessert be sent for Hanna.

There was a dark chocolate Cinderella slipper filled with chocolate mousse, fresh berries, and a nice birthday with written in chocolate sauce.  Everyone was really surprised and impressed with this really wonderful place to have a special occasion.  The food was good, the princesses were fantastic, but knowing we were experiencing all of this inside the castle was just the cherry on top.  It was sad to say goodbye but we still had places to visit.  We headed over to Tomorrowland so the kids could try the Tomorrowland Speedway and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger spin.  Both of these places had penny machines that I wrote about earlier and I included links to both by clicking on the attraction names above.  By this time everyone was starting to get tired, and our pace through the park had started to slow.  We decided it was time to head back towards Main Street and get some final souvenirs for the day.

   

About half way down (or up) Main Street is the Hall of Champions clothing store.  They have two machines her but is kind of out of the way if you aren’t looking for them you may go right past them.  The machine on the left had pennies with Goofy wearing Mickey ears, Mickey Minnie Donald & Goofy, and Scrooge McDuck.  The second machine on the right is more sports oriented and has pennies with designs of Baseball Mickey, Tennis Goofy, and Soccer Mickey.  A nice feature of this store is that it’s interconnected with the other shops along the one side of Main Street.  Just a few steps (in Air conditioning yay!) and you find yourself in the huge emporium.  This place has three machines but there was only one I needed to visit.

This machine is located by the set of doors closest to the front of Magic Kingdom.  This machine had the 2016 Castle design, Let the memories begin, and Anna & Else from Frozen.  We had quite the selection of souvenirs collected as we wandered through the stores.  After checking out we headed towards the exit but I had one last stop to make at the Main Street Train Station.

This machine had quarters with a similar 2016 castle design, Pinocchio & Jimmy Cricket, and Mickey in the Train Engine.  I met back up with my group as we exited the park and headed over to the bus area so we can get back to our resort for a much needed rest.  After a nice late afternoon break we headed over to Epcot for dinner at the China Pavilion’s Nine Dragons restaurant which was really nice.  The crowds were getting a little crazy at night due to the Food and Wine festival so we didn’t stay long, but were able to catch a beautiful sunset before heading back to our room.