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Imagine with me, if you will, a late afternoon, early evening. You and your family are in the Magic Kingdom. You have been enjoying your day, but you are all getting a little tired. The kids are hot, and starting to get cranky. You and your spouse are starting to get a little edgy with one another. You don’t want to leave the park, because you want to see the fireworks in a few hours, but if you stay, you know it will not be a good evening.
So, What Do You Do?
 Do you jump on the bus and head back to your Resort?

NO!

By the time you get there, you probably won’t want to go back to the park. Then the whole plan of seeing the fireworks would be ruined.
Do you push on and just keep going?
 NO!
For the sake of the day, and for family sanity, you need to take a break.
 But How? Where will you go? What will you do?

For our Hakuna Mawednesday Tip this week, we offer the perfect mental get-away while in the Magic Kingdom. It is to visit the Magic Kingdom Resorts. Even if you are not staying in one of these resorts, you can enjoy what they have to offer. To get to the resorts, you can either, walk, take a boat or ride the Monorail.

If you have a few hours and you really want to relax for a little while, I suggest taking the boat. The boat rides from the Magic Kingdom are so wonderfully relaxing after a long day, that a family member or two may fall asleep before you get to your destination. The Resort Launches will take you to the Polynesian Resort, The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, and the Contemporary Resort. The Launches that take you to the Contemporary Resort will also continue on to the Fort Wilderness Campground and to the Wilderness Lodge Resort.

Once you get to any of these Resorts, you can enjoy a good meal, do some shopping or just find a great place to sit with a refreshment. One of my favorite places to do this is the lobby of the Grand Floridian Resort. The lobby of this turn of the century Victorian styled Resort is a great place to sit, because there is a piano player that plays some very relaxing music. At the Grand Floridian, you can grab a snack at Gasparilla Grill & Games and sit outside. You can enjoy your rest while still being able to see Cinderella Castle and watch the Monorail, as it heads toward the Magic Kingdom Station.

Another one of my favorite places to take a break is on the beach at the Polynesian Resort. There are hammocks, beach chairs and even some cabanas. The kids can head in to Captain Cook’s for a frozen treat and you can all just relax for awhile. From here you can also see the Magic Kingdom and if you decide to stick around, you can watch the fireworks without leaving the beach.

The beach at the Contemporary Resort also has chairs, places to relax and  volleyball courts. If your family is up to it, you can also participate in some water activities. The Contemporary Resort is home

to Parasailing, Wakeboarding, Water Skiing, Tubing and Watercraft rentals. All are a fun way to take a break from the park in the middle of the day and after some fun away from the park, all you need to do to get back is jump the Monorail and enjoy the rest of your night.

So, if you are getting to that point in your Magic Kingdom Day when you are starting to need a break, but you don’t want to leave the Magic Kingdom Area, because of the fireworks, a late parade or just because you want to finish your day there, you can take a break from the park and enjoy the Magic Kingdom Resorts. You can re-energize yourselves, by resting in some great places, enjoying a snack and even partaking in some water activities. After you are all ready for more, you can head back to the Magic Kingdom to end your day, in a Magical Way.