Magic Kingdom 2.0

I can't believe it was our last day!  This trip that I had planned for months and months flew by!  We still had more to do in Magic Kingdom so we caught our boat and headed over.  For some reason we just seemed to be off on timing, we just missed our bus and as we got into sight of the peer we saw the first boat pulling away.  It wasn't a very long wait either time, but it would have been nice to just be a few minutes earlier.  If the Seven Dwarf Mine Train had been open we were supposed to do that first, but it isn't supposed to open until the end of May.  Since Jason loves Cars we decided he should get to race some so first thing we headed over to Tomorrowland Speedway.  I am so glad that boy won't be driving until he is 16 because he was WILD!  There is a little guide bar under the car and we spent the whole ride bumping into it from one side or the other, but he had fun doing it.  We had to try out Dumbo and the kids seemed to like it.  It looked like they had a whole inside play area built, but we didn't have a wait so we didn't get a chance to check it out.







Next up was the Barnstormer, the only rollercoaster that Elizabeth would get to ride since she is only 35 inches. She loved every minute of it!  It was exciting enough that we all had a good time.  When we finished we headed back over to Tomorrowland for Jeff and I to do our FP+ for Space Mountain, but when we got there we found it was down with issues and since our FP+ for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin hadn't started yet we tried out the Carousel of Progress.  I thought the kids might be bored and restless, but they really seemed to like it.  Since we have come home Jason has even sung "there's a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day."  Finally it was time to ride the Space Ranger Spin, which was fun, but not as good as Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios.  As we finished up with that we saw that Space Mountain was loading people again so Jeff headed on first.  While we were waiting Jason found an arcade he wanted to explore.  At first we were doing fine, but then Elizabeth said she needed to go potty, but refused to get in the stroller and leave.  Cue the tantrum!  I switched out with Jeff and he seemed to calm the kids down by the time I was back from Space Mountain.  That adventure just showed us it was time to head back to the camper for lunch and nap.



When we got back we headed straight over to our FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle.  The kids got to help act out the Beauty and the Beast with Belle!  When Elizabeth realized what was going on she was almost too upset to go in because we didn't bring her Belle dress.  We convinced her to go in, but it made her a bit shy to get involved.  Jason played the part of Maurice, Belle's father, because he shivered so well.  Elizabeth played the part of some silverware and Jeff was a suit of armor.











We knew we wanted to get some photos in front of the castle before the day was over so this seemed as good a time as any.  The kids were having a difficult time because they were pretty exhausted by this time in the trip, but we got a couple of good photos.  We figured out we needed to go inside and cool down so we headed over to Mikey's PhilharMagic for another 3D show and the kids really enjoyed seeing all the songs they knew.  Since the guys didn't get a chance to ride the carousel we all headed over there for a ride.









After we finished with that it was time to head over to Crystal Palace for our last special dinner.  Jason was thrilled to see his friends from the Hundred Acre Woods.  He was excited to tell Pooh that he was his favorite and that Jason slept with him every night.  They also decided that Piglet was Elizabeth's favorite because he is pink that that's her favorite color.  We even stayed around long enough to get to see Pooh Bear a second time. 















After dinner found a good spot to settle in and wait for the parade and fireworks show.  I really wanted to see the full show so we probably should have just stayed and watched it last time, but we didn't so seeing it was a good way to finish out our trip.  I wish we had more time to look around the stores down main street, but in the end it probably helped us avoid buying things we didn't need.  Saturday morning we packed everything up and the repair guy came back to help us get the slide into place for travel.  We got all the way to Texas before we needed to stop for the night and sleep.  This time we just stopped at a rest stop and slept a bit in the camper folded up so we could finish out our trip the next morning.



All in all we had an amazing trip and we would do it again.  The kids are already talking about the next time we go to Disney and we have had to put the breaks on those plans a couple of times.  They are still talking about the fun things we did on our trip almost 2 weeks later.  I know we made memories of a lifetime!

"We were on a Break" to Hollywood

During planning everyone told us we should take a break day in between and we were so ready for one by Wednesday.  We needed some time to vegetate in the camper and have some down time.  In the morning we headed over to Downtown Disney, a shopping area that they are still developing.  I wish I had checked the place out a bit first because we parked on the side of the construction that didn't have as much that we were interested in.  We checked out the Lego store where I discovered that maybe Jason was ready to break out Daddy's old legos.  The sculptures they had outside were amazing!  We also checked out the huge Disney store and toy store.  We resisted buying anything for the moment and had some lunch at Earl of Sandwich (yum!) and spotted a Christmas store.  We needed to see if we could find something for our tree.  We took a family vote and decided on a clear castle ornament that changed colored lights.  We did decide to go back and get Jason a sword and shield he had thought was pretty cool.  When we went in the first time Elizabeth was really interested in dancing with this Aurora doll that flipped and became Ariel.  We showed it to her again and the interest was completely gone.  So we ended up getting her a $6 sword to play with her brother versus the $31 doll that she already has quite a few of. 

After we had spent a bit of money we headed back to the camper for naps.  As soon as everyone was up we all got suits on and headed over to the amazing pool we had been walking by all week.  Jason just wanted to go down the slide over and over and over again.  Elizabeth tried it a couple of times, but couldn't keep herself upright and was scared when she flew into the pool, so she was happier to float around and play with us.  That night after dinner back at the camper we headed to the campfire and sing along with Chip and Dale again.  Then off to bed to prepare for another big day!





So Thursday it was back to the parks, and we started by rushing to Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios.  It was so much fun, but Elizabeth had a difficult time figuring out how to fire the cannon.  We headed back towards the front of the park so Jeff and I could take turns on Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, which was much faster than I remember, then it was off to the Tower of Terror.  Jason kept going back and forth trying to decide if he wanted to ride this with us.  He is big enough, we were just worried about it being too scary for him.  He went on it first with Jeff and loved it!  He came out bouncing around and ready to go on it with me.  While we did that, Jeff and Elizabeth went off to get in line for the Little Mermaid show.  Jason assured me that the ride was just pretend and loved it a second time.  We rushed over to the Little Mermaid, but they wouldn't let us in for the current show.  In hindsight we should have all headed over to the Little Mermaid show and just done our child swap ticket for Jason and I on Tower of Terror later in the day.  After they were finished with the show Jeff and Elizabeth joined Jason and I for the Disney Jr. show.  We had it on the plan for later in the afternoon, but since it was right across the courtyard and the show was about to begin we went for it.  Elizabeth really liked the show and Jason might have also, but he insisted that I not sing.  I'm not sure what to make of that business!  After the show was over we headed back to the camper for our rest time.





After our break we realized we could only do the Beauty and the Beast show or the Indian Jones Stunt show so we chose Belle.  We did have a little time before that started so we headed over to Star Tours which they have completely remade into a Star Wars themed ride.  It was pretty cool and Jason was the rebel spy.  We did another child swap because Elizabeth was too short again.  To keep ourselves busy the girls watched the Jedi Training academy show and saw Darth Vader.  It was a good show and if Jason knew anything about Star Wars we might have had him do it, but we think that is a bit mature for him just yet.  We regrouped and headed over to the Beauty and the Beast show which Elizabeth loved.  We may have a future thespian on our hands, she loves all these productions!













After the show we grabbed some dinner and Jason and I did Star Tours again.  We all headed over to the Muppet 3D show.  Afterwards we found Lightning McQueen and Mater.  I think Jason was a little disappointed they didn't talk like other characters we had seen, but I'm not sure how Disney would have made that happen.  Since the kids were getting grumpy we decided to head home before Fantasmic, the light, water, and firework show.  Before we headed out Jason begged to do Tower of Terror one more time so we did.  When Jason caught back up to us Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him and said "Oh brother I missed you!"  That was one of the sweetest moments of our trip!  Before we knew it we were ready for our final day of our trip, back to Magic Kingdom!

The most Magical of Kingdoms

Our Magic Kingdom days were amazing!  We started out our day a little different.  Every other park it was faster for us to drive ourselves, but Magic Kingdom was right across the lake from us so we took a bus to the boat and arrived at the park shortly before rope drop.  We headed though the castle and over to fantasy land for the Little Mermaid ride.  So much has changed since the last time we came to Disney World with the expansion of fantasyland and this was one of the rides Jeff and I had not seen.  Elizabeth said it was her favorite of the day!  After that we headed over to the Winnie the Pooh ride.  Although the ride was the same they changed the line to have fun things for the kids to play with while they wait.  What a great idea!!!  We had a FP+ for Peter Pan's flight then headed over to Thunder Mountain Railroad to get a child swap ticket for the boys to ride while I waited with Elizabeth.  Then I would get a chance to go with Jason later in the day.  While they were on that ride and as they did Splash Mountain with a FP+, Elizabeth and I headed off to meet some friends.







As soon as she saw we were next to visit with Cinderella she started jumping up and down and called out "we're next!"  It was so adorable!  They had an adorable conversation, but unfortunately when Elizabeth is shy she gets very quiet so I couldn't hear much of it.  Rapunzel did ask her if she liked to spin in her pretty dress, which got an emphatic nod.   When we were done Elizabeth asked me for a Rapunzel dress.  I think she liked her!





After we visited with the princesses the boys weren't done yet so we headed over to the carousel and found a pink horse for Elizabeth. We had the guys meet us back in Fantasy land for our special lunch at the new Be Our Guest restaurant in the Beast's castle.  The food was delicious and the ambiance was wonderful.  We ate in the ballroom because I had heard the West Wing can be scary for children, but we checked out the other rooms after we finished with lunch.  When we were done with lunch we headed back across the lake to the camper for our rest.







Even though she took a good nap Elizabeth looked pretty exhausted on the way back to the park.  We were glad  the next day was scheduled as a rest day.  First thing Jason and I used our child swap ticket for him to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again and he kept telling me that he was going to keep me safe.  While we were doing that Jeff and Elizabeth headed over to Tom Sawyer Island to explore a bit.  When we met up we had a FP+ for the Haunted Mansion.  I was a little nervous for the kids, but Jason kept reminding me that it was just pretend and he would protect me.  After that we opted for something a little happier and headed over to It's a Small World.  Jeff and I agreed that they really toned down the song quite a bit. You heard the tune in every room, but only actually heard the song in the last room and we wouldn't have been in the last room for as long if the boats had not gotten stuck there for a bit.  I think I liked it a little better when the song go stuck in your head from hearing it so much!







When you use up your original 3 FastPass+ they let you make another one at the kiosk in the park.  We were a little concerned because the line looked long so Jeff and the kids headed off to find us a tasty treat while I made us a FP+ for Pirates of the Caribbean.  The line went by quickly and we were all eating our mickey shaped ice cream in no time!  After we finished up and cleaned everyone up we headed over to the ride only to find it was closed for maintenance.  We seemed to have lots of maintenance issues on this trip which I don't remember having before.  So while we were waiting we decided to do all the other things in Adventure Land by seeing the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, riding Aladdin's Magic Carpets (watch out for the camels, they spit!) and going on the Jungle Cruise.  As we were halfway through waiting in the line for Jungle Cruise Elizabeth calls out she needs to go potty...great!  We dashed out through the FP+ line and found a bathroom and headed back hoping we could find our way to Jeff and Jason. Thankfully the cast member remembered us and we were all able to go on the one-liner cruise together. 





We checked one last time to see if we could get on Pirates and it had just re-opened so we hopped on.  Jason was a little freaked out about the pirates having a battle over our heads, but we made it through okay.  We grabbed some dinner at Pecos Bill's and talked over if we should stay for the parade and fireworks.  At first we were a little concerned because Jason was starting to have a difficult time obeying, but dinner really improved his mood.  There was a spot right across from the restaurant that seemed like a good spot. 

While we waited for the parade to start the kids got special light sticks I had bought at Walmart for the trip.  Jason's looked like a sword and Elizabeth's looked like a heart wand.  In trying to keep the kiddos entertained Jeff was showing Elizabeth how to wave her wand and the plastic heart flew off, was kicked by oncoming traffic and then stepped on.  Cue the crying, thankfully the parade started soon and Elizabeth really liked Cinderella's dancing mice.  After the parade we tried to get out of the park quickly, but had a hard time getting through the crowd waiting for the Wishes fireworks show.  I even got run over by an electrical scooter, ouch!!!  We made it out to the dock and watched most of the fireworks before our boat got there.  In hindsight we probably should have staked out a spot in front of the castle and just seen the whole show from there since we ended up staying late on our last night to see the whole show well.



At least we had a rest day on the agenda next.