Disney World Day 2 (Magic Kingdom)

After staying up so late on Friday night we got a slightly later start on Saturday. Miss Anna picked us up around 9:00 and we headed to the parks. We knew that our priority was the princesses. The Toontown judges tent didn't open until 10, so we wanted to be there when it opened so we didn't have to wait too long. We got our stroller, thanked Miss Anna and Mr Carl, stopped for a few pictures before we sweated all of our makeup off and headed to the back of the park.

It's Tinkerbell!!!

Our strategy was to swing by Fantasyland and pick up a Fastpass for Peter Pan on the way. By the time we hit the line for the princesses it was 10 minutes long - still not too bad. We waited our turn and were taken back to individually talk to Cinderella, Belle and Aurora. The kids were both star-struck. And we were so impressed with them. They take their role as princess very seriously and stay completely in character. It makes for a fantastic experience. Definitely worth the wait to meet them!

Mark making his "Beast" face and growling!

Kisses!

While we were in Toontown we rode Goofy's Barnstormer rollercoaster. Hailey wasn't convinced it was fun. But both of them loved running through Mickey and Minnie's houses. Next stop was back to Fantasyland. We were eligable for another Fastpass so we grabbed one for Winnie the Pooh and got in line to meet Ariel. Mark always says that she's his favorite, so I wanted him to get to meet her but wasn't willing to stand in line too long. Thankfully, it was only 20 minutes. So we met Arielle and then were able to use our Fastpasses to walk right up to both Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. All before 11:30 am. That might not sound like a big deal, but it was all the most important things we wanted to do during the day. After that we relaxed a bit and let the kids ride what they wanted to.

Mark and Hailey assisting one another in drinking from the water fountain. Why they chose that over the bottled water we hauled in everyday, I'm not sure.

What's better than Mickey ears or a Mickey hat? BOTH!!!

The kids wanted to go back to Adventureland and ride some of the rides over there again. The Jungle Cruise was one of their favorites and our driver let Mark drive for part of the trip.

Katie opted to ride and subsequently get sick on the teacups. The kids and I loved them though! This was our second time on them. Can you see how excited Hailey is?

The highlight of the trip though was the cars. We almost didn't do them, but they turned out to be the kids' very favorite. Both Mark and Hailey were tall enough to drive and they had a blast. Katie and I operated the pedal and the two of them steered. I wish you could have seen the force with which Mark steered left, then right over and over again. We must have slammed against the metal track 2 dozen times - each time cracking him up. I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash! He did have a blast though.

I didn't get a chance to publicly thank the street vendor for parking her cart of lighted toys directly in front of our stroller for the entire hour preceding the light parade. Seriously. This toy was worth every penny to keep Mark in the stroller and happy instead of trying to get up and touch every item on her cart every 3.5 minutes.

I can remember being 6 years old and completely amazed by the light parade the first time I ever went to Disney World. This trip was no different. It's really something, even as an adult. Maybe even more so when you realize the magnitude of an entire parade of lighted floats. Definitely worth the wait!

Cinderella in her carriage. One of the best parts of the parade was Snow White. We never got to see her during our two days at the parks and Hailey was a little disappointed about that since she is her favorite princess. But during the light parade she came directly to Mark and Hailey sitting on the curb and touched their hands. They were thrilled!

We watched the fire works over the castle - which was also amazing! And the park closed. Instead of fighting the crowds to get on the monorail we stopped and got ice cream and waited to leave. That was a good call except that it could have contributed to why the kids were laughing hysterically and literally bouncing from bed to bed when we got back to the hotel around midnight.

It was an amazing two and a half days at Disney. I can't believe how much fun we fit into our trip. And the time I had with Katie was fantastic. Thank you mom for watching Luke so that I could go and have some quality time with Mark Garrett. And thank you Trey for letting your wife come with just Hailey. I know we'll never forget how much fun we all had!

Disney World Day 1 (Hollywood Studios & MK)

I'm going to go ahead and warn you now. There are going to be a ton of pictures in the next couple of posts. If you don't actually know me and my kid or Katie and her kid, you might not be all that interested in seeing us with every character in the Disney parks.

We stayed at Shades of Green this visit and were very impressed with the accommodations. The rooms very spacious and clean. We honestly didn't spend a lot of time at the hotel, but the golf course was gorgeous and I can imagine it would be a fantastic resort for a variety of military families heading to the Orlando area.

A family friend of Katie's arranged for us to get into the parks on her employee passes and we were so grateful! She even rented us our double stroller so we didn't have to pay for one each day! We even got front door service each morning. Here we are waiting for Miss Anna to arrive!

First stop, boarding the monorail to get into Magic Kingdom. We immediately left the park to get back on the monorail to go to "Chef Mickey's" at the Contemporary Resort.

I knew the kids would enjoy having a character dining experience. I was quite impressed with Chef Mickey's. The food was great and it saved so much time at the parks that we'd already met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. I cannot recommend Chef Mickey's enough for families with young kids who want to meet the traditional characters.

Doing the "napkin" dance!

After Chef Mickey's we rode a bus over the Hollywood Studios for the afternoon. Our tickets were Park Hoppers and we thought it would be fun to do part of another park. Hollywood Studios was a good choice for 4 and 5 year olds. They really enjoyed a number of the shows and attractions there.

Up first was the new Toy Story Mania ride. We'd heard it was the "hottest" ride at Disney from several sources and it appeared to be the case. The fast passes were only be given out to return after 7 pm, so we decided to brave the 1 hour line with two kids hopped up on syrup, cinnamon rolls, orange juice and Disney magic. (Notice the leash Mark has wrapped around his own neck. Not that I hadn't considered that option after about 10 minutes in line with him...)

After about 30 minutes I remembered my video iPod and the kids watched a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode. (Have I mentioned how much easier my life is thanks to the iPod?!) The wait was totally worth it though and we all loved the ride. It was a 3-D interactive carnival-style game ride. The kids begged to ride it again. Uh, yeah. It wasn't THAT good. One hour in line with Mark was plenty!

Up next was the Playhouse Disney Show. It was great because the kids were on the floor and they were able to get up and dance and move even though it was a show. Following the show we met Quincy from the Little Einsteins.

Then we met June!

After Playhouse Disney we saw the Little Mermaid Show and the 3-D Muppet Show. The kids were having fun, but Mark was pretty much done with shows at this point. He needed to run around and get out some energy so we split up. Katie and Hailey headed to the Beauty and the Beast show while we went the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" play area. (I still remember loving that movie, by the way!)

Mark decided he was ready for ice cream after that. And who am I to argue with that! (Can you see how sweaty he is?!)

We also got to meet a few of our favorite Pixar characters while we were there. Although, Hailey was not impressed with Lightening McQueen and Mater. She had NO idea who they were or why we were in that line!

And Sully from Monsters, Inc! He's one of our favorites!

After that we headed back to Magic Kingdom to see how long the kids would last. We knew we couldn't do the whole park in one day so we thought we'd get a head start. When we arrived Chip and Dale were up front and we got right in to see them and take our pictures.

The street party was also going on the kids had a front row seat.

That's weird. Mark's not cooperating for a picture. He must take after his Uncle Mark.

Next stop Adventureland! Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride was a huge hit. I think we rode it 3 or 4 times.

We rode the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Mansion and then headed to Fantasyland. Here's Mark and I waiting for the big carousel.

The crowds were so sparse on Friday night and kids were in such great moods that we stayed until closing at 9. We never stood in line more than 5-10 minutes and rode several rides twice. On "It's a Small World" they didn't even make us get off the boat! Here is Mark pretending to be a toy soldier.

It is safe to say that they were exhausted when we finally got back to our hotel and got to bed.