We got there and immediately Tyler wanted to get in line to see a character. So we viewed a bit of a little parade while we waited for Pluto.
Can you believe that I don't have any good pictures of our initial view of the castle. The photo pass people do, but those pictures didn't arrive yet. Booooo.
Tyler first wanted to check out Splash Mountain, since he had convinced himself months ago that he'd be brave enough to finally ride it.
Then we checked out Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which he was finally big enough to ride! Loved it!
If I hadn't mentioned it before, when we booked our vacation they were offering a free dining package, so we didn't hesitate too much to eat a quick early lunch. Jason apparently likes grapes in a mickey-themed bag much better than grapes I offer at home, and Tyler was thrilled that I'd let him drink Sprite on the trip, so they were both happy.
After lunch we came across a line for Donald Duck.
And then we decided to make our way over to Small World. Imagine our shock and dismay when we discovered that it was undergoing refurbishment. There is something all together wrong about a trip to Disney without Small World. We held it together though and made our way to get some fast passes for later and then went for a spin on the carousel.
We all experienced Mickey's Philharmagic. Jason wouldn't wear his glasses, but still enjoyed it. Tyler realized that it is not in fact scary (used to be afraid of it).
Went on a little ride on a honey pot in the Winnie the Pooh ride.
And finally Jason fell asleep in the stroller while my dad and Ty rode Goofy's Barnstormer (a little rollercoaster).
Eventually it was time for our big meal (an early dinner), so we head over to the Crystal Palace to wait for our table, and for the rest of our group. My brother Jim and his fiance Cara and her 3 kids had driven to Florida a few days earlier (to spend time with Cara's dad) and were meeting us in Disney for the trip and had just arrived. While waiting Jason discovered Tigger through the restaurant windows.
We had a nice meal, with choices available for everyone in the group. The kids (and some adults) enjoyed the characters coming around. We weren't sure how Jason would react, but he seemed to like all the attention, and didn't find it too odd to have Eeyore show up while he was eating. LOL.
Next we did the obligatory park photos of the entire gang in front of the castle.
After park photos we made our way to the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. Jason decided to scream if I didn't let him conquer all stairs himself...and there are a lot of stairs. I apologize to those that had to listen to him.
Next we all did Pirates of the Carribean. A classic.
From there the whole gang deciced to do The Haunted Mansion. Thanks to some crappy "handicapped assessible" (or lack thereof) features, my mom decided to sit out last minute with Tyler whose fears got the best of him. We managed to lose Aiden briefly, which proved to be the scariest portion of this attraction. Luckily he was fine and was returned to us safely, but not without a little adrenalin surge. In the actual Haunted Mansion ride, I believe I sat with Jason and my dad. I was a little worried about Jason, but he was completely unphased.
Next Tyler enjoyed another round of Splash Mountain and Runaway Train with my brother and family (and maybe my mom?) while my dad and I stayed back with the too-short-for-rides kid. He didn't seem to mind.
Eventually my dad decided to return to the hotel with my brother and his family, leaving my mom and I with the boys. Despite not really having many "plans", we managed to find a last-minute up-close spot for the electric light parade. Tyler never tires of parades, and is still completely convinced all characters are real, and are in fact waving at him. Jason joined right in on the fun, waving at things and oohing and aahing over everything (well, if he could make an ooh or aah sound I'm sure that's what he'd say...instead we heard lots of screeches and saw lots of finger pointing). Totally a success.
After the electric light parade we made our way towards the park exit. We knew it would be crazy crowded leaving so we wanted to start to make our way out, plus Tyler had declared that he still believed fireworks were scary and I wasn't sure how Jason would react. Thankfully my dad had a pair of earplugs with him, which he had left with us, so Tyler agreed to put those in his ears as the fireworks started before we could make our way out of the park. Tyler quickly realized they weren't very loud from where we were, and was automatically consumed with excitement and awe. Jason seemed alarmed at first, but quickly became fascinated too, signing "more" in between each burst of fireworks. He really enjoyed himself! A trip to the Magic Kingdom just doesn't seem right without a firework ending a little tinkerbell spotting.
Did I mention that it had been about a 176 degrees that day. Not exaggerating. And had cooled off to all of 150-something by the time of the parade/fireworks. No lie though, the heat index was reported to be 107 that day.
After navigating our way through the disney transportation system, we made it back to our hotel. The boys were still wound up and we were all still sweaty, so we decided to meet Jim and family at the hotel pool. Tyler practiced his "swimming" and Jason learned to jump off the side of the pool into my arms (heck, Ty just tried that last summer for the first time). He had no fear, but no awareness of safety either. If I hadn't been paying attention he would have just kept on jumping! I've got some pics on my brother's camera that hopefully I'll eventually get.
We head back to the hotel rooms very late. Everyone eventually fell asleep after midnight. Thankfully Jason was so tired that he fell right to sleep while nursing and I was able to transfer him into the Disney-provided pack-n-play. He slept fairly well, from what I remember....
So all in all, a great first day in Disney. Hot, but wonderful.
2 comments:
What is the Runaway Train? Is that what he calls Big Thunder Mt RR?
Ah, yes, that's the one. I've got all my ride names wrong! I'll change it! Runaway train is Great Adventure.
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