The bonus of the second day at Disney was that we were joined by Grama and Papa and Auntie Ann! It was awesome to make memories together and so great for Jayme and I to have the adults outnumber the kids! Always fun to spread the kid love around.
We started our day off a bit differently on Wednesday- we met Grama, Papa and Ann at The Wave Restaurant of the Contemporary Resort. I figured it would be a better meeting place, as opposed to trying to find them in the crowd at the Transportation and Ticketing Center of the Magic Kingdom. And we'd get a yummy breakfast. We snacked a lot the day before, as we burned quite a few calories walking all around, so it was nice to have a hot meal and catch up a bit.
After breakfast we went up a couple of floors and grabbed the monorail and took it to the Magic Kingdom (though we learned it only goes one way, so even though we were technically one stop from the Magic Kingdom ,we went the opposite way around to 3 other resorts first. Haha- live and learn!) The kids liked the ride! As Ann said "This counts as their first ride of the day."
When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom we just took in the sights and sounds! There were still the photographers everywhere, and though we were a bit later than Tuesday, we still managed to get a lot in! We headed over to Fantasyland to use our Barnstormer child swap ticket that we got the day before. Hannah decided she wanted to go on it with Auntie Ann, and they both came off with big smiles. Next we headed to Dumbo, which was now working, and we waited about 20 minutes, but we all got to ride and had a lot of fun, though some of the adults (myself included) were a bit lever challenged and we thought our Dumbo's didn't work heehee.
The sun was pretty brutal though!
Getting a new hairstyle while waiting for Dumbo
Asher making Hope like Tinkerbell while waiting for Ann and Hannah to ride Barnstormer
From there we headed over to Adventureland for our first Fast Pass of the day: The Jungle Cruise. I had vague memories of going on this one when I was young, and it proved to be pretty funny and a good experience! We also climbed through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, which was super fun! We decided lunch was in order next, and then headed to check out Pirates of the Caribbean, which was our longest wait of the day, but thanks to all the grownups, the kids handled it well. Pirates was a hit, and Hannah decided she liked the hanging down foot from the pirate on the bridge at the end the best. I was proud of them, because that ride is pretty dark and a bit scary for a 4 and 5 year old! Hope on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber, relaxed back against my chest!
After Pirates of the Caribbean we headed back over to Fantasyland and got excited when we walked on to It's a Small World with NO wait! We realized it was because of the parade going on, which of course I wanted to see, but did manage to survive without haha.
More princesses were up next! And this time it was Hannah's absolute favorite- Rapunzel!! I loved watching her little face light up when we walked into Princess Fairytale Hall. She wore her new Rapunzel costume that she got for her birthday, and the conversation between them was cute, in matching dresses. Tiana was also there, and I loved the way she and the other princesses bend down to Hannah's eye level to speak to them.
We headed to Hope's fave next, the carousel. Dad and Annie even rode a horse! Everyone gets to be a kid at Disney!!!
Next came the Royale Funfaire show on the stage at Cinderella Castle, which was neat because it included songs we listen to constantly at home!
Then came the ride of the day- Seven Dwarves Mine Train. It's a roller coaster, though not an insane one by any means. It's a very smooth ride, and definitely the most popular ride at the Magic Kingdom at the moment. The shortest wait time we saw during our stay was about 90 minutes, and the longest was over two hours. Insane! However, because I was able to make our Fast Pass reservations 60 days in advance due to staying on site, I was able to make it a Fast Pass -winning! Asher had been on the fence about going on it, though Hannah was excited (we watched You Tube videos of almost all the rides in the weeks leading up to our trip). Asher surprised me by saying "of course!" when we asked him if he wanted to ride. I gave my Magic Band to Annie so she could go, and I stayed with the baby. I kicked myself immediately after for not doing rider switch so I could take Hannah on a second time, but now I know for next time! I was SO proud of our kids and Grama and Papa for riding! Disney takes pics and a video on this ride, so here they are! I'm also putting Jayme's Go Pro video in, which was really awesome.
It was getting late in the day, and although we didn't want the fun to end, we had to be responsible and get headed back to Jax before it got too late. The line for Tomorrowland Speedway was pretty short, so we grabbed another rider switch card and Jayme stayed with the baby, and then the second time around Jayme and I took our big kids. It was a great way to end our experience.
Last ride of the day with my sweet birthday girl.
On the way out of the park I was again teary, from both sad and happy emotions. We had an amazing 2.5 days at Disney, and created some memories I will always remember and cherish. The Disney Bubble, as I call it, is a thing of beauty.
My trip was made complete when we happened upon a photographer who only had one person in their night time in front of the castle picture. It was perfection, and Hannah had the idea to do a big thumbs up for the pic. It was precious and awesome. We grabbed some popcorn on the way out to tide the kids over until we could get out of downtown Orlando. Then we hopped on the monorail and only had to go one stop to get back to the Contemporary Resort where we were parked.
"A day spent with you is my favorite day. So today is my new favorite day." -Winnie the Pooh
"When I look at you, I feel it. I look at you and I'm home." Finding Nemo
"You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always love you. That's where I'll be waiting." -Peter Pan
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