It's time to begin our magical day at the Magic Kingdom! We drove over from our resort, took the ferry across the lake, and entered the gates. This is Kate's 3rd trip to the Magic Kingdom and Gabe's 2nd, but in many ways this was like their first. Kate had just turned 3 years old and Gabe had just turned 1 the last time they were here, so they really have no memory of our last visit. They were both really excited, but I think a little overwhelmed at first too. But, with perfect weather and a very small crowd, we had no doubt that today would be wonderful...and it was!
We decided to first head around the back of the castle for some of the more classic rides while we planned out our day. We are coming back again on Wednesday, but we wanted to be smart about shows, characters, parades, and rides so as to do as much as possible!
The first thing we noticed....hardly any lines! Yes, it's gonna be a good day!
We were able to jump right on the carousel!
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The kids had never heard of "The sword in the stone" but they thought it was still pretty cool.
I think we might have to go rent that movie for them when we get home!
Next stop....Dumbo!
I am pretty certain that this ended up being our longest wait time today at about 25 minutes. But, it wouldn't be a trip to the Magic Kingdom without a ride on this famous flying elephant!
In the picture on the left below, Kate decided to help us take turns holding Gabe who insisted that he was too tired to walk. He is lucky to have such an awesome big sister! :)
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It's our turn to FLY!!!
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Kate got to choose the next ride...Snow White.
Well, Gabe was fine with that decision...until the ride started! Then, he wanted OUT!
My poor little boy....he ended up discovering that Disney is filled with scary rides!
We rode a few rides, scheduled out our day, and eventually made it over to meet Mickey & Minnie! Kate acted "too old" for Mickey & Minnie while we waited in line, but she was excited too once we got in the room with them. And Gabe, he was VERY excited, but he didn't understand why they wouldn't talk to him! :)
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Mickey & Minnie
2010
We decided to see most of the shows today so that we could mostly just focus on the rides on Wednesday.
Below is my own little princess in front of Cinderella's most amazing castle!
The kids both loved this first show about Wishes. It was pretty cute and had all of their favorite characters...including their current favorites, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, Wendy, & Captain Hook!
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After the show we picked out our spot for the parade!
Kate was so happy during the parade! All of the princess and several other characters waved and said, "Hi Kate!" She couldn't believe they knew her! Of course, her name was on her shirt, but I didn't mention that to Kate! I would rather her believe in Disney Magic and Dreams for as long as possible! Disney sure knows how to make a kid (and parents!) smile!
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Kate hit a milestone. At 40 inches tall....she can ride her first Disney rollar coaster!!!!
I was so excited to take her on Thunder Mountain! And even more excited that she LOVED it!
She ended up riding several more times during our trip!
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The River Boat Cruise
Gabe has been talking about these cars all day! But, it was my turn to ride with Kate...who acted like she didn't want to drive these cars meant for boys...but loved every second of it!
She took me on a ride wilder than the old Disney ride "Mr Toad's Wild Ride!"
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I tried to get a picture of Jon & Gabe, but Gabe was too busy watching the cars go by to look at me.
But as you can see, he was a VERY happy boy!
After the race cars we walked back across the park to take Kate on Splash Mountain for the first time. And while we traveled, the kids both crashed and were able to squeeze in a short nap in their strollers.
Once we arrived at Splash Mountain we had to wake up Kate because it was our time for the "fast pass." I'm always a little nervous to wake her up because unlike Gabe, she does not always wake up in the best mood. But, being at Disney, she woke up excited to ride Splash Mountain and insisted she had only been resting her eyes a bit....not asleep!
Kate & I rode first while Gabe continued to sleep and Jon got more fast passes.
Well, just our luck, we got the front seat! I expected that we would get splashed, but what I didn't expect was to get DRENCHED! Coming around a turn, another boat was coming down the big fall and when they landed at the bottom, a tsunami splashed up and crashed down right on top of Kate & me. Thanks goodness I had seen that happen to the boat in front of us because I had brought my camera along to capture Kate's first trip on Splash Mountain.
I also brought along an umbrella so I was able to protect it...just not me!
Kate loved this ride too and rode several more times with her daddy. He of course never got the front row and only got a little wet! I decided to sit this one out for the rest of our trip!
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Our day is almost over, but we still have the Electrical Parade! We lined up early to get a good spot for the kids, then Jon and I took turns running off to ride Space Mountain. I went first and when I got back found out that I missed Jon almost getting into a fight with someone! Crazy! We were lined up...with many others...at a walkway point that was intended to be blocked during the parade. Disney had roped off other areas nearby for people to still cross the street until the parade began. Well, apparently one family wanted everyone to move for them and they had no intentions of walking to the roped off path about 50 feet from where we were. Jon refused to move both strollers so that this guy and his family could get through with their own stroller. I was told by a lady next to us that Jon was very nice, but firm. The grandmother got up near Jon's face to yell at him and the dad asked Jon, "What are you going to do about it!" Thankfully, a fight did not occur and all was calm by the time I returned from Space Mountain!
I am also glad that Jon handled it so well....and that I didn't have to be there to see it!
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On a much lighter note, while Jon was away, he missed this amazing street artist.
Only at Disney will you find a guy painting Mickey using only a broom and water.
It was incredible to watch him work!
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Finally....time for the parade!!!
We ended our night watching fireworks and Tinkerbell's flight from the castle.
Unfortunately, Kate could see the string she was attached to and knew she wasn't really flying, but it was still a great show! Gabe didn't like the witch on the storyline playing with the fireworks, but he was glad that the good guys won in the end....he was really just tired of all the scary stuff! Overall, aside from Jon's almost fight, it was a perfect Disney day!
We have definitely discovered our favorite time of year to visit the Magic Kingdom!
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The kids were sleepy but still smiling as we hoped on the monorail to head home!
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