The Magic Kingdom, Day 2

We spent our last two days revisiting the Magic Kingdom. There is so much to see and do there. We probably could have spent the whole week visiting just this park and would not have been bored.

The most exciting part of the day was our lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table. It is very very difficult to get reservations for this character meal, yet Grandpa managed to get reservations for all 11 of us! On the way up to the dining area, we got to meet Cinderella. She looked beautiful and Danielle was awestruck. Tyler was a little bored by the whole princess thing, but I think it was a bit of an act. Once we made it to the table, the little girls were given magic wands, the boys swords, and both received wishing stars. After we ordered, the princesses made their debut. Each of the four princesses visited each table and spent time talking to each little girl (or her reluctant brother). To see pictures of Danielle with each of the princesses, visit my previous post. Here are some other pictures from our luncheon. (The food was good, too.)

Belle insisted we take her picture with our little Beast.

We did lots of other fun things, too.

We enjoyed the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway.

Danielle rode her first real roller coaster: The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm. During the ride she said “Mommy, I screamed like a little girl!” She decided she’s not ready for roller coasters yet. Tyler and Kotomi enjoyed it, though.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin was a lot of fun. Afterward, Danielle declared she had been a good space ranger and shot all the bad guys.

We also rode the Astro Orbiter. That one made me a little queasy.

While everyone else headed over to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, Danielle and I explored Minnie & Mickey’s houses.

Grandpa after the Pirates ride.

We all met back up to ride The Magic Carpets of Aladdin (which was very similar to Dumbo and the TriceraTop Spin).

Uncle Don, Ron, Tyler, & I rode the Haunted Mansion. Tyler was a lot braver in line than he was during the ride. (He wasn’t a fan of all the eyes!)

We stayed to watch the SpectroMagic light parade in the evening. As with all the parades, it was very well done and very enjoyable.

We managed to catch the fireworks on our way out of the park. It was another great day!

Next: Our last day at the Magic Kingdom

Arts & Crafts, and a New Princess Bed (or Bed for the Princess)

Tyler has been feeling very artsy lately. Earlier this week he had a great idea for a craft using empty girls scout cookie boxes and pipe cleaners. He was so excited and explained in great detail exactly how he could make a spider using the box. It was certainly not on the agenda for the day, but there was no way I could crush that enthusiasm! I pulled together all the supplies I could find and let them create. They both decided to make ants instead. They glued & taped felt onto the empty boxes so their ants would be fuzzy. They used pipe cleaners for legs and puff balls for noses. Tyler also used them for a mouth. Next he cut green squares of "grass" and glued them to his ant. They were both so proud.

A couple weeks ago Tyler asked if he could have an empty egg carton to make a caterpillar. We finally emptied one this week. Today they had fun painting and creating their caterpillars. Tomorrow they will add legs, antennae, and noses (of course!). Tyler really worked hard on his. Danielle worked on hers for awhile and then decided to paint her arms.

In other news, Danielle got her "princess" bed today. We've been looking for the perfect bed for several weeks. She is very opinionated (don't know where that comes from) and had a definite idea of what a princess bed should look like. Unfortunately, she can't separate the bedding from the bed. Finally, she and I found some bedding she liked & I ordered that. Ron and I picked out the bed for her and ordered it. Tonight it all came together. We're going to paint her room this weekend and still need to get some panels for the canopy. Once it's all done, I'll post more pictures. I think it will look really good. She was SO excited tonight! Hopefully she will sleep in it all night long!!!

Epcot

We enjoyed our time at Epcot, but it doesn't seem like I took that many pictures.

The first ride we headed to was the popular ride Soarin'. This ride simulates (quite well) flying over a canyon, some mountains, a city at night, a golf course, and many other places. It was so realistic that I had to look at my lap for most of the "flight" so I wouldn't get sick. The kids enjoyed it, though.

We rode Living with the Land. The kids liked the pumpkins with the mouse ears.


The kids enjoyed watching the jellyfish while we waited to watch Turtle Talk with Crush. (It was well worth the wait.)

We also rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends (more hype than ride) and Spaceship Earth (Danielle's favorite here).

Tyler's favorite ride here was the Test Track. He talked about that non-stop for quite awhile afterwards. If you want to get him to talk about vacation, ask about this ride.

After an afternoon of swimming, we came back to Epcot to watch the IllumiNations fireworks, lights, and laser show over the pond. Danielle didn't care for the loud fireworks, but everyone else enjoyed it. The kids especially enjoyed their outrageously expensive light toys. (This was the only souvenir that really caused Ron to grumble.)

Fortunately the kids fell asleep in the van as we left the park and didn't notice we took the scenic route home when someone made a wrong turn exiting the park.

Next: Another day at the Magic Kingdom & lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table

Animal Kingdom

Looking back at our day spent at the Animal Kingdom, it all seems to be a blur. I'll share some of the highlights I can remember, but I'm sure I'm leaving something out. (Above is the Tree of Life & a cutout showing the carvings on the trunk.)

Sometime early in the morning both kids managed to crawl into our bed. They looked so tired I couldn't help but take a picture. Notice they both have their clothes on from the day before!

The Plan suggested we ride the Kilimanjaro Safaris first before the line got too long. We followed the suggestion and didn't have much of a wait at all. It was interesting, but our zoo is so nice that the kids weren't as excited as they might have been.

We tried to watch the 3D movie It's Tough to be a Bug, but the girls were frightened by the giant spider at the beginning, so I hurried out with them. I guess it got even worse, culminating in plastic spiders falling from the ceiling while the seats vibrated as if bugs were crawling on you. (Ick!)There were lots of carvings around the exit area where we waited.

Danielle was a little leary of most of the shows after the bug one, so we also missed The Festival of the Lion King. I forced her to sit through Finding Nemo - the Musical, and we both enjoyed it.

There weren't many rides for the kids at this park either. Danielle really enjoyed the TriceraTop Spin. (I think we rode it 3 times.)

Tyler's favorite ride at this park was the Kali River Rapids, where Grandma graciously agreed to take one for the team and accompany him.

Tyler's absolute least favorite ride of HIS LIFE was the Dinosaur ride. He insisted on riding it. I hadn't reviewed it ahead of time (it wasn't on The Plan) but was pretty sure he'd be scared. Ultimately we let him choose. He was so scared he was crying when he got off. Ron and I are still hesitant to mention the word "dinosaur" to him.

We also enjoyed the play area and The Boneyard - a gravely area where you could uncover dinosaur fossils.

We ended the day with the parade. The kids had fun feeding the Ibis their popcorn while waiting for the parade route to reach us. Danielle still wasn't too sure about the characters.

Tyler rated this day somewhere between "the most horriblest day ever" and "the bestest day ever". I'll concur with that.

Next: Epcot Center