A Day at Disney World

Let me just start by saying thank you for all your comments on last week's post. In case no one has told you yet today... you are all awesome!

We woke as early as we possibly could, I surprised D with a brand new Mickey t-shirt. We were staying at the Marriott, they had a pretty decent complimentary breakfast and shuttle service to the Magic Kingdom. We opted to take our own car to the park instead. Here we are, the gate

We missed the opening ceremony by some minutes.. oh well maybe next time. We hurried down main street and to Cinderella's Castle.

We started the day in Adventureland. The Swiss Family Treehouse was temporarily closed so our first ride of the day was Aladdin's Flying Carpet, what better way to start the day? I loved that there were so many things H could ride on with us. Next up the Jungle Cruise, cute with a great guide, quirk, funny and so perfectly in character!

H decided to take a nap during the Pirates of the Caribbean, I secretly hoped Johnny Depp was going to step out and yell surprise! And then while enjoying some Dole Whips from Aloha Isle we made our way over to the Frontierland. Splash Mountain for closed for refurbishment and Big Thunder Mountain was having some technical difficulties :( Off to Liberty Square!

My parents opted out of the Haunted Mansion and waited outside with H while us with our usually afraid of most things D headed in.. to our excitement D was not scared at all.. :) Next was Peter Pan and It's a Small World this was the first line we encountered.. the benefit of going off season.. both were about 25 minutes long and more rides H could enjoy with us.. even though he continued to nap through most of them.

I am just in awe of how beautiful these rides are and can not imagine the amount of work that goes into creating every magical detail.. 

We used the rider swap option for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.. so while my parents waited in line.. the first long 95 minute wait we took D and H on Prince Charming's Carousel and Mickey's PhilharMagic.. once again no lines..and the show was great.. I was having more fun watching D trying to reach out and grab things than watching the show itself. 

The Seven Dwarf's Mine Train was the first ride that H could not ride.. I was initially a bit concerned thinking there would be so much H would not be able to do meaning we'd have to split up and wait.. but that was not the case at all. And this was officially D's first roller coaster.. he barely made it in at 39 inches tall. He held my hand and closed his eyes but he did great.. when the ride came to an end he asked 'that's it?'

While waiting in line for Winnie the Pooh we had our first character spotting.. I was surprised that we hadn't seen more wondering about.. we were not specifically looking for them nor had we planned on waiting in line for them but when D say Winnie he could hardly believe it.. he forgot all concept of line and waiting and rushed ahead.. jumping up and them.. I had to bring him back and explain to him that we had to wait and Winnie and Tiger were not going anywhere.. after 20 minutes we got our turn. H was less excited.

The Winnie the Pooh ride was also great.. what I loved most was the wait. Along the entire line they had set up interactive toys, games and attraction to entertain the kids.. brilliant.

We stopped for lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus and then made our way over to Fantasyland. Our one and only ride was The Barnstormer.. he decided the skip over Dumbo and the Mad Tea Party. A quick fun roller coaster..

In Tomorrowland we started with the Tomorrowland Speedway..

The little tuft of hair you see over the steering wheel is D. You wouldn't think it but driving these cars was not easy.. thank god each car was on it's own track else I would have been bumping into everything..

We were headed towards the Astro Orbiter when it started to rain.. D wasn't tall enough for Stitch's Great Escape so instead we headed to Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin, which is pretty much where everyone else also headed.. it was a 30 minute wait, by then the rain and stopped to and it was warm and sunny again.. This was a fun ride, it was all neon black light.. you had to shoot monsters plus your car spun too.. i am surprised H was allowed to sit on this thing.. 

After which we headed back to the Astro Orbiter. While we waited in line the dad from Incredibles showed up to start a dance party.. so D and I headed over. Now while D has not watched the Incredible he expected to meet him, get a hug something like that.. instead the dad just danced and while did acknowledge the bigger kids and adults D continued to go overlooked. I don't blame him.. he was doing his job and D is tiny.. but watching my boy running after him trying to get his attention.. i tried too.. I really didn't want to see him cry in Disney World of all places.. instead we made a pact to never watch any movies the red guy stars in..ever and we had back to the Astro Orbiter. Now this ride is kinda like Dumbo or Aladdin's Carpets.. except you take an elevator up two or three stories and then get on your two person rocket and soar even higher in the sky.. you get a glimpse of most of the park and it was awesome.. and H could ride too.. seriously Disney is so baby friendly it is unbelievable.

We skipped Space Mountain.. D would not have been able to ride and we didn't want to end the day like that.. plus it was a huge wait.. 

Instead we headed back towards Cinderella's Castle to scope out a good spot for the Electric Parade.. 

It was the perfect day.. the perfect first visit.. my only complain is tat we never saw Mickey.. maybe we should have spent a little more time on Main Street.. the last time I was in Disneyland.. over a decade ago I remember bumping into so many characters.. and this time around it was so much harder.. we spotted Buzz and the Evil Stepmother.. 

We ended the day with some dinner in Downtown Disney.. we ate at Paradiso 37.. not the greatest food but good.. way better than all the fast food we'd had over the last few days..

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