Florida Part IV: The Happiest Place on Earth

Monday morning we headed out for Disney World Magic Kingdom. We'd decided not to do multiple days and multiple parks like many people recommend, but an all-day-see-everything-in-the-Magic-Kingdom (and save the $$) extravaganza. Got up, got ready, caught the bus, and we were off. Walked in pretty close to opening time. Got sucked in to the first souvenir stand and had a little trauma there, but finally convinced the boys that there would be many choices and we shouldn't buy the first thing we see (they had done many chores over the previous weeks to earn money for a souvenir). That was almost the only difficult point of the whole day.

Here are the boys ready to go.
We headed to Tomorrowland first, at the advice of a friend who said to get to Buzz early. We walked right in and the boys (all 3 of them) loved it. You can't go wrong earning points with guns. :) Then we did the AstroOrbiter and the Speedway. The boys definitely loved driving "All by self."
We moved on to Winnie the Pooh, and then Dumbo. Dumbo was our longest wait of the day, and not too bad at that. We were very blessed to be there the week after Florida school's spring break, and before most other states'. The crowds were low and we used the FastPass very successfully for a few critical rides. In ToonTown, we had a near-meltdown trying to convince Mr. B to try Goofy's Barnstormer roller-coaster. But we made it, and I do have to point out that we returned later in the day (at his request/demand) for 2 more rides. Went through Mickey's house, but bypassed the 2-hour wait to meet Mickey (we did return later to a much shorter line). Went on to the Peter Pan ride, followed by It's a Small World, and the CountryBear Jamboree (kinda weird in my opinion, but a nice rest inside). We finished up with an intense but fun ride (more glares at R for exposing the boys to scary things which turned out to be okay) on Pirates before heading to the first parade.

The parades were a great highlight of the experience. The music was really fun, and so much energy for being in those hot costumes!

The we fulfilled my craving for real Ice Cream (not softserve or lowfat!):

Saw the Swiss Family Robinson house, did the Jungle Cruise, rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets, and saw the show in the Tiki Room (again, weird). Went back and did Buzz again, and saw the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor show (so, so funny!!). Grabbed some dinner and kept on going.

The boys loved the DisneyWorld Railroad--waiting for it,

riding it,

and saying Choo-Choo as only D-man can ( I just love his pucker lips).

Luckily for us (less time waiting in lines) the boys were not interested in meeting the characters in person. They were content to look from a distance:

Pooh and Tigger

Woody and Jessie (isn't Mr. B's face hilarious?)

and finally, Mickey and Minnie (we did make them get up close, and Mr. B half-allowed them to do elbow rocks with him. This is as good as it gets, I suppose. They aren't crying; we'll worry about looking and smiling another time!).


The night parade was awesome; Mr. B liked seeing Cinderella again--his not-so-secret crush. When we checked that movie out at the library, he would put on nice clothes and his dress socks and Sunday shoes to watch it, so he could look nice for her at the Ball. He also made friends with the little boy standing by him--who kept asking his dad if they could meet later and play, but I think they lived in Jersey. In the excitement of being outside at night (our boys go to bed early and rarely see dark) we splurged and bought them a glow-toy: Mr B a lighted Mickey expandable sword/light sabre, and D-man a Buzz Lightyear with lights that spin. A big hit (still are).

We hit up the souvenir shop on Main Street for their official souvenirs between the parade and the fireworks, and Mr. B picked an awesome little art kit (I'm jealous). D-man chose a Mickey cup and a set of markers and coloring papers. We were quite happy to not pay exorbitant amounts of money for cheapo toys, but have something they could use for more than one day.
Poor D-man couldn't make it through the fireworks, although he gave it an honest effort. Although he was heavy, it was nice to snuggle for a bit--all the way to the exit, to the train, waiting for the bus, on the bus, in the car, and into his bed. :)
I will say that doing Disney World with toddlers and without a stroller is a great muscle-defining choice! Both boys did quite well with all that walking, and we were glad for the freedom of avoiding "stroller parking areas."

We saw everything we wanted to, and still had time for more. I don't know what people do who go 5 days in a row!? Everyone had a good day, and we will remember it for a long time!

Here is a clip from the marching band that we saw on Main Street. I just love me a little patriotic music!