We were all looking forward to visiting the Magic Kingdom again because, as Chase says, it’s “classic”. It’s just a great place to experience all the magic that Disney has to offer and for that it’s one of our fave parks at Disneyworld.
I came this morning with a plan of attack and, as usual, it went awry. That’s okay though, we had fun and accomplished all that we had planned and then some. We got to the park after rope drop, having just barely missed it because we got out of our room late and the buses weren’t running very quickly either. No worries though, as that didn’t really affect our plan much for today.
Our first stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, where we quickly walked right on the ride. It would end up being our final ride on Big Thunder Mountain this trip.
Then it was over to Splash for another walk-on ride. I snapped photos along the ride this time.
I really wanted some pictures going down the falls and braced myself to take them. I got this one just as we're getting to the top of the big drop. 
As soon as we crested the hill I started shooting but about halfway down I chickened out and stuffed my camera under my shirt. I didn’t want it soaked! I love this camera! The pictures I did take came out pretty good though. (They are in sequence on our way down)
And here's the kids at the bottom of the hill, happy and wet.
Thankfully today was fairly warm as I walked away from the ride with a totally soaked backside. Didn’t look so good, but it dried up rather quickly. We grabbed some Splash fastpasses for later in the day, when it would be hot and we would be looking forward to getting wet, then made our way to Pirates. Pirates was also a walk-on. I love arriving to the park early because getting in lots of good rides is a breeze!We had been collecting coupons from the bottom of our food receipts that entitled us to 20% off in the big shops as long as we shopped before noon, so we decided to head the Emporium for some shopping. Tristan got a watch, we picked up the last of the kids pins for their pin boards and I purchased 2 more Mickey head ornaments for the display stand I purchased. Gotta love the 20% off, especially when using the merchandise credit that we purchased at 30% off the face value. Double discount. YEAH!
At this point Carissa makes it clear that she is STARVING. On this trip I have learned that she is usually either starving or in need of the bathroom… sometimes both! And you don’t want a hungry Carissa walking around… it’s not pretty! LOL. So we take a quick detour to Main Street Bakery where we get one of their big cinnamon rolls for the kids to share.
I didn’t find all the ornaments I wanted so I head towards Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe in Liberty Square while Brian sat with the kids and waited for them to finish. I searched and searched the Christmas shop for this beautiful orange ornament that I’d seen in another shop. Just when I thought I wouldn’t find it, I finally did, clear in the last corner of the shop that I looked at. Whew! I purchased that as our fall ornament and a silver Mickey head that sort of reminded me of a birds nest for our spring ornament. I now had an ornament for each season so I can be reminded of Disneyworld all year long.
(L to R: Summer, Spring, Fall, Winter)
Brian and the kids caught up with me and since we were so close we decided to head to the Hall of Presidents.
We only had about a 7 minute wait until the show so we sat down and relaxed for a few. We hadn’t seen this attraction at all in our previous trips as a family. We always passed because we thought the kids were too little or that it would be boring. Well this proved us all wrong! This show was amazing! It really touched both Brian and myself. It made me feel more proud of my country, more understanding of where we came from and the people who helped us get here, more thankful for those people that helped us become the nation we are. It was just amazing. Brian was impressed with it also. In fact, everyone liked it apart from Tristan who thought it was “boring”.We walked towards the castle next but quickly realized that the stage show was going on so took a hard left and walked around the castle to Fantasyland. Since there was only a 5 minute wait we jumped on Snow White’s Scary Adventure, which was neither scary nor an adventure. *snore*
We did take a sidetrack to the Tinkerbelle's Treasures shop, where Carissa got to see another little girl "wake up" Tink. Carissa was in awe. A cast member then sprinkled that girl and Carissa with pixie dust. Days latter we found bits of pixie dust still in her hair and marveled at the magic of it all.
At this point we were headed toward Tommorrowland and saw that the speedway had only a 10 minute wait posted. This is not a favorite ride for Brian or myself because we inevitably end up riding with one of the kids who drives us back and forth from one side to another, banging on the sides of the track they are on and nearly giving us whiplash. This year was no exception - the kids still drive as badly as ever. But they really wanted to ride so I’m glad we got this done. And Chase, being the oldest and thus closest to getting an actual license (2 ½ years… save me!) got to drive his own car. He thought he was the king. LOL
I rode with Tristan... it was pretty dicey there but I think most of it was on purpose!
Brian rode with his little princess, who needs some more lessons before she gets a carriage of her own.
We only had about 20 minutes before our lunch reservation at the Plaza so we headed over a bit early hoping to get in earlier. We did end up waiting about 15 minutes for a table, but that was really the longest wait for dining we had this trip. Not too shabby. While waiting Chase and I snuck over to the castle to get a picture of him with the Walt and Mickey "Partners" statue.
Plus we got to watch a bit of the “Celebrate” parade as it passed down Main Street. Carissa stood there and waved at every single character on the floats, yelling out their names like they were her best friends. “Donald! Donald!” *wave, wave, wave*, “Goofy! Goofy!” *wave, wave, wave*. It was so adorable! 
Lunch at the Plaza was pretty good. I had the steak & cheese sandwich which was delicious. Brian stuck with his chicken sandwich and the kids all opted for grilled cheese this time. The real reason to come to the Plaza is not just the good food and quick service. It’s because it’s attached to the ice cream shop and you have such yummy choices for your dessert treats. The boys and I each had the brownie sundae – 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, 2 fudgy brownies with chocolate pieces in them, hot fudge, whip cream and a cherry. Yes, I posted this photo before but it’s so delicious that it deserves a second look. YUMMY!
Brian enjoyed a thick chocolate milkshake while Carissa had a Mickeylodeon, chocolate ice cream in a cup with chocolate pieces for ears and a cone on it’s head. We all thoroughly enjoyed both of the meals we ate at the Plaza and will definitely eat there again if we get to come back to WDW.
Oh, and there were a rousing 6 rounds of Happy Birthday sang this time. What’s with people coming to The Plaza for their birthday? It’s a tiny restaurant and nearly half the tables got sung to! It must be the free birthday cupcakes. They did look scrumptious.
Full and happy, we headed back to Tomorrowland for Stitch’s Great Escape, which Tristan says is his favorite attraction. It’s only his favorite because it has Stitch and not because it’s so exciting, but regardless we all decided to watch it again for him. This was my first time in the attraction and I thought it was okay but not one I need to do again.
Next up was Monsters, Inc. Laugh floor. The kids, especially Carissa, were really into it and took part in everything, laughing loudly. Unfortunately, we hit exactly the same show as we had the last time we were there, same characters, same jokes. Usually they mix it up a bit but maybe we were just unlucky enough that we hit the same one twice. We were lucky because, yet again, the kids were picked to be on screen and talked to about their fashion sense. They were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. They all said that they didn’t know so Marty said “I know what you’ll be! Grown ups!!!” It was cute and nice that the kids got to be on screen again. Wearing Mickey ears and sitting in the row behind the desk lamps seems to work for us. We’re 2 for 2 this trip.
Now it was time to use some Space Mountain fastpasses Brian had grabbed for us earlier (when I was escorting Carissa, yet again, to the restroom). It was nice to bypass the stand-by line but we ended up riding the right side again, while Brian prefers the left side. Oh well. Space Mountain is pretty darned good either way.
We had also grabbed fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and used those.
Unfortunately I got a faulty gun (no, really I did! I’m usually decent at these games – not great but decent) so Brian kicked my rear end something fierce.
We decided to head back to Main Street because Tristan was dying to go look at more watches. We realized before he wore it that the watch he’d previously bought was not waterproof. There is no way my kid is going to remember to take his watch off each time he washed his hands, so we decided to exchange it. It took a while for him to decide which of the water resistant watches he wanted but we finally got it taken care of. And I must admit that it’s pretty nifty looking. If he leaves it lying around the house I may have to confiscate it for myself. ;)
Next up was a train ride from Main Street to Frontierland. We did have to make a few stops along the way for Fastpass pictures. We took quite a few of those today and I was thankful that my family was tolerant of my need for massive quantities of pictures.
It was 4:30pm and pretty warm so we used our fastpasses for Splash. I almost felt guilty walking by all those people waiting in the 30 minute standby line… almost guilty but not quite. The fastpass line led us right through to the front and on the next boat. Wow! We got in the back of a boat and we got wetter than any of the other trips, but it didn’t bother us too much since we knew we’d dry off fairly quickly.
A funny little tidbit to add: while walking the Splash queue Carissa looked at me and said “I don’t know why, but I think I’m Donald’s favorite!” Awwwwwww! She hugged him in Animal Kingdom our 2nd day, hugged him again and again when we saw him at Chef Mickey’s last night and then she waved to him and called out his name when she saw him on the Celebrate float today.
We headed over to Pirates again but this time for some shopping. Chase had finally decided that he wanted a Pirates hoodie as a souvenir and Brian found a Nightmare Before Christmas jersey that he purchased. With those goodies out of the way we decided to head towards Main Street to find a spot for the castle lighting, Spectromagic and then Wishes.
At this point we were headed toward Tommorrowland and saw that the speedway had only a 10 minute wait posted. This is not a favorite ride for Brian or myself because we inevitably end up riding with one of the kids who drives us back and forth from one side to another, banging on the sides of the track they are on and nearly giving us whiplash. This year was no exception - the kids still drive as badly as ever. But they really wanted to ride so I’m glad we got this done. And Chase, being the oldest and thus closest to getting an actual license (2 ½ years… save me!) got to drive his own car. He thought he was the king. LOL
I rode with Tristan... it was pretty dicey there but I think most of it was on purpose!
Brian rode with his little princess, who needs some more lessons before she gets a carriage of her own.
We only had about 20 minutes before our lunch reservation at the Plaza so we headed over a bit early hoping to get in earlier. We did end up waiting about 15 minutes for a table, but that was really the longest wait for dining we had this trip. Not too shabby. While waiting Chase and I snuck over to the castle to get a picture of him with the Walt and Mickey "Partners" statue.Plus we got to watch a bit of the “Celebrate” parade as it passed down Main Street. Carissa stood there and waved at every single character on the floats, yelling out their names like they were her best friends. “Donald! Donald!” *wave, wave, wave*, “Goofy! Goofy!” *wave, wave, wave*. It was so adorable! Lunch at the Plaza was pretty good. I had the steak & cheese sandwich which was delicious. Brian stuck with his chicken sandwich and the kids all opted for grilled cheese this time. The real reason to come to the Plaza is not just the good food and quick service. It’s because it’s attached to the ice cream shop and you have such yummy choices for your dessert treats. The boys and I each had the brownie sundae – 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, 2 fudgy brownies with chocolate pieces in them, hot fudge, whip cream and a cherry. Yes, I posted this photo before but it’s so delicious that it deserves a second look. YUMMY!Brian enjoyed a thick chocolate milkshake while Carissa had a Mickeylodeon, chocolate ice cream in a cup with chocolate pieces for ears and a cone on it’s head. We all thoroughly enjoyed both of the meals we ate at the Plaza and will definitely eat there again if we get to come back to WDW.Oh, and there were a rousing 6 rounds of Happy Birthday sang this time. What’s with people coming to The Plaza for their birthday? It’s a tiny restaurant and nearly half the tables got sung to! It must be the free birthday cupcakes. They did look scrumptious.
Full and happy, we headed back to Tomorrowland for Stitch’s Great Escape, which Tristan says is his favorite attraction. It’s only his favorite because it has Stitch and not because it’s so exciting, but regardless we all decided to watch it again for him. This was my first time in the attraction and I thought it was okay but not one I need to do again.
Next up was Monsters, Inc. Laugh floor. The kids, especially Carissa, were really into it and took part in everything, laughing loudly. Unfortunately, we hit exactly the same show as we had the last time we were there, same characters, same jokes. Usually they mix it up a bit but maybe we were just unlucky enough that we hit the same one twice. We were lucky because, yet again, the kids were picked to be on screen and talked to about their fashion sense. They were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. They all said that they didn’t know so Marty said “I know what you’ll be! Grown ups!!!” It was cute and nice that the kids got to be on screen again. Wearing Mickey ears and sitting in the row behind the desk lamps seems to work for us. We’re 2 for 2 this trip.
Now it was time to use some Space Mountain fastpasses Brian had grabbed for us earlier (when I was escorting Carissa, yet again, to the restroom). It was nice to bypass the stand-by line but we ended up riding the right side again, while Brian prefers the left side. Oh well. Space Mountain is pretty darned good either way.
We had also grabbed fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and used those.
Unfortunately I got a faulty gun (no, really I did! I’m usually decent at these games – not great but decent) so Brian kicked my rear end something fierce.We decided to head back to Main Street because Tristan was dying to go look at more watches. We realized before he wore it that the watch he’d previously bought was not waterproof. There is no way my kid is going to remember to take his watch off each time he washed his hands, so we decided to exchange it. It took a while for him to decide which of the water resistant watches he wanted but we finally got it taken care of. And I must admit that it’s pretty nifty looking. If he leaves it lying around the house I may have to confiscate it for myself. ;)
Next up was a train ride from Main Street to Frontierland. We did have to make a few stops along the way for Fastpass pictures. We took quite a few of those today and I was thankful that my family was tolerant of my need for massive quantities of pictures.
It was 4:30pm and pretty warm so we used our fastpasses for Splash. I almost felt guilty walking by all those people waiting in the 30 minute standby line… almost guilty but not quite. The fastpass line led us right through to the front and on the next boat. Wow! We got in the back of a boat and we got wetter than any of the other trips, but it didn’t bother us too much since we knew we’d dry off fairly quickly.A funny little tidbit to add: while walking the Splash queue Carissa looked at me and said “I don’t know why, but I think I’m Donald’s favorite!” Awwwwwww! She hugged him in Animal Kingdom our 2nd day, hugged him again and again when we saw him at Chef Mickey’s last night and then she waved to him and called out his name when she saw him on the Celebrate float today.
We headed over to Pirates again but this time for some shopping. Chase had finally decided that he wanted a Pirates hoodie as a souvenir and Brian found a Nightmare Before Christmas jersey that he purchased. With those goodies out of the way we decided to head towards Main Street to find a spot for the castle lighting, Spectromagic and then Wishes.
We flitted around Adventureland for a bit and the kids got a little wet while playing with the spraying totem poles.
Then we hopped into the Tiki room for a little entertainment from our feathered friends. The kids liked singing along but none of us were too impressed.
Still walking towards the parade route, we saw Lilo & Stitch and just had to stop. We didn’t have a picture with Stitch yet this trip and the line was short so we went for it. Tristan got to go see him first, all by his lonesome, before I let the other 2 go. That was nice for him.
Now we were in a hustle to get to Main Street. The “Celebrate” parade was out so the streets were pretty packed. Once again, we got the see the parade pass by and hear the music. We fully expected people to move on and make room once the parade passed, yet that didn't happen. That’s when I realized that these people were already in line at 5:45 for the 7:00 Spectro. Sheesh! We were lucky to get 2nd row spots right off the hub. We laid out some ponchos to sit on and just waited.
Then we hopped into the Tiki room for a little entertainment from our feathered friends. The kids liked singing along but none of us were too impressed.Still walking towards the parade route, we saw Lilo & Stitch and just had to stop. We didn’t have a picture with Stitch yet this trip and the line was short so we went for it. Tristan got to go see him first, all by his lonesome, before I let the other 2 go. That was nice for him.
Now we were in a hustle to get to Main Street. The “Celebrate” parade was out so the streets were pretty packed. Once again, we got the see the parade pass by and hear the music. We fully expected people to move on and make room once the parade passed, yet that didn't happen. That’s when I realized that these people were already in line at 5:45 for the 7:00 Spectro. Sheesh! We were lucky to get 2nd row spots right off the hub. We laid out some ponchos to sit on and just waited. The castle lighting was at 6:15pm and it was pretty darned awesome. The fairy godmother arrived and asked Cinderella how she wanted her castle decorated for Christmas. Cinderella replied that she wanted it to shine like her glass slipper. In true Disney fashion, the fairy godmother made her wish come true. Pieces of the castle lit up one at a time and finally it was all lit up. It was beautiful! Carissa was just in awe and so into what was going on up there. It was adorable!
After the lighting we got a quick picture from a photopass photographer 
and Tristan and I took off to get food. After eating we relaxed and waited for Spectromagic to begin.
After the lighting we got a quick picture from a photopass photographer and Tristan and I took off to get food. After eating we relaxed and waited for Spectromagic to begin.Spectro was next and we all stood up when it started. The floats are beautiful and amazing and it’s nice to see so many characters. Carissa stood and yelled to all the characters again, hoping to catch their attention. “Cinderella” she’d yell and then wave and wave and wave. “Minnie!” she’d say and wave and wave some more. She was so entirely into connecting with the characters this trip, especially when she saw them out and about.
After the parade some people did move on and we tried to gather ourselves up a bit more to be prepared for Wishes. Just before the show they let us out onto the street and we found a great place to stand in the middle of the street looking straight on to the castle, halfway between the hub and where Main Street begins. It was a pretty perfect viewing spot.
When the music started Carissa and I put our heads together and sang…
“Star light, star bright
first star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
have the wish, I wish tonight
We'll make a wish, and do as dreamers do
and all our wishes...will come true.”
I got choked up right then. It was such a perfect moment. Standing in my favorite place, with my favorite people, watching my favorite show and just loving every single thing about this moment. Brian said “already!” because he just knew I’d be crying at some point tonight, he just thought it would take me a bit longer. I did however make it through Wishes without tearing up any more, though I did get choked up a couple of times. That one moment is the moment I will remember most about this trip – standing there with my family, arms around them singing the little song, listening to the music and watching the awesome fireworks. I can’t tell you how deeply engrained into my soul that moment is. I will remember it forever.
When Wishes was over we followed the hoardes out the park gate. Once outside Brian had everyone come over and we all just stood there and had a huge family hug. One of the kids said “thank you for bringing us here” and I started crying again. So Brian had the kids hug me again so I didn’t cry and that caused me to cry more. I’m crying now just typing this.
As always, Wishes is a fitting end to our vacation. Tristan has put away his video recorder because he wants Wishes to be the last thing on it. The kids have packed the pin necklaces that they have carried the whole trip. It really and truly is coming to an end.
We do have ½ a day tomorrow so will be making the most of that but will have to leave at lunch to make our way back to the resort and on a bus to freezing cold Oregon. *sigh* Do I have to go back??? Or can I stay in this magical place forever?
When the music started Carissa and I put our heads together and sang…
“Star light, star bright
first star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
have the wish, I wish tonight
We'll make a wish, and do as dreamers do
and all our wishes...will come true.”
I got choked up right then. It was such a perfect moment. Standing in my favorite place, with my favorite people, watching my favorite show and just loving every single thing about this moment. Brian said “already!” because he just knew I’d be crying at some point tonight, he just thought it would take me a bit longer. I did however make it through Wishes without tearing up any more, though I did get choked up a couple of times. That one moment is the moment I will remember most about this trip – standing there with my family, arms around them singing the little song, listening to the music and watching the awesome fireworks. I can’t tell you how deeply engrained into my soul that moment is. I will remember it forever.
When Wishes was over we followed the hoardes out the park gate. Once outside Brian had everyone come over and we all just stood there and had a huge family hug. One of the kids said “thank you for bringing us here” and I started crying again. So Brian had the kids hug me again so I didn’t cry and that caused me to cry more. I’m crying now just typing this.As always, Wishes is a fitting end to our vacation. Tristan has put away his video recorder because he wants Wishes to be the last thing on it. The kids have packed the pin necklaces that they have carried the whole trip. It really and truly is coming to an end.
We do have ½ a day tomorrow so will be making the most of that but will have to leave at lunch to make our way back to the resort and on a bus to freezing cold Oregon. *sigh* Do I have to go back??? Or can I stay in this magical place forever?
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