Thursday May 8th &Friday the 9th at Magic Kingdom
We actually went to Magic Kingdom 2 days in a row. The second day we took a break in the middle of the day and went home to have a quick rest and early supper. This worked out wonderfully and then they were open until 1 am? so we stayed until the last possible moment.
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| Lots of flavors of CHEX gluten free cereal in the US ~ happy Kate! |
Grocery shopping in another country is always fun for us ... lots of cereal options and many flavors of Chex (which is Gluten Free)!
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| From Simba Parking Lot to the Monorail |
Drove to the Simba area of the parking lot (they have people guiding you into the lots). Walked to the shuttle and hopped on to get to the monorail. All five of us could fit in one row. Other times we split up. It's a short ride and sometimes we did choose to walk, but saving your feet some wear and tear today was important. Jo's feet have worn spots on the bottoms and Kate has blisters.
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| What a difference 15 minutes makes... go that bit earlier to avoid this! |
Space Mountain was closed when we got to it first thing, so we actually went to the "speed way" first. Wonder how much longer they can keep this part going with all the environmental concerns of fuel?
They have the cars on a track so that you can't go very fast nor go out of your track...it's a little hard to stay straight without hitting the sides of your track. We probably wouldn't do this again, although young ones seemed to having a hoot on it.
The train will take you around a large area of the park and you can get off somewhere else...it's a great time to relax and catch up on some sleep!
Next we went to "Adventure Land" to the Jungle Cruise. You get to ride a little boat and have a guide tell you all sorts of nonsensical things.
This ride was super corny and full of "Dad jokes" ~ thought so much of Papa and others who would have enjoyed the tour guides silly talk.
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| Dairy free Dole Whip |
Awww ~ the infamous DOLE WHIP! Gregg had great memories of this treat from 20+ years ago and we were told many times to "have the Dole whip!"
The second day we actually shared 2 dole whip (just ask for extra spoons or dish) and walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse while we ate it. Great views from up there too!
You can order the vanilla (dairy) dole whip or a float as well. Pineapple juice and ice and such cool sweetness. This will be a must each day! One day we shared a float with two people and it was just right.
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Watching Captain Jack Sparrow interact with the audience in an outdoor play.
The security guard said he times his rounds to watch this one actor ... hard time telling that it wasn't Johnny Depp. |
After every ride there is a gift shop, so be forewarned. You'll be tempted to try on items and goofiness will be the new way of life. It's nice to have children who aren't asking to buy each trinket as well. We saw a few strollers that were so full of gift shop items that there wasn't room for the child anymore! ha ha.
The Magic Kingdom is the busiest and biggest so that we had thought we'd spend 3 days here, 1 at Animal Kingdom, 1 at Hollywood Studios and 1 at Epcot.
Unfortunately, we still didn't even get to every attraction at Disney World. Some of this was disappointing, but others we did choose not to go to due to age of the girls or just our interests. There's always next time right?
Getting some protein in before we go "under the sea"...
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| Kiss de girl |
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| Comforting Mom ~ she saw Ursula ! yikes... just as scary when she first saw it. |
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| No one spits like Gaston... great place to get a pork hock or a giant turkey leg! |
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| The carousel |
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Line up for Elsa and Anna...they may go up to 80 minutes and then they
just don't bother posting how incredibly long the wait is. |
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| It's a Small, Small, World! |
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| "If I only had my grabbers, I'd be rich!" |
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| Thinking of Grandma as we road this little ride |
Always lots to see and do outside of the attractions... this is Winnie the Pooh's ride and how our little nephews and nieces would have enjoyed this!
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| The honey wipe board was a favorite to draw in and wipe off to reveal the pictures behind |
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We got to carry the minute marker once.
This is how they keep up-to-date on how long the wait times are to get through the line ups. |
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| We're in a honey pot! |
The rest of the family went on Thunder Mountain while Jo wandered around... discovered they were doing a stage play at the main castle! The princes/princesses dance, and there's stories being acted out with Donald, Mickey, Peter Pan, etc. Very fun!
Keep an eye out because something is happening when/where you least expect it.
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| There's always fireworks at Disney! |
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| Sweet 16 belated birthday present! |
When Kate was around 3 years old she saw a photo of a girl at Disney holding a balloon similar to this. She thought how wonderful it would be to have one!
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| Kate and Balloony |
For the rest of the trip we could hear Kate saying "oh, it's okay ~ I have a balloon!" if she couldn't have some food we were eating, or if we had to wait in line, etc etc.
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| Vendors selling the famous Mickey Ears Ice cream treat! |
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Yummy snack by the convenient garbage cans.
Throughout our visits, we noticed we often were eating by the garbage cans...not so busy there? |
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| Enjoying every bite ~ rich dark chocolate and thick, creamy ice cream for $4 |
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| Reliving a child hood memory of Mickey Ears Ice Cream treats |
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| Ruth and Erika at Disney |
One complaint... it is hard to take photos when you're busy just having fun and making memories to treasure in your mind for years to come. We took the girls to many rides that Gregg remembers from when he was 16 years old and just enjoyed it!
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| It's important to stretch |
The Laugh Floor with Monsters Inc. was actually surprisingly fun ~ we even went again! They include the crowd and it is very enjoyable...and you get to sit!
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| Space Mountain craziness |
"It was super scary! Can we go again.. can we? Can we ?!"
In the space area, you can cool down under a space ship
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| A date on the People Mover while the girls went on Space Mountain ride ... again! |
Dance party with the Incredibles!
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| Peter Pan ride ~ float out the window and over the city! |
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| Mosiac tiles inside the tunnel walk way of the main castle. |
We did get to talk to one employee about what is in the castle. Sure, they do shows on the stage, but what else? There is a restaurant, but be prepared to book 6 months in advance. What else? A special suite for special guests ~ Make a Wish kids or just wealthy people like Lady Ga Ga...book 1 year in advance for that suite. Most employees have never even seen it, and I wouldn't be able to tell you what that would cost!
Still a beautiful 29C outside and it's dark and the park is closing around midnight...off to the monorail and to bed!
We had a nice conversation with a retired gentleman who works the monorail. He was on his way home as well and said he works 1 day a week and loves interacting with the people. He had been a teacher, then an administrator and is now retired. We found many of the employees to be at the retirement age.
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| Quiet exit |
The 2nd day we went back to our townhouse for some corned beef and sauerkraut and rice for supper and a quick rest. When we drove back and parked, it was super fast to get into the park. A nice perk for staying near by.
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| Fireworks near the closing time. |
Something came over us while we watched the fireworks and some of us got a little misty eyed. Feeling so blessed and privileged to even have these moments together as a family. All 5 of us enjoying each others presence... lots of giggles and screams and lots of love.
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| Splash Mountain with Uncle |
We think we rode Splash Mountain six times these two days ~ the girls like the story of Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby and Brer Fox and the Brer Patch. The little dip at the Laughing Pool makes your tummy do a little flip and then the 50 foot drop ends with a splash at the bottom!
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| Splash Mountain with Erika |
Oh oh... why is the ride stopping?!??!
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| Stuck on Splash Mountain, just before the 50 foot drop! |
Missing the parade as we're stuck on the ride, waiting for employees to come to the other side to let us off the ride. Every one else is off except us and one other boat.
The wonderful bonus about being stuck on the Splash Mountain ride. The tourist behind us got quite worked up over the whole thing. We were disappointed as well, but were told by employees that we'd get something free at the end. The free thing was an extra Fast Pass to any ride. Not quite what we were thinking.
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| Missing the parade ... may as well get some shut eye. |
When we were finally let off the ride, they pinched Mei's arm in the release bar. Then Ruth caught herself as she nearly face planted going down the emergency exit steps at the back.
Gregg decided to go to customer service and see what they would say. While the other tourist was raising his voice and getting quite irate, Gregg stayed calm and mentioned our experience. The girls had also had one bad experience on Thunder Mountain that day with other patrons swearing and trying to get our girls to talk to them on the ride. This was the only time we had let them go by themselves and this was the only time in all our Disney days that this happened. Long story short...calm talking and gently laying out what had happened and that we had missed the parade on our last day there... they gave us a 1/2 day pass for free! We ended up going back to Magic Kingdom for another long evening from 5 pm - 1 am for FREE. thank you Disney! I think that other tourist is still standing there... yelling at the poor girl behind the counter...
No problem with sleeping!
Parked in Simba $17 x2 for both days
Dole Whip $24.02
Groceries juice, cheese, bandaids $21.32
7-11 Fuel $75
Dole Whip $20
Mickey Ears $16
Girls bought their own stuffed Donald, Lady and Eeyores for $25-$30 each. Couldn't believe how hard to was to find a cute looking Donald...most of the beaks looked weird.
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