5.24.2012

Florida Vacation Day 7: Magic Kingdom, Part 2

I think the only day of our vacation that was more highly anticipated than our first day at Magic Kingdom was our second day at Magic Kingdom because the second day was the day that we got to have breakfast with the princesses at Cinderella's Castle! We chose breakfast because a) it's cheaper than lunch or dinner and b) you can get into the park early and take pictures in front of the castle without forty million other people there with you. :) It worked just as we had hoped! It was a totally different feeling walking into the park with a much smaller amount of people. We could really get a better feel for Main Street and got a better look at all of the shops. We definitely had the castle as our main goal though. :) Blog10
When we arrived at the castle, we took lots and lots of photos. There was a group of businessmen there on some kind of tour, but other than that, we had almost no competition for photos right in front of the castle! Blog11 One of the Cast Members who was there kept giving us inside information on the best times to do things and things like that. We asked her where we could meet Minnie, and she told us that Minnie's at the front of the park with Mickey. We told her that she wasn't there yesterday when we went, and with all seriousness, she said, "Oh, she must have been shopping with Daisy. They love to shop!" It is truly impressive that the Cast Members can say things like that with a straight face! :) It's really cute. Blog12 After our big photo op, we headed into the castle to check in for our reservations. We were pretty early, so we ended up hanging out behind the castle for a bit in Fantasyland. The girls had fun running around and posing for more pictures. Blog13 We were all very excited when they called our name to head into the castle. As we entered, we were in line for formal photos with Cinderella herself. We didn't realize that we were going to get formal pictures with her as part of our breakfast package, so that was really cool. Since we had 15 people, we were able to get 4 different photos, so we decided to do one with the girls from each family and then the 4th one with all of the girls together. It worked out so perfectly! Natalie was, for some reason, all of a sudden incredibly shy about the pictures, so her expression in them is a little off. Mollie, however, was eating it up! She jumped right in and even held out her dress like a little princess!Blog14 After photos with Cinderella, we headed upstairs for our meal. The dining room really looked just like you'd expect it to in a castle! We were able to all sit at three tables in a row and we shared a waitress. I'd heard that the food wasn't so great, but we really thought it was wonderful. There were lots of choices, and it was almost impossible to decide what to get. Our service was amazing - Mollie and Caleb were young enough that we didn't have to pay for a meal for them, but this is one of the few places where they still bring out a plate for those little ones. They didn't get a choice of food, it was french toast sticks only, but our waitress brought out extra bacon and sausage just for them, plus apple juice (on top of OJ) and then later she brought all of the kids chocolate milk! They were in heaven! :) We really could not have asked for a better experience, and that's before we met the princesses! The table where we were sitting was across from the doorway where each princess entered the room after a quick introduction. Mollie was sitting directly across from the entrance, so she was one of the first to be able to see each princess. She had so much fun watching them come out! She was just sure that we were going to see Cinderella again, and she kept telling us it was going to be Cinderella next, but apparently Cinderella stays downstairs for photos.

The first princess to come out was Jasmine. When she made it over to our table, she chatted with the girls a bit and Mollie just sort of stared at her. Finally, Jasmine said, "Well, you're just as quiet as the Magic Carpet, aren't you?" Too cute! We next met Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora. She was a bit of a disappointment. She didn't say much and had a really regal air, which didn't seem to really fit in with her character, I didn't think. It's too bad, since Sleeping Beauty was Natalie's first favorite Disney movie! Next up was our favorite - Ariel! She was absolutely adorable! She came up to our table and said, "Oh, I see you have Rapunzel on your dresses! She is my VERY dear friend. I so wanted her to come to breakfast today, but she said she didn't have time because she was brushing her hair. I told HER that I think she should use a dinglehopper to comb her hair, but she said that it would take too many of them, so I have a question for you: HOW MANY dinglehoppers do YOU think it would take Rapunzel to comb her hair?" The girls just sat there with their jaws dropped, and finally Ariel said, "You think about a hundred?" They nodded, and she said, "OK! Let's take a picture!" Too cute! After Ariel, we met Belle, who was pleasant, but not especially memorable. I wish the girls were old enough or comfortable enough to think of things to talk to the princesses about because I'm sure they are willing to chat a bit more, but maybe someday! It was still lots of fun!Blog15 After our big breakfast, we headed over to Adventureland, where we toured the Swiss Family Treehouse. It was really interesting - you really felt like you were walking through and exhibit where people used to live! :)Blog16 After that was the Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride, which is basically just like the Dumbo ride, so it was definitely another one that everyone enjoyed. :) Blog17 We decided to get Fast Passes for the Jungle Cruise, and while we waited for the guys to do that, all of a sudden, I was aware of Aladdin right in the stroller parking area with us. Caleb was wearing a monkey backpack, and Aladdin came right up to him, pulling Jasmine by the hand! Aladdin turned Caleb's monkey around, and said, "Abu?! Oh, that's not Abu! Where IS that monkey? We've got to find him!" and then quick as a wink, they were off again! It was so cool! It's really rare to see characters just walking around in the park, so it was really neat! I so wish I'd had my camera out quickly enough to capture it!

From there, we decided to take a break and head to the Enchanted Tiki Room for some time indoors. The show was really cute, and the main song that they sing about the "Tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki-TIKI-room" is still stuck in my head sometimes. Natalie loves to sing it to this day, and we all giggle about it. Some of the animatronics scared the girls a little and the rainstorm was a bit unsettling for them, but all in all, it was a fun little experience. After that, we got to do the Jungle Cruise. That was another nice relaxing attraction. Our captain was full of corny jokes, but it was cute, and we enjoyed the tour.

Next, we headed back to Fantasyland to ride It's a Small World. I was so excited about this iconic ride! The line was pretty long, but it moved quickly, and it was mostly inside in air conditioning, so that was nice! The ride is pretty amazing - it's so simple in it's theme, but there's SO much to look at and take in!Blog18 After a ride on Prince Charming's Regal Carousel, we headed home for lunch and naps, knowing that we'd be coming back to the park later on. To our dismay, the girls actually didn't nap at all, but it turned out all right. We decided to use one of our super cheap restaurant.com gift certificates and go out for pizza that night before heading back to the park for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Our pizza was really awesome, and they had a girl there who did balloon animals, so while we waited for our food, she provided much-needed entertainment for the kiddos! Each of the girls got the princess of her choice and the boys each got a fun creation too.Blog19 After dinner, we headed back to the park. Our goal was to meet Rapunzel (whose line is consistently an hour long if not more) and get good seats for the parade. We had a plan for the guys and the babies to reserve us a spot for the parade right along the sidewalk at the beginning so that we could easily leave as soon as the last float went by us. While they did that, Sheila, Lisa, the girls, and I waited in line for Rapunzel. We ended up not having to wait quite as long as they promised, but it was definitely between 30 & 45 minutes. We almost got out of line because Rapunzel's handler told us that Rapunzel was about to go take a break to "brush her hair and bake some cupcakes" haha but thankfully, it ended up working out in our favor! Rapunzel was definitely another of our favorite characters from the trip. She really took time to chat with each of the girls. When Natalie and Mollie walked up to her, she said, "Oh! Look at your shirts! On yours (Mollie's), I'm painting! And on yours (Natalie's), I'm...well, I'm not sure WHAT I'm doing there! I don't remember anyone taking THAT picture of me!" Blog20 Our plan worked out perfectly and we ended up with awesome seats for the parade. The girls all sat on the curb, but after Natalie's experience with Stitch at the parade the day before, she refused to sit there unless I'd sit with her, so I lucked out and got to have a front-row seat with the kids for the parade.Blog21 Seeing all of the girls' faces was absolutely priceless. It was one of the most fun things on our whole trip! I'm SO glad that we decided to keep them out late to experience it! Sorry for the terrible quality of pictures! Blog22 We snuck out right at the end of the parade, made it right onto a monorail and we were home in no time! The perfect end to a perfect Disney day!

Our day via Instagram:
RoadTrip5 Tomorrow: A Little R&R

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