This post was written by Greg, with photos and comments by Maria.
On the 4th day of Disney, my true love said to me, "Let's go to the Magic Kingdom." So we did.
Maria woke up really early this morning (4:15) and kept herself busy going through photos and baking some biscuits. Eventually I got up and fixed a nice hot breakfast to start our day off. We packed a lunch and snacks and dressed in our new "Unsocialized Homeschooler" T-shirts (which received a ton of comments throughout the day - many people wanted to know where they could get their own) and headed to the bus.
A GREAT breakfast to start the day off right!
A morning ritual - putting on sunscreen while waiting for the bus
On the way to the park we met a nice family from Utah also headed to the Magic Kingdom. We exchanged park techniques and other planning ideas with each other from the various research we'd done. Once we got to the park we all went together on the ferry to reach the Magic Kingdom from the ticket center. From there we parted ways, but we hope to run into them again.
On the ferry to the Magic Kingdom, with a teeny tiny castle in the background
That first glimpse of the castle is just magical.
The boys in front of the castle
We got to the park just after it opened and walked down Main Street. We decided to head left towards Adventureland first.
Is everyone ready for an adventure?!?!
Inside Adventureland, the first ride we passed was Aladdin's Magic Carpets, a simple spin around in a circle ride that we let the kids ride while we watched. Before the ride started, Aladdin and Jasmine (or the people playing those roles in the park) entered the ride and got in the same carpet with Colin & Spencer. They talked with them for a while and teased them a bit. Aladdin had Colin maneuver their carpet in just the right position so that they got hit by a stream of water from a spitting camel in the middle of the ride. Afterward, they escorted both boys over to a picture spot and posed with them for a few more pictures. The boys were a bit embarrassed by the whole thing, but also a little excited to be singled out like that.
Aladdin and Jasmine conversing with the boys while waiting for the ride to start
I LOVE this picture! So cute!
While they were on the ride, I grabbed some Fast Pass tickets to the Jungle Cruise, newly memorialized in one of Weird Al's latest songs. Before we went on that ride, though, we headed over to "Pirates of the Caribbean." It had been revamped since last time to include a few recognizable figures from the movies such as Barbarosa and Jack Sparrow. We all enjoyed that ride and were able to get on it fairly quickly since it was still early in the day.
I love how the story and atmosphere of the rides starts way out front with the sign!
As we got out of that we went over to Splash Mountain. It was still early in the day, but it was quite sunny and much hotter than the more rainy days we'd had previously, so we didn't mind getting a bit wet. We all had a great time on Splash Mountain. Every time the log went over a fall, the kids kept thinking that was the big one, but then soon learned that it wasn't and that the big one was still coming. I actually think there were quite a few times were we got wetter from a smaller drop or some other activity on the ride more than the giant fall near the very end. Regardless, we were all heavily dripping at the end of the ride, but we all had a great time.
Dripping but happy! Splash Mountain is one of our favorites.
We grabbed some Fast Passes to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after that and headed back to the Jungle Cruise. We had a pretty good Skipper this time around. When we were here last on our honeymoon, we had a deadpan female Skipper who was just going through the motions and wasn't at all entertaining. This ride completely depends on the tour guide to make it fun and interesting. Near the end of the tour, the Skipper had Spencer come up and "drive" the boat through a dark temple and gave him a special card at the end of the ride.
Jungle Cruise Skipper Spencer!
After the Jungle Cruise, we stopped for a snack and then went to tour the Swiss Family Treehouse. I thought the kids would like it more, but I think it only served to tire us all out more quickly than we should be for 10:30 in the morning.
We began heading to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and passed the Country Bear Jamboree. It was just about to start so we headed in. One of my all time favorite park characters, "Big Al," is in the show and so I always make it a point to see the show, even if it's a bit slow compared to the other thrill rides in the park. I don't think the kids really got it, but I enjoyed it, even if it was only for Big Al's "Blood on the Saddle" song.
Poor Big Al. He doesn't get much of the spotlight.
We went to the Railroad coaster next. The Fast Passes let us bypass the semi-big line and go right up to the front. The kids rode together for the first time while Maria and I shared a car to ourselves. Colin kept saying to Spencer when the ride was going up a hill, "It was nice knowing you, Spencer!" After the ride was over, the kids were excited because they actually enjoyed a "scary" ride! They weren't too happy when we rode a coaster with them at Six Flags a year ago, so we were all pleased with their progress.
I never thought this day would come - the boys riding on their own, and excited to be going on a roller coaster!
Coming out from the coaster, I recommended that everyone go across and play on Tom Sawyer's island for a bit while I go get some Fast Passes for the Haunted Mansion. I went all the way around the big lake to the Haunted Mansion only to find they didn't offer Fast Passes there (I should have looked at my guide and saved myself the trip). So I went all the way back, stopping to buy some sodas for the family and crossed on the raft back by the Railroad to join them. When I found them, Maria asked why I didn't answer the phone. She had tried to call me to ask me to buy some drinks to eat with the lunch we packed. I missed her call, but somehow caught her vibe and bought the drinks anyway. We ate some ham sandwiches on the island and then explored the island and walked through a cave (the old fort was blocked off on this day for refurbishment) and went back to the other side.
Ooh! Scary cave! Watch out!
Those poor, terrified boys. I knew they shouldn't have gone in that cave!
Now we were going to my favorite attraction at the park, "The Haunted Mansion." We got in fairly quickly and all really enjoyed it. The boys were especially impressed with all the neat optical illusions and special effects in the ride. Spencer commented today that his favorite rides were the ones that made him wonder how they did it.
This one goes out to every Fred I know - and I know quite a few. (:
We next visited the "Hall of Presidents" and watched the presentation there. I don't think I've ever actually visited this before. They were touting the newly installed Obama animatronic. It was cool seeing all the Presidents animated on the stage. They introduced each one individually after a 10 minute (or so) history lesson centered around presidents. I was surprised how many presidents I have forgotten since learning them all in school. I guess I need to review some US history.
Having pretty much exhausted three of the six main areas as far as attractions were concerned, and with a bus pickup coming soon, we decided to call it a day in the early afternoon and start heading out. So we went back out to Main Street (stopping for some ice cream to cool us down a bit) and wound our way through a few shops before taking the monorail back out to the bus pick-up. Several other people had the same idea and we had a pretty crowded bus on the way back.
Mmm, some nice drippy chocolate ice cream. Good stuff.
The boys having a nice conversation with someone in the bus on the way home. So much for being unsocialized! (;
We spent the afternoon napping (while the kids played "hide the Disney figure" in the condo) and then went out to go swimming in the resort. They had told us if we wanted to visit any other pools around the resort (there are several of them), we could call the desk and order a golf cart to take us around. So we ordered one and had them take us to the other side of the resort where there's a pool with a water slide. After the boys going down a few times and not having much fun in the deep pool with a current that they landed in, we called another cart to take us back to our own lazy river pool to play in there instead.
On the way into the back of the building where the lazy river is, a bare-footed Colin stepped on a piece of glass and got a nice little cut. So Maria took him up to our room to fix and bandage him as well as to get the camera to actually get some photos of us in the water.
The view of the lazy river from the 10th floor (of 15).
The boys in tubes. Notice the Mickey ears! Colin and Spencer have had fun finding hidden Mickeys.
After swimming we decided to go out to eat since we'd eaten our own food for the other two meals of the day. We went to Ruby Tuesday, which has recently closed down in Fort Worth, and which was a restaurant that Maria and I ate at for the first time on our honeymoon. We had an okay meal with some shaky service. Spencer, inserting his straw into his styrofoam kids cup, punctured the bottom of the cup and spilled Sprite all over himself, the table, and everything else. Luckily this was before the food was out. Maria took him to the bathroom to try and salvage what she could and clean him up, but he was still miserably wet and cold when they were done. So they went outside and next door to one of those cheap souvenir places that are all over Orlando, where she found some Spiderman pajama pants and bought them for Spencer to change into for the remainder of the meal.
After dinner we came back to the apartment, where yet again everybody (except Dad who stayed up to blog) quickly crashed into bed. One good thing about these long and busy days is that the kids don't stay up talking when they're supposed to be asleep!
On the 4th day of Disney, my true love said to me, "Let's go to the Magic Kingdom." So we did.
Maria woke up really early this morning (4:15) and kept herself busy going through photos and baking some biscuits. Eventually I got up and fixed a nice hot breakfast to start our day off. We packed a lunch and snacks and dressed in our new "Unsocialized Homeschooler" T-shirts (which received a ton of comments throughout the day - many people wanted to know where they could get their own) and headed to the bus.
A GREAT breakfast to start the day off right!
A morning ritual - putting on sunscreen while waiting for the bus
On the way to the park we met a nice family from Utah also headed to the Magic Kingdom. We exchanged park techniques and other planning ideas with each other from the various research we'd done. Once we got to the park we all went together on the ferry to reach the Magic Kingdom from the ticket center. From there we parted ways, but we hope to run into them again.
On the ferry to the Magic Kingdom, with a teeny tiny castle in the background
That first glimpse of the castle is just magical.
The boys in front of the castle
We got to the park just after it opened and walked down Main Street. We decided to head left towards Adventureland first.
Is everyone ready for an adventure?!?!
Inside Adventureland, the first ride we passed was Aladdin's Magic Carpets, a simple spin around in a circle ride that we let the kids ride while we watched. Before the ride started, Aladdin and Jasmine (or the people playing those roles in the park) entered the ride and got in the same carpet with Colin & Spencer. They talked with them for a while and teased them a bit. Aladdin had Colin maneuver their carpet in just the right position so that they got hit by a stream of water from a spitting camel in the middle of the ride. Afterward, they escorted both boys over to a picture spot and posed with them for a few more pictures. The boys were a bit embarrassed by the whole thing, but also a little excited to be singled out like that.
Aladdin and Jasmine conversing with the boys while waiting for the ride to start
I LOVE this picture! So cute!
While they were on the ride, I grabbed some Fast Pass tickets to the Jungle Cruise, newly memorialized in one of Weird Al's latest songs. Before we went on that ride, though, we headed over to "Pirates of the Caribbean." It had been revamped since last time to include a few recognizable figures from the movies such as Barbarosa and Jack Sparrow. We all enjoyed that ride and were able to get on it fairly quickly since it was still early in the day.
I love how the story and atmosphere of the rides starts way out front with the sign!
As we got out of that we went over to Splash Mountain. It was still early in the day, but it was quite sunny and much hotter than the more rainy days we'd had previously, so we didn't mind getting a bit wet. We all had a great time on Splash Mountain. Every time the log went over a fall, the kids kept thinking that was the big one, but then soon learned that it wasn't and that the big one was still coming. I actually think there were quite a few times were we got wetter from a smaller drop or some other activity on the ride more than the giant fall near the very end. Regardless, we were all heavily dripping at the end of the ride, but we all had a great time.
Dripping but happy! Splash Mountain is one of our favorites.
We grabbed some Fast Passes to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after that and headed back to the Jungle Cruise. We had a pretty good Skipper this time around. When we were here last on our honeymoon, we had a deadpan female Skipper who was just going through the motions and wasn't at all entertaining. This ride completely depends on the tour guide to make it fun and interesting. Near the end of the tour, the Skipper had Spencer come up and "drive" the boat through a dark temple and gave him a special card at the end of the ride.
Jungle Cruise Skipper Spencer!
After the Jungle Cruise, we stopped for a snack and then went to tour the Swiss Family Treehouse. I thought the kids would like it more, but I think it only served to tire us all out more quickly than we should be for 10:30 in the morning.
We began heading to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and passed the Country Bear Jamboree. It was just about to start so we headed in. One of my all time favorite park characters, "Big Al," is in the show and so I always make it a point to see the show, even if it's a bit slow compared to the other thrill rides in the park. I don't think the kids really got it, but I enjoyed it, even if it was only for Big Al's "Blood on the Saddle" song.
Poor Big Al. He doesn't get much of the spotlight.
We went to the Railroad coaster next. The Fast Passes let us bypass the semi-big line and go right up to the front. The kids rode together for the first time while Maria and I shared a car to ourselves. Colin kept saying to Spencer when the ride was going up a hill, "It was nice knowing you, Spencer!" After the ride was over, the kids were excited because they actually enjoyed a "scary" ride! They weren't too happy when we rode a coaster with them at Six Flags a year ago, so we were all pleased with their progress.
I never thought this day would come - the boys riding on their own, and excited to be going on a roller coaster!
Coming out from the coaster, I recommended that everyone go across and play on Tom Sawyer's island for a bit while I go get some Fast Passes for the Haunted Mansion. I went all the way around the big lake to the Haunted Mansion only to find they didn't offer Fast Passes there (I should have looked at my guide and saved myself the trip). So I went all the way back, stopping to buy some sodas for the family and crossed on the raft back by the Railroad to join them. When I found them, Maria asked why I didn't answer the phone. She had tried to call me to ask me to buy some drinks to eat with the lunch we packed. I missed her call, but somehow caught her vibe and bought the drinks anyway. We ate some ham sandwiches on the island and then explored the island and walked through a cave (the old fort was blocked off on this day for refurbishment) and went back to the other side.
Ooh! Scary cave! Watch out!
Those poor, terrified boys. I knew they shouldn't have gone in that cave!
Now we were going to my favorite attraction at the park, "The Haunted Mansion." We got in fairly quickly and all really enjoyed it. The boys were especially impressed with all the neat optical illusions and special effects in the ride. Spencer commented today that his favorite rides were the ones that made him wonder how they did it.
This one goes out to every Fred I know - and I know quite a few. (:
We next visited the "Hall of Presidents" and watched the presentation there. I don't think I've ever actually visited this before. They were touting the newly installed Obama animatronic. It was cool seeing all the Presidents animated on the stage. They introduced each one individually after a 10 minute (or so) history lesson centered around presidents. I was surprised how many presidents I have forgotten since learning them all in school. I guess I need to review some US history.
Having pretty much exhausted three of the six main areas as far as attractions were concerned, and with a bus pickup coming soon, we decided to call it a day in the early afternoon and start heading out. So we went back out to Main Street (stopping for some ice cream to cool us down a bit) and wound our way through a few shops before taking the monorail back out to the bus pick-up. Several other people had the same idea and we had a pretty crowded bus on the way back.
Mmm, some nice drippy chocolate ice cream. Good stuff.
The boys having a nice conversation with someone in the bus on the way home. So much for being unsocialized! (;
We spent the afternoon napping (while the kids played "hide the Disney figure" in the condo) and then went out to go swimming in the resort. They had told us if we wanted to visit any other pools around the resort (there are several of them), we could call the desk and order a golf cart to take us around. So we ordered one and had them take us to the other side of the resort where there's a pool with a water slide. After the boys going down a few times and not having much fun in the deep pool with a current that they landed in, we called another cart to take us back to our own lazy river pool to play in there instead.
On the way into the back of the building where the lazy river is, a bare-footed Colin stepped on a piece of glass and got a nice little cut. So Maria took him up to our room to fix and bandage him as well as to get the camera to actually get some photos of us in the water.
The view of the lazy river from the 10th floor (of 15).
The boys in tubes. Notice the Mickey ears! Colin and Spencer have had fun finding hidden Mickeys.
After swimming we decided to go out to eat since we'd eaten our own food for the other two meals of the day. We went to Ruby Tuesday, which has recently closed down in Fort Worth, and which was a restaurant that Maria and I ate at for the first time on our honeymoon. We had an okay meal with some shaky service. Spencer, inserting his straw into his styrofoam kids cup, punctured the bottom of the cup and spilled Sprite all over himself, the table, and everything else. Luckily this was before the food was out. Maria took him to the bathroom to try and salvage what she could and clean him up, but he was still miserably wet and cold when they were done. So they went outside and next door to one of those cheap souvenir places that are all over Orlando, where she found some Spiderman pajama pants and bought them for Spencer to change into for the remainder of the meal.
After dinner we came back to the apartment, where yet again everybody (except Dad who stayed up to blog) quickly crashed into bed. One good thing about these long and busy days is that the kids don't stay up talking when they're supposed to be asleep!
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