Connor was pleased with the tram ride to the Transportation and Ticket Center, and this was nothing compared to the joy that the boys felt in riding the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. (Lex's first train ride!)
We skipped the ticket lines at the park, having purchased our passes earlier in the morning in the lobby of our hotel. (Thank you, Hampton Inn.)
Our first stop of the day had to be a visit with the main mouse. When planning our trip, I discovered that Mickey's Toontown Fair had permanently closed down in February of this year in order to make way for an expansion of Fantasyland. At first, I was extremely disappointed, as I had been imagining taking Connor and Lex to see that part of the Magic Kingdom ever since they were born. I remember taking my little brother Kevin there when he was just a tot. However, I really loved the new venue for visiting Mickey Mouse. It is right in the front of the park, on Main Street USA, and our wait time was less than 10 minutes, even without using the FastPass.
Both boys loved Mickey, and our visit with him was perfect. Lex even kissed him on the nose a few times!
Next, we stopped by Cinderella's Castle.
Unfortunately, the restaurant inside the castle was completely booked, so we would definitely book a dinner there beforehand on our next visit.
Next up, we rode Prince Charming's carrousel. Connor announced that he was big enough to ride without my assistance. It was his first solo carrousel ride, so I rode a horse next to his.
We stood in one longish line the entire day, and it was a 35 minute wait to ride Dumbo. The wait nearly killed us. Seriously. Even with snacks. You see, Lex is a tricky little toddler, and he knows that he wants to be in the front of the line, and if you let go of him for even a second, he can weave in between people's legs in a mad dash to the front. And then getting him back is quite the ordeal. After that, we decided that since we were there to have fun, we would not wait in any more long lines. And truthfully, with the Fast Pass system, we didn't have to.
Connor thought it was worth the wait. He wanted to do it again.
While waiting for our Winnie the Pooh ride Fast Pass time, we caught the Dream Along with Mickey live stage show. It was our second Mickey sighting of the day, and this time we also saw Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and an assortment of Princesses (which Connor couldn't care less about), and the evil witch from Sleeping Beauty. We still haven't stopped talking about that evil witch - mostly because she set the stage on fire.
For the record, I did some homework before our trip, trying to decide which rides would be the most fun for our family, in order to prioritize our time. According to my research, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride was supposed to have a scare factor of zero. Maybe my kids are more sensitive than yours, but the ride scared both of my boys. Lex cried because of the storm and lightning, and Connor didn't like that part, or the part where Owl's house fell down. But both of them really liked the interactive play garden out in front of the ride.
And speaking of scary things for our kids, what about Mickey's PhilharMagic 3D show? It was billed as a 3D movie...and I forgot that my kids have never before seen a 3D movie. I also forgot that Disney 3D movies usually feature water and wind that will make it more intense. And more intense it was. Lex was screaming and Connor was crying within the first 30 seconds or so. And they weren't the only crying kids in the audience. Lex ended up cuddled up with me, not even watching. Connor watched it in Daddy's lap, sans 3D glasses. I just hope that we didn't put them off 3D movies entirely.
Our favorite ride of the day was definitely Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Using the Fast Pass, we rode this one twice.
Yes, Lex did climb inside the jail with Zurg, and it was tricky to extract him.The boys loved the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. We rode that while waiting for our Buzz Lightyear Fast Pass time. We did the Carousel of Progress during our second wait for Buzz.
Other stops in Tomorrowland included lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe and the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor show, which we all really enjoyed.
We ate dinner at the Pinocchio Village Haus, where the boys could watch the boats launch for It's a Small World. They got so giddy watching the boats that the ended up spending more time yelling at the top of their lungs than eating, but whatever. We didn't get kicked out, so I'm a happy mom.
Of course, then, after we were done eating, we had to ride It's a Small World. I loved watching the boys' faces as they took the sights on that ride in. There is so much to look at! Connor asked to ride that one again as soon as we got off.
Next, we headed over to Frontierland, with our main goal being the station for the Walt Disney World Railroad. Of course, we made a few stops on our way...
I swear that this was Connor's idea.
Aboard the Liberty Square Riverboat
All Aboard the TrainThis was the last that Lex saw of the day. The sun was going down, and as we rode around the park, Lex fell asleep, not to be heard from again.
Connor wanted to stick it out and see the Main Street Electrical Parade. I'm so glad that he did, because it was fantastic. The light parade was always one of my favorite things about Magic Kingdom when I was a kid, and I'm glad to have shared it with him. Plus, it was our third and final Mickey sighting of the day.
Connor wanted to stick it out and see the Main Street Electrical Parade. I'm so glad that he did, because it was fantastic. The light parade was always one of my favorite things about Magic Kingdom when I was a kid, and I'm glad to have shared it with him. Plus, it was our third and final Mickey sighting of the day.
All Tuckered OutI think that we saw enough and did enough for our family for now. After all, Connor is only three and Lex is only one. But I can see a return trip to Walt Disney World sometime in the future, and then I want to stay and do all the parks for about a week. I'm excited to see the new Fantasyland expansion, and I want to take the boys back when they are old enough to enjoy some of the rides that we decided to skip this time because they were so young.
The End
7 comments:
I love reading about your trip!
Cinderella's Royal Table books up quickly. You can make reservations at 180 days and I think we called at like 179 and had a hard time getting a dinner reservation. However, unless its eating in the castle that you desire, the Princess Storybook dinning in Norway at Epcot, in our opinion, has better food. How was the Village Haus? I was thinking about eating there when we were there but didn't. We did eat at Cosmic Ray's though.
Maybe its the age but Winnie the Pooh didn't scare my boys. Instead Ethan came off bouncing like Tigger. However, both of them rode with other people. We skipped the 3D movie and did Dumbo and Peter Pan. But everytime we were in a line one of the boys would fall asleep.
I thought that my boys behaved really well all day - considering that they skipped their naps!
Are you telling me that the terrible Norwegian Smorgasbord in Epcot is no more?! We ate there all the time when I was a kid - cold meat, cold fish, cold cheese and rock hard bread - yuck! (Dear Mom and Dad - why?)
We do want to eat in the castle. How was it? Do you have photos? I think Kevin would really like to see them. He was bummed that he couldn't go inside to check it out.
Oh - the Village Haus was okay - the food was standard grill fare - very much like Cosmic Ray's. We basically picked both restaurants for chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, and something interesting for the boys to look at while we ate.
http://saragocha.shutterfly.com/disney2010
see album '12-11-2010 Magic Kingdom' stating around picture 100.
There are some about the insides. But it was toward the end of our trip and I was about pictured out. Note the Mickey cake was something we had ordered days before for my mom's birthday.
The Norway dining is called Akershus Royal Banquet Hall with Princess Storybook dinning. There was a cold buffet and that was ok at best but the food we ordered was great. Jason even e-mailed disney about his pork chop and they sent him a reciepe. Apparently they'll send them to you if you ask but they try to scale the quantities down for you.
As far as inside the castle it was nice. They had some interactive thing go off every 15 miniutes or so. The boys got swords and a wishing star and since it was my mom's birthday celebration they gave her the wand thing they give little girls. First you walk in and get your picture taken with Cinderella which is part of your meal then you head up a small staircase to the dinning area. I don't know about the price but it was a 2 sit down credits per person which probably is around $100 (or more) for two adults. Mom tells me if you can actually score a dinner time reservation that the Fairy Godmother is there directing it all or something like that. We had a dinner time reservation but had to change it when my sister decided they were coming too.
In the end, we've done it once and there are other places we'd rather eat at and try. Unless we decide to have another child and it happens to be a girl we probably won't eat their again.
I don't remember much about going as a kid. But this time and the time before we had the dinning plan and they highly recomend making reservations so I don't know if that's made those restaurants harder to just walk in and get a seat.
Julie - regarding the terrible Norwegian Smorgasbord in Epcot ... that was ALL Grandma Fay's idea ... we ALL dreaded it! I tried to stay upbeat and cheerful for you kids, but NOBODY but her and Gramps REALLY wanted to eat there ... of course, I'm not really sure Grandpa liked it, either, but that's just the way it was ... She always insisted upon taking us there and paying for our meal, so we had no real recourse, but to grin and bear it! I'm surprised you don't remember the complaints Dad always had about that place when Grandma was not around to hear!! lol :D
It's okay, Mom, I forgive you. But I won't let you take my kids there. :)
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