{In an effort to NOT drag these Disney posts out for two weeks, I've posted TWO today with the first one under this. Check out the Mystery Trip and Downtown Disney posts.}
I'd like to go ahead and introduce you to Type-A, Compulsive Planner, Oldest Child, List-Loving Lauren. Have we met? When Mama asked me about six weeks ago if we wanted to go to Disney and I got the go-ahead from my loving husband (the one who knows how much things cost...because even though I am Type-A, Compulsive Planner, Oldest Child, List-Loving Lauren, I do not have a clue when it comes to our money) I immediately hopped on the internets and spent about three hours (that night) researching, planning, and making lists about how it would all go down. I'm not sure if you know this but people who go to Disney are serious. The reservations for restaurants open (and begin to fill up) 180 days in advance. We did not have 180 days.
I'd like to go ahead and introduce you to Type-A, Compulsive Planner, Oldest Child, List-Loving Lauren. Have we met? When Mama asked me about six weeks ago if we wanted to go to Disney and I got the go-ahead from my loving husband (the one who knows how much things cost...because even though I am Type-A, Compulsive Planner, Oldest Child, List-Loving Lauren, I do not have a clue when it comes to our money) I immediately hopped on the internets and spent about three hours (that night) researching, planning, and making lists about how it would all go down. I'm not sure if you know this but people who go to Disney are serious. The reservations for restaurants open (and begin to fill up) 180 days in advance. We did not have 180 days.
SO. All of my research led me to have a basic idea of what we should do when. When we arrived in Orlando I told everyone we'd be getting up at the crack of dawn and getting on the 8AM bus all three days so that we could be at the parks when they opened. And everyone obeyed because they knew if they didn't I would have left them at the hotel. :)
Our first park was the Magic Kingdom. We went on an Extra Magic Hours day but we couldn't partake because we weren't staying at a Disney resort. Still, we hopped on the 8AM bus so that we could get to the monorail station and go through the gates promptly at 9AM.
Here's what we did:
Will was up and at 'em as soon as our alarm clock went off. It was interesting to try to corral him in the hotel room while getting ready. He entertained himself our first morning there by walking around in James' shoes. They'd come off and he'd toddle up to me to put them back on! Seriously, about 15 minutes worth of entertainment!
We had to catch a bus from our hotel to the parks each day:
By the time we arrived someone was a little tired. He took a nap literally as soon as we stepped foot inside Magic Kingdom and missed the first three things we did!
Meanwhile, James spotted PLUTO!!! Pluto was a character James requested to see before we ever got there.
James' first ride-request was Dumbo so we headed directly to Fantasyland to ride. (You'll notice that he rides almost nothing with Eddie and me.)
Next, he wanted to ride The Barnstormer (Goofy's kiddie roller coaster). He started screaming as soon as we pulled out and I thought we'd made a HUGE mistake. It was a REAL roller coaster. As soon as we got off I asked if he was scared and he said, "No! I was just screamin'!" Ha! He asked to ride it again on Saturday so obviously it was a hit!
Anna and I got Fast Passes for Winnie the Pooh while everyone else rode the Carousel.
We rode Ariel's new Little Mermaid ride. James declared it too scary for a second ride. I thought it was really cute!
After Ariel we rode Winnie the Pooh and FORCED James to ride with Eddie and me so no pictures. Seriously, I had to threaten him to get him on it with us.
After Winnie the Pooh we did Mickey's Philharmagic which was a REALLY cute 3D movie where Donald winds up in a bunch of past Disney movies. James liked some of it but thought it was too loud.
Next up was It's a Small World. Both boys enjoyed this! This may have been our longest line of the day!
On our way to lunch we accidentally ran into a parade on Main Street. James thought it was fantastic so we tried to remember to catch a few parades the rest of the trip. This is a really fun way to see a lot of the characters.
We had lunch at Tony's Town Square Restaurant, based on the Italian restaurant in Lady and the Tramp. It was good! I ordered the Margherita Pizza and ate the WHOLE thing. I was starving. James got spaghetti (he loved it). This was a good choice. We enjoyed sitting and being in the cool air conditioning! Be sure to order the lemonade at the parks - it was everyone's favorite!
After lunch we realized the wait to see Mickey (he's downtown right next to Tony's) was only five minutes so we did that. James' DREAM COME TRUE. Not so much Will's. He DID like the characters from afar but he would rather not have them hold him. ;)
After meeting Mickey, both boys fell asleep on our way to ride Peter Pan. (We'd Fast Passed it earlier.) Because they were asleep we missed riding it that day, but Anna, Eddie, and I squished into a Doom Buggy together and rode Haunted Mansion. We knew James would have FREAKED out in this one. If you know Eddie, you may be impressed that he rode Haunted Mansion. We did have to assure him it wasn't REALLY scary.
When James woke up we caught another minute of a parade. He was thrilled to see Peter Pan and Wendy in that one. Then he wanted to climb the Swiss Family Treehouse so we did that.
It was HOT and CROWDED by now so we stopped and rested and had a snack.
Somewhere in here we rode the Jungle Cruise and Aladdin. He LOVED Aladdin.
Later, we went to the Country Bear Jamboree. Both James and Will loved this one. It was just as hokey as I remembered it being but they clapped right along!
As we came out of Country Bear Jamboree there was a little street dance. The cast members were SO sweet afterwards and came up to talk to James. (It was the most precious thing to see cast members welcome James to this or that because his shirt was monogrammed! He never asked how they knew his name but it really did seem "magical.") Then we spotted this character below. I asked James if he knew who it was and without missing a beat he said, "Clarabelle Cow!" The cast members were impressed that we knew who she was - apparently not many people do! Those people must not watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse like we do! :) James LOVED meeting her. I got tickled because we asked if she autographed and she did but the cast member working with her said she was still practicing and her autograph is pretty scribbly. Ha!
Our final ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. James HATED this one. It was dark and there was a drop off in the complete darkness and then the cannons were loud. I knew we'd be pushing it. He didn't get upset, he just asked not to ride it again.
We decided to head out after that. It was around 6pm by then and we'd arrived at Magic Kingdom at 9am. We missed the monorail and they told us it would be about a 45 minute wait for the next one because they were pulling the ones that had been running off and putting new ones on. We rode the Ferry Boat out instead and really liked it a lot more!
It was LATE by the time we got back to the bus stop and then took at least an hour to get back to our hotel. The boys were tired and we all needed a bath before bed. We wound up just eating dinner in the Sports Bar at the hotel and then crashing for the night. Whew! Big, full, fun day!
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