Therefore, I'm going to insert in today's blog Joe's commentary from our family Disney journal. Have I mentioned our family Disney journal? We started it on our VERY FIRST trip to Disney as a family. It was WAY back in December of 2001..... Jack was two and a half and I was pregnant with Max. We bought a little Mickey Mouse journal and documented that day's highlights each evening. I started it, but then Joe quickly took over and has done an AWESOME job documenting our memories each night when we get in from our adventures that day. It is SUCH fun to go back through and read our entries of our time at Disney through the years. The boys get a kick out of reading stories about how they pitched a fit outside Hall of Presidents or what souvenirs they bought, or what their favorite rides were or what they did when they saw different characters. We've filled up one journal and have started our second..... here's a peek inside.....
And here's what Joe wrote for today's visit to Magic Kingdom: (I'll put my additional commentary in bold italics throughout......)
We got to the park right at opening time as the music began. We headed straight for Fantasyland and did Peter Pan, Pooh, Ariel, and Small World in short order. That was our plan and we stuck to it. (Mom always likes to have a mental plan of the order for the day.... helps us avoid standing around going, "Where are we going now?" It's okay to DEVIATE from said plan, but important to at least HAVE a plan.) Mary liked it all. It's neat to just watch her when she's really happy and excited about things. She gets the biggest, toothy smile. Peter Pan already had a long line, but we got through it quickly. It's such a short ride, but Mom and I tried to do all the commentary, "Look, Mary!...." (She's watched the movie several times, so she knew all the characters.) She liked the Pooh ride, too, and recognized all the characters and loved the bouncing with Tigger. The queue is good here, too, with all the things to occupy your time.... although we got in quickly. The new Fantasyland is really something. There are areas for Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, plus a new Rapunzel area. I don't feel like I know it all yet, but it's very nice. The new Ariel ride is very neat! NightNight likes the line here, says it's the best. Disney thinks of everything. One neat thing is we saw an episode of The Middle being filmed in front of Gaston's Tavern. We stopped and watched that for about thirty minutes. (Max took some awesome pictures of the cast. It was so, so neat to see a real show being filmed at Disney. Jack loved seeing all the behind the scenes stuff that going on during a filming like that. We're excited to watch for this episode when it comes on and know that we watched part of it being filmed!) We also took in Haunted Mansion and had lunch at Columbia House, a family favorite. (We enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic, too, and Mary loved it all, except for when the corks flew at her and the water got her wet!) We went back over through the new Fantasyland and saw the re-imagined ToonTown, which they now call Storybook Circus. (Mary was SOUND ASLEEP in Mom's arms at this point. Reckon how many miles Mom has toted sleeping babies through Disney World?) We decided to ride the train around one good time and then got off to head over to Tomorrowland. The boys and Mom rode Space Mountain and we all rode the Peoplemover. Mary got in a character greeting with Stitch. She really liked him.... even lifted her pants leg and showed off her stickers. I thought Stitch would fall over laughing. We headed over to Adventureland and ended up with a nice spot for the new parade. It was very cool. (We stood on the bridge across from Splash Mountain and had a great view. Mary sat on Dad's shoulders and took it all in.) Again, Disney's always changing. This time, all the water in the moat is drained and they're doing maintenance and painting the castle. (Get those cranes out of my castle pictures, please.) After the parade, we took in Hall of Presidents. Mary did great there, but we are still looking for Jack's Jafar Stick, lost, years ago. (That was a hot mess and not an exactly HAPPY memory.) For our next stop, we did a Fastpass Cinderella greeting for Mary. She really enjoyed this because she knows who Cinderella is. Sleeping Beauty was there also, but Mary didn't really know her, and she kept waving to Cinderella until Princess Aurora mentioned her finger getting pricked, at which point, Mary grabbed her finger and said, "UH OH." She's got that phrase down. We had to walk carefully out because, of course, there's a STORE. Yikes. We made it. Forgot to mention, most everyone except Mudger, Mary, and I, rode Thunder Mountain. We played on the wooden bridge deck and watched the boat and threw old popcorn in the water. (Interesting way to pass the time. Sanitizer, anyone?) We got up just in time to see everybody riding. The boys did Splash Mountain (and felt so big going off into Magic Kingdom by themselves..... can't believe we're at the point in our lives where we can do this.... kinda nice) while everybody else headed towards Town Square. We got to see the very nice Flag Retreat Ceremony.... very patriotic and moving. Mom also got Mary a nice PINK Minnie Ears hat monogrammed with her name. It was a great magical day at the MK. (Number of meltdowns at the Magic Kingdom today: ZERO. Boo. Yah.)
And here are a few fun images from today....... (in no particular order...... too tired to put in order....)
Mary LOVES Cinderella. Even when she had to move over and visit with the other princess in the room (Princess Aurora), she kept pointing over to Cinderella and waving at her. (This was at the end of the day, so we all looked a bit haggard. Piggy tails are drooping, dress is covered with orange juice, stickers are EVERYWHERE..... but we're happy!)
Poor Princess Aurora. Mary has not seen this movie, so she was greatly disturbed when Aurora mentioned that her FINGER HAD BEEN PRICKED on the spindle of a spinning wheel. Mary grabbed her hand and started studying it saying, "UH OH" over and over again. Dear child.....
Loving on Stitch while the boys rode Space Mountain.
Taking a break after Haunted Mansion. These three humans are magnificent.
On the Peoplemover! I love Joe, but would REALLY have loved to have all three of my kids on one side for the picture. Note: This must happen on Friday.
Family selfie before Mickey's Philharmagic!
Seeing Stitch for the first time! Hey, I know him!
Do you guys see? It's Stitch! Stitch is RIGHT HERE!
Night Night and THE CREW. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The wildest ride in the wilderness! And a favorite of just everybody.
Watching the new parade!
Totally groovy getting to watch The Middle being filmed in the new Fantasyland!
Happy family. Happy place.
Welcome to Magic Kingdom, angel.
Ariel's grotto? castle? in the new Fantasyland. Excited to explore this some more!
Somebody got some Mickey ears. Some PINK Mickey ears. Some pink Mickey ears with HER NAME on them.
Gosh! It's so windy, my ears are about to blow off!
Cute.
Never got a great castle shot on this day. Decided NOT to remove the child from the stroller. Bringing A Toddler to Disney Rule #892: Never take a happy child OUT of the stroller at the END of the day. The danger of doing so is creating for yourself an UNHAPPY child that you will now be TOTING to the bus. So, the stroller makes the castle picture. Note: Must retake without stroller on Friday.
Playing Peekaboo with Princess Aurora.
Mary and Stitch. Both kinda wild.
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