Disney World--Day 4

Day 4 was the most anticipated day of our trip---Magic Kingdom and getting to meet Mickey Mouse!!!

Our day started off with our breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey's and we really lucked out. We started planning this trip in November and usually you have to make reservations 6 months ahead of time! So I was very thankful when I found out we got in!!

And we finally got to ride on the monorail!!!!

A Mommy's job is never done...

The breakfast is inside Disney's Contemporary Hotel, which is the hotel closest to Magic Kingdom and the monorail goes right through the lobby. As the monorail was pulling up to the hotel, Matt and I both instantly remembered the hotel from when we were kids, both of us thinking at the time how cool it would be to get to stay there. And of course, our kids thought the same thing!

Each of the main Disney characters comes around to each table during breakfast, so Matt and I were able to eat our food at a leisurely pace while the kids ate a bit and then got autographs and pictures with each character. And Matt and I both agreed that the food was possibly the best meal of our entire trip! It was delicious!

(I love Sadie's expression in this picture--still in disbelief that it's really Goofy!)

The first female character we got to meet---and who better??

of course we had to get a picture with just the girls!

..but boy was this guy smitten...

...and Blake, constantly amazed at each character's features AND willing to touch them (eyes, nose, shoes, tails, etc)

..and finally, the man, er, the mouse himself....MICKEY!!

..and the boys turn...

Wyatt was so happy after meeting Mickey Mouse that I think we could have called the trip good and headed home and he might have been fine....well, I guess not really, but boy was he elated.

And Pluto...Blake loved his ears and whiskers...

...and the characters ALWAYS so wonderfully obliged!

We didn't finish our breakfast until around 11am and since everyone was so well rested from the day before and a good night's sleep, Matt and I just decided to stay at Magic Kingdom for as long as the kids would last. We prepared ourselves that it could get ugly but it seemed like a better idea than heading back to our hotel when we could see THE castle through our windows during breakfast.

Just inside the gates of Magic Kingdom

(I had to include this picture because this is what Blake did about 90% of the time if anyone tried to hold him or strap him into a stroller....and of course he's doing this in front of the

"Let the Memories Begin" sign!!!

Main Street USA...where dreams really do come true!

There are so many great things about Magic Kingdom, but one of them is that there is always a parade or party going on somewhere! As we were walking towards the castle to head to Fantasyland, we ran into this parade

(if you look closely at Dale's face, you can see what looks like a gold mickey mouse shape....there was confetti everywhere in the shape of mickey mouse ears and in all different colors...the kids loved collecting it and it's still in our suitcases (the 'souvenirs' are endless)

And Mickey!!! We stopped to watch the parade and while Sadie was fully engrossed in her dancing and Blake was on sensory overload, Wyatt turned to us and said, "How did he get here so fast?" to which Matt and I replied, "I don't know!"

This was such a great age to take Wyatt because he is getting to the age where he can figure things out but still desires to believe in the fairytale more than he wants to know what is really going on. So a few times he would ask a question like that but it was almost as if he didn't truly want to know the answer. He did, however, keep saying to us when we would meet a character, "How come they don't talk?" Yet somehow, it didn't ruin the magic completely for him because in the moment, he was in awe.

Magic Kingdom is so big and has Fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Main Street and Liberty Square. There was so much to see and do and I knew there was no way we could see it all and still have an enjoyable time. So I took the advice of friends who had gone before and just wrote down a few things that I thought we would really like to see and do and then plan around those things. And it worked out great! We were able to stop and watch that parade and not be like other people we saw who were constantly rushing from one thing to the next while their kids were looking in the opposite direction, saying, "Look Mommy, can we see that?"

The first real 'ride' we all went on was It's a Small World!

(We all fit in one row of the boat together, so it was tough to take any pictures, but I took this one right as we were heading in and Wyatt was looking up to read the sign....

...this sign....

It has been almost 20 years since I have been to Disney World yet some things never change...which Matt and I were so thankful for!

It's hard to take pictures inside the rides but I had to take just a few on this one because the looks on my kids' faces was just precious and for me, it brought back so many wonderful memories of all the times I had gone on this ride.

The carousel behind the kids was Blake's favorite ride and we went on that thing at least 3 times while we were at Disney....the line was never long and Blake always wanted to do it, so it filled up time quite nicely!

We never did figure out how to get the Sword out of the Stone, but there is a 'trick' or a secret rock to push on because we saw a few kids do it and the sword would lift almost all the way up. I meant to look it up online so we could do it the next day but I never got around to it.

We grabbed a FASTPASS for the Peter Pan ride and had an hour to burn, so we got some ice cream snacks and headed over Adventureland to the Tiki Room. (A FASTPASS is a ticket that allows you to come back to a ride at a specified time and then you don't have to wait in line---GENIUS!!!)

The kids really enjoyed the Tiki Room (singing bird show) but since it's dark, Blake was starting to nod off. So once it was over, we quickly headed to the train station, thinking that a 20-min ride on a train around Magic Kingdom would surely lull him to sleep and get him some rest. On our way, however, Matt thought it would be fun if everyone got a set of 'ears'. So that took a bit of time, but boy did everyone look cute!

Does someone look exhausted or what?

(love the back of this hat!)

Sadie chose her ears because they were pink and had a 'veil' in the back....my attempt at a picture of the two of them...can you tell whose love language is physical touch and whose isn't???

Well, we enjoyed our ride but there was no nap to be had....too much excitement, I guess. So off we went to find more adventures!

Another show

Back to the carousel just before the Peter Pan ride....

(Sadie loves looking at herself in the mirror)

Notice the button Sadie is wearing....it says "1st Visit" and they give them to anyone who is at the park for their first time. Matt and I didn't want to wear ours, so naturally Wyatt wasn't going to either. But Sadie kept bugging me to get hers on her and she also put one on her baby!

We did several other rides, none of which I took pictures of...either because it's just not possible or because I was so engrossed in enjoying the time with my family that I didn't even think about it. There is a fine line between having great pictures to document a trip and also experiencing it out from behind the lens. And although it seems like we have a lot of pictures on here, I actually didn't have my camera out for the majority of things we did. I just have to rely on my memory for those experiences!

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that when we checked in to our hotel or any time we would come back to it, the staff would say, "Welcome Home" and would end all conversations with "Have a Magical Day"

And everyone who worked for Disney...from the hotel staff to anyone working in the parks to people in the restaurants and the characters--they ALL called Sadie 'princess'...I know they do this for all little girls, but Sadie just loved it and her eyes lit up!

After we got some dinner, we staked out a spot for the Main Street Electrical Parade....

isn't this beautiful??

(I was standing halfway between the castle and the entrance, looking back towards the entrance)

And I will admit, I had a hard time putting my camera down when the castle was all lit up at night...not only because it's so beautiful but also because it's constantly changing colors!

To pass the time, Matt held down the fort with our spots while the kids and I went into Mickey's Confectionery to get some treats...

the kids picked out those 'build your own' pixie sticks

"Look who's hopped up on sugar!"

And this was the biggest challenge...keeping him contained! After a long day with no nap you would expect a 2-yr old to crash....but not this guy. Oh no...he had more energy than the rest of us combined. As you can see there were a few buildings under construction across from where we were sitting, so they had a fake storefront hung up....he would just jump up from our curb-seats and run down the street as far as he could and as fast as he could. He absolutely loved it because the street was cleared for the parade and he had a huge audience. In fact at one point, he was running so fast that both Matt and I could tell he was just going to bite it---and sure enough he did. But I immediately realized how used to this I am with Blake because there was a woman sitting in the crowd who, as Matt would say, 'sucked in all the air in the room' as she gasped when he fell. Blake, on the other hand, heard her and looked at her like, "What happened? Did I miss something?"

Seriously, so beautiful!

And finally the parade began....(and once it did, Blake didn't move a muscle!)

Do you see Tinkbell up here?

I could have taken pictures the entire time, but decided to set the camera down and just enjoy the 'magic' with the kids.

Once the parade was over, we walked back to the buses and all three kids crashed! It was such a great day and we were so excited to come back the next day for more!

One happy crew

(I think this is my favorite picture from our trip)