magic kingdom again

Oh yes, we started the day with Gage's favorite ride again! Buzz!!

 

 I was lucky enough NOT to ride the teacups. I can't handle the spinning! While they got dizzy spinning the teacups, I stood in  line nearby so they could meet Alice in Wonderland when the finished up. She was SO much fun!

 She played a silly hand shaking game with Gage, had them running in circles, and giggling up a storm.

 

 Enchanted tales with Belle is a new "ride" and it was incredible!  We first crowded into Belle's papa's workshop and watched a magic mirror.  Then we moved into this room, with a talking armoire.  She picked people from the room to help Belle act out a story.  Yes --- Adam was the knight, Gage was the Beast (the main character!) and Savannah was Papa (in jail).

 Adam had to stand guard.  As you can see, he was good at that ;-)

 

 Lumiere told the story.

 Savannah had to be Papa in jail -- her big role was to shiver because jail is cold.

 

 Then Gage's big debut was running out and roaring loudly (like the Beast) to scare Belle. He did a great job!

 If you know the story of Belle, you know that Belle falls in love with the Beast. So...they danced :-)

 And he ended with a bow

 They had a long chat and posed from some pictures - so cute!

 

 Savannah had a chance to meet Belle also and got a special bookmark from her

 And Belle posed with the brave knights too

 Disney hit a home run with the new attraction. It was really really fun!

 You can see -- we had great weather this day. We went from fleece jackets to shorts! So, Savannah and Adam went to ride splash mountain. But...Gage didn't want to get wet (party pooper), so we went to see Chip & Dale instead.

 

 Love was in the air that day ;-)

 And...after that Gage and I rode the steamboat. On the way to find us, Adam and Savannah stood in line to meet Chip and Dale -- and Gage jumped in line to meet them again!

 

animal kingdom

We love Animal Kingdom.  It's on a much smaller scale than Magic Kingdom so it makes for a more relaxing day.  We always hit the safari ride first.  Rhinos, hippos. lions, giraffes, all sorts of hoof & antler type animals -- we love it. Gage and I rode it a few times so Adam and Savannah could race to Everest roller coaster. 

 

 

 

 

 

 The lines get longs later, but they rode it 8 times in a row!  Gage is technically enough, but he would be terrified.  Savannah figured out how to get in the front row -- ever time.This is the ride that they got stuck on -- at the top -- last year, and had to walk down 21 flights of stairs to get down when they shut the ride down while they were on it!!

We also spent some time in the dino dig area -- a big play area where they can dig for fossils, climb on dino bones, old jeeps, slide down huge slides, and jump on dino footprints that trigger giant roars.

 

 

 

We made sure to see the bug's life show.   Gage is still scare of that too. He's such a scaredy-cat!  He remembered that one of the bugs sprays you with acid (it's a mist of water, actually) and was all worried about that. He spent most of the 5 minute show hiding his head against me ;-)

ALthough we don't have any pictures, we also saw the Nemo and Lion King show. We didn't know that the Lion King show was being retired the very next day! It was REALLY good -- cannot believe they are ending it.  It's all acrobatics, fire eaters, singing. Very colorful - very interactive with the audience. I am so glad that we had a chance to see it before it ended.

magic kingdom

Day one at Magic Kingdome was a chilly one -- highs in the 40s!  That meant the park was empty in the morning.  So, Adam and Savannah made a beeline to the Space Mountain roller coaster, and Gage and I went right to Buzz Lightyear -- which we road 4 times in a row. That made for a happy boy. This was the first year Savannah was tall enough for Space Mountain,and of course...she wanted to go over and over.

 

 

 Turns out the day got very busy at the magic kingdom.  You know it was busy when we only rode It's a Small World ONCE!  Usually we ride it a bunch of times.

 Our last trip to Disney, Gage actually pulled the sword from stone.  This year...no such luck. I looked online to learn about how it works, and it seems that there is a person who sits in a room upstairs in the Cinderella castle and controls it. But, they only do it now and then, so it's a complete surprise when it happens.  The word is that the person has a view of the stone, and only releases it for kids. And...sometimes they have fun with it.  They will release it for a kiddo every time that kid tries it, but not for anyone else - so some kids will do it over and over and over and get the sword every time, but any other person who tries has no luck. We keep trying...and trying..and trying.  Maybe someday we'll get lucky again. 

 

 Visiting some princesses --- this is Cinderella's glass slipper!

 Meeting Rapunzel for the first time. I don't know what she was talking to the kids about, but she had them giggling up a storm.  I heard her ask the girl who went in front of Savannah and Gage if she had stinky feet.  They are so silly!

 

 The speedway. Savannah and I were hot on Daddy & Gage's tail. We may have bumped into them a few times ;-)

 

 The new section of Fantasy Land is open!! 

 

 We left after lunch this day because the park got very busy. But, we came back to have dinner and squeeze in a few rides. We found Cinderella and Prince Charming's horses on the carousel.  One of the Disney secrets that not many people know...but we do! Cinderella's horse has a gold ribbon on the tail, and Prince Charming's is all red, black & gold (that is what Gage is riding) and has a crown on the saddle.

 

 

 One more try....no luck!

 The castle was still lit up from Christmas and it looked so pretty!

 Saying goodnight to Main Street for the day. Off to Animal Kingdom the next day.