All good things must come to an end, and sadly our vacation was
already coming to an end! We could not believe how fast time was flying
by. We decided to spend our last final full day back in Magic
Kingdom. Since we left early on Monday when we were there, we felt that there was still a
lot we wanted to do there. To make the most of the day we planned on
being their from when they opened until the fireworks that night. What a
day! It included a very special meal and an amazing firework show.
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| Ella all dressed up in her Cinderella dress |
Since we got there early, we again got to watch the opening ceremony. It's actually pretty cute and really puts you in the Disney mood.
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| Opening ceremony |
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| Ella getting a better view |
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| Ella and her mom |
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| There is Mickey! |
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| The DeLormes with the best backdrop ever. I just wish that crane wasn't there! |
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| All of us |
We really wanted to ride the Ariel ride and knew we would need fast passes. We went directly to get fast passes. The ride was broken in the morning, but we were able to snag some for that afternoon. We saw that Peter Pan's Flight had a 5 minute wait and knew we had to take advantage of that. Dawson really liked that one. I forgotten how fun it was!
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| So much to look at |
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| Gram and Ashlyn riding together. Ashlyn insisted on always riding with her Gram and Papa |
After Peter Pan, we made our way over to It's a Small World. We waited in line for like 30 minutes on Monday for this ride. This has been one of my favorite rides since I was a child, but 30 minutes is way too long to wait for It's a Small World. Ashlyn also loves this ride and really wanted to ride it again. So, we wanted to get there while there was still no line. We walked right on.
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| Love this ride. |
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| I love looking at all the different dolls |
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| The goodbye messages in different languages |
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| Dawson and I on a boat |
We still had a little time to kill before our BIG breakfast restaurant reservations. We decided to walk around and kill a little time.
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| Katy and Ella |
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| I swear I kiss him a hundred times a day |
We noticed there was no line for the carousel, so we decided to hop on. There were extra horses, so I decided to ride on a horse instead of standing. It was actually quite fun!
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| Silly girl |
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| All the kids ready to go |
For breakfast that day, we had made reservations to eat in Cinderella's castle. The castle in Disneyland is much, much smaller than the one in Disney World. It doesn't have a restaurant in it. When we were in Disney World last time, we ate there and Ashlyn just loved it. She got to meet Ariel and lots of other princesses. It was the highlight of the trip for her. Plus, what is cooler than getting to go inside and eat in such a famous castle? I'm so glad we decided to eat here. The food was amazing, and the whole experience was wonderful. Included in the meal is a free picture with Cinderella, swords, wands, and wish stars. It's truly a magical experience.
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| Where we got to eat |
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| Silly princess |
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| Our Cinderella's waiting to go inside |
When you go inside the castle, you enter a main room where you meet Cinderella and get your picture taken with her. It's a neat experience. They then call your name, and you go upstairs to the dining room.
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| Ashlyn spied Cinderella's mice hanging around |
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| The girls meeting Cinderella |
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| Love it! |
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| This is the picture we got of the girls. It is too sweet! |
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| The Leone family with Cinderella |
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| The DeLormes |
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| Dawson practicing to be a knight |
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| Headed up the stairs to eat |
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| Enjoying some yummy orange juice |
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| The first bring out a plate of different pastries and fresh juice. Our waitress was amazing. |
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| The magical wand the girls got |
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| Dawson and his sword. He loves this thing and often sleeps with it. |
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| Snow white coming over |
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| They are so good with the kids |
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| So cute! |
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| Two princesses |
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| Next Aurora came by. I think Dawson was in love! LOL |
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| Jasmine again |
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| Bryan being goofy as usual |
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| Finally, Ariel came by. Ashlyn had really been waiting for that moment. |
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| They were so excited to meet her. |
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| Ariel is still Ashlyn's favorite princess |
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| One of the stained glass windows on the staircase |
After our amazing meal, we decided to head over to Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. This is a pretty tame roller coaster and I thought Ashlyn would really like it. She got to ride with me this time. The entire ride she was laughing and having a great time. We asked her when she got off if she liked it, and she said, "No." We still can't figure that one out.
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| Outside the coaster |
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| Dawson on Daddy's shoulders |
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| I think that face clearly shows she was having fun. |
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| The sign that broke my heart outside of Splash Mountain. |
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| Ashlyn and her Gram |
We wanted to ride on Pirates of the Caribbean next, but when we got there it was broken down. We walked a little further and decided to get in line for the Jungle Cruise because we had nothing else to ride. It seemed that everyone had the same plan because the line was pretty long for the Jungle Cruise. This ride was probably the worst ride we rode the entire time. The ride itself isn't bad. The animals are fake, but it is an original ride for Disney. It was the horrible "tour guide" we had. From the moment we stepped on the boat she just kept telling the corniest jokes and using pun after pun. No one was laughing and she would laugh after each joke. It lasted the entire time and at one point we wanted to just push her off the boat! The kids still seemed to enjoy the ride since they really weren't paying attention to what she was saying.
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| I love the signs they have up |
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| Sick of waiting in line |
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| A snake |
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| The hippo that Ashlyn always loves |
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| The elephant |
It was now time for our fast passes for the Ariel ride. This ride is so neat and a must do for anyone who likes the Little Mermaid. You ride in clam shells and it takes you through all the big scenes of the movie. The ride is new and I think they are still working on kinks. As I have mentioned, it was broken down two times while we were there. When we rode it, the ride stopped at a certain point. We sat there for quite some time. I really thought they were going to have to walk off the ride. However, they got it working and we thoroughly enjoyed our ride.
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| I think Joey took this picture when the ride had stopped and Ashlyn wasn't amused. |
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| The Leone clam shell |
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| An Ariel you go by |
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| Love this scene |
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| King Triton even shows up at the end. |
After Ariel, Ashlyn had one destination in mind. She was dying to meet Merida from Brave. She really likes the movie Brave and Merida is slowly becoming one of her favorites. There is a Brave spot at MK dedicated to meeting her. Joey offered to take her and stand in line with her while the rest of us went back to Pirates of the Carribean.
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| Walking with my favorite girl in the whole world. |
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| She got some special frothy apple cider drink that she loved. She even got to keep the special cup. |
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| Waiting for Merida |
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| Merida's tapestry |
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| Finally getting to meet her. |
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| I think she felt a little shy. I think it's like us getting to meet a celebrity. |
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| Signing her book |
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| Getting to shoot an arrow |
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| Right in the target |
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| Daddy and his little princess |
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| She loves him so much! |
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| Another picture in front of the castle |
We all reconvened and decided to go on the Teacups. A Disney trip would not be complete without a ride on the teacups. Katy and I were the only adults that could stomach the teacups. We weren't sure how Dawson and Ella would like them. When that ride started and we started spinning, the laughed their heads off the entire time. Seeing those smiles is a memory I will forever cherish. We rode them two more times since there was no line and the kids loved them so much.
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| Waiting to go |
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| Spinning |
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| More spinning |
We wanted to use out fast passes next and ride Space Mountain one final time. Of course, when we got there it was temporarily shut down. There is a car ride next to it that the kids had been eying for a long time. You basically get to drive a go cart around a track. Dawson and Ella were just mesmerized with it. We had to keep telling them that they were just too short to ride. Joey and I decided to take Ashlyn on. She had a such a blast driving the car. When we got off, I decided to just check to see if maybe Ella and Dawson were tall enough. Sure enough, they were! They were beyond excited. They even got to steer the cars (they are kind of on tracks so you really can't get of course and crash into another car). I honestly think this was the highlight of Dawson and Ella's entire trip.
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| Watching the cars |
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| Ashlyn watching the cars too. |
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| Here go Ashlyn and I |
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| Katy and Bryan |
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| You can see the tracks they are on in this picture. |
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| Pulling up to the finish line |
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| Goofy Uncle Bryan |
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| Ella riding taking the wheel |
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| Joey and you can barely see the top of Dawson's head |
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| I think this picture adequately depicts how Dawson felt about this ride. |
We went over to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It is not nearly as fun as Toy Story Mania, but we still had a good time. They take your picture on this one for some reason.
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| Katy was concentrating very hard. |
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| Ashlyn and her Gram |
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| The targets were really hard to shoot. |
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We wanted to end our last night in Disney with the Wishes firework display. We saw it a few times last trip, and we were just blown away by how amazing of a show it was. It is hands down the best fireworks display I have ever seen. I knew the kids would love it. Despite it being very crowded and the sea of people that were all exiting the park afterwards, it was truly the best way to end such an amazing trip.
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| Waiting for the show to start |
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| They added a new show in the beginning. It was the neatest thing ever. They projected all sorts of Disney movie images on the castle. It was hard to photograph, so you will just have to take my word that it was brilliant. |
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| You can see it better in this picture |
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| Fireworks ready to go off |
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| What a show! The whole sky was lit up. |
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| One last picture in front of the castle |
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| After a very long day, we came back to our room to discover Ashlyn's elephants curled up on her blanket. |
