Disney World - Day 2 A Magical Day at the Magic Kingdom

   I want to start by saying all of these posts will have a ton of pictures.  I always try to take as many pictures as possible and I want to share all of them.  I will practice some restraint and share my favorites, but there are still a ton.
    We started our first day by heading to the Magic Kingdom.  I made everyone get up really early and head to the buses super early.  Those buses get so crowded and by getting there early, the buses were empty and we were all happy. 

Gracie in her Cinderella dress all ready for her first Disney World visit

Such pretty princesses.  I will apologize for some foggy pictures.  We found the humidity was always unreal in the morning and it fogged up the camera lens. 

Goofy

The last time my hair will be down the entire trip.  The past trips I have been able to wear my hair down like I normally do.  The humidity was out of control, and had a major effect on everyone's hair as you will see in coming pictures. 

Our bus pulling up

The girls discussing their plans

Dawson in the special shirt I made him. He was only two for his first trip and had no memory of it of course.  He is at such a good age for Disney World and was so blown away by every single part. 

One of my favorite sights

Group shot

One of the advantages of being the first people there, is great shots.  We were literally some of the first people in line for each park every day.  It actually really paid off for us. 

Great picture

Daddy and his princess.  Ashlyn loved dressing up this trip and insisted on wearing a princess costume each day. 

He was in such awe

Gracie and I

Watching the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony has a train that comes in with Mickey and Minnie.  I think these two actually stole the show. 

Don't know what this face was about. 

Our first view of the castle

   On this morning, we kind of split up.  Ashlyn, Joey and I headed to Splash Mountain.  Last time we went Splash Mountain was closed.  Ashlyn rode it when she was 3 years old in Disneyland.  Of course, she remembered it and was dying to go.  We rode it twice in a row had loved every second!  After riding it, we met up with everyone else for our very special breakfast.  We got to have breakfast inside the castle. 

 

Waiting to get in.

The girls

Kisses from Mommy

Dawson climbing the stairs

  The breakfast in the castle is a character breakfast meaning princesses walk around and you get to talk with them.  Kids always love that part.  Ashlyn already had all of their autographs so we just took pictures.  Dawson was absolutely hilarious for this part.  I figured since it was princesses he wouldn't be interested.  Boy was I wrong!  He loves taking pictures with them and had quite a thing for Jasmine.  When she came over he immediately grabbed for her hand.  He later told us he was going to marry Jasmine.  He was quite the little charmer with the ladies. 

The breakfast pastries. 

The kids loves these Mickey muffins

The kids all get magic wands and Gracie used hers as a teether

Ash and her autograph book

A view of the inside of the castle

They do a wishing ceremony and the kids make wishes. 

Boys get a sword

Ariel

Snow White

Gracie having a great time

Aurora

Jasmine talking to Gracie

Dawson and his future wife

We got to ride in the special elevator

Joey's birthday was the next day, so he got a cupcake and we sang to him. 

Reservations for this place are hard to get, so we had to sit at separate tables.  Here is Ella and Aurora

Ella and Ariel.  Jameson looks like he wasn't too into her

 

 

 

   After our magical breakfast, we got to ride some rides.  We started with the carousel and headed to It's a Small World.  It's my mom, Ashlyn's, and my favorite ride. 

Everybody's favorite ride

Bryan rarely takes a serious picture

    We got to ride the brand new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  They were just building it our last trip.  It isn't one of the more thrilling roller coasters, but really neat.  It's perfect for younger kids.  Dawson and Ella weren't tall enough to ride a lot of rides.  However, they could ride this one. 

Going up the hill

The inside of the ride

The view from the top.  That castle in the distance in Belle's castle and part of a restaurant. 

After some rides, it was very, very hot.  We decided to get some ice cream to cool the kids off.  We had fast passes for Splash Mountain and the younger kids couldn't ride, so it was a great break . 

Mickey ice cream bars are the best. 

Jameson clearly loved his and left quite a mess.  His hair is that wet from the heat.  It was hot!!!

   We spent the rest of the afternoon riding some more rides and using our fast passes.  We didn't end up staying in the park too late that day.  The Broncos were playing at 4:00 and the guys didn't want to miss it.  It was hot, so we all decided to head out early. 

Enjoying some Dole whip before we left.  If you have never had Dole whip, you haven't lived.  It's so refreshing on a hot day. 

Nap time for Gracie

We stopped for a parade

Great shot in front of the castle on our way to Space Mountain.

 

 

I love this picture, because it does a wonderful job of conveying the amount of fun we had.  You can see how tired the kids were at the end of the day. 

   While the guys were watching the game, we ventured out with the kids for ice cream.  These ice cream sundaes were huge and some of the best ones I have ever had.  We barely put a dent in them.