Disney Day 2

     We decided to start our first full day in Disney in the happiest place in the world: Magic Kingdom!  It was very hard to get up that morning as we were all pretty jet lagged from a long day of travel the day before.  But, we were going to the Magic Kingdom, so we all managed to pop out of bed pretty quickly!  We all showered and headed to the bus stop to take the bus over to MK.  We loathe taking the buses as they are always so crowded, but unfortunately they are the nature of the Disney World beast.  

     We got to Magic Kingdom about 45 minutes before they opened.  They have changed their opening procedure since our last visit and it is so much less frenetic.  We got right through the bag check and through the gates.  None of us had eaten breakfast so we decided we wanted to head straight to the waffle place for our favorite waffles.  We were able to walk down Main Street towards Liberty Square.  We waited at the rope for a bit, and then we were allowed to go in.  We got in a very short line and all had some awesome waffles.  

The boys and Uncle Steven.  I loved the boys shirt that day.  So perfect for Magic Kingdom.

Gracie with a perfect view of the opening show.

Ashlyn doing her best Disney modeling pose

Waiting for waffles

       After a very healthy breakfast of waffles, we headed over for our first ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Gracie had never ridden it before and she was so excited to ride her first real roller coaster.  She absolutely loved it, which I knew she would!

Ready to ride her first roller coaster

On her first roller coaster ride 

   After we rode Big Thunder Mountain, we headed over to Splash Mountain.  I was so excited for Gracie to finally get to ride Splash Mountain.  It is just about everybody's favorite ride and I knew she would just love it.  I was right, she LOVED it!  We all got pretty wet, but we didn't mind too much because it was pretty warm that day.  

Waiting for her first ride

This is what she looked like after the ride!  She was soaked!

The boys playing a little checkers while waiting for everyone

Emmy just got to hangout with Gram while we rode.

    Emmy eventually fell asleep and took a nap (she had no problem napping in her stroller, she just refused to sleep in the dreaded pack n play).  Joey stayed back with Emmy while the rest of us rode Pirates of Caribbean.  It was a great little voyage like usual.

    After we rpde Pirates, it was time for our lunch reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern.  While we were waiting to be seated, Joey spotted Mary Poppins and took Gracie over to meet her.  Gracie was so excited to meet her first Disney character and get her first autograph.

     We were seated pretty quickly for lunch.  They had changed the menu at Liberty Tree Tavern since last time we went.  It is now a family feast of Thanksgiving type food.  We had turkey, pork, pot roast, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc.  The food was really, really good. It was one of my favorite meals we had.  

Ready for some lunch

Emmy worked up an appetite! 

She wasn't feeling the highchair the whole time.  

Jameson being a silly boy

They have a dessert there called Sticky Toffee Pudding which is to die for!!! It is so, so good!  

  After we ate a huge meal, we were all ready for some rides!  We had fast passes for Buzz Lightyear.  This ride is always a fun one for us because you get to shoot at different targets.  

    After Buzz Lightyear, we headed over to the Carousel of Progress.  I loved this attraction as a kid and it is still one of everyone's favorites.  Even if the song gets stuck in our head for the rest of the day.

Emmy enjoying Carousel of Progress

   Next, we had to hop on the People Mover.  We are used to very light September crowds, so we were surprised that there was even a line for the People Mover.  It moved fast, and we were on before we knew it.  Emmy really liked this ride.

Emmy loves her big sister so much

 



   At this point, it was getting very hot and we were all pretty tired from such an exciting morning.  We decided it was time to head out of the park and go back to the rooms for a rest for a bit.  Plus, football was on and some people wanted to watch the Broncos game.  On the way out, Joey and Gracie stopped to watch the parade for a few minutes.

Best view for the parade

The parade coming down Main Street

    When we got to the hotel, some of us watched the Broncos game.  Others took a nap.  I took a nap and it felt amazing!  It was just what I needed for our big night ahead.  We had a very special evening planned.  We were going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  When we booked the party months in advance, Joey and I discussed the logistics of it.  It is kind of expensive per ticket and the party is from 7 P.M.-12:00 A.M.  We just knew that Gracie and Emmy would not be able to stay up late enough to make it worth it for them to attend the party.  Joey decided that they would head to Epcot instead.  So, those of us attending the party, hopped on a MK bus around 5:30 while Joey and the little girls walked over to Epcot.  

   Gracie was really into meeting princesses and getting their autograph.  Joey's number one priority that night was finding some princesses for her to meet.  First they met Belle.

After meeting Belle, they found Snow White.  Gracie loves the movie Snow White, so she was very excited to get to meet her.

    After meeting some princesses, it was time to ride some ride.  First, the rode Spaceship Earth.

A glimpse into Gracie's and Joey's futures

After Spaceship Earth, the rode Nemo and spent some time walking around the aquarium.  The aquarium is phenomenal and way better than the one in Denver.  

Not so hidden Mickey

Gracie was totally freaked out by the face on the stingray

    While Gracie, Emmy, and Joey were off having adventures in Epcot, the rest of us made our way to the Magic Kingdom again.  The first thing we did was got in line to have our picture taken in front of the huge Christmas tree.  Katy made us all wonderful matching shirts just for the party, so I wanted to make sure we got a professional picture wearing them.







    After the picture, we went in the special entrance for the party.

Bryan has gotten into photography recently, and here are some shots he took of the castle.  I just love all the castle with all the Christmas decor.  

     We headed over to Space Mountain, but saw that it had a 65 minute wait and we did not feel like waiting that long.  We decided to head over to Columbia Harbor House for dinner.  It was crowded, and the food wasn't as good as usual, but it got the job done I suppose.  After dinner, we rode Big Thunder Mountain and then of course, Splash Mountain.  We decided to be silly and pretend like we were asleep in the front.

The boys on the way to Splash Mountain

   After Splash Mountain, we went and picked up some of the free treats they had around the park.  We got cider and chocolate and then snickerdoodle and hot chocolate.  Yum!  We decided to go ride Tomorrowland Speedway because it was only a 10 minute wait.  The kids LOVED getting to drive the cars.  

Hard to tell in this picture, but Ashlyn is driving her car

   After driving the cars, we decided to try Splash Mountain again.  We lucked out and there was no wait.  The kids loved it and wanted to ride again.  Since there was no wait, we rode it again.  

Ashlyn ready to go on a space adventure

Walking through the line at Space Mountain

Katy and the boys

Arms up!

    After Space Mountain, we made our way over towards the special Holiday Wishes show that was going on that night.  We stopped for a group shot along the way.  

 We managed to get there early enough to get a good viewing spot. Bryan set up his tripod so he could get some good shots.  We didn't wait long until the show started.  They were incredible fireworks.  I always say that once you have seen Disney fireworks, fireworks are never the same anywhere else!  They were spectacular.  For the finale, they had fireworks that went off surrounding the entire area.  

Waiting for the fireworks to start

Someone found a good spot

Bryan got some excellent shots

They light up the castle special for the holidays.  I was so excited to finally see it in person.  

    After the fireworks, it was about 10:30 P.M.  We originally had planned to stay until midnight, but we were all pretty tired.  The boys wanted to stay a bit longer, so Katy and I said we would stay with them while everybody else left.  Most of the park was leaving then so they had to wait a long time for a bus.
    We headed over the People Mover and took a ride at night which was fun.

  After the People Mover, we headed over to ride Buzz Lightyear again.  It was nice to not have to wait at all.  

    After those rides, it was nearly 11:00 PM and we knew we should head back.  We timed things perfectly, because we got right on a bus and didn't have to wait to at all.  Katy and I thought we had it made, until the bus driver kept making wrong turns and we ended up spending a lot longer on the bus than we should have.  The funny thing is we made it back to the hotel only a few minutes after the rest of the group.  We finally made it to our room around 11:30 PM.  As soon as our heads hit the pillow, we were out!  What an awesome first fully day in Disney we had!