Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Animal Kingdom


Despite surviving the crowds of Magic Kingdom and a late night bedtime, I still approached day 2 with caution.  I lightened the snack load in the backpack (who were we kidding the kids were going to talk me into the quick and easy ice cream treats?) and added sunscreen and some water bottles, and we headed in to our second Disney park, Animal Kingdom.  From the second we entered the park the experience was different... shade and wide open space and a feeling that my children could run far ahead of me without me losing them.  We were greeted by a walking tree (a woman on stilts painted in green) and wound our way through a few animal exhibits before the Tree of Life appeared before us and we entered our first show.. The Bug's Life view of life from a bug's POV.  The dark, spooky theater with a 3D movie that had bees buzzing us and other insects poking us and squirming around beneath our seats got the kids excited for the adventures that were ahead of us.  Nemo's musical puppet show and Simba's theater in the round and a relaxing Safari mid day in which Sammy dozed a little on my lap.  Following the long day at Magic Kingdom, it was no surprise that the kids started to crash in the early afternoon, but a frozen coke and some exciting dancing in the streets and they were ready for the fun of Dinoland including arcade games and face painting.  The highlight of the day was the way Eva wanted to dance for hours with the Jamaican street band.  Is it any wonder she didn't make it back to the park entrance without collapsing in her stroller?  We will definitely go back to Animal Kingdom.













Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Disney



I'm so behind in getting pictures up, but even without the pictures I'll never forget how it felt to walk along Main Street with TT and the kids, Cinderella's castle in view and It's A Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean and The Swiss Family Robinson Tree House waiting for us.  The crowds were tremendous, and we had a scary moment early on when Sam got lost (and showed a shop manager the phone number I'd written on the top of his leg in sharpie), but with so much magic and wonder and excitement all around, it would be hard not to love a day at Disney with my kids.  When we sat down on the It's A Small World boat for our first ride and Sam snuggled in under TT's arm and the little children's voices starting singing, I got tears in my eyes.  THIS was the moment I had wanted, TT and her grandchildren and the ride that started it all for our family back nearly four decades ago.  We spent a lot more money than I expected (when it's hot and crowded and you just want a break from the noise, kids can easily convince you that a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar or a $6 hot dog would be way better options than the snacks you've been lugging around in your backpack) and we stayed way beyond the time I thought we would, but we rode over 10 rides, ending with a dark and spooky Pirates of The Caribbean that the kids didn't quite understand (why are they acting silly?  what is rum?).  And when we returned to the park entrance at close to 9pm, Sam decided the one toy he wanted to purchase was the Mickey Mouse Wizard Hat he had picked out when we first walked in that morning.

 Sam's Wizard Hat

 It's a Small World

  It's a Small World

  It's a Small World
 Rope Bridge

 Fantasyland Carousel

 Flying Magic Carpet Ride

 Jungle Cruise

 Selfie on Madhatter's Tea Party Ride

 Riverboat Cruise

 Riverboat Cruise

 Riverboat Cruise

 Sam studies the water lifting operation in the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House

 Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

One last look at Cinderella's Castle as we leave the Magic Kingdom