Florida: Day 7

We decided to return to the Magic Kingdom for what was supposed to be our final day in Florida (that's what we call foreshadowing, folks).  This time, we arrived with plenty of time to hula hoop and such before the welcome show started.  The weather that day was the nicest we had had so far, so the crowds were in full effect.

Since we had already been to MK earlier in the week, we thought we would take it slow and just hit a few extras we missed the first time.  I will admit, though, it was a little hard to get out of the must-see-and-do-everything-mode.

Our first stop was Dumbo and both kids loved it. I rode with Henry who was wildly signing "more" on our descent down from the air.  

Although I didn't take a single picture, we met up with some St. Louis friends post-Dumbo ride.  Amelia adores "baby" Elise and it just so happened our Orlando trips overlapped by a few days.  

We had yet to meet the fairies on this trip or last, so we headed that way as soon as they opened and were told the wait was about 30 minutes, but would "probably be less".  Nearly an hour later, Amelia and Jason were finally exiting the Fairy-meeting tent.  Henry had freaked out long before that and he and I had to exit the line early.  The grandparents were smart enough to ditch the line early on and go ride Space Mountain instead.  Nevertheless, Amelia loved meeting Tinkerbell and her friends.  She excitedly told Tinkerbell that Wendy was her favorite character.  (In case you are out of the loop, Tinkerbell doesn't like Wendy).  She got a kick out of upsetting Tinkerbell and still talks about it all of the time.

The race car ride was another adventure that got skipped on our first MK day, so Jason and Amelia sucked it up and waited almost the full 30 minute wait time so she could become a driver for a day (or 5 minutes, really).  This time she could at least see over the dashboard.  Last trip she wasn't so lucky!

Amelia picked up a whole pack of Disney Playhouse tattoos from somewhere on our trip.  So, on our last day, we were each sporting one of the character tattoos.  Unfortunately, we don't have the Disney Channel, so no I really didn't know who any of the people were.  Henry was assigned the character "Cubby".  I thought he wore the tattoo well.

We left the park shortly after lunch.  It got really crowded, really fast.  I'm not really great in a crowd and my dad is even worse.  Besides, we had hit all the things we missed the first day there and even rode several again like the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain RR, and Small World.  The kids were wiped and the adults too!  It was naps all around and then all the Wards (minus Henry) returned for the evening show. 

Man, I thought Magic Kingdom was magical during the day, but the night was pretty incredible too.  There is something about that castle and all the different lighting effects they do with it during the show!  Wow!

The parade was pretty incredible too.  We didn't do the nighttime events last trip.  I'm so glad we did this time because Amelia thought it was wonderful and so did we!

And, of course, the fireworks!  But the best part for me was watching Tinkerbell fly from the tippy top of the castle.  If you don't know what I am talking about, you can find videos online.  I did not get a single picture because I was in awe of the whole thing and apparently didn't realize I was holding a camera. 

It was a great end to a great run at Disney parks.  What a magical place!

Florida: Day 6

Where are we?  Day 6? I'm starting to feel like this is the trip that never ends!  We've been back for over a month now...sheesh.

We decided another "down" day was in order and headed to the beach. We took a 1.5 hour drive to Clearwater.   It was a beautiful day and clear water it was!  Clear, but freezing although that did not stop the kids from enjoying the waves.  

We played, collected shells, built a sand castle, had a picnic lunch and played some more.  When I was researching which beach we should visit, a website described Clearwater Beach as "sugar sand" and it did NOT disappoint.

All of this, of course, was going on while the supposed "blizzard" was gearing up to sit St. Louis back home.

 

 It was a great break from the hustle and bustle and left us rejuvenated for our final Disney day--or at least that's how I remembered it....

Florida: Day 5

We were lucky enough to have Papa John (my dad, not the pizza) join us on the evening of Day 4.  So, Day 5 brought us to Epcot bright and early.  It has been SO many years since I was at Epcot.  In fact, I am pretty sure the last time I was there I was sporting Jams and a perm.

Amelia's favorite ride was the first she rode--Test Track.  She loved it and rode it 3 more times immediately.  The "it" ride at Epcot is Soarin', though, and she was much less impressed with that one.  At one point during the ride, it looks like a golfer hits a ball straight at you and she is STILL talking about that part over a month later (and how much she didn't like it).

Henry did another great job handling a long day of walking and riding.  She especially seemed to enjoy all of the aquariums of Epcot.  I think he could have watched the fish/sharks/divers all day long.

I love this picture of Amelia, who grabbed Goofy's attention as we were walking by a window. She was so excited!

We spent most of the morning doing the ride thing and then crossed into the countries around lunchtime.  In fact, we ate lunch in England--fish and chips, of course.  

Jason read in a tour book about a kid's passport kit that can be bought in gift shops around Epcot.  We decided to give it a try with Amelia and it was very popular.  At each country we visited, she got her passport stamped and a little note written to her about the country she was visiting.  The Canadian representative even mentioned they were "Home of Justin Beiber!" (and hockey).

Amelia had no idea who "Marie" from the Aristocats was, but she still wanted to wait in the short line to meet her.  Upon our return home, we rented the movie from the library, so now we are all caught up!

Just another picture of Henry being tortured..this time in Morocco, I think.

Meeting Mulan was a pretty big highlight for Amelia.  Of course, that was shortly after getting stood up by Alice (in Wonderland).

Snow White was a very fun character to watch!  I can only hope her voice isn't like that in "real life".

She made a point to get some pictures with Henry even though we weren't really planning on it.  It really amazes me how genuine these characters seem.  It is also pretty incredible that the characters never made us feel rushed one single time.

I thought Epcot was great!  I actually ended up liking it better than Hollywood Studios.  Of course, it was an absolutely beautiful day, so I'm sure that helped!

Florida: Day 4

We decided to slow things down a bit for Day 4.  After two days at the parks, everyone could definitely use some down time.  So, Downtown Disney it was.  The area is mostly shopping and restaurants, but there is lots to see and do without spending a dime!

I'm not sure if I've conveyed how much Amelia LOVES the Peter Pan story.  Her favorite character is not Tinkerbell like you might imagine, but Wendy Darling. (She even does an English accent:  "Pee-ta!").  She was beyond excited when she saw Wendy (and Peter and Tinkerbell) flying overhead in one of the shops.  She would not rest until her picture had been properly taken with pretty much the entire Peter Pan cast!

The kids tried on a few hats...

Hung out with Lego Woody...

and did some acorn collecting.

Amelia couldn't help herself when an obnoxious pop song came on the outdoor speakers.

And that is precisely when Henry decided to check out the acorn collection!

 The biggest hit (for me anyway) of the Downtown Disney area was the pin trading shop.  Amelia started the trip out with 6 Disney trading pins (that I bought on Ebay) and was surprisingly into the whole trading thing.  In fact, I was wishing I had bought a few more because she was at the point where she didn't really want to trade any more of her pins.  While searching for the elusive Wendy pin in the store, one of the employees offered to sell us some old trading pins for only $1 each!  They weren't at all attractive, which made them that much easier to trade!


After lunch, dancing, and shopping we decided to stop into The Rainforest Cafe for dessert.  We sprung for the Volcano--something I've been wanting to try with Amelia since our trip to the Dallas version of this restaurant last summer.  It's a little pricey, but between the 5 of us, we couldn't even finish it!

And then it was back to our "Florida home" for swimming and resting up for Day 5!

Florida: Day 3

Day 3 brought us to Disney Hollywood Studios.  I had never been to this park before (apparently it used to be called MGM).  I had heard lots of good things about it and many people seemed to think it was the second best park of the four for Amelia's age group. 

Our first stop was the new Toy Story Mania ride.  We had heard that we needed to get there when the park opened or try to get a fast pass.  On SLOW days the wait is 2 hours and up.  We waited about 40 minutes or so and I am glad we didn't wait anymore.  It was okay, I guess, but definitely did not live up to the hype in my opinion!

I almost enjoyed waiting in line more than I enjoyed the ride itself.  There was so much to see!

We did a few more rides after Toy Story and saw a couple of shows.  Nothing really wowed us too much, but Amelia enjoyed herself.  We happened upon this drive-in movie theater restaurant after a friend recommended it to us.  We failed to make a reservation, but we came at just the right time apparently and got a prime seat.  The tables were shaped like cars and they were all facing a gigantic movie screen that was showing "Tom and Jerry" among other things.  It was a little pricey, but really fun!

After lunch the kids burned off some energy at the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground.  This huge Play Doh container actually smelled like Play Doh!

It was a fun place, but a parent's nightmare.  There are so many tubes and tunnels that it is very hard to keep track of where your kid goes.  I could barely keep up with Amelia and my claustrophobic self didn't really appreciate all of the tight little spaces.

We ended up leaving in the afternoon and Amelia, Jason, my mom, and I returned that evening for the Fantasmic show--one of my favorite attractions at DHS.

But, the highlight for me was definitely the Tower of Terror!  In fact, that was my favorite ride of all of the Disney parks!  I ended up riding it 3 times and it was so exciting every time! Maybe by the time we return to Disney Amelia will be old enough (or tall enough, really) to ride it with me!