Day 4: Magic Kingdom...Adventureland

On our last day in the Magic Kingdom, we concentrated on the Adventureland section of the park. Each day we had a flexible schedule, but we thought ahead and mapped out what sections of the park we would conquer each day. When the gates opened, we walked with a purpose to our destination. This strategy helped us to not miss anything we wanted to do. We did stop in our hustle to take the ever coveted popular picture in front of Cinderella's castle. And, yes that little man is mommy's prince charming.

I think our family opened Adventureland on this morning. Landon's dramatic style does all the talking...can you tell he's asking me, "Where are all the people?"  Many cast members were waiting outside the attractions welcoming us in their friendly Disney way. Miller's "Happy Birthday" button was proudly displayed on our backpack so we even got Birthday wishes as we passed by. The cast members go out of their way to welcome you warmly and overflow with happiness;)

 

 We were the first to board  the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Watching the Disney history preview on Netflix it all clicked that the movie was based around this classic ride. This "vintage" attraction came first and the designers studied the characters and story to make the movie. It was an entertaining boat ride as our family of scalawags braved the rough waters and shooting canons. Jack Sparrow looked just like Johnny Dep.

 

The Jungle Cruise was our next stop. This one was more entertaining for the adults as we were cracking up at our cruise captain's jokes and play on words. She had a humorous tale of danger that kept us in suspense. I had to really concentrate on her jokes over the crackling of her microphone. It was more like a tongue and cheek cruise way over Miller's five year old head.
The Jungle Cruise took us on a grand tour of the world's most exotic rivers in Asia, Africa and South America..
We set sail on a tramp-steamer tour in the untamed waters of the Mekong, the Amazon and the rivers of Africa. We felt relieved that we survived the 9-minute Jungle Cruise intact.
The audio-Animatronics animals including the Bengal tiger, king cobras, elephants, lions and hyenas really held Miller's interest. Then again, after seeing the real thing in Animal Kingdom we could tell they were not alive.
After a quick tour of the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, Miller set his sights high in the sky.

We held onto our carpets on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. The friendly skies of Agrabah was our destination. Miller loved to have control of the lever to control the carpet up and down while spinning on our clockwise circle around the genie bottle.


I made sure to fly the exotic skies ahead of my crew to record the carpet cruising. Aladdin and Princess Jasmine even greeted us on our exit off the ride.
Miller's birthday surprise appointment awaited us next. More on his transformation into a pirate in another post.

More walking...this pirate got his exercise.

A big highlight of the day was riding Splash Mountain with Miller man. Our fam of three boarded Disney's flume ride with high hopes that we'd stay dry. Miller was excited to go on this ride as he had no expectations. The little story was cute and made it feel like we were on a kid's ride instead of a thrill ride.
As we approached Br'er Fox's cave at the top of Chickapin Hill on Splash Mountain, Br'er Rabbit tricks Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox." Don't throw me down, down, down into the briar-brimmed pond, he pleads. Anyplace but there!" are the last words we heard before we plummeted over the mountain peak 5 stories down. We splashed down on our riverboat into the pond below screaming along the way. It was refreshingly fun. Both Landon and I shielded our boy from the soaking wetness of the splash. We couldn't let his pirate makeup run, afterall!
To our surprise, he immediately asked to do that one again. If only there was a five minute wait.
Next time, I'm going to take my camera phone to snap the hilarious ride photos that they captured of all of us.


 

While we waited to redeem our fastpass for Winnie the Pooh, we rode the classic Carousel of Progress. After Miller conquered a couple thrill rides, this was a calm, leisurely way to pass the time.
We decided to call it an early afternoon at the park and journey back to "The Pirate House" for a long nap. And, that's just what we all did! The Disney exhaustion hit us all on this day after a solid schedule.

Day 4: Magic Kingdom..... At the Gates

We were early risers on this vacation. Who can really sleep in when it feels like Christmas morning first thing for the length of the stay. There's just too much to see and do to snooze the morning away.  Although, we really could have used the extra zzz's. Disney is exhaustively fun.

We heard that the key to success in the Magic Kingdom was to be among the first at the gate each morning.  Let's just say that my crew was patient with me for getting all confused about the magic hours. We had plenty of time on our last morning to grab some precious pictures at the front gate with Miller mousketeer sporting his classic Mickey T. And, what's a Disney trip without sporting those classic black ears?  It is here that our family  ...."Let the Memories Begin". Told ya it was early. Look at those early morning sunrise rays peeking over his Mickey ears.

It's Meeksa Mooska Mickey Mouse time! On this morning, he knew exactly what to expect when the turn styles opened.  More rides!  Although we still had one last birthday surprise up our sleeves. His early morning excitement was contagious. Landon and I had just as much fun watching his reaction to things as we did enjoying the park.

A family picture by the front gate. We wanted to snap a quick picture before the wall to wall people  started crowding the entrance. Miller loves to be silly. He is always moving!

Lots of moving & shaking at the Happiest Place on Earth. It's a walk down memory lane to hear all the Disney favorites playing over the sound system in the park.

 

Grandmama & Poppy purchased the cutest polka dotted hat for our little Minnie Mouse missing us at home. The girl ears with bows are irresistible. We're packing those girly ears away for safe keeping. It won't be long until the princess joins us in the future. I took the opportunity to try her ears on for size. And, we talked Poppy into a Mouse ear fashion show too. We had a few minutes to entertain ourselves for laughs as you can see. That Poppy is a good sport.

 I must say that these two take an entertaining picture.

Finally, the emcee greeted the waiting Disney goers with a morning wake up show.  Mickey and friends ride on a train car to greet the fans. All the waiting is worth it to get serenaded with the happiest of  tunes "Good Morning, Good Morning" .

And, then the highly anticipated "New Years like" countdown puts admission into the park over the top.

Day 3: Animal Kingdom Tusker House

 

Donald and Daisy Duck were the featured hosts for our delicious Tusker House lunch in Animal Kingdom. Disney just opened up this character experience option in December as part of the meal plan so we were excited to check it out. When we arrived, Donald was waiting for us to pose with him in his tan vest attire which was over the top darling. We were just steps away from the Africa section of the park and our morning Kilamanjaro tour, so we really did feel like it was just all a part of the experience of going on Safari. Our restaurant guide then directed us to our table and we loved admiring the African marketplace feel to our surroundings.

This was our first meeting with Ms.Daisy. She stayed close to her man Donald.

Goofy is always a crowd pleaser.

 

By the second character experience, Miller was a pro at putting his" cheese face" on for pictures.
In between all the smoozing with the characters, we managed to enjoy my favorite meal of our entire stay. Because, it was our sit down credit of the day it resembled dinner. I savored every delicious bite of curred rice and fresh fruit, tomato and cucumber salad, and the Cape Malay curry Chicken with rice and almonds. I topped it all off with warm banana bread pudding. Our lunch had a definite African flair.
 

These character meal experiences are geared more towards the younger crowd. Although, the sophisticated menu pleased all of us. All you can eat, mind you....Miller's eyes were as big a saucers when he learned you could keep going back for cookies. Both of my men took full advantage of seconds and thirds. A full day of walking and thrill rides will do that to ya.

 When Goofy came waltzing back into the room for our entertainment, Miller was all jazzed up for some after lunch dancing. All the kids hopped out of their seats for a rocking round the room parade. They marched to African folk music banging on their own instruments to the beat. Goofy in all his goofiness was the perfect leader for the Jambo dance and everyone followed his lead.

All in all, the lunch took up a good hour and a half, of our time in the park with all the greeting, eating and dancing. I was thankful though that we didn't have to stand in line at Camp Mickey & Minnie for the coveted autograph meet and greets though. Another huge bonus to character dining. Cruising through our Disney posts and still on our Disney high. Thanks for hanging in there with us!

Day 3: Animal Kingdom

We were ready for a day of monkeying around on day three of our vacation. No one from our clan had ever been to Animal Kingdom, so we were all wide eyed and giddy for this new adventure. For everyone that thinks Animal Kingdom is just Disney's version of a petting zoo...it's not!! ;) There's just too many attractions to be an ordinary zoo.Those of you that thought we only brought one kid on the trip are mistaken. Landon is always goofing off with Miller as you can see in the picture above. That's his best impersonation of an ape.
One minor mishap of this morning though was that I thought we had magic hours at this park on Friday. Turns out, the planner in me had it all wrong and we waited at the gate for an hour until the turn styles opened. This gave us time to eavesdrop on others scoping out the hot rides to ride first. And, we managed to devour of all the granola bars in our backpack waiting for our breakfast snack. 

 

Once the park opened, we ran made our way through the Oasis to the centerpiece of the park: The Tree of Life. Each one of Disney's parks has a large icon in the center to behold once you enter. This tree surely made a statement. It's 14 stories high and 50 feet wide with man made leaves that are a foot in length to put it all in perspective. Once you get closer on any of the trails around it, you can observe carvings of animals in the bark. The attention to detail in the carvings was amazing.

Then we trekked to the back of the park to walk right onto the Kilimanjaro Express. We boarded a jeep that took us on a safari. It was an up close and personal experience with the animals with a cute interactive story while we rode along inside an African savanna setting. Since it was first thing in the morning, the animals were up and at em'. It was feeding time for most so they were active and eating. And, it wouldn't be an animal experience without the stinky ness of a zoo wafting through the jeep from time to time. I enjoyed the running giraffe sightings. I've never seen such an awkward looking gallop from an animal. We kept passing Miller from lap to lap to get the best view. There was so much to see all around. It was one of those rides you could ride several times with different experiences and animal sightings.

 

The giraffes came right up to the jeep as we were making our way on the tour. One things for sure, the animals have the right of way and own the land. Miller loved seeing the baby elephant & lion with his wild mane. This ride was a great one to kick off the day. It was the one attraction that did feel like a zoo tour, but observing the animals in what resembled their natural habitats was beautiful. The jeep ride sold Miller from the beginning. He was along for the ride-that's for sure!

Next attraction was the Wildlife Express. 

All Aboard!

              We waited in the station for a few minutes and anticipated the train whistle. Sure enough it was our turn to load up on the open sided train. It really was nice to relax our feet for a bit and take a break from walking. We got our exercise on this trip.

 

The ride led us on a tour on the backlot scenes of Animal Kingdom. We got to see where the animals are housed overnight and learn about how they are taken care of and summoned in each night to go to sleep safely. 

Once we were dropped off, we toured Rafiki’s Planet Watch.  Miller sat down criss cross to observe  the park ranger docent showing off her blue tongued skink pet. 

To our surprise, the little boy down front with "the binocular shirt" was chosen to handle the skink and show it off to the crowd. He had to describe to the crowd how this reptile friend felt.

 

Miller commented that she felt bumpy. We ducked out a little early from her presentation. We grew restless knowing all the awaited us still in the park. It's hard to absorb a 30 minute presentation  on a skink when there are rides left to be conquered. Another cool exhibit inside the Conservation Station was the vet surgery center where you can witness minor surgeries on the animals and their routine check -ups. These animals are given the first class treatment.

 

Miller did enjoy the petting zoo in the Affection Section. We let him brush the animals. It is therapeutic...really. The train dropped us off where we started and it was off to....

Dinosaur.

I really should have researched this ride and figured out beforehand that it probably wasn't an easy going, enjoyable ride for an almost five year old. As we approached boarding time, I did get a hint by all the screams exiting the blackness around us that Miller man may be a little freaked out by the prehistoric variety.  I just figured that if he was tall enough, he would enjoy it. He's into Dinosaurs after all:) Maybe if I had previewed the picture below, I would have made him sit this one out.

He survived. And, I couldn't even see his petrified face during the ride because it was pitch black until the end. He commented as we were quickly exiting, "That was scary.I don't want to do that again." No tears though. As a" will you forgive me for torturing you peace offering" Miller did pick out his Animal Kingdom mascot in the gift shop after this ride. The big rides at Disney all have gift shops with themed souvenirs as you exit. He had his eyes set on the cutest positionable green dino. We whipped out his wallet, and he made his first purchase to commemorate such chivalry in being a little man and surviving that thriller.

 

After lunch...more on that later... Miller finally got to participate in his number one adventure of the day. The Boneyard. It's a kiddos playground with slides, tunnels, and a climbing playscape. It was hard to pull him away from the imaginitive play inside the jeep.

He's still talking about pretending to be the driver in that muddy jeep. It was pretty cool to stand on the hood and get a different view of the playground.

After a half hour of play, Our palentolist finally discovered the big Dino dig sight. This is what really got him excited. He was actually uncovering a big Wooly Mammouth. It really was a great time to let our lunch digest and sit underneath the fans. Miller was really low maintenance to watch in this confined area. Minus a few "Be careful where you toss the gravel warnings", he was self sufficient to play.

We explored a few other rides in Dinoland USA. The Triceratops Spin was a must do. It resembled Dumbo and was enjoyable and easy going. I love how "cruncher" our mascot for Animal Kingdom made his way unto the remaining rides.

 

I did my best to snap a few pictures in motion. Miller was having a blast flying the skies in a much friendlier Triceratop.

 

We journeyed under the Tree of Life once more to check out the 3D show It's Tough to Be a Bug. This was a perfect escape in the afternoon heat to be entertained in air conditioning. The glasses were a hit with our boy. There were lots of hidden surprises during the show. We almost had to abort the mission when large spiders were dropping from the ceiling. Landon talked Miller out of leaving, but he was a little freaked out by the end. The adults enjoyed the pinching surprise from our seats at the end.  It's hard at this age to distinguish between fantasy and reality. No nightmares that night, so I guess we didn't scare him too badly.
Landon and I had a blast cashing in our fast passes to ride Everest. A fun little date just the two of us for a few. It was a true thrill ride and viewing our screaming faces on the picture at the end was hilarious. We have to leave with at least one adult ride under our belts each day to call it a successful day:)


We managed to squeeze in Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade at the end of our stay while we redeemed our snack credits of popsicles to cool off.  You have to reserve your spot early behind the taped off line marked on the streets.This parade was our first Disney experience,  but we later found out that it is a little different from the traditional Magic Kingdom street parades. It was so cute, colorful, and eye catching. It was one of Grandmama's highlights of the day. We loved the stilted characters dressed as animals. Miller was excited spotting familiar characters from the Lion King. I love how Disney coordinates their parades to lively music and you can feel the happiness and energy from the cast members. It really is a happy place!

 

Pluto was dressed for a day at the park..camp attire in its finest. Another magical day checked off our list. It was a great change of pace. With all the winding features and lush greenery, we never felt too crowded or bored. There was always something fun to look forward to. That's what I loved about Disney.

Day 2: Downtown Disney

 

Downtown Disney was the just perfect place to enjoy dinner on Thursday night. I love how restaurants in downtown Disney participate in the dining plan as it's still considered on property. We loved eating our table service meal this night at the "Rainforest Cafe" beneath a canopy of trees and waterfalls.  This themed restaurant was very entertaining for our almost 5 year old. Lots of animated animals roamed the rainforest around us as the sky clapped with the loud boom of simulated thunder & a rainstorm every half hour..Luckily the storms were all pretend and we didn't get wet! The LED lit sky above us was captivating. It was fun to eat while listening to trumpeting elephants and gorillas to add to the jungle experience. All in all it was a wild adventure!

 

Our fam loved walking around the downtown area. Live music from a Jimmy Buffet cover singer and even a high school choir on stage entertained us. Miller discovered the Lego store and it sucked him in with magnetic attraction. A little boy's dream...that's for sure! They have these Lego hands on tables outside the store to lure Lego lovers of all ages in. Miller made himself right at home and nuzzled himself very nonchalantly into two older boys' construction zone. He even managed to work his way into their mature conversations. Gotta love Miller's way of making friends.

After assembling just the perfect race car, it was time to test it out on the slanted track. Miller ran round and round that track launching and catching his designs. Each car was added to or made more elaborate with a spoiler of special feature dreamed up in this Lego lover's brain. He learned he had to high tail it to be waiting at the other end of the launch or his design would be taken by waiting hands at the other end. We enjoyed watching him build and play.

The Lego store got us all excited to explore Legoland this summer in our own hometown. Of course, Miller's souvenir birthday money was burning a hole in his pocket at this leg of our vacation. I kept telling him that we could buy Legos at any store at home. Who knew that having his own money and wallet could spark such meaningful conversations about wise spending at his young age?

Posing next to Woody. Both with hands on their hips...precious!

 

Buzz was a big hit too! Can you imagine the hours of construction with this character?  To "Animal Kingdom and Beyond"! Hang with us for tomorrow's adventure.

Day 2: Magic Kingdom

Disney is taking over our blog for a few days...We made so many special memories that I want to record them as fast as I can to hang on to all the magic:)

Thursday morning greeted us with an early morning wake up call. Guests staying on property get to take advantage or "extra magic hours". We left our hotel at 7:00 a.m. to board the Magic Kingdom bus to beat the crowds and place ourselves closest to the gates. We didn't anticipate the early morning musical  and show that awakened us above the park entrance. Mickey and guests rode the railroad in above us to sing a wonderful "Good Morning, Good Morning..to you and you and you and you" song. It was just what we needed to pep us up for the events of the day. We chimed in with the crowd shouting the countdown to open the gates..Once they opened strategically we planned a mad dash to the back on Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan. Our strategy was to hit up the most popular rides at the back of the park. Once the gates opened to the public, we could make our way to another less popular section of the park...if that exists in the Magic Kingdom. One of the reasons we booked this week in March is because of its proximity to Miller's actual birthday and because there were two school furlough days built in our calendar this year. When consulting the Mouse research institute, we later found out that this particular week was rated an 8 out of 10 for long lines because of spring break. I figured as long as we were mid March, we'd be ok. My fears were calmed though when we didn't really have long to wait for each ride. We rode Peter Pan first and walked right up to board our flying ship. It was a short ride, but very cute! I narrated it for Miller in his ear to hold his interest.


I studied my Disney wait time app for days planning which rides accumulated the highest wait time early. We conquered the Tomorrowland Speedway next. I sat this one out  and photographed all the fun from the grandstand viewing station. I was so excited for our little race car driver.

 

I wish I could say the whole trip was stress free like a vacation should be. It wasn't. The planner in me got a little anxious sometimes trying to squeeze everything we wanted to do in.  My parents remember the days when you just showed up at the front gates of Disney presenting yourself with no official plans. One thing that was certainly flawless was the weather. It WAS absolutely perfect....mid 80's with very little humidity. Tomorrowland's Speedway was a definite hit with our little car lover. He loved being the driver and even boasted of his license inside his new wallet. Look out when this kid is really on the road.

Poppy and Grandmama were even cruising into the sunrise. Grandmama's hat was flapping in the wind.

The Teacups are a Disney classic. This ride brought waves of nostalgia over me. So neat to finally share in these memories with my boy. Miller's face lit up with joy on this dizzying spin. Landon turned the wheel as fast as it would go and there were a few times I thought I just might lose my breakfasat as Miller screamed "faster!"

And, this is all I could get out of him at the end of the ride. I think his face was frozen in that position from our fast spin.  We made our way to Tomorrowland to snag a fast pass for the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. The fast pass gave us a future reservation to board the ride immediately later on in the morning. I just love this option. It allows you to book more rides in your day instead of wasting precious time in line. In the future, I'm sure their will be a tour guide app that lets you prebook fast passes on your phone to get a clockwork schedule down. Wouldn't that be nice?

 We boarded the People Mover Transit which allowed us to get a bird's eye view of the park. Miller got to view what he wanted to ride next from way up high. This enjoyable ride helped us to pass the time while waiting for our fast pass window to arrive. Then, it was straight to Buzz and we waited just shy of 10 minutes to walk on. The park was getting crowded by mid morning. This intergalactic adventrue was Grandmama's favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom and it ranked right up there with Miller man. We loved firing our laser guns at all the "Z" targets. Spinning around was the best especially when familiar faces were in the ride behind us to laugh along with. We hopped off of this fun ride to make our way to Stitch. It was only a 10 minute wait, so we thought why not. Let's just say there was a reason this wait time was so short. Maybe it's because Miller isn't familiar with Stitch, but we all wished we had that 20 minutes of our lives back:)

 

Call me crazy, but I've always been a fan of "The Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed" aka "It's a Small World". There's just something about the theme song that if you hear it once, it rings in your head forever. It's a catchy, happy tune. I guess I love it so much because it's a Disney original attraction ride that's been in Disney World since 1971. Being the traditionalist that I am, I love sharing in things that I enjoyed as a kid with Miller.

Managed to squeeze a smile out our little cutey while waiting in line. We noticed that all the elephants were messy eaters and their peanuts were stuck in the cement walkway up to the ride. Every detail of the new attraction area is just precious including the vintage circus posters leading up to the ride.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant...another classic was surely enjoyed by everyone too! We got to ride the refurbished Dumbo in reds, blues and golds. It now rides clockwise in a circle. It's part of the "soft opening" of Storybook Circus which is part of the newer section of Fantasyland. We can't wait to journey "Under the Big Top" when all the rides are open in the circus themed section of the park. I captured little snippets of video when I could here and there in case I ever want to make a slideshow of videos and still shots. You know, in all my spare time:)

 Our boy was wearing down after lunch and so many rides. The full sun can do a number on your combined with all that walking. We were proud to say we conquered Disney World stroller free! Miller was a trooper and kept up with our journey from ride to ride on foot. Now, that's something to celebrate! Landon, Poppy and I redeemed our last fast pass to Space Mountain and then called it a day. Why not end the day with a thrill ride? I must say that I couldn't fully enjoy the coaster worrying about my dad behind me. I was hoping he'd make it out alive. The picture of the wind in our hair on this dark ride was priceless and my only regret is not purchasing the glossy print after the ride that they try to convince you to buy. It would be great bragging rights to show off Poppy's need for speed in his very early senior years.

 

 At the close of our park going experience, my lens captured what Miller couldn't put into words. The feeling of wonderment was written all over his face. It had been one unforgettable day and there was much more to come.

“I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.”



–Walt Disney