Oh, oh, It's Magic...You Know...

So I'm a procrastinator.  And what happens when I get inspired to write about things is that I don't prioritize and then enough time passes that it becomes a chore instead of a hobby. 

I'm rapidly approaching that with the Disney trip.

I'm going to get this down before dementia sets in fully and I can't remember a darn thing about it.  Even if blogging is the second lamest thing to do on a Friday night surpassed only by watching approaching thunderstorms on the Doppler radar.  (Oh wait, did that too.)

Now that I got all of ^^^that^^^ out of the way....

The Magic Kingdom

Our first day was the no camera day, and it was, in a word, amazing.  I mentioned the Main Street parade as we walked in.  I know they did that just for us.  That's how Disney operates, right?  I didn't mention that as we stopped by the gate on the way in to pay for parking the cheerful attendant waved us through and said, "It's on Mickey.  The machine is down right now.  Have a magical night!"  That friends, was awesome.  And pretty much set the stage for the rest of the evening.  We opted for the ferry ride from the parking lot and I think we could have ended the night right then and there and it would have been a great night for the kids. 

But it was just the beginning.

We headed for Adventureland first, where we hopped on the Pirates of the Caribbean for the first ride.  I suppose it was risky, considering the spooky nature, but it was a success and Abby got over the spookiness once we told her it was all pretend.  That worked to defuse her fears of most everything at the parks.  And so it began.  We hit every ride in the Magic Kingdom over three days time.  Once we got Abby on Splash Mountain, her question as we stood in line for every single ride thereafter was, "Does this one have slides or is there a splash?"

On Sunday, we went back to the park for a day of fun in the sun...and longer rides and more-Florida-like temperatures.  The pictures are few from the most magical of the Disney parks, but take my word for it, the lack of pictures is inversely proportional to the amount of fun we had.

Even my big boy, Ben, enjoyed the tamer rides - like the carousel.

We caught a fabulous show on the front steps of the castle, so Abby could drink up every bit of princess that she could.

 

 But she did avert her eyes when the evil Maleficent came out.  Who can blame her?

While the boys were riding Space Mountain, the girls snapped a shot in front of Cinderella's castle.

Just look at my princess.

Then we ran over grabbed a couple of fastpasses for Splash Mountain, rode the train to the front entrance, and happened upon the chance to meet Pluto.  I did mention Abby's love for character greetings, right?

After a dip in the pool and a dinner at the hotel, we returned to the park that evening.  Would you believe as I stood in line with my ticket to enter, I heard someone call my name?  Usually I disregard it because, you know, chances are it's some other "Jenny/Jennie" that they're calling.  But this time, it was my whole name.  I knew my sweet friends would be there, but we hadn't coordinated a rendezvous yet.  Turns out we didn't have to.  It was awesome to meet up with friends at Disney - almost spontaneously!

Thanks for taking this picture, Derek!

Our kids hangin' out before riding Aladdin's Magic Carpets while Sam ran and got us all Fastpasses for Thunder Mountain.  (What's his problem?  Who skips out on the Magic Carpets???)

The girls even rode together.  *sniff*  Look how mature they look!

While Ben and I were off riding Thunder Mountain (for the 3rd time that night), Sam took Abby to meet Mickey & Minnie.  I do believe she stole their hearts, if I say so myself.  She was just Abby.  No autograph book.  Just her and her smile.  And I think Mickey and Minnie drank that up.

They danced together.

Shoot, they even posed together.  (Check out Abby's & Minnie's feet.)

And before we headed out for the evening, we stopped and watched what was, without a doubt, Abby's favorite part of the trip.

 

We watched it in its entirety 3 times.  Ben was less than thrilled.  Abby, on the other hand...

I'm surprised her little arm didn't fall off from waving so hard and that her cheeks didn't freeze in position from smiling so big.

It might not be the best picture ever.  But it's everything this trip was to me.  

Worth it.

We endured a deluge at the Magic Kingdom on Thursday.  And when I say deluge, I mean it.  It was a monsoon, an almost-hurricane, a super-soaker.  There were tornado watches, unceasing rains, and crazy winds.  Did that stop us from going to the park?  No sirree.  But it did stop me from taking the camera.  You know what else it meant?  Short lines.  The shortest of lines.  I'm talking the Buzz Lightyear ride two times in a row with no wait.  Sweet.

We rode every ride in the park that day.  We took a break to have dinner at the hotel and grabbed a quick nap afterward.  We got back to the park around 8pm, just as the rain ended.  And the place was desolate.  Double sweet.  (Sweet, sweet?)  We rode Space Mountain twice in a row with no wait.  Abby & Sam rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin SIX times in a row without even getting off.  Perhaps most impressive of all was the princess meet-and-greet whose line was out the door on previous days, but that night was so empty we thought it was closed.  We were wrong.  And those princesses were oh-so-glad to see our princess.

Despite being promised (by me) that he wouldn't have to meet the princesses (and/or prince), Prince Navarre didn't take no for an answer.  So here's Mr. Baked Beans shirt with the characters of the Princess & the Frog.

We stayed until 1am that night.  We enjoyed every single minute.  Our family culminated our trip to the Magic Kingdom with a shortcut through the Confectionery on the way out.  Abby batted her eyelashes and smiled at the candy maker and she scored a free chocolate dipped marshmallow on a stick.  Divine.

I don't remember when they said it, and it doesn't matter, but separately, both kids thanked us and officially declared the Disney trip "the most awesome vacation ever".

I love my kids.  And Disney World's not too shabby either.