Getting Dizzy at Disney World: Days 1 & 2

Travel Day - January 11, 2012

So exciting - we left home on time which was pretty surprising considering our plane left at 7:30 a.m.. Well... right when we got to the airport, we learned that there was a 3-hr delay. Uh... if you’ve ever been to the GJ airport, you know there is not enough to do to keep a 3 year old occupied for 3 minutes, much less 3 hours. There’s only so many times you can bribe a kid with “You’re going to see Mickey soon!” until he starts to think you are a liar.

Turns out we were liars. Once we finally got to Denver, we missed our flight, were put on a few others that wouldn’t make any connections to FL. This meant that we missed our Dessert/Fireworks Party and we would miss our Chef Mickey breakfast the next morning.

Finally, at about 9 pm, we left Denver for DC. They put us up in a hotel in DC and we fell asleep at about midnight and woke up around 5 am to catch a flight we were determined not to miss.

(Notice that the boys are carrying the bags while mom is only carrying the camera)

Sweet Cade was in good spirits, despite only 5 or so hours of sleep. What a trooper he was!



We arrived at the hotel - a feat we never thought we'd accomplish! Oh, Magical Express, how we loved thee!

Cade thought our hotel was the castle we had promised him he'd see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first stop (after long awaited showers) was the Magic Kingdom. Cade's first impression of the (real) castle was priceless. He kept pulling my hand to get closer.

Unfortunately for him, we couldn't go directly over because we were tight for our reservations to The Crystal Palace. There, he met his very first (ever!) character, Piglet.

He also met Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore. He favorite, though, was Tiger.

 After lunch, we tried out a few rides, including a 3D movie (Philharmagic):

By the end of the day, Cade was just pooped.

All in all, it was a perfect first day in the MK.

First Full Day (January 13) -Magic Kingdom

Because we missed our Chef Mickey reservations the day before, we tried to get them for another time. We were lucky enough to get one opening... which happened to be January 13 at 7 am.  Yes, 7 am the day after we traveled for 28 hours. Thus, not exactly what we wanted to do our first morning after the rough travel, but it worked out well. Chef Mickey’s was fun, but crowded and limited character interaction. It was, though, the only time Cade got to see and meet Mickey and Minnie and Goofy (how do they find someone so tall to play Goofy???), so it was well worth it for that alone.

                                         The food so-so, but the Mickey waffles were super cute.

From there, we went to Magic Kingdom.

Cade was skeptical when he got pulled into his first audience-participation dance.

But, he had a blast doing the Hokey Pokey!

 The Shooting Salon with dad was a great hit.

  As was eating a Mickey pretzel!

The BEST part of the trip happened shortly after we got there. My best friend, the friend I’ve known the longest, was meeting us there with her family, The Falls Fam, as I like to call them.  We texted when we were each at opposite ends of Main Street, and played “Where’s Waldo” finding each other. Of course, there were tears and confused kids when we found each other. We hadn’t seen each other in at least 4 years and she had never met my son.

We spent the day catching up and going on rides that Cade would enjoy.  Her kids were so patient since they had to wait until Cade wasn't around to on the "big" rides. Cade took such a liking to Nif’s kids and they never once acted like they were annoyed with the “little brother” they suddenly gained. 

Meeting Buzz was a favorite of the younger ones

And nothing could beat the cotton candy. A sweet lady gave the kids a free bag ... was she she sharing Disney Magic, or did she just want us out of her candy shop??

Here's another great view of the Castle. Doesn't Maddie make a perfect picture?








That night, we watched Wishes. Although the fireworks were fabulous, the best part was the show that was played on the castle. A. May. Zing.  Cade and I shared popcorn during the show.

 After, we met up with the Falls again, did a few rides, Cade tried to pull the sword out of the stone (he says he did pull it out... you know, because he’s big and strong).

No trip is complete without a few spins on the teacups. Aj wimped out, so Cade and I took on this one.

He got to meet Chip & Dale

 as we entered back into the park after a much needed rest.

 What a great day at The Castle!

We then went back to the hotel and crashed.