Thursday, June 16, 2011

Disney Part II: Anna Claire and Mallory's First Day at Magic Kingdom {or the day I scared my children half to death}

Our first morning at Disney World ~ waiting at the bus stop bright and early to make good use of Extra Magic Hours and to get those Fast Passes!
We rented a double stroller and it was worth every penny. The girls never fussed about having to sit in the stroller; they actually preferred it. Disney was crowded {is it ever not crowded?}, but I definitely did not think it was too crowded to maneuver a stroller. And it was so nice not to have to bother with lugging the stroller on and off the buses.
Waiting on Dumbo ~ Anna Claire and Mallory's first ride in Magic Kingdom!
Of course, Anna Claire wanted to ride with Granny...
...and Mallory wanted to ride with Papa, so Walter and I rode Dumbo together. Ha, ha!!
Next, we rode It's a Small World, my absolute favorite ride in all of Disney World. The girls loved it, too, and it's a good thing. We went on Snow White's Scary Adventure early and despite having seen the movie several times and watching the ride on You Tube at least a dozen times, they were, indeed, scared to death on the ride and we could hardly get them to ride any other "inside" ride other than It's a Small World the entire time we were there.


The very first character we practically bumped into was....
Mary Poppins!!!! I could not believe it. The girls were so excited, star-struck might be a better word for it, though Mallory got a little shy and wouldn't talk to her when it was our turn {turns out this was only the beginning}. I got dozens of pictures, though, and they were both equally thrilled to meet Mary Poppins...still talking about it!

We rode the carousel, too...

After spending most of the morning in Fantasyland and finally giving up on trying to convince the girls to ride Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh after they sobbed throughout Snow White and Mickey's Philharmagic {yep}, we headed to Adventureland and Aladdin's Magic Carpets...

Then Anna Claire and I met Aladdin and Jasmine. This is where Mallory absolutely refused to meet them and then decided, as Anna Claire and I were saying goodbye, that she wanted her turn...too late. She sure did learn her lesson that day.
I think this might have been the girls' very first parade ~ ever. I think we caught the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! parade each afternoon as we left Magic Kingdom to go back to the hotel for naps. It's a short parade, so we'd stop each time on the way up Main Street to watch.
Watching the parade...
That night we went to dinner at Ohana which is at the Polynesian. Another dinner reservation we almost missed, but the wait was totally worth it. If you like meat grilled over an open flame ~ shrimp, chicken, pork, and steak ~ and served on long skewers, this is the restaurant for you! Definitely one of the best meals we had. No characters, but a fun luau atmosphere and the kids had a blast!

Anna Claire and Mallory showing off the treasures they scored at the gift shop after dinner...
One of many attempts at a family photo....
Later that night hanging out in the hotel room, the girls playing with their new toys...
And Walter trying to catch a little bit of the NBA finals...
That first full day was a whirlwind and for as many times as I have been to Disney World in my life, I certainly learned a lot in my first day as a parent in Disney World!

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