Florida: Day Four

The long awaited day had arrived ... the day we've been waiting for ... the day The Sweet has talked about ever since we told her about what we would do when she turned five years old .... the day to go to the Magic Kindom!

The girls didn't wake us up until 9:00 AM. The park opens daily at 9:00 AM. Ahhhh! We missed being there right when it opened. What happened to our girls' internal alarm clarks that always seem to go off at 6:30? Ah, well... I had to remind myself that we were here for The Sweet and she would love being there no matter what time we arrived. (I had to re-remind myself of this several times throughout the day, especially when we didn't go on a ride I really wanted to!) Since it was a Sunday morning, traffic was very light.

Before we entered the park, we needed to get fuel for our bodies. We had a gift card to use at a Panera Bread, and we found one in what is probably the best mall in Orlando (outside the outlet malls, of course). The stores were just starting to open, so there were only a few people walking around. We munched on pepperbleu steaks and Fuji apple chicken salads before taking our journey to the Magic Kingdom.

We arrived at the parking lot just after 1:00 PM. I changed into my Mickey shirt (which I had to exchange at the Disney store - the one I bought last night was too snug), and we grabbed The Cute's stroller and bag. We waited only a few minutes for the shuttle to arrive.

We were taken up to the gate to purchase our tickets. It was only natural that when we were in line to be the next to purchase tickets, the people at the window had some big problem that had to involve two ticketworkers andtheir supervisor. We stood in line for what seemed like hours (ok, maybe more like tens of minutes) when we were finally able to purchase our tickets.

Then we stood in line (such a common thing to do at DisneyWorld) to ride the ferry. This was The Cute's first official boat ride, so I had to take a picture of her. One of The Wife's coworkers told her that the ferry would take us to the park faster, and he was right. We didn't wait long for the ferry, and it crossed the lake in less than ten minutes.

We finally made it to the park just after 2:00 PM. The Wife said that she wanted to have the girls' silhouttes drawn right away - while they were still fresh and in an un-whiny mood. We quickly found a guy who sounded Russian to do the silhouttes on Main Street U.S.A. Both girls were done by the time the parade come by at 3:00.

Following the parade we walked on to Fantasyland. We rode Cinderella's Golden Carousel, the Mad Tea Party teacups (one of The Wife's favorites), and Mickey's Philharmagic. The Cute was able to ride the carousel with us, although she sat with me in a carriage that didn't go up-and-down. The Sweet enjoyed the teacups so much that we rode them again later in the evening - Lillie joined us for that ride. During our adventures, we stopped at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe for some french fries - this proved to be our only trek into Tomorrowland.

We went to Liberty Square to see the Hall of Presidents, a very stirring and patriotic presentation (which I suspect Democrats wouldn't like very much because Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush are primarily featured). April stopped in Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe to buy some Christmas ornaments. We munched on fish and chicken for dinner in the Columbia Harbor House.

After we had eaten our fill and The Wife had lifted several napkins because they featured pictures of Mickey Mouse, I took Katie to one of the must-see's of the park - the Haunted Mansion. I did what every good parent must do when they have a small child with them - I dragged her inside kicking and screaming. Well, okay, she didn't kick, but she did scream, "I want Mommy!" She mostly huddled into me and covered her eyes, but she peeked out a few times to see the ghosts dining and dancing, the clock with the turning finger, and the ghost that appeared to be in the coffin with us. When we exited the mansion, she told The Wife in no uncertain times that she would never ride this again. (I remember saying something quite similar when I was taken on the ride by my siblings, and I think I was The Sweet's age at the time)

We returned to Fantasyland so that we could ride another The Wife's favorite (and her must-visit attraction for this trip) - "It's a small world." The Sweet enjoyed this ride immensely. This ride has never been one of my favorites, primarily because the song sticks in my head for hours afterward, but it was fun to ride with April and the girls. The Cute seemed to enjoy it as well - her eyes were wide-open the entire time. We bought a princess hat with Minnie ears attached for The Sweet.

Darkness was creeping upon us, and we still had no signatures from any characters to put in The Wife's scrapbook. We went to Mickey's Toontown Fair, which hadn't existed when The Wife and I were last here (December 1988 - we were both in Orlando at about the same time but we didn't know each other then, of course). We walked through both Mickey's and Minnie's country houses - The Sweet liked Minnie's house better, naturally.

The best stop was in the Toontown Hall of Fame, which also houses the County Bounty merchandise shop. The Wife was able to take pictures with and get signatures of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, Belle, and Snow White. We bought a Minnie ear hat for The Cute and she looked very cute, naturally.

We were close to Main Street U.S.A. and the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey when the fireworks display began at 10:00 PM. As we had expected, the fireworks were spectacular. (We had missed seeing any on July 4th, so it was great to see them here.) We bought some fudge and waited for almost an hour before we made our way out of the park. We arrived back in the Marriott after midnight, but very happy that we had a full and exciting day!