Okay, so after the parade we headed to the ancient Hall of Presidents for the kids and the grandparents. Rick and Aidan and I hung out in the air conditioning in the lobby of the "Hall." We were not really interested in seeing the crusty old show! I know, shame on us!
We were quick to get over to Frontier Land so we could ride Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Oh, and Mom, Grandpa Saint and Mimi wanted to see the
Country Bear Jamboree. So, they took Aidan to see the bears and Rick & I took Liv to the thrill rides!
It was a pretty cool area - log cabin buildings, a river with log raft for riding over to Tom Sawyer island, pretty neat.
Okay, so we practically RUN to Splash Mountain, and of course, the damn thing has shut down. Ugh! That was the only ride that Rick really wanted to ride. Poo! So we were a bit flustered and didn't think to get fast passes for later, instead we just headed back to where Mom and the rest of the gang were.
One of the highlights of the trip was what happened next. While hanging out, deciding what to do about Splash Mountain, these banjo pickers showed up and noticed Olivia's birthday pin. They started chatting her up and pretty soon, they were asking her what her favorite song was so they could play it for her. Well, she didn't have an answer so they played Zippity Doo Dah. Low and behold - Olivia starts dancing in the middle of Frontier Land!!! She was getting down, it was so great. And that song was LONG, I swear it was never ending. But, she just kept going! At the end she jumped up and went down into the splits!! She is so amazing. Just love that kid.
I don't know how we could top that performance, so we decided to bypass Adventure Land and head straight for Tomorrow Land. I wanted to ride Space Mountain and everyone wanted to ride the Indy Speedway cars.
Mission Completed! Rick rode Space Mountain with me which was so generous because he NEVER rides roller coasters. He and I had SO much fun! It was a great ride. All in the dark with flashes of light and sounds, twisty turny - SO FUN!
We found out that while we were riding in space, that the rest of the crew was meeting Buzz Lightyear and riding the people mover. Apparently it was real hit because it takes you all over Tomorrow Land. And, you know Aidan, he loves ANY kind of car ride!
Olivia got to drive her own car on the Indy Speedway, Saint drove on his own, and Aidan and I picked up the rear. He kept trying to push me out of the way so he could drive - what a goofball! It was so funny to watch Olivia drive out ahead of me. She would stop and start, figuring out how to steer. Too cute!
We were all just about pooped but wanted to squeeze in Pirates of the Caribbean. Oh, and it was about to rain on us! The sky was getting very dark, but at least it cooled down a bit.
Pirates of the Caribbean was a hoot! Aidan loved the boat and all the scenes to look at. He had fun! We all did. It was great that there were so many rides that we could all ride together.
So, that was it for the family outing. We said goodbye to Grandpa Saint, Mimi, Rick and Aidan, and then us girls stayed for more!! We really wanted to see the park at night. It seemed like it would be so magical and just didn't want to miss it.
The first thing we did was head to the "make your own Mouse ears" store. It was right up near the entrance on Main Street USA. Very cute shop with a very cute idea, custom ears. How can you go wrong? Livi chose the beanie she liked and then picked out ears and patches that they sew on for you. She also decided to get her name on the back of the ears. She did a really good job and her ears turned out super cute!
After the ear making, we went to Casey's Corner - it's a hot dog place. REALLY yummy, but no place to sit. Kinda weird.
Almost 90% of the people in the park were lining the streets to watch the parade that was about to start. We had fast passes to see Mickey's Philharmagic (4D Movie) back in Fantasy Land. We made our way to the theatre, enjoying the park again on our way back. We were happy to see that we were just a few of only about 45 people who were also there to see the show. It was adorable. We had the best time and we were so glad that we made time to go back and use the fast passes.
When we stepped out of the theatre, the Fireworks had started. It was BEAUTIFUL!! And it went on forever! Olivia was especially excited. Since we were behind the castle, the fireworks were right over our heads. It was up close and personal!
When the fireworks were over we, and everyone else, made our way out of the park. It was such a great ending to a really magical day. Ah, awesome.
1 comment:
It sounds AWESOME, Lara. Thanks for clueing me in to this additional 'report'. Looks like a great time all around. A little prior planning goes a long way toward making something special out of the 'okay' or 'ordinary'.
Dad
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