Disney Day Three

Really? More pictures??

Meh. My blog, my decision!

So. Anyway. Day three rolls around and we decide we want some pool time. After all, the place we were staying had about 10 pools to choose from, so we explored the property for our perfect pool. The requirements were: fountains, very shallow area/zero depth area and some shaded space.

{fountains....check!}

{aw...he looks like an old fisherman, doesn't he?}

{this entire pool was 11 inches deep AND had fountains. PERFECTION!!}

After some pool time, we had lunch and put Eddie down for a nap. When he woke up, we decided to head to Hollywood Studios, mainly because they have a Playhouse Disney show. Eddie loves Mickey's Clubhouse and Handy Manny, so we knew he would love the show. Plus, we already paid for the 4 day pass, so we wanted to make the most of the money spent :)

{watching the car show with Daddy...Eddie was not a fan, hence the paci and blankie}

{handy manny!}

{look, mom! stuff that squirts more water}

{this is for my momma, who i thought would enjoy the purty flowers and broom guys}

{playing at Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground}

{walkin' an empty park and the streets of NY}

{more water! holy geez does this kid love all things water}

{uh, mom? it stopped.}

{ah! it started again!!}

Wait...wasn't this supposed to be an easy day? From Hollywood Studios, we went to play a bit at the Boardwalk. Let's be honest....I just wanted some funnel cake and carnival games :)

{Hubs trying to 'Lob a Lobster' which he LOST to ME! bwaahaaha! also, please note the dog that Eddie has, also won by ME when I beat the hubs at the water gun thing. HA! I am a carni-game master!}

....and then we all went home and slept for as long as Master Eddie would allow :)

Disney Day Two

Holy moly. Are you ready for another day of pictures?

{taking the ferry to the Magic Kingdom. TIP: if it is a nice day and the ferries are running, if you're not in a hurry and want some air, I prefer the ferries to the closed in and usually kinda smelly monorail}

{clapping 'yay!' at the castle}

{my boy and me}

{so pretty....i know, i'm a dork!}

{hey! dad! buzz is over there!!}

{for those that don't know, eddie loves all things buzz lightyear, even though he has never seen toy story. weirdo!}

{after being scared of minnie, he looooved buzz! like, really, really loved him!}

{high fives and fist bumps}

{oh, this meeting cemented the love of buzz}

{climbing the swiss family tree house...don't bother}

{riding aladin's magic carpets}

{playing at pooh's house....the last day it was open :) they closed it up for the new expansion!}

{playing at Donald's boat....if it is hot and your kid loves water, go here!}

{my happy little water bug}

{waiting in line to see Mickey! It was hot, Eddie was tired and it was a long line. But well, well worth it!}

So. Meeting Mickey. You wait in line forever (go through Mickey's house at Toontown Fair, go into the Judge's Tent and wait in line) and they take in groups of like, 5 people at a time. We were first in the next group to go and I asked the guy running the lines how it worked. Should I put Eddie down so he could run to Mickey? No, he said. There was one person in front of us. Ok, so we carried the munchkin in. As we turned the corner, there are no other people waiting, just Mikey and Minnie waiting at the end of a hallway.

No joke, just like in the commercials, Mickey and Minnie are waving and urging us on. OH MY GOD. I DIE. MY DREAMS ARE ALL COMING TRUE. So we put Eddie down, I try to grab my camera, realize that their photographer people are there and decide to let them capture the moment. Meanwhile, my son is running to Mickey, who is now kneeling to have Eddie run to him.

OH MY GOD. THIS IS THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE.

Mickey opens his arms, Eddie is running....

OH MY GOD. THIS IS AMAZING.

.....aaaaannnnddd....eddie takes a hard right and runs to the exit...

MY DREAMS! crushed.

So we grab Eddie, he goes back to Mickey and Minnie, gives out the hugs and kisses and poses for some pictures. The photographer that was there got one amazing picture of Eddie kissing Minnie with Mickey in the background. The picture has been ordered and I can't wait for it to arrive.

Ah, Disney magic. How I love thee.

Disney Day One

So. When all of the drama from the night before was over, we all went to bed somewhere around 1 in the morning. I cannot adequately describe how much it sucks to have a toddler awake at one in the morning, but I'm sure you can imagine.

Thankfully, Eddie allowed us all to sleep until around 9:30. And although that isn't a ton of sleep, we had a big day ahead of us and we were excited. What is the big day activity you ask?


Breakfast with the main Mouse, of course!!


We hussled our sleepy little butts to the Beach Club Resort's Cape May Restaurant. We were late, mainly because I thought it would be fun for us to park at the Magic Kingdom parking, take the tram to the Monorail and then hop a boat to the Beach Club. Sounds FUN, right?


WRONG!


I was wrong and no boat went to the Beach Club. So we waited for a bus....and waited....and waited. Finally, after a half and hour we flagged someone down and asked how long we would wait. We had 10 minutes until our reservation, the only reservation we could get in the 5 days that we were there. And Disney is hardcore on their reservations. I figured that if we weren't there on time, we'd get booted. I had built up this moment so much and I was going to miss it because of a freaking bus.

Thankfully, Disney employees (cast members!) do not dissapoint. The second that we said we had been waiting for more than 20 minutes (their average wait time) they all hopped into action. There were radios whipped out and people working hard to get us to our bus. As a bus came pulling in, a cast member ran over and told us that it was our bus...she literally began pulling out the diaper bag for us, telling us to take out the baby and fold up the stroller. She was on it! She told the driver that we were in a hurry, to drop us off first and to drive fast! They got us there just a couple minutes past our reservation, which was amazing.

Right when we walked in, Donald appeared. Eddie pointed and tried to wiggle out of our arms. He was going to love this! I was so happy. Disney came through for us. THANK YOU, DISNEY!

We got some food while we waited for the characters. The food was good enough, but the characters are what make that all worth it. Times a million. We were the last reservation of the day, which I would recommend. Since the characters only had like, 4 full tables, they came around again and again....did little skits and really made sure that each table felt special.

Minnie was the first to walk in. Eddie squeeled! "Miiii-mmee!" He said excitedly. "Miii-mmee!" ove and over and over again. Then sweet little Minnie came over to our table and bent down next to Eddie.

My son tried to get out of his high chair as hard as he could.

{if I can't see Minnie, Minnie can't see me!}

{So Momma hugged Goofy to show that he was our friend, and ended up giggling like a school girl when the Goof hugged her..silly Momma}

{all of the staff was great...they happily took pictures of the family with each character. The family sitting next to us went behind our waitress to make faces so Eddie would look at the camera, and we did the same for their little girls. It was perfect. Beyond perfect!}

{high fives were as much contact with the characters as Eddie could muster}

{Donald was a hoot - he did a little dance routine, sat down with the families and scared the crap out of me by sneaking up behind me, kissing me while saying "Quack, quack!" in my ear. When you have no idea that a big, plastic duck bill is behind you, it isn't fun to be surprised!}

{kisses!}

{Minnie came back for one more try}

{but only the Hubby would smile with her. I cropped Eddie out of this picture because instead of hiding from Minnie, he went with a new technique of stuffing his mouth full of food instead of interacting with her}

So. Character breakfast. DO IT. I would have done it every day we were there if I could have. The characters really do go out of their way to make sure that you get time with them. Each character came around about twice, and then a staff member came around making sure that we saw each one. Mikey wasn't there, which was a little dissapointing, but the interaction with the characters that were there made up for it. If you can, try and get the last reservation, because you get some extra time. By the time we left, there was only one other table and all of the characters were around it singing happy birthday to someone. While picking up our stroller, we even got some extra interation with Goofy. Please, please, please...if you're going to Disney, do a breakfast. It is totally and completely worth it! 

After breakfast, we hopped on a bus to Animal Kingdom. One of my favorite parks, mainly because it is a little more relaxed and can be done in a half day if you don't want to do all of the main attractions. We really wanted to take Eddie on the Safari, so we did that first. I was dying to go on Everest, the new roller coaster there, but stood in the single rider line for about 20 minutes by myself and decided that I'd rather be spending time with my family. The Dino-land area there was awesome and Eddie had an amazing time. He went on his first ride, the flying triceratops thing that is pretty much Dumbo, but a two row set up so we could both go on it with him instead of doing it once with one parent and then switching. He loved it and would clap and say "Yay!" at the end. My dreams came true :)

{the big tree!}

{eddie says "cheese!" with his hands by his mouth...don't ask me why, but gosh, it is adorable!}

{riding the safari!}

{not so sure...sitting with daddy and holding momma's hand}

{eddie spots the giraffes way in the background}

After the safari, we decided it was time for Eddie to enjoy something that is a Disney staple. The mouse ear ice cream!

{nom!}

{wait. where did my ice cream go? daddy, who said you could have a bite?!?!}

{I.WANT.MY.ICE.CREAM.BAAAACK!!}

{all better!}

Then it was time for Eddie's first real ride...

{this smile. i die.}

{waiting in line}

{almost there!}

{ready to go}

{up, up and up!}

{clapping at the end! my little dare devil loves his rides!}

Phew. Busy first day, right?

Eddie would agree.