The Magic Kingdom

We finally could say "YES!" when Sydney asked "Are we going to see Mickey Mouse today?"  Our goal was to get to the park when they opened, and we came pretty close.  They opened at 9, and we were definitely there during the nine o'clock hour, so we'll count it as a success!  I took a dozen pictures of the kids before leaving the hotel trying to forever document how cute they were, but Eli was not having it.  Here was a few funny pictures we got instead!

We weren't aware of all the hoopla involved in parking and getting to the actual park.  We first had to park the van, then board a tram, which then took us to a place where we could either take a ferry boat or the monorail to the kingdom.  We choose to ferry over.  Double strollers are amazing and very necessary.. They are, however, not fun to take kids out of, fold up, and lug onto a tram while also lugging a one and a two year old onto the said tram!  We also had a repeat of this on the way out, except Sydney was asleep and completely deadweight to add to the already crazy mix!  Without an amazing man who helped us get the stroller off of the tram, we might have been stuck on it forever (or wake her up, which I would have rather stayed on the tram forever!)

After admiring Cinderella's castle, which Sydney recognized immediately, we headed for Dumbo (or the 'phants, as Eli says!"  We waited in line for around 30ish minutes, which was our longest wait of the day, so I would say that isn't bad!  Both kiddos loved the ride and couldn't wait for the next!  The carousel horses were next.  We ended up riding these twice over the course of the day!  Then, we headed for "It's a Small World," which had no wait at all.  We rode Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear's rides, which were a hit with Eli and totally freaked Sydney out!  (She recovered quickly!)  We rode the Mad Tea Party teacups three times!  Eli would always hug me really tight and look terrified, but keep saying "Fun!," and always asked for them when we walked past!  Sydney is definitely a daredevil and wanted them spinning as fast as possible!

Our favorite part of The Magic Kingdom was the parades!  We actually participated in every. single. one from 9A-9P!  Our most favorite was called Move it!  Shake it!  Celebrate it!, which had all of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang, Jesse and Woody, and various other awesome characters, all dancing in the street with us!  So, so much fun.  We actually did this twice, both times by accident!  :) 

We also watched the Dream Along with Mickey show, Mainstreet Electrical Parade, The Magic Memories and You, and the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.  They were all amazing, and the kids were equally enthralled by all!  The characters would wave to specific children, all of the princesses blew kisses directly to Sydney.  It was so much fun!

 Sydney never takes naps, so we fully expected her to be fine, but Eli was such a trooper!  The little boy that takes 2.5-3 hour naps slept for around 30 minutes in his stroller and was so sweet.  I was shocked and so excited at how well both of them did.  I guess with constant entertainment they were too busy and happy to be fussy!  Eli slept, Sydney rested, Ben rode Space Mountain (he got a fast pass hours before!) and I walked the stroller around the park-- we were all happy!  :)  Here is a picture of why Eli's nap only lasted for 30 minutes-- just a hypothesis!

Meeting characters will get their own post, just not tonight!  :)