Magic Kingdom

Our trip to Orlando was VERY eventful (unlike last year when J just sat in his stroller and took it all in) so I decided it would be best to blog about each day all this week. So let's start with Magic Kingdom!!

This day started out VERY rough...Who am I kidding?? The entire day was ROUGH! It turned out that we went on the HOTTEST day of the week and we had the hardest time getting to the park...AND... J was teething :( First of all, our tickets were at will call at Disney's Animal Kingdom park. We had the park hopper option so we decided to go grab our tickets and head to Magic Kingdom first. We did not know that it was not that simple! We parked at Animal Kingdom at 9am and caught a tram to will call. Got our tickets with no problem and went on our merry little way to Magic Kingdom. We had to walk 1/2 mile to the bus station to catch the Disney transport bus that travels between parks. Our bus came and we hopped on. It was a 20 minute ride. Once we got off the bus we were told that we had to walk to the monorail station, another 1/4 mile and catch the monorail. I've always wanted to ride the monorail, but by the time we got to the station I was aggravated and hot and the line was RIDICULOUS!! We waited 20 minutes to get on the monorail and finally made it to Magic Kingdom at 10:30!! Yes folks, it took us an hour and a half to get from one park to the next, so really the park hopper option is more hassle than anything. It's wise to dedicate one entire day to each park instead of hopping. If you do hop, bring lots of water and lots of patience b/c you will need both! Magic Kingdom was just as beautiful and magical as I remembered. When we walked through the gates there were people in costumes parading about and the Disney music playing throughout the park. It also made me smile to see all of the little girls who went to the Bippity Boppity Boutique and had princess makeovers! They were walking around in their princess dresses with their heels on, oblivious to the heat. But there was one kid in the park who wasn't oblivious to the heat...J!! OMG, as soon as we entered the park, J lost his cool. He did not want to sit in the stroller and when I took him out to let him walk, he wouldn't walk. He wanted me to carry him. He wanted me to carry 26lbs while walking miles and miles in 100 degree weather. Instead of sitting comfortably in his stroller equipped with a fan! Heck if I could have gotten away with it, I would have hopped in the stroller and made HIM push ME!! So J had the worst tantrum for the first 45 minutes in the park. He was in his stroller kicking and screaming and trying to flip the stroller over. People would come up to the stroller and all but put their face in it, just staring at him, but not saying a word. It was as if they'd never seen a child have a tantrum before. I think most were offended though, by the fact that I let him have the tantrum and didn't give him what he wanted. But I knew what was best for him at the time and that was to be in his stroller, out of the sun, and in front of his fan. He finally calmed down once we saw some characters. (Click on the images to make them larger)

First we got in line to see Pinocchio and Geppetto, only once we got there Pinocchio was gone :( I think I was more sad than the kids were over this...


Next we hopped in line to see Chip N Dale...


We were only able to see two for the moment b/c the lines were long and after a while the characters need to go inside for a break. Can you imagine standing out in the heat with those suits on?! So after Chip N Dale, we walked over to the Castle and watched a show (I'll post pictures of that later) and my nephew took a picture in front of the castle (J was FAR too cranky to have his picture taken)


After the show we walked around more meeting with various Disney characters. J was fine going to every character and turning around to pose, but he refused to go anywhere near Buzz Lightyear!! He cried and clinched to my arm!! Maybe it's the huge smile?? Who knows but J wasn't having it. My nephew didn't mind though ;)



We continued to walk around and J continued to be cranky with spurts of good behavior here and there. We let my nephew ride a few rides and we met up with a few more characters. Here you can see that J had had ENOUGH!!



This worried us a little b/c we still hadn't found Mickey Mouse yet. I remembered from years ago that they keep Mickey indoors somewhere but I couldn't remember where! Finally we walked past Mickey's house and I just knew he would be there. Mike went inside and asked the lady and she said we were in the right spot! We parked J's stroller, and headed through Mickey's house. Mickey and Minnie were out back in a tent...an AIR CONDITIONED TENT....with CARTOONS on!!! Whoever thought of this idea is a genius!!! This was exactly what J needed, some air and some cartoons! He was in heaven and his entire demeanor changed. We waited 45 minutes in line and I was just hoping that he wouldn't melt down as soon as we got in line for Mickey Mouse. When it was our turn, he surprised everyone, including Mickey!! Usually, I had to hold J's hand and walk him over to the characters and they would take his hand and turn him around for pictures. This time, J pulled away from me and ran straight into Mickey's arms! He was hugging Mickey and saying "Awwwwww!" and would not let Mickey go! It was too sweet. My nephew had to take pictures with Minnie b/c J was totally hogging Mickey. I had to go and pry J off Mickey and show him that Minnie was there also. Minnie snuck a kiss and I don't think Mickey was too happy about that! After the kiss, J turned around and said "Oooooo wow!!"



After seeing Mickey and Minnie, we let my nephew ride one more ride and we called it a day. Everyone was hot and exhausted and J fell asleep minutes after leaving Mickey's house. It was a rough day for sure, but it was all worth it to see J's reaction to Mickey and Minnie Mouse!!