In the past few months, we heard almost daily, "Mommy/Daddy, I want to go to Disney World." Honestly, I've been excited probably since about the day she was born to take her there, so her eagerness was tugging at my heartstrings. But since we didn't know if we could do it, we didn't want to get her hopes up. We'd tell her we had to save money to go, that she was too small to ride the roller coasters (another thing she mentioned frequently), and that it might have to be when she was older. When we finally decided we were going to go, you can only imagine mine and Davey's excitement in telling her! We had TWO video cameras going when we finally spilled the news. Her reaction was...confused. "But I'm too little," she said with a perplexed look. We explained she wasn't except for the big rides, but she still repeated that a few times. Then she asked for a popsicle. Twice. I didn't even post the video because it's rather boring! That's kids for ya. But of course when the time actually came for us to go while staying in Florida she was excited. She had been watching a lot of classic Disney movies and Davey had discovered all these behind-the-scenes Disney documentaries. So our house had been slightly indoctrinated on everything Disney. We're kinda big fans.
We awoke early to a gorgeous sunrise (see above). So lovely that we left late because I was enamored with taking about a 100 pictures of it. When we made it to Orlando I was literally squealing like a little kid and singing along with Disney songs on Pandora. We parked in the Simba lot and headed to buy tickets where they gave Lailey a "1st Visit" pin and us "We're Celebrating" pins. How fun! Oh, by the way, we decided to let Maddox hang with Grammy and Granddaddy this day since it would allow us to experience everything with Lailey.
Between the ferry and the monorail, she chose the latter, and we made it in the park. Then it was bathrooms, sunscreen, and we're off! She got a glimpse of Rapunzel from Tangled, but she really wanted to ride stuff so we didn't wait in any long lines to see characters. But before rides we had to see the castle...
Then it was off to Dumbo! She loved getting to "steer" Dumbo up and down. The Dumbo ride has been updated (two rides to choose from, both the same thing) as a part of the new Fantasyland expansion taking place. I can't wait to go again when they finish it!
Since it's been a few years since I went to the Magic Kingdom, there were some awesome new things there. The Winnie the Pooh ride has an interactive play area while you're standing in line...
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| Things to crawl through |
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| Pooh's house, but I didn't quite the camera out in time to get Lailey going in...only the end of Davey! |
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| Fun spinning sunflowers |
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| Buzzing bees |
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| A honey touch screen |
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| And storybook pages. |
I do not do spinning rides, so I was designated photographer for the Teacups. Davey and Lailey thoroughly enjoyed themselves of course.
All throughout the day Lailey sang "It's a Small World" before and after she rode it. It was adorable.
The Haunted Mansion is the only "scary" ride I'll ever go on (cuz I'm a big chicken), and we left the choice up to Lailey whether she wanted to try it. She was tentative with the strange music and atmosphere since she's quite perceptive of such things, but when the Cast Member assured her it was just "silly scary" she was fine with continuing on...as long as we held her. She really liked it and told us at one point it was her favorite. Her favorite has changed countless times but it ranked up there.
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| Yes, she's picking the statue's nose. |
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| My favorite! |
Though it was threatening to rain, we ventured over to Tom Sawyer's Island and enjoyed running around for awhile.
She enjoys her Disney Princesses, but Lailey loves pirates as well. She's said "Arrrrr, matey!" since she was
very little, thanks to her Uncle Nick. She knows the Pirate song ("Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me" and was very much looking forward to the ride. Of course, she loved it! The gift shop after the ride proved to be almost just as fun. We had told her she could pick something special to buy and after many gift shops and all the paraphernalia we passed, what did she want? A hook. We weren't sure that was such a good idea since she's not so gentle with things and people, but we ended up going back later that night and getting it.
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| "Arrrr, Matey!" |
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| See, not so gentle. And rather gleeful about it! |
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| Mommy's in jail |
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| Captain Dave Sparrow |
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| Raaaaaaarrrr! |
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| Pirate treasure |
It rained in the afternoon, but it cooled things off a bit and we just did some inside things. Later in the evening, we headed to our last area, Tomorrowland, to ride Buzz Lightyear.
It's an interactive ride where you have to shoot Emperor Zurg with your laser gun and steer your spinning car around. Pretty fun actually. They take your picture at some point during the ride, and when we left the ride and found our picture, we laughed hysterically! I have no idea why I look so scared and worried, and Davey looks so fierce! Guess he takes his laser gun shooting skills seriously. Oh, and where's Lailey? Oh right, in my lap.
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| Our Buzz Lightyear ride picture |
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| In jail with Emperor Zurg |
We rode many other rides that day. Everything we wanted to actually plus more. It was so wonderful. Lailey had the time of her life. Our last ride was the Carousel, and Lailey was getting so tired, not having a nap that day and being in the heat. But she held on like a trooper.
We made it to the castle for the Wishes fireworks show, and the poor thing could barely keep her eyes open. She settled in on Davey's shoulder and watched the show, half awake. Once she went back in the stroller, she was out in five minutes. It was during this time that we walked all the way back to Adventureland to buy her hook, which she slept through. Then we left the park and took the monorail back to the parking area and walked all the way to the car. She slept the entire time until we got to the car, only waking briefly to be put in. And it was back to sleep for the ride home.
It truly was the Best Day Ever, and we are so thankful for the memories we made that day. We can't wait to go again someday with Maddox and let Big Sister show him around.
