Disney Part 2: Magic Kingdom



The Magic Kingdom was our favorite park, except Ian's.  We loved it so much that this was the only park we went to twice on this trip.  Next time I definitely want two full days at the Magic Kingdom.

 

 

The boys could barely contain their excitement as we waited for the bus to pick us up at our hotel.  Note to parents:  buy your children their Disney shirts at the nearest Disney store before you go on vacation.  These shirts cost me $10 each at our local store and we saw them for sale at Downtown Disney for $24.99 each!  Crazy.

 

Our first ride at the Magic Kingdom was the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland while we waited for our FastPass time to be able to ride Space Mountain.  Nathan had a great time, but Ian cowered in fear and would not allow Ryan to move their spaceship up at all.  The boy does not like heights.

 

 

Later in the day and after MUCH convincing, we were able to get Ian on Splash Mountain.  We had to stand at the bottom of the drop and let him watch log after log of people having a good time before he would get in line with all of us.  This ended up being his favorite ride!  In case you are wondering, Space Mountain was his absolute LEAST favorite ride.

 Here are the boys outside the Haunted House.  We prepped both of them so they understood it was spooky, but all fake.  I guess we did not prep Nathan enough.  He lost it as soon as they closed the doors and said we could not get out.  He literally climbed me, clung to me and began to freak out.  Ah, kids.  I had to let the poor boy play a game on my phone just so he could survive the experience.

 

Can you see the fear in Ian's expression?  He was not so sure about riding Big Thunder Mountain.  He didn't care for it on day #1, but actually asked that we ride it again on day #2.

Loving their Magic Kingdom experience!!!

 

For dinner we went to the character buffet at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom.  The food was decent and not having to leave the park for dinner was lovely!  We purchased one of the meal plans for this trip and I highly recommend that to anyone going to Disney.  

 

The only ride Nathan insisted we ride again on our second day at the Magic Kingdom was Space Mountain.  Needless to say this was also the only ride Ian refused to ride for a second time.  Instead he asked Ryan to take him on the People Mover while Nathan and I whipped around Space Mountain.  Even though this was his SECOND time on the People Mover, Ian still freaked out a bit and tensed up when the tram went through Space Mountain.  This kids cracks me up.

 

Now this is to Ian's liking.  Sitting in a rocking chair on Tom Sawyer's Island watching the Big Thunder Mountain train.  This was my first time exploring the island and it made me want to immediately re-read the book!

 

We didn't make time for the Electrical Light Parade or fireworks our first night so we made sure to schedule this for our final night at Disney.  Here the boys are happy to be sitting down while we wait for the parade to begin.

Our perfect ending to our almost perfect vacation:  the fireworks!  Pretty sure both Ryan and I almost cried at the end of the fireworks because neither one of us wanted to leave and return to our normal lives.  I've requested that when he retires from the Navy we temporarily move to Orlando to work at Disney World.

We cannot wait to go back!  I wanted to book our next vacation as soon as we were back home!

Disney Part 1 (of too many)

In April we took the boys on a SURPRISE trip to Disney World!  Unfortunately our "reveal" video didn't turn out very well so we aren't going to post it here.  We made it all the way to the Orlando airport and on to the Magical Express bus before we had to tell the boys what we were doing.  Ian was thrilled when we told him we were going to Disney World while Nathan was underwhelmed.  The news didn't seem to sink in immediately.

 

Not only was this the boys' first trip to Disney, but this was their first time flying on an airplane!!!  To say that I am fearful of flying is an understatement.  I get sick to my stomach when I see an airplane in the sky.  Ridiculous, I know.  It's not like Ryan flies multiple times a week or anything.  I did my best to disguise my fear and help the boys enjoy their first flight.  They thought it was awesome!

 

 

The pilot invited the boys into the cockpit once we landed in Atlanta.  I didn't think they let anyone take a tour anymore!  Ian made himself right at home and began messing with everything.  Thank goodness we were taking a different plane for our connecting flight.

 

After behaving perfectly on the plane, the boys needed to let loose a little bit while waiting for our second flight to board.  I handed over my point and shoot and let them have some fun.

 

That's me and Ryan trying to rest in the background.  We are lucky our boys are (mostly) well-behaved.

Beignets for dessert in our hotel room!!!  I think this is the #1 reason Ryan and I keep choosing to stay at the Port Orleans French Quarter Disney Resort.  Yum!!!

We had just enough time after dinner to take the boat over to Downtown Disney.  Needless to say the Lego store was the favorite of the night!  Somehow we only spent $15 which is crazy because we are all Lego fanatics.

Take a guess at how long it took the boys to fall asleep this first night.  If you guessed three or four hours you'd be correct.  I don't remember how late it was when they finally passed out, but I do know that we had to separate them and it was the LATEST they had ever stayed up at night.  Worth it!

Our adventures at Magic Kingdom and more will be next.  I promise to post sooner rather than later.