I was going to combine our two Magic Kingdom days together, but I just can't do it. Magic Kingdom has too much fun (and too many pictures) for only one post! So, here is day five. I will follow up with our two final days soon.

During our week at Disney, we were thrilled to meet up with three other families from home. On Tuesday morning, we boarded the bus for Magic Kingdom, and we were excited when our friends got on the bus after we did. My two kids had been together nonstop for four days, and they were very glad to have some other kids to save them from their siblings. My friends' kids were having similar issues, so we decided to spend the morning together at Magic Kingdom. This worked out SO well!

First, we hung out together at the entrance of Magic Kingdom waiting on the opening show (I LOVE this show: they sing a "Good Morning" song, and all the characters ride in on the train.)

We also ran into one of my best friends from college and her family (we knew we would see them at some point, but it was fun to run into them right at the beginning of the day). Her son is two, and it was his first trip to Disney, so I was thrilled to capture his face when the train full of characters pulled into the station.

We started the morning with the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and then enjoyed other rides in Fantasyland. My Favorite Boy and his buddy had fun trying to pull out the Sword in the Stone.

At this point, I have to say thanks to Dr. B. He was nice enough to go and get Fastpasses for all of us. Since I was a single parent on this trip, his willingness to do this was VERY helpful. Thank you!

After Fantasyland, we headed to Toontown for a ride on Goofy's Barnstormer and to visit Minnie's house. Toontown will be gone the next time we visit Disney World, and my kids will be very disappointed. They love the Barnstormer, and my Best Girl could stay in Minnie's interactive house for hours!

After Toontown, we took a drive at the Tomorrowland Speedway. My Favorite Boy was so excited that he was tall enough to drive without an adult. After the Speedway, the bigger kids went to ride Space Mountain with Dr. B., and the younger ones and the moms went to Buzz Lightyear. At this point, my Best Girl stuck with the younger kids and skipped Space Mountain, but that changed later in the trip. Here are the younger ones shooting at Emperor Zurg.

We all split up about lunch time. My kids and I headed to Columbia Harbour House for lunch and then to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. I don't know how we got so lucky, but we managed to get absolutely soaked on Splash Mountain both days. (There is a big splash of water at the beginning of the ride that doesn't hit every log. We got hit both days.) We also spent some time pin trading with cast members and other kids we met along the way. My kids are really getting into pin trading, but my Best Girl has a difficult time parting with any of her pins, even the ones I buy to be used as traders.

We spent the afternoon enjoying Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, Mickey's Philharmagic, and some other attractions (just a note for my own memory's sake: we had to skip the Magic Carpets of Aladdin because a bee took a liking to my best girl and her Itzakadoozie/popsicle; she ran screaming from the line). Then, my Best Girl decided that she wanted to try Space Mountain. Although I was proud of her, I wasn't too excited about having to ride with them. I enjoy coasters, but Space Mountain is jerky and dark, and it makes me sick! For my kids, however, I toughed it out, and my Best Girl LOVED it! Here she is after her first ride.

At this point, we headed out of the park for our dinner reservations at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. On the way out, we stopped for some pictures, and this castle shot is one of my favorites from the trip. My kids love the magic shots with Tinkerbell. What you can't see in these pictures is how GRUMPY the kids had gotten. We definitely needed to head for some laughter at Hoop-Dee-Doo!

As I knew it would, the show changed our moods entirely. Not only are the fried chicken and cornbread delicious, but my kids laugh and laugh and laugh. The show is a "Hee-Haw" type performance full of slapstick comedy. Since my Favorite Boy can be too serious sometimes, I love to see him laughing this hard.

This show is truly one of our favorite experiences at Disney World, and we highly recommend it. It was a great way to end our first day at Magic Kingdom!

Labels: disney