Disney Day 6: The Magic Continues
It's now day 6 at Disney, day 8 since we left home. Needless to say, I think we were all a little tired. It was another early morning, and we arrived at Magic Kingdom shortly after the park opened. It was a Saturday so I expecting a large crowd. Most of our fast passes were for morning and early afternoon.
But no matter how tired one is, a day at Disney is always magical!
We started out in Tomorrowland. Mason really wanted to ride Space Mountain. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it because roller coasters just aren't my thing. But I've ridden Space Mountain several times before, and it really isn't bad as far as coasters go. So off he and I went. Seth and the girls waited on us.
Again, I didn't take a lot of pictures. So I don't remember a lot of what we did. But I do know for a fact that we headed off to the teacups after this. Ellie also insisted on riding Dumbo again. And then I took the girls to meet a couple of princesses. Seth and Mason went to Barnstormer, I think. Or maybe Tomorrowland Speedway.
Tiana obviously decided to spend her day at Magic Kingdom instead of Disney Springs. So this was our second time meeting her. Ellie didn't mind at all!
We also met Rapunzel. Again, I mentioned the other day about how these princesses really get into character. And she was no exception. She was absolutely delightful!
Hannah Kate decided she'd ride the carousel with Ellie this day (probably because she remembered Momma ain't gonna pay $2.50 for the carousel at the local mall).
The boys went off to Splash Mountain, and I took the girls to meet Jasmine.
Genie was there, too. As you can see, Ellie is staying as close to Jasmine as she can get. And as far away from Genie as possible. I have to give him props though. This wasn't his first merry-go-round. She never once tried to hold Ellie's hand, and I was thankful. She would've lost it!
At this point, I'm not sure if Ellie is trying to stay as far away as possible from Genie. Or if she's trying to get as close as possible to Jasmine. Probably both.
And, of course, we had to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet. We also rode Pirates of the Caribbean. After that we went to see the boys coming down Splash Mountain. I really don't remember how many times they rode during our trip. I think it was eight or nine times. They were always in the last seat on the ride. That's where Seth wanted to be because he didn't want to get wet. I mean, it's not like you get THAT wet. I figured he was "requesting" that spot. But obviously he wasn't. It was luck of the draw. But his luck ran out this time. They were in the very first seat. If you look close, you can see Mason's bright orange shirt.
As they're coming around the curve, Seth is very obviously picking himself up off the floor.
And, Mason, well, he isn't liking it at all.
I mean, not one little bit.
By this point, everybody was hungry. We went off to find a shady spot to eat our picnic lunch I'd prepared. I mean, the goal was simple. But somebody (I won't even mention who) insisted we watch the Country Bear Jamboree. Let's just say this person had no prior experience with the Country Bear Jamboree. So we sat through this most ridiculous show that I do not at all recommend. Needless to say, said person (who isn't me, by the way) will never again suggest we watch the Country Bear Jamboree.
We found a perfect little shady spot to sit down and enjoy our lunch in Liberty Square. Mason looked up and noted that we were sitting next to the Liberty Bell, the original of which is in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. As a homeschool mom who wants to hang children by their toes every time someone asks them what they "did at school" that day, and they answer, "Nothing," it really was exciting for me to hear Mason recognize and remember something we studied last year. He even asked if I'd take his picture.
After we ate, we stopped across the street at the Hall of Presidents show. Y'all. This show was absolutely amazing! Regardless of how you feel about our current or previous presidents, regardless of how you feel about this year's election, this presentation was a fabulous and stunning visual of the founding of our country and the men who've led our country through the decades. It was truly inspiring. I highly recommend this for all adults and all school age children. Even Seth was impressed, and that says A LOT. He's usually not at all into things like this.
We spent several minutes in the lobby waiting on the show to begin. There were portraits of several of the presidents. Mason immediately recognized George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He recognized Andrew Jackson and proceeded to retell the story of the War of 1812 when Jackson led the troops in the victory at New Orleans even though the war was technically already over. They just hadn't yet received word that the peace treaty had been signed. There was also a display of dresses from three former first ladies, one of which was Dolley Madison. Mason was also quick to remember that she was the one who saved many important government documents and a canvas of George Washington before the White House was burned during the War of 1812. This was another feel-good moment for this stay-at-homeschooling Momma.
After the show, the boys went to either Splash Mountain or Barnstormer, and I took the girls to Enchanted Tales with Belle. This is one of my most favorite things at Disney. Children in the audience are chosen to act out the story of Beauty and the Beast (which also happens to be my FAVORITE princess story). And then who should appear but Belle! I mean, we're not just a little excited.
When we were here three and a half years ago, Hannah Kate was chosen to be Chip. This time she was chosen to be Ms. Potts. She was so excited.
And Ellie got to be the salt shaker.
Here is Hannah Kate in her acting debut as Ms. Potts.
And then the girls had a picture made with Belle. She also gave them a bookmark.
But look. Don't think for a single second that Ellie was the only one in to this whole princess thing. Hannah Kate was smitten.
We met up with our boys again to decide what to do next. By this time, it was mid-afternoon. It was steamy, and it was very hot. The park was also getting very crowded. As we were discussing what to do, I looked up to see this.
Mason had popcorn. The girls wanted something cold so Hannah Kate got a coke float, and Ellie got ice cream. We decided our best bet was a ride on the Peoplemover. Again, this is for Kennedy!
My two must-have snacks at Disney are a Dole whip (which I actually enjoyed the day before) and a Mickey pretzel. We hadn't yet had a Mickey pretzel so we got one for everybody to share.
Since we were in Tomorrowland, the kids insisted we ride the Speedway again. I wasn't thrilled because the line was longer than I wanted to wait in (at this point, all of our fast passes were gone, and I couldn't get anymore). And it seemed like it wasn't quite as fun as yesterday. But maybe that's because we'd already rode it like five times. Anyway. Who am I kidding? Of course, we waited in line and rode again.
And then, just like that, it was time to go. We went back to the condo and ate leftovers for supper. I also wanted to finish laundry so I wouldn't have any to do upon returning home.
We woke up super early the next morning and headed back home while it was still dark. Between potty stops, food stops, traffic accidents and a detour due to an accident, the ride home took us 13 hours. Yes. THIRTEEN. Was it worth it? Hands down, ABSOLUTELY! Besides, I had 13 glorious hours to read a book! That never would've happened otherwise.
The kids are already asking when we're going to go back, talking about what they want to do when we go back. We had THE BEST time. A vacation at Disney is never restful, a vacation with children is never restful no matter where you go! While I really need rest, what I needed more than anything, what we all needed more than anything, was a change of scenery. As tired as I've been this week as we jumped right back into our crazy schedule of school and dance and life, it was totally worth it. And I, too, can't wait until the next time!
