The Magic Kingdom 2005 Part 1

Day 3 Magic Kingdom Part 1

I woke up early and TRIED to get the kids ready, but we had some sleepy heads. Finally we made it out the door, got the tickets and rushed to the Magic Kingdom, arriving only a couple minutes late for our breakfast. We saw Tigger first thing. Chris (10) was too cool to care while Joey (8) and Timmy (5) willingly posed for pictures, Grace (3) was a little shy, but soon warmed up to the characters.

I bought dollar store small notebooks for the boys to use as autograph books. I knew they’d be way cheaper than the Disney ones and my boys wouldn’t really care either way. For Grace, I bought a pink princess diary at Wal-Mart to use as an autograph book, but I left it at the hotel. The boys had a great time getting Eyeore, Tigger, Pooh and Piglet’s autograph, while Grace (3) was shy about taking pictures. But at least she didn’t cry and scream like some kids do. When Chris was 2 years old he was the most outgoing with the characters and ran up to them with big open arms, wanting hugs from everyone. The other two weren’t as animated in their enthusiasm, but weren’t afraid either.

Chris (10) was in breakfast buffet heaven, hardly noticing the characters as they came by. I had to pull him away from his food when Pooh and friends paraded around the dining room. Then Timmy (5) got into the fun and wanted to give Pooh a bowl of “Hunny” aka pancake syrup. I don’t know whose idea it was, but I encouraged him and tried to get a photo of him handing it to Pooh. Don’t think I snapped it in time.

The weather was beautiful, perfect to be exact and there were no lines. I think we only used the Fast Pass a couple of times. After breakfast we turned left toward Adventure Land. Last time we went to WDW the Aladdin’s Flying Carpets weren’t running, this time they were and we all jumped on for a magic carpet ride while DH took pictures. He’s not a big fan of things that go round and round. Grace really enjoyed the ride. We went up and down and back and forth while trying to dodge “camel spit.”e’s He

Next, we headed for the Pirates of the Caribbean. Last time, Timmy was too scared so we tried to coax him into going. But the closer we got the more scared he got. I think it was the music. So while I took the big boys (last time DH got to go), DH stayed back with the little ones. The only really eerie part about the Pirates was the very beginning, so next time I’ll try to convince Timmy to go and close his eyes until the skeletons pass. He’s been on similar rides at other theme parks, and he loved it.

We got a Fast Pass for The Jungle Cruise and headed toward Splash Mountain, but Timmy didn’t want to get wet. We really tried to get him on that ride, but he was stubborn. I didn’t care for getting wet that earlier either so I stayed behind. One thing I’m glad we bought early on was the walkie talkies, it helped us locate each other after the ride was over. Then the boys and I headed to Thunder Mountain. Timmy (5) was reluctant to go on, but we assured him he wouldn’t get wet and it wasn’t scary. He was still a little scared as we walked up, but once the ride got going he said, “This is just like the video” and I think he really enjoyed the ride. I sat close to him and held him tight around every curve, screaming and having fun! When we got off the big boys wanted to go on again, but Timmy didn’t want to so I sent DH (he had taken his Dramamine by now) and I stayed with Timmy and Grace. They chased the ducks and I tried to keep Grace from going into the river.

Next we went on Tom Sawyer’s Island. Something I wanted to do really quickly because we had to get back to Jungle Cruise. To me, there was nothing exciting about the island we haven’t seen somewhere else, but Chris insisted so I obliged. He liked the fort and the guns. But I rushed them through it…and on to Jungle Cruise. We only waited a short time, maybe ten minutes the most, before we boarded the boat. I remember when I was six waiting in lines for hours and hours. One year I took the kids to Disney in August because DH had a company trip, but I will never do that again. The tickets are too expensive to waste your time waiting in line. My kids don’t know what it feels like to wait hours for just one ride and they even get to ride their favorite ones several times in a row.

The Jungle Cruise is always my favorite for little ones. There is so much to see and the one liners from the boat driver are entertaining, though stale over the years. We were the last ones in the boat, but got a good view near the doorway. The kids got to see everything, even the big water fall which I didn’t remember getting wet from last time. But with camera in had and sitting in the only spot without a covering over head, Chris and I got drenched. It caught me off guard and despite my camera (which suffered no damage) the soaking was quite refreshing. The Florida sun had intensified and I was needing to cool off.

After the Jungle Cruise, Chris got disciplined, probably for “doing his own thing” and walking ahead of us, or for parenting. So he didn’t get to ride the next ride. It was going to be the tree house which he had never climbed before and REALLY wanted to do, so I said let’s do the magic carpet ride once more and he missed that instead.

Grace and I waited while the boys climbed… another thing I think everyone should skip if pressed for time. Then we waited inline to see Jasmine, Genie and Aladdin. They were very fun and animated and Princess Jasmine knelt down to draw shy Grace close. She hugged her and whispered to her while Grace turned her head away, but listened and stayed. We also saw Rafiki and Timon as well as Pocahontas or “hocanana” as Grace calls her. Even though Grace didn’t know these characters she followed her brothers and stood in line for pictures. Hey, isn’t that one of the reason we parents love Disney…for the pictures.

Stay tuned for Magic Kingdom part 2 tomorrow!