Disney 2016- Day 2

The alarm came pretty early on that second day! I will admit to hitting the snooze button several times before I finally dragged myself out from under the covers.
It was Magic Kingdom day!!!! I think I was more excited than the kids!! So hang on tight and prepare for picture overload! Like serious picture overload....
Everyone always gives me a hard time for dressing the girls alike. First of all- I like it when they match! And second of all- it sure makes it easier when you are in a large, crowded, unfamiliar place! All you have to look for is one outfit or color to spot your kiddos. I never let mine get too far away from me, but I could sure spot them quickly if they did!

Just walking into the Magic Kingdom had me all giddy! I knew Mickey had to be there somewhere!! And the castle was just as beautiful as I imagined it would be.

How appropriate that one of the first things we saw was this firetruck!

Which prompted us to go and check out the fire station!

It was way cool!

This horse pulled trolly was just going down the middle of the street.

We saw Mary Poppins, but she was just headed on break. So we didn't get to take our picture with her.
The girls were in awe of Cinderella's castle!

These pictures make it look like we had the park all to ourselves, but I assure you that was far from the case. We just happened to walk up to take pictures at the right time!

My big girl looks so small in front of the castle.

She was a little intimidated to stand there alone. This sweet girl is more comfortable when her Mama or Sister is beside her.

It's a small world after all.....

While we were on It's a Small World, the girls were not impressed. The ride hasn't been updated since it was built. So it isn't much in the way of an "awe" factor. To the adults it is neat to see how far Disney has come with their rides and such. To the kids- that whole concept is lost. After we had been on it for a while (it's a fairly long ride), Macie said "I don't think this is a small world. I think it's a big world with a lot of small people in it." And if you have ever ridden the ride and seen how small the "dolls" are in there, then you will understand the humor in her statement. I think her expression in the above picture sums up how she felt about it.
But, never fear my adventure loving Macie Claire, more exciting rides were in store!

The Aladdin ride was a little more her style...but still not adventurous enough.

We then stumbled upon some characters to add to our autograph book!! Some very important characters!

Daisy

Minnie Mouse!!!!!

I love how they are looking at her here.

All of the characters took time to not only say hi, but to hug the girls and make them feel special. Minnie loved that they had on Minnie Mouse bows!! She kept pointing at it and giggling.

Goofy

Donald

The girls cracked up that all of the characters put their autograph books up on their noses to write! ha!!

The look on Macie's face in this cracks me up!!!

Next up was the Belle show! We had no idea what this show had in store for us, but it turned out to be one of the best experiences!! We waited in line for a while, not really knowing what this show was all about, so the girls weren't completely thrilled. But eventually we made it inside. They started by choosing kids out of the audience to hold props. We figured it was just to pass time until we got into the show. Disney is GREAT about keeping you entertained while you are in line! 

They picked Brenna to be the Beast! ha! And Macie to be the tea pot!

I wasn't convinced that Macie would do it at first, but she surprised me and walked right up there! They did some little games with the kids getting them to interact, and finally the doors opened and we got to go inside and see Belle!!

They had each kid come up and play their part with Belle and paraded them across the stage. It was so sweet! And it was especially neat that Brenna got the main role of Beast.

The girls were on cloud 9! It was a great show!

From there we went and rode some rides. I do believe I was the only one excited about the Winnie the Pooh ride...but that's ok...I made them all ride it anyway. Because POOH!!!

You can't go to Disney and not ride the Tea Cups..

But they quickly informed me that they wished Daddy had gone on the ride with them, because he is way more fun to ride the tea cups with. He apparently spins them faster than I do. Ok then....

After that we caught the afternoon parade. And I only have one word to describe this parade...HOT. Oh My it was so hot!!! We didn't get there early because we didn't want to just stand around and waste time waiting for the parade, so we got there right before it started. Because of that, we didn't have the best of spots, but at least we weren't in the sun for an hour ahead of time!!

Despite the heat (which was the motto of this whole trip), we had a great time and saw an amazing parade!

Snow White pointed out Macie's shirt with her name on it and called her by name. Macie thought that was the coolest thing ever!!

Next up, we got to meet Tiana and Rapunzel! Rapunzel was Brenna's number 1 request for the trip, and I am happy to say she did not disappoint! Just like all of the other characters, she made the girls feel so special! It was like we had a one on one scheduled time with her instead of standing in line like we did. 

She was inside, and as we got to the front of the line, Brenna spotted Cinderella's slipper on display! She requested that I take a picture and send it to Aunt Bit! So I did!

And then it was Rapunzel time! To say Brenna was in heaven is an understatement. And I tried to figure out which of these pictures to not post...but it was impossible! They were all so good, and told the whole story of how special Rapunzel made them feel.

She came over to the line and got the girls, took them by the hand and then walked back to where she was supposed to stand. It was like she had been waiting all day just to see Brenna and Macie Pool!

She asked them if they liked to twirl, and oh boy did that make them happy! This may have been my favorite picture of the whole trip.

Every character encounter ended with a hug. 

Tiana from the Princess and the Frog was standing next to Rapunzel, so we went to see her next. The girls weren't as excited about seeing her just because they weren't fans of that show. 

During the hot afternoons (oh who am I kidding- I was never NOT hot at Disney)- we took a stroll through a gift shop or two just to enjoy the air conditioning. During one of our strolls...we found this shirt that reminded us all of Graddy!

HAHAHAHA!!!!

Next up we found THE MAN!!! The number one dude! How can you go to Disney World and not meet MICKEY MOUSE himself??!! Well- you can't. I don't know where- but I am sure it is written as a rule or something.

To me- it was awesome! He talked and everything!! The girls enjoyed it, but not as much as they did the princesses.
We also got to meet Tinker Bell!

She was super cheerful! Like really cheerful. Like almost TOO cheerful! ha!! Didn't she know how HOT it was outside??
The girls loved her, and enjoyed talking about magic pixie dust.

We rode lots of rides that day, and saw many neat things! I enjoyed this statue of Walt Disney and Mickey. The girls- well- they pretended to be interested for a picture. I have trained them well.

We had dinner reservations that evening at the Crystal Palace. We didn't really know what to expect, other than it said "dining with character". Well- low and behold- it was a character dinner! ha! Yes- I fully realize that I should have put two and two together....but I didn't. So it was a great surprise to walk in and see that Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore were there!!! This Pooh fanatic mama was in heaven!!!! All of the characters came around to the table and gave autographs and posed for pictures while you ate. It was a neat experience, and characters that we didn't see anywhere else!

 The food was pretty good, but as with all of the restaurants- nothing to write home about. It was a buffet, which worked great for us. The kids could get exactly what they wanted, and Josh and I were able to add some salad and vegetables to our current vacation diet of fried and greasy everything. 

From there we rode some more rides...

Notice that Macie is riding with her Daddy.... that was a bid deal. Girlfriend needs her Mommy. At all times. But once convinced to ride with Daddy, she hangs on to him like there is no tomorrow.

Finally it was time for the light parade! We got there a little earlier than we did for the afternoon one, so we had some time to wait. Our aching feet were talking to us loud and clear by this time, so we took turns going to sit down and holding our place. But it was worth it! The parade was beautiful!

One of these days- she will realize she has this man wrapped around her little finger. They both will.

Next up was the fireworks show! We were all SO tired, but we had heard that you just can't miss the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom. So we didn't. We walked, along with the other 6 million people at Magic Kingdom, to the front of the park and waited for the show.

Here is a view of what it looked like between where we were standing and the front exit.....

I considered having a panic attack. but then I realized it would take too long for the medics to get to me and get me out of there. So I decided to just deal with it and wait for the fireworks.

And once again...it was totally worth it!! The show was amazing!!!!!!!!!! They lit up the castle, had images projected in the air as well as on the castle and all was set to music. 

To sum up our day...yes, I complained about the heat. But it was so worth it!! On the way back to the hotel, I looked at my phone and realized that we had walked 8.31 miles that day. WHOA!! No wonder my feet and legs hurt. But then I felt a HUGE sense of pride....because my kids had taken every step I took. They walked 8.31 miles as well, and with very minimal complaining! Everyone told me that we would end up renting a stroller while we were there. And I was ok with that. I already had it in my head that as soon as the whining and complaining got too bad, we would just rent the $30 stroller for the day. But I am proud to say...that never happened. My kids are champs I tell ya!

Once we got to the room, we showered, all took a dose of ibuprofen for our aching feet and legs, and went straight to sleep.