Slowly, I am getting through the posts about the vacation. There was so much to tell, but there's just not enough time in the day (or lately, energy) for me to do everything. I am SO very thankful I took that notebook with me, because at this rate, I may finish the posts about the 2012 vacation just before we take the next one in four or five years!
Tuesday, September 18 was our Magic Kingdom day. This time for real! See, when we were trying to find the resort on Saturday, we took a wrong turn and ended up on the road that leads to the Magic Kingdom. Sydney was extremely excited as we drove through the gates, and we had to explain to her that we were lost and were just turning around. So Tuesday, it was off to Magic Kingdom for real.
People have asked me how often I've been to Disney World. I have no idea how many times I've been. I think it's between 20-30 times. Yet it was still exciting to ride the monorail, especially as it goes through the hotels and you can look down on the people inside. We arrived just as the gates opened, and as we left the monorail station, all of the Disney characters were lined up in the train station to welcome people to the park. That was pretty cool. I had never seen that before. Of course, by the time I dug my camera out of my purse it was over so there are no pictures of it!
Inside the gates is my favorite part of Disney World- Main Street, USA. I have always loved the old-timey feel of Main Street USA. Plus, it's all shops- what's not to love? Our first stop was The Chapeau, or hat store. Drew needed his first set of ears, Sydney had outgrown her ears, and the adults thought we'd look around. There, I found perhaps my favorite souvenir ever! For those who may not know, I do not like Mickey Mouse. I'm not fond of Minnie either. I have always been a Donald Duck fan. I LOVE the duck! I like that he blows up and gets angry. I like that you can't understand a word he says. And especially, I love that he screws up Mickey's perfect little world.
When I was a child, the only ears you could get were Mickey ears or Minnie ears. I know at one point I had the requisite ears with 'Amy' stitched on them. That of course, was before I was old enough to speak my own mind. I remember having a hat as a teenager which was a white baseball cap, with a big plastic yellow bill on it to represent Donald's beak. I also remember it being a very hot hat to wear.
I took a look through The Chapeau, thinking if I couldn't find something with Donald, perhaps I could find another character (such as Tigger, another of my favorites). There are ears for almost everything now. And there it was- like a chorus of angels singing- a set of ears, but the hat part was done to look like Donald's shirt. It even has a tuft of feathers for a tail! Sydney was still looking for her perfect ears, but I had just found mine. I put them on and surveyed my reflection in the mirror. From across the store, Dad saw me, and I caught his eye in the mirror. He cracked up laughing. Well, I might get older, but I will never completely grow up.
I went to checkout with my hat, and thought I'd go for gold- I asked if I could have my name embroidered on the hat. "Sure!" said the perky salesgirl. She suggested yellow embroidery as it would look nice on the blue of the hat. I paid for my hat and it was sent to the stitching machine. People behind me received their hats and I kept waiting. My sister paid for Syd's and Drew's ears, had Drew's embroidered, and was done before I was. Then the girl apologized and said that the needle broke on my hat, so she was going to try again. She got another hat and started again. This time, the machine jammed and printed my name crooked. My name is short- and yet, it took three tries to get three letters embroidered on a hat. I stood there watching as out on Main Street, Sydney met Snow White, and then Laura and Sydney met Mary Poppins. After what seemed like an eternity, but was more likely about 30 minutes, I was the proud owner of Donald Duck ears that say 'Amy' in a nice, straight embroidery.
Some things have changed since I was last at Disney World. For example, you no longer have to risk a chance sighting of your favorite character, and then run frantically to them to get your picture taken with them. Now they have a schedule, and you check the schedule to find out when and where you can find your Disney favorites. It takes some of the fun out of it! In the middle of Main Street, Pluto and Daisy were greeting guests. We hopped in line for Pluto- I thought perhaps we'd see Pluto and then go see Daisy, but oh no, it was two separate lines. Drew sat there, with his ears on, still unsure about this place. Then he had the chance to meet the real live Pluto! His face lit up. He went over and gave Pluto's nose a hug. It was such a sweet and tender moment. This is what we went for- to see it again through the youngest eyes.
Disney World is building a new Fantasyland, so there was construction equipment all around. Unfortunately, when they took that iconic photo of our group in front of Cinderella's castle, there were cranes in the background. Not quite the picturesque scene I had in mind when I bought Mom and 8x10" photo frame for her birthday!
I was disappointed to find that Disney has changed the Pirates of the Caribbean ride so that it is more in line with the Johnny Depp movies- which I have never seen. It had a much darker, scarier feel than it used to. One day after our visit, it was on the news that they had changed the ride yet again, adding something else from the movie. The Jungle Cruise had not changed much, and Drew enjoyed looking at the 'animals'. Sydney was so excited all day that she kept making this sound. It was 'eeeee'. Said in a high pitched, overly-excited way. Much of the day she couldn't express her happiness in any other way than to say 'eeeeee', with a big smile.
Laura, Andy, and Syd went to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. My fibro was bothering me a bit, so I opted not to bounce around on roller coasters, even though it would have felt heavenly to get soaked on Splash Mountain. As Mom, Dad, and I walked around with Drew, we heard a noise that could have been thunder, but since we were also standing next to a roller coaster, it could have been the roller coaster. A couple minutes later, we heard it again, and there was no doubt- it was thunder. We started walking, looking for someplace we could get inside and sit down. We found ourselves at Pecos Bills. It was almost lunch time, and even though we had a 4pm reservation in Cinderella's Castle for dinner, we decided to grab a table and get some drinks and snacks. Dad went to get the table while Mom and I stood in line. We were first in line, shortly after it opened. As the weather started moving in, there was a coordinated effort throughout the park to close all outdoor rides. Hordes of people started looking for a place to get inside. By the time our order was done (a few drinks, a couple of orders of french fries), mom and I had to elbow our way through a thick crowd to get to the table. Then we waited for Laura and Andy and Syd to find us. We tried calling them, but all of us had a hard time getting calls in the Kingdom.
We waited out the storm in Pecos Bills. Or rather, round one of the storm. Looking back, it feels like we spent the rest of the day waiting out storms. I know that wasn't quite the case, but it was close. We darted back and forth from building to building, seeking shelter (by the way, when there's a downpour in the park, there's not a lot of places for all those people to go!) Laura and I went to the Haunted Mansion because we both really enjoy that one. When we came out, it was another downpour, and people were stopped at the end of the walkway, under the awning. The helpful Disney staff told everyone to keep moving. "You must go out into the rain". Laura and I were decked out in our handy $5 ponchos Mom bought at Walmart before the trip (they came in handy, let me tell you!), and since we are tall, we have a long stride anyway. We looked at each other, nodded, and said 'make our way to the castle'. We had told the rest of the family to meet us there when we went to the Haunted Mansion. We kind of walked, mostly ran, to another covered place (I forget now what it was) and took shelter with a group of strangers between a couple of shops. By this point, there was a lot of lightning around, so we stayed put. Even the construction workers were sitting it out. The staff from the stores came out and stood in the sheltered area. They watched it rain as if they had never seen it rain so hard. When the construction workers picked up their lead hammers again, my sister motioned for me to follow. We knew the danger of lightning had passed if they were working with metal!
We made our way through puddles and a soggy Magic Kingdom to the castle, where we found- surprise- a large crowd of people huddled together seeking shelter. There in the crowd we found the rest of our family, with Drew sound asleep in his stroller. Sydney had an appointment at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique to get made over as a princess. There really was not much we could do in the rain, and since Drew was asleep, we went to the Boutique an hour early. Really, we were looking for someplace to sit down (As an adult, I am highly disappointed in the accommodations at all of the Disney parks. Smokers had lovely smoking areas, but there is a serious lack of shaded seating for non-smokers). I'll blog about Syd's Boutique experience later- it is worthy of a separate post.
After Sydney was made over into a Princess, we met back up with the guys. Part of the princess package is to get professional pictures taken in her Princess attire. While Laura and Andy were doing that with Syd, Mom, Dad and I took Drew to find something that was open that he could enjoy. Dad and Andy had taken him on a couple of rides while we were all in the salon. Drew loves carousels. Sydney used to enjoy them a lot too. It was still raining a little, but not lightning, so I took Drew onto the carousel. I let him pick his horse. I knew when it was getting ready to start, so just before the carousel started moving, I told him "tell your horsey to go". He slapped the reins and said "Go Horsey!" His look of amazement was priceless when his horsey went just as he told it to! A little Aunt Amy magic! Next we took him to the Silly Symphony. Turns out, the guys had already taken him once, but he had so much fun he didn't mind seeing it again.
A 4pm dinner reservation comes early, so before long we were all gathering again at the Castle for dinner. That was also a special experience, so there will be a separate post about it. After dinner, the adults were worn out. Disney can be an exhausting place, and when you add the rude people shoving and pushing you, plus getting soaked in a downpour, it just left all of us feeling a bit deflated. By that time, we knew we'd be using our remaining day on our passes to come back on Friday. The park was closing at 7pm for the Halloween party anyway. We made our way down Main Street and were taking our time through the shops. Dad said he was going to take Drew outside. I thought maybe it was just too much to push the stroller through the crowded shops. Then I heard music, and as I had been summoned by the Pied Piper, I wandered outside to see what was going on. There was a small parade going by. Four floats, with Disney characters on each float. And there was Drew, dancing on the edge of the street as the parade went by. He was perhaps the happiest little boy in the park.
Neither of the kids seemed to mind that most of the day had been a washout. They had a good time regardless. Maybe that's why it's called the 'Happiest Place on Earth'.
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