I was tired, but had no trouble waking up. We had scheduled a Disney wake up call (Mickey Mouse and Stitch) but the kids wouldn't wake up to answer it. We did learn that there IS a snooze button on the wake up call ... just don't answer it and it will ring again in ten minutes. That was good to know, since I tend to REQUIRE the snooze at home, otherwise I would be really late every morning.
The kids finally woke up and heard the wake up call, but they were still so groggy and it happened so fast, that I don't think they "got" it. Stitch isn't my favorite character, I wish he wasn't so predominant in the wake up call. Bring back Mickey and the gang. ("It all started with a mouse....")
We got up, had cereal, and were on our way. Our first full day at Disneyworld!! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!! WHO'S EXCITED??? WE ARE!!!! Oh yeah, we're home now, I can calm down, right? Yes, we were all SUPER excited.
We headed for the bus stop to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom. I tried to get the kids to sit together for a picture at the bus stop, but they weren't cooperating a whole lot. They were just so excited. The love bugs were HORRIBLE at the bus stop. I actually didn't see them swarming right there (I did on some other areas of the WDW grounds - mostly on the bus), but the benches at the bus stops were covered with dead love bugs. I heard other people complaining about them - they are bad, but don't bug me TOO much. We have them pretty bad at home too, and while they are annoying, they are pretty much harmless - and I don't find them nearly as disgusting and things like cockroaches. blech
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Walk in to Magic Kingdom. Wow, it is so hot and humid for so early in the day. yuck it's sticky....
Ok, here we are, Magic Kingdom. We head in, but stop for a couple of pictures at the castle.
Where to first? Last night we spent a lot of our time in Tomorrowland. While the kids were already asking for Buzz Lightyear again, we convinced them to head to a land we didn't really have time to explore. PIRATES! YAY! That convinced them.
Into Adventureland. Kiki stopped at a Kiosk to look at something and the kids found wooden guns. They begged for them. Before the trip, I kept saying that I'm not going to use the word "No". We are going to have a fun and positive experience. But ... I'm NOT carrying two wooden rifles around all day. Sorry ... but no. There's that word. Uh-oh. I hated being the mean mom, but I would hate even worse carrying those stupid things all day. I decided that part of the problem was the sitting and waiting while Kiki was looking (and in no way her fault). We were sitting on a bench right at the Adventureland souvenier stand, of course that is tempting for the kids. So, when she was done, I told her that next time, I'll keep going on with the kids (to the next "non-souvenier thing"), so that they weren't left bored with nothing to do but look at things I wouldn't let them buy. LOL She could then catch up to us. That works. She said she would do the same if I wanted to stop to look at something. A much better scenario.
We move on and the kids see the Treehouse. They want to stop. Not the most exciting thing at Disney, but the details are AMAZING. It takes a while to get through it, and when we were almost to the top, Philip starts to freak a bit. He is afraid of heights, and he made the mistake we all know you shouldn't do ... he looked DOWN. OH NO!! He froze, and held on to the rail and couldn't move his feet. Ok, this is a narrow walkway/staircase and there is this long line of people behind us. The treehouse is neat and detailed, but people don't want to be stuck on this non-headliner attraction. I encourage him to look towards the center of the tree, facing the handrail, and to walk up without looking around. He wants down NOW! Ok, but this is a treehouse - no elevator. You got up on the stairs, you have to go down on the stairs. So, he wanted to turn around and go down. Can't do that. See that long line of people behind us? They are coming this way and the walkway is too narrow for two direction traffic (especially with MY big butt!!). Only one more "up" section, I think. Everytime you think you are at the top, you turn a corner and there is another "up" flight. Keep moving...we'll get to go down soon. Finally, the stairway is heading back down.
Ok, we're out. Look - there, you can ride on Magic carpets from Aladin (ok, this just doesn't seem very "Adventureland" to me - but I guess it is where Disney felt it fit best? The kids don't want to ride. Really? Are you sure? Nope. So, we skip the carpets.
Alright, there is the Jungle Cruise. Kind of a wait, let's just get a Fastpass. I always find that the line for Jungle Cruise is HOT - all of that concrete or something, the covered area/shade just doesn't seem to do much to alleviate the heat. If I'm going to have to stand in a long line I want it to be INSIDE with airconditioning (and really, the lines aren't THAT long - it is the slow season and the park, while not empty, isn't super crowded). Grab the fastpass, and head over to the nearby Pirates of the Caribbean.
WOOHOO!! I've been waiting for this. The re-done Pirates, with Jack Sparrow making an appearance. The waterfall with Davy Jones is really cool - and looks like a real water fall. I was starting to panic because I hadn't put my camera inside the ziplock bag. I don't remember hearing of people coming off of this ride wet, but there is a waterfall in front of us. That was well done. Ok, the integrity of the ride (my favorite little details) have remained in tact. And the Jack Sparrow additions are cool.
We come out of Pirates and see Wendy and Peter Pan. Zachary wants to get their autograph, so we get in line. The CM tells us that Peter and Wendy are about to have to go inside for a bit, but will be back out a bit later. We *might* make it through the line if the line moves fast enough. At this point Philip is being whiney and doesn't want to get their autograph. But Zachary does. It's hot. God it's hot. Ugh. Being pulled in two different directions, standing in this hot sun, while the kids fight over standing in a line. Zachary decides to give it up. I feel bad, he is always the one giving in to Philip who is so demanding - and even worse that as the mom I let him do it just to avoid the confrontation with Philip. Philip has GOT to learn he can't always have his way. I point out to him that he needs to THANK his brother and be appreciative, because once again, Zachary gave up something he wanted to do, because of Philip. I don't think that sunk in though. :(
Then, who do we see with a VERY short line!?!?? Captain Hook and Mr. Smee! Zachary was more excited about them than Peter and Wendy anyway. So ... into that line. Philip starts to get afraid. Maybe it was Hook's big evil grin. But he was afraid. But, thankfully he didn't get all irritable because Zachary wanted to meet them. He just quietly sat back on the bench and waited.
Just as we were walking away from Hook and Smee, there is some BIG commotion. Pan goes running behind a fence and slams the gate, with a CM running after him, yelling to give back the hook! The CM runs full force into the gate and slams his body against it, then falling to the ground. The poor guy looked SOOOOO hot in his uniform, and he was running and really playing it up. There is a family with the CM carrying what looks it could be a kind of treasure map. I'd read about the "DISNEY'S FAMILY MAGIC TOUR" and this looked like what this was. One family was walking around with a CM, who was talking to them and having a lot of interaction. Disney's site describes this as "Put on your detective hat as you are immersed in this interactive scavenger hunt. Your Disney trivia knowledge is put to the test as you search high and low for clues in this adventure to save the Magic Kingdom® Park. Kids of all ages enjoy this very magical and very Disney tour. " I've read that the scavenger hunt involved Peter Pan and Captain Hook, so I'm betting that is what this was. This looked like something I would love to do with the kids on a future trip. It runs about $30 each for 2-1/2 hours. NOT something to do when you don't have a lot of time in the parks. But for another trip (yes, we are talking "next time" already, at least the kids and I are).
On to the Jungle Cruise... Fast pass, walk right on. It is corny and hoaky and full of very obviously fake animals. The tour guide has lots of corny jokes, but this guys delivery was pretty good. I still like the ride, but am pretty sure it is strictly for the nostalgia factor. Really, the kids seemed pretty bored.
After the Jungle Cruise, the kids tried the remote control boats just outside the exit. What a total waste of money. The steering wheels work pretty well if you know how to steer, even just a little. But, to turn right, my kids would both spin the steering wheel to the right at full blast, 20 or 30 times. The boat would spin in circles to the right. So, they'd (obviously the thing to do, right??) spin it 20 or 30 times full speed to the left, causing the boat to just spin in the opposite direction. Half the time they couldn't figure out which boat was theirs (um, the only two MOVING - we are the only ones here). But since they'd push their boat into an obstacle and try to move forward full speed ahead, it wasn't very clear to them. Then, they'd move it from forward to reverse over and over and over again....without any time in between for the boat to actually move. Nope, they won't be driving ANYTIME soon!! Ugh. No, I won't give you another $1 coin to waste on that again. Yes, we still have the extra tokens I got when I had to convert bills to coins so you could play with these boats. But, I find it a better value to save the remaining tokens as scrapbook embellishments than to dump this in the machine so you can spin a steering wheel in circles. You know, you can spin the steering wheel with nothing happening WITHOUT putting money in it.
Enough of that ... let's move on.
We are trying to decide where to go next. We spot Jack Sparrow outside of Pirates, giving a demonstration and entertaining guests. But the crowd is pretty big. The kids can't see from the ground behind the 5 people deep crowd, and we appeared to have missed most of the show anyway. So, we move on. The kids are starting to say that they are hungry. To Pecos Bill's for burgers (BBQ for me). Wow those burgers are big!! They each ate 1/3, and threw out 2/3 (and really, ate enough for me to be satisfied with how much they ate). Next time, they are splitting a burger.
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