About those roller coasters...and one last bit about Disney

I figured before I shared about the most recent trip we took I would finish up with Disney. If I could just speak the words onto the screen, maybe I would get it done quicker.

We saved what we thought would be the best for last- Magic Kingdom. Like the other parks, it did not disappoint. There was dense fog the morning we went, so one of the entrances to the park was closed. That meant EVERYONE going to Magic Kingdom was routed through another entrance. I can't remember which entrance, but I do know that we rode the monorail into the park. I'll give it to Disney though- they can move some people.

Third day was taking its toll

We started our day by hightailing it over to Splash Mountain in Frontier Land. It was a little overcast, so I think most people were headed in other directions. We parked in the stroller parking lot and easily got in line. We were pleasantly surprised that nearly all the lines moved faster than the time posted and Splash Mountain was no exception. It's a classic and one you kind of have to ride. I told my sisters that I was going to try hard to physically keep my eyes open on the ride. I did it and you can see the results below.

After that we immediately went on Big Thunder Mountain, which K was tall enough to ride, but I spent the whole ride distracted (a good thing) because I was holding on to tiny K so that she didn't fly right out of that seat, as the safety bar only goes down as far as the biggest person. Needless to say, I'm a bit bigger than K, so she wasn't exactly secure in there. We then went over to Fantasy Land and did Dumbo's flying ride and my sisters and the kids rode the Mad Hatter's Teacups. Yikes- that one definitely was not for me. I happily stood on the sidelines while they twirled around and around. Makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

Spinning, spinning

We grabbed a quick lunch at Cosmic Ray's Cafe- it was okay...will do if you just need something easy. Then we claimed our spot along the street for the Festival of Fantasy Parade. This is something that I kind of can't believe they do every day. It's better than the majority of parades I've been to that are celebrating something. There are all the characters, lots of music and it's just generally a good time. It's also kind of nice to sit down and take a bit of time off midday after running around the park all morning.

Lots of treats all the time!

The afternoon consisted of some shopping, then heading back to Fantasy Land to ride it's a small world then to Adventure Land to do the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and take the Jungle Cruise. Both were okay- the kids liked them, which is all that really mattered. The wax statue of Jack Sparrow looks freakishly like Johnny Depp and the guides on the Jungle Cruise make bad jokes the entire time you make your way through the jungle.

Buzz!

We ended our tour of the various "lands" by heading to Tomorrow Land last, where we rode the People Mover. It is a kind of tram like ride over all of Tomorrow Land, with a guided tour along the way. It also serves as a nice break at the end of the day. Buzz Lightyear also appeared in Tomorrow Land, and as he was one of the only characters we hadn't met, we stood in a short line to meet him.

AMAZING!

After that we made our way to Main Street to stake out our place for the Once Upon A Time fireworks show. We had quite a bit of wait time, but it was unreal. It was 18 minutes of an awesome light show and fireworks show, all set with the backdrop of Cinderella's castle. So many different stories, great music, and at the end Tinkerbell zip lines from the Castle across the park. It was amazing. My words can't do it justice. I might go as far as to say this is something people should consider putting on their bucket list.

One last princess to meet: Jasmine

We went big on our last night, and did the late seating for dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. We had to get that one last character dining in. We were greeted by Cinderella and escorted up to her ballroom where we dined with Aurora, Ariel, Snow White and Jasmine. The food at all character dining was a pleasant surprise, with no rubber chicken to be had. That was a late night, so we headed home and put three tired kids to bed. The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed back to reality. Disney does it well and we checked our bags at the hotel and didn't see them again until we got back to DFW. Ridiculous.

Now...about those roller coasters. I mentioned in my previous post that I HATE them. This trip confirmed it. I don't have a fear of them; it's not like I'm afraid it's not safe or something, but I figured out on this trip that I hate the feeling of free falling. Seriously. Usually I just close my eyes and try to get through it. But like I said, on Splash Mountain I made the effort to physically keep my eyes open...and this is the result. My sisters claim this photo was one of the best things about the trip, even going as far as to call it "epic." I'll just leave it here for your enjoyment too.

Yes, that's me looking terrified and K living her best life on the downhill ride. Go ahead- have a good laugh on me. Until next time...