I was just as excited about waking up Saturday morning as the girls were. In fact, I woke up about 4:45 and just couldn’t close my eyes again. I laid in bed reading until an acceptable hour and then it was time to meet the Mouse! We had heard from Guest Services the night before that MK had reached capacity and been closed for three days running, so our plan was to be there a half hour before the gates opened and it was a good one. The girls opted for the Ferry Boat to cross over to the park and I was secretly thrilled.
I love riding the ferry because it offers the first glimpse of Cinderella’s castle! We took Ella to Disney World in 2009, but it had been awhile. This was the first trip for SK and my cousin, Molly, so they were all understandably excited as we began our approach.
One of the reasons I was so excited to visit during the holidays was for the decorations and Disney does not disappoint. Main Street was full of wreaths and garlands draped from building to building and at night it was even more magical. I’ll tell you that Walt (and his legion) think of everything. Disney’s Photopass is pretty much the best invention of all times. YES the pictures are super pricey, but I know that I’ll buy the disk whether it has one image or 300, so we snap to our hearts content. For those of you not familiar with the process, there are Disney photographers at the important places and with each of the characters and they’ll take your photographs and scan a photo card. At the end of your stay, you can download the images or have a disk mailed to you. DPP is the reason we got great family photos like the one below.
Of course, everyone was enamored with Cinderella’s castle. Especially since we knew we’d be eating lunch there later in the morning. But for now, we were off to Fantasyland!
Dumbo’s Flight is always first on the list and even though this photo is decidedly blurry, it is one of my favorites! I love how happy the girls are and Gran & Poppy look pretty pleased with themselves, too. Fantasyland just got an upgrade a few months ago and now there are two Dumbo rides side by side and a great indoor playground to enjoy while you wait.
Goofy’s Barnstormer was next and we have fond memories of this one. When we took Ella before, she loved it on her first ride, but the second round she cried. Molly & Ella were so impressed the first time, that we got right back in line and rode it a second time. SK loved it both times and we were much relieved. It’s too bad that she had an adverse reaction later in the week!
Before running off to lunch we HAD to stop by Ariel’s Grotto and see our favorite mermaid. SK had been talking about meeting her for days, but seeing her in the flesh was quite a different story. She wanted to sing for her, but she got stage fright and decided that SD had to join her for a picture. You can see how truly heartbroken he looks!
We also managed to sneak in a visit with Pooh & Tigger. Sophie had fallen asleep in the stroller while we waited in line, so she missed all the fun. Pooh did love on her a little while she slept and we all joked about how AWESOME it would have been if she woke up nose to nose with that big guy. I’m sorry to say it didn’t happen.
Cinderella’s Royal Table was the highlight of day one for the girls. We were able to meet Cinderella and have our photo made with her (it isn’t digital, so I need to snap a pic for you all) before heading up the winding steps for dinner in the castle. Y’all, it is beautiful, but unfortunately difficult to photograph. I tried not to stress about it and instead enjoy my yummy pasta and our hilarious waiter. We later had the chance to meet Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Princess Jasmine. The girls were in heaven. And so was I until the check came.
We worked our way through Frontierland and Adventureland after lunch and wound up riding Aladdin’s Magic Carpet, which is much like Dumbo. Even though it looks beautiful in most of these pictures, we were actually blessed with some rain on our first day. We wore day-glow yellow ponchos for much of the day, but it was just a heavy mist and it helped to manage the records crowds. We actually managed to ride more than 10 rides before ten o’clock and just as many after lunch!
The grand finale for our afternoon was Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Parade. Like any good mom knows to do, we secured our spot on the sidewalk about an hour before parade time and the girls were so excited that they waited pretty patiently for Pluto to round the corner.
SK was enamored with the whole thing, but upon seeing Mickey & Minnie, the kisses were being thrown left and right.
We had such a great start to our vacation, but we were smart and headed home before dark for some much need recharging before spending our second day at MK.
