day 5 (patience, patience, patience)

Since most of the state was under weather advisories the day before, we were not the only family who absolutely HAD to get to the Magic Kingdom today.

Thankfully, Frank and Sharon agreed to come with us - which was wonderful for many many reasons.  a) four grownups to three kids is an excellent ratio; b) Sharon knows all of the short cuts and came equipped with an internal Disney GPS, so we were never wandering aimlessly; c) Yoda got to spend the day with one of her godfathers; d) we all love these two - they are incredibly sweet, and there was nobody we'd rather spend the day with.

We started out with a 10 minute wait for haunted mansion (the new walk-thru part is super cool - but the change in the hitchhiking ghosts part made us all slightly furious). By the time we left the mansion, the wait lines for everything - including Small World were 60-90 minutes.  We did get to check out the Hall of Presidents and Thunder Mountain before our 1:30 lunch date at Liberty Tree Tavern - but our day was off to a rather slow start. 


Even though this is their absolute favorite place in the world, the kids got cranky quickly.  They both wanted to ride - but neither wanted to wait - which put us in a bit of a quandry, as there really was no choice.  Rico and I are not big line waiters either. So after a spin on Buzz Lightyear, the People Mover, and Stitch's great escape, we snagged some fast passes and headed back to the condo for a swim.  By this point, one of the children was furious that we had to leave, one was hot and cranky and one just wanted a nap. And it wasn't just us.  By the time we rode the tram to the parking lot, it was 5:00, and when the super-perky Disney driver asked if everyone had a great time it was silent except for the sound of Yoda dumping cheerios onto the tram floor.  Today it was sort of "The Stressiest Place on Earth."

However - after an hour in the pool, and a quick Burger King stop - everybody felt much better, and because we're us - and we just have to squeeze it all in, we headed back to the park.

With fast passes for Space Mountain and Peter Pan, the kids got to ride immediately.  The weather was cooler, there were no lines for Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland Speedway, Snow White or Small World (which Yoda LOVED). And of course, there were fireworks.  Kooka, Yoda and I stood under the shadow of the castle while the boys rode Space Mountain (again).  She sang me a song she wrote, we nibbled Swedish Fish, and watched Yoda sleeping in her stroller.  We listened to the music and both of us commented out loud how very lucky we felt to be together right then, right there.

And there were still 2 and a half days to go . . .

Yoda getting (and eating) her "first visit"button
Punk's favorite view
It sort of felt like this after a while
Kooka shares small world with her sister


Comments

Treats said…
It's A Small World is THE most favorite ride of mine. I can get a little misty-eyed thinking about it/talking about it. I have fond memories of riding it with my dad as a young girl. He still will sing the song to me. So awesome.