road trip chronicles day 11

 

Take 2 at Disneyworld was much better than Wednesday's attempt, and overall, much better than expected. I did have the help of an occasional wheelchair, and two prescription drugs, which may have saved the day.

We woke up early and decided to hit EPCOT first. According to our travel ap, Undercover  Tourist, it was supposed to be the busiest park of the day, but we were able to walk right onto both Nemo's Sea ride, and the meet and greet with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. 

Kooka and I took a ride on Soarin, while Rico, Punk and Yoda checked out Figment and Captain EO. We took a break for a picnic lunch, before splitting up again. This time Yoda and I went back to Nemo, while the three big kids checked out the Test Track (verdict: AWESOME)!

Magic Kingdom was next on the list. The lines were unbearable, but thanks to a disability card they gave me at guest services, we were able to skip the lines that were out in the heat. Punk was able to take Neeks (and the rest of us) on the haunted mansion. it was her absolute favorite part of Disney, which warranted three rides, and several shouts if "I'n gonna get those ceeepy ghosts!". Punk was over the moon happy that at least one of his sisters shared his obsesssion. We also flew over Neverland, rattled through Space Mountain ( which a smarter person just out of the cardiac ward would have avoided), cruised through SmallWorld, and sat in a clamshell in the Little Mermaid ride in the new Fantasyland. 

I was prepared to hate New Fantasyland. After all, they did tear down Mr. Toad's Wild Ride AND Snow White's Scary Adventure to make room for it. And they haven't finished the Dwarf's Mine Ride yet, so I figured there wouldn't be much to see. I'm still not convinced that I love it, but Belle's village is adorable, and the fountain of Gaston did make the perfect photo op for Punk:

Dinner was in the west wing of the Beast's Castle, where the food was excellent, but the ambience was even better. We checked out his digs, but there was no Cogsworth, Lumierre, or Mrs. Potts, much to all of our dismay. There was an enchanted rose, magic windows that made snow magically appear outside, talking suits of armor, and the Beast's study, where we caught up with him for a quick picture:

After dinner the boys took off for another ride on Space Mountain, while the girls took off to the theater to visit princesses. 

The princesses have always been Kooka's favorite. She bought a charm necklace on her first visit to Disneyworld when she was three years old. Each time she met a character, she added a charm to the necklace and I think she's up to 15. She couldn't wait to take Neeks to visit the princesses, and like a champ, little sister did not disappoint.  

After an hour of waiting with absolutely no complaints, we walked into the Princess room. Yoda was armed with an entire mini suitcase of princess lipgloss (exactly like her sister was 8 years ago). She delighted in sharing her makeup with each and every princess, and even got Cinderella to dance with her (yes we have video). She was most thrilled by the fact that the princesses actually talked to her  (unlike Mickey and Minnie).

We bought charms for her new necklace (Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty), and then boarded he monorail back to EPCOT, picked up our car, and drove to Hollywood Studios for the closing show of Fantasmic! Where Yoda and I promptly fell asleep.