This past Saturday morning, we woke the kids up and piled into Papa Crosby's Pilot, and didn't tell them where we were going. So, when the Magic Kingdom gate appeared before us, Kaitlyn was excitedly surprised! Zac had never been before, so he was excited that we were headed somewhere that made Katie so excited.
Zac's first ride was the tram from the parking lot. I have a feeling he thought that was pretty cool in itself.
My Mom appropriately dubbed this photo, "The Two Princesses".
Here is my planner. Katie cannot handle not having a plan. She had to figure out where we were headed!
Another cool mode of transportation. Can we ride the monorail all day?
She has decided upon our first destination! Sorry kid, Mommy and Daddy are in charge.
Main Street was beautifully decorated, of course.
Our first family photo of the day. We had spotted Mickey and Minnie, but they were doing some private photo shoot with a group of women. I'm guessing they were a bunch of visiting bloggers.
It was pretty foggy that morning, which translated into humid for the rest of the day. Where was our crisp, cool December weather?!
Through Cinderella's castle to the new Fantasyland!
The mosaics are still amazing.
Our first stop was "Belle's Enchanted Storytelling". While waiting in line Zac insisted on holding his ticket. He didn't really have one, so we had to make a makeshift one for him out of our ticket envelopes. He was satisfied with that.
Here we are entering Belle's cottage.
Every detail was awesome.
We loved the portrait of Belle with her mother.
Here is something you never see, Disney fixing something during park hours. They whipped out the double-sided tape to re-adhere one of Maurice's blueprints to the table.
My five year-old is as tall as an 8 year-old french one.
Here we have entered Belle's bedroom in the castle. There are multiple roles to fill for Belle and the Beast's love story. This is where you are chosen.
The wardrobe helps instruct everyone.
Jake was chosen to be a knight. No surprise for me there!
Here he is standing guard.
Belle is there for the entire storytelling experience. You get a photo with her and bookmark at the end. Considering some of the line to take pictures with the characters in the park run well over 30 minutes, the 40 minute wait for this interactive experience is well worth it! Our recommendation is to go here first when you reach the park. The new part of Fantasyland was barely maneuverable once it got a little later in the morning. Zac wasn't into participating along with everyone else. Rebel. However, his favorite part of the whole thing was Lumiere. (See him on the mantel. He was an animated robot/statue.) Once we were leaving he said, "Want one for my birthday." Can you make that happen Daddy?
While waiting in line for the storytelling experience, my mom had gone and gotten fastpass tickets for the new Little Mermaid ride. So, after we got done telling Belle and the Beast's love story, we went straight there. It was Zac's first "real" ride. He liked it!
Here are my two goofy sisters.
Here is our motley crew watching Ariel sing about her collection of human things, while Bethany calls her a hoarder.
Afterward, Daddy took Zac to the carousel while the ladies waited in line for a chance to meet Ariel. She is Katie's favorite princess.
So, not wanting her hair to be in her face in her pictures with her favorite princess, I stepped forward and readjusted her headband. Then I stepped back, and promptly slammed my camera on the ground, jamming the lens, rendering it completely useless. So, this is the last picture taken with my 4 month old Panasonic Lumix. Sigh.
It was a really awesome day otherwise. I'm glad we went with the kids at this age. They were really excited and really enjoyed seeing all the rides and characters. We had a couple of close calls with meltdowns, but all you had to do was tell Zac another ride was waiting around the corner, and he got moving. Zac's favorite was of course, the "Buzz Lightyear Space Explorer" ride. Katie is our adrenaline junkie and loved "Thunder Mountain" and The Little Mermaid ride the most.
