Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun! COMPLETE

[englishrose47]

I have to agree that Lake is beautiful !!But I'm still not HIKING!!!!

 

[shan23877]

I have to agree that Lake is beautiful !!But I'm still not HIKING!!!!

I'm not very "outdoorsy" either.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm not very "outdoorsy" either.

I have to agree that Lake is beautiful !!But I'm still not HIKING!!!!

You don't have to hike to get to the lake. The parking lot is right next to it.

 

[teachermommy78]

Finally all caught up!!! You had some great updates! I loved your pics of tom sawyer island. I've never been there. And those lake pics....SO BEAUTIFUL!!! We don't have mountains in Illinois. Whenever I see one, I get all giddy (probably the way some people feel when seeing huge skyscrapers that I get to see daily!). However, those mountains are particularly breathtaking!!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Finally all caught up!!! You had some great updates! I loved your pics of tom sawyer island. I've never been there. And those lake pics....SO BEAUTIFUL!!! We don't have mountains in Illinois. Whenever I see one, I get all giddy (probably the way some people feel when seeing huge skyscrapers that I get to see daily!). However, those mountains are particularly breathtaking!!!

They were particularly breathtaking. I love The Valley of the Ten Peaks which is where Moraine Lake and one of our future hikes is located.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 16th continued

After our photopass photos we stopped at Sleepy Hollow and the boys got a Liberty Swirl Slush. Strawberry and Blue Raspberry Fanta swirled together, I tasted it and it was delicious!

We wandered into Fantasyland via the path that runs behind the castle.

I just love the design of Fantasyland and I bet it will look even better once the expansion is complete!

Erich zoomed in on Beast's Castle

He also spotted "Big Brother" keeping an eye on all the unruly park guests.

We decided that it would be a good time to grab some dinner so we popped into Pinocchio's.

It was a lovely day and the temperature was just right so we grabbed a table outside. We all had chicken nuggets for dinner.

After eating we walked along the construction wall and examined all the signs. We also discussed how we could get a perfect view of the construction if we were to return one morning and ride Dumbo.

I can't wait to check out the Mine Cart "coaster"!

I also can't wait to eat here, I bet it will be beautiful!

I had wanted to ride Winnie the Pooh in order to check out the new queue but Alek and Erich shot that down pretty quickly.

Ariel and "Prince" Erich

We walked up closer to this part of the wall to take a look. Erich decided to be a rebel and he got down on the ground and stuck his camera under the opening at the bottom of the gate to get some pictures so we could see what was going on back there. I am surprised that Disney Security did not show up to kick us out of the park! Do you sense a theme here? hahaha

Well it turned out to be a let down as there was not much to see. Oh well, we got to experience the "thrill" of sneaking the photos.


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[IheartDDuck]

Ha ha, that's too funny about sneaking the photos. I may have to do that on my upcoming trip to see if there are any additional improvements.

I am so excited about the Fantasyland expansion too. Fantasyland was always the Magic Kingdom for me, so having it expanded is so exciting for me. New restaurants and rides! It can't get any better than that.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Ha ha, that's too funny about sneaking the photos. I may have to do that on my upcoming trip to see if there are any additional improvements.

I would laugh so hard if you did! You should have somebody take a picture of you on the ground with your camera under the fence.

I am so excited about the Fantasyland expansion too. Fantasyland was always the Magic Kingdom for me, so having it expanded is so exciting for me. New restaurants and rides! It can't get any better than that.

I am super excited for it as well. Not sure if Alek and Erich will be big fans since they don't like the dark rides. They say they hate waiting in long lines for rides that do nothing but have you sit in a car while it takes you through a movie. We will see though, maybe they will think the mine cart ride is awesome or maybe they will find great photo op locations.

 

[pinkxray]

Your Fantasyland pictures are awesome! I didn't see half of that stuff and we were there the same exact day. (I am on the lookout for myself in one of your pictures)

I can't wait to see Belle's castle, it looks beautiful.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Your Fantasyland pictures are awesome! I didn't see half of that stuff and we were there the same exact day. (I am on the lookout for myself in one of your pictures)

Yeah, I don't think your family would have been big fans of walking along a construction wall looking at posters.

I can't wait to see Belle's castle, it looks beautiful.

It does look pretty but it also looks really small. Hopefully once everything is complete it will look bigger due to forced perspective.

 

[englishrose47]

You don't have to hike to get to the lake. The parking lot is right next to it.

Now that I could handle !!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Now that I could handle !!!

 

[englishrose47]

Great pix of Fantasyland !!! Can't wait till it is all completed !!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Great pix of Fantasyland !!! Can't wait till it is all completed !!

Me too!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I would laugh so hard if you did! You should have somebody take a picture of you on the ground with your camera under the fence.

I will try to remember to lay down, get the picture, and have the picture of me taken in your honor.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I will try to remember to lay down, get the picture, and have the picture of me taken in your honor.

That would be hilarious!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 16th continued

We continued with our aimless wanderings around the park. That is the nice thing about being a frequent visitor, you can slow down and enjoy the atmosphere of the parks without the pressing need to get on as many rides as possible.

We ended up near the Rapunzel meet and greet spot and the wishing well. The wishing well used to be a hidden treasure but now that the lines for Rapunzel weave past it daily I am sure it will become more well known.

Wishing really hard or constipated?

Crossing his fingers and wishing desperately for something. Wonder what it could be? A magical pony perhaps?

Since we had the nifty waterproof camera we decided to go for an unusual shot, looking up from inside the wishing well.

I took a picture of myself as well but it didn't turn out as well.

We wandered back down towards the Rapunzel meet and greet area. There was nobody around since it was so late in the day.

Looking towards the Tomorrowland bridge

Back towards the castle

Our rebellious spirits had been released when we took the under the fence construction photos so we figured why not continue to rebel and "sneak into" the Rapunzel area?

Alek was amazed that I took a decent picture.

Sadly this is the closest that I got to meeting Rapunzel on the trip. Next time!

After we satisfied our inner rebels we decided to find a good spot for the Electrical Parade. I knew just the spot that I wanted in order to get great pictures of the parade and both of the nighttime castle shows.

I chose a spot right in the hub, facing the castle and directly across from the Liberty Square Bridge. We could camp out here for the next few hours and wouldn't need to change locations as we could enjoy all the shows from that location. As you can see we claimed our spot really early and there was nobody else around.

View of the castle from our spot

Our spot all picked out we got comfortable. Alek and Erich had their game systems, I believe that Mom had a book. I decided to go take a few pictures.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I stopped to get a few photopass pictures, this is the only one where I looked somewhat decent.

See the guy in the orange shirt wearing the Minnie ears? He was a really fun Dad. He had brought bubbles for his kids to play with. He would blow them into the air and they would run around and try and catch them. There were two little girls sitting next to us and he let them play as well. The kids played like that for an hour and had a grand time. Isn't it funny how something as simple as chasing bubbles can keep a kid entertained for hours? One of the kids, a little girl, wiped out a few times and did not shed a tear, she just got up and kept on playing. Tough kid!

What kept us entertained?

In case you can't tell or you are unfamiliar we were playing SNES Super Mario World! We took turns playing and would pass it to each other after going through a level just like when we were kids.

As you can see, Erich took the opportunity to take a nap and the crowds around us were starting to build up. I sure was glad that we grabbed our primo spots early!

It started to get darker and darker and the castle was changing colours.

Loved this Dad dressed up as Prince Charming!

I loved the light-up balloons!

It is dark out! The parade should be starting any minute!

Soon enough we heard the parade music start up on Main St, we knew that the parade would soon be upon us! Would the Electrical Parade be as good as Spectro? Would it surpass it? Would we be disappointed? You will have to wait until the next update to find out!

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[IheartDDuck]

You're right about meeting Rapunzel. The lines for the meet and greet just get absolutely crazy! We lucked out on our last trip, and the only reason for that was because we were in the park early for our breakfast reservation.

Um, totally used to play Super Mario World religiously when I was younger! Good way to pass the time while you wait. Looks like you had really good seats for the parade.

That Prince Charming dad was so cute.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You're right about meeting Rapunzel. The lines for the meet and greet just get absolutely crazy! We lucked out on our last trip, and the only reason for that was because we were in the park early for our breakfast reservation.

I regret not going there first thing in the morning on our first MK day. Oh well, lesson learned! Maybe once they finish the new Princess Greeting Hall (replacing the Snow White ride) we will all have a better chance of meeting her.

Um, totally used to play Super Mario World religiously when I was younger! Good way to pass the time while you wait. Looks like you had really good seats for the parade.

We were all about Mario growing up! Our dad rewarded us with money when we beat the original Mario for Nintendo.

That Prince Charming dad was so cute.

I wonder if he had dinner at the castle that night and he dressed up for the occasion?