Hayes Family at WDW: Day 2 - EE at Magic Kingdom, Swimming, and Osborne Lights
Monday, December 11th
We all woke up around 5:00. We are all early risers and I think we just woke up early as we were very excited. We were already almost ready to go when Mickey called at 6:30. This was an early entry day at Magic Kingdom. I gave the kids their gifts for day (I had been collecting little Disney items for months so I could give them some treats each day - today they received Disney fanny packs filled with bubbles, lollipops, etc). We got ready (I packed the autograph books and wore my pin lanyard) and caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom. I didn't bring the stroller because we were mostly going to be in Fantasyland so there wouldn't be that much walking. This was another warm day (early 80s). They opened for EE at 7:30 rather than the published 8:00 - they were the only park that we saw open early during our trip. The ground did not seem very big to us - yeah! However, as soon as we walked in the kids started whining that they needed a stroller (I think because they saw the other kids in them). So, we rented a stroller. My husband preferred the Disney stroller to ours (which was brand new, very nice, and purchased just for this trip). He said it was easier to maneuver. The kids also preferred it.
I can't say enough about Early Entry - we walked right on Dumbo, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, It's a Small World and had a short wait for the Indy Speedway. The kids liked all of these rides, especially Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, and the Indy Speedway. I liked Pooh and Peter Pan's Flight. We then went to the castle for our breakfast with Cinderella.
Aladdin was in the waiting area instead of the Fairy Godmother. He was really great. We were seated and Sarah just fell in love the whole atmosphere. One by one we saw Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, Alice, and Peter Pan. I thought Sarah would be upset that Sleeping Beauty wasn't there, but she was fine (she behaved better than normal the entire trip - must be that Disney magic). Sam would not take pictures with any the princesses, but wanted to take a picture with Peter Pan. When we mentioned this to Peter Pan, he said it was because princesses smell bad. Sam would repeat all week that Peter Pan says princesses smell bad. All of the characters were good, but Peter Pan and Alice were great!! I found breakfast to be a little hectic for me as I was constantly getting the autograph books ready and taking pictures. Despite this, it was our best breakfast. I though the food was among the better buffets (love those potatoes) and the atmosphere can't be beat. This was one of Sarah's favorite things we did all week.
After breakfast, we went to Toontown and on Goofy's Barnstomer. The kids loved this and went on a few more times. I had thought that maybe, if the kids were up for it, we would stay for the Magic Moments parade and then have an early dinner at the Crystal Palace. However, since no one got a lot of sleep the night before, I wanted the kids to take a nap, and Sarah wanted to go to the pool, so we headed back. The kids took a nap. We then went to the pool and had a great time. Stormalong Bay is a great pool with a sand bottom. It has different sections including a whirlpool section, Jacuzzis, and water slides. We all just loved it. We went back to our room to change, and decided to go see the Osborne Lights. As we left, it started pouring. I had left our ponchos in the room, but we decided to press onward. We got another stroller at Disney Studios/MGM and went toward the lights. Everyone was leaving and then a few minutes later it stopped raining at the park was pretty empty at this point. The lights were beautiful and on the way back we say Goofy. We made a few pin trades and headed to dinner. (I had brought Disney pins so I could participate in the pin trading, but Sarah quickly took this over and had a great time trading throughout the trip.)
We had dinner at Big River Grill at the boardwalk. The food was served promptly and was good. We then went to the hotel and went to sleep.
__________
Yacht Club, December 2000
Monday, December 11th
We all woke up around 5:00. We are all early risers and I think we just woke up early as we were very excited. We were already almost ready to go when Mickey called at 6:30. This was an early entry day at Magic Kingdom. I gave the kids their gifts for day (I had been collecting little Disney items for months so I could give them some treats each day - today they received Disney fanny packs filled with bubbles, lollipops, etc). We got ready (I packed the autograph books and wore my pin lanyard) and caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom. I didn't bring the stroller because we were mostly going to be in Fantasyland so there wouldn't be that much walking. This was another warm day (early 80s). They opened for EE at 7:30 rather than the published 8:00 - they were the only park that we saw open early during our trip. The ground did not seem very big to us - yeah! However, as soon as we walked in the kids started whining that they needed a stroller (I think because they saw the other kids in them). So, we rented a stroller. My husband preferred the Disney stroller to ours (which was brand new, very nice, and purchased just for this trip). He said it was easier to maneuver. The kids also preferred it.
I can't say enough about Early Entry - we walked right on Dumbo, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, It's a Small World and had a short wait for the Indy Speedway. The kids liked all of these rides, especially Dumbo, Mad Tea Party, and the Indy Speedway. I liked Pooh and Peter Pan's Flight. We then went to the castle for our breakfast with Cinderella.
Aladdin was in the waiting area instead of the Fairy Godmother. He was really great. We were seated and Sarah just fell in love the whole atmosphere. One by one we saw Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, Alice, and Peter Pan. I thought Sarah would be upset that Sleeping Beauty wasn't there, but she was fine (she behaved better than normal the entire trip - must be that Disney magic). Sam would not take pictures with any the princesses, but wanted to take a picture with Peter Pan. When we mentioned this to Peter Pan, he said it was because princesses smell bad. Sam would repeat all week that Peter Pan says princesses smell bad. All of the characters were good, but Peter Pan and Alice were great!! I found breakfast to be a little hectic for me as I was constantly getting the autograph books ready and taking pictures. Despite this, it was our best breakfast. I though the food was among the better buffets (love those potatoes) and the atmosphere can't be beat. This was one of Sarah's favorite things we did all week.
After breakfast, we went to Toontown and on Goofy's Barnstomer. The kids loved this and went on a few more times. I had thought that maybe, if the kids were up for it, we would stay for the Magic Moments parade and then have an early dinner at the Crystal Palace. However, since no one got a lot of sleep the night before, I wanted the kids to take a nap, and Sarah wanted to go to the pool, so we headed back. The kids took a nap. We then went to the pool and had a great time. Stormalong Bay is a great pool with a sand bottom. It has different sections including a whirlpool section, Jacuzzis, and water slides. We all just loved it. We went back to our room to change, and decided to go see the Osborne Lights. As we left, it started pouring. I had left our ponchos in the room, but we decided to press onward. We got another stroller at Disney Studios/MGM and went toward the lights. Everyone was leaving and then a few minutes later it stopped raining at the park was pretty empty at this point. The lights were beautiful and on the way back we say Goofy. We made a few pin trades and headed to dinner. (I had brought Disney pins so I could participate in the pin trading, but Sarah quickly took this over and had a great time trading throughout the trip.)
We had dinner at Big River Grill at the boardwalk. The food was served promptly and was good. We then went to the hotel and went to sleep.
__________
Yacht Club, December 2000
