Last Day in Disney World

After a morning with the Characters, we rode a few more rides.  We checked out the Tiki Room and Madeline rode Big Thunder Mountain again.  Oliver was about an inch too short.  So, Nana and Papa took him and Lucy over to Tom Sawyer Island on the raft.  

We road the train all the way over to Fantasyland and Oliver got to ride his first roller coaster, The Barnstormer.  Then we got to ride Dumbo again.

 We had lunch in the castle and got to meet lots of princesses.  Cinderella greeted us while they got our table ready.  And then we got to walk up the spiral staircase up to our room. 

Madeline loved the picture on the menu.  We felt a bit like we were in Downton Abbey.  Our server kept calling us Lady and Lord. 

And Madeline got a wand and Oliver got a sword.  But, he wanted to trade in his sword for a wand.    

Then the princesses started coming in.  First we got to meet Ariel.  

Madeline showing off her Tinkebell shirt some more.  

For dessert, Madeline chose a cupcake and Oliver chose ice cream.  And they both got to decorate them however they wanted.  

Jasmine stopped by our table.  

And Aurora 

And then Snow White joined us. 

She left Oliver with a little souvenir.  

After our fabulous lunch we headed into Tomorrowland.  

We rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and the Astro Orbiter.

Then we tried to meet Rapunzle.  But, instead, we got to meet Cinderella, Aurora and Jasmine again.  

We made it back outside in time to see a beautiful sunset.  Madeline, Andrew and Papa took the train over to Thunder Mountain for one last ride before dinner and fireworks.  

We watched the fireworks from behind the castle this night.  It was much less crowded and they were still really beautiful.  And everyone managed to stay awake to see them all.  We had a fabulous time on our first trip to Disney World.    It was hard to leave the land where Dreams Come True and come back to cold Maryland.  It was the perfect escape in the middle of winter.  Thank you Nana and Papa.  

Characters

After a good night's rest, we got ready to head to the Magic Kingdom for day 2.  We started our morning at the Grand Floridian Hotel for a breakfast with the characters.  We checked out the beautiful hotel while we waited for our table.  

Once we had our seats, we immediately got to meet Mary Poppins.  I was so excited to see her there since Madeline has recently fallen in love with the movie and we are constantly singing the music in the car.  And now she wants to be Mary Poppins for Halloween.  Not, the easy, black skirt-white shirt, Mary Poppins.  But, this Mary Poppins.  I am trying to convince my mom to sew it for her since she has way more sewing experience than me.  Mary Poppins was practically perfect in every way.  

Next we met Tigger and Pooh.  Lucy was terrified of them.  

See, she isn't happy with this arrangement.  

The last characters were Alice and the Mad Hatter.  I love how Oliver is looking at Alice...  

and how Lucy is looking at the Mad Hatter.  

After a wonderfully exciting breakfast, we headed for Tinkerbell's Nook.  Madeline kept asking about it the day before.  But, we couldn't find it on the map.  Andrew finally found it.  And I think they were my favorite characters.  And although they weren't 2 inches tall, they were very charming and fairy like.  Tinkerbell was excited to talk to Oliver about his Car's shirt.

And she liked seeing herself on Madeline's shirt too.  

And we were surprised to meet Tinkerbell's sister, Periwinkle.  

Meeting many of our favorite characters was a wonderful start to our day.  

The Magic Kingdom

We finally made it to the Magic Kingdom!

After catching a show at the castle as we were walking in, we headed back to Fantasyland and started with the Carousel.  

The Tea Cups were a favorite, although I never set foot on them since I don't have a great history with extra "spinny" rides.  

Then we headed to Dumbo.  Who knew there was an entire playground to play on while you waited for the ride.  They buzzed your pager when it was your turn to ride the actual Dumbo ride.  

Everyone was getting a little hungry, so we stopped for a lunch break. 

The kids were super excited to drive the cars.  

Oliver wasn't really tall enough to see over the steering wheel.  It was a bit of a bumpy ride.

And it looks like Madeline could barely see around the steering wheel.  

Then we met our first character.  We still aren't sure who this is.  I was afraid to ask because I thought that I should probably know.  I thought she could possibly be Belle.  But, she was with a "prince" looking kind of guy, not a beast.  And she wasn't wearing her beautiful yellow gown.  Well, the longer we went without asking, the more awkward it would have become to ask.  So, if you know who she is, then feel free to inform us.  

We also got to ride the Little Mermaid ride using our first fast pass.  Ok, those things are awesome.  You just walk right by a hundred other people and get right on.  

We barely made it to the parade in time to squeeze into a spot.  I don't know how you would see the parade during the busy season.  

Oliver and Lucy were barely staying awake by this point in the day.  But, they managed to hold on.  

Of course, Madeline got the best seat in the house.  

She got to see Cinderella, her favorite princess and her first glimpse of Mary Poppins, whom she is kind of obsessed with at the moment.  

After the parade, we headed on over to Adventureland to check out the Magic Carpet Ride, The Treehouse and The Jungle Cruise. 

And Lucy chowed down on a box of popcorn while waiting for the Pirates of the Caribbean.  

Then we headed to Big Thunder Mountain, which ended up being Madeline's favorite ride.  She wakes up almost every morning still asking if she can go ride it.  

We hit up the ever popular, It's a Small World, where Lucy was so close to falling asleep, but she just wouldn't give in.  

We grabbed a quick dinner.

And then headed to the Electric Parade.  Madeline got the best seat again, on her daddy's shoulders.  Lucy danced and bounced through the entire thing until my arms basically fell off.

And Oliver couldn't make it another minute and went off to dream land, missing the end of the parade, the light show and the fireworks.  

But, Madeline, who is "never sleepy", was super excited for the fireworks and I was too since we have missed them for the past 2 years on 4th of July.  

But, first we saw the Castle Light Show.  Um.... awesome.

And of course, the fireworks were spectacular!

Lucy finally crashed during the fireworks, even though she loved them and kept asking for more "fire".  

We crammed onto the bus to get back to the hotel with 2 sleeping kids and another exhausted one that is always convinced that she isn't sleepy.  It was an easy bedtime that night.