Surviving Parenthood One Sleepless Night at a Time: Disney #3

Oh Magic Kingdom. It was our favorite park. Hence the thousand pictures you're about to look at. We went there on Sunday and Wednesday. Ethan's favorite ride was Space Mountain. Caleb's was Buzz Lightyear even though it wasn't half as cool as the one at Hollywood. I really liked the Peter Pan ride but couldn't get any pics in it because it was too dark. Hmmm...there was also Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain that were lots of fun. So many to love!

This was when we first got there. We tried to take some pics before the kids got tired of the camera.

This was the Buzz Lighyear Space Ranger Spin. I rode it several times with Caleb while Mondo took Ethan on Space Mountain.

The cars went along a conveyor belt type thing and we shot lasers at the "Z's".

This was right outside the ride when it was over. This was the closest poor little Caleb got to Zurg since we never found a real one to meet.

I think this was called the Astro Orbiter? You had to ride an elevator to get to the top where the ride was. Once you get on it spins and goes up and down. Yep, I was the photographer. Barf.

We met Chip and Dale. The kids didn't know their names. I have failed them.

Dumbo!

This was the only pic I could get of the Peter Pan ride. Those are the boats you ride in. Once you're inside the building you realize they are hanging on a track from the ceiling and you are floating over the city. Pretty cool.

This was inside It's a Small World. It was kind of like the cave ride at Six Flags. You float through and hear the song in several different styles and the scenery changes for different countries. One ride was enough for us. Kind of lame-o.

I loved Splash Mountain! It was like an extended log ride mixed in with the cave ride. (That's not us in that picture.)

Here's a tiny bit of the inside.

Who's excited to eat at Crystal Palace?

It was a character lunch with Pooh and his friends.

This is one of the boats we rode from our hotel to Magic Kingdom.

One of the park workers saw Caleb's birthday button and "called Goofy" and he wished him a happy birthday! (It was a recording.) Caleb seemed confused but it was cute.

This was like the old timey cars at Six Flags.

I was a little concerned that Caleb was driving. I think I still have whiplash!

Someone was a little tired. We didn't let him fall asleep but we should've. More about that later...

We left in the afternoon to attempt a nap (fail) and returned at night for the Christmas party. The kids were dancing at a concert with Pluto. They are on the front row. We had to make them leave so we could go ride rides.

Had to buy some Mickey ears!

Caleb wasn't in the mood.

Riding Aladdin and the Magic Carpet.

This was after riding Pirates of the Carribean. It was another boat/cave ride type ride through pirate scenes/gun fights. We liked it.

This was Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. Don't let it's cute little train appearance fool you. That sucker was fast! We loved it and rode it twice in a row.

Caleb was a little scared at first. Then of course he was saying "again!" when it was over.

We watched a firework show before the parade.

Caleb fell asleep DURING the firework show. After the fireworks was a little Christmas show with Mickey and all of the characters. I was so sad that he was missing it and was going to miss the parade. So...after several attempts...I woke him up. Big mistake!! He screamed for what seemed like eternity and missed half of the parade. I felt like mom of the year.

Ahh. All refreshed and ready for round 2!

We were very excited to meet Peter Pan. He was one of the best "in character" characters. He saw Caleb's birthday button and said to never grow up. Sniff, sniff. ;-)

Hard to see from this picture what is hidden in that giant tree....

...it was the Swiss family Robinson Tree House! The kids weren't amused and neither were my knees. Lots of climbing up/down stairs. It was neat but I barely made it.

The Jungle Cruise was fun. We rode around on a boat with a hysterical tour guide and saw lots of neat fake stuff.

Pretty cool looking fake elephants.

Mondo and Caleb on Aladdin. Ethan didn't want to ride it again. Fatigue...or maybe the sickness...was setting in.

Waiting for a parade. Disney World loves parades. And Ethan wasn't angry...just staring into the sun.

Mondo had awesome front row seats for the parade so the kids got to shake hands with a lot of characters.

Caleb was so excited to meet Captain Hook! He's his new favorite villian. He was playing with a plastic one when Mondo called Captain Hook over.

That night we went to the Contemporary hotel (just around the bay from our hotel) to eat dinner at Chef Mickey!

The kids had a lot of fun meeting Mickey and his friends and eating some great food. Unfortunantly, that was the night Mondo started to not feel good. More about that story in another post....