Day 1 -
Today we headed out to Magic Kingdom to brave the crowds of Memorial Day weekend. As previously mentioned, we surprised my 5 year old, Mackenzie, for her recent graduation from pre-school. Frivolous... sure... but if we can do it... why not?
First thing... it was incredibly hot. It felt so much hotter than it was and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. Luckily, we are native Floridians and had plenty of water, sun screen, hats and... water.
We walked on to Pirates (my daughter's favorite) and tried to meet with pirate goofy afterwards.
And then my nightmare came true...
My second child.
My boy.
Is terrified of characters.
My daughter at 18 months had no reservations and loves them to this day... but Jacob wouldn't come within 5 feet of a character.
After Pirates, we went to check in for our fast passes for Jungle Cruise. The CM at the front was doing his job and informed us it wasn't yet time for our fast passes (we were off by 5 minutes from the normal 5 minute grace period). No big deal, we waited in the shade and then made our way to the front of the boat. That's when the trip was made. I've already posted in the Cast Member Appreciation thread... but Skipper Brandon congratulated Mackenzie on her graduation and said that because she's 5 and a graduate... she was qualified to steer the ship. She lost it, her jaw dropped... and then she took her job very seriously. She marched up there, never took her eyes off the river and focused on steering the boat. It was adorable. Brandon called out to the boat to cheer for mackenzie on three separate occasions.
She continued telling me how amazing it was to steer the boat throughout the day.
We then hit up Pecos Bill for some lunch... I got the Taco Salad and the wife got the grilled chicken wrap. Both were great. Also, thank you to Eric for helping me when I was trying to balance two trays myself while the wife pushed the double stroller.
We went to Small World and just as we were about to get on... Mackenzie lets us know that she has to go potty. So off we go after waiting for half an hour. Oh well, that's the price of taking little ones!
I'll sum up the rest... Jacob got cranky, needed a nap... we struggled to get him on anything... but we did end up going on Philharmagic, TTA and then Carosel of Progress... where he finally went to sleep. Then Mackenzie and I took our fast passes and had some Daddy Daughter time on Buzz.
We looped back to ride small world and came back to an awake jacob... but he wasnt happy. When a 2 year old is hot and uncomfortable... nobody is happy. So instead of suffering, we chose to just pack up and head home. We had a full day, got to see lots of things... and our tickets are 4 day park hoppers (Military Salute ticket)... so we can always go back
One thing I do want to mention... this is the first time I've seen so many rides go down in a day. As we were walking by haunted mansion the CMs were outside to let people know it was temporarily out of service. Space Mountain had its lights on and no trains going when were on the TTA. Even the TTA was down for about 10 minutes while we were in line. Don't know if it was the heat causing some electrical shenanigans... or if it was just bad luck. The rides all came back up in a short time... just... odd.
Also, the FL expansion construction looks amazing in person. The pictures do not do it justice at all.
Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom! (with the In-Laws :hammer
Til next time...
Today we headed out to Magic Kingdom to brave the crowds of Memorial Day weekend. As previously mentioned, we surprised my 5 year old, Mackenzie, for her recent graduation from pre-school. Frivolous... sure... but if we can do it... why not?
First thing... it was incredibly hot. It felt so much hotter than it was and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. Luckily, we are native Floridians and had plenty of water, sun screen, hats and... water.
We walked on to Pirates (my daughter's favorite) and tried to meet with pirate goofy afterwards.
And then my nightmare came true...
My second child.
My boy.
Is terrified of characters.
My daughter at 18 months had no reservations and loves them to this day... but Jacob wouldn't come within 5 feet of a character.
After Pirates, we went to check in for our fast passes for Jungle Cruise. The CM at the front was doing his job and informed us it wasn't yet time for our fast passes (we were off by 5 minutes from the normal 5 minute grace period). No big deal, we waited in the shade and then made our way to the front of the boat. That's when the trip was made. I've already posted in the Cast Member Appreciation thread... but Skipper Brandon congratulated Mackenzie on her graduation and said that because she's 5 and a graduate... she was qualified to steer the ship. She lost it, her jaw dropped... and then she took her job very seriously. She marched up there, never took her eyes off the river and focused on steering the boat. It was adorable. Brandon called out to the boat to cheer for mackenzie on three separate occasions.
She continued telling me how amazing it was to steer the boat throughout the day.
We then hit up Pecos Bill for some lunch... I got the Taco Salad and the wife got the grilled chicken wrap. Both were great. Also, thank you to Eric for helping me when I was trying to balance two trays myself while the wife pushed the double stroller.
We went to Small World and just as we were about to get on... Mackenzie lets us know that she has to go potty. So off we go after waiting for half an hour. Oh well, that's the price of taking little ones!
I'll sum up the rest... Jacob got cranky, needed a nap... we struggled to get him on anything... but we did end up going on Philharmagic, TTA and then Carosel of Progress... where he finally went to sleep. Then Mackenzie and I took our fast passes and had some Daddy Daughter time on Buzz.
We looped back to ride small world and came back to an awake jacob... but he wasnt happy. When a 2 year old is hot and uncomfortable... nobody is happy. So instead of suffering, we chose to just pack up and head home. We had a full day, got to see lots of things... and our tickets are 4 day park hoppers (Military Salute ticket)... so we can always go back
One thing I do want to mention... this is the first time I've seen so many rides go down in a day. As we were walking by haunted mansion the CMs were outside to let people know it was temporarily out of service. Space Mountain had its lights on and no trains going when were on the TTA. Even the TTA was down for about 10 minutes while we were in line. Don't know if it was the heat causing some electrical shenanigans... or if it was just bad luck. The rides all came back up in a short time... just... odd.
Also, the FL expansion construction looks amazing in person. The pictures do not do it justice at all.
Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom! (with the In-Laws :hammer
Til next time...