Disney...
Disney.....
Oh, how I love THEE!
The second day of our trip down south to Orlando we decided to do a day at Disney's Magic Kingdom.
Ya'll, I was so freaking excited!!
My last visit to Disney was 8-years ago and having done a college internship there, I'm a Disney nerd.
Taking Shelby for her visit was a VERY big deal for me, even though, she is still a tad young to enjoy it all.
Our friends Emily and Andrew and their family have season passes and are true Disney experts so we literally closed our eyes and let them lead the way.
I have to say, being the primary planner on everything, this was really nice.
I didn't have to think a whole lot.
Just GO!!
We got to the park around 10:15am and it was already hot.
We decided to take family pictures early so we looked halfway decent and not a sweaty mess.
Our friend Emily mentioned that she didn't think I look that excited when we crossed through the gates at Disney.
I told her it was because I thought I was going to cry and I just knew Brad would think I was a psycho, so I was trying to keep it together.
HAHA!
And, yes.. I'm not kidding.
This place is so magical.
I know it's not every ones thing, but it's just special and I couldn't wait to see Shelby's reaction to everything!
I lugged my big camera in and tried to take as many pictures as I could along with wrangling a toddler, but as expected, it wasn't easy.
There was a show taking place on Main Street when we walked in but I was determined to get a professional picture with one of the photographers so I made a bee-line for them instead of stopping to take pictures.
Our first stop was the Aladdin Carpet Ride.
The crowds really weren't that bad.
Shelby did really well staying in line and cooperating.
We held her a lot too, but for the most part she was really good!
Andrew was nice enough to take our camera and snap a few photos of us.
She loved it!
(as did we)
Next stop, Pirates of the Caribbean.
We were happy that the Que was in an air conditioned environment.
Shelby ate a snack and proceeded to get it all over her and her Daddy.
She was great on this ride and a lot of the other ones even though they were very dark with explosions.
After a few more rides, we decided to head towards the castle and catch the last part of a stage show before lunch.
It was really hot, but we all managed.
Shelby literally probably drank 10-cups of cold water through the day.
Emily had booked a character lunch for all of us at the Crystal Palace MONTHS in advance.
Lucky us!
This was my very first character meal in all my trips and time at Disney.
We walked in and immediately saw Eeyore!
The lunch was all the characters from Winnie the Pooh.
Grace and Laura were thrilled but Shelby freaked out!
I kinda thought that might happen giving her reaction to the Easter bunny, but the bunny was freaky looking.
So, we decided to give Pooh a try!
He's one of the nicest characters.
Right??
Ummmmmm.
NO!
She wanted NOTHING to do with him.
Death grip people.
She had a death grip on us anytime a character came to visit.
So, I just decided to get my picture with Pooh!
When Tigger came around we didn't even attempt to try to get her to say hi.
BUT, Grace and Laura were again, stoked!
One last attempt before heading back out into the park.
Piglet.
Ummmm.
NO, again.
Now, here's the funny part.
We left Pooh and all his friends for the Pooh ride.
We all LOVED it!
At one point you even enter Pooh's dream.
It's super cute!
Of course, at the end of the ride you're dropped off into the Pooh gift shop.
Girlfriend went nuts!
The minute she saw the stuffed Pooh she went, 'AWWWWWWW!!'
Just look at that face!
Nothing to do with the life size Pooh but girlfriend loved her the stuffed version.
We did just about everything in the park you could do with children at this age.
The obligatory Mad Tea Party ride that we all remember as children.
Dumbo.
Dumbo and it's 'que' have had a face lift.
There's an entire air conditioned indoor play area where you wait with a pager until your turn to ride.
Disney certainly knows how to do it right.
Since I was at the MK last time, the entire Fantasy land has had an entire makeover.
There's even a giant gift shop in the middle.
That's where I picked up Shelby's 1st pair of Mouse Ears!
I may have them on display in her nursery now!
It was 2o'clock at this point and she was dunzo.
She snoozed hard for an hour, even through the Little Mermaid ride.
In the meantime, we continued to shop...
And stop for a cold beverage at Gaston's Tavern.
These frozen apple slushies were delicious!
Grace thought so too!
Outside Gaston was posing for pictures and signing autographs.
There were characters everywhere.
We wrapped up our day with a few more rides then dinner.
In the end, I have to say that the Tiki Room and It's a Small World were Shelby's favorites.
In a Small World she was waving to all the characters and saying hi!
LOL
I actually took a video but it's too dark to make out.
My favorite was Peter Pan and Brad's was Buzz Lightyear.
What a great day!
We got into Cosmic Ray's for dinner around 6:30pm, just as a HUGE storm rolled in.
We thought about waiting it out but after about an hour we made a run for it.
We got home and all the kiddos in bed by 9:30pm.
After that, we had a few cocktails and cake to celebrate Andrew's 36th birthday that day!
Oh, and a game of backgammon too.
Perfect day with the perfect people.
Emily, Andrew and their family and a whole HOST of our favorite characters!
Shelby's first trip of Disney is complete!!
We were worn out the next day but I can't wait to go back!!
