Disney Day 4-Magic Kingdom

 

 We are back at Magic Kingdom for our fourth day. Train just passed by.

 Lydia's taking pictures while we wait for the gate to open.

 a family picture in front of the Cinderella castle-yay!

Ready to have a celebration breakfast with our friends from Winnie the Pooh! 

Piglet's so cute. Have to remember he's a boy.

 Looks like Eeyore needs a little cheering up.

 Pooh's so huggable and kissable.

It's Tigger-Hoo hoo hoo hoo!

 Abigail was just a little timid with these characters too, but not scared.

Ta ta for now! as Tigger would say.

After our cute Winnie the Pooh breakfast at the uplifting Crystal Palace, we felt like going on the Pooh ride again, so we did. Then did another favorite, the Tea Party!

 It was time for the kids to experience the classic Dumbo.

 Then more of a thrill on Goofy's Barnstormer, a junior roller coaster.

 I caught a funny terrified face on Abigail.

 But don't worry, she was quickly all smiles again.

'All aboard' the steam train in Fantasyland. 

 We got off the train in Advetureland and went on a magic carpet ride!

"A whole new world..."

 We climbed the elaborate Swiss Family Treehouse. Then it was time to check on the wait time to meet Anna and Elsa. It was 2 hrs at 9am, but a cast member told us it might go down to 1 hour around 11am.

 On our way, we saw Tiana! At this visit, the princess was the talker. She had stories to tell.

 "The first time I kissed him I turned into a frog. The second time we were married so we both turned back human."

 "The moral of the story is don't ever kiss a frog." She was an interesting one to visit with.

 The cast member was right, at about 11:15, we only had to wait 40 minutes.

 Anna was friendly and quirky.

 A modest hug from Elsa, the snow queen. Abigail loves her matching Elsa dress and cape. "Let it go, let it go!"

 Abigail also liked Minnie dressed as Elsa.

 We found a table by Gaston's Tavern to eat our sack lunches at. Gaston was greeting just around the corner, but the girls weren't interested in his boorish ways.

 Abigail was pleased with the pretzel flower she made.

 After lunch we rode It's a Small World and Peter's Flight.

After that we were ready for a treat from the Ice Cream Parlor. The cones come with chocolate mickey ears :)

We were just walking along when we saw fireworks burst from the castle from the Dream Along With Mickey show.

 

 We stopped to watch the princesses and stage dancers dance, and Maleficent get sent away.

 The girls needed to get closer to the stage, and then they really got into the show. They danced to the music and shouted along with Mickey, "Dreams Come True!"

 The dancing took the last bit out of Abigail. She fell asleep while waiting for Enchanted Tales with Belle, and remained asleep during this attraction that let anyone who wanted to participate, help retell the story, with props, of how Belle fell in love with Beast. Participants got a bookmark from Belle.

 After that I strolled around Tomorrowland with sleeping Abigail while Lydia & Ben drove race cars on the speedway.

 Then we hit the Laugh Floor featuring Sully from Monsters Inc. They picked on audience members in a nice and very funny way!

 Love the Mickey and Minnie topiaries.

We had time to meet one more princess today. Lydia's second favorite princess...Ariel.

 Her tail was really neat!

 We did really good making it all day till our 6:30 dinner reservation at Be Our Guest. We got the room with the dancing twirling Belle & Beast. 

Our waiter did a good Donald Duck voice.

 He brought out the "grey stuff" and a birthday card signed by Belle and Beast for Lydia's birthday.

(tastes like a delicious mousse!)

 When we were finished with dinner, we could walk around the entire castle and go into the West Wing where curtains and tapestries were torn, the rose was kept, and it is always stormy out the window. Glad we weren't seated in the West Wing!

 Photo with our gracious host.

 On Wednesday the Celebrate the Magic fireworks show started at 8, which was perfect!

 We were stationed behind the castle, so fireworks were going off in front of us and behind us.

Goodnight and farewell, magical Magic Kingdom!

Disney Day 3-Animal Kingdom

 Our third day. We're a little tired and cold, but we are excited to see what wild times Animal Kingdom holds for us.

 Character breakfast at Tusker House had Mickey Waffles.

 First Donald came by.

 Then Mickey.

 Goofy, a favorite of Ben.

 Abigail was a little nervous with the big character heads, and concerned that they didn't talk.

 Then Daisy.

 We hopped on the Safari right after breakfast when there was zero line.

We were really close to the animals. 

 Lydia and I were snapping pictures left and right.

 Hey, it's Pumbaa!

 Then we went to the Festival of Lion King show. As we walked in, a lady asked Lydia if she wanted a special seat. The lady escorted us to a reserved front row bench.

 Lydia's job was to help our section call the giraffe with a low bleating sound.

Then she sat back down.

There was a lot to be amazed with. These circus monkeys ran around later in the show and pretended to pick the kids' hair.

 The performers were really close. I was afraid to move when the guys on stilts came by. We could get a really good look at their costumes.

 The crocodile told Lydia they were going to play follow the leader.

 They paraded around the stage.

 and did their animal calls again.

 The zebra let Lydia get an up close look. After she sat back down, this Timon was blowing kisses to her!

 Great singing. Beautiful bird dancer. 

Wow, what a special show!

 Walking around the Tree of Life with all its interesting carvings.

  We found a spot to meet Minnie & Mickey in their adventure outfits. Lydia and Abigail wanted to play ring around the rosie with just Minnie.

Mickey, who's a friend to everyone, maybe felt a little left out. Then Ben gave him a nice hug.

 "Who kissed my head?"

 Then we met Pocahontas. She was so nice.
Lydia told her she liked her big dives. Pocahontas said sometimes she feels brave, but her bird friend Flit doesn't like it. When Abigail inquired about her moccasins, Pocahontas replied that Mickey requires her to wear them in the park.

 Just us, adventuring in Tibet. ;)

 We took the animal nature walk. Lydia spent a lot of time bird spotting with help from a very nice guide lady.

 Three gorillas had babies. We could see this little one's head poking out from her mom's lap...cute!

 Nemo Musical was impressive. The performers sang, moved around the stage, and manipulated the puppets all at the same time.

 The show was more than just what was on the stage.  There were screens on the side, bubbles that fell from the ceiling, and a giant pelican that burst out of the wall!

 We walked through Dinoland, but it had an unappealing carnival feel. 

 We went back to our resort to swim in the heated Little Mermaid pool. Ben found it funny that the lifeguards were all bundled up.

 That night we ordered resort pizza delivered to our room! It's a great option when one or more people need to rest up. Dear Abigail fell asleep watching Disney Jr. while we waited for it to arrive.

Lydia had a 'ball' in Ariel's cavern, our shower.

"Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat."

We found a hidden mickey on one of her pocket watches. ;)