Most of the rain fell before we got to the Magic Kingdom, but we brought the rain coats just in case. Our first stop, once inside the park, was to pick up a “happy birthday” button for Emma. They wrote her name on it and a big 5, so everyone would know it was her birthday. We didn’t even make it half way down Main St. before we were assaulted—I mean serenaded by some of Disney’s “cast members.”
When the singing had concluded, we made our way to see Tinkerbell and her fairy friend, Fawn. They congratulated Emma on the anniversary of her hatching and wished her a happy 5th season. I was amused at how they did such a great job of staying in character, no matter who they were talking to.
Tinkerbell told Emma that she’s growing up too fast, and that next year when she turns 6, if she has to go see Captain Hook, he won’t be able to count how old she is without him taking off his shoes! (Hook only has one hand, so he has to take his shoes off and use his toes to go beyond 5.) Tink went on to say how bad Captain Hook’s feet smell, so Emma should just stay 5 forever so Hook won’t have to take off his shoes. Emma was fascinated by this story and kept bringing it back up all day long. She asked us countless times if we had had to go see Captain Hook when we turned 6, and why children had to go see him on their birthdays, and if she would have to go see him next year, and if we really thought his feet stunk so bad… and so on.
After the fairies, we toured Mickey’s and Minnie’s houses and said hi to them again.
Then it was time for the rides. First, Emma and I tried out a small roller coaster. She thought it was all great fun until the first big drop. After that, she was afraid for the rest of the ride that she was going to fall out. I tried to explain that that’s the fun thing about roller coasters—you feel like you’re going to fall, but you won’t really. She seemed to really like that explanation, but still didn’t want to go on again.
We then went back to the Winnie the Pooh ride, since that was a favorite of Emma’s. We also went through the Peter Pan ride and It’s a Small World, again.
As I mentioned earlier, it had been raining first thing in the morning. Couple that with the fact that it was Tuesday, and it made for a nearly empty park for the first hour we were there. There were no lines for anything except to see Tinkerbell. It was wonderful!
We spent the rest of the day trying out rides we hadn’t gotten to our first day there, watching the girls explore a different play ground, and weaving in and out of souvenir shops, spending the last of our birthday gift cards. Emma said the highlight of her birthday at the MK was getting to pick out a set of princess dolls with her gift card.
(That's Emma and her very first driving experience.)
Ashlyn power napped again on our way back to the hotel and on the way to the restaurant for dinner. For our last night there, we dined at Cracker Barrel, because they had grilled cheese—the dinner requested by the birthday girl. At the end of dinner, all the wait staff came out and asked everyone in the restaurant to join them in singing happy birthday to Emma. Her eyes grew huge, and she couldn’t believe that everyone (even strangers) were singing to her. Then they gave her an ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce and a cherry on top. It was the perfect end to her magical birthday, as far as she was concerned.
After dinner, it was back to the hotel for baths and packing. The next morning we gathered all our belongings and began our journey home. There was snow waiting for us when we arrived back in IA, but the piles greeting us were smaller than when we had left. It was dinnertime by the time we pulled into the driveway. I don’t remember much after I got out of the van.
The next few days were a blur of unpacking, errand running, cleaning, and getting ready for birthday parties and family and friends descending upon our home. It was a great vacation. We were blessed to be able to get away when we did and spend some good family time together. Thanks for reading. Hope you had fun reliving some of our trip with us!
The End.
2 comments:
Great blogging Heather! Good idea to get all the details of the trip written here for you all to look back on. I loved all the stories, but especially the one about Emma asking so many questions about Tink's story of Captain Hook. Too funny. :)
I read every single word of your vacation log...just the right amount of detail for me! It sounds like your family had a magical time! Glad some of my tips came in handy on your trip!
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