On Saturday morning we did our required tour of the timeshare and listened to all their rules and regulations. It wasn't difficult to say NO as the lowest price they could come down to was $28K AND $650 in yearly maintence fees. I couldn't even believe it, after we told them no, they actually offered to set us up with a mortgage. After catching my breath I told them with bugged eyes "If we can't pay for vacation up front then we don't go on vacation!! There is absolutely no way we will go in debt or MORTGAGE a vacation!!!" I think I also commented on how I would be driving a top of the line minivan for that kind of money before I'd pay that to vacation.
We ended up getting discounted tickets to a really great pirate dinner show for that evening. The boys had a blast watching the show. We were assigned to cheer for the blue pirate in all the pirate fights. He was the pirate that won the princess's heart and ended up marrying her before the night was done:)The boys got these really cool swords that light up and make all kinds of great sound effects. (My friend asked me if grandma sent those when they came over to play this week. I had to admit to letting the boys get them on our trip)
We didn't set an alarm for Sunday morning deciding to go with the boys' flow. They were up and ready to roll to their "surprise". We grabbed a quick breakfast in the lobby and got to the Magic Kingdom at 10am (just one hour after they opened).
The weather was sunny with a breeze and everything seemed to go our way. We decided to start with Fantasyland. Joey and I found a shady spot to wait while Daniel and the big boys rode on the teacups. After we got the first ride out of the way we slathered everyone down with sunscreen and headed to It's a Small World. On the way we stopped to get a fast pass ticket to Peter Pan's Flight. (for those of you who haven't been to Disney in awhile a Fast Pass is where you put your park tickets through an ATM like machine and it will print you a pass with an assigned time slot to come back to rides that tend to have a long wait time. When you come in your time slot you get to cut to the front of the line and only wait about 5-10min)
The boys really enjoyed the boat ride and figures in It's a Small World and we only had a short time until our turn for Peter Pan so we got some water and Goofy snacks. Then we headed to Peter Pan's Flight. That was probably in our top 3 rides of the day. It takes you through the story of Peter Pan and you feel like you are flying right through Never Never land!!
After Peter Pan's Flight we took a spin on the carosel. Joey absolutely LOVED this ride!! Then we picked up the stroller from stroller parking and headed to find lunch. Note on stroller parking: This is where my really expensive Maya Baby Wrap really paid for itself. We used the stroller to get to each "land" then threw Joey in the sling and I carried him to all the rides and lines and it was much easier to get around. There were a couple times I just kept him in the sling and we stacked Alan and Eddie in the stroller as well.
We did a quick lunch in Frontier land and scoped out all the pirate stuff. Daddy ran to the Jungle Cruise to pick up a fast pass and we got in the line for the Pirates of the Carribean ride (no fast pass here, but really cool stuff to look at while you wait in line so it didn't seem like we waited very long) This ride is a LOT like It's a Small World boat ride only instead of cute dolls from all over the world there are scenes from the movie. The boys thought it was awesome!!! Just as we got off the ride there was a short show on the street with Captain Jack Sparrow going on and it ended just in time to find a spot for the parade.
We headed to the parade route and Daniel found us a great spot to sit on a half wall in the shade with 15 minutes to spare. We were as close to the street as the Disney Police would allow so the boys were able to see EVERYTHING!!!
When the parade ended there was only a 5 min wait for the Country Bear Jamboree so we cooled off in the air-conditoning and enjoyed the show. As the Country Bears Jamboree let out we caught Woody and Jesse from Toy Story doing a street show and waited in line to meet them.
It was getting close to our Fast Pass time for the Jungle Cruise so we headed to back to Adventure land to catch our boat. The captain of our ship had a great sense of humor and worked all kinds of jokes into his tour.
After the Jungle Cruise we went to fly on Aladdin's Carpets. As Joey and I went to find a place to wait one of the people that works the ride said he would be fine and we could all ride the ride together. He loved the ride while we were on it, but the picture we got has him looking not too happy. Don't let it fool you he was just getting hungry.
We got the stroller out of parking and headed to Tomorrowland so the boys could drive racecars with Daddy and Mommy could feed Joey while they were waiting in line.
When Joey was full and the boys were done racing we headed to Mickey's Toontown Fair to meet some of the classic Disney Characters. The Red an White tent had a gift shop (of course) and two lines one to meet Mickey's Pals and one to meet the Disney Princesses. The wait time was 45-60min we decided to try later. In the process we found out the Mickey and Minnie were actually available to meet and get pictures with in their home and not part of the Character Tent. We toured through Mickey's house and waited probably the longest of the day to meet Mickey and Minnie, but it was totally worth it!!
The Disney photographer left as we got in the short line behind the scenes. We found out his camera broke so we waited a little longer than we should have had to. Disney now offers something called a photo pass you get a card with a barcode on it and anytime there is a Disney Photographer with character or in front of the castle or whatever, they scan your card when they take your picture then you can go online to order pictures and stuff with your pictures on it. The assistant to the photographer grabbed my camera since we waited so patiently for the actual photographer and actually got better shots on my camera :)Here are the shots from my camera.
By this time we were ready for dinner so we headed over to Tomorrowland to get a fast pass ticket for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and then get dinner. I noticed there was only a 2 min wait for the Laugh Floor from Monster's Inc movie so we decided to that before dinner. After that the boys wanted junk food so we got some soft pretzels, smoked turkey leg and slushies for dinner. Then you guessed it our fast past time was ready so we did the Buzz Lightyear ride. When you ask either Alan or Eddie what their favorite ride was this is it. You ride in this car that spins all the way around by your control with a joystick. There are two fighter guns that you operate and you ride through this video game to battle the evil Zurg. It's dark and all the stuff is neon and glows. I have to say it was really AWESOME and if we had gone on that ride earlier in the day we would have spent the whole day waiting to ride that ride over and over.
It was getting late so we went back to Mickey's Toontown Fair to ride Goofy's Rollercoaster. I took Joey to Minnie's house across the street to feed him while Daniel took the big boys on the ride. They wouldn't let both boys ride with Daniel. Only two people were allowed in each seat. Well you guessed it Alan was tall enough to ride by himself. He not only rode by himself, he got the very front seat. I would have to say this was another favorite for him!!! When they finished the ride we caught the very last train ride of the night and headed to Cinderella's Castle for the closing fireworks show.
I can't believe we ran those boys for 12 hours straight without naps/rest and managed to get home with just a few minor fussy moments and no meltdowns. I was even impressed with myself for not getting fussy or melting down. We ran the boys through the shower and crashed for the night. Monday morning we visited Downtown Disney, a fancy outdoor shopping mall (the boys thought we were back at Disney World), to see the Disney scrapbooking store and get T shirts for everyone. I wasn't very impressed with the scrapbooking store, but we found an AWESOME toy store with a build your own light saber station that I would LOVE to revisit when the boys are older!!! That would have been fun to watch Daniel and his brothers do too :)
It was a great weekend!!! Took most of this week to get back to normal. Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner. Enjoy the slideshow of pictures from the weekend and give us a "Shout"!!
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