Good Morning! We find ourselves on the way into the Magic Kingdom to celebrate Alden's Birthday! We have lots of big plans for his Golden Birthday at Disney World (He turned 5 on October 5th)!
Yes this monorail picture is in the morning and it is still dark out! Right after this picture is taken we discover that I left my phone in the van somewhere. So, Doug stayed on the monorail and returned to the TTC. I got off with the kids at the Magic Kingdom stop.
We are first in line, but without Doug and my phone. I took Doug's phone with me so he could call me once he got back to the park.
It turns out that my phone some how slid under Clair's car seat and Doug had a heck of a time finding it. He asked some one walking by to call it and that is how he finally found it. (Most people are very nice in the Disney theme parks!) So, lesson learned to keep calling the phone even with the ringer off, because he was able to see it glowing under the car seat. Anyway, he hustled back from the van to the ferry and sailed back over to the Magic Kingdom and was through the gates and back to meet us as we exited The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. In the picture you can see the smoke from the fireworks when they open the park. Doug reported that the Ferry was packed full of people and that is why we try to beat the masses of people by getting to the gates 60 minutes early. Doug was glad he did not have to go through bag check and could just sail on through the gates to meet us.
This is Doug's cell phone pic saying "I'm Here" as he waited by the exit of the ride. We had already done Peter Pan and then the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, when he met up with us. Considering the distance between the parking and those attractions, he made good time.
We then took a spin on Barnstormer.
Smiles on Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
We met the Great Goofini - which had just opened the day before at Pete's Silly Sideshow!
Donald
There is lots of little details and other hidden gems as you exit the tent.
The birthday boy with Goofy.
They think they can spin it sooooooo fast.
And another spinning ride - Prince Charming Regal Carrousel. Doug has to watch the tea cups and the carrousel because they make him sick.
I took a picture of Sam so she didn't get too jealous of the birthday boy.
Clair as photogenic as ever.
No luck with the Sword in the Stone on his birthday.
Ooops!
A good family picture. Clair was being extra clingy that day.
We stopped for a light lunch at Sleepy Hollow. We had a 4 o'clock Dinner so we did not want to eat a big lunch. We really like the waffles at Sleepy Hollow. Doug always goes with the Nutella and Fruit and I go with the Strawberries! The kids split a couple of waffles between the 3 of them and everyone is happy with the free ice water!
After our light lunch, we went to use a Fastpass over at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I'm not sure what Doug and Clair did but I'm sure they had fun. We then road again with the Rider Swap pass that Clair so nicely got for us.
We then traded kids again and Doug took the big kids and I took Clair.
Alden and Sam played a little more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
Then they went on the Tommorwland Transit Authority People Mover for the birthday boy.
The lights were on in Space Mountain, so Alden though that was extra cool for his birthday.
Not exactly pretty.
We met back up and hopped on the monorail to Epcot, all the excitement had gotten to Samantha and she fell asleep on the way to Epcot.
A view of the work going on at Test Track.
Alden's Birthday Dinner was at Teppan Edo in the Japan Pavilion @ Epcot. Not where a normal 5 year old goes at Disney World for their birthday, but if you know him you understand. You sit "family" style so we sat with a nice family from Virgina.
All three kids ate all their food. They let us split a meal between the girls because we really were not sure if they would eat anything.
The Chef was great at talking to the kids and entertaining them. She made Samantha try the noodles and Samantha learned that she liked something other than mac and cheese! The food here is great. Even if you are not an adventurous eater the food here is fabulous! (I'm not an adventurous eater…)
Clair being Clair
See what we live with.
Alden got a hat for his birthday with an origami Skull on it to match his shirt.
On the way out of the World Showcase Clair stopped to make a call.
They all tried to enter at the same time. It was like something out of a cartoon.
We got a nice picture of the Birthday Boy and his new hat.
Hard to believe he is 5!
We hopped back on the monorail to head back to the car that was parked in the Magic Kingdom at the TTC. They kids were pretending to like each other.
This was our last day in Florida and I have a problem where I just can't stop. So we got in the car and headed over to Hollywood Studios. We waited out a down poor in the van then went in for the last few hours it was open. Doug and Clair basically just waited for us to ride Star tours 3 times.
He let Clair take a Picture. So this is what you get.
After our spins on Star Tours we got a snack from Sweet Spells and took it over to the ABC Commissary to sit and eat in the AC.
Once we got the chocolate off of their faces it was pointed out to us that they never got "EARs" on the trip. They were right, so we let them pick some out and we got one last picture on the way out of the park.
It is always really hard leaving the park the last time not knowing when you are coming back. We had an idea of when we would be back but nothing was set in stone. We left knowing we had sucked every last bit of park time and fun out of our last day helped lessen the sad feeling and left me with less tears.
