Dumbo at Midnight

MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011

Today marked our return to the Magic Kingdom, which is essentially Madison's home away from home. She couldn't wait to get here, and couldn't wait to get on those rides! But first, Daddy had an appointment!

Here's a photo that Madison took of Daddy while he was getting a haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street inside the Magic Kingdom. This has become somewhat of a tradition, and a fun one too. Of all the places to get a haircut, why not the Magic Kingdom? It's a nice place to stop, and occasionally the Barbershop Quartet drops by to serenade the customers.

We saw some of the entertainment along Main Street, but soon afterwards we were headed to Tomorrowland. This is not usually part of our "strategy," but this time we did things a bit differently: we stopped by the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and the Buzz Lightyear ride. We even rode the People Mover again, which Madison enjoyed a lot. She was having a great time, of course - but that's because we were in Disney World. What four-year-old doesn't have a good time with all those rides? But soon, it was off to Fantasyland!

Madison: "I got Daddy dizzy!"

She just loves the Tea Cups! We went on this ride a few times today, and each time Madison wanted it to go faster and faster and faster! We had so much fun this afternoon - we stopped by Winnie the Pooh's ride and "It's a Small World," and had some lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus. Madison was having a great time, and we could have stayed on and on - BUT, we also wanted to avoid a meltdown. You see that sort of thing all the time with very tired and hot children. Best thing to do is head back to the hotel and get some rest - which we did! We got back to the hotel, and it was time to shut the lights out and get some shuteye.

BUT, when we came back, it was time to have some more fun! To add to the excitement, we met up with Ba-ba and Nana, who came along with us for the return trip. They took Madison on Aladdin's Magic Carpets while Mommy and Daddy got to see Jack Sparrow on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (yay!). Afterwards, we all got onboard the Amazon Annie and go for a Jungle Cruise. This Madison loved! Seriously, she had such a great time riding on the boat and seeing all the stuff in the jungle. When we got off the boat, we had just enough time for the parade - Daddy held a spot along the street while Madison got to see the Country Bears again, and then everyone watched the Main Street Electrical Parade, which was fantastic for Madison: she saw all her favorite characters! She was beaming brightly as they waved at her: Alice, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, Cinderella's mice, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - and more. She loved it!

We saw the Wishes fireworks after that, and Daddy was delighted when Madison spotted Tinkerbell flying from the top of Cinderella's Castle. It was a great display, as usual - but the fun wasn't over yet, because all resort guests were permitted to stay at the park until 2 AM! You read that right. Can you imagine staying at the park that long? We stayed pretty late ourselves, and the park was not that crowded at all this late at night. Which meant lots of rides!

We didn't stay until 2 AM, but we did go back to Fantasyland for some more fun! We went back to Fantasyland to ride Cinderella's Golden Carousel. We did a lot of the rides in Fantasyland, and one of the final things we did was pretty wild: Dumbo at midnight.

Fortunately, the next day we had planned a "rest day," where we didn't have any parks to visit. We could sleep in, and catch up on some rest, which we needed! We got home pretty late, but Madison was still wired from all the fun we had. No worries: she slept in pretty late the next morning - but that's for you to read about tomorrow.