Monday, May 24th, 2010

There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow

We started out our next day in Disney World by sleeping in! Yes! Our room's air conditioning worked well, but it actually was a little chilly in the night. On top of that, we opted to try out having Madison sleep in a bed with Mommy through the night. This had mixed results, but we did get to sleep in a little, so that was good.

Daddy went off to the Port Royal area of the resort and got some breakfast items, and some milk for Mommy for tea. Got to have tea. After watching the Disney channel and munching on breakfast and just generally waking up, we decided to head over to the main pool area, which was just as awesome as we thought it'd be.

It was divine Providence that gave us one of the rare tables underneath an umbrella providing shade for Mommy. We were just arriving as the folks who previously had that seat were leaving. As the day was already very, very hot - this was a good thing.

The pool has a zero degree entry, which is just like at the beach where Madison could walk in and slowly get deeper, and deeper, and deeper...until she started clinging on Daddy's back. We floated along together, with Daddy testing out some of her swimming skills. She's really coming along nicely there. Still, there was plenty of time to simply hang on to Daddy's back as we approached the fort's cannons and ...oh no! They're shooting water at us! Oh no!

We had a great time in the pool, and Daddy even got to go off on his own one time and try out the water slide. It's somewhat of a tradition! As for Madison, she got to finally try out this:

There is this huge bucket at the top of this thing, slowly filling up with water. Gallons and gallons fill it to the very brim when all of the sudden the bells go off, and everyone screams! The bucket tilts over and hurls all that water downward, splashing everyone! Madison loved the splashing and the slides and the little fountains and was having a great time. But soon it was time to go somewhere even more special: The Magic Kingdom!

We hopped on the bus and went to Main Street, and started our adventure out with a haircut. Daddy once again got a hair cut at the barber shop right there inside the entrance of the Magic Kingdom, while Mommy and Madison looked on. It was a good cut, but the one thing Daddy didn't count on was the amount of sun exposure! That sun was sure cooking!

Just outside, we found a place in the shade, and right as the haircut had wrapped up, we found ourselves watching the parade pass by. It was a glorious occasion for Madison! Large floats glided by, and dancers waved and smiled. Best of all, lots of characters blew kisses and shook hands with her, each one getting a big smile from Madison. I think the best reaction of all came from one of the mice from the movie "Cinderella." She walked right up to Madison and just about gave her a hug.

After the parade, we wandered down Main Street to Tomorrowland, where we decided to grab ourselves a meal at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. It was a lot of food, but we were on the meal plan - and it was pretty good food too. We picked up a fast pass for Buzz Lightyear's ride, and with the crowds as big as they were, we decided to hop on the People Mover.

You can see here that Madison is having a pretty good day so far! This is a nice, pleasant ride through Tomorrowland. Madison got scared in a dark tunnel, and that moment turned out to be the only scary moment of the whole trip. We were determined to be wise as parents and not do anything dumb, like take her to the Haunted Mansion or on Space Mountain!

After our ride on the People Mover, we had a real treat! The Carousel of Progress was open! This gem of a ride was first running during the World's Fair in New York some time ago, and Mommy actually got to see it before it ever came to Disney World. Now, of course, it's here in Disney World, and it has a theme song that will get stuck in your head for weeks.

Finally, it was time for Buzz Lightyear. This is a ride that involves target shooting. Daddy had a really good score this time because the ride stopped right in front of a revolving target that he could hit over and over again. Buzz is a popular character with Madison right now, as we've been exposing her to the Toy Story movies. This year, "Toy Story 3" comes out, and we're hoping to take her to go see it, her first experience at the movies. Maybe, we'll go see it at this Drive In that Daddy's been wanting to go to.

Anyway, our next stop was in Fantasyland. Daddy had picked up some fastpasses for Winnie the Pooh's ride, but that was a long time from now. So in the mean time, we went to go see Mickey's Philharmonic, and then we went to "It's a Small World." How many times have we been on that ride? Daddy still remembers going on the one in Hong Kong Disney, which was much larger. Madison didn't know what to think of it back then, but she knew she liked it. It was funny trying to get a smile out of her - but at the same time we knew that she was really enjoying herself.

We weren't done squeezing rides in yet! Next, we hopped on Cinderella's Carousel for a few spins, another ride Madison rode on in Hong Kong. Mommy and Daddy rode with her on this one too, and we all had a great time spinning around and around. But not spinning around too much - Daddy doesn't like that really!

As we were just about to go to see Winnie the Pooh, Daddy had an idea: what about ice cream? Just saying the words got Madison smiling and jumping up and down. She even says it with me: "ice cream!" So before heading over for another ride, the three of us sat down and enjoyed some ice cream. Even Mommy got to taste some of that tasty vanilla ice cream. What a fun day!

The final stop at the Magic Kingdom was Winnie the Pooh. This line was immense! But we had a fast pass and were able to get on fairly quickly. Madison is still into Winnie the Pooh, and oddly enough, Daddy is too. In fact, I've never actually gotten into anything at the 100 Acre Wood before Madison came along. Together, we've watched many cartoons, and only recently has Daddy actually gone on this ride. It's a good one!

We knew we'd be back to the Magic Kingdom, so we left a little early so we could get an early night's rest. One reason was a reservation we had for the next morning at the Animal Kingdom. If you'd like to know what it was for, you'll just have to wait until then!

We got back to the hotel, all smiles, but ready for an early night. We climbed into our pirate boat beds and tried to get to sleep quickly, though all the thoughts of the fun we were having kept us awake longer than we'd expected!