Magic Kingdom

"Vacation?" Part VI (see previous posts)

Michael had decided that we were going to extend our trip by two extra days which meant we now had time to go to the Magic Kingdom. Overall, it was a great day but two things made it not so "magical." The first was when Michael awoke with pink eye. I didn't think to grab the eye drops from the hotel when we left. By the end of the day, his eyes were so red and swollen it looked as if he was stung by bees. I am happy to report that is our last recorded sickness of the trip.

The second circumstance that hindered our ability to fully enjoy the happiest place on earth was the crowd of people. The park wasn't just crowded, it was CROWDED! At certain points in the day, we were stuck shoulder to shoulder in a sea of people that seriously wasn't moving for about 5 minutes; and, that wasn't in a line...that was in the streets trying to get from one place to the other. In my opinion they should only allow a certain number of guests into their park on any given day to help with the crowds. Since then, I have learned that Mondays tend to be the busiest days for the Magic Kingdom.

Zachary wanted to ride the "neigh, neighs"


The classic Dumbo pictures
Zachary is waiting for me to join him.

About 3 weeks ago, out of the blue, Mikie grabbed his baseball cap hanging on a hook in his room (I had it there for decoration) and decided to wear it. Most people would ask, "yeah, so what?" But let me tell you, for my child who hasn't worn a hat since before he was able to pull it off of his head by himself, this is a big deal! He was complaining about the sun in his eyes so we asked if he'd like to have a new hat. He said he wanted a Tigger one and so the summer of hat wearing has begun. We ate lunch in Pooh's Hundred Acre Woods on a bench because all the tables in a 1 mile (over exaggerating...just slightly) area were taken, and let the boys climb around for awhile since the crowds weren't as thick "in the forest."

We hopped on the last ferry to Tom Sawyer's island and spent the next 45 minutes meandering the paths, bridges, caves, and forts. This was the most enjoyable part of our Magic Kingdom day as there were hardly any people in sight. We wished we would have known about the shaded picnic tables on the island before we finished our lunch.

A few more rides and shows before the big parade.

We knew we'd be pressing our luck keeping the boys up so late, but we couldn't leave without seeing the lighted parade and the fireworks. Besides the island, the lighted parade was my favorite.

Even though they had their stroller, they wanted to sit on my lap to watch the parade.

It was after 11:00 when we left the park and close to midnight before we got to our room. The boys were real troopers!