Disney Trip 2011

Intro

Going to Disney is one of those trips that everyone talks about for a long time.  So many of our friends have been over the last couple years - it was easy to feel like we were missing out, but we had a plan - wait until Kate was 4 and Brett was 5 so that they were old enough to enjoy it, without the naps, and diapers, and difficult toddler things.  Granted, they probably won't remember much of this trip, but it was magical for all of us, and we know with 100% certainty that they absolutely loved it!  My parents went with us too, which was fun, and made life even easier for us!  We stayed at Lake Buena Vista Resort Village and Spa, which is just a few miles away from the Disney property.  We had 3 bedrooms - 2 large masters and the kids' room with 2 twin beds - plus 3 bathrooms, a kitchen and a family room.  It was perfect for our group.  They even have a cool pirate ship pool - we actually got to use it in the middle of December since it was so warm that week.  We left on Friday, December 16, as soon as Brett's school was out since they had early release that day.  Conveniently, Kate's class had their Christmas program for the parents earlier in the day, so we didn't have to wait for her to get out at 1:00.

This is the run down of what we did and what recommendations I have, day by day.  We used the RideMax software, which I would highly recommend.  It was well worth the small fee to be able to use their awesome program.  They also had a beta version for the phone, so we were able to do some planning on the go if need be.

Day 1 - Sea World

After a long drive on Friday, we wanted our first day in Orlando to be sort of calm and laid back (as much as possible anyway), so we decided to do a day at Sea World to start out. I was anticipating the kids' meltdowns from the late night/ crazy day/ insane week that we'd had, so I didn't want to "waste" that day at Magic Kingdom. It worked beautifully. We enjoyed the dolphins, whales, etc. and left at dinner time to head back for an early night.

Here is the run down of what we aimed for that day:

• Dolphin Cove - feed the dolphins (see below)
• Shamu's Happy Harbor - kid play area
• All of the aquariums
• Penguin Encounter
• Shamu Stadium - Believe (the whale show)
• Whale & Dolphin Theater Blue Horizons - the dolphin show, complete with acrobatics, birds, impressive stunts... definitely the show to see!
• Sealion & Otter Stadium - Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island - cute show, funny, corny jokes, but it was over the kids' heads
• Sesame Street show... can't remember the name of it now, but it was cute.  I didn't think the kids would be into it since they've sort of outgrown Sesame Street, but it was pretty entertaining.  However, you have to get in line at least 30-45 minutes before showtime.  For that reason, I don't know that it would be worth doing again.

We were going to eat dinner at Sharks Underwater Grill, but ended up leaving before dinner time.  There is only so much Sea World to see with young kids.  Anything that was not immediately interactive after being in the car for so long the day before was just not worth it to them.

The dolphins are very cool, and the kids were much more "into it" than I expected them to be.  A little warning - it is $7 per person in your party to even step foot into this feeding area, but each person gets a little bowl of fish to feed the dolphins.

Kate LOVED feeding the dolphins.  She didn't seem nervous at all about dropping the fish in their mouths.

Brett was a little apprehensive, but got over it quickly! 

The Dolphin Show was definitely the kids' favorite show at Sea World.  If you are only going to do one show at Sea World, this one is it.  The sea lion and otter show would be better for older kids... our kids didn't get the jokes.  The whale show was also cool, but not interactive enough for our kids.

The whale show was cool, but it was pretty close to lunch, so attention spans were short at this point!

Who knew that Santa would be at Sea World?!

He was at the Polar Express, of course!  Kate wasn't tall enough for this ride, so we all did the "walk through" version.  The boys went later on without us and said that we would've ended up with motion sickness.  Whew - glad I missed it!

More Santa pics - Kate asked for a Barbie fashion with a horse and Brett asked for Transformers.  I know you're shocked!

Solid ice...

So Kate decides to lay on it?!  Goofy girl!

Brett humored his sister and rode the little kiddie train - he was less than impressed!  There is an entire kid section in one corner of Sea World, but it is really geared for the younger kids.  Brett was pretty bored, except for the Shamu Express, which is the kid roller coaster.  For the big kids, there are a couple big, very cool roller coasters.  Next time!

That face says, "Really Dad?!"  I think he was a little bored!

Waiting for the train ride

The penguins were cute - Kate kept trying to walk like a penguin.  There were other aquarium type things throughout the park - cute for the younger kids, and it would be a nice break from the sun in the summer.

Brett really liked their snowman!

Memere and Poppy with Brett and Kate

Family picture in front of the whale plants

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

Day 2 was Magic Kingdom... it opens at 8am, instead of 9am like the other parks. Plus we had to plan for parking and riding the monorail before the park opening, so it was an early morning! The kids were troopers though... they went hard all day long! It helped that the park closed at 7:00pm that day, so we had an easy excuse to call it early another night!

We split up Magic Kingdom - the left side and the right side.  This was the left side day, so these were the attractions that we tried to hit, in no particular order:

• Fantasyland
• Dumbo - it closed right after we were there to be relocated, but if you're doing Dumbo, go there very first thing.  The lines get crazy and fastpass isn't an option!
• Peter Pan's Flight - get a fastpass, definitely
• It's a Small World - get a fastpass or go later in the day.  The line is around 20 minutes during meals and during parades
• Mickey's Philharmagic - cute 3D show; the fastpass for this doesn't count against your others, so why not go?  It's good to sit down and relax for a few minutes.
• Snow White's Scary Adventures - get a fastpass, and be prepared for scared little ones!
• Cinderella's Golden Carousel - very quick!  Nice time-filler when kids are antsy to do something 
• Dream Along with Mickey - a cute show on the stage in front of the castle; grab a snack and have a seat right there on the ground in front.
• Liberty Square
• The Haunted Mansion - get a fastpass and bypass the cemetery; it just adds to your wait
• Frontierland
• WDW Railroad - great to take a ride around the whole park to relax :)
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - get a fastpass, maybe a few times!  This was Brett's absolute favorite ride!  We went 4 times over the course of the trip - with a fastpass everytime!
• Adventureland
• Swiss Family Treehouse - the kids were more into than I thought, and it's quick
• Jungle Cruise - fastpass
• Pirates of the Caribbean - fastpass
• Main Street 
• Meet & Greet with Mickey and Minnie - fastpass doesn't count against other fastpasses
• Meet & Greet with 3 princesses (Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora) - fastpass doesn't count against other fastpasses and makes your wait about 5-10 minutes, versus 60 or more!

The fastpasses at Magic Kingdom are awesome.  You can get another fastpass an hour after the previous one, and you don't have to go during the printed time window on your fastpass.  You can go anytime after that, like hours after the fact.  So we started out getting a fastpass for something immediately (pick your most important attraction in case it runs out of fastpasses for that day).  Then an hour later, we'd send someone to get fastpasses for something else, and so on.  We didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for anything, except Rapunzel, but that was a different day, and a long story.

We brought snacks and water bottles with us every day, but we ate lunch at the Tomorrowland Terrace.  They have more variety than a lot of other places, but it's also a tad more expensive.  It also was not crowded at all, and it has an awesome view of the castle!  We ate dinner at Pinocchio Village Haus in Fantasyland, which has pizza, pasta, salads, etc.  and overlooks the loading area for It's a Small World.

In the parking lot, ready for a day of Disney FUN!

For as long as we've been talking about going to Disney World, Kate has been talking about seeing the "real Cinderella Castle."  Finally, she got to really see it!  She was SO stinkin' excited!!

All of our little "cheat sheets" said to head to Dumbo first, so we did.  Kate wanted NOTHING and I mean absolutely nothing to do with the Dumbo ride!  Maybe because it went up into the air?!  I have no idea.  Either way, Brett and I rode it together, and he loved it :)

It had a little joystick to control the up/down motion - yeah, Brett had it UP the entire ride :)

While we waited for Dumbo, Kate spotted the Cinderella Carousel, which she got to ride on immediately (there is almost no line for that at any time of day).  She rode it all by herself and had a blast!

Next was "It's a Small World"... I can't begin to tell you how crazy this ride makes me, but Kate loves it, so we went.  And then we went again the same day.  And again another day.  We even got stuck on it once.  I'm still hearing the music in my head!

Kate and Poppy, taking it all in!

Hula girls dancing to "It's a small world"  Hawaiian style!

Hanging out in line, waiting for Donald Duck

Say Cheese!  Or is it Quack?!

We had just seen "Mickey's Philharmagic" where Donald goes flying across the room and ends up stuck in the wall on the opposite side of the theater.  Brett wanted to know why he was so silly and if his head hurt!  Thankfully, Donald played along quite well!

Taking the train around the park (aka, relaxing for awhile!)

Family picture time on Main Street... it was really cool to see it all decorated for Christmas!

The view from our lunch spot, Tomorrowland Terrace

What a cute couple :)

The Potater and Milkshaker (Kate and Brett)

"Look, Poppy!  There is the Cinderella Castle!" - Kate

Our kids have never been into Mickey and Minnie all that much, but you'd never guess it when we told them who we were going to go see after lunch!  Brett was so excited.  Here is is, peering around this little room divider, trying to get a better view!

Mickey and Minnie

The whole gang!

Next were the 3 princesses.  If you have a little girl who loves princesses, you MUST get a fastpass to meet the 3 princesses.  We walked right in, waited maybe 5-10 minutes and got to meet all 3 princesses back to back - Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Cinderella.  Kate was in heaven.  She was A-MAZED!  The princesses do a great job interacting with the kids and staying in character.  Sleeping Beauty wanted to know if Brett fights off the dragons for Kate!

I love Kate's expression here - she was looking at Belle's dress and gloves the entire time Belle was talking to Brett (asking to see his muscles!)

Here she is, feeling Belle's dress - so sweet!

Cinderella asking where they were from and if it was a long carriage ride to her castle

Cinderella kissed Brett on the cheek and Brett announces, "I don't like princesses!"  One day you will, buddy, one day!

"Dream Along with Mickey" show in front of the castle - get there early enough to get a decent seat on the ground in front of the stage - any spot there is great!

Kate has this new, strange fascination with Millificent (the evil woman in Sleeping Beauty) - she just has to see Millificent!

Anything with dancing princesses is just great according to Kate :)  Brett was equally amused!

Fireworks at the end - kaboom!

The many faces of Kate - on the people mover in Tomorrowland as a time-filler!

30 seconds later - all better!

So, you know how the people mover goes through Space Mountain?  Yeah, Space Mountain broke down while we were going through!  Now you know what it looks like on the inside when those crazy lights and stuff seem to be whizzing past your head. 

Brett and Todd on the people mover

The Jungle Cruise - the kids asked many many many times what was real and what was fake

Say cheese!

A view out from the Swiss Family Treehouse

One of the coolest things - Cinderella's Castle all lit up with Christmas lights! 

A view down Main Street from the train station

Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

Day 3 of our trip was spent at Hollywood Studios. Nothing could have prepared us for the insanity of the first hour of our day! The park opens at 9, so it was pretty crowded when we got there, which was to be expected. Pretty much everyone lines up (read - pushes, shoves, etc.) at the rope drop on the right side to go to the same spot - Toy Story Mania. The goal is to get a fastpass, quickly, before they run out for the entire day. Todd and my dad were on fastpass duty, but they also had Brett with them to get Brett signed up to be a Jedi-in-training before the park ever opened. They were able to get Brett signed up, then raced over, through the crazy mob, to get in the fastpass line for Toy Story. Somewhere in the middle of that, my mom and I had Kate and were able to get in line to ride Toy Story with only a 30 minute wait. Todd got Brett to my mom and I and the 4 of us (my mom and I and the kids) were able to ride Toy Story with only a 30 minute wait, PLUS we now all had a fastpass to ride later! Score! While we were in Toy Story, Todd was in line to meet Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. By the time we got out, he was #3 in line, so it worked perfectly. I just handed the kids over the fence to him and they didn't have to wait at all! The lines for the rides aren't bad once you figure out the timing, but the character lines can be INSANE. More on that a different day :)

So here is the rundown of what we attempted to get to at Hollywood Studios and some notes along the way:

• Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show - well worth it, especially if you have a young boy, racing enthusiast in your group!  Lightning McQueen was awesome, and the adults appreciated the details of how they pull off some of the stunts.  There is not a bad seat here, so don't rush, but it might be good in the afternoon when you want some down time.
• Star Tours - a must see, even if it makes me motion sick every time.  In the little shop at the end there is a place to build your own light saber - very cool, but you can also do this in Downtown Disney for the same price :)  Get a fastpass for this!
• Toy Story Mania - so, here's how to do this... in the mad rush at rope drop, one parent take the kids and get in line for Toy Story immediately, do not pass go, do not collect $200.  The other parent get the fastpasses for later.  You will be amazed at the insanity of this process.  Honestly, you'll be done about the same time.  Then, you have the fastpass to ride again later.  It's that good.  Do it this way.  I promise.  A good friend clued us in, so now I'm cluing you in.
• Beauty and the Beast Show - the movie, in real life, in 30 minutes.  It's worth it if you have a little princess on your hands.
• Jedi Training Academy Show - if you have a little boy that loves Star Wars and isn't too terribly stage fright, this is awesome!  They go to "class" to learn how to fight off Darth Vader, and then they get to do it on stage, one at a time!  Get to the park early; before the rope drop, go over to the left side of the park entrance and there will be someone with a clipboard, ready to sign up your youngster.  You must have your child with you to sign them up.
• Muppet Vision 3D - we never made it to this, but I heard it's cool
• Voyage of the Little Mermaid - a cute show, especially if you have an Ariel fanatic like we do!  I think we had a fastpass for this too.
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play Area - a glorified playground, but it was one of the few parts of the park that was not crowded, so the kids were able to run and play freely for awhile.
• Fantasmic! - the light show at the end of the night (sometimes twice, an early and a later one).  You MUST get there an hour early, at least, to be guaranteed to get in.  Here's our hint - get there way early... get situated down in front, in the middle (or far left or right... there are 3 water "screens" to view).  Don't get any closer than about 5-10 rows from the front.  If it's windy at all, the water will blow toward you every time they start up the water "screens."  With that said, get your seat and get settled; then send 1-2 people to get dinner for the group and plan on eating dinner there in the bleachers.  They will give those people a ticket to guarantee them entrance back in to the theater.  Also, parts of it, like every Disney attraction, are all about the Disney villains - Kate was scared sh!tless for a good 5-10 minutes of the show, to the point that she was crawling up Todd and sobbing, but then it ended with all of her favorite characters on boats, etc., so it was all ok in the end.  Either way - it is an awesome show with very cool special effects.  Be patient getting out because that theater holds a LOT of people, and it takes awhile to get out.  

Here are the pictures from our day at Hollywood Studios!

Jedi Training - Brett was paying close attention to learn how to defeat Darth Vader

Can you hear the Star Wars music?!

Darth Maul

One excited boy!

His Jedi Training class

Focus!

His turn to fight Darth Vader

Backing up, while we were waiting until Brett's time for Jedi Training, we took the kids over to the playset of "Honey I Shrunk the Kids."  I wasn't sure if they'd like it, but they absolutely loved running around with a little bit of free time!

Kate loved sliding down the leaf!

Later in the day - waiting in line with our Toy Story Fastpass - our wait time was about 20 minutes.  Those without a fastpass were waiting 150 minutes - TWO and a half HOURS?!?!  Can you imagine?!?!  Fastpass people!!!  I'm so glad the general public hasn't figured out the brilliance of Fastpass!

We watched a Belle show that was pretty cute... the whole sttory on stage in about 30 minutes.

Star Tours - I know this ride makes me sick, and this time was no different.  I don't know why I still go on it!  Brett loved it... Kate was not impressed.  She didn't dislike it, but it's definitely not on her list of Top 5 things to do again.

Hanging out behind bars, outside, in the cool air, waiting for the Star Tours-induced vertigo to pass.

Woohoo!!

Day 4 - Sea World again and Downtown Disney

Day 4 was spent sleeping in (well, if you consider 7:00 AM sleeping in), a few hours at Sea World, and some fun at Downtown Disney. We headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon to let the kids play at the pool for awhile. No, it was not heated, but it was pushing 80 degrees outside. Their lips were only sort of blue ;)

Feeding and petting the sting rays... this girl was fearless!

Putting her hand in, trying to get the stingrays to swim to her!  Brett was content watching :)

Memere trying to help Kate attract the sting rays with a fish

Say Cheese!

Memere and Poppy with the kiddos

We watched the dolphin show again.  Then Kate wanted to watch the whale show, but Brett wanted to go ride Shamu Express (the kids' roller coaster) some more, so the girls went one way and the boys went another.  Memere bought us all snacks at the whale show.  You should've seen Kate's face!  Messy!!

Funny girl on a sugar high!

After lunch at a Cuban restaurant off the Disney properties (can't remember the name, sorry), we headed to Downtown Disney to walk around for awhile.  It was nice to be a little unplanned and "go-with-the-flow" for one afternoon.  Of course, we magically ended up at the Lego store, where we stayed for at least an hour, if not two!  There were two cool things here - tons of big things built out of Legos, including a dragon actually in the lake; and the build your car and race it station, which Brett LOVED.

Downtown Disney at the Lego store... all of those people are made of Legos!

They had a huge station outside to build and race cars... it was just like Brett's birthday party, only way cooler!

Buzz, also out of Legos!

Buzz and Woody outside - you guessed it, out of Legos!

I almost can't believe that Yoda didn't come home with us :)  He did get to custom-build his own light saber though... much cooler!

After hanging out at Downtown Disney for a few hours, we headed back to the resort to bum around and enjoy the pool.  The weather was in the low-80's that day, so it was definitely warm enough to swim for awhile.

The Pirate Ship pool at our resort - the kids thought it was very cool, but neither of them wanted to go down the water slide.

Hanging out in the kid section... zero entry pool with some fun water shooter things

We were not crazy... no freezing cold pool for us!  The Styrofoam cups had some yummy adult beverages!

Day 5 - Princess Breakfast Day!

We had a very early start on Day #5 because it was Princess Breakfast Day in the castle! Kate was so excited!! We brought her Rapunzel dress and her sparkle shoes and let her wear those over her regular clothes for the breakfast. She was almost speechless - just taking it all in. I don't think she ate more than 2 or 3 bites of her breakfast because she was just so amazed by it all!  Later in the day, we headed over to Epcot because there were only a few things left that we wanted to do (or do again) at Magic Kingdom.  Yay for park hopper tickets!

Note: if you want to eat a meal in the castle, the reservations open online 180 days out.  Yes, count it out and book it as soon as registration opens (6am).  I'm not kidding.  It is not cheap, but Kate has talked about seeing the "real" Cinderella castle for as long as I can remember, and it's something that my parents took us to do when we were little (and not so little).  It's cool.  If you can get over the price tag, do it!  Another option is to do the princess breakfast at Epcot, but it's about the same price.  I don't know about you, but if I'm going to pay that much, I want to eat in THE castle, gosh darn it!

In front of the castle, dressed like a princess and her prince!

Kate and Cinderella in the foyer

Breakfast in the ballroom... Kate loved walking up the red carpet spiral staircase!

Sleeping Beauty

Snow White

Ariel

She got Kate's nose :)

Belle

After breakfast, our plan was to hit some of Tomorrowland for Brett - that's fair right?  Lots of girly stuff first thing, followed by some boy stuff.  On the way to Tomorrowland we saw this HUGE line of people.  Huh?  What are we missing??  Then we saw Rapunzel... THE Rapunzel, and Kate's face lit up.  In hind site, I should've pulled her immediately right then and gotten in line while the rest of our group went to Tomorrowland.  Instead, she and I went and rode the Tomorrowland Speedway with everyone else, and THEN went back to get in line for Rapunzel.  Why Rapunzel does not have a fastpass is completely beyond me, so we waited.  And waited.  And waited for a freaking hour and a half.  Unreal.  Thankfully, once we were in Rapunzel's tower, they had some Rapunzel coloring sheets and crayons, so that occupied our little princess for the remaining 20 minutes.  I have to say, Rapunzel was great with the kids, and signed Kate's coloring sheet, so Kate was over the moon excited.  I was proud of my dad - he was a trooper, hanging out with us in line, forEVER.

Coloring in Rapunzel's "tower" - after we had waited for almost an hour and a half, I was grateful for something to keep her entertained!

Rapunzel!  Kate LOVED it!!!

Rapunzel signed her coloring sheet

Then we headed over to Epcot with no real plan, since I hadn't really planned on us going to Epcot that day, but we had park hopper passes, so why not use them, right?  Here was our goal of what to see at Epcot that day:

• Mission: Space - you pick how intense you want it... only the boys went on this, and barf bags are included.  There ya go.  No thanks!
• Seas with Nemo and Friends - sort of like Peter Pan at Magic Kingdom, but with Nemo
• Spaceship Earth
• Turtle Talk with Crush - I had low expectations here, but it was hilarious!
• Seas Aquariums - I was way over aquariums at this point!

Basically, our goal was to do some of the kid stuff at Epcot that didn't necessarily need a fastpass.  In fact, I think that Mission: Space was our only fastpass at Epcot that day.  Soarin' and Test Track were already out of fastpasses once we got there since it was already early afternoon.

Over to Epcot, in front of the Nemo ride

Turtle Talk with Crush was really cute and interactive - everyone was laughing!

The monorail was our friend that day... we rode it a LOT!

After we hung out at Epcot for a few hours, we hopped back on the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  In all honesty, it is a little bit of a blur because Kate fell asleep in the stroller, so we kept passing her back and forth throughout the afternoon.  She slept for a good hour and a half!  Here are some of the attractions that we hit once we got back to Magic Kingdom:

• Space Mountain - Brett went with my parents and I, and then Todd and I went again later.  We'd gotten a fastpass for it earlier in the day when we were at MK the first time!
• Carousel of Progress - a good mid-afternoon rest :)
• Winnie the Pooh - use a fastpass, but even then, it's not worth it.  It was weird, at best.
• It's a Small World (again)
• Big Thunder Mountain (again) - with fastpass, again!

We ate dinner at Tortuga Tavern that night.  Kate got to see the 3 princesses again too while some of us did some of the big kid rides that she didn't want to go on again, like Big Thunder Mountain :)  She said it was "fun, fun, fun, then AUGH!"  Haha!

End of the night, heading back to the resort!

Day 6 - Last Day - Epcot & Magic Kingdom

Our last day we started at Epcot so that we could get an early fastpass for Soarin', which is totally worth it, by the way!  We did Soarin' and Test Track (both with fastpass) and a few other things that we knew we could get into easily with minimal wait times.  We had a late lunch reservation in Mexico, then headed back over to the Magic Kingdom to cram in more princess fun and Big Thunder Mountain (Brett's new favorite ride).

Here's the breakdown of Epcot for the day:

• Soarin' - get fastpass as soon as the park opens - it's worth it, even with little kids
• Test Track - get fastpass
• Captain EO (Michael Jackson) - sort of cool, but maybe a bit boring for the kids
• Living with the Land boat ride - educational, relaxing, no wait
• Universe of Energy - with Ellen, pretty entertaining, relaxing, no wait
• Circle of Life - movie about recycling and taking care of the planet with the Lion King characters
• Journey into Imagination
• The boat ride in Mexico, while waiting for our table

Playing in the Figment attraction at Epcot

The goal is to jump on the one that is lit up to make music

Mexico, can you tell?! :)

Lunch spot in Mexico - delicious!

Obligatory family picture in front of the Epcot ball

Memere and Poppy with Brett and Kate

Ellen's Energy Adventure (or something like that) - it was pretty cool, but Kate was a little nervous that the dinosaurs were going to get too close!

One of the many Monorail rides for the day!  Speaking of the monorails - Brett LOVED them!  He loved them so much that he picked out a monorail toy as his souvenir!  Funny boy :)

After lunch, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day.  Here were the highlights:

• Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It street parade
• Electrical Parade - while waiting for the parade for an hour +, they made it snow on Main Street!
• Transit Authority People Mover (again, this time at night)
• Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - like Toy Story at Epcot, only much cooler; get fastpass
• Monster's Inc Laugh Floor - very funny, well worth it, especially if you're looking for a time-filler
• Carousel, again
• It's a Small World, again
• Big Thunder Mountain, again, with a fastpass
• 3 princesses, again, with a fastpass, to say "bye!"

We ate dinner at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland.  

Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it Parade at Magic Kingdom

Dancing in the street at the end of the parade - Todd and Brett are the ones not in black and white :)

Back on the carousel... both kids this time!

Kate thought the pink Cinderella castle was just awesome!

The people mover at night was kind of cool - and relaxing :)  At this point, 6 straight days in the parks was starting to catch up to everyone.

We stayed late that night to see the Electrical Parade.  My parents and I took Kate to get a spot more than an hour before the parade started while Todd and Brett rode Big Thunder Mountain one last time.  Kate fell asleep in the stroller while she was people watching.  Then Todd brought Brett back to us, woke up Kate, and took her to say bye to the princesses (we had a fastpass for both attractions, so they were both quick.)  While we were standing there waiting over an hour for the parade, they had fake snow coming down on Main Street.  Neither one of our kids saw the excitement in that, but the adults thought it was cool!  Shorts and t-shirts in the snow in Florida!  Nice!  Kate and Todd got back just in time for the start of the parade.  Brett fell asleep at the VERY end of the parade.  Just too much excitement for one day :)