We weren't sure it was going to be when we had to bounce the kids out of bed at 7:15a because we had an early breakfast appointment with Cinderella. They were practically sleep walking when we left the townhome! We arrived at the park about 10 after 8, 50 minutes before the Magic Kingdom officially opens. I must say its nice to park so close that there's no need to "tram it" to the Transportation Center.
Since we had breakfast reservations, we managed to get in before they opened (Technically, our reservations weren't until 9:15a and I THINK we were supposed to wait outside...but somehow we slipped through the cast member dragnet). As a result, we got to head down an almost deserted Main Street USA and I snapped this amazing picture of the kids running towards Cinderella's Castle that looks like we had the whole park to ourselves.
Although our reservation wasn't until later, they went ahead and took us at 8:30a which was great, as we got to the rides earlier than expected. But first, Molly got her wish of finally meeting Cinderella. After a getting pictures made, we went upstairs into the castle for breakfast. I'm pretty sure it was the most expensive breakfast the kids never ate, but to see the looks on their faces (even Max's!) when Cinderella's "friends" (the other Disney Princesses) came around to greet them, I have to say it was probably worth it (I'm not sure though as Liz has never told me exactly what we paid for that experience).
After breakfast we got into the park and immediately hit the rides we didn't get to yesterday that we expected would have long waits...Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean. It turns out we needn't worry. The crowd was much lighter than Monday and we had little wait for most rides. We literally walked directly into the stretching room of the Haunted Mansion and straight onto Pirates. A FastPass made the wait for the Jungle Cruise less than 3 minutes for us (when the overall standby line was about 20 mins) and Liz and kids got on to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin (while I took pictures) after only a single ride cycle.
One of the themes of the days was seeing many of the attractions that I had never done in the many times I had visited Disney. I'm not sure why I'd never been to the Enchanted Tiki Room, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, or Tom Sawyer's Island...so we made sure to do those while in Adventureland.
As we made our way to Frontierland, back past the Pirates of the Caribbean, we caught a street performance of Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Training that saw Max and Molly drafted into Sparrow's crew. We also caught a performance of the Country Bears' Jamboree before riding the train over to ToonTown.
In ToonTown, we visited Mickey's house and got the kids' pictures made with The Mouse. From there, it was off to Tomorrowland where we rode the Tomrrowland Transit Authority, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (twice!), and the Carousel of Progress.
At that point, Max decided it was time to go. Mainly because he was dying to play the PlayStation2 that is in the rental house we have, but it worked out great as the kids were tired, but not quite cranky yet. On the way out, before catching the ferry back to the Transportation Center, Molly got a very cool double balloon that she can't stop playing with. I hope on Sunday she remembers what I told her when we bought it tonight, that she could not take it back with her on the plane.
So after all that, can you guess which ride Max cited as his favorite? Believe it or not...the Carousel of Progress! Apparently it really intrigues him that the entire audience moved while the stage stood still.
After a quick dip in the heated pool at our rental home, it took the kids about 5 minutes to get to sleep once we got them down tonight. I hope they sleep well, for tomorrow it's off to Disney Studios...
Full pictures from Day 2 are on Flickr.
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