We kicked off Spring Break early (extreme emphasis on ‘early’) Sunday morning headed for Disney. My parents joined us this trip (My Dad’s not a Disney/theme park/crowd kind of guy – but he has loved seeing our children experience Disney. Since he hasn’t been yet with Mamie, he had to go one more time to see it with her. I’m sure he’s got a couple more Disney trips in store though, since he’ll have to go at least once with baby brother, too.)
We arrived at our resort (Port Orleans Riverside) just before 8:00.
We checked in, left our bags and headed for the Magic Kingdom. We knew the park(s) would be crowded this time of year, so we wanted to get an early start. Plus, we wanted the girls to see the park’s opening show. It’s so much fun to see the characters ride in on the train. We actually saw them all on the train waiting while we were riding the monorail in.
We were expecting a crowd, but nothing like we saw when we got off the monorail. It was crazy. After the opening show, we got in the (LONG) line to get in the park. After waiting our turn, we were told our Magic Bands weren’t working and we’d need to get them activated at the Guest Services desk. Insert another 45 minute wait here. NOT a good start to the day for sure. We usually have the best luck at Disney, so a couple hiccups were bound to happen one day.
We finally made it in the park just in time to use our first Fast Pass to see Mickey Mouse.
Seeing Mickey made the memory of the magic-band trouble fade away. :)
Mamie was so excited and we kind of all were when we realized that the new Mickey actually TALKS and interacts with you. (She calls him Mick-Mick)
His mouth moves and even his eyes blink. Mamie & AB were both mesmerized. Honestly, me, too.
Up next we made a stop at the Tea Cups.
Mom & DW rode with the girls and Dad & I gladly sat it out. Dumbo was up next.
Mamie rode with me and her Daddy…
& AB took Grammy & Pop up. She likes to go up HIGH…
Followed by a snack for Mamie 
and The Barnstormer for DW & Annabelle. 
Sister gave it two thumbs up, again this time. 
After the barnstormer, we made our way to the other side of Fantasyland. We started on “It’s a Small World”
Mamie loved it! She got so excited at all the little people and waved to every one of them. At one point, she was even bouncing her shoulders and dancing to the music. :) She was at such a fun age this trip! We used our second FastPass for Peter Pan. (The magic bands have changed the whole FastPass thing, and now you can only get three per day – which I heard Disney is already in the works of changing…we reserved these a few days before our trip and I really didn’t have many choices on them, so I just chose Peter Pan as one of them. It actually turned out to be a good call, because the stand-by entrance had a 75 minute wait. AB loved Peter Pan last time, and this time, too. She rode with us and Mames rode with Grammy & Pop. I was a little worried she might be scared since some of it is dark, but she loved it, too.
We rode Prince Charming’s carousel next
and then spotted the Fairy Godmother outside of Cinderella’s castle. 
We have never been able to catch her there before and AB has always wanted to see her, so that was a fun surprise! Mames was hilarious with the characters- she would stand for her picture and inch in as close as she could to them and when it was time to go, she’d walk away so slowly- it was adorable- she didn’t want to leave them.We hit Cosmic Ray’s (our usual lunch spot) – and it was the most crowded we’ve ever seen it. There were no tables inside and it was nothing short of a Disney miracle that DW found us a table outside with exactly the right number of chairs! After a lunch-time meltdown from a two-year old who shall remain nameless, we rode the People Mover.
Maybree fell asleep in her stroller on our way to use our last FastPass to see Ariel. (“Ariel Mermaid” is the first person Mamie kept saying she was going to see at Disney when we’d ask her, so we knew we couldn’t let her miss it…and since she needed a nap in a bad way, there was no way anyone was waking her up!) I changed our FastPass for seeing the Princesses later that evening and we decided to go find a spot in Frontierland for the parade.
I was excited to see the new parade that debuted at the beginning of the month.
It is fantastic and the floats really are mind-blowing…
BUT there’s not as many walking characters and they don’t come up the crowd like they used to. 
At the very end the 7 Dwarfs made their way up to the crowd, but that was it. 
That’s always been my favorite part and we’ve gotten some of the best pictures in the past with the kids with different ones, so I hate that they took that out. Other than that, the parade is great.
After we watched it, we caught our bus back to the resort and all took naps. My feet and back were reminding me that I was indeed pregnant and they needed some rest. :) AB was so excited about her fold-down bed.
When he woke up, DW went to the food plaza at the hotel and brought dinner back to our room and we headed back to Magic Kingdom around 8:30.
We went straight to find the Little Mermaid.
After the ride, we went to her grotto, to meet Ariel!
When we came out of the new part of FantasyLand, it was almost time for the fireworks to start. We decided to watch them from the bridge at Belle’s castle. We thought since they shoot them off over Cinderella’s castle, it would be a great spot to see them without being right on them and it being so loud. It sounded like a great plan, until it started and they shoot them off behind Belle’s castle now.
It was so loud and Mamie lost it. She did not like them at all. Pop carried her farther down the walkway away from them. For the rest of the trip and since, it’s all she’s talked about. We laughed that she’s been traumatized, because out of the blue she will say, “Fireworks were youd (loud) at Dis-ey World. At Rella’s (Cinderella’s) castle!” Half the time she says she “yiked them” and the other half of the time she says she “not yiked them!” Ha. After the fireworks (which always leaves me in tears… there’s something about that music and Jimney Cricket talking and the magic of fireworks that’s just the perfect ending to a day at Disney),
we had our last FastPass and it was to see the Princesses. 
“Rella” is Mamie’s favorite, so she was excited to see her.
The first thing she said to both Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty was about the fireworks… “Fireworks, YOUD! I not yike dem”
AB had been wanting to ride the Haunted Mansion, so DW and I took her on that. I thought she’d be scared, but she wasn’t… even when it broke down. Mamie got in another ride on the carousel with Grammy & Pop while they waited for us. After that, we called it a successful day and hit the exit. We even got to see part of the electrical parade on the way out.
It was a great day at the Magic Kingdom!
~amw~
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