Orlando Day 3 and 4

The next day, we took a break and had a laid back sort of day.  We ate a later breakfast, and then decided to head to downtown Orlando.  They have this fun lake downtown where there is a park and then you can rent some paddle boats for 30 minutes.  It was something fun and different to do although Shane and were dying of heat after paddling a boat for 30 minutes.  Ha ha. 

After lunch I stayed in the room while Jaron took a nap and Shane took the girls swimming.  Almost immediately after Jaron woke up my friend that I used to work with at 3M, Denise, came with her 2 kids and we went swimming again.  It was so fun to catch up with her.  We don't talk nearly as often and it was fun to see her kids.

We had an early dinner and early bedtime so the kids would be rested as we headed back to Magic Kingdom the next day.

I was way more prepared for the 2nd day.  We ended up walking in right as the gates opened.  I also brought more snacks, more water and cups for everyone since the water fountains weren't cutting it for us.  I also packed our lunch since my kids would much rather just eat a PB&J for lunch then just about anything else we could find.  We also took a lot more breaks.  This all worked out great and allowed us to stay at the park until after 8pm straight without having to leave.  Success!

Right as we walked in we realized they had decorated for Christmas. The Christmas tree was up and Christmas music was playing on Main St.  We got there right as lines were forming to meet Minnie and Pluto and since those were the 2 characters I wanted the girls and Jaron to for sure meet we were really excited this all worked out. 

After that we headed back and rode a bunch of rides and were loving that none of them had much of a line at all.  We rode the teacups twice and dumbo twice.  Dumbo has this fun indoor, air conditioned play ground that you can play in while you wait in line.  Well since there was no line we just played for a while.  The girls even went on the kids Roller Coaster and loved it.  I wished Jaron was a touch taller and we could've taken them on a few more but for sure next time as they don't seem scared of roller coasters at all.

Then we went and met Ariel, went on The Little Mermaid ride, which all the kids LOVED and then went and met Belle, where they put on a little show for you and of course my kids wanted nothing to do with being picked to be part of it.  Oh well.

After lunch we headed over to Autopia (although I don' think that's it's name in Orlando but whatev) and then had a fun slow ride on the Peoplemover.  We then headed over and rode the jungle cruise where Siena fell asleep (yay) and then while I ran around getting everyone snacks and Shane and I Pineapple ice cream (our fav) everyone else sat in the shade and saved spots for the parade.  We saw it the first day but sat in the sun and it was miserable for all of us.  Much more fun this time and all the kids loved waving to the characters.  Aria I'm pretty sure never stopped waving the entire time, it was so cute.  Jaron also got a high five from one of the dwarfs from Snow White. 

We also went and met Donald and Goofy...although I can't even remember what time of day we fit this all in. Jaron, who was hesitant around a lot of the characters ran right up to Donald and threw his arms around him.  He only did this with Cinderella, Donald and Mickey later that night.  It was cute and I'm so glad I got a good picture of it.

After a few more rides, we sat down for some dinner then headed over and saw a Mickey show in front of Cinderella's castle, all while holding spots for Elsa's Holiday magic.  Basically Elsa turned Cinderella's castle into her Ice Castle and it was AMAZING!  We had great spots where all 3 kids could stand on a railing and see perfectly so it turned out great. 

 

We thought we were going to go home right after that but instead the kids insisted on standing in line to meet Tinkerbell and Mickey Mouse.  Mickey was fun because none of the Disney characters talk but Mickey actually talked and the kids LOVED hearing him talk.  They were soo tired by this point as you can see from the pictures but it really added the finishing touches to our great day.

Top rides of the trip, Little Mermaid ride, Tea Cups, and the Carousel.  It's a small world was a close 2nd, only cuz I let them throw money into the water to make a wish.

I was so happy that we had such a great 2nd day at Magic Kingdom and got to ride and see everything we wanted to.