Disney Recap Day 3: Enjoying the magic

The day following our first day at the Magic Kingdom was scheduled to be a non-park day. Corin and I were scheduled to go hear a timeshare pitch at 8:15, so mom and dad came to the hotel and took the kids to breakfast and then the pool. I think everyone needed a morning to decompress, so it was a very good use of our time. The kids had a ball swimming.

Corin and I returned in plenty of time to relax at the pool a bit and still make it for our 1:30 lunch reservation at the T-Rex Café. On the phone (over a month ago), they would only give me a reservation for four, but we thought we’d see if they could accommodate our party of six. They did. And actually seated us on time, too.

Though he showed very little expression, Evan loved the T-Rex Café, which is full of life-size dinosaurs that roar and move around periodically. After lunch, the kids even got to “dig for dinosaur bones” just outside the restaurant until it was time to go on to the next thing. Evan later said that digging for bones really wasn’t that much fun since you didn’t get to keep any of the bones you dug up, but his behavior told a different story. I think he had plenty of fun.

After the bone dig, it was onto the much anticipated Bibbity Bobbity Boutique (“BBB”) for Pressley and the LEGO store for Evan. For you non-Disney goers, the BBB is a salon where little girls can go to be made up like princesses. Several people had told me it was a must for Pressley. What they did not tell me (but I should have known) was that it was a bad idea to schedule it for nap time when I was planning to skip her nap.

Having been sick the couple of days before and having had a HUGE day at the Magic Kingdom, and a big morning at the pool, the poor child was pretty wiped out by the time we got to BBB. Mom and I watched her makeover with much trepidation. What was that look? Was she about to cry? Pass out cold? Laugh? We didn’t know. I had meant for this to be such a fun and special experience for her and she seemed to be not enjoying it in the least.

In the end, the smile in the mirror when the makeover was all done was enough to let me know that she did indeed enjoy it very much – the result at least. And then we went back to the hotel where she promptly fell asleep.

When she woke up, she was rested and ready to go, so we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom. We had originally planned to buy three day passes, but when we realized that the 5 day pass was only $6 more than the three day, it seemed like a no-brainer. So we were able to do a half day at the park on our “non-park day.” Let me tell you… going to the park after 5 is the WAY TO GO. Lines were SO much shorter. The weather was cooler. The kids were less cranky. It was ALL good. We were finally able to relax and enjoy the magic.

We even managed to stay until after dark to catch the Electrical Parade, which I remember being one of my favorite things as a kid. Pressley thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Evan did too, but again, with the lack of expressions, it is sometimes hard to tell. He is his Daddy’s boy.

Watching the Electrical Parade

Evan wanted to go on one more ride after the parade, and he seemed to have the stamina to do it. Pressley (and GranNan and Poppy) on the other hand, seemed to need to go on home. So, the four of us left, and Evan and Corin stayed behind for one more ride on Splash Mountain Falls. Turns out, we made the right decision. We got straight onto the monorail, had a very short wait for our bus, and were back to the hotel pretty painlessly. But by the time the boys left, the fireworks had ended and everyone else was leaving, so it took them a while. Evan fell asleep the moment he sat down on the bus, and poor Corin had to carry 65 lbs of dead weight down the LONG hallway to the elevator and up to our room.

Leaving the park (with one last bit of ice cream)