Alex and Ellie have been Disney kids since they were born, thanks to the influence of mum and dad. They know all the Disney characters, even most of the older films like "Sleeping Beauty" ,"Cinderella", and "Mary Poppins". Ellie loves princesses and believes she is one, perhaps aided by mum and dad calling her a princess and a closet full of princess dresses and accessories. Our first morning we headed to the Magic Kingdom. Before even getting into the park we had ridden the tram in the parking lot and the monorail to get to the park. Alex and Ellie had so much fun just doing that we were wondering if we even needed to go into the park! Ellie spent the day alternating between stomping around in a very un-princess like way and prancing. There was never any question that Ellie owned the park. She referred to Cinderella's Castle as "my castle"! Every time we saw it she pointed it out and said "there is my castle" Not long into the day she decided she needed a princess hat to go with her princess dress she had been wearing all day. She knew exactly what she wanted and picked out a tall, pointy, pink hat with her favorite princesses on it and some lace hanging off it.
Three months ago when we were in Minneapolis for Christmas we all went to the Mall of America to take the kids on some of the rides. Alex had lots of fun going on some of the rides but Ellie was terrified and refused to go on any. She loved watching the horses on the carousel but screamed if we tried to get her onto the ride. Not long into wandering around the park Ellie insisted on going on the Dumbo, flying elephant ride. We were a bit apprehensive about waiting in line to only have her change her mind. She had a blast and not long after Dumbo she was enjoying riding on the horses on the carousel. At Epcot she had cried all the way through the Nemo ride in the clam-shell cart so we were concerned about how many rides she might want to go on. By the end of the week she was riding everything she could. The only other ride she didn't want to go on were the racing cars. It was one of the highlights for Alex to get to drive a racing car. His legs were too short to reach the accelerator so I had to press while drove around the course, racing with the other cars. She has piloted the rocket ships, flying carpets and dinosaurs and the tea cups. One afternoon while we were enjoying the cruise on the Mark Twain river steamboat, Ellie saw the runaway train roller coaster and was all excited to ride. Unfortunately she was too short for that but on the last day we did go on Pirates of the Caribbean. Ellie smiled all the way through the line in the dark with skeletons, loved getting splashed when we shot down the waterfall and kept smiling through the cannonballs. Living in Cayman though, they are used to pirates. The favorite ride for the grown-ups was the Toy Story 3D ride at Hollywood Studios. Even Ellie had a great time shooting all the targets with her cannon as we spun through the toy room.
Alex and Ellie were really good standing in long lines for the rides and shows. They were also really well behaved and enjoyed in all the shows. We saw Muppet 3D, Country Bear Jamboree, Monsters Inc. comedy show, Tiki Room, Lion King show, Ariel's Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, and the car stunt show at Disney's Hollywood studios. Alex and Ellie just loved the car stunt show, watching the cars racing around and jumping. They are still talking about seeing how one of the cars was controlled by someone attached to the outside of the side of the car. They also loved the stunt where the motorcycle went through a wall of fire and the driver caught on fire. Alex has always been a car nut so he can't stop talking about it but the princess really enjoyed it too. Earlier Alex had been so excited to finally get to meet Lighting McQueen and Mater in person! One afternoon we were sitting on the curb at Main Street enjoying a barbershop quartet singing, tap dancing and cracking corny jokes; well I was enjoying the corny jokes. They started singing a song from "Mary Poppins", and after just a couple lines Alex turned to me and said "that is from Mary Poppins". Our kids know their Disney. One evening while wandering the roads of Hollywood studios a yellow truck with trailer that looked like a gardening company pulled up in the middle of the road and set up. They were actually a band and soon were rocking to some classic 70's and 80's rock. Now Alex is a rocker, and soon was rocking along. Another boy was rocking along in the crowd and the band handed him an inflatable guitar to play. Alex was disappointed he didn't get one. Emma told him to go ask to borrow it. Alex shuffled over with his shoulders rolled forward and a sad face. Rather than ask to borrow the inflatable guitar he just stood there looking dejected at the boy. The boy didn't really notice him and after a few moments Alex shuffled back, sad at his missed opportunity for stardom.
One of the highlights of Disney for kids is the chance to meet the characters in person. We met lots of the characters and Alex trooped in to get his picture taken with lots of Disney's famous characters. He met Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Lightining McQueen and Mater, Buzz Lightyear and Woody, some of the little Einsteins, Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny and others. Ellie wasn't keen on meeting any in person. She tolerated being held to meet Minnie but that was it, she didn't even want to meet the Easter Bunny. As she said, the others are boys. After waiting in line at Ariel's grotto though, she clamored right up the rock that Ariel was sitting on and gushed over her she was so excited. Alex didn't want to go near Ariel since she was a princess and only for girls! The only other person Ellie agreed to meet was Alice in Wonderland. (While not a princess, she is a girl!)
Ellie loves animals, all types, but especially sheep and reindeer. There are animals everywhere at the Disney parks. We had a great safari ride at Disney's animal park and Ellie loved seeing the giraffes, elephants, rhino's and even a lion. Of course at every turn Ellie wanted to know when we were going to see the sheep. While not real, the kids loved seeing the animals on the river cruise. Snakes, crocodiles, elephants, and hippos were all really exciting but Ellie kept asking where the sheep were? During the country bear jamboree show there are several large deer and moose heads on the wall that talk during the show. Anything with antlers on it is a reindeer to Ellie so she was excited to see the talking reindeer. At Epcot we really enjoyed the under the sea area. While Ellie cried through the Nemo ride she really enjoyed the "Crush the Turtle Talk" as Nemo is one of their favorite movies. We all really enjoyed the amazing aquarium with all the fish, sharks, rays, and manatees. At one point Ellie was standing up against the glass watching the fish and rays. A boy who must have been about 8 was standing next to her pointing at a ray swimming by and said to one of his siblings, "look, a stingray". Ellie just turned to him and said:" that is not a stingray, it is an eagle ray." She was right too!
One night we stayed late at the Magic Kingdom so we could see the Electric Light Parade. The kids loved seeing all the lights once the sun had gone down. As we walked past the tea cups decked out in beautiful lights Alex said to Ellie, "look Ellie, Christmas lights." Ellie responded "yes Alex, but there is no snow here." Ellie was really excited to see her castle in different colored lights every few minutes. 45 minutes before the parade started, the best spot we could find was six rows back. The kids were really good about waiting for the parade to start. Once it started they just loved the lights, characters and music as they watched on our shoulders. We didn't want to stretch our luck, so headed out after the parade and before the fireworks started. We got to see some of the fireworks as we walked out of the park and up to the monorail station. Ellie was still wide awake at 2200 as she told everyone the fireworks were coming from her castle. Ellie managed to walk to the car and finally fell asleep after a busy day at about 2230!
Our last day was a busy one at Magic Kingdom. We still had more classics to ride and some favorites to ride again. Alex and Ellie had a blast on "Its a Small World" and we got to see the big parade. While Emma shopped at the Emporium, we had front row seats by the curb on main street. Ellie even has the princess wave down, fingers straight and together with a slight wave and hand rotation. She and Alex sat there waving excitedly at every princess and character that went by. Every one of Ellie's favorite princesses went by; Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, and even Mary Poppins too. We had been worried before booking the trip that the kids might be too small to really get the most out of the trip. Not to worry, as they had a blast, as did the big kids too. It was a fantastic experience across the board, from the hotel, to the parks, to the atmosphere. The kids talk about all their experiences non-stop and looking at the pictures today on the computer, they can still remember where the pictures are from and what we did at each one.
