Well, we were so worn out from park-going, we decided to stay in today during the day. We didn’t make any plans other than going to church at 4:30 tonight.
Uncle Howie got up early this morning and headed out for the drive back to Arkansas. He got up around 7am to take off. He was kind enough to take some of our more fragile items back to AR for us and for Drew’s parents. Now all we have to worry about is getting them from Arkansas home!
Vavo and Vavu decided they would like to get some more shopping done, so they went out to the Outlets and Downtown Disney while Drew and Maria stayed home with the kids.
They called in the afternoon, and Maria and the kids were still napping, so we changed our plans to go to 6pm Mass instead. Once that change of plans was made, Andrew went to sleep, too. We were one sleepy group!
We woke up right as it was about time to leave for Chruch. We got ready and took off to the Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine. It’s a really big chruch – we’ve been there a couple of times already, but it’s a bit further than the other one by our house, so we usually go to the other one instead. http://www.maryqueenoftheuniverse.org/
The kids behaved very well in Church, and they were even patient while we looked around the gift shop afterward. They have a huge gift shop.
We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom, since they were open until Midnight tonight. We drove over there, took the Monorail into the Magic Kingdom, and headed for Tomorrowland Terrace, where we wanted to grab some dinner and a seat for the fireworks. Turns out, Magic Kingdom is pretty darn crowded on the weekends, so forget getting a seat for the fireworks. Also, the Noodle Station was closed. boo boo! So we ate turkey legs, instead. This was a nice alternative!
We leaned on a giant rock in Tomorrowland to watch the fireworks. We hadn’t seen this presentation before, as the other time we saw fireworks in the Magic Kingdom, it was during the Very Merry Christmas Party, which has special Christmas fireworks. So we were interested to see the regular show. It used some of the same music that we heard during the Disneyland 50th Anniversary fireworks (those were the best fireworks ever). It was different, but some of the same elements. Jeremy was upset because he knows that fireworks are loud, so before they even started, he was crying and covering his ears. One of the strangers next to us was compelled to inform us that he was touching his ears and maybe he has an ear infection. I guess sometimes people just can’t resist with the advice. She was a nice enough lady – probably someone’s grandma. But what the heck.
After the fireworks, we headed into Tomorrowland. Aiden really wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. We weren’t sure how fun that would be if there was a big crowd, but we went ahead to check it out anyway. And boy were we pleasantly surprised. The wait said 30 minutes, but it was less than half that. That’s one of Aiden’s favorite rides in all of the parks. And who can blame him? It’s cool! And addicting.
Uncle Howie got up early this morning and headed out for the drive back to Arkansas. He got up around 7am to take off. He was kind enough to take some of our more fragile items back to AR for us and for Drew’s parents. Now all we have to worry about is getting them from Arkansas home!
Vavo and Vavu decided they would like to get some more shopping done, so they went out to the Outlets and Downtown Disney while Drew and Maria stayed home with the kids.
They called in the afternoon, and Maria and the kids were still napping, so we changed our plans to go to 6pm Mass instead. Once that change of plans was made, Andrew went to sleep, too. We were one sleepy group!
We woke up right as it was about time to leave for Chruch. We got ready and took off to the Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine. It’s a really big chruch – we’ve been there a couple of times already, but it’s a bit further than the other one by our house, so we usually go to the other one instead. http://www.maryqueenoftheuniverse.org/
The kids behaved very well in Church, and they were even patient while we looked around the gift shop afterward. They have a huge gift shop.
We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom, since they were open until Midnight tonight. We drove over there, took the Monorail into the Magic Kingdom, and headed for Tomorrowland Terrace, where we wanted to grab some dinner and a seat for the fireworks. Turns out, Magic Kingdom is pretty darn crowded on the weekends, so forget getting a seat for the fireworks. Also, the Noodle Station was closed. boo boo! So we ate turkey legs, instead. This was a nice alternative!
We leaned on a giant rock in Tomorrowland to watch the fireworks. We hadn’t seen this presentation before, as the other time we saw fireworks in the Magic Kingdom, it was during the Very Merry Christmas Party, which has special Christmas fireworks. So we were interested to see the regular show. It used some of the same music that we heard during the Disneyland 50th Anniversary fireworks (those were the best fireworks ever). It was different, but some of the same elements. Jeremy was upset because he knows that fireworks are loud, so before they even started, he was crying and covering his ears. One of the strangers next to us was compelled to inform us that he was touching his ears and maybe he has an ear infection. I guess sometimes people just can’t resist with the advice. She was a nice enough lady – probably someone’s grandma. But what the heck.
After the fireworks, we headed into Tomorrowland. Aiden really wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. We weren’t sure how fun that would be if there was a big crowd, but we went ahead to check it out anyway. And boy were we pleasantly surprised. The wait said 30 minutes, but it was less than half that. That’s one of Aiden’s favorite rides in all of the parks. And who can blame him? It’s cool! And addicting.
Vavu had been wanting to ride the Carousel of Progress, so we waited for the next show. There are only 4-minute intervals inbetween shows, since the theater rotates, they can keep people constantly loading and unloading. The show is better the second time. We enjoyed ourselves watching. It broke when we got off the ride – the ride forgot to start rotating when the characters started singing the “there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow...” part. And when we started hearing the same dialog again about Santa bringing the virtual reality game, we knew it was broken. (Uhhhh shouldnt we have rotated?) But then it started to rotate anyway (like hecka late) and didn’t finish its rotation all the way when the exit doors opened and the automatic “please exit through the doors on your right” came on. Well, half of us made it through the door and onto the wrong platform (since it didnt rorate 100% yet) and Maria, Jeremy, and Vavo got caught inside when the closed the doors again to finish rotating all the way. They came out laughing because the Carousel of Progress promotes how technology was progressing, but the ride itself was regressing into brokenness :)
We hadn’t been on the People Mover yet this trip, so we decided to do that next. It’s official name is the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. It’s these little blue cars on a track around Tomorrowland. It goes a lot faster than we remembered. Why is that? Had it sped up over time?
We were going to head to Fantasyland next, but when we saw that the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway wait was 5 minutes, we decided to pop on that really quick. Vavo and Vavu continued on to see Mickey’s Philharmagic. We had already seen it twice, so they did that while we banged around the track as the kids drove the Indy Speedway cars. Their driving didn’t improve since last time.
When we got to Fantasyland, it was practically deserted. It was great! We got onto Cinderella’s Golden Carousel with no wait at all. The boys attempted to pull the Sword from the Stone after we got off, but to no avail.
We met back up with Vavo and Vavu, who had been shopping in the store next to the Philharmagic. We planned to hit “it’s a small world” next, but right as we got there, they closed the line. At first we weren’t sure what happened. Then we realized – it was midnight! The park was closed! That came upon us awfully fast.
The kids got all upset when they couldn’t go on anymore rides, and when Maria explained to Aiden that the park was closing for the night, he got even more upset! He kept saying he didn’t want it to close. That made for an interesting trip back to the front gate – two crying kids. At least until Jeremy fell asleep before we even got to Main Street – then it was just one crying kid – Aiden.
The kids got all upset when they couldn’t go on anymore rides, and when Maria explained to Aiden that the park was closing for the night, he got even more upset! He kept saying he didn’t want it to close. That made for an interesting trip back to the front gate – two crying kids. At least until Jeremy fell asleep before we even got to Main Street – then it was just one crying kid – Aiden.
We hopped the Monorail back to the parking lot, and the parking tram back to our van. Jeremy slept through this whole journey. We didn’t get back home til probably 1:30 am or so. Good thing we took real naps instead of stroller naps today! Poor Vavo and Vavu had been out all day without a nap. They were extra tired.
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The best part of day 34 was when the crowds thinned out at the Magic Kingdom after the fireworks.
The worst part of day 34 was how fast time flies when you are trying to tour a theme park. How crowded it was when we first got to the Magic Kingdom. How we were about to get on a ride when the park closed.
What we learned on day 34 was the Magic Kingdom is too crowded for our taste on the weekend, at least until after fireworks.
The weather on day 34 was really nice. Warm during the day and mild during the evening. Kinda muggy.
Our character sightings on day 34 included none, unless you count Tinkerbell who flew over our heads and waved during the fireworks show.
The crowd level on day 34 was really bad at first, then really great after fireworks.
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The best part of day 34 was when the crowds thinned out at the Magic Kingdom after the fireworks.
The worst part of day 34 was how fast time flies when you are trying to tour a theme park. How crowded it was when we first got to the Magic Kingdom. How we were about to get on a ride when the park closed.
What we learned on day 34 was the Magic Kingdom is too crowded for our taste on the weekend, at least until after fireworks.
The weather on day 34 was really nice. Warm during the day and mild during the evening. Kinda muggy.
Our character sightings on day 34 included none, unless you count Tinkerbell who flew over our heads and waved during the fireworks show.
The crowd level on day 34 was really bad at first, then really great after fireworks.
1 comment:
Wow! Till 1:30am, and they didn't even cry until the park closed! That's actually pretty good, isn't it? Well, that was still kinda boo boo that it closed right when you tried to get in line. Poor Aiden!
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