Disney World Vacation - Part 2!

For our first Disney park experience, we went to Magic Kingdom. The adventure started when we had to take a ferry boat from the parking lot area to the actual park entrance. Once we were at the park, it was time for some photos in front of "Mickey's Castle" (yes, it's actually Cinderella's castle, but the boys identified it as Mickey's house). We were lucky enough that when we were right by the  castle, a performance started with most of the classic Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy). This brought smiles of recognition and excitement from the boys, who to this point were probably wondering why we had brought them to this crowded and foreign land. After watching the show for a bit, we headed to our first FastPass attraction: It's a small world! After that, we hopped on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, though a FP card mix-up had us take the boys on that separately. Noah wasn't a big fan, but Micah liked it a bit more. Mitch and I then headed to one of Mitch's favorite Disney rides, the Haunted Mansion, while Papa and Nana took the boys on a walk. We met up again for a quick lunch from Sleepy Hollow, before walking around some more to kill time before our FP to meet Mickey at the Town Theater. The boys handled meeting Mickey much better than we expected, and even hugged and high-fived him. Mickey also talked to the boys and tried to get them to hop/dance before we snapped some photos. The boys were starting to get tired, and with the park being crowded and having no real plans in mind, we decided to head out around 2:30, taking the monorail back to the parking lot area. The boys definitely enjoyed the monorail, and enjoyed running around the parking lot/shuttle staging area, giving the metal character cut-outs high-fives and hiding behind the various gates. It was maybe the most animated they got all day! Noah fell asleep on the drive back to the house, so we let him nap in the car a little while we drove around to see if Micah would also fall asleep (he did not). After that, it was a chill evening back at the house, and soon it was bedtime for everyone after a tiring day.

The next day was a built-in "rest day" from the parks, with a lunch reservation at T-Rex Cafe in Disney Springs being the main event. What we didn't realize was that every 15 minutes or so, there was a somewhat scary "show' where the dinosaurs (including a big T-Rex at the restaurant entrance) roar and the restaurant lights dimmed and flickered for a good minute or two. Sufficed to say, the boys (especially Noah) did not like this, but after a couple of these "shows" they got used to it. During our meal, Noah would glance over his shoulder to make sure the big T-Rex was still stuck in place away from him. Perhaps the best part of the restaurant was the fossil digging play area that the boys enjoyed after lunch. While the boys were entertained there and later wheeled around by Papa and Nana, Mitch and I got to do some shopping, finding some cool deals at Uniqlo and Superdry. To reward the boys for being so patient, we treated them to some jelly beans at Goofy's Candy Factory and then ice cream at Ghiradelli (a first for both sweets!). Jelly beans and the promise of ice cream proved to be good bargaining tools the rest of the trip. ;) After we were done at Disney Springs, we went back to the house to relax, and Mitch and I got to slip away at dinner time for a casual date night at a hole-in-the-wall gyro shop and a stop of Publix. :P Perfect way to relax before our day at Animal Kingdom!