Our first stop of the day was at Epcot, and Emmersyn and Hartley were in awe of Spaceship Earth as always.
They were still excited to see all of the characters (sure it had been 12 hours, but you never know with 2-year-olds!) so we visited with Daisy and Stitch before the park opened, and with Mickey and the gang in Epcot's Character Connection once inside. There were probably 6 or 7 families in the line the entire time we were, and ironically enough there were three sets of twin girls in a row. You'd think we'd get stopped fewer times and asked fewer questions since (this particular anecdote shows) twins are becoming nearly as common as singletons, but that's never the case. But I digress...
The girls - especially Hartley(!) - were just giddy with excitement over the characters. Giddy. Crazy. Filled with joy. It was so much fun for all of us!
After spending some time with our friends, Zach went to get us fastpasses for Soarin' and the girls and I went to check out the outside of The Seas w/Nemo & Friends. They were really apprehensive of the seagulls last time, but not so on this trip. "Seagulls says, 'Mine! Mine! Mine!' [Hartley/Emmerson] LOOOOOOOVES the seagulls!" Once Zach joined us, we rode the Nemo ride (for the first of many times this trip), saw Turtle Talk with Crush (where Zach talked to him and they thought that was "SO NEAT!"), and checked out all of the other sea creatures. As in trips past, the girls were thrilled to be there. I think it was about this time that I began wishing I was part video camera.
After spending quite a bit of time in the Seas pavilion, it was time for Zach and I to ride the greatest attraction anywhere, ever. I swear to you, I can listen to the Soarin' soundtrack at home and my heart slows, my blood pressure lowers, and I am instantly relaxed. It's like a drug. You know what I'm talking about if you've ridden it, and can probably even smell the orange grove if you try hard enough! All that being said, it sucks to do with kids. Rider Swap and Fastpass mean we can both ride most attractions in a very short period of time, but Soarin - without fail - takes at least 40 minutes per rider even with a fastpass. That's insane.
One of my favorite things about the ride though, in addition to just how great it is on its own, is watching other people experiencing it for the first time. A little girl next to me was obviously taking her first flight, and it was so heartwarming. I spent much of the ride (and the long walk out) thinking about how great it is going to be to share the same memories - and all the others we'll make - with my own sweet daughters. Even if it's just the four of us, life is so good and I am so blessed. I love them so! (Seriously, detour you weren't expecting right? Sorry. Back on track.)
It was time for lunch, so we made our way to Electric Umbrella. How we missed the dining plan! The food was fine, but I hadn't ever been so excited for the Food & Wine Festival booths as I was then. You just can't experience as much paying out of pocket if you're stingy like we are! ;)
Even with the F&WF going on, the crowds were so much lower than they were just a couple of weeks earlier (in October) the previous year. It was fantastic! While the girls napped, Zach and I enjoyed a couple of treats from the various booths (a fabulous chicken dish from Spain, creme brulee from France, and something else I don't remember despite it being, I'm sure, delicious). Emmersyn and Hartley only napped about an hour, but were in decent moods upon waking. Before leaving Epcot we had to say hello to Duffy the Disney Bear, and I'm thrilled to report that the girls loved him. You might recall that they've had their Disney Bears since their first trip in utero, and that I dreamed they would grow up with several varieties and love them forever before Disney let them disappear (and my girls apparently tried to outgrow them). I was thrilled when I heard he was making a comeback, and that we'd even get to hug him in person now! (Come to think of it, though, I didn't get to hug him. Must remedy that next time!)
Our second half of the day was to be spent at the Magic Kingdom. Nothing went as planned really, but the things we DID were great. First we met a few friends in Fronteirland for the "Celebrate Dreams Come True" parade. Emmersyn and Hartley were enthralled as they always are, and it was even more fun watching them light up than it was watching the (very fun) parade itself. Thanks to Delia and Ricky for sharing your afternoon (and parade location) with us! :)
The only thing we HAD to accomplish that day was to meet Rapunzel, since the girls were wearing "pretty pink Princess Rapunzel shirts" - and were quite proud of them. More importantly, I had scoured the country and jumped through hoops to get two in their size, and darn it we WOULD meet her today. It was a disaster trying to make that happen (long story, it shouldn't otherwise be if you're trying to go in the future ;)) but it was well worth it. We had a great time waiting and talking with a few super fun, super friendly Cast Members, Flynn and Rapunzel were phenomenal, and we spent quite a bit of time with them. I also shared my thoughts on some of the experimental things they were doing with the Play and Greet experiences, so it was a win-win for everyone ;)
After meeting the newest Disney royalty (whose movie, by the way, is nothing short of spectacular and I can't wait for the DVD!), we rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover (name accurate as of right now, I can't make any guarantees about next week), and took a leisurely stroll back down Main Street to Tony's Town Square Restaurant for dinner. The girls were crabby and dinner was just mediocre. After dinner we set out to get situated for the Main Street Electrical Parade. The train station area was super crowded even though it was more than an hour early (and the park had been dead), but we got "our spot" and the girls had a great time singing and dancing, entertaining the masses while waiting for it to begin.
I'll just say it - the Main Street Electrical Parade isn't Spectromagic. This isn't a case of which one I saw first/loyalty, because I definitely saw MSEP on more than one occasion before Spectro. Admittedly it was nice to have a change of scenery with different floats, but I'll tell you what it is - the freaking music. My sister and I love "Baroque Hoedown", the song that plays during the parade. But it literally hurts. my. ears. after more than 2-3 minutes, and it plays OVER and OVER and OVER again for the entire thing. If I had a mute button, it would have been fine. Instead, I just miss the more majestic, enjoyable soundtrack of Spectromagic. There. I've said it. MSEP lovers, bring it on. ;)
The Macarena (or insert any other horrendous song you'd like here) on endless repeat couldn't have ruined the night for us though, because the weather was perfect, the girls' awful moods were temporarily suspended, and we loved every minute of it together. Perhaps it was just going to be an all-around wonderful trip after all...
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