The night was a long one for me. The girls slept on the pull out which would eventually work out, but the first night was a bit disastrous. I probably got 3-4 hours of sleep (again), and definitely not more than an hour in a row. Everyone else seemed to sleep ok in between falling out of bed, making lots of noise, freezing our butts off (despite the (broken?) thermostat saying it was 75) etc, so hopefully, I thought, we'd be ok.
Everyone was up by 6:30 for our usual WDW morning (getting ready, eating breakfast, watching some TV, wishing things opened earlier - you know the drill by now), and eventually it was time to leave for the Magic Kingdom.
First stop, as we had promised Hartley and Emmersyn the day before, was Fantasyland! We quickly rode "it's a small world", the Carousel, Mickey's Philharmagic (complete with lots of fear), and Peter Pan's Flight (lame as ever - even the girls are starting to agree)... and then stumbled right on the empty line for an impending meetup with Tigger and Pooh! What should have been a perfect opportunity turned into a bit of a disaster when Hartley freaked out that I was talking to her instead of Zach (no joke), but whatever. It was an ugly few minutes. That's all I'm saying about that, and we'll look at this instead, and just pretend otherwise.
We saw a short line for Mary Poppins, but the girls chose again not to wait for a character, opting instead to "do something else". That something else, this time, would be lunch at Peco's Bills, followed by an enjoyable ride on the Jungle Cruise. Though the line was less than 15 minutes, we're definitely spoiled by the fall and winter crowds. Even the Magic Carpets of Aladdin was already 15 minutes, and we rarely see it more than 5!
Given the line situation and the fact that the girls were extremely crabby, we opted for an early nap. Or not. I walked on Splash Mountain with a fastpass we had obtained earlier, while Emmersyn threw a horrific fit for Zach. I love that ride, and admittedly it was nice that it was hot enough to ride - it had been years! Next it was Zach's turn, and eventually Emmersyn fell asleep while I walked. It was definitely harder with the larger, louder crowds -- they had even invaded "our" quiet spots, like the seating tucked away in the bazaar in Adventureland. Since there weren't any quiet spots to sit, we stayed on the move. I got my first Dole Whip of the trip and wandered Adventureland waiting for Zach, and pretty quickly (entirely too quickly!) the girls were awake again. We weren't really sure what we were going to do about naps this trip if this continued, but it still seemed the lesser of two (or more) evils. If we went back to the hotel, we give up 3 or 4 hours for them to likely not nap at all. We could drive around in the car for 2 or 3 hours and they might sleep 45 minutes, but that would be a waste of gas. 45 minutes in the stroller still seemed the best choice. *sigh*. Hopefully nighttime sleep would improve, so behaviors could...
After naptime we were on our way to Epcot. We ran into a major delay on the monorail when we were stopped for an imaginary breakdown (seriously), but eventually we made it there! We changed the girls into their Alice costumes in the van, and made it in the park around 3pm. Hey, even with delays, we discovered, we get places at reasonable times if the girls don't nap as long as expected. ;)
Despite loving it on our last trip (6+ rides, if you remember), Hartley required a lot of convincing to try the Nemo ride this time. Eventually, we taught her a lesson and coping skill that would prove INCREDIBLY valuable this trip. If you like most of a ride, we explained, but don't like just one part, we can "skip" that part by hiding on mommy or daddy, closing our eyes, holding our ears, etc. A grown-up will help tell you when it's over, and all will be well in the world. And you know what? It was. And it worked like a charm. The Nemo ride was restored to its former glory in her heart, and we all had a great ride
We stopped by to say hello to Chip and Dale when we were through with the Seas... and also said hello to Miss Sara, Mr. Chris, Sunnie and Brinkli! :)
My little Alice's were so cute... but even cuter when we discovered we were just in time to meet a third!
After spending a little time with her, we decided to check out English Channel, the new band in the UK Pavilion. Previously there was a Beatles cover band, but this particular day was the debut concert of a new act there that covers all kinds of English music - Queen, the Kinks, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Police, the Who etc. It was awesome. (And why are there so few British acts that don't start with "the"? Hmm.)
Hartley thought it was too loud (shocking!) so she chose, instead, to go with Zach to visit Mary Poppins. {Phone Photo to come. So sorry!}
Emmersyn, though, couldn't get enough. She took it upon herself to entertain the masses.
We enjoyed the hedge maze after the band's set was over (the real reason the girls were headed to the UK to begin with -- they LOVE mazes!), and then settled down to wait for our Rose and Crown reservation. It was cooling off, and we were completely thrilled to be sitting in the World Showcase, watching the girls play, soaking in the atmosphere. In case you weren't aware, we like Disney World. A lot.
Dinner was at 5:20. It was good, nothing out of the ordinary to report. The girls were actually well-behaved, everyone ate well, service was great. We had waited a while to get back to R&C and I think we had built it up in our minds to where I was a bit disappointed, but it was still great.
After dinner, we strolled through Future World again now that it stays open a bit later. We checked out the Pixie Hollow topiaries, Bambi's butterfly house (LOVE it this year - so much bigger, and it's just gorgeous!), and then tried to go to Club Cool. Unfortunately it DOESN'T stay open longer, and we caused a major meltdown after building the girls' hopes up about special "girl pop" they're allowed drinking only in Disney World! :)
After we regained control (ugh), we headed back home. It took almost an hour for the girls to fall asleep, but we were optimistic that the night might be a little better since they were so tired. You know, as long as they weren't too tired.
