We arrived at the park with two beautiful princesses and the sweetest baby
boy just before 8. We knew we had all but missed any benefit from the early
hours, so we decided we would just head to Merida's meet and greet since the
line would get long *very* quickly - if it wasn't already.
Somehow, and this will not sound miraculous if you aren't familiar with the
Brave/Tangled meet and greet that is a snafu 100% of the time, we were first in
line! We still had to wait 25 minutes for her arrival time, but - true to form
- that would be the shortest possible wait time for that line the rest of the
trip. And holy cow, was it hot! Since we were the first ones in, we didn't get
to do the "play" part of the "Play & Greet", but you'll never hear us
complaining about missing that gimmick! Ryder was tired anyway, so it worked
out perfectly. We said hello to the beautiful Merida (where Hartley was
ridiculously shy), then headed back to the stroller to get Ryder settled in for
a morning nap.
While he slept, the girls rode Goofy's Barnstormer for the first time! I
had to ride "with them", but they sat in a car by themselves - and loved it more
than words can say. We'd ride it repeatedly throughout the trip, and they can't
wait to get back for it... but for this particular morning, we headed next to
the Carousel, showed Ryder "it's a small world" for the first time (of many) and
then stopped at Peco's Bills to get some lunch.
Once we had eaten, it was time for our Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
fastpasses. I waited so nervously as Zach took the girls on. I had
heard numerous horror stories about kids who are just barely tall enough for a
ride getting past the first "gatekeeper" only to be turned away at the very end
of the line just before boarding... but eventually I saw them whip around the
corner on the runaway train! They loved it, and wanted to ride again.
Utilizing rider swap, I got to walk right on with them, and wow - I can't
believe they loved it. I had forgotten what a jump it was from anything else
they had done. It is a legitimate, fast, fun, roller coaster. I'm still kind
of in shock! :) Next we waited for Aurora back up at the Town Square Courtyard,
then decided we simply had to go back to the hotel to cool off, regardless of
what that would mean for naps/rest.
After about an hour and a half in the air conditioning coloring, reapplying
sunscreen and changing into less sweaty clothes, we headed to Epcot. Our first
stop was Club Cool for some Little Girl Pop (still my favorite accomplishment to
date ;)) and two of the most ridiculously large homemade ice cream sandwiches
I've ever seen. We definitely should have only ordered one, and still might not
have been able to finish it!
Our first ride there was the Seas with Nemo & Friends. Ryder was
enthralled with most of it, but a little bothered by the EAC. We saw Turtle
Talk, played on the playground, watched the dolphins and checked out the tanks
for a little while after, until it was time to head to World Showcase for dinner
- and a visit with Duffy!
Marrakesh was delicious, though not as wildly so as I had remembered and
subsequently built up. We got out in plenty of time to ride the monorail to the
Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade as we had really hoped (our
only chance to see it this trip) - but instead were caught in a monsoon! We hid
tucked away in an alcove in Morocco for a while, and made a run for it when the
rain let up some. Apparently we didn't need to hurry though, since the monorail
was delayed over an hour (for reasons still unknown). Instead of making it to
the MK we rode the monorail loop just for fun, then headed back to the hotel to
call it a day.
Since we had missed the MSEP - and sorely miss Spectromagic even more - we
watched it in our room, instead. It was definitely a compromise, but an okay
way to end the night!
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