Disney Studios

Our last day at Disney we spent at Hollywood studios. Reagan was sour and Rachel had a major melt down that morning, but we were able to save the day and have a good ending to our trip. Most of the problems that day revolved around the stroller which all 3 had to ride in (only meant to be a double), but for the price we paid for it, we really needed a couple more kids to ride in it. We started out the morning with the popular new ride, Toy Story Mania. We got put into the fast line just because the girls were wearing their Minnie Mouse dresses. We liked it so much we got a fast pass and rode it again later. Reagan even wore her 3D glasses the second time. We weren't brave enough to try a 3D movie though so we decided to greet the characters again. They saw Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Daisy and Minnie, and a not so nice Donald (who was annoyed with Rachel putting her hand on his beak). Then we saw the Little Mermaid show and Disney Playhouse (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse included). From there we went to see Lightening McQueen and Towmater from Cars, Mike and Sully from Monsters, and Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. We enjoyed watching Beauty and the Beast and then the kids got to dance in the Block Party (Disney Studios new version of the afternoon parade). Before heading out we went to see the Magic of Disney Animation and meet the Incredibles and Mickey Mouse one last time.

Epcot

After the Princess Breakfast at Epcot we went to the Land Pavillion. Nana and Papa took Jake to the Circle of Life Lion King movie while the rest of us road the new ride Soarin - an Imax type movie ride. Reagan shook the whole time - scared that her feet were going to hit a tree or the water on the movie screen. Rachel wanted to ride it again so I went with her and Jeff took Reagan and Jake back to the Circle of Life movie and let Papa and Nana ride Soarin. After that we went through the gardens at Epcot. Especially neat was how they make pumpkins with ears. Then we headed over to the Seas with Nemo and friends and saw Turtle Talk with Crush. Funny that REagan would stick her head in Bruce the Shark's mouth since she wouldn't even watch the Nemo musical at Animal Kingdom for fear of Bruce. From there we went to Figment Journey into IMagination which again scared Reagan and to Test Track. Reagan had an accident in line. She should have just decided to not go on it, because she whined the whole time on the ride "is it over yet". ...while Jake took a nap in the stroller. We skipped the Space Pavillion and went back to the countries. We went on rides in Mexico and Norway where they were less than understanding about the definition of an emergency (Rachel had to go poddy and they wouldn't let us go out the emergency exit - instead we had to wait for a movie to finish). Then we caught the show and a snooze at the American Pavillion before dinner at Germany's Biergarten. There was a German band for the first day of Oktoberfest and the kids enjoyed dancing the whole set. WIll have to get Jake doing the polka video uploaded....

Princess Breakfast at Epcot

We had breakfast with the Princesses at Epcot. The only character we hadn't met was Mary Poppins (is she really a princess?). After breakfast at Cinderella's castle, this one was a little disappointing. Rachel noticed that this Jasmine had a different face from the other one....I told her that princesses can change their appearance just like Santa does. I guess that answer sufficed.

Monorail

Eating was a challenge at Disney World and so was the Monorail. it was the only way to get to Magic Kingdom when the ferry wasn't operating, so it was unavoidable. It was late, it made multiple stops, it stopped in the middle of the track. All of this wouldn't have mattered much, if we didn't have Mr. Antsy Pants (Jake). He was on the seat and off the seat. He swung on the bars. He doesn't have an indoor voice. We could only hope to have a car all to ourselves (and that is what people riding with us hoped too).

Dinner with Pooh and friends

We had dinner our third day in Magic Kingdom at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. We had met Pooh and Tigger, but not Eeyore and Piglet. It was a nice buffet but hard to enjoy our meal with Jake not wanting to sit still. They were all excited to see the characters and gave them big hugs. eating meals was definitely one of the big challenges of our vacation.

Magic Kingdom Day 3

Our third day at Magic Kingdom started early at 8am. We were there for Mickey's greeting before opening the park. Then we headed in to meet some more characters. Chip and Dale, Daisy, Pinnochio and Gepetto, plus Jiminy Cricket were at the front of the park. Then Jeff raced back to get in line for Ariel - her line quickly gets to be over an hour long even when the park isn't crowded. After meeting Ariel and riding the teacups and Indy speedway one more time, the girls were in meltdown mode so we headed back to the hotel for a rest. We planned to go back that afternoon for dinner with Pooh and the parade and fireworks. We met a few more characters, went to the Tike room, country bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents and rode the Carpets of Alladin and Astro Orbitor. There were a lot of crowds that night and we barely found a place to watch the parade. Jake enjoyed it but then just couldn't stay awake for the Fireworks. Jeff ended up holding him for over an hour - his arms were so sore they went numb. Neither girl was afraid of the fireworks (they are scared of the ones our neighbors do) and Rachel especially loved them. We couldn't convince her to leave early and beat the crowds back. It was 10pm when we got back to the hotel - good thing they had gotten a nap that day.