Electric Street Parade

We got to the Magic Kingdom Wed. night just in time for the Electric Street Parade.  This is something that I remember vividly from when I went as a child.  They turn off all the lights in Magic Kingdom and the floats and costumes are all lit up.  It was very good, but we didn't have a good view b/c we arrived right in time.  Some nice lady let Emily up in front with her kids.  We also were able to see the Wishes Fireworks, which was truly spectacular and we were glad we saw it.  Tinkerbell flew from the castle.  I thought I got it on camera, but I didn't.  :(  I didn't get a good shot of the fireworks, but they have a moderator going as the fireworks went off talking about wishes coming true.  I had some tears in my eyes and truly felt the magic that night!  It was my parent's last night here (hard to believe we did all of this in 3 days).  We stayed another 2 1/2 days, so more to come...

Day 3 (Wed): Disney Hollywood Studios

We all loved Hollywood Studios.   We actually stayed in one place all day (until around 6 pm) for once!  ha!  We had breakfast reservations at Hollywood and Vine with the Playhouse Disney characters.  Both girls loved dancing with them and Ella was getting closer to the characters. ;)  Emily loved standing in the line for all the characters.  The most we spent in line was for Buzz and Woody, but finally got a picture with them.  They had a really good shortened Broadway version of Beauty and the Beast.  We went on the Backlot tour and had a great time!  Our favorite ride was the Toy Story Mania.  Thankfully, we snatched some Fastpasses for this ride and were able to go twice!  Roy and I rode the fastest roller coaster I've ever been on (Rock and Roll coaster).  Yikes!  We had a very early dinner reservation at Mama Melrose Italian there.  Our only non-character meal and the best one we probably had.  My dad was very impressed with this restaurant that he asked for the recipe for his dish and they actually gave it to him!!!  We ended the night with the Osborne Lights display, which originated in Little Rock, AR so we HAD to see them.  We were trying to make the Electric Parade and Wishes Fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom, so we saw the dancing lights quickly.

Magic Kingdom: Very Merry Christmas Party

We arrived back at the Magic Kingdom after a short rest at the resort.  We were able to get there in time for the We Celebrate parade.  Ella loved to wave and blow kisses to everyone!  We had a very early dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom.  We got to meet Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore.  The food was very good here and we were all starving at this point.  ha!  We were able to go on a few rides until the next parade (I know we did the Jungle Cruise).  There was a Block Party that was so much fun!  Emily and I were dancing in the street and joined the conga line.  We were able to see the show where Cinderella's castle lights out.  This was so beautiful!  At this point, Emily was very cranky so we made her take a little nap in the stroller.  She woke up refreshed and just in time for the Christmas parade.  It's the one that is shown Christmas morning and it is truly amazing! 

The Christmas party was a lot fun, but we didn't get to see everything with 2 worn out girls.  They had hot cocoa and sugar cookies.  They had "snow" on the Main Street and in one of the pictures above you can see Emily trying to catch some snow.  We got to ride a couple of rides, but the fireworks show was so awesome! It started raining a little at the end of the fireworks, so we decided to head out.  At this point, it was very late and we had an early breakfast reservation the next day, so we headed back.  I would love to do the Christmas party again if only we had rested more before it.  Til the next day...

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

The Lion King:  Very Amazing!

Everest Expedition roller coaster.  Roy and I rode this!

On the safari with REAL animals.  We LOVED this!

 The famous tree.  It was even better in person!

 We found lots of characters, but we didn't have time for only one.  She chose Minnie!

 This is a real person!

We really liked Animal Kingdom and wish we could have spent a little more time here.  We actually came back for the Jingle Jungle Parade after taking my parents to the airport later in the week and we did some more of the park.  It was very neat!  The safari was our favorite ride!  The Lion King show was so good, almost like the Broadway show but shorter of course.  Roy and I rode the Everest roller coaster.  We had to leave by lunch time to head to our early dinner reservation at the Magic Kingdom (then we had the Merry Christmas Party).  More to come...

Day 1: Epcot

 This was on Spaceship Earth.  Roy and I died laughing seeing this!

We had a "dinner" reservation at 3 with the princesses, so we had to cut Magic Kingdom short and go to Epcot.  It was a good 1/2 day park.  We absolutely loved the princess meal.  We met 5 princess:  Belle, Aurora, Ariel, Snow White, and Cinderella.  Emily was in heaven and Ella loved them all too.  I loved the World Showcase and we enjoyed walking around it.  IWe saw Jazmine, but she was about to leave. :(  We also ran into Princess Aurora again.  Roy and I rode Soarin while the girls got their pictures made with tons of characters (Ella was sleeping).  We stayed for Illuminations which was SO awesome! 

Disney Trip: Day 1- Magic Kingdom

 Mickey's House

Our first view~

We spent our first morning at the Magic Kingdom.  Emily was dying to see the castle.  So, we did a few rides and took some pictures before we had a late lunch reservation at Epcot with the princesses.  The higlight was seeing the castle for the first time!!!!  On this day, we rode the Carousel, Peter Pan's Flight (which Emily did NOT like, but Ella loved).  Emily LOVED meeting Mickey and Minnie and stood in line for a while to see them.  Ella was not sure of the characters at this point.  Emily and Ella both really enjoyed Toon Town Fair, where Mickey and Minnie's houses are.  They rode the train, played at the playground there too.  We rode It's A Small World and the Go Karts.  Roy and I were able to go on Space Mountain while Emily and Ella were at Toon Town Fair with my parents.