The Magic of the Magic Kingdom

Well, yeah! We survived the girls' first trip to Disney World! And the Magic Kingdom is most certainly magic through the eyes of two 4 1/2-year-old little girls. I have to admit the look on the girls' faces when they walked in and saw Cinderella's Castle was worth the cost of admission alone. Here's the girls and I just after riding Dumbo. The book I read (um, I mean scanned in the car on the way down...) said to take little ones straight to Dumbo first as the best way to get them acclimated to the park. So our first experience was a 40 minute wait in line for a 90 second ride, but what the heck! They managed to do very well both in line...crowd watching...and on the ride. From there we were on to Pooh, Peter Pan, It's a Small World (a favorite for them for the sole reason of getting to ride in a boat), and a visit with Ariel from the Little Mermaid. It's here we first learned that they preferred to keep their distance from the characters for the most part. Sarah had her picture taken with Ariel, taking very tentative steps toward her, but Livvie stuck to my leg.

There were rides in Indy Cars, laser practice with Buzz Lightyear, even a little bit of fright followed by laughter in Pirates of the Caribbean. I had forgotten how scary Pirates can seem to little ones at the beginning, but once we got to the "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" part, they were okay. Again after all, they were riding in a boat! They loved the train, which with two turns around the park gave us all a nice little break, and I understand they really loved Tom Sawyer's Island. I, unforunately, had to take a seat after first going into Tom's Mystery Mine since the lopsided room in there really did a number on my vertigo. Note to self: stay out of lopsided rooms. So the DH stayed with me, stuffing pastachios into my mouth to keep me from losing my lunch because of my spinning head, while the Granddad and Grandma Kathy helped the girls explore the island. Here we all are in front of the castle.

The light parade was also a big hit, and apparently Sarah is in training to be a parade Grand Marshall; she narrated every float that came by, informing everyone around us who was on it. After two full days in the park, we had dinner with "Cinderella and Friends" at the Grand Floridian. Very cool. Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Fairy Godmother, and Drusilla and Anastasia (the wicked step-sisters) visited our table for pictures and a chat while we ate dinner. I understand Cinderella's wicked step-mother had the flu so she was unable to join us. Just as well, since the girls really don't like her. It took some begging for Livvie to join in the pictures, but she begrudingly did. She'll laugh at those pictures when she's 25. I'll try to post all the pictures in my Flickr account and let you know when they are up.

I had a "moment" the morning we were leaving that caught me off guard and brought out some tears. It hit me how much my Mom would have loved to go on this trip. I'm certain she was watching down on us all weekend, and I know she enjoyed the view. :-) Really miss you, Mom. All in all, a wonderful trip....I can't remember my first trip to Disney but I will always remember my girls' first trip. I hope they do, too.

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