Epcot - Thursday

Today we went to Epcot on our own.  It was the first time that we visited a Disney park by ourselves and also the first time that Rich and the kids had been to Epcot.  It was another unbearably hot day but we made the most of it.

 

Tinkerbelle is Kathryn’s favorite character.  She has been obsessed with her since she was 2 (5 years and counting!).  The girls informed me prior to the trip that they were too old to dress in Princess costumes this trip but Kathryn still wanted to look like Tinkerbelle.  We found her a new shirt (she already has about 8 Tink shirts) and experimented until we figured out how to do ‘tink hair’.

 

We rode a few rides and then headed out to find Tink.  It turns out that she is only available for meet and greets for a very short period of time.  We got into line at 9:40 for an 11 meeting.  After 2 more people got in line behind us they closed the line and said from that time, people could line up for the 1pm meet!  They only allowed about 20 people in each line too!  For any other character, I would have convinced the kids to skip it but knowing how special Tink is to Kath, we waited.  I sent Rich, Lauren and Zack off to do something else and they came back about an hour later.  It was hot in that line! 

Kathryn was a great sport and soon it was our turn.  It was well worth the wait because we got nearly 10 minutes one-on-one with Tinkerbelle!  She talked about her fairy friends, and ‘Tinkered’ around the forest.

 

As we left that area, I pulled Kathryn aside and with tears in my eyes I asked her if she enjoyed her special time with Tinkerbelle.  At this point big, fat happy tears started to fall.  I went on to talk about how special Tink is to her and how exciting this moment was for me to watch blah, blah, blah.  By now, I was really crying.  I gave her a hug and asked her if this was the most special moment to date in her life.  She shrugged and said “yeah, it was cool”.    I can’t believe what a dork I was.  LOL

     

Zack and I found a spot in the shade while Rich and the girls rode Test Track.  He was quite entertained with the Pez that I had packed.

We cooled off in the sprinklers before heading to Mexico for lunch.

In Japan, Lauren did ‘pick a pearl’ and got a gorgeous gray pearl. 

 

In Morocco we cooled off with a delicious slush.

In France, I treated myself to a Gran Marnier Lemonade Slush.  It was FANTASTIC!

   

The kids loved Epcot and they can’t wait to go back and see more!   

Magic Kingdom Wednesday

Wednesday was another day at the Magic Kingdom.  We were up early and arrived at the park about 10 minutes after rope drop.  We had to wait for the rest of the family to arrive so we checked out the new Mickey and Minnie meet and greet at Exposition Hall.  They offer fast passes but since it was so early there was only a 5 minute wait.  The magic theme is awesome and we loves the special time that we got to spend with the Big Mouse!

From there we went back to the front and go in line to meet the Princesses.  Once again, only a 5 minute wait!   Zack loved Belle and didn’t want to stop hugging her.

 

From there we headed down Main St. 

 

We came upon the Mayor of Main St. and we was a wonderfully kind man who talked with us for quite a while.

We met up with our family member at the castle and got a wonderful picture on our matching shirts.  

I don’t think that I showed the shirts yet, did I?  My family is not a matchy-matchy kind of group but I wanted special shirts for one day and they all agreed.  I think that they came out great, what do you think?  I had at least 6 people stop me that day and ask me where we got the shirts so that they could buy their own.  My family joked that I should made handed out business cards.  LOL

Here are close-ups of the front and backs.

 

We spent the morning riding rides.  Despite being one of the busiest times of the year we really didn’t wait in many lines.  We planned the days loosely with a touring plan, we arrived at the parks right when they opened and we relied heavily on fast passes.  I think that the longest line all week was no more than 15 minutes!!!!      

We left the park after the 3pm parade to get out of the heat.  We swam in our pool for a few hours and then went back at night.We stayed until closing!

    

Lauren really wanted a hair wrap so she used her money to buy it for herself.  Kathryn tried on more hats while we waited!  LOL

We managed to get an amazing spot for the light show on the castle as well as the fireworks.  We bought the kids each a Mickey ice cream bar but since it was still in the upper 90’s they melted faster than they could eat them.  Thank goodness for baby wipes!  LOL

We left the park at about 11:30.  Lauren and Kathryn were both pooped and begged to ride in the stroller.  They both promptly fell asleep.  Notice their 3year old brother walking out while his big sisters slept!