Disney Day 2

Day 2 Downtown Disney/Magic Kingdom
(If you have not read Day 1 please jump down a day.)So I had originally set today up so that if we woke up on West Coast time we wouldn’t feel rushed to go anywhere. Well, we woke with the sun and headed to Downtown Disney to shop a bit. The nice thing about Saratoga Springs Resort is it is walking distance to Downtown, there is a river that separate the two, and it was such a great walk! We saw his crane in the water and it was acting really funny. So we stopped to watch. Well out raced an otter! It crossed the sidewalk right behind us and went into the bushes. It was a great way to start our trip. We met a family at 11 in front of the Rainforest Café who we would be taking their stroller from. I had joined a stroller swap and so I got a double jogger for the entire time of our stay! It was nice not to have to bring a stroller on the airplane but still have one while there. Alicia and Ben also picked out a star for the top of our Christmas tree at the Christmas store. We have been keeping our eyes out for years for something and the one we got is so pretty. After we were done with Downtown Disney we decided that even though I hadn’t planned on going to Magic Kingdom until after dinner we had time and would head over there. We knew the crowds would be pretty heavy so we figured any rides we got done today would be added perks. We got there and went to one of Ben and I’s favorite from last trip, Buzz Light Year. We fast passed it and a bonus fast pass came out for Tomorrow something or rather, cannot remmeber the name. We went and saw that and then headed to Astro Orbiter. I hate that ride. It is a kiddy ride but it goes around in circles so fast that you feel like you are being thrown out of the car! After that we headed to Buzz and then onto Dumbo. I am not sure when but we also went to Mickey's Philharmagic. That is one of our favorites. Next we headed to Splash Mountain for fast passes to use after dinner. Splash Mountain was going to be closed the rest of our trip for rehab so we had to get this one done. We then headed to dinner at the Polynesian resort at Ohana’s. For the last 2 years we have been dying to get back there to eat! We love it there. It did not disappoint this year either. This restaurant is great because they do all kinds of fun things for the kids, coconut races, the limbo, singing and dancing, etc. This is a picture of the girls asking their dads to dance and then they got leis. Also we had promised Alicia a glowing icecube on this trip and so the kids got those and were so happy. If you look closely Ethan is holding a green icecube in his hand.

After dinner we headed back to Magic Kingdom for the Spectro Magic Parade and Wishes. First we used our fast passes at Splash. It ended up being Ethan’s favorite and probably Alicia’s least favorite. :) It was pretty fun. Plus it was night so it seemed extra cool. We headed to get spots for Wishes, the fireworks show, and we got to be pretty close to the front of the castle. It was a great way to kick off the start of our Disney vacation. One of the reasons I wanted to go in early January was the Christmas decorations and lights. The castle was gorgeous in thousands of twinkle lights. Martha and I had a hard time not taking a lot of pictures of this castle as it changed colors and was just incredible! I even cried during Wishes as it was all so magical. At the beginning the have Tinkerbell fly out from the castle. Our last trip we were so far away we saw something green fly but this time we saw "her." Alicia grabbed my arm so tight and was so excited to see her. Those are the moments you cherish as a mommy.

Next we got our spots on the sidewalk for the Parade. We grabbed some ice-creams and waited. Then a man came by to tell all of us that we were not on the parade route! We had sat for 30 minutes so by then good spots were taken on the real route. :) We did actually snag some pretty good seats for the kids and we stood behind them. All was not ruined!. It was a fun parade and this was Alicia’s favorite thing of the day. Earlier we had grabbed fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain but by this time it was near 11 and Ben was ready to head back to the resort so we gave them to a family nearby and headed “home.”. Ethan ended up falling asleep on me in the bus. He never does that so it was a real treat. Don't you just love the pink Oregon stocking cap.
It was a great first day! "