Our Disney Vacation Pt 2

So we got to the Magic Kingdom around 4 o'clock and walked right into the park as the first leg of the parade passed right in front of us!

Here's where I instantly loved the vacation: my girls are at just the perfect age for Disney. They're old enough to appreciate it, and young enough to be in awe.

The moment that parade started they were happy; the minute they saw their first Princess they were overjoyed. LuLu was yelling hello to the characters and went nuts for Mickey, who she personally believes responsible for our vacation.

Here's those much adored Princesses:

When YaYa saw Ariel for the 1st time she was so happy she began to cry! I have it on video, but sadly only the vocal is there, as I couldn't aim the screen in the glare of the sun. But her voice, choked with emotion, yelling "I saw Ariel!" will forever rank among The Best Moments Ever.

Heck, the Mrs. and I began to tear up at their joy.

From there we moved on with a goal in mind, tho' for the life of me I don't recall what it was. Probably because we didn't make it there :)

We were sidetracked by the Mad Tea Party's spinning teacups:

Brother, I can make those teacups spin!

Our next stop was another unintentional one, Airel's Grotto, a water playground where we waited some 45 minutes in line to get the Little Mermaid's autograph. It was ok. The girls had a blast getting soaking wet, and besides Airel's YaYa's favorite Princess.

The Little Mermaid complimented my wife's hair and entertained the girls. You might notice the autograph books she signed for the girls. 10 years ago, on our honeymoon, people thought we were a freak for taking the book around to the characters. Nowadays it's 1000% times more mainstream; heck, we picked the books off of Ebay.

One other thing we got on Ebay was a Pal Mickey, a stuffed animal you wear around your neck. As you travel the park it lets you know where you are and what lies in store for you. It doesn't seem as popular as advertised on Disney Tip sites, as we had one of the few I saw around the parks.

We then hit the carasol (sp?) which is pretty self-explanatory.

After that we faced a problem. LuLu REALLY wanted to ride the Dumbo ride, and we'd already put it off for Ariel, etc. But the line was super long. Therefore we split up: Lisa took the girls while I was sent with the stroller to scout out future locations.

I made journeys as far south as Pirates of the Carribean, and scouted the Haunted Mansion and Liberty Square.

In Liberty Square I saw the Liberty Tree Tavern, a great dining establishment I fondly recalled from our honeymoon. Sadly, they were all booked up.

Ages later the family regrouped.

Here's the pics from the Dumbo ride:

I'm told it was a 45 minute wait for a 30 second ride, but what the heck.

I should mention that on my travels I'd obtained a FastPass ticket for Mickey's PhilHarMagic. That'll be important later on.

But that will wrap it up for tonight, as a) that's all the pics I've uploaded so far and b) there's a long day ahead of us.

I'll try to post more of the trip as it progresses.

Hope everyone back home is well!