15 Hours - I Think We'll Call It a Day.... =)

Off to Blizzard Beach today. Temps are supposed to reach 95 degrees so I think we planned our itinerary well.

I got in about midnight last night, so, even though it's killing me, I just don't have the time to upload or caption the pictures taken on Nati's, Dad's, John's, Mikayla's, Michael's 0r my camera - much less the two cell phones we used too. Make that one cell phone - mine got a bit too much "splash" at Splash Mountain. It's dead right now, but has given us some signs of life with little buzzes and vibrations when we've repeatedly tried to restart it. I'm not giving up hope yet.

So, yesterday - MAGIC KINGDOM!!!! We loved it - so much fun. We arrived at 8am, left at 11pm - yes, 15 hours, and my feet are so tired. I'll give you more updates later, funny things, choices I'd make differently next time (like not texting while going through the splash at Splash Mountain!) - but that will have to wait along with the pics until later.

However, while my memory is still fresh - I'll list the rides we took - because of our Doctorate degree in utilizing Fast Passes - our longest wait was only 20 minutes.....

SPLASH MOUNTAIN: 6 times
THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAILROAD: 3 times
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR: 2 times
SPACE MOUNTAIN: 3 times
STITCH'S GREAT ESCAPE (thumb's down)
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN
JUNGLE CRUISE
PETER PAN'S FLIGHT
IT'S A SMALL WORLD
HAUNTED MANSION

.....and a most delicious lunch at LIBERTY TREE TAVERN

and finally.....

SPECTROBE MAGIC PARADE
WISHES FIREWORKS SHOW

Boo-yah baby!! We rocked it, and we are living the dream!

Alright - Here's a slew of pictures and a few captions.....

The "obligatory" family and group shots taken before we were let in the gates:







The characters that greeted us before we entered:

A grand look down Main Street - as well as the rear views of the families - minus Travis and Michele who are our "runners" for the Fast Passes:



A far-off look of our "happiest" ride - "Splash Mountain"

Next up, Thunder Mountain Railroad - the place where you will hear my mom laugh hysterically and uncontrollably. Really, listening to her delight was a true highlight of the day.

At Liberty Tree Tavern. During my "planning days" - while still on Atkins, I salivated over the idea of the "Oohy Gooey Toffee Cake" - ranked one of the three best desserts in all the park. Michele and I split that and the Apple Tart - both were so worth the wait!!!!!

Mikayla, with the couple that look more like her parents than we do (now we are entering into the pictures taken with my camera - hence the lesser quality).

Mom and Dad - at Liberty Tree Tavern

So frustrating that the only clear picture of the two of them on the carousel had that dude's head in the picture - but a sweet shot of the two of them nonetheless. =)

Mom begged for us to go on "It's a Small World" - much to the groans of a large percentage of the group. Stephie and John took good advantage of the time.

Dad, on the other hand, pointed out to Nati each of the countries in the ride.

Here we are on the "Jungle Cruise" - to our surprise the the "Skipper" asked Traig to take the wheel when we hit the "unknown" portion of the river.




At about 5:30, it was clear that John was fading fast. He is not nearly the thrill-seeker as the rest of us are, as his stomach doesn't tolerate the rides as well. He was EXHAUSTED, so Michele and I devised a plan to allow he and Michael to go home (also exhausted) - and to take the boys and Ellie - while Michele and I and our two older girls stuck it out for the parade and the fireworks with Mom and Dad - all the way until 11pm. This is a pic of them walking away-

And, this is a picture of us with our thumbs up realizing that without the need to feed the guys a "real meal" - we could have ice cream for dinner! =)

After ice cream - another ride on "Splash Mountain". We had enough fast passes to ride three more times each - though we only got around to two times before we had to find a spot for the parade.




Prior to the nighttime entertainment - they illuminated the castle in all sorts of different colored lights - it was so beautiful. The parade was, from my understanding, an updated version of the "Main Street Electrical Parade". It was pretty, but I think the boys would have been just fine to miss it.

On the other hand, the boys missed something amazing with the fireworks display. Seriously, the best I've ever seen. It was their loss, however it turned out to be really special to just have Michele and I and the girls with Mom and Dad.....