April 26, 2007

Back to the Magic Kingdom

The three day Disneyland passes allowed us to enter the park one hour early on Thursday. We checked out of the hotel and were at the gates before 8 am. We were one of the first families through the gates. We used the hour well and rode most of the rides in Fantasyland.

Here are Tiffany and Brooke enjoying the Dumbo ride.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride (video)

Tyler attempted to pull King Arthur's sword from the stone.

Sword in the Stone

Brooke's favorite ride was the King Arthur Carousel. As you can tell from the picture below, she had no fear of falling off her horse.

Carousel

The next attraction was the Jungle Cruise. It is as corny as ever, but the animatronics were improved from the last time we visited.

Once Disneyland started getting crowded, we went to the Princess Faire. There we waited in line for about an hour to get a chance to meet more Disney princesses. Actually, we took turns waiting in line while Brooke got to participate in Princess story time and the Princess coronation. At the coronation ceremony Brooke danced around a maypole and learned to curtsy. She also received a paper crown and a sheet of stickers to decorate the crown.

Meeting the princesses went really well. We were able to spend several minutes with each of three princesses: Belle, Mulan and Princess Minnie. It was great. We didn't feel rushed at all and even though they had professional photographers there, they didn't mind us taking as many pictures as we wanted.

With Princess Minnie

After coloring some princess coloring pages, we headed toward where we would meet Tiffany's family. Along the way we saw Peter Pan, rode on a double-decker bus down Main Street and saw Mary Poppins.

It was fun to meet up with Tiffany's family. All 23 of us had lunch together at the Cafe Orleans.

Brooke and Tyler thought Grandpa Bob's scooter was one of the best rides in the park.

Riding with Grandpa Bob

After lunch we rode Pirates of the Caribbean. It was fun to see Captain Jack Sparrow and other changes due to the movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Next, we went to Critter Country and waited in line to see Winnie the Pooh. While we were waiting Tigger came by and played with Tyler. He took Tyler's hat and pretended to eat it.

Here are the cousins while waiting to meet Winnie.

Cousins

Winnie the Pooh

One of Tyler's favorite rides was Autopia. Tyler loved riding in the go-cart around the track. He was also thrilled to get a "driver's license." After the ride, Tyler used his Disney dollars to buy a Star Wars car.

Autopia

The previous two days we hadn't stayed late enough to see the evening parade. It was fun to sit with the whole family and watch the parade.

Waiting for the parade

On the way out of Disneyland we bought Brooke a necklace that had beads with princess pictures on them. We had to take another picture of Brooke at the "Princess Castle."

Goodbye to the Princess Castle

Our last stop was the Main Street Candy shop where Tiffany got a caramel apple, Scott got chocolate, Tyler got a Mickey shaped Rick Krispie Treat and Brooke got chocolate princess coins. Then we said goodbye to Disneyland, got in our car and drove to San Diego with a late night stop for food at El Pollo Loco.

Tyler-isms:

"I liked that ride, but let's not ride it again" - about Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Brooke-isms:

"I want to be a princess when I grow up, OK, daddy?" - Brooke loves princesses

Posted by sjbowden at April 26, 2007 11:52 PM