More catch-up blogging: Disney

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom on Sunday, March 24. And magic it was! After checking into our beautiful room, we hit the park.

Here are the girls and I on Main Street USA, with Sleeping Beauty's castle in the background. Note the winter clothes! It was chilly, close to freezing in the mornings about the mid-40s in the afternoons, but we much prefer that to the sweltering heat.

He's a closer shot of Sleeping Beauty's castle.

The first ride we did was the Mad Hatter's Teacups, which ended up being one of our most-visited rides. I think we rode it four or five times. We managed to try out a lot of rides on our first day, including a small roller-coaster/train ride called Casey Jr., a really fun boat ride, Alice's Labyrinth, and a few others I can't remember.

Then it was back to the hotel room for some swimming and world-class relaxation:

I love that the girls got kid-sized robes and slippers.

The next morning we settled into our Disney routine. I was kind of strict about it, but I wanted to maximize ride time and minimize waits. See, the park opens two hours early for hotel guests and season pass holders. Not all of the rides are open, but most of the ones that get really long lines are. So that first morning, we hit up Dumbo's Flying Elephants, Peter Pan (twice in a row! The day before the sign said the line was 45 minutes long. There was none in the morning!), Sir Lancelot's Carousel, and the tea cups again.

Then the girls tried to pull the sword out of the stone:



And then, we went back to the hotel to warm up and have some breakfast, which was an amazingly delicious all-you-can-eat buffet. So, even though it was kind of mean of me to drag everyone out to the park before breakfast, it was a good plan. Besides, there were a few places open in the park, and we got the girls a little snack. But by the time we got in for breakfast, they were really hungry and actually able to eat a nice big meal. See, brilliant!

Then it was back to the park for some of the attractions that didn't involve lines: The Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse, the Pocahantas Indian Village playground, the pirate caves, things like that. When we got hungry again around two or three, we'd do a big lunch during the off-peak hours and avoid those lines too.


Here we are at my favorite restaurant. It had a saloon theme. So cute!

It was so much fun! Ha ha! (It really was, I don't know why she looks so bored there).

Wow, this is getting long and I'm tired. I'll continue the Disney update tomorrow!