After breakfast it was off to the Magic Kingdom! We arrived within about an hour of opening, and made sure to get a picture of Aidan and Esme at the front of the park, which was beautifully decorated for Halloween. Needless to say, we were not the only family on earth who spent Halloween at the Magic Kingdom, and it was very, very crowded and hot, the two things we worked hardest to avoid when we planned this vacation! Nothing daunting, though, it was still a lot of fun.
We had only been in the park for a few minutes, buying Crocs for Esme (whose sandals were in worse shape than we originally thought) and for Jim (whose sandals had already bruised his toes the previous day). By the end of the trip, Aidan had some too - they were just so comfortable. Anyway, when we came out of the Emporium, there was a Street Party parade going on!!! Amazing - though I'm told those character suits are air conditioned, it's still quite a feat to do everything the performers do!
Such incredible fun.
It was cool to see Mr. Incredible and Frozone in the parade!
We got "trapped" on the island during the parade...it turned out to be a terrific place to see it all! Here's our little girl with Walt and Mickey in front of the castle she's dreamed of visiting.
Aidan, at the Magic Kingdom!
And me...
And Jim!
The first thing we did was the teacup ride! Whoo-hoo! Spinny Esme!
After the teacups, we drove on the Tomorrowland Speedway before it was too busy, which is a little anticlimactic for kids who have grown up driving karts at Craig's Cruisers, but still fun! Jim wanted to ride Space Mountain, but we were saved by the fact that it was closed. We went to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, which was a great show, and helped Mike Wazowski (only one "i" - get it?) fill a laugh container to power Monstropolis. They work in the participation of several audience members on the spot, and use jokes that folks text in while waiting in line. Very funny.
We went to Mickey's Toontown Fair for a few minutes, just to check out what was there. Esme and I toured Minnie's house, and we waited in line to see Tinkerbell for a few minutes, but decided to try again later. No FastPasses to meet characters!
We next stopped by Pooh's Playful Spot, where the children met Pooh and Tigger and got their autographs. They were so cute!!!
At this point we were already getting hot, tired and grouchy, and claustrophobic from the gazillions of people milling about. We wanted lunch but couldn't find anywhere to get it where we didn't have to stand around in the heat for a long time. Finally Jim and the kids sat down on a bench outside the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe (we had tried to get lunch there but it was really chaotic and we just couldn't take it). I went hunting and came back with two enormous turkey legs and four bottles of water. A little protein and thirst quenching, and things were better - Jim went to get some popcorn to top off our meal, and we studied our map to decide what we really wanted to do. While he was waiting for the pokey grown-ups, Aidan took some pictures of this bird on the roof of a kiosk. There were birds like this all over the Magic Kingdom, just wandering around. We thought it was pretty cool.
We left Frontierland, and as we passed through Liberty Square, we decided to see the show at the Hall of Presidents. It was very cool, showing a quick video history of the presidency and some highlights from the presidencies of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and more. At the end, they open the curtains to a huge stage with an animatronic model of every single President. The narrator (Morgan Freeman!) announces them all by name, and then the President Obama model gives an address recorded by the real Barack Obama. It was Jim's favorite part of the Magic Kingdom.
After the Hall of Presidents, we went to Adventureland, where we toured the Swiss Family Treehouse - which goes up really high! We made sure to watch this movie a couple of weeks ago, so the children would know what they were looking at.
We were all sweating pretty hard by this time!
Fritz and Ernst don't do much housekeeping! They left their dirty laundry all over their room!
In 1977, when my parents went to Disney World, my mom kissed Goofy. I've seen slides, and wish there were picture-pictures! In 2006, when Jim and I went to Disneyland, I made a point of kissing Goofy. And in 2009, on Esme's first trip to Disney World, she gave Goofy a big smooch right on his nose! So I think that makes it a tradition, no? :)
We did a lot more waiting in line to meet characters than I could have imagined, but the kids really loved it. Even Aidan. We got a lot of autographs!
In Adventureland we also rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin (too high for Mom!), went on the Jungle Cruise (lots of smart-alecky remarks and eye-roller jokes from our tour guide!), and rode on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (Aidan's favorite of the day).
Esme Nerys, about to enter the Cinderella Castle for the first time. She felt very smug.
Esme Nerys, about to enter the Cinderella Castle for the first time. She felt very smug.
Next to the Tinkerbell's Treasures shop, Peter Pan and Wendy were waiting to greet children. Little did they know that Tinkerbell herself would come to meet them! When Esme saw them there, she figured now would be a great time to change into her Halloween costume. And she was right!
After meeting Peter Pan and Wendy, it was definitely time to head back to meet the Real Tinkerbell. Esme did not flinch at the 60-minute posted wait time. She was absolutely determined to meet Tinkerbell, no matter the cost! It turned out to be more like an hour and a half, but it was so worth it. While she waited in line, Esme chatted with Silvermist, also waiting.
As Esme and her dad proceeded through the line, they were magically shrunk down to the right size to visit Pixie Hollow. Whew! And when they finally arrived there - guess what! It wasn't just Tinkerbell there to meet them, but Fawn, too!
Tinkerbell was really sweet to Esme, welcomed her like an old friend, and helped her pose just right for her pictures!
Bonus! Terence - a pixie-dust talent sparrow man - was also there! He gave Esme some pixie dust so she could fly!
The Magic Kingdom could not have done anything more to please Esme. She was so happy she was able to meet Tinkerbell! She will never forget that moment! While she and Daddy were waiting in line, Aidan and I had some time to explore a bit - we browsed in the Toontown Hall of Fame tent, and rode The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm - described as a "kiddie coaster," despite my nearly losing my lunch! Aidan loved it though!
After Esme and Daddy emerged from Pixie Hollow, we took the Walt Disney World Railroad back to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom, found a tram back to our car (parked at the farthest point from the tram line, of course), and went to Downtown Disney for dinner.
Don't go to Downtown Disney on Halloween. Please. There were probably a million people there - no exaggeration. They do trick-or-treating all along the attractions, shops and restaurants. There is an outdoor concert. And everyone on the planet is there shopping and eating and trick-or-treating! We walked and walked through a hot and sticky crowd to get to the Rainforest Cafe. But once we were there we waited only a few minutes for a table, and the kids loved the whole environment! The elephants, the gorillas, the thunderstorms, oh my! And the food was Yum. We shared a chocolate volcano at the end, and didn't even make it halfway through!
Another hike to our car, back to the hotel and some REST!!! It was a great day!