December 29, 2012, Our 5 Year Anniversary.
I remember being on our honeymoon in Riviera Maya, Mexico 5 years ago
and vowing to eachother that we would return there for our 5 year anniversary...
Well, that clearly didn't happen - but Disneyworld DID, and it was perfect!
We were down in Orlando for a big soccer tournament (which I will talk
much more about later), but we obviously had to build a few extra days in to our trip
so we could hit the parks. We bought a 4-day pass and planned to spread our visits
out throughout the week based on the soccer schedule.
Day 1 was definitely one we were ALL looking forward to...
Up bright and early, and waiting at the bus stop to go to the Magic Kingdom.
Can you believe it? They played Disney movies on the bus - SCORE!
After the bus ride, we had a short ferry ride to the park - the anticipation continued...
Way back in the distance you can see Cinderella's Castle.
Proof that we really were ALMOST there!
We made it!
Everything was still decorated for the holidays - it was beautiful, gave me chills.
One of my absolute favorite things about the Magic Kingdom
is this walk down Main Street.
There is such excitement in the air, and so much to see as you walk,
you can't help but feel like a child with such anticipation for what's to come,
and right there in front on you is THE Disney trademark - the castle, in all it's glory!
This was our first stop of course.
and as we stood there and took it all in
we started to hear some music and commotion behind us...
The Parade!
I was instantly reminded of the last time we saw the Disney parade a year and a half ago
at Disneyland in California and how thrilled Maeryn was to see all of her favorite
characters, live, in person, dancing and singing along to the music.
And boom, there she went again - jumping and waving and laughing and clapping...
It was the most excited I've EVER seen her... and she's a pretty excitable kid!
I thankfully got some video of her reaction (which I'm having trouble uploading),
but I will just say it was a moment that I will never forget,
and I knew there was no more perfect place for us to be on that day!
Mickey and Minnie kicked off the parade.
But Maeryn's favorite float had all the Toy Story characters!
Some more fun pictures from throughout the day:
The first Character we met on our trip: Buzz Lightyear!
Maeryn's first ride: Dumbo!
...and shortly afterwards - naptime. :-)
The three of us enjoyed the downtime on main street.
We had hot dogs for lunch at Casey at the Bat.
Caught a streetside performance.
Ventured in to some of the shops - our favorite, by far, the Disney Candy Shop!
We may or may not have purchased some of the items you see here...
I mean, WOW!
These ladies never stopped making goodies, they were so fun to watch!
Another cool sight on Main St.
Post nap, Train ride through the park.
And then, possibly one of the best moments of the entire trip (until we met "Donna"
on our last day of course, but more on that later)...
We stumbled upon The Character Theatre.
I can't believe it took us this long to find this spot because inside was some major
Disney ROYALTY!
Cinderella
Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) - we got smart after meeting Buzz lightyear
with no autograph book and came prepared this time!
Maeryn ended the trip with two books, filled with signatures by everyone from
Winnie the Pooh to Alice to Tinkerbelle - the perfect souvenier.
And then Rapunzel... she absolutely Stole. The. Show!
Can you just imagine what they were talking about?!
(it was horses)
These people are SO good at what they do.
They stay soooo true to the characters who they are portraying,
it is truly amazing to see.
And to see my little girl light up like this every time we met another princess or mouse
or duck or whatever - one of the many reasons they call it the happiest place on Earth.
Just look at her!
Maeryn met more than 20 different characters that week, but if you ask her,
Rapunzel was her favorite!
Sorry to have to follow that Mr. Mickey Mouse...
Johnny still thinks you are pretty cool!
Main Street Lights!
We were pretty tired by this time, but decided not to leave until they lit up the castle.
So we killed time and hit up the sweet shop again. :-)
Anxiously awaiting the castle lighting...
Ta Da!
It was worth the wait - quite a sight!
Amazing first day, but so much more to come.
Time to go crash so we can get up and do it all again tomorrow! :-)
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