Disney World - Day 5: Epcot

After our Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary (where somebody blushed noticeable when hugged by Minnie Mouse) we boarded the monorail for Epcot. We were excited to finally get Max in front of an aquarium (to see some jelly fish) and were extra geeked to surprise him with a special guest.

Bobbie Jo being eaten by Bruce

Jellyfish!

We had been in contact with my cousin Jennifer as we had both coincidentally booked our trips to Disney for the same week. We surprised Max by meeting up with his cousin Angelina (and Jennifer and Jack) as we walked out of the aquarium. I spent some time with Jack sampling the beers of the world, and the girls and Max met some more critters.

While the 6 of us were waiting in line for the Test Track, Max had another panic meltdown. He any I went to get some ice cream and left the others to wait in the never ending line.

Should have ordered a large 

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to meet up with the cousins again, but the day was one of the best we had. We didn't ride many rides, or see many attractions, but the kids had an absolute blast together. Hopefully we will be able to get the two of them together again soon.

Disney World - Day 4: Return to the Magic Kingdom

Wednesday was going to be an exciting day. Our travel agent had scheduled Max for the "Pirate League" (more about that in a separate post), so today we were headed back to the Magic Kingdom.

In an attempt to deal with Max's unreasonable fears of most of the rides, we bribed him to ride The Barnstormer. This is a "Kiddie" rollercoaster that we thought he would enjoy, if only we could get him to ride it.

We hopped on the train to ride to the back of the park where the Barnstormer was located. We didn't get far and saw Jessie from Toy Story meeting people in Adventureland. We got off the train so Max could say hello.

After meeting Jessie and getting her autograph, we hopped back on the train. In a few minutes we were in line for the rollercoaster. Max rode it, but did not like it at all. Regardless, Max lived through his first rollercoaster.

We got in line to ride Dumbo, another ride that Max wanted nothing to do with. Dumbo has a cool line, after a few minutes of waiting there is a play area for kids. When you have waited the necessary time, you are paged and can move forward to the ride.

We met Donald and Goofy.

And we went on the Teacups (which I think was Max's favorite ride of the trip)

We had some lunch and made our way to "The Pirate League"

[To Be Continued]

Disney World - Day 3: Night at the Magic Kingdom

We were finally going to see the fireworks!

We returned to the Magic Kingdom well in advance of the Parade.

The Main Street Electrical Parade was as great as I remember it. I love the music, and it's something that nobody else does. Max loved it too.

After the parade there is a new show called "Celebrate the Magic", where they use Cinderella's Castle as a giant projection screen and show animations on top of it. With the projection they transform the castle into many different movie scenes, and even make the castle look entirely different. At one point the whole castle looked like an old video game, pixelated, and Wreck It Ralph knocked pieces off of it. It was amazing.

Witness a spellbinding show that traces the longstanding legacy of Disney storytelling and imagination. When Tinker Bell splashes pixie dust atop Cinderella Castle, the regal castle is magically refashioned into an enchanted canvas unfurling with spectacular Disney imagery.
Travel down the rabbit hole with Alice, soar high above the Big Top with Dumbo, and wander the African savanna with Simba. Drawing inspiration from Disney’s many memorable characters and stories, Celebrate the Magic invites you to take off on a breathtaking visual and musical journey, and to experience Disney movies—from beloved classics to contemporary favorites—in an entirely new and unforgettable way.

Then came the finale. The Disney World fireworks. They are amazing. It always astounds me that this enormous show takes place every night.

After the fireworks, we walked into Tomorrowland where we helped Buzz Lightyear destroy Zurg (Bobbie Jo and I were quite serious about it).

Max danced for an hour or so at a dance party, spending the majority of his time hanging on to Stitch.

We arrived back at our room, the power now on and the blinds wide open, so the entire world could see how the Reinhardts can trash a hotel room.

Disney World - Day 3: Afternoon Break

I was fine with leaving the park and going back to the hotel for some rest. I was looking forward to spending some time researching the parks on the internet, and revising our plans given our discovery of the "5 year old wrinkle".

About 30 minutes after arriving at the room the power went out. It was still out 3 hours later when we left for the Magic Kingdom.

Disney World - Day 3: Hollywood Studios

♫ In The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Room.♫

♫ In The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Room.♫

Max was woken by our new favorite song, my cell phone speaker held close to his head.

I was expecting today to be Max's favorite day of the trip. Hollywood Studios has a large Pixar area, as well as quite a few Disney Junior things. Oh, Star Tours is there too.

We had a breakfast scheduled with the Disney Junior Characters as soon as the park opened. This was the first and only day that we arrived at the park anywhere near the opening of the gates.

Secret Agent Oso

June

Jake

Handy Manny

I really wanted to get a picture of the three of us with Woody and Buzz (from Toy Story), so after breakfast we went direct to the Buzz and Woody Meet and Greet. We waited in line, and eventually met up with them.

Outside we met this guy, who's autograph identified him as "Green Army Man".

 We wandered for awhile, met some characters, went on Star Tours, and saw Muppet Vision 3D.

It was starting to rain a bit, and we decided to seek cover at the "Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show". When the show started we got to see a bunch of cool car chases and stunts. We were completely surprised when Lightning McQueen showed up, did a few laps, and chased an evil Pacer with plans of destruction.

It was nearing 2:00, and we were all ready for a rest. Back to the room for awhile. Hopefully we'd be able to see some fireworks tonight.