Continuing on with our day in The Magic Kingdom…

After seeing Mickey, Minnie and Santa, we finally made it past the front square and into the park.  I don’t remember the last time I was at Disney but it’s been several years and, I’m not gonna lie, I got a little emotional when we were walking up Main Street towards the castle.  I’m not some sort of Disney freak, I think I was just so happy to be there and continuing the memories with my family.  Being able to go with Maxwell and see it all through his eyes – it’s pretty neat.  Anyway…

We first went and got a Fast Pass for me and Robert to ride Space Mountain later and then hit up the kiddie rides.  The Carousel was awesome…

and, now, please get ready for Scary Momma Face!

Whoa!  Maybe I am a Disney freak?!  🙂

Next stop was Winnie the Pooh.  Maxwell was doing his best to take it all in…

especially when he started glowing in the dark!

Cool!  After that, we stopped for some dinner and then Robert and I headed over to Space Mountain which was just as much fun as I remember. Twists and turns and all in the dark!

After a night of little sleep (Maxwell apparently doesn’t like hotel rooms.  Remember Little Rock?), Maxwell was up and ready to hit the parks again!

(like his shirt?  I made it!)

The weather was great and there were, surprisingly no lines at all.  Robert and I rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then took Maxwell on Pirates of the Caribbean.  After that, we all went into The Haunted Mansion together…

Luckily we all made it out alive with no hitch-hiking ghosts in tow!

Next stop?  A hot dog on Main Street of course.  I think this was Maxwell’s first hot dog ever.  He liked it but the fries were the big hit…

After a stroll through some shops…

it was time to call it a day.

Maxwell was spent…

exhausted…

and completely done for.

It was time to go home!  Even though we were only in Orlando for 24 hours, we sure did pack a lot of fun into every second!  I’d also like to publicly thank Robert for being such a good sport.  He had been to Disney World once when he was 10 and definitely had no idea what to expect from my crazy Disney-loving family!  Thanks for embracing it all Robert and helping us to have a zip-a-dee-doo-da time! (am I a dork? oh yes.)

ps – did you know I have a brick with my name on it at Disney World?  Been there for 18 years!

 

Here’s the deal – my family LOVES Disney.  We love it.  We went on numerous family vacations there and I just have such fun memories of my family and that place.  This year, my mom had this idea to get the whole family together for a quick little Disney trip.  The purpose of the trip was really so she could get a picture of the grandbabies all together for her Christmas card…but we didn’t care about the reason, we just wanted to go!  When everything was first planned, we weren’t even going to go into The Magic Kingdom.  We were just going to go see Santa at Downtown Disney and then maybe do a little shopping.  What were we thinking?!  The morning we left for Florida, everyone made the (smart) decision to change our plans and do it up right…Disney style…which meant The Magic Kingdom.

Sooo…Robert and I left Saturday morning to fly to Orlando.  Maxwell did great on the flight and we got there around noon.  After a quick lunch and nap at the hotel, we headed over to The Magic Kingdom.

Always important to hydrate when you’re going to be out in the sun…

When we bought our tickets they gave my Dad this button since his birthday was last week.  Everywhere we went that day, Disney staff were constantly saying “Happy Birthday, Steve!”  It was pretty funny.

When we finally got in, we had the take the obligatory entrance picture…

Exciting stuff!  We then met up with Keath, Jen, Delaney and Nate and headed for our first stop – a meet and greet with the main mouse himself.

Maxwell didn’t cry…but he wasn’t exactly thrilled with them either!

After we checked that off the list, it was over to see Santa.  The line was a little long but Maxwell didn’t mind because he had plenty of entertainment.  Namely me….

Robert…

and cousin Nate.

When we finally got up to see the big man, Maxwell reacted just as I suspected…

Guess he’s gonna be on the naughty list!

He calmed down a bit and we got a family pic…

Don’t you like how I’m hooked arms with Santa?  He was a jolly soul.

Maxwell’s favorite part of the Santa experience was definitely the candy cane he got after…

And, just for the record, Nate’s on the naughty list too!

I think that’s enough for today!  More Disney to come tomorrow!!