Our Amazing Vacation: Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida - Day Three

We set our alarms for Wednesday morning since we had reservations at Chef Mickey's for breakfast.  After catching the bus from the Treehouses to the Saratoga Springs resort, we then caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom and from there we caught the Monorail to the Contemporary Resort!  (See why it takes us an  hour to get anywhere?)  It was well worth it, however.  You could actually see the Monorail from the restaurant and we got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.  The kids loved it!  Even Gabe, who is barely familiar with them, loved meeting them!

We had so much fun getting to know Justin & Erica better!  They are awesome!

We took the Monorail back to Magic Kingdom and our first stop was the Souvenir Shop as Gabe had seen a bunch of people with "Mouse Hats" and continued to ask for them.  We tried them on him and Brad and I just died.  Oh my goodness, he looked so sweet in the mouse ears.  Amalie picked out a sequined pair of Minnie Mouse ears and when I lifted her up to see herself in the store mirror, Brad snapped a picture of her reaction.  Isn't that awesome?

Gabe actually ended up choosing a Mickey Mouse stuffed doll instead of the Mouse ears which he loved and hugged and continued to say, "Mouse!"

We got lucky and caught a parade on our way in.  The kids loved it and Amalie waved to all of the characters.  Seeing the park through her eyes, it really was magical!  At the end of the parade, they launched confetti- it was colorful, metallic Mickey mouse heads- and the kids scrambled to pick up as many as they could.
Our first stop was the Carousel- which was really the only ride Amalie cared about!  I went on with Gabe, and Noah and Amalie had their own chargers.

We headed to "It's a small world" after that.  Amalie was completely enchanted by it.  I remembered that my Mom had written in my journal that when my family had taken a trip to DisneyLand when I was about 4, it had been one of my favorites as well.  The ride looked as though it hadn't changed in 30 plus years!  It was fun, though.  While in line for the Winnie the Pooh ride, I realized that if I was going to take Gabe back to the treehouse for a nap, and get back in time for our dinner reservations at 4:30, I needed to leave now!  Amalie was all too happy to leave with me and Gabe, since Papa had given me his credit card and told me to let the kids pick out something from the souvenir shop on our way out.  Amalie picked out a darling Minnie Mouse dress (i can't tell you how thrilled Brad and I were that she didn't pick out a princess dress!) and Gabe finally got his Mouse ears.  Oh man, I just want to give him kisses all over his face- he is so cute in that hat!

We stopped for a snack and when I turned around after the transaction, Gabe was fast asleep in the stroller.  So now I had a dilemna.  There was no way he was going to stay asleep if I had to take him out of the stroller when I got on the bus.  So we stayed.  Amalie was already tired and it was a little hot (love that Florida winters are so lovely, it was a nice break from the frigid cold and snow!) and so we sat down to eat her snack.  It was pretty nice, except for the seagulls swarming some people with french fries and Amalie's head getting scratched by a greedy bird!
Gabe's nap only lasted about 25 minutes or so and after we went to the bathroom and ate our snacks, it didn't make sense to make the 2 hour round trip so Gabe could maybe get a 45 minute nap, so we happily stayed at the park!
Brad, Noah, Jeff, Mary, Justin and Erica were still at the Winnie the Pooh ride, so I took Amalie & Gabe to ride the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.  It was fun!  We got Amalie changed into her Minnie dress and then we went to the Tiki Room, the Jungle Cruise, and explored the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house.  After that, we met up with the rest of the group.  I was utterly exhausted, we'd had way too much fun, and I had been holding Gabe a lot and it was hot in my long sleeved shirt and jeans, so it was a good exhausted.


Justin and Erica kept going while the rest of us rested.  Noah begged me to take him on the Magic Carpets as well, so I complied and I almost made them exit without going on the ride when they fought over who would get to control the ride.  Thankfully, after that threat, they worked it out and we had a good time.

We went over to Cinderella's Castle where we had dinner reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table.  Gabe had fallen asleep on the ride over and luckily they let us bring in the stroller so we didn't have to wake him up. We took our picture with Cinderella, and then went upstairs.  It was a real treat to get to eat in the castle!  It was decked out and our waiter was in full costume and character!  The Disney Princesses strolled from table to table, visiting and taking pictures.  Since our party was so big, they set some of us at a big table and  then had a smaller table that Brad and I got to sit at together, with sleeping Gabe pulled up to.  The princesses mistakenly thought we were our own party and would come up in full character, trying to give us our money's worth!  It was kind of funny, especially when Snow White came up, affecting a baby voice and checking out our sleeping baby.  I was getting a little worried she might try to wake him up with a kiss!  Amalie got to meet all the princesses that were there; Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Belle and said to Bubby Mary that it was "the best day in my life!"  I know that made Bubby feel good after she'd put so many hours of her time and money into this trip for us!

"Please don't wake up my baby with a kiss!"

We were up on a balcony and this was the view downstairs.  Ariel is greeting people, and a waiter is in full costume.  So fun! 

We were all (except for Erica and Justin) fully exhausted after dinner and headed back to the Treehouse.  After we got Gabe down for the night, Bubby and Papa generously watched Noah and Amalie and put them to bed for us so Brad and I could go shopping at Downtown Disney.  It was lovely and relaxing and we topped off the night with a rejuvenating dip in the jacuzzi.
What a day!