more magic at the castle

our last disney day we spent at magic kingdom. the weather took a drastic turn and we woke up to temperatures barely above freezing. so, we bundled up and hit the park.

we began with mickey's house which is set up like a museum, and then headed out to the judges tent to meet mickey and minnie.

meeting mickey and minnie was one of the things they had been anticipating the entire trip.

next, we headed to minnie's adorable pink and purple cottage. she is a much better hostess than mickey as we were allowed to sit on the sofa. isn't it adorable? i only wish all my fabrics were covered in laminate. it would definitely be more kid friendly!

spencer began giving kisses this week complete with the "mmmmm" sound. so, we spent a lot of time giving and receiving. "mmmmm . . . ."

who knew minnie loved to sew!
then we were off to the barnstormer-their first roller coaster. they loved it! i think we might have a couple of thrill seekers on our hands. after lunch at pinocchio village haus, we grabbed fast passes to peter pan's flight, checked on the wait time at ariel's grotto and then headed to adventureland. 

spencer played peek-a-boo with josh while we waited in line at aladdin's magic carpets.

we paired off while we waited our turn.

then, we enjoyed another version of everyone's favorite ride.
we also rode pirates of the caribbean and the jungle cruise before we headed back to fantasyland. miller was a little fearful at pirates of the caribbean because you begin in complete darkness like the disastrous dinosaur at animal kingdom, but he was much happier when he found out that pirates filled these caves. he said his favorite part was "when the pirates were happy" at the end.
"yo, ho ho, it's a pirates life for me . . ."

in fantasyland, we began with another ride on the tea cups.

then, ran to fantasy garden with belle.

"who likes to read?"

miller was much more smitten with belle this time around.

and, the lighting was much better. when we were finished it was time for peter pan's flight, and then we finally gave in to the wait at ariel's grotto. the wait time: 50 minutes.

it was the longest wait of the entire trip. we thought it would go faster as the line didn't look that long. the wait was not as entertaining as the other rides-their was no movie clips, no funny banter with flounder or sebastian, no twisty turns that made us think we had been waiting for seconds instead of minutes.

once carter was drenched by the little playground area, we used the only entertainment we know- the camera. my parents swapped out littles-spencer rode small world again, miller rode cinderella's carousel again, they both had a snack at pinocchio's again.

and, just when we thought we couldn't take it anymore, it was our turn. and, we totally understood-we were with her for at least ten minutes.

discussing geography and life on land vs. under the sea

she was so quirky and quick and just like you might imagine ariel to be.

then, miller joined the discussion. again, smitten. ariel decided to make fish faces to make him laugh.

more fish faces

it was so worth the wait!

when we were finished we headed to get settled for the spectromagic parade & fireworks. 

during the fireworks, carter said, "disneyworld is the best city!"

sweet papaw let miller use his his shoulders during the parade which was not short. but, they were in awe and it was a great way to end our time at disney world.

favorites:
carter: meeting ariel and the pirates of the caribbean
miller: the barnstormer and the pirates of the caribbean and getting to buy toy story and pirate souvenirs
spencer: miller's mickey mouse light saber

favorite ride: pirates of the caribbean