I must say, this is a lovely view to wake up to every morning! I really have enjoyed grabbing a cup of coffee and spending just a few minutes of quiet out on the balcony overlooking the savannah this week!
I think this is some kind of vulture, which pretty much stays in the same tree--or at least every time I look it's there!
pretty little sleepyheads
Addie is a wonder of knowledge regarding anything and everything Disney. It's really impressive how much she knows about Disney history and trivia. This morning on the bus she was reading us a blog post about Pixar films characters. (I don't think any of us were quite smart enough to follow. But we enjoyed her passion for the subject!)
Annah and Sylvia are very spoiled this week! Addie has done their hair in super cute styles every day!
Look where we are today!!!!! I LOVE the Magic Kingdom! Not only does it hold great memories for me that make me go all "When I was a kid..." on my kids, but I still love the fun, magic, and fantasy of it! It is Disney World to me, and really feels like the "happiest place on earth!"
We got up very early so we could be here for the Rope Drop Show.
Caeden was happy and dancing...
The Mayor of the Magic Kingdom came out to welcome us!
And so did some of his friends!
Here's a bit of video of the show:
Our Fastpass runners took off one direction, and the rest of us walked as quickly as we could, through Cinderella's Castle...
...past Cinderella's Carousel...
...past construction on Snow White's Mine Train ride...
...and into NEW Fantasyland!
We made a beeline for Enchanted Tales with Belle, which had a posted wait time of 15 minutes already, even though we pretty much raced there as soon as the park opened.
The area already looks and feels like it's always been there...
the outside of Belle's cottage
Beast's Castle tower off in the distance...
One thing I appreciate about Disney is the appreciation for details. ;)
inside Maurice's workshop (Belle's cottage)
a painted portrait of Belle as a girl with her mother, reading her favorite book, Sleeping Beauty
The book itself is in the cottage too, of course.
some of "Crazy Old Maurice's" invention drawings...
the enchanted mirror
This mirror was really magical! Once we were all in the room, it became animated and grew and became a door!
Once we stepped through the magical-mirror-turned-door, we were greeted by Madame Wardrobe, who is very animated!
This cast member chose and asked for volunteers who wanted to participate in the story. Shannon was the first chosen, and he was a suit of armor. Of course, Caeden raised his hand. He was chosen to be a salt shaker.
We went into Beast's Library and took a seat. Everything is beautiful in here!
In the library, we were greeted by a very animated Lumiere! He asked us to surprise Belle by offering to help her tell a story when she arrived. He called her in and we all said, "Surprise!"
We captured a few minutes of video between us:
Belle was happy for us all to act out a "tale" together.
The little guy who was chosen to play Chip the Teacup was so cute. He followed the boy who was playing Beast, who was asked to roar. Chip was supposed to say, "Hello!" but he roared too. It was adorable.
proud little salt shaker
Belle thanked each character who participated in the story and posed for a photo with each.
Rapunzel's tower is now in Fantasyland!
more of new Fantasyland
Gaston's Tavern!
heading into the new Voyage of the Little Mermaid ride
riding in clamshells
animatronic Ariel
a little video action:
I think our group all agreed that even though it's a new ride, it has a great "classic Disney" feel. Very sweet and enjoyable.
Addie taking a picture of Reece with Gaston outside his Tavern :)
While the daddies were off getting more Fastpasses, we stopped at Gaston's Tavern.
"I use antlers in all of my decorating!"
The kids could not wait to try a Lefou's brew!
It's slushy frozen apple juice with marshmallow fluff and a passion fruit-mango topping.
We shared.
We noticed the tally marks on the dart board. Oh Gaston. What a fun stop!
As we set out to meet up with the daddies, Caeden was nabbed by Lady-in-waiting Bridget.
(I don't know...He isn't wearing a shirt that says, "Pick me! Pick me!" but something about him must say it!! Shannon says that if we ever decide to play the lottery, we should have Caeden pick the numbers because it's always his turn!)
Bridget is a royal consultant and an ambassador of Cinderella's court who was walking through Fantasyland with Squire Tobias and The Royal Majesty Makers. They gathered us and some other folks who were walking through the area and engaged us in a magical merry-making moment.
...including poking fun at this guy who was wearing a My Little Pony t-shirt! Ha!
Bridget was quite funny, and she had the kids in a circle doing a quick little dance while the quartet played lovely live royal music. It was a fun little unexpected moment!
Time for Peter Pan's Flight! Thankfully, we had Fastpasses!
As we whipped through the Fastpass line and are close to getting on the ride, I heard people shouting my name. Jeremy said, "Taryn! Look who it is! It's the Lane's!" I turned around and there is the Lane family, our friends from church! Neither of us knew the other would be here, and we laughed at the fact that we ended up in the same line at Disney World at the same time 1,000 miles from home! So funny!
Peter Pan is such a quick, but cool ride! It's so fun to fly through it and feel like you're in the cartoon!
It's a Small World was next. I love it. Love. It.
Our wonderful, wonderful friends! God has blessed us in so many ways by putting us together in life!!
A tiny taste of that great song:
more traveling through beautiful new Fantasyland...This area is inspired by the movie Tangled, which we love. Look--the lanterns! And the suns! And Rapunzel's painting around the doorway!
And, her frying pan hung carefully above the entrance! Hee hee!
Off to another "old favorite..."
the stretching room
"Don't forget your DEATH certificate!"
We stopped for lunch at the Columbia Harbor House.
I thought the nautical theming was nice and cozy feeling.
We were on a mission, so didn't stop to listen long to this trio--but enjoyed their music as we passed.
I think this may end up being one of my very favorite photos and moments of our entire trip! We were walking into Frontierland and were all excited. The kids just linked arms and walked along like the buddies that they are--so, so, so, so sweet!
Oh, a favorite! The regular line was realllllly loooong!
But we were in the Fastpass line!
Such a cute story of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Bear...
And, of course the big SPLASH is great fun!
Zipadeedoodah, zipadeeyay!
Next we rode the Magic Kingdom train.
Someone was getting a little pouty. Time to head back to the resort for some rest!
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