Last Day: Magic Kingdom

We spent the entire day at Magic Kingdom. We arrived before the park opened and saw the opening ceremony which we had never seen before. Mickey, Daisy, Chip n Dale, and Stitch came in on the steam train waving at everyone. It was cute, but I really do not enjoy the masses of people trying to get through the doors! Ugh! Worth having a reservation before the park opens I think!

We made a beeline for Dumbo, because Katie did not do it the last day, and Corey and Noah went to the Speedway. Katie saw Ariel while Mama waited in line for Dumbo...the wait for Ariel was...3 minutes! yay! Then off to Toon Town to try and see those fairies!!! You wouldn't believe the huge crowd of people and almost every single one got in the fairy line as the area opened. Mickey was just standing there waving...no one headed to his house :( If Corey had been there I bet Noah would have had some fun one on done time with Mickey!

Pixie Hollow is beautiful! SO well done! The waiting hallway is decorated to look like a forest with sparkling little "fairies" as lights shooting down the branches occassionally. Then, inside the meeting area, it is made to look like you have been shrunk down to the size of a fairy, with giant flowers, leaves, and other various fairy knick knacks. Katie loved meeting Irridessa, Tinkerbell, and Fawn. We then were off to tour Minnie and Mickey's houses and then over to Fantasyland to hit up some things we missed before. We did the Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's Philharmagic again, It's a Small World, then took the train around to the front gate to head "home" for lunch and rest.

The crowds were really heavy today compared to the rest of the week. There was a 50 minute wait for Ariel before we left, 45 minute waits for Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh....it just seemed so much heavier than when we were here this time last year...I know this was heading into President's Day weekend and I heard several people say they had taken advantage of the buy 4/get 3 offer. The weather has been pretty warm as well. Into the low 80s during the day...not a drop of rain *which is nice* BUT we had paid for pool heat for our private pool in our rental and it has gotten too hot to even get in!!! ARGH! Last year when we came it was in the low 70s for highs. I guess I should have asked about cancelling the pool heat.

Anyway, we got back to the park around 5:30-6pm and started staking our place to watch the parade and fireworks. I wanted the tree spot in Liberty Square, but the renovations on the Hall of Presidents was really blocking the view of the castle, you couldn't really see it at all. So, we basically walked the route of the parade trying out different spots and evaluating the pros/cons. Corey LOVED this process..HA HA!!!! We ended up in a spot I had heard of before but didn't think of since we were trying to see the parade as well. We were on the Terrace of the Tomorrowland noodle restaurant. We weren't super close to the parade, but the view of the fireworks was just simply breathtaking. It could not have been more perfect so I will continue to stalk this location for every trip from now on!

About Spectromagic: This parade really didn't live up to the hype for me. Maybe it was completely because we weren't on the "sidelines" and didn't have a close-up view, but I thought it would be just totally amazing. Don't get me wrong, it was a "good" parade. The lights are cool, but maybe it is just something you have to experience up close. We could see pretty well from the terrace, esp where they crossed over the bridge, but...I don't know....I guess I could live without this one. I thought the part at the end was very good..the switching back and forth of colors. I have since heard from people in the online group, that you definitely had to experience it "up close" but I guess we don't know what we're missing..ha ha.

We did not get to see the day parade this time, but I saw the Christmas one and I loved being able to see SO MANY characters in the parade. That will definitely be a priority the next time we come...

SO...after the fireworks we hit up Buzz Lightyear (Noah's fav) and Magic Carpets (Katie's fav). Bought a balloon on the way out and rode in the monorail back to the parking lot. We requested to sit in the front of the monorail and were able to...we were with a guy who was training which kind of made me nervous, but it was interesting to hear the "trainer" ask the guy all sorts of questions...there is definitely more to that job than you would think.

We still have a day left on our tickets because we got the good deal from Undercover tourist but now we are out of days of being here....so sad and wish I could stay one more day but not sure I would hold up. We had planned to do the parade and fireworks our first night here but we were just totally wiped out and didn't feel like it. Really regretting that now!

Late night, great day! Corey can't wait to go back next year, so that makes it a huge success! I have actually since our trip, talked Corey into agreeing that he and I should take a trip for just the two of us. So, it looks like if everything gets planned out and works out, that he and I will be heading down to stay ON SITE in December for an extended weekend. We will be celebrating 10 YEARS of being together (not married, just together) WOW! Since we are planning on doing that we figured the "family" vacation next year would be a truly relaxing "beach" trip. I am very much looking foward to doing a "couple" trip though. December is a great time to be at the resort and we will also use the Universal ticket I won. Fun fun!!!!

I hope you enjoyed my trip reports. Please feel free to comment!!! I will have one more slideshow to post when I get our photopass CD in the mail. Those shots are SO GOOD! Can't wait to share them!