Disney World's Magic Kingdom

We live right next door to Disney World. We can see (and hear) the fireworks each night. Last summer we went to Animal Kingdom but it really isn't the same as going to the Magic Kingdom. We wanted to take Tetyana when she knew English well so we could understand her reaction to going. She also still gets pretty over stimulated when we go to large stores like Target. She has to touch everything! We knew Disney would be crazy for her.

Last week I told Drew that I really wanted to take her. I knew many schools are out for Spring Break already and over the next few weeks the park would be totally crazy. I refuse to go any later than early May because it is so hot and crowded. It just isn't fun to spend the entire day there and only be able to ride 3 rides. So it was either this week or wait until after Spring Break.

We decided to let the kids go to school in the morning and pick them up after lunch. We didn't tell them anything. When I went to pick them up Luke came down first. He thought he had another doctors visit but I told him he had to wait until his sister was there and then I would tell him what I was doing at school. When T came out I told them we had a very important appointment with the head mouse. They looked at me funny and then I told them we were headed to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. They were so excited! On our way Tetyana kept saying "Ok, Tetyana relax". It was so cute!

Tetyana had no idea what to expect. She had never seen a parade before. We got there just before the first parade so we got a great spot to sit and watch. One of the dancers even stopped by to chat with T and take a picture. I wish I could have been inside Tetyana's head to see what she was thinking!

The park was much more crowded than I thought it was going to be. Space Mountain had a line that was supposed to take 100 minutes! We decided to try the smaller rides first and go back to the bigger ones after dinner. We rode the tea cups, drove the cars at Indy Speedway (which gave me a glimpse into Luke's driving abilities-scary!), visited the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, spent a lot of time in Toontown (you can see T's favorite place was Minnie's fridge!), Goofy's run away train, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and watched some comedy at Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor.

When we got off of Goofy's ride there were some Disney staff members asking if we would be part of a taste test for cotton candy. I am such a stickler for eating healthy food, Tetyana had never tried cotton candy. They had a blue bag and a pink bag and they were to try each kind and see which they liked better. They liked the pink one much better (and so did I!). They gave the kids Honorary Taste Tester certificates and some buttons. Tetyana's said "celebrating her first time at Disney". She was so proud!!

We wanted to have pictures taken with all of the characters but the line for Minnie and Mickey was over 2 hours!!! We did eat at a character restaurant (by accident) and all of the Pooh characters were there. Luke thought it was "so stupid!" but let me take his picture anyway.

We were able to catch the night time parade also. It was so beautiful. We stayed and closed the park down (even on a school night!). The kids were exhausted and so were we. I am so glad we finally got to take Tetyana!