Magic, Princesses, and Tired Feet

Tacy's hair got crazy curly from the humidity

We had been telling Tacy for a few days that we were going to go see Princesses.  We asked Tacy who she really wanted to see and Tacy told us: Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Rapunzel and Jasmine.  She would also add Minnie Mouse to that list too sometimes.  Also funny because she loves Frozen so while Ariel is her favorite princess, I would say that Elsa and Anna are close seconds (and yes they are two people but Tacy always says "ElsaAnna" like they are one).

On the Tram

Thank goodness for blogs and our friends to help give us ideas on how to have a good day at Disney with a toddler.  We set up Fast Passes the night before (after we put Tacy to sleep in our hotel).  We arranged to meet Ariel, for Brad and Tacy to drive on the Speedway, for us all to go on Jungle cruise, and then Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain for Brad and I.  Since Tacy is free she can't get any fast passes and just goes with a parent.  Brad and I could each get 3.  So we tried to pick things for all of us to do and things we could split up (like meeting a princesses, driving cars, and adult roller coasters).  We learned about Rider Swap, where an adult can get a fast pass for say Thunder Mountain, and then when going to the line with your family you tell the cast member that you want to do Rider Swap so they give you a ticket to give to the parent waiting with the child.  That way once I was done riding Thunder Mountain, Brad could then go in the Fast Pass line (without needing to use his own Fast pass) and get right on.  That's how we both got to ride Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain - by going alone and trading being with Tacy.

Tacy loved riding the Tram from the parking lot to the boats/monorail.  The line for the monorail was really long so we took the ferry across the lake/pond to Magic Kingdom.  Then we went in to the park.  We saw Micky and Minnie taking pictures but thought that we would go use our morning fast passes and come back.  Tacy saw Minnie Mouse and was sad not to get in the line to see her.  But we walked into Tomorrowland and saw that there were super short lines everywhere.  So we all rode on the Speedway (Tacy was with Brad and I was along).  My car had no guts, seriously, I had my foot down the whole time and going up some of those hills I was completely stopped until Brad would bump into me from behind (they were love pushes).  Poor Brad and Tacy were stuck behind my dead car.  But Tacy didn't care because she had fun "steering".

We all rode the People Movers, which basically takes you all around Tomorrowland and tells you about each ride/attraction.  Tacy got a little scared in the dark spots.  Then Brad went to ride Space Mountain while Tacy and I did Astro Blastor.  Tacy loved it!  She loved controlling the height of our space ship (after I showed her how).  Gosh that ride feels like it is spinning fast when it is ending and coming down.

On the Astro Blaster, this picture makes me laugh

We were sad that the Buzz ride was closed (apparently Buzz and Peter Pan are closed every Thursday for refurbishment :( ) So we left Tomorrowland, walked around Cinderella Castle (per Tacy's request) and went to go meet Ariel.  I worried that Tacy would be shy and that I would have to walk up to every princess with her, but she ran up to Ariel when it was her turn.  She started showing Ariel her dress (she was wearing her Minnie Mouse dress) and talking about Ariel's clothes and bubbles.  She was talking away and loved it!  It was adorable.

After Ariel we rode Ariel's ride.  Then we went and stood in line to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel.  Their line was only a 20 minutes wait (as opposed to Elsa and Anna's 120 minutes wait).  So we moved pretty quick, and were inside a nice air conditioned castle designed room most of the time.  Tacy talked a lot with Cinderella and Rapunzel too.  She and Rapunzel talked about shoes and Rapunzel told her how she did not use to wear shoes but now she does because she learned how important they are.  That made me laugh because Brad had been wondering if she would be wearing shoes or not.

After meeting those princesses, Brad managed to swap out his speedway fast pass (that we didn't use) to reserve a time to meet Elsa and Anna.  Then we walked over to Adventureland for Jungle Cruise.  As we were walking over, the Move It dance party was going on.  I was a little sad to be missing it, but Brad wanted to get over to the adventureland.  So we climbed through The Swiss Family Treehouse (Tacy loved the water and all the stairs) and then we got onto Jungle Cruise.  Tacy loved seeing all the animals and water of course.  I love Jungle cruise because the conductors are always so funny.  After Jungle Cruise we then went over and stood in line for Pirates of the Carribean.  It was maybe a 25 minute wait, so not bad again for not having a fast pass.  Tacy did get scared in the dark (thank you for the glow sticks Anita!  We used them to help distract Tacy from the scariness of dark places during rides), but I love that ride so much and she enjoyed watching the pirates I think.

On Jungle Cruise, Tacy was a little distracted by the animals and conductor

We took a lunch break and ate our peanut butter sandwhiches and granola bars.  Then we walked over to Frontierland and I rode Thunder Mountain (I love that ride so much) then traded with Brad so he rode it and then went straight over to Splash Mountain.  While Tacy and I waited for Brad, Tacy ran around the little play area by Splash Mountain.  It was aimed for kids younger than her, but she still had fun climbing and watching other kids.  She would run over to me every now and then to give me a hug, ask for water, or to take a goldfish break before going back to playing.  Then Brad was done so I rode Splash Mountain.  When I finished, Brad and Tacy were in line to meet Woody and Jessie.  Tacy loves Toy Story but by the time we got up to meet them she got scared and was crying throughout the pictures (I think it's because they are in full costume and don't talk like the princesses - big heads would be a little intimidating to me too if I didn't understand).  I think this was the longest line we waited in all day, not necessarily because it was long, but because it was slow.  You met Woody and Jessie at the same time and they spent like 5 minutes with each person taking pictures and hugging.  Oh well.

Unhappy Tacy

Silly faces on the train

After Woody and Jessie, we rode the train back to Fantasyland.  We still had time until we got to meet Elsa

and Anna so Tacy played in the water by the circus area (it was hot so it felt good).  Then we rode Brain Stormer and she was just tall enough for her first coaster.  She did not make a sound the whole time during the ride and just stayed close to me (it reminded me of when I went on my first coaster and was too scared to even scream) but then she was fine once we got off and said she had fun.  Then Tacy and I rode Dumbo (Brad is not good at circle rides).  Then we all walked over and waited in line for 5 minutes (yay for Fast passes) to see Elsa and Anna.  Elsa told Tacy that Olaf's favorite color is pink so he would love her dress and be her best friend.  Anna was fun and played hide and seek with the girl before Tacy because she was scared/shy.  Tacy of course walked right up to her and talked away about clothes again.

After the princesses, Tacy and I rode the merry-go-round and then we all went on It's a Small World.  Tacy enjoyed it.  By then we were all tired and it was getting late.  We walked back around the castle for Tacy and went into a store along Main Street where Tacy picked out a princess place mat.  Then we took the Ferry back to the Tram and rode the Tram to the car.  Tacy fell asleep within 2 mintues of being in the car.  We did stop at Checkers on the way back to the hotel to get burgers, fries, and shakes.  Tacy woke up at the hotel and ate some, took a bath, and then went right to sleep.  We walked over 16,000 steps that day and my feet were so tired!  But it was so fun, even though we missed all the parades, we were busy all day and did not have to wait very long for anything.  We all had fun and got lots of fun pictures!