I couldn't believe how big Disney World is! This was my first time, but I have been to Disneyland many times. There is a big difference. Here, you really are in your own world. When you park at Magic Kingdom you take a train to get your tickets. Then you ride the monorail that takes you to the park. Then you go through the ticket booth. It's quite the process just to get in!
I can't believe that I only took a few pictures at Magic Kingdom! But the good news is that I got a weekday season pass (pretty much the same price as a three-day admission), so I can go back anytime! Cannon is free until he turns three, so we will definitely be coming back often!
The teacups
Dumbo
I think Cannon's favorite ride was actually Pirates of the Caribbean. He kept talking about how the water splashed. That is one of my favorite rides too. He pretty much liked all of the rides. On Dumbo he got a little scared about going up so high, but he got over it quickly. He kept talking about going "high in the sky." Aladdin's carpet ride is pretty much the same thing and he liked going up high that time.
It was still a little hot and humid both days, but the lines were only about 20 minutes long. I was debating on what to do for his nap, but he ended up falling asleep while we were in line for Small World! I knew he was so tired to do that!
The only thing he didn't like was Mickey's 3-D movie. It freaked him out when things came flying at him! He had just woken up from his nap, so things probably seemed extra weird to him.
His MOST favorite thing was to see the characters! Unfortunately, most of the lines were really long to see the characters. He loved seeing all the characters, even if it wasn't one he knew. Pinocchio was the first one we saw and he cried because he couldn't go meet him (he has never seen that movie). We didn't actually stand in line to meet any characters, but he did get to see Buzz, Pooh Bear, Tigger, and some others. We caught the last 10 minutes of some kind of production, so he got to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy (his favorite). Then right when we were leaving, we happened to be in the front row for the beginning of a parade. It was such perfect timing! We had a really close up view and Cannon finally got to see Woody and Jessie! He was just beaming! Woody even waved right to Cannon.
Animal Kingdom was pretty fun too. They also had a few rides and some characters there as well. The first thing we did was go to the Lion King production. It was amazing! Ryan and I saw Lion King on Broadway a long time ago (SO INCREDIBLE) and this was comparable! They really put a lot of work into the costumes and choreography. It kept Cannon's interest the entire time. One thing about Disney is that they try to be interactive with the audience during shows. This was no different. At one point one of the monkeys came up to Cannon and pretended to get a bug from his head and then offer it to him. It was so funny! He actually wasn't scared, but just a little caught off guard. He even took the "bug" that the monkey offered to him! I wish I had that on video!
We also watched Finding Nemo the musical. I thought they did an excellent job as well! I think Cannon really understood the storyline. I have to be really careful about what he watches because he understands a lot and he gets emotional about things. Definitely no scary movies for him. But at the beginning of this program, Nemo's mom dies. It showed a big flash of light and then the mom and fish eggs were gone. I think Cannon understood what was going on. Immediately he buried his head in Toni and started to cry. Then he wanted to sit on my lap. He kept himself buried in me for most of the time.
Another fun thing was the safari. You get to ride in a type of large jeep/truck thing. You see some amazing animals just like you were in Africa! One of my favorites were the giraffes and a few of them came right to our truck!
Cannon finally got to meet a character! He was so excited and that was the first time he said, "That was fun." He's never seen Tarzan, but he was still excited to meet Terk.
Another fun ride we went on was the river rapids ride. I think I was the only one who wanted to go on it. No one wanted to get wet, but they came along just for me. You have to be at least 38" to ride and Cannon was barely tall enough. I thought it was a fun ride, but I hardly got wet. Poor Toni got completely DRENCHED, twice! Cannon got wet and I think that really surprised him. He was fine going down the big hill, but he got nervous when we were all screaming and laughing. He didn't know what was going on. But after the ride he fondly talked about us getting wet, so I don't think he was traumatized.
Cannon was definitely tired by the end of the day. He didn't have a nap that day either. One of his favorite things to do was ride the train that takes us from the parking lot to the park (and vice versa).
On Saturday we just hung out at the resort. We stayed at the Bonnet Creek Resort, which is a Wyndham Hotel. We were actually in a two bedroom condo on the 14th floor. It was a great location, technically just outside of Disney World, but really close to Downtown Disney. From our balcony you could see Epcot, Downtown Disney, and if you looked really hard you could see Cinderella's castle. I think it was the perfect location. The resort itself was beautiful and I wish we could have had more time to spend there and doing all the of the activities that are offered.
We did go swimming Saturday morning. The temperature dropped quite a bit and we were actually cold when we swam. It wasn't the best swimming weather, but it felt so nice outside!
And Cannon went down this water slide. By himself. Willingly. In fact, I had to restrain him from going up the stairs. Ryan waited at the bottom to catch him. I sat him up to go, but he immediately turned onto his stomach. He looked a little terrified as he went down (it was kind of fast for a little kid), but he wanted to do it again! The life guard wouldn't let him do it again because he couldn't swim.
After we checked out of our condo we went to go see the Orlando Temple. It's only about 15 minutes from Disney and just right down the road. We knew it would be closed that day for General Conference, but we wanted Cannon to see the temple.
It was such a nice day and the humidity was down. It's a beautiful temple and I can't wait to go back again.
2 comments:
I love this post.. it made me really want to go to Disney. Cannon truly is at the perfect age for this park. Your Clearwater Aqu. pictures are great too. We need to plan a date so we can go together, and then hit the beach.
What a fun trip!!! I can't believe everything you guys did. I still keep thinking we'll go when Ryan is older, but I guess he could totally go now! I loved that Cannon went down the slide! What a daredevil! :)
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