Magic Kingdom

Today was spent at Magic Kingdom. The kids were very excited to get out and have a little freedom after being cooped up on a bus for 24 hours. Everyone had the day to enjoy the park.

Right away we (meaning Mike, Em, and I - Austin was seen for a mere 5 minutes on this trip!) headed for Fantasyland, as that's the part of the park Em remembers from our last trip. She wanted to see Cinderella's castle and make a wish in the wishing well. We couldn't walk through the middle of the castle, since there was a show going on at the time, but we did weave our way up the side to throw some pennies into the wishing well.

We got a speed pass for the Peter Pan's Flight, then stood in line at It's a Small World. The line wasn't too bad - maybe 30 minutes. It was fun to see all the different countries and be able to say which ones we had visited. By the time that ride ends, you're just about out of your mind from the song!

Mike and I talked Em into going in the Haunted Mansion. She was nervous at first, but once we got past the part where the room grows and on the actual ride, she was fine. From there, we explored Tom Sawyer Island - something we hadn't ever done before. That was cool. Just a bunch of nooks and crannies to run around and hide in. Would be a great place to let a group of kids loose for a few hours...

Other places we made it to were the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, (Em wouldn't ride it! Good thing - that baby flies!), Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (I won high score!), Monster's Inc., Laugh Floor, Minnie's Country House, Swiss Family Treehouse, Tomorrowland Speedway, and Em's least favorite, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. Quite a few rides considering how many people were in the park. We could've gotten on more if we weren't so cold and tired! Mike and I attempted Space Mountain, but the Speed Pass line closed before we could get a ticket! The roller coasters were out of the question for Em, so that cuts down on a few rides.

After a 2:00 chaperone check-in, the band kids had to meet at 6:45 to get ready for the pre-SpectroMagic parade, which didn't start until 8:30. We staked our claim on Main Street USA and waited for Mike to get back from helping the band kids. We were doing our best to stay warm and keep the energy up after such a long and tiring day. Then it started snowing... Of course this is due to the Magic of Disney, which may be amusing when it's 70 degrees out, but not when you've traveled 23 hours on a bus to escape the snow and cold! The temperature had to be in the 40's, and it was so cold that we broke down and bought a blanket from the vendor walking up and down the street just to make it bearable!

The crowds were gathering and the main street was being cleared to get ready for the parade. How exciting when they started to announce the 3 bands performing, and how disappointing when they announced us as Gates Chill-ee, as in a hot tasty meal made with beans and beef!

The kids did a great job! They sounded and looked great, despite having stood for hours before marching. It was very hard to get pictures, but I did my best. At least I did get one of Austin and his sousaphone with the fancy new Spartan covers.

I can honestly say we sounded the best of the three bands. The last band, from Tulsa, OK hardly played: instead of playing a full song, they opted to play a 20 second refrain, then march to a drum beat for 1 minute before playing different snippet.

The Spectromagic parade started at 9 pm. By then me and Emma were so frozen, that we took cover in a restaurant while Mike helped backstage with the band kids, then met with his wards to watch the fireworks. The plan was for all the kids to be with their chaperone for the fireworks, and then head back to the buses immediately following. Em wasn't feeling well, so we never even looked out at the parade. We did find a good seat for the fireworks, and snuggled up as best as we could. We headed back toward the buses a little early, seeing the finale from the ferry boat on our way back to the main entrance.

It was 11 pm before we got back to the hotel, and boy, were we exhausted!