Danny and I took Britton on his first trip to Disney World last week. We wouldn't have taken such a young tot had Danny not had a conference there for part of the week. Nevertheless, we had a great time spending seven whole days down there, and Britton handled it all far better than we thought. When I say "it all," I am referring to no naps, nearly unbearable heat, high humidity, big crowds and lots of standing around and waiting. My mom and sister came too, and we all survived the blazing heat and had a really good time!
Magic Kingdom
Here we are on morning #1 at Magic Kingdom. This was before we got hot and sweaty and our hair went crazy curly in the humidity.
Waiting in line to ride on Dumbo.
Having a melt down before Dumbo starts. The wait and the heat were getting to him.
But he LOVED it when it started going.
Then he cried again when he had to get off. Hard to explain to a 17-month-old why the ride must come to an end. :o(
Sitting in the shade for a bit.
We quickly got in line for It's a Small World, which turned out to be his favorite ride, by far. As we were riding, he kept looking into the room ahead to see what was coming up next. Lots of ooos and and ohs and aahs.
Some live action:
This video cracks me up. Danny and I thought my mom was taking a picture, so we're grinning from ear to ear. Don't think Danny ever got the memo. And I love that fake surprise look I give at the end. Fun times:
Next, we did our only character meal of the week at the Crystal Palace. We had lunch with Winnie the Pooh and gang.
Britton loved looking at the characters from a distance, but didn't like them up close so much. He has no clue that Piglet is right behind him here!
He did, however, know that Winnie the Pooh was behind him.
Being silly and enjoying the cool air conditioning at the Crystal Palace. Apparently, you have to get reservations months in advance at nearly all Disney restaurants now. I called only a week in advance and was able to snag this one. I'll be better prepared next time.
Did I mention it was HOT?
This is what one day at Disney World will do to parents!
Hollywood Studios
On day 2 of our trip, we hit Hollywood Studios. Britton especially loved the Disney Playhouse show where he saw Handy Manny, the Little Einsteins and the Pooh family perform live. Frankly, he has no clue who these characters are, but he loved the performance. He stood, danced and clapped the whole time.
Trying on the Mickey ears.
The adults loved the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rock 'n Roller Coaster (shown above). Danny and I in front and my sister is back right. Many thanks to my mom, who did not want to ride rollercoasters, for taking care of Britton so we could do them. Fun times!
Britton sported curly hair all week thanks to the heat and humidity.
More crazy hair.
Animal Kingdom
We spent our 3rd day at Animal Kingdom. This was my first time there and it was really fun. They say, for some reason, that Animal Kingdom is the "hottest" park, and it was true for us. So brutally hot that day (100+). Definitely the hardest day of the week. Anyway, Animal Kingdom had real-life street scenes from Africa and Nepal, which seemed quite authentic. Definitely not like Magic Kingdom's polished/plastic-y look. Also, had a Dinoland. Less to do for Britton's age at this park, but he is young. The one thing he did like a lot was Rafiki's Planet Watch where he could meet live animals, up close and personal.
The Tree of Life -- a ginormous faux tree with animals carved in it. You can see them better if you click on and enlarge it.
The big thing at Animal Kingdom is the Safari ride. You board a big truck and it takes you through a huge safari area where lions, hippos, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo and others are roaming freely.
Here he is in the petting zoo at Rafiki's Planet Watch with the goats and sheep.
First lesson in not pulling tails!
The sheep bearing a Mickey face.
As is his norm, he called all the animals "dogs" or "daga" in Britton-speak. Here is some live action:
Here he is touching some kind of exotic lizard. This boy shows no fear (except when it comes to a 6-foot Winnie the Pooh or something).
They were doing a surgery at Rafiki's Planet Watch and everyone could watch. My mom, the OR nurse, filled us in on what they were doing -- a tubal ligation (tube tying) -- on a mandril monkey. So .... no more monkeys jumping on the bed! ;o)
We wised up this day and got a portable fan/spray bottle. Britton napped much more comfortably! While he napped, we rode the Everest roller coaster and the Dinosaur ride -- both were awesome. In fact, Danny and I came back another day by ourselves and ate at the African buffet and rode those two rides again. Unfortunately, the two activities (eating & riding) didn't mix, and Danny felt the effects for the rest of the day!
At the end of the day, goofing around. Usually, by the day's end, we were so hot we would hang out in the gift shops until our shuttle arrived to pick us up. So, naturally, we would come home...
... jump in the pool...
...and raise the roof.
Epcot
We hit Epcot on our fourth day. We actually took the day off and went to Epcot in the evening.
Britton loved playing in the tubes while we rode Mission Space at Epcot.
We took shelter from a scary lightning and thunder storm in Morocco at Epcot. I enjoyed "introducing" Britton to the country I spent some time in back in the day. We ate some decently authentic Moroccan food, toured the market, and drank some mint tea.
On the carousel at Magic Kingdom on our last day.
As we were walking out of the park on the very last day, we ran into Pluto and took a picture.
Britton loved being out on the balcony at our condo.
Peek-a-boo.
A view of the resort we stayed at.
Britton with his Aunt Giggles.
And that's all of my Disney World pictures! We look forward to our next trip ... a few years from now ... in the winter.
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