Disney World 2008

Another year has gone by since we were last at Disney World. However, this year I had the distinct pleasure of flying with two children by myself. Matt left earlier in the week for a conference that is scheduled the same time every year. Troy, Emma and I left on Thursday morning and arrived mid-afternoon to heat! The temperatures were starting to get a little cold here in Minnesota. So, it was great to get some warmer temperatures down in Orlando. We left almost instantly on arrival to our hotel for Downtown Disney.

For those that are not familiar with the World that is Disney, Downtown Disney is the only part of Disney that is FREE to enter! They have a large legoland and many other great things to see and do. This area is more for adults, though. It holds the areas night clubs and Cirque du soleil shows. It is a lot of fun. If you want to see more photos of Downtown Disney, please see last years photos with Nanna Ann.

Friday was a special day, because Matt had scheduled a character breakfast for Troy. He scheduled a fantastic buffet breakfast with some of the Little Einsteins characters! We did not tell Troy, though, that anyone was joining us. The look on his face when Disney's Goliath, from Jo Jo's Circus, came out was priceless. Then, he saw Leo from across the room. I think everyone in the park heard him yell out, "Mummy! It's Leo!" He couldn't wait to see his favorite character. During the meet and greets, the characters also danced. The kids were encouraged to dance with the characters. However, Troy only wanted to dance with Leo. June and JoJo also joined the other characters. We had a great breakfast and left just in time to "walk quickly" to the Park's new ride - "Toy Story 4D." Grown men were running for this ride! Anyway, we had a lot of fun and made it on before the line got too long. As you can tell, we met a lot of characters along the way.

We were also able to go on many rides this time, because Troy was over the 40" mark. I do not think many 3 year-olds are tall enough for this, but Troy comes by it honestly. We did a lot of things that we did not do last year, so it did not seem like anything was repeated. We left Hollywood Studios for naps back at the hotel. We went to Magic Kindom after naps and stayed for the fireworks to close the park. These fireworks come a close second to the fireworks at Sydney Harbor.
We started off Saturday back at the Magic Kingdom. I had no idea, but there is actually a production before the park is opened. By that, I mean, we were greeted and sung to, to say "Good Morning!" To top it all off for Troy, the train came in with Mickey and his cast of characters. Once they sung and let off confetti, etc. the park was opened. We planned ahead of time where we were going to go. We headed for Tomorrowland, where the Buzz ride was located. There was hardly anyone on it at that time, so Troy kept wanting to go on it he liked it so much. He went on it 3 times before we persuaded him to try another ride and meet Stitch.
We even tried to visit Mickey at his house, but I screwed up and we ended up in the Princess tent instead. I thought we were waiting to meet Disney, Donald and Goofy only to find out that Aurora, Cinderella and Belle were waiting for us! We were invited into the main tent area to see Belle, Cinderella and Aurora standing there just waiting to visit with us! We were told to go to Aurora first. Troy was quite funny visiting with them. They were so in character! I told Aurora that I Sleeping Beauty was my favorite movie, and she replied, "Oh, thank you, your Majesty! "
We commented on how Troy's hair color was the same as hers. She said, "Oh, your hair is spun of gold, just like mine!" We then moved on to Cinderella and finally to Belle. Belle was quite taken with Emma. She gave her a kiss on the forehead that took forever to come off due to their make-up. I must say, it was worth the wait.
We headed back for naps again, and went to Epcot to finish up our Disney adventure. We traveled to see Nemo, but more specifically talk to Crush, the turtle. Troy was quite disappointed that Crush did not pick him to ask a question, but I am sure he will get another chance some other time. One of our final adventures was waiting to see Mickey and his friends. Again, it was worth the wait to see Troy run up to Mickey to give him a hug. This was the same little boy that was so scared of seeing or going up to any of the characters last year. He seemed to have a lot of fun and I think the rest of did as well. Sunday came a little too soon, but it was a lot easier getting home with Matt there. Anyway, it was a great vacation and the weather could not have been better. M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

I am having a hard time emailing or being able to make the pictures larger, so let me know if you would like a particular photo emailed to you.