Vacation 2011, Day 1, Part 2

Is that title confusing enough for ya?  Good.  :)

Ok, so after lunch, on our first day we hit Pirates of the Caribbean, and got out just in time to watch the parade.  Unfortunately, we hadn't realized Owen's eyes would be so sensitive to the Florida sun, so he wasn't all that impressed.  Buying him sunglasses became a priority after this. 


I have a picture of these two doing this same thing from when we were there in 2004, of course Gerad was holding Natalie up because she couldn't reach.  :)  I'll share that as soon as I can find it. 


We then headed to Tomorrowland for the Buzz Lightyear ride.  Owen thought he'd died and gone to heaven.  He had two typical responses to rides...if he liked it he'd get off of the ride and jump up and down and say he wanted to do it again.  If he wasn't jumping after a ride, it meant he didn't like it...and he'd even ask, "I don't have to ride that one again, do I?" 

But Buzz, oh he liked Buzz!!




When we got off the Buzz ride, we discovered that the REAL Buzz was there!  Signing autographs!  Here we are in line, waiting to meet Buzz.




Ready to meet our first character.  :)


As the week progressed, Owen became more comfortable with the whole character idea.  I don't know if we maybe should have warned him, or shown him pictures, but he was quite apprehensive about approaching the characters alone.  So, we all did it with him!  :)


Yeah, he thought that was pretty cool!  :)


We'd told him he could get a new toy at Disney World, and after an entire day of asking, "Is it time to get my toy yet?" ~ IT was TIME.  He chose a flying Buzz, and he loves it!  :)


Up until this point, I feel we were very fortunate with the wait times and lines.  We didn't wait over 25-30 minutes for anything, even utilizing fast passes along the way, to virtually walk straight on to rides...that all came to a screetching halt for our last activities for the day.

The girls wanted to to Space Mountain.  The sign that shows approximate wait times was down...it had been in and out of operation all afternoon for technical difficulties.  When we saw that it was operational again, we jumped in line.  It was a 70 minute wait.  Now I realize that's not uncommon for Walt Disney World, but it wasn't our pattern for the day, and having walked in not having an approximate wait time in mind...well, it took a while. 

I think Disney is awesome with their parent-swap policy.  Owen isn't tall enough for Space Mountain (thank goodness!!) so Gerad played with him while the girls and I stood in the horrendous line.  Once the girls and I got off, Gerad used the parent-swap pass and the girls got to tag along with him and ride it again with no wait!

Oh yeah, there was one more thing.  Owen got to meet some very special characters while the girls and I were in line for Space Mountain:


Mainstreet on our way out:


Oh, and Disney's nightly fireworks show, Wishes. 

An absolutely beautiful end to a *perfect* first day.  I couldn't have asked for more.  I love Disney, but seeing my kids enjoy it is worth everything.  Owen is well known for his enthusiasm for life, and well...his reactions were the most rewarding thing to watch. 

It really is the happiest place on Earth.  :)
~mj~