Magic Kingdom-Friday - across the miles photography

I was hoping to get this posted last Sunday, but I just ran out of time! I was out of town a few days this week for a wedding, so I didn’t have much of a chance to get it posted last week. I really didn’t mean to leave you all hanging on our last day of vacation! haha!

We woke up Friday & decided to head to Magic Kingdom pretty early to enjoy some last rides on our favorite theme park rides. We had looked at a crowd calendar before the trip, and Friday at Magic Kingdom was given a level 4 ranking (4 out of 10…so it wasn’t supposed to be busy.) Well…it was WRONG! LOL!!! There was a cheerleading competition, and it was grad night. They were closing the park at 7pm and the park would be open that night for high school graduates. They were arriving by the bus load (they were expecting around 15,000 high schoolers that night! Crazy!) It was hot & the lines were long…and we were all getting tired & didn’t want to wait in line!

*quick little story. Have you seen the website peopleofwalmart.com? Well, after spending a day or two at Disney, I kept joking that there needs to be a peopleofdisney.com Only, instead of showing pictures, you’d need to show videos. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, but you can tell when people have hit vacation overload. They suddenly start yelling at their kids, spouses, etc. Kids become little terrors, too! We’d see people snap & Tyler & I would just look at each other and say “People of Disney.com!” It started to get pretty comical!

Well…Friday was probably our peopleofdisney.com day. It started out great. Mason was so excited to ride rides & meet the characters. He told me he really wanted to get woody’s signature. We get to the park & met Chip & Dale & Pinocchio. (For some reason, Pinocchio really scared my kids. I had to get their books signed & had my photo taken with him!) While I was getting signatures, Tyler ran and grabbed fast passes for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin & he rode Space Mountain. We then went and watched the comdedy show at the Laugh Floor & then rode Buzz Lightyear. (Mason’s favorite ride). We then headed over and rode the teacups (Millie’s favorite). Tyler ran and grabbed fast passes for Peter Pan’s flight. We walked around, took a few photos, and saw that Woody & Jessie were out meeting kids. We waited in line…and then Mason started throwing a fit. He didn’t want to meet Woody anymore. He started being pretty ridiculous! We said “You are going to meet Woody!!!!” We had already waited in line & knew this was something he had said he wanted to do earlier. He wouldn’t even look at Woody & wouldn’t get out of his stroller. He wasn’t obeying & we were getting frustrated…it was a peopleofdisney.com moment. Tyler told him if he didn’t quit, he wouldn’t get Mickey ears. I gasped! Taking away Mickey Ears? That’s like taking away the Christmas Tree at Christmas! (Ever seen that episode of Modern family? Hilarious!) Of course, I had to back up Tyler…but I was pouting inside my head for Mason. Millie picked out Princess Ears & kept saying “I met Jessie. I was good! Mason wasn’t.” About 20 minutes later, Tyler said “Do you want to let Mason earn his ears back?” Of course!!! We talked to him about his behavior & he was soooooooo much better. Thankfully! 🙂 We rode Peter Pan’s flight and the decided we’d rather swim than deal with the craziness of Magic Kingdom that day! We went to Main Street & had something we needed to do before we left.

We wanted to let go of balloons at the castle for Miles, but there was a celebration happening in front of the castle. So, we opted for releasing photos for him there on Main street. The photo pass people were wonderful & helped take lots of photos for us. There was a marching band coming down the street, so we couldn’t spend long…but it was so sweet to let the kids pick out balloons for Miles (and they each got one for themselves as well.) We then let them go up to Heaven and said “We love you, Miles!” It was such a sweet moment as a family!

After the balloons, we headed into the gift shop and picked out our souvenir t-shirts & let the kids spend the rest of their money…and Mason got his Mickey ears! 🙂 He picked out some adorable pirate ears. He thought it was funny that there was an earring in the ear. He thought maybe that meant it was for girls. We assured him that some boys get earrings, too…even some pirates. We then told him “Remember, Uncle Andy has an earring?” Mason started giggling and said “No he doesn’t!” (We saw Uncle Andy this past weekend & Millie asked him where his pirate hat was. He must be a pirate if he has an earring! LOL!)

We were leaving the park as the parade was starting, so we got to watch it one last time. We waved goodbye to the characters. I was started to get a little sad! Once we got to the hotel, we enjoyed a nice, relaxing afternoon at the pool! We then cleaned up for dinner & then headed to Ohana at the Polynesian resort for dinner. It was incredibly yummy & Mason learn a luau dance. (Millie was too chicken and wouldn’t do it!)

After dinner, we were riding on the monorail & passed Magic Kingdom. Mason & I were looking on the window (Millie was asleep on Tyler’s lap.) I told Mason “Goodbye Cinerella’s castle. Goodbye Astro Orbiter. Goodbye Laugh Floor. Goodbye Space Ranger Spin.” Mason turned and looked at me and said “Mommy, you’re making me cry!’ Then, he put his head in my lap and started sobbing…and I cried, too! We weren’t ready for it to be over!!!!!

We went back to the room & the kids went right to bed…and Tyler & I got everything packed up. We had to be up by 4am (3am our time!) and bell services were at our room at 4:30 to take us to the Magical Express bus. It was sooooo early! The kids were so mad that we woke them up! But, they finally forgave us and then we headed outside to let go of their balloons. The sky was still dark, but we knew we had to let the balloons go since they couldn’t go on the airplane with us. The kids were excited that Miles was getting more balloons. We watched the balloons float away & Mason looked at us and said “I am so glad we took this trip for Miles. This was such a great way to celebrate him!” I started crying again! Could that boy be any sweeter?!? I just hugged on him and said “Me too, buddy!” Millie said “I think Miles has lots of balloons up in heaven!” I seriously have the world’s greatest kids!

We then boarded the bus & got checked in at the airport. We left the runway a little after 8 (eastern time) & were in Bloomington by 9:30. (our time.) It was so hard to believe that the week was already over. But, we were all so very thankful that we were able to take the trip & enjoy the week together!

(I am sorry I don’t have these photos in a cute collage format this time! I am heading out the door to church & wanted to get this published before I left!)