I Love Mickey Mouse! Not.

What would a trip to Florida with a toddler be without a visit to the Magic Kingdom? We had hoped that we would avoid long lines by coming during a low attendance day, and we picked the right time. We did wait about 15 minutes to ride on the Small World ride, but besides that we walked right on to most every other ride. Gracie's favorite was Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster, which she was just barely tall enough to ride. As the coaster headed out of the station, her eyes got huge like saucers and she giggled through every twist and turn. "Do it again!" was the mantra we heard all day.

We caught an early show in front of Cinderella's castle and Gracie watched attentively from Daddy's shoulders. She loved watching the princess dancing and singing. Once Mickey Mouse came out she told us, "I go see him. Give him a big hug and a kiss!" So, we stood in line to visit Mickey and Minnie only for her to refuse to go near them. She seemed so scared and people were waiting in line behind us so there wasn't much time to settle down. Finally after sitting on my lap for half the pictures, she sat for a second in between the two characters for a photo. "They have really big mouths!" was her explanation. I don't know if she thought they would bite her or eat her, but she didn't like their mouths.

Grace also wasn't sure about the Country Bear Jamboree, which I thought she would love with the mechkas and music. She kept grumbling and climbing up to hug us as she said, "Mechkas eat me." As soon as we walked out of the theater, she told us she liked the little mechka that was swinging from the ceiling, though, so I don't think she was too frightened.

She is really fascinated with vehicles and asks everyone, "Where's your car?" when she meets them, so the Grand Prix race cars were also a favorite. For this one, Mommy waited by the track while Gracie drove Daddy around. She was so proud that she could drive all by herself.

The parade was impressive, as usual, and Grace was sure that Cinderella had waved at her. It was so fun watching Grace's surprise when the workers called her a princess all day long. Disney really does it right. The day couldn't have been better. We didn't get a stroller and Gracie was better about holding hands today. I guess she is learning.

After going to every area of the park and riding nearly all of the rides that didn't have a height restriction, we decided to do one last ride in Tomorrow Land before heading to the fireworks show. What we didn't realize was that the ride we picked was going to require to lines and an elevator prior to boarding. We ended up watching the fireworks show from the rocket platform at the back of the castle, so next time we head to Disney World, we will have to see it from the front. It was fun twirling around in the dark while the fireworks went off, but I think Grace would have liked seeing Tinkerbell fly over on a zip line...Oh, well, next time.

As we were leaving, Gracie asked us where Cinderella was, and we told her she was going to bed. She immediately looked up at the lighted window in the castle and said, "Cinderella is there, putting on her pajamas. She's tired."

"Yes, she's tired and so am I."
"I'm tired, too."