Day 1Day 2It started raining lightly on us while we were waiting for the rope drop Friday morning, but we were prepared with umbrellas and a stroller cover. I wanted to hit Peter Pan one more time, so we headed there first again. After that we did the carousel, and then I grabbed Star Tours fast passes while the rest of the family waited for me at Nemo. We rode Nemo and then headed over to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again. I grabbed another set of fast passes for it while they were riding, and then we headed out of the park so we could do a few things in CA before our breakfast.
We stopped to take the traditional Mickey grass picture on our way out.
At CA Matthew and the kids rode Sorin' while I waited for rope drop and then booked it across the park to get California Screamin fast passes, only to find out the ride was down and I couldn't get FPs while it was down. So, I met them at Tower of Terror and grabbed fast passes for that instead. Funny side note, I ran in to a family from our church while I was running all over the park that morning. Small world! :)
We stopped to see Lightning McQueen and Mater on our way out of the park.
Then we booked it through Downtown Disney to breakfast with Mickey and Friends.
Breakfast was super yummy and much less stressful than Minnie's. It was still a buffet, but it was all inside and just seemed easier to manage with the kids. The only bummer was that we had later reservations and really only saw Pluto and Stitch. We got our picture with Mickey on the way in, but that was the only interaction we had with him. Pluto and Stitch more than made up for the lack of characters though, both coming by our table multiple times and really playing with the kids, so it wasn't a huge deal.
Stitch was a ton of fun!!
Pluto brought R a mini birthday cake because he had a birthday button on. I didn't even have to ask for it.
Stitch sat and played with N for a little bit, it was the cutest thing! N would turn away and Stitch would tap him on the shoulder, and then N would turn back and laugh. So cute to watch!!
After breakfast we took our time walking back through Downtown Disney and did some shopping and got some ice cream. While we were in the World of Disney store it really started pouring and thundering out. We had planned on going back into CA to grab Screamin fast passes, but by the time we got back to the park gates we were soaked and our shuttle was pulling up, so we made a run for it. We were completely drenched when we got back to the hotel, but we didn't care. We changed into dry clothes, pulled out the rain boots and coats, and headed back for more fun.
By that time the rain had passed, but we were ready if more came.
Screamin was working so we grabbed FPs for it and then Matthew and the big kids rode Grizzly River Run. They loved that one, but only did it once because they got really wet on it.
I hung out with N in Bug's Land while Matthew took the big kids on Tower of Terror. They did not like that one. R was kind of freaked out after it, and none of them really liked the up and down motion that the ride did.
They rode Screamin after that while N and I went on Little Mermaid again. They LOVED it and say it was their favorite ride there! Too bad we couldn't get them on it more than once!
We met back up and ate out World of Color picnics and then did a little more shopping and the penny machines before lining up for a good WOC viewing spot.
We got great spots, had some hot chocolate while we waited for the show, and N slept through the whole thing!
After WOC I was getting tired and N had woken up and was not happy at all. Matthew wanted to go ride more rides in DL and I decided to go back in with him because I didn't want the construction walls of CA to be the last thing I saw on our trip, and I'm SO GLAD I did!!
We walked back into DL to find Goofy running around the square playing with a few kids. I talked M into joining in and she played Ring Around the Rosie and then Fallow the Leader with Goofy, and Max came out and joined in!
Goofy lead us back to a room where Mickey and Minnie were hanging out, and we got to get a picture with all 4 of them! Seriously my most favorite moment from the whole trip, it was so special!!
After we saw the 4 of them we were hanging out in that room and the kids were doing some more pennies. A CM came over and asked if we wanted to see Mickey and Minnie again, so we got to go spend a few more minutes with the two of them. I was in total amazement that we had gotten that much time with them both together. I'd read it was not common to meet them both together like that, and I really hadn't expected to see anymore characters that late at night.
After we were done there Matthew took the big kids on BRMRR twice and Splash twice while I sat on a bench on Main Street holding a sleeping baby. It was the PERFECT way to end our trip. I could see the castle all lit up with the carousel going around behind it, the lights on Main Street, and all the people walking by. I just sat there and took it all it. It was wonderful!
We definitely had an amazing time on this trip!! There were a few things we had wanted to do that we didn't get done (Toy Story, Turtle Talk With Crush, and Doll Whips), but overall we did a lot more than I thought we would. The best part of all, Matthew was already talking about next time before we even got home! Last time we went (over 4 years ago) he wouldn't even think about going back again for years. I'm so glad he loved it this time! :)
