Disney World Part 1

We had a wonderful, MAGICAL time with Maile in Disney World. This is what grandparenting is all about! (I use the word magical because “Walt Disney World is the Most MAGICAL Place on Earth” --- that slogan is everywhere there, and all the Disney ‘cast members’ constantly wish guests a magical day.)

Everyday we started out with a plan, which is pretty much a necessity in Disney World because of the enormity of the place. By the 3rd morning, Maile was asking “What’s our plan today, Grammy?” Of course we were flexible within the plan. A good example is the first day, when we headed to the Magic Kingdom because Maile wanted our first ride to be Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Our plan was to head straight for that ride to pick up a FASTPASS, then grab a quick breakfast. However, when we got to the ride, we saw that the wait was only 20 minutes so we decided to just get in line. It turned out we made the right decision because we were only in line for about 10 minutes!

Here are a few shots from our first day in the Magic Kingdom. Frontierland (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad)

 

Adventureland (Swiss Family Treehouse)

and Tomorrowland (Space Mountain)

We headed to the monorail to take us to the Contemporary Resort for dinner. Sometimes Disney transportation is half the fun!

Our 2nd day began with Donald’s Safari Breakfast in the Animal Kingdom. We would recommend this to anyone! Besides Donald (whose photo isn’t here) we were visited by Daisy

 

and Mickey

and Goofy.

After breakfast, our plan was again to grab a FASTPASS, this time for the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Well, once again we lucked out and were able to get right on the ride with minimal wait time. It was great! Here’s Mai boarding the safari jeep.

See how close we were to the rhinos!

While we were at the Animal Kingdom, Maile wanted to go to Dinoland, and especially The Boneyard, a play maze that included a dig site for wooly mammoth bones. She remembered visiting this area from her last trip to Disney World when she was 3 years old.

One of our favorite experiences in the Animal Kingdom was something we’d never done before: Rafiki’s Planet Watch, which included Habitat Habit and Conservation Station. These were right up Maile’s alley! She really enjoyed the backyard scavenger hunt, carefully searching for the creatures on her card.

 

And later she proudly answered one of the naturalist’s questions and earned a conservation sticker. She was so quick that I almost missed this shot!

At Camp Minnie-Mickey, another part of the Animal Kingdom, Maile joined in some games with Chip & Dale.

Tomorrow, I’ll post Part 2 . . .