the long and winding road...

Disney Firsts!
Eager to make the most of our annual passes, we decided to hit DL again this Sunday. Due to it being a holiday weekend, I was a bit concerned about crowds so we thought we'd get a super early start on the day. To encourage us to get up and out on time I made a 7:10 ressie for the Minnie and Friends breakfast. We arrived in the parking lot at 6:50!!! Egads, really?? We weren't the first car there... we were about 10th :-) In case you were wondering, this is what a nearly empty Disney parking lot looks like:
The great thing about having the very first breakfast reservation is that when we arrived at the restaraunt, we were the only ones there! Well, you know, us and the characters. There were a few on hand to play ring around the rosie
Georgie loves character meals. She really enjoys character hunting and getting their autographs. I must admit, it has become a bit addicting. We'd met Rafiki before but that was in WDW last year and I don't think G remembered. Plus, we'd recently seen the Lion King movie which made it fun.

We've seen Captain Hook many times. G likes to say "tick, tock" to get a response from him. Or rather, she likes for me to say it :-)

It's Minnie's breakfast so you're guaranteed a visit from her

Fairy Godmother showed up and asked G about dresses and glass slippers and other such things

More fun with Pooh and Eeyore

Mr Penguin from Mary Poppins was new to us. G was trying to do some sort of penguin footwork but she ended up looking like she was going to fall.

Tigger is one of G's favorites

After breakfast we went past Pixie Hollow and found out that Fawn was there! We've had no luck finding fairies. The line wasn't so bad so Bobby waited in it while I took G to ride the rockets. By the time we got back he was first in line and had been letting people pass him. Yeah! Having Daddy there gave her front of the line access. Fawn was very sweet.

Recently, G has had this huge increase in her quest for adventure and all things new. This whole week she'd been telling me that she wanted to go into the "skeleton house" which meant the Haunted Mansion which currently has the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. I really was a bit concerned that it would be too scary for her. I explained to her a bit about what was going to happen and tried to show her a youtube video in preparation. After the rockets and the fairies G said somewhat insistently "mama, I want to go to the skeleton house". Bobby and I agreed, if she thought she was ready we weren't going to hold her back. So off we went!

As we made our way through the line, Bobby and G made scary faces at each other. This was practice for what they were going to do when they saw Jack Skellington inside.

This next picture is so funny!

And "how did G enjoy her first trip inside the Haunted Mansion?" you might ask. She loved it!!! In fact, she loved it so much that she asked if we could ride it again, right then. So we did! It was my first time seeing the Halloween overlay. It is really cute!

Brazened by her success with the mansion, G pointed at Splash Mountain and said "I want to go on that one!" I was fine with taking her but I wasn't quite sure she was tall enough. You have to be 40" to ride Splash. About a month ago we were at DL with some friends and tried to get G on Star Tours. She was close but definitely not 40" tall and was unable to ride. Bummer. I was pretty sure she hadn't grown a sufficient amount in the last 30 days. But, we let her give it a try. Sure enough, G had grown!! Holy heck! G was so excited she started jumping and yelling "I made it!!! I get to ride!!!" The kid manning the fast pass thing was amused and as a little Disney magic gave G an instant fast pass. Yeah for us! G and I rode in the back. I got a little wet but poor little G got soaked! And, on that last drop, she screamed!!! She loved it.

After Splash we were back to our quest for the ever elusive characters... I'd read on the disboards that Jack and Sally were in the park. G kept talking about seeing the "skeleton man" so I started asking around. As seems to always be the case no one can ever really tell you exactly if, where, or when they characters will be around. But, finally we found him!! In fact we were super lucky because they cut the line right after us. Then a few mins later Jack returned... with Sally. Jackpot!!

We finished up the afternoon with a visit to the Tiki Room. I think this is G's new favorite attraction. Yes, she enjoys the birds and the music but mostly I think she looks forward to the Dole float she gets for a treat while we wait.

Fantastic day!