On our way to the Magic Kingdom we were able to ride the monorail right from the Polynesian Resort. The boys and I got to ride up in the front compartment with the driver.
When we got into the park, we had our picture taken with our ears in front of Cinderella's Castle - this is apparently some sort of family vacation Disney World law, so what could we do?
Then we started working our way through a touring plan that I had been working on for weeks with the help of various guide books and online sources. The goal was to spend as little time as possible waiting in line, through hitting rides at off-peak times (i.e. starting as early as possible) and using the Disney Fast Pass system which holds your place in line at some specified point in the future.
We started with the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride through an animatronic Hundred Acre Wood. It was so much fun for the boys that we got immediately back in line and rode it again. We then took a similar trip through Never Never Land on Peter Pan's Flight. We then introduced the boys and Grandpa to their first exposure to It's A Small World so they could get that song stuck in their head. Then we had a treat, the new 3-D show Philharmagic, which showcased the best of Disney's "4-D" theater experience. Then I ran ahead and got FastPasses for the Haunted Mansion, which was just recently refurbished. The kids loved seeing the ghosts in the car with us in the mirror at the end. We also rode through the refurbished Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with Captain Jack Sparrow. The boys, Bob, and I climbed up and then down the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, though Aaron was dissapointed that he couldn't play in there longer.
He was thrilled however to play in the playground at the exit of Splash Mountain with Grammy & Grandpa while Alex, Becky, and I followed Brer Rabbit through the briar patch to splash down at the end. This was Alex's most adventurous ride so far.
We beat the parade to Tomorrowland which let us get across the park easily and got into the Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory where our laughter at moderately funny jokes from animated Monsters helped them power up their city. Next door we finally did the ride we'd been waiting for all day - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin which let us shoot lasers at Zurg's minions while spinning through space. In addition to throwing Zurg in jail...
...the boys were rewarded with a personal picture and autograph with Buzz Lightyear himself.
We only had time for the boys to splash around at a water playground for a little while before we boarded a ferry for the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. The Wilderness Lodge is beautiful, huge, and styled after National Park lodges out west.
The Whispering Canyon Cafe was our favorite family meal this week. The food was served family-style and consisted of all we could eat fresh baked cornbread, smoked pork ribs, pulled pork, oven-roasted chicken, pork sausage, mashed potatoes, creamy coleslaw, beans, and corn on the cob accompanied by hand-dipped milkshakes. The boys got to ride around the dining room on wooden horses and had to promise the waitress guiding them that they would stay up late, jump on the beds with their parents still in them and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER go to Universal Studios.
When we realized that we had no ketchup for our fries, we asked for some. The waitress yelled "WE NEED KETCHUP OVER HERE!" and then a family from another table brought ten bottles over to our table. Needless to say, we had to return the favor (minus the one we held back for our needs) when the next table needed ketchup. We'll make a point to come back here the next time we come to Walt Disney World.
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