Magic Kingdom, take two!

The websites had recommended that Wednesday would be the best day to go to Magic Kingdom during the time we were in Florida. On Tuesday afternoon I started to feel queasy, and after I placed an order for Papa John's to deliver a pizza to our unit for dinner, I started throwing up and continued to do so for several hours. In the past twenty years I've only had the stomach flu three times - once when I was living in Port Carbon when I was a principal (I remember my secretary came to my apartment and brought me crackers and ginger ale), in November 2007 when I was newly pregnant with Nadia, and this week in Florida. Most of the times I have thrown up over the past twenty years it has been due to conscious sedation or general anesthesia. On Wednesday morning I wasn't sure I had it in me to go to Magic Kingdom, but I really didn't want to miss out so I took a shower, took some Tylenol to lower my fever (which was a little over 100 degrees), and ate a little something (as I hadn't had more

than an ice cube in 18 hours). I am glad I went because as the day went on I began to feel better and better. Nadia threw up before we left, and we again questioned if we should go, but she said she still wanted to go. She threw up again in the van as we entered the parking lot, and she threw up a third time right before we did Enchanted Tales with Belle. She was such a trouper because she didn't complain and was in good spirits even though she obviously wasn't feeling well. Our day would have been more "magical" minus the flu, but we still had a special day.

We made our first trip to Disney World last year. Last year we arrived really early; this year we arrived a couple of minutes before 9am. Last year we went straight to the "Under the Sea" ride, which was the new ride last year, and we got on it without any wait. This year we went straight to the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but the line was already 75 minutes long. Thankfully, I was able to make a change with our fast passes so that we were able

to ride it at 12:30pm with a very short wait. The stand by line (in other words no fast pass) never dropped under an hour during the whole time we were there. This time around our first stop ended up being to meet Merida (from the movie Brave), and then we rode the Dumbo ride (and without using a fast pass had a very short wait). We could have ridden the tea cups without a wait, but in light of our stomach issues, we decided to pass on that ride this time. Next we did Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Nadia was again picked to be the Beast because of her loud "roar" when the cast member was assigning parts. Ian opted not to have a part this year. Nadia loved wearing the red cape and dancing with Belle. Next we did the Under the Sea ride without much of a wait, and then we used a couple of fast passes so Nadia could meet Ariel. Ian opted not to be in any pictures until our last character meeting of the day (Tinkerbell). This was proof he wasn't feeling normal either.

We didn't ride the Barnstormer last year, but we enjoyed riding it once this year, and Nadia enjoyed getting soaked in the splash station afterward. After cooling off in Mickey's PhilHarMagic, I took Nadia and Ian on Peter Pan's Flight (with fast passes) and It's a Small World (without fast passes) while Paul, Oliver, and Paul's parents ate lunch at the Pinocchio Village Haus. Paul and I then took Nadia and Ian on the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride (with fast passes) before I took Nadia to meet Anna and Elsa (with fast passes). After I took the two of them on the Carousel, we left Fantasyland for Tomorrowland. Our first stop was the Monster Inc Laugh Floor, which we didn't do last year. and then Buzz Lightyear's ride (with fast passes). Just like last year, this was Ian's favorite ride, so we rode it a second time (again with fast passes) in the evening. We planned to watch the parade, but it was cancelled due to a thunderstorm. We stayed dry while watching the Country Bear Jamboree (Oliver loved it last year and again this year) and the Tiki Room (which we didn't do last year) shows. After eating dinner at the Pecos Bill Cafe, we used fast passes on Pirates of the Caribbean and then rode Aladdin's magic carpets and met Jasmine and Aladdin (our longest wait of the day). The outdoor rides were closed for over an hour, which meant we weren't ever able to ride Splash Mountain (because the line was always an hour long and there weren't any more fast passses available), and we had to wait longer than usual (considering we were using fast passes) for Big Thunder Railroad. It was Ian's first time on that ride, as he was too short to ride it last year. While we were on that ride, Paul's parents took Oliver on the Walt Disney World vintage train around the park. While I took Nadia to meet Tiana and Naveen, the rest of the family saw the Hall of Presidents show, which we hadn't done last year.

We returned to Tomorrowland for our second ride on Buzz's ride and also to join the Incredibles SuperDance Party for a few minutes. We had fast passes for Winnie the Pooh's ride (which had a long line every other time we attempted to ride it that day), but it had just closed for a "honey spill" and we didn't feel like waiting around for it to reopen. After Grandma and Pop Pop bought each child one toy on Main Street (Mickey Mouse stuffed animal for Oliver, Woody for Ian, and a Jasmine set for Nadia), I took Nadia and Ian to meet Tinker Bell on our way out of the park. We left 10 minutes before the 9pm parade. I had thought we'd stay until 10:10pm (after the fireworks and Wishes nighttime spectacular shows), but Paul was still feeling queasy and so we took the ferry back to the van. We had ridden a bus into the park. Not counting meeting Belle in the Enchanted Tales with Belle adventure, every character they met this year was different from last year. Last year they met Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. This year they met Merida, Ariel, Tiana, Naveen, Jasmine, Aladdin, Anna, Elsa, and Tinkerbell. Ian would have liked to have met Peter Pan, but we didn't manage to accomplish that.

I thought the fast passes were very helpful last year (the wait is usually less than 5 minutes with a fast pass), and this year I liked the fast pass plus system even better because it involved less running around the park. The only rides we didn't do this year were the Swiss Family treehouse, jungle cruise, splash mountain, riverboat, haunted mansion, Winnie the Pooh's ride, mad tea party (due to our stomachs), tomorrowland speedway, Stitch's great escape (not interested), Carousel of Progress, and Space Mountain (too short). All in all we had a great day, which is good because it costs a small fortune to spend a day at Disney World even with Oliver getting in free.