I think possibly our favorite day on our trip. We had breakfast at the POP food court (yummy Mickey waffles and omlets) and spent a good deal of the morning at the "bowling pin pool". So cute, the whole thing looks like a bowling alley, complete with "lanes" on the sides of the pool. In the early afternoon we took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom- no rush today since we had tickets to the pirate and princess party that night- where the park would be open until 12am. On the bus, we met three super sweet Japanese girls who we ran into in the park later in the day a few times. Even got our picture with them (on their camera). There was an obvious language barrier, but we made ourselves understood- especially discussing sushi. Met a few characters on Main Street and ran into Jacque who was one of our dream team members from last year (I think this was actually the 3rd time we ran into her on the trip so far!). She was as sweet as ever. The boys and I rode Big Thunder a bunch of times. We were squished in the same row so these were the best pictures I could get. But I really love them- they just show the whole spirit of that ride!

We spent some time hitting a few rides, the boys took some pictures of me, dodged the water spitting tiki heads, had some more laughs on the teacups (the big boys used to call them the "teapups" so that’s what they still are in our family) and went to Cinderella’s Royal Table for dinner. Before going in, Patrick and Timmy got pirated-up. Timmy LOVED his mustache and beard! And you gotta admit he was the cutest pirate ever. Jack didn’t want to participate. He scammed Patrick’s eyepatch later in the night though once he found his "inner pirate". The wait was looooong to both see Cinderella and to get seated. None of us were particularly pleased with that- especially since it made us miss the Pirate/Princess parade. We met the "new Nelson"- the chef from the restaurant who holds a strong resembelance to our chef. Even got him to pose for a quick picture with John (who is smiling because he had recently taken a Percoset).

There were virtually no lines for any of the rides and we rode everything all night long- including Big Thunder 4 times in a row while John took Timmy on Buzz 8 times in a row. Of course, we did Pirates of the Carribean a bunch of times too along with Peter Pan. We were even lucky enough to see Peter and Wendy for pictures. We caught some singing cowboys on the way back from Big Thunder and they were really good! The boys loved their songs.

The original plan was to have John take Timmy back to the hotel after the Pirate fireworks (which are the BEST fireworks show ever)at around 10pm, but we were all having soooo much fun, that we just kept going. We hit the last showing of Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial- that was so funny and cute. Patrick got picked as a pirate and got a certificate and everything.  All the boys were huge troopers and we were out in the park until closing at midnight. By the time we caught a bus and made it back to the hotel it was close to 1am. Timmy only just fell asleep on the bus 5 minutes away from the hotel. Maybe he really is a pirate at heart!  

Woke up early (especially early since we all didn’t get to bed before 10:30 the night before) to make our 8:25am breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. It was way fogged up outside, so much so that you couldn’t see the castle from the far end of main street. The park was nice and empty at that point- only the breakfast goers allowed in. Had a birthday breakfast with a card for Timmy signed by all the Pooh characters.

Then headed over to hit all the Fantasyland rides. The big boys and I waited on a (supposedly 20 minute) line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (our favorite Disney coaster) but after about 15 minutes waiting, the ride broke and we all had to walk back off. We felt a little bad for the people stuck on the inclines in the trains! Went to Columbia Harbour House for lunch where for some reason we had never gone ever before and it was really great. Lots of seating too so it quickly became a new favorite lunch spot. John took the big boys to the Hall of Presidents (for a possible nap) and I took Timmy to our favorite quiet corner for a (for real)nap.  

While Timmy was sleeping, the boys and I ran up to City Hall/Guest Relations to visit our friend Jeff. Jeff was our castle suite tour guide from last year. He’s the one who got us on all the rides without waiting for the first half of our castle stay (Daniel was our second guide who we had all night but at that point he was on a cruise and we were hoping to see him before our trip was over). It was so great to see him and he remembered all of us…names and everything- talk about customer service!! Jeff is now in the castle almost every day with the winning family. Is that the best job ever or what?? In the course of conversation the boys told him about our Big Thunder issue so he gave us 10 fastpassess that were good anywhere in the Magic Kingdom for the whole month of Feb. Gotta just love him more! We had a nice long chat and I gave him the blog address so he could check out the scrapbook that he’s in. 

We spent the rest of the day fastpassing a few rides, and we did eventually make it on to Big Thunder at least twice that day. We also caught the 3pm parade which is always fun. Jack participated in a few of the games in the street the cast members put on to keep all the waiting kids happy. I love Disney. They think of everything.  

And here is Jack telling Jimminy Cricket that he is "pretty smartly dressed, ya know, for a cricket". I told him it was more fun for them and for the characters if you throw a little extra interaction in there. And that’s what he came up with. Jimminy really liked it A LOT! 

Had a visit in Adventureland where Timmy LOVED the pirate ride and lots of fun in the gift shop. Lots more pirate stuff to come over the next few days of trip report.

We had dinner at Tony’s Town Square, sitting on the balcony of the restaurant and watching SpectroMagic. That part was perfect in everyway. And we were able to watch all of Wishes from the best "seats"- half way down Main Street directly in front of the castle. I was so happy. Did I mention that I love Disney?

Here’s the trip report complete with pictures. Day One:

Flight down was fine and on time. We even arrived 1/2 an hour early– and no firey plane crashes. Bonus!Checked in at the Magical Express counter at the airport (with only our carry on bags- Disney picks up all your luggage and delivers it to your room within 3hrs of arrival-LOVE that) and took the bus over to Pop Century Resort. It was our first time ever staying at POP and we really were very pleasantly surprised. We got a room in the 50’s section which really made my day cause that’s my favorite era. Also luckily, our room was towards the back lake/parking area so we were away from the pool noise. Further to walk to the bus stop and food court, but that’s okay with me- I’d rather have the quiet. Awesome theming to the whole resort (pictures on that later). Our room was ready so we dropped off the carry on crap and took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom. I was so, so happy to see the castle—home again! So was Timmy "Cinderbrella’s castle- I sleep there".

I went to Guest Relations first thing and got Timmy’s birthday button that he could wear the whole week. He loved that. We saw Buzz first thing for some pictures (Timmy couldn’t have been any happier about that), rode Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin for the first of about 1,000 times for the trip, went on the Carousel of Progress (…there’s a great big beautiful tommorrow, shining at the end of every day..) where John proceeded to fall asleep and snore during the show. Uh huh. He really did.

Went to the Liberty Tree Tavern for our dinner reservations with Goofy and the chipmunks, and caught bits of SpectroMagic thru the window. Ran outside for the last few minutes of Wishes (with me tearing up during the song of course!) It was extra Magic Hours that night so we were able to run over to it’s a small world before leaving. If you see Patrick looking horrified on the ride it’s cause John was singing the Small World song to him on the ride. So glad I captured that picture!  Took the bus back to the resort, unpacked and went to sleep in the too small beds. But we were in Disney, so who cares!!