Magic Kingdom ... day 6

Today was our last day for Disney.

And it was pouring rain.

So we pulled out our rain ponchos and a change of clothes, and we headed out. The monorail was broken, so we got to take the boat in

They had a rainy day parade!

All of the characters came out in fire trucks and there was singing and dancing in the rain!

The dancers were all dressed in rain coats and Katheryn got a special shout out and greeted one of the dancers

After the parade we were on our way. We were going to different lands in Disney World to try to explore everything.

Our first fast pass was for the Ariel ride.
By the time we got there the rain had ended. Katheryn really liked the Ariel on the ship outside of the ride

And we went through a waterfall to get to the ride. Nick didn't like the noise that much.

One of the people that Nick really wanted to meet was Anna and Elsa.
The wait was over 2 hours at almost every time of the day, and Fast Passes were not available when I tried to get one. But Nick's Disability Access Pass let us get a time and then come back.

Katheryn got into her Anna dress while we were waiting (her 3rd princess dress for the trip)

I love the looks on both of the kids faces!
Nick and Katheryn were so excited to actually meet Elsa!

They got their autographs and got to ask questions and pose for pictures

Katheryn actually wanted to pose for some pictures while we were waiting for our next Fast Pass.

Next we went into Adventure Land to go to Pirates of the Caribbean.

There wasn't a big wait (about 15 minutes), so our Fast Pass didn't really make a difference.

The kids were a little nervous about going on the ride. I remembered the first initial drop of the ride. Katheryn didn't mind it, but Nick didn't like it. 

The part when the town is burning down, the kids weren't too sure. You could feel the heat, but we kept telling them it was fake fire.

After lunch we had another ride just for the kids.

The Aladdin carpets. My parents wanted to go back to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, so the 3 of us went ahead to the ride.

We tried to tell Nick that he would like it, but he didn't believe us.

This was another ride that didn't have a long wait (about 15 minutes). So we used our Fast Pass and got a time for Nick's Disability Pass, so we could go on it twice in a row.
The first time Nick wanted to sit with me, and he didn't want to go up high. But he really quickly started to enjoy himself. On the third ride he rode in the front alone with Katheryn, and I rode in the back.

 One of the things that had been recommended to me was the Fantasy Parade. I had been worried at first in the morning that the parade would be cancelled, but by parade time it was a beautiful day.

We raced to get to the parade route in time, and cut through a short cut and was there just in time!

All of our favorite characters were there!

And each float was related to a different Disney story.

Prince Charming came out and battled through the thorn bushes and fought the dragon

And he stopped to shake Nick's hand!

Of course the Parade ended with the classic Disney Characters

 Nick was waving good-bye to the parade

Of course we couldn't leave without going on the tea cups again!
And Katheryn, being 7 years old, is old enough to go on rides all by herself

Nick really enjoyed the tea cups.

Papa really enjoyed the tea cups too!

We went on the tea cups over and over again. It was another ride that we could almost walk on. We just had to wait at the exit and let them know we were waiting and we could go on almost every-other ride.

Nick only liked going backwards... not sure what the difference is between forwards and backwards, but we would stop the turning and then go the other way and Nick liked that better. Katheryn liked that she could turn it herself

Before leaving we got some pictures in front of the castle.
Katheryn wanted to get back into her Anna dress again

And we got a family picture as well

And some fun bubble pictures!
The area we got the pictures wasn't crowded, but still close enough for a great background

Katheryn had been asking about Married Mouse ears. This was our last opportunity. So I gave her some money and she could busy anything she wanted.

When we were walking back we lost papa and Nick. We stopped in one of the shops, and they kept going.
We knew we would eventually find them. We were heading to the exit. Of course none of us actually had cell phone service. We were using wifi, but I wasn't sure if my dad had connected or not. We did find them before we left though.

We left Disney and went back to the hotel for a siesta and dinner. We weren't sure how late the pool would be open and didn't want to tell the kids we could go swimming, but the pool was open until 9 am. So we went for a dip after dinner for a night swim!

We hadn't gone back to the room for Nick's puddle jumpers, so he got to wear a life-jacket.

It was another perfect finish of a go-go-go vacation!

Hollywood Studios ... day 5

We still had lots of fun to be had at Disney.

On Monday we went to Hollywood studios. This is another place that I used all of our Fast Passes for some shows.

When I asked Nick what he wanted to do at Disney, he said he wanted to see Elsa.

So I booked For the First Time in Forever, which is a 30 minute show.Of course the place was at the far end of the park, so we raced through to get there in time (and then wait in line waiting for the show to let out)

The accessible seats were right up at the front and we had a fantastic view.

We got to take some pictures while we were waiting and the kids played while we waited for the theatre to fill up

(This is Katheryn's smiling face)

Grandma and Papa weren't really sure what Frozen was about. But they liked it too

It wasn't a whole show of the movie, but it was a fun flash back.

And a sing-along (and we all sang along)

But they missed my favorite song (Reindeers are better...)

And there was even real snow at the end!

One of the other meals that I had booked was a character meal with the Disney Jr characters. When I originally booked (in January) the kids were still watching Disney Jr. But by April, they weren't that interested, and they were easily one of the oldest kids in the room as well.
It wasn't horrible, but I'd cap the age of the kids at 4-5 if I was going to recommend it.

We used our disability access pass for the big ride at Hollywood Studios. (90 minutes)
The Toy Story Ride. It was a carnival shooting game that was also 3D

It was the same kind of games as the Toy Story wii game that we play at the cottage. Except it is a 3D ride and you shoot the bad guys and collect points.

While we were walking around the kids saw this green army man and really wanted to get his autograph and pose for a picture

We also booked the Indiana Jones show as a Fast Pass. I was really excited to see this one and so I was hoping the kids would like it too.

We had the choice to sit at the very back in the accessible seats, or sit right at the very front.

Nick picked the front (which was good for me, but too loud for him). The show is set up as a stunt show, so right off the bat you know that no one gets hurt (they are stunt-men), but of course the fire and explosions are real.

They had some of the key scenes from the first Indiana Jones. Nick didn't watch any of it. It was too loud for him and he spent the time looking into my shoulder. My suggestion (for actually most of the Hollywood Studio shows) is to have ear plugs or noise-dampening headphones. So that Nick could still have enjoyed watching the shows but not be startled with the loud noises (which is common with hydrocephalus)

One of the other things that I really wanted to do was the Star Wars ride. It was a virtual reality star-ship ride, similar to the Soarin' ride from Epcot, only Star Wars style!

There was hardly any wait, and so we went on it a couple of times. Of course the ride ends in the gift shop, so we got the kids some light sabers

For the kids... really

We got to pose on a speeder bike!

My last fast pass was for the Fantasmic show at the end of the night. There is only one show, so it was really busy. The Fast Pass did let us in earlier, but the accessble seats were all at the very back (and centre). People who arrived closer to show time didn't even get seats.

We got there as soon as the doors open (about 90 minutes early) and ate and entertained ourselves until the sun went down

It was a really long day, so some of us didn't make it

And Katheryn had some glow in the dark jewelry to play with

The Fantasmic show was Mickey Mouse with fireworks (which scared Nick) and glow in the dark characters. Nick spent most of the time sleeping anyways, but headphones would have been great.

They had all of the different princesses floating on boats on the water around the stage (in the dark, so not any great pictures). and music, Mickey fought bad characters and the dragon was really well done.

When the show was over the park was closed. So every single person who was in the show with us, was now leaving with us as well. It was really busy, but Katheryn still had her glow-in-the-dark necklace and giant mickey hat on, so we didn't lose her.

It was another great day! Busy, but full of fun for both adults and the kids.