Vacation 2010 Part 2

On day 3 of our adventure we decided to try Magic Kingdom with Jake. He wasn't a big fan of the parks last year, but he's changed quite a bit. We were walking over from Bay Lake Towers, so he wouldn't have to ride a tram in a parking lot. That was a huge issue last year because he is afraid of trains. I wasn't sure how he would react to the rides this year. We decided not to make a big deal about them. We would get in lines and just board and see what happens. Well it turned out to be a great day. We started at the People Mover. Jake loves escalators, so this was a good beginning.

The only glitch was the ride through Space Mountain since it's in the dark and you can hear so much screaming. Dan held Jake, I held his hand, and we talked to him throughout that portion of the ride. Next we stopped at a huge Toy Story souvenir stand. Jake got a few things including this hat. He insisted on putting it on himself and just got very frustrated in the process.

The line at the race cars didn't seem too long, so that was our next stop. Jake waited patiently with Daddy for almost 30 minutes and never complained. Dan tried to put him in the driver's seat, but he wanted Daddy to do it.

Jake forgot his sunglasses. They were with Mommy. He was bothered so much by the sun that he borrowed Daddy's.

After this ride, Kate and Richie joined us at Magic Kingdom. We had a quick lunch together. After lunch it was treat time for Jake. We made a quick stop to take a picture at Dumbo, but the wait was almost an hour for the ride.

There was no wait for Small World, so that was our next stop. Jake really enjoyed that. There were quite a few kids around with balloons, so we promised that we would find one for him. Main Street was the place for that. This is one of my most favorite shots from the trip. It's straight out of the camera...no cropping or editing.

We went back to our room to relax and let Jake play with his new toys. I needed to get cleaned up to meet my Designer Digitals friend, Linda. She lives in Orlando and made the drive to our hotel for a quick visit.

Kate and Richie got back and cleaned up to meet more friends for dinner. Katie, our friend from England, was living with her friend, Chelsea, while she goes to school here in Orlando. The last time we saw Katie and her family was in 2006 in Marco Island, so we were really excited to see her again. We really enjoyed dinner with the girls at Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian. Yes, I spelled that correctly. ;)  We celebrated Jake's birthday yet again. Jake will probably now believe that birthdays go on for about a month.

I have one cute series of pictures from the arcade that I forgot to post. I can't believe I convinced my daughter to get in a photo booth with me.

Our last morning at Disney started with a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's before checkout. Jake may be scared of the Disney fireworks, but he is not scared of the characters! In fact when we got home he said, "I love Pluto, but I like Mickey best!" In the biggest shot, Goofy is doing a little dance for Jake.

Jake really got into the napkin waving dance. He continued performing long after the dance was over. Minnie came by and patted the crazy man on the head.

After breakfast we packed our things and loaded the car for Marco Island. It was a 4 hour journey. Jake has never been in the car for that long, so we weren't sure what to expect. He was a bit noisy and didn't fall asleep until the last hour, but he was manageable and pleasant.

Now I have to get busy and edit the Marco Island pictures!