Witchcraft and Wizardry, Part 2

The next morning was slightly more leisurely as we knew we'd have all day at the Magic Kingdom (we wanted to stay for the fireworks, which weren't until 9pm). We got up feeling much more rested than the day before and went to breakfast before continuing on to the park. Arriving at the Magic Kingdom (both Florida and California) never fails to make me feel like a little kid, so we were very excited as we drove in through the absolutely enormous Disney complex. Seriously, there are miles and miles of parks, hotels, parking lots, etc. It's amazing.


The park was pretty crowded, and it felt all the more so because of the legions of strollers everywhere. Being in the park again made me nostalgic for when we had come the previous year with the whole fam for my parents' anniversary. I definitely missed having the kids there this time, but I was pretty glad I didn't have to wait in the hour-long line for Peter Pan's Flight. Win some, lose some, I guess.


We had a great time running around all morning, one of the highlights being our ride on Splash Mountain. Becca skipped out of line at the last minute, despite our protestations that we "probably" wouldn't even get wet. We were cruising along just fine until our boat stopped right next to the falls. It was only a couple seconds, but it was enough--another boat flew down the slope and its tidal wave of a splash drenched us. Becca laughed at us afterward and then we went and got soft serve and stood in the sun while we tried to inconspicuously let our pants dry out.


Doing a jig in honor of my mom while in line for Pirates of the Caribbean.
By early afternoon we had done most of the things we wanted to in the park. Since there were still hours to go before the fireworks and the parade, we were trying to figure out what to do in the meantime. "So... do you guys... want to go see a movie or something?" We checked showtimes and oh, how interesting, the theater at Downtown Disney is showing Deathly Hallows every half hour. I mean, we might as well, right? Ridiculously, there is no direct transportation between Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney (we asked four different Disney employees, all of whom gave us different--though all equally convoluted--directions). But we eventually made it to the theater a few minutes before the next showing. It was just as excellent the second time around.


We got back to the park in time to go on a couple more rides before the parade and the fireworks. I don't care how old you are--if you aren't at least a little affected by the fireworks exploding over Sleeping Beauty's castle while "When You Wish Upon A Star" plays, you probably have a heart of stone (maybe I'm getting a little choked up right now just thinking about it, don't judge me). Standing there with two of my best friends in the world, I couldn't help but think that if we'd known back when we were five that someday we'd go on a vacation like this together--no parents, staying up ridiculously late, eating whatever we wanted, and running around amusement parks--it would have totally blown our minds.


On Sunday, we had to say our goodbyes to Krissy as she left to go back to California and Becca accompanied me back to New York for Thanksgiving. We were all sad for the trip to be over, but we had so much fun and I could not be happier that we really did it. Which just goes to show you that sometimes the most ridiculous ideas end up being the most genius.

More pictures here.