I won't lie, I planned more for that one day than I did for the entire cruise. I was SO excited. We had Starwood points so we decided to stay at the Dolphin hotel. It was nice, but it doesn't really have that 'Disney' feel. Not sure I would stay there if I was paying for a room. But it did have lots of dining options, and it is also on the Boardwalk loop where you can either walk to or take the boat around the lagoon and see the Boardwalk, as well as the Yacht and Beach Club hotel. Here is a shot of the Swan, the Dolphin's sister hotel, from our hotel room. We could also see Illuminations at night!
We got there that night and ate at Kouzzina, which is Cat Cora's Greek restaurant on the Boardwalk for you Food Network fans. I definitely give it a thumbs up, but only if you like Greek food. It was pretty authentic.
It was pouring rain that night and Jason slipped and twisted his ankle. It swelled up to about twice its normal size so we iced it a lot and he soldiered on to the park the next day. Thanks for being such a trooper honey!
The next morning we got up early to be at the park before opening. Here we are having a little breakfast getting ready. Bella is all set to go in her Alice shirt.
When we got to the park we got up as close as we could so we could see the opening show. What happens is that the train comes in to the Main Street station with all the characters on it, and they do a big song and dance welcoming you to the Magic Kingdom. I think for about the first hour or two we were there, Isabella barely said a word. She was just in awe. During this first show she would point and say 'Alice' or 'Snow White', but not like she was excited, more like she couldn't believe she was seeing them in REAL LIFE. I seriously had to hold back the tears it was so precious.
Once the park opened, we quickly made our way to Fantasyland, stopping, of course, for our picture in front of the castle.
Like I said she was pretty stoic for the first bit, so when we rode Dumbo first, she barely showed expression, but she did NOT want to get off. Luckily we had timed it to where Jason was in line just in time for another ride right after that.
By the time we got over to the Astro Orbiter, she was warming up a bit. You can make yourself go higher and lower and it also goes faster than Dumbo. She would just laugh as we went up and down.
This picture melts my heart.
We had lunch at the Plaza, which I had not eaten at since I was little when they told my mom she should work at the World as Snow White. I thought that was like the coolest thing ever.
The plaza was good and Bella got ice cream so she was happy.
After lunch, Jason took Bella back to the hotel for a nap and let me stay in the park. I rode all my favorites that Bella can't ride, and then we met back up right before dinner. We took the boat over to Wilderness Lodge (my personal favorite resort) and ate at the Whispering Canyon cafe. I had never eaten there and we all thought it was very tasty. They also do a lot of funny things like if you ask for ketchup, they make everyone with ketchup on their table bring it to you, so you basically have every bottle in the restaurant on your table. They also make you ride a stick horse to the bathroom if you ask where it is.
After that we only had time for a couple more rides before the parade. We rode the Carousel first, which Isabella always loves, then we made our way to It's a Small World. She sang and danced the whole way through it. SO cute.
After that we lined up for the parade, only to be told right before it started that it was being cancelled because of the storms in the area. I guess they have to be careful because of lightning. I was bummed, but we were pretty tired, so we decided not to stay for Wishes and instead to get a good night sleep so we could be well rested for the rest of our vacation.
Up (hopefully) soon...how Royal Caribbean could definitely improve their communication on small children's activities, but excelled in most every other aspect.
