After going to the zoo last week I decided that we had to take Matthew to Disney World. Spring break started for me so I figured this would be the best time. March in Florida tends to be nice and breezy, not too hot and not too cold. So after talking with the Spencer's about watching Caleb we made a plan and stuck to it. Josh made reservations for the Shades of Green hotel located "in" Disney World across from the Magic Kingdom.
We picked Matthew up from school early on Friday and started our journey to Deland. We got to eat dinner and visit with Grandma Sheila and Grandad Dan. We even got to see Great Grandaddy who wasn't feeling so swift because of his allergies and recovery from some medical testing. Its always so great to visit with him, we love him so much.
Saturday we woke around 0600 and started our drive to Orlando at about 0715. We arrived at our hotel around 0815 and dropped off our things with the bell boy. We took the bus to the Magic Kingdom, we were so excited. We rode the monorail into the magical kingdom at Disney. We pulled right up to Cinderellas Castle, so amazing. Our first stop was the restaurant of course. We immediately walked to Space Mountain were Matthew rode his very first roller coaster...This was a good thing and a bad thing all together. Matthew seems to be more and more like his momma. Josh told us that it wasn't a roller coaster. He said it had no dips, boy was he wrong. It was redone and opened just a few months ago so he did not know it was as scary as it was. Poor Matty, we had to sit three to a car and each seat sat only one person. Needless to say Matthew sat alone and screamed "I don't like this" the whole way. I told him loudly to close his eyes and relax his head, it was scary for me. He got off and said "that was scary, I'm never doing that again", but "I can't believe I rode on Space Mountain":). On our way to another section of the park we walked by Cinderella's Castle were we got to watch the opening musical act, including Cinderella and Mickey Mouse, soooo cool. I had tears in my eyes because all I could think of was all the little children so happy, this one moment made so many people happy, including me:)
We ate lunch at a neat restuarant that served us tuna sandwiches, fried shrimp, and chicken nuggets. Afterward we walked around to the flying dumbo and the mad tea party ride. I was actually a little anxious on the dumbo ride because I'm afraid of heights. Matthew thought it was funny that I told him to stop making us go so high:)
We got to ride the go carts and Matthew drove with Josh. Unfortunately, our fast pass for Peter Pan was not honored because they were having issues, so we never did get to do that.
We stood in line to ride Pirates of the Caribbean for about 30 minutes. We got all the way to the front and Matthew with tears in his eyes said "I don't want to go Momma", so I of course did not want to push him too much. The whole time we were in the line he was anxious but I thought by the time we go to the front he would be okay. Nope. We walked all the way back through the cave trying to weave in and out of people saying "ohhh, its okay its not scary". Poor Matty, he was so scared from Space Mountain that he was not willing to try another possibly scary ride.
We waited for Josh then got to go on the ferry around the park. Amazingly right after we got off the ferry the parade was right on the money and I finally got to see Cinderella, sleeping beauty and other fun characters up close. We decided we needed to rest so we had an old fashion ice cream, there is a neat story involving this stop.
Apparently, when Josh was about 6 his family went to Disney. He had a strawberry ice cream cone from this exact ice cream shop. As he walked out of the shop's doors his ice cream slid right off the cone onto the ground. His father had to purchase him another but it was something he remembered all these years. Ironically, Matthew had a Mickey ice cream cone and as he walked out of the shop with a big smile on his face, the ice cream slid right off the cone, but.....Matty caught it with one hand right before it hit the ground. Like I said he is more and more like me, we have a great hand eye coordination, I guess that is why he is so good at baseball and catching things.
Matthew got to pick one item to bring home with him and he decided on a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal, very classic.
We rode the monorail back to the lot and arrived at the hotel. We ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant and shortly after returned to the Magic Kingdom for the Magical firework show. Matthew and I browsed the shops and purchased some candy for the Spencer's and of course us! We looked at some beautiful Disney art pieces and found our spot for the fireworks show. We stood in the middle of the road, Matthew on Josh's shoulders and I watched in amazement the fireworks that we had dreamed about (or maybe that was just my dream since being a little girl). Afterward with happy and tired bodies we left the park to return to our hotel room. This time we decided to ride the ferry back, it was windy but beautiful. We are excited to go back to Disney again but for now our memories will forever be cherished.
