Donald's Safari Breakfast

Tuesday morning we had our final character dining experience. Again, I booked the earliest breakfast time, which was 8am and Animal Kingdom opened at 9am. I was a little worried about our early morning after keeping the boys out late the night before, but we managed to get everyone out the door on time!

Now, we had a very special thing happen when we arrived at the parking gate that morning. The parking attendant gave us a "Magic Moment" pass. That's right, we received VIP parking. It was in a completely separate parking lot and was valid all day! No trams for us that day!

When we got inside the gate, we ended up asking for directions to the restaurant because it was close to the back of the park. We were told to go straight to the Tree of Life and turn left...obviously the Tree of Life would be at Animal Kingdom.


Once we found Tusker House, we checked in. This was set up like Cinderella's Royal Table in that the first thing you do is get a formal picture with Donald. (Side Note: I'm not really sure why Donald would be the main character here instead of Mickey. This is a good picture of the group but I would have liked it better with the main man Mickey!)


After getting our picture taken, we were taken to our table.
 

No sooner had to gotten the boys settled with their Mickey waffles and a donut did Mickey Mouse come by. Westyn was so upset to be taken away from the food that I think Mickey thought he was scared of him. Once we let him keep food in his hand, he was ok to be picked up to see Mickey.


Daisy came by next. She was funny because she wanted Garytt to give her a kiss on her beak.


Our final table guest was Goofy!


After all the characters had come by, we finished up our breakfast. I have to say, this was by far the best breakfast place. Most of the restaurants served a lot of the same food but Tusker House had some extras that weren't at our other breakfasts. You can see from the crumbs on the table, the boys approved as well!


I thought it was fun to see the gang in their safari gear, too!


Again, timing worked out that we were finishing up our breakfast about the time the park was opening. Time to head out on our safari adventure!

Main Street Electrical Parade- Disney Day 2 Continued

We all met up with Justin at Epcot after nap time. Unfortunately, we were running later than I anticipated, so we didn't really have that much time to spend at Epcot before heading over to Magic Kingdom for the parade.

We did see some of the fun floral displays.


We also saw a Photopass photographer doing a fun pose with a frame and Epcot in the background. So, we decided to get a family shot. Now, it would be really great if the photographer would have mentioned you can barely see the monument in the background. The shot was obviously set up for adult height people (which we didn't realize at the time). So, when we bent down to be at Garytt's level, it really looses the desired effect. Ok, off of my soapbox now... It is a cute family photo when cropped to a square to reduce the amount of sky.


Anyhow, we barely made it to any of the various worlds in Epcot. We did ride a fun ride in Mexico.


Then we caught a monorail over Magic Kingdom to secure a spot for the Main Street Electric Parade. Ok, well, actually you take the monorail back to the ticket center.


Then we got on a ferry from the ticket center over to Magic Kingdom because the line to get on the next monorail was too long and the ferry was ready and waiting. It was a pretty view as we approached Magic Kingdom.


We got a good spot right up front and ate our packed dinner while we waited for the parade.


I was sad that I forgot our big camera at the condo. Our smaller camera is good but I'm not as good about getting the settings right, especially in low light. Oh well. We definitely enjoyed the Electrical Parade! At times, I noticed that Westyn was even dancing in his stroller.


So, although we never found Captain Hook or Mr. Smee at Epcot, here they are in the parade. And Garytt was pretty excited to see them!


Here's a few more.


Here are a couple of videos from the parade as well.


After the parade, the castle was lit up.


The Wishes fireworks were going to start shortly after the parade ended. However, we decided to go ahead and take the ferry back to the parking lot. They actually have to the music playing over there and we could see the castle and the fireworks from there. So, we didn't really feel like we missed much and we were able to get to the car faster this way.


This was our latest night out. So, the boys were more than ready for bed when we got back to the condo but Garytt had to be sure his sword was with him before getting into bed.


I would say Day 2 in the Disney Parks was another success!

Hollywood Studios-Disney Day 2

After our fun breakfast with Jake and the other Disney Junior friends, we headed out to see Hollywood Studios. We stopped for a picture in front of Mickey's hat.


Then we started walking towards the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and look who walked by all dressed in his spiffy clothes!


Although Goofy was clearly on his way somewhere and couldn't stop, Garytt was pretty impressed with his outfit!

We found the mermaid show.


I took a very short video during the show of Sebastian singing Under the Sea, which was my favorite scene in the show.


After the show, we wandered around some of the Street of America where we found two American classics...Chevy and Coke!


We also found a really steep hill from San Francisco...don't loose the babies!


Ok, so that was our pitiful attempt at "movie magic."

Next, we went on the Backlot Tour. Again, this is one of those rides that I distinctly remember from my childhood...and I don't think it has changed at all either. Garytt was pretty impressed at the beginning with the heat from the explosions. And at the very end he told me that the water was scary but he didn't act scared on the ride.


Right at the end of the Backlot Tour, we were surprised to find a meet and greet for Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc. The line was short, so we decided to get a picture. This was a specifically a photograph only meet and greet (I think Sully and Mike have hands that might not work that well for gripping a pencil).


Look at their faces...I think they were pretty impressed.


And, of course, we had to get a group shot.


We wanted to find Mater and Lightning McQueen from Cars next. The line was a little longer here but the boys did well while waiting and it was in the shade, which was a bonus. This is the view from the line.


Once we got up there, we got a few group photos.

While we waited for our Toy Story Mania Fastpass to be valid, we decided to go see the Buzz and Woody meet and greet. (Do you see a pattern here at Hollywood Studios?) Just before getting in line to see Buzz and Woody, we met a Little Green Army Man. He helped Garytt salute.


The line to see Buzz and Woody was by far the longest line we stood in probably the whole trip, but it still wasn't that bad. And there were fun things inside the building to keep kids occupied...like strapping your child to a toy rocket ship.


Or getting caught inside a crate.


Finally, it was our turn to meet them! The boys were impressed with Buzz and all hugs with Woody!


By that time our Fastpass for the Toy Story Mania ride was active. So, we headed across the street.

The queue area for this ride was pretty elaborate, although we didn't really wait in line since we had a Fastpass. I did take a few pictures.

  
Garytt's ready with his 3D glasses and Justin looks pretty excited about the ride!


This was such a fun ride! In between all my shooting, I managed to get a few action shots of everyone else. Justin and Garytt were one the back side of the car with my parents. Westyn and I were in a separate car. So, at least I was able to get pictures of all of them. (My score definitely suffered from trying to take pictures...at least that is what I will blame it on!)


Toy Story is one of those rides that the Fastpass will run out early in the day and then the standby line will be well over an hour. But I can totally see why this one is so popular!

At this point, it was about time to take our afternoon break. We did run into some entertainment on the streets on the way out...well, it was only mildly entertaining.


We took another quick group shot on the way out too.


And then a few of just my parents.


Then, we were told to point to the ground and look surprised. Ok, I was hoping for some cool character to magically appear in our photo...Stitch, really? I'm totally not a Stitch fan, so this is not my favorite photo. (The boys look about as impressed as I felt when I saw the final picture.)


Again, we decided to separate for the afternoon. Justin stayed back to ride some of the bigger rides and my parents and I took the boys back to the condo to nap. Garytt, bless his little heart, couldn't even make it to the car and our stroller isn't the most comfortable napping stroller.


Justin took a few pictures during his afternoon alone this time. He rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror several times each.


He even took a video while on the Tower of Terror ride.


He rode a few other rides as well, but these were by far his favorites.

After his afternoon of fun, he headed over to Epcot where we all planned to meet up.