Disney World - Magic Kingdom

In between our stays in Miami at Mimi and Mormor's house, we were at Disney World.  Within a few minutes of arriving at our hotel, Lydia lost her first tooth!  The adult tooth was already halfway in, so she really needed to lose the baby tooth to give the adult tooth some space.  Lydia was super excited and thrilled because the Disney Tooth Fairy gives out special presents when you lose your first tooth there.  She got a Disney themed hand-held fan that also sprayed/misted water; it served us well as we made our way through the parks that week.

We chose to spend three days at Magic Kingdom, since it had the most rides and attractions of interest for our ages of kids.  I don't even remember the reason, but Lydia was grumpy when we first arrived the first day:

Luckily, meeting Rapunzel perked her up:

The first day we met a lots of characters, but didn't do much of that the other days.  

Princess Tiana from 'Princess and the Frog'.

For some reason, Derek was enthralled with Cinderella.  He was more excited than the girls.  She got lots of hugs from him:

Meeting Elena of Avalor, with more hugs from Derek:

Lydia's favorite was the Little Mermaid:

We met Goofy when Derek was asleep in the stroller.  Derek had a Goofy hat, so we didn't time that very well - we should have waited for him to wake up before meeting Goofy.

I wore Derek's Goofy hat, since he was asleep:

Donald Duck:

Daisy Duck:

Lydia wore a Daisy Duck hat and they matched:-)

Pluto:

In Enchanted Tales with Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), kids got to reenact the story.  Lydia was Mrs. Potts (the mother teapot), and Karina and Derek were a dancing fork and spoon. They got to meet Belle afterwards.

We ate lunch at the Beast's castle twice:

The next three pictures were taken outside of the Beast's castle:

Two more smiley days in front of Cinderella's castle:

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin was the ride we went on most often.  We went on it at least three times each of the three days.  It was a ride that everyone enjoyed and it was straightforward to get another Fastpass (a ride reservation that let's you skip the 30-60 minute line) for it immediately after scanning the previous Fastpass.  It is an interactive shooting game.  Only two people are allowed per car, so poor Karina was by herself every single time since Disney has a minimum age to ride without an adult.  All of my ride photos looked similar to this, with my face in deep concentration.  I had a higher score than Nate every single time, except for once when the ride broke down for several minutes and his car was parked in a much better spot for getting extra points. 

Karina turned into quite the thrill seeker on our trip.  She loved all the 'Mountain' rides, and since Lydia and Derek weren't interested, she got to go on each ride at least twice with rider swap, and skipping the line.    

Splash Mountain was Karina's least favorite mountain ride, as it is pretty tame, but it is one I love going on for the story and music.  

Nate managed to get Derek to go on it too, but that was his only 'mountain' ride.   I don't think he was a fan. 

It's funny that Karina loved the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so much because last time we went to Disney World in 2016, this ride was a disaster and she sobbed, terrified the whole time.  Now, at age 8, it had become fun. 

Thunder Mountain for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride is in the background, which was another highlight.  The picture is taken from Tom Sawyer Island, which the kids loved exploring, especially the caves and barrel bridge.

Before going to Disney World, Lydia was most excited for the Haunted Mansion ride.  Then after actually going on it, she declared it too scary.  See her face below:

She did eventually get over her fear though, and went on it again later on. Outside the Haunted Mansion ride:

Because of a thunderstorm, we ended up getting Fastpasses that could be used on any attraction.  Karina decided on a whim that she would try Space Mountain, a ride she had decided against, since it is in the dark.  She loved it, and went on it 4 times that day and the next Magic Kingdom day. 

Carousel:

Lydia's favorite ride was the Little Mermaid, and we went on it maybe as much as went on Buzz Lightyear.  It has fun music and is a happy ride.  

Lydia and Derek took turns driving a racecar at the Tomorrowland Speedway:

On Jungle Cruise:

We also met Tinker Bell.  Lydia was excited to meet her because she wanted to know if Tinker Bell knew the Disney Tooth Fairy.  Tinker Bell said she didn't see her much, because the tooth fairy works at night, but to leave a note for the tooth fairy saying 'hi' from Tinker Bell next time Lydia lost a tooth. 

Very fun days, and also very hot and muggy!!