47 square miles of fun in 2011 (part #2)

Ah yes… so what else did we do at the grand ‘ol world they call Disney?

Well, we went to EPCOT – which, if you didn’t know, is also the land of epic baby naps! It started with a baby nap in the car… then on the boat to EPCOT… and then a couple of times as we strolled and walked the endless miles that make up the park. Luckily between naps included trips to visit Nemo and friends below The Sea, and giant Norwegian trolls like you see below. Baby M seriously loved this guy!

We had a super adventurous dinner at the always fabulous Teppan Edo (think Benihana teppan style meals, but so much better tasting and fresh) in Japan, and then headed home among the sparkling lights of night. Baby M had her first chance to see a costumed character up close in France… and it was so enduring and adorable how she reacted to Marie! Wide eyes…huge smile and endless “Was Dat Was Dat Was Dat?” while she pointed. No matter how many times we told her, it was like she just couldn’t believe that a fuzzy stuffed animal could be that big, nor come to life like that. It was awesome.

On our third day, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to hit many of the rides we missed in our previous short trip. Baby M got to ride around the world on the train with Grandpa M while we took Grandma L on Space Mountain, and the we all took in some bouncy Tigger fun with Winnie the Pooh.

We also took her on her first teacup ride – don’t worry, we didn’t spin it at all! I had experienced quite enough baby vomit from the sick week before to want to induce any more!

At the end of the day, Baby M got her first Mickey balloon from Grandma L! She was so fascinated by it, we realized that we should have purchased it the first day rather than one of the last days of the trip! According to the balloon vendor, they last up to 7 days (5 usually)… ours made it perfectly well to the airplane gate at MCO just 3 days later.

On Friday, we headed over to the Mickey Mouse speedway (no really… there’s a real racetrack at WDW) to cash in a present we didn’t get to use two years before. My parents and gotten us “Fast Lap” gift certificates to use at the Richard Petty Driving Experience back in 2008… but poor Mr. M got sick on the final days of our trip before we were able to use them. But no excuses this time around!

Track suits are awesome huh? Especially when you put them on overtop of all of your clothing!

We got suited up with a helmet and a HANS device (Head and Neck Support) … and waited for our turn to hop in the car.

Sadly Baby M had to stay outside of the pit lane… she only has to wait another 11 years before she can go for a ride herself.

So each of us took 3 laps in the passenger seat of a NASCAR… and hit about 140 mph on the straightaways! The turns are the best though… and I’d love to experience this on a super banked track!

On our last park day, we headed to Hollywood Studios for two reasons. 1) to get a picture of Baby M with Lotso! (seriously.. even if he is a messed up psychotic old Bear, he’s ridiculously cute and smells like strawberries!)

I’m pretty certain that the “waiting area” for Lotso was her favorite themed area in the whole park. Why? Um, because it was decorated like Sunnyside Daycare Center! She was completely enthralled with a place that looks like her home from 7-5!

And the second reason we went to Hollywood Studios:

Playhouse Disney LIVE!  While our little munchkin has only watched these cartoons a handful of times, each time she was insanely crazy about the music and songs and characters. And guess what… she went CRAZY at the show. Clapping, dancing, singing, and just totally enthralled for every minute of the show. She also was incredibly mad when I stopped her from crawling up to the stage… but got over it shortly.

I mean, who can get mad at bubbles and leaves and streamers falling all around you! What can I say? Our daughter is a complete sucker for that Mickey guy.

So we left Hollywood Studios and waved goodbye to all four of the theme parks…

… and we were officially Disney park done!