Day 1 Continued

To continue with our day one adventure....

 

After we rode some rides and visited with Tigger and Pooh, we found some more familiar characters to meet:  Peter Pan and Wendy.  Ethan was hot and a bit tired by this time, so he wanted Dad to carry him.  Emily was a bit unimpressed.  I think it's the age.  I'd better get used to it.  Although it was quite funny when, after hugging one of the characters (I think it was Tigger) she told Andrew, "I think I felt a body in there."  Ah...the innocence is gone.

 

 

 

We also rode Splash Mountain.  Many of the bigger rides require a height of at least 40 inches to ride.  With shoes, Ethan measures 40.5 inches.  As a result, he had to be measured every time he rode a "big people" ride.  He JUST made the cutoff, but I'm so glad he did because he thoroughly enjoyed himself on all the thrill rides. 

 

 

Emily rode with me right behind Ethan and Andrew

 

 

And just for some perspective on what we were riding...it is a nice tame flume ride until the last drop:

See that"little" waterfall toward the top of the mountain in the middle of the picture?  That's the drop and then you can see the log flume getting rather wet right under the bridge.  Thankfully, we didn't get completely soaked, but we did get a bit wet. And Ethan thought that was fantastic.

 

 

Eventually we went on big paddleboat called the Liberty Belle.  We had about 30 minutes until our dinner reservation and the boat trip was 30 min. and right across from our restaurant, so we gratefully took a break from walking and toured the river.

 This is the Haunted Mansion from afar.  Not so scary looking in the day (and not truly scary anyway, just fun).

 

 

Andrew, probably contemplating how he could get out dinner that night since we were eating at the Liberty Tree Tavern.  It has historically been one of his least favorite places to eat at Disney (it serves family style colonial American comfort food like Turkey, mac and cheese, stuffing, veggies, mashed potatoes...you know, your standard Thanksgiving fare.)

 

 Here was our rustic table by the fireplace.  Notice the salt and pepper shakers in Ethan's hands.

 

 I tell you, we could have saved TONS of money on toys for this kid because he quite happily entertained himself with the salt and pepper shakers for at least 30 minutes.

 

 And Andrew happily entertained himself with some rolls and butter...all he could eat....and he did because at Disney prices he was "going to get his money's worth" even if it made him sick!

It turns out that he grudgingly had to admit that he really didn't mind eating there after all.

 

 And finally a few pictures from Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride, which if you're not familiar with it, is your basic Dumbo ride plus a spitting camel. 

 

My riding buddy...and notice the raindrops on the ride....It was a sign of things to come....