Disney World

After 4 days at Amelia Island, we drove down to Orlando on January 1. Despite traveling south it got even colder. We had packed for about 60 degree weather (as per weather.com), and it ended up being highs of about 40. By the time we stayed out after sundown for some of the nightly festivities it was just plain cold, especially because we didn't have our warm jackets or hats or gloves. Austin went out to try to buy some warmer clothing for the kids but only found bathing suits. He did track down a jacket for Ainsleigh. Ripken wore about 5 long sleeve shirts, the one sweatshirt we brought, and his jacket.

Day 1 and 3 we went to Sea World (next post). Day 2 we went to Disney World. We are not too big on Disney (ok, so I'm pretty much a Disney hater). I mean, dreams don't come true from wishing on stars, they come true from setting goals and working hard. And come on girls, if you do get some magical wish, why doesn't just one of you wish for world peace or clean drinking water instead of a prince? And the gender roles and body image messages are objectionable. For a good NY Times article from a few years ago that helps explain my objections to the princess cult of Disney, click here. OK, rant over.

Anyway, so Ainsleigh has only seen Sleeping Beauty (since she is obsessed with Maleficent). So we had to tell her who most of the characters were. Of course some she's picked up from her friends. Well, as it turned out, at the very first show we went to Maleficent appeared in a cloud of smoke. Ainsleigh literally started screaming she was so excited. It reminded me of when we went to Sesame Place for the first time and she walked in and saw Cookie Monster and started squealing, with whom she was equally obsessed at the time.

She did meet the princesses (when in Rome...).

She also met the fairies (which I still know nothing about). She said meeting Tinkerbell was one of her favorite things:Watching the Princess and the Frog show, which took place on a river boat.Awaiting the start of the parade. Ripken was determined to figure out the hula hoops. They usually got the better of him and toppled him over.

Apparently they had differing opinions of how the day was going:

(he was hungry, as always)

We left for dinner and came back for the nighttime parade and fireworks. The Christmas decorations were all still up.

Ripken wasn't too impressed:

He did wake up to see this:

The fireworks were pretty amazing!
It was a fun day. We especially enjoyed the Buzz Lightyear ride and the little shows. Sea World was even better (stay tuned!).