Day 3 (Magic Kingdom)

Saturday was Magic Kingdom day. Except for a quick trip to Epcot, we were in Magic Kingdom from 9:30am till 12:30am. It was amazing. We started off with a ride on the monorail, in the cabin with the pilot. In case you didn't know, you can ask to ride with the pilot anytime (no special passes required). If another family has already asked, you can wait for the next train, or wait till another time. It was really fun, and you have a great view! We started off in TomorrowLand, riding most of the rides, and then had some lunch. We decided to hop over to Epcot for one of Ashleigh's favorite rides, test track, and were disapointed to remember that the special lounges were closed on Saturday. We made it to 2 of the 3, not bad. While at Epcot, Ashleigh wanted some signatures for her autograph book, so we checked out the character spot and the cast member there got us through very quickly. We were able to see Micky, Minnie, Chip&Dale, Pluto and Goofy! She was very happy! We also rode the new ride Soarin' again. Ashleigh was so happy that we let her take her shoes off for the ride. If you have sandals or flip flops that can come off, they ask you to remove them. Ali had to take hers off, so Ashleigh "needed" to take hers off too. After a quick trip to the World Showcase for McDonald's fries (yes, McDonald's), we returned to Magic Kingdom to finish the night. We rode almost all the rides in FrontierLand and Liberty Square. Alex wanted to ride the River Boat and the ferry to Tom Sawyer's island, and these are the only ones we didn't make it to. He said we will have to make another trip so he can ride them! Then we headed for FantsyLand for some dinner. While we were eating, it finally rained and cooled things off. It stopped when we finished, and we rode all the rides in this land also. Amazing! The cast members are so great! We found Ariel's grotto, where you can meet Ariel, but they said she was getting ready for the parade. When they saw Ashleigh's button, they talked to Ariel and she said she had time for Ashleigh! She gave Ashleigh and Ali special attention, and it was really sweet! We rode the thunder mountain roller coaster again and finally got onto splash mountain, then it was fireworks time. We were told that a great spot that is not too crowded is near the Dumbo ride. It actually was not that great because we kept having to turn and look at the different sets fireworks because they shoot them into 2 different areas. However, we were able to see Tinkerbell when she flew around the castle, and that was Ashleigh's favorite. We never saw her in the park so Ashleigh could meet her, apparently she is hard to keep down!

We walked through Cinderella's castle on our way to the front and I almost lost my family! What a scary feeling to not know where everyone is in such a big place with so many people. We did hook up again, and all is well! We shopped for some pins (we are collecting a pin from each park), and settled down on the sidewalk for the 11pm parade. It was beautiful, especially from the great seats we had. When Ariel came by on her float, she did a double take at Ashleigh, recognized her and blew her a kiss! It was a magical night for Ashleigh - just as is should be.