Disney (Part 1)

Yes, indeed...I surprised Tricia and Gwyneth with a trip to Disney World's Magic Kingdom a few months ago! A birthday gift for Gwyneth, but something that Tricia has had on her bucket list for years. I'd been secretly planning this trip for nearly a year, and Tricia had no idea where we were going until we arrived at the airport! She didn't even know we were going anywhere until a few days before when I told her to start packing!

I did the Disney thing with my family when I was younger, but Tricia had never been. I have to say that it was just as fun (if not more so) to go as a parent. Although Gwyneth may not remember much about this trip when she is older, she definitely loved the experience, and it was so much fun to watch her face all day long. I'm pretty sure that Gwyneth still doesn't have any idea what "Disney" means...she's had very little exposure to Mickey and the gang before this trip, and she certainly had no idea what we were doing until we arrived. But she was amazed, nonetheless.

It was also great to have my sister Sarah and bil Terry join us (we stayed with them in FL for a few nights). They gave Gwyneth a Cinderella dress to wear as a birthday gift, and Gwyneth received a button to wear all day to let everyone know that she was celebrating her birthday. Everybody who worked at the park who saw her button wished her a happy birthday!

We arrived shortly after the park opened, and stayed all the way through the fireworks show that night. Here are some photos from the first part of the day!

Cinderella's Castle.

Check out her button...and her sparkly slippers.

The first ride!

Jungle Cruise

Gwyneth LOVED the animals!

She was a brave little girl to survive this one!

A Goofy kiss.

We knew going in that the only characters Gwyneth would immediately recognize would be the Toy Story crew. She carried her Woody toy with her everywhere all day, and we hoped that we would run into some of the characters...thankfully, less than an hour into the day, we found her two favorite people in the whole world, Woody and Jessie! In fact, other than Goofy, these were the only two characters we were able to meet all day!

She made sure to show big Woody her Woody toy.

It's a Small World After all! This was Gwyneth's favorite ride!

Aunt Sarah!

Underneath Cinderella's Castle.

Watching a show at the Castle steps.

Up next...photos of the mid day parade!

Nate