The joy continues...with the women!

On Wednesday we were back at the Magic Kingdom even brighter and earlier because the guys, Mark, Chris and Wayne had a tour that started before the park opened and we decided to all go over there together. So, we got to see the opening song and dance and countdown! It was a lot of fun! Then we were in the park immediately as it opened!

Dianna, Renee, and I, along with all the kidlets of course, got to ride many rides that early in the morning. We didn't have to deal with lines at all! We rode the carousel and Winnie the Pooh ride. Ainsley and I passed on Dumbo this time, though, because we saw Ariel's grotto was opening early and we got to go up and visit with her again!
Adorable!
The teacups are so much fun!
The Sturgill women all rode the magic carpets together this time, because Ainsley and Wesley wanted to ride them together. :) However, they fought over who got to fly it.

We really enjoyed a morning with no lines! We went and grabbed lunch at Columbia Harbor House while we waited to hear from the guys who were supposed to be finishing their Keys to the Kingdom tour, where they got a lot of neat behind-the-scenes info on Magic Kingdom.

We met up with them and all decided we wanted to see the Hall of Presidents animatronic show. It was a good show and part of the info Mark passed on to me from his tour knowledge is that everytime they add a president to the show, it costs $1 million. A lot of research is done and they make them exactly the right size, apparently. Unfortunately, Ainsley was a semi-noisy, squirm worm and it was one of the few times on the trip I can remember she really showed bad behavior. Most of the trip she really did a pretty good job!

We let the kids play on a little playground while we switched off with the Sturgills riding Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We really had to talk Mark into going on Splash Mountain because he didn't want to get wet. Here we are after the ride!

He was just teasing, though. He admitted he liked it! After those rides, we got on the train and rode it all the way around the park and then some. Here we are on the "secret?" pathway from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland, where we then took turns riding Space Mountain, but we rode it guys then girls. I needed me some Renee time!
Dinner that night was at Liberty Tree Tavern, where the food was served family style and was much like a Thanksgiving dinner. I liked about half the food, but my mom's cornbread dressing has apparently spoiled me on any other stuffing because I thought theirs was Stove Top. No joke. It was another character dinner, too, so that was fun.

We also got to see Chip and Dale, who we hadn't yet seen, at least not close up. Coming out of dinner, we practically bumped into Michele! They had come to the park in the evening to watch the fireworks. Mark, Ainsley and I stayed with them to watch the fireworks so I could get just a few more minutes in with a friend I knew I wouldn't see for a long while. I'm grateful we ran into each other like that.

We really took our time strolling out that evening to let the crowd go. We were in no hurry. Ainsley finally got a balloon. :)

The next day we would be heading to the one park we hadn't yet visited this trip...