Deja vu

A long time ago (no, I am not going to tell you how many years!) my parents lost me at Disneyworld. From what I remember, I was with my mother, I asked her to do or get something, she said, "Ask your father" and then pointed in a direction where she could see him. I turned around to look in the direction she was pointing but I didn't see him in the crowd and when I turned back, I no longer saw my mother. In true 5 1/2 year old fashion, I cried and the next thing I remember a man with an enormous broom (he must have been a Disney employee) asked me if I was lost. He took me to the Crystal Palace to a room filled with the most amazing toys a kid has ever seen. There must have been toys for all kinds of kids in there, but the dollhouses stood out to me. Amazing.....And then what seemed like not nearly long enough (remember, I wanted to play with those toys!) the door opened and my grandfather was there!This weekend had an element of deja vu for me. We were at Magic Kingdom. Kyle and I were there. My parents were there. Grace was there. Two sets of adults and a child. All we had to do was NOT lose the kid!

Luckily, we managed to spare Grace from getting lost. A big improvement! I saw the Crystal Palace, but now it is a restaurant. I really wanted to find the place where lost children are taken now, just to compare the reality with my memory. But, we were there for Grace and it was more important that she had a wonderful experience riding the classic Disney rides like Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Its a Small World. We sprinkled in some newer attractions likeBuzz Lightyear and Monsters, Inc. And two things that got the "thumbs down" from the birthday girl - Mickey's Philharmagic (she didn't like things flying at her in this 3D show), the Haunted Mansion (what was I thinking?)!

The rides were fun and a little "cheesy" but they still retained the "magic" for a 4-year old. But the real attraction was getting autographs from the characters. I had heard about this but I wasn't prepared for the characters being such a draw. Some of them had lines as long as the rides with people waiting for a signature and a photo! Grace got to meet:

Pluto,Pinocchio,Mary Poppins,

and Buzz Lightyear.

(I'm not bragging or anything, but I had the highest score of 23, 900 and defeated the Evil Zurg!)

But where were the princesses? We saw Snow White at the very beginning during the opening show, but then they were nowhere to be seen. Grace kept looking up at the castle and telling me that Cinderella was probably sleeping. Another cool thing was that they gave Grace a pin to wear that said, "Happy Birthday, Grace". So may people wished her a happy birthday while we were walking around. My parents also got pins that said they were celebrating an anniversary. What a great idea to make you feel special!