End of Vacation

On our last day of vacation we did a character breakfast at our hotel, played in our room while there was a storm, and then went down to the pools once the weather improved! Raul was not as interested in the characters that day, but still gave them some smiles and kisses. While it rained he asked to sit at the desk to play his iPad and looked so cute in the big desk chair! 

When we went to the pool, at first he was hesitant, but he ended up playing a bit at the spray park area and enjoying the lazy river. He was extremely relaxed floating on one of the tubes in the river (the kids ones had a plastic bottom so he was barely even getting wet, which he liked), and laughed while spinning and bumping into empty tubes! 

Yesterday we flew home, and Raul was a bit sad for vacation to be over. He was exhausted from a busy week though, and ended up sleeping most of the plane ride home! 

Park Day Three: Epcot and Magic Kingdom

My mom joined us Tuesday night for the last few days of our vacation. On Wednesday we spent time at both Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Raul was a bit grumpy at the start of the day, as he was tired and hot, but then perked up. At Epcot we looked at the giant ball/globe, did a few activities in the indoor Innoventions areas, and met with Duffy the bear. Raul wasn't sure he wanted to see Duffy, but then was very happy we did! Duffy even wrote him a special note and gave him a whole pile of stickers. 

 Then we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Raul was hesitant about rides, but agreed to do the Jungle Cruise if he could stay in his stroller, which worked well. He also got to see the Main Street fire truck/fire man, which was really cool. We met with the talking Mickey, Raul's favorite, then got spots for the parade. While waiting for the parade I ran and got return times for the Speedway, as Raul decided he really wanted to go on that with my mom. We watched the parade, and a few characters came over to say hi to Raul, then headed to the Speedway. Raul had a great time riding the race car and helped my mom steer a bit!

We were going to leave then, but Raul decided he wanted to see the talking Mickey one more time. So we got a return time, then played Uno in the lobby while we waited. When we went back to get in line for Mickey, a cast member who had seen Raul playing/scooting in the lobby came up and gave him a Mickey stuffed animal! He was excited to show off his new stuffed animal to the talking Mickey. 

We were all exhausted by the end of the day, so came back to the hotel to relax and have room service. We never made it to the car stunt show at Hollywood Studios, but Raul was just too exhausted by the late afternoon! We are now in a hotel with a view of the Epcot and Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony, which was very cool last night! Raul was too tired to watch them last night, but says he is going to tonight. 

Back at the hotel watching TV before bed after a busy day!

Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom was much less crowded than the Magic Kingdom, but super hot. We went out on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch where Raul posed with Rafiki, got to pet a guinea pig, checked out an owl, walked through the petting zoo, explored in the air conditioned nature center, and met Chip and Dale. Again we were pleasantly surprised when a cast member asked us to come to the front of the line when we were meeting Chip and Dale (we had tried to see them before they went on a break). Then we rode the train back and went to meet with Mickey and Minnie. We had planned to do the safari too, but Raul was getting too hot and tired, so we opted to leave and head back to the hotel. Raul fell asleep on the bus again, but woke up back at the hotel ready to play! 

Magic Kingdom (part two)

We took a day off on Monday and hung out at the hotel recovering from our late night on Sunday. We relaxed, played games, and explored the hotel a bit more. Today we headed back to the parks, starting with Magic Kingdom. It was very hot today, so I was pleasantly surprised when an entire line of people waiting to get their bags checked told us to go ahead of them (without me asking). We had breakfast at Crystal Palace with the Winnie the Pooh characters. Raul was a bit fussy, but gave them some good cuddles! Then we went out to the dance party for a few minutes, but it was a bit loud. We went back to see the talking Mickey again, which Raul loved! I think he would spend all day in there if he could!

Epcot/Magic Kingdom

Sunday was a busy day! We switched hotels, took short naps, checked out all the Cars statues, and then headed to the parks around 6:30. It was semi-a comedy of errors, but Raul actually had a good time. We started at Epcot, and took pictures with the ball/globe (Raul really liked it for some reason), then wandered a bit. A few rides were closed, and I hadn't gotten a map, so we were wandering aimlessly. We ended up getting in line for the Nemo ride, but it stopped working for a while, so we got out of line and just checked out the aquarium area. Raul really liked that, and would have stayed longer, but we had gotten a late start and needed to get to MK for the parade. Then the monorail was broken, so we had to shlep by bus to the transportation center, and then by packed ferry to the MK.

Because of the transportation issues we were a bit behind schedule, but we made it in to see the talking Mickey and to grab a stroller tag before the parade! No time to get to the handicapped area, but we did get a front row spot. Raul was moderately interested in the electric parade; I think he will like the daytime one better. Then we went to meet Donald/Goofy and watched fireworks on our way to Small World. We were in the back of the park so the fireworks were loud; I had hoped to be back by the gate by that time, so Raul chose Small World instead of watching them. When we got out of the ride it was raining harder than I have seen in a long time! The puddles were higher than my feet within minutes. Thankfully I had stuck the stroller cover and a poncho under the stroller, though I still got soaked somehow. It poured the whole way back to the bus, which of course was the farthest possible stall. Raul fell asleep on the bus, and after grabbing something to eat quickly, we made it back to the room just before midnight! Despite a few issues, Raul actually had a really good day! The highlight was the talking Mickey; Raul loves him!