We sat with Jen & the boys on our bus back to POR. Noah was fast asleep. Too much fun! We got to our room and jumped into our bathing suits. This afternoon, we headed over to Port Orleans French Quarter to check out their waterslide. Those two 'sister' resorts are the the only ones you're officially allowed to pool-hop. We couldn't resist. Cute resort. The pool is about the same size; big on the mardi gras gator theme. There is a lizard whose large body bisects the pool, creating two bridges. The back of the lizard serves as steps up to the slide, which is the lizard's pink tongue. Our kids thought that was super-cool. And unlike the Riverside slide, this slide's current pushes you right to the edge of the pool; so you hop out next to the steps and slide again. Lauren and Andrew could each do this completely unassissted. I think they did it continuously for the forty minutes we were there.
So it was a fun break at the POFQ pool. We returned to Acadian House and dressed for dinner. Tonight we had 7:10pm reservations with Tigger & Pooh at the Crystal Palace. We surprised Lauren with the princess Minnie Mouse ears Aunt Rhonda had picked up for her. Big hit! And Andrew got a Capt. Jack Sparrow lego set. (an extra party favor saved from LRV's bday). We waited with the Maurers at the bus stop for maybe 15 minutes before a MK bus arrived.
When we got back to the park, we picked up the strollers and broke into groups. Andrea and I took Andrew back on Space Mountain. He was dying to ride again & the moms wanted to use our fp. The dads & Robbie attempted to take the rest of the kids to Buzz Lightyear, but it had closed for the day. So they hung out in front of Crystal Palace, feeding the ducks popcorn.
If my favorite MK moment with Lauren was watching her meet Sleeping Beauty, then my favorite Andrew moment was riding Space Mountain. Walking thru the queue, he was telling me how cool the ride was and how brave he was, etc. He pointed out the shooting stars while we waited for our rockets. He wanted to ride in the front of the car. We ended up with me & Andrea in the front car; ADV was in the front of the second car. Which was 'totally wicked' for him. I loved hearing his happy screams behind me throughout the ride. It's really cool to share experiences with him. I am enjoying age 5 so much!
We met up with the dads just a couple minutes past our ADR. We were seated immediately at the front two tables next to the pooh & friends topiaries. Pooh came almost immediately. Andrew gave him a huge hug; LRV held back. But we were off to a good start. I put together a plate for Lauren, then took Andrew up to the buffet with me to make his choices. We ended up with chicken nuggets and pineapple. I actually enjoyed this buffet. There was a great romain salad with blue cheese; also, a spicy pasta. (I even went back for seconds -- shocking!) We marched around the room with Piglet's parade. Then the kids finished out their meal with soft-serve icecream sundaes. LRV loves her some sprinkles. Tigger came by to visit & we got more good pics. However, we hadn't seen Eeyore. And for some reason, it was really important to LRV to meet Eeyore. Fortunately, right as we were leaving, we saw him. Brian & LRV dashed back inside & got a picture.
The Spectromagic parade was well on it's way when we left at 8:20pm. We cut over to Liberty Square to catch the bulk of it. We stood up on pilings on the landscaping, holding our kids up. Gosh, they've gotten heavy! I even stood Lauren on top of a trash can when my arms gave out. Anyway, they loved Spectromagic. We'll have to eat dinner earlier next year, so we can get better seats. Lauren especially latched onto Ariel, Tritan & Ursula; Flora, Fauna & Merryweather; and Tinkerbell. She was amazed that they had lights all over them!
After the parade, we wandered back to the CP, and discussed how to kill 20 minutes til Wishes. We ended up just staying put. No one was hungry, and there wasn't really time to ride a ride. Crossing the crowds at Main Street seemed rather daunting. So we ate lollipops and hung out. Wishes was great. The kids wore glow necklaces and watched the castle in fascination. I got a little teary thinking that this was one of those parenting dreams that had come true for us... thank you, God :) Andrew's favorite part was the scary part with Maleficent --he tells us later -- when the look of terror had passed. LRV's fav part was Tinkerbell, of course. Next time, we'll make the effort to watch from Tomorrowland so we can see her fly overhead.
After the show, we moved with the masses out of the park. Had our kids been older, we could have stopped for icecream or shopped around. But these kids were done. I think it must be a parenting rite of passage to lug your sleepy, cranky child out of the Magic Kingdom. I definitely felt 30 :) The lines for the buses were insane. And I swear, POR was the worst. The bus queues are done in a row. Well POR's queue was at the end of the row of six or so, but it's line was past the first resort's queue. It was bad. It took a good 30-40 minutes to wait for the bus. Our family was the last one dropped off. The Maurers had gotten off at the main entrance bus stop, but we took the bus over to Acadian House's stop. I just wasn't up for hauling Andrew any further than I had to... and the kids slept in their clothes that night.
We weren't sure if waiting until the fourth day for the MK was a good idea. But it turned out great. It was like the crescendo for the vacation. What an exciting, exhausting, magical day!
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