Magic Kingdom

It was a pleasant surprise to have the whole family wake up naturally between 6 to 7am in the morning. It wasn't as pleasant to discover that the TSA had somehow damaged one of our locks after opening it presumably for an inspection. We had to call guest services to get the lock cut open. It was obviously a day for locks of all sorts to misbehave. We somehow also managed to lock ourselves out of our bathrooms. Yes, you read correctly. The bathroom got locked with no one inside the bathroom. Fortunately, the maintenance man who came was friendly and did not look at us like we were fools.

The view of our beautiful resort from our balcony. Sorry I should have straightened this photo first but I'm too tired right now!

The joy of the children when they discovered the television in the mirror. Brushing their teeth had never been so popular

Got to love the areas set aside for little people. Handy when parents need to sort things like with reception

We ate breakfast at the hotel's quick service restaurant again as we were not organised enough to make a reservation at the Grand Floridian Cafe beforehand. In very non-Disney fashion, we missed rope drop! Fortunately the monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom was quick and we were off to enjoy our first park of our trip. We spent some time of our morning exploring the new Fantasyland expansion. Enchanted Tales with Belle was gorgeous and a great way to meet with Belle. A quick food pit stop was made at Gaston's Tavern as we had to try Le Fou's Brew. The protein meal that was the pork shank on offer wasn't too bad either.

We're following the leader, the leader, the leader wherever he may go!

A quick ride, next stop...Magic Kingdom!

Filled with excitement ready to go!

Let the  memories begin at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Crossing under the sign that takes you to the happy Disney bubble

The magic began straight away! We piled into our ride to the Castle

Yes I got to be the driver...just for the photo!

We're here!!!

First ride of the day

Driving is serious business

Main Street Philharmonic, amazing musicians. Talented and funny!

Guess where we're eating?

On the to try list

Our lunch

Gaston, the man himself

It was a LARGE piece of meat

The outside of Under The Sea, one of the new attractions within the expansion of Fantasyland

 It was a day filled with so much fun. Our time went by quickly and we returned to our resort to enjoy some time at the pool which we ogled over the previous night. We ended the swimming session to beautifyy ourselves for an evening with Cinderella and family at 1900 Park Fare. The food was surprisingly good! We enjoyed the strawberry soup, a specialty of the restaurant. Meeting Prince Charming and the evil stepsisters were a hoot, and Cinderella was as pretty and charming as always.

The children enjoying their swim at the resort pool

Dinner venue

The evil stepmother teaching Shirley her ways

Prince Charming

Cinderella with the ladies

This wicked stepsister had her eyes set on Jared. I believe she wanted to marry him

The December babies getting their special treat

Specialty of the house, strawberry soup

One last photo at the Grand Floridian

Hearing your child tell you "I'm so happy!" at the end of the day would never fail  to warm any parent's heart. It makes the long journey and the sacrifices all worth it! With plans made for the next day, we retired early to our rooms to rest.