Disney vacation November 2013! part 2

OK, Wednesday morning, Gretchen woke up sick.  We had already planned to skip rope drop that morning because we wanted to stay in the park late to see the castle light up for the holidays.  Tonight was going to be the first show for that!  We also wanted the kids to see some fireworks if they wanted.  Lew and I had gone back on Monday night after the kids went to bed to see them for the first time.  It was fun.  We also got to ride Splash Mountain together since neither kid is into that and at 9:45 pm, there is no line.  

So, Gretchen stayed in the condo with Mom while Lew, Carl and I went to Downtown Disney for shopping and lunch.  It was weird to have 2 on 1.  Carl had fun spending some of his well saved Disney Fund on Legos and a stuffed Lightning McQueen.  Both items were things we has been planning on buying all summer long!!  After lunch, we headed back to the condo to get Gretchen & Mom and head back to Magic Kingdom.

So, we found a spot to view the castle lighting.  Lew & Gretchen picked right at the base of the castle!  Turns out, it was a great spot!!!!

The fireworks were going to start at 8:45 and Lew & I had picked out a good spot for viewing.  Carl decided that he didn't want to see them at all, which was fine.  He and Lew headed out to do whatever Carl wanted.   He wore his ear plugs so the noise didn't bother him.  They first rode the People Mover, then rode the Astro Orbiter.  Then, they headed over to his favorite roller coaster, Goofy's Barnstormer.  Turns out, during fireworks, no one is in line!  They rode together a few times and then Carl decided to go by himself.  Well, he was sitting in the 6th car back and the lady running the ride just kept letting him ride without getting off!  He rode another 18-20 times in a row!!!!!!  He was super happy!!!  

Gretchen, Mom and I watched the fireworks, but Gretchen didn't really like them.  I didn't give her any ear plugs because I thought she was okay without them.  Guess I should have.  I was only propping my camera on the garbage can - the guy next to us has a tripod.  I wasn't about to lug that around Disney.  So, the trade off is, he surely got great photos.  But, I enjoyed the show nonetheless.

After that, we headed over to Tinkerbell's spot because Monday night I saw there was no  line at all... unlike the 45 minute line she normally has.  We got to meet her with a different fairy friend than she was with earlier in the week when we waited in that 45 minute line (which, by the way, turned out to only take 25 minutes).   Since Gretchen was Tinkerbell for Halloween, she was happy to get to pose with more fairies!!!

On Thursday, our day began at The Tusker House for my very favorite breakfast.  By now, Mom and I were feeling achy and sick.  Carl had been coughing all week as well.  He was getting worse.

See that fruit?  She ate about 3 bites of it.  That is all.  Even her favorite Jungle Juice hurt her throat.

 Quick shot by the Tree of Life before we headed out.  During the day, we met several characters, saw the Lion King show, and played on the playground area.  Mom and I clearly had fevers by now, but Tylenol and Advil helped keep us from freezing.

On Friday, we headed to Disney Hollywood Studios.  We knew it would be a late night because the fancy Osborne Family Lights were starting this night and we wanted to stay for that!

Gretchen was excited to meet her favorite TV character, Sofia the First!  Sofia did the Royal Sleepover Dance with her!  If you have a young daughter, you know that reference, and if you don't, I am too tired to explain it.  It's from the show.

 Phineas and Ferb had Santa hats on .

 Mom drove her scooter down into the Beauty and the Beast show - which allowed us to sit in the second row!  I hadn't planned on taking any pictures, but we were super close!

We're all looking pretty beat by this point.

The holiday lights were beautiful!  But, we didn't get to spend as much time enjoying them as I would have liked.  We had Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania and it was just so crowded over there.  So, we stayed for  a couple songs and then headed over to our ride area.  We waited in Buzz & Woody's line as well.

On Saturday, we went back to Magic Kingdom for Mom's last day with us.  We left a bit early to take her to the airport.  This day, Carl was feverish, so an early exit was good for him, too.

On Sunday, we spent 6 hours at EPCOT before leaving for home.

We made much better time getting home.  Only 8.5 hours.  Everyone was so sick, we didn't want to eat - so that saved a meal stop.  We got home at 11:30 pm.  Happy to be home, but sad to have left Mickey and all our friends!  Carl is already making plans for next year!