A Royal Vacation - Disney World part 3

I did not plan on dividing our Disney trip into so many posts, but it's fun to re-live the details and post favorite pictures from each day. I've really enjoyed going back through the pictures from the trip and remembering the special things from each day.

Thursday morning arrived extremely EARLY. We had reservations for breakfast in Cinderella's castle at 8am. Everyone told us that we needed to leave an hour early to make sure we got there in time.
We woke the girls up at 6:30 (5:30 Texas time) to get them ready.
Sondrea had gotten the girls princess dresses for the breakfast - Snow White for Avalon and Sleeping Beauty for Julie.
We got them ready as quickly as we could and headed for the bus stop. As soon as the bus stop came in sight, we knew we were never going to make it on time. There was a line of at least 100 people waiting for buses. We ended up getting a taxi to take us to the park and we arrived with a little time to spare.

If I had it to do over again, I would definitely get a later breakfast reservation. By the time 8:00 hit, both girls were already looking tired. We were escorted into the castle and stood in line to have pictures taken with Cinderella before going up to breakfast. The girls were in good company with Cinderella. She didn't seem to be much of a morning person either ;)

After taking pictures with Cinderella, we went upstairs for breakfast. We knew there would be other princesses coming to breakfast, but we hadn't been told beforehand which they would be.
The first two to walk in the room were Snow White and Sleeping Beauty - Perfect, since those were the girls dresses :). They were followed by Ariel and Jasmine.
The girls were happy to see the princesses, but their excitement was dwarfed by sleepiness.

After breakfast we went back out to the park to do a few rides. We did the Dumbo ride, Aladdin's Magic Carpets (identical to Dumbo except with carpets instead of elephants). The girls loved both :)
Sondrea took the girls on the roller coaster again and then we did a jungle boat ride. Lastly, Sondrea and the girls explored the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house while I sat in the shade and rested for a few minutes. It was a very warm day. Much warmer than I had anticipated for April.
By midday, everyone was wiped out so we headed back to the hotel to rest. Avalon is my child that does not seem to need a nap. Ever. So while Julie and Sondrea caught up on beauty rest Avalon and I went to the hotel food court to grab lunch and enjoy the AC.
Avalon had been begging to go swimming since our arrival at the hotel, so after lunch we hit the pool. Julie joined us after she woke up. It was so hot out that the pool really was a great option for the day.

Thursday night we had another dinner with characters planned. This time Mickey Mouse and friends. 

After having an afternoon off, the girls were back to their normal, energy-filled, selves. They bounced up and down with joy when they caught sight of Minnie Mouse. 

After dinner, it was back to Magic Kingdom for a last little bit of fun. Avalon wanted to go on more rides and Julie wanted to see the electrical parade again. Sondrea and Julie went to watch the parade, and I took Avalon to do some of her favorite rides (It's a Small World, Peter Pan, Dumbo, and the Carousel). Because the majority of people in the park were watching the parade, we hardly had to wait in line at all. I really enjoyed getting to have that one on one time in the park with Avalon. It was really special and fun for both of us.
I think Sondrea felt the same about getting to do the parade with Julie. It was a very full day, but we came away with some treasured memories.