~ Day 4 - January 19, 2022
Tilly (4), Adam (the daddy) & me (the granny)
This was a Magic Kingdom day. We got a late start but it was an Extra Magic Hours night at the Magic Kingdom so we would have lots of time at the park. It was also, finally, a warm enough day to swim. Tilly had been begging to swim, but it was pretty chilly the first few days. I explained to her that the kids who were swimming were probably from Alaska so they were used to cold weather. (You use what knowledge you can to stop the begging!) Later in the week when we had a little warmer weather, Tilly told me, "No wonder people come here from Alaska, it's nice here."
So, I got LL for the Haunted Mansion first. On the way there we saw two different Cavalcades including the Mickey 50th Anniversary one in front of the castle. I also got LL for it's a small world. We rode the carousel which happened to have a really short line. Tilly had her beautiful Merida dress on because we were planning to eat in Cinderella's castle for dinner so we stopped inside of the castle and I took her photo in front of a couple of the gorgeous mosaics. People are really nice about stopping while walking through to allow other guests to get photos there.
Tilly had been wanting a blue Mickey balloon since the day before. We had found a balloon seller at HS but they were out of blue. I didn't realize that the balloon sellers are not Disney employees so it was one of the few places where we couldn't pay with a Magic Band. That balloon gave her a lot of joy the rest of the week and is still flying in her room.
We decided to take the resort launch back to the Polynesian so she could swim. We sat in the outside front of the boat and she stood in the bow holding the railing all on her own. I got some of the best photos of the trip on that boat ride!
We went back to the MK in time for our 5:00 dinner time but Cinderella was running late. Imagine that! We were seated very close to where she makes her appearance when she visits the dining room. Although there aren't close character interactions, she was only about 6 feet behind Tilly's chair so I still got good pictures. The food was pretty tasty. I'd have to say that the highlight was the cupcake, decorate-your-own-dessert for children. That kept her busy icing and sprinkling while we finished our dinners and relaxed.
I had LL for Pooh after dinner and The Little Mermaid. We rode Dumbo and since there was no line, we got to stay on and have a double ride. We watched the fireworks from there too. Tilly and I rode the Teacups which I haven't done in over 20 years. Adam ate too much at dinner so he said he just couldn't do it!
By that time it was Extra Magic Hours and the crowd had really cleared out. We rode the TTA and Tilly and I rode the Astro Orbiter. Then we went on Buzz. I took some beautiful photos of the castle and the 50th Anniversary golden statues. We strolled along Main Street and I stopped in to buy a 50th Anniversary Pandora bead.
This was a perfect Disney day!
