Thursday November 13th we started the day early!
It was Madeline's 5th birthday!!
I got up at 5am to shower and get everything ready. Then I got up Doug. Then the girls.
We woke up Maddy singing Happy birthday to her. She was very excited.
We had some granola bars to hold us over since it would be a few hours until our brunch.
Our Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointment wasn't until the afternoon (I tried to get it earlier but couldn't) so we dressed Abi in a princess shirt knowing we would be meeting lots of princesses today and Maddy in a special birthday shirt and bow.
She also wore her birthday button.
We met my parents and headed to the buses.
We were on the bus by 6:45am.
And to the park by 7:15.
It opened at 8 for early hours. So we knew we would be waiting for a while. I also knew that it would be a bit crowded today but I didn't expect it to be so crazy at rope drop.
We were some of the first in line at the gates.
But then for some reason my fingerprint didn't work and neither did my dad's. So we had to wait for a manager to come over and re-set it. Not a big deal.
Doug ran over to get a locker to put the dress in.
When we got through we were behind a lot of people. Still weren't worried about it.
The girls looked at their pins. (We got them off of ebay again so we could have a lot to trade)
And this is what it looked like as we waited for the rope to drop.
Yikes.
Soon the train was coming in and the show started. It was really fun to see the rope drop show.
And then the madness started.
As they let us in people turned crazy. We were pushed and shoved and stepped on.
I was ran over by a guy with a stroller- first bumping into my leg so hard it almost knocked me over and then for good measure he went right over my foot.
We were getting a little stressed and so I said, "Hey Doug let's get over to the side and let them all pass us."
We weren't heading for the big things. We were planning on just going slowly and enjoying it all. And luckily, we had our fast passes already for all of our days at the parks so we weren't worried about what we might not be able to do.
This was the best decision.
We were able to de-stress and let all the other people who left their manners at home fight it out for first in line and just enjoy ourselves.
I really couldn't believe the crowds.
I know I could never go during the summer or especially over the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas especially but also spring break and holiday weekends) because I know those times are much worse than this.
We went off to the right at the castle to try to meet Merida. She wasn't out yet so we made a note to go see her later in the day and headed up to Fantasyland to explore.
Of course everyone else had pretty much headed straight for the 7 Dwarves Mine Train (the new ride) but we didn't need to because we had fast passes for it on other days and Anna and Elsa (but we also had a fP for this another day) so we went straight to Winnie the Pooh.
This ride can get long lines too but at this point in the morning it was not bad at all.
The girls loved playing in the line area and would have enjoyed having more time!
Soon we were in our honey pots and headed into the hundred acre wood.
Maddy, Doug, and I went in one honey pot.
Abi went in the one behind us with my parents.
Maddy LOVED this ride. She loved every second of it and it ended up being her very favorite ride of the whole trip (and we would ride it quite a few more times!)
We asked the birthday girl where she would like to go next...
What would she choose?
What would she choose?
