The Magic Kingdom

We woke up early Saturday morning (Carter's first in a "big bed") and were ready for our first day to come.

But something didn't seem right, there was a funny little door in our closet.  We found the key and let Carter open the door.  To his surprise, Mickey Mouse left Carter some items he would need during his trips to the park.

Carter was super excited for his book (to be used as a character signature book) and his new sippy cup!

We quickly got dressed (Carter had a new birthday tee shirt waiting for his day) and headed to the bus stop.  Carter was in a great mood and was telling us, the bus attendant, anyone in shouting distance, all about Disney World despite knowing almost nothing.  It was pretty funny to watch.

We made it to the Magic Kingdom about 20 minutes before the gates opened, so Carter and Mom planned our first moves in the park.

An impromptu tickle attack came from no where!

But then Carter started to notice some movement in the park at the train station...

It turns out, 15 minutes before the park opens, there is a show welcoming the guests and officially opening the park.  Many of the characters arrive by train and are in the show and Carter was so excited to catch his first glimpse of Mickey and Pluto. 

We quickly made our way to Fantasy Land and headed to the Peter Pan ride.  I still am not sure that Carter at this point understood what was going on, but after the first ride, he was hooked to find more.

Winnie the Pooh was a big hit.  He really seemed to like Tigger.

Then we headed to the new Dumbo location.  The line here was brilliant.  You get a restaurant style pager reserving your place in line, then they let the kids loose in a large play area.  Carter had a blast and made waiting much easier.

Eventually it was time to take flight!

After Dumbo, a big first for Carter.  His first roller coaster on Goofy's Barnstormer.  He got in with no fear.

I promise that is his head next to Jordan in the front row!  He had a blast!

 

After the roller coaster we kept our feet on the ground for awhile and took the opportunity to visit some of Mickey's friends who were all dressed up for the circus. We were a bit worried as Carter doesn't have a great track record with characters (Santa, Easter Bunny, etc.) but he had a blast.  He loved getting autographs in his book and gave all the characters hugs.

Up first was Goofey...

Then we saw Donald

Daisey...

And Minnie... Carter was so excited to see Minnie he gave her a kiss!

And he was THRILLED when she returned the favor (I wonder if that counts as his first kiss?).

After finishing with the characters we headed outside where we ran into some clowns who did a happy birthday act with Carter.  In front of all who watched, Carter accomplished, what the clowns claimed, was "the most dangerous clown activity in the world" and balanced a spinning red plate on his stick.

After our clown shenanigans, we headed to the rest of the park to take in all the sites.  Carter had a blast taking everything in.

The Jungle Cruise was a huge hit for both Dad and Carter

Carter tried his best to take Dad on a drive, but no power steering... and the fact that Carter still doesn't understand steering and kept hitting the middle rail hard, meant Carter asked Daddy to finish the steering duties about half way through.

We explored all of Tom Sawyer's Island.

Carter became an official Star Cadet Space Ranger! (Turns out we have a Galactic Hero in the house as well).

We soon headed home as the skies started to look threatening, but not before the classic castle shots.

By the time we made it to Main Street USA, Carter was beat, but he did give a quick peak off Mom's shoulder for one last picture.

Then it was off to bed to rest up for our next day of magic!