We spent our last day entirely at Magic Kingdom. We got there early enough to watch the park opening...the first one we had seen all trip since the previous two days we had reservations for breakfast. We snapped some more pics in front of the Mickey grass while we waited.
I was so glad we got to see this! I teared up as the characters rolled in on the train as Will watched in complete awe. 
I do believe Will's favorite part of this trip was the characters. Even if he didn't always express it. Everywhere we would see a character he would stop dead in his tracks and say "Look!! Look!! Its....." On this day he totally had the character greetings down. As you will see in the pictures below, he completely embraced them. I guess it just took him a few days to figure things out. He knew they weren't going to talk to him (he didn't want them to).As soon as the park was officially open, we headed straight to Fantasyland and got on Peter Pan. We knew we should knock out some of the more popular rides and beat the lines (even though Will was BEGGING to go to the race cars). From Peter Pan (my all-time favorite), we did the Jungle Cruise and Magic Carpet Ride.
From there, we parked Will in front of the castle to take his pic, and realized the Mickey Street Party was about to begin.
This was another type of parade, but was more like a dance party.
Then we headed to the Crystal Palace for our lunch reservation with Winnie the Pooh and friends. John was so lucky to have such a fun birthday lunch :)
Tigger was by far Will's favorite!!!
He started to bounce while Will was in his arms and will LOVED it!!
After lunch, we could tell Will was on the verge of losing it. You could tell that 2 days of napping in a stroller and getting to bed slightly later than normal were wearing on him. We were trying to stay for the electrical parade and fireworks on our last night, so we decided it might be best to go back to our hotel and rest for a bit, and then come back to the park. Will was asleep as we walked out of the park. He stayed asleep the entire bus ride back and all the way to our room. As soon as we walked in our room he perked up and was ready to play. He didn't sleep one bit!! So we just chilled out and watched tv for about an hour. Once we headed back into the park I noticed that Mickey and Minnie were in an old theater just as we entered the park to the right. It was a meet and greet and the wait time said 10 minutes. We decided we should go for it....usually the lines to see Mickey and Minnie are much longer, but they have moved them to a less visible spot since Toon Town closed for the new Storybook Circus expansion and I really think a lot of people don't know where they are. We waited in the air conditioning and it didn't take long before my favorite picture of the entire trip was made!
This is what it is all about!! There is pure joy on Will's face! Like I said, by now, Will had the characters down. This was the first time for him to be up close and personal with Mickey and Minnie in their normal gear. He saw Mickey at our safari breakfast, but he was in his safari get up.
I could have gone home after this :) Will had made my entire trip in this moment. But we still had a few hours before the parade, so we headed to the newly opened Storybook Circus. There are only 2 rides open there so far-Dumbo and Goofy's Barnstormer Ride. The plans for the whole thing look awesome. There is going to be a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride, A Voyage with the Little Mermaid Ride, Belle's Castle with dining.....and I am sure more. Will loved Dumbo and while waiting in line started asking about Goofy's Barnstormer because we could see it race by while we waited. I wasn't sure if he was even tall enough....it is a kiddie roller coaster (no flips or anything) but it goes fast and I didn't want to get his hopes up if he couldn't ride it.
So after Dumbo, we headed to the roller coaster and learned that Will was 4 inches taller than you had to be, so we jumped in line. Will LOVED this and would have done it over and over. The line was pretty long and there was no fast passing so we only rode it once. John rode with him and I rode behind them. John said that Will had the biggest grin on his face the entire time. He loved the speed!!We tried to get a family shot in front of the castle....I wish we would have done this earlier in the day before we looked so worn down :)
Before we knew it night time was upon us and it was almost time for the electrical parade. People start staking out their spot 2 hours before the parade so we bought Will a light up sword and did the same. It was nice to just enjoy the castle at night and not be rushing around anywhere.
The Electrical Parade was the perfect end to the perfect trip. This is unlike any of the other Disney parades because it is at night and completely lit up by lights.
As soon as the parade was over, Will just put his head back in the stroller and was out. It was hysterical-he stayed up and was very intrigued in the parade and then all of a sudden was sleeping hard. He didn't really wake up. I held him on the bus...he snored....I carried him to our room....he snored....I got him in his pajamas and tucked in bed.....he snored. Nothing woke him up until the next morning! Poor little buddy was exhausted!We had the BEST time!! We missed Alex like crazy, but so enjoyed some one on one time with our big boy. Many have asked me since we returned if Will was the perfect age to go. I don't know that he was the perfect age....I don't really know what the "perfect" age is. We were super impressed with how he did the whole trip. He of course had his share of melt downs because he was tired, didn't want to wait, overstimulated, etc. However they really were few and far between. I found that food was our best friend. If we kept him full of snacks and hydrated, he was happy. This sounds cheesy I know, but Disney World really is so much more magical when seeing it through the eyes of a child. John and I LOVE Disney World, and we have never loved it more than when we took Will. It was for sure a different experience. No Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster for us....but we did things like the parades and character meals that we never would have done without Will, and those ended up being my favorite!! We are already talking about when we will go back and take Alex-I think it will be Spring Break 2014...if we can wait that long! :)
