I will start by saying that Mackenzie travelled really, REALLY well in the car. Being stuck in a car for 12-13 hours one day made me worry, but we had plenty of activites and snacks with stops about every 3-4 hours. (Total time in the car for the entire trip, driving or just sitting was a total of over 45 hours - including short trips.)
I hate admitting this, but probably the best day of the trip was the day we went to Disney World. It was absolutely amazing to see the awe and wonder on Mackenzie's face...all day long. I missed the moment, but evidently her jaw just flat-out dropped when she saw "the castle" just across the lake when you enter the park before you board the monorail.
Right after we entered the Magic Kingdom, there was a stage show in front of the castle - we had a really good vantage point. Mackenzie immediately got to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Cindrella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle (and Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and the witch from Sleeping Beauty - but she doesn't know any of these characters). She was mezmerized.
Mackenzie rode on the Tomorrowland Speedway with both of her grandmas, the Mad Tea Party (a.k.a. spinning tea cups) with Brian and his parents, I rode the Dumbo ride with her and Cinderella's Golden Carousel. She had a blast playing at a big playground that was modeled after Winnie the Pooh's Hundred Acre Woods.
I think one of the biggest thrills for Mackenzie was meeting and getting her picture taken with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. The professional picture of her with Goofy is hilarious because she's short and he's incredibly tall (I wonder how tall you have to be to wear the "Goofy costume").
We were smart and upgraded Mackenzie's ticket to a Park Hopper (Brian & I were fortunate enough to have tickets from when my family went 9 years ago). We were heading to the Animal Kingdom and saw the midday parade as we left. That was pretty cool. Then we saw the Animal Kindom's parade as we arrived there.
We didn't do too much at Animal Kingdom. Our main focus was the Safari where Mackenzie finally got to see a live elephant (they don't have one at the LP Zoo anymore). We also went and saw the "Festival of the Lion King" - a miniature version of the Broadway production. She loved it. That's all we did here.
We went to Hollywood Studios after Animal Kingdom and had dinner, walked through the "Journey into Narnia" (not that impressive), and then we girls went to the "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" while the guys rode the Rock'n'Rollercoaster. Mackenzie cried...she was tired and Ursula scared her. (Seriously, Disney, can you make a children's movie WITHOUT a super creepy evil villain?) We did some minor shopping and then it was time to go back to our condo.
Note: we did not go to Epcot...I didn't think a 3 1/2 year old would enjoy much it has to offer. But we did go to Downtown Disney's Boardwalk the night before we hit Disney World (It's FREE...parking is free, entry is free, and there's all sorts of shops, eateries, and street performers!) Mackenzie got to see the "golf ball" from a distance.
All in all, Disney World was a fun day. Mackenzie fell asleep clutching her Minnie Mouse toy within minutes of getting to the van. It was precious. I will enjoy these memories and I love to hear Mackenzie tell people about how she met Mickey & Minnie.
It's strange how a small child's joy can bring tears to your eyes.
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