Magic Kingdom

On day two, we visited the Magic Kingdom. It was decked out for the holidays and we had a grand ol' time taking in the Disney magic, riding familiar rides and watching familiar shows.

Before going any further, it must be noted that as Disney die-hards, we believe that Disneyland > Magic Kingdom. Put simply, Disneyland is much happier, more magical, and has better versions of the same rides. (Well, with the exception of Space Mountain. But whatever.) Even the food is better and cheaper at our happiest place on earth. I'm telling you, my favorite marshmallow treat from Disneyland costs fifty cents more at Disney World and is lacking the ever-important layer of caramel. Truth. That said, Florida's Cinderella castle takes the cake. Sorry, Sleeping Beauty!

Back to our recap, though. My mom bought everyone matching Disney shirts as part of the "Surprise! We're going to Disney World!" deal. Then she decided to have my baby brothers wear them while in the park so they'd be easy to spot. Then we were like, Hey! It'd be funny to take a picture with all of our shirts in front of the castle first thing in the morning. So we all wore matching shirts and packed our regular shirts in our diaper bags, backpacks, purses, etc. Then we didn't manage to get everyone to the castle at one time until it was almost sunset. And then figured it was too late to change anyway. So we were one of those families all day. And let me tell you, we owned the matching shirt business! We played up the cheese-factor all day and it was oh-so-entertaining. Oh, and the matching shirts came up big that afternoon when Gabe got separated from the group. Not one minute later, a nice lady had returned him to his proper owners. Point for matching shirts.

We started the day by riding the monorail into the park and hitting up the mountains. Big Thunder, Splash, and Space, that is. Then it was onto Jungle Cruise and Pirates, where my baby brothers got to go up on stage and pledge their allegiance to Jack Sparrow.

The grandbabies garnered plenty of attention and earned us plenty of baby swap passes. Grandpa was an expert babysitter during said baby swaps.

We packed cold pizza for an easy lunch. Disney meals can add up, you know.

Jake's Bugaboo was perfect for the trip. He slept and strolled in it like a champion.

We split up here and there throughout the day, but got 20 of us together for It's a Small World.

The grandbabies thought it was the best ride ever.

They also enjoyed watching shows at the castle.

And everyone loves a good Disney parade.

At about 5 p.m., we finally got the whole family together for a picture. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

After picture time, we snuck in a few more rides before returning to the castle for a dance party in the street.

Then we watched Prince Charming and Cinderella decorate their home for the holidays.

And then the babies fell asleep. That is, every baby but mine. Jake's always ready for a party!