As always when visiting the Magic Kingdom, our first stop was the Transportation and Ticket Center. Once there, we decided to try something new... instead of waiting to go through the bag check line before the monorail or ferry boat, we made the short walk over to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort and get on the monorail there. The bag check line was definitely shorter, though I am not certain that we saved any time. Jay did like the opportunity to check out the resort, so not all was lost.

Once we officially got to the Magic Kingdom, we headed straight to the Tomorrowland Speedway for our first FastPass of the day. Unfortunately for Jay and I, we got stuck behind a little kid in a slow car, so we weren't able to "speed" around the speedway at all. Even still, we had a fun time zipping around the track.

He had some time to kill before our next FastPass, so we decided to try something new - the Enchanted Tales with Belle show. Neither of us had seen this one, so we thought it would be worth a shot. The waiting area takes place in Maurice and Belle's house, and we travelled through a magic mirror to the day when Belle and the Beast fell in love. The Wardrobe handed out parts to members of the audience (guess who got picked out of Jay and I? That's right... not Jayden!) I got the honor of portraying a knight in shining armor. Yay! We next stepped into the Beast's library, where Lumiere told the story of Belle's fateful day. All in all it was a cute little play, though geared towards the younger crowd for sure.

We next headed over to see Mickey's PhilharMagic show, which provided us an opportunity to get off our feet and into the air conditioning. As always, the show was amusing, though I would like to see an update.

Our next stop was Splash Mountain, for our second FastPass of the day. The kids all seem to love this ride, and I don't mind it as long as I don't end up soaked afterwards... unfortunately that is hard to predict beforehand. Thankfully neither Jay or I got too wet today, which saved us from the misery of wet clothes for the rest of the day.

Jay was getting hungry by this point, but she opted to go see one more show before we sat down to eat, this time it was Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. Although I appreciate the history of the show, I sort of find myself missing the Under New Management version with Iago and Zazu. After the show we sat down in the shade and ate our lunch.

With our bellies full, it was time to use our last FastPass on Space Mountain. We thought that we were going to get to go to the right side track, they steered us to the left at the last minute. Jay was disappointed, but I honestly can't tell the difference between the two. We were amused by a couple of young kids in line, as they were debating the "Buzz Lightning" ride. Maybe Buzz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen had offspring?

We tried looking for a new ride to FastPass after Space Mountain, but there wasn't anything available that interested Jayden. All of the standby lines were quite long, so she decided that she would like to move over to Animal Kingdom, so off we went!

Magic Kingdom

Entering the Magic Kingdom, we were greeted by the Christmas tree, standing tall at the front of the park.

A look down Main Street, U.S.A. towards Cinderella's Castle.

Jayden got lucky #7 for her spin around the Tomorrowland Speedway, while I got stuck behind her in the #13 car.

A statue of Gaston and LaFou outside of Gaston's Tavern in Fantasyland.

The Beasts castle as seen in Fantasyland.

Jayden has already surpassed Belle's age 16 height as marked on the wall inside the waiting area for the Enchanted Tales with Belle show.

The wardrobe was in charge of picking and dressing the characters for the Enchanted Tales with Belle show.

Guess who got picked to participate? Yep... Rodney!

A look at Rodney in his armor inside of the Beast's library.

Lumiere was the story teller for the Enchanted Tales with Belle show.

Belle listening to Lumiere.

Some more pictures from the show...

Rodney standing guard as the younger audience members are introduced to Belle...

We spotted this little squirrel outside of the Enchanted Tales with Belle show.

Rodney sneaking a picture with the squirrel.

Harper's Mill on Tom Sawyer Island.

The Haunted Mansion.

Part of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

The entrance to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.

A few pictures from the Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room show...

This egret was hanging out in Liberty Square.

A closer look at the egret.

This ibis was hanging out nearby as well.

Another look at the ibis.

While riding the ferry back to the Transportation and Ticket Center we got to see one of the monorail trains passing in front of the Walt Disney World Railroad building.

The sun setting behind Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

Walt Disney World Railroad and Cinderella's Castle as viewed from the ferry.

Another picture of the setting sun.

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort as seen from Bay Lake.

The sunset over Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.

There is quite a change collection at the ferry docking station at the Transportation and Ticket Center.

The bright orange sky behind Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.

One last look at Cinderella's Castle from across Bay Lake.

Jayden and I didn't make it into Dinoland, though, as we took a detour into the Rivers of Light: We Are One show. Since this was another show that neither of us had ever seen, we decided to give it a shot. This is a water projection show that is similar to the Fantasmic! show that Samantha and I saw at Hollywood Studios, but without the live action scenes. This was more music-based. Although it was a good show, it isn't one that I would rush to see again and again.

Once the show had wrapped up, Jay decided that she was getting tired. Although I feel like I didn't spend as much time at the parks with her as I did Sam and Drew, the crowds today made it tough to do as much as we would have liked. She seemed happy with the opportunity, even as I felt that I shorted her experience. Although we probably won't get the opportunity to do dad-kid days again before these passes expire, I sure hope that we can in the future. Thank you Jay for spending the day with me. Love you kiddo!

Animal Kingdom

Even the dinosaurs in Dinoland U.S.A. are ready for Christmas!

A picture before the Rivers of Light: We Are One show gets underway.

The show started with some projections onto the trees behind the water...

...and really got underway with the water projections...

...including some of giraffes...

...and various other scenes.

Another projection, this one on the side of the main area.

A couple of light-up floating turtles making it's appearance...

...and being joined by some similar style owls.

Some more pictures of the projection show...

The floating flowers were moving fountains...

...that were synced to the music in the show...

Another look at the turtles, this time in different colors.

The show wasn't just about animals... there were flowers projected on the water wall too...

A bunch of pictures of the floating fountains...

The rainbow projections looked very pretty in person.

An elephant being projected onto the water...

...as well as a tree...

...a school of fish...

...and a peacock.

The largest of the floating flowers had a tower that raised up in the middle.

A boat floating on the water.

Some dolphins making their appearance on the water wall.

The large floating flower tower shot flames.

Another projection on the trees.

More of the fire from the tower...

...and water from the fountains...

On the opposite side of the lake there was a floating cat (tiger maybe?)...

...and two elephants.

Like the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom had a giant Christmas tree out front.

The entrance to the Animal Kingdom lit up at night.