We figured that there wasn’t much in Future World to occupy Carrie, and since the World Showcase didn’t open until 11 we decided to spend a couple house in the Magic Kingdom before heading to Epcot. We actually parked at Epcot (row 5!) and took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The first ride we went on was Pirates of the Carribean. Carrie did not like that ride at all – not because of the skeletons or anything, but because there’s a very small drop while the ride is in the dark. Poor baby. But Aladin’s flying carpet ride completely made up for it. After that it was back to Small World, then onto Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin game. That’s my favorite ride in all of Disney! :)
Then we had an amazing string of happy coincidences that completely made our day. Since it was already lunchtime we stopped at the Crystal Palace to see if we could get lunch there. I had heard they had reasonably healthy food alternatives, but I had no idea that a) it was a buffet (which meant Carrie ate free) and b) it was a character place. Carrie got to see Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. They made such an impression on her that she learned their names over lunch, and was babbling excitedly about “poooh”, “tick-er”, “piggy-et” and “eeee-oh” for a bit. When Pooh came to our table, Carrie gave him such a long hug that we weren’t sure she would let go!
We stopped for a bit in the baby care center to deal with diapers and milk, and then Carrie took a bit of a nap in the stroller while we headed to Epcot and walked around Future World for a while. Then it started pouring, so we ducked into a building that also had characters: Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Chip & Dale, and Goofy. Oh, my. “Mick-eee, mick-eee”. It was so, so, so cute. Minnie Mouse actually sat down on the floor to let Carrie come over and hug her, and then after a bit when I said it was time to let someone else take a turn Minnie shook her head, pointed to Carrie and pointed to herself. I said, “oh, you want to take Carrie home with you?” and Minnie nodded. So I asked Carrie if she’d rather go home with Minnie or Mama, and she patted Minnie’s cheek and said “mick-eee!” It was just the cutest, most wonderful experience to watch her interact with all the characters, and although I know she won’t remember it at all, I always will!
We tried to walk around the world, stopping in Canada to listen to Off Kilter, and even though we waited through another rain “shower”, we got completely drenched in the one after that and decided it was time to call it a night. I don’t think the rain really let up until much later, so it was probably good that we headed home.