Our final day at the parks was a second round of Magic Kingdom.  While walking down Main Street I spotted Mary Poppins so we ran over to her, only to be told that she was not taking any more photos.  Well that interfered with Aunt Jekka’s one request to get a selfie with Mary Poppins, so we took matters into our own hands and did just that.  Kind of.  See her running off in the top corner…we will have to keep trying to track her down.

Our first ride was the Jungle (I mean Jingle) Cruise.  The classic favorite with a holiday twist.  There was no wait so we returned our Fast Pass in hopes of trading for another later in the day.

Next we explored the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.  Love that movie, love that treehouse.  I think Jay should build us one just like it…

Judging by the look on Memaw’s face, I think she enjoyed Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride more than anyone else.

The line for Pirates of the Caribbean was only 20 minutes, so we again gave up our Fast Passes and went through the Standby line.  Lily was a bit tired so Jay hauled her around the lines on his leg.

Jack Sparrow stole our Fast Pass.  Really.  We had one set up for the afternoon to get onto the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride, which typically has over an hour wait, but somehow while trying to reserve a new Fast Pass in exchange for the ones we gave up earlier, Jay accidentally deleted the 7 Dwarfs pass.  Oh gosh.  Panic set in.  WE LOST A FAST PASS!!!!  This is like losing a $100 bill.  Or maybe a $1000 bill, because Fast Passes are the gold coins of Disney World.  Once you lose them, you can’t get them back.  Ok, so I admit I got a little crabby.  I probably wouldn’t have even liked the ride.  BUT WE LOST THE FAST PASS!!!!  I blame it on the Day 5 exhaustion.

We grabbed an early lunch (again got right in) at Belle’s castle.  Beautiful dining rooms, French food.  Ok, Jay, it is hard to be mad at you after eating lunch in a royal ballroom.  You are forgiven.

We went on a new ride that was a clamshell tour of the Little Mermaid.  It was a cute one.  The sun was bright when we came out so the kids didn’t want to smile for the camera.

Next we took a train ride around the park and hopped off to take a boat over to Tom Sawyer’s island.  The kids had fun exploring – and I ordered the books on Amazon from the island.  🙂  modern technology…

On our way out of the park, one of the Disney photographers told Ty and Papa to do some modeling.

Our last adventure was to take the Monorail to the Grand Floridian hotel to see the Christmas decorations.  They had a giant gingerbread house, and the kids each got a Mickey gingerbread cookie.  

The Grand Floridian was our last hope at a Mary Poppins sighting, but it turns out she is only there in the mornings.  Shucks!  I guess the topiary will have to do…

Five days of parks was about all this mama could take, so we dropped Memaw and Papa off at the Magic Kingdom so they could relax and enjoy one last lighting of the castle alone.

We got back at the hotel by 4:00.  Lily was exhausted – “I only want to sleep for 2 hours and then swim.”  I relaxed with her in the peace and quiet while Jay and Ty went for a swim.  I got a text to bring Jay’s money clip to the pool when Lily wakes up.  Um…you can pay for everything with your Magic Band.  So I texted back and asked why they needed it.  Ty’s response was “I knew you would ask that – just bring the cash yo!”

And then the next text was this…  apparently you can’t use the Magic Band here…

And now… (drum roll) roll the credits for The Seven Dwarfs Disney Adventure!

Oh wait, there were only 6 of us, but I can assure you that throughout our week of vacation we all were all seven of the dwarfs.  

Once upon a time, in a warm land far far away from the blustery cold of Iowa, six members of the Shearer family went on an adventure to the World of Disney.

The lead actor was played by Kirk.  He was always Happy.  And only Happy.  Sometimes he was a little Goofy, but that isn’t a dwarf, so we will stick with Happy.

The lead actress role was played by Sherry.  She was mostly Happy, sometimes Sleepy, but a little dash of Pixie Dust brought her right back to Happy.  She also played the part of Doc, always ready with a Mickey Mouse bandaid when a child actor or actress skinned a knee, or a Tylenol when a supporting actress got a headache.

The supporting male role was played by Jay.  He was also mostly Happy, and he was only a little Grumpy when the child actors weren’t sticking to the script (which was very rare).  He did have one scene where he was Dopey and accidentally deleted the Fast Pass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride, which typically had a 60-90 minute wait, but thankfully his wife Grumpy didn’t go too crazy on him so we didn’t have to call in Doc.

The supporting female role was played by Nicole.  She was mostly Happy as well, except for the scene described above when she was Grumpy for 15 minutes at Dopey.  She also had some trouble with the air at Animal Kingdom and was Sneezy.  She had a small role as Sleepy from time to time.  But Happy was definitely her best part.

The show had 2 amazing child actors, who really were the stars of the show.  Let’s start with Ty.  He was a Bashful little fella, always twirling his hair anxiously as he waited for the next ride or show to begin, but once inside, he was swept away by the magic and quickly changed to Happy.  There were little glimpses of Grumpy, but they usually only lasted a minute or two after Sleepy demanded a costume change.  

And then there was Lily.  Happy was her favorite, and Happy fought really hard against Sleepy.  She usually gave in to Sleepy for a couple hours each day, but only when it looked as though the next few minutes were going to be boring.  She needed Doc a couple times, but even then, she didn’t allow herself to be Grumpy.  

Costume credit goes to cousin Jen for the awesome award-winning t-shirt designs.  She made sure to incorporate the 6 other roles the cast members played into the shirts – look closely!  Goofy (Kirk), Tinkerbell (Sherry), Storm Trooper (Jay), Mrs. Incredible (Nicole), Yoda (Ty), and last but not least, Pluto (Lily).

Fitness credit goes to Walt Disney for forcing us to walk 97,000 steps (about 50 miles) over the past week.  Yet somehow I am certain I actually gained weight.  Bummer.

So there you have it.  The 2016 Shearer Family vacation is coming to an end.  We are hoping for smooth travels tomorrow (a sequel will be published if anything exciting happens), so until next time…

THAT’S A WRAP, FOLKS!!!