He traded pins because he just had to have the train!
Popsicles are cooler than Cinderella pictures.
This was the first trip I have ever taken alone with my son. I expected breakdowns, tears, screaming, slamming things, jumping up and down in frustration! I also expected a meltdown or two from the child but I was amazed and I was impressed, my parenting skills must not be totally horrible because we did not suffer one meltdown from either of us the entire trip!
That being said we watched several magical meltdowns from both parents and children during our Magical Journey. But I felt immune to all forms of negative energy as my child walked next to me holding my hand. He would see a character and become ecstatic, then pull me to wait in line for 45 minutes to have his picture taken with, Buzz Light Year, Mickey, Pluto, Winney The Pooh, Daisy, and every other character besides Cinderella who was beat out by some insanely awesome looking popsicles. Sorry Cinderella you are no match for the Itzakadoozie. After waiting in about 5 character lines I began to notice that other children were not so happy in these lines, and one parent actually yelled, "This place is magical and you are going to start having a magical time!!!" The method was not entirely effective as the girl broke down into unstoppable sobs while repeating, "I don't see any magic!" I stared awkwardly and they scurried away. After a while if I glanced a character coming up I would try to redirect the child so that he would not see them as I felt that one more long line and I might be the child pleading to just go home! But there was so much more fun to be had, because we had 3 more kingdoms to visit. Turns out the train between the kingdoms was, "The best ride ever! Can we please do it again?"... Ummm that wasn't really a ride it is more of a... Yeah OK lets do it again. But when we got on the bus to the Animal Kingdom it was even better, "Really Mom? No car seat!?! This is the best day of my life!!" So let's just ignore the fact that my child enjoyed the bus ride and the train ride more than visiting the parks, but hey I did decide to take a 4 year old to Disney World by myself 1 month after my husband committed suicide so clear thinking was not my strong suit. Now that I'm at home I can safely say that I would do it again in a heartbeat. I want to continue to make trips with my child to instill a love for travel and exploration in him (even if we end up riding trains the entire time, those were still new experiences for him) and to push my comfort levels in parenting. This is the first trip that I created no itinerary and was able to just go with the rhythm of the day.