This was the moment he had been waiting for. When movie becomes reality and his kids become absorbed in the magical orah that is Disney World.

And he can tell the exact second it happens, too.

"Daddy! It's the castle! Look! It's Cinderella's castle!"

"I see, baby," Castle says, crouching down next to his daughter. The awe and wonder on her face makes his whole body sparkle and buzz; he's so happy that she's so happy.

"Alright: what first?" Esposito asks, a map held in front of him. That cues all the adults to converge together for a quick pow-wow. Though they do have a few set rides and activities they already got Fast Passes for, the day is pretty much theirs to control.

"I was thinking we start left and work our way around? And whatever we don't hit, we get next time?" Jenny says, pulling her hair up into a high ponytail. Everyone agrees, so they get stroller kids into strollers and hold the hands of the ones that want to walk, and start down Main Street.

About halfway down, they get stopped by a photographer who offers to take their picture in front of the castle. It's like herding cattle, but eventually, they all get set and the photographer counts down from three, they all smiles and their picture is snapped.

Ryan thanks the man, and after getting his Magic Band scanned to get their photo connected to his account, they continue on, the kids shouting and pointing out everything they see.

"Daddy! I want her Minnie ears!"

"Momma? Where is Belle?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Me too!"

That was one of the perks of having so many adults along on this trip: one could take a kid (or a couple) to the bathroom without making the entire group stop. So while Jenny took Grace and Danielle to the bathroom, the rest of their group continued on into Adventureland.

They walk under the sign and were instantly transported into a new world: part jungle, part shopping bazaar; it was full of bright colors and sounds, and not as many people as Kate was expecting there to be.

The first stop was the Aladdin Flying Carpet ride.

"Hop out, Liam," Kate says to her son as she parks their stroller. The boy stands, takes his mom's hand, and walks with her into line behind his siblings and cousins. Kate watches as her kids copy most of the other kids in line and hang off the fences and chains that make up the queue. No one around them seems too bothered by it, and no one is fighting or hurt (yet), so she lets them play.

The line moves, and eventually, they step out of the sun and under and an awning that, despite the heat, provides them with a bit of cover from the summer sun. The line moves even more and they are close enough to watch the groups in front of them get on and off and watch as they fly in their own magic carpets.

"The camel spits!" Austin cheers. "Look, Momma! The camel spits!" Kate looks to where her son is pointing and watches closely as the camel statues spit out a stream of water right into unsuspecting patrons faces.

"Oh! That is mean!" Kate laughs.

"No, it's cool," Austin counters, stepping forward as the line moves.

They watch the groups in front of them ride and laugh when they get spit on by the naughty camel, and when their turn comes, the kids hop onto the magic carpets guessing who will be camel's next victim. The ride starts so spin and Kate listens to Austin and Kieran squeal with glee next to her as their uncle, who is seated in front of them with his daughters, takes them higher and higher in the air.

In the end, it is Finn and her Uncle Kevin, along with a few strangers, who get hit with 'camel spit', but if the girl's surprised laughter is any indication, she loved it.

After collecting their strollers, the family continues their lap around the park. The hit up Jungle Cruise next, and after their 'tour guide' fires off two fake gunshots, both Esposito girls dissolve into fits of tears that makes the other hot, annoyed families in their boat turn and give them the dirtiest looks.

Kate scoops Letty out of her mom's arms and sets her on the bench next to her. They're on the outside, which gives them a perfect view of the animals. "Cia, look. Look at the elephants!"

"No!" The girl cries, still scared.

"Look at the baby one," Kate continues, pointing out the baby elephants playing in the water. "Look how cute it is!"

Letty's cries slow to hiccups and eventually stop altogether, her attention on the animals her aunt is pointing out.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Their guide, Nicholas, cries. "I present to you, the ninth wonder of the world: The Backside of Water!" They cruise past the reverse side of the waterfall they had passed moments before and Kate laughs at the horrible joke. They go through an ancient temple, encounter headhunters and even find a tiger. And as they pull up to the dock, Nicholas gives them one final instruction: get out.

"Austin, Mia, go in front of me," Kate says, nudging her kids ahead of her out of the ride and onto the main road, Letty in her arms.

"I don't wanna do that again," Letty says, eyes set, over the thumb in her mouth.

"Don't worry, baby. You won't have to do it again, I promise," Kate tells her, kissing her cheek. "Keep walking guys," Kate encourages the kids. They leave their strollers parked and walk the short distance to their first Fast Pass: Pirates of the Caribbean. They zip through the queue, pausing a few times to look at the decorations.

"This is where they keep the bad guys, mommy," Austin says to her, pointing out the barred off rooms hidden at just his height.

"It is?"

"Uh huh. And then they have to stay there forever and ever!"

"Really? Forever and ever? So how do they go to the bathroom?"

Her son laughs at that, giving her a look of astonishment. "They have a hole in the ground."

Now it's Kate's turn to laugh. "Maybe they do," she nods.

They're at the end of the line, waiting for the previous passengers to get off before they can get on. When the gate swings open, Kate lifts her son onto the bench, "All the way to the end, buddy," steps in herself and turns around to help the other kids in her row.

Jenny, Grace, Miyana, Kieran and Jim have the row in front of them (the front row), while she has both of her boys, Finn, Monica and Lanie; and the others find seats behind. The boat lurches forward, causing everyone to gasp and the little kids to shriek, but once they get going, everyone becomes absorbed in yet another world.

"Dead men tell no tales!" says the floating head above them as they float through a curtain of smoke. The kids on either side of her hide in her armpits when they go through the dark parts, and her ear drums ring with their screams as they go down the short drop, but once they're in the lighter parts they are looking again, totally excited. Especially when they get splashed by water as the cannonballs hit.

Kate is just as mesmerized as they kids are; it's been a long time since she'd gone to a Disney park and everything looked totally new and different to her. Every display and scene, though she remembers it, looks new and shiny. The prisoners trying to bribe the dog, the guys chasing the Bar Wrench, all the gold; it's all new.

Except for the song.

That didn't change.

"Yo ho, yo ho, as Pirate's life for me!" All the adults sang happily.

"Look, mom! Look! It's Jack Sparrow!" she hears Grace shout, and Kate turns quickly to look but misses it as they drive past.

"Welcome back, Travelers! Please exit to your right, and watch your step!" the Cast Member instructs them as they end their journey.

"That was the best ride ever! Austin shouts, following the crowd out of the building and back outside where they all have to squint against the sudden, bright sunlight.

"It was pretty great, wasn't it?" Kate asks, steering him left and back to their strollers.

"Yes! I liked the gun fight, remember mommy?"

"I remember."

"And we got splashed. And then the guy was dead! All that was left was his bones!"

[][]

They make use of the 'Child Swap' program on the next ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And as they are standing in line, he realized that this might actually be his kids' first roller coaster.

"Kate!" Castle shouts, turning around on the stairs to face his wife. "Is this their first roller coaster?"

Kate's brow furrows for a moment before her jaw drops. "I think it is. Oh my god!"

"This should be interesting." It's not much longer and they are stepping into the train car. Grace is in front of him with Liam, and Finn gets to be his buddy on this one. "You ready, Nemo?" He asks, pulling the lap bar down over them?"

"I'm scared," she confesses, wrapping her arm around his.

"There's nothing to be scared of! This one is fun!" Castle smiles down at her. His daughter is not so sure and spends a good chunk of the ride hiding in his arm, but when she does look at and pay attention, she's smiling and laughing and enjoying herself. Grace teacher Liam to hold his arms up as they go down the hills, and Castle laugh at his son who keeps one arm in the air and the other gripped tightly on the safety bar.

"So what did you think?" Castle asks Finn when they finish.

"It was fun!" she smiles.

"You liked it?"

"Yeah," she nods.

"What about you guys?" He asks, the kids in front of him

"That was awesome!" Grace cheers.

"I didn't like the explosions," Liam says. "But it was really fun!"

"You wanna go again?" Castle asks all three of them. To which he gets all 'yes's'. Kate and Jim catch up with them as they walk out, and ask the kids the same questions. "How was it?" Castle asks his father-in-law.

"Oh, it was fun," Jim smiles. "I haven't been on a rollercoaster in a long time. Not since Katie was a kid."

There's a quick switch off to let Lanie, Esposito, Jenny and Ryan and the other three Castle kids go on. Grace decides to go again and follows her parents. Rick sees her team up with Danielle and smiles as they disappear.

Ten minutes later, their second group comes out, most of them with smiles. Miyana, being carried by her Tio, is crying and sobs louder when she gets to her mom.

"I don't wanna do that again!" She cries, falling into her mom's hug.

"Okay, baby," Kate soothes. "It's okay."

[] []

With breakfast being so early, once Miyana has calmed down, the hungry family heads off to find lunch. They stake out a few picnic tables hidden in a corner and give their order to the three adults who volunteered to go find food. The others who stay back take shifts of bathroom breaks and attempts to wrangle the kids who are both energized and tired and cranky at the same time.

"Nemo! Come sit down, please," Kate calls to her daughter.

"But daddy is coming!" Finn replies, spying her dad walking down the road, a tray in his hands.

"I know. Come sit down so you're ready to eat when your food gets here." As soon as they words leave her mouth, the food arrives. "Whoa! What all did you get?" Kate gasps.

"Everything," Rick says, not exaggerating. Tray cover their table carrying burgers, corn dogs, chicken strips, French fries, pretzels, pb&j sandwiches, even a few of the famous Giant Turkey Legs.

"Okay," Kate laughs, setting to work doling out the food, making sure everyone gets what they wanted. Lanie handed out napkins and helps pass food to kids, and Castle passes out drinks, each with its owner's name written on it so the same colored cup don't get mixed up because God forbid one kid not end up with the exact cup they had before.

"You want a bite?" Kate asks, handing over a bit of her turkey leg to her son who gobbles it up and asks for another. The two end up splitting the dish, the younger forgetting about his perfectly good chicken strips.

It seems as though everyone was settled and happy and eating when Danielle shouts.

"Alexis! Look! It's Alexis!"