After walking him all the way around the park, he finally got to go see NEMO….. which is the name of every fish, apparently, just like all trains are Geo. Of course, waiting in a long line, most of which was in the dim dusky dark pitch blackness, according to Lil’ Duck, wasn’t quite the way he had in mind. Of course, strollers aren’t allowed in the building and it was way past naptime, so add one tired toddler with a dimly lit, rather quiet cue and all he wants to do is fall asleep on Mommy’s shoulder. Of course, he’s more than half the size of Mommy and a dead weight when tired. He did get a little nap in, though, before spying the clam-shell “train” that was promptly deemed to also be a “Geo”, regardless of the fact that it looked like all the shells on the bottom of the ocean had risen and were about to take revenge upon all the tourists who dared to sit inside them.

Although the real aquarium was hardly visible behind all the Nemo displays during the clam shell ride, they made a cute little Nemo adventure complete with the turtles and plenty of spinning bubbles (to which the little one proclaimed to all who would listen, “Wow, turtles, oh no, going to fall down the drain, get eaten, oh no! …..hopefully nobody was listening….). Of course, the moving platform at the end was another great attraction, probably even more so than the ride, because oh, you can jump and leap, but even better, you can stand still and you still MOVE!!

Once finally reaching some real fish, we found a tiny piece of glass for our own viewing pleasure. Lil’ Duck was quite disturbed to find that one fish thought he looked quite tasty…. it kept coming over to the glass, looking at him hungrily, then opening its mouth wide and lunging forward before taking off for another lap around the aquarium. Of course, with the flash, none of the fish showed up in the photos, but I did get this cute one of him and his reflection as he watched carefully for the return of the duck-eating fish.

Ducky was also on the lookout, as you never know when one of those fish might decide that the yellow furry creature is a nice change from their typical diet. Of course, that glass couldn’t possibly keep them away, as according to the little one, “Fish open door, come eat, close door, go back in water.” I think Ducky took this very seriously, as his face remained firmly against the glass the entire time.

The two dolphins in the tank were of no great interest to the little one, despite the other thousand people trying to crush each other to see a long-nosed grey performer…. he wanted to go up and down the stairs, especially those MOVING stairs, where if you don’t jump at the end, they suck your feet in and cause you to land flat on your face.

However, we haven’t yet mentioned the best thing of all, which was actually getting up to look through the glass in the first place. This giant carpet mountain had to be scaled before any ducks could perch on top and fear for their toes to be eaten by giant fish. Then, once it was scaled, it made a great slide… then a great mountain…. and a slide. Ducky (the stuffed one) now has serious carpet burn.

I think with a goldfish, a carpet mountain and some stairs, the same amount of happiness would have been achieved, but it’s somehow so much more fun when you aren’t at home. So much so that, in fact, even as he is falling asleep while walking, he screams “No go home, stay here, Ep-tot, big BALL, wow, play with it, sleep HERE.” There is the Disney Magic for you.