Florida Vacation-Animal Kingdom Day 4

Our last full day, started s.l.o.w.! :)  We spent the morning at the Finding Nemo pool swimming or sitting in the shade.  We came back and all took naps in the early afternoon, then headed to Animal Kingdom.  It had started to rain, but we hoped that would keep some of the people away or people that had been there all day would start to go home.  It was really neat at Animal Kingdom.  It was everyone's first time and the atmosphere was great.  There were different sections made to look like different parts of the world.  We started off by standing in line for Pocahontas.  Her setup was really neat, back in a forest area.  She had a ball talking to the kids for quite awhile.

We also had reservations at a fancy restaurant called Tiffins.  It was DELICIOUS!  We weren't sure before our trip if getting the Disney Dining Plan was worth it.  We heard positives and negatives about it.  I really liked it.  It let us eat out and not worry too much about the cost.  The plan we got had a snack per person per day, 1 quick serve meal per day, and one sit down meal per day.  We also got refillable mugs for unlimited drinks at the resort.  The fancier restaurants (Cinderella's Royal Table and Tiffins) took 2 credits per person instead of one.  That way the $150+ price tags could be covered! :)  It's always fun to try new things and we had fun at this one.

 There was beautiful animal art on the walls and hand carved poles with hundreds of animals in each.  The gator was attacking Emmy!

We spent quite a bit of time on rides here.  We went on Expedition Everest 3 times.  The kids will tell you that was their FAVORITE ride in all of the parks.  We had to ride to escape the Yeti and went backwards several times.  It was fun!

Don't they LOOK like they loved this ride?? :)  Emerson squeezed Matt's arm so tight she made a bruise!

 We also went on the Kali Rapids (where I got soaked even though I wore my poncho!) and the safari.   We stood in line for the safari for about 45 minutes and it was dark.  Here are the kids waiting patiently:

 I wouldn't recommend going on the safari in the dark.  We saw animals, but it was really only the shadows.  It would've been better in the daylight.

  We really enjoyed Animal Kingdom and could've spent more time there.  We didn't get to see a lot of animals. :)  The tree of life in the center of the park is really cool (by that time nobody wanted pictures taken!).  We had a great time on our Disney vacation.  Everyone was exhausted with aching feet and a few blisters but we have some awesome memories to cherish!

Florida Vacation-Hollywood Studios Day 3

With the package we'd purchased from Disney, we got 4 tickets per person to go to the different parks.  We knew we wanted to go to Hollywood Studios because that's where all of the Star Wars rides and characters are.  This park is much smaller than Magic Kingdom and several things were under construction so the park was quite crowded.  It probably didn't help that was 95 degrees with humidity!  But despite all that, we had a fun day!
The first thing we did was hurry to sign the kiddos up for the Jedi Training. We waited forever!! (an hour and 20 minutes) to get the kids signed up to participate.  While we were waiting for our 3:30 Jedi Training, we watched several shows (Frozen was cute!) and took it easy.  After going to the parks the 2 previous days, we were pretty tired.  If I could schedule it differently, I would've gone to the parks 2 days, swam at the resort and rested the third, and gone to the parks the last 2 days.  There's always next time, I guess! :)

Muppets in 3D

March of the First Order

Elsa made it snow!

Then it was finally time for the Jedi Training.  The kids got to wear Jedi robes and learned a few light saber skills before fighting the villains.  Some of the kids in the group got to fight Darth Vader while Landon and Emerson fought the Seventh Sister (from Star Wars Rebels).  It was really fun watching them up on stage.  I think all the kiddos were a bit intimidated when Kylo Ren came out at the end, but thankfully with all of their training, they defeated him! :)

We had to watch the Indiana Jones stunt show (which Matt and I remember from our childhoods) and the Tower of Terror.  The kiddos were also excited to try another roller coaster. Emerson just made the cutoff of 48 inches for the Rockin' Roller Coaster.  If we would've done a bit more research on this coaster we might not have taken the kids.  But we didn't know it was in the dark and went upside down, so...off we went! :)  The kids both really liked it, though!

Lastly, we had to meet some Star Wars characters (and Olaf!).  Chewbacca's line was the longest we waited (30 min) and he was going to be the last one.  But Kylo Ren and Olaf were less than 10 minutes each, so we saw them too!

 Matt's in Star Wars heaven! :)

 Chewbacca was super friendly, giving the kids hugs and high fives.  He did not sign autographs, though, so we were a little disappointed with that.  It'd probably be hard with his big hairy hands.  Notice the difference, though, in the kids' facial expressions in the next picture! :)

 Kylo Ren was great!  He did not stand close to us and when he spoke, he told Landon to join the first order.  When we were done getting "scanned" he said, "GO!"  He didn't do autographs either. :)

To end our day, the kids got to meet Olaf who was super sweet just like you'd expect.  He drew a picture of himself in their autograph books.  Overall, we had a fun time and Matt wants to go back once all of the Star Wars exhibits are complete.

Florida Vacation-Magic Kingdom Day 2

On our second day at Disney, we surprised the kids with a special breakfast.  We had reservations at 9:10 and the park opened at 9 that day so we got to get in early.  That was AWESOME!

Excited for their surprise!

They were so bummed they couldn't pull the sword out of the stone. ;)

The park was mostly empty and the only ride running close to the castle was the Seven Dwarves Mine Ride.  We got to walk on and ride it twice in a row.  We checked on that ride several times the day before and there was a 120 minute wait!  We were pretty thrilled!
After our early morning roller coaster rides, we checked in for our reservations at Cinderella's Castle.  We got to eat breakfast with the Princesses.  Emerson was so excited and I can't lie, I was too! :)  The castle is really neat on the inside and as you're eating breakfast, the Princesses come around and talk, sign autographs, and take pictures.  It was so cute!

Now Landon's been telling everyone his favorite princess is Snow White!

After meeting a few more characters and riding a few more rides, we decided to head back to the resort to take a nap before coming back at night for the fireworks.  That was great!  Everyone (even the kids!) fell asleep and then we could come back later and not be exhausted.

Peter Pan

Woody and Jessie from Toy Story

Princess Jasmine on the Magic Carpet Ride

When we got back to our resort mid afternoon, we were walking by one of the Cast Members of the resort who stopped what he was doing and bowed to Emerson.  He said, "Princess Jasmine, you may go."  She thought that was great.  I wish I could've gotten a picture of the smile on her face.  One of the many reasons Disney is so magical! :)

As soon as we got set for our picture, the rain started falling!

 Of course, you cannot go to the Magic Kingdom and NOT see Mickey Mouse!  We were all amazed that he talked.  None of the other masked characters did.  But Mickey is pretty special!

 We also enjoyed meeting Tinkerbell.  She was a blast.  She chatted away with the kiddos for a long time and was so bubbly.

The Magic Kingdom at night is so spectacular.  They have a light show on the castle and then some fantastic fireworks.  I was glad we stayed (the fireworks started at 10!) and the kids did great!

We had a fabulous time and are looking forward to coming back (in several years)! 

Florida Vacation-Magic Kingdom Day 1

On Monday and Tuesday we visited The Magic Kingdom.  We had booked Fast Passes for our preferred rides months in advance so even though there was a good chance for stormy weather, we went ahead with the plans.  There are tons of super websites with great advice about Disney from what to pack, which parks to attend when, Fast Pass ideas, etc.  It is a bit overwhelming for the first timer (at least 1st time as an adult :))  I did find a really cute autograph book for the kids to use.  The main goal on day 1 was to book it (I mean basically run) to see Elsa and Anna.  I'd already prepared Emerson for the "we are not waiting if the line is long" speech.  But thankfully, we only waited about 15 minutes.

I was so impressed with each character we met.  I'm sure they go through a lot of training, but they were all great with the kids!  They were friendly and the more talkative characters from the movies were more talkative at Disney.  So cute!  We also got to meet Rapunzel, Merida, Cinderella, and Ariel.  Emerson barely talked to any of the characters but made sure to give each one a hug.  Landon talked to each one in his animated way and several of them had a good time with him! :)

We also rode many rides.  I didn't know if the kids would be interested in roller coasters but they LOVED them and asked to go on them several times.  We enjoyed Space Mountain, Seven Dwarves Mine Ride, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad several times each!  They were so patient waiting in line and the My Disney Experience App was a lifesaver.  We could check it for wait times for each ride to see if it was worth walking across the whole park to get in line for a ride or not.  We could also make reservations for restaurants or change our FastPasses.  It was awesome!!

You can't go to Disney and not meet the iconic characters.  The kids weren't super excited about the following characters, but the lines were short! :)

Landon was thrilled that Minnie signed xoxo on his book.  She even gave Matt a kiss on the cheek!  I thought is was cute that Donald signed their autograph book on his bill.

Cinderella's castle...GORGEOUS!

taking a break on the train ride around the park

The last thing we did on our first day (it was raining and we didn't want to wear ourselves out on the first day) was Enchanted Tales with Belle.  It was an interactive retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  3 of the 4 of us were chosen to play specific parts!

Landon got to play the Beast, Emmy was chosen as Mrs. Potts, and Matt was one of the suits of armor.  They all did a great job and the kids were so excited to have special parts.

Landon was SOO excited to get to dance with Belle.  I LOVE his smile in this picture!

Overall, I'd say we had a pretty successful day at the park.  We had to break out our ponchos and still got a little wet, but we enjoyed getting to see a lot of characters and ride some great rides.

Florida Vacation-Disney World arrival

On Sunday, we traveled to Disney World!  We stayed on property at the Art of Animation resort.  This is what they call a value resort, but I think it was well worth the money.  We stayed at the Little Mermaid section which was adorable but small.  That section was also the furthest from transportation and the cafe at the resort.  It was also the cheapest. :)  I was just amazed at all the detail there was in the room.  EVERYTHING was Little Mermaid/underwater themed.

The resort also had a Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars section.  Each section had characters and props from the movies.  So cute!

I realized I didn't get any pictures of the Finding Nemo part.  They had a great pool (HUGE) with character statues all around.  Emerson loved that pool because when you went underwater you could hear music playing.
Since we arrived mid afternoon,  we decided to check out Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney).  There were a lot of cute shops and restaurants, but it was really busy while we were there so we didn't stay long. We knew we had several busy days ahead and we wanted to get an early start!