Tuesday, February 18, 2014

DISNEY WORLD!!

We could not wait for our Disney trip to arrive!  We were all sooo excited!!  The morning of the trip came and we were all dressed in our Minnie/Mickey red and black and out the door!



  

We flew out of a small, local airport, which was awesome!!  We never want to deal with a big airport, like Philadelphia, again!  The kids did great on the flight...snacks, coloring, iPad, and DVDs do the trick :)

When we arrived in Orlando we followed the signs to the Disney transportation buses and they couldn't have it any better organized.  It was perfect!  We hopped on the bus to our hotel and we were on our way.



 

We got to our room and organized ourselves.  We had ordered groceries from the Garden Grocer, which I HIGHLY recommend doing, so the kids had some lunch and we were off to explore.  (We technically didn't start our trip until Friday, with our park tickets, but because we got such a great deal on our flights it was cheaper to fly to Orlando a day earlier and stay in the hotel an extra night than to leave Friday.  We were happy to have an extra day and figured it would be a pool day or an explore day...turned out to be an explore day!)

We took the bus to Epcot, then the monorail to the transportation center, the ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom, then the bus back to our hotel to get ready for dinner in Downtown Disney!

Our first Cinderella castle spotting!

Downtown Disney...awesome Disney Store!


DAY ONE - Magic Kingdom
Friday morning was our first "official" day and it was a Magic Kingdom day!  It was chilly and rainy, but we were ready for the day and at the park right after they opened!

  
Landon used the remote as a phone and was VERY busy talking to Mickey and Goofy that morning...it was pretty much the cutest thing.  Reaggie took her sweet time, per usual, eating her breakfast :)

We're here!!  Atleast it wasn't snow!!

This is where I got a little overwhelmed...you walk into the park and know you want to get as much done as possible and know you should have a game plan, but just kind of freeze.  Thankfully, Keith took the kids on the merry go round and I was able to look over a map and TRY to figure out what the heck we were doing :)  Oh and did I mention this morning I also forgot my camera at the hotel and the autograph books...I was convinced I ruined the vacation already.  I did have every snack under the sun and plenty of water bottles though :)


  
Took a picture of the kids, best I could get, in their precious things from Aunt Ellen!  Too bad we needed coats all day and couldn't show them off more.

This was at the Enchanted Tales with Belle...Reaggie is as tall as Belle was when she was 6!

Reaggie got picked to be Mrs. Potts, but was a little shy

This was such a cute little interactive show and a little girl I know was SO happy to meet her first princess!

It's a Small World...so cute!


Character spotting #1...Winnie the Pooh and Tigger

Reagan LOVED the tea cups and spinning us around and around and around :)  Good thing we hadn't had lunch yet!

Then we spotted the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland...of course we had JUST missed Alice!

We had our first Dining Plan meal at "Be our Guest."  (If you go to Disney, do the dining plan, it's GREAT and you SO get your moneys worth.  Since Landon isn't 3 yet, he was still free to get in the park and also didn't need the dining plan, he and Reagan would share a meal or he would eat off of Keith or I's plate.  It worked out GREAT!!) I had found a website the allowed you to get a Fast Pass for lunch and man did that work out great!  We were able to breeze right in to Belle's castle for lunch, right past the line of 100s waiting to get in for lunch...no reservations taken for lunch time.

   
We ate in the ballroom!



only in Disney would you find this cuteness!


A quick family shot on our way out of the park!  We all headed back to the hotel for Landon to take his nap and for Reaggie and I to change into warmer clothes...AND to get my camera and R's autograph book!!


We stumbled upon Mary Poppins on our way out!


  
When Reagan and I got back to Magic Kingdom we caught the Move It, Shake It Parade...so cute!

We had a Fast Pass to meet Rapunzel that afternoon and it worked out great!  Reagan was sooo very excited.




AND we even got to meet Snow White too!




We went on Ariel's Undersea Adventure...


Met Cinderella...



and Jasmine...



AND waited in a LONG line to meet Ariel!



It was just too sweet watching my sweet girl meet the princesses, girls that she LOVES!  So precious, I'm pretty sure I teared up with each meeting :)



We met Landon and Keith for dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern and it was delicious!  Once we were finished with dinner we were able to see the light parade right outside of the restaurant.  It was so pretty and the kids just LOVED it!




DAY TWO - Magic Kingdom



As soon as we got to the park we saw the little trolley show and also spotted Minnie Mouse!!  At the Mickey Theater, right next to where we were, there was only a 10 minute wait to meet Mickey.  So I waited with Reagan and Keith took Landon.





another chilly, rainy day

We were SO happy to see Miss Wendy and her family!  Miss Wendy watched Reagan for us when I went back to work when Reaggie was one.  They moved to Florida right before Landon was born, so it was great to see them!!


Reagan and Aaron were long lost best friends!


Emma, Reagan, and Aaron


Mr. Greg, Miss Wendy, Aaron, R, and Emma on a train ride to Fantasyland!


Dumbo!!

We had a quick lunch and then Keith and Landon left and Reagan had an appointment at the Bippity Boppity Boo Salon.  This is just about the cutest thing ever!  I TOTALLY Mommy failed though because I didn't take ONE of our princess dresses to Disney, not ONE!  Ugh!!  I felt terrible as so many girls were wearing their princess dresses or getting brand new ones for $300 and we weren't.  However, Reagan was SUCH a trooper and didn't really seem to care.  I told her it was rainy and cold and we wouldn't have wanted her dress to get ruined.  She went with that and was still so excited to be at the salon!


  

  
She got hair, nails, and makeup done!

  


My beautiful girl!



We headed over to the race cars and the salon gave out rain caps that day, which of course, Reagan had to wear to not mess up her hair :)  My little old lady driving me!



We did several more rides before meeting Keith and Landon at the Crystal Palace for dinner with Winnie the Pooh and friends.  The kids loved this!  They aren't really into Pooh at all, but loved seeing the characters!  Reagan was in total sensory overload and didn't eat hardly anything because she was too busy looking around and wanting to know which character would come by our table next!





Landon LOVED Tigger!




After dinner we did a couple more rides, but by 8:30 we were done!!





DAY THREE - Epcot

This was the day Reagan had been waiting for!!  Epcot day meant meeting ANNA AND ELSA from Frozen!!  We heard you had to get RIGHT to Norway to wait in line, so as the park opened I RAN to Norway to get in line.  At 9:07 there was already a THREE HOUR wait!  Turns out we could've gotten into the park at 8 since we were staying on Disney property, which I didn't realize, and people that had breakfast in Epcot were able to secure their spot in line too.  Oh well, you live and learn!  We waited and it was a BEAUTIFUL day!  Keith and Landon came a little later and then Keith waited in line while the kiddos and I walked around, plus Reagan made a few new friends, so it really wasn't THAT bad!

 
waiting...(the hairdo lasted all night so she rocked it again!)


one third of the line, which wrapped all the way around the building!



We were able to go meet Mulan while Daddy waited in line!



YAY!!!  We're NEXT!!  Then we were told we'd have to wait a few more minutes while "Anna and Elsa had a little chocolate break" ;)

  
Here they come!!


Miss Reaggie is in HEAVEN!



This is the prize Disney picture for Reagan...just who she REALLY wanted to see!!
(Landon was NOT interested in meeting them!)


Do you see that sky?  It was such a pretty day, couldn't have been nicer!


Reaggie bought an Elsa doll after meeting her



We ate lunch in "America" while Keith was sure to get food in "Germany!"  We did a couple rides and then it was nappy time.  Reagan and I covered some SERIOUS ground that afternoon, this momma was exhausted by the end of the day!


We met Chip and Dale!





This night we had reservations at Akershus in Norway for a princess dinner!




  
  
A little girl I know didn't eat again because there was so much going on and too many beautiful princesses to look at!  Landon was a trooper with all the princess-y things :)  This dinner was really good too!

DAY FOUR - Hollywood Studios



Landon REALLY wanted to meet Goofy and it just so happened he was out when we got there, so that was perfect!




We did an Ariel show, the Disney Jr. Live show, and then went to our lunch at Hollywood and Vine.  It was a Dine and Play lunch with Disney Junior favorites :)  We LOVED this!!

  
  
What's not to love about Jake, Sophia, Handy Mannie, and Doc McStuffins!  Landon REALLY loved Handy Mannie, even though he has never watched it before...maybe because he was a boy and not a princess?!  It was so cute!

After lunch we went to the Beauty and the Beast show!  Our old neighbor's parents work at this show and were able to get us VIP passes.  We sat in the second row and thought this was awesome!  I remember seeing this so many times on family trips to Disney :)




Then it was time to meet the cars of the day, who Landon had been dying to see...Lightning McQueen and Mater!!  Just like how I teared up with Reaggie seeing the princesses, I did with Landon meeting Lightning and Mater :)  It was PRECIOUS!!!



This is ONE happy, happy, HAPPY boy!


  


My camera had clunked Reagan in the face, so she was not too thrilled in this picture, not to mention we were hot and the trip was starting to catch up with her...

  
Her special treat of the day was getting her face painted like Elsa!
(Each day they got to pick a treat...this worked out REALLY well)


We ate dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, which I just love!  If I could go back in time, this is where I would go :)



Uh oh!  Daddy didn't eat all his veggies...chew chew!!

Our dinner reservation was at 4:15, so we were out of Hollywood Studios by 5:30ish and back to our hotel by 6.  The kiddos were exhausted!  Landon was OUT by 7 and Reagan was right behind.  It worked out well because that was Monday and momma needed to watch some Juan Paublo on the Bachelor!

DAY FIVE - Magic Kingdom


We got there in time for the welcome show...loved this!!


now THIS is Florida weather!


We were there right as the park opened and rode on Barnstormer first, which is Goofy's roller coaster and Landon's FAVORITE ride, probably tied with the race cars.  There was no wait and no line so we were able to ride it four times in a row!  Landon just laughed the whole time he was on it.  We wished he was tall enough for Thunder Mountain because we know he'd love it, but he'll have to wait until next time for that!


The race cars didn't have a line either, so we hopped on those real quick!  By the time we were done there was a 30 minute wait, so that worked out.


  
We had SO many snacks left on our Dining Plan on our last day, so we were snackin' it up!  The ice cream and popsicles were yummy on a warm day.


The Carousel of Progress is one of my favorites, I just love it.  Reagan LOVED it too!  We had done it two times while Keith was with Landon napping, so our last day we made sure Daddy got to see it too.  Reagan was all snuggled up on her Daddy...Landon just kept asking when we were going to the race cars again :)


...and we did!


After lunch we left the park to swim at the hotel for a bit.  The kids had been begging and it was finally warm enough and not so busy of a day.



We played for a while and then I brought Landon in to take a nappy!


Sweet man slept in the big boy bed the whole time we were there.  The first night he fell off the bed into the trashcan, which now is pretty hilarious :)  (he was fine) He did really good once we set up strollers and pillows next to him.  Before I know it I'll be moving my baby into a big boy bed!

After naps we went back to the Magic Kingdom for a couple more rides and dinner.


Reaggie picked up Minnie ears on our way in!



and she was spent!

The 12th arrived very quickly and it was time to head home.  We were so sad, but thankfully it was a cloudy day, so it didn't make us as sad to leave.  The Disney bus picked us up and we got to the airport with a little time to spare...it worked out great!

  
Happy kids waiting at the airport!



sitting in the cockpit!

  
I was going to buy watermelon gum in the airport for Reagan because as we were descending into Orlando her ears started bothering her, but they don't sell gum in the airport anymore...I couldn't believe it!  SOOO the kiddos got ring pops instead to help with their ears...and to keep them busy :)

We arrived in Wilmington right on time and FROZE as we got off the plane!  We had such a great trip and we have so many wonderful memories!  I can NOT wait to go again and already am picking Keith's brain on when we can go back :)  There is something magical about Disney!

Now...we are excited that we get to move into our new house in just over a week!!

No comments:

Post a Comment