We combined our trip to Disney with Frank's 70th birthday. He had no idea we were coming, and surprised him at the restaurant. Cason and Kiley each walked in with a balloon. He was so excited, he cried tears of joy! It was also great to catch up with Grandma Margie, Mike and Martha, and Larry and Sue.
On Thursday afternoon (11/8/12) - we gave the kids Disney bags. Included were several Disney gifts, along with a character autograph book. The first page said "Can't wait to see you tomorrow at Disney World" - Love Mickey and Minnie! They were so excited, did the excited dance once they figured out what was going on.
We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside in the Disney Resort area, in a princess and prince room. Kiley had to sleep next to the princess wall of course, so "when I wake up from a bad dream, I can just roll over and look at them, they make me so happy." The sinks in the room were genie lamps, so it was a very cool room.
We drove from Gainesville early Friday am, and after checking into the resort, headed to Magic Kingdom! We were in the park by 10 and stayed until about 7:30. Lots of excitement!
First ride, magic carpets from Aladdin
First character dining, with Winnie the Pooh and friends. The look on the kids faces were priceless! Cason started shouting at the top of his lungs "Winnie the Pooh, I'm over here"
Swiss Family Treehouse
2nd ride- pirates of the caribbean, probably not such a good idea. Pretty dark and scary, even for me! We had a long talk about what was real and not after the ride. Today in Sams a man in line was talking to the kids, Cason and him had a whole conversation about Disney with him, Kiley didn't say a word except "did you ride that pirate ride."
Tea Cups, Kiley pouting b/c we got on the yellow instead of pink, so sweet brother agreed to move so princess would be happy!
Little Mermaid ride, brand new and lots of fun.
Kiley got picked to do a live story interaction with Belle. She was Chip. Priceless to watch and well worth the wait. Paul took Cason to ride Dumbo, he wasn't so excited about waiting 30 minutes to see Belle.
Ice Cream Mickey treats. Yummy!
Small World ride, pretty sure I was the most excited about this ride.
Cason helping Paul read the map.
After the first day, Cason told us his favorite part of the day was riding the monarail. We should have saved our money!
Buzz Lightyear ride.
Watching parade, kids got to dance in the streets with the characters. So fun
What a view we had at dinner! Who would know this cute little girl was only minutes away from a huge meltdown!
Day 2- Hollywood Studios, in park by 8:15 for "early hours," park was pretty empty and got to ride several rides with no lines. First was star tours, very cool 3D moving ride but Cason got sick afterwards. Cason and Paul had breakfast with Jake and the pirates, Oso,and Handy Mannie. Kiley and I saw little mermaid show, front row while she sang with Ariel, again, priceless.
Toy Story ride, you had to run to get a fast pass for this ride as soon as you entered the park. People were going crazy, and all the fast passes were out by 10:30. Was very neat ride, all enjoyed.
Got to see live stunt show. Think the boys enjoyed it more than the girls!
Honey I Shrank the Kids play area.
Beauty and the Beast musical, was awesome. Broadway quality. We had center stage a few rows back for viewing.
Disney Junior show
Back to hotel late afternoon for naps, headed to Epcot around 5:30.
Outside finding Nemo ride, really the only play area in the whole park.
Epcot is huge, not knowing this Paul decided he didn't want to mess with pushing the double stroller through the crowds. Big mistake! Needless to say we did not see much of Epcot. I asked Paul what was across the lake, and he said that is still Epcot. Wow.
Kiley had to put on her princess dress to get ready for our dinner with the princesses.
Cason again helping Paul read the map.
First stop was Belle!
Auora from Sleeping Beauty
Cinderella, so neat how they all come to your table and interact with you.
Snowwhite came and took Kiley by the hand and asked her to lead the parade with her.
Finally, Ariel came to our table!!
One more little play area we found after dinner.
This is what we thought of Epcot!
Dancing in the streets of gold
Tram ride back to parking lot past 10:00, when we couldn't find the car. Had to get security to ride up and down with our beeper. Not a fun part of the night!
I came out of bathroom from washing my face to find this!
Day 3- started with breakfast with Mickey and friends.
Waiting patiently on Minnie to come to our table. Autograph book ready.
Pluto had to sign on his nose, funny
Back to Magic Kingdom- Cinderella's stepsisters and stepmother, who did a great job of frowning the whole time. Cason didn't want to get his pictures made with anything that had to do with princesses!
Dumbo ride- you got a pager while waiting, had big play area for kids to play while waiting. Wish all the rides were like that!
Cason loved to be able to control how high Dumbo went.
Waiting in line for small world again, over 30 minutes but kids really wanted to do it again. They found leaves on the floor to entertain them for awhile!
Snack break by the castle.
Car ride, Cason drove perfect, Kiley not so much. Shocker.
Got to meet up with our friends the Wilson's for a bit.
Back at the resort, Cason and Paul still napping, Kiley and I did a little exploring. Very nice resort, too bad we didn't allow any time to enjoy all it had to offer. Kiley drinking hot chocolate with our free refillable mugs we got!
Back to Magic Kingdom for nighttime activities. Goofy's rollercoaster, Cason's favorite.
Electric parade, everything was lite up. So pretty.
Watching fireworks, 2 sets go off right over our heads. Tinkerbell flight around the castle. Love!
The things they picked out- Cason got a light up Mickey sword, Kiley picked stitch. I called it UA for short- ugly alien! She didn't like that too much.
Day 4- Animal Kingdom. Packed up and checked out of resort, at the park by 10:00.
Train ride to petting zoo area.
Rifica? Think he is from Lion King.
Safari ride, lots of animals to see but could have been done better. Half way through Cason said he was ready to get off and go ride so more rides. I agree!
Wouldn't like to fall into this swamp.
Dinoland, Paul took Kiley on a very dark and scary dinosaur ride that she is still talking about.
Waiting in line, more things to amuse ourselves, everyone put your toe on the number....
Play area, maze to an area where you can dig for bones. Cason was excited until he saw the area was all sandy. I asked if he wanted to dig, he quickly responded, "no thanks."
Lion King show, broadway quality again but Cason did not like the Indians!!
Jungle Book characters
Tree of Life
Christmas Tree of Animals!
What a wonderful trip we had full of such great memories! It was our first family vacation without grandparents or friends, and it went almost perfect.
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