Earlier this month we went to Disney World! The trip planning had been in the works since last December but had been secret to the girls until just a month before we left! I made them a paper chain to count down the days from when we told them to the day we left! Both girls were beyond excited when we told them and enjoyed watching the trip get closer and closer as they removed the chains!
When we arrived at the airport, we were directed to the Disney Magical Express bus that took us right to our hotel on Disney property!
We stayed at the Art of Animation hotel, our room was a super cute Little Mermaid theme! The rooms were pretty cozy, but perfect for our little family. Most of our time in the room was spent sleeping, anyway. :)
On arrival day we pretty much explored the hotel, had dinner and swam! We were all pretty tired from an early travel morning so we crashed pretty early!
Park Day 1: Magic Kingdom
We scheduled Magic Kingdom for our first park day, and left the hotel super early in order to take advantage of the early Magic Hours (park opens early for guests staying on Disney property)! It was still dark when we arrived at Magic Kingdom!
We headed straight for the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train! This ride is notorious for having a long wait and we did not have a fast pass for it! We spent the rest of the morning/afternoon riding the rides in Fantasyland (Barnstormer, Dumbo, Tea Cups, Peter Pan, Small World & Under the Sea) and Tomorrowland (Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway, Monster's Inc Laugh Floor and People mover). The girls' favorite ride was the Mine Train and least favorite was Space Mountain! ;)
Snack break! Mickey pretzels with cheese and Strawberry smoothies!
We also waited in line to meet Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida!
After a busy day, we accidentally hopped on the wrong Monorail when trying to head to the Grand Floridian hotel for dinner! Luckily, we allowed enough time and made it to our reservation on time after getting on the correct Monorail line. :) Dinner was at 1900 Park Fare where the girls got to meet Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine (Step Mother) and Anastasia and Drizella (step-sisters). The character interaction was hilarious, everyone acted true to their character!
Park Day 2: Epcot
We arrived early at Epcot to maximize the early Magic Hours! We headed first to Soarin' (which turned out to be one of our very favorite rides of the whole trip) then to Living with the Land. Afterward we rode Spaceship Earth (a ride inside the big Epcot ball) met Mickey & Minnie and headed to Norway for our character meal at Akershus.
Afterward, we did the boat ride in Mexico, waited in line to meet Elsa and Anna and ride Frozen Ever After in Norway, then headed to China to meet Mulan (Jemma fell asleep just prior, so we decided not to wake her)! Next, we had a little ice cream treat and headed to The Seas and went on the Nemo ride and explored the Aquarium. We checked out Mission Space (did the easier Green Mission) and visited the United Kingdom to meet Mary Poppins and Alice! Interaction with Alice was so great, she twirled with the girls and was SO excited to see herself on their dresses!
We enjoyed a quick-service dinner in Mexico and decided to head towards the exit. On the way out, everyone agreed that they wanted to ride Soarin' again, so we did! We also realized we hadn't ridden Test Track yet. I was shocked, but the girls wanted to wait 50 minutes to do it at the very end of our day! It was totally worth it, such a cool ride!
Park Day 3: Animal Kingdom
Once again we took advantage of the early Magic Hours! It was so nice to get there in the morning before the crowds! We started the day in Dinoland riding Dinosaur and TriceraTop Spin and playing in the Boneyard playground for quite a while. Then we did the Bug's Life in 3-D show, rode Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest (my favorite ride of the trip) and met Pocahontas. Jemma took a quick power nap before lunch!
We headed to our character meal at Tusker House, where we met Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Daisy in their Safari outfits!
After lunch, we rode the Kilimanjaro Safari (saw tons of animals), the girls got henna tattoos and we watched the Lion King show (amazing!!)! We wrapped up the day in Pandora riding the Avatar Flight of Passage!
Everyone was pretty wiped out, but the girls decided that they wanted to go back and play at the Boneyard before heading out, so we did! Jemma purchased her first souvenir of the trip today, too! Then we headed back to the hotel for a late dinner/swimming and bed!
Park Day 4: Break Day/Magic Kingdom
It felt great to have somewhat of a "break day" in the schedule and not leave for the parks at the crack of dawn! We had a late morning character breakfast at the Boardwalk! The girls LOVED meeting Flynn Rider (from Rapunzel) and Prince Eric!! Jade purchased her first souvenir of the trip today (necklace)!
Afterward, we headed back to the hotel for swimming and relaxing!
Our plan was to go back to Magic Kingdom that evening for the fireworks! Everyone was feeling great, so we headed back around 5 PM had dinner and rode Winnie the Pooh, Magic Carpets and Haunted Mansion and went up in the Swiss Family Treehouse! We headed to find a spot for the fireworks show around 8:15. Jemma and I held down the fort while Nate and Jade ventured down main street to Starbucks! The firework show was beyond AMAZING and definitely one of our most favorite memories from the trip!
Park Day 5: Hollywood Studios
Early Magic Hours were from 6-9 am! We weren't ambitious enough to arrive at 6 am, but still ended up getting to the park around 8! First ride of the day was Tower of Terror! The girls were SO brave to go on all the rides! Jade got nervous before a few of them (this one included). Jemma never got nervous, so loves rides!
Afterward, the girls and I checked out Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy while Nate rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. We were able to use the rider swap option, so I could ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster after him. This was the only ride Jemma wasn't tall enough for and that Jade wasn't quite brave enough for!
We met Olaf, rode Star Tours and then headed to Toy Story Land where we spent most of the day! Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania ended up being among our most favorite rides the whole trip!
We took an ice cream (cookie sandwich) break and then cooled off in some much needed air conditioning for the Frozen Sing Along. Highly recommend that show by the way, the MC's were hilarious.
We headed back to Toy Story land and waited FOREVER to see Woody and Bo Peep (the characters kept taking a break every 15 minutes, so the line was very slow moving). We also rode Toy Story Mania again since we loved it so much the first time, and we were able to snag a last minute fast pass!
We hurried over to our character dinner at Hollywood & Vine! It was a super cute Halloween Theme, the girls thought it was so fun to see the characters in costume!
We finished off the night meeting Pluto and Fancy Nancy and riding the Alien Spinning Saucers!
Park Day 6: Magic Kingdom
Our last day began with a character breakfast at the Polynesian Hotel, with guests Pluto, Mickey, and Lilo and Stitch!
Afterward, we headed over to Magic Kingdom to enjoy our last day of Disney! Today was by far our hottest day. We were continually passing around the portable fan! I really don't know how people do this trip in the summer!
The plan for the day was to meet Jasmine and Aladdin, use our 3 fast passes and use up as many remaining snack credits as possible! First on the agenda was Pirates of the Caribbean ride followed by meeting Jasmine and Aladdin. We arrived just as they were closing off the line, so we had to wait quite a while for the existing line to finish and for the characters to take a break. The girls were troopers though and we were first in line when they returned! We were all ready for a cold treat afterward! Nate and I got Dole Whips and the girls got popcorn and lemon ice cups!
We did run into our first hiccup of the trip, unfortunately. Shortly after we finished our snack we headed towards Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain to use our last two fast passes. We were a little bit early, so we started browsing through the gift shop when I noticed Jemma acting funny. I quickly hurried her out of the gift shop (just in time) as she began to throw up all over the sidewalk. :( Disney staff was SO understanding and accommodating to us, and even had the EMT's come to check her vitals. One of the gift shop workers kept Jade company, asking her all kinds of questions while Nate and I were busy helping Jemma. We were given extra fast passes and both girls were given a stuffed animal from the gift shop. They also offered me a new outfit for Jemma if we needed it. Disney is truly amazing!
Jem checked out perfectly fine and fell asleep almost immediately after. I'm assuming it was a combo of the sugar, popcorn and heat that upset her stomach. Just to be safe, we opted her out of Splash and Big Thunder Mountain. Nate and I each took a turn riding Big Thunder Mountain with Jade and then Jade and I used some of our extra fast passes to do the Jungle Cruise while Jemma napped. After Jemma woke up, we met Captain Jack Sparrow (so random the girls wanted to meet him) and Nate and Jade rode Splash Mountain together, while Jemma and I watched from the bridge!
Since we still had a few of the extra fast passes to use up, we let Jemma choose something that she felt up to going on! She picked the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, so we did that! We wrapped up with the day with Mickey pretzels and final souvenir shopping. Jade ended up with a princess snap bracelet and a box set of four 500 piece puzzles! Jemma ended up with a pack of Disney's Fairies figurines and a stuffed Forky.
We had to leave the park early, since there was a Halloween Party that night, and we did not have tickets for it. We were excited to find out when we got back to our hotel that the Skyliner had finally reopened! It had been shut down all week, due to a crash-like incident the week prior. For fun, we rode the Skyliner to Epcot and back during sunset!
We wrapped up our night with dinner at the hotel and games in the arcade.
This was honestly the best trip EVER! We all feel beyond blessed that we were able to make all this happen! Can't wait to go back someday! :)
