Disney World...Day 4

Today we spent the whole day, 11 hours to be exact at the Magic Kingdom. It was so much fun. I think by far this is my favorite park, there is so much to see and do it’s easy to spend the whole day there. We headed out early and caught the monorail over to the park. We started off by riding Space Mountain, since it was close for repairs last year and it’s a popular ride we wanted to hit it early. Christian and I got in line and walked our way through space and boarded our space ship. Christian did great on it, considering it was in the complete dark and a fast ride.

We hit all the major rides, some twice and was able to catch the parade. It was hot so we took many trips inside the gift shops to cool down. We went and toured Mickey’s house and waited about 45 minutes in line to meet him and Minnie Mouse. The wait seemed long, with the heat and dealing with 2 very sleepy kids we finally made it. We walked into a little room and where greeting by both Mickey and Minnie. Colin loves Mickey Mouse, but that’s his stuffed Mickey. This Mickey was real, it moved and touched him! He made sure he never took his eye off of him the whole time.

I will say for anyone that is thinking about visiting the magic kingdom, or any park for that fact, use the fast pass system. It was a lot more crowded this year, and being able to use a “fast pass” on most popular rides is a blessing. You swipe your ticket, and you get another ticket to return between two times. Then you get to skip the lines and walk right onto the ride! It’s great!

We left and seemed like we barely made it back to the hotel! Needless to say both boys fell asleep early and stayed asleep the whole night.

 

 

 

 

Disney World...Day 3

Monday we woke up and headed to the Animal Kingdom. We visited this park last year and where excited to visit it again and see all the animals. The chance of rain was a little less than Sunday, but we prepared for it anyway. When we first arrived Christian wanted to ride the Dinosaur ride again this year. Last year it scared him, but he wasn’t afraid this year. Since we got there as soon as they opened we were able to walk right on to the ride. He did great, a little scared at some points but loved it.

We headed to a little place in Dino land where a lot of the rides are for little ones, and he was able to ride a roller coaster that he was too short for last year. We were both excited, and enjoyed the ride. Me a little more than Christian since he didn’t want to ride it again. We even hit a few rides that Colin was able to ride.

We walked around the Tree of Life, which is a huge tree with all kinds of animals carved into it. Inside we watched a 3-D show of “It’s Tough Being a Bug” from Bug’s life. Then headed to Africa for the Kilimanjaro Safari. I think this is by far the best thing at the park. You ride around the property and see ALL kinds of animals. It’s almost like you are in Africa. It’s amazing to see how much work, and how beautiful this whole area is. We took a train ride over to the petting zoo, and the back lot where they take care of all the animals. We even saw one of the vet’s performing surgery on a sick little one.

The park is divided into different areas of the country so you can visit, Africa, Dino Land and Asia. In Asia they had a huge roller coaster that was in a mountain or the Himalayas’. There was no way Christian was going to ride it with me, so I was a single rider. I was able to walk right on. It was GREAT!!! The ride started off going up a huge hill and when you start to head down you go around a curve and start heading up a different set of track before the ride stops. You sit there about 2 minutes before hearing a clicking sound and then before you know it you are headed backwards. Into the mountain and in the dark! A few minutes later you stop again and then finish the ride going forward and headed down a huge slope! It was fantastic, and I totally recommend it to everyone.

We finish up the day by heading back to the hotel for a little rest and pool time. Then headed to Downtown Disney for a little shopping. We had a huge day on Tuesday so we needed to get plenty of rest.

 

 

 

 

Disney World....Day 2

We woke up early and were all excited to head out to MGM Hollywood Studios. We were a little nervous about the weather since scattered thunderstorms throughout the day were expected. I decided that since the chance of rain was so high on this particular day we should head to a park where we could spend the most time inside. MGM has a lot of covered rides and rides that are indoor. We headed out by 8:30 and made the short trip to MGM. Since we had never been to this park Christian would ask what kinds of rides they had. I knew about the Tower Of Terror, and was excited about riding it with Christian. We saw it from a distance driving there and Christian started getting very excited. He asked what the ride was about, and I explained that you walk around in a haunted hotel and get inside an elevator and ride around. I conveniently left out the part where they take you up 13 stories and drop you. We walked through the hotel, and reminded him that everything was fake and there were no REAL ghost. We got on the elevator and made our way around, I had my arm around Christian the whole time. The ride takes you up 2 floors and drops you , then about 5 floors, then 7 floors until the final time you are all the way to the top, you go up and stop the doors open and you look out above the whole park. The doors close and you drop 13 stories!! Christian wasn’t a fan of the ride, on the first drop he was bent over and practically in my lap screaming and crying for the ride to be over. I loved it, he did not! This started him asking about every single ride from here on out! I think he knew I tricked him…..just a little!

We enjoyed the whole Hollywood look, and the rides. Since Toy Story 3 is a huge thing right now, we saw the characters all over the place. We even ran into a few army men! We had a little rain here and there and one good down pour, but luckily it was around lunch time so we were inside. We hit a few shops and watched to parade before calling it a day. We headed back to the hotel and spent some time in the pool relaxing!!

Since it was July 4th we wanted to head out to catch some fireworks. I read where Downtown Disney was having a show that night and it was free. We headed across the street and I guess about 1,000 other people had the same idea. It was CRAZY!!! You couldn’t even walk around anywhere without literally running into everyone. We walked around about 10 minutes and saw a sign posted that the firework where canceled due to the weather. There was no reason for us to be there so we headed back to the hotel, and hoped we would hit the shops again Monday night and there would be a lot less people.

 

 

 

 

Disney World....Day 1

We finished packing the last few items Saturday morning and were on the road by 9. We stopped by and grab some breakfast before hitting the highway. Thank goodness for whom ever had the thought of adding a DVD player in cars, because it was a life saver. Especially when the have there own headphones and we don’t have to listen to the same Little Einstein’s or Diego movie over and over. We only heard a few times “are we there yet?” and “how many more minutes until we get there?” Finally the kids fell asleep and upon awaking Christian asked, “are we still in America?” He didn’t fully understand we where only going to another state not leaving the country.

We approached the infamous “Florida Turnpike” and reminisced about our travel’s last year as we waiting for out turn at the toll stop. This time we had money in hand ready to pass thru. We hit a little traffic as we approached closer to the hotel, but finally made it. After checking in, getting situated and a little dinner we headed to the pool for a little swim time. We had a few BIG days ahead of us, so we called it an early night!

 

 

 

We are headed to Disney World!

Lots of memories will be made, photos will be taken, laughs will be heard from morning to night, and we will make a few new friends.

We can’t wait to share all our stories…………...but for now…………..we are spending time as a family!

 

Look who's ready to see Mickey Mouse!!!!

 

Countdown to Disney....

We are anxiously preparing for our trip to Disney World in 1 week! We are all so excited! We were talking about it the other night and Michael got a little giddy! I asked him if it was because of the trip or not having to go to work for a week? I was surprised to hear it was because of the trip! We had a lot of fun last year, and I know we will have more fun this year. Christian is taller and will be able to ride more roller coaster type rides, Colin is older and will defiantly enjoy it more this year, since he was still a baby last year. We know (kind of) what to expect. We know what we want to do and things that we could pass up this time around. We are hitting 2 additional parks this time, we are adding MGM and Blizzard Beach Water Park to our list. We are staying at the same hotel so we know what to expect from them. It has a great pool, and the rooms are so spacious. We didn’t know we would have a little kitchen last year so we took many trips to Wal-Mart, which was ALWAYS busy, and out of a lot of things. This year we will be more prepared, I will have all the food before hand, and my goal is to stay away from the Wal-Mart.

Another thing we learned from last year, make sure you have plenty of gas before you hit the Florida turnpike. The gas stations are few and far between so be prepared; also tolls. Yep Florida has many of them. In the middle of the turnpike, when you exit off the turnpike everywhere. I’m not worried about the gas problem this year since I have my new car, my gas tank is twice as big as my last car so we should be good! I also have plenty of one’s and quarters on hand for the tolls.

This weekend I will be picking up last minute items, and starting to pull things together. I have a busy week next week at work so I won’t have a lot of time to do last minute shopping. Of course laundry will be done every day, that never changes. Thursday I will be grocery shopping, Friday will be packing day. We will have the car loaded that night. Saturday our plans are to head out early, so when we arrive at the hotel we will have a little time at the pool!