As I mentioned in an earlier post, our church has a carnival every year and this year, Jay and I won a 1-week stay at a condo on Disney property at the silent auction there. Not only did we win, but we were the only ones to bid on the package, so we got it for $100!!! The only stipulation was that the condo stay was booked for the second week in November. I guess we were one of the few couples who don't have school-aged kids and who own our own business and could take vacation at that time. :)
Anyway, needless to say, we had an AMAZING time in Disney. I really don't know who enjoyed it more....the kids or us. There definitely were tears shed by Jay and me watching the excitement on Truett & Emma's faces. I don't know if it's the hype built up around Disney or if it truly is a magical place, but it is definitely a trip worth taking, at least once in your lifetime!
PREPARATION: As soon as I realized we were heading to Disney, I started working on shirts and dresses for Truett and Emma. I tried planning a coordinating outfit for them for each day we were there. Yes, over the top, but SO MUCH FUN! Plus, what's the point of owning your own embroidery business if you can't make custom stuff for your own kiddos?!
Truett showing off his Mickey shirt
Emily modeling her Mickey dress....this outfit was complete with a custom Mickey headband compliments of my sister, Emily!
I even joined in on the fun and had Mickey ears painted on my nail! :)
DEPARTURE DAY: We all got packed up, loaded up and headed to the airport. Fortunately, our flight was later in the afternoon, so we weren't rushing at the crack of dawn.
Waiting patiently for the shuttle to the airport
Obviously, our kids were FIRED UP about the trip!
ARRIVAL: We arrived to the resort VERY LATE on Friday night, so the next morning, we were all pretty tired. We slept in, took our time getting ready, and then headed out to check out the resort.
This was the view from our room...BEAUTIFUL!
While Jay left to go pick up the rental car, the kids and I hung out at one of the playground areas at the resort.
When Jay returned, this was the view of our rental car from our room....NOT SO BEAUTIFUL! hahahah!
We went to lunch, went to WalMart to stock up the kitchen in the condo for the week, and just hung out that day. It didn't really feel much like Disney, but DEFINITELY felt like a vacation! :)
The kids relaxing in the big jacuzzi tub in the room. Bubble baths were part of their nightly routine each night.
I love how they're both snuggling up with their Mickey and Minnie dolls!
DAY 1: We headed out to Hollywood Studios on our first day and weren't exactly sure what we'd find/see there, but we seemed to really 'hit the jackpot' as far as the kids were concerned.
Emma & Truett in their Tinkerbell and Peter Pan outfits.
There was a show starting as soon as we walked into the park, so we headed inside.
We soon realized that the kids would be seeing a lot of their favorite characters, and they were SO excited!
Handy Manny
Little Einsteins
The next show we saw was The Little Mermaid. It was a combination of animation and live actors. On top of that, it was 'interactive' so whenever there was a scene in the show with splashing water or high winds, the audience was sprayed with mist or big fans would turn on. It was pretty cool.
Next on our stop was Beauty and the Beast. I was a little skeptical about Truett's reaction to all the 'Princess' stuff, but all the shows were so entertaining, he didn't mind in the least. Of course, Emma was in HEAVEN!
They were both so focused on what was going on. Jay and I probably spent more time watching them than the shows!
We saw a 3-D Muppets Movie and let me just say that all of these movies that have been coming out lately, CLAIMING to be 3-D are JOKES compared to actual 3-D. Truett would crack up and yell, "IT'S IN MY FACE!" and Emma seemed to jump out of her seats every time something would pop out of the screen.
Emma sportin' the 3-D glasses
When we walked out of the Muppet Movie, we turned the corner and guess who was waiting for us??
Lightening McQueen
Tow-Mater
This is an example of "a picture is worth 1,000 words" and I don't think I could even sum up Truett's excitement seeing these two characters!
Emma was a little intimidated by their size, so Papa came to the rescue so she could get in the picture with them.
Our final stop of the night...ANDY'S ROOM to see Buzz and Woody. There were different 'photo op' stations set up while we waited in line.
Emma & Truett in Buzz's rocket ship box.
Truett & Emma being lifted up by "The Claw"
Truett strapped to Sid's rocket...the face he's making is his signature "Buzz Lightyear" face! hahah!
Truett (and his Buzz face)
Emma
Buzz, Truett, Woody & Emma
Of course, the last 'event' of the day, was the wonderful bubble bath in the giant tub!
DAY 2: We were up and at 'em bright and EARLY the next day. Our character breakfast was at 7:30 in the morning. I mean, SERIOUSLY! We don't even eat breakfast that early at our own house, but, beggars can't be choosers. Apparently, you're supposed to book your character breakfast 6 months (LITERALLY) in advance, so we had to take what was available. Of course, the kids weren't bothered by the 'crack of dawn' wake up call!
The kids and the mouse ears they picked out for themselves. Emma, of course, chose a pink hat and Truett went with the Pirate Mickey hat, hence him making his 'pirate face' in this picture...ARRRR!
There's really not a whole lot to say about our breakfast, except that, again, beggars can't be choosers. :) The kids were amused by the Mickey waffles and LOVED getting some one-on-one time with the characters.
GOOFY
MINNIE - She kissed Truett on the cheek and we told him she got lipstick on his face. I've never seen a child blush so much!
DONALD
After breakfast, we headed to our 'park of the day' - ANIMAL KINGDOM
We started off at the Lion King show, which was really great.
At one point in the show, they call kids up from the audience to dance on stage, and Truett went on up (OF COURSE)!
Truett's the one in the middle with the white shirt on.
Our next stop was the Finding Nemo show.
While we were waiting in line outside, Truett found a stick on the ground and 'planted' it in the dirt. He was so proud of himself and wanted me to take a picture. I thought it was so cute that he had 'planted a tree' (as he called it), especially since we were at Animal Kingdom where the message is all about wildlife preservation/Mother Nature/taking care of the Earth, etc.... Yeah, well, 5 minutes later, Truett says, "MOM...look! There's a bug! (STOMP)". I guess Truett didn't really get the message! :)
We finally got inside the theater and had REALLY great seats. The stage was shaped like a T and we were right up against the stage. At some parts of the show, the characters were LITERALLY right on top of us. The kids LOVED it, and so did Jay and me.
After the Nemo show, we took a jungle cruise and then went to the petting zoo.
After a couple of quick 'tourist' shots, we left Animal Kingdom and took our two monkeys back to the hotel to get rested up for the next day.
DAY 3: Jay and I decided to spend our last 2 days at Magic Kingdom. We knew that it had a lot more to see and do for kids Truett and Emma's ages. We had a BLAST!
Cinderella's castle...really is so magical! There was a show going on at the castle right when we got there, so we stopped and watched, which REALLY got the kids fired up!
Our first stop, after the show, was Adventure Land.
We rode the Jungle Cruise ride, but this time it was animated/mechanical animals as opposed to the real ones we had seen before at Animal Kingdom.
I felt the same way this tiger did when the 'nice lady' in the picture kept getting in the way of my photos! :)
Once the boat ride was over, it was time for a magic carpet ride
Once we were done flying through the air, we decided to 'sail the seven seas'. I didn't realize the Pirates of the Paula Dean (as Truett called it) was going to be so scary and I spent the whole time pointing at the scary things and saying to Emma, "HAHAH! Look at that silly man! He's being so silly." or "Oh my goodness! Isn't that little man so crazy?" or "Uh-oh...he's not supposed to be playing with a knife...I bet his mama is going to put him in Time Out if she sees him."
It seemed to work pretty well, though, because there were no tears shed and they even asked for pirate souvenirs.
Emma and I sat out on the next ride, being that she was too young/little and I was too pregnant, but it actually worked out PERFECTLY. While Jay and Truett rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad, Emma and I held a spot in line to see Woody and Jesse. By the time we got to the front of the line, Jay and Truett were finished and the kids had they picture taken.
We had just enough time to get some popsicles and find a great spot to sit for the character parade.
Donald Duck
Stitch
Lilo
Minnie & Mickey Mouse
Gepetto
Pinnochio
Jimminy Cricket
Snow White & Prince Charming
Bert & Mary Poppins
Alice & the Mad Hatter
The Wicked Stepmother and Evil Stepsisters
Fairy Godmother
Cinderella
Ariel
The Beast
A not-so-good shot of Belle
Tiana and Prince Naveen
Later in the afternoon, as we were heading out, we saw that another parade was about to begin, so we found a spot to sit and watch and we were pleasantly surprised!
At one point of the parade, the floats came to a stop and the characters actually came down off of the floats to dance with the kids in the street. Emma's favorite character is Jesse and it just so happened that her float was right in front of us, so Emma spent the entire time dancing with her. She was in HEAVEN!!!!!!!!
Truett seemed to be more into dancing than the characters...he had a blast! It was a perfect way to end the day!
Well, actually, the giant bubble bath was THE perfect way to end the day!
Even Jay can testify to that!!!
After the great day we had, I'm pretty sure their dreams were sweet!
DAY 4: We were so glad that we had split Magic Kingdom into 2 days because we could take our time and not rush through everything. We felt like we were really able to enjoy ourselves and got to see and do everything we wanted to.
Right when we entered the park, we saw that there were several characters standing around in the same area, having their pictures taken with the crowd. It was like one stop shopping. Jay and I took the old 'divide and conquer' approach and split up to each stand in a line, so that really saved us some time.
Pinnochio
Pluto
Daisy
Emma sneaking in a kiss before she left
It's a Small World After All
For those who may be wondering what this is...YES...it is a roach on the display along the "Small World" ride. It must be a new part of the attraction, because I'm pretty sure I would have remembered it from my previous visits! :)
For lunch, we ate the the Pinocchio cafe .
There is a wish book that the kids can write their wishes in for the Blue Fairy to grant.
Truett went up and wanted to put his wish down in the book, but only knew how to spell his name, so chose to draw a picture of his wish instead. When I asked him what it was, he said, "I wish I could be a prince!"
After lunch, we had planned on going on the Peter Pan ride, but the line was WAY too long, so we got a 'fast pass' instead. While we waited, we went to the PhilharMagic 3D show. It was GREAT!
The show ended just in time for us to run into Peter Pan himself and get on the Peter Pan ride.
Next was the merry-go-round
Truett wanted to drive the race cars, so Emma and I had a snack in the shade while Jay and Truett took a spin around the rack. Their is a 'track' that runs below each car so that the kids can control the steering without running off course. It was hilarious watching these cars come around the track, bouncing like pinball machines. The looks of terror on the parents' faces and the looks of pure bliss on the kids' faces were priceless!
Since Truett chose a fun thing that he wanted to do, Emma got to choose the next activity, which was to see the princesses. The wait in line to see the princesses was a little longer than most (actually, it was the longest wait we had the entire trip), but you actually killed THREE birds with one stone because all three princesses were in the same room.
Princess Aurora (aka "Sleeping Beauty")
Cinderella
Belle
Of course, all that waiting in line worked up an appetite, so we got a yummy snack before heading off to meet Mickey & Minnie. Jay had a caramel/chocolate/nut covered apple, I had a chocolate-covered marshmallow on a stick (actually it was a silly straw, so I got a 'two-fer'), Emma had a sugar-coated Minnie Mouse marshmallow and Truett had...wait for it...WAIT FOR IT...a Pez! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!? We come all the way to Disney where they have these amazing treats and my child gets a PEZ!! :)
That night, there was the electrical parade where all of the floats are lit up. Truett got a light saber souvenir and enjoyed playing with it while waiting for the parade to start.
Emma enjoyed catching a quick nap while waiting for the parade to start.
At the end of the parade, Cinderella's castle was completely lit up with lights that changed colors.
Once the parade was over, Truett passed out!
We had THE best time, not only at the Disney parks, but also at the condo. At night, after dinner, we'd go down to the pool and hang out in the hot tub or the heated 'lazy river'. It was a great way to wind down and relax after such a long day.
I am SO glad that we had the chance to take this trip with our kids. It will definitely be a trip that I will never forget, and one I hope they will remember when they are older. It was definitely worth every minute we spent standing in line, every sore muscle Jay had from carrying the kids on his shoulders or lifting them up to get a better look at something, and every dime spent on over-priced snacks.
As a side note...when we got back from our trip and the kids were telling everybody all about it, how much fun they had and all the exciting things they did, my mom told them, "And can you believe it?? Heaven is even BETTER than Disney World!!!" :)
