Disney Vacation

Since we live in LA now, the girls got three days off from school for Mardi Gras (crazy huh!!)  And since they are 5 now, we - really mainly D- decided that it was the perfect time to take them to Disney.  So we made reservations ages ago and we went all out since we aren't planning to come back that often.  Stayed at Wilderness Lodge and really got fancy with the Deluxe Dining plan, which gives you three meals - which include an app, entree, and dessert - and 2 snacks per day per person!  So we ate a TON and really enjoyed it. I did a photo book - which I linked to on FB - so I'll just try to hit the highlights (though that will still be a humongo post) here.

Saturday: Drove.  All day.  Lots of movies.

Sunday: Arrived in Disney!

 

Picture of the resort - from the pool looking back

  

It was February and our resort only had an outdoor pool, so I thought that there was absolutely NO WAY we would need swimsuits.  So here are the girls in their new Disney swimsuits - neither of which really fits all that well.  Though we did swim 3 different times. We swam almost the whole first day as we were planning for it to take two days of driving to get there.  It does not.  So all day Sunday they swam and we visited with our friends the Bairds who just recently moved to FL.

 

Me and Stacy and our girls!

 Monday: First day at the park.  Started with Breakfast with Cinderella in her castle at 8:15.  Which we have declared to be the best way to start the trip.  We were done and ready for the park at 9.  By 10:30 we had basically ridden all of the rides in Fantasyland....without waiting at all really!  The one low note of the day was riding Thunder Mountain.  I was with Brooke and she screamed the whole time "I wish we had never gotten on this.  I want OFF!"  So that was not a success.  Audrey only liked it a tiny degree more.  We left to go back to nap (as Brooke fell asleep on the people mover), then went to the Grand Floridian for dinner, then back for the parade and fireworks.  An aside, I had the BEST burger I have ever eaten in my life that night for dinner.  Wow.

 Love this picture - especially since Tink is computer generated and they are just acting!

Tuesday: Back to Magic Kingdom for a few more autographs and to do Frontierland in the morning.  Then we went back to the resort for more swimming and naps.  We ended the day at Epcot (where D kept saying "so this is where all the alcohol is" ) with our fancy dinner at Reef...we had a primo table right next to the fish tank.  The girls enjoyed counting how many laps the giant stingray swam and discussing what our exit strategy would be if the tank were to break!! So funny!

 The girls had the LONGEST conversation with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen.  It was adorable!

 Since it was Valentine's week, all of the princes were out with the princesses.  It was a treat for sure!  And since we have watched Tangled a ton of times, they were very excited to see Rapunzel and Flynn.

 

Here we are enjoying some of our snacks from the dining plan!

Wednesday:  D's BIRTHDAY!  And let me tell you, they make a big deal if you wear a 'it's my birthday' button - which D obediently did for Mon - Wed.   Started our day with a breakfast with Chef Mickey.  Then we headed to Hollywood Studios.  It was enjoyable but the girls kept asking when we were going to go on rides.  Though the highlights were the Disney Jr puppet show, the Beauty and the Beast show, and the Toy Story ride (probably one of the best of the whole trip.)  We had lunch at Mama Melrose's which was super YUMMY!! and originally planned to stay for the Fantasmic show.  But the weather was looking awful and the girls really wanted to swim one more time.  So we headed home 5ish to swim - until the rain came pouring down.  And lucky D got to have a birthday meal of snacks on our hotel floor :)

 They loved Minnie!  And Audrey was so excited to show her shirt to Minnie.

 How cute is that spaghetti and meatball cupcake?? And let me tell you it was delish!

 We saw another parade!  They really like the Incredibles (and I like her cause she is way hippy, makes me feel good) and D kept remarking how he liked the fact that all of the characters were wearing safety harnesses up on the floats!

 Celebrating D's birthday!

Thursday: Began with breakfast at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  This was a rough start as we had trouble finding where to go - turns out we were totally in the wrong place - and I was totally stressing cause we were running a little late.  And then once there, realized that I had forgotten to take my insulin that morning.  But after eating, I woofed it down so I could go back to the hotel, and meeting back up at Animal Kingdom, it all improved.  Though we were hampered by the pretty much all day rain which ranged from drizzle to full out downpour. And we made two tactical errors while at Animal Kingdom - the bug's life 3-d movie (which Audrey basically cried and screamed that she wanted to leave - thank heavens she was in my lap and did not feel the sting or scurrying bugs!) and then we immediately went to the Dinosaur ride.  Oh. My. Word.  Not for sweet little girls.  More crying and screaming.  Fortunately all was recovered once we were on the triceratops ride. (think flying dumbo but this time with a dino).  After a late lunch, we headed back to Epcot to find the super elusive Belle.  The one princess that we had not encountered yet.  And of course here in the rain, the girls convinced us it was the PERFECT time to finally get their faces painted.  We ended the day with a yummy meal at the nice restaurant in our hotel.

 The family "on safari."

 Finding Belle!

 Working hard to keep the rain off of their newly painted faces.

 Audrey with her Venetian mask

Brooke as Princess Kitty

Friday: Our last day!!  We spent the day back at Magic Kingdom where we redid all of the favorite rides.  If you ask the girls what their favorite part of Disney was they will respond "the rides and the characters." When pressed they will say the Tea Cups and Peter Pan. For Lunch we had our last character experience at the Crystal Palace with Pooh Bear and friends.  Our last planned activity was dinner at Camp Wilderness for the Hoop Dee Doo Review.  The show was super cute and the girls loved it.  The food was just eh. 

 Brooke became obsessed with getting a picture with Alice...not sure why exactly as the one time they saw the movie they were terrified.

 Riding on the Magic Carpet ride...again!

 I just love this picture!!  Poor Eeyore is trying so hard to write and Audrey is just so cute holding his ear :)

 Love love love the tea cups!! D, not so much.

Playing the washboard at the end of the Hoop Dee Doo Review.

Saturday: Drove all day home