Prequel to Disney...
Last Summer my mom called me and randomly stated, "I want to go to Disney World this December!" I laughed and joked, "Me too!"
side note: We were all supposed to go in 2012, but Aaron and I both felt we had a daughter in China, so we ditched Disney and used our Disney funds to begin our adoption process. Best.Decision.Ever.
My mom wasn't joking though. Because they ditched their Disney vacation when we did, Disney sent them a pin code for free dining that could be used whenever. Southwest Airlines just so happened to be having a MAJOR flight sale with prices we hadn't seen since the 90's. Their Christmas gift to us would be the flights to Disney. We would have free food, so we would just have to pay hotel and tickets. She even had the dates picked out, and it just so happened to be the 180 day mark... which means we could get the dining reservations we wanted before they booked up. This would also be perfect timing before Vivi's nevus removal process, so we could all have a fun getaway together before the chaos. How could we say no?!? My sister agreed with the trip plan as well, so there would be eleven of us going together! My family loves Disney, and when we go, we try to make the vacation as magical as possible. We plan our days, make reservations, find out about any special things going on... if we spend money on a Disney trip, we want it to be memorable.
(A warning in advance... this blog is like my scrapbook, so there are lots of pictures and details.)
Day One
They knew about the trip 30 days out, and we had watched a Disney World vacation show on Netflix, and we had gone over some Youtube videos of the rides and parades. They were SO excited! We left OKC extremely early in the morning the first week of December, which was a blessing because later that day an ice storm came through and pretty much shut down Oklahoma for several days! We couldn't have chosen a better week to be gone!
They did GREAT on the flight! Cam and Caroline sat with Aaron, while Vivi Cate and I sat together. Vivs and I have endured A LOT of airplane miles together, so it was just like old times.
She even blessed me with this for the second half of the flight...
The kids chose to entertain them with electronics the entire time. We were happy to oblige.
Because it's always good to check the safety procedure in case of an emergency...?
We made it to Orlando ON TIME. What are the chances of that these days??? We took the Magical Express to our hotel Animal Kingdom Lodge. We picked this hotel because our first choice was booked and because it had the most activities for the kids. It doesn't hurt that it is GORGEOUS inside.
And the pool is not too shabby either. Camden was so excited to see a water slide!
The kids were also excited to see a playground, which is smart of Disney because sometimes you have down time and need the let the kids run off some energy (like after they have spent the whole morning on an airplane).
We unpacked and toured the hotel until it was time for our dinner reservation. For Dinner, we had reservations for 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian to eat dinner with Cinderella, the stepsisters, and the wicked step-mother.
We also took with us our own Merida, Rapunzel, Snow White, Tinkerbell, and Prince Charming.
Our little Prince Charming was a very good sport about going to a princess dinner.
We had heard mixed reviews on 1900 Park Fare, but our food was surprisingly good! I would rank it in the top three of our whole trip. The first character to greet us was the real Prince Charming. He was Vivi's favorite.
Girlfriend has good taste, huh?
Next up was Cinderella.
She was sweet, and the girls were excited to see her.
Then there was the wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine. She instructed Camden that he would make a good husband for Anastasia.
He wasn't impressed by that offer, and as you can see, she wasn't impressed with his response.
She did pose for pictures though...
Next up was Anastasia, who was my favorite... and the kids favorite!
She is hilarious, and she was delighted to hear that her mother betrothed her to Camden.
Our next guest was Drizella.
She was a bit stuck-up compared to Anastasia and unimpressed that Cinderella was hanging around near her.
Addi and Cam were having a blast!
How cute are they?
After we finished dinner, we jumped on the monorail and made our way to the Magic Kingdom!
We had reservations for the Wishes Dessert Party that evening! Our plan was to stay in Tomorrowland, so wouldn't be dealing with the parade and fireworks crowds. We had a Fast Pass Plus for Space Mountain, so while Aaron and I rode that, my parents watched the kiddos. Caroline was too short for the ride, and Camden is not a fan of rides in the dark. There was a concert going on in Tomorrowland, and the kids loved dancing and singing with the crowd!
After that we walked over to the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, which was adorable.
Then it was time for our Fast Pass Plus for Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers! Camden had been so excited to ride this one!
and it did not disappoint.
Both of those boys were hardcore serious about shooting those little Z's and racking up the most points.
After we got off the ride, Camden begged for another round.
The line was short, so Cam, Caroline and Aaron rode it again. Vivi Cate and I sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
We had some time to kill before the dessert party, so we hopped on the People Mover where the kids would get a great view of Tomorrowland.
They could not stop smiling the whole night.
They were in awe.
After the People Mover, we went to the Tomorrowland Terrace for the Wishes Dessert Party. This was a difficult reservation to get but SO worth it. I don't like to wait in lines, and I HATE crowds; therefore fireworks and parades are not my thing. The dessert party just so happens to have a beautiful view of the fireworks and a decent enough view of the parade. The kids don't have to stand and wait for a good spot. I get to eat unlimited desserts. It's a win-win situation.
Caroline stood by herself and stared at the castle for a long time.
She continued to stand and watch the parade, while we sat right there and ate dessert.
Wishes Dessert Party= Winner.
The little chocolate mouse tart and espresso tart were my favorite. Caroline thought the chocolate strawberries were a huge success, and Vivi Cate and Camden devoured their share of sprinkled cookies.
After the parade, there was a castle pre-show which was AWESOME, but we failed to get pics. They even had a song from Frozen in it, which Addi and I were belting out together.
Vivi Cate loved watching the fireworks.
We had been up since 5 am. She took a short nap between Atlanta and Orlando, yet this girl was still going strong.
I'm pretty sure this was the most magical way to spend our first night in Disney. Tinkerbell even flew right over us, which totally impressed the kids.
My mom wasn't joking though. Because they ditched their Disney vacation when we did, Disney sent them a pin code for free dining that could be used whenever. Southwest Airlines just so happened to be having a MAJOR flight sale with prices we hadn't seen since the 90's. Their Christmas gift to us would be the flights to Disney. We would have free food, so we would just have to pay hotel and tickets. She even had the dates picked out, and it just so happened to be the 180 day mark... which means we could get the dining reservations we wanted before they booked up. This would also be perfect timing before Vivi's nevus removal process, so we could all have a fun getaway together before the chaos. How could we say no?!? My sister agreed with the trip plan as well, so there would be eleven of us going together! My family loves Disney, and when we go, we try to make the vacation as magical as possible. We plan our days, make reservations, find out about any special things going on... if we spend money on a Disney trip, we want it to be memorable.
(A warning in advance... this blog is like my scrapbook, so there are lots of pictures and details.)
Day One
They knew about the trip 30 days out, and we had watched a Disney World vacation show on Netflix, and we had gone over some Youtube videos of the rides and parades. They were SO excited! We left OKC extremely early in the morning the first week of December, which was a blessing because later that day an ice storm came through and pretty much shut down Oklahoma for several days! We couldn't have chosen a better week to be gone!
They did GREAT on the flight! Cam and Caroline sat with Aaron, while Vivi Cate and I sat together. Vivs and I have endured A LOT of airplane miles together, so it was just like old times.
She even blessed me with this for the second half of the flight...
The kids chose to entertain them with electronics the entire time. We were happy to oblige.
Because it's always good to check the safety procedure in case of an emergency...?
We made it to Orlando ON TIME. What are the chances of that these days??? We took the Magical Express to our hotel Animal Kingdom Lodge. We picked this hotel because our first choice was booked and because it had the most activities for the kids. It doesn't hurt that it is GORGEOUS inside.
And the pool is not too shabby either. Camden was so excited to see a water slide!
The kids were also excited to see a playground, which is smart of Disney because sometimes you have down time and need the let the kids run off some energy (like after they have spent the whole morning on an airplane).
We unpacked and toured the hotel until it was time for our dinner reservation. For Dinner, we had reservations for 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian to eat dinner with Cinderella, the stepsisters, and the wicked step-mother.
We also took with us our own Merida, Rapunzel, Snow White, Tinkerbell, and Prince Charming.
Our little Prince Charming was a very good sport about going to a princess dinner.
We had heard mixed reviews on 1900 Park Fare, but our food was surprisingly good! I would rank it in the top three of our whole trip. The first character to greet us was the real Prince Charming. He was Vivi's favorite.
Girlfriend has good taste, huh?
Next up was Cinderella.
She was sweet, and the girls were excited to see her.
Then there was the wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine. She instructed Camden that he would make a good husband for Anastasia.
He wasn't impressed by that offer, and as you can see, she wasn't impressed with his response.
She did pose for pictures though...
Next up was Anastasia, who was my favorite... and the kids favorite!
She is hilarious, and she was delighted to hear that her mother betrothed her to Camden.
Our next guest was Drizella.
She was a bit stuck-up compared to Anastasia and unimpressed that Cinderella was hanging around near her.
Addi and Cam were having a blast!
How cute are they?
After we finished dinner, we jumped on the monorail and made our way to the Magic Kingdom!
We had reservations for the Wishes Dessert Party that evening! Our plan was to stay in Tomorrowland, so wouldn't be dealing with the parade and fireworks crowds. We had a Fast Pass Plus for Space Mountain, so while Aaron and I rode that, my parents watched the kiddos. Caroline was too short for the ride, and Camden is not a fan of rides in the dark. There was a concert going on in Tomorrowland, and the kids loved dancing and singing with the crowd!
After that we walked over to the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, which was adorable.
Then it was time for our Fast Pass Plus for Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers! Camden had been so excited to ride this one!
and it did not disappoint.
Both of those boys were hardcore serious about shooting those little Z's and racking up the most points.
After we got off the ride, Camden begged for another round.
The line was short, so Cam, Caroline and Aaron rode it again. Vivi Cate and I sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
We had some time to kill before the dessert party, so we hopped on the People Mover where the kids would get a great view of Tomorrowland.
They could not stop smiling the whole night.
They were in awe.
After the People Mover, we went to the Tomorrowland Terrace for the Wishes Dessert Party. This was a difficult reservation to get but SO worth it. I don't like to wait in lines, and I HATE crowds; therefore fireworks and parades are not my thing. The dessert party just so happens to have a beautiful view of the fireworks and a decent enough view of the parade. The kids don't have to stand and wait for a good spot. I get to eat unlimited desserts. It's a win-win situation.
Caroline stood by herself and stared at the castle for a long time.
She continued to stand and watch the parade, while we sat right there and ate dessert.
See how she is the only one there? No standing for hours for the 'good spot'. No mean person trying to push your kid out of the way. No 'I can't see!!!' from the kids.
Wishes Dessert Party= Winner.
The little chocolate mouse tart and espresso tart were my favorite. Caroline thought the chocolate strawberries were a huge success, and Vivi Cate and Camden devoured their share of sprinkled cookies.
After the parade, there was a castle pre-show which was AWESOME, but we failed to get pics. They even had a song from Frozen in it, which Addi and I were belting out together.
Vivi Cate loved watching the fireworks.
We had been up since 5 am. She took a short nap between Atlanta and Orlando, yet this girl was still going strong.
I'm pretty sure this was the most magical way to spend our first night in Disney. Tinkerbell even flew right over us, which totally impressed the kids.
We walked to the Contemporary and caught a cab back to our hotel because waiting in very long crowded lines for the buses with three very tired children was not going to be a good way to end the evening. The kids were asleep within minutes of their head hitting the pillow, which was a good thing because we had a big morning planned for them!
No comments:
Post a Comment