Disney: Our First 3 Days

Our week in Disney was so much fun.  We started and ended our trip with days at Magic Kingdom, and then visited Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios the middle 3 days.  Although Magic Kingdom was our favorite park, we liked all the parks and had fun exploring all they had to offer.

My little Disney miracle (which I attribute more to the power of prayer than the power of Disney) came on Sunday morning.  I had worked so hard to keep our little family healthy for this trip to Disney.  So, of course, I came down with a cold a few days before we left.  On Saturday (our travel day), I was MISERABLE.  Constant runny nose, eyes watering, sneezing, headache.  (I went through all the little purse-sized Kleenex packs I  bought for the trip on the drive up to Chicago, so we had to stop at a gas station before the airport to get a box of Kleenex.  Uhggg!!)  Of course, the plane ride didn't help.  My ears got so plugged that I truly couldn't hear out of my right ear and my head felt like it might explode.  I felt awful that whole day, and was just praying that I could at least enjoy our trip in the midst of my illness AND that I wouldn't pass it on to the rest of my family.  Well, miracle of miracles, I woke up Sunday morning feeling fine.  Perfectly fine.  My nose had stopped running, my eyes weren't watery, my head didn't hurt.  I felt great for the entire trip, and no one else got sick.  It was an answer to prayer.

We spent our first full day of our trip at Magic Kingdom.  There was so much to see and do!!  We rode rides (Prince Charming's carousel, Dumbo, the teacups, Little Mermaid, Goofy's Barnstormer), met princesses/characters (mermaid Ariel, Peter Pan, Merida, Anna, Elsa), and did Enchanted Tales with Belle, where the girls got to help act out the story of Beauty and the Beast with Belle.  (Staley and Adelie were salt and pepper shakers.) We enjoyed just walking around the park and exploring.  We tried having the girls nap/rest in the stroller after our quick lunch of burgers and fries (and chocolate cake), but they were too excited.  And then we happened upon the Festival of Fantasy parade and any chance of resting was out the window as we watched an amazing parade of princesses and characters.  (Zach's favorite part was the huge mechanical dragon that really breathed fire.) The weather was in the high 50's (the coolest day we were there), but the sun was shining and it was just beautiful.  That evening, we ate dinner at the Be Our Guest restaurant, which is designed to look like the Beast's castle.  (We ate in the grand ballroom, which is where Belle and the Beast danced.)  It was beautiful and the food was very good, but we had a later reservation (and then they were running behind), Adelie hadn't napped (which makes her extra squirrely), and Briggs was tired from only catching a few cat-naps during the day (he got really upset for about 5 minutes and then fell asleep before the food arrived).  Since Adelie couldn't sit still and we were worried that Briggs would wake up unhappy, we couldn't really relax and enjoy the meal.  Instead we ordered and ate quickly so we could get the kids back to the hotel for bedtime.  But we did have time to try the gray stuff, and it was delicious.  :)  We then watched part of the Magic Kingdom fireworks show at the bus stop while waiting for our bus back to the resort.

First views of the castle

A carousel ride is always a hit!

Staley loved trying to make the teacup spin faster and faster.

Meeting mermaid Ariel was a highlight for Adelie, who declared mermaid Ariel her favorite character, the Little Mermaid ride her favorite ride, and the Little Mermaid show her favorite show.  (Are you picking up a theme here??)

Staley said that Peter Pan was her favorite character we met, as evidenced by the fact that she is jumping up and down with joy in this photo.  Love it!

Briggs was a big fan of Peter Pan too.

I love how Adelie couldn't take her eyes off Merida...

or Elsa.

Briggs enjoyed his first tastes of french fries.  He also had his first taste of chocolate cake.  Thanks, Disney!

Adelie checking out Belle and the Beast in the Festival of Fantasy Parade.

Day # 2 was our Epcot day.  (Or, as Adelie called it, "Apricot.")  We had breakfast at Akershus (in Norway), where we got to meet Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Mulan, and human Ariel.  The food wasn't anything special, but having all the princesses come to our table and spend time with the girls was great.  The girls even got to parade around the room with Ariel leading the princess parade.  They loved it!!  We then spent most of the rest of the morning just walking around all the countries.  The weather was gorgeous (low 70's and sunny), and the girls just had the best time running around outside, chasing each other, and checking out the countries.  A man carved Adelie a little heart made out of wood in Africa, and Staley loved the miniature town and trains in Germany.  We also enjoyed some crepes in France.  We met a few characters (Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco, Alice in England) and rode the Nemo ride before heading back to our hotel for naps (and swimming for the girls).  We then went back to Epcot in the evening for dinner (some good, quick Mexican food), walking around, and a few more rides (Spaceship Earth, where Staley got scared and Adelie fell asleep, and the Nemo ride again).  I had bought some cheap spinning light-up toys before our trip, so we gave those to the girls to play with on the way back to the hotel.  They LOVED them.  They might have been driving all the people on the bus crazy with the spinning lights, but they were having such a good time with them that I didn't have the heart to make them stop. 

Welcome to Apricot!

 

Staley and Adelie having races while we waited to check in for breakfast.

And yes, the weather was a gorgeous as it looks.

 

Staley and Aurora making a princess promise that Staley would tell Aunt Carrie thank you for the beautiful autograph books.   We got SO many compliments on the amazing autograph books that Aunt Carrie made for the girls for Christmas, especially from all the princesses and characters that signed the books.

Adelie showing me the heart that her new friend, Bernard, chiseled for her.

Staley had the best time running back and forth on this little walkway while "chasing" the trains that were driving through this miniature town in Germany.

Adelie loved meeting all the characters, but she was VERY taken with Aladdin. 

And Briggs was quite taken with Alice.

The girls just enjoyed the little things on our Epcot day.  Here Adelie was walking on her "balance bean" while waiting to meet Alice.

Epcot was very pretty at night.

 

The next day was our Animal Kingdom day.  A nice, warm (mid-70's), mostly cloudy day.  The kids were all pretty tired and started off the day a little lethargic.  Once at the park, we first tried taking the kids to the 3D show "It's Tough to Be a Bug", but Staley refused to wear the 3D glasses, Adelie got scared the first time things looked like they were flying towards her, and Briggs started crying when he got sprayed with water.  Needless to say, we left within the first 5 minutes.  Instead, we rode the Triceratops spin (which is the Dumbo ride with dinosaurs) and ate some Mickey ice cream treats.  Then we found a little dinosaur playground area with nets to climb in, caves to explore, and lots of  cool slides to slide down.  The girls loved it, and it really rejuvenated them while Briggs napped in the carrier.  After playing, we made a quick detour to meet Pocahontas before going on a safari (which both girls declared the highlight of the park for them).  We had lunch at the Tusker House, which was an incredible buffet (Zach's favorite of the trip), where we also met safari Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy.  Since the kids had been so tired, we decided to head back to our hotel for the afternoon and evening.  On the way out of the park, we happened upon Flik (a highlight for the girls and one of Briggs's favorite characters as well) and saw a few animals.  Back at the resort, our tired girls still didn't nap, so we did more swimming, ate at our resort restaurant, explored the resort, and went to bed early.

Ready for our day at Animal Kingdom

 

My fearless Adelie climbing at the dinosaur playground.  There was a really big, twisty slide at the playground.  Adelie went down it about 5 times before Staley built up the nerve to do it.

 

Sister fun on the playground...in their super-cute shirts custom-made by my friend, Jenny!!

Adelie talking to Pocahontas...undoubtedly asking her where she sleeps.  :)

 

Adelie still more interested in looking at the characters than the camera.

Family fun with Goofy

They did a kid-parade during our lunch at the Tusker House with Donald in the lead.  Staley told me that it wasn't as much fun as the princess parade [at Epcot] because all the kids were clapping, but she couldn't clap because she needed to hold Adelie's hand.  :)

Flik was one of Briggs's favorite characters to meet.  Loved him!!

Briggs and Daddy checking out some exotic birds

 

We had a wild time at Animal Kingdom.

 

 

*If you haven't experienced Disney information and picture overload, feel free to stay tuned.  I'm not done yet!!  :)