Winning Disney: The Middle

 

We started off Day #2 of our Disney parks adventure by scraping the frost off the windshield with a credit card and watching the sun rise while waiting in line for Animal Kingdom Early Entry.  No better way to start a day!!

We speedwalked our way to the front of the pack for Flight of Passage and then knocked out Navi River Journey and the safari with no waits.  #winning

I think our longest wait of our entire trip was to meet Moana as she took an ill-timed break right before we were set to meet her.

On the plus side, we had chocolate croissants to tide us over while we waited.  We also started taking our 'sad' pictures so that our families could see how much fun we WEREN'T having.

Dinosaur was set to close the week-end of our visit, so we were some of the last people to get to ride Dinosaur before it became extinct.

We rounded out our Animal Kingdom rides with Expedition Everest (single rider for the win!), our Animal Kingdom characters with Kevin (best free-roaming character ever!), our shows with the Zootopia show and the bird show, and our animal viewing with the Maharajah trek.

Lunch was at Satuli Canteen, which was probably tied for my favorite meal of the entire trip.  So scrumptious!!

And even though I was full from lunch, I couldn't leave without grabbing a Night Blossom drink.

We also took advantage of Photopass photographers to document our trip all over Disney.  Especially because we had to show off our matching Disney shirts!

After finishing off all our priorities at Animal Kingdom, we made our way over to Hollywood Studios...just in time to catch the White Rabbit before he hurried away.

We used Lightning Lanes throughout the afternoon to ride Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror, Runaway Railroad, and Rock n Roller Coaster.

We filled in our free time with the Indiana Jones Show and the Villians show...

meeting fun characters...

and taking sad pictures.

After dinner at ABC Commissary, we walked on to Rise of the Resistance with the single rider line!!

We said good-bye to Hollywood Studios because it was time to head back for the nighttime shows at Magic Kingdom.  When Magic Kingdom stays open an hour later than the other parks, you absolutely need to take advantage of it!

We got to catch a glimpse of the Electrical Water Pageant from the monorail on our way from the parking center to Magic Kingdom (which was on my list of things I've always wanted to see at Disney!)

We caught the Happily Ever After fireworks show, sneaking back to Fantasyland right before it ended so we could ride Peter Pan and Seven Dwarves Mine Train again before the night time parade.  One of my favorite memories was Melissa encouraging everyone to spin the barrels while in line for SDMT to make Snow White appear.

We found an empty spot in Frontierland to watch the nighttime parade.  Since it was late and cold and the second parade of the evening, Frontierland was basically empty.  Since we were basically alone, all the characters and performers were waving at us and interacting with us.  It was so much fun!!

We took our time leaving the park, taking lots of pictures and soaking in the emptiness.

Day 2 by the numbers:  3 parks, 13 rides, 7 characters, 5 unique food places, 5 shows, 37,025 steps!

Winning Disney: The Beginning

What started as a seed of an idea spurred by some ridiculously cheap Allegiant flights to Orlando ended with an amazingly magical girls' trip to Disney with my cousin, Emily, and my sister-in-law, Melissa. 

During our planning phases, we joked about "winning Disney."  And after putting all our plans into action, I truly believe that we did.  With some expert planning, energetic trip partners, perfect Disney snack fuel, and a little bit of pixie dust, I don't think our trip could have gone any better.

We flew from Peoria to Orlando on Monday evening, grabbed a car dinner from Culvers, and entered the Disney bubble at precisely 11:01 pm to start our week of Disney fun.  Although my dreams of basking in the warm sunshine in my shorts and Disney tees didn't come to fruition thanks to some unseasonably cold days, I can only think that the colder weather scared off a lot of Disney locals, leaving the parks a little more available for a few Illinois gals.  And a chilly day at Disney sure as heck beats an even chillier day at home.

Our All-Star Sports resort was just what we needed it to be...a nice, clean, convenient place to sleep between our park opening to park closing days.  It was super quiet...we barely saw another person during our entire stay.  Although that could be due to the fact that we were leaving our room as the sun came up and not getting back until late at night.

We bought 3 day park hopper passes.  We started our trip off with Early Entry at Magic Kingdom.  With an early park closure that day at 4:30, we conquered the park without needing Lightning Lanes while still accomplishing all our priorities...and then some.

Seven Dwarves, Tron, Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion, Tianas, Small World, and Pirates of the Caribbean filled our Magic Kingdom ride fun for the day.

Astro Orbiter was the only ride in all of Magic Kingdom that I had never done, so I was pumped to check that off my list!!

No trip is complete without snacks, and we did it right!  Our Magic Kingdom snacks including Cheshire Cat Tails, hush puppies, spring rolls, and Dole Whip.

And, of course, we had to meet the main man mouse.

Adelie's only request before my trip was that I meet Ariel for her...so I did!

And no one asked me to meet Mulan for them, but I did it anyway.

After catching the Festival of Fantasy parade (always a favorite!!), we felt satisfied that we had conquered the Kingdom and were ready to pop on over to Park #2 of the day...

Epcot!!

Once at Epcot, we single ridered our way onto Test Track and then Single Passed our way onto Guardians of the Galaxy.  While Emily and I hurtled through the galaxy listening to 'I Ran' (definitely not the best Guardians song), Melissa met Mickey and friends before we all met up for some well-deserved dinner.

As I was starting to get hangry for some real food, Mel and I got dinner at Le Halle's Boulangerie and Patisserie while Emily munched on Fish and Chips from Yorkshire County Shop.  The lobster bisque in a bread bowl might have been one of the best things I ate the entire trip!

We followed dinner with a ride on Remy's, a boat ride with the 3 Cabellaros, and leveraging our single rider power on Soarin'.

We finished our rides in time to catch Luminous before heading back to our hotel for a good night of sleep.

Day 1 by the numbers:  2 parks, 14 rides, 3 characters, 7 unique food places, 2 shows, and 32,016 steps.

January...a Look Back

Yes, I know it's March.  Time to look back and catch up on what has been going on the past few months.  So here's our January...

Adelie's months and hours of Penguin Project practice culminated in the production of 'Aladdin, Jr.'

Adelie and Naomi loved being partners again.  Penguin Project is a perfect fit for Adelie's personality and skills.  And even though it is time-intensive (especially in the few weeks leading up to the shows), Adelie really enjoys it.

Staley went to the high school state theater festival with her NTA theater troupe.  She had a great time attending workshops, watching shows, and hanging out with her NTA friends.

She performed her first in-person IE (individual event) and scored an 'excellent' with her version of "You are Never Ever Getting Rid of Me' from 'Waitress.'

Staley celebrated her 15th birthday with dinner with grandparents.  Of course, she chose her usual birthday dinner...grilled hamburgers and brats on the grill with Oreo balls and Uncle Bob's ice cream.

Since she had just spent the prior weekend with NTA friends, Staley decided she just wanted her birthday activity to be rock climbing with Liam.

They had dinner at Raising Canes...

followed by a few hours of rock climbing at Upper Limits.  They always have a fun time together.

As one of Staley's birthday gifts, I then took her to the Fox Theater in St. Louis to see 'The Outsiders'.

Nothing is more fun than some pickle soup and ice cream at Fountain on Locust...

an amazing show...

and then meeting the cast!!  (Well, the cast except for Pony Boy.)

And, of course, a 15th birthday isn't complete without a driver's permit.

Adelie participated in the all school spelling bee again this year.  Although she didn't get as far as she would have liked, it was still an honor to be representing her class.

I spent the last week of January in Disney with Melissa and Emily.  That will be its own post, but needless to say, it was pretty miserable without our families there.

While I was gone, Zach was hard at work at some home renovations.  We cleaned out and reorganized our storage room to make room for...

a workout area.  There was cleaning out and organizing and painting and flooring and lightning...and a new treadmill.  I might need to leave town on girls' trips more often!

We also got our new countertop installed to finish up our dining room project.

Along with all the birthday celebrations and performances and trips in January, we also stayed busy with restarting NTA classes, the beginning of HS track practices, drama club rehearsals, church activities, and plenty of family movie nights to fill our cold winter evenings.  It was a good start to a new year!!

Happy Birthday, Briggs!

He is smart.  He is sweet.  He is creative.  He is sensitive.  He is enthusiastic.  He is funny.  He is a creature of habit.  He is a good friend.  He loves Legos, video games, puzzles, reading, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Zelda, riding his bike, and the library.  And just like that...

he's 11!!!

Not sure how that happened, but love the boy he is growing up to be.

Happy birthday, Briggs!!