Our Disney Trip: Epcot Day

After a good, dry, warm night's sleep after our rainy Animal Kingdom day, we were up early and ready to tackle another park.  It was Epcot day!!  It was a little cool and overcast for most of the day, but there was no rain and for that we were thankful. With our early park arrival, we made our way over to Soarin' to fit in a favorite ride that we didn't have a FastPass for before lines started to form.  Because Briggs was not interested in doing Soarin', we used rider swap so everyone but Briggs would get a chance to ride.  And although our plan didn't go quite as expected (due to a fire alarm and ride evacuation before anyone got to ride), we still had our rider swap and everyone else was given a FastPass to do the ride later in the day.

While waiting for the rest of our party, Briggs and I rode Living with the Land, which was relaxing, enjoyable, and educational.  Then we met up with our evacuated group and enjoyed Journey Into Imagination before our late morning princess breakfast at Akershus, where we met Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Mulan.

Belle is always a family favorite.

The girls had more cards to give to the princesses who visited our table.

The food is always good and plentiful at Akershus, but the princesses are the highlight for the kids.  The breakfast potatoes and pastries might be the highlight for me.

And Uma got to meet her favorite princess:  Snow White!

Mulan was a bit of a surprise as we were expecting to meet human Ariel.  (Ariel had been at this breakfast on our past 2 trips.)  Adelie was a little disappointed that Ariel wasn't making a breakfast appearance, but Mulan was our best princess interaction at breakfast and a surprise highlight.

After breakfast, we stayed in Norway to meet Anna and Elsa before using our Fast Passes to ride the Frozen ride.  Because Briggs did not want to ride, we used rider swap so that Staley got to ride twice in a row.  Adelie could have ridden again, but she chose not to.

More cards made for more great princess interactions.

Anna spent a lot of time visiting with the kids, and Staley was jumping around in excitement the entire time. 

I always enjoy the Frozen ride and was a little surprised that both Briggs and Adelie passed up on chances to do this fun ride for the first or second time.

After taking in all Norway had to offer, we then enjoyed spending time touring all the other countries in World Showcase.  Highlights included the little trains in Germany, watching the street juggler in Italy, meeting Mary Poppins in England, riding the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride in Mexico, and discovering the Kidcot Fun Stops in each country.  This was a new discovery this trip that the kids loved.  In each country, there was a special station where kids could get an informational card and sticker while talking to people who actually live in those given countries.  It was lots of fun...and educational!!

All 3 kids love these little trains.  We always spend lots of time in Germany watching the trains.  Of course, this is one of Briggs' favorite things about Disney.

This street juggler was a lot of fun, although he did have some fun at Zach's expense.  Luckily, my husband is a good sport.

Mary Poppins was practically perfect in every way.

Once we had enjoyed our time in World Showcase, we made our way back to some of the other areas to do more rides.  We did Mission Space (with rider swap since Briggs again chose to forego this ride), but this time both girls rode twice.  They also joined me for rider swap on Soarin' so that they could do that one twice in a row as well.  While I took the girls on Soarin', Zach and Briggs did Living with the Land again.  And while I took advantage of a short single rider line for Test Track (not my favorite), the rest of the family enjoyed some Mickey ice cream treats and most of them rode the Nemo ride.  We rounded out our afternoon with Turtle Talk with Crush (a family favorite) and Spaceship Earth (which Briggs REALLY liked).

Nothing provides that mid-afternoon boost like a Mickey ice cream treat.

Things seem a little fishy with this crazy family.

I had never ridden Test Track before and was a little disappointed.  Based on the wait times this ride can incur, I had higher expectations.

We were able to enjoy Epcot at night while wandering back through World Showcase, grabbing some dinner at Tangerine Café in Morocco, watching the Chinese Acrobats in China (another highlight), and then staying for the Illuminations nighttime show.  Briggs didn't care for it, but the rest of us enjoyed it.  It wasn't my favorite night time Disney show, but it had been on my to-do list since our first trip, so I'm glad we stayed to see it.

Catching a little night time Epcot magic

I love all the Disney parks at night.

Our Epcot day was long, but fun.  We were at the park for over 12 hours, getting there before it opened and staying until after it closed.  Even after all that time, the kids still didn't have enough and asked to come back later in the week.  Epcot is a great mix of rides, characters, and just wandering around to enjoy all there is to see and do.  We could have definitely filled another day, but our return trip to Epcot was derailed when the kids all remembered just how much they love Magic Kingdom.  Stay tuned...

Our Disney Trip: Animal Kingdom Day

Our first day of vacation was spent traveling, meeting up with Zach's parents, getting settled into our resort, eating at the resort food court, and getting a good night's sleep so that we were ready to hit the parks early the next day.  I am not a morning person, but we've learned the benefit of getting to the parks early to beat the rush and fit in some rides when there are no lines.  And my excitement about being at Disney gets me up early and helps me bounce out of bed, ready to enjoy another day.

#truth

On our first two trips, we started and ended our week at Magic Kingdom, fitting in all the other parks in between.  I decided to mix things up a bit this trip to see if we could find lower crowds at Magic Kingdom by going in the middle of the week.  Therefore, we kicked off our week at Animal Kingdom.  The weather was in the 50's and it poured down rain for the entire day, but that didn't keep us from enjoying a full day of theme park fun and taking advantage of the fact that the rain scared many people away, making lines practically non-existent for every ride, character, and attraction (except for the Pandora rides).

All poncho-d up and ready for some fun.

We made it to the park before park opening and were able to walk on to Navi River Journey with no wait.  Everyone enjoyed the picturesque boat ride through a bioluminescent rainforest, although there were some scary dogs that convinced Briggs he didn't want to do it a second time.  After getting off the ride, Staley and I walked over to Expedition Everest only to find out that it was temporarily shut down.  We met back up with the rest of the group to watch It's Tough to Be a Bug.  I had to leave with Briggs within the first 5 minutes and Adelie covered her eyes and cried her way through it.  On our first trip all 3 kids cried and we all had to leave the theater, so this was progress.

Another perk of an empty rainy day at the park: no other visitors in our Tree of Life photo

After the bug show, we made a quick stop to meet Mickey and Minnie in their safari gear before going on our actual safari.  The safari is always an Animal Kingdom highlight. 

Mickey and Minnie were dry, but didn't seem to mind wet hugs from my kids.

Some of the safari animals took cover, but we saw plenty of animals out enjoying the rain.

After the safari, we enjoyed a late breakfast at the Tusker House, which is one of Zach's very favorite Disney restaurants.  We got to enjoy an abundance of good food while also meeting Micky, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy.  All 3 kids ate a lot, but I think Briggs set a new record for how much food he consumed at one meal.

I love character meals.  Instead of waiting in a line, you get to eat and just wait for the characters to come to you.  #winning

Adelie had cards for all the characters we met, and they all seemed very pleased.

Papa photo bomb!

We'd already met safari Mickey just a little earlier, but that didn't mean the kids weren't excited to see him again.

We followed up our yummy meal with 'Finding Nemo: The Musical.'  We had never seen it and everyone really enjoyed it.  Part of that enjoyment might have been that we were inside and out of the rain, but it was a very cute show nonetheless.  I actually think it's my new favorite stage show at Disney.  While Uma and Papa decided to head back to the hotel for some warmth and dryness after that, we soldiered on to fill the rest of our day.

We took advantage of no lines to meet some more characters.  We met Pocahontis with absolutely no line, which meant that she (and her racoon friend, Meeko) spent lots and lots of time interacting with our kids.  We also met a random bear that none of us recognized, but we came to find out is from the movie 'Brother Bear.'  Who knew??

Pocahontis and Meeko might have been one of the best character interactions we had.  They spent a lot of time talking with and playing with our kids.

Pocahontis had the girls sign their card for her while Meeko played peek-a-boo with Briggs.

And we didn't have to wait in a line to meet this random little bear, so I guess you'd call that a win too.

Briggs wasn't too interested in meeting Chip and Dale in their dinosaur costumes, but the girls were.

We also enjoyed another warm, dry indoor show when we watched 'The Festival of the Lion King.'  We all enjoyed it until the fire eater came out, which was the turning point for Briggs.  He stuck it out, but kept asking when it would be over.  And although they were not all indoors, we took advantage of line-free rides.  We all did Triceratops Spin a few times (which is basically Dumbo with dinosaurs) and Staley found a new favorite ride when she did Dinosaur 3 times.

Neither Adelie or Briggs wanted to do it, but Staley loved this adventurous jeep ride back into dinosaur times.

Staley had really wanted to do Expedition Everest, which is the big roller coaster at Animal Kingdom.  When it was back up and running for the day, we went over to do it together.  Staley got nervous while in line, cried, and finally determined that she did not want to ride it.  I walked her back to Zach and then rode it alone.  Staley woke up the next day with roller coaster remorse, wishing she had done it.  I told her that I didn't really want to be the mom that drags her crying child onto a roller coaster, but she said that I should have.  So now I have mom guilt for not making my child do something she adamantly said she didn't want to do.  #cantwin

By mid-afternoon we had done all the rides we wanted to do, seen all the shows we wanted to see, and met all the characters we wanted to meet.  Everyone was very cold and very wet.  Briggs had refused to wear a poncho and didn't have a raincoat, so he was the coldest and wettest of all.  However, I had a FastPass+ for the Avatar Flight of Passage ride about an hour from that time and that is my very favorite ride in all of Disney.  My wonderful family stuck it out for me and spent the next 45 minutes in the warmth and dryness of a gift shop, killing time until I could ride my ride.  Our stroller left a magnificent puddle in the middle of the store and we dripped our way from souvenir to souvenir, but no one seemed to mind.

Cold and wet, but still smiling.

Once I finished my ride (still my favorite!), we squished back to our bus (with Adelie still jumping in puddles) and headed back to the resort.  While the kids all took hot showers and put on dry pajamas, Zach went to the food court and came back with a pizza and some breadsticks so we could have a dry, warm, hotel room picnic.  Then Zach worked on drying out our stroller with towels and a hair dryer while I took our sopping wet clothes and shoes and bonded with the other wet travelers hanging out in the laundry room by the pool.

Finally dry and warm after a cold, wet day

I'm glad that our cold, rainy day was our first day and not our last...and that it was the only one we had.  On day one, we were still fresh and excited and were able to make the best of a bad weather day.  

A little rain isn't going to keep this family from enjoying their first Disney park day.

Our Disney Trip: Traveling and the Resort

My kids are generally great little travelers.  They love to help pack their suitcases.  They do well with car rides and plane trips and hotel stays.  They get excited about going new places and doing new things.  Our Disney trip was no different.  They traveled like champs!

We drove to Chicago so that we could fly direct to Orlando.  We ate our breakfast and listened to the Mary Poppins Returns soundtrack and books on tape in the car for a smooth and quick drive up to Chicago.  Zach's parents joined us for our Disney trip, but they drove to Florida and met us there.  They took our luggage with them, which made our flying even easier as we didn't have to wrangle suitcases or check our luggage at the airport.  We got to the airport plenty early, so we ate some lunch, looked in some stores, spent way too much time riding back and forth on the moving walkways and escalators, and watched the planes coming and going.  It was great fun.

My kids seriously love escalators and moving walkways.  We probably need to get out more.

They never got tired of watching the planes take off and land.

Our flight to Orlando was on time and went by really quickly.  I packed special "surprises" in the kids backpacks that they weren't allowed to open until we were on the plane.  They had craft activities, books, small toys, snacks, and gum.  We didn't even have to take out the portable DVD players we borrowed for our flight as the kids entertained themselves the entire time with their backpack fun.

There were Lightning McQueen books to color,

…sticker face pictures to make,

 ... and fashions to design.

We also ate snacks, read books, visited with people around us, and looked out the windows.

Flying is just too much fun!!

Our first two trips to Disney, we stayed in a family suite at Art of Animation.  As the kids are older and we anticipated spending less time at our resort, we decided to forego the family suite this time.  There are not a large number of Disney resort choices that allow you to sleep 5 to a room at a reasonable price, but we decided on Port Orleans Riverside.  We really liked it!!

Port Orleans Riverside is a large resort themed like the old south.  We stayed in the Alligator Bayou section, which had a more rustic feel to the rooms and lush landscaping around it.  Zach's parents were in the Magnolia Bend section, which was styled more after old southern plantation mansions with manicured landscaping and "fancier" décor.  Our buildings were relatively close together and very close to the North bus stop, which was awesome.  It was a less busy bus stop and the second one on the route so the buses were never too full when we got on.

Our room had some 'Princess and the Frog' theming since that movie was set in New Orleans.  This curtain separated the sleeping area from the bathroom area.

The kids were most excited about the "alligator bed" that pulled down from the wall.  Staley and Adelie took turns sleeping in this bed.

I wish I had taken pictures when the beds were nicely made each day, but instead I snapped a few pictures as we were checking out.  The room wasn't anything special, but it was clean, well maintained, and it worked well for us.

When not in use, the alligator bed folded into the wall and became the bench to sit on.

I did like the lush landscaping throughout the resort area.  Lots of trees and bushes and greenery with a river running through it all made it feel less hotel-y.

There were 6 pools at our resort, but we just took advantage of the main pool.  It had a fun waterslide and the kids had a great time on our one afternoon of swimming.

Our resort also had boat transportation from our resort to Disney Springs, which is the shopping/dining area of Disney.  It was a nice, relaxing way to travel.

All in all, we were really happy with our resort choice and would definitely stay here again.  Because we spent most of our time at the parks, we didn't get a chance to explore our whole resort or all it had to offer, like horse and carriage rides, bike rentals, fishing, movies under the stars, and trying out the other pools.  But like everything Disney, the rooms and grounds were well-kept and well-themed, the staff was exceeding helpful and pleasant, and the fun amenities gave it that little something extra.

Our return travels were not quite as smooth and seamless as our initial trip to Orlando.  We were scheduled to fly out on Saturday afternoon.  During our Saturday late morning lunch at Disney Springs, we found out our flight had been cancelled.  Apparently there was a security breach at the Orlando airport that had shut down an entire terminal.  Many flights were delayed and cancelled.  However, after hearing more about what happened, we were extremely lucky.  

1.  We were not at the airport when the incident and the security breach occurred.  Therefore, we avoided all the chaos and lines and craziness that occur when an entire airport terminal is shut down and everyone (including people already on planes ready to take off) have to go back through security.

2.  I was able to call Southwest right away and get a flight booked for the next day, as opposed to others who waited in extremely long lines at the airport only to get flights 2 or even 3 days later.

3.  We found a great deal on a nice hotel by the airport that was within walking distance to restaurants and stores, as well as a free shuttle to and from the airport.

4.  The kids were very excited about an extra day of vacation.  

Staley had woken up Saturday morning and was so sad that our vacation was ending.  She told me that she wished we could stay another day.  #wishgranted

Disney has a great service where you can complete airline check-in and check your bags right at your resort, saving lots of time and luggage hauling at the airport.  This backfired, however, as our bags were already checked and at the airport when our flight was cancelled.  And since there were so many delayed and cancelled flights, we could not retrieve our bags as they were already sent on to their final destination.  Thankfully our hotel had plenty of complimentary toiletries to get us through, and Staley and I took a quick trip to a discount clothing store for essential clothing items.

No luggage means new bathing suits for everyone!!

The kids were very excited about our extra day of vacation.  They played in the hotel room, ate dinner at a favorite restaurant (IHOP), watched part of a movie on TV, and got to go swimming in the hotel pool the next morning.  It was just an added adventure to our already great vacation.

Hotel movie time

So much fun swimming at the hotel pool.

This girl got her wish for an extra day of vacation.

Our return flight worked out fine.  Our hotel had a shuttle that took us to the airport.  We allowed plenty of time in case there were any security back-ups, but the lines were quick and smooth.  That gave us plenty of time to have some airport fun (and food) before our flight.

Everyone in their new shirts, getting ready to head to the airport.

A little special time with Snow White while killing time at the airport.

No matter where we are, my kids always seem to have fun together.

Although it was not direct, we only had a short layover (where we didn't have to deplane) in St. Louis.  The kids were tired from our long week of fun, but they still did great.  We did some playing and reading and crafting, but the kids also relaxed and watched some movies on this longer plane ride which really helped pass the time.  Thankfully we easily found our luggage in Chicago and made it home without incident.  It was a long day of travel and it felt so good when we finally made it home.

A little movie time on the plane...

... always helps pass the time.

We had some hiccups with our travels, but that just made for a little extra adventure.  We were lucky to have good flights, a great resort, and an extra bonus day of vacation to add to our memories.  It's not always about the destination.  There is joy in the journey as well.