Disney: Day 2 @ Animal Kingdom

The original plan was for us to spend 3 days in Disney. Ryan had to work Tuesday and Wednesday, so we had Monday, Thursday, and Friday open. But because Monday was SUCH a long day and required so much work (not complaining, just explaining the reality of it!), we decided to just go back one more day. And of course we milked it for all it was worth and closed the park down! :)

Thursday was a special day to be in Disney--it was Gavin's 4th birthday! He of course got a "Happy Birthday" pin to wear and show off! The employees are really awesome and go out of their way to say something to the kiddos that have pins on.

We started out at Animal Kingdom, which we all loved! This day was SO MUCH BETTER, and it is because my Aunt Joanna and Cousin Madison were able to tag along with us. A couple extra hands made a huge difference all day!

My Aunt Joanna is super crafty (and addicted to Pinterest, might I add :) ) and made this precious princess skirt for Henley to wear for her last day at Disney!

Joanna was amazing and had so much for the kiddos. She normally gives the kids a half birthday present instead of a birthday present (which I love so much!). But she fudged a little this time since it was Gavin's actual birthday, so she gave them each birthday $$ to spend in Disney. So fun!

First stop was Fast Passes for the Safari, then we split up and we did A Bug's Life 3D while Joanna and Madison braved Everest! Love Gavin in his 3D glasses. Henley was TERRIFIED during this show, but it was all in all really fun.

When we met back up, they said Everest was so great that they watched the kids so Ryan and I could actually go on a grown up ride! It was terrifying and super fun. :)

Then to Henley's favorite--the Safari! Fast Passes are a gift from the Lord, people! We only waited about 10 minutes!

I wish I had a picture of the jeep we got to ride on--Gavin of course loved it!

Henley loved pointing out the animals:

Especially her favorite--the elephants!

And the "raffs"

What a life--taking a mud bath:

Tree of Life picture op:

I'm including this pic because of the pins on the stroller. Employees would see Henley's "First Time" pin and ask us how our first time at Disney was going. Such a special added touch!

We would have loved to have seen some shows and done more at Animal Kingdom, but it was time to get to Magic Kingdom to catch the parade. So we hopped on a bus and monorail. Gavin was as excited to ride the monorail as any other ride!

Next post (and I'm sure it'll be crazy long): Magic Kingdom 'til bedtime!

Disney: Day 1 @ Hollywood

Because we knew we were going back to Magic Kingdom with my family on Thursday, we headed over at lunchtime to Hollywood Studios.

Our #1 priority at Hollywood was Toy Story Mania. Well, it was down for maintenance, fast passes were out, and when it got fixed there was a 2 hour wait! So we did everything else we could in hopes of the wait going down. And in hopes of our marriage being repaired because there was definitely tension with my hopes for a perfect day being dashed by the second! (Kidding, of course, but I am being honest that it was not as magical as I had imagined!)

At least the kids didn't know the plans were being changed and they were along for the ride!

OF COURSE we had to go straight to Mater and McQueen! Gavin couldn't take his eyes off of them:

One thing I didn't know about Disney was that Characters (including Mater and McQueen) weren't just out and about greeting everyone or that you were able to go up to them as you please. You had to stand in line to see them! This really shocked me. So we waited about 20 minutes to see these guys for a total of 2 minutes, but Gavin obviously LOVED it!

LOVE this:

Gavin wore his Cars shirt just for this moment!

Then it was time for a snack. Gavin had birthday money so we couldn't say no to sweet treats! Mickey Ears of course!

So this is another way the Lord just seriously worked out timing for us. I had a list of rides/shows I wanted to do at each park on my phone, and this was not on the list, but I'm so glad we did it! There was a Disney Junior show with Mickey Mouse, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates (all shows that the kids have seen and love but we don't watch often because we don't have cable). We got there as they were shutting the doors and the kids LOVED it. This is a terrible picture, but I'll include it anyway. It was interactive and just perfect for their age:

Right before we went into the show, we got to hug Handy Manny with no wait because all the kiddos were inside to watch the Disney Junior show! It was seriously perfect timing.

Typical Hollywood backdrop picture:

We absolutely and unashamedly brought their "lovies" into the park with us to try to get them to nap in the stroller in between rides. It at least worked for Henley! And Ryan and I were able to watch a street comedy show that was hilarious.

We were running out of time, so we (sadly and to my regret because we later found out it was all the Pixar characters) decided to skip the parade and see Beauty and the Beast. This was my VERY FAVORITE part of the day. Henley loves loves loves Beauty and the Beast, so we had this as #1 for her.

We were on the first row behind the special seating! I was FREAKING OUT and totally singing along the whole time. :)

It was a 30 minutes fast-paced summary of the movie and was seriously well done.

Then it was back to Pixar Ave, and we ran into the Green Army Man from Toy Story! Gavin got his autograph! (By the way--we bought Disney notebooks at the $1 Spot at Target before we left that worked great for our autograph books!)

Gavin still talks about him. Love this:

Then we decided to grin and bear it--we waited 75 minutes for Toy Story Mania. Whew.

 Thankfully the wait area was really cool and had tons of stuff for the kids to look at (and climb on illegally!). The animated Mr. Potato Head was really cool!

Gavin was exhausted and fell asleep for at least 45 minutes of the wait time on Ryan's shoulder. And we found out it rained while we were inside waiting. Again--perfect timing!

It was a really neat ride and I am glad we waited. 3D arcade like shooting canons at targets. We had a blast! (Pun intended! :) )

 Gavin said this was his favorite from Day 1!

By this time it was dinnertime, so we took a bus back to Magic Kingdom (can we say WHEW!), then drove to Downtown Disney to eat at Rainforest Cafe, do some shopping, and of course stop at the Lego Store for Gavin! No pictures of any of this because we were EXHAUSTED!! We woke up at 6:30 am to get ready, pack lunch, and leave, and walked into my Aunt's house at 10:45 pm! Go big or go home, right? :)

Disney: Day 1 @ Magic Kingdom

Apparently all it took was the kiddos seeing the entrance to get excited. This is how they reacted after going under the "Walt Disney World" sign with Mickey and Minnie:

Praise the Lord. If you know me, I need a big reaction!!!

First stop until lunch:

 Excited kids on the ferry to Magic Kingdom sporting their Disney shirts:

I had read some pretty awesome books to get a game plan so we zoomed down Main Street to head toward Fantasyland. Of course we had to stop to take the typical castle pic:

First stop: Dumbo! Thanks to tips from friends and Disney with Kids book, we knew this would fill up first, so we got there ASAP and didn't have to wait at all! We didn't know it had an amazing "Big Top" play area for kids to play while they waited. It was just like the movie!

 Gavin actually didn't want to leave this part. He thought this was the ride! :)

 Posed (very fast) picture:

 We actually all got to ride together! This is my new favorite family picture because these are genuine (not posed) smiles from us having such a great morning at Disney!

We rode "Barnstormer" which is a roller coaster perfect for our kids' ages. This was Henley's favorite ride! We asked her what her favorite was and she would go, "Weeeeeeeee!" with her arms up like a roller coaster. Precious girl. Of course Gavin picked to ride everything with Dad!

Everything else had too much of a wait by the time we rode those 2 rides so we headed out of Fantasyland and caught the last of the show at the castle. I really am amazed (although I shouldn't be) at how the Lord seriously worked out timing for us the ENTIRE Disney trip that we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. We weren't even planning on catching this show and so glad we did! Mickey Mouse and friends and almost all of the princesses! Henley was in awe.

 The kids had a great view on our shoulders! And Henley kept her hands up like this the whole time because she couldn't process what she was actually seeing!

And that ends our perfect day. :) Because "park hopping" is not the best idea with a 2 and then 3-year-old with a double stroller meticulously packed with everything we need, only to have to take everything back out in a rush (while keeping our children safe in the bus line) to catch a bus to go to the next park. Wowsers. Stressful to say the least. 

Next post: Hollywood Studios and the realization we need to lower expectations of Disney with such young kiddos! :)