WDW - Coming Home

After our last day at Disney we drove to the north side of Orlando for the night. We decided it would be best after a long week to take 2 days to drive home. Saturday morning we woke up without an alarm clock and got ready for our day on the road. We stopped in Daytona Beach, because what is a trip to Florida without seeing the ocean? After a quick stop at the beach we took a slight detour to drive by the Daytona International Speedway.

Levi did not want to put his feet down in the sand.

Saturday night we stopped in Lumberton, NC. With only about 7 hours of driving it was a pretty easy day. We made it to Lumberton around dinner time. It is becoming a tradition for us to eat at IHOP on our road trips. It is something the kids look forward to and it makes them happy. At the end of the day happy kids on vacation = happy parents. After dinner we took the kids to get some ice cream (technically frozen yogurt) at Sweet Frog.

After a good nights rest we were ready to head home. We only had a 5 1/2 hour drive on Sunday. We stopped for lunch at Steak n' Shake in Richmond where we made our kids put on their hats and pose for a picture. As you can see Levi loved it. The rest of the drive home I made it my job to annoy Michael as much as possible, you know to keep him awake. A couple of days on the road can do that to you.

I think we made a good decision to take two days driving home. It was nice to get home early enough to have time to unpack. We were able to get things ready for Miriam to go back to school and Michael to go back to work (although we were very grateful it was a short week because of Thanksgiving). We had an amazing time at Walt Disney World. It was worth every penny spent. I'm already looking forward to planning our next trip!

WDW Day 7 - Magic Kingdom

Finally and sadly, we come to our last day at Disney World. We packed up and took one last picture in our resort room. We drove to Magic Kingdom and ended up taking the ferry over to the park. We started the day with an 8:25 am breakfast at Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom. It was great to have another day to get in early to the park (although we didn't stop and take pictures, but we should have).

After breakfast we went over to Tomorrowland. We rode Buzz Lightyear (twice), the Tomorrowland Speedway (also twice), and the Peoplemover (again). On one of our times riding on Buzz Lightyear I got galactic hero! This means you get 999,999 points. (I had watched a tutorial that shows which targets to hit.) Next we let the Miriam and Simon pick which ride they wanted to go on while we waited for our first FastPass. They both chose Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. They went twice with me and twice with Michael. All the while Levi was patiently waiting. He watched the geysers, ate a snack, and then fell asleep.

 

Simon didn't want to ride with Michael. He held onto him and cried the whole ride.

If you look closely you can see my 999,999 points.

Our first FastPass was for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Michael took the kids first while I waited out with Levi who was sleeping in the stroller. Then, because we also had the extra RiderSwitch from the day before, I got to ride with Miriam and Simon twice in a row. I think you can tell by the pictures that they both loved the Mine Train.

After a full morning of a lot of fun rides it was time for a quick snack. Then it was time for a hugely anticipated moment... meeting Anna and Elsa. Miriam was in heaven getting to see the princesses from Frozen. Simon and Levi also loved meeting them. Our last FastPass was for Peter Pan and then we spent the rest of the afternoon in Fantasyland. We rode It's a Small World, the carousel, and the teacups. As we were walking around we noticed it was almost time for Merida to come to her meet and greet area. There wasn't a long line yet so Miriam and Simon decided to wait (about 15 minutes) for Merida from Brave. Although we haven't seen the movie yet and she wasn't on our must see list, we had a great time meeting her. The kids colored a picture and shot a bow and arrow while they waited.

Our last hurrah at Walt Disney World was dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. It is a hard reservation to get so you have to take what you can get. We ended up with an early dinner at 4:20 pm. We walked into the castle and it was all decorated for Christmas. We met and took pictures with Cinderella before heading upstairs to the dining hall. The kids got to meet Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, and Jasmine. At this point we were definitely feeling the weariness from our week long vacation. Levi was just over meeting characters and ended up playing a few games on Michael's phone to keep him happy. We left him in the high chair, but most of the princesses were really good about talking with him there. Miriam and Simon weren't very talkative with the princesses so most of our meetings were just a short "hi" and a quick picture. The food was really good, but probably too fancy for the kids. It was a great experience and I am glad we did it... maybe next time we should do breakfast at the castle instead.

After dinner we didn't have too much longer before we had to leave Magic Kingdom (another Christmas Party night). We stopped in a couple of shops and spent the last of our snack credits on cookies and cotton candy. Walt Disney World was an amazing vacation! We had a great time being at the most magical place on earth together. The kids are already asking when we get to go back. Time to start planning our next trip I guess!

WDW Day 6 - EPCOT and Magic Kingdom

We started day six of our Disney adventure with an early breakfast at Garden Grill in Epcot. We were lucky to get an 8:00 am reservation. Once again breakfast food ended up being a hit with the kids. Due to the fact that the restaurant actually rotates while you eat, I guess it is a safety hazard to have high chairs in the aisle. This made it tricky to juggle holding and feeding Levi while getting out to take pictures. Unfortunately in the chaos something got bumped on the camera. Michael didn't realize it and none of the pictures he took turned out. The kids did get to meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale.

After breakfast our plan was to head over to Test Track to beat the crowds. However, as we tried to leave the cast members said we couldn't leave the building until the park was open. They wouldn't even let us go out to the stroller that was parked outside. If we would have known this we would have made FastPasses for Test Track on Monday and then we would have been first in line for Soarin' on our second day. Instead we waited around until the park opened and went straight over to Test Track. Michael took Miriam and Simon first and ended up having about a 30 minute wait. We used RiderSwitch so I could take Miriam and Simon a second time through the FastPass line. I think the pictures tell the whole story they loved this ride! Levi got to drive some cars while he waited.

After Test Track we had a couple of things we wanted to do in the World Showcase. While we waited for it to open we asked the kids what they wanted to do. They wanted to ride The Seas with Nemo and Friends again (I'm tellin' ya, my kids love aquariums). On our way over to the World Showcase we stopped at Club Cool to taste sodas from around the world. Some of them were okay, but mostly they were pretty yucky. Miriam's only request for the day was to meet Belle in her blue dress. We went right over to her meet and greet spot and ended up being second in line. We were also hoping to meet Mulan, but her line was closed and her next meet and greet time was for much later. We decided to make our last stop at Epcot the Mexico pavilion for lunch. Although I could have spent a lot more time at the World Showcase we had decided it would be better for the kids if we park hopped over to Magic Kingdom. On our way out we finally got our iconic pictures in front of Spaceship Earth. We left our van parked at Epcot and rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.

Once we got to Magic Kingdom we realized we were in for a rainy afternoon. (We were so, so, so lucky that this was the only day it really rained the whole time we were there). We decided to meet Tinkerbell and Mickey since their lines are both inside. I thought both of these were great. This kids loved that Magician Mickey could talk to them.

We had perfect timing for the Festival of Fantasy parade. It was about to start right as we came out from meeting Mickey and the rain had temporarily stopped. We found a great spot right at the end of the parade route. (This was another one of those moments where I was enjoying being present and didn't take any pictures. Actually the whole rest of the day was like that. The only pictures we have from Magic Kingdom that day was the PhotoPass pictures.) The parade was absolutely amazing! After that we had FastPasses for Journey of the Little Mermaid and then Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. By the time we got to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train it was raining pretty good. Michael decided to take Miriam and Simon first while I took Levi on the teacups. They were lucky to get on because they closed down the ride right after they rode due to the rain. They gave me a RiderSwitch pass that I could use the next day so I could have my turn. Luckily, the rain didn't last very long. After that we rode Dumbo while we waited for our next FastPass on Barnstormer. While I took Miriam and Simon on Barnstromer, Levi rode the teacups with Michael. Then we switched and Michael went on Barnstormer with them. We finished off the day with another FastPass to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and a ride on the Peoplemover. Magic Kingdom closed early because of the Christmas party that night. This ended up being a perfect excuse for an early night. We went back to our resort for a quick snack, shower, and then off to bed.