Disney World!!!!

We just got home yesterday from our big trip to Disney World!!! I'm sad our trip is already over, but it was soooooo nice to sleep in our own bed again last night!! The kids did really great...they had their moments, but that was to be expected. Taylor really clammed up with a lot of the characters. Our first character breakfast was Thursday morning at MGM at Hollywood and Vine with the Playhouse Disney characters. It was JoJo and Goliath and Leo and June. Here are some photos of that:

After breakfast we went to the Tower of Terror...Daniel, Darrell and I rode it while Michael and Mom stayed with the kids. Then, we got fast passes for the Rock N' Roller coaster and Tower of Terror and while we waited for those ride times to come around, we watched the Beauty and the Beast show. Then, Daniel, Darrell and Michael rode the coaster and the Tower while Mom and I stayed with the kids. Then, we headed to the Muppet Vision show and watched it. Zachary had really wanted to meet Woody and Buzz and right as we were leaving the Muppets, they came out, so we were able to meet them!!


After that, we left MGM and went back to the hotel for a bit. Then, headed over to Epcot for dinner and the Candlelight Processional (which was AWESOME!!) We had dinner at a place called, "Tutto Italia" in Italy. The food was so GOOOOOOD!!!!!! We got there a little early, so we had time to walk around. The kids had fallen asleep on the bus, so they slept through the first 30 minutes or so while we were in Epcot...but we still took their picture in front of the Epcot Ball!! LOL!!!


They woke up in time for Snow White and Dopey to come out, so we met them!


Then, we were walking through Morocco and saw Aladdin...Probably one of my favorite character greetings...wink, wink!!


Taylor was still acting shy of the characters. It wasn't until Friday morning when we had breakfast in the castle with Cinderella that she started loosening up!!

The breakfast was really yummy...they served a stuffed French Toast and had lots of pastries and fruit. Jasmine, Belle and Sleeping Beauty came to the breakfast and came around to all the tables.


After Breakfast, we went straight to Dumbo and rode that.

We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, but it is inside and kind of dark and the kids hated it the whole time and wanted to get off. So, after that we avoided all inside rides with them. They did love the teacups and I thought when we rode it that we wouldn't spin around very fast in the cups, but that was their favorite thing...spinning the wheel to get us to go faster and faster. They also met Alice and the Mad Hatter at the Tea Cups. Taylor and I waited in line for close to an hour to meet Ariel. Michael, Daniel and Darrell took Zachary over to the Indy Speedcars to ride those while we waited.

We rode more rides and saw the afternoon parade and then decided to go back to the hotel to swim and relax and get the kids to bed at a close to normal bedtime. The temps down there were in the mid 80s almost the whole time we were there. It was wonderful!!!
The next day we went back to Epcot to actually see the park since the first day we just went there for dinner. Mom and I took the kids to The Seas pavillion with Nemo while the guys went and rode the big rides. We were waiting for "Turtle Talk with Crush" and mom asked if there was a special handicap entrance (she had her pass with her) and they took us down a different hall. Zachary thought we were leaving and threw a fit. The girl who was working the show felt so bad for him that she gave them their "Magical Moment" and they got to stand up in front of everyone and count to 3 and introduce Crush. It was really cute. That was the coolest thing...next to Mickey's Philharmagic in the Magic Kingdom. The kids laughed so hard and just loved Crush! Since I couldn't take pictures of them during the show I took this one to remember their Magical Moment:

After that, we went to meet Mickey and some of the characters...

Michael and I in France in the World Showcase!

That night, we went back to MGM so we could look at the Osborne Lights! They were really spectacular!!!

On Sunday, we headed over to Animal Kingdom for the first half of the day. We rode the new Everest ride and it was so much fun!!!!! Michael and Mom stayed with the kids while Darrell, Daniel and I rode it and then we got fast passes so Michael and Daniel could ride it after we saw the Nemo musical...which was really cute!! After Nemo, Mom, Darrell, me and the kids headed over to DinoLand and the kids rode a Dino ride that was like Dumbo. They rode it 3 times in a row...it was awesome that there were not any lines for it and they could just get on it over and over again!!!

After we had lunch and went on the Safari at Animal Kingdom, we headed back to the hotel to rest up before our big party....Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!!! We had dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and it was YUMMO!!!! It was another character meal and the characters were really hamming it up for the guests. It was a lot of fun and everything was so delicious!!!

This is Pluto at Liberty Tavern playing around with Zachary's new Goofy doll. They character's were taking the light up necklaces from kids and swinging them on their noses and doing all sorts of funny things. It was a great dinner!!!

When we came out from dinner, it was dark out and the castle was lit up. For Christmas they have it draped in lights so that it looks like it is covered in ice. It was so pretty. This picture shows the reflection of the castle in the water.

We walked to Fantasy Land and rode Dumbo and Cinderella's Carasoul. Then, the kids wanted to ride the teacups again. It was closed for the night, but Tweedledee and Tweedledum were standing outside it. At first the kids were really excited about meeting them...even though they have never seen "Alice in Wonderland." When it was our turn, Zachary ran up to them and gave them a hug, but Taylor wouldn't leave her stroller. She went into a semi-coma state. She went limp and wouldn't look at them. They tried everything to get her to interact with them. One of them went over and picked a flower for her. They took her shoe off and tried tickling her feet...which did make her smile. One took his red and white scarf off and wrapped it around her neck and then they took turns pushing her around in her stroller. She never moved. Poor kid...but it was funny and I did feel bad that they gave her so much attention and she gave them nothing. It makes for a cute story though!

After we met the Tweedles...we went to Tomorrowland and rode a few things over there. We all started to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride, but when Taylor saw how dark it was, she didn't want to ride and I took her on outside. Zachary loved it. I wish I could have seen him on the ride. Daniel and Michael ended up taking him back to that ride so he could ride it again. While he was doing that, Taylor and I went to a dance party with Cinderella's Ugly Step Sisters and Step Mother. She had a blast!!

Right after the Dance Party, the fireworks started. Michael and Taylor went to hide out in a gift shop...since she hates fireworks. They did come out for a while and watch them. Zachary loved them!! We weren't in the best place for viewing them..since we were still in Fantasy Land, we were on the backside of the castle and the fireworks were directly over our heads...I will say it was an amazing view of the fireworks ....I had never been directly undeneath them before where it looked like they were going to rain down right on us, but I know the view of them from the front side of the castle would have been beautiful! It was still a great time!

After the fireworks, we walked around to the front side of the castle and got our spots for the Christmas parade! We were lucky and got a spot right on a curb and the kids had a great view...Zachary's view was the back of his eyelids, but Taylor was glued the whole time!!! After the last parade, we headed back to our hotel...Pop Century and then went to bed so we could get up and get ready to come back home.

This is the kids before we left the Christmas Party. They both fell asleep in their strollers. The weather had been perfect for our whole trip. It had been in the mid 80s almost the entire time. Then, on Saturday night, the last of a tropical storm blew just north of us and the temps dropped down to the 60s during the day and it was pretty cold that night.

Here are a few shots of our hotel:

We stayed in the 50s section of the hotel. So, all the stairs were inside large bowling pins and we had a large statue of Lady and the Tramp.