Day Three: Epcot

*I know that reading full recaps of Disney trips might not be all that interesting to you. But this is for me! 

Wednesday was our Epcot day! Epcot is my favorite of the parks! And usually my feet hurt, I swear it's the park where you do the most walking too. So we opted to put it first and I am so glad that we did. 

We left our room at about 6:45 to get in line for the Skyliner. I read a ton of reviews and some people really dislike the walk from Little Mermaid. I didn't think it was a big deal at all, to be honest. 

While we were standing in line the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy opened and we did not get a spot. This made me deeply unhappy so ultimately, I decided to buy the ILL (Individual Lightning Lane) for the 4 of us. Still cheaper than a day of Genie +. 

We rode the Skyliner but we got off at Riviera Resort first. It's the newest resort and I loved it so much! We had breakfast at Topolino's Terrace and I loved every stinkin' second. It was so lovely. We met Artist Mickey, Poet Minnie, Ballerina Daisy and Sculptor Donald. 

M's waffle dippers were the cutest thing I have ever seen!! There was syrup, raspberry sauce that was absolutely heavenly and almost a Nutella dip for the waffles. 

I had the steak and eggs and I am not kidding when I say that I think it was the best steak I have ever had. I really loved this breakfast and it was PERFECT for a day at Epcot!

Also, can we have a chat about Florida in January? Because I loved doing Disney when it wasn't hot. Cool mornings required a sweatshirt but once we got going we were all very comfortable in our shorts or capris and tees. 

At home it was a 2 hour late start! Yay for missing less school than planned! 

After breakfast we Skyliner-ed over to Epcot and in through International Gateway. Now my priorities for Epcot might be wildly different than your priorities for Epcot so do not follow this touring plan for yourself if it doesn't make sense for you. Our day looked like this: 

Met Winnie the Pooh in Christopher Robin's room. 

Met Asha from Wish. (We really loved that movie, I know it got poor reviews but we loved it.) 

Gran Fiesta Tour, Frozen, Soarin', Living with the Land, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Pictures with the new Walt Disney Statue. 

It was very bright at this point and C was so excited to take the picture but all the ones of him looking he is squinty. 

Journey Into Imagination with Figment. When we got off the ride Figment was just leaving for a break. Which wasn't great since the kids were in Figment shirts specifically to meet him... so we went and rode Frozen again and then came back to meet Figment. 

We checked out the new Journey Through Water with Moana. It was really well done. C said "I can't believe Disney keeps out Disneying themselves." 

After that, we went back to take pictures with Walt when it wasn't so bright. But still no great picture. Then it was time to ride Guardians of the Galaxy. Now you need to know that this wasn't all sunshine and roses. M had LOST her mind about Guardians. She literally cried over it multiple times. Not her best moment of the trip and my reaction was not a great one either. 

But I had paid for it, it was non-refundable and sometimes that girl is a wimp for no reason because she likes the drama of it all? But Emilie told her it was scary and that was enough. I mentioned all the people who didn't think it was scary and that had no impact. Even her friend's little brother with photo evidence! I honestly don't know. We for the most part take it easy with big rides but I am also of the mindset that you can't know you don't like something if you don't try it. 

So we negotiated her going on Guardians and stopping freaking out over it if she didn't have to ride Space Mountain or Tron the next day. Sold. (Wasn't going to try to get Tron anyway, and I like Space Mountain but this was a deal that was coming out better for me anyway.) 

Honestly? It was so not as bad as I expected. The show before the ride was awesome. The ride itself was way less spinny than I was expecting. (I do not do spinny rides, the tea cups for instance make me want to die.) It was SO smooth and I loved rocking out to the music. We had I ran (so far away) by Flock of Seagulls. Which of course is the one song on the playlist that I think my kids don't really know. But I liked it and would for sure go again. 

M agreed it wasn't too bad. But she never wants to do it again. Lol. The picture absolutely makes me die laughing. I am just having fun and watching M who has her eyes closed. C is all into it and Husband could be on its a small world. 

Then we stopped by Club Cool to try the different Coke products from around the world. The Royal from the Philippines was a nice raspberry and we all liked it. 

We took the Friendship boat from Canada to Morocco. It's about a 3 minute boat ride that saves you 15 minutes of walking. 

The boys went to ride Ratatouille while the girls chilled out in France. M met Belle. We girls don't like Remy... the spinning and the 3D gives me a headache! 

After the boys joined us we went to the Beauty and the Beast Sing-a-long. Which was awesome. 

Then we had dinner. The kids in the American pavilion and the adults had Fish and Chips in England. During dinner, we made a plan that involved missing the nighttime spectacular in Epcot. Honestly, I did really want to see it, but it was going to be late and we'd have to kill like 2 hours before it would even start and no one had anything else they really wanted to do. 

We went to see the Canada movie which if you do go to Epcot you should not skip. It's delightful and the Canada song is my absolute favorite to sing! We should have gone twice in a row. 

But we didn't and after the movie, we headed back to the skyline, said goodbye to Epcot, and went to the room and to sleep. Well the kids went to sleep, and the grownups did laundry. But then we went to sleep. 

It was a full and fun day! 

Days One and Two

So... Monday I was at rosary praying for my flights not to be cancelled when I got an email telling me that because the upcoming storm might impact my flights I could now change my flights for free. 

I looked at the option for leaving later that day and it was possible. So I called Husband. He was quickly on board with the plan because we had already kinda looked into it and opted not to pay the crazy amount asked. So I booked the flight. We actually got a credit because we were no longer getting our comfort+ seats for the first leg. 

Then I booked the hotel. Last trip we stayed overnight at the Hyatt at MCO and it worked out beautifully. We opted for that again, especially since we would be getting there so late. 

I wrapped up rosary and then went to work for a bit to get all my ducks in a row there. Then I went to get the kids. Their teachers knew they'd be gone the rest of the week but only had a few hours notice that they'd be leaving earlier than expected. Neither kid was super thrilled about leaving school early but I had packing to do. 

Husband came home from work. We went over everything. And we loaded up to go beat the storm! 

Heading into our little airport with not a flake in sight. Let it be known that Husband was the one who was adamant we fly from here and not drive to Chicago for significantly cheaper flights. He was right, because we wouldn't have been able to be as flexible nor would we want to drive the 2.5 hours there or back. 

The first flight was uneventful. We were in the very back two rows but it was a non-issue. 

At the Atlanta airport we waited an extremely long time for Chick-Fil-A. C had about run out of patience at this point since it was already bedtime, he hadn't eaten dinner and there was a whole extra flight to go.  

Everyone was happy to eat and get on the next flight which was basically empty. We were still the furthest back row of passengers but there were empty rows behind us and there were so many empty seats on the flight. This plane was big and had the screens to watch shows which was a novelty and made the kids happy!

I myself watched some favorite moments from Mamma Mia! The Wedding Planner and Frozen before I switched to flight tracker. 

Hello Florida! 

We got off the plane and headed to the hotel. We checked in, got the kids in pajamas and they were asleep within a half hour of the plane landing. The MCO Hyatt isn't the cheapest option but it's convenience could not be beat. 

We weren't in a rush Tuesday morning as we weren't initially planning to arrive in Florida until 1:00 in the afternoon. So we slept as long as we could... it wasn't too long. And we headed out! 

We stopped to look at the planes because why not?! Then we took a pit stop at the airport mural before we went downstairs to catch a bus. 

As luck would have it there was a bus ready and waiting so we just walked right on. We were the second to the last people on the bus and before we knew it we made it to Walt Disney World! We had a really great bus driver, his name was Gregory Moore and C still talks about him. Sometimes it's the little things that make a big impact. 

We checked in and a room was available which was awesome. And we turned around and GOOFY was there and he hit the final check in button for us! So... that was kinda cool. I didn't get a picture of that though because I wasn't anticipating needing that. We ditched our bags at bell services so we could eat breakfast without all the stuff. 

After we were fed and some of us were caffeinated, we went back to bell services to get our bags and the grocery delivery I had waiting. And we made our way to our room. We stayed at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room. 

And we were all happy to finally be at Disney. Hours earlier than we anticipated. So the kids went swimming. We knew that it was going to get cool the next two days so if they wanted to swim at Disney this was their chance. It was cloudy pretty much the entire time we were in Florida but it was quite temperate. 

I read my book. It was a swell deal.

After swimming, we changed and went for a Skyliner ride to Hollywood Studios! 

M took a picture with a palm tree because she was so happy. 

Then we took a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's a resort I have never been to and while I am no stranger to resort hopping Colleen's adventure made me want to see the giraffes too!

We enjoyed exploring the resort and seeing the animals. I think if I were going on an adults-only trip with minimal park days I would stay there. It was very peaceful. 

After exploring the resort pretty thoroughly, we boarded a bus for Magic Kingdom! 

Then we got on the monorail for the resort loop. 

We got off at the Polynesian because we had dinner reservations at 'Ohana. (That we had booked 60 days prior so this wasn't copying Colleen though it sure seems like we were. I attribute this to great minds.) I think it's one of my favorite restaurants. The noodles. The steak. The dumplings. The bread. The dessert! It's all so so good. We loved this live musician too, and the kids even knew all the words to one of the songs that I am quite sure I've never heard before. Sometimes these two amaze me. 

We had breakfast there our last meal of the last trip. This was meant to be the first meal of our trip. As it turns out, our first flight out of home wouldn't have been canceled with the weather, but the original flight out of Atlanta was delayed so much that I don't think that we would have made our Ohana reservation. So I am glad it all worked out well. 

Oh! AND it was a snow day so the kids didn't even miss school. We kept joking that it was the best snow day ever! 

While we were at Ohana a big storm came through. We told the kids to eat slowly because we wanted the rain to be over before we left. That worked out, it was just drizzling as we monorail-ed to MK and bused back to AOA. 

We had one more surprise up our sleeve... one of our favorite friends from home was also at Disney World and staying at AOA so we "happened to bump into them." 

M was delighted. Then the kids all played and the grown-ups chatted and it was really great to see them. 

After we checked out their room, a Little Nemo suite, we said goodnight to them and headed to bed so we could get ready for our first park day! 

Ahoy There!

So in the last week, our little corner of the world has been hit with record snow and cold. You know me, I am always up for a blog post about the weather... only thing is, we didn't experience it at all. 

Turns out friends that I had previously scheduled our vacation for January 9-15. On Monday the 8th Delta sent an email that the storm might impact our flights, and we were able to change them to that afternoon. So we jumped at the chance, pulled the kids from school at noon, and went home to finish packing. 

Our land and sea trip began a day early and we got back home so late on the 15th that it was already the 16th. But it didn't matter because while we were still in Atlanta we got the information that school was cancelled for the crazy cold. 

I wasn't sad about that. We got a day at home to reconvene and prepare ourselves for real life to start again. I am still sad that this morning they're at school and I am at work and life marches on. But... it was a really great vacation and I am excited to tell you about it! 

A Quiet Weekend

We had a very low-key weekend. That's my favorite kind. 

We went to Staples for some supplies. The kids were very whiny about this idea and then found a bunch of things they wanted. 

I was delighted two find to "Grab and Go" board games, Monopoly and Clue on clearance for $2.46 each!!! I snagged them and told the kids their classroom Secret Santa for next year was done. 

I spent some time in quiet with my friend Jesus. Sometimes I do that. It's good for my heart. 

This made me laugh yesterday so I sent it to my friend, our secretary! I let her know Joe was praying for her! 

We are supposed to get a big snowstorm and everyone is hoping for a snow day. I am meh on the whole thing but I can't control it. So we will see! 

First Friday of the Year!

Well, we made it. The first Friday of the year. That sounds dramatic I know but these past 3 days have really kicked my butt. 

This made me laugh but also... SO true! I am very glad it's Friday even though there are a million things to do this weekend. And still today to be honest.

We've been trying to keep the Christmas spirit by playing games and having fun together. M got Rummikub for Christmas so that was a fun evening. 

I got my dad a Bird Buddy for his birthday. He's had it since July I think. (It was back ordered.) This isn't an ad, just a story about something I actually bought. 

Well, my dad really loves cardinals. He calls all male cardinals "my Cardinal Buddy" and it was really bugging him he couldn't get one to come to his fancy feeder. He got a bunch of other birds and that was fun, but he was holding out for a cardinal. 

He even ordered himself the perch accessory attachment. (Which was unfortunate because I was going to get him accessories for the next upcoming gift-giving events and he beat me to it... but he can do what he wants!)

Anyway, yesterday I got an email with the subject line: FINALLY

And just this picture attached. 

He was very excited about it!! 

And that's about what I know. It isn't much I am afraid. Have a good weekend!

Back To It

After 13 fantastic days of... well actually a lot was packed into those 13 days but nevertheless... we are back. 

Admittedly, I am not sure anyone was particularly thrilled about this. But here they are, in my office, waiting to go line up with the rest of the school. 

Extra supplies in hand. Except for the loose-leaf paper, partly because I forgot about it. Partly because I have yet to see M use loose-leaf paper which makes me hesitant to go buy another pack. But they both have the fresh markers, crayons, pencils asked for and M has the Clorox Wipes (though Amazon brand because I am fancy like that) tissues, and paper towels asked for as well. 

So now I should probably stop writing and get back to it myself. Happy Wednesday!