Day 4 and 5

Tuesday, we went to Epcot. (My second favorite park.) At this point the Tropical Storm Warning (that would turn hurricane) was in full effect so we were trying to make the most of our day! It started out beautiful and by 1:00 got pretty rainy. 

Meeting Anna and Elsa was our top priority since there isn't a chance to speed that up. So we went right away in the morning and were among the first 10 groups to get it. We did have to wait a while but it was worth it.

Please note M's shirt is an actual Frozen 2 shirt, it's a snowflake made out of flowers, She couldn't decide if Anna or Elsa was her favorite so we wanted to go neutral. Team Frozen for the win! 

These sisters did not disappoint! They were kind and gracious and both noticed the kid's shirts. 

Epcot is so delightful to me but huge. And we did a ton of walking. 

Our day looked like this: Meet Anna and Elsa, Frozen Ever After, Gran Fiesta Tour, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Finding Nemo, Living with the Land, lunch in France, Remy, Spaceship Earth (yes that was a hike back to the front of the park and it downpoured in there too.) Turtle Talk with Crush, Finding Nemo again, Soarin', and then dinner at the San Angel Inn. 

Gran Fiesta Tour was C's favorite Epcot ride last trip and he asked if we could eat at the restaurant this time around. We got the reservation no problem. And then we said a prayer that we'd get a seat close to the water. And boy howdy did the Holy Spirit cover us on that! 

Right on the water dead center!! Look how far back we could have gone too! 

The food was DELICIOUS. I would for sure go back to this restaurant! We had a great experience. 

After dinner, we went to Frozen Ever After for a second ride, and then we could have done Figment again but we decided to just call it a night. We got everyone clean and showered and the kids to bed. Husband went to the laundry room to do our loads of laundry. We intentionally packed light with the plan to do laundry. Did you know Tide Pods can go through TSA since they're under 3oz? We also brought our own dryer sheets and it worked out quite well. We did 2 loads on Tuesday night and one load on Friday and went home with minimal dirty clothes. 

We folded our clothes and then we went to the balcony to take in the first Christmas party fireworks. They were pretty great. And then... the fire alarm went off! 

So we got to evacuate outside with the whole resort in the rain. (Which was by this point for sure going to be a hurricane.) C was half asleep the entire time. M was not amused. She's holding her Shu Shu under her sweatshirt to keep it dry. I just thought the whole thing was hilarious. Because what other reaction is there at that point? Like I said the other day, the trip had snafus but they were tolerable. 

The good news is after we could go back in, we had fresh from the dryer pajamas for them to change into. And they went back to sleep no problem. 

Wednesday was Hollywood Studios Day. It was also the day a hurricane was coming. So it was rainy all day. Just a constant drizzle that sometimes got heavier and a ton of wind. And M was tired. 

We first got there and waited to see Olaf. Did you know he doesn't arrive until 9? We were told that about 10 times by different cast members between 8:25-8:52. (And seriously cast member at 8:52, we weren't going to stick it out 8 minutes?) 

But here's the thing: Olaf's queue was covered so we were dry! And my kids love Olaf! 

We headed to Toy Story Land after and every single ride was down. They would never come back up. People were sad but I wasn't because I don't love roller coasters. I do love my kids and would have gone on Slinky Dog Dash for them but I wasn't looking forward to it. We made the best of things though and went to the Walt Disney museum area where C geeked out. 

We met Sully and then went to see an extended preview of Strange World. Then C did a little wardrobe change to meet some Star Wars characters and because he had a droid building appointment. This was HIS birthday present. 

But first, we rode Runaway Railway. C was horrified by the length of the lightning lane. It was not lightning let's just say that. While the boys were droiding the girls met some of our favorite Disney Jr. friends. 

We reconvened with the boys for a little lunch. We really figured out how to save money this trip by eating breakfast in the room with snacky lunches and a bigger dinner. On Wednesday Husband and I shared a taco entree and the kids each had an Uncrustable. Hollywood Studios is a difficult park to feed kids who don't care for grilled cheese in. 

Here is C and his Droid P2-B2. He loves him. And I am so glad. Also, if you ever go to book a droid appointment, let me send you a link for the clear backpack so your droid can still interact in Galaxy's Edge but you don't have to pay $60 for the bag they sell there. 

We got Mickey Ice Cream Bars/Sandwiches for the kids. The grownups split a churro. These were the treats we had been talking about since we were at home and since we weren't really sure at this point what the rest of the week was going to look like we decided we needed to get them. 

Then we went and did the Muppets 3D. After we had a time slot for Millennium Falcon and M 100% refused. So we went back and sat for a while as the boys rode that. We found out the park would be closing early because of the hurricane at 6:00. But we could keep our 5:40 dinner reservation. Our travel agent and Disney recommended we do this because no one was sure when the parks would reopen and they wanted people to eat at the parks to save resort resources. 

We went to the Frozen Sing-Along, we all loved it. C laughed so hard I thought he was going to pee his pants. Then we went to the Mickey's Shorts Theatre and watched a little cartoon. After we got to meet Mickey and Minnie. C LOVES Sorcerer Mickey so he was extra excited. 

We still had time to kill so we watched the cartoon in the Mickey Shorts theatre again and rode Star Tours. 

Then we went to 50s Prime Time Cafe for a very tasty home cookin' meal. With all the rain it was delightful and cozy. 

As we walked to the bus stop the rain and wind had really picked up so Disney definitely knew what they were doing closing when they did. But we made it safely back, got everything plugged in. Got our "courtesy flashlight" from housekeeping and snuggled in for a good night. 

Magic Kingdom Day

Monday morning was Magic Kingdom day. Magic Kingdom is my favorite park and you'll never change my mind. It is literally magical. We got up early and headed down to the boat dock to catch the first boat over. 

We rope dropped with our early entry so first we got some pictures in a nearly empty park. (Monday's picture of the kids in front of the castle.)  

I seriously got emotional walking in. When I started back to work I wanted to make enough money to take my kids to Disney. Then we wound up having to buy a new to us car. So then I was working to pay off a car. Once I did that, I started saving up for Disney again and so to be actually experiencing it and knowing that we made it happen was just everything to me. 

Then we headed straight to Winnie the Pooh. If you are a big Disney person you'll know this is an odd move. Most people head to Peter Pan, Space Mountain or Seven Dwarves Mine Train. 

We wanted to redeem Pooh. In 2017, our last trip, M was a hangry two-year-old and scream-cried the entire ride. So we started there. 

It was great! We followed it up with it's a small world, C's favorite. Or... nostalgic favorite. I think he still loves it and will always but it wouldn't get "favorite favorite" status anymore. 

My Princess M and Snuggly Duckling C met Rapunzel. My favorite. M's favorite. And it was wonderful! Even without Photopass in there, though that did make me sad. 

We conquered Magic Kingdom. We rode so many rides. 

We saw the Festival of Fantasy parade. C loves parades. And the ruffian whose legs you can see saw C's Snuggly Duckling shirt and hollered at him that he was his people! And C was beaming!! I love great cast members and how they interact with kiddos! 

From park early open we did: Winnie the Pooh, it's a small world, Carousel, met Rapunzel, Buzz Lightyear, People Mover, it's a small world (again), Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin Flying Carpets, Enchanted Tiki Room, Under the Sea with Little Mermaid, a cavalcade, Splash Mountain, the parade, Haunted Mansion, met Mickey, Astro Orbiter, Dumbo. 

M really wanted to ride Dumbo and turns out it was one of her favorites. It's funny, because she has been to WDW before but this was kinda like her first time and it was magical to watch her take it all in. 

Then it was time for M to go to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to make this happen. I tried at our 60 days out and it was booked solid but I kept trying and I got it on October 21. Perfect perfect timing because I could give it to her for her birthday! 

Here we are waiting!

We got her the tee shirt package because truthfully, she will wear a tee shirt more than a princess dress without question. But she still got to go to the changing room and see the magic mirror. And I almost teared up. My sweet girl. 

She twirled while we waited. 

Then she got to get her makeover with pixie dust. 

Here are her big reveal pictures from when she first saw herself.

We met back up with the boys and had a little dinner. But at this point, it was after 7:30. M had hit her wall and even though she tried valiantly to stay for the fireworks because she knew how important it was to her brother, we wound up calling it a night at 8:15 and watched the fireworks from the boat back to Wilderness Lodge. A solid 12 hours at Magic Kingdom is nothing to scoff at though, she did a great job!

The boys did stay for the fireworks and I am just so glad C got that time with his Dad and we could meet the needs of both kids at that moment. 

It was a great day all around! 

The Start of Our Trip

 Hi! So we told the kids on Easter that we were taking them to WDW. That way we could still surprise them but they could also weigh in on the things that they wanted to do in advance so we could plan. WDW is not an entirely easy place to "wing it." 

The trip was not without snafus, what trip is? But nevertheless, we persevered and had a great time. On Friday, November 4 we were packed and sitting around the house too excited to go to sleep. (Husband and I, the kids had no choice but to go to sleep at the regular time.) And we got a text message that our flight was canceled! 

Luckily, since we were awake and got the text immediately, I was able to rebook us. Only we had to fly through Denver instead of Chicago. Yep. We flew west to go east and spent an extra 2 hours in-flight because of that. It was not our favorite but beats driving 17 hours so... 

Then the strangest thing happened. At our home tiny airport, we were asked if we wanted to be extras in a movie. We had ample time to kill so we said yes. So that was a fun little way to start the trip. 

Because we weren't on the original flights, the kids were sitting behind me on the first leg. (Not how I picked seats FYI. But we had to do what we could.) 

We made it to Orlando at like 9:30 at night on November 5. I had booked us a room at the airport hotel because I knew it would be the best bet for my not-so-night-owl kiddos. 

A room looking over the terminal was kinda cool actually! 

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant because we were starving. We didn't have time to eat in Denver with a short 1-hour layover and quite a distance between gates. 

Sunday, November 6 we were up bright and early! 

We tried to go to Mass at the airport, but apparently Fr. Bob was sick and we didn't really have time or transportation that hadn't already been budgeted for to come up with a plan B so we said a prayer that Jesus would bless our trip and our best effort. We headed down to the Sunshine Flyer bus service to take us into WDW. 

In no time at all we pulled into our new home away from home. The Wilderness Lodge.

I loved it so much, and I will probably write an entire post about it. 

We dropped our stuff at bell services and headed right out to Animal Kingdom. We stopped for a snacky lunch of a shared hot dog, Mickey pretzel, corn and apple slices we brought from home. 

We had a great time on Kilimanjaro Safari, and even saw two elephants tussling. 

 

N'avvi River Journey is a favorite, we rode it twice. 

And of course, we met the most important mice in the world. 

Our time at Animal Kingdom was short because we just wanted to do the highlights and then go check out our room. And boy did our travel agent and Disney deliver. Because look at what we could see right from our balcony?! It was magic I never got over. Being able to wake up and see the castle from my bed was amazing. 

We managed super last minute, like Friday, to get a reservation at Story Book Dining at Artist Point right downstairs in our resort. We had SUCH a wonderful time. Not only was the food delicious but the character interactions were just amazing! 

The desserts you guys. I didn't take a picture of The Hunter's Gift to the Queen, but it was fabulous too. 

These are the Miner's Treasure, Gooseberry Tarts, and the Poison Apples. And all were divine. 

It was the perfect way to kick off the trip, and our favorite dining experience of the entire trip if you want to know! 

We got back to the room, and changed into swimsuits for a little night swimming. (It was great!) Then we got showered and into pajamas to take advantage of our room's entertainment! 

We were so lucky, all the preview videos I had seen of a fireworks view room, the trees covered the castle so to be just over enough to see it was such a treat! It still makes me giddy! 

And we snuggled into bed early so we could rest up and prepare for the day ahead!