Day Four: Animal Kingdom

 Yeah for Animal Kingdom!!  This was one of my favorite parks!  You really only need a half day for Animal Kingdom so we made sure we were there bright and early.  Just like the zoo, it's best to see the animals first thing in the morning so we headed straight to the safari!  The kids were still sleepy from not having enough rest the day before but I still think they liked it!

 We were so lucky to be able to see al of these animals so active.  It was overcast and much cooler than the day before so it was a pleasant ride.

 From there we headed to Kali River Rapids.  Out came the ponchos!  This ride is short, and pretty much just gets you wet....soaking wet.  Moses thought it was great!  He was a brave boy....then we headed to Expedition Everest.  I really tried to convince Brett it was not a good idea.  I lost.  Moses was vocal about never riding it again.  I felt queasy.  So we decided to split up.  Dad and Brett went off to ride another ride (no idea what it was) and Mom and I took the boys to see Finding Nemo the musical.  FANTASTIC.  The boys loved it and so did we.  We also loved walking right in moments before show time and been shown to the near front.  We met back up and ate at Flame Tree Barbecue.  This is a great place for quick service and the best quick service meal we had all week.  Huge portions and a great view with plenty of seating.

 From here we split up once again to repeat rides we still had fast passes for.  We had done so well planning our morning, that every time we arrived we did not have to use the fast pass.  Since we had magic bands and smart phones rescheduling times was SO easy.  This was the day we were always ahead of the crowd and things clicked right along!  By the time we were ready to go back for a break we were done with the park.

 That afternoon we ventured over to walk around MGM and get a lay of the land for the next day.  Then we went to Downtown Disney.  This is the place I wanted to get one more souvenir for the boys.  There are a few toys that both these guys play super well together with.  Legos and Potato Head.  At the toy store in Downtown Disney, you can buy a box to fill as many parts and bodies or a huge empty potato head to fill.  I chose to let them do two boxes since we already had the huge head as well as many bodies and other parts.

 We also stopped to look at the HUGE lego store where Moses immediately made his Christmas list and spent some time designing things.  He loved it!

I also want to mention one quick thing.  That night I had my second "Mickey Meltdown."  I think I'm giving the impression that things were always sunshine and rainbows, but every single child and adult had what I like to call a "Mickey Meltdown."  If you've been there you know exactly what I mean.  I'll talk more about it in my wrap up post!

Day Three: Epcot

 I am going to go ahead and preface this post with an honest opinion.  I'm not a huge Epcot fan.  I think it's geared toward the adult crowd significantly and finding things for smaller kids to do is a lot more difficult.  It is also the park that feels most dated.  It was also the day we made a huge mistake in not taking an afternoon break.  Also, it was the hottest day we were there.  It was not a magical combination.

We started the day out the Seas with Nemo and Friends and Turtle Talk with Crush.  The kids liked it pretty well and there was air conditioning!  While we waited we took advantage of looking into the many aquariums and watching "puffers" with Papa, their favorite fish!

We spent quite a lot of time with the fishes and when we came out set out to visit the different countries around the world.  It was much more crowded than probably most normal days because the Epcot Food and Wine Festival was in full swing.  The positive for us was that we were on the (free!) dining plan which meant that we could use a lot of our snack credits to taste food from the different booths.  I'm not going to lie.  The best food I had at Epcot was a funnel cake.  Hands down.

The adults stopped at a few of the other exhibits but the boys were restless so we continued to walk.  By this time ride lines were longer and the sun was hotter.  We hoped they would nap in the stroller but it did not happen so we went a few things like Horizons and Journey into the Imagination.  Yawn.

 I feel very lucky that we had early dinner reservations at Biergarten, a German themed restaurant and show.  I had heard good things about this place and all the other adults seem to like it.  Sutton an I not so much.  Also, they were just cranky from not being able to nap.  All in all, if you are taking small children I might would skip this park.  I think they (and myself included) would have had more fun doing something else.

Day Two : Magic Kingdom

 For some reason this day is a complete blur!  We started again in Fantasyland and repeated some of our favorites.  We made our way to some other classic rides like It's a Small World toward Liberty Square where we had lunch reservations for Liberty Tree Tavern.  This was one of our only sit down dinner that was not a character meal or a buffet.  It was nice to order off a menu and this place was pretty great.  I do recommend the pot roast!  I got the turkey and I was very jealous.

 

We also caught the afternoon parade before we began to walk our way out of the park for afternoon naps!  This is also when I grabbed our souvenir, a Toy Story/Mickey Ear Christmas Ornament.  Ever wonder what to get when you are on vacation that you will actually keep?  Ornament is the best!  We started doing it when we got engaged and took a trip to the Biltmore.  We don't travel often but it was fun to unwrap the few ornaments we do have and add them our tree.  Disney has it's own Christmas Shoppe near the castle in Liberty Square.  They do personalization and carry all sorts of ornaments.  I could not convince the boys to take a photo out from in the sleigh for our Christmas card though!

That day we did snag the boys a "My first Disney Vacation Button" at Town Hall.  These, along with many other celebration buttons are FREE.  We came back to the park that night after naps and rode some more "thrill" rides.  Moses was brave and rode Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.  These are great rides to gauge younger kids who are tall enough to ride the wilder rides but might not be quite ready.  Moses LOVED them.  I thought Space Mountain was going to be too much for him.  So I rode it!  It was another great magical day!

Day One: Magic Kingdom

 Finally!!  It was here!  Time to make the magic happen!  The above photo trips me out.  So typical of both boys.  Too cool.

 I was not sure what the boys would think when we walked in.  I think they were tired from the night before (read: first hotel room) and overwhelmed.  They were absolutely thrilled and excited though!

 We made our way to Fantasyland first and rode some classic rides as well as some new ones.  It's amazing how much is the same and improved at the same time.  The boys enjoyed all the rides and then we started to make our way to lunch and stopped at the parade where tons of characters were dancing in the street.  See Sutton amazed??

 Our first meal was at the Crystal Palace which is a Winnie the Pooh themed character buffet.  Now, my kids have a vague idea about Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, etc., but oh my word, they were THRILLED to meet them.  Sutton could not hug them enough.  And Moses was just flat out excited.  Disney does a great job at these meals with rotating the characters through to the different tables.  Also, the food was great.  I'm currently doing a weight loss challenge and I had no problem finding healthy things.

 We continued on to Frontierland and enjoyed a few more rides and activities before we began to make our way back to the entrance.  But first.....

 We met Mickey Mouse!!  With the Disney and Touring Plans app we could see that there was no wait to meet Mickey.  Nowadays, the characters are in specific locations so you can plan to meet most of them.  When I was little, I only saw the mouse from a distance.

 This was way better!!!  Also, you got plenty of time with him!  PS, the next day they introduced "talking Micky."  Oh well!

 As you can see, we needed a nap after the morning of fun.  We had checked in that morning, but our room was not ready.  When we arrived at the hotel for "rest time" it still was not available.  We knew this could be the case, and lucked out because Sutton slept for nearly three hours in the stroller.  Praise!

The real magic happened later that night.  We took the boys to the Buzz Lightyear ride and when we walked out, there was Buzz!!!  If you don't know, Sutton is OBSESSED with Buzz.  Seriously, it's insane.  We stood in line to meet him and Sutton stood behind the rope yelling, "Hi Buzz!!!" over and over again.  Stop.it.  Sooo sweet.  They were both excited to see this guy.  It was the best way to wrap up day one!

Disney: The Drive

At first, I really wanted to fly to Orlando for our trip.  After looking at the cost of flights, that dream was dead in the water.  So, we moved on to plan b, driving.  The thought of it gave me nightmares.  I spent a lot of time collecting items for the boys for our trip.  Crafts, portable dvd players, special ear phones, toys, books, stickers, and snacks.  Ready or not, here we go.

 After a Bojangles breakfast of champions, we left for Disney before dawn.  We were pumped!  Those DVD players came out before we even left the neighborhood.  The head phones came with stickers to decorate them with (special kiddie low sound head phones).  That gave me the idea to let them put other stickers on the players.  Best.activity.ever.  Sutton actually took a quick morning catnap!

 Honestly, the trip was a breeze.  It was tight quarters in the way back where mom and I were, but it was doable.  We had extra storage up top, but my double stroller took up a lot of space.  Stopping to actually sit down and eat lunch was a great idea.  No wonder Cracker Barrel is always bumping.

I was SO proud of these two.  They never once asked when we would get there or complained.  No emergency potty breaks or meltdowns.  We made it to Orlando around 5pm, plenty of time to eat and get to bed so we could get to Mickey in the morning!

How I Planned for Disney

I have a lot of blog catching up to do!  However, we JUST got back from Disney World!!  I have had a lot of friends ask me lots of questions about our trip and planning so I am really going to break it down for you.  I'm going to go from planning, traveling, park by park, and recovering.

First thing you need to know is Disney is not a vacation, it is a TRIP.  For most families, it is not a trip you take several times.  It is a special once or twice a childhood event.  It is exhausting and rewarding.  For this reason, I wanted to time the ages of my boys.  I wanted them to be able to enjoy as well as handle the traveling and the parks.  Moses at 2.5 would not have worked.  Sutton at that age was perfect.  Both boys were young enough to be amazed and old enough to appreciate all that went on.

The next thing I considered was the time of year.  Summer in Florida is miserably hot and also a lot of our family's busy work time.  Quickly ruled out.  I then checked the calendar and numerous Disney websites to check slower times of year.  We picked mid-October and it worked really well for us.

After figuring out our time, and checking lots of websites I was overwhelmed.  I had a Mickey migraine.  I had heard of Disney Vacation Planners from a few friends and a blog I frequent.  Enter Ginger McKinney from TMC Travel.  I have no idea how people go to Disney without Ginger.  I could call her whenever and ask her anything.  She gave me pros and cons of everything, but left the decision up to me.  Oh, and did I mention her services are FREE.  She is paid by Disney.

Here comes my first mistake.  We should have planned sooner.  There was only about a three or four month gap between us booking and our actual vacation.  With Disney, you can begin booking dining reservations six months out and the favorites book QUICKLY.  We were really lucky and got some amazing reservations with a lot of rechecking so never give up hope!

Remember when you went to Disney as a kid and you just kind of wandered around and did stuff?  Nope, not anymore.  You need to plan, plan, plan your every waking moment before you even dream about leaving.  Picking your park days using touringplans.com or other Disney blogs and then planning dining accordingly will save you a mountain of trouble.  Then, you can visit sites (I will list below) and plan your day and route.  It saves a huge amount of time and you will leave feeling like you didn't miss much.

One of the best things I did before I left was hit up Target and the Dollar Tree.  After July 4th, glow sticks and other fun things go on sale big time.  I also searched the dollar spot at Target for Disney items.  The next place I checked out was the Dollar Tree.  Best.Decison.Ever.  I found Toy Story tissues, Cars themed ziplock bags, great travel sized items, ponchos, Disney coloring books, and small toys, and even more random awesome things.  On the bus ride home one night, we were handing out glow sticks to kids right and left.  Waiting in line one day bubbles saved us and a few other families from major meltdowns.  We were majorly popular while we were there.

When I started packing, I went day by day and put each outfit in a bag for the boys.  This really helped me not to overpack.  I have a chronic problem with this but I think I did really well this time.  I even minimized my own packing by not bringing any jewelry besides my rings and one pair of stud earrings.  It just made life SO much easier.

Next post will be how we decided to travel and how we survived it!  Below are my favorite websites that helped me tremendously.

www.wdwprepschool.com
www.disneyfoodblog.com
www.allears.net
www.mousesavers.com
www.themouseconnection.net

First Days of School!

The day we had been waiting for has arrived!  School is back!  The crayons are unbroken, the markers are fresh, and all is right with the world.  This year, Moses is once again going five days a week and Sutton is now going three.  Due to the holiday weekend, they started on different days.  First a little comparison photos.

 Can you handle the cuteness?  I cannot!  Moses was an old pro.  I am in LOVE with his teacher and the structure she brings to the classroom.  It's just what he needs to get ready for Kindergarten.  It makes me feel very confident that we have made the right decision in delaying "big" school for a year.

 Moses had a great first day.  Sutton and I missed him, but they got along SO much better when he got home.  I love how excited they are to see each other after only a few hours apart.

I don't have as many photos of Sutton's first day because he would not crack even the smallest smile.  He sat and posed, but kept his too cool for school expression.  He did great at drop off as well.  His teacher told me he engaged well and verbalized with her all day.  I picked up Moses first, and he went in to get Sutton.  They hugged for a long time and all the moms and teachers were ooohing and ahhing about how precious they were.  Then Moses broke off and announced, "Ok, that's enough."

It was so sweet to watch the boys walk hand in had into preschool together.  Their classrooms are next door to each other so they are close by all day long but just far enough away to miss each other.  I think it will be a great year!