Tuesday, December 4, 2012

December 4 - Magic Kingdom

Warning! Overload of adorable pictures to follow! Stop reading if you don't think you can handle the cuteness! Still with me? Okay, let's jump in. 

We went to MK the Sunday before Thanksgiving and had an AMAZING time. I know most people spend months planning their Disney vacation, but we pretty much booked a hotel, purchased park tickets and showed up. I'm sure the kids would have loved one of the character meals but it didn't matter. The whole experience was so much fun, especially for the girls, that I hope this is a vacation they remember forever (at least the photos will live on!).




On the tram (en route)

Walking In - Let the Memories Begin! (it was overcast but the day turned out beautiful)


Dumbo the Flying Elephant (Julia & Victoria were tall enough to go together)



Tomorrowland Speedway - Julia and I 'raced' a boy and his father, she had a great time

There is a new section under construction (Fantasyland) and we were able to ride the new Ariel ride, the girls LOVED it!

Belle's Castle is also part of the new section, but they were only letting season pass holders go in. I did get this amazing shot though of the castle-I know it looks fake, but it's a real pic!

It's a Small World (completely renovated in recent years), I think this was a bigger hit with the parents then the kids



Mickey's PhilharMagic - we received a free fast-pass to this 3-D performance and loved it!

Magic Carpets of Aladdin 


Pirates of the Caribbean - the wait for this ride was 20min when we got in line..then the ride broke down. After waiting for what seemed like an hour, we finally exited and moved on to something else. 


Prince Charming Regal Carrousel 


Parade - in one word: AWESOME. Disney organized a huge game of duck duck goose for all of these kids and everyone had a blast. The funniest thing ever also happened (unfortunately, we didn't get any photos or video) but Victoria was chosen as the goose and started running after the kid who tagged her. Andrew also got up and started chasing them. It was hilarious!

Waving to the Princesses


Classic Castle Shots



Next time, we'll bring a double stroller. Luckily Julia and Victoria squeezed in together

Attempt at a group shot

More MK fun!


We went on a lot of other rides that we didn't get photos of-including Peter Pan (big hit with the girls), the Jungle Cruise (we all enjoyed it) and the girls went on Splash Mountain!!! 

Next post will be Animal Kingdom. Yay!!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

December 2 - 75 Miles [Stage 2, Tampa to Orlando, French Quarter/Downtown Disney]

Stage 2: Tampa to Orlando
Left: 2pm ET
Arrived: 3:30pm ET
Stops: 0

Total Hours of Travel: 1.5H (17H,  trip total)
Miles Driven: 75 miles (1061 miles, trip total)


The Disney portion of our trip will be covered in 3 posts-French Quarter/Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. I don't want to overwhelm you all with one giant post!

Port Orleans, French Quarter
There are so many hotel options at Disney, I don't think you can go wrong. We stayed at Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter and loved it. The hotel is designed to look like the French Quarter section of New Orleans. The grounds were beautiful-cobblestone paths, antique gas lampposts and fountains, balconies,  a gorgeous walkway next to the Sassagoula River and best of all: a ferry that took us from the hotel to Downtown Disney. We had adjoining rooms with Greg, Jill and the kids and it was perfect for the little ones to play in the evenings and mornings. The hotel room itself was your standard hotel room, but it had a ceiling fan and a fridge which was nice. 

We checked in Saturday afternoon, dropped off our bags and then headed the ferry. The kids LOVED the 15-min ride to Downtown Disney. 

Downtown Disney
Downtown Disney is primarily a shopping area with restaurants. We spent Saturday afternoon walking around and then met the Cook's for dinner at The Rainforest Cafe (the wait at 6pm was about 1.5H, but amazingly they had an immediate table for 8!). We went back to DD on Tuesday morning before we left. LegoLand was a huge hit, as well as all the cool Lego figurines they had. Also-face painting! 


Hotel






Mom - I'm too excited about this ferry to take a picture!

Ferry Ride!


Merry-go-Round Fun 


Mouse Ears


LegoLand



Princesses


Dimpled Munchkins Love Face Painting!





Cousins