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| Hi, there, our Disney trip take 1
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Hi, there. My kids have been asking to have a blog so I thought this would be a good place to start. The kids got a digital camera for Christmas and want a place to display their videos they've made. So, once I figure that out, we'll add some of those. About us: my husband and I have three children, ages 4, 7, and 11 and we live in Illinois. We took our first real vacation (meaning more than a weekend) to Disney World right after Christmas. We first went to the Tennessee Aquarium and saw some great exhibits. I loved the butterflies, Jeremy and Em loved the penguins, and Josh was thrilled to pet the sharks and stingrays. Josh was also excited to purchase his very own faux coonskin cap! This is truly an important purchase for a 7 year old boy apparently.
After our visit at the aquarium, we continued onto Florida. Thank goodness for DVD players and headphones! They sure made my life easier and Jeremy became master of his DVD player.
We arrived late Friday night to Disney at Port Orleans Riverside. All the kids were excited to hear about hidden mickeys, and they were on the hunt (especially Jeremy.) Darren and Em unloaded the car while I got the boys ready for bed. Emily named the water bubbler near our room "Snowball." The next morning we even had a little newt near our door to greet us. We were pretty exhausted from all that driving so we took our time Saturday morning. My folks' flight was delayed a day due to snow (from IL, imagine that) but they got there Sat. afternoon.
We all went to Epcot Sat. afternoon and first road Mission: Space. Note to people with small children: perhaps this isn't the first ride you should take a 4 year old! Jeremy freaked out once he got on the ride, it stopped on an angle, and then the lights went out! Fortunately I had a little flashlight with me, and was able to convince him not to get off the ride. After that ride, Jeremy insisted he wasn't going to go on any more rides at Disney World, except for Dumbo. Boy, I had some work to do with this one.
Afterwards, we headed halfway around the world (or it seemed that way) to Norway to the castle for dinner. We had reservations for at the princesses' castle. Jeremy didn't really want to talk to the princesses, Em wasn't too thrilled about the food, and Josh was excited to eat shrimp. We saw Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontus, and Ariel. Thank goodness for the dining plan--that definitely was a lifesaver with this trip.
Once dinner was finished, we headed back to do the dinosaur ride. We all went inside and saw the first 5 minutes of the Ellen Degeneres movie and then were to head into the ride. Jeremy threw a bit of a tantrum, so Em, Jeremy, and I went shopping while the others went on the ride. Josh thought it was great that a dinosaur spit on him.
We all gathered back together to go see the fireworks which were pretty cool.
Back on the buses and back to the hotel we went. It was nice and sunny that day, about 84 degrees.
Sunday we went back to Epcot, and my mission was to find a ride that Jeremy would do and not have a mental breakdown. So, we started at Living in the Lands boatride. That was nice and easy; something Jeremy did well with. We all enjoyed seeing the plants, especially the Mickey Mouse pumpkins. Next was the Nemo ride. Josh loved the talking birds in front. It was nice and hot that day. The line was a bit long but we hung in there and rode on the clamshells. The fish inside the Nemo exhibit were nice and we were becoming fish pros now, having done two aquariums in one week! After the Nemo ride, we walked halfway around the world again to Japan, so Emily could see the Japanese exhibit and buy some Japanese things. Then we went back to the Coral Reef restaurant for supper. This was one of the kids' favorite restaurants--we had a great table to see the aquarium and the food was excellent. Our waiter was wonderful. After supper, the men and Josh went to ride Soarin', which Josh thought was the best ride ever! Then the kids went back to the hotel to go swimming with Grandma and Grandpa, while Darren and I went to the World of Imagination and saw Figment! We also got some shopping done and had extra Fastpasses to Soarin' so of course, off we went.
Monday we went to Animal Kingdom and rode the African Safari ride first. We saw giraffes, elephants, lions, and even an ostrich. We took a little train ride out to the petting zoo where the kids loved petting the goats. Jeremy wasn't thrilled about me taking his picture though. We had to leave there early to go through Disney's transportation to get to our supper location. So, bus ride back to hotel, bus ride to Epcot, monorail to transporation center, monorail to Contemporary Hotel to Chef Mickey's Buffet. Did I mention this two hour trek was in the pouring rain? Anyway.... Chef Mickey's was really cool. We saw Chef Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck. The kids were thrilled with the food, including the huge ice cream bar! This was New Year's Eve too!
Tuesday, we were off to MGM Studios. We saw Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid, Josh and his Star Wars ride, and the Muppet 3-D movie--did I mention I love the muppets, and yes, I got a Beaker doll. And it started to get cold.
Wednesday morning was 20 degrees! Now armed with gloves, sweatshirts, and our winter coats, we set off for Magic Kingdom. First stop, Dumbo ride for Jeremy of course! We also saw Mickey's Philarmagic, the Pooh ride, and ate lunch. Em and Darren headed back to the hotel to rest, while the boys and I had a mission to get a few other things done. We went first to the carousel horses, then the Country Bear Jamboree, can't forget the Tiki Room, and the Aladdan ride. It was pretty cold, and people weren't staying around for very long, so it was easier and easier to get through the lines. We met back up with everybody at the Crystal Palace for a character dinner with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Pigglet. After dinner, Grandma and Grandpa took Em and Jeremy back to hotel, while Josh came with Darren and me to explore some more rides (and to bundle up.) Now, in the deserted park, we were able to ride almost anything without lines--Pirates the Carrabean, Buzz Lightyear, Tommorrowland Speedway, the awful Stitch ride (do not recommend), and the Monster's Inc. Comedy place. We left at midnight.
Thursday we were back at Magic Kingdom. Em and I went back to the hotel for the afternoon while, the boys went with grandparents to ride the Tommorrowland Speedway. We all met back at MGM studios for supper at the Sci Fi Dine in Theater. This place was pretty cool. Afterwards, the boys went with grandparents to see the Mickey Laser show, Darren went back to Epcot to ride the testtrack, and Em and I were back to Magic Kingdom. Josh and Grandpa also went back to Magic Kingdom to ride Pirates of the Carribean again. Em and I rode the teacups, Buzz Lightyear (my favorite!), Tommorrowland Speedway--Em likes to sing when she drives.
Friday morning we said goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma so they could fly home. We were off to the Floridian hotel for a character breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Pooh, and Tigger. The breakfast was really good with hidden mickey pancakes and made to order egg omelets. Darren headed back to the hotel to check out, while the kids and I headed back to Animal Kingdom to finish up a few things. We finally found the elusive Goofy hat, which my children are now sharing, since we could find only one! We went through the dinosaur area and the playground was big and crazy. We left there to go see Asia, the tiger, and other animals. We headed back to the hotel for our last lunch, used up all our snacks left on big cookies to take with us in the car.
Then we left and headed home. It was a crazy busy 11 day trip but I think we all had a blast. |
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Posted by rigglet on 2008-02-13 15:21:42 | Rating: | Views: 27
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