Disney World - Days 3&4

DAY 3

Ready to start our day at Animal Kingdom!!!

We really didn't know what to expect at Animal Kingdom.  We ended up really liking it!  We headed straight to the "famous" Flight of Avatar ride.  After a long wait, Chris and Reid rode first and then we did a ride switch and I rode it next while Chris stayed with the kids.  It is a virtual ride and it was amazing and also really intense.  I had to close my eyes a few times because my stomach couldn't handle it.  Reid was NOT a fan.  I hardly have any pictures from our time at Animal Kingdom, but other highlights included Rhett finding a dinosaur ride that was just like Dumbo, seeing a great Lion King show, and going on a fun jungle safari and seeing lots of animals!  

We went back to the hotel to rest and then headed back to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!!! :)

An unexpected surprise from the Christmas party was that we got to see Santa!  He was incredible and wonderful and it was one of the sweetest moments of the trip.  He took his time with the kids and told them how much they had grown since he came to our house last year!  They each told him what they were hoping he would bring them for Christmas.  Reid asked for Nerf stuff, Georgia Kate asked for a Wellie Wisher doll, and Rhett wasn't sure what he wanted, so Santa told him that he was going to bring him a fun surprise gift.  It was such a special time and I hope I never forget it.  

After seeing Santa we spent some time riding some of the kids' favorite rides again without very much of a wait.  We finished the night by watching the AMAZING Christmas parade.  I loved every second of it.  Pictures can't do it justice... it was magical!  

DAY 4

Ready for Hollywood Studios!

When we got to Hollywood Studios we headed straight back to Toy Story Land, along with every other person in the park that day.  :) Toy Story Land was really well done as far as the "decor" and attention to detail.  It was so much fun to look at everything!  There was really only 3 rides and we did 2 out of the 3.  The Slinky Dog roller coaster was up first and we all 5 went!  Reid said it was his favorite ride in all of Disney World and Georgia and Rhett thought it was a little too scary.  It was the perfect medium intensity roller coaster.  We also did a virtual game ride which was fun for everyone.  We saw some of our favorite Toy Story characters walking around too! 

After Toy Story Land we went out into the rest of the park.  I think a lot of Hollywood Studios is more geared toward older kids and adults, but we still enjoyed meeting Sofia the First and seeing a couple of shows.  We really liked the Beauty and the Beast show!  

This ended up being our most low-key day.  I think we were all getting tired by this point.  This was also the only day that the sun was really out and it got pretty warm.  I honestly can't imagine going in the summer.  We came back to rest and then rather than going back to a park that evening we decided to ride the monorail over to check out The Grand Floridian resort and grab a quick, casual dinner.  The Grand Floridian is gorgeous and we loved this giant gingerbread house! 

We came back to the room to put on some Christmas jammies and watch some Disney Junior. :) By this night each of the kids had chosen a souvenir.  Reid chose Buzz, Georgia chose Princess Elena, and Rhett chose Dumbo.  

Disney World - Days 1&2

DAY 1

On November 27th, after months of secret planning, we surprised the kids with a trip to Disney World!!!  We waited until the morning that we were leaving to tell them.  They woke up at 6:15 thinking that they were going to start getting ready for school and instead we sent them on a scavenger hunt around the house to find their early Christmas present!  They ran from the refrigerator, to the dryer, to the car in the garage, to the pool gate, to Georgia's dollhouse, up to the playroom, and then finally back down to the big box by the tree.  They opened the box and Mickey and Minnie balloons came out!  They were confused at first and then we said, "We're going to Disney World!" It took a few seconds to process and then once Reid got over his concern about missing school, they were SO excited!!! We quickly got them dressed and then we were out the door by 6:45!  

This was their first time on a plane.  I had no idea what to expect, but they did wonderfully!! I hate flying, but having the kids with us was a good distraction.  Rhett says that his favorite part of the trip was the airplane! :)

We were so happy to arrive at our hotel! We stayed at The Contemporary, which was a great choice!  You can't be the location.  We walked to Magic Kingdom and we had a great view of the castle from our room!  

After grabbing a quick lunch in the hotel, Rhett and I stayed in the room so that he could nap and Chris and the big kids spent time checking out the hotel grounds.  We had dinner reservations that night at Chef Mickey's (which was conveniently at our hotel).  It was such a FUN way to kick off our trip - buffet of "kid food" and getting to meet Mickey and his friends!  Rhett was happy to wave to the characters, but didn't want to get too close.  

After dinner we got everyone to bed to get rested up for our first big day at Magic Kingdom! 

A few things to note before sharing about the rest of the trip... 

*I don't ever want to go to Disney World at any time other than Christmas.   The weather was glorious (kind of cold on our first two park days which I loved and warmish but pleasant the other two park days).  Disney World decorated for Christmas is absolutely magical.  There were gigantic trees, beautiful garlands, lights everywhere, and Christmas music playing everywhere we went.  Going the week after Thanksgiving break meant that the crowds were lower than usual, which was also a huge bonus.

*We did the parks each day from open to about 1:30/2:00 and then came back for some down time.  Rhett took a nap and we put the other two in the bathroom with ipads.  After a couple of hours of rest time, we went back to the parks for more fun in the evenings.  This worked well for us!  

*Based on the ages of our kids, we decided that we would not to go to Epcot on this trip.  We spent two days at Magic Kingdom instead and we were really happy with that decision!

*Thanks to an Amazon prime delivery to our hotel room, we ate breakfast in our room every day except one and played the other meals by ear, usually finding random little restaurants at the parks.  The only meal reservations we made were Chef Mickey's on the night we arrived and then breakfast at Cinderella's castle on our last park day.  

*We went into the trip with the mindset that we would not be able to do everything.  We wanted to get the most out of the trip, obviously, so we planned ahead with some fast passes, reservations, etc. But we also wanted to enjoy it and not feel stressed and frantic the whole time, so we tried to go with the flow and be flexible.  

DAY 2

We are ready for our first day at the Magic Kingdom!!!

Highlights of the day... 

Georgia loved meeting several princesses.  She was shy and looks very serious in these pictures, but she was just taking it all in. :)  Her favorites were Rapunzel and Elena.  They were both SO sweet and personable!  Rhett also loved Elena!  He was so funny and silly when he met her.

The kids discovered their favorite rides!  Rhett's favorite was Dumbo.  Reid's favorite was Goofy's Barn Stormer (a smallish rollercoaster), Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger (we got to meet Buzz before the ride), and Tomorrowland Speedway.  Georgia's favorite was the teacups.  

Before heading back for our afternoon break we saw our first parade!

We went back to Magic Kingdom that evening and rode some of the kids' favorite rides again.  I also talked Reid and Georgia into riding Big Thunder Mountain with me and while I loved it, Reid declared it "a nightmare" and gave it "two thumbs down". :) We decided at that point that we wouldn't ride any of the other big rollercoasters.  The castle lit up at night was absolutely beautiful!

The best way to end a magical first day was to pick out Christmas treats from the shop at our hotel and watch the fireworks show from our room! 

Big girl things

Georgia Kate has been asking to take her training wheels off for a while now and Sunday was finally the day!  It didn't take long before she was off and riding around the street like one of the big kids.  She was SO excited, proud, and happy!  

Reading is probably my favorite childhood milestone.  It's been such a joy to watch a whole new world open up to Georgia as she is learning to read!