Disney Wrap Up

I'm going to do my very best to condense our last 3 days at Disney into one post.  I must begin by backing up and posting a couple of pictures from day three, which we spent at Magic Kingdom.  The girls rode their first "big" roller coasters this trip.  They rode Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, and The Rockin' Roller Coaster at Hollywood.  I have to post these pictures because they document such a monumental experience and I think they are hilarious.....

The girls look as if they might be tortured at this moment, but they came running out and insisted that they ride again with their Mama.

They were pros by the second time around.

We spent our fourth day at Epcot.  The girls were our tour guides.

We met Nemo early that morning.

We've talked about this ride for three years since our last visit.  The girls screamed the entire time we sat on these clams and rode through an aquarium.  They have talked about being afraid of this ride knowing they had nothing to be afraid of.  I'm glad to report that this time around was a very pleasant experience.

While the girls and Daddy rode the test track Houston and Mom went here.

You can tell by Houston's expression that he loved it.

He also go to meet Duffy bear.  We weren't familiar with this character until our trip.

The girls met Mulan for the first time.

Houston wasn't afraid of characters that were beastly.  The kids got a passport and got stamps from each country while in Epcot.  I had planned this to be a "down" or relaxing day, but we were exhausted.  The park is huge and we seemed to have walked it several times.  We also rode Soarin' which is one of my favorites.

Day 5 was spent at Hollywood Studios or more specifically here, at the Rockin' Roller Coaster.  The girls barely met the height requirement and were a little intimidated by the speed of this ride, but they still rode it twice.

We ate lunch at Hollywood and Vine with Handy Manny, the Little Einsteins, Jake the pirate, and Special Agent Oso.

We took a little snack break and watched a parade.

Houston wore his Buzz Lightyear costume when he met Buzz.  I wish I had counted the comments he got that afternoon.  He was in rare form from the excitement of meeting Buzz and being Buzz.

Hollywood had a fantastic Christmas light show and when it was over it snowed.  Totally awesome.

Did I mention Houston was in rare form this day?

We spent breakfast our last day with Mickey and the gang.

We went to the Laugh Floor.  This comedy show is interactive.  The comedian said he needed to speak with some kids before the show was over and guess who he chose?  That's right!  He asked where the kids were from and they said Alabama.  He asked Houston what he wanted to be when he grew up and he was a little shy and didn't answer.  Aidyn answered and said she wanted to be a horseback rider.  He said you don't make any money doing that and she said she didn't want to make any money.  Very sweet.  She has her Daddy for that, right?

Tiana planted a big kiss on Houston and he was not a fan at all, wiping it off immediately.  He said he didn't need hugs or kisses from a princess.  That's what he has his Mama for.

We got to meet Rapunzel for the first time.

We had so much fun.  It was definitely a tiring trip, but worth the exhaustion and lack of sleep.  Houston did not take a nap at all the entire trip until the plane ride home.  He was a real trooper and of course the girls were as well.  Ready to go back when Dad gives us the green light.

More Disney-day 3

Our third day at Disney was scheduled for a full day at Magic Kingdom.  Big plans for this day including the classic Dumbo and It's A Small World, which has been renovated since our last visit.  A leisure lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table was also on the agenda!!!!!

As planned, our day started in Fantasyland.  This consumed much of our morning as there is so much to do.  The great thing about Fantasyland is that Houston can do everything here.  Everyone had a great time.  We conquered Mickey's Philharmagic, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White's Scary Adventure,

The Mad Hatter's Tea Cups,

A royal carousel,

Peter Pan's Flight--a crowd favorite,

These handsome men sported their Alabama attire.  I'll tell a funny story about this shortly.  We were riding the Speedway here.  FYI our girls are not ready for the open roads yet, but this was good driving practice.

Hollyn

Aidyn

Left is Hollyn with Snow White in 2008 and on the right 2011.

Left is Aidyn & Cinderella in '08 and right is 2011.

Left are the girls with Belle in '08 and all of the kids with Belle in 2011 on the right.

Houston was the cutest thing at Cinderella's Royal Table.  The kids had to close their eyes and Houston was all into it.

Ariel loved Houston.  We loved Ariel.  She had such a fun personality.  She commented on Houston's shirt and said she also like "Rollin' with the Tide."

Aidyn and Hollyn did not meet Ariel on our last visit to Disney.  We saw her in person, but did not have a photo op or get an autograph.  For MONTHS after that trip the girls prayed they would get to go back to Disney to meet Ariel.  This moment had to happen and we're all glad it did.

This was our first time to meet Tinkerbell too.  The Fairy greeting spot was lovely.

This is our handsome man just after turning 3 and his big sisters when they were 3.

Disney con't--day 2

On our first full day at Disney World we planned to spend the day at Animal Kingdom.  We started our day with a fun breakfast with Donald & Daisy dressed in their safari gear at Tusker House.

After our yummy breakfast with all of the classic characters, we started our busy day.  We had some advice that everyone in the park would start their day on the safari so we headed to the opposite side of the park and grabbed a Fast Pass for the safari.  The girls rode their first big roller coaster, Expedition Everest.  Aidyn rode with Mom and Dad rode with Hollyn.  Disney has a "parent swap" so the first parent that goes through with a child gets a pass for the next parent so they don't have to wait in line forever.  We certainly took advantage of that option.  Aidyn & Hollyn both were such big girls.  I know I screamed more than Aidyn did.  We spent the rest of the morning in Dinoland riding Triceratop spin and Dinosaur.  Dinosaur is an indoor ride/attraction that is similar to a roller coaster, but more of the action is simulated than actual.  This ranks at the very top for the girls.  They really loved it.

Later in the day we made our way on safari.  We saw these cool "upside down" trees and lots of animals.

We rode a cool train to find more action, which meant more characters.

Houston made friends with a little elephant.

We met our first princess, Pocahontus.  Notice Houston isn't in the picture.  He's had no aversion to characters until we meet a princess.

He decided he would "test the waters" and inched closer to her, but just wasn't terribly excited about the situation.

This is a glimpse of the Christmas tree at Animal Kingdom.  Each park had an amazing themed tree.  Before leaving Animal Kingdom we saw The Lion King show which was awesome and visited with characters from the Jungle Book.  We also saw a show called "It's a Bug's Life" that we stumbled on.  It was super cute.  We called it a day relatively early thinking we could be refreshed for the following day.  We ended up heading to Downtown Disney for dinner.  Ended up being a late night after all, but we're not relaxing vacationers.  Our hotel offered a water taxi to Downtown so that was an adventure in itself.