Vacation day number three was spent at the best of the best of Disney once again--Magic Kingdom of course! Alarm was set, we got a family of five ready in a jiffy, and before we knew it the gates were staring us in the face once again. Except this time they were already open--an entire 15 minutes before the scheduled park opening time. Gah! Time to rush to a busy attraction first to avoid long lines.
Waiting for the bus. Game faces on.
Emerson's signature move with all princesses and characters. Reach for the face.
The entire trip the girls were completely starstruck by all the princesses and characters. Starstruck to the point of barely being able to speak. I get it. Seeing all these fairy tale characters in the flesh has to be simply amazing for them. But at least we got some great smiles!
Next up: meeting Ariel. Are we excited? Not excited? Hmmmm hard to tell.
The rest of the day was very calculated. See as many characters as possible. Daisy, Donald, Minnie & Goofy had like a two minute wait so that made it super easy to take care of those guys. The girls were able to take their sweet time getting hugs in and autograph books signed.
After all that character excitement it only made sense to pay $472 for two lollipops at 10am. Teagan, the slowest eater on the planet, seriously took a solid three hours to finish this thing.
Other character sightings included Belle at her Enchanted Tales. Great use of a FastPass as the wait times were anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes. Both Parker and Teagan had roles in this play you perform along with Belle and it's super cute to sit in the audience and watch.
After our princess fix it was off to Tomorrowland. I pretty much shun away from all things science but T-land was pretty darn cool.
Mainly because of these turkey legs. OMG were they delish. I don't believe it's actually turkey. It tasted like well done ham. Heaven on Earth right there people.
Day in day out we ran these kids. To the park before it opened and left when it closed. We had to wake the girls for the 9pm electrical parade. Parker was NOT happy about it until Tinkappeared. Day saved.
The parade ended around 930pm and while the girls powered through, we literally could not wake them for the castle show and fireworks. So I did what any other Disney obsessed mom would do. Stayed for my own enjoyment and video'd it for the kiddos. It was epic.
#playhardcrashhard
What was also epic was getting three sleeping children 5 and under, a double stroller, and all our junk onto a bus. And off again at the resort. Lets just say there was a lot of screaming. But at least bedtime is a breeze when the girls are already exhausted. Lay them in the bed and that's it!
15 months, two Disney trips down. And now that we're back home I'm sort of antsy to plan our next Disney getaway. I think it's pretty safe to say that I have caught the Disney bug!
Our trip started out with a gift of princess Aurora jammies from our elves, Sparkles & Snowflake, & a super early flight. 720am departure which meant parents up at 4am, kids up at 5am, and arriving at DTW around 6am. Even though we were up way before the sun, the sheer excitement was enough to keep all parties insanely happy.
I booked this trip while under the influence of Disney memories fresh in my brain from our 2014 trip and didn't quite think through the potential issues of flying 2.5 hours with three children five and under. Thankfully the trip was an absolute breeze. Multiple passengers complimented us after the flight on the great behavior of all three girls. Way to go girls!
Snoozing
Us after our successful flight. I had to get a picture of this because toting all these kids and carry on bags was so comical to me. Getting into the airport was the best. Kris pushed three huge suitcases and I pulled one. Teamwork at it's finest.
Hands down, one of my fave perks of staying onsite. Disney's Magical Express. Not only do they pick up your bags from the airport and deliver them directly to your room (and take them back to the airport and check them on the way back) but they provide comfy transportation to your resort.
First stop--Disney's All Star Sports Resort. Not by choice though. I booked Old Key West months ago but when I went to book the flight the prices had jumped drastically from when I first looked. However, if we flew out a day prior the flights were more reasonable. No prob I thought. We'll fly out a day early, save a little dough, and get an extra night at Old Key West. Win win. But unfortunately the only room left was at a hefty price tag of $620/night. Ummmm. thanks but no thanks. So we went with the only available option which was the Sports Resort. Not impressed in the least bit and I was more than excited to bid farewell to that joint after our one and only night. But hey, there was a pool so the girls were in heaven.
Our first day was completely unscheduled so after a dip in the pool we boarded the bus to check out Disney Springs. Imagine the girls surprise when they saw this Aurora statue while in their Aurora dresses!
The girls had a fun riding the merry go round and a little train and also really enjoyed the Lego store. Check out Woody and Buzz in complete Lego form! #mindblown
After a couple hours checking out the sights it was time to get in an early rest before hitting up Magic Kingdom. But not before Emerson decided to show off by clapping for the FIRST TIME EVER. Obviously she feels the same about Disney as I do :)
Even though MK wasn't opening it's gates up until 9am we were in line bright and early with a game plan. Check out the morning character show, rush to Mickey, then hit up the super busy rides that we didn't fast pass. Eve though we were going during one of the slowest times I year we knew from last year what rides always have a long wait. Namely Peter Pan!
Emerson was our wild card on this trip. Would she nap on the go? Would she be fussy? Would it be too hot for her? Would she scream bloody murder on the plane resulting in death stares from fellow passengers? As it turned out, she was the easiest child on the trip. Happy as a clam to see all the sites, ride all the rides, and be toted around for hours on end in the Ergo.
That little precious face gets me every time :) Both those little faces!
We basically did all of MK in day it was that slow. Such a great feeling to have little to no waits on the majority of the rides. I don't have plans to ever visit during a busy time of year after getting spoiled again this trip.
We love short lines so much!
While I love SO much being able to see all the Disney princesses and characters in real life...
Seeing the castle all done up in lights blew my mind. Blew.my.mind. I literally gasped out loud at the lighting event. I am obsessed with Christmas. I am also obsessed with Disney. Combine these two things and boom, I am in my happy place.
The rest of MK was lit up too, adding to the awesomeness.
After a day long of rides, rides & more rides, closing time came and we were bused off to the next resort--Old Key West. Check in was nothing but fun. Balloon swords were awaiting the girls and the longest golf cart ever toted us and our 94 bags to our room. Our grocery delivery was available with things like baby food, bottled water, and best of all--Yuengling beer. I am not much of a beer girl but this stuff, which is not sold in our state, is super tasty. Thanks Florida!
The room was perfect for us. Clean, comfortable, close to the bus stop, and on the first floor. I don't care in the least bit about golf but our patio was right on the green surrounded by palm trees so that was pretty neat. As much as we enjoyed our time at OKW we won't stay there again. The resort is massive and while thankfully we had a room close to the Hospitality House and main pool, that wouldn't necessarily be the case next time. The pool area at Animal Kingdom was much better compared to OKW and with so many Disney resort options it only makes sense to try something new next time.
ESo there you go! Day one at the parks down. Ready for some much needed shut eye and to wake up early for day two at MK :)
