Orlando Day 3 and 4

The next day, we took a break and had a laid back sort of day.  We ate a later breakfast, and then decided to head to downtown Orlando.  They have this fun lake downtown where there is a park and then you can rent some paddle boats for 30 minutes.  It was something fun and different to do although Shane and were dying of heat after paddling a boat for 30 minutes.  Ha ha. 

After lunch I stayed in the room while Jaron took a nap and Shane took the girls swimming.  Almost immediately after Jaron woke up my friend that I used to work with at 3M, Denise, came with her 2 kids and we went swimming again.  It was so fun to catch up with her.  We don't talk nearly as often and it was fun to see her kids.

We had an early dinner and early bedtime so the kids would be rested as we headed back to Magic Kingdom the next day.

I was way more prepared for the 2nd day.  We ended up walking in right as the gates opened.  I also brought more snacks, more water and cups for everyone since the water fountains weren't cutting it for us.  I also packed our lunch since my kids would much rather just eat a PB&J for lunch then just about anything else we could find.  We also took a lot more breaks.  This all worked out great and allowed us to stay at the park until after 8pm straight without having to leave.  Success!

Right as we walked in we realized they had decorated for Christmas. The Christmas tree was up and Christmas music was playing on Main St.  We got there right as lines were forming to meet Minnie and Pluto and since those were the 2 characters I wanted the girls and Jaron to for sure meet we were really excited this all worked out. 

After that we headed back and rode a bunch of rides and were loving that none of them had much of a line at all.  We rode the teacups twice and dumbo twice.  Dumbo has this fun indoor, air conditioned play ground that you can play in while you wait in line.  Well since there was no line we just played for a while.  The girls even went on the kids Roller Coaster and loved it.  I wished Jaron was a touch taller and we could've taken them on a few more but for sure next time as they don't seem scared of roller coasters at all.

Then we went and met Ariel, went on The Little Mermaid ride, which all the kids LOVED and then went and met Belle, where they put on a little show for you and of course my kids wanted nothing to do with being picked to be part of it.  Oh well.

After lunch we headed over to Autopia (although I don' think that's it's name in Orlando but whatev) and then had a fun slow ride on the Peoplemover.  We then headed over and rode the jungle cruise where Siena fell asleep (yay) and then while I ran around getting everyone snacks and Shane and I Pineapple ice cream (our fav) everyone else sat in the shade and saved spots for the parade.  We saw it the first day but sat in the sun and it was miserable for all of us.  Much more fun this time and all the kids loved waving to the characters.  Aria I'm pretty sure never stopped waving the entire time, it was so cute.  Jaron also got a high five from one of the dwarfs from Snow White. 

We also went and met Donald and Goofy...although I can't even remember what time of day we fit this all in. Jaron, who was hesitant around a lot of the characters ran right up to Donald and threw his arms around him.  He only did this with Cinderella, Donald and Mickey later that night.  It was cute and I'm so glad I got a good picture of it.

After a few more rides, we sat down for some dinner then headed over and saw a Mickey show in front of Cinderella's castle, all while holding spots for Elsa's Holiday magic.  Basically Elsa turned Cinderella's castle into her Ice Castle and it was AMAZING!  We had great spots where all 3 kids could stand on a railing and see perfectly so it turned out great. 

 

We thought we were going to go home right after that but instead the kids insisted on standing in line to meet Tinkerbell and Mickey Mouse.  Mickey was fun because none of the Disney characters talk but Mickey actually talked and the kids LOVED hearing him talk.  They were soo tired by this point as you can see from the pictures but it really added the finishing touches to our great day.

Top rides of the trip, Little Mermaid ride, Tea Cups, and the Carousel.  It's a small world was a close 2nd, only cuz I let them throw money into the water to make a wish.

I was so happy that we had such a great 2nd day at Magic Kingdom and got to ride and see everything we wanted to.

Orlando Day 1 and 2

Shane and I planned a trip to take the kids to Orlando the beginning of November.  We didn't plan on it being a total surprise but we didn't tell them until the day before we left.  They were so excited about Halloween and it made it easier not to have to talk about it all day every day.  So it was fun to surprise them.  We did a little scavenger hunt and they found pictures of an airplane, Mickey and Minnie and then a picture of the beach.  They were so excited, although even after we told them and then asked them if they would rather go to Disneyland or China, they both still answered China....sorry to disappoint you but you're just going to Disney World!!!

I was a little nervous about how they would do at the airport and on the plane but they were great.  We made it through security without any major issues and got to the gate with time to spare.  We found seats right by the window and they were so excited to watch the planes and even more excited when they saw 'our airplane' pull up to the gate.  On the plane we had lots of snacks and some games and movies on our tablets.  They all mostly just watched shows and movies and played some games towards the end.  Overall it was an easy flight.  The longest part was getting off the plane, getting our luggage, rental car and getting out of there.  But we did it.  The kids were so excited to get there and all they wanted to do was to go swimming.  They didn't even want dinner!  We tried to get them to bed early cuz with daylight savings, and the time zone change I knew the next morning was going to come early.

The next day was our first of 2 days at Magic Kingdom.  When we booked the trip, we thought the temperature would be in the high 70's and well, they had record breaking heat the week we were there and this day it was 93 degrees!  I was NOT mentally prepared for that kind of heat.  Although this was such a fun day, it was a long, hot and very tiring day.  By the time we got into the park I was so sweaty and I had forgotten how long it takes to get into the park.  From when you park your car to when you actually get into the park was an hour!

The other bad part of the day was we lost Siena. We were headed over to meet Cinderella and had walked across from one side of the carousel to the other and when I turned around she was gone.  I ran back out and looked every direction and could not see her.  I yelled her name and nothing.  Just as I'm trying to decide which way to start running, I saw her walking away with another mom trying to find a cast member.  She was pretty hysterical and I was a little shaken but luckily after I held her for a while she settled down.  I made sure to hold everyone's hands as we walked around the rest of the day.  And Siena didn't let us out of her sight.  One time I had walked around a corner in a line for a ride and she freaked out again but after that was fine.

 

 

But we still had so much fun.  We had some fastpasses first thing that morning so we did some rides in between our fastpasses.  The highlight of the day was meeting Cinderella.  All 3 kids were soo excited to meet Cinderella.  Both Rapunzel and Cinderella were there.  The girls chatted with Cinderella like she was their best friend, and as you know, my girls don't talk that much to people they don't know. I felt bad we took so much time but I loved that not one worker tried to rush us out or tell us our turn was up.  It was such a fun experience.  And I love that Jaron just came up to 'rella' and sat down on her lap all comfy and fine.

After being so excited about Halloween and playing 'ghosts' all month long with blankets over their heads we thought it would be fun to go to the Haunted Mansion...haha.  They actually did pretty good.  Siena was the most scared and Aria and Jaron did just fine.  Jaron thought it was pretty cool that we went on a ghost ride and that's all he mentioned for days afterwards.

After lots of rides, a 3D show and some lunch, the kids were all but done.  We stayed for the afternoon parade but even then they liked it but I could tell they were done.  So we left.  We went back to our hotel and cooled off and just relaxed for a while.  We grabbed some dinner and since everyone seemed to be in better spirits, we went back for the Electrical parade and fireworks show.  Since we only had to walk to Main St. and it had cooled off, everyone handled that ok to sit and wait for a parade.  They loved the Electrical Parade and Cinderella was in her carriage and looked right at Jaron and blew him a kiss and we even got it on video, it's so cute!