We are most definitely a Disney family. I love every single thing about that place. I plan for months for how to squeeze in every thing that I can in our short time there. Some people think it's crazy that we have taken our kids there so young. I hear all different reasons, one being that they won't remember it. But WE will. We remember every detail of their happy cheers and screams when they see a favorite character, or ride a ride, or see a 4D movie, or see Cinderella's Castle or the Epcot Spaceship Earth, or see the animatronic animals, or see the fireworks and parades. All of it. And as soon as we leave, I start planning our next trip and counting down the days and months. I love it.
We have always traveled after school and work. It works best for us to get a few hours in, break for dinner, and then get a few more hours in. And the kids sleep for a fair portion of the trip. We stay in a random Hilton as close to Disney as we can get, then we have a whole day in Disney for our first day.
So here we are on our way down....
Addie Kate has always been a great traveler. Especially with a DVD playing. Drew, not so much. He's getting better but we aren't there yet.
So our first day was in Hollywood Studios. We skipped this park on our first trip, but I'm glad we went this year.
We loved our first meal at 50's Prime Time Cafe. We went there as soon as we got to the park. Drew was just coming off a stomach bug, so he didn't love it as much as the rest of us, but Tommy and I still say it was one of our favorite meals. And the kids did love the decor and the workers. They did a great job.
After lunch, we walked around a bit and got our bearings, deciding what to do first. This was our least planned day, and that really just does not work for our family. We need a plan.
But, while we were standing there trying to figure out what to do next,
We found Pluto!
He's one of Drew's favorites, so naturally, he was delighted! As long as he was in my arms. He was hesitant, but not upset, when I put him down. Just nervous. Pluto's pretty big! Of course having big sister there always helps.
Addie Kate literally jumped on Pluto. Bless it.
He was so excited, sweet thing!
And so was mama! The characters are a big part of the trip for me. I just love seeing the things my kids love, come to life! Especially when they are the youngest, like Drew on this trip and Addie Kate on the last one, and they are seeing these things for the first time. I love it.
After seeing Pluto, we headed to Toy Story Mania. The line was SO long (we didn't have a fast pass for it, for some reason. We won't make that mistake again!). Across from it was Andy's House from Toy Story, where Buzz Lightyear and Woody were. So I took the kids over there, while Tommy waited in the other line. Our line was also long, but there were all these props for the kids to play with. This made the wait more bearable, but the line moved so slow that it was still a lot of me trying to keep them safe, entertained, and not losing it.
Addie Kate wanted to pose by every picture, structure, whatever. Drew just ran from place to place.
And finally we saw Buzz and Woody. Then Buzz's battery was getting low, so they had to change it and we had to wait a bit longer. It was cute - Buzz walked very slowly out the door, then on his return, with his new battery, he was all recharged and vibrant.
Addie Kate, as always, went right to them.
Drew was scared to DEATH. He would NOT get out of my arms.
Hahaha! You have to have at least one crying, terrified moment.
We left there and fought our way through the line to Tommy. This is not recommended and I had to do a lot of apologizing, and blaming it on a potty break with the baby - a blatant lie. And there was STILL a wait in the line once we got there. But, luckily, Tommy had made his way up to where the entertainment portion of the line was, and we all enjoyed that.
Mr. Potato Head put on a little magic show. It was cute, it just needed to last longer.
Oh, Drew.
They got their 3D glasses, which they loved. Ha!
And we set off to fight space aliens, or something. Tommy and AK rode together and did great. Drew and I did, and well, you could tell I was more into watching Drew than shooting aliens, and Drew was a two year old.
But, I'd say it was a hit.... given Drew's happy dance afterwards.
Next we stood in lines to meet Jake.
And Sophia, who my kids love.
Drew had fallen asleep in the stroller.... a nap he desperately needed, but we woke him up to meet her anyway.
We rode The Great Movie Ride after that. It was mildly enjoyable. The kids liked the "boats" we were on, and it was a nice place to take a break and sit for a minute. We were already tired. Tommy wanted to ride Tower of Terror, and almost did by himself, but decided against it. We all wanted to ride Aerosmith's Rockin Rollercoaster, and Addie Kate still wasn't tall enough, so none of us rode it. Hopefully on the next trip! We did the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Tommy and I were not fans, but Addie Kate liked it. We know her princess-loving days are numbered.
We did get to see Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage before we left. And it was really good. I've seen the Broadway show twice, and Addie Kate has seen it once, and this rivals it in comparison. They did a great job.
We went and checked into the hotel after this. We were excited to see the new Art of Animation resort. We picked this resort specifically for the kids. We don't come to Disney for any other reason, so we wanted a room that they'd love, and they did. It was delightfully Disney-tacky! We ate at the hotel that night, when instead we should have gone back and eaten at Hollywood Studios and seen Fantasmic. I was worried that it would scare Addie Kate - she frightens easily and has nightmares about things that scare her for days, even weeks. That isn't something I was willing to risk. There's always next time.
At the end of the day, the babies were tired and grouchy. And we knew we needed our rest for the next four days.
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