DisneyWorld

Leaving sunny, 80 degree Florida weather to come back to 30 degrees and wind was a bit difficult, but we are home. DisneyWorld was by far one of the best vacations I've taken in a long time. In Kylee's words - "The best vacation EVER!!!"  It is nice to be home though. It always takes a few days to find your footing and hit the ground running, but I think we are back and ready to go. Starting 2012 off with this incredible vacation is just the beginning of what we hope to see this year.

This was really the first family vacation we have taken. Most of our travelling involves a volleyball tournament (whether one or both of us are playing or Brian was coaching). So this vacation was a real treat! The luxury of not having to make my bed in the morning and taking a break from meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking was one of the personal highlights for me (not to mention the days off from work). More than that, I loved watching my kids excitement as they met some of their favorite characters and experienced things that will give them lasting memories.

We landed on a Thursday, with only 1/2 day to spend doing something, so we decided to go visit Downtown Disney. Brian's aunt, uncle and cousin met up with us. It was great to spend some time with them. They are always so much fun to be around - and the kid's love seeing them. Downtown Disney offered up plenty of shops, food and the lego construction they had there was incredible! I couldn't believe the things people are capable of building with those little things!

The next day we visited Animal Kingdom. Triston loved it, but it sort of bored Kylee. They had a blast eating breakfast with the characters that morning, but after that Kylee wasn't terribly impressed. Brian and I loved it though - there was plenty of shade and being able to take a safari ride and see the animals without the cages, bars and glass was pretty incredible. Since this was one of our shorter days, the kids came back to the hotel and played around in the Toy Story section. They got to sit in the little race car, try to climb up Rex and jumped on the lifesize checker board.

On Saturday, we visited Hollywood Studios. Kylee had quite a bit more fun at this park. They had the Disney hip-hop dancers (which is her new thing). She loved seeing the Disney Jr. and The Little Mermaid shows. Triston loved getting to meet Phineus & Ferb, Lightning McQueen and Mater. We managed to get ourselves in the Director's Chairs for the Lights, Motor, Action show - which proved to be an awesome show. I think Brian was wishing he could be one of those stunt car drivers! Triston was in awe at watching "the real" Lightning McQueen drive around.

 

Sunday was the biggest day we had there. We started off by eating breakfast at Chef Mickeys - the kids LOVED it. The food was great and they got to meet more of their favorite characters. We spent a good majority of the morning riding the rides - Unfortunately one of the kids' favorite rides was "It's A Small World". Kylee had her appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique to get all dressed up. She of course chose Jasmine, but she looked adorable. And she loved getting pampered. I'm going to have to remember that and take her in for a mani/pedi occasionally. :)  The best thing ever was she got to meet "the real" Jasmine after she got all dressed up. I think that made the entire trip for her. Since Triston was too young to get dressed up at the theme park, we brought his pirate costume to wear. I got more compliments and questions on where I got that thing! ($20 on Amazon.)  We ate dinner that night with Cinderella, Prince Charming and the evil stepmom and stepsisters and then went back to the park for the extended hours - which proved to be very beneficial. There wasn't a line to wait in at the park!

Monday was our last day there. We ate breakfast with the Winnie the Pooh characters inside Magic Kingdom and then had a couple of hours before we had to head back to the airport. We learned that our next trip out will occur during the week, and we will use the weekend to spend with family outside of the area. The crowds were non-existent today!  As sad as we were to be heading home so quickly, I think Brian and I were spent. We shoved a lot into one little vacation - but it was more than worth the exhaustion and heavy caffeine consumption. Now back to the real world and back to saving for our next vacation out there in a couple of years! Can't wait!