Pirates and Princesses...

Thursday was our day for special activities.  The deal was.... that they could do these special activities but they were coming out of their souvenir money (which I'll cover in another post). 

First up was Cole!  He decided that he wanted to go on the Pirate Adventure Cruise that he did last year again.  The cruise departs from the Grand Floridian.... parents are not allowed to go with the children and they are gone for 2 hours.  (now if we could only convince Summer that she wanted to go too, we'd be in awesome shape!)  All I can really tell you is that they ride this boat around to the different hotels on the water in search of buried treasure which they find and each kids gets a treat bag out of the treasure chest.  They also have a snack and read a story about pirates I believe.  I did get a few more details this year than last out of Cole as to where some of the stops were, but there is this pirate code and he won't share much.  But I do know that he had a blast and the Pirates that run the cruise are really into it and work really well with the kids.  Added bonus..... I had no idea that when I booked this 6 months ago that I was booking it for National Talk Like a Pirate day! 

 

We took the monorail back to pick Cole up from the boat and then took the monorail to Magic Kingdom.  Summer wouldn't stop talking about picking up her umbrella so we had to get that first.  After a few rides which included climbing the Swiss Family Treehouse (which I hope to never do again, especially when it is 90 degrees), we grabbed fast passes for the BRAND new Princess Fairytale Hall which had just opened the day before and then had lunch. 

 

After a somewhat heated discussion between my daughter who believes she is 25 and not 5 about why I only brought her Belle dress and not her Sofia dress, which luckily Jimmy was able to difuse without too many tears.... it was time for Summer's visit to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!

 

It did not take her long at all to warm up this time to the attention and Cole decided that instead of having special time with Daddy that he wanted to stay and watch Summer's transformation! 

 

 

Then it was time for meeting Cinderella in her new home in Fantasyland....

 

 

 

After seeing Cinderella and Aurora.... we headed for the park exit so we could get over to EPCOT for dinner.  We got trapped in Town Square as the parade began and actually wound up with a great viewing spot with no effort so with no where to go... we stopped and watched. 

 

Well Coley didn't really watch.... he was a sleepy pirate.  I especially like how he pulled his bandana over his eyes before falling asleep. 

 

Summer watched the parade intently and as Belle passed us and caught a glimpse of Summer done up and dressed as Belle with her special Happy Birthday Princess Summer pin.... she blew a kiss right to her!  How magical and of course..... Mommy missed that Kodak moment. 

 

Then it was off to the Monorail and into EPCOT!  The kids really loved any time that we got to ride the Monorail!  And loved that we could see it at our hotel.  Once at EPCOT we went to Innovations for our FREE and very short lined Disney Visa photo with characters spot.  If you have a Disney Visa bring it with you to Disney and currently the photo time is 1-7pm (but does change).  Characters rotate, but this time we got Minnie & Goofy.  You also get a free 5x7 print from your photo shoot. 

 

Then we grabbed fast passes for Test Track, went on the Donald Duck boat ride in Mexico and then headed for dinner with the Princesses at Akershus in Norway.  Everything claims that the princesses in this dinner rotate, but we've been there 3 times and have seen the same 5 princesses each time (not complaining though because we love all 5).... Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella & Ariel in the sea foam green ball gown. 

 

 

 

After dinner we had to get Funnel Cake because Summer had been waiting all week to go to EPCOT for Funnel Cake.  We got one to share and a duck nearby caught wind of the eating and started pestering us which caused Cole to stand up in the stroller screaming for the duck to get away.... pretty hysterical.  

 Then it was time for Test Track.... which Summer LOVED and held her hands up for the whole time.  Cole was undecided.... he liked it but also wasn't crazy about the inside somewhat dark part. However when we went back on Friday that's all he talked about was riding it again.  Then we picked up our free picture and headed back to the hotel for bed!  One more day left.....



A Disney Junior day!

Wednesday!

Wednesday morning we headed into Hollywood Studios for breakfast at Hollywood & Vine with the Disney Junior Characters.  We had a yummy breakfast with Jake, Oso, Handy Manny & June from Little Einsteins. 

 

 

The kids had a great time and then we headed out to see the princess in training… Sofia the First!  Summer wore her Sofia dress and shoes from Aunt Chele and had to wear her hair down just like Sofia for the visit!  We waited as patiently as possible for 40 minutes (which was the longest line we waited in the whole vacation). 

 

 

 

THEN we met up with Miss Stephanie one of the kids’ teachers from daycare who is interning at Disney for the semester.

 

 We saw the Disney Junior Live on Stage and then headed to take pictures with Buzz & Woody before using our Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania.

 

 

 

 

 

Then the skies opened up and poured rain!  And it was not the 5-10 minute rain shower that happens pretty much daily at this time of year in Florida.  So we called it quits.... the kids were ready for a rest anyway.  But they both said their favorite part of the day was seeing Miss Stephanie!  And then Summer said well Sofia was first and then Miss Stephanie! 

 

I got some food from the quick service restaurant in our hotel and we ate in our room.... then Summer passed out for quite some time and Cole played quietly with his Legos the entire time she slept. 

 

After Summer's nap and the rain stopped we hit Magic Kingdom since it was just a quick walk to our hotel.  Summer decided she wanted to order one of the painted umbrellas she had seen with the rest of her money.  Then we rode Small World again which Cole decided he loves and calls Little World.  After that we hit Enchanted Tales with Belle which we got to at a perfect time because people left the line due to the parade getting ready to start.  We had never done this ride before since it just opened within the last year.  It was super cute and you could take pictures at the end with Belle on your photo pass.  Then we visited Ariel with her fin in her Grotto with the kids really enjoyed. 

 

The fireworks were going off as we were in the new Fantasyland section and it was really a beautiful spot to stop and watch!

 

 

 

Then of course we had to hit Goofy's Barnstormer, Dumbo and the Speedway again before heading back to our hotel!  What a great night! 

 



 





Another day in Disney...

Tuesday!

Tuesday was our planned day out of the parks...

We started off with our very first visit to Chef Mickey's!

 

 

Mommy epic fail.... I forgot the autograph books, but luckily we had already gotten autographs from all of the characters that would be there so the kids were ok with just getting pictures. 

 

 

After a yummy breakfast with the characters.... we got ready to hit the pool!  Which was basically.... let's go on the huge waterslide over and over and over.  Summer was really nervous but got over her fear and decide to try it and LOVED it.  In the picture below you can just about see her brown hair in the splash right below the slide!  What a brave girl that doesn't mind her face getting wet anymore. 

 

 

Then Cole decided that he was going to talk me into joining them on the waterslide!  He told me that it wasn't scary and that he would hold my hand up to the top of the 20 foot waterslide.  Then he told me how to sit so that I didn't go to fast and to wait for the light at the top to change from red to green before I went.  After we've been trying to convince him not to be scared and try certain rides I had to take my own advice and his and try the slide.  What a fun morning.  After some lunch and relaxing in our room... we headed over to Downtown Disney for some shopping and dinner. 

 

 

We had our very first visit to the Lego store and Cole chose a very nice little starter set of Lego City collection.  He was super excited and couldn't wait to get back to our room to put it together.  I couldn't believe that when we did get back after dinner that he sat at the table with Jim for over 2 hours to put it all together!!! We checked out a few of our other favorite stores and then got to meet up with a friend that recently relocated to the area just before our dinner reservation...

 

It was so nice to give her a hug and see her sweet girls and their little toes!  Cole & Summer enjoyed seeing some other twins and then told me later... those twins look the same, not like us we don't look the same! 

 

Then it was time for dinner at Raglan Road that is probably my favorite place to eat in Disney World.  It is a Irish Pub and so delicious!  They also have Irish entertainment every night.  Either dancers or bands, etc.    Summer got invited up on the stage to dance with the Irish dancers and she was so excited and did such a great job! 

 

I need to figure out how to post videos to my blog.... as soon as I do I'll post the video of her on the stage! 

 

When we got back to our room.... the boys got to work on building the legos.  It was hard for me to not jump in since I'm the typically putter together in our family.  Summer also was having a tough time without daddy's attention so I took her for a walk to get some drinks to kill some time.  Cole was SO excited and has played with his Legos every time we've been back in our room!  







More Magic....

Monday - Animal Kingdom

First on the list.... the Safari!!!!!   And Cole had to go on the rapids with Daddy while Summer shopped with Mommy and found a dress that she wanted to buy with her money! 

We love that we can see lots of elephants since they are no longer at our zoo

Beautiful shot of the Lion since they are usually sleeping!

Afterwards we had to find the Mickey shaped pretzels for our snacks! 

Then we saw some characters....

 

 

Then we headed back to our hotel for some downtime and did some school work on our break... 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as we headed out for the boat to dinner the skies opened up and rain poured down in buckets.  Luckily we were able to run to a covered walkway and stayed there until it passed in a few minutes.  Then it cleared right up and we finished our trip to dinner...

 

And what a nice birthday surprise with dessert.... 2 cupcakes with candles and our waitress had the entire restaurant sing happy birthday to Summer & Cole! 

 

 

 

After dinner... we hopped on another boat and headed into Magic Kingdom.... we got fast passes to see the princesses and Mickey and then headed off for a couple of rides before our timeslots.  We attempted to go on Buzz Lightyear, but Cole chickened out (it is not scary but sometimes they think things are scary based on the character in it (Zurg) or if it looks dark inside.  We are working on overcoming that and this trip has been way better in that regard than last year.  Next we decided to try Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.  Cole tried to back out again, but we talked through it and he wound up LOVING it.  Then it was time for the princesses!  When we got in the fastpass return line we were the second group in to see them!

 

 

The kids were rubbing their eyes at this point, so we decided to see Mickey while we were there and then head back for the night.  And guess what.... since it was during the electric light parade and close to firework time.  Everyone was out staking out the best spots while we got a PRIVATE audience with Mickey Mouse!  We walked right in and had the room all to ourselves with him.  Talk about a magical night!  

 

 











A magical place to celebrate turning 5!

We've been to Disney World many times for many reasons, but we've never celebrated a birthday here until now!

Wow.... just wow!

We had a marathon day of driving yesterday.... in the car from 4am to 7:15pm!  Jim and I really wanted to get here in 1 day so we'd get to enjoy an extra day here so we could feel less rushed and plan a pool/down day into the schedule.  It was a really long time to be cooped up in the car with 2 five year olds.... especially our little chatterbox teacher wannabe!  They really did great for the most part.  We checked in... brought our luggage to the room and then got a delicious quick service meal in the Contemporary.  When we got back to our room.... we had some surprises from Mickey (our wonderful Daddy!) and a phone message from Mickey & Minnie singing Happy Birthday! 

Much to our surprise since I booked a Lake View room and not a Magic Kingdom room (to save on vacation points).... We have a Lake View room with an angled view of the Kingdom!  So we were able to watch the fireworks from our balcony!  Woohoo!!!!

Sunday's Plan: Magic Kingdom

I have been reading about the opening "show" at Magic Kingdom and REALLY wanted to get there early enough to see it.  I figured since we were staying within walking distance to Magic Kingdom this was our chance if we were ever going to see it.  But since we drove all day yesterday and the kids were pretty wound up when we arrived... everyone (but me) slept in a bit today.  And by slept in... I mean 8am and not 6:30.  I was pretty disappointed that we were running just a few minutes late and would probably miss the show.  We were approaching the park and I could hear the singing.... when all of the sudden I heard the train whistle and then actually saw the train that I assumed was involved in the show.  The train went right past us and we had a great view of all of the characters that were about to arrive at the main street station.  They all waved to us as they went by.... it was AWESOME! 

After we got in the gates and swapped our paper tickets for the new cards (the new technology coming Disney's way is pretty cool).... we were on our way!

First stop some Main Street family pictures and Starbucks!  They recently opened in Magic Kingdom and EPCOT and we heard they will soon be opening locations in all of the parks and Downtown Disney.  Then it was off to find characters and rides! 

Summer spotted these ears as soon as we walked in the park and had to buy them with her money!

Cole wanted to find Stitch first!!!

Then we did several rides and had so much fun on things like the teacups, speedway, Dumbo and Goofy's Barnstormer!  Then we headed into Pete's Silly Sideshow for some autographs and pictures...



 

After more rides.... we had lunch and headed back to our hotel for some downtime and cooling off before dinner at Be Our Guest restaurant.  I took the kids on an adventure to find the ice machine and when we returned to the room.... a birthday card from Mickey and Minnie had been slid under the door! 

 

Dinner at the newly opened Be Our Guest was really great!  Unfortunately our server left much to be desired, but everything can't be perfect right!  We sat in the main dining room which features a beautiful wall of falling snow. 

 

Me & Cole with the Beast after dinner



Be Our Guest Restaurant
 

After dinner we hit some more some more rides like It's a Small World and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Summer was so brave on the roller coaster and kept her hands up the entire time.  I was holding onto her for dear life because mommy was so scared that her little girl wasn't holding on at all! After that we headed back to our hotel and hit up the pool which we had completely to ourselves!  What a first day.... 

Pool all to ourselves