Earlier this year, Kate was invited to go to Disney with her friend Harper. We made plans to meet up with Mason, Robin and Harper the Friday after Thanksgiving and stay until Tuesday morning. We had three full days at Disney and we made the most of it. I enjoyed the trip, but it was exhausting! We decided not to bring Mason this time. He would have been miserable most of the time and we knew he would have a lot more fun staying with his grandparents while we were gone. I think we were right - he never once asked about us.
While we were in Orlando, my mom sent a couple pictures:
I know he had a lot of fun!
I think we may wait a few more years before we go back again, but I definitely liked going with the Pledge family so we could get an idea of what we want to do the next time we go. We didn't get the PhotoPass service this time but we will next time. I can see that it worth every bit of the money and there's a Disney employee everywhere you turn, ready to take your picture! I will also invest in the arm bands and schedule our FastPass selections and Character Dining months in advance like the rest of the families at Disney (through the Disney App). We did purchase the park hopper option, since the Pledge's had, and I was really surprised that I liked having that option. It helped us cover more ground in the short time we were there and helped us get to meet so many Disney characters. Also, we didn't need to spend as much time at Epcot as we did the other parks but I'm glad we visited there.
I now understand why families go to Disney for a whole week. There's so much to do and not enough time to cover an entire park in one day (depending on how much you have to wait in lines). We had to wait. A lot. One thing I know for sure, we will NOT be going back right after Thanksgiving - super crowded doesn't even begin to describe it! It broke my heart we had to wait so long for everything but Kate had a wonderful time and thankfully she didn't seem to mind (too much).
On Saturday, we spent the entire day at Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the park around 8:30 that morning and I was surprised at how many people were already there. Everything was decorated for Christmas and it was impressive. Kate and Harper wanted to wear their princess dresses to the parks and that's just what they did - each day. Kate's dresses have been well loved over the past several years so we might need to invest in a few more when we go back in the future.
Someone was not having the most "magical experience" at the "happiest place on earth". Kate did get better as the day went on - I think she was very overwhelmed at first.
As we made our way through Cinderella's castle, we met Cinderella's Fairy Godmother!
The carousel was the girl's first ride at Disney. All the lines were getting longer and longer so we tried to jump on the first ride available.
Pretty princesses!
Our next stop was getting in line to see Cinderella and Rapunzel. These lines were (only - ha) a 45 minute wait instead of an hour and 45 minutes like Anna and Elsa's lines. As a parent, I was really pleased at how all the princesses took the time to talk to each child.
Rapunzel and Kate.
Cinderella and Kate.
In between character meet and greets, we got in line for the Dumbo ride. This was the most frustrating ride of our entire visit due to mechanical difficulties. However, I was pleased with the play area that was set up in the middle of your wait to help the time go by fast. Each parent was given a beeper and kids played on an indoor jungle gym until the beeper went off. I was disappointed to learn that once the beeper went off, we just got back in line. When ours went off, we were sent into another line and then learned that the ride had stopped working, so they ushered us into another line where we waited another long hour. Thankfully, Kate loved the ride (once she finally got on it)!
After Dumbo, we made our way over to see Daisy and Minnie. The lines there were super short so we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes. Hallelujah. We also saw Donald and Goofy but Kate refused to see them - why, I'm not sure.
Minnie was Kate's favorite character out of everyone we saw. Kate told me, "I love Minnie. She is so huggable".
Kate and Ariel.
Aladdin, Kate and Jasmine!
Harper and Kate with Aladdin and Jasmine.
Kate and Tinkerbell.
Before we left the park that evening, we stopped by to see Mickey. Kate was so excited to see him until it was our turn and then she decided she couldn't go alone so Mommy and Daddy went too! We rode a lot of rides at Magic Kingdom (Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, Dwarf Mine Roller-coaster, etc.) but since I didn't take any pictures then it seems like all we did was see characters all day!
The girls crashed that night and got up early Sunday to explore Hollywood Studios that morning and Epcot that afternoon. We made sure to get to Hollywood Studios before the parked opened that morning so we could be first in line for the Frozen show. It was well worth the effort because the show was fantastic! At the end, there was snow that came floating down from the ceiling. I think daddy even enjoyed it.
After the show, we went to Oaken's Trading Post to play in the snow. Too cool!
We couldn't leave without eating an Elsa cupcake (at 9:30 in the morning)!
After seeing the Frozen show, we went to see the Disney Junior show with Sophia, Jake and Doc McStuffins. It was similar to the Disney Junior show we saw in Tallahassee but not as good. Plus they had the audience sit on the floor - nothing makes you feel old like sitting on the floor for 45 minutes and not being able to get up quickly once the show ended.
Before we ran off to see the Beauty and the Beast show, we stopped by to see Minnie (again). We loved Minnie in her red polka dot dress and Kate was excited to see her for the second time.
The Beauty and the Beast show was the last thing on our agenda for our day at Hollywood Studios. Although there were more rides at that park, all the fast passes were booked and we didn't want to stand in long lines again (over an hour each). Hollywood Studios is one place we will have to go back to and spend the day there.
The end of the Beauty and the Beast show - Kate instructed me to make sure I got a picture of them kissing!
Once we left Hollywood Studios, we took the ferry boat over to Epcot. It was neat seeing some of the Disney resorts on the ride over - maybe someday we will get to stay at one. I have to admit, Epcot is my least favorite park at Disney. In my opinion, it's more for adults than children. The good news was that there were a lot of princesses there so we ran "around the world" trying to see each one. The only one we missed was Mulan (one of Kate's favorite princesses).
Kate and Snow White.
Belle and Kate. I was a little disappointed she wasn't wearing her yellow ball gown but she was still beautiful.
Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Kate.
The girls with Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
That's my least favorite Disney movie. Kate hasn't seen it but she knew who Alice was.
Dancing with their daddy's. There was a cover band playing while we waited in line to see Pooh and Tigger.
Kate started to get upset when it was her turn, but somehow Tigger coaxed her over. He gave her a big hug and she suddenly had the best time with them.
We wrapped up our time at Epcot by riding on Soarin' and the Nemo ride before heading back to the condo.
On Monday, we started off at Magic Kingdom, went over to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon, and then went back over to Magic Kingdom around 6pm to finish out the night. We were on a mission Monday since it was our last day at Disney (the Pledge's were staying the rest of the week). We couldn't leave Disney until Kate met two very important characters - Princess Anna and Princess Elsa. The first day we were at Magic Kingdom, the line to meet them was almost two hours long. To try to avoid the long line, we planned to get to the park and wait for it to open. We still ended up waiting 45 minutes to meet the Princesses, but it was worth it!
Kate and Princess Anna.
Kate dressed up like Princess Anna at Halloween - so glad we brought her dress!
Kate and Princess Elsa.
We couldn't leave Disney without riding the teacups either!
Harper, Mason and Robin
Enjoying the "Dance Party" parade.
Around lunchtime, we drove over to Animal Kingdom to squeeze that in before our time at Disney ended.
We made the most of our afternoon in between thunderstorms (typical Florida weather). We tried to take Kate on the roller-coaster there but she wasn't tall enough so we opted to see "A Bug's Life", ride the Dinosaur ride and go on the safari excursion!
Before we left, we were able to see one more princess - Pocahontas!
Our last characters to meet that night were Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen! Since it was our last night there, we stayed for the parade, watched the fireworks and let Kate ride her most favorite ride one more time: The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (roller-coaster).
Kate was passed out before we got to the car!
It was a wonderful trip and worth every penny to watch Kate's face light up with excitement! It won't be too long until we come back for Mason's first Disney trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment