Epcot

On our final day we decided to start at Epcot thinking we end up back at another park to finish our amazing week.  Instead, we stayed for over 12 hours at Epcot.

The day just kept getting better and better!

We didn't even see Mickey Mouse until 8 PM! 

 

 

We started with a ride in the "big ball." 

 

 

I was beginning to wonder how we could spend this much time at WDW and not see the big guy.

But we found him and caught our second wind!

 

The children really enjoyed visiting the different country areas.  It was very cool how the back streets made you feel like you were really in another country...only at Disney!

 

 

 

We took another late, long lunch to recoup for the rest of the day!

 

One of the best surprises at Epcot was the aquarium. 

We have been to aquariums before but this was amazing!

 



 

We all saw our first manatee together!

It was apparently feeding time and they were all over!

 

The Nemo ride and exhibit were a hit!

One of our last stops was an interact Talking With Crush experience.  I had heard this was cool but didn't have high expectations.  But it was really neat.  And  out of all the children he chose brother to interact with...them mom.  It was fun and I captured it all on my iPhone!

 

We ended a fabulous week with a surprise long day at Epcot.

The memories were made and lots of bonding took place.

I think we can even convince daddy to take us again...in 5 years or so!!

Animal Kingdom

 

We (before children) first went to Animal Kingdom not too long after it opened...boy has it changed.  The Safari ride was still amazing and there was so much more to do!

 

 

We had lots of culture to experience.

 

It was a sunny cool morning so the animals were awake and moving around for perfect viewing.

We saw all kinds of animals up close!

 

We were there on Thanksgiving day and at one point I looked up and saw this.

Awesome!

Not a traditional Thanksgiving lunch but yummy Indian cuisine!!

 



 

Lil sis and I sat out most big rides but boy she was a trooper for many!!!

I love the look on all of our faces on the Dinosaur ride!

 

Silly Boy!

 

And of course we had to have Mickey Mouse ice cream!

These two were so brave...well big sis was brave and daddy was just being his good self and wouldn't tell her no.  He is not a roller coaster ride and turned me off of them long ago.  So when big sis wanted to ride them all, he went with her.  Have I mentioned how awesome he is?!?
Brother hung with them for most but sat the one behind them in the picture out.  It was Expedition Everest and by daddy's account pretty intense.  Big sis LOVED every minute!

We saved the white water rapids ride for later in the day.

We all had fun and rode many times wondering why there was no line....until we were all soaked and it was in the low 60s!  It was a cold track back to the bus!

 Brother and daddy rode a few times more than the girls!

Our wet family...well actually big sis wore a poncho and was pretty dry!

 

Making Memories!

Hollywood Studios

 

We were not sure what to expect from Hollywood Studios but had a wonderful day.

We tried several days to get back for a partial day but were not able to fit it back in.

 

 

Lil sis decided on Fairy Ears. 

She was proud and wore them well!

We broke the day up with a nice Italian meal early afternoon.
Brother was proud of his spaghetti and meatball cupcake ( I was too!)

 This gave us energy to power through!

 

We saw the Beauty and Beast performance.

It was great!

 

The Star Tours was awesome.  Still can't believe lil sis hung with us for this.

 

The stunt show was unbelievable. 

Everywhere was beautifully decorated but Hollywood Studios had the most amazing lights...everywhere!!!  We drank frozen lemonade and walked around.  Weird feeling but it was almost 80 this day!

Another magical day in the books.

Characters

 

I was not surprised that the children were excited to meet some of there favorite characters...especially lil sis.  The first thing she said when we told her we were going to Disney was that she needed to tell Snow White she was 4 now ( she had her at her third birthday party!)!

It was amazing how true to character they all stayed...for hours.

They made each child feel special.

 

 

We did one character meal with Pooh and his Hundred Acre Woods friends.

The food was fantastic but the look on their faces was priceless!!!

 



 

She adored meeting Ariel.  There was just a special look on her face the whole time.  She asked her where she got the sparkly flower from.  Nemo of course!!!

 

Where dreams come true...

Magic Kindom

We spent two magical days in the Magic Kingdom.

 

 

This was our very first morning on the monorail.

They were anticipating the day ahead.

 

 

Its a Small World was our very first ride.

I clearly remember riding this as a child!

 

 

The big kids loved Space Mountain and other coasters that lil sis and I were not up for!

 

 

Lil sis LOVED this show in front of the castles.  We had caught parts of it all day but went back for front row viewing of the last show of the day.

 

 

That's daddy and big sis on the back row (not daddy's Carolina Blue!)

 

When we divided brother was my partner and daddy has his girls.

 

Dumbo!  It had be refurbished but still just perfect!

 



 

 

One night big sis and I went back to see the 250, 000 lights on the castle and see a parade.

It was perfect as we decided to do second parade and had the park to ourselves as most be people were lining up over an hour before it started!

 

 

We were cold and tired but the 11:00 parade but she loved it.

 

This park lived up to the hype for us!!!