So, it seems I only blog when we travel and/or I have a lot of pictures to share with you. :)
The girls and I just returned last night from Disney World! It was our big surprise Christmas present from Matt. He has to be in Orlando this whole week for work, so we went down as a family this past Thursday. We spent Friday and Saturday in the Parks, and the girls and I left him and few home last night (Sunday). The nice part is that we didn't have to pay for his plane ticket because he's there for work. The girls did miss 2 days of school, but they are both straight-A students, so we aren't too worried about it. Their teachers were super supportive.
Matt planned quite a bit ahead of time through our Disney travel agent that we used for our Disney Cruise. (I would love to recommend her, let me know if you'd like her name. It's a totally free service.) He had reservations booked at the Disney resort, the Contemporary, plus several dining reservations. After he surprised us on Christmas, I took over and planned our Fast Passes for rides and such. It is a fun addiction for me.
When we left home, it was a balmy 8 degrees. Brrr! But we knew we were headed to Florida, so we didn't want to take coats. Big, warm sweatshirts, it was. Here are the girls on the plane:
When we landed in Orlando, it was cloudy and maybe a little misty, but I swear, the second, we passed under the gates for the Magic Kingdom, the sun came out. I kid you not. It was so nice to see green and flowers. Abby had a cold pop up the day before we left and it just mysteriously disappeared after we got down there. Lily had no asthma problems, and all static-y hair went away! We needed some sun, and warm air, I think.
Our first snack at the resort had to be Mickey shaped, right?
Friday morning was brisk (50's), but sunny.
It did our souls good to see flowers and green grass!
The entry of the Magic Kingdom:
The required castle shot
(they were cleaning or painting or something...
the crane was there most of the day)
Waiting in line for Lily's first coaster... the Barnstormer! Not so coincidently, this was also Abby's first coaster a few years ago.
Here she goes!
(Verdict: She loved it. And requested to ride it again immediately, just like Abby did 2.5 years ago.)
After the Barnstormer, we rode the newest ride at the Magic Kingdom: The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It was awesome, and worth the wait. I think it's the longest wait at the Magic Kingdom if you don't have a Fast Pass. We wanted to ride it again but when we tried to get another Fast Pass, there weren't any available.
This is the fountain at Gaston's Tavern. We got the popular drink, LeFou's Brew. It's "frozen apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow, topped with all natural passion fruit-mango foam." It was yummy.
We also scored a churro. It was on our "must do" list. Lily and I LOVED it.
More castle pics...
Spinning, spinning on the Mad Tea Party.
(Matt refuses to ride this because he swears he will get sick. I call him a wimp.)
The girls also checked Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain off their roller coaster list. They were both tall enough! We rode Haunted Mansion and they both hated it. Too scary.
We finally stayed and watched the night show, "Wishes."
LOVED it.
Day 2
Sore feet from yesterday.
Epcot.
Mickey Waffles.
I swear, they do something to them to make them taste better than ordinary waffles.
The girls insisted they wanted to stand on the monorail. This got old after about 4 minutes. Then they sat.
Nemo
We did Turtle Talk with Crush and Crush actually called on Lily and talked to her! She did great!
We all rode Soarin' for the first time at Epcot. It was amazing. It is a ride that simulates parasailing over the state of California for those of you who don't know. It was super cool.
The girls' last shot before we left on Sunday:
