Sunday, February 23, 2014

Day 2 at Disney!

Day 2 at Disney we visited magic Kingdom.

This trip was really different. For 1 the girls didn't want to stop and see every character. They were more interested in the rides. 

Which makes me think we will have to take Mia back later so she can have her pictures with pooh, piglet and the characters like the big girls do.

Anyway-we arrived at park opening and headed straight to new fantasyland.

They still are working on the seven dewarfs mine ride. I feel like this roller coaster is going to be awesome-or a big let down. It has taken the longest time. 3 trips-still not complete. But it is closer than before. (Positive right?)

We rode the new Ariel ride, met Ariel, rode dumbo,
barnstormer, Peter Pan, pooh, teacups. We had breakfast at Gastons tavern. The cinnamon rolls are awesome! Split one! 
We did enchanted tales with belle-aubrie was chip! It was adorable.

..then we has lunch at the beast castle. It is set up as quick service for lunch and it was amazing! 

After that, the waits got LONG. When people tell you Christmas week is the busiest time-it is. Honestly in the dead of summer during our last 3 trips-it has not been near as bad as this one. Waits were over 180 minutes for some rides. Good thing this wasn't our first trip and we were prepared for this.

We watched all the parades and enjoyed sight seeing all the Christmas decorations. 

We hopped on the monorail to grand Floridian to see the giant gingerbread house and the decorations there. 

We met some princesses. At the new storybook hall you can get in Cinderella and guest line or Rapunel and guest line. We chose Cinderella this day.

We rode splash mountain and big thunder railroad.

Our dinner plan was to eat at Casey's hotdog on main street-but they took the Chicago dog off the menu. So we ate at Pecos bills. We had taco salads-and BBQ sandwiches. They were okay-nothing like flametree at animal kingdom.

After that we got our seats for the electrical parade and fireworks. We say right in front of the castle. And let me say-the crowds are worth it to see the castle lit up for Christmas.

It snowed on main street and it was so much fun to see the girls reactions! 

We left there after 16 hours! And we were exhausted!

Now-magic bands.

I was stoked to get to test magic bands. On site guest get them now-soon they will be available for others. They are a braclet with a chip in it. Everyone wears them and it is your room key, dining ticket, fast pass and photo pass all in one. You touch it to a little round mickey and boom-your in.
The positives. These are awesome to keep you from having to keep up with everything. They are waterproof. And they are comfortable. (Also I asked and if your child gets lost, they can track them)

The negatives. With these you can only have 3 fast passes a day. Before you were limited by hour/timeframe. If you don't space them out correctly and stay 16 hours...you are bored and the waits are 180 minutes.

So lesson: plan your day with fast passes for the entire frame you plan to be at the park-and plan to wait during the other times.

Day 3-is next! Stay tuned!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Disney 2013 Christmas surprise!

We were stoked to wake up Christmas morning to find these!
We opened the one that said "open me first" and it was a letter from Santa saying we were going to Disney!!! We unwrapped the rest of our loot magic bands, new Disney wear, Disney headbands game, new backpacks full of stuff for the plane...and we headed to the airport.

Our flight took 1 hour and 45 minutes! Such a change from the 12 hour drive! 

When we got to the airport we had to scan our magic bands to check in to the magical express. Then we were whisked away to our resort.
We stayed at the Art of Animation resort. Here is my review. 
It is an amazingly awesome resort. You feel the Disney love at every inch of that place. The pools are amazing (there are 3.) the decor is simply stunning.
We stayed at the little mermaid section. (Also there is Nemo, Cars and lion king) Santa chose little mermaid because he heard the girls saying they wanted to stay there. Note: you walk a heck of a way if you stay at little mermaid. If you want to stay close to the buses and food-choose Nemo. 

We rented a stroller again and once we picked it up and pottied we headed to Epcot!

I love to start at Epcot because it gives you a good, relaxing intro to the happiest place in the world. 

We rode soaring, Nemo, spaceship earth, maelstrom...we are ice cream and dined in Mexico! It was an awesome first day!

Come back tomorrow for day 2 and more on the magic bands!