Day 3. Hollywood studios!

Day 3 we went to Hollywood studios. (as I've said before the Park I least adore. Disney could do so much more here!)

Anyway-We started the morning in a split up rush-Todd ran to Toy Story Mania to get Fastpasses and the rest of us in the grew went to sign Gavin (or little friend) up for Jedi Training.

Once we got the "have to before they run outs" done-it was off to meet some characters!

The kids have never seen "singing in the rain" and its featured 2x at Hollywood Studios so we had to add it to our "movies to watch this summer" list :)

 My girls weren't digging the annual "picture in front of the hat" this year.

 After some character meetings Gavin got to go to Jedi training! This was really fun to watch! He used his powers to "Stop The Force!" very fun! We had lunch! Then after that...we were HOT. So we hung out in the Animation place watching people take pictures with more characters.

 Then we got into the action---I love this picture of Daddy Byrd and baby boy byrd

 we made our annual stop at the Honey I Shrunk the kids play area! (find Chris)

 We rode some rides....and then headed to dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby. Let me explain. This has been my favorite restaurant. It now takes 2 dining credits. I knew my meal (the Cobb salad) was going to be $15.00. And the kids eat the chicken soup (under $5) so it was pointless for us to use table points for this. So we paid out of pocket. Well-Our server was the worst server we had in Disney world. He never came to check on us. We only got one refill in the 1.5 we were there. All-in-all it was a sad experience. (And that makes me so sad because I ADORE the brow derby!) but this trip it was at the bottom of the experience list.

(and yes-she was really asleep. This became a tradition for her at dinner...right after I ordered her food :)

Day 2 Magic Kingdom!

Magic Kingdom.

Its just a great wonderful place that makes life feel like nothing bad can ever happen to you.

On day 2 we woke up VERY early make our breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey.

Like our previous experiences it was a delight but it is no longer my favorite (more on that later)

After breakfast we monorailed over to the Magic Kingdom where we got to watch the Opening Ceremonies. (Personal Goal: To be the family of the day next trip)

We started in Fantasyland. First ride. Peter Pan. We walked on! No Wait!

Then we trucked over to Small World, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh, Teacups, Tomorrow Land Speedway, Dumbo, and played in the new Casey Splash Park.

WHEW! After all that (around 11) we headed to the hotel for 1)Lunch 2)A swim 3) a nap!

I can not stress how much you need naps in Disney!

One of my favorite things about the All-Star Resorts is the Quesadillas they have for lunch. Quick Service meal and AWESOME!

We headed back to the park around 5pm. We had dinner at the Crystal Palace! The food was my least favorite meal of the entire trip. It just left a lot to be desired.

After Dinner we rode Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Aladdin's magic carpets, all the fanstyland rides (again) then watched the Electrical Parade & Fireworks!

It was EMH at Magic Kingdom so we were there until 2am! We enjoyed tomorrowland during the early morning!

Day 3 We went to Hollywood Studios....stay tuned!



Disney Day 1: Epcot

Our first day at Disney we visited Epcot! This year the girls were really into Epcot and all it had to offer. A lot of adults think Epcot is geared more towards adults and not so much kids! I disagree!
and here is why!

When we arrived we rode Finding Nemo first, then we did Turtle talk with crush and explored the aquarium!

After we left the "seas" we went to the "land". Here we rode Soarin (awesome ride!) and Living with the Land, this was a really cool ride because we got to see how Disney grows the vegetables, fish, etc. that we would be eating while in Disney!

When we left the Land headed back to ride spaceship earth. I must be honest. This was my first time EVER on this ride it was neat to go up...then come down. The kids enjoyed "creating their future" on the screen in the ride cart!

I love Epcot because you can knock out majority of the princesses and the fab 5 without a lot of wait!

The fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto) can be found at the Epcot Character Spot!

The princesses can be found in Norway at Akershus (we saw belle in gold dress, cinderella, sleeping beauty, ariel, and snow white) and throughout the countries (we saw Jasmine, Mulan and Belle in blue dress with the beast!) the longest we waited was 15 minutes and that was for the beast :)

We had Lunch at La Cantina in Mexico (really good Pollo Tacos!)

and then we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour in the Mexico Pavilion!

We went back and rode soarin again before dinner (hello Fastpasses!)

then headed to Norway for dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall!

After dinner we rode Maelstroms (in Norway) and got our snacks for the firework show! The girls went with Mickey Ice Cream Bars!

We enjoyed the fireworks then headed back to the hotel! We originally were planning on staying at the All-Star Music Resort but once we got into our rooms that evening we had distinct mold smell. So we called the front desk and they had us moved to the All-Star Movies! (more on that later!)

Our first day at Epcot was a good one! We knew we had another day to tour the countries so we were relaxed and enjoyed Future World! Stay tuned! Tomorrow we head to Magic Kingdom!

Big Announcement!

I am so excited to announce that I am now a "DIVA" on the blog Tips from the Disney Diva

I joined this awesome group of Disney loving writers a few weeks ago and have already learned so much from the Divas!

My Diva name is "Food Diva" well, simply because there isn't a lot of food I do not enjoy! I will be sharing money saving tips on how to eat like Scrooge McDuck without his pocketbook! Where you can find good/healthy food, Dining with the Fish....and much more!

My first article posted today "Character Greetings"

I am so excited about this adventure and can't wait to share a whole new slew of tips with Disney Friends!

We leave tomorrow!!!


*Love and Pixie Dust!,

Sarah
#gone2Disney

LAST WEEK!!!

4 days until we leave. I can not believe its finally HERE!

I believe everything for the trip is ready-we are packed, backpacks ready, stroller reserved, early check-in complete, dining reservations made, "agenda" for the week done, Pins ready to trade, road trip supplies a go....I think it is just time to get here!


For you tech savvy people: I have a pinterest board with fun Disney Things:

and.....you can follow us on twitter during the trip (@SarahBroadus) or #gone2disney

stay tuned during the week for some exciting announcements! :)

Leading up to vacation!

7 days! 7 Days! SEVEN DAYSSSSSS!!!!!

We are FINALLY headed to Disney World in seven magical days!

Today we are going to talk about leading up to the vacation and ways to stay calm and focus during the homestretch.

leading up to vacation (esp. these last few days) is one of the most exciting times. The anticipation builds. EVERYDAY we are watching Disney Movies, Disney YouTube, and doing some sort of activity. Alot of bloggers, I have researched, suggest Tinkerbell gifts. These are little magical happies that usually come from the wonderful world Dollar Tree or the magical bins at Target. I, do love some Tinkerbell gifts, However...I reserve them for special times (waiting in a long line, right before the parade, on the last morning) I prefer to lead up to vacation by helping the anticipation.

For example: We have 4 kids going on this trip 3 are old enough for Pirates League and Bippity Boppity Boutique...1 is not. Instead of that one missing out-we had an "adventure day" where they got to go to the pirate leage or bippity boppity boutique and go on a treasure hunt. They understood why we were doing it here and not there and were just as happy!

Another thing is we make "list". A list of rides we want to ride, A list of snacks we want to eat, A list of characters we want to meet.

One day-we worked on our penny press holders (take an empty mini M&M container and decorate the outside with stickers...stack 2 quarters and a penny all the way up)



The kids favorite thing is picking out what Disney movies they get to watch in the car. ;)

Whats some of the ways you lead up to your Disney Vacation? 

The one "off the wall" thing you need for Disney.

When people ask me, "what is the ONE thing I need for Disney" my response always gets a weird look.

The answer: Ziploc Bags.

After you book your trip-make your dining reservations-you need to head to the dollar store and pick up a few boxes of Ziploc bags in different sizes.

Here is some of the things we use them for:

1) packing. I pack everything in ziplocs-the kids outfits/labled for what day&what park, our cool kits, socks/undi*es, autograph books, you name it...it gets packed in a ziploc.

cool off kits-personal fans-wash cloths-misting fans

2) Snacks: I buy a big box of goldfish or trailmix and then divide it out into single servings. ALSO-i pack all our single servings in 1 big ziploc.

3)Keeping valuables dry during water rides. I have our camera, phones, etc in a ziploc in my backpack. That way they don't get ruined if I need them.

4)Dirties: On rainy days at the park, socks get wet. I always have a fresh pair in our "extra clothes ziploc" so we take the wet ones off and stick them in the dirties sack.

5) Trash in the car: I keep one gallon size in the kids travel box for trash. That way its not all over the car.

6) LEFTOVERS: When you go to a meal and there is a muffin or apple or something left over that you can use for snack later....pull out an empty ziploc and store it! You have paid for that food (Either in Dining Plan Points or Cash) so use it later. **DISCLAIMER: DO NOT go to an all-you-care to eat and load up ziplocs from the buffet....Not cool.**

We are just 8 days from our trip! I am so excited to share with you all the fun details that have gone into our planning! -Stay tuned!