Back in the saddle...and Disney World 2011

I just realized that I completely forgot to post about JK and AA's Christmas dance show. Shame on me! I'll get to it soon, I promise!

BTW...this is going to be a long post. Just consider yourself warned!

We headed back to Disney World on the 8th of January. Yes, folks, it's official. We are Disney people. We love Disney World and can't wait to go back! This will be an every 3 year thing or so, as we want the girls to know that there is more in this country to see than just Disney!

Disney Day 1:

We drove down in the morning and went straight to Downtown Disney. Shopping is always on the girls' radar, so we spent some time in the World of Disney store. $45 later, we walked to the T-Rex restaurant for dinner. This place was amazing! We sat in the "Ice Age" room and enjoyed a meteor shower while we ate.

After dinner, we went to check in at our "we are only staying here for one night so I don't mind paying only $35 for the room" hotel. Boy, oh, boy. Let's just say that we ended up spending another $150 for a room at the Holiday Inn in the Downtown Disney area. I didn't see the room for myself, but if my husband will walk away from money then it had to be bad!

A good night's sleep was had by all, and we were ready for our first full day at the park!

Disney Day 2:

It was our first day in the parks. We left the Holiday Inn and checked in at the POP Century Resort, got our park/room/dining plan keys and we were off! Finally! Magic Kingdom was first on our list. We met Daisy right when we got there, which was great, since we didn't get to see her last time! We were so pumped to see that some of the Christmas decorations were still up! After a few family shots in front of the Castle, we headed toward Fantasyland and ran into the Fairy Godmother! Dumbo was the first ride of the day. JK and LB were able to ride together (they thought they were big stuff), Billie rode with AA, and I was able to be with EG on her very first ride! It was a hit...and she was hooked! Here's what our day looked like after this:

* Tried to pull the sword from the stone (unsuccessfully)
* Met Mary Popppins
* Rode Cinderella's Carousel
* Watched Mickey's PhilharMagic
* Rode It's a Small World
* Rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
* Rode the Peter Pan ride
* Had lunch at Tony's Town Square (remember this place from "Lady and the Tramp"?)
* Met Snow White (AA made something for her and it made Snow White's day!)
* Met Tiana (this was a huge hit with EG!)
* Met Woody and Jessie (LB handed over her gift to Jessie)
* Rode Big Thunder Mountain
* Met Aladdin and Jasmine
* Met Ariel and Prince Eric
* Ate dinner (somewhere!)
* Rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
* Rode the Peoplemover
* Rode the Carousel of Progress
* Went back to our resort and moved in to our rooms for the week

I'm sure I've forgotten something. I'm getting tired just looking at that list! No wonder I walked over 7 miles that day!

Disney Day 3:

Our second park day was spent at EPCOT. This is a favorite park for us and we couldn't wait to get there! I did the girls' hair with colorful clips, twists and spray glitter. We made it for rope drop and headed straight for Test Track. AA wasn't tall enough in 2008, but she was this time and boy was she excited! Billie, JK and AA rode Test Track while LB, EG, and I waited for them. (EG was too short...there's always next time!) Here's the recap:

* Rode Spaceship Earth
* Rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends
* Turtle Talk with Crush (JK got to ask Crush a question!)
* Walked through the aquarium
* Ate lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant
* Met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, and Chip & Dale (EPCOT character spot)
* Rode Soarin'
* Headed to the World Showcase
* Spent time in Mexico, Norway, Germany, & China
* Did a KimPossible Mission
* Met Mulan
* Watched the Chinese acrobats (amazing!)
* Ate dinner in Morocco
* Watched Illuminations
* Back to the resort

Another long but wonderful day!

Disney Day 4:

Park day #3! Animal Kingdom, here we come! We made it for rope drop again, even though we never tried! Kilamanjaro Safaris was our first stop. We absolutely love seeing the animals in their natural habitats. There was a giraffe that got pretty close to our little car, but thankfully didn't try to get in with us! After the Safari:

* Walked the Pangani Forrest Exploration Trail
* Watched the Festival of the Lion King show (We were chosen for front row seats and LB got to help, as well as all of the girls leading the parade around the theater!)
* Met Lilo and Stitch (even though we've never seen this movie)
* Ate lunch at the Tusker House
* Watched Finding Nemo the Musical (preferred seating for this show because of our lunch reservation)
* Saw DeVine in the forest trail
* Walked around the Tree of Life
* Billie and I rode Expedition Everest
* Dinner at our resort
* Nighttime pics of the resort with the girls

Disney Day 5:

And we're off...to Hollywood Studios! Rope drop happened for us again...Billie made his way to the front of the crowd while the girls and I hung back with the stroller. He was going to "walk with a purpose" to Toy Story Mania to get fast passes for us for later, since the ride is so popular. The girls and I finally made it to the back of the park by Toy Story and saw Billie is line for passes. I saw that the standby line was only 10 minutes long, so we decided to wait and ride it. JK and LB rode together, I rode with AA and Billie rode with EG. Thanks to the fast passes, we were able to ride it twice that day! After Toy Story:

* Walk through Chronicles of Narnia and saw Aslan's Table and costumes from the movie
* Rode Toy Story again (LB and EG together, JK and AA together and Billie and I rode together)
* I rode the Tower of Terror with AA and Billie rode it with LB
* Ate lunch at the Sci Fi Dine In Theater (a drive in!)
* JK participated in a small street show...too much fun to watch
* Watch Beauty and the Beast live on stage (another fave of ours)
* Did the Disney Animation class (twice in a row)
* Met Mr. Incredible and Frozone
* Met Lotso from Toy Story 3
* Took some pics on a Star Wars thing (can't remember what it's called)
* Went to eat at Toy Story Pizza Planet, but it was closed already (boo)
* Headed back to the resort for dinner

We had a very full day again...but we don't expect anything else when we go to Disney World!

Disney Day 6:

We started out this completely cold day with breakfast reservations at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom (our second day there). We got to meet Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. It was good to have a nice warm breakfast! After breakfast, our goal was to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder from "Tangled". We finally found them and got to the line just as they were about to take a break. So at least we were first in line when it started up again! Flynn Ryder gave the girls the "smolder" and they all blushed like crazy...it was a sight to see! After their faces cooled down, we moved on to:

* Meet Pinochio
* Met the the Fairies (Fawn, Vidia and Tinkerbell) in Pixie Hollow
* Met Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty
* Rode the Mad Hatter's Tea Party
* Met Alice
* Rode Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
* Met Buzz
* Snacked for lunch
* Watched the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade
* Rode the Pirates of the Caribbean
* Billie and I rode Space Mountain
* Dinner at Pecos Bill's
* Got our spot for the light parade
* Watched the Main Street Electrical Parade
* Froze
* Watched the fireworks
* Froze
* Got back to the room and hit the sack

Starting to really get worn out! But we're still smiling! One more full day left!

Disney Day 7:

Our last day came bright and early! EG woke up with a fever, so we gave some Motrin and Benadryl and went to attack the day! We headed out for our second day at EPCOT. Test Track had some technical difficulties our first day there, so LB, AA, and I got back in line since we had missed it earlier in the week. After TT, we made our way back over to the World Showcase:

* Spent time in England, France, Japan and Morocco
* Watched a really cool acrobat in France
* Split up and did 2 KimPossible Missions
* Met the Beast
* Headed to the Grand Floridian for Dinner with Cinderella
* Met Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, Drizella, Anastasia and Prince Charming
* Went back to the resort full and tired
* Got both rooms packed up and ready to head home the next day (boo!)

Disney Day 8:

We woke up sad this morning. Couldn't believe it was time to check out and head home already! After loading up the car, we walked around some of the resort for some fun pics of the girls by the huge icons! We checked out around lunch time and went back to downtown Disney for one last hoorah. Then we left. Sad. We were so tired and full of Disney after being in Orlando for 8 days, but we are so ready to go back! It was a great trip, completely worth the year that it took to save up for, and we enjoyed our first vacation with just the 6 of us! More please?!?

If you've made it this far, congratulations. You deserve a gold star! I hope you enjoyed just a taste of our week (I took over 1000 photos, but only posted about 300 of them). We loved the POP Century resort, loved having 2 rooms and will definitely return to this one! After all, we are only in our rooms long enough to sleep anyway...Zzzzz...which is about all we did for 3 days when we got home!

Until next time...