Disney Magic, Part 4: Animal Kingdom & Our Last Day

Oh my word, almost 2 months after the fact I am finally going to wrap up our Disney series. I'd like to say that I'm not sure where the time has gone, but to say we've been busy is an understatement. We just finished up having a week of house guests and Mardi Gras - and it's detox time at the Wilsons.

More about that in a bit, this post is about our last two days at Disney!

On our third full day at Disney, panic set in as this was our last full day and we were so not ready for the magic to be over.  Our bodies were beyond exhausted, but we felt like we still had so much to do and so much to take in!

The weather was the prettiest it had been the entire trip and it only got nicer as the week went on.  When we arrived it was crisp/cold and wet and by the time we left, we could have gone swimming!

We started our day just as we did every other, with coffee and muffins and made it out of the hotel around noon.  However, Mr. got up extra early to run over to Hollywood Studios to get FASTPASS for Buzz & Woody's Toy Story Mania.  At park opening, our returning time was at 6:45PM, which just shows how crazy packed the parks were!  We literally had to plan our day around that time.

So, our first stop for the day was Animal Kingdom, followed by our late lunch/early dinner reservations before our call time back at Buzz & Woody.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom and had a pretty awesome time, although It's Tough to be a Bug! totally freaked Jackson out:) We quickly changed gears, and headed to DinoLand where he was happy as can be! Jackson and Amelia even took a quick nap while the adults cooled off with some adult beverages and rides. 

Before we knew it, it was time to head over to the Animal Kingdom lodge for our dinner reservations at Boma inside the resort.  When we got to the lodge we were able to walk around and check out all of the amazing animals roaming around.  We considered staying there, so we wanted to see what the grounds had to offer.  I have to say that while it would have been pretty awesome to have giraffes outside our window each morning, we much preferred the location and convenience of the Swan.

Dinner was so much better than we expected it to be, we were all a little nervous about the African cuisine.  But, the only thing we didn't care for was the African beer (we had to stick with our around the world beer tour theme). 

After dinner our group parted ways and we headed back to Hollywood Studios to take Jackson on Toy Mania while the rest of the group went back to Animal Kingdom to ride Expedition Everest.  It was the first time that we had been just the three of us all week, so we enjoyed some quality family time! Toy Mania was a bit of a disappointment, but with our FASTPASS we were in and out of the park in no time and headed back to Magic Kingdom.

We spent the rest of the night with Jackson checking out the castle, touring the haunted mansion, carouseling through progress, and doing a little shopping on Main Street before the last parade of the night.  I don't think any of us wanted the night to end, but sadly Jackson got tired and it was time to get him to bed.  By the time we got back to the hotel, Loli & Pop had the bed all ready for him and it was time for our last sibling night out!

I'm pretty sure our feet never hurt so bad and we were craving our beds with every bone in our body, but even Mr. wanted to get in our last 2 hours at Disney:) So, fish and chips were washed down with cold beers and we made our way around the world at Epcot again and closed down the night at the Dance Hall and Jellyrolls, in our UGGs on the dance floor.  Have you ever tried to dance in UGGS?!? :)

The morning quickly came and it was time to pack up and load the cars to head home - but not without one last walk through Epcot to get more pictures for Loli & Mickey Mouse for Jackson!

So long Disney, hopefully we'll see you again soon (and with a couple more grand kids for Loli & Pop!)

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Disney Magic, Part 3: Epcot & Magic Kingdom

In case you've missed the first couple of Disney posts, you can read them here and here.

On Wednesday, our second full day at Disney, the weather was beautiful so we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom.  When we got to the lobby of our hotel, they warned us that the 2 mile bus ride to Magic Kingdom was taking at least an hour.  Remember how I said this was the busiest week to come to Disney, well if you weren't staying at on property you couldn't even get into the park! Seriously, we had to show our room keys to enter the park. 

Another tip I forgot to mention in my earlier post is to download a couple of the park app's on your smart phone.  They tell you which parks are the busiest and wait times for all the lines, it was helpful to plan our days.  

Since the traffic was so bad getting over to the Magic Kingdom, we decided to take a boat ride from our hotel, across the lagoon to Epcot, and take the monorail over from there.  This worked out really well for us, as we were able to jump in non-existent lines to see Nemo, Crush and the Dinosaurs at Epcot! Jackson loved Nemo and Amelia got a nice little nap in during our dinosaur adventure, which Kiki (me) loved to pieces:)

Of course, we had to grab our mickey ears ice cream for lunch and then we hopped on the monorail and headed to the Magic Kingdom.  The monorail may have been Jackson's second favorite part about the trip, after meeting Buzz & Woody.  He seriously could have ridden on the monorail all day and been happy as a clam!

We finally arrived at the Magic Kingdom (with the rest of the world) and my heart could have burst with excitement.  The lines were insanely long, but we were all really just happy being there and taking it all in.  My siblings and I had already ridden all of the rides that we cared to ride on Monday night, so it really was just all about Jackson and Amelia. 

We took a few pictures, stood in line to see Pluto, got Jackson another balloon, and before we knew it, it was time to head to the Liberty Tree Tavern for the afternoon parade and early dinner.  Both the parade and dinner were equally enjoyable and perfect for us. 

The next few hours were spent standing in line for Pirates of the Caribbean and walking around just taking it all in.  Jackson loved the castle and was amazed every time we walked passed it! And since the lines were so ridiculous long for rides, we ended up on the carousel.  Yes, we came all the way to Disney and rode on a carnival ride, but Jackson knew no different:)

And no trip to Disney is complete without an ice cream cone from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on main street, even in the freezing cold.  For as long as I can remember, we have always gotten our ice cream just in time to watch the Electric parade and firework show at the end of the day.  This trip was no different, except for the fact that just before we stood in line to meet Minnie & Mickey at the Town Square Theater! Oh the magic!

Next up, our last day at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom take 2!

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Disney Magic, Part 2: Hollywood Studios

Our first day of Disney magic was technically Monday evening, the day after Christmas. However, that included a stroll through Epcot with the whole family until the babies were worn out and ready for bed. At that point, my mom and step-dad took Jackson and Amelia back to the hotel for bed, and the rest of us went on to the Magic Kingdom until the wee hours of the morning.

With that said, we certainly were not early to rise the next morning. It was nice to have enjoyed a night full of rides and have that out of our system, since the kids were not going to ride Space and/or Splash Mountain!

Tuesday was a cool and rainy day, so we decided to go to Hollywood Studios. On our walk over to the park it started to pour down rain and lightening. We ended up seeking shelter at the ESPN Zone and waited for the rain to pass. Two beers and many arcade games later, we were finally on our way over to the park!

As we walked in, we caught the end of their afternoon parade aka the first Buzz and Woody sighting! Jackson started waving away and saying, "hi, friends, hi!". It was the sweetest thing to this momma's ears!

We made our way through the park and quickly learned that the week after Christmas is the busiest week for Disney. This information would have been good to know when we booked the trip, but we made do. Since we've all been to Disney so many time before, we were really happy just being there and walking the streets.

Since the lines were hours long for just about everything, we decided to check out the characters. To be honest, this is something we've never really done before. When we were little, the characters just walked around the parks. You didn't have to wait and stand in hour long lines for your picture or anything like it is now.

Pooh and Mickey were the characters of the hour, so my mom and sister took Jackson to Pooh (his line was much shorter) and I waited in line for Magical Mickey while the guys tried to get Fast Passes for Buzz & Woody's ride.

Side note: The Buzz & Woody ride was nearly impossible to get Fast Passes for. The last morning, Mr. walked over to the park at opening and ran for the pass. Our returning time was 7PM that night. And had I known that the ride was basically an arcade that Jackson was way too young for, we would have skipped it all together!

Luckily, the two character lines were close enough for me to see Jackson meet Pooh for the first time. I shed a tear. It was the sweetest thing ever to watch him run up and give Pooh the biggest hug. Pooh was my favorite character growing up, I had a slight obsession.

The magic and sweetness never wore off for any of us. Jackson loved meeting every single character. He hugged and kissed them all and called them friends. I don't think I'll ever forget that part of the trip, or the excitement of meeting Buzz Lightyear and Woody - that had us all crying.

Next up on the character list was Lightning McQueen and Mater.

And then, in true Disney magic, we saw the most spectacular Christmas light show and experienced our first "snow" of the week.

The sunset brought a crispness to the air and it was time to get the babies back to the warm hotel room and tucked into bed...and then it was round 2 of sibling fun as we headed to Epcot for our beer tour around the world.  Unfortunately, I have no photos of the sibling pyramid we build in front of the Epcot ball or any photos for that matter.  I guess what happens at Disney after hours, stays at Disney:)

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Disney Magic, Part 1: Tips

Growing up, my parents took my sister and I to Disney World at least once a year from the time I was born until we were out of high school. Before my grandpa retired, his office was on Disney property. Therefore, we were incredibly lucky that we basically had season passes to the most magical place in the world! My parents would load us in the car and drive through the night from St. Louis to Orlando to see my dad's parents and Micky Mouse.  And even now, many years later, after my parents divorced and my grandparent's passed away, we continue to find our way back every few years.

It's no surprise or secret that I've been dreaming of taking Jackson to Disney since the day he was born.  Having experienced the magic so many times before, I have been chomping at the bit to go as a Mommy and see it all through Jackson's eyes.  So, you can imagine the excitement when my mom called 9 days before Christmas and told us that Santa was taking the family to Disney - the day after Christmas!

Let me back-up and say that my mom and step-dad were planning on taking the family to Aruba this summer, as our Christmas gift.  They were in the process of booking our plane tickets and my sister and I half joking, told our mom that a trip to Disney would be better than a week in Aruba.  Just to float the idea out there... Don't get me wrong, the trip to St. John's last summer was amazing.  But, packing up 3 jeeps loads of us, washing beach towels and packing coolers every.single.day and protecting 2 babies from the Caribbean sun wasn't exactly paradise.  It was a great time, but it was a lot of work and travel, especially with 11 people.

So, back to Disney.

Seeing Disney at Christmas time was on all of our bucket lists (and everyone else in the world, it's the busiest week for Disney.  Go the week before or after).  So, we were totally pushing for Disney at Christmas, but for next year...not in 10 days!  But, my parents totally have a life's too short to wait, pack your bags, let's go attitude, so the trip was booked!

Driving in!!!

The details:
We drove from Louisiana, it was about a 12 hour drive.  Totally doable, but it was a long trip for the babies.  The last 2 hours were hell both coming and going.   We left at 4AM going, and were at the parks that night by 7PM.  Coming home, we didn't leave until early afternoon and got home around 3AM.  Since my parents sprung for the whole trip, Mr. and I rented a beastly suburban for the road trip.  It was nice to have the extra space and only have to take 2 vehicles.

Morning pit stop for fresh diapers, gas and clothes!

The hotel was booked through Travelocity.com.  They have a Disney section on their site, which I highly recommend checking out.  We got 2 connecting rooms at the Dolphin resort, on Disney property for $229 a night.  We have stayed there before, so we knew what we were getting.  Also to note, the Dolphin had queen beds as opposed to their sister hotel the Swan, which only has double beds.  The rooms were a great size for us, especially since you're just there to sleep.  Amelia had a crib in one room and Jackson had a sleep mat in our room.  We are a group of 8 adults and 2 babies, and we had plenty of space!

Pro's for this hotel also included being able to walk to Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and the BoardWalk.  I can't begin to tell you how nice it was to be able to walk to the parks as well as all the the BoardWalk has to offer.  From the ESPN Zone to the Dance Hall, we hit it all!

We got our Disney tickets through Travelocity.com with our hotel.  My parent's got us each 3-day park hoppers, which came with 2 extra days.  Buy 3, get 2 FREE.  I will say that 3 days at Disney with two babies was perfect.  By the 4th day, we were exhausted and by the 5th day you couldn't pay us to do another day.

I bought the Disney Photo Pass, but I also brought my camera.  I was thankful to have both - the photos that Disney took were not great and the night pictures sucked.  This was by far my biggest disappointment.  The night photos were so terrible and blurry I had to delete them.  The majority of the character photos were blurry too.  However, having photos of us all together was worth the $99.  Just be sure and have the photographer take the photo with your camera as well as theirs. 

First night - first photo - utter disappointment in Photo Pass

Group shot - Epcot - Photo Pass Highlight

We did not purchase a dining pass for the trip, and we're glad that we didn't.  My parents gave each family (us, my sister, and my brothers) Disney visa cards instead.  This worked out very well.  Each morning we drank coffee and ate muffins in our hotel room.  We never made it out of the room before noon, it's a common theme when we're all together:) Then we would either eat a big lunch or a snack (ice cream cones) and a big supper at 4PM.  Only eating one big meal a day kept our bellies full and kept the cost down as well.

Mickey ears for lunch:)

In our experience, it's great to find a restaurant on a parade route and make a reservation time during that parade.  For example, there's a great place called Liberty Tree Tavern at the Magic Kingdom.  The afternoon parade passes in front of there at 3:30, so we made our reservations for 4PM and watched the parade from the rocking chairs on the front porch before we ate.  It's perfect!

Waving hi to all his friends, from the Liberty Tree Tavern

My sister brought her stroller for Amelia, but we forgot ours in the garage.  It was cheaper to buy the $49 Disney umbrella stroller, insane, but renting was more and now we have yet another stroller to add to our collection! In hindsight, we both wished we would have brought our joggers.  The only downside to the jogger would be getting them on and off the buses and monorail, but I think both babies would have been more comfortable.  Jackson hated his stroller, it was almost too small for him and impossible to really nap in.

Sleepy babies

Jackson enjoyed a few rides, but I never realized just how freaky some of the Magic Kingdom rides are - Snow White was terrifying and a little disturbing.  The characters were what really got Jackson and worth every minute of standing in line for.  Watching him meet Buzz and Woody seriously brought tears to our eyes!  An important note for meeting characters - one person can stand in line while everyone else entertains the babies out of the line.  Then, when it's close to being your turn, the other brings you said babies in line.  This isn't advertised, but also not frowned upon.  And if you're in a park other than the Magic Kingdom, beer or beverages of choice can also be brought to you while you stand in line;)

Pooh Bear, first character sighting!

The last thing I'll say as far as tips and tricks for Disney is to go with grandparents! Since we stayed on Disney property, we were able to stay for extra magic hours.  And let's just say that's when all the real, adult fun, was had while Loli & Pop babysat the babies.  Around the World beer tours through Epcot, Space Mountain at 3AM, sibling dance parties at the Dance Hall...yes, a good time was had by all!

Grandparents and the babies, headed home so we could enjoy extra magic hours until 3AM

So bummed that this is the only pic we have "out" with the siblings! Test Track, Epcot...before we got escorted out after extra magic hours ended:)

I think that about covers it, but feel free to email me if you have any questions about Disney! And don't worry, I'll be back to post about each day with more pictures than you'll care to see:)

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