Disney - Day Four

On Sunday, we woke up to beautiful weather and a happy Alex! We went to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours in the morning. We got there before the crowds and were able to do the Buzz Lightyear ride three times, the tea cups, and the race cars. Then we took a bus over to the Animal Kingdom. We had a fast pass for the safari ride which was amazing. The ride itself was fun and we got to see a lot of animals close up. After the ride, we did a few of the nature walks and then grabbed lunch. Then we walked around for a while and played at the dinosaur playground before using our other fast pass for a private meet and greet with.... Mickey and Minnie! The boys were so excited. It was definitely Alex's favorite part of the trip. When our time was up, he walked slowly away waving to them over his shoulder. It was very sweet. After the meet and greet, we rode back to the hotel to swim one more time. Then we went back to the Magic Kindgom for our final evening. By the time we got there, the crowds had thinned out a bit and we were able to get on a bunch of rides: teacups (again), race cars (again), Buzz Lightyear (twice, again), It's a Small World, the People Mover, the Winnie the Pooh ride, and the carousel. The boys had the option of either riding the monorail one last time or staying for the fireworks and they chose the monorail. So we took the monorail for a quick ride and then caught the water taxi to the hotel. While on the water, we saw the fireworks from the back of the boat. It was a perfect day!

Happy Alex with Mickey Waffles

Definitely feeling better

Mmmm.... Mickey Pretzel

On the Safari

Tree of Life

Dinosaur Playground

Disney - Day Three

On Saturday, we woke up to warmer temperatures but a lot of rain. We went directly to Holly Wood studios. William and Alex were able to meet Goofy and Chip & Dale there. They also saw Lightning McQueen and Mater which was a highlight. We went on The Great Movie ride which Phil and I enjoyed but the boys didn't really care about. Then we did the Toy Story Midway Mania ride which the whole family liked. After that, we went back to the Magic Kingdom for a little while. We did the Haunted Mansion again as well as the tea cups. We had a late lunch, and then William asked to go swimming again so we went back to the hotel. Alex essentially turned in for the night while Phil and Will went down to the pool. Then they went to Epcot for dinner, rides, and fireworks (with preferred seating).

Dinner at Epcot (Mexico)

Disney - Day Two

We spent the majority of the day on Friday at the Magic Kingdom. We got up early and took the water taxi to the Contemporary hotel and then walked across the street to the park. We arrived early enough to see Mickey and Minnie arrive on a "steamie" and see them officially open the park. Then we hit the rides! On Friday, we rode: the tea cups (several times), Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (two times), the Race Cars, the carousel, Space Mountain (Phil and Will only), Thunder Mountain (Phil and Will only), Astro Orbiter (Kristen and Alex only), Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World. Alex was under the weather. By afternoon, he fell asleep in his stroller and would wake up only for the rides. Late afternoon, Phil took Alex back to the hotel to grab dinner and go to bed. William and I went to Epcot for dinner, fireworks and more rides: Nemo (three times) and Spaceship Earth. After the Epcot fireworks, we took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom where we waited for the water taxi back to our hotel. While we were waiting, we got to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the dock.

Teacups - the boys were both really excited for this ride for some reason

Thunder Mountain - if you look closely, you can see Phil (waving) and Will

Race Cars - the boys did the steering

In line for Space Mountain

So happy to be on the train

Thunder Mountain

Evening at Epcot

Asleep in line for the Haunted Mansion

Ready for Thunder Mountain

Alex is done

Space Mountain

Disney World - Day One

On Thursday morning, we started our Disney vacation! We got up at 3am and were on the road by 3:30. The boys were so excited they didn't mind the early wake up call. We drove to Detroit to catch our flight to Orlando. The boys did great on the flight. When we arrived in Orlando around 10:30, the Disney Magical Express was waiting to take us to the Wilderness lodge. We got to the hotel in time to explore a bit before having lunch. It was overcast and in the upper 60s - but it felt so nice to be out of the cold and snow. We ate outside and then the boys decided they wanted to try out the pool. After a quick swim, we took a bus to downtown Disney to explore and have dinner. Then it was back to the hotel for an early bedtime. We were all tired from the long travel day.