Disney part 2

One night after swimming, I wanted to check out the resort.  I had missed out on exploring that first night.  Timothy decided to join me.  We had a fun walk.  The resort has all these big figures that fit the decade themes.  There was a big Mr. Potato head, a Fuse ball game, a Mickey Mouse clock.  And we found this cute Goofy and fancy car too.

The word POP is outside the dining/shopping area.  It is huge, as you can see from how tiny Timothy is in the picture.  

That evening walk was my last outing for 24 plus hours.  In the night I was hit by a stomach virus and had to stay in bed the whole next day.  The kids were sad.  Troy was a trooper and took charge gathering everything for a day in the park and promising they would have fun.

And even though it was not the same without mom, they managed to have a good day at animal kingdom. 

When they arrived a the park, it was already open.  Troy still managed the family picture to begin the day.  Clearly Timothy was about done with pictures by this point in the trip as you can see in the expression below.  They got to ride some popular rides...Avatar, the river ride and the Safari where they saw lots of animals.

By Lunch time, Timothy was more in a picture mood.  And this photo boosted my spirits when Troy sent it to me.  I was glad that they could still have fun.  Timothy really wanted to buy something for me.  I said no.  The compromise was donating to an animal fund and getting a conservation button.  Teresa had been waiting for this park all week to buy a stuffed animal.  She chose a Cheetah and named it after Kali river rapids ride.  That was a favorite at the park.  Thankfully they rode it at the end of the afternoon as they came home all wet!

Other highlights of the day were the Bugs Life movie, Dino land rides and the afternoon treat of frozen lemonade. The picture above is of Troy and Teresa on the Triceratops ride--think Dumbo ride!

The next day I had hopes of joining the family, but getting dressed took all my energy.  So again Troy packed up and headed out with the 2 kids.  I promised to try and come later. 

While I rested in the room, they enjoyed the jungle cruise, Seven Dwarfs' Mine Train, Monsters Inc laugh show, and the People Mover.  I did not want to miss another whole day, so I tried to eat and took the shuttle to meet them. It rained while I was on the shuttle bus.  This was the only day we had to pull out the ponchos. I made it just in time for Pirates of the Caribbean.

Then we took a break for lunch.  At this time I was really craving one of the Mickey Mouse big pretzels, but we couldn't find one.  While Troy and the kids enjoyed the Haunted Mansion one more time, I searched for a pretzel.  I never found a Mickey one, but instead splurged on what I described as a pretzel bigger than my head!!  Everyone was quite happy to help me finish it! I guess that was my souvenir!

The kids really thought I would like the People Mover, so we went to ride that with a stop at the Carousel too.  The People Mover was just my speed.  I was still only feeling so-so.

After an early dinner and a short swim time, we returned to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks show.  Troy and the kids also went on splash mountain.  Teresa was very nervous for the big drop, but she absolutely loved it.  It was a favorite ride of all!  We did a little shopping while waiting for fireworks. Timothy bought a Jack Skellington mug.  The fireworks display was quite and amazing show!  I am so glad we went back.

The picture above is after the fireworks when we were all tired.  I remember a picture of me when I was a kid at night looking very tired.  Troy was recapturing that moment for me!

Our last day was at Animal Kingdom.  The kids wanted to show me the things that I had missed.  I was feeling well enough to join in right away in the morning.  And thankfully no one else got sick at Disney!

Troy and the kids try out a little drumming fun!

We went on a few rides to start...the River ride and the Safari.  Then we told the kids we would try some shows like the Lion King and Finding Nemo.  Both were neat in their own way and the kids did actually like the shows despite their initial hesitation.  They got to participate in part of the Lion King show.

We also spent some time in Dino land.  I like the Triceratops ride...remember, the one like Dumbo!!  Timothy and Teresa liked the Primawhirl roller coaster.  That looked like too much for my recovering body, so I just waited that one out.  Troy was a trooper to ride it twice!

And by this time in the trip, frozen lemonade had become the afternoon snack!  Don't they look happy.  It was our bribe to give the bird show a try.  Which of course they actually liked despite it being hot.

And I had to include the picture of a duck.  The ducks were everywhere and that was a memorable thing for Timothy and Teresa.  Ask them about the vacation and at some point I would bet the ducks will come up.  They were a big deal!

And for Troy, I guess it was Starbucks.  We never bought anything from there during vacation, but we have a few Troy and Starbucks pictures!  i guess we all have the things that make us happy.

Our last ride of the afternoon was the river rapids.  The kids were so excited and were so happy Troy would get soaked again.  I opted to wear my poncho and took a little teasing for that.  It was a fun ride, but no one got soaked this time.

Even I had to get into the pool on the last night.  The kids liked to pretend they were on a ride.  So I had to make up ways to reenact the river rapids, or the safari, or whatever else I could imagine.  It was a fun time and filled with laughter.  It was these little moments of being together that were really the best part!

On the last night we chose to go to the night show at Animal Kingdom too.  We waited for our shuttle and the kids did a little climbing in the big numbers outside the hotel.

After a short wait at the park, we were treated to another night time spectacular.  This one used water and laser lights.  It was pretty impressive as well, although I liked the fireworks best.

It was hard to leave Disney the next morning.  It did help to know that we would be seeing family and cousins to share all about our experience.  The flight home went well and we are so thankful for the chance to get away and spend time together as a family!

Dsiney part one

Our Disney trip finally arrived after nearly a year of waiting and postponing it from January.  We were all excited and we had the bonus of getting to see family before and after the trip.  We stayed with Susie and then she dropped us off at the airport.  The flying itself is a fun experience. The airport had a moving walkway that delighted the kids who had to ride on it twice on the way to the gate.  I was just happy that our one checked suitcase came in at 46 lbs...4 lbs under the limit!  The flight was made even more fun by the snack service and the movie screens for each seat.  Everyone got to pick their own movie to watch...low budget airlines that we frequently use never have those!!

We arrived safe and sound in Florida and took the Disney bus to our resort.  We got checked in, found our first floor room in the 50s section and found the food court for dinner.  After dinner I set out to find our groceries that I ordered on Amazon Prime Now.  Troy took the kids swimming.  It turned into a rather late night.  It took awhile for the groceries to be delivered.  Then I tried to settle us in a bit and pack some lunches for the next day.  Troy let the kids swim for awhile and I think the lights went out by 10:30.  In retrospect, this was a bit late for the first night of vacation.  7am comes pretty early in Florida when you are still on CST!

We had the understanding it was good to get to the parks early--ahead of the opening time.  So we did this the first day.  We got through security and had a good while to roam around main street of the Magic Kingdom.  We had our picture taken, looked in gift shops, and checked out the ducks and ducklings.

The kids also did some pin trading and scored some Star Wars pins from on of the workers.  We had a full day of rides and experiences.  Our first ride was Thunder mt. which was definitely a favorite!  Timothy was not as impressed with some of the slower rides after that such as It's a Small World, and Winnie the Pooh.  We had a nice picnic lunch and Troy worked at securing another fast pass.  Some other highlights of this first day were Space Mt. for Troy and Timothy, The Haunted Mansion and The Pirates of the Caribbean.  We also had a tasty cinnamon roll at Gaston's Tavern!

By mid afternoon the kids were ready to head back to the hotel.  We had some down time in the room which meant cartoon time for the kids.

This is typical scene from afternoon downtime...kids watch the Disney channel and Troy and I catch up on things, plan for the next day, or pack lunches.  We loved our bed/ table in our room.

Dinner was in the food court each night...we like routine!  We offered the chance to eat at the parks one night, but that idea was quickly shot down.  One night we ate outside, but the very eager birds and the Disney cartoons lead us inside for other nights...we sort of had "our table!"  Mostly the kids ate french fries...with a side of a hamburger!  Although they did switch it up a little and try a Mickey shaped waffle.  And at least the kids meals did come with a fruit or a veggie to balance the fries.

And when one is on vacation, you have to get a treat, right?!  And how could you even think of passing on Mickey cupcakes!  Personally I liked the brownie treat the best. (This may because I had the brownie before I got sick and everything tasted better then!)  Timothy and Teresa liked the cupcake on the left the best and Troy liked the one on the right.

After dinner it was always swim time--at least for the kids! There were 3 pools at our resort.  The closest to our room was the bowling pin pool with a 50's Sock Hop theme.  That is where we spent the most time.  The Hippy Dippy pool was not too far, so we were there a little too.  The computer pool was a hike, so we did not swim there much.

The next day was at Epcot.  We decided that we did not need to be there quite as early in the morning.  Our kids were a bit tired and could benefit from a few extra minutes of sleep.  Mornings consisted of rolling out of bed, having some breakfast and heading out for another fun day.  I think Timothy may have wished he did not choose the table bed--he was not always so eager to get up so we could eat!

Getting to Epcot a little later was good, because here we just waited in a big line.  It did give us time for a few nice family pictures.  At Epcot there was a flower festival, so there was beautiful blooms and fancy bushes crafted into different shapes and Disney characters.

A favorite ride at Epcot was Test Track.  You design a car and then get to test it on a driving course.  The best part for the kids was when the car tested the speed and we went zooming outside.  You can see the excitement on our faces in the picture below.  We were lucky enough to go on this ride twice.

Another highlight of Epcot was meeting Mary Poppins.  This is the one character Teresa really wanted to meet and truly I did not even know if anyone dressed up as her.  But with a random stop in England when we made the trek around the Epcot nations, we happened upon Mary Poppins with no one in line to see her.  I guess dreams do come true!

And it is good that we saw Mary Poppins on this walk because the rest of the walk made us all hot and tired.  The picture below was our snack break in the shade to try and revive enough to finish the walk!  Timothy has the cooling towel on his head trying to beat the heat.

Other favorites in Epcot were  Club Cool--free pop from other countries. A refreshing treat after a long, hot hike!  Troy and I knew how to motivate our kids to keep going!

A stop at the Norway Pavilion in the morning meant sharing some Kringla .  I love Timothy's smile. We also enjoyed our Frozen boat ride.  We had about our longest wait for this ride--40 minutes.  I kept the kids happy by making some bets about the wait time.  The winner got gummy bears.  I lost, but just barely.

Our third day was at Hollywood Studios.  We arrived just early enough to get some family pics to start and have a short wait before opening.  We made our way to Toy Story Mania as our first ride.  It was not a long wait, but just a long walk inside the building to where the ride actually began.  I am amazed at whoever designs the twisting and turning areas to hold the crowds of people!

Then we met some some Star Wars characters.  Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, and BB8.  I was a little disappointed that we could not get autographs.

We got an excellent tip about where to stand for the march of the first order.  Timothy got some good one on one with Captain Phasma! Later in the day we happened upon the Star Wars show happening on the main stage.  It was neat to see all the characters.

The Muppet's 3d movie was another hit.  Especially with Troy--see his joy in the photo below!  It was fun and a cool place to sit and relax.  After that show we found a quaint little corner for lunch.  It was right by a Christmas shop where the kids both chose an ornament for a keepsake.

We tried the Tower of Terror and it was a mixed bag of who liked that one.  The kids were not interested in any shows, like Beauty and the Beast, but we did see the Indiana Jones stunt show.  That too was a mixed bag--sort of enjoyed by some.  Certainly enjoyed was the afternoon snack of a mickey mouse ice cream bar.