To say our Disney trip was amazing is an understatement. It was wonderful in every way and we cannot wait to go back. I'll first start off by addressing the lack of our sweet Caroline in the photos... well that is because she didn't go. Since she is 2 and not able to ride any of the "big" rides, needing a nap, and not remembering the trip we made the tough decision to leave her home with Poppy and Nana. I'll admit there were a handful of moments I knew she would have LOVED... but there are million other moments that she would have not enjoyed and would not have been a happy camper... aka all the ride lines/waiting for brother to ride. So... I do have to say I know we made the right decision and look forward to taking our princess back for her special Disney adventure.
Ok... so I guess I'll begin with...
Day 1 -
Epcot!!! We flew in early Sunday morning arrived to Orlando and headed straight for our resort via the Magical Express. Disney really takes care of everything for you... they got our checked bag and delivered it along with our carry ons to our room and made it so easy. Once we got to our resort, we stayed at the Disney All-Star Movies, we left our carry on bags with the bell man and headed to Epcot for our first day of Disney fun. It was a little overcast and rain was on the way so we didn't waste anytime in jumping in to the adventure. We first explored the Finding Nemo/Aquarium hall and enjoyed Turtle Talk with Crush and the Finding Nemo ride. Very cute and entertaining! Next we ventured out in the rain to ride the amazing Soren! IT WAS AWESOME! It is exactly what it says... we were soren all over the globe! Ben enjoyed it too. Then we met a few of our favorite characters, Baymax, Joy & Saddness and Ben's favorite... Pluto. By that time the rain was really coming down but that didn't stop us. We then rode Spaceship Earth and listened to the ride in Chinese thanks to Ben's last min language selection. It was fun but would have been better if we had heard all the fun facts in english! LOL. Since that was our last "fast pass" of the day, Jay was able to get on and snag a Frozen pass! If you haven't heard this ride usually doesn't have passes and the wait time is 100 min+ so we were thrilled! We made the track over in the rain and LOVED the ride. Then headed to Garden Grill for dinner with Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale! The dinner was delicious and the atmosphere was wonderful. After dinner the crowds had really thinned out and and Jay was able to get another fast pass to Soren and Ben and I went back and rode Frozen a few more time! We were thrilled to be dry and out of the rain enjoying all things Disney fun! We met a few more characters and then headed to watch the fireworks. In a nut shell day one was wonderful!! And when we got back to our room all our bags were there along with our groceries I had ordered!!! Can't get anymore Disney than that right?!?
Day 2 -
Magic Kingdom!!! We started our day with the Barn Stormer and Ben LOVED it. It is the perfect starter rollercoaster! We then rode Dumbo then booked it over to Peter Pan for our first fast pass. Then waited for It's a Small World, then on to Thunder Mountain! We loved how many interactive things TM had along the path as you wait and walk... it was perfect to keep Ben entertained and pass the time. Again... Ben loved it but said he didn't need to ride it again! Then we put on our ponchos for our 2nd FP at Splash Mountain. We sat in the front row and got soaked! It was so fun! So glad I brought our ponchos or we would have been walking around the rest of the day wet! Then, note to further disney travelers this is a good one to do, I ordered our lunch online!!! We were able to skip the super long line to order and just go to the pick up window! It was amazing!!! We had a great lunch then went to wait for the Jungle Cruise. This was probably our longest wait for a ride and it was long... no interactive games to play while you wait just switch back lines... but once we got on the ride it was fun. Exactly as I remembered it when I rode it as a kid! Then we tracked across the park through every Eagles fan in the universe (yes the Super Bowl winner parade was that afternoon) to our favorite ride of the day... Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for our 3rd FP. It was so fun... I even got a video of the entire ride! Then we ventured around Tomorrow Land, had a few snacks, then enjoyed the super fun Movin and Shakin Parade. It was like a HUGE dance party! Ben was not too into it but I pulled him into the dancing fun and got a few smiles! We then did a few more rides before taking a little break before our dinner at Crystal Palace in one of the little grass areas, which later served us as a great spot for the Fireworks show! So we left the stroller to save our spot and it was perfect! Crystal Palace was great and we enjoyed the company of the Seven Acer Woods friends... Winnie the Poo, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. We finished dinner just in time for the fireworks and our "spot" turned out to be perfect! And the fireworks show was beyond amazing. It was by far the BEST show I have ever seen. Just magical! After the fireworks, Jay did the haunted house ride then we went back to Tomorrow Land and Ben and Jay did the Buzz Lightyear ride to close out our fun filled day at Magic Kingdom!
Day 3-
Animal Kingdom! We started this day extra early to make sure we got in line super early for the Avatar Flight of Passage. It is in the new Pandora - The World of Avatar area... which totally feels like you are in a different world! We got in the park before 9am... with the rest of the world... and made our way slowly with our closest 500+ friends to the line... We ended up waiting about an hour, which wasn't that bad considering the ride has wait times up to 200+ minutes. Ben was not tall enough so we did a rider swap, which is another magical Disney plus! After that we headed to our first FP of the day at the Kilimanjaro Safari. It was very cool and we even got a great look at the new Hippo! We also saw lots of Crocodiles, giraffes, spotted dogs, longhorns, cheetahs, a sleeping lion, black rhinos, ward hog, water buffalo, and many more beautiful up close animals. After the safari we ran into Timon and got his autograph! Next up was DINOSAUR... the super fun action packed ride to save a dinosaur from extinction. After the ride we explored DinoLand before meeting Russell and Pocahontas and then picked up our online order for lunch and ate as we walked back to Pandora for the Na'vi River Journey, our last FP. The ride was pretty cool and Ben loved it. Again... we felt like we were in the Avatar world! Next, Jay rode Expedition Everest while Ben and I enjoyed some animal fun! The monkeys were showing off playing in their treehouse swinging back and forth swinging and jumping from rope to rope. Then we explored Asia for a bit then headed to Tusker House for an early dinner. Dinner was delicious and the margarita was spectacular! Yes... you read correctly... Disney serves cocktails and they are delicious! After dinner we did another safari then headed back to the resort for an early night to pack up before checking out the next morning.
Day 4-
Hollywood Studio! STAR WARS!!! This was probably the highlight of the trip! Just in the last few months Ben has really gotten into Star Wars and has become the expert in all things Star Wars. So... knowing this we got to the park extra early so we could get the earliest spot in the Jedi Training School. And thankfully we did! We pulled the 9:40 spot so had enough time to get a snack, meet Olaf, use the restroom and get back before training began. It was so special and Ben had a blast. It was so fun to see Ben fight Kylo Ren! He is quite intimidating and so is Darth Vader! After Jedi Training we rode the Star Tours ride and it was probably Ben's favorite ride of the entire trip. He kept saying... we were in the Millennium Falcon and fought the dark side and they didn't even get us!! And after the ride it leads you right into the gift shop... perfect placement Disney! Ben choose to build a lightsaber and build a droid as his "special trip treats." We continued our Star Wars journey and met Chewbacca, Kylo Ren and BB-8. We also ran into some Storm Troopers but no worries we stayed out of trouble! Next we used out 2nd FP at Toy Story Mania and scored top points for our group! Super fun and the new Toy Story Land, which opens this summer, looks amazing! While in line for Toy Story I used my trusty ap to order our lunch online again! Y'all, it was amazing. Saved us time and energy trying to decide what to eat and where! We ate lunch then Jay did the Tower of Terror while Ben and I explored and staked out a spot for the Imperial March. We grabbed some ice cream treats to cool off and relaxed while we waited for the march and Star Wars "show" on the main stage to begin. The march was super cool and quite intimidating. Captain Phasma is awesome and Ben thought it was so cool. And the short Star Was "show" was super cool as well. Defiantly glad we stuck around and got great spot to see it. After the show we ended our journey and our trip! We took the bus back to the resort and waiting for the Magical Express to take us back to the airport for our 7pm flight home. It was a full day filled with fun memories we will remember forever.
I'm so thankful for the trip and the special one-on-one time we had with Ben. We called it his Kindermoon! Yes... there is such a thing... I didn't just make that up! It was the best trip and we look forward to going back again with Caroline and meeting all the princesses!
Until next time Disney... Thanks for a fun filled, action packed, 4 days!!!
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