It was a very long week as a family. We were having fun probably 95% of the time, which is pretty good for a family vacation that long. I am excited for the long break I am going to take before I go back to Disney World again, though it is one of the happiest places on earth. We kept talking about how the next time we do all this stuff, Pickle will be with us, and that’s sounds pretty good.
Phoebe wanted to repeat a few of our favorite rides before we left. One morning Magic Kingdom opened at 7 AM, so this was the perfect time to go and do that. She had her heart set on Splash Mountain but Lolly did not want to repeat that again, so we found ourselves at Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride.
We rode once around, and I noticed there was no line, so I told her to hurry to the entrance so she could go right away on the next ride. She ran right past it and kept running, so we missed the ride!
After watching one round, we got on again and this time decided that she should right in front and I should ride in back. We spotted Jasmine and Aladdin looking in and waved to them. When we saw them enter the ride, we waved them over, and they rode with us.
It was the top Disney moment for Lolly and me. We know that it would never have happened if Dad and Phoebe had been with us, so we thanked them for taking one for the team.
Watch our ride here.
We arrived at Epcot with 3 goals:
1. Breakfast with the Princesses. I made a reservation for this breakfast on February 9th. When we got there, our name was nowhere to be found. Apparently I made the reservation ON February 9th FOR February 9th. That doesn’t make much sense to me, because I am pretty sure I chose a time that had already passed existence. Oh well. The manager and hostess were extremely accommodating, getting us right in on schedule, refunding my no-show fee, and making absolutely zero big deal about it. I blamed it on Pickle.
I was so pleased to see that my little girls were not too old to be thrilled about meeting the Princesses.
2.GM’s Test Drive Ride. Jason got word from work that he would be able to get an inside tour and skip the line at the new GM attraction at Epcot. It was pretty great to get a break from the heat, have a free drink (only thing free the whole trip), and watch the ride from above. It’s a cool ride for sure. It was one of the “expectant mother” exceptions I made, and I rode it.
3. Kim Possible Attraction. On the bus from the airport to our hotel we saw a profile of the resorts and learned about Kim Possible. The girls got their Kim Possible phones and were off on a mission around Epcot. It was a great idea to get the kids involved with the World Showcase. We ended up seeing a lot of details we would have missed. We only let them do 3 countries because it was super hot and taking a while, but the time we spent on it…highly recommended.
The Posse had never been to Animal Kingdom before…we didn’t know what to expect. The coolest part for us was the Safari ride in which we saw a lot of cool animals very close. On one of the walking trails we saw the most humongous bats we have EVER seen. The centerpiece Tree of Life was beautiful.
One of my favorite features was the walking human/nothuman acrobatic tree lady.
I think Phoebz and Jason would have liked Mt. Everest, but when we went back with our fastpass, it was down, and in the end, it was so hot we decided to go swimming in the hotel instead of try for Everest. If you are an animal lover, you will love Animal Kingdom.
After we started our morning with a character breakfast with Minnie, Donald & Goofy, we spent our first day at the Magic Kingdom. We went back a few days later at 7 AM to hit some of our favorite rides again (Small World, Peter Pan, Splash Mountain). Our friend Angie and her baby girl joined us one afternoon, so we went on some rides with them.
Rapunzel’s line was SO LONG, but I got a little picture from afar. This Mary Poppins was fantastic with the girls.
We met Snow White our second time there and she chatted with the girls for quite a while. I even got in on the action. She noticed how much bigger my chest was from the last time I saw her.
I have ridden plenty a Small World ride in my days on this earth, and I have to say, every time I get to the last scene with all the nations dressed in their white with color accents, I think to myself: It IS a small world after all.
This time through Lolly noticed, with excitement, that the wigs are made of yarn. After I looked a little closer myself, I found this exciting too. I have already had some yarn plans floating around in my head for Halloween this year, and this inspired me even more to go through with it.
My favorite wig is the pink one with the bun in the front. I also loved seeing the Goats with little cotton sweaters on, the sun covering her smile, and the giant pink camel and pink elephant.
Jason and I were first lured into the idea of a Disney Trip when I saw that the Disney Princess Half Marathon was the same week as our Winter Break. When I went to register I saw it was on a Sunday, and Jason and I have committed to not racing on Sunday, I was disappointed about passing.
Then I found out I was expecting, so I was A. no longer interested in training for a half marathon and B. thought it would be nice to take the girls on a last hurrah! baby moon.
We looked into Delta Vacation packages and ended up booking at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was really fun to stay on site with the cool Savannah Animals. The pool was awesome and we really enjoyed the night time, outdoor viewing of The Lion King (not African Cats as it turns out). The only downside for us was the lack of variety in food choices. Next time we may rent a car or stay somewhere else…we’ll see.
We made good friends with the giraffes that often grazed outside our window. I loved sitting by the pool and working on my latest knitting project while the girls swam. The flamingos were quite beautiful and super noisy during the movie, especially when there was loud sound feedback. Among the beautiful foliage, we believe we found the plant that inspired one of our favorite songs: Popcorn Popping.
Can you see Lolly holding an ostrich in her hand in the bottom shot? That ostrich hung around our pad a lot too.
Look, I fantasize about playing a Disney Princess at Disneyland. And yes, I have been an official Disney Princess, and it was extra special because it was an original princess. However, I still long to STILL be one still.
And the one I am to be has finally arrived on the scene:
When I saw Tangled, I was completely surprised by the glorious ending! And now, guess who I want to be for Halloween.
Well, to be honest, it’s between post-haircut Rapunzel and an Oompa-Loompa.
Votes?
Urban Mom, Kristy Glass trying to juggle family, work and the city.
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