Disney World: Part 2--Animal Kingdom

On Sunday morning, Matt headed to the conference early while the girls and I woke up slowly and got around. It was the first night the girls have ever slept in the same bed in a hotel room, and it was not without some issue. We did have some middle of the night squabbles and cat fighting about personal space and covers, so Matt kicked Adrienne out of the bed she was sharing with Jillian and put her in mine, and he slept with Jillian. Adrienne was pretty mesmerized by the bed, and whispered to Matt before falling asleep Saturday night, "Dad! This bed looks just like Elsa's when she was a little girl!" If you've seen FROZEN and remember the scene where Anna wakes Elsa up to play, you will know that Adrienne has a pretty good eye. 

Playing with their surprise princess "stuffies". A friend gave me a great tip to bring some surprise Disney-themed things as presents along in my suitcase to help ward off some of the Disney "give me's". They were delighted to each have their favorite princess to snuggle with.

I also brought along some matching Mickey shirts, and they were excited to put them on. Side note--I dressed the girls alike each day on purpose. Much easier to find your kids quickly in a sea of people when they match. I'm milking the matchy matchy business as long as they will allow it.

Outside the hotel grounds on our way to breakfast

I promised some Mickey waffles on the first day, and it was not without some difficulty. Rant number 2 about the food--seriously? I have to beg for a table at breakfast in my own hotel? They told me it would be an HOUR wait to MAYBE seat me. I was very kind and somehow we had a "magical experience" and were seated within 5 minutes. Whew,

It should come as no surprise that my kids ate each and every single tiny sprinkle on this plate. 

We met Matt back in the room after our late breakfast and caught the bus to Animal Kingdom for the day. Adrienne made the people behind us giggle when we sat down on the bus and she exclaimed, "Jillian, can you believe I'm not wearing a seat belt?!?" Sure enough, when I thought about it I realized she'd never taken an unrestrained ride before.

My native Minnesotans aren't used to all that glorious Florida sunshine

Someone liked to hang on my leg as we waited in line

We had a couple hours before our first scheduled Fast Pass ride (you get 3 rides/events per day that you can schedule time windows for so you don't have to wait so long. This is really nice.) We scoped out Dino Land and settled on riding the Triceratops Spin (basically like the flying Dumbo ride)

Next we decided to try the short 3D show called "It's Tough Being A Bug". They did advertise this as being scary for little kids only because it might be loud and dark. We really didn't think it would be an issue, and saw lots of small kids waiting in line. So we went for it. I have to admit that it was really really cool, but a pretty intense 3D experience. About halfway through the 12 minute show, the theater was pitch black and then they had the scary grasshopper from Bug's Life come out. That was it for Adrienne. She flipped out and Matt had to leave early, which was a bummer because the "scary" part lasted about 30 seconds. Such a great show, and Jillian loved it. We assumed Adrienne would recover from the trauma, but I'm afraid we set the stage for her to be suddenly fearful of anything that was dark or required 3D glasses. We hit a BBQ place for lunch, went to the Nemo musical (pretty cute, but darn Bruce the shark scared Adrienne...not sure she realized it was a puppet and we were in the front row. Sigh.) And then we were off on our safari adventure!

In the bug theater, before the drama.

Looking for animals on our safari

Can you see that big hippo in the water?

Lots of crocs

The Savanna

These mounds are made by termites! And apparently elephants love to use them as back scratchers

Hello, giraffe

Elephants galore

White rhino

Lion and lioness taking an afternoon snooze

Post safari pose

Then we went to meet Mickey and Minnie

Jillian really wanted to know why they didn't talk

And we said hello to Daisy

Then it was time for the Festival of the Lion King. This was my favorite experience of the trip, and it also happens to be Jillian's. The pictures don't do it justice, but it was the perfect mix of awesome singing, audience involvement, use of puppetry/props/costumes, and even had acrobatics and fire dancing. Really cool....and no one in our family was scared. Score.

Snack break--Mickey-shaped ice cream

We had some time to kill, so went back for more Triceratops spin. We rocked it like a boss.

Love Matt's photobomb

These pics are funny to me because the ride is not at all scream worthy. Even for a wuss like me.

Oh, this. I had to take a picture to document that while the girls were really great about waiting in lines, they somehow turned into squirrely little creatures who hung on ropes, our legs, climbed railings, and just generally could not stand in one place. 

We had to wait a bit to get into our restaurant for dinner (Matt managed to make a reservation at Tusker House, an African themed restaurant the night before), so we sat and had a beverage and let the girls play with their chosen souvenir (we let them choose one item at each park). Adrienne is enamored with her Princess Aurora musical jewelry box

Thankful for adult libations

Posing for a few pics in front of the Tree of Life as we prepared to exit the park

The girls thought it was really hilarious and kind of awesome that we had the bus to ourselves on the way back to the resort. It was even better to discover that FROZEN was playing on the lawn in front of our building when we got back!

I love these next pictures. The girls were suddenly so crazy hyper after their bath and were just cracking jokes non-stop. I couldn't get them to settle down. Matt decided that if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em.

Everyone finally crashed, and I'm happy to report that a pillow barrier between the girls solved any bed sharing issues they had the night before.

Disney World: Part 1

So, we went to Disney World. Or, "Dismey-world" if you are Adrienne. Here's the short version: it was really great. End of story. The long version is going to take me 5, yes FIVE (one per day), posts to document. Details are really important to me, and there are so many fun little things I want to remember. I don't trust my brain, hence this blog.  I am the first to admit that I did not want to go to Disney World. I have many reasons for this...crowds, germs, sugar-crazed kids, wild rides, I could go on. But, I knew we'd have to eventually go to Disney World. I swear there are hundreds of radiology courses offered there every year, and Matt has been wanting to take the girls for awhile. We had some trip days to use up, he got a few days off work, and we found ourselves without excuse....no nappers, no stroller riders, no special food/bottles/cups, no diapers, everyone in their own plane seat. Really. It was a no-brainer. I was prepared to take one for the team, but I wasn't prepared to really love this trip. And I did really love this trip. Sure, all of my reasons I didn't want to go were valid and true, but nothing prepared me for the joy I got to watch my kids experience, and for the joy I would feel. This is the first time we've traveled with the girls that I've really had fun. I'm always so bogged down by the details...the packing, making sure we have every possible scenario covered, etc etc. If you've been reading awhile you know we've had some crazy travel scenarios with small kids, and I just always have to be prepared for it to be really bad and just not fun. But I had fun! I did! This detail-obsessed, travel-hating, sanitizing-every-possible-surface mom had fun! Woo hoo! Let's get to the fun, shall we?

Our Magic Bands ready to go. Disney really makes it easy for you to spend your money. The bands open your hotel room, get you onto your fast pass rides, link pictures taken by park photographers to the website under your Disney account, and serve as a form of credit payment. Really. No need for a wallet...just swipe your magic band and have a good time. (The shocking bill amount will be waiting for you when you depart, however)

Proud of this feat--2 kids for 5 days in one small carry-on sized suitcase.  Yes, everything is rolled and packaged together by day (and yes, labeled) and in Ziploc bags. Don't judge me, it's an awesome way to save some stress while at your destination.

Here we come Sun Country Airlines, are you ready for this circus act?!?

My plane buddy for the trip down

As she always did as a baby, Adrienne had some serious ear issues on the descent. I tried to coach her through her first time chewing gum, but she just didn't catch on...2 whole pieces swallowed (one half, 4 times). 

Cool shadow of our plane as it was preparing to land.

On the Magic Express to the hotel! Magic Bands locked and loaded!

We arrived at the Grand Floridian to discover a piano player pounding out "Let It Go".  The girls joined the other kids listening in the lobby.

Walking through our building, Boca Chica, to find our room

Mickey Ears on the bed!

Here is where I begin one of many rants about how difficult it is to eat at Disney. People can schedule every single meal up to 6 months in advance. And they do. We didn't know we were going to WDW 6 months ago, so we were just out of luck for dinner reservations. It took some scrambling.  We walked the hotel grounds for a loooong time at 8 p.m. that first night before I convinced the Grand Floridian Cafe to give us a table. Marginal shrimp and grits (and a so-so steak for Matt) never tasted so good. The girls were super happy with the dirt cake dessert, complete with gummy worms.

As we walked back to our room, we realized we could see the nightly 10 p.m. fireworks at Magic Kingdom quite well. So, we stopped and enjoyed the magic.

Well, Adrienne didn't enjoy. She is not a fan of the dark. Or of fireworks. We will revisit this theme later. Matt took her back to the room, and Jillian and I watched it in its awesome entirety.