Magic Kingdom and THE Castle!

We decided to take two days to visit the Magic Kingdom.  I figured that our kids just weren't at an age to enjoy Epcot so we skipped it altogether.  Yet again, we got ourselves up early and hit the park at about 8:15am.  The gates opened at 9:00 and we immediately split up.  Sam, Isabel and I went to Winnie the Pooh and Kalen and Kurtis went to get fastpasses to Peter Pan.  Advice: hit those two rides early!  We actually rode Winnie the Pooh once before Kurtis and Kalen made it back and went around a second time with them....all before 9:30!  Another bonus: when getting fast passes to Peter Pan, we got bonus passes for Philharmagic!  I didn't plan on doing this b/c it is a 3D show and I thought my kids wouldn't like it.  Sam, Izzy and I loved it.  We even went back the second day in Magic Kingdom and did it again.

We lucked out considerably when we went back toward Cinderella's Castle in an attempt to find Rapunzel.  Everyone we saw said that there had been a line for about 60-90 minutes for Rapunzel.  We jumped in line and only had to wait about 20 minutes.  Again, we were lucky!

Sam didn't want a pic with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider was out looking for apples for Maximus but Sam did get a picture with Pascal!

Another tip: I thought Isabel would get hot walking around in her "Rapunzel dress" so I rolled it up and kept in my bag.  When we jumped in line to meet her, I threw the dress over Izzy's head and away we went.  Rapunzel commented on how Izzy and she were wearing the same dress:)  Oh, and the dress at Disney was $65; I bought Isabel's at Huber Heights Walmart for $20!

We then went on the Prince Charming's Royal Carousel which Kalen LOVED!  Check out photos of him smiling.  The line for Dumbo the Elephant was about an hour so we skipped it until our last day.  Then of course, we headed to It's a Small World:) Sam said that it was one of his favorite rides!

We did watch a stage show right in front of Cinderella's castle and though it was crowded, it was really neat and my kids loved it.  Even if you don't think your kids will watch something like that, they surprise you in Disney.  I also have to admit that as we were walking up Main St in the Magic Kingdom, Cinderella's Castle came into view and I began to cry a bit just b/c I was there with my kids and my husband.  It was an awesome experience. Unfortunately, there is construction in the Magic Kingdom and all my pictures from that day have a big crane coming out of the castle:(
We were smart and got fast passes to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse, then rode the Railroad around Magic Kingdom and came back for fast passes to meet Cinderella, Belle, and Princess Aurora!

The ultimate finale to our day in Magic Kingdom came when we went to the "Happily Ever After Dinner" with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the wicked stepmother and stepsisters.  No, we did not eat in Cinderella's Castle.  This was at the Grand Floridian.  It was a buffet and it was cheaper!  Plus Isabel was just so happy at that moment.  I don't think I've ever seen her smile so big or get so excited in her life.  Cinderella also danced with Isabel during the dinner and Izzy is the only girl that got to do that.  It was an expensive dinner but it was worth every single penny for Isabel to get to enjoy that opportunity!  The stepmother asked Isabel how many horses her brothers each owned b/c she was thinking of marrying the stepsisters off to Kalen and Sam.  Needless to say, we didn't own enough horses to get an honorable mention but it was fun just the same:)

Prince Charming

Cinderella

Lady Trumaine aka the Wicked Stepmother

Anastasia

Drusilla

A mermaid, some chipmunks, and Mickey Mouse!

Once we were "star wars-ed out", we promised Isabel that we would do something girly so we headed to the other side of Hollywood Studios so see The Little Mermaid show.  We were sidetracked a few times.  As we were walking around we saw a line for some "nutty" guys named Chip and Dale!  They are my dad's all-time favorite characters so we were sure to stop for a photo and some autographs.

Next we hopped in line for a girls only pic with Minnie Mouse.  Please note that she is in her "hollywood studios" dress.  The characters are always dressed to fit in with whichever park they are attending.

After that we decided to get lunch and then, yet again, we were sidetracked before the Mermaid and went to see Disney Junior on stage.  This featured Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  If there was one thing that Kalen would like about DisneyWorld, this would be it.  It was totally up his alley. First off, Kalen LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!  He just can't get enough of it. Most of the pictures I have are just of him smiling, clapping, and being fully in awe of this stage show.  We all sat on the floor and occassionally bubbles and confetti would rain down on you.  Isabel and Sam also enjoyed it but really, this was our one "do this for Kalen" event.  I love the following picture of him getting VERY EXCITED!

Handy Manny

Little Einsteins



Jake and the Neverland Pirates



When we finally left this show (it was about 30 minutes), we headed directly to the Little Mermaid show.  I only have pictures of the sign b/c they would not allow flash photography in the theater.  It was about 15 minutes and was essentially a movie of the movie.  There was a real-live Ariel on stage for part of the show and the girl could sing.  For a brief moment, I got teary-eyed and thought "this is what I would do if I had a chance to do anything as a career".  It was the first of many times that I thought I could work at Walt Disney World and be happy every day of my life.  I could sing like this and just enjoy the joy of others around you.  It was cool. They also had dancers dressed in black with a black light on stage and danced to "Under the Sea". Kurtis was very impressed with how they staged it.  It was just a neat show and Isabel, of course, was in seventh heaven!

Our kids were starting to get tired by 2pm and honestly, it was heating up outside.  We made a hasty decision to hunt down Phineas and Ferb and then call it a day.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize that it was a 45 minute wait for Phineas and Ferb.  It was one of the longest lines we endured in the entire trip but it was fun and hey, we got their autographs!

After that, we called it a day.  We headed home for a nap, some dinner and then spent the evening swimming.  I highly recommend for anyone who goes to Disney with toddlers to keep your days short and just swim or hangout in the evenings. The babies will be happier and so will the parents!

Weekend Warriors and Hollywood Studios

We landed in Orlando on Sat, Oct. 1.  Kurtis and I made the decision to not go anywhere near a Disney Park on the weekend b/c of the Orlando locals hitting the parks with season passes.  So Saturday, we hung out in our villa, went swimming and watched movies.  By Sunday afternoon I was chomping at the bit to do SOMETHING Disney, particularly shopping.  So we loaded the kids up and went to Downtown Disney which is primarily eating and shopping.  It was a dumb decision I must say.  The place was packed and the World of Disney store is the largest Disney store ANYWHERE!  You couldn't move without bumping into people and our kids were totally overly-stimulated by the amount of things to buy!!!  We went back to our villa and basically recovered:)
On Monday morning we were up at 6:45am and headed toward Hollywood Studios.  As we were standing in line to enter the park, the family next to us was completely "star warred up".  The little boys were wearing jedi robes and holding lightsabers.  They said the first thing to hit was Jedi Training Academy!  I had read that it was seasonal and wasn't sure if it would even be open when we were there but we thought "hey, Sam will love this!"  We had also been warned to get a fastpass to ToyStory Mania ASAP.  As the gates opened, Kurtis took Kalen and ran to get fastpasses while Sam, Iz, and I went to sign up for Jedi Training.  Over 500 people lined up for fastpasses in the morning and by 10am the passes were gone for the entire day!  One man was knocked over by the masses with people trampling him until someone helped him up!  It was insane.
Isabel decided that she would be too scared to train with the Jedis so Sam was only one who signed up.  It was so neat!  They took 15 kids at a time and put them in jedi robes and gave them lightsabers (they did have to return those at the end).  Then a jedi master came out and taught them a lightsaber routine.  After the training, Darth Vader himself infiltrated the training and challenged each child to a duel!  Of course, Sammy ended up being last in line but he stepped up and fought well.  My favorite part was when the jedi master called Sam "38 lbs of unbridled fury" and had Sam laugh in Darth Vader's face!  It was so cute.  Isabel and Kalen were a little freaked out when Darth Vader appeared but they relaxed as time went on.  Then when the padawans chased Vader away, they received diplomas for their training.  We did buy Sam his own set of jedi robes though I didn't want to take a lightsaber on the plane:)  Afterwards, we rode the Star Tours ride twice!  The kids were so cute about all of it.  Oh, and most importantly, I got an AWESOME Chewbacca hat!

Sam's ticket to get into Jedi Training

the sign for the Jedi Training Academy--it filled up pretty quickly

Sam's jedi master though I forget his name

practicing our lightsaber routine

on the speeder outside the Star Tours ride

maybe Kalen is looking back to make sure that they aren't being followed

I'm not sure how to get my videos to load for the actual Jedi Training and the battle with Vader.  I may post those later:)

Here's my attempt at posting our Vader videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHenII2QDG0&feature=share

This is the video where they are learning what to do with their lightsabers.  

http://youtu.be/bedp2mg09Bc

This is video 2 where Vader comes in.  Sam really isn't in this one but to follow it in order helps:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02_6Sg2bxJA&feature=share

This is video number 3 and actually has Sam fighting Darth Vader in a one-on-one lightsaber duel:)

First few days of Disney!

I'm trying to spend a few days blogging about our family vacation just for posterity's sake.  I'll start at the beginning.  First of all, we had a great time and saved a great deal b/c we were given a chance to use a time share from Deb and Brian Bickers.  We got 8 days and 7 nights in a two-bedroom villa for under $400! It was amazing with an eat-in kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Plus Sam and Izzy loved the swimming area...it was way more than just a pool.  There was a slide, a pool that you just walk into and a wading pool area for Kalen.  Kalen only went once b/c they usually went when he was napping.  But the one time Kurtis took him he loved it!  We had a nice living room with TV/DVD player which was actually a lifesaver b/c we often went back to the villa and watched movies to "detox" from a day at Disney!  I was also able to do laundry for free in our villa which helped with packing.

Being at the Columbus airport by 6 am was daunting for us.  The kids did well with both Kalen and Izzy sleeping on the way to the airport and then they spent a lot of time walking around looking at planes out the windows.  Sammy sat next to the window with Izzy in the middle on Mommy on the aisle.  Daddy and Kalen sat in the seat in front of us which was an experience.  Kurtis and I spent the two hour flight passing Kalen back and forth until he finally crashed on my lap the last 30 minutes of the flight.  Most people were pretty polite about the whole "kid on the plane" thing.  But it was a flight to Orlando! There had to be at least 50 kids on that plane:)  It was so fun to experience it with the children. Below is a picture of Kalen on Saturday afternoon once we got to the villa.  Needless to say, he was pooped. 

The last picture is actually from the plane ride home b/c I was too tired to get pictures in the airport on our way to DisneyWorld but to continue with the plane theme, I'll show it here!