Disney World!!!!

It was his dreams coming to life.

It was fabulous.

It was memorable (as evidence by pictures- Warning #1)

It was FUN.

It was more magical than we could have ever imagined.

And, it was like becoming a kid again.

I have whined pretty much my entire life about the fact I have never been to Disney World.  I kid with my parents about depriving me of Disney magic all of my childhood and instead taking us to Ireland every year to see our relatives.  Now, as a wise adult who understands the resources (not to mention bravery) it takes to fly a family of four internationally, and the importance of family loyalty...

I still can't believe what I have been missing!!

Just kidding, MeMe and Barn. 

I am SO grateful that my first time experiencing Disney World was also Josh's first time. 

It made it more special seeing the magic through my eyes AND Josh's eyes.

Pure Perfection.

Except one thing was missing...

Our sweet Emily. 

You will find one person missing in the deluge of pictures you are about to see (Warning #2). 

After MUCH, and I am talking- MUCH- debate, we opted to leave Emily at home in the capable hands of MeMe and Barn.

I have told a few people the Best part of our trip was not having Emily there and the WORST part of our trip was not having Emily there.  It was so hard to leave her. My first time to leave her for more than a night. But, I knew she would be fine. 

After the first day, I knew we made the right call.

 She would have been exhausted, over stimulated, and a handful.

 But, WOW! did we all miss her. 

She had fun at home with her grandparents though. 

They went to the park, on wagon rides, and even to the mall. 

Safe and sound and it was as though we never left. 

Your time is coming, sweet Emily. 

And it will be wonderful! 

I promise. 

And so it begins.

 Strap on your seat belts for a ride through our Disney Trip memories. 

All captured on our handy dandy iPhones (and the Fancy Disney Photographers).

I wouldn't want y'all to miss anything, so I included A LOT of pictures for you to enjoy. 

(Warning #3)

You know, in case you are in your mid to late thirties and haven't been to Disney World yet. 

We told Josh waaaaay back in January (on his birthday) about our trip. But, ten days leading up to it, we started a countdown in his bedroom. He loved ripping the papers down every morning. He got just a tad bit more excited everyday.

We also started a "Disney Dollar" reward chart. He earned stickers for kind behavior, doing chores, being good and sometimes just because he would randomly tell me I am the best mom in the world, therefore, earning a sticker... OF COURSE!! I'm a sucker. 

Once he earned 5 stickers, he earned a Disney Dollar to spend any way he wanted at Disney World.

It worked out great! Not only a wonderful bribery method pre-Disney, but also a great way to teach him about saving/spending/valuing a dollar, and a little math lesson all at once!  

Josh had a journal which he wrote and drew in throughout the trip. There was a lot of Jedi drawings, so I will save you from those, but this was my favorite page. I will translate:

"I am going to miss both Emilys" (Our Emily and school Emily who he has a crush on). 

"I got a new iPod."(No he didn't. It's Chris' old iTouch)

"I am most excited about riding the X Wing Fighter." (Star Wars speak)

Super cute.

Art of Animation Resort:  Our hotel

We stayed at the Art of Animation Disney Resort. 

It was awesome!

Nothing fancy, but very kid-friendly and themed. 

First of all, it was HUGE! 

There was  Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Lion King, and Cars themed neighborhoods.

Clearly, we stayed in the Cars Building and had a suite with a master bedroom, two bathrooms,  a living/sleeping, and dining area.  Josh is a bit "over" Cars, but he loved it anyway. It was like we were really on the movie set and staying at the Cosy Cone Motel!

Everything was themed.  

And, you know I love a good theme. 

From the traffic cone lamps, to the bathrooms that were like a car wash- they think of everything!

Each Neighborhood had their own themed pool. 

Our pool had traffic cone cabanas. 

Bet you've never seen those anywhere else, have you? 

Josh was thrilled to find our hotel had it's own arcade. 

The biggest and main pool of the resort was the Finding Nemo pool and splash park. 

It was chilly, but that didn't stop Josh from taking a plunge one evening. 

Tips on Art of Animation Resort:

I totally recommend this resort- if you have young kids. It's so themed, Josh loved it. Very much felt like an extension of Disney World. However, if you have older kids,  it may be lost on them. 

It is a moderate/value Disney resort, meaning it's middle-range price wise. We stayed in a suite, because we thought Emily would be with us and it would be good to have separate sleeping areas. The Master had a door to the rest of the "apartment" and it's own TV and bathroom, so once Josh was asleep, we didn't have to read with a headlamp in silence. The room was very clean and neat. Maid service was great and left towel animals everyday (like on a cruise ship). They really won me over when they left a four leaf clover one evening. There is a cafeteria and it was good food, especially breakfast. This resort has it's own shuttle to the parks. We never waited more than 15 minutes for a bus either way, and that time was after a big show at Hollywood Studios, so it was better than we expected. It's a big resort, so if you have small children, consider a stroller to use at the resort in addition to the parks. They have a great souvenir store- I know that probably shocks you- and the staff do Disney pin trading outside the store twice a day. You have to bring your hotel towels to the pool, if I had the space in my suitcase, I would have liked my own beach towels.

MAGIC KINGDOM!

Our first day at Disney World, we headed out early and arrived at the Magic Kingdom in style- 

In our Mickey shirts! 

It was pretty cool when we rounded the corner and I saw the castle for the first time. 

Josh said, 

"THERE IT IS!!!!!" and I felt like a little girl who wanted to run straight through the doors and go to the ball. 

We had early breakfast reservations, before the actual park opened, so we were able to go in early and get some pictures before all the Spring Break masses arrived. Great tip that I learned on line and probably my favorite tip of the entire trip. 

After breakfast, we headed out on our first day of Disney fun. We had a typed out plan of what rides to hit first, and how to navigate the park. We learned A LOT on our first day at the MK which made our 2nd day at the MK a lot more productive. But, it was so much fun just walking around seeing everything! 

And boy, is there a lot to see! 

One of our first rides was the Buzz Lightyear ride. You ride through tunnels and everything glows in the dark. The point of the ride is to shoot lasers at targets.  Josh and I rode together. At the end, this was our point spread.  Those of you who have seen my struggle with hand-eye coordination first hand, may not be surprised that my score is on the right. Josh's score is on the left. That's embarrassing.  

 After the ride, we got to meet Buzz Lightyear. Those of you who don't know ( I didn't until recently),  meeting Disney characters is a HUGE part of visiting Disney World. You will see  this in a few "scroll downs." 

Josh was just tall enough and just brave enough to ride the Space Mountain roller coaster. I was clearly tall enough, but not brave enough.  However, since I didn't have Emily as an excuse to sit it out, I was convinced to ride it. 

Oh. My. Goodness. 

I don't know if it was the actual roller coaster, or having Josh sitting by himself in front of me and I was sure he was going to be thrown from his seat, but I was terrified the ENTIRE time. Screaming at the top of my lungs. 

But, the good thing that came from this ride, was my most favorite memory of the entire trip. 

During the ride while I was going ape-crazy and the ride was going God knows how fast, backwards, through a pitch black tunnel, Josh was screaming, "Don't worry Mommy! It's going to be okay! It's almost over!"

Seriously. 

He is the sweetest boy in the universe. 

He was so worried about me. 

My heart (which was on the verge of attack) just about melted right then and there. 

After about 2 hours (not kidding), my hands eventually stopped shaking and we found ourselves standing on the side of main street right when a parade was about to begin! We thought we were so lucky, but now I realize parades are quite frequent in magical lands like Disney. Josh LOVES a good parade, though. I love this picture. Truly captures the magic of how he looked all day. 

We did A LOT at the MK. Josh deemed his favorite ride as Thunder Mountain.  

We rode it a lot.

A lot. A lot. 

After a FULL day of roller coaster rides, parades, shows, food, meeting characters, and walking, we ended the day with a blast. 

Literally.  

Electrical Light Parade 

Light Show on Castle

Fireworks! 

An electrical light parade, followed by an awesome light show using the castle as a backdrop, and ending with the most spectacular fire works show I've ever seen. My pictures do not do it justice. It was seriously the coolest thing ever. My favorite was the light show using music from all the Disney movies. They pipe the music throughout the entire park, so it's so loud and really feels like the park is alive. It's super cool. 

And they do it EVERY NIGHT!!! 

What?! Is this Walt Disney guy made of money???

Yes.  

Yes, he is. 

Of course, we were exhausted. The shows were not over until 11:30pm and with my EXCELLENT planning- it was also the night of the time change. Ouch!

AND... we had to be up the next morning at 7am for a very important meeting... 

Tips on Magic Kingdom:

Definitely book breakfast in the 8am hour so you can get inside the park before everyone else. We ate at the Crystal Palace and it was fabulous. Great characters and great food. We did see a set of 60+ year old twins that were decked out in the EXACT same outfit. They literally were mirror images of each other. Everything down to the lip stick shade was the same.They were sitting at the table next to us and it creeped me out a bit, but the other than that it was a perfect breakfast! I digress...

Utilize the fast passes, and while waiting for your time to come up, do stuff close to that ride. Then, when you are able to obtain another FP, send one parent to get another set of fast passes while you ride the 1st ride you had the FP for. Fun rides/shows: Buzz light year, Monsters Inc., Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Jungle River Tour, Swiss Family Tree House, Peter Pan. Fantasyland was very cool. I wish I had more pictures there- but it was a lot of girly things, like Little Mermaid.  MK has BAD cell coverage! Save up your battery! But, if you get down to 2% and are worried the caretakers of the other child you left behind need you- there is a plug inside the information center you can use. Also, if there is a particular character you really want to meet, you can go to the information desk in town square and they will call that character's assistant and tell you exactly when and where they will be for their next meet and great. I saw this really creepy lady who was all by herself do this to find out where Snow White would be so she could take a picture with her favorite princess since she had never been to Disney World before as a girl and the boys she was with wouldn't have anything to do with meeting princesses. Weirdo, huh? 

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!

Day two of our trip.

This is what brought us to Disney World. 

Hollywood Studios. 

When I heard about Hollywood studios from a friend, I had no idea it was part of Disney World. 

Once I realized the land of magic was also the land where Josh could learn to be a Jedi...

We. Had. To. Go. 

I did not want him to outgrow the magic and wonder of it all.

Then seeing Chris' reaction to the Star Wars attractions made me realize this would have been impossible. I mean, we walk up and there is a life-size At-At Walker! 

What even IS an At-At Walker?? And can one really be "Life-sized?"

What is it about that movie???

Eeek... I can hear you people cursing me through the computer pipes!!

Josh was SUPER serious about Jedi training. 

And for Josh to be serious about ANYTHING is notable, so I had to take a photo... or 80. 

They learned how to use a light saber with ease and skill.

They learned to cut up, across, and down. 

They. Learned. The. Force.

And then... it was time. 

To defeat Darth Vader.

He was so serious. I was shocked none of the kids were scared! I would have been scared to stand up to him, especially with the two Storm Troopers by his side!

Here is the video of Josh fighting Darth Vader. 

Coolest moment of his six long years here on earth. 

After Jedi training, Josh was a little upset his Jedi Force wasn't working, but he got over it quick enough when we got on the Star Tours 3-D flight simulator ride. It was probably my favorite ride the entire trip. So much fun! 

 

He even got to spend some of his Disney Dollars in the Star Wars store and was thrilled with his choice.

With all the Star Wars excitement out of our system, we were able to enjoy some special effects and stunt shows. The first one was a car chase and stunt show. Josh loved it! It was basically any given Jason Bourne movie car chase reenacted in front of us. There were cars driving backwards and things blowing up. Next up was the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, which had things exploding and people fake beating each other up. 

Can you tell Hollywood Studios is geared towards the Y chromosome? 

Don't worry, in five years when Emily comes with us to Disney, I will have my time with tiaras and glitter. 

Five years. I can wait. 

I think . 

There were some pretty cool movie sets and backdrops to see as well!

Josh was thrilled to meet Wreck it Ralph and Sorcerer Mickey. 

I adore Josh's face when meeting Ralph. 

That is how I would look if I ever met Matt Damon or Ellen Degeneres.

To end our time at Hollywood Studios, we saw the Fantasmic Show. 

It is a parade (on water), light show, and fireworks all rolled up into one nice little 30 minute show. 

It was impressive. 

Tips on Hollywood Studios:

Unless your kid really likes Disney Junior shows, skip Hollywood and Vine- good food, but, kind of cheesy (and I don't mean the diary kind).  HS gets SUPER busy in the afternoon. Do the Toy Story ride first and the Rockn' Roller coaster. We were able to do Toy Story, but by the time we got to the Rockin' Roller coaster, the line was over 2 hours and no FP- this was the only park we really felt the Spring Break crowds. For Jedi Training- get to the park when it opens. It's free, but they only take 9 kids at a time. Star Tours ride is awesome and there are different ones each time, so go more than once if you can. Do the stunt shows, but get there only 10-15 min early, there is plenty of seating. Fantasmic is a different story- get there at least 30 minutes early. And bring your own food, the food lines inside the show were ridiculous. There are a lot of characters to meet at HS. 

CHARACTERS! 

We met a lot of Disney characters. It was a surprisingly fun part of the trip. I DID NOT think Josh would care one bit about meeting the characters, but I think he really loved it. He would get so excited! We brought our own autograph book and all the characters signed his book for him. It was a cute thing for him to ask each character for their autograph. Here are most (but not all) of the characters we met. 

Tinker Bell's side kick looking at Josh's Disney Pin Collection. The Disney Pin Trading was super fun. A friend told Chris about it. Basically, you get a lanyard and collect Disney pins. You can trade with ANY Disney "cast member" (employee) that also has a lanyard with pins. They HAVE to say yes! Josh loved it! He would walk right up to them and ask if they would like to trade.  I really don't know who had more fun with the Disney Pin Trading- Josh or Chris. Either way, it was a fun thing to do and if you have kids old enough, I would highly recommend it. Chris ordered pins on Ebay before our trip to trade. On Ebay they are .50 each, at the park, they are at least $6... so that was a good move. You are going to trade them anyway!

Is that Josh about to stab Peter Pan with his pirate sword???

Me doing my best Tinker Bell.

Piglet! 

Eeyore!

Winnie the Pooh

Tigger

Chef Mickey

Chef Donald

Chef Pluto 

Chef Goofy

Chef Minnie

Green Army Man!

 June from Little Einsteins

 Jake the Pirate! 

Josh even got up to dance with him!

 Handy Mandy

Agent Oso

"I'm Gonna Wreck it!!!"

Ralph and Venelope! 

ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!

On our third day, we were only slightly alive and walking, but we woke up early and headed to the Animal Kingdom!  Rides, exploding cars, Star Wars and a ZOO! Yes, Disney has it all! 

Here we are in front of the Tree of Life. 

See how scared Josh is of us???

We terrify him. 

We went on a super cool and informative safari ride through Animal Kingdom and got to see lots of animals. Lions, Tigers, Gorillas, Giraffes, Alligators, Birds of all sort, Elephants, the list was endless.

This brave giraffe got super close to the road and just about leaned in for a kiss on Chris' cheek. 

Funny Man with the Rhinos.

\

Chris and Josh found some drums to rock on. 

 This is the Everest Roller coaster.

It was another one where I was screaming bloody murder and the boys were laughing. 

Thank goodness we bought a few ponchos before riding this fun ride! 

Josh loved this one. 

We watched the Finding Nemo musical and it was AMAZING! 

Dino Land. 

A land of all things Dino.

Cute dudes. 

Someone got hungry for a Josh sandwich. 

MAGIC KINGDOM, AGAIN!!

On our last day in Disney we woke up to RAIN! 

But, it wasn't too bad and luckily we had our ponchos (from the wet rapids ride the day before) to keep us dry. The rains kept most of the crowds down and we were able to ride Thunder Mountain over and over without waiting in line. The ride was even more fun in the rain! 

In the middle of the rain storm, we we lucky to have an appointment for Josh at the Pirate's league! 

As you can see, Josh had NO problem channeling his inner pirate and getting into character. 

After obtaining his pirate name, Josh was "Jack Sternspinner," he was escorted into a large room where he got dressed and made up to be a pirate. Josh was a little disturbed with the fact he was getting make-up on his face, but once he saw his awesome pirate beard, he got over it. 

Josh got very lucky when Captain Jack Sparrow himself walked right in the door to pay a visit to the new pirate recruits! After  taking the Pirate Oath and swearing away all the good kind things I've been trying to teach him the last six years, it was official...

Captain Jack Sternspinner- the pirate!  

While the boys rode some more fast paced rides, I went on the hunt for my favorite princess, Snow White. I tried to convince Josh to join me so he could meet a real life princess, but I got a big fat - NO!!! He did promise to meet princesses next time when Emily was with us... and I got the promise on video. Anyway, I stalked Snow White around the Magic Kingdom and finally learned where and when she was doing her next meet and greet session. I was there 20 minutes early with my autograph book 

(I mean, Josh's autograph book) in hand and ready to meet Snow White. 

No apple, sorry Snow White. 

We found the REAL Mickey and had a lot of fun going backstage to see his dressing room. 

Mickey was a little bit scared of Josh the pirate at first, but as soon as he got to talk to Josh, Mickey realized he was a sweet kid and even gave him a kiss on the head! 

Josh was thrilled!!!! 

I love this picture. 

Here are the boys, watching another Disney parade. 

I think Josh may or may not have been asleep in this picture. 

More parades. 

More famous characters that I wish I could be when I grow up. 

Nothing says "Disney magic" like a pirate holding a gun at Goofy.

There are MANY favorite moments during our trip, but for some reason this one really sticks out. 

It was late in the afternoon on our last day at Disney. We had pretty much done all the rides and shows we wanted to do for that day, so we were just aimlessly walking around. We stopped for ice cream sundaes and found this little set of tables along a small pond. The castle in the background and beautiful flowers all around us. Everything is so perfect there, including the company. 

And, yes, I even loved that Josh was wearing a large gold hoop earring. 

Late in the afternoon, we said a somewhat sad good-bye to Disney World as we left the Magic Kingdom for the last time. We took this great photo where all the memories of the past four days began.

I will not lie, I had teary eyes when we left. 

Both happy and sad tears for the great memories and fun we had, but had to leave behind.  

After a long day at the park, we went to the hotel for a quick dip in the pool and a costume change.

No rest for us! Josh did great on our last day without any rest time. Probably because we broke down and rented a stroller for him that day- probably should have done that sooner in the trip. He was much happier with functioning feet at the end of the day. 

We had tickets for the Hoop-de-Do Musical Revue, a dinner and musical show. 

I had heard it was good fun, but didn't know much else other than it was a good way to end the trip. 

Turns out the Hoop-De Doo Musical is super fun! 

Highly recommend it! 

There was singing (here is the leading lady singing "Let me call you sweetheart" to a very blushing Josh) and lots of dancing and laughing. 

And much to Chris' delight, there was bottomless fried chicken, ribs, and beer. 

The food was great.

 WOW, what a great evening we had!! 

Now, back home to pack up the suitcases and get a good night's sleep before our travels tomorrow...

Or not...

As we were taking the shuttle boat back to where we needed to go, the boys decided why not spend one last late night at the Magic Kingdom watching the fireworks and parade? 

I had nothing to do with this decision, but was happy to tag along. I am so glad we did it. We felt like we were breaking all kinds of rules, keeping Josh out super duper late for another night. In fact, since we were being bad parents anyway, why not buy him some cotton candy at 9pm.

Yep. 

We did that. 

Whatever- that's what being a kid is about. 

And on this trip- we were all kids. 

After hitting Thunder Mountain ONE LAST time- and this time in the dark, we found a little spot with the perfect view of the Electric Parade and fireworks. Josh had so much fun dancing around and watching the spectacular wonder of it all.  My phone was dead from photo-taking overuse, so all I could do was sit back and enjoy the show. It was fabulous. 

And for real this time, our last wave good-bye at the castle.

See you in five years with our little princess!

Thanks for the memories, Disney World!