Thursday morning, we woke up bright and early ready to make it to Rope Drop at the Magic Kingdom. We had to wake up the boys, but as soon as their eyes were open, they were SO EXCITED! They both said that they had dreams about the Magic Kingdom that night. They were so happy and were such great listeners and we easily got out the door. We ate Nutrigrain bars, and fruit squeezers, and apple slices in our hotel room that morning for breakfast, so we could just head straight to the bus stop for it's earliest run to the park.
Waiting for the bus! We also got to see Auntie & Flobby first thing that morning too, which was a relief! They had made it out of the snow storm in Denver and to Orlando, just about 10 hours behind schedule. Uncle T and Auntie Laura didn't get in until about 2 a.m., so they decided to sleep in and meet up with us later that morning.
Ready for some fun!
We made it! We were finally there!!! So exciting!
Being there for Rope Drop is an absolute must at least once during your stay. The excitement is just so neat! Nolan could not contain his excitement. It was so cute to watch!
And then, just like that, we were in!
Heading down Main Street...
I had done a lot of research. I read blogs, I read articles, I studied maps, I asked friends for advice. And Laura has been numerous times and also fairly recently, so she had some Disney knowledge to draw from as well. And it all paid off. I felt like we knew what we were doing even though I hadn't been there since Middle School.
My Mom hadn't been since college. We never went as a family growing up. My Grandma took my brother and I to Disney Land when we were in Elementary school. And then I went with friends in Middle School. Mark and Bob went with their families when they were young. But my Dad, Sister, Tyler, and the boys had never been to Disney World before. So the trip was made even more fun to see so many of the people that I love get to experience Disney World for the very first time.
I had read online that it is strategic to go to a park on the day after it's Magic Hours day. A lot of people choose to go to the park on the day that it is open for Disney Resort guests for extra hours. But if you go the next day, all of the people who had visited for extra hours have now moved on to another park.
So we set up our schedule based on that theory, and we also had to work around the Mickey's Christmas Party dates as well. This is an extra ticketed event that you can pay $70 extra dollars per person to attend. They have a special Christmas parade and they film a Christmas concert for ABC as well. We opted not to pay the extra money for this ticket because we felt like the parks were already full of Christmas fun without having to pay even more money. And this ended up being just fine for us. We had to leave early one day- by 7 p.m. Only guests paying for the Christmas party could stay until normal closing hours. But we were exhausted by that point and ready to go home anyways since that was the day we got there at Rope Drop. And we missed Arianna Grande- oh shucks! But we saw plenty of parades and also scheduled a second day at Magic Kingdom as well, when we were able to stay later.
So here's how our schedule would go: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios/Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom. For our first visit, and while our kiddos are still pretty young, we knew we wanted two days at MK. And we knew that Epcot would be the least interesting for them. So we decided to do one split day so that everybody got to go where they wanted, but so that we would also spend half of the day together. Maybe in the future we would do 1 day at each park, or add a 5th park day. But we seemed to be pretty happy with the way things worked out.
Once into the Magic Kingdom, I knew we wanted to head straight back to Fantasyland. You don't want to follow the crowds. You need to know your path and head straight there. And I'm glad we did. For pretty much the first 2 hours we were able to walk on to ride after ride!
Cinderella's Castle!
First stop: Tea Cups!
Grandpa, Brooks, and I did our first ride together!
Both boys loved it! And it was fun for me to ride this with my Dad as well!
Then we headed over to The Tomorrowland Speedway!
The cars are on a track, and you have to press very firmly on the gas to get them to go, it is definitely not the smoothest ride, but we had fun!
Next up- Dumbo!
Goofy's Barnstormer is a super quick roller coaster but VERY fun! We knew all about this ride from a c.d. that was made by the brother in law of one of our friends- Taft Brown. He wrote a song titled "Goofy's Barnstormer". It's a fun c.d. for kids if you're looking for something new and catchy and fun to listen to. So we HAD to stop and snap a picture by the Barnstormer sign for Uncle James!
Then we headed over to It's a Small World!
Nolan and Heath really enjoyed this ride…so much to look at and so many cute animals.
Mark's Homeland!
Holding Grandma's hand. So sweet!
Love this pic! We were all so happy to be together at the happiest place on earth!
We decided to have an early lunch after a light and early breakfast. We ate in Tomorrowland and then Uncle T & Auntie Laura met up with us there! We were so excited to see them!
Auntie Laura & Uncle T took the boys back on the Tea Cups after lunch. Nobody else wanted to ride it again after lunch…I wonder why. We now call this ride- "Auntie Laura's Wild Ride" You know, like the old, "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". She gave Nolan and Heath the ride of their life, cranking them around super fast. It looked like they just might puke! Heath stumbled his way out of the tea cup when the ride was over. He looked like a drunk person. He was so dizzy that he fell over- twice! We were all laughing so hard!
Then we hung out in Tomorrowland for awhile!
We rode Space Mountain as our first Fast Pass!
Heath was white knuckled the entire ride. He would keep a straight face and not make a peep. Then occasionally after a scary ride, as soon as it would stop, he would get out and want to cry! But he was so brave and rode every single roller coaster!
We had watched videos and looked at pictures of all of the rides online before our trip, so the boys were excited about certain ones that really stood out to them. Space Mountain was definitely a favorite for most of us after the entire week! Nolan and I especially liked it!
After many rides, you could find a photo taken of you. You could then scan your magic band and the photos would end up on the Disney app on our phones afterwards. They were always so funny- Laura was always ready with the best pose, Nolan always had his face turned in, Heath was always straight faced, and I was always screaming!
While we were on Space Mountain my sister and Dad took Brooks to go meet Mickey! He had fallen asleep on the way over so they had to wake him up when they got there. Sleepy, and a little scared, he tried to pull a fast one on Grandpa and Auntie and run away from the mouse! But they were able to wrangle the escape artist and get him to say hi to Mickey.
I love this picture!
So cute! We were thankful that Mallory was pregnant and couldn't ride the same rides that Brooks was too short for because she could push Brooks around in the stroller and give him a little rest time. Grandpa was a good help as well! That way we could ride all the roller coasters together with Nolan and Heath. They also took Brooks shopping for his first souvenir during this time- he chose a Jake stuffed animal with his money from Oma & Opa!
The Incredibles Dance Party in Tomorrowland!
Rumor has it that there is a pretty INCREDIBLE video of one, Auntie Laura, getting her dance on with The Incredibles. But somehow, this video has not been shared. Maybe someday I'll be able to get my hands on it. It's pretty awesome!
Buzz Light Year's Space Ranger Spin was also a Fast Pass ride for us!
The boys LOVED it! This was one that they were really looking forward to.
Auntie Laura & Nolan shooting aliens!
Heathy rode with me! We all took turns riding in every possible combination on each ride. It was fun to mix and match and have these fun experiences with each other!
After Tomrrow Land, we headed over to Frontierland. The second we landed in Orlando, Heath started spotting Mickey Ears and Goofy Hats, and pointing them out everywhere. He knew right away that he wanted to spend his money from Oma & Opa to buy a Pluto hat. My whole family was shocked that I actually let him make this purchase. But when you're in Disney World you get sucked in to all things DISNEY! And I just didn't want to say no to him. This silly little hat made him the happiest boy!
And he looked so stinkin' cute in it!
Nolan also picked out his first souvenir, he chose Peas in a Pod from Toy Story. He always chooses small things. It reminded me of a stuffed animal that we had as kids- you can take the 3 peas out of the pod and then zip them back in. It's cute.
In Frontierland we met our first characters of the trip- Chip & Dale! They were so cute and fun! The boys really got into meeting the characters and getting their autographs- way more than I thought they would. That was another piece of advice that I got from a friend- bring or buy an autograph book. I wasn't going to because I really didn't think the boys would care about it. But after my friend told me that her boys really enjoyed this, I quickly found a printable autograph book on Pinterest and printed it out and bound it and brought it along just in case. And I'm so glad I did. It makes for a fun and free souvenir and will be a neat memory to look back on.
Brooks was pretty shy by the characters. But would high five them or give them knuckles and smile.
Next we headed into Adventureland. We headed straight to the Dole Whip line (YUM!) when out of the corner of Mallory's eye she spotted her crush- Zac Hanson! She has always been the hugest Hanson fan! She immediately started hyperventilating and I told her that she HAD to go say hi and get a pic! He was there with his kids and was performing at Epcot that night. But she just couldn't pass up this opportunity!
Fan-girling with Hanson!
I'm so glad that she got this picture and that it made this day even more amazing for her! Disney really does make dreams come true!
Next up…Aladdin!
This was also a favorite ride for the boys! I think that they rode it about 5 or 6 times over both of our days at MK! The magic carpets go up and down and then you can control their height as well. You can also control making the carpet tip forward and backward. There is also a water spitting camel. The boys had fun trying to position the magic carpet to squirt their passengers!
This is one of my favorite pictures from our entire trip!
Back in Frontierland...
We really LOVED The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad- our last Fast Pass of the day. And Laura got some of the BEST pictures! It was one of the longer rides and really fun!
Nolan's face in this picture is hilarious!!! He looks terrified! But LOVED them all, and thought he was so cool that he did every single roller coaster.
After the ride, my Mom actually said, "I didn't know that was a roller coaster!" Ha! Guess we surprised her with quite the thrill ride!
Love my people!
And then we were on to Liberty Square...
While waiting to head over to The Haunted Mansion, Brooks turned Grandpa into the
Pink Ranger. He had fun "destroy"ing him each day!
Grandma & Auntie spending some time in this poor provincial town. One thing that we didn't get to do that we would for sure try to do if we go again is to eat at "Be Our Guest". You need a reservation and we couldn't get one. But it looks like a great atmosphere.
One of the the many fun snacks from our trip!
Next up was the Haunted Mansion! It was a fun, nostalgic, must ride, ride.
Then we rode The Pirates of the Caribbean- which is also nostalgic, but didn't end up being anybody's fav. The boys were actually creeped out by some of the pirates and their antics.
And then there was The Jungle Cruise...
Oh man…our boat captain was something else. She talked non stop, made every obnoxious joke possible, and elicited many moans and groans from the passengers. The boys thought it was fun though and enjoyed the animals and the humor.
The rest of us couldn't wait to get off the boat! Ha! And that was our last ride of the day.
We sure packed A LOT in!
Somehow this became my thing- leaving the park pics! I took one each day as we left each park. It's fun to look back and see who we were with when we left- it was different every day. That was the neat part of our trip- we had a lot of time together, but we also did our own things as well so that everyone was happy! We all had our own priorities and schedules and were flexible with each other's wishes. But this picture just makes me happy. Our first day was so fun. Not too crowded. HOT, but truly MAGICAL!
We headed back to Port Orleans to drop the kids off to my parents who had left the MK shortly before the rest of us.
The boys had Grandma & Grandpa Night- pizza and pool and mickey bars! What more could three boys want?!
And then the 6 of us BIG kids had a nice dinner out. Tyler made us a reservation at a restaurant that had been recommended to him by a friend. It was called Artist Point.
So we made our way over to Disney's Wildnerness Lodge that night. And we had the best time together!
Cheers! To being brothers and sisters and friends! These people are some of the funniest I know!
Kiddie Cocktail for the Pregnant Sister!
We were also celebrating 1 year anniversaries for these peeps! Champs on the house!
The Johnsons all ordered seafood and the Non Bloods all ordered steak. The food was EXCELLENT! I had scallops and they were seared to perfection. And the sides and bread were divine as well!
Laura finishing her meal with a glass of glowing Port. Ha! She was reminiscing about her last visit with her family and how they always got drinks with glowing ice cubes. So we set out to continue the tradition! (And our boys were the happy recipients of the glowing ice cubes after the fact! They may or may not have made their shower the next morning into a rave. Ha! These have actually been one of their favorite souvenirs!)
And after the party it's the after party! That is, if you can find your way out of The Wilderness Lodge. "Excuse me sir, can you tell us how to get to The Wildnerness Lodge?" - Mark
Um. You are in The Wilderness Lodge!
Thanks to Uber we made it back safely and quickly to Riverside.
Once there we listened to the musical stylings of Ye Haa Bob Jackson at the River Roost!
Oh man. He is something else. He sure did "rock the River Roost with his wacky piano playing and singing." Needless to say, we did not feel compelled to join Bob Jackson again the next night. But it was an experience.
Just another memory to add to an already incredibly memorable day! Loved this day and love the people I shared it with!
Next up- Friday, Park Hopping between Hollywood Studios and Epcot!
