Day 4- Princess Breakfast and Epcot

On Sunday, our last day, Abby and I went to a princess breakfast in Cinderella's Castle. It was very fancy and several of the main princesses were there. It was a thrill just to go inside the castle itself, but the breakfast was very nice and Abby enjoyed visiting with each of the princesses. Jacob was worn out by this point, and he and Jay stayed back at the hotel where Jacob slept until after 9am (and Jay still had to wake him up and drag him out of bed to meet us!!)

Princess Abby in front of the castle ( random side note for all you future disney-goers: Belle is not necessarily Abby's favorite princess, but the costume is one of the few that doesn't have a hoop in the skirt. It was very easy to take off, fold up, and shove in our bookbag, so that we didn't have to go all the way back to our room to change clothes!)

Abby meeting Cinderella (again) in the castle

Abby and Snow White


Abby and Princess Aurora ( Sleeping Beauty)

Abby and Princess Jasmine

Abby and Belle

After breakfast, we hopped on the monorail to meet Jay and Jacob at Epcot. We had not originally planned to spend any time at Epcot. Sunday we were going to spend another full day at Magic Kingdom, but we had been able to see and do everything we wanted to there, even multiple times, so we decided to go to Epcot. We all ended up being so glad we did, but Jacob especially loved several of the rides there. The Fast Track and Soarin were two of his favorite rides. They both enjoyed Fast Track so much we did it, got off and got a fast pass, and came back later to do it again. It was actually the longest line we had to wait in our whole trip, which was about 35 minutes!! Not bad for Disney World!!

Jacob at Epcot

Another favorite attraction at Epcot was the Finding Nemo ride. We did it 2x also. When you come out of the ride, you are inside a very large aquarium and we had a great time viewing the sea turtles, dolphins, sting rays, etc.

Playing in the shark's mouth

Very fun ice cream snacks, compliments of the disney dining plan (a MUST in our opinion!!)

Another one of those iconic picture spots!!

After Epcot, we went back and took another very long nap. The fast pace of the week was beginning to be evident! We headed back to Hollywood Studios that night for dinner and for the Fantasmic Show. We rode Toy Story one last time before the show. We did not enjoy Fantasmic at all. It was way too scary for our kids- there is a lot of emphasis on the villans and "bad" guys of the disney movies. Lots of darkness, scary music, fire, etc. We actually ended up leaving the show early, so it was a little bit of a disappointing end to such a fabulous trip!! Overall, we had a blast! It really was the perfect trip and we can hardly wait to do it again when Nathan is old enough to join us!!


on the plane headed home to see Nathan!!!

Day 3- Hollywood Studios and Chef Mickeys

We spent our third day, Saturday, at Hollywood Studios. There were parts of this park that we loved, but overall, it was the most difficult for our children's ages. We got there and went straight to the new Toy Story ride, which is SO fun! We actually did it 3 times!! The rest of our morning was spent watching several shows including: Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, and Beauty and the Beast. In between show times we walked around and saw a few of the highlights of Hollywood Studios!

Jay felt very strongly that we have our picture made in front of the iconic sorcerer's hat! This was the best we could do with the sunlight!

movie set city scape
San Francisco!

chatting with Donald!

The Playhouse Disney Show

Jacob meets a power ranger!

Jacob, Lightning McQueen, and Mater!

We had lunch at Hollywood Play and Vine where we met two of the Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath. There wasn't anything specifically wrong about this one, but it was their least favorite.

Jacob was SO hungry we had a hard time getting him to put his fork down for hugs!

Goliath hugs!

Hello June!!

After spending the morning at Hollywood, we went back and spent the afternoon at our pool. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but Jacob will still tell you all about the dragon water slide with King Triton sitting on top! It really was a very fun pool! We took a long nap and then went to Chef Mickey's for dinner (another sweet blessing from the Lord- He opened up those reservations for us. I had been calling for months to try and get in and still didn't have reservations for Chef Mickey's when we got to Disney. I went by our concierge for one last attempt and they had the exact night at 7pm that we were hoping for!!)

My friend Erica made them their matching tees!!

Mickey Mouse!

Chef Goofy!!

visiting with Donald!

hugs from Donald!

Pluto

loving some Pluto!!

Minnie Mouse!! Please check out the dessert plate. They brought her her very own plate to accommodate her peanut allergy! It was an overflowing plate of oreos, gummy bears, and a special allergy brownie!!
Chef Mickey's was one of our favorite character experiences! They had a blast!! After dinner we rode the monorail all the way around the loop and then went to the Magic Kingdom for the nighttime parade and fireworks! We also rode a couple of rides that have a special ambiance at night (the carousel, big thunder mtn railroad, astro orbiter!!)

Disney- Day 2 Magic Kingdom

We spent our second day at Magic Kingdom! We walked into the park and hopped on the train and took it to Frontierland, got off and rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice!! Jacob just barely made the height requirement and we were so happy he was tall enough. It was so much fun to experience this with them-Abby laughed hysterically all the way through and rode with her arms stuck straight up in the air. Jacob on the other hand held on for dear life and giggled some, but was very serious other times. It was a good reflection of their personalities. After our fill of the roller coaster, we headed over to Adventureland where we did Pirates of the Caribbean (which Jacob cried all the way through!) We decided to do some tamer, more peaceful rides so we got on the jungle cruise. This is the one ride I remember doing as a child. Both of mine loved it!!

family waiting to get on jungle cruise

me and Abby on the jungle cruise


me and Jacob on the jungle cruise

Jay and Abby (and an elephant!) on jungle cruise

adorable baby elephant

After Adventureland we made our way back to Main Street where we caught the tail end of the Dancin' in the Streets show.

I love this pic of Abby dancing and waving!!

We went and found a spot in front of the castle for the Dream Along With Mickey Show (which was so much fun!!)

We decided to try and get a few pics of the kids with the castle in the background:
Jacob wasn't thrilled with the idea!

but, he eventually gave us a half-hearted smile!

Abby on the other-hand wanted to live in the castle and was thrilled to have proof she had been there!

Dream Along With Mickey

As we were leaving the castle, we saw Cinderella's stepmother and two stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella, in the courtyard. This character encounter was mine and Jay's favorite. They were SO funny! They stayed in character the whole time (even when Abby started to cry) and were amazing at improv! They were a little loud and called a lot of attention on Abby (they told her that her hairbow was fabulous and that she really knew how to accessorize!!) She's a little like me and not a huge fan of being the center of attention, so we quickly made our exit, but please- check out these pics! They crack me up!

she wouldn't take a picture alone with them, so mommy jumped in!!

We headed over to the Tomorrowland Speedway!
I call this one driving with Cruella Deville!

Jacob could barely see over the steering wheel but he was thrilled to be able to drive!!

These next pictures are such a reminder of the Lord's sweetness and provision. This was such an unexpected blessing that Abby still talks about. We were headed down main street when a lady from Disney came over to Abby and after chatting with her for a few minutes asked her if she would like a special treat! Abby of course said yes and we followed this kind lady inside a building to this room in the back where Cinderella was waiting. Abby got to go in and visit with her, uninterrupted, and without waiting! It was such a sweet treat!

Abby quickly told Cinderella about how unkind the stepmother and stepsisters had been!! (picture me and jay giggling in the background!)

Cinderella tried to interact with Jacob, but he wasn't too sure!

How big is that grin on her face?

the family with Cinderella!

Jacob being goofy in one of the shops!

After perusing a few shops we got a frozen lemonade and staked our spots for the the 3 o'clock parade. ( A and J both enjoyed the shows and parades way more than I ever expected)

This is A jumping rope while we waited...

she loved the parade!

That night we had reservations at Crystal Palace for dinner- this is where we saw all the 100 acre friends!
Abby, Jacob, and Tigger

visiting with Pooh

solemn ole' Eeyore

sweet little piglet

Piglet getting all kinds of Jacob love!!

Dancing in the "parade" with Tigger! (we couldn't believe Jacob got up and did it)

On our way out we saw Chip-n-Dale and both kids wanted to wait to see them. Jay and I were shocked that they even knew who Chip and Dale were!!

As we told Chip-n-Dale goodbye, Pluto came out, so we got to see him too!

After an early dinner we headed back to swim for a short while and then get some much needed rest for our next day!
It was a very fun and magical day!!