Disney World- Day Four!

Thursday, September, 8th: Hollywood Studios

Though it's hard to rank the parks at Disney b/c they're all fun and have their own theme, I had a feeling Hollywood Studios would be one of my faves. I love movies and the idea of being on a movie lot- which is how the park is themed- seemed really cool to me. It's hard to top Magic Kingdom but I really loved the day we spent at Hollywood Studios. All in all, it seemed like we got the most "done" but still didn't seem rushed and there was so many fun things to do. Again, some of this can be attributed to our getting used to the routine.

Hollywood & Vine
Our final character meal was Disney Jr. Play n Dine and also our most successful. Probably b/c we had a better idea what to do, I didn't mix up the time and we didn't get bad info from the concierge. But we arrived in plenty of time to get into the park, despite the extra time for Daniel to be "randomly selected" for a security check (this happened every day except Epcot). I took some pics of the empty park, which was so cool and we headed to Hollywood & Vine, which was pretty close to the front of the park, so easy access as well. We all went through the buffet and had time to start eating before the characters started arriving, plus the spacing between each was plenty to continue eating. We met Sophia the First, Handy Manny, Doc McStuffins and Jake from the Neverland Pirates.

We got Allie to hug a character! Not a huge deal, just think it's cute she's warming up. :)

We spent plenty of time with each, got hugs, autographs and pictures. It was very efficient, but still enjoyable and the food was good. And what do you know, right as we were walking out of the restaurant, the G family was walking by and we all headed to the Jedi Training Academy sign ups so the kids could participate in the show later that day. See? Most successful character breakfast award. :)

Hollywood Studios
While Becca & I signed up the kids, Daniel & Steve ran off to ride the Star Tours. Our group went on this ride several times throughout the day. In fact, this may be the guys' favorite park just b/c there was so much Star Wars. We met Kylo Ren (who does not want hugs, much to Jake's disappointment) and Chewbacca (who loves hugs), plus we met Olaf after a very short wait. We rode Toy Story Mania twice, saw the March of the First Order, saw several clone troopers, but didn't get an official picture with them, watched the kids in the Jedi Training Academy, rode the Tower of Terror and the Rock n Roller Coaster which was so fun.

Jake really wanted a hug from Kylo Ren, who in turn told Jake the force was strong in him
(because he just kept trying for that hug)

 Jedi Training Academy Pics:

Tower of Terror...we're terrified!

We also saw several shows: Disney Jr. Live on stage (super cute), Beauty and the Beast (ok), Voyage of the Little Mermaid (very enjoyable) and For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration which was amazing! Definitely my favorite show we saw the whole trip. It was hilarious and the songs were great of course. So much fun. We pretty much got to do everything we wanted and a couple things more than once. We had some ice cream at the end of the evening, but did miss the fireworks b/c Daniel & Steve wanted to beat the crowds to the buses again.

Rock N Roller Coaster...classic pic of Will!

All in all, it seemed like we got the most "done" but still didn't seem rushed and there was so many fun things to do. Again, some of this can be attributed to our getting used to the routine. This was a super fun day. Seems like the days we spent most of our time with S&B, we got more done. They were good tour guides and since they know the lay of the land, were able to move us along to the highlights. I can't believe tomorrow is our last day!

Happy Birthday Maggie! Disney World- Day Three

Wednesday, September, 7th: Epcot

Happy 6th Birthday Maggie!!! We love you so much, are so proud of you and so happy God picked us to be your mommy & daddy. You are such a sweet, loving, smart, compassionate, kind & generous little girl! In short, you have a big heart, Maggie, and God is using you in amazing ways, keep letting your light shine!! I can't believe you're already 6! That's just crazy to me. You're getting so big, a school-aged girl now, my Kindergartener, wow. I love you millions and billions!!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Maggie!!

When S&B invited us to Disney, we knew the trip would fall on Maggie's birthday. And what better way to spend your birthday than at Disney World?!!?! Especially when you love princesses like my Moosie girl does. Since Maggie's big day was right in the middle of our trip, I just knew we had to take her to a princess meal. I couldn't get a reservation at Cinderella's Table, but a friend of mine told me to keep checking because sometimes people cancel at the last minute. In the meantime, I booked a late lunch- 3:10 at the Akershus Royal Banquet hall.This was the main reason we chose to visit Epcot on Maggie's birthday, day two of the parks. I checked and checked but never did get a spot at Cinderella's but two days before we left, I finally got an earlier time at Akershus.

last night as a 5 year old

Opening your Rapunzel dress

The night before, we gave Maggie a brand new Rapunzel dress for her big day. The princess meal really was gift enough, but her old Rapunzel costume had seen better days and we could've made it work, but she had grown out of it. Rapunzel is her favorite so I knew we would get plenty of use out of the new one. We got ready and out of our room as early as we could, but the G family still beat us and had ridden a couple things by the time we got there. We explored spaceship earth- which was like a space lab with activities and games for the kids to play- before heading to the test track.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
After taking turns on Test Trak- first Daniel with Will, then me with Will- the others were too small, we made a pit stop. While in the bathroom with Maggie, Will came running in, "Dad says Maggie's princess lunch is right now!" I reply that's not possible, it's at 3-whatever in the afternoon. We come out of the restroom and Daniel, who was looking at the app with our schedule on it (meals & fast passes), said, "well, this says 10:40." I couldn't download the app on my phone, so I didn't have access to this information.

So we start booking it across the park as fast as we can. Fortunately, ran into a lady who was heading the same direction and took us straight there. I get in line, explain my situation, they confirm that my reservation is indeed at 10:40 and I was late but they would let me in. I Hate being late, so these character meals are not going according to plan. As I was waiting in line, wondering what happened, I remember that a couple days before we left, I in fact, was able to confirm an earlier reservation for 10:40am. Major Fail. Still, we got in, Maggie took a beautiful picture with Belle, we got some yummy food and I even helped her walk in the princess parade around the restaurant. Each princess visited her at the table and were sooo sweet; Snow White gave Maggie a kiss and she loved that! Plus, they gave her a birthday card signed by all the princesses and a little birthday cupcake. It was a great experience, just missed having everyone there. Maggie would've loved to see Rapunzel there, but at least we got to meet her the night before. :)

Daniel and I decided awhile back that just Maggie & I would go, thinking the boys wouldn't really like it. In hindsight, this was a bad choice not only b/c there was plenty of room at the table but also, this left Daniel alone with the kids and since we had to rush across the park, we lost S&B so he couldn't hang with them. But also, it was sad not sharing her big birthday meal with the whole family. I felt just horrible ditching him and the kids; I basically encouraged him to do whatever he wanted the rest of the day with Will. And the boys would've been fine, the food was good.

Epcot

Daniel spent time at this dinosaur thing narrated by Ellen Degeneres; he didn't love it, but he was able to kill about 45mins. He was meeting up with the G family right as Maggie and I were leaving brunch, so we headed to meet them at the character spot. We stood in a pretty short line to meet Baymax from Big Hero Six and then a slightly longer line to meet Joy & Sadness from Inside Out. After that, Daniel was pretty hungry so we headed over to the World Showcase and found a Mexican place to eat. I was still full from the princess brunch but not surprisingly, Maggie was ready to eat again, ha! It was nice to sit in the a/c for a little while and take a break. Daniel really enjoyed it.

Allie still afraid of the masked characters

After lunch, we headed over to the Seas with Nemo & Friends. This was another moving ride- like Peter Pan or Little Mermaid, not super exciting for Will but good for the little kids. There weren't too many rides at Epcot for the littles, so I sent Daniel & Will off to Mission: Space while I hung out in the Sea Base, mostly at Bruce's Sub House, with the other 3. Allie fell asleep, so I let Maggie & Jake explore and play. They had a fun time. After awhile, I headed over to Mission: Space after stopping for a quick pic outside Nemo. Turns out Will loved the ride, so he and Daniel convinced me to ride it with him. I was a little concerned b/c I wasn't sure I could handle the "take off" portion of the ride. I'm not overly prone to motion sickness, but could see the g-force taking me over the edge. I made it through and was glad I had the experience with my little man. When we came out, Daniel and the kids were nowhere to be found. We waited, then walked around, and finally ran into him coming out of the restroom near the ride. Allie had an explosion and he had to take everyone to the restroom to handle it. I left my bag with him when I went on the ride and it of course had my phone. Some interesting adventures!!

When we finished all that, it was time for our Frozen Ever After fast pass so we headed that direction- which was right next to Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. We really enjoyed this ride, it was a lot of fun! And so glad we had the fast pass b/c the wait was close to an hour long. In the same area was the Royal Sommerhus, where you could meet Anna & Elsa and the wait was only like 10 mins so we went for it! The photographers got some great shots of Maggie & Elsa... and being a picture lover, I'm glad I got the memory maker package at my friend's advice. It was worth it for me! We started joking with S&B about buying your memories at Disney, good times.

Maggie was so enamored with Elsa. What a great birthday!

After the meet & greet we split up again and we headed back to the World Showcase with the kids; we really enjoyed exploring all the different countries, wish we could've spent more time there. While walking through Morocco, there was a sign up for an Aladdin & Jasmine meet & greet in just a few minutes! So we waited in line and got their pics & autographs as well. Pretty sure he was the only prince we met, so that was cool, even for Daniel who loved Aladdin growing up.

After exploring the World Showcase for awhile, we took turns riding Soarin with Will. I loved this ride! Probably my favorite ride at Epcot, flying over Mt. Everest, the Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal and many other places, I thought it was awesome. Will was equally unimpressed. That child. Well after we finished with Soarin, it was nearly time for the park to close and the guys wanted to get ahead of the crowds, so we headed back to the resort, had a late dinner and settled in for the night. Another great day at the parks.

Happy 6th birthday my sweetheart beautiful Maggie!! I love you so much and am glad we could spend your special day in an extra special way. :)