First Day of Christmas Post: ONE Ambitious Idea
Second Day of Christmas Post: Sea TURTLE Vacation
Third Day of Christmas Post: THREE in one God
Fourth Day of Christmas Post: FOUR Instagram Accounts
There is a reason it is called the Most Magical Place on Earth. I get that some people find other locations magical to them. However, if you find yourself at Disney, you experience the magic of innocence and joy and fun and fellowship and goodness. I have been to Disney World three times: as a teen, newly married without kids, and recently with my children. Although parks update and attractions change, the feeling is the same.
My husband and I planned a surprise trip for our boys over the Thanksgiving Break. It was super easy to plan it all. First, we are blessed to know a couple of Disney vacay experts. They were immensely helpful in helping us choose time of year, finding the attractions that would give us the most bang for our buck, and checking in during out trip to celebrate the experience with us. We also used the Disney Experience to find a resort, reserve Fast Passes, purchase meal plans, and arrange luggage delivery to our resort room. Basically, we just had to make sure and get to the airport on time. Ha ha ha.
We chose to fly out the Friday before Thanksgiving Break and return the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. (You don't miss a family Thanksgiving.) Friday morning arrived, and we could barely contain our energy while we got the kids up and in the car. All the suitcases had been packed the night before and put in the car, so the boys didn't see them in the morning. Then I wrapped their Magicbands for them to guess where we were going. Once we were in the car, we explained that we were not going to school and work. Instead, we had somewhere special to go. We gave them the bands to unwrap:
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| Interesting reaction. The youngest was more concerned about no longer receiving his Perfect Attendance Award. |
We arrived Friday afternoon and loved our room at Port Orleans Riverside. It contained images of princesses and princes. The over all theme came from Princess and the Frog. This meant the headboards on our beds lit up looking like fireflies!
That night we headed to Disney Springs via boat. Disney Springs is a giant outdoor mall essentially. We walked around taking it all in. The shopper in me was excited to see so many Disney items for purchase! Eventually, we needed to eat. Why not have dinner at the dinosaur themed restaurant?
- Benji was actually not a fan of the Dinosaur ride even though we picked that one for him
- Turns out, Benji LOVED Expedition Everest and cannot wait to return and ride it again
- Turns out, Will did NOT love Expedition Everest and swore off all rollercoasters then and there
- The Bug's Life show was a lot of fun
- Finding Nemo: The Musical was visually stunning and a great respite from the heat (it was quite warm that day)
- Rafiki's Outpost got us up close and personal with some animals and let us flex our drawing muscles
- Experienced a bit of Pandora
- The night show was gorgeous
- The buffet dinner at Boma-Flavors of Africa was a delicious as I remembered
Day Two: MAGIC KINGDOM!
What can I say? The Disney Princess in me was most excited about this park. All the iconic rides and attractions are there. However, believe it or not, most of the princess are not. That did not stop me from soaking in every aspect of Fantasyland. We started the day with Belle and ended with dinner with the Beast. I mean, that is how much my husband and children love me. They let me have a whole day being a kid who really just wants desperately to fall into the movie Beauty and the Beast.
- Ate a tasty breakfast right in front of the castle
- Chris, Will, and Ben were all selected to participate in the Belle attraction! Yeah, I teared up about it. Don't care what you think.
- Enjoyed the Seven Dwarves mine train
- Cheered on the parade in the afternoon
- Experienced It's a Small World because you kinda have to
- Lived a bit of a pirates life on Pirates of the Caribbean
- Spooked ourselves out at The Haunted Mansion
- Sat down to a "fancy" dinner at the Beast's castle
And before we could enjoy the evening show and fireworks at the castle, we were promptly kicked out because of the special Holiday celebration we did not purchase tickets for. Sigh
Day Three: Epcot
The best part of Epcot? FIGMENT the dragon of course! If you don't know who that is, he is the Figment of your Imagination. I love him. He is adorable and fun. I even purchased a set of Figment Mouse Ears. The other cool part of Epcot is the World Showcase. They have various festivals there throughout the year. It is a neat way to see a lot of the world in a short period of time. Turns out, most of your Disney Princess are found here throughout the day. However, the princesses are getting their own post in a few days, so I am not going to go into too much about them here.
There are big plans happening for Epcot. Soon there will be an area dedicated to Big Hero 6 and Cocoa (two movies I love). They are also constructing a ride based on Guardians of the Galaxy I believe (and one of our awesome shuttle drivers is very excited that Tron is coming to the parks as well).
- Introduced Figment to my boys
- Met Vanellope Von Schweetz
- Got MY picture with Belle
- Met a TON of princesses
- Ate lunch in Morocco
- Tasted the weirdest cotton candy ever
- Watched some Pixar shorts
- Met Joy, Baymax, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy
- Rode Spaceship Earth
We actually left Epcot early and headed back to the Magic Kingdom because we wanted the boys to see the night show at the castle. Unfortunately, this means we did not see the night show at Epcot. Putting it on my list for next time.
Day Four: Disney Hollywood Studios
Truth time: Visiting this park was all about Galaxy's Edge. If you know me, you know how I love Star Wars (a post about that eventually too). Seeing Galaxy's Edge was a main factor in our visit to Disney World this year. Not disappointed at all.
The one thing I didn't quite expect was the full immersion. Galaxy's Edge is not another "land" like at Magic Kingdom where you can meet all your favorite Star Wars characters. You are in an experience. All the cast members are continuously acting out a show between Rey, Finn, and Chewie and Kylo Ren and the First Order. You cannot purchase traditional souvenirs here. You CAN FLY THE MILLENNIUM FALCON!!! AHHHHHHHH! Sure, we stood in line for an hour and a half, BUT I FLEW THE FREAKIN' MILLENNIUM FALCON.
My amazing husband also reserved seats at a character dinner for us. The perfect way to end our last night at Disney World.
- Had breakfast in Toy Story world
- 99.99% certain we sat a few tables away from Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October
- Rode Star Tours for the original Star Wars fans in us
- FLEW THE MILLENNIUM FALCON
- Brushed elbows with Rey, Finn, and Chewbaca
- Watched the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
- Met Mike and Sully
- Ate dinner with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy
- Got soaking wet at the night show (they should have a warning if you sit to close to the water)
Returning home was bittersweet. I completely understand why people go to the Disney parks so often. You are allowed to forget your age and cares of the world. You just have fun. Everyone in line (and some of those lines were super long) is amiable and open to chatting. It does have a magic all its own.
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