Our Long Day!

I missed my entry last night because we had a late night and I just couldn't stay awake any longer!

On the plans for yesterday was Animal Kingdom for the first part of the day and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in the evening (and after hours). This normally isn't a park we visit since Ryan and I really don't care for. Nothing about it really excites us and there are so many things to do in The World that we choose to forgo this one. However, Ally loves animals and has so much fun at our local zoos I decided to schedule us for a half day to see just 4 attractions. The hard part about this park is the attractions we want to see are shown only at specific times so it's a puzzle to get to them all. This park also requires a lot of back tracking to get to each show. We arrived at opening (9am) and were hoping to do Picnic in the Park lunch but found out when we arrived Disney canceled this food option last spring. SO bummed! Ally adores picnics and she was so excited. We promised her we'd do a picnic at our resort on another day instead.

We hit the Maharaja Jungle Trek (tigers and such), Nemo the Musical, Festival of the Lion King, and Kilamanjaro Safari. We did lunch at Flametree BBQ instead and it was decent. We also did the Boneyard which is a play area for kids. Another disappointment here...this used to be a sand playground with dino bones hidden that kids could uncover with various tools. They apparently got rid of this too. It's now just rubber flooring everywhere with slides. Ally still liked it since she loves slides, but it wasn't what we were expecting. We probably won't return to this park anytime soon. I really enjoyed the Nemo Musical but the park in general just doesn't do it for us. The kids didn't seem as enthralled as we thought they'd be.

Jace's attempt at sliding by himself. HA!

 Ally watering the plants, with her Minnie Mouse thermos....oh my.

Back to the resort for rest time before our late night at the Magic Kingdom. The naps didn't happen again so we headed to Hollywood Studios to catch a few things before going to dinner. We did the Disney Jr. show and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Both were hits with the kids. We hopped from Hollywood Studios to the Contemporary Resort which took forever, and then walked to the Magic Kingdom.

 Ally watching the Disney Jr. show

The party goes from 7pm-12am and is a separate ticketed event with most attractions open, complimentary hot chocolate & cookies (apple juice and apples as well), an exclusive Christmas parade and fireworks, and lots of character greetings. We had dinner at Pecos Bills so we wouldn't waste party time with a long sit down meal. This was fine but since we had to cancel our breakfast reservations for a character meal at Cape May Cafe this morning to get to the Animal Kingdom in time, we didn't do a table service meal at all today which really bothers me. I need that time and service in my vacation day and I always plan 1 everyday.

We did several attractions and Ally begged for more after doing Dumbo for the first time. With the line being 20 min, we promised her a ride on the Magic Carpets later. She did this ride 2x back to back since there was no wait. LOVED it. Mommy & Jace stayed on the ground...I don't do round-and-round rides. It's all I could do to watch and wave to her. Same goes for the Carousel; she and Daddy did it and had loads of fun.

The parade and fireworks were wonderful and Ally got all kinds of attention from characters again. It's so special to see her so excited and interacting so intensely! We did Small World one more time and then Pooh before leaving. I noticed on Pooh that I was bothered by bouncing with Tigger which is not something I normally have issues with, though I am sensitive to motion. I chalked it up to it being so late and worn out. We got back to the resort shortly after midnight and got the kids to bed. I was fried so I turned in immediately too. Ryan hung out on the Awesome Balcony for an unknown amount of time.

 How many shots does it take to get Ally to cooperate......here's the sequence.

 Hunkered down for the parade...she swore she was cold so she has one 2 jackets, mittens, and a hat...I had on a short sleeved shirt. Silly girl.

Ally had a little meltdown when the parade ended and she didn't get any candy canes from Santa Claus...that took a lot of talking to get her to calm down and understand.

Here's where things took a horrid turn. I woke up at 2-something throwing up. I did this all night. So much for being spared the misery my family had already endured.

Tomorrow: Off day (no parks), Downtown Disney, lunch at Portobello's, dinner at Restaurant Akershus in the Norway Pavilion with Princesses!

Magic, Memories, and Us

Today was almost a perfect Disney day. We were up, coffee'd, and gone by 8:45 for Epcot park opening at 9am. With everyone healthy and mostly happy (Ally is NOT a morning person and can take hours to "warm up"), we took advantage of minimal to no wait and lots of available Fast Passes (Soarin' and Test Track for Ryan). We really took advantage of the PhotoPass photographers today too. We stopped for each one we saw so hopefully we have some nice shots.

Ally loved seeing all the farming in Living with the Land and enjoyed everything we did even though she didn't want to do anything. Nemo was a hit as was Turtle Talk with Crush (after a few minutes in the show of her saying, "I wanna go back to my houuuse!"). After a few attractions of hesitation and whining from her we reminded her of all the fun she'd had at each attraction and Mommy and Daddy knew what would be fun. From there on she did really well with everything. Jace catnapped at the park while Daddy did Test Track which would later prove to be a bad thing when we end up with no afternoon nap. While we waited for Ryan, Ally was being a super sweet sister and loving on Jace.

We stopped at the America pavilion on our way out for a burger for Ryan and the kids and I, after more than a dozen WDW trips, finally had my first turkey leg. These are famous in Disney World for those of you unfamiliar. Surprisingly tasty! It was really smokey with almost a bacon flavor.

We stopped at a shop at the International Gateway (Epcot's back entrance/exit) to get Ally a treat she had been promised. She chose the colorful lollipops and was terribly excited and wanted to show everyone...

The kids ended up boycotting naps so we gave up and decided to just head to Magic Kingdom for some attraction fun before our dinner reservations.

We got there at about 3:30, got Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear, and walked on to Carousel of Progress. Both kids really enjoyed this. They were all about the dog. Jace "barked" through the whole show. ;-) Ally loves the song and knows all the words.

Ally did NOT like Buzz Lightyear even though she insisted on having her own laser gun to shoot. Oh well. After Buzz, we headed for Tony's for dinner at 5 and saw Fast Passes for the Princesses at Town Square were available for 5:30-6:30 so we planned to stop there after dinner before going to Frontierland for the Main Street Electrical Parade. We waited about 10 min for our table and Tony's and were shown to a great booth right in the middle of the restaurant, next to the Lady and the Tramp fountain. Our server was wonderful and I wish I could recall his name! We had a late lunch so we all split entrees, the kids Mickey shaped ravioli and Ryan and I had the torteloni but substituted white sauce for the red broth. All very good which was more than I expected from the restaurant. The atmosphere was really nice and very Disney. The only thing that would've made it better was wine. No alcohol in the Magic Kingdom of course. Vodka/whiskey and Sprite for us back at the resort (now)!

We were done with dinner by 6 and made our way next door to the Princesses. We waited maybe 10 or 15 minutes total between the 2 queing areas with our Fast Passes. The stand by line was 50 minutes. Ally and Jace (and Mommy and Daddy) got to meet and have pictures taken with Princesses Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella. They were all super sweet and amazing with the kids. Belle really captured Jace's attention and Cinderella got hugs from Ally and Jace held her hand. *teary* All these pictures are on our PhotoPass so they will be shared after we return home and get the CD of images. Oh!, and, I swear the Aurora we saw here tonight was the same Aurora we met in Epcot last night! Ryan doesn't think so....I'm so anxious to see the PhotoPass pictures from both experiences to compare!

From Town Square Princesses we herded ourselves like cattle to Frontierland for parade viewing. I haven't seen the park packed like this since the busy summers of the mid-90's! Absolute gridlock. The good thing is, we got to Frontierland and walked right up to an empty viewing area by Splash Mountain, right at the end of the parade route. The floats and characters all slowed down here as they completed their route and went behind the scenes so we got a LOT of what seemed like really personal attention from each and every one. Pinnochio pointed right at Ally, Gus bowed to her (she was wearing her Snow White dress), and Snow White  walked right up to her and blew a kiss! All very magical. *swoon* Side story...We invited a few children who had arrived at the viewing area after us to come in front with our kids so they could see better. Their families were so grateful and thanked us many times. No big deal to us...we could see fine and the kids are what it's all about for those families.
Fast forward to boarding our bus to the resort, Ally had fallen asleep so we were trying to finagle 2 strollers, 2 kids, diaper bag, and everyone's coats. A very nice older gentleman noticed our bit of struggling and helped us carry a stroller on the bus. Then 3 people offered their seats to us! I gratefully accepted but Ryan swore he was fine. I think he regretted that by the time we got "home", ha! In trying to get off the bus, we were offered help with a stroller again by a lady! Kharma people...pay it forward...what goes around comes around...whatever. Our kind actions apparently came back around. I love the general kindness that still exists in this world.

We got back to Main Street with the intent of watching Wishes but decided it just wasn't worth it with all the people. We'll see it on Monday night from the Grand Floridian where we're having dinner (they pipe the music  in to Narcoosee's).

Jace passed out on the bus and then Ally woke up as we got off the bus. Oh my. It's now 10:20 and she is still up. Yikes.