Disney World...

The girls did not have to be back in school until January 6th, which is pretty late for a lot of places. We'd spent a few days in Naples, FL and I thought that that should be enough for for my aunt and her house! We've been to Disney World before but it was in the middle of summer, therefore very hot and fairly crowded. We've been to Disneyland lots, but always within a few days of Christmas, therefore very, very crowded. I thought it would be fun to take them while we had a chance to have fewer crowds and less heat. It may be a while before we get back to either. Somehow, my friends thought I'd lost it, one sister-in-law could not comprehend what I was saying, my mom thought I should take a nanny, and my dad wanted to know what they should say at my funeral. Other than a temper tantrum from Parker two hours after naptime each afternoon, we had a great time (including: Sarah did not have a temper tantrum and no one got lost). I included some great videos first. They are: First, meeting Pluto within minutes of the first day; Second, Madison getting an autograph from her favorite princess, Snow White; Third, part of It's a Small World; and Fourth, Madison dancing with Mickey Mouse at an after hours party. Then, I tried to pick out favorite pictures from the 63 that I took!

On the first day, we arrived in the evening. This is when we entered and got the video of meeting with Pluto. Parker has loved Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh, but I think that Pluto has beat them out! We then saw the Mickey's PhilaMagic Show. It's in 3-D. It's fun to watch all the kids try to grab the air. Parker decided he didn't like this much and had his eyes covered with his hands most of the time. We had dinner at Pinnocchio's Haus. The kids meals at the parks all come with two sides that include grapes, carrot sticks and apple sauce in addition to cookie, chocolate pudding or french fry choices, so we ate fairly healthily. Then, we caught the nighttime parade.

On the second day, we had the O'hana breakfast at the Polynesian. Meeting Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. At Disney, we were able to get Snow White's autograph (and video). We bought some more charms for the girls' bracelets and a few little other fun things. We all rode the teacup at the Mad Tea Party, played at the playground at Mickey's Toon Town, and had storytime with Belle in the Fairytale Garden. We ate at Pinnocchio's again because it was closest. We got chocolate ice cream cones (look closely at Allison's cone) and watched the afternoon parade. The girls rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster and then we all rode the WDW Railroad. We had dinner at Columbia Harbor House and bought light up toys (Allison a plastic necklace, Madison a wand and Parker a Mickey Mouse hand holding a wand). We rode Peter Pan's flight and then we bought a few gifts and headed for the monorail.

On the third day, we had breakfast at Crystal Palace, a favorite place of ours. We met Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. Parker loves the characters. He wants to hug them, touch their mouths, feel their fur, pat their hands... Then, we rode the Astro Orbiter, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Cinderella's Golden Carousel (the lines had dramatically dropped by this day), It's a Small World, met Ariel in her Grotto, and rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. We had lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe and caught the afternoon parade again (Madison absolutely had to have a balloon, the pink Mickey Mouse head shaped one inside of the clear round one!). Then, we got popsicles and frozen chocolate covered bananas. We rode The Magic Carpets fo Aladdin, The Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise. I heard a fantastic joke on the last ride. Question: What did Snow White say when she dropped off her film to be developed? Answer: Someday my "prints" will come. Allison is still thinking about it, or didn't find it as funny as me?! We had pretzels and cheese for dinner...it's Disney. We rode Dumbo and headed for the monorail (completing all the rides that we wanted to go on there!). We caught the fireworks in between. We also took baths at the hotel even though it was late!


On the fourth day, we finally slept in. We had breakfast at the hotel (Shades of Green) cafe and headed to MGM (now called Hollywood Studios). We watched Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage! and had lunch at Play 'N Dine where we met Little Einstein's June and Leo and also JoJo and Golilath from JoJo's Circus. Parker was fascinated with June's earrings. We rode Voyage of the Little Mermaid and had pictures taken with the "Cars." Thought we could have gotten a really great one of Parker but up close they were pretty loud, which he does not like. We watched the Muppet Vision-3D and the High School Musical 3 outdoor performance. We rode the Toy Story Midway Mania ride. We had dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre Restaurant. Parker was thrilled that we (and everyone else) sat in a car to eat. The girls were entertained with the "movie" on the screen. They also rode the Star Tour ride (an exciting Star Wars ride that I had to convince Allison was exciting not scary). Madison had a blast! We watched the Fantasmic Show, which was absolutely packed. They show this one at Disneyland. It's a compulation of water blown in the air, with video shown up on it, a play on a stage, floats with the characters, music and fireworks. It really is something to see. Then, we caught The Great Movie Ride and started to head out. As we were doing so, we kept noticing all these kids with balloon hats and such. I asked one parent where they got theirs. It was a Magic Hours night (park open after hours to Disney resort guests) and they had a "party" going on where we'd seen the Playhouse Disney show. I could not believe what was going on inside! The music (Disney songs) were being D.J.'d and kids and parents alike were dancing and jumping around...with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy. Plus, on one side, there were people making all kinds of things with balloons. This is where I got the video of Madison dancing with Mickey Mouse. Allison got a princess balloon hat, Madison a flower and Parker a little Mickey Mouse. We didn't leave until almost 10:00. Hey, it's still Disney, right? Or, is this really what happens when dad's not around?

On the fifth, and final day...Sarah was getting Parker out of the car and putting him in the stroller, all the while telling him that it was our last day, we'll just be here for a few hours, and then we are going home. His response, out of his mouth, was "Yay!" I guess we know how he really felt? We had breakfast at the hotel again, packed up, and checked out. Then, we headed to Epcot. We got Chip 'n Dale's autographs and rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Then, we had Turtle Talk with Crush. It's a great interactive question and answer conversation with Crush on a screen. (Even Grandma and Grandpa Wood were laughing two summers ago!). We had lunch at the Sunshine Seasons and headed for the World Showcase. Allison wanted to stop at every country and get the little "tag" for her "passport". Started in Canada, at the UK we got Mary Poppin's autograph, right before France we got Sleeping Beauty's autograph ("so, this is where's she's been the whole time" is what the girls kept saying) and then a chocolate crepe, got a fold-up fan for Grandma Wood in Japan (and plastic ones for the kids), with her name in Japanese printed on it, saw Morocco, talked them into skipping the US...since we were already there, which made perfect sense to Madison, saw Italy, got bears in Germany (and told dad on the phone that that was where we were), bought more fans in China, saw Norway, and ate churros in Mexico (Allison had been waiting all day for this). Then we hit the Mouse Gear store (the best and biggest store of all the Disney parks...in our opinion) for anything we were missing or thought we were, including an adorable Minnie Mouse costume for an 18-month-old girl (someone will be thanking me in two Halloween's). We had dinner at the Electric Umbrella and drove all the way home!!!

We had a great time. Even considered staying for another "half" day. Jeremy was wondering why I didn't do any of the Disney water parks. This is the part that I thought was crazy...Sarah, three kids, open spaces, and water...