Day 6 and 7…the end! On to Christmas!

Brenna’s first haircut

We started off at the barber, so Brenna could get her first haircut at Disney.  I wish we could have waited for Liam, but it couldn’t wait.  She was happy getting to play with all the toys and bubbles as she got her hair done.  The best part of it was with the haircut (which was only $14….that is a bargain for Disney) you get a certificate and Mickey Mouse Ears that say “First Haircut”.

We spent the morning at Magic Kingdom, hitting things we missed or wanted to do again.  We finally met Princess Tiana and ate lunch at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Friends.  We found a cool street party parade which Brenna loved, she got out and danced and danced without a care in the world.  If I get time I will put a short video on, I ran out of memory on that camera.

That afternoon we headed over to Epcot.  We each got a turn to take Braeden on Soarin while Liam and Brenna napped.  While they were napping they got their picture taken with Chip and Dale…..we got a similar one back at Disneyland last year.

This year….

Last year in California…look how they have grown.

 

Ed got a chance to ride the Segway and then we explore the World Showcase.

It was late we headed out.  We were talking about what we wanted to do our last half day and Braeden wanted to go back to Hollywood Studios and do Toy Story Mania.  I knew it would be pushing it, so I looked and HS had Magic Hours for the Resort Guests until 11pm.  So we got the little ones off to bed and Braeden and I headed back out to HS.  The only purpose was to go on this ride and then come back.  We got there and there was a 45 minute wait in the standby line with no fast passes.  We decided to wait it out.  It took about 30 minutes to get on the ride and in the middle of the ride it broke down.  If you aren’t familiar with the game, its like a video game where you aim at the targets and knock things down to get points…and its in 3D.  Anyway, we missed over half of the ride.  Braeden was so disappointed and when we got done I mentioned it and the people behind us said they had the same problem.  They pulled us aside and we waited about 10 minutes and they got us on again…thank goodness.  ONLY to have the same thing happen, AGAIN.  The crazy thing was it was just us.  I am thinking, they aren’t going to believe me. 

When I got back up to the front, I am like, you aren’t going to believe it, but it did it again.  The girls were laughing.  She said they get a signal that tells when it happens and what car it was.  They were saying to each other they hoped it wasn’t our car again, then when we came out, they saw it WAS us again.  Soooo….we went on it again.  It worked the last time and Braeden was happy, he said he just got a few practice rides before playing for real, guess that is one way to look at it.

The next morning we had time to pack and then head over to Chef Mickey’s for breakfast.  We had breakfast and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom for one last time.  We rode on the train, Buzz Lightyear, watched a show in front of the castle, one last monorail ride and then caught the 3:00 parade before heading to the airport.

We have been home for a month now and the kids still talk about “Cinderella’s Castle” and the monorail daily.  We made many memories and I’m glad we did the trip when they were this age, next time (2011???) will be a whole different experience.

Day 5 – Our Free Day!!!

Yikes, been home a  month now and still working on the last few days, if not for anyone else to read, but for me to have for myself.

Originally we were going to spend Sunday would our friends Mike and Debbie who live in Sarasota. Actually that is the main reason we even rented a car, although in hindsight, if you have little ones the car is the way to go.  You aren’t stuck anywhere waiting for the next bus, etc.

As we got a few weeks away from the trip I contacted them to see how they felt about the upcoming visit.  Their son was born at 26 weeks in Feb, actually on Liam and Brenna’s birthday.  They had a long journey ahead, they spent 4 months in the NICU before he arrived home.  With all the swine flu going around, I was a bit nervous about even making the trip to Disney.  (the happiest and germiest place on earth)  Anyway, I was worried what if our kids picked up something and we didn’t know it and they passed in on to baby Alex, it could have severe consequences for him.  After talking to Mike he said he would talk to Deb and see what she thought.  Eventually we all decided it wasn’t worth the risk and we would get a chance to see Alex the next time they visit Michigan.  (hopefully soon)

So we were able to take it easy that day.  We headed over to Downtown Disney and ate lunch at Planet Hollywood, then explored the area.  Braeden loved the Lego store and Brenna loved hanging out with the life size princess statues.  The train was Liam’s favorite, he rode it twice.  We got the kids their first HUGE lollipop.  They were sooo icky and sticky!  As soon as we hit the road they all passed out.  I dropped Ed off at ESPN Zone as I drove around with the sleeping kids.

After the kids woke we went to the hotel playground and hung out for a bit, it was nice to have a place to go to just sit down and relax and not have to worry about losing the little ones, it was a nice peaceful area we had to ourselves.  We ate dinner and finished off the night with a swim.  A nice relaxing day, although we were disappointed we didn’t get to visit with friends, it was a nice carefree family day.  I would recommend an off day if you are spending a week down there.

Day 4 – Animal Kingdom and more

This morning we started out at the Animal Kingdom.  We headed to the Safari ride first thing so we could catch the animals bright and early.  We saw many different lions, gorillas, hippos, rhinos, giraffes and more.  When we were done we took a trail to see more animals.  When we were finished we took a train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. 

We discovered some Kidstops which we located throughout the park.  At each spot they had a hands on activity that taught the kids about animals and their habitats.  At each area you received a stamp and after collecting all the stamps you received a little book with games and activities in it.  Braeden enjoyed this activity and was excited to get each stamp.

At Rafiki’s Planet the kids were able to go to a petting area and pet the sheep. After we were finished we headed back to the train then to a path around the Tree of Life and found some drums to play and then went on to Dinoland.

 

We took a spin on the Tricera Top Spin and then went to play in the Boneyard Playground.  The kids were able to climb, slide, and play in the sand. By this time they were beat and we headed over to Camp Mickey and Minnie to see the Festival of the Lion King.  On the way there Liam tried his hardest to stay awake, but it wasn’t happening.  Braeden and Ed got in line for the show and I strolled the sleeping kids around and got their pictures taken while they were sleeping.

We let the kids sleep for a bit then went to see the Festival of the Lion King.  Brenna got scared and I needed to take her out, so we walked around until we found Pochahontas, which mad her much happier than Timon and Pumba.

After the show was over we headed to the parade route to catch the parade before heading over to the Grand Floridian for dinner.

Our reservation was approaching fast and we headed to the car….only to have lost it.  I thought I was smart that morning and I took a picture of a sign showing where we parked.  The only problem was we didn’t realize we needed to know which row in 21-29 we parked in.  We searched a good 15 minutes before finding it. 

We were about 45 minutes late for dinner, thank goodness they didn’t cancel our reservation, its Disney, they have to be flexible.  The kids had fun watching Cinderella, Prince Charming, the evil stepmother and sisters.  The sisters were hilarious.  They got in a fight at our table and one got sent to time out. The stepmother was a meanie.  She made Liam cry and then told him to stop crying which scared him more. She kept going away and then peeking at him around the corner telling him “I’m watching you, now smile!”  Then she would look away and then back it him telling him to smile again. Here is Liam’s reactions….too funny!

Love this forced smile!  Braeden was happy with dessert again!  Ice cream with M&M and gummy bears!

Next we took the monorail back to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Kristin, Kourtney, and Joe.  They had the perfect seats for Spectromagic saved for us.

 

After the parade was over we headed off to ride a few rides before fireworks.

It was a fun night. Disney at night is so pretty and magical.  We were all tired, it was Kristin’s last night there, we headed back to their hotel on the monorail.  Brenna fell asleep after the fireworks, but Liam was ready to hang out at the hotel. We all hung out in their room for awhile until we knew we needed to say our goodbyes. :-(  Miss you guys already!!!  My bestest friend needs to move to MI!!!

 

Liam stayed awake for the monorail back to the Floridian where we were parked. On the way back to the hotel he fell asleep too. Braeden was up, he wanted me to take a picture of the clock that told how late he stayed up.  As soon as he hit the bed  he was asleep.  The clock says 12:13, other than New Year’s Eve he hasn’t been up past midnight before.