Disney World Vacation!

We did it! We finally had our "real" Disney World vacation! We've been to Magic Kingdom twice before, but only for small day trips...we didn't get any autographs, eat with any characters, go the the other parks, etc. But this time we "did things right." Last Friday we left after work and drove to Jacksonville, FL. We crashed for a few hours at Wayne's brother Bryan's house, then the guys went golfing while the girls hit the outlet mall. That evening we all went out to dinner at a delicious seafood place. Yum! We had planned on going to one of the parks that Sunday, but it was supposed to rain so instead we hung out at Bryan's and made our way to Orlando later that afternoon. We checked into our hotel (Disney's All-Star Music Resort) and got settled in. Of course, it never did rain so we headed to Downtown Disney that evening. Downtown Disney is neat, but mostly shopping and restaurants...and shopping and shopping and shopping! Wow. Disney takes shopping to a whole new level! Kaitlyn also got to ride a little carousel there. After Downtown Disney we headed to Winter Summer Land mini golf, which was FREE, as in part of our Disney package. It was really cute...decorated for Christmas, but with sandcastles and such. It was a great first day in Orlando, but Kaitlyn kept asking "When will we be at Disney World?" She didn't understand that we WERE in Disney...we just weren't AT a PARK. Soon enough kiddo!

Monday we woke up early and headed to Epcot. Kaitlyn wore her Cinderella princess dress and when we boarded the bus to Epcot they annouced that "everyone must remember to be on their best royal behavior because we're traveling with a princess." Kaitlyn's eyes got big, she looked around the bus and then at herself and said "I think they're talking about me!!!" It was the cutest thing ever...definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me...and for her, I think. And of course everyone sitting within earshot thought she was the cutest thing too. What a perfect start to our Disney vacation! Once we arrived at Epcot we saw Daisy Duck and got in line to meet her right away. Kaitlyn met a few characters in the morning, we rode Soarin' (a new ride that makes it seem like you're flying) and then we started our trek around the countries of Epcot. This is where my cup of Coke spilled all over Kaitlyn and the brand new WHITE sweatshirt she had on. Ooopsies! So, after an emergency stop at the bathroom to rinse out clothes, we were off. There were lots of characters to meet in Epcot, including the princesses, so that kept us really busy. Soon it was time for our first character meal at Akershus in Norway. The description of the meal said to expect 4, maybe 5, princesses but that Cinderella is rarely one of them. We got in right away, met Belle for an autograph and a picture (we got professional pics with her included with our meal) and were quickly seated. Of course, Kaitlyn kept asking when the princesses would arrive...she was a little excited! Kaitlyn ordered pizza and saved half of it "to share with the princesses at lunch." She thought they were actually going to EAT with us...but really they only visited each of the tables. Soon the princesses arrived and we got to meet Snow White, Aurora, Ariela and...drumroll please...Cinderella! It was seriously a little girls dream come true, I think! Kaitlyn was in total awe and each princess was delightfully entertaining. They really played their characters well and made Kaitlyn feel really special. Although a little pricey, this meal was outstanding! After lunch we ventured around the rest of the countries of Epcot, sampled Coke's from around the world, rode Test Track (a speedy coaster-like ride) and hit up a gift shop for Kaitlyn's first purchase with her spending money...a Marie the kitty from Aristocats! While we were waiting for Illuminations to start Kaitlyn dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups because she "wants to exercise like SpongeBob so she can be a fry-cook!" Oh boy...I will surely remind her of this career choice when she's a little older...and secretly hope she dreams a little bigger as far as career goals! Ha! Anyways, Illuminations was cool...fireworks with water fountains and lights and fire. Of course Kaitlyn found it to be too loud, but we thought it was pretty neat.

On Tuesday our wake-up call came about 40 minutes late so we woke up in a panic because we had a character breakfast scheduled for that morning. We made it (about 20 minutes late) to Tusker House in Animal Kingdom to have breakfast with Donald, Goofy, Mickey and Daisy Duck. The breakfast was good...the juice was amazing! And it was fun to meet some more characters, although this time it felt like they rushed through the tables pretty quickly. After breakfast we went on a safari ride, rode Expedition Everest, which is now Kaitlyn's FAVORITE roller coaster, met some more characters and rode a few more rides. Animal Kingdom had the least to do and the shortest hours, so we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. It was heated, but it wasn't very hot on this day, so we didn't stay in too long. Then we drove around Orlando a little bit and hit up a Disney Outlet store where Kaitlyn picked out Duffy the Bear...one for herself and one for Aundrea.

Part 2 of Disney Vacation coming soon! :o)