Disney

The start of the school year is always crazy.  Trying to get into a routine.  We have always taken the kids out of school in early fall for a trip.  It seems to work for us and the kids are not learning too much new stuff yet. 

This year we decided to go back to Disney in the fall.  Our friends wanted to come with us since they have never been before.  Also Brian’s sister decided that she was also going to come.  It’s going to be interesting with so many of us in the group.  We also decided we would stay an entire week this time.  The last time we were there we only stayed 4 days.  We love Disney and the flights were cheap so we thought we should stay a week. 

We got a great deal on airfare.  The bad news was our flight was at 7am.  Then meant we had to get up at 4am.  That’s a little early for even Austin who loves to get up early.  Things were going well until once at the airport, we realized I forgot to put on the Disney luggage tags.  That means we now need to pick up our luggage at the Orlando airport.  It’s annoying but hopefully that’s the only thing I forgot. 

While on the plane the kids worked on some homework.  Then I let them have some electronic time. 

When we arrived to Orlando we picked up our luggage and went to the Magical Express.  When we got to our hotel, only 2 out of the 3 rooms were ready.  Luckily ours was one of them. We had lunch.  We changed and went swimming for a bit. The kids love the pool. 

That evening we went to Epcot to ride Soarin.  It is one of the best rides.  Everyone loved it.  Then we went over to Figment the Imagination Ride.  Then Austin saw Penelope from Ralph Breaks the Internet.  He stood in line and saw her and then Ralph came out.  Austin was very happy.  We had dinner at Epcot then went back to the hotel. 

On Sunday morning, we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  We got a picture in front of the castle.  Austin went to space mountain and the speedway cars and I took Sydney to Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh.  We all met up at the tea cups.  Then we rode the Barnstormer.  Then we headed over to Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Sydney had reservations to turn into a mermaid so she did that.  She loved it!  It’s magical to see her so happy and love wearing the mermaid dress.  I bought the dress on Amazon (much cheaper than a Disney dress).  Then we went to meet Micky Mouse and Minnie Mouse.  That was fun.  It was so hot we went back to the hotel to swim.  That evening went to Hollywood to check out Toy Story and Star Wars land.  It was new to us. 

On Monday morning, we got up at 4:45am to go to Hollywood.  We arrived by 6am to see it open.  We went to Toy Story Land first.  We were on Slinky Dog at 6:04am  We were proud of ourselves.  Then it was a disaster.  We tried to go to Star Wars land but it was closed between Toy Story and Star Wars land.  We walked all the way around.  That’s a lot of walking.  The line for Smugglers Run was over an hour long. We decided not to ride it then.  We went back to Toy Story Land.  We rode Toy Story Mania.  Then we went to ride Smugglers Run.  It was cool to see all the stuff around the line to ride the ride.  About 45 minutes were riding the ride.  It was a neat ride.  Austin and Sydney were gunners. 

Afterwards we hung out in Star Wars land and Chewbacca came by and said hi to Austin and Sydney.  That was cool.  Then we rode Star Tours.  We rode Slinky dog (very fun family friendly roller coaster).  We also rode the flying saucer ride.  By this time, we were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel for a nap.  After nap, we headed to Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks show. 

At Magic Kingdom we rode, Haunted Mansion then It’s a small world.  Then we had some dinner at the Mexican restaurant.  After dinner, we went on Astro Orbiter and then watched some of the firework show.  Austin wasn’t very interested and wanted to go back to the hotel.  So Brian and Austin left a little earlier and got back.  Sydney and I stayed and watched then got a bus back. 

On Tuesday, we went to Animal Kingdom to start the wilderness explore program for the kids.  Austin says it’s one of his favorite things to do at Disney.  We went to Dinoland first.  Austin and Brian rode the Dinosaur ride.  The kids played in the great Dinoland playground.  Then we walked around Animal Kingdom collecting badges.  We took the train over to Raffaki’s Planet Watch area.  The kids had fun at the petting zoo there.  Then we headed back to the hotel to swim.  When it’s 90 degrees, the only thing to do in the middle of the day is swim. 

On Tuesday evening, we took the skyliner over to Art of Animation and Pop Century.  The kids love seeing the cars at Art of Animation.  And I wanted to ride the skyliner to it worked out perfectly.  The skyliner is cool.  It makes me want to stay at one of it’s hotels.  But it would depend on cost.  Since we are not in the room much, it doesn’t make sense to spend too much more money on a hotel. 

On Wednesday, we went back to Epcot.  We rode Soarin first thing like always.  With 12 of us, it was amazing that we all made it there quickly.  Then we rode Living on the Land.  Austin really likes that ride.  Then we went over to Nemo ride since it was right there.  Unfortunately we didn’t have much time since we had a test track fast pass.  We all rode Test Track which was great.  Then we headed towards the countries.  We met Anna and Elsa.  Sydney just loves that.  Afterwards we rode, Frozen Ever After.  Everyone else decided it was time to head back to the hotel.  We wanted to walk around the world so we stayed. 

We stopped at a few countries to get stamps.  Sydney met Belle.  She had her Belle dress on so was excited to see her.  We also found Jasmine and Sydney got a picture with her while Austin colored at a passport station.  Then we headed towards the front to ride Spaceship Earth.  That was a slow ride that we had never rode before. 

We headed back to the hotel to swim.  Then we went to Hollywood that evening.  We got on Smugglers Run again.  It was less than a wait than at 6am.  We took the Skyliner to Epcot to see the new firework show.  The show was good.  Afterwards we took the bus back to the hotel. 

On Thursday morning we went to Animal Kingdom and rode the safari.  That is always cool to see.  Then we walked the Gorilla Trail to get more wilderness explore badges.  Austin says the Animal Kingdom is his favorite park because of the wilderness explorer program.  Sydney got her face pained thanks to Auntie Melissa. 

Brian and Austin rode Mount Everest with Melissa and the boys.  Then we went over to Flight of Passage.  It was shut down and we had a fast pass.  We really wanted to ride it so we waited.  Luckily it was like 30 minutes.  Austin and Sydney finished the wilderness explorer program and got their ceremony.  Sydney wanted a “big” celebration but Austin wanted a “small” celebration. 

We went back to hotel to swim.  After swimming we went back to Animal Kingdom to ride Flight of Passage again.  Then took a bus to Hollywood.  We ate dinner at Hollywood.  We rode Slinky Dog and Tower of Terror.  It was another busy day. 

On Friday, we went to the Magic Kingdom.  We rode Pirates of the Caribbean first.  Then we walked up the Swiss Family Robinson House.  Austin loves to watch the water being lifted to the top.  Then we went and rode the Winnie the Pooh Ride, then 7 Dwarfs Mine Train.  That ride is really too short.  Then we rode Thunder Mountain Railroad.  That’s the best roller coaster there in my opinion.  Austin and Brian rode Space Mountain.  I believe they think that’s the best ride.  We headed over to Tom Sawyer’s Island.  The kids had a great time playing there.  That’s always one of their favorite things to do.   Then they went back to ride Space Mountain again.  We had lunch and finished with the people mover. 

Like all the other days, we went back to the hotel to swim.  That evening we went to Hollywood.  Austin, Brian, and Sydney rode the rockin roller coaster.  Then we rode the saucers.  Brian and Austin rode the Tower of Terror.  Sydney and I went back to the hotel for an evening swim.   It was an exhausting week.  We had lots of fun though.  

On Saturday we flew home. Unfortunately they had changed our flight so we didn’t leave until 5pm.  We worked on some homework then let the kids swim.  Then took the magical express to the airport.   Disney is one of our favorite vacations.