Our trip to Disney this year is early. We usually go in November but based on the
deals we are going in October. Luckily
Austin’s teacher was understanding and she gave him all of his work before we
left. When we got home on Friday night,
Austin wanted to work on his homework right away. He got a desk in his room and he enjoys
working on it. Brian and Austin worked
on his homework and he finished all of his math work. He still has a bit of reading work to do but
he could easily do it when we get back.
Austin got strep throat last Sunday. Brian took him to Minute Clinic. He also developed a respiratory illness
throughout the week. He was tired and
lost his voice. He was still able to go
to school everyday though. Amazingly
Sydney did not get it. We are hoping to
stay healthy during our trip.
Sydney has been really excited about our Disney trip. She can’t wait to go see all the
princesses. Because Austin hasn’t felt
good it doesn’t seem as excited.
Although when he woke up this morning he was very happy it was Disney
day.
Brian packed the car and I got the kids ready this
morning. On the way to the airport, I
realized I forgot to pack the Disney gift cards. I don’t know what happened but it never
crossed my mind to pack them! Brian is
not too happy with me. I can’t believe I
never even thought about them over the past several days.
The flight down was good.
I didn’t feel that well from lack of sleep but it’s was good. Austin and Sydney watched their kindles and colored with magic makers that make paper
turn different colors. Austin finished
up his homework and worked on other workbook I got him.
Once we landed we took the bus to the hotel. Our room was not ready. Brian took kids to play ping pong while I
checked in. Then we had lunch. After lunch, we decided to take the kids to
Pop Century and Art of Animation like Austin always requests. We took bus to Hollywood then go went to Pop Century. While on the bus or at Pop Century I lost my
magic band. I was excited to finally
have purple. Now I have a gray one. I do really like gray but still love purple
and this is the first year they offered purple.
I was so bummed.
We played twister at Pop Century and kids got their picture
by the famous bike they love. They
played with the cars at the Art of Animation.
Brian took lots of pictures of them.
Then we took the bus back to Hollywood to catch our bus back. Once we arrived back our hotel was
ready. We still didn’t have our luggage
so we all went swimming. I knew it was
hot so I packed swimsuits in carry ons. The kids loved the pool. Then it started to thunder storm and they
closed the pool. We got changed and went
to dinner at our hotel. After dinner it
was pouring rain. We made it must of the
way between buildings but still got wet.
Austin was up early and had to wake Sydney up. I took them to breakfast at our hotel. The kids and I love breakfast. Brian not as much. The kids got pancakes. I decided not to eat although I should
of. Then we got ready for the day. I wanted to be at Epcot very early. When we arrived to Epcot we went straight to
Soarin. This was the first time Sydney
and I were riding it. It was awesome! We
all loved it. After Soarin, Austin saw
the living with the land ride. We never
rode it so we did. It was cool. Then we got some pastries for breakfast.
It was time for our
fast track fast pass so we did that.
This was Sydney’s first time riding it.
Austin and Sydney enjoyed building their cars. The ride was fun too. Sydney got scared at times but did fine. After the ride, they played in the car area
for a while. That was all we wanted to
do a Epcot that day because we will spend another full day later in the
week. Austin wanted to take the monorail
which actually goes to Magic Kingdom so we did that however we didn’t get off
when we were supposed to and rode it back to Epcot and then back again.
When we finally got into the Magic Kingdom Sydney was
sleeping. I had to use my finger to get
into the park and that made her sad later in the trip since it was no longer
her finger to scan. We tried to get a
fast pass but all the good ones were taken.
I was hungry but no one else was.
So we continued to play. We went
to drive the race cars. The kids love
driving them. Austin could even reach
the gas pedal. He couldn’t always do it
but did it for parts. After the race
cars, we had a smoothie for a snack.
Austin and Sydney love smoothies.
Then we went and rode Dumbo ride. You can’t go to Magic Kingdom without riding
Dumbo. The kids were more interested in
playing in the waiting area but we needed to ride the ride and keep going. After the ride, we went and saw Goofy and
Donald Duck. After that, we let them
play in the splash pad area to get wet.
It was really hot. Then we saw a
bit of the parade before making it to Splash Mountain. Sydney was scared but Brian convinced her to
go. She liked it and was proud she rode
it.
We had dinner at Magic Kingdom then watched a bit of show at
the castle. The show was shorter because
of the rain. Then we visited Tinker Bell
before leaving for Hollywood Studios.
Then we decided we should go to Hollywood to figure out
where are the Star Wars things and Jedi training sign ups. We found the Star Wars area near Disney
Jr. We didn’t go in but found the area. A storm trooper went after Sydney and scared
her. She was super scared. Austin loved it! After Sydney calmed down we walked
around.
There were green guys from Toy Story. Sydney
was so scared she wouldn’t go up. Austin
did. Then our last mission was to find
Jedi Training. We found it and asked a
guy and since the group had just left and there was room he let us join. We didn’t realize how lucky we were. The kids were exhausted but off they went. We literally ran to catch up. There was no time for Sydney to second guess
this decision.
Jedi training was awesome!
The kids got lightsabers and got to defeat Dark Vader. You could tell Sydney was a bit scared at
times but she did it and was proud of herself.
It was cool to do it at night too.
They both enjoyed it and the show was great!
On Monday we got up and I took the kids to breakfast at the
hotel. Brian met us there and we went
straight to the bus for the Magic Kingdom.
One of the first things I wanted to do was Mickey Mouse but it was too
long so we passed. We had a fast pass
for Peter Pan ride so we went there first after getting a picture by the
castle. Austin and Sydney enjoyed the
ride. We all think it’s a little too
short though. After peter pan, we went
to It’s a Small World ride. Sydney likes
it because they are all her size. It’s a
cute ride.
Then we headed towards the back of the park and we rode the
Barnstormer. The Magic Kingdom was so
busy. We waited in line for at least 30
minutes before going on it. After that
we went to see Minnie and Daisy. Sydney
loved that.
We went to lunch around noon and it was so busy. I was hungry and had to eat. After lunch we rode the people mover. Another one of Austin and Sydney’s favorite
rides. Then it was time for fast passes
at Space Mountain. Sydney wasn’t tall
enough so Brian and Austin went. Austin
loved it! He rode it twice. Meanwhile I took Sydney to see Snow White. She was excited to see her. Then we left for the hotel for a bit.
Once back at the hotel, we all took a nap. Austin and Brian went swimming per Austin’s
request once he woke up. Sydney was
still sleeping and didn’t want to get up.
Then we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for the night. When we got there, we went to Mickey
Mouse. We waited about 40 minutes but it
was nice to have that done. That is a
cool Mickey since he talks. Then we went
and found a spot for the electric parade and fireworks. I went and got dinner and Sleepy Hallow with
Austin. We got fruit waffle sandwiches,
ice cream sandwiches, and drinks. It was
a lot but worked out okay I suppose.
Sydney enjoyed the parade.
Austin was still tired you could tell.
Then we waited for the
fireworks. The fireworks were
great. Then we headed to Tomorrowland
because Austin needed to go potty. After
the bathroom break, we rode on the space orbiter. That is one of Brian’s favorite rides. By that time, we figured it was time to go
back to our hotel.
On Tuesday we all woke up at 7:30am. It was so nice to sleep a bit in the
morning. We got ready quickly and went
straight to the bus stop. Austin and
Sydney were sad they did not get their normal pancakes for breakfast at the
hotel. They love breakfast and they
actually eat it but we didn’t have time.
We got on the bus to Hollywood Studios.
We ran to the Jedi training sign up station. We waited for about 30 minutes before it was
our turn to sign up. We picked the
soonest time which was 2:10pm. We knew
there was a chance of rain but didn’t think it too well though when we picked a
time. We were upset with ourselves because
we usually think things through better.
After we signed up, we went to Toy Story ride. Sydney claims it is her favorite ride. Austin and Sydney both really loved it. Then we went over to the Star Wars launch
pad. We saw Chewbacca. Sydney was a little scared of him but not as
much as storm troopers. We watched the storm
trooper march down Hollywood Blvd. Again
Sydney didn’t care to watch much of it being scared and everything but Austin
enjoyed it.
We rode the Toy Story ride again then went to lunch. The kids got a power pack that worked out
well. Brian got a steak and I got a
salad. It was a good lunch. After lunch, kids stopped for a picture with
Goofy. Then we went to the Frozen sing along. We all enjoyed that.
We walked around for a bit after Frozen before it was time
for Jedi training. We arrived a Jedi
training and the kids got water and got on their outfits. However, we could see storm clouds in a
distance. Brian and I both knew it was
not going to happen but hoped for the best.
Sure enough while they were still practicing it started to pour down
rain. We were sad probably even more
than the kids. The rained wasn’t letting
up so we put on our ponchos and went back to Star Wars area. We saw Kylo-Ren. We got a pass to see him since we didn’t get
to do Jedi training. Sydney was super
scared of him. Brian and I are not into
Star Wars but he’s not the friendliest guy around. I don’t blame Sydney for not liking him. I didn’t either. While at Star Wars area we watched a short 10-minute
film about Star Wars which we all enjoyed.
We got special character meet and greet because of a Disney card and we
didn’t know who we were seeing. Well it
was Kylo-Ren again. Sydney was not
happy!
We headed to the Muppets 3D show next. Sydney and Austin thought it was funny and
enjoyed it. Then we rode the Star Wars
ride. It’s a flight simulator. I was worried Sydney wouldn’t like it but she
did. Next we were on to Indian Jones
show. Austin loved it! Sydney thought it was sad with all the
fighting. However she told us last year
she never wanted to see it again. We sat
though it and was fine with it. We rode
Toy Story one more time. Austin wanted
to see Buzz however wait was too long.
No one wanted to wait anymore.
I got everyone ice cream bars and we watched a Star War show
outside. Then I told Austin (per his
request), it was the moment we have all been waiting for, they got to buy lightsabers. Austin was so excited. Sydney was excited too since she could play
with him. They are cool. I am glad they are happy.
We left Hollywood and Sydney fell asleep on the bus. We ate dinner at our hotel per Austin’s
request. Sydney continued to sleep in
the stroller. After I ate, I took Sydney
back to the room and got her changed and in bed. Brian and Austin walked around the hotel area
and took pictures of Austin with his lightsaber. It was a busy but good day. It was nice it wasn’t as hot because of the
rain.
On Wednesday we got up early to get to Animal Kingdom when
it opened. We rushed to the safari
ride. It’s always our favorite to do in
the morning. We got to see a lot of
animals up close. It was cool. Then we went on the gorilla trek. Austin went up to a worker and a wildness
explorers book. Austin was tired and
hungry but after he got that book he bounced back and was into it again. He likes when he has a task at hand. After our walk, it was time for our
character breakfast. We always do one
character meal while there. This year we
went to Tusker House. It was cool. We got to see Donald Duck, Daisy, Goofy and
Mickey Mouse. We ate a lot of food
probably too much.
After breakfast, we walked around the park looking for
wildness explorer stations. Austin was
really into it. The kids probably went
to about 10 stations. We had a fast pass
for roller coaster at Animal Kingdom.
Sydney wasn’t tall enough so it was just Austin. Austin and Brian went first. We knew that it went backwards at times so
Austin was prepared. Austin loved
it. He wanted to do it again so I went
with him the second time.
After the ride, we went to Dinoland. The kids played in the playground area. They got wet in a part so we didn’t let them
go into digging area. Austin was a
little sad but he got over it fine. They
got a picture with Donald then did some wildness explorer stations. Then we went to Tough to be a Bug show. Sydney was a bit scared. Austin loved
it.
We left Animal Kingdom.
It was hot so we thought we should take the kids swimming. They love swimming. They had fun swimming. After swimming, we decided to go to Epcot for
the evening. With the hurricane coming,
we knew that we were not going there on Friday. It started pouring rain. We waited a bit but decided we just needed to
go and we were going to get wet.
We definitely got wet.
We went to Mission Space first.
Brian and Austin rode it. They
even went on the intense version. Austin
loved it. The rides don’t bother him at
all. It’s amazing. Sydney and I had a Mickey pretzel while we
waited luckily it stopped raining. After
Mission Space, Brian took the kids for a hurricane picture while I got them
cotton candy. They were super excited to
get cotton candy.
Then we headed to Norway to see Anna and Elsa. Sydney was so
excited. After autographs and pictures
we looked for the Frozen ride. We got
lucky and rode it. Everyone enjoyed
it. By this time, we were all
tired. We didn’t know what we should do
about fireworks. We thought we would
watch them closer to the exit so we could get back to hotel quickly. Brian wanted a family picture by Epcot. I took the kids into a gift shop to find
stuff to do during the hurricane. Austin
wanted a Life game. We came out for a
picture but Austin closed his eyes in all the pictures on purpose. Brian wasn’t happy. The kids only got domino's. We decided to go back to the hotel and not
watch fireworks.
We ate dinner at the hotel.
Austin ate with us. Sydney slept
though it. She had no interest in getting up.
Austin enjoyed dinner time with mommy and daddy.
On Thursday, we had breakfast at our hotel. Austin loves the waffles and Sydney loves the
pancakes. Brian went back to the room
with water and extra drinks to prepare for the hurricane. While at the room, he left his camera bag
however we didn’t realize it until after we were on the Magic Kingdom bus. While on the bus, Brian asked if I had his
camera bag and I didn’t. I was nervous I
left it somewhere but it made sense that it was back in the room.
When we arrived to Magic Kingdom, Austin stayed with Brian
to go back to the hotel. Sydney and I
went into the Magic Kingdom. I had fast passes for princesses so we had to do
that. Unfortunately we didn’t have a
camera other than my cell phone. Sydney
was so excited to see them. She saw
Cinderalla, Tianna and Rapunzel. After
princesses, we went and rode on the ride it’s a small world. Then Brian and Austin were back with the
camera and we went to the Tales of Belle.
Sydney got the Beast part of the role play with her loud
growl. Austin was the horse. We have never seen the movie Beauty and the
Beast but Sydney loves Belle as a princess.
At the end of the play, Sydney got to dance with Belle since she was the
Beast. It was awesome and she was so
excited. Austin enjoyed it too.
After Belle, Brian took Sydney back to see the princesses
again since he had his camera. Since the
hurricane was coming tomorrow the wait times were not that bad. I took Austin on the Winnie the Pooh ride and
Dumbo. We meet them back at Buzz
Lightyear ride. We all rode that. Then the kids met Buzz.
We took a break for ice cream. We enjoyed it even though it melted
fast. Then we rode the people
mover. That is one of their favorite rides. Then we decided to let the kids watch the
parade. They love parades and again
since it wasn’t busy they had a front row seat.
They loved it. We went shopping
for a few more hurricane items. We were
worried about food so Brian got some more food.
And we even let them get battleship game. We weren’t sure if we were going to lose
power so we wanted stuff to do.
It was raining pretty well but we didn’t want to leave the
park until 5pm (when it closed) just because we knew we were going to be in our
room for the next 24 hours. We headed to
Adventureland and rode the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. There was no wait. By this time, the park was about to close so
we headed towards the bus stop.
When we got back to our hotel, we had a magic surprise. There was a very long line for food. They were giving out box sandwiches for
Friday since the food place would be closed on Friday. We messed up and didn’t eat dinner at the
Magic Kingdom. So we stood in line for
2.5 hours for box lunches for tomorrow and hot dinner meal for that night. Brian was going to walk to McDonalds for
dinner but they were already closed. It
was a bit stressful standing in line that long but we kept the kids separate
which helped. They were terrible
fighting and picking on each other in lines this trip.
Sydney and I went into the box lunch line and Brian and
Austin got us dinner line. After I got
the lunches, Brian and Austin took them back into our room. Then when we finally got dinner we ate as a
family there. The hotel even had
characters so that helped. Kids got
pictures with the characters.
After dinner, we went back to our room and prepared for the
hurricane. We had lots of water, drinks,
and food. Brian put our room together so
no one was by the window. Then we went to
bed.
We got up at 8am. We
didn’t really hear anything from the hurricane in the middle of the night. The worst was 7-11am however it never really
got that bad near us. We stayed in our
room like ordered. We watched TV, played
battleship, dominos, and cards. Brian
did a hurricane Matthew game with moving the mattress and pillows. I even took a nap. Austin and Sydney enjoyed watching TV (they
usually don’t get much TV) so they were not napping.
By 2pm, we were allowed to leave our rooms again. We didn’t go out until about 3:30pm. We walked to the dining hall area. They were doing some crafts so they did
that. The love crafts. Then we had some hot chocolate. We went back to the room. Played a bit then came back for dinner. After dinner, they played in the arcade (not
using money). Austin wanted to play ping
pong. It was very busy so we waited a
while. They played corn hole. Austin played soccer for two boys. Sydney decided so really wanted to swim. It was late and cool but I said okay since it
was their last night. The kids even
convinced Brian to go swimming too. They
had a lot of fun. After swimming it was bedtime.
We woke up at 6am for breakfast. Then we needed to get on the Magical Express
to the airport. I was nervous with the
wait times at the airport since it was closed yesterday. It wasn’t too bad. I was annoyed they took my ice pack I brought
down for Austin’s medicine. Since we no
longer had his medicine it couldn’t be carried on the plane. I kind of get it but really!
Amazingly our flight took off on time and everything worked
out the best it could with the hurricane!
