Disney World Vacation ... Day 6 & 7

Day 6 ... Magic Kingdom

January 24, 2014

Since the Magic Kingdom is so big, we didn't even try to do everything in one day. We hit 3 sections on Tuesday & then headed back there on Friday to see the rest.

First up was The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride in Adventureland.
The kids wanted to ride together in the front of the car so we let them
(even though it was a little scary because it goes up in the air & doesn't have doors!!! But...we were close enough that we could reach out & grab them if they started to hang over the side.)

and Nick & I rode together in the back.

After that we climbed around in the Swiss Family Treehouse, rode on the Jungle Cruise 

And on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Alex found this Jake wig in the Pirates of the Caribbean gift shop & had to have it!

After that, we headed over to Frontierland. Splash Mountain was closed so we didn't ride that. And after Expedition Everest had scared Addy the day before, she decided that she didn't want to ride Thunder Mountain. (And there was no chance Alex would ride it!) So we ate lunch & rode the train over to the kids' favorite part of the Magic Kingdom, Fantasyland.

We rode Dumbo the Flying Elephant again. Matter of fact there was absolutely no line so we were able to go straight to the ride.

The kids were sad though because they wanted to play in the playground part. So we rode it again, but let them play for a little while before getting on the ride.

Then we rode The Barnstormer

 and the Mad Tea Party

It's A Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, The Little Mermaid,

& Prince Charming's Regal Carousel all for the second time.

Then Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

Astro Orbiter

And the People Mover, all over in Tomorrowland.

By around 5pm, we had done everything that the kids wanted to, so we decided to call it a day & head back to the hotel to pack for our flight home the following day.

Day 7 ... Downtown Disney

January 25, 2014

We had to check out of the condo at 10am on Saturday morning, but our flight wasn't until 3pm. So we decided that Downtown Disney would be the perfect place to kill a few hours.

First stop was the Lego store. It had been so busy when we had been there on the previous Sunday night that the kids really didn't get to play. But this time, it wasn't crowded at all & so the kids were able to spend about 30 minutes or so building. Addy built a race car & Alex built a treehouse/tower.

And Alex picked out this Lego City police station that he wants for his birthday. (He is getting it. Matter of fact, it was just delivered today. But SHH, don't tell him!!)

And then it was the time for the main reason that we went back to Downtown Disney. To ride this! Addy wanted to ride it the previous Saturday night, but it won't go up if the winds are too strong, so it had been closed for the night. But this time, it was open for business!

And let me tell you, I've discovered lately that I'm a little scared of heights. More precisely, I'm scared of falling out of the sky a long long way to the ground! So as you can imagine, I was nervous to go up in the hot air balloon. (And sadly, I was the only one, Alex was scared of the most mundane rides at Disney, but not of the hot air balloon!) But once we got to the top, I relaxed a little & it ended up being a pretty cool experience!

After that, we did a little shopping, ate lunch & then headed to the airport for our flight home.

We had such an amazing vacation at Disney World. It really is the most magical place on Earth! I know my kids are going to remember this vacation for a really really long time. 

(Matter of fact, just yesterday morning on the way to school Alex was talking about it. 'Remember when we went to Disney World & we rode that boat?")

Disney World Vacation ... Day 5

Day 5 ... Animal Kingdom

January 23, 2014

On Thursday we went to the Animal Kingdom. Nick & I knew for sure that this would be Addy’s favorite park & we were absolutely right!

The Kilimanjaro Safaris ride was at the very top of our list of things to do, so as soon as we got to the park, we headed straight back to the Africa section to ride it.

Along the way, we ran into a Wilderness Explorer & she set the kids up with a booklet where they could participate in activities & earn sticker badges throughout the park. At this station, the kids learned about flamingos & earned their first badge.

Since there was a Fast Pass Plus kiosk right next to Kilimanjaro Safaris, we went ahead & set up our passes before getting on the ride. We chose to use our Fast Passes for the Finding Nemo show, Expedition Everest & Kilimanjaro Safaris.

And even though we had just set up a fast pass for later in the day for Kilimanjaro Safaris, there was no line. So we went ahead & rode it right then because riding it 2x is even better than riding it once!

We saw lots of awesome animals including...

Hippos

Giraffes

Elephants

Cheetahs

And zebras.

This girl was in animal heaven!

After the safari, we walked the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail

where we saw okapis

gorillas & more.
And the kids earned a few more of their Wilderness Explorer badges.

As we walked along the pathway between the Africa & Asia sections of the park, we stopped to play the drums

Eat a pretzel

And to take a family picture in front of the Tree of Life.

Addy wanted to meet King Louie & Baloo from the Jungle Book.
We had a great view of the Tree of Life while waiting in line to meet them.

Addy found lots of animals on the tree including...

an owl

An anteater

And a lion.

And then she met these 2 silly monkeys!

After that, we walked over to the DinoLand USA section where we all rode TriceraTop Spin.

Next was The Primeval Whirl. Alex was too short to ride it though so Addy & I rode it while Alex & Nick played some of the Fossil Fun carnival style games.

Then we used one of our fast passes to go see the Finding Nemo show. I thought it was fantastic & I think that Nick, Addy & Alex all really enjoyed it too.

After that we played a few more carnival games & Addy & Alex both won a prize!

Then Addy & I went & rode Expedition Everest. It was pretty scary & when I asked Addy if she wanted to ride it again, she said "No thanks!"

Then the kids got their faces painted.
Alex got his painted like the Flash

And Addy got her's painted like a cheetah.

After that, Nick & Addy rode Dinosaur.

Then we ate lunch, Nick & Addy watched the It's Tough to be a Bug show & then we all watched the Flights of Wonder bird show.

After that we used our last fast pass to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris again.
And then took the train out to the Conservation Station where the kids earned a few more Wilderness Explorer badges

and got to pet some animals.

By the time we caught the train back to the main part of the park, it was already 5pm & the park was closed.

The park was now closed & the kids had not earned all of their Wilderness Badges. Addy had a really hard time with this. She is NOT ok with leaving things incomplete. She was able to earn a few more badges as we walked towards the front of the park to leave, but not all of them. I even stopped in a store & asked if they sold the badges, but they don't. (They told me that 'Oh, she can bring the book back next time she comes & complete it then!" Yea, that works for some kids, but not for Addy. There is no completing NEXT time... It HAS to be done THIS time!!!) My poor baby cried & cried all the way to the car. By the time we finally got to the car, she had calmed down a little bit. (And stopping to get ice cream at Tasty Treats helped her calm down even more!) I called Disney Guest Services as soon as we got in the car. I explained to them what happened & that they need to have a remedy for this situation. They told me that I could go back to the park the next day & go to Guest Services & they would give me the rest of the badges. But once we got back to our hotel, I hid the booklets & hoped that Addy would forget about them. Which thankfully she did!

This whole Wilderness Explorer badges thing was a complete fiasco, but it was honestly our only bad experience during the whole trip. (Which is great, because I had heard some bad things about Disney trips since they changed the disability passes recently & because of that, I was a little worried before we went.)
I really hate that it happened at the Animal Kingdom because besides that, this park is awesome!